EDDG @ Stevenson College Edinburgh

'Assessment Tomorrow' Conference

2010-12-14T13:40:00.003Z

I attended the ‘Assessment Tomorrow’ conference a couple of weeks ago, and there were some interesting aspects of e assessment highlighted by speakers. Norman Emerson presented an update on the SQA NAR (National Assessment Resource), which is intended to be an online resource for practitioners to support the implementation of CfE. A lot of the materials are currently more geared for colleagues in schools, but there will be more developed materials soon to support other programmes such as NQs. His presentation is included in this entry.

There was an interesting and positive presentation given on the use of e portfolios as a mode of assessment by Maxine Garson from Highland Education Authority. Maxine is employed as a School Liaison Officer on Skills for Work programmes, and has been developing the use of e portfolios to overcome some of the geographical challenges associated with course delivery across the region, and has recently extended this to the practice of e verification.

Matt Wingfield’s presentation featured a briefing on a small pilot that is being carried out in partnership with SQA on the use of ‘Comparative Pairs’ as a way of assessing a range of diverse pieces of evidence and avoiding subjectivity. His organisation (TAG Developments) has devised an algorithm which can help assessors rank/grade a group of students’ work. With reference to the CfE’s emphasis on encouraging more and more diverse ways for learners to present work for assessment, Matt had some good ideas for consideration. There is a web address for more information about the pilot study in his presentation, included here.

There were other interesting and innovative ideas for the future such as the use of an electronic marking tool (Red Pen Tool), the use of mobile phone technology related to assessment of language learning, as well as many examples of online assessments from preschool up to upper secondary.

You can access the presentations in the S Drive -
S:/LandT/Public/Assessment tomorrow.

Jenni Moreland

FERA Conference, October, London

2010-10-25T14:35:00.001+01:00

Feedback from FERA Conference, Friday 22nd October

Engaging 16-19 year-olds in Learning: Carrot or Stick?
Participation, Retention and Achievement

This was an interesting conference raising several issues that we could consider in relation to CfE, MCMC and learner engagement. Although the conference was primarily focused on provision in England and Wales, some of the issues were pertinent to Scotland, and there was also discussion relating to recent MCMC research findings in Scotland.
I’ve tried to summarise the main ideas presented, but can give further information to anyone interested.
1. Geoff Hayward, Director of Research at the Department of Education, University of Oxford and Director of the Nuffield 14-19 Review.
• More young people are being attracted into further education, and are staying in the system for longer. However, there is statistical evidence that young people are migrating from employment to education (those previously who would have been employed are now in education). This could be seen as structural youth unemployment, and the we need to consider whether we are really helping young people into the labour market.
• Too often young people leave education to go into low paid, temporary employment, or unemployment and come back to college to gain another qualification at the same level that they previously acquired.
• Arguably we are stockpiling qualifications , against other countries – qualifications that are not actually needed for the labour market. “Qualifications become increasingly self-referential inside an education system that fails to engage with the reality of the labour market, which surprisingly places little value on most vocational qualifications currently offered in FE colleges.”
• Do these qualifications actually make us more innovative, creative, raise the GDP – arguably no. Very weak evidence that qualifications leads to jobs, unless you need that qualification to register for a particular job.
• ‘In search of the elusive quarry’ – employability and generic skills, or the ‘Unbearable lightness of skills’. Attempting to define a skills set is a fool’s errand and a waste of money – over past 30 years there have been 5 policy changes trying to define skills needed, but skills need to contextualized and cannot successfully be taught in isolation.
• Argues for more school based vocational system similar to Austria’s.
• Stop putting up with qualification pathways that don’t lead anywhere.
• Help young people develop to be innovative and creative – develop businesses.

2. Gary Warke, Deputy Chief Executive of Hull College Group, one of the largest FE colleges in England. Outlined strategies used to engage and sustain young people in college.
• Offer discovery ½ days/full days for pupils at age 13/14, parents and school staff. Raises the awareness of college potential and helps develop partnership working with schools.
• Developing a range of apprenticeships with local employers.
• Provide alternative learning provisions using collaboration with school, college and other learning providers.
• Very clear pathways with qualifications: entry to degree.
• Constant curriculum review to make sure this reflects labour market opportunities.
• Guidance and support crucial. Contacts need to be made and sustained with schools early on. A great deal of pastoral care was given in guidance tutoring.
• Innovation in learning and teaching – have in place learning coaches for lecturers and learning mentors for young people.
• Core skill are integrated into all subjects.
• Developed a teaching award for those teaching young people – awarded by Edexel, as the it was recognised that additional knowledge and skills were needed.
• E-learning co-ordinator employed in each faculty to help embed technology in the curriculum and to keep staff up-to-date with innovations in technology.

3. Dr. Ian Finlay, Independent Researcher, Young people on the margins: in need of more choices and more chances in twenty-first century Scotland.
Dr Finlay was discussing his recently published paper (British Educational research Journal, October 2010). The aim of the study was to find out more about the lives of young people catagorised as NEET. The research team worked with 26 young people in small groups, and engaged with them using a variety of creative and artistic activities designed to help them construct accounts of their lives. Three significant issues emerged from their lives stories:

• The problematic nature of the discourse of NEET, and why Scotland had changed to MCMC;
• The challenges of school-exclusion policies and practices and;
• The myth of low aspirations. Young people have the same aspirations as other people but their expectations are lower.

• There needs to be more opportunities that are tailored to meet individual needs, and more choices in terms of the range of provision available – often in a non-formal or voluntary sector. “Youth workers and advisors in these sectors seem to be able to develop the kind of close, supportive relationships with young people that are difficult to develop in secondary schools because of the structures and numbers involved.”

• Argues for family size scale of provision – difficult to provide in schools and colleges.

I have the research paper if anyone is interested in reading it.

For further information contact me: Karen.lawson@scotcol.ac.uk

EDDG meetings on the topic of Assessment

2010-10-01T10:01:00.004+01:00

This week we had two well attended lunchtime meetings of our EDDG group. Assessment was chosen as our focus partly because the SCE Assessment Policy is currently undergoing review and also to lead us into the Curriculum for Excellence vision of creating an 'Assessment is for Learning' college.

As always, at these meetings the attendees shared examples of good practice such as:

Starting a unit by setting a mock summative assessment and allowing the learners to find out how many gaps there are in their knowledge and privately discover how much they need to learn to be successful
Using quiz type formative testing throughout the course which can be peppered with 'pub quiz' type questions which tend to lighten an otherwise stressful experience
Using feedback stickys at the end of a lesson to let the lecturer know of gaps and successes in the learning
Using Quizdom linked to a presentation -this is an electronic voting tool given to the learners that then allows the lecturer to monitor the understanding of their lesson
Peer assessing and peer reviewing and the 'two stars and a wish' approach where students give feedback to one another about what they've done well and what they might do differently
Regularly sharing in staff meetings what is happening in the classroom that seems to work well
Involving students in decisions about how they want to be assessed
Using regular informal testing at the end of a lesson. This appears to lead to the learners paying greater attention throughout the class
Using Flip cameras to video group work
Using D2L and various fora (Blogs, Wikis etc) to feedback to the learners. This creates a platform for further group discussions and collabarative learning
Students developing assessments for one another can help them to look at a topic from a different perspective

These are some of the techniques that are being used across college and the value of each was discussed. It was agreed that it wasn't always easy to balance the academic content with useful formative assessment and strive to keep our learners engaged along the way.

Also discussed were the problems faced with plagiarism and academic dishonesty and how sanctions can and are being used. Some lecturers draw up a contract with their learners regarding plagiarism at the start of each course. This is explained to each student and they are asked to sign and agree to its content. This approach doesn't always work with individuals but it can be revisited if a student is thought to be contravening it.

It was put forward that students may plagiarise material because they have not been able to, or had the support to develop essay or report writing skills in their already packed curriculum. Help with accessing the correct materials, effectively reading these, taking appropriate notes then personalising and presenting their findings would be very useful especially to those going on to study at University but also as a skill to take through life.

As always the discussions could have continued longer but ended on how important good feedback is in the journey of a learner and what is helpful to allow progression.

Thanks to all who gave up their time to attend.

Carole

FERRN Autumn Seminar

2010-09-26T18:08:00.011+01:00

As no-one from college was available to attend the FERRN seminar I agreed to share some notes from the day.

As always, with FERRN events it was a great day, with a mixture of research, theory and practice. As a FERRN member, Stevenson staff can attend the seminar for free, and I would really encourage you to attend these events in the future.

The focus of this event was 'leaner engagement'. Although there have been plenty of events nationally and locally on leaner engagement, very little attention has been given to the theory and research - what does it all mean?

The first presentation was given by Cathy Walsh, Principal of Barking and Dagenham College. Cathy came over as someone who genuinely wanted to connect with staff and students, and believed in the importance of creating an innovative and creative culture within the college.

She discussed the problems of a 'command and control' approach to leadership in colleges, and the dangers in constantly restructuring. She focused on the importance of fostering excellence, working together, being positive role models and creating a college which was 'good enough for our own'. Often this can be a good bench-mark for evaluation. Is this service, resource, learning and teaching good enough for our own children, family or friends?

Cathy also discussed the current economic climate, and the importance of real work opportunities for students. She gave examples of how students have been involved in designing and promoting aspects of the college, and the ways that links with employers have been developed over the past few years. Of particular interest was the Enterprise Academy that is run by students , who tender for jobs within the college.

Cathy particularly emphasised the importance of the different roles within the college. She discussed the crucial role played by admission and support staff: the people who often make initial contact with learners. The key message being that we won't engage learners if we don't welcome them into the college and make them feel valued.

Similar to other advocates of learner engagement, Cathy was keen to stress that we need to go beyond representation, and really equip tutors, teachers, lecturers with the skills to help learners learn. She discussed the learner engagement team, the coaching system for staff, study support and the personalised learner support service as some of the initiatives which help develop learner confidence and skills. One of the key developments for tutors has been training in motivational dialogues: identifying goals and risks, exploring ambivalence, setting targets, and maintaining behavioural change.

When asked about managing change with staff, Cathy talked about the need to be open and transparent. She felt it was essential to be engage in dialogue with staff about the issues that were of concern, and to involve staff in creating solutions. She did admit that there were times when staff did not like what she had to say, but respected her honesty. She felt it was important for senior staff to be visible within the college, and ensured that during the induction period senior staff were around , visiting the canteen, talking to students and generally there to welcome students.

Cathy's presentation was followed by Anne Gillen, Research Manager at Adam Smith College, who gave some feedback on the research Holding Up The Mirror: behaviours that impede good tutor-student relations. This was the outcome of a study completed by five Scottish colleges, including Stevenson.

The research findings were really interesting and gave rise to quite a debate. I think we: Stevenson, Scotland's Colleges and FERRN need to give some consideration to how we can best use the information, but I've no doubt that both staff and students will be interested in each others' perceptions. I'll give out the completed findings at an EDDG meeting and also to Carole for further dissemination, but for now here's some to ponder:

Learner Perception of Tutor Behaviour - Irritating Behaviours

1. Talks too much/too long
2. Assumes we already know things we don't know
3. Treats students differently (has favourites/picks on individuals)
4. Is patronising or condescending
5. Doesn't give clear information about course/unit requirements

Tutor Perceptions of Learner Behaviour - Irritating Behaviours

1. Has poor or irregular attendance
2. Expects to gain unit without putting effort into developing skills/knowledge
3. Disrupts teaching (e.g. chatting/laughing)
4. Is rude or disrespectful towards me or fellow students
5. Comes unprepared to class (e.g. without pen/folder/kit)

The research also covered helpful behaviours, which we can focus on at a later date...

The morning was drawn to a close by Professor Terry Mayes, who was examining the theoretical underpinnings of learner engagement. He explored the difference between learner engagement (the willingness to enter into a joint enterprise) and learner empowerment (the capacity and skills to take advantage of engagement).

Professor Mayes critically examined different models of learning, seeing this as key to learner engagement. In particular he examined learning cycles (of which there are many), drawing attention to cognitive, associative and situative perspectives. Interestingly he discussed the painfulness of learning, and our tendency as teachers to forget what it is like to learn something new: the affect gap. He drew our attention to the work of Vygotsky, Wenger and Michelene Chi who is currently doing a lot of work around tutoring. Her findings will be of little to surprise to those working in FE: learners learn best from observing other learners learn; tutors need to scaffold learning; tutors need to go in at the right level ; need to develop communities of practice which encourage peer learning, peer tutoring and peer assessment.

Some strategies identified for promoting learner engagement included giving more control over the learning through project and resource based work and the use of discussion. Professor Mayes also discussed developing communities of practice, focusing on tasks, formative assessment and giving frequent feedback. He emphasised the personalisation of learning and teaching, through content being downplayed, except where the content has been created by learners. Again, I don't think there are any surprises here, but it's good to know this is in keeping with CfE and the topics we have discussed in previous EDDG meetings.

Further useful websites mentioned were http://www.reap.ac.uk/ and http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/

Please get in touch if you want to know more about the FERRN seminar and I look forward to seeing you at the next EDDG meeting.

Karen

Science Festival

2010-09-23T13:31:00.002+01:00

Hi Folks

Aileen Duffy from Scotland's Colleges recommended this festival: http://www.southwestconferences.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Science-and-pseudoscience-2010-flyer.pdf.

She went last year, with a couple of psychology students and said it was excellent. Perhaps a couple of students could go and give a presentation to the class, or groups of interested students. I think it's a good way we can broaden and deepen students' learning in a meaningful and interesting way.

Let me know what you think, and better still if anyone goes, write something for the blog.

Karen

Don't miss the FERRN autumn seminar, 24 September 2010

2010-09-02T12:46:00.004+01:00

Venue: WEST LOTHIAN COLLEGE, ALMONDVALE CRESCENT, LIVINGSTON, EH54 7EP

Theme: Learner engagement

Agenda
09:30 Coffee & Registration
09:50 Introduction & Welcome
10:00 Learner Engagement in Barking and Dagenham College: what we have learned
Cathy Walsh, Principal, Barking and Dagenham College
11:00 Coffee
11:15 Holding up the Mirror: behaviours that impede good tutor-student relationships.
Outcomes of a study involving five Scottish colleges
Anne Gillen, Research Manager, Adam Smith College

12:00 Lunch

12:50 Learner Engagement: theoretical underpinnings
Speaker to be confirmed
13:30 Workshop 1: sparqs presenter
This highly participative and reflective workshop will explore various definitions, outcomes and tools of student engagement in quality. It will allow participants to consider individual, college and sector-level practice in student engagement and identify potential research areas.

or

Workshop 2: Karen Lawson, Scotland’s Colleges
Anne Gillen, Adam Smith College
In this workshop, we will share some of the new approaches we have tried to help learners make their voices heard. We hope you will share yours too.
14:30 Workshops 1 and 2 will be repeated, giving delegates an opportunity to attend both.
15:30 Close

For more information or to register your
place please email: leahchristie@adamsmith.ac.uk
or phone 01592 223845

Project-based learning and unit integration

2010-06-18T13:45:00.005+01:00

In the last edition of Illuminating Practice (Issue 06 – June 2010), Colin Thomson, a computing lecturer from the Creative Industries faculty, wrote a very interesting piece on the development work that he has been doing on a HN course to create a project-based learning experience for students which also integrates the content of two units.

Just to remind folk, the objectives of Colin’s development work with these units were:

- to make the combined units project-based
- to make the project very hands-on encourage skill of hand
- to encourage the students to do research
- to develop skills for analysing information and synthesising solutions
- to place the emphasis on the students learning rather than on the teaching
- to use real hardware rather than a virtual environment because real-world networks are made up from real computers not virtual computers.
- to make the units CfE ready.

What follows is a follow-up to that piece. In this post-script Colin outlines some of the tangible benefits of the approach while still making the crucial point that such developments require a significant commitment in terms of time and hard work.

There is also a link at the end of the piece to a phlog (which I had never even heard of when I came in this morning) which provides more thoughts (in audio) on this …

------------------------------------------

Post-script to article in Illuminating Practice on Microsoft and Unit-Integration by Colin Thomson.

The outcome of unit integration and a project–based approach was that retention and achievement were greatly improved.

It was the case that for a number of the students the approach I used came as a culture shock, but most of them agreed by the end of the course that it was a better way of doing things because they got the hands-on experience and a substantial amount of practice in problem solving and troubleshooting.

They also grudgingly admitted that making them responsible for learning rather than passively sitting at their desks expecting me to pour Information from a PowerPoint into their ears meant that in the end they learnt a lot more. One student in the group who did both units last year the traditional way, failed and repeated them this year, came and told me that he found the way we did it this year a big improvement.

There was a knock-on to the Graded Unit. Because of the experience the students gained from the two integrated units they took to the Graded Unit like ducks to water, which has led to a substantial increase in the overall quality of the Graded Unit this year. This I admit was something I hadn't expected but with the benefit of hindsight makes perfect sense.

Had it not been for the fact that the HNC Networking is being dropped my next step would have been to integrate yet another unit to create a three-module, five-credit Window networking unit that broke down completely the artificial barriers between the Windows networking modules.

The proof of the pud is in the results. We lost a lot of students in the first semester from the August starts due to issues to do with staff sickness and lack of suitable cover, now resolved, so that the haemorrhaging of students from that group stopped. We retained virtually all of the January starts. All of the students that we kept achieved the units. The results from the Graded Unit are also greatly improved and I think all of the students will pass that too. I have a few more to mark.

I regret that I won't have the chance to integrate all three units and to push the process even further forward.

I think that CfE is nothing new, just a return to the way I was taught 50 years ago. Nonetheless it is the way forward and I would recommend the integrated, learner-centred, hands-on approach to anyone with the stamina to take it on, but on the understanding that appropriate support from management was forthcoming.

The phlog that I recorded for Scotland's Colleges is now beginning to attract some interest. It will be interesting to see what comments that brings in.

As a final note don't forget it was Debbie Meharg who first gave me the idea. Had she not done so, it might never have happened

Click here to go to Colin's phlog.

Curriculum for Excellence - Building the Curriclum 3

2010-05-26T12:47:00.007+01:00

I've used the site http://www.wordle.net/ to create the following word cloud from the Curriculum for Excellence document "Building the Curriculum 3: A framework for learning and teaching".

Review of EDDG discusson on Curriculum for Excellence

2010-04-30T10:40:00.002+01:00

Thanks to everyone who made it yesterday for our discussion on the Curriculum for Excellence. It was great to see so many staff attending. There was also a healthy mix of staff areas/roles represented: Student Support; Student Guild; Quality; Curriculum Planning; HE articulation; Scotlands’ Colleges; and, of course, teaching staff from a variety of areas.

The discussion was focused on the values, purposes, and implementation issues associated with the Curriculum for Excellence.

Our discussion was framed by the ideas explored by Mark Priestley in the abridged version of his article which I circulated prior to the meeting (and can be read in the post below. Mark has since sent me a more extended version of that article which I have also circulated by email).

Mark is a former secondary school teacher and currently a lecturer at the University of Stirling. He has a particular interest and research experience in the area of curricular change.

Mark himself attended the discussion and provided an overview of what he regarded as some of the challenges (and indeed possible solutions) regarding the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). After this, we opened up into a more general discussion in which we drew upon Mark’s expertise in this area.

In his overview Mark discussed his experiences and ideas about the evolution of the CfE. In essence, he argued that the founding principles and purposes of CfE are sound and should be embraced. However, he perceives that problems have arisen in the perception and implementation of CfE.

One of the positive potentials of the CfE is, according to Mark, that it repositions teachers as professionals with autonomy over what and how they teach.

However, the reality, all too often, is that educational institutes have reacted to the CfE on a cosmetic level in order to be compliant with the myriad of curricular documents and outcomes associated with CfE.

Mark identified three issues which he regards stunt the healthy development of the CfE in educational institutions:

1. The widespread focus and preoccupation on outcomes and levels runs against the grain of the CfE principles. CfE principles focus on the process, as much as the product, of learning.
2. The perception that CfE is more concerned with skills than content. Mark points out that this is not the case, but the perception itself is damaging and prohibits meaningful engagement with CfE.
3. The fact that CfE is fundamentally about teaching methodology. This relates to the first point about the process. CfE is about how we teach as much as what we teach. This is not often recognized.

In order to avoid a situation where institutions merely comply with the language of CfE, Mark argues that institutions should take the opportunity to take control and develop the curriculum that is right for their learners and the values of their institution. This, of course, takes a degree of bravery and creativity at various levels within organizations – not least at the executive levels.

So, in suggesting a way forward, Mark finished his overview by proposing that the following points be explored by institutions that wish to engage meaningfully with the CfE:

1. There is a need to go back to basics and start with the big picture. Fundamental questions about the purpose of education, roles of staff and the college need to be addressed.
2. Institutions need to ask questions about the kind of content they want in their curriculum and how that content will be taught.
3. Institutions also need to look at the cultural and structural barriers to change.

Mark was positive about existing practice in colleges which, in many ways, allows for the meaningful implementation of the CfE.

After Mark’s overview a more general discussion ensued. A number of points were made:

The role of assessment came up. There were questions and concerns about how we could/would change as an institution when a lot of what we do is so (summative) assessment focused. Teaching practices that are in tune with CfE are often distorted by summative assessment. There was some discussion about the degree of control we have (or don’t) with regarding to assessment arrangements. This related to points about the role and impact of external bodies such as the SQA and HMIe. A lot of what we do is defined by the requirements of external bodies such as these and, so, how they respond to and absorb the value and principles of CfE is crucial. There was some concern about how closely such bodies are aligned to the core values of CfE.

Points were also made about the changing role of the teacher – a point was raised that teachers, increasingly, it was felt by some, play a social role in their learners’ lives. Of course, it could be argued that one of the principles of the CfE is to make learners more autonomous and more resilient, thus, over time, negating the need for teachers to play this social role.

Finally, it was generally agreed that change needs to be supported and planned and the role of strong, consultative and creative leadership is crucial in this.

If anyone would like to make any comments coming out of this, please use the comment function below. If you’re not quite sure how to do that, but would still like to make a contribution just email me and I’ll pop it up for you on the blog.

This is, as I see it, not the end but the beginning of our discussions on Curriculum for Excellence and its impact on the College.

Yesterday's discussion provided us with the opportunity to, at least, start to imagine the kind of questions we should be asking.

[Click here for more information on Mark’s background and research interests.]

Curriculum for Excellence – an opportunity to enhance practice?

2010-04-21T15:38:00.006+01:00

(What follows is a summarised and adapted account of some of the issues raised in University of Stirling's Mark Priestley’s paper ‘Realist Social Theory and Curriculum Development’, presented at the Laboratory for Educational Theory, 26th January, 2010 , The Stirling Institute of Education)

Policies often represent opportunities to enhance practice, but more often they are forced into contexts where they do not easily fit; the result is a policy that does not work nor meet its original aspirations, becoming mutated as it translates into practice.

Curriculum for Excellence (CfE)

· May transform schools and colleges
· May disappear without a trace as its main concepts come into conflict with entrenched practices · Seamlessly assimilated into schools and colleges, with minor tweaks to existing practices and changes to terminology.

Anecdotal evidence suggest the latter scenario, as the standard approach to CfE is to audit existing practice against the new Outcomes and Experiences, making changes only where they are seen to conflict with the new guidance.

This is, thus, compliance with the new curriculum, rather than a serious engagement with its aspirational spirit.

An alternative view

CfE is a set of ideas or resources which come into contact with existing cultures and practices. It is inevitable that such ideas will mutate as they transmit through the education system and this should be seen as a potentially positive experience; teachers should be creatively mediating policy ideas as they work them to suit their immediate context. Change is brought about through the social interaction of individuals, who are influenced by the following:

· Their prior experiences, knowledge and motivations. The extent to which people can bring creative ideas into practice and share these with others.
· The opportunities and constraints provided by existing culture: the shared ideas, knowledge and values.
· The opportunities and constraints provided by social structures: the power relationships.
Developing capacity
· Empowered and engaged teachers and managers will respond to change creatively from a wide range of repertoires. Disempowered and/or uninformed individuals will respond narrowly, often to avoid risk.
· Cultural and structural barriers to change need to be indentified and addressed. Catalysts to change may be identified and enhanced.

Key ingredients

· Effective leadership
· Access to physical and cognitive resources, including good professional development
· Teacher autonomy and creativity and relationships based upon trust
· Processes for engagement

Key questions we should be asking

· What is the nature of the change initiative?
· What is meant by the four capacities?
· What are we trying to achieve in the light of this change initiative?
· What is the purpose of education?
· What are the values that are integral to colleges?

The Four capacities

· What should a [young] person leaving college be like?
· What skills and attributes should they possess: information literacy, decision-making capacities, the ability to think critically and creatively?

Biesta (2008) identifies 3 broad, overlapping purposes of education: qualification; socialisation; and subjectification (individual growth). In placing an emphasis on qualifications (HMIE, quality frameworks) have we lost sight of the other purposes of education? Should we be focussing more on the latter two dimensions?

Engaging methodologically with the new curriculum

Two dimensions: knowledge and pedagogy.

· What types of knowledge do [young] people need to meet the goals set out in the four capacities?
· What methods are best suited to achieve the four capacities?
· What sort of activities might foster decision-making capacity required of an active citizen?
· How might formative assessment be utilised to develop the sorts of meta-cognitive capacities required for successful learning ?
· How might dialogical learning promote a deep-seated understanding of relevant concepts and content?

Change

· What might impede change?
· What are the barriers to change?
· What are the factors which might facilitate change?
Culture: what existing notions of practice exist in this area, and how these complement and conflict with CfE
Structure: what relationships and systems exist internally and externally that may influence the enactment of new ideas ?
Agency: What new skills are required to engage with the change ? Which individuals are well placed to play major roles in engaging with the change?

Building Capacity

Once teachers are clear about the purposes of CfE and once the terrain for change has been mapped, we need to consider ‘what needs to be done to facilitate engagement with the innovation?'
· Timetabling arrangements
· Setting up work parties
· Designating key staff to take forward initiatives
· Allocating resources
· Providing additional CPD
· Creating networks and other spaces for dialogue
· Altering physical spaces (bringing together previously separate depts.)

At this stage attention should be given to accountability and the Outcomes and Experiences, but these should remain as slaves rather than masters of the main purposes of the change – not the drivers of change. Just doing nothing, or falling back on ‘best practice’ notions, prevents meaningful engagement with change.

All you ever wanted to know...

2010-03-07T10:16:00.007Z

There was plenty of lively debate and discussion at the last two meetings of EDDG. Thanks to everyone who came and contributed, keeping the conversations within the context of ‘professional dialogue’ and avoiding personalisation. It’s often difficult, when we feel passionate about a subject, to keep it professional, and that is why it’s important to relate our discussions to research and evidence based practice. Professional learning embraces conflict and uses that conflict to examine the perceptions and values that underpin our practice, regardless of our role within the college.

Frank Coffield’s article http://eddg.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about.html provided a valuable stimulus in relation to a number of issues. The first issue concerned the role of educational leaders in keeping teaching and learning as the organising principle of the college. This quickly led to a debate around whether senior managers should do some teaching, and more importantly staff’s perception about the role of senior managers. There were varying views on the role of senior managers, with some participants feeling that managers can get out of touch with the realities of preparation, class room management and assessment.

However, there was also some valuable input from other participants about the lobbying aspects of the senior managers’ roles and the conversations that occur between Boards, Principals and other senior managers as to the role of the Funding Council and the need for governments to review how funding is allocated to colleges. This debate was useful for locating the discussion of barriers to effective teaching i.e. too much marking, within the wider policy context.

Perhaps one of the main points that came out of this discussion was the importance of perception and the need to communicate more openly re. roles and responsibilities. Within an institution like a college it is easy to get trapped by the vertical and hortizontal structural barriers, and lose an understanding of different perceptions and rationales. All agreed at both meetings that there should be more opportunities to share understandings, open debate and be creative in creating diverse solutions that keep learning and teaching as the main focus of college life.

The meetings also focussed on Frank Coffield’s conclusion that teachers should openly discuss their teaching methods with students. While participants agreed that in general they shared learning objectives or learning intentions with students, there was very mixed experience of sharing teaching methods with students. While this may be done at the start of the academic session with a new group, it would appear that generally teachers don’t really discuss the methods they are going to use and the rationale for those methods with students. Arguably this lack of engagement makes it hard for students to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching, as perceptions of what is actually going on in the class may differ.

Unsurprisingly the other area of great debate and tension was around assessment and giving feedback. Coffield concurs, with the experience of the group that students value well structured feedback that validates their efforts and aids their progression. Some shared situations, where as learners they had been given poor feedback, which ignored their emotions as learners.
We examined how well we prepare students for learning, and how we take into account their feelings about being a learner.

Some ideas to take forward:

· New learning skills unit of materials and exercises that will support lecturers and tutors in helping developing learning literacy and a sense of responsibility for their own learning. Jerry O’Neill has already begun work on this and is keen for anyone to contribute.

· More participatory cross faculty and cross college events focussing on issues relating to learning and teaching.

· Staff development events that remind us what it is like to be a learner, including the process of being assessed and receiving feedback.

All you ever wanted to know about learning and teaching

2010-02-25T10:13:00.001Z

Just a reminder that there are two EDDG meetings next week: Monday, 1st March, 1.15-2.15 in room 810 and Wednesday 3rd March 12.30-1.30, also in room 810. There will be coffee/tea and biscuits, but please feel free to bring your lunch.

This EDDG meeting will focus on Frank Coffield’s excellent booklet ‘All you ever wanted to know about learning and teaching: but were too cool to ask.’

Some of the issues we could discuss include his conclusions that:

· Senior manager teams (SMTs) firstly have to become educational leaders who are knowledgeable about teaching and learning. Learning should not be another topic for senior management to tackle but the central organising principle of the college.
· Senior managers should teach regularly to emphasise the overriding importance of teaching and learning, and be reminded of the need for time for preparation, reflection and assessment.
· The percentage of the budget should not be spent on staff generally, but on staff who teach.
· If we want to educate our students and not just teach them to pass exams, then they need to be able to exercise critical intelligence. We could provide them with a model of such behaviour by consulting them about their learning experiences, reflecting on their views and then acting appropriately to respond to their constructive criticisms.
· Institute a review of all administrative procedures with the aim of cutting back bureaucracy as much as possible to release more time for learning and teaching.
· Tutors/lecturers should discuss their teaching methods openly with students, and begin a dialogue about their learning and how it could be improved.

Please come along and share your views about any of the above or any issues raised by the Coffield article. There are still copies of the article available in the staff resource base (218) or in the staff room on the 1st floor.

Diet and learning: food for thought ...

2010-02-12T10:45:00.002Z

Last week I sent out an email about some thoughts and concerns I have about our roles and responsibility in terms of the health and well-being of our learners. I received several responses to that email.

What follows is a copy of my original email and, below that, a copy of the responses (this is the interesting bit). I've added a few links for further reading below the staff comments.

I've kept the comments anonymous. If you'd like to add to the discussion, please use the click on "comment" at the end of this post and have your say (if you are not sure how to leave a comment on the blog, get in touch with me and I'll show you in person):

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Text of email sent to teaching staff: 05 Feb 2010

Hi

The other morning my students settled down to tackle a demanding practice reading assessment.

Before they started (at around 10 am) I asked them to jot down on the top of their scripts what they had eaten since they got up. This is a list of what they ate and drank:

· Can of Iron Bru and packet of pickled onion

· Glass of milk, orange, banana

· One piece of toast, banana lucozade, and bottle of water

· Cup of coffee, muesli, 2 bits of chewing gum, can of Iron Bru and 2 ½ cigarettes (smoked, not eaten)

· Half packet of skittles, half packet of Mexican Chilli crisps, half can of Iron Bru

· Toast, ham sandwich, Iron Bru, not chocolate

· Galaxy bar, Dairy Milk

· Bran Flakes, banana, toast

· 2 pieces of dry toast, glass of blackcurrant juice, cheese and onion crisps

· Mini Ritz Crackers, half can of coke, chewy vitamin C’s

· Grapes, Crème Egg,

· Crème Egg, can of coke

· English Muffins, cookies, Easter Egg, Crème Egg, milk, coke

· Bran Flakes with sultanas, coffee

We’ve all heard the sometimes slightly sanctimonious, but nonetheless sound, arguments and evidence which links a healthy diet to more effective learning. Schools have addressed this issue. The Curriculum for Excellence, rightly, sees “Health and Well Being” as a core component of the learning experience of tomorrow’s students. And if that's not enough, Jamie Oliver shouts at us from the telly that "good food = good learning is bleedin' obvious - in'it".

So how do we, at Stevenson, measure up to these developments in education?

What is interesting, and possibly disturbing, about my student’s list is that most of the junk food was bought in vending machines at the college. Many students arrive here in the morning without breakfast and rush to get something to eat before class. Is this something we need to address?

Jerry
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Jerry O’Neill
Teacher Fellow

ps. There is a touch of hypocrisy creeping in here … although I had porridge for breakfast, I wrote this whilst munching on some chocolate sweets which someone had kindly deposited near my desk … but then hypocrisy always tastes good.

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Responses from staff to email:

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Absolutely , Jerry. I’m on the catering committee… And am happy to take this up with them. Not sure if the vending machines belong to them though or if they are a college piece of kit. I’ll try to find out.

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I think so. All day breakfasts should be cheaper.

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I think it is up to them -they are all adults

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No surprise to me – l have asked similar questions to my students in the past.

I would also add we should make fresh drinking water much more readily available . When BS was based at Napier we had water coolers outside classrooms

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Thanks for this – really interesting for me as both health professional and tutor.
Given that you collected this information prior to an assessment – is there any pattern or correlation in results?
Whilst a great deal of junk food was consumed it might have provided a good sugar rush for the brain in some cases – would be interesting to see if there were any links.
You’re right of course hypocrisy does indeed taste good, but not as good as the bag or crisps I’ve just scoffed.

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Damn it Jerry ... you are so bloody mellifluous

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definitely think so plus same problem with how many hours sleep they have had although that is in their hands.

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Very interesting reading.

[We] are piloting a course called Fit for Life .... where we try to make our students aware of the benefits of healthy eating to promote physical AND mental well being. Not sure we are winning though!

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We’ll be wiping their a***s next……………………………

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… Aramark COULD turn off the vending machines until morning break and serve healthy breakfasts until then BUT where would that leave their profits?

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Yes we should address this

My ultimate goal is to have an hour of Physical activity timetabled for all student and staff

Don’t want to list all the benefits in terms of: cross college communication, role models, health benefits, community involvement/feeling, …

...........................................................

Just had a packet of cheese and onion McCoys and a chocolate Twirl myself – now feel slightly dirty

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This is something I have felt concerned about for ages. Isn't it an abrogation of the College's duty of care towards the school students and young people we teach, that we sell rubbish to them when they are in the College buildings? Shouldn't we be setting an example (not a dig at you Gerry. You eat your chocolate) by making sure only nutritious and cheap food is available?

Fizzy sweet drinks make people more thirsty, send them on the way to type 2 diabetes, as well as obesity. They compromise their immune systems and are highly addictive to boot. We don't sell heroin on grounds that people like it, it makes a profit and people can make up their own minds what they put into their bodies. Shouldn't we at least not provide this stuff. People would be free to bring it into the College (not heroin), but we shouldn't be selling it.

Your list makes frightening reading. ... [A]n ex teacher at Stevenson, died recently. It was mentioned at her funeral that she took matters into her own hands and used to organise a breakfast club for her art students. It helped them concentrate and ensured one good meal in their day. Pressures of work make that unrealistic for today's lecturers but could the College not run something?

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I do healthy living with ACE students and share your views - if you want to start a campaign for healthy food in the college count me in!

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When I was teaching in Canada, one of the English teachers organised a breakfast club (which she attended) for her class. Canteen were up for it, and many students got a decent start to their day. I think everyone was to be in by 8.30am. She may even have got funding for this (in the good old days.)

...........................................................

I agree. We ... talked about this last year, Most of our NC students don’t eat a decent breakfast which most definitely has a bearing on their performance in class. They seem to depend on bottles of energy drinks top get them through the day. This no doubt has an effect on classroom behaviour and therefore retention.

If we could initially support the younger students in this way, educating them on diet, then it would over a period of time filter through the entire student population, maybe even to some of the staff!

Sadly our canteen is a commercial enterprise, I think It would be difficult for them to see this our way and clear out the crap from their shelves.

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Yes, but how did each do in the assessment?

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We used to run a breakfast club for our young CPC group – funding was from ESF pot which, of course, ran out. We tried to keep it going but it was too expensive.

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I cannot understand why the college allows such rubbish to be sold. Ban the fizzy drinks and crisps for a start. I was at a meeting in the college some time ago with representatives from local schools and was asked what arrangements the college made for those school kids who had to take Ritalin over the course of the day … We know that all this crap that they eat and drink contributes to concentration and behaviour problems (not to mention health difficulties) so why do the college allow it in the door? Well we know why ………………………

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... This has been a worry for me with my INT 2 class for some time. I have printed out the list you sent and am going to think about how I use it. I have TALKED to them about the importance of breakfast blah blah, but am at a loss about how to change things which are so personal and ingrained and unquestioned and comforting… a tough nut to crack.
I had muesli and am feeling smug. Though I had a lovely square of chocolate to help me to get to bed last night.

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Interesting Jerry – I think I’ll conduct a similar survey prior to an assessment on Friday.

If we are going to take it forward re vending machines and healthy eating perhaps a college wide survey of classes on a given day would be interesting – I wonder if students eat differently prior to exams/assessments?

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... there was one laddie here recently who bought four bottles of lucozade each morning, a fiver at todays prices and that sustained him all day!

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I don't think it's our job to be telling students what they should be eating. They all look healthy to me.

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Do you know how much does a banana cost in the refectory?

45p, almost as much as a chocolate bar. No wonder that students prefer to buy chocolate bars than fruit in College.

End of staff comments

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And here's more for you to digest ....

Edinburgh University research on teenagers and breakfast

banana or kit-kat?

http://www.mind.org.uk/foodandmood/food_and_mood-the_mind_guide

http://www.dascot.org/depression/treatment/food.php

young people's perception and experiences of college.

2010-02-08T16:15:00.016Z

Today I attended a SFC event on more choices, more chances at the City Chambers. This was an excellent event that give an opportunity to disseminate and discuss the current research findings on young people's perception and experiences of college.

The presentation from the event is available to download from this link.

What was interesting about this, was that the young people had carried out the research, after undergoing training and support. The research had been carried out by 35 researchers with 45 focus groups covering a wide range of programmes.

The research findings focused on 3 main areas: attraction, recruitment and retainment.

Attraction: the main attraction to college was the perception that it wasn't like school. It was felt to be less strict , you could have a laugh, make news friends, and get to do something you wanted to do. 83% of young people felt that college was better than they expected it to be.

However, the generic information that was available, via websites, careers offices etc. wasn't particularly good or helpful. 82% of young people felt that there should be more information about colleges available at school, particularly around range of courses, course content and financial support.

The main reasons that young people went to college was to get a job and a qualification, but there were a significant number who just didn't have anything else do do.

Suggested actions: colleges should be actively promoted through schools. This could be through 'college week' events, students from colleges going into to talk about college life, 'inspiring lecturers' going into schools, tasters on a range of subjects in college and in school. They also felt that a self-assessment questionnaire focusing on career choices would be really helpful prior to a careers or college course interview.

It was also recognised that many young people drop out of school early on, and need to be visited so that college options can be discussed. A personalised approach was seen a crucial for encouraging and motivating many young people.

Interestingly there was some discussion around colleges combining to create a 'make something of your life campaign'. There was a strong feeling that colleges should be promoting themselves collectively rather than investing heavily in individual marketing sections. Could savings be made this way ?

Recruitment: it was felt that many young people did not make informed choices about college courses. They had a very limited understanding, often applied late and therefore didn't actually get to do the course they wanted.

Barriers for young people included being lazy/couldn't be bothered, money problems, distance to travel, lack of confidence, looking after children, and a lack of motivation. It was recognised that some young people did not want to engage, and had got caught in a lifestyle dominated by TV, computer games and unmotivated friends. However, it was also recognised that maturity can come over time, and boredom, parental influence and friends can have a positive effect. For some people, having children was an incentive to get an education and a job.

There were particular difficulties around money, with an emphasis on not knowing what financial support you were entitled to, administrative problems, and a feeling that you would be better off receiving benefits.

For those who were interviewed early on , potential barriers were picked up quickly
and young people felt supported.

Recruitment could be improved by: knowing the options, more support throughout the application process, ensuring transport is not a barrier, better induction, opportunities to meet classmates and lecturers.

There should be more bridging opportunities between school and college (stepping stones) with some pre-course sessions, perhaps during the summer holidays, and pre-course team-building . It was also recognised that relationships needed to be built with the variety of agencies who support young people.

Retention: 40% of students considered dropping out due to boredom, no work to do, too easy, too repetitive, didn't enjoy the subject, the format didn't meet their expectations, financial difficulties, personal problems and they couldn't make friends.

One of the main reason young people stayed was their relationship with 'good' lecturers: enthusiastic, passionate, friendly, fun, could explain things in a different way, good at listening, didn't talk down to you, obviously loved their job. Young people felt involved in classes where there was practical work, banter, and where a variety of teaching methods were used, including group work and individual work. They didn't like being given the answers, work that wasn't challenging and lectures.

Another reason for staying was related to building and maintaining friendships. Positive group dynamics and friendship groups helped young people feel secure, while not being able to make friends, or falling out with people led to dropping out.

93% of young people felt that they knew where to go to get help, though it was recognised that support was given by a variety of formal and informal networks. The most important aspect of the support, was that the person should be approachable and easy to talk to.

To improve retention the young people identified the importance of using a self-assessment questionnaire at the beginning of the course, to identify any barriers to learning. This would enable support to be put in early on, while regular review meetings would give individual attention to the young person's progress. The use of peer support was regarded as crucial in improving retention.

Many issues were raised by this research, with some interesting and thought provoking suggestions being made by young people. Should there be a probationary period for lecturers new to teaching in colleges ? Should young people be involved in the recruitment of lecturers ? What kind of support do lecturers need to work effectively with young people ? What kind of CPD do lecturing staff need ?

The current thinking around the senior phase of Curriculum for Excellence suggests that we need to we need to take a holistic approach to teaching young people. Look out for Jerry's blog entry relating to Health and Well-being and 'food for thought' , coming soon.

All You ever wanted to know about learning and teaching but were too cool to ask.

2010-02-02T15:43:00.002Z

Hi all

The next EDDG meetings will take place Monday 1st March, 1.15-2.15, and Wednesday 3rd March, 12.30-1.30. Both meetings will be in room 810.

The discussion will focus on Frank Coffield’s recent booklet ‘All you ever wanted to know about learning and teaching, but were too cool to ask’. In this booklet he offers students some of the latest thinking on learning to help them become better learners, while the learners offer some practical and constructive recommendations to improve teaching. This is a follow-up to his last publication ‘Just supposing teaching and learning were to become the first priority’, which we discussed at EDDG in September 2008.

This recent booklet is in 2 parts. In the first part he talks directly to students about learning and teaching, while in the second part he draws from students’ experiences to offer some insights and advice. He also outlines, in summary form, what he thinks governments, Senior Management Teams (SMT’s) and lecturers could do to ensure that teaching and learning remain a first priority. A copy of these summaries will be posted on the wall of the staff room and the resource base in 218.

For the purposes of the EDDG discussion, it may be as well to focus on the second part of the booklet which focuses on the role of teachers, tutors and senior managers.

Review of EDDG meeting on classroom technology

2010-01-27T21:25:00.002Z

We had two interesting discussions on technology and colleagues shared their views and experiences. Everyone agreed that there has been an exponential growth in educational technology and that this made it hard to keep ahead of. There was also a general consensus that no one technology 'model' suited all teaching situations and this was best decided by each lecturer who could make the best choice depending on their subject and student group.

The concerns discussed centred around what to do when technology lets you down; finding time and space to develop and familiarise oneself with new technologies; and a lack of college support and strategies. With regards to the latter it was felt that a robust and clear College strategy and vision was required in order to drive technology forward. The VLE seems to be working well in certain sections and not used at all in others, people seemed keen to find out how it was being used by others in order to contextualise it for themselves.

Probably the most heartening aspect of the two discussions were that feedback indicates that in no way did our students see technology as a replacement for lecturers but rather to enhance and support the learning and teaching. So I think the message has to be that NO - the lecturer is not dead yet!

For help with many of our existing college technologies and some web 2.0 tools we would urge you to have a look at the workshops and drop-ins organised for the next staff development day on Wednesday 17th February, or contact any of the Teacher Fellows - Karen Lawson, Jerry O'Neill or Carole Paterson. Alternatively drop into the staff resource room beside the Library where you can usually find one or more of us.

The Lecturer is Dead; long live Web 2.0 and the VLE!

2010-01-11T09:41:00.004Z

Hi and a Happy New Year to all.

The next meetings of the Educational Development Discussion Group (EDDG) will be taking place on Friday 15th January at 1.00pm and on Wednesday 20th January at 12.15pm. Both meetings will be held in the Enterprise Centre in Suite 3 (Friday) and Suite 4 (Wednesday).

Just a reminder that EDDG is an open forum for staff to meet and discuss issues associated with the practice and research of learning and teaching.

For our next meetings we have chosen the theme of:

‘The Lecturer is dead; long live WEB 2.0 and the VLE!’

Educational technology tools are being invented on what seems like a daily basis and will probably be developed even faster in the future. However…..

· Can we learn how to use them all effectively?
· Do we want to?
· Are our students desperate for these new technologies to be used in class?
· Is training to use these various tools the answer?
· Is the technology to entertain our students or to enhance learning and teaching?
· Are we frightened of looking stupid in front of our students?

Research carried out by BECTA in England seems to suggest that there is strong evidence linking the use of technology to improvements in learning and outcomes for learning. Educational establishments that are opting for a systematic, premeditated approach to the use of technology supporting the learning are achieving better outcomes. Other findings suggest that students don’t want lecturers replaced by technology and that young people are not as highly skilled in the use of technology as we expect them to be. You may want to have a look at the publication that I have attached below from BECTA – ‘Evidence on the impact of technology on learning and educational outcomes’. Although it was based upon research carried out mainly within secondary schools it still has interest and meaning for FE.

I hope we can look forward to lively discussions based around this topic and tea and coffee will be available. If you are aware of any other articles that would be of interest please e mail them to me in advance or you could post them to our EDDG blog @ http://mail.stevenson.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://eddg.blogspot.com/

Finally I’ll leave you with this quote:

‘The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are undistinguishable from it.’
Weiser, M. (1991): The Computer for the 21st Century

Click on the following to access the BECTA report on Evidence on the impact of technology on learning and educational outcomes

BECTA is a UK-wide organisation with responsibility for supporting the effective use of technology in learning. Click here to find out more about them.

Review of EDDG discussions on HMIe

2009-11-26T21:54:00.004Z

We had two frank and interesting discussions this week on our recent HMIe experience.

We started the discussions by acknowledging some of the broader points made in Norman Lucas’s piece which highlighted concerns about the distorting influence of external inspections in further education (see EDDG blog post “HMIe: How was it for you?” 17 Nov 2009)

At Monday’s meeting Fiona Gunn gave a brief overview of the feedback from the HMIe. Their general message was that there are no major concerns and that we are doing good work. However, they did not feel that there was anything particularly innovative in what they witnessed in terms of learning and teaching.

On Thursday Jordi Pitarch-Marquino came along to talk about his experiences of being observed. He said that, as a languages lecturer, he was quite used to being observed, so the experience wasn’t too daunting. The inspector stayed with him for about an hour and they had an extensive discussion afterwards. Jordi found the inspector to be courteous and genuinely interested in his teaching.

However, one of the points that came out of the discussion was that Jordi’s experience was not by any means consistent across all observations: some people had no “professional dialogue” after the observation; in other observations the inspector didn’t stay quite so long; and, finally, the post-lesson “profession dialogue”, for others, focussed less on learning and teaching and more on the college culture.

I put quotation marks around “professional dialogue” as some lecturers felt that it was more like an interview than a dialogue.

The discussions highlighted some concerns about the validity and usefulness of the process and, in some instances, the lack of credibility in some of the HMIe team. The point was made that it is important for the inspectors to have current knowledge of the subject area and teaching in order for our teaching staff to enter into a meaningful dialogue.

One or two people suggested that the subject-specific reviews (the subject aspect reviews as they’re called) have more credibility with college staff. However, it is also important that the inspectors involved with that process are seen to have relevant and up-to-date skills and experience in the subject area.

Some people felt that there was a sense of the review being more of a “lighter touch”. In fact, there was some concern that the inspectors didn’t give the staff that they met at various meetings the opportunity to talk about examples of innovative developments and effective teaching methods in their area. On a related point there was a comment made that the inspection lacked rigour.

However, some people felt that the inspectors that they talked to were approachable and willing to listen.

Quite a number of people talked about HMIe inspectors asking frank questions about the culture, governance and leadership of the college. These discussions, it was reported, were frank and open. There was some concern that the content of these discussions were diluted in the initial oral feedback from the inspectors. It was pointed out that some staff made some brave comments to the HMIe at various meetings on this issue. The point was made that staff would have little trust or respect of the inspection process, and of HMIe in particular, if such comments were ignored or lost in ambiguous language of any future report.

It was noted that HMIe seemed to be interested in the role that individual staff play in the development of college-wide strategies, policies and resources. In a sense, this was something very positive to come out of the experience – there is a recognition that the direction of the college needs to be defined by staff and learners through meaningful and continuing processes of engagement.

Linked to that, the inspectors also, it seems, brought up the subject of communication systems within the college. They were interested in how, and how well, we communicate with each other.

There was some discussion about the distorting function of inspections. Most people felt that unannounced HMIe visits would be a good thing. It would be interesting to know what the feeling of all staff is on this. Unannounced visits might offset some of the distortion that, it was suggested, can go on in the weeks and months up to a HMIe inspection. This point tied in well with some of comments made by Lucas in his article.

There was also some chat about who reviews the HMIe and it was claimed that the HMIe have recently stepped back from a process where they had invited tenders to review their own effectiveness.

To conclude, there was a general feeling, by many, that the process was a bit of a “non-event”. There was some disquiet with a snapshot process which evaluates and makes broad judgements and statements on our teaching and the college as a whole.

So, what did we learn? Well, one answer was that we learned a little bit more about how the HMIe inspection process itself. But how does that help our learners or enhance our teaching? I suppose it helps us prepare for future HMIe inspections.

On a more positive note, I think another thing we learned was that HMIe are, rightly, interested in learner and staff engagement in the culture and governance of the college.

But maybe that most important thing we learned, or need to learn, is that we should trust our own professional judgement about what we do. We are probably the most critical of judges of our own practice.

The customer is dead; long live the learner – a reflection on Scotland’s Colleges Next Practice Conference.

2009-11-25T13:34:00.001Z

Scotland’s Colleges held their Next Practice and Innovation annual conference today in Glasgow. It was entitled “Moving on up” and, yes, they had the song to guide and motivate us in and out of the conference hall.

The aim of the conference was to look at the impact of colleges in the community and in the economic spheres.

It was an odd conference in a way as it seemed, on arrival and in the early stages of the day, to be aimed at people working at higher levels of management both within the college context and associated bodies.

There were lots of suits.

A quick glance at the delegate list revealed that there were very few lecturers present. Strange indeed for a conference on “Next Practice” – where were the practitioners?

Anyway, the community bit, which came first, ended up sounding very economic as there was a lot of talk about how colleges can, or should, put an economic measure on their impact on society.

The Principal from Perth College talked about the promotion of Public Value Principles and how these principles have beneficial outcomes for business. These principles, it was claimed, should reflect the core values of colleges. We did ask the question about who had control of defining these principles. However, the answer didn’t quite synchronise with the question.

I have to say that sentences emanating from the platform such as “There are financials associated with values” made me scratch my head and shudder at the same time.

The economic bit of the conference was very employer-focussed and there were lots of references to the “employer voice”.

Government officials popped up at various points to add to the gloom by reminding us that things will get worse in terms of public service funding.

At this stage, to be honest, I was a bit depressed as I thought that the Scotland’s Colleges was, through this conference, reaffirming the primacy of the business model of further education in Scotland. There was little mention of learning – never mind teaching.

Of course, myself and Karen did our best to overturn a cart and gave our perspective on things when we facilitated a round-table discussion on the College’s Learner Engagement project. That, if I say so myself, seemed to go quite well and there may be some other colleges interested in getting involved.

After refreshments, we went back to the conference hall for the keynote speech from Sandy Shugart, President of Valencia Community College in Florida.

We had high hopes that Sandy from the Sunshine State would guide us out of the gloom.

He did not disappoint us.

Sandy started his talk with a song. The gloom started to lift. As he put down his guitar, he seamlessly entered into a discussion about the differences and tensions between institutions which, he claimed, are rooted in modernist ideals and students, who, he argued, inhabit post-modern ideological spaces.

His general point on this was, I think, that the hard edges of institutional thinking and processes is not a good match to the less rationalist perspectives of post-modern learners.

This was interesting, but there was more of interest to come. Sandy talked about the business model of education. “The consumer is dead”, he said and added that it was an “impoverished model of learning”. It was refreshing to hear such thoughts coming from the man in charge of one of the largest and most successful community colleges in America.

This keynote speech, it was turning out, was adopting a very different tone and position to everything else that came before it in the day.

Sandy went on to talk about the importance of students developing their own stories. He talked about the importance, above all else, of the personal and the social dimensions of learning. He argued that institutions are not configured to deal adequately with the highly personalised relationships which represent learning.

Sandy left us with a song and as we headed out into the dark, wet Glasgow evening our spirits had been lifted again by the thought that the consumer may indeed be dead.

Long live the learner!

HMIe: how was it for you?

2009-11-17T11:58:00.005Z

As the HMIe ride off into the sunset to write their report and as we all catch our breaths after last week’s inspection, we felt that we would use the next meeting of EDDG to reflect upon the experience.

Feedback is slowly trickling back from the HMIe and Fiona Gunn will be at the Monday meeting to give us some sense of what will appear in the final report.

However, we are more interested, at EDDG, in our own evaluation of the inspection.

We hope that the discussion will be an open and honest one about people’s experiences and feelings about the process.

It would be helpful for the discussion to have a few people who were observed last week. It would be interesting to hear what it was like for them? What was their evaluation of the observation process?

I suppose the big question is: did we learn anything from the experience?

Below you’ll find an extract from a piece by Norman Lucas, Senior Lecturer in Post-Compulsory Education at University of London’s Institute of Education. His article was part of a wider review of the Further Education sector in England and there are, I believe, general points which are relevant to our context.

In this extract from a longer document, Lucas raises some questions about the purpose and impact of external reviews in FE.

“All inspections alter behaviour yet also have limitations on quality improvements depending upon institutional circumstances. There is also an inherent danger in any nspection system that because inspections are so important, providers model quality improvement on the inspection framework itself. An example is in the preamble to the DfES revision to the CIF (DfES 2004). It states that the proof of the support for the framework is that colleges have adopted it for self-inspection. This may be the case, however, it may equally be true that they have adopted it because that is the framework upon which they are inspected. The problem with all inspection is that it can become rather self-defining and closed, providers tell regulators what they want to hear and the inspectorate inspects their own advice. This can lead to a situation where inspection makes colleges compliant and risk averse. In the present political climate inspection reports are often accepted and used uncritically by policy makers and regulators, and any critical discourse by colleges or others has become synonymous with not being committed to high standards. This is an unhealthy situation; what else do we believe and read without questioning? An open debate and dialogue between inspectors, providers, and the research community would be more productive because it would lead to a shared understanding of best practice, teaching and learning, management and leadership. However perfect an inspection framework any evaluation of quality or what represents ’good practice’ requires a large element of professional judgement. Such judgements are not infallible and often what falls outside of the ‘frame’ of ‘good practice’ can suffer in inspection. In practice open and productive dialogue does take place when Ofsted produce survey or national reports that focus upon the quality of the curriculum and structural issues. For example, the Ofsted (2003) survey on initial teacher education and the recent publications, ‘Why colleges succeed’ and ‘Why colleges fail’ (Ofsted 2004). Such documents have lead to a continuing productive and useful dialogue between the inspectorate and professionals in FE and represent a counterbalance to the focus upon the accountability of individual colleges."

Lucas, N (2005). Foster review of FE think pieces: purpose role and mission: the impact of incentives on College behaviour [online]. Available from: http://www.dius.gov.uk/further_education/fe_reform/future_role_fe_colleges/~/media/publications/I/Impact_of_Incentives_Norman_Lucas1 [Accessed 17 November 2009]

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Some relevant links from the HMIe:

FAQs on new HMIe process: http://www.hmie.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8CEF13C9-6B5A-46A3-B756-334C047A5961/0/FAQsGenericevaluationoflearningandteachingJanuary2009.pdf

HMIe guidelines for new process: http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/publication/eqafsc..pdf

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As always, please feel free to use the comment function on the EDDG blog to have your say ...

creativity and groups

2009-10-26T14:13:00.002Z

Paula Dennis recommends these short video clips.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/video/c/creativityofgroupsdavidweinberger.asp

Working within a project team - some background info

2009-10-15T14:24:00.008+01:00

As part of the theme of teamwork, I have written a short blog below which should help contextualise one of the ways in which we address the important theme of teamwork. I am one of a number of Communication lecturers who teach on the 'Working Within A Project Team' Unit, normally delivered to HN Computing / Interactive Media students. There are three outcomes to this Unit.

Outcome 1: Individually read and evaluate written or graphical information on a team task. In co-operation with others, decide on a course of action for completing the project.

Outcome 2: In co-operation with others, plan, organise and carry out the task.

Outcome 3: Individually, produce a written report reflecting on what has been done and drawing conclusions for the future.

The onus on their learning isn't necessarily on the finished project, but on the process of teamwork. It is my experience having taught this Unit in various forms over the years in different Colleges, that many students don't think they are ever IN a team or group setting and perhaps don't value the role. What does become clear to me as the Unit progresses, are strong personalities within a group. Natural leaders emerge, second in command, the dependable 'doers' and maverick roles become apparent, and the groups are encouraged to overcome barriers and offer solutions. If I had a pound for every student at the start of a Unit like this who has asked 'what has this got to do with Computing' etc, I would be driving a Porsche! What is reassuring is that at the end of the Unit, the vast majority of learners do see the benefit of the Unit and are able to apply their learning to a variety of different situations, whether it be within the workplace or in their further study.

To summarise, the students are introduced to a variety of concepts in this Unit, and we give the students the following advice at the start and throughout the semester -

This is your project and you and your team must manage it.

You will hold various other meetings and decide what tasks need to be done; who will do what; what deadlines you will meet to complete these tasks.

You must schedule in meetings with your team, and keep to the target dates that you and your team agree.

You must individually record details of anything agreed (and make sure you carry out the work).

You will keep a log of the tasks you carry out.

Document everything you do, and why you are doing it.

This will help you write up your report.

You will reflect on your and your team mates' performances at the end of the Unit,

I have attached a selection of slides from the preliminary sessions of this Unit at the top of the blog. If you have any questions or have any suggestions as to how I could improve things, I'm all ears! If you would like a copy of the whole slideshow, normally delivered over two sessions, please e mail me at mhetherington@stevenson.ac.uk and feel free to amend them to suit your style of teaching!

EDDG meetings: 13th and 14th October

2009-10-15T13:28:00.008+01:00

Thanks to all those who attended the EDDG meetings and participated in lively discussions on the the themes of group work and group dynamics. As always, this is a reflection on some of the issues discussed, and not a minute of the meeting. Please feel free to add a comment on your experience of the meeting and your reflections. If you couldn't attend the meetings please add in your comments re group dynamics and working with groups.

We discussed several of the issues around working with different levels of students, particularly within the same class. Some of the challenges would seem to relate to individual behaviour of students, and understanding what that behaviour is about. It is tempting to label such behaviour as 'attention seeking' but perhaps 'attachment seeking would be more appropriate. For more information on attachment theory: Click here
It's important to consider the links between individuals feeling anxious/insecure and their attempts to gain a connection or response from the teacher that will help them feel secure. If the response from the teacher in the group is negative, insecurity and anxiety is increased, and there may a sense of giving up trying to attain a positive response, leading to further increases in anxiety and potential distancing from the group.

There was a great deal of discussion focusing on setting up groups and using a variety of activities and projects to scaffold learning. This was an area that many people expressed an interest in developing more, potentially through some workshops. We also reflected on working with the class as a whole, recognising the differences between formal groups and the dynamics within the everyday classroom experience. Developing a 'working agreement' or contract was seen as essential to promoting a positive experience.

There were some very good examples of learner engagement shared, with some reflection on how our own role and styles of teaching had an impact on the group. Can we encourage students to be more active in the setting up of the classroom ?

A lot of discussion focused on power and how this in demonstrated between
lecturer and students , and of course, between students. This includes the physical environment but also issues around assessment. Can we use peer assessment more ?

It was encouraging that many lecturers regarded working with the whole group as a valuable way to develop the four capacities of curriculum for excellence: Curriculum For Excellence

Of course, all the literature and theories we have discussed are relevant to working in our teams as well as our student groups. Perhaps it's worth reflecting on the roles people play and the stage of development of your team ?

what to look for in groups

2009-10-12T16:08:00.002+01:00

In all human interaction there are two major ingredients – content and process. The first deals with the subject matter or the task upon which the group is working. In most interactions, the focus of attention of all persons is on the content. The second ingredient, process, is concerned with what is happening between and to group members while the group is working.

Group process, or dynamics, deals with such items as morale, feeling
tone, atmosphere, influence, participation, styles of influence, leadership struggles, conflict, competition, cooperation, etc. In most interactions, very little attention is paid to process, even when it is the major cause of ineffective group action. Sensitivity to group process will better enable one to diagnose group problems early and deal with them more effectively. Since these processes are present in all groups, awareness of them will enhance a person’s worth to a group and enable him/her to more be a more effective group participant.

Below are some observation guidelines to help analyze group behaviour.

Participation
One indication of involvement is verbal participation. Look for differences in the amount of participation among members.
1. Who are the high participators?
2. Who are the low participators?
3. Do you see any shift in participation e.g. highs become quiet, lows suddenly become talkative. Do you see any possible reason for this in the group’s interaction?
4. How are the silent people treated? How is their silence interpreted? Consent?
Disagreement? Disinterest? Fear? Etc
5. Who talks to whom? Do you see any reason for this in the group’s interactions?
6. Who keeps the ball rolling? Why? Do you see any reason for this in the group’s
interactions?
Influence
Influence and participation are not the same. Some people may speak very little, yet they capture the attention of the whole group. Others may talk a lot but are generally not listened to by other members.
7. Which members are high in influence? That is, when they talk others seem to listen.
8. Which members are low in influence? Others do not listen to or follow them. Is there
any shifting in influence? Who shifts?
9. Do you see any rivalry in the group? Is there a struggle for leadership? What effect does it have on other group members?
Styles of Influence
Influence can take many forms. It can be positive or negative, it can enlist the support of cooperation of others or alienate them. How a person attempts to influence another may be the crucial factor in determining how open or closed the other will be toward being influenced.
Items 10 through 13 are suggestive of four styles that frequently emerge in
groups.
10. Autocratic: Does anyone attempt to impose his will or values on other group
members or try to push them to support his decisions? Who evaluates or passes
judgement on other group members? Do any members block action when it is not
moving the direction they desire? Who pushes to ‘get the group organised’?
11. Peacemaker: Who eagerly supports other group members’ decisions? Does anyone
consistently try to avoid conflict or unpleasant feeling from being expressed by
pouring oil on the troubled waters? Is any member typically deferential toward other
group members – gives them power? Do any members appear to avoid giving
negative feedback ie. Who will level only when they have positive feedback to give?
12. Laissez faire: Are any group members getting attention by their apparent lack of
involvement in the group? Does any group member go along with group decisions
without seeming to commit himself one way or the other? Who seems to be
withdrawn and uninvolved; who does not initiate activity, participates mechanically
and only in response to another member’s question?
13. Democratic: Does anyone try to include everyone in a group decision or discussion?
Who expresses his feelings and opinions openly and directly without evaluation or
judging others? Who appears to be open to feedback and criticisms from others?
When feelings run high and tension mounts, which members attempt to deal with the
conflict in a problem-solving way?
Decision-Making Procedures
Many kinds of decisions are made in groups without considering the effects of these
decisions on other members. Some people try to impose their own decisions on the group,
while others want all members to participate or share the decisions that are made.
14. Does anyone make a decision and carry it out without checking with other group
members? (Self-authorised) For example, he or she decides on the topic to be
discussed and immediately begins to talk about it. What effect does this have on
other group members?
15. Does the group drift from topic to topic? Who topic-jumps? Do you see any reason
for this in the group’s interactions?
11115_What to Look for in Groups.docx
16. Who supports other members’ suggestions or decisions? Does this support result in
the two members deciding the topic or activity for the group (handclasp)? How does
this effect other group members?
17. Is there any evidence of a majority pushing a decision through over other members
objections? Do they call for a vote (majority support)?
18. Is there any attempt to get all members participating in a decision (consensus)? What effect does this seem to have on the group?
19. Does anyone make any contributions which do not receive any kind of response or
recognition (plop)? What effect does this have on the member?
Task Functions
These functions illustrate behaviours that are concerned with getting the job done, or accomplishing the task that the group has before them.
20. Does anyone ask for or make suggestion as to the best way to proceed or to tackle
the problem?
21. Does anyone attempt to summarise what has been covered or what has been going
on in the group?
22. Is there any giving or asking for facts, ideas, opinions, feelings, feedback or
searching for alternatives?
23. Who keeps the group on target? Who prevents topic-jumping or going off on
tangents?
Maintenance Functions
These function are important to the morale of the group. They maintain good and
harmonious working relationships among the members and create a group atmosphere
which enables each member to contribute maximally. They insure smooth and effective
teamwork within the group.
24. Who helps others get into the discussion (gate openers)?
25. Who cuts off other or interrupts them (gate closers)?
26. How well are members getting their ideas across? Are some members preoccupied
and not listening? Are there any attempts by group members to help others clarify
their ideas?
27. How are ideas rejected? How do members react when their ideas are not accepted?
Do members attempt to support others when they reject their ideas?
Group Atmosphere
Something about the way a group works creates an atmosphere which in turn is revealed
in a general impression. In addition, people may differ in the kind of atmosphere they like in a group. Insight can be gained into the atmosphere characteristic of a group by finding words which describe the general impressions held by group members.
28. Who seems to prefer a friendly congenial atmosphere? Is there any attempt to
suppress conflict or unpleasant feelings?
29. Who seems to prefer an atmosphere of conflict and disagreement? Do any members
provoke or annoy others?
30. Do people seem involved and interested? Is the atmosphere one of work, play
satisfaction, taking flight, sluggishness, etc.?
Membership
A major concern for group members is the degree of acceptance or inclusion in the group.
Different patterns of interaction may develop in the group which gives clues to the degree and kind of membership.
31. Is there any sub-grouping? Sometimes two or three members may consistently agree
to support each other or consistently disagree and oppose one another.
32. Do some people seem to be ‘outside’ the group? Do some members seem to be ‘in’?
How are those ‘outside’ treated?
33. Do some members move in and out of the group, eg. Lean forward or backward in
their chairs or move their chairs in and out? Under what conditions do they come in
and out?
Feelings
During any group discussion, feelings are frequently generated by the interactions
between members. These feelings, however, are seldom talked about. Observers may
have to make guesses based on tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and many
other forms of nonverbal cues.
34. What signs of feelings do you observe in group members: anger, irritation, frustration, warmth, affection, excitement, boredom, defensiveness, competitiveness, etc?
35. Do you see any attempts by group members to block the expression of feelings,
particularly negative feelings? How is this done? Does anyone do this consistently?
Norms
Standards or ground rules may develop in a group that control the behaviour of its
members. Norms usually express the beliefs or desires of the majority of the group
members as to what behaviours should or should not take place in the group. These
norms may be clear to all members (explicit), known or sensed by only a few (implicit), or operating completely below the level of awareness of any group members. Some norms facilitate group progress and some hinder it.
36. Are certain areas avoided in the group (eg. Sex, religion, talk about present feelings in group, discussing the leader’s behaviour, etc.)? Who seems to reinforce this avoidance? How do they do it?
37. Are group members overly nice or polite to each other? Are only positive feelings
expressed? Do members agree with each other too readily? What happens when
members disagree?
38. Do you see norms operating about participation or the kinds of questions that are
allowed (eg. “If I talk, you must talk”; “If I tell my problems you have to tell you
problems”)? Do members feel free to probe each other about their feelings? Do
questions tend to be restricted to intellectual topics or events outside of the group?

The nature of groups

2009-09-28T11:07:00.002+01:00

Groups

The nature of groups:

“ The misconception which has haunted philosophic literature throughout the centuries is the notion of independent existence. There is no such mode of existence. Every entity is only to be understood in terms of the way it is interwoven with the rest of the universe.”

(A.N. Whitehead, quoted in Hughes 1980:32)

While each individual exerts control over his or her life, we have to acknowledge that the individual has been formed and shaped by group interaction and the “complex matrix of social groupings past and present, which serve to maintain…a state of personal equilibrium. “ (Douglas: 1986)

We are all shaped, and continue to be shaped by groups. From birth to death we are members of complex systems of groups, which continue to influence us throughout our lives. This is particularly true of the family which exerts wide reaching influence on us, (no matter where we are), mainly because of our dependent state in early years.

For most of the time, we probably don’t pay too much attention to understanding groups, or group processes. It’s only when things go wrong: when a group feels really difficult to be in; behaviours seem inexplicable; when we go into a class feeling apprehensive, and leave feeling even worse, that it’s worth really trying to understand what happens in groups. If you and your students can understand the process more, then you and your students can make more informed choices about how the group operates.

Students, may well present as balanced individuals, ready to study and engage in the classroom, but anxiety, unfamiliar territory and unpredictability, can create a dynamic leading to dis-equilibrium and a range of puzzling, if not challenging behaviours. The behaviours may well be just as puzzling to the student . We also need to consider our own behaviours and how these impact on the goup.

What may seem to be difficult or puzzling behaviours, can be understood if we apply some of the key theories relating to groups.

1. Group development

Arguably groups go through a developmental cycle. The most popular of theories here is Tuckman’s theory of group development( forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning)

: http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/tuckman.htm

This helps us consider that groups need different approaches from teachers/tutors at different points in their development.

2. Group roles

There are many theories around group roles e.g Belbin , but for lecturers , particular attention needs to focus on a) the task (what you the need to class to learn), b) the maintenance of the group (getting the group to work well together) and c) the individual (behaviours that often seem to be working against the group or the task).

Some of the roles are described by Benne and Sheats below:

• Group task roles. These assume that the task of the group is to select, define and solve common problems. Any group member or the group leader may perform any of these.

 Initiator-contributor
 Information seeker
 Opinion seeker
 Information giver
 Opinion giver
 Elaborator
 Co-ordinator
 Orienter
 Evaluator-critic
 Energiser
 Procedural technician
 Recorder

• Group building and maintenance roles. Activities which build group-centred attitudes or maintain group-centred behaviour.

 Encourager
 Harmoniser
 Compromiser
 Gatekeeper and expeditor
 Standard setter
 Group observer and commentator
 Follower

• Individual role. Directed towards the satisfaction of personal needs (not related to group needs).

 Aggressor
 Blocker
 Recognition-seeker
 Dominator
 Help-seeker
 Special interest pleader

An understanding of group roles can help us work out the balance of roles within a group, and recognise when individuals may feel excluded. Everyone wants to feel included within a group, but past experiences, roles within previous groups, and individual needs may lead to behaviours that are rejected by the group and teacher . If there are several group members with unmet individual needs this may well dominate the class, preventing attainment of the task.

Questions for discussion:

1. Do you recognise a sense of group develoment in your classes, and do you adjust your teaching style accordingly.

2. Do you recognise the different roles taken on in groups ? Are you aware of individual needs dominating at times, and how do you deal with this?

References

Benne, K D and Sheats, P ‘Functional Roles of Group Members’ Journal of Social Issues vol.4, 1948 pp. 41-9

Douglas,T (1986) Group Living. London: Tavistock

Hughes, R (1980) The shock of the New. London: BBC publications.

FERRN meeting

2009-09-28T09:34:00.003+01:00

Here's some notes from the latest FERRN meeting. A couple of recent research and policy papers are included which may be worth discussing at EDDG.

1. The winter seminar will be on the 4th December and the keynote speaker will be John Field, from Stirling university. He has completed a paper on lifelong learning , well-being and happiness, which basically examines whether lifelong learning leads to ‘happiness’. More information on him at http://crll.gcal.ac.uk/staff_details.php?ID=19. Perhaps this could be a discussion topic for EDDG ?
2. In the afternoon we will be examining the issues around ethics and ethical approval for research in colleges. That was in response to raising the issue from our research group.
3. Anne Gillen fedback on a policy report by Tom Schuller: http://www.niace.org.uk/news/learning-through-life and again this may be worth discussing at EDDG
4. This year’s ‘What’s Next ?’ conference, hosted by Scotlands’ Colleges is on Tuesday 24th of November. Anne Gillen really recommended the keynote speaker, saying he was one of the most inspirational speakers she had heard : http://www.sfeu.ac.uk/innovationconference
“The day will end with our Inspirational Speaker and this year we are delighted to welcome Dr. Sanford C. "Sandy" Shugart, president of Valencia Community College, Florida, one of the USA's largest and most celebrated two-year colleges. Valencia is particularly well regarded for its learning centred approach and its economic development programmes. Sandy is also a published poet and songwriter and has been described as a ‘renaissance man'. He is able to blend his artistic and college work to inspirational effect.”

What is teaching ?

2009-09-27T09:12:00.001+01:00

Here's something from Autumn Roesch-Marsh, who has clearly got time to reflect since she moved to Stirling Uni:

'The role of the teacher is not to tell others what to do, not to issue edicts, nor to assist in the constitution of prophesies, promises, injunctions and programs. The task of the teacher is not to affirm prevailing general politics of teaching but to question critically the self-evident, disturb the habitual, dissipate the familiar and accepted, making the strange familiar and the familiar strange . . . The classroom is therefore a place of invention rather than reproduction' Wen-Song Hwu 1998 pg 33.

What do you think ?

The socratic tutorial

2009-09-25T13:10:00.001+01:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation from Susan:

The socratic tutorial

View more presentations from almaw.

New research group at college

2009-09-07T11:20:00.002+01:00

Stevenson Research Group – 4/9/09

The following are minutes from the first meeting of the Stevenson research group. If you are interested please contact me.

The aim of this first meeting was to explore the purpose and functions of a research group.

The group could potentially give support to those currently involved in research within the college. Three pieces of current research were discussed:

Knowledge management and communities of practice: how people share information within the college.
Does blended learning develop independent learning skills : an action research project in health care.
Student engagement within the college: a student-lecturer research group researching the implementation of a college strategy on learner engagement. (Not yet started)

The group would act as a forum for sharing ideas on research and research findings.

This could be done in regular group meetings
Through Illuminating Practice publication and Broadcast
Wider college events focussing on staff and student research
Could share research findings with other colleges, perhaps through Scotland’s Colleges.

Carry out specific pieces of research for the college

We need to establish areas of priority for the college. Karen to speak to Fiona Gunn re this, particularly in relation to funding.
Need to consider how we publish research
Carrying out pieces of research would raise our profile and potentially attract funding.

Particular Issues and action points

Need an ethics committee. Karen and Alma to speak to FERRN (further education regional research network) about this. Perhaps Scotland’s Colleges could facilitate this, rather than colleges doing so individually. Karen to raise issue with Fiona Gunn.
As a starting point it would be good if everyone actively involved in research wrote up a short summary of their research proposal and what point they are at currently. This could include any findings or questions that have arisen. These should be emailed to Karen for inclusion with the next edition of ‘Illuminating Practice’.

EDDG Meeting:Wednesday 16th September, 12.15-1.15 pm

2009-08-27T14:40:00.000+01:00

Our first meeting of EDDG will be on Wednesday 16th September, 12.15-1.15 pm in training suite 3 in the Enterprise Centre.

Susan Regnart has very kindly agreed to facilitate this discussion (before she relaxes on her maternity leave) on: ‘The Socratic Tutorial that doesn’t end with Hemlock’. This follows on from Susan’s excellent presentation on the learning and teaching development day in June, and will give us an opportunity to discuss some of the issues around giving feedback, in more depth.

The discussion will focus on how to avoid conflicts with students and get them to develop responsibility for their own learning through the use of Socratic questioning .

Hope to see you there.

EDDG review - 24th June 2009

2009-06-24T15:40:00.003+01:00

Before reviewing our EDDG meetings , and planning for next academic year, we heard from Katie Lee about opportunities for study/work placements abroad. Katie gave a very interesting overview of the different funded opportunities, which will appear on the blog soon.

We had an interesting review of the discussions over the past year, recognising the diversity of subjects covered. The blog has been very successful, due to Jerry's hard work and encouragement. He was able to let us know how world famous we are with many hits from across the globe. Hopefully we can continue to make links and encourage others to make comments. We hope to create links to the EDDG blog on the intranet home page and website page.

There were several areas identified for future development:
1. Everyone was keen to develop research within FE. We could use a sub-group of EDDG to discuss research, give support to staff undertaking research, and as a forum for disseminating findings. Jerry had been to research day at Stirling focussing on literacies , and this looks like a possible research project. More from Jerry on this shortly.

We will also be involved in a research project on the top 10 most irritating habits of lecturers ! This is being facilitated by FERRN and should be interesting.

2. We discussed how to involve staff more in EDDG meetings and in discussing/developing learning and teaching. It was suggested that perhaps framing topics as questions may entice people to meetings e.g. how to run groups, how to deal with disruptive behaviour.

3. We also discussed more creative approaches to faculty meetings - 'are you losing your faculites ?'
4. There was a general feeling that people in senior positions in the college should be more involved in educational debate. We need to think about how we encourage everyone to be more involved.

This has been a great year, with much more debate around educational issues, and I hope that like me, you feel that we have made some small progress towards making teaching and learning the first priority.

Many thanks to all who came to meetings, sent articles, entered into discussions and shared their practice so willingly.

Karen

Good Practice Think Tank

2009-06-19T15:53:00.003+01:00

What follows are the minutes from a good practice meeting attended by a number of colleagues in the Creative Arts faculty. I put the session together after being inspired by presentations delivered at a recent Quality Day held at Stevenson College. The main idea behind the meetings, held once every academic semester, is to share good practice across different curriculum areas in a relaxed setting. The first meeting was attended by 13 members of staff on a voluntary basis. It is hoped that some other areas of the College will pick up on this idea and adopt a similar strategy.

I put together a rationale for the first session as follows -

It is important to identify good practice and to embed it as the required standard within all curriculum areas. It is expected that the teaching staff of the College will continuously seek to improve their teaching methodology so that good practice becomes the norm and excellence is the aim. The main challenge is the dissemination – not just the identification – of that good practice.

The reasons for convening meetings once a semester to discuss good practice within the Creative Arts Department are to:

Ensure that interested members of the lecturing staff understand what good practice can be and apply it across the curriculum.
Discuss the benefits of sharing good practice with colleagues.
Assist staff with the identification and dissemination of good practice.
Ensure that learners are engaged in the identification and promotion of good practice in learning and teaching.
Discuss how technology is used in the classroom to disseminate good and innovative practice across the curriculum.
Embed good practice across different curriculum areas.

These are the minutes from the first meeting.

Good Practice Think Tank Event, meeting 1
Wednesday 17th June 2009 at 15.30 in MB 1.23

In attendance – Mark Hetherington (chair), Anne Young, Karen Lawson, Alan MacCorquodale, Rab McCahill, Jerry O’Neill, Carol Fyfe, Walter McCrorie, Madeleine Brown, Stuart McCorkindale, Gail English, Deborah Harris, Fraser Mansell

Apologies – Pam Donaldson, Jo Whelan, Matthew Sowerby

1) Welcome and rationale for Good Practice events

The Chair welcomed the attendees to the meeting and gave an outline of why the ‘Good Practice Think Tank’ meetings had been set up. The Faculty Quality Day on the 20th March had been his inspiration after listening to many excellent presentations highlighting the innovative practice across four sections within Creative Arts. A short meeting suggesting the idea was set up with Morag Campbell who agreed that the sessions would be a good way of showcasing and openly discussing and sharing good practice within the faculty. The Chair highlighted several key points from the rationale document as being of particular importance.

‘The main challenge is the dissemination – not just the identification – of good practice’.

‘Ensure that learners are engaged in the identification and promotion of good practice in learning and teaching’.

‘Embed good practice across different curriculum areas’.

2) Madeleine Brown – ‘Synergy in action (core skills)

Madeleine delivered a talk on her work with different groups of learners. She clarified what synergy is and began by creatively demonstrating the idea as a visual and auditory concept using iTunes. She showed the group her CPC (College Preparation Class) yearbook, which included photographs of students in each class along with their profiles and samples of written work produced in the Communication class. The yearbook was piloted last year and is now produced for all CPC classes across both semesters. It has proved to be very popular with students as it not only provides them with a record of their experience on the course, but also showcases the work that they have produced. The plan is to develop the idea further and possibly include other aspects of students’ studies as well as material produced over the entire year. Madeleine’s work with various departments and the work achieved through the Action Learning Set were detailed and how this sphere of learning had a positive impact on the learners. The merging of content between writing and the new technologies was demonstrated, using a variety of working examples, such as using the Guardian’s ‘pieces of me’, ‘where does it all go’ and ‘we love to eat’. Madeleine showed examples of a student’s work who demonstrated some very good self-evaluation in his learning. The learner had reflected on his dyslexia and stated that he regarded dyslexia as his greatest strength. The merging of core skills as a project based concept was examined and some discussion surrounding the main points of the presentation ensued afterwards. The Chair welcomed the idea of taking abstract concepts such as newspaper articles to inform and develop valid, reliable and up to date instruments of assessments and noted he, as well as other members of the Communication and English team, were using these ideas to good effect. He also thought that this was a very good example of working effectively with a variety of contacts cross College.

3) Rab McCahill - ‘Stevenson College You Tube site’

Rab outlined what You Tube is to the group and how he has been using it to great effect when teaching on the Media curriculum. He looked at how this media platform, (a natural place for this type of work), had been used by his students on the Stevenson College You Tube site -http://www.youtube.com/user/stevensoncollege
At present, the site has had 1039 hits and Rab showed the group how more hits could be achieved. He discussed the potential such a platform could have for showreels for students in the future, and used a former learner, (Dave Stewart, aka Seth Draven), to demonstrate how his work has been exhibited on You Tube. Due to the success of his You Tube site, the student has gained a lot of employment opportunities. Rab identified the benefits of using You Tube for the College, including marketing and recruitment. He outlined plans to set up a Stevenson TV channel which would be beneficial for a number of different student groups. He requested that students enrolled on Communication Units get involved with the You Tube sites, to provide comments and increase the hit rates. The successful integration of three outcomes with three different lecturers was noted in the 2009 academic session. He told the group how three lecturers, (Rab, Alan MacCorquodale and Pamela Donaldson), had met to discuss ways of utilising expertise in their respective areas to improve student achievement and improve the learner experience. He integrated three outcomes in his teaching of the ‘Contemporary Pop Music’ Unit. He stated that the written work produced had been of a high standard and that the students had proofread their work well and that the quality of video production was particularly good under Alan’s management. The Chair noted the positives surrounding the collaborative work displayed in Rab’s presentation and could see ways of using this model in other Units for the next academic session.

4) Jerry O’Neill – ‘Using communication delivery to prepare students for external exams in their vocational subjects or why I like to re-invent the wheel every time I get a new class and how that ages me prematurely’

Jerry’s presentation related to the success he has had teaching an Intermediate Two Business cohort across two semesters. He provided a clear overview of what this group studied in other areas of their curriculum. Jerry raised the issue that the role of the Communication lecturer isn’t to teach the students Economics, Accountancy etc, but to help the learners develop the skills needed to report on these issues with clarity and in a structured manner. Jerry highlighted the potential problems that accelerated progression from Intermediate Two Communication to Higher Communication in the same year posed for this student group. He spoke with the Head of Section to ascertain if there was a better model for the students to follow and informed the group that Hamish had been very accommodating and they decided that the Unit called ‘Oral Presentation Skills’ would be a more appropriate course of study. It was decided that presentations on exam revision were assessed and he showed an example of some student talks. These working examples highlighted the position of the learner in the teacher role as well as the obvious consolidation of learning this improved programme of study had provided. The development of skills was discussed and Jerry saw great improvement in the way the students had approached the study of Communication. Jerry gave an example of where a student was delivering a formative presentation on his knowledge of Economics where his peers had corrected the learner on some inaccuracies. This enabled the student to reflect on gaps in his knowledge and provided an agenda for further research. It was agreed that there were benefits to students having the same lecturer for both sessions, but it was acknowledged that this is rarely possible with varied Programmes of Study.
The Chair reinforced the importance of consolidation of learning and welcomed the idea of using subject expertise and knowledge of a group of students to improve curriculum design.

5) General Good Practice discussion

The group discussed the success of the session and representatives could see many ways to embed good practice across different curriculum areas. The benefits of sharing good practice were discussed and it was agreed that all staff should continuously seek to improve their teaching methodology so that good practice becomes the norm. There was discussion about the positive impact the ‘Illuminating Practice’ editions have had and some examples from the latest copy were highlighted in a general discussion. It was noted that although ICT can enhance the learning experience, it shouldn’t be the sole motivator for effective teaching practice.

6) Agenda for future meetings

The Chair announced that Jo Whelan had agreed to deliver a presentation at the next Good Practice meeting on recording techniques within audio web platforms.

He asked that colleagues think about suitable titles for presentations for the next meeting.

7) AOB

The Chair thanked all attendees and especially the presenters for their excellent presentations and anticipated that the concepts from the talks would be used in integrated approaches in the future.

Some discussion centred around Curriculum for Excellence and Assessment is for Learning and how this could work in different curriculum areas.

Karen Lawson had some very positive comments to make about the session and saw great value in the ‘think tank’ and hoped that other Faculties might consider running similar meetings in the future. She felt that she had learned a lot from the talks and discussions, and believed there is a lot more scope for sharing practice in the future.

The next meeting is scheduled for semester one of the 2009/10 academic session, probably in October.

College People Week Conference Notes - EXCELLENCE

2009-06-19T12:28:00.003+01:00

College People Week: English, Communication and Media; Sport and Recreation

Hi all,

I have put a few notes together from the conference that I attended with Madeleine Brown in Stirling on Friday June 5th.

The theme was ‘Excellence’, something we aren’t short of in all our respective teams at Stevenson College I must say!

The presenters were all very good for different reasons I thought. The first presentation was from an HMIe reviewer who discussed the fact that the contribution of Scotland's Colleges is central to the achievement of the Scottish Government's vision, of a smarter Scotland, that is wealthier and fairer. To succeed, Scotland needs excellent colleges which are able to unlock the full potential of learners, in order to maximise our economic success and to create a safer, stronger, healthier and greener society. Clearly we are ahead of the game there in the College in many curriculum areas and I could think of a number of examples of these soft skills that are happening in my own team, Communication and English.

The reviewer, John Laird, also talked about SLIP submissions (Sector Leading Innovative Practice). In his experience of performing inspections in Colleges, he noted that a lot of SLIPs were recommended by inspectors for inclusion and not necessarily from the Colleges. Many lecturers believe that what they do on a daily basis is the norm. Like the inspector, I disagree. I think that we should always formalise and talk up the great work we do. I know it isn’t something that we particularly like doing, but I think we should!

He pointed to the fact that the HMIe website has examples of SLIPs and College reviews, and suggested that lecturers should make contact with representatives of Colleges that have been awarded a SLIP should you need clarification etc. The phrase ‘adopt, adapt and improve’ springs to mind.

The following link could be useful for reference - http://www.hmie.gov.uk/GoodPractice/Default.aspx

Presentations were delivered on College achievement in receiving an external review, excellence or SLIP commendation and the impact of their practice on the learner experience. It was interesting to note that the Flip camera popped (or should that be flipped) up in many of the presentations in terms of good practice. This is something that we are using in the Comm and English curriculum and the following link provides a handy how to use presentation - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AxAIAqM5TVk

Two colleagues from Central College, Glasgow showed us how they integrated learning and assessment within the Sports Coaching (ski-ing instruction) and Digital Photography curriculum areas to good effects. Their results were recorded using a Wiki. I was glad that this simple, yet effective technology was highlighted as being a boon to the learning process.

Another presentation from an English and Media lecturer from Cardonald College highlighted the importance of extra curricular benefits to the learning process. The presenter communicated the success she has had running lunchtime sessions of a book club, recycling books and organising theatre trips. She gave the choice of novel over to the students and they unanimously picked War and Peace would you believe, unprompted by the way! She also noted how local radio (Govan FM) prompted a positive response by the local community to enter the Burns Homecoming Festival competition. An 83 year old lady called Gwen Silvers won, and here is her winning poem and reflective comments - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDK0GIJP6yg

The final presentation was on Web 2.0 technologies, which is the phrase that runs through everything to do with ICT and Learning and Teaching at present. This session highlighted how some of the Web 2.0 tools can support excellence in learning and teaching and reflected upon how these tools can be used to enhance the learner experience through learner activity and increased engagement.

There were a few new sites discussed that I wasn’t aware of, and you may wish to have a look at these at your leisure. They are all free.

Video Jug – this is like the How Stuff Works website that some of use at the moment - http://www.videojug.com/

Flickr – this is one of the best online photo management and sharing applications around - http://www.flickr.com/

JORUM – a free online service providing access to teaching and learning resources, for teaching and support staff in UK Further and Higher Education - http://www.jorum.ac.uk/

Scotland’s College Repository – http://www.coleg.org.uk/coleg/CCC_FirstPage.jsp

GLOW – Glow is the world's first national intranet for education - http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/glowscotland/

JING – this is screen capture software http://www.jingproject.com/

I hope that this covers the main points anyway.

Yours in blog, Mark

EDDG Review Meeting - 24th June

2009-06-03T14:55:00.002+01:00

Our final meeting, this semester for EDDG will be on midsummer's day (24th June) at 12.15 pm in 810. We can review how EDDG has gone this year and consider topics for discussion next year.

I have really enjoyed the meetings, and feel I have learned a lot from my colleagues across the college, as well as our recent visiting speaker. It seems a long time since we discussed Frank Coffield's paper "Just supposing..." , but all of still seems relevant today. I think it is always a struggle to keep learning and teaching as the priority within FE, but the committment to the EDDG meetings, has evidenced that staff really do try to just that.

Hopefully we will be able to entice Frank along to an EDDG meeting some time to give us an update .

Let me know about any topics you would like discussed at EDDG, and your thoughts on the past EDDG meetings.

Diversity and campus culture

2009-05-27T15:06:00.010+01:00

Dr Vicky Gunn, Glasgow University, joined our EDDG meeting in May for an interesting and stimulating debate on equality and diversity issues in the post school curriculum. During the session, Vicky highlighted the Single Equality Duty, the 6 equality strands, multiple identities, student resilience, confidence, self esteem and several other issues encroaching on a college campus culture. Vicky discussed some of her own and other recent research into LGBTQ issues. Due to Government legislation in the 80's and 90's, there is a large and noticeable gap in research in this area in Britain. Opportunities still exist for more research at college level to measure the climate of tolerence/intolerance in student campus life.

Find out more about Vicky's research by linking to her blog at:
http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/qee/vg/pmwiki.php/Main/EqualityAndDiversity

To view the slideshow Vicky prepared and presented for the College look under the LGBTQ section where you'll see a pdf named Stevenson.pdf. Click on the link to open the slideshow.

care facilities in Helsinki

2009-05-27T10:04:00.002+01:00

We have visited 2 facilities today, and have one more to visit in the afternoon. The first visit was to a care home for older people. This was an excellent resource providing both residential and day care. The major differences seem to focus around ensuring that people remain physically active. There is a customised gym which is used a lot to maintain the physical mobility of both residents and people attending the day care centre. There is also a sauna, and we have begun to realise how important this facility is to Finnish people. These are adapted , if necessary for people with disabilities.

The second facility was a day centre for people who have mental health problems. This was based an an old Finnish house, and had a very welcoming atmosphere. Everyone shares daily living tasks, including buying food from local markets, cooking and cleaning. There is great deal of focus on inclusion and encouraging people not only to maintain their mental well-being, but also to be physically active.

We have returned to the college for our free mid-day meal, which is delicious. Lunch meals are free to all staff and students. These are well presented, nutritious, and put our lunches to shame. The tables all have flowers and sometimes paper cloths. the whole environment looks really environment and there doesn't seem to be any problems encouraging students to tidy up.

As Helsinki seems to be a weave of trees and water, the landscape always seems to be very appealing , with a natural feel. It's a bit like being in Centre Parcs !

Hello from Helsinki

2009-05-26T10:29:00.007+01:00

Here we are in our partner college in Helsinki. It's been a hectic couple of days with lots on information given re the changing curriculm of education in Finland, with more emphasis on vocational qualifications and integrated teaching. Many of the concerns, and challenges are similiar to our own: not enough teaching time, students who struggle to take responsibility for thier learning, just teaching to the outcomes.

The staff are very interested in what we are doing at Stevenson re assessment is for learning, the PDP unit and our tutorial system. They are hoping to visit us within the next year to exchange ideas and learn a bit more about our approach. Meanwhile, I'm hoping to persuade them to contribute to the blog !

We have visited some interesting care settings with lots more planned. There is a very positive attitude to people with disabilities and older adults, but they have the same concerns re lack of public funding. An 8 am start to the day makes sure we are not idle!

The weather is very hot ,and Helsinki is a very interesting city, with a lively design culture. Hopefully, we will be able to see it bit more of it when we have a bit of free time on Friday. The apartment we have is lovely, with a sauna, and a balcony. We are staying near a Marina, surrounded by forests, and hope to go for a boat trip around the archipelago .

Hopefully we will have the opportunity to update you on our visits later in the week.

Karen and Sue

Prof. Frank Coffield on e-learning

2009-05-26T10:29:00.006+01:00

In this short video, Professor Frank Coffield considers the implications of technology for adult learning contexts. He also touches on the responsibilities of tutors and senior managers who are truly committed to e-learning ..,

FERRN summer seminar, 11 June 2009

2009-05-21T10:31:00.005+01:00

The forthcoming FERRN summer seminar will be held at Perth College UHI on Thursday 11 June 2009.

Key speakers include:

Professor David Smith, Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning talking about "Colleges and students in transition: what should be on the research agenda"
Carey Normand, Programme Director, Teaching in the College Sector, University of Dundee
Karen Lawson, Teacher Fellow Stevenson College Edinburgh

Workshops:

ETNA: online survey of ICT skills in Scotland's Colleges
Copyright and VLEs
SPSS
Virtual classrooms

More information from: Alma

How to kill creativity ...

2009-05-14T00:00:00.005+01:00

If you like a laugh, but, would also like to hear some interesting ideas about creativity's difficult relationship with education, then watch this presentation from Ken Robinson. His talk centres around children; however his general points are, I think, relevant to anyone working in education.

Reflections on a research conference in Stirling: Coffield and Gallacher

2009-05-12T20:37:00.006+01:00

A handful of us from the college attended the Research in FE conference in the SFEU (now Scotland’s Colleges) on Monday.

The purpose of the day was to highlight some of the research activity (and the challenges involved with that activity) in the FE sector.

The day started off with an intriguing conversation, anchored by John McCann, between Frank Coffield and Jim Gallacher.

John McCann is the SFEU’s Deputy Chief Executive. Frank Coffield is an Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London. Jim Gallacher is an Emeritus Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University.

These two Emeritus professors provided a rich personal, political and academic context for the day’s discussions. Coffield, although originally from Glasgow, has spent most of his academic career in England – his research, therefore, reflects the situation of FE south of the border. However, most, if not all, of his general points about FE there could be seamlessly transferred to the Scottish context. Gallacher provided a well-informed research and policy-making from the Scottish perspective.

What came across from both men was a passion and commitment to teaching and learning in general and, more specifically, a desire to make research more central to the working lives of FE teaching staff.

We don’t all need to be off working on research projects, but, as teaching professionals, we should all be familiar with important research developments relating to FE.

The Coffield-Gallacher conversation highlighted a number of issues. One theme was the importance of research evidence in the development of education policy. There was some discussion about the differences between Scotland and England, however it was interesting, if not unsurprising, to hear an eminent scholar such as Coffield provide insight into the reality of education policy making at the very highest level.

It seems clear that educational policy nationally and, at the college level, institutional systems are not, as we might expect, always based on sound educational research. The pragmatics of politics and business models are not easy to align with pure educational goals. It was refreshing to see the lid peeled off some off the rhetoric surrounding educational policy initiatives.

There was, from the delegates’ perspective, a real desire to get involved with research. How that would happen wasn’t so clear. What was clear was that colleges need to make a clear and unambiguous commitment of resources if they want the research to happen. One of the points that I kept coming back to was time. This is the resource which FE lecturers cherish most and have least of. Coffield himself acknowledged that the demanding teaching schedules of FE lecturers left little room for them to get involved in new initiatives.

There is little doubt that FE lecturers could never, nor should they, match the level and type of research activity that is conducted in HE. However, there is a place, I think, for a model of research which is customised for the needs, and the realities, of FE.

In saying that, and this came up a couple of times at the conference, research in FE needs to ensure that it maintains academic integrity. At one stage a cautionary voice articulated a concern that research might be used, or influenced, to bolster management agendas.

But this lone voice reflected a more general anxiety which informed a lot of the discussion – that there is a fundamental problem inherent in the corporate model of education which FE institutions are structured upon. Coffield’s important article asks us to “Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority” (see very first EDDG post in October 2008). It is hard to see how teaching and learning will ever be the first priority in a system that, in reality, puts the economic ahead of the educational.

But let’s not get too dark and brooding. Let’s finish on a positive note. Those of us attending from Stevenson came away with a renewed passion for what we do and, in particular, a desire to move forward in terms of research.

I’ll let Karen fill out the details, but I’d not be surprised if some sort of a cross-college research group was soon born.

Of course, all of this rambling is merely drawn from the chaos of my memories of Monday. As that was a lifetime ago (it's now Friday), I'd welcome some comments from other participants of the conference. Between us we might just be able to produce an accurate reflection of the day's proceedings.

Equality and Diversity EDDG meeting - 20th May

2009-04-29T12:40:00.001+01:00

Vicky Gunn is interested in exploring how curricular activities influence students' experiences of inclusivity, particularly around the Equality and Diversity strands of LGBT, Race & Ethnicity, & Religious Belief. In this session she'll be looking mainly at research on LGBT experience but will also raise questions about the nature of multiple identities and their role in curriculum development that attempts to engage with the Equality and Diversity duties.

Reflective Practice discussions, 21/4/09 and 23/4/09

2009-04-24T08:42:00.001+01:00

Some of the issues/ideas discussed included:

Can you reflect too much : paralysis by reflection ?
Need to discuss situations with colleagues/peers in order to gain insight and become more aware of our responses to situations.
We considered whether there is a particular culture/philosophy/value underpinning teaching in faculties. Would this be something that could be discussed in faculty meetings?
Some areas are involved in peer observation which can be helpful in thinking through different approaches.
Action learning sets can be used effectively to bring people together from across the college when working with particular issues. This is something that could be taken forward if there was enough interest. We could potentially try for money from the innovation fund to organise and facilitate this.
Quality and staff development days could be used to bring people together from either different faculties or with similar curriculum areas, to discuss practice issues and reflect on teaching.
It was acknowledge that EDDG in itself is a forum for reflecting on practice.
How do we help students reflect ? Discussed the use of blogs in helping before lecturers and students become more reflective. The Person and professional development unit can also be used to help students reflect more on their learning and skills development.
Reflecting our own experiences of learning, and sharing these with students can be useful for helping students feel more confident about learning.
· We need to consider the wider context within which reflection occurs.
We cannot take all responsibility for every student’s difficulties or problems, but we can be aware of how relate to students, and how we support them.

National accounts of well-being

2009-04-14T16:21:00.003+01:00

I recently attended a seminar on how the new economics foundation (nef) . They are " attempting to present a radical new of assessing national progress to guide direction of modern lives and the lives of the people who live in them" . They provide international and national statistics on well-being and as well as surveys you can use to measure your own well-being. Despite a hesitance towards anything statistical, the seminar was extremely interesting. If you would like to know more, the website is : www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org.

Frank Coffield in Stirling, 11 May 2009

2009-04-09T14:57:00.003+01:00

Professor Frank Coffield, author of 'Just Suppose Teaching and Learning Became the First Priority...' and Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London is the keynote speaker at Scotland's College's Research Conference which will be held at Stirling on 11 May 2009.

Frank will explore and define learning and address the provocative question of whether we need theory to underpin our practice in conversation with Professor Jim Gallacher from Glasgow Caledonian's Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning. In the afternoon he will hold a research surgery for delegates, who are invited to share their research insights or to bring their research challenges and proposals for Frank and the collective brain to work on.

More information and event programme available at:
http://www.sfeu.ac.uk/events/programme/2941?print=1

A sticky wiki ...

2009-03-31T21:48:00.002+01:00

Thanks to Pam Donaldson who sent me this link to an article from The Times on the pitfalls of Wikipedia as a reliable source of information.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article690574.ece

Any thoughts?

Examples of Wikis, Blogs etc.

2009-03-30T01:07:00.002+01:00

I'm starting to put together a sample of sites (wikis, blogs, Google Groups ...) that tutors have developed. It will give people a sense of what's going on.

I've divided the list into two parts: open-access and password-protected. Just to explain ... the "open-access" refers to sites which are open for anyone to visit. Simply click on the link and you're there. The sites in the "password-protected" list are intended for students and tutors only - if you want to look at these, get in touch with the contact person listed under the site. They'll set you up with guest access.

The sites are listed under the heading "Examples of wikis, blogs etc. ..." on the right-hand-side menu of this blog (you may need to scroll up or down to find it).

If you have a site of any sort up and running, or know of someone who does, please get in touch and I'll add it to the list.

Jisc Conference

2009-03-24T20:01:00.004Z

This was a very thought provoking day, and thankfully much of the content is available from the JISC website. It really is worth spending some time listening to the podcasts and reading the summaries of the sessions.
The keynote speech from Professor Lizbeth Goodman was mind blowing, particularly in relation to the work she had down with people with disabilities, but also the sheer volume of innovative projects that she had been involved in. I felt like a sloth in comparison. I particulalry liked her attitude of focussing on what the learner/user requires/needs and forget about the money. Sheer determination and working postively seemed to have brought about profound changes for many of the people she has worked with. Check out her presentation, but you will need about 30 minutes:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2009/03/jiscconference09/programme/lizbethgoodman.aspx

I also attended the sessions 'Every Learner Counts: can technology help improve motivation and retention ?' , 'Mind the Gap... understanding the tensions between the institutions and the learner', as well as 'Web2practice - guides to emergent technologies and innovative practice.

All of these were excellent and you can read or listen to them via the JISC website. However, a major theme emerged in all the sessions relating to the difficulties of senior management not investing in the developing staff's competence in using elearning tools, primarily due to a lack of understanding of elearning, and the need to move away from institutional practices that disempower and alienate students. SMTs seem to be slow to respond to technological changes , and reluctant to give time to lecturers to develop their skills. After seeing all the amazings things we could be doing (and we are already doing some great stuff) I think we need to consider how we move forward. If there was one thing everyone agreed on - you need motivated and creative lecturers to inspire (beginning to hate that word) staff and students to use technology. Where do we go from here ?

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2009/03/jiscconference09

Student experience of technology

2009-03-24T08:04:00.002Z

I was at the opening of JISC conference yesterday evening, where a panel debated many of the issues we have been discussing at EDDG. Lots of issues were raised and debated including the role of social networking sites, students expectations of technology, and their increasing attitude that they should be creators of their own learning . Issues around democratisation of knowledge were debated at length, with a recognition that students have a more cavalier attitude towards information, and who owns it.
Professor Jeff Howard, from Edinburgh University raised an interesting issue around the desire of a small group of staff wanting to utilise the latest technology versus the desire of students for predictability in their learning.

All, at the conference did agree, that the use of technology was supplemantary to classroom teaching, but the interesting point was raised that many students get more 1:1 attention by lecturing staff through email etc. than real time interactions in universities. Not sure that's true , so much for FE but it's an interesting point.
Attending the conference has already been interesting on a personal level. I'm sitting their with my notebook and pen, whilst others have these really smart electronic notebooks and laptops. I thought they were all quickly highighting the main issues of the debate, to share with their colleagues etc. but a quick bit of spying revealed people looking at their emails, on social networking sites, and one playing a game ! Still, I want one .

I think it would be great to have a similiar debate around the use of technologies in education, on a college wide basis. Maybe we could invite some external and internal 'experts' to be on panel and have a real debate about the role of technology with FE. Let me know what you think.

The book you've been waiting for...

2009-03-17T09:20:00.002Z

Just arrived in the Library today:

WALLACE, S. (2007). Getting the buggers motivated in FE. The essential FE toolkit series. London, Continuum.

2 copies available for loan. Please remember to bring you staff ID card with you if you wish to borrow a copy.

Times Higher Education magazine

2009-03-12T09:10:00.001Z

Times Higher Education (THE), the weekly magazine for higher education is now available in the Library. Includes news, reviews, people, opinion, appointments.

GALE: Resource for articles on teaching and learning

2009-03-10T17:11:00.003Z

Alma Wardrope mentioned that our subscription resource “Gale database” is a good way to find full text articles on educational issues from a wide variety of magazines and newspapers.

Gale is listed on our library catalogue and on the library information page on the intranet. As it is a subscription resource, it is only available to registered staff and students of the College.

In College it can be accessed by IP address, off campus you will need your Athens username and password to gain access.

The web address is http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/stevensc

I've also added this address to the useful links on the menu on the right-hand-side.

Get in touch with Alma or anyone in the library if you don't have an Athens account.

The Reflective Practitioner

2009-03-09T11:35:00.003Z

The next Education Development and Discussion Group (EDDG) meetings will be on Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd April, at 12.15-1.15 pm in 810 .

The topic is ‘The Reflective Practitioner’. If you have discovered good links or resources on this topic, either send them to me or add them to this blog. I’ve included a summary of Brookfield’s 4 reflective lenses, but you can access a lot more information on Brookfield from the library or internet. I’ve also included a link to Johari’s window , another tool for reflection: http://www.noogenesis.com/game_theory/johari/johari_window.html.

Stephen Brookfield
The 4 Lenses

1. Our Autobiographies as Learners and Teachers
· Learners : reflecting on our experiences – puts us in the role of the ‘other’.
· May be thought of as emotional, subjective, individualistic or merely anecdotal but
· Have a powerful impact on us which others recognise and :
· Patterns and rhythms emerge that can be described as generic
· At times of uncertainty or difficulty we instinctively fall back on memories as learners to guide us.
· Emulate positive experiences, avoid repeating negative ones.

Our Students’ Eyes

· Can be surprising – are students interpreting our actions in the sense we intend? Are they learning what we think we are teaching?
· We can be surprised by the diversity of meanings students read into our words and actions e.g. our creative efforts, our jokes etc.
· Students can be reluctant to be honest – teachers may profess to welcome critical feedback, but actions vary when it is actually expressed.
· It can be risky for students to be openly critical – need to consider power relations.
· Anonymous opinions are generally best
· When you have demonstrated a willingness to respond to criticisms students may engage in a more public debate.
· Essential to see the learning environment from the learner’s perspective.

Our Colleagues’ Experiences

· Colleagues’ experiences provide a rich source for discussion – help make us feel less isolated.
· Provide opportunities to problem solve and
· Create new ways to deal with issues.
· Gaining different perspectives on problems helps increase our chances of finding an interpretation that fits with what is happening in a particular situation
· Observation provides a critical mirror reflecting back images of our actions that may take us by surprise.
· Critical reflection may begin alone, but when it is established with our colleagues , it checks out our assumptions and helps change structures of power.

Theoretical Literature
How does it help?

· Helps ‘name’ our practice by illuminating the general elements of what we think is our individual experience.
· Helps us realise that what we perceived as our personal failings are the inevitable consequence of certain social, economic, political processes.
· Stops us falling victim to the belief that we are responsible to everything that happens in our classrooms.
· Helps us understand students’ hostility – learning can bring about change and students can often be angry about this, rather than being angry at us.
· Can give us ideas of different ways to teach , helping us reflect, for example of our learning and teaching style e.g. Honey and Mumford.

social networking sites

2009-03-05T14:58:00.001Z

Have a look at this interesting article on social networking sites and let me know what you think: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090220/tuk-get-off-facebook-and-get-a-life-dba1618.html

Engaging the reluctant learner - EDDG meeting summary

2009-03-03T15:14:00.001Z

Engaging the reluctant learner : Tuesday meeting 3/3/09

There was an excellent turnout for this meeting, so clearly the issue was one that struck a chord with many people.

Some of the issues discussed were :

How the fear that many students experience can lead to anxiety and aggression.
The interview process and follow-up.
How induction can help with alleviating fear, by building up positive relationships between lecturers and students, as well as between students in the group. We discussed a lot of issues around induction including the class lay-out, expectations of lecturers and students, teaching methods and styles and appreciating cultural differences. For some students this was their first time away from home and therefore consideration needed to be given to feelings of loss and isolation. It was agreed that it would be worth having more information and discussion on how we could develop induction throughout the college.
Feedback from students and how we process this. We discussed how we get feedback on our teaching and how we respond to this. Personal experiences were shared and there seemed to be a general agreement that there needed to be more opportunities for people to reflect on their practice. We thought this may be a good topic for another EDDG meeting.
Blogs as tools for reflection. Discussed how effective these were , and everyone was encouraged to add their comments to the EDDG blog.

Engaging the reluctant learner

2009-02-04T15:20:00.002Z

The next Education Development and Discussion Group (EDDG) is on Tuesday 3rd March and Thursday 5th March @ 12.15-1.15 pm , in room 810 . The discussion topic is ‘Engaging the reluctant learner’ . If you have any links to articles etc. which relate to this topic, please send them to me for distribution.

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Suggested article to read from Carole Paterson: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept04/vol62/num01/The_Engaged_Classroom.aspx

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Carole also recommended ‘Getting the Buggers Motivated in FE’ by Susan Wallace and, thoughtfully, summarises it for us a bit ...

Wallace (post-compulsory education, Nottingham Trent U., UK) offers thoughtful advice for teachers in "further education" (ages 14 to adult in the UK) who need advice on motivating unmotivated learners. She frames the advice in narrative vignettes followed by bulleted lists of steps and strategies. Characterizing the four major "demotivators" as fear, boredom, previous negative experience, and loss of hope, the author takes on specific populations (e.g. 14-16 year olds, English as a second language students) and discusses strategies that include reward as motivation, the use of entertainment, the motivating power of positive relationship-building, and exercises in self-respect in terms of each of the four concerns.

Teaching two-point-oh

2009-01-22T17:21:00.005Z

J. Simon van der Walt here from music, guesting on the blog. I thought I'd share a couple of teaching and learning things I've been doing on the web recently.

First up is making and sharing video online, mainly to demonstrate technical points with using music software. My most succesful posting so far is this demonstration of how to connect to the server using one of the college iMacs. The content was made by doing static screenshots, writing out what I wanted to say and recording it as audio, and then putting the whole lot together in a video editing package. The whole thing maybe took 45 minutes to produce, which is a fair investment in time; on the other hand, before this I was quite possibly spending about that amount of time every week dealing with students who couldn't figure out or remember how to do this, so probably time well spent.

I originally shared this on YouTube, but it was getting mixed up with various private postings of mine. My new strategy is to use several different accounts for the various online tools I'm using, so that I can separate my Stevenson College material from my RSAMD material from my personal work.

My new fave tool for this kind of work is ScreenToaster, as in this demonstration of drum notation in Sibelius for my RSAMD students. I'm finding this very quick and easy to use, this can't have taken more than fifteen minutes to do, no other software tools required, it's all on the web and works mac or PC.

What is Web 2.0 anyway? Three key points for me I guess are tools anyone can use without installing software, user generated content, and social features, and its the latter which I'm finding it hard to use effectively in teaching. Quite a while back I started collecting together all of the links I wanted my students to explore on my delicious page, with keywords to match the link to the relevant class. If this had really taken off the students might have started using delicious, bookmarking stuff themselves and sharing it with me... but it didn't. None of them showed much interest, although it does remain a useful place for me to keep my teaching links handy.

The other failed experiment was the wiki which I started to set up as a kind of instruction manual for the music hardware and software we use. There is some nice content here, but again, the real trick would have been to get some of the keener students to maintain the wiki themselves.

Uses of Web 2.0 - meeting 20/1/09

2009-01-21T09:21:00.003Z

EDDG Discussion: Web 2.0 technology and learning and teaching, 20/1/09

There was a very lively discussion around the use of Web 2.0 technology, with a sharing of current practice, information and a highlighting of difficulties and barriers. There was a mix of experiences from people who did not use web technologies very through (self-proclaimed Luddites) to those who used web 2.0 on a daily basis. Particular issues discussed were:

What exactly are Web 2.0 technologies ? Discussion focussed around the changing trends in the use of the web technology and web design that enhances creativity, communication , information sharing and collaboration. Discussion focussed on the use of social networking sites, wikis, blogs, social book marking.

We questioned whether web 2.0 technologies were a young person’s tool . Young people may be more familiar, but most have are using the internet, Google on a daily basis. However, for many lecturers this isn’t necessarily how we learned.

User responsibility : In particular we debated YouTube . Plenty of discussion here around the appropriateness of using YouTube with students. Do we need to monitor and control the use within college?

Development of students’ ability to search/use information critically.

The need to maintain face to face contact with students. Web 2.0 does not replace the teacher but should be seen as a means of supporting education, collaboration and generating creativity.
Attention span: discussion around whether students really have a shorter attention span, or whether they can focus for longer if learning and teaching is interactive .

Use of staff blogs: some staff groups are using blogs to share information and collaborate on projects. This has potential for staff groups across the college.
There was a suggestion that it would be good for staff to share their social networking ,blogging , and bookmarking sites e.g. twitter, facebook, delicious.

Focus group of students would be useful to establish what technology they actually use , and their expectations from the college.

e-Portfolios

2009-01-20T15:54:00.003Z

Karen chaired a meeting recently regarding e-portfolios. We had an interesting discussion. It was good to see different points of view on this issue being exchanged.

My, possibly laboured, point keeps coming back to the educational purpose of e-portfolios. What do we want them for? What value will they have for our students? I think that we need to be very clear on educational purpose from the start.

I think the "for our students" bit is important in the question posed in the last paragraph. An e-portfolio's purpose shouldn't be to make our administration easier.

My point at the meeting was that an e-portfolio is an Internet-based space owned by the student. The life-cycle of the space should transcend the the time spent by the student at Stevenson. I showed how my Google account could act as an e-portfolio. My account is a place where I can access all the blogs, sites, groups that I'm involved with. It also acts as a space to work, online, collaboratively on word, excel or PowerPoint documents. I can also develop my online CV from this space. Of course, all of this comes free.

I think (if I can condense the views at the meeting) that there were differences of opinion based on where control should reside with an e-portfolio system: the student or the college.

It might be a good idea for the people involved in the e-portfolio group (and anyone else) to respond to this post so we can thrash out through robust dialogue our vision of e-portfolios. A way forward may just become apparent ...

EDDG meetings on 20th and 22nd January - social networking tools

2009-01-05T16:19:00.001Z

A Happy New Year to all .
I thought I’d start the year by passing on some really interesting information from Alan MacCorquodale on the use of social networking tools in education. As there has been a lot of debate around the VLE and web technologies, I thought it would be a good topic for debate at our next EDDG (Educational Development and Discussion) meeting. The links (including the podcast) below give some food for thought but if you scroll down even further there is more information available. I’ve been asked to vary the days of the EDDG meetings so I’ve planned the next one for Tuesday, 20th January , 12.15 pm in room 810 , and Thursday 22nd , 12.15 in room 810 . It’s the same topic for both days, but hopefully this gives more people the opportunity to come to a meeting.
Can you let me know if you plan to come to one of the meetings and if you would like your name added to the EDDG distribution list . More information about EDDG can be found on the EDDG blog: http://eddg.blogspot.com/ .
Karen
Karen Lawson
Teacher Fellow
RSC NewsFeed
eNews from the JISC Regional Support Centres in Scotland
Report: Using Social Networking (Web 2.0) in HE
Web2.0 - extended mindcloudmapOriginally uploaded by kosmar.ipernity.com
In the last edition of NewsFeed we highlighted the JISC Podcast: Listening to Students-Changing the Learner Experience, which contained an interview with Sir David Melville, chair of The Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience. The Committee have recently published a commissioned report on “A review of current and developing international practice in the use of social networking (web 2.0) in higher education” [Word Doc, 1.4Mb, 141 pages]. The review looks at:
The areas in which Web 2.0 is being used, including academic and administrative support;
The drivers to use of Web 2.0 in these areas;
The issues encountered and the responses made;
The perceived advantages and disadvantages of Web 2.0 use; and
Prospective developments in Web 2.0 use.
To support the review the Committee highlights the following relevant activities in this area:
Web 2.0 technologies for learning: the current landscape –opportunities, challenges and tensions, BECTA
Learners’ use of Web 2.0 technology in and out of school at KS3 and 4, BECTA
Student expectations study: Findings from preliminary research, JISC
Great Expectations of ICT, JISC
Information behaviour of the researcher of the future, JISC
Effective use of social software by further and higher education in the UK, Open University (Funded by JISC)
Learning Literacies for a Digital Age, Glasgow Caledonian University (Funded by JISC)

RSS Entries
RSS Comments
· About RSC NewsFeed
Welcome to the RSC NewsFeed blog from the two Scottish Regional Support Centres. The blog is designed to keep the FE and HE community informed about the latest ICT-related news, events, resources and training. Please feel free to leave a comment.
· JISC Resources
JISC RSC Scotland N&E
JISC RSC Scotland S&W
· Recent Comments
Margaret McKay on Thinking about dyslexia: A staff resource for developing practice
Pauline Johnson on Thinking about dyslexia: A staff resource for developing practice
Margaret McKay on Only got a Minute? Foreign Language Podcasts
Rodney on Pencil Animation Software
Dave on The Future of Places from Our Past: Online Resources - Scotland’s

EDD meeting on 10th December 2008

2008-12-11T10:32:00.001Z

EDDG meeting – Confidence and Well-being 10/12/08

There was a very interesting and lively debate around the issues raised at the FERRN Seminar in Glasgow last week. I’ve highlighted some of the areas that may be worth investigating further, either through further workshops and learning and teaching days, or small scale research within the college.

FERRN Winter seminar

The confident and resilient learner
Work of Carol Craig and Emily Cutts:

Lack of evidence that a focus on boosting self-esteem is meaningful. Research in USA shows practice by teachers and parents to raise self-esteem in young people has encouraged too much self-absorption and contributed an increase in depression.

Teachers tend to : praise individuals too much (inappropriate) , restrict competition, giving everyone praise and recognition, don’t give negative feedback, give grades that are aspirational, restricting opportunities to fail. This can result in students who become over focussed on themselves.

High self-esteem can be a problem !

A focus on confidence , resilience (psychological immune system) and mind-sets is more appropriate and ‘successful’. Important to use negative experiences. Bad feelings have a purpose – galvanise us to do things differently.

Research in Glasgow and Napier– mindsets (fixed and growth)

Small interventions (4 ten minute sessions on mindsets, and altering feedback sheets) can improve academic performance and possibly retention. This is something we could develop and introduce.

Links to goal setting, motivation, giving feedback, tutorial work , induction, personal planning .

Further information on confidence, well-being and mind-sets is available from www.centreforconfidence.co.uk

Handout research : Emma Clays and Kyle Smith (Perth college)

This research examined the outcomes of using formatted and unformatted texts with students studying Higher English. The students who had been given unformatted text did better in tests. This related to content and structure, with students writing in sentences and paragraphs rather than bullet points.

If you would like to find out more about this research and possibly be involved in a small-scale research with your own students then email or phone me.

Karen Lawson

Confidence and well-being

2008-12-10T22:16:00.004Z

I thought I'd get an entry going on the "Confidence and Well-being" session. I couldn't make it, so I'm interested to know some more about this. Maybe we could use this space to exchange our thoughts on it.

I feel that when I explain to people who don't work in FE what I do (when I say I teach English or Communication they often have some fantastical idea of me holding court around a small group of bookish, eager and able students) that I use the phrase "confidence-building" a lot. And yes, when I think about it, I spend a lot of time encouraging and supporting students who often have low self-esteem. Of course, my degree or, to be honest, my PGCE, didn't provide me with any in-depth training in this. Like a lot of what we do in FE, it seems to be something what we pick up along the way.

So, yes, confidence and well-being are, without doubt, important (would we argue otherwise?). What I'd like to know more about is how, on a very practical level, we can work on these skills with students in a more structured, conscious and, of course, meaningful way.

What would a confidence and well-being programme of study look like? Would there even be a programme of study? What kind of activities would it involve? Would it be integrated across all points of delivery (this seems, at a gut level, to make sense)? Or would it be a stand-alone programme? What CPD do we need to take this forward if we want to?

These questions may all have been dealt with at the meeting, but the blog might be a good place to archive folk's ideas by replying to my entry by clicking on "comment" below.

Here's the link that Karen provided: http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/projects.php?p=cGlkPTM4

Retention and achievement - meeting 5th November 2008

2008-11-06T10:08:00.002Z

EDDG Meeting 5/11/08 - Review

Alma gave us an overview of FERRN and gave examples of the different types of research currently happening in FE. If anyone is interested in being involved in some small scale research, or want to know more about FERRN they can contact Alma.

The focus of this discussion was on the research collated by Paul Martinez “Improving student retention and achievement”: http://www.ulster.ac.uk/star/resources/lsda_report.pdf

There was a great deal of discussion around the different reasons that students left courses or didn’t achieve awards. We discussed the issues around how we measure success and the difficulties inherent in the business culture of education. See previous EDDG meeting review for further information on this issue.

Some of the key issues relating to retention and motivation were:

Recruitment: were students on the right courses , and were their individual learning needs being identified early enough ?

Induction: this can be too much about giving information rather than focussing on building positive relationships with and between students.

Group dynamics: is enough attention given to building a positive group environment where students feel valued, not just by the lecturer, but by each other. The role of blogs and wikis could be really useful here as they help students reflect and engage in shared problem solving.

Time-tabling and rooming: these organisational issues, at times, seem to dominate the learning and teaching and course delivery. Without a doubt these are difficult to organise but can there be ‘creative time-tabling ‘ . perhaps APs and Heads could share the different ways they do this.

Students (not all) seem to have a preference for project style learning which presents an opportunity and a challenge for learning and teaching. This is an area that we could take forward in learning and teaching days.

Reflecting on how we teach and ensuring that it engages students, acknowledging their life experience, abilities and their desire to be active participants in their own learning.

Ideas to take forward include:

Learning and Teaching days : ask all teaching staff what they would like to learn more about . Ensure that the workshops on these days are as interactive as possible .
Ask teaching staff to volunteer to run workshops . Everyone agreed that previously these had been the most successful, and this helps with developing a culture of sharing good practice.
Organise workshops on using wikis
Share Induction resources and programmes .

The next meeting of EDDG is on the 10th December @ 12.15 – 1.15 pm , in room 810 . There will be tea and coffee, and maybe even mince pies !

The discussion will be focussed around mind sets and developing confidence, and we will be hearing from those who attended the FERRN seminars on confidence building on the 5th December. If you haven’t had a chance to look at the research around these areas try this link:
http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/projects.php?p=cGlkPTU4

If you want to discuss any issues relating to learning and teaching or have ideas for workshops / sharing of good practice please contact me .

Karen Lawson
Teacher Fellow
4682/3821

klawson@stevnson.ac.uk

Next meeting : just a reminder

2008-10-30T12:11:00.003Z

Hi all, hope you all have done your homework :)

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 5th November @ 12.15 in 810, and there will be coffee, tea & biscuits, but feel free to bring your lunch. If you can't make the meeting why don't you share your thoughts here . karen

Topic for next EDDG meeting

2008-10-10T20:13:00.003+01:00

I know all of you be thinking about reading material for the October break , so with that in mind can I suggest we read "Improving Student Retention and Achievement" by Paul Martinez: http://mail.stevenson.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.ulster.ac.uk/star/resources/lsda_report.pdf This seems highly relevant given the problems we have around student retention from November onwards. It’s a good summary of research and I think will stimulate a good discussion around ideas for improving retention.

I’m not sure if anyone has had a chance to follow the links on Mindset, confidence and wellbeing : http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/projects.php?p=cGlkPTU4. I think this is an area that we could explore at a future meeting, especially as Carol Craig is speaking at a FERRN event on December 5th at Cardonald College. It may be worth some of us going to this and feeding back to the group.

The next EDDG meeting is November 5th @ 12.15- 1.15 in room 810 (bring your lunch) . I hope to see you there, but meanwhile any thoughts and suggestion let me know.

Karen

First meeting of EDDG - 19 Sep 2008

2008-10-10T19:50:00.000+01:00

Thanks to all who attended the first discussion group, and to those who contributed by e-mail. There was a great deal of lively debate and some very thought provoking issues raised. Hopefully we can organise to take some of these issues further through our staff teams, faculty meetings, learning and teaching workshops, and Quality days.

Our first discussion was based on Frank Coffield’s article ‘Just Supposing Teaching and Learning Became the First Priority’.

The 3 key questions nominated for discussion at the meeting were:
· is teaching and learning a first priority within this College?;
· do you or you colleagues have a definition or theory of learning that you use to influence your teaching;
· How relevant to your work are the 10 principles of effective teaching and learning identified by Frank Coffield in “Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority…”

It’s not my intention to summarise the entire discussion but list some of the issues and action points.

Overwhelmingly teaching and learning or ‘learning and teaching’ was considered as a priority by individual lecturers/ tutors but was often felt not to be a priority within the college. It was accepted that this wasn’t necessarily through deliberate design by the college management but the outcome of a business model of education. This tension had been explored in a lecture given by Mark Murphy from Stirling University a few years ago, and Karen agreed to see if there was a record of this.

It was suggested that if Associate Principals did a small amount of teaching this would help in keeping learning and teaching as the focus of college activity. The AP present at the meeting was in agreement with this suggestion.

Discussions focussed on:

Why retention was so poor after the first 9 weeks. We need to consider whether there are issues around appropriate selection for courses, and finding out why students leave. It’s also important to ascertain the benefits students have gained from their time at college.

How to help students develop reflective learning as well as being self-directed in their learning. It was agreed to that a workshop could focus on this. Karen to organise this.

The importance of students feeling valued by lecturers (and others). It was suggested that we look at Paul Martinez research focussing students’ experience in further education. There are several interesting articles written by Paul Martinez but the following may be a good starting point : http://www.ulster.ac.uk/star/resources/lsda_report.pdf

Alan McLean’s work on students and motivation. Could look at his work or invite him to a meeting/workshop. Andree do you have info on this?

How do we get feedback from students ? Some issues around objective and subjective criticism which would be good to explore in further detail. This will be developed in a workshop. Karen to organise.

How do we give feedback? Discussion around ‘assessment is for learning’. Karen to organise a workshop, possibly in conjunction with SFEU (Scotland’s Colleges).

Research: Alma gave about a paper about FERN and will discuss the role of FERN at the next meeting.

Discussed some of the 10 principles of effective teaching but agreed that this would be good to discuss in team meetings, faculties or on a learning and teaching development day.

There was general agreement that teams did discuss different teaching strategies, but perhaps we didn’t all have a clearly defined theory of learning which we quoted on a daily basis! This could be developed in teams.

Next Meeting: Wednesday 5th November in room 810 @12.15. Please bring your lunch including coffee/tea etc. I’ll bring the chocolates!

Karen Lawson

Bibliography

COFFIELD, F. (2008). Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority. London, Learning and Skills Network. https://www.lsneducation.org.uk/user/login.aspx?code=080052&P=080052PD&action=pdfdl&src=WEBG