Leading up to the pre-enrolment orientation day that I had planned for the Newquay and Falmouth direct entry students, I was a tad nervous about doing a good job and meeting their expectations. I felt like I had a lot riding on my shoulders to ensure the day was a success, not only for the students, but also for myself.
To prepare for this session, I contacted Susan Hayley in the school office for maps, Colin Munn for the correct degree handbooks, and the admissions team to provide bags. I collected various bits of information and resources that I stuffed each bag with that would help students not only be aware of university resources, but also know where to find them. I arranged parking on campus for their mini-bus and greeted the students as they arrived on the 5th floor of the Davy Bldg.
The programme leads gave short presentations about their respective degree courses and Pete introduced the South Africa field course for those students that had elected to attend in September. After the lecturers left, I asked the students to introduce themselves and tell me what their interests in marine biology were, essentially why they wanted to study it. By listening to the students talk about themselves and their interests I was able to signpost them to staff they may wish to work with in the future. It also allowed them to ask questions relating directly to their interests.
After the introductions, I systematically went through each piece of information found in their bags with them to ensure 1) they knew what was in there and 2) giving them yet another opportunity to ask questions about services and resources available to them. Some of our current students from the three degrees (across years) arrived around this time. I felt it would be a great idea to provide time over lunch for peer-to-peer discussions. I believe both sets of students enjoyed the experience.
After lunch, two current first year MBCE students (and PALS leaders for next year) arrived. I introduced these students so that those going to SA would recognise at least two people. To close out the day, me and two current 3rd year students took the direct entry students on a tour of the facilities located within the Davy Bldg (Lab Plus, the ecology storeroom, molecular lab, 6th floor labs and CT rooms). Two of our technicians introduced the students to the resources and gave them examples of the types of activities/research they might wish to undertake during their degrees.
Before the students departed, I asked them for feedback on the day. One of the major complaints was the lack of (smoke) breaks during the day and that there was too much walking around the Davy Bldg (up and down stairs). On the whole though, the feedback was tremendously positive and they went away feeling very informed about (and overwhelmed by) the resources the university offers students. Most were excited to be arriving in September. Others were a bit scared, but by the end of the day, most all of the students seemed excited by their prospects. I consider that a job well done.
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Enhancing your teaching: Focusing on large groups workshop (+ Eric Mazur)
I attended this workshop today led by Priska in ED. Interestingly enough, she showed us a video featuring Eric Mazur (Applied Physics Prof at Harvard) and his interactive teaching style he uses in large lectures. I say interesting because two days previous I watched the 1.5 hour long clip (Confessions of a converted lecturer) on the PGCAP module website. I found how he engages with students inspiring, especially teaching a difficult subject like Physics. Using his ideas such as pre- and post-tests to see where the students are at, at the beginning and end of their learning journey provides good feedback to teaching staff to better unpack the critical areas of the subject content that students are strugggling with.
I also liked his idea of giving the students reading to do prior to coming to lectures, and then spending very little time lecturing during the scheduled time, but rather asking & answering questions and discussing questions and answers with peers. By using 'clickers', he gets instantaneous feedback as to whether or not students understand the topic being covered. This type of approach will require a fair amount of work in the development of the module as you need to design really good questions, but once you have a bank of questions to pull from, leading the discussions and facilitating students' learning should be easier and less time consuming.
As for the rest of the workshop, it was interesting that there was a person that teaches in education in the group that was fairly argumentative. He thought what students said about how they learned was total crap.... really?? Don't they know how they learn? He said that some students using 'learning styles' as a crutch or rather, an excuse... For example, "I'm sorry, I can't learn that because you are not teaching it in a way that I learn." I can see his point to a degree, but isn't it our job to teach the content in a VARIETY of ways to engage with the widest audience possible? I think that it is the role of an educator.
Through the discussions that took place, we talked about TEL in the classroom. The argumentative man said something about using Twitter in the classroom. I asked about what he was doing to engage the students in that way. He uses the module code as a #hashtag and can then address any questions/concerns/etc by looking at the comments/questions the students have posted and lead their learning in that way. I thought that sounded like a great idea. I will ask the 2nd years whilst in South Africa what their thoughts are on such an approach to Q & A sessions.
I also liked his idea of giving the students reading to do prior to coming to lectures, and then spending very little time lecturing during the scheduled time, but rather asking & answering questions and discussing questions and answers with peers. By using 'clickers', he gets instantaneous feedback as to whether or not students understand the topic being covered. This type of approach will require a fair amount of work in the development of the module as you need to design really good questions, but once you have a bank of questions to pull from, leading the discussions and facilitating students' learning should be easier and less time consuming.
As for the rest of the workshop, it was interesting that there was a person that teaches in education in the group that was fairly argumentative. He thought what students said about how they learned was total crap.... really?? Don't they know how they learn? He said that some students using 'learning styles' as a crutch or rather, an excuse... For example, "I'm sorry, I can't learn that because you are not teaching it in a way that I learn." I can see his point to a degree, but isn't it our job to teach the content in a VARIETY of ways to engage with the widest audience possible? I think that it is the role of an educator.
Through the discussions that took place, we talked about TEL in the classroom. The argumentative man said something about using Twitter in the classroom. I asked about what he was doing to engage the students in that way. He uses the module code as a #hashtag and can then address any questions/concerns/etc by looking at the comments/questions the students have posted and lead their learning in that way. I thought that sounded like a great idea. I will ask the 2nd years whilst in South Africa what their thoughts are on such an approach to Q & A sessions.
Saturday, 20 April 2013
Making it happen! How to set your project team up for success
I spent the afternoon of the 18th at a 3 hour workshop covering project management. In light of my meeting with Mick Fuller and Andy F. on the 10th, I felt that this would be a step in the right direction regarding my CPD and hopefully aid in me being able to successfully pull off the huge project regarding postgrads/undergrads. It was a great course, I just wish that it had been longer as we were unable to cover all of the material the facilitator had prepared. I did get to see Satish again though, which was great. He explained in greater detail the changes he was hoping to make over the course of the summer. Very ambitious, and potentially some barriers, but hopefully with our newfound negotiation skills he'll be able to manage it. It would be a very positive outcome for the students.
What I gained from this course is improving my powers of negotiation, listening to people's fears of change and then facilitating their ability to change. I thought about how I might employ these skills in my upcoming meeting with all of the programme leads concerning PALS. I need to be able to SELL the programme and its benefits to the academics because without their support it will be very difficult to get student buy-in... maybe.
What I gained from this course is improving my powers of negotiation, listening to people's fears of change and then facilitating their ability to change. I thought about how I might employ these skills in my upcoming meeting with all of the programme leads concerning PALS. I need to be able to SELL the programme and its benefits to the academics because without their support it will be very difficult to get student buy-in... maybe.
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
BCUR
Today I managed to nip out and see one of our MB students (Alex Leeper) give a presentation as part of the British Conference for Undergraduate Research (BCUR). She used Prezi for her presentation. I had never seen anything like it before and was totally blown away by the 'cool factor' of the technology. Alex gave a good presentation, but sadly she didn't win any prizes. Another one of our students, Vicky Sleight, won best poster presentation (£200 worth of Amazon vouchers). GO VICKY!!
What is interesting about this whole conference is that NO ONE else within my research group told the students about this conference nor encouraged them to participate. I may be making big assumptions here, but probably most of them felt that since it wasn't a purely scientific conference what would be the point in attending. Students should undertake as many opportunities such as this during their degrees as physically/mentally possible. Students, no matter what discipline they're in, need to gain skills in presenting, communicating, leadership and improve their self-confidence. BCUR offered a perfect vehicle for this to occur. In my mind, perhaps this is part of the huge cultural difference between the US and the UK in how people approach life, especially those that are driven to succeed.
What is interesting about this whole conference is that NO ONE else within my research group told the students about this conference nor encouraged them to participate. I may be making big assumptions here, but probably most of them felt that since it wasn't a purely scientific conference what would be the point in attending. Students should undertake as many opportunities such as this during their degrees as physically/mentally possible. Students, no matter what discipline they're in, need to gain skills in presenting, communicating, leadership and improve their self-confidence. BCUR offered a perfect vehicle for this to occur. In my mind, perhaps this is part of the huge cultural difference between the US and the UK in how people approach life, especially those that are driven to succeed.
Sunday, 14 April 2013
PGCAP Negotiated Study Modules
So on the 11th & 12th, I had the first of two sessions for the Negotiated Study Modules (NSMs), PGCAP 760 & 770. I decided to undertake the Learning Development (760) and Technology Enhanced Learning (770) modules to complete the full PGCAP programme this year. Joe was to have been leading the class, but had to travel to Brighton for a funeral so Carolyn stepped in to lead. There were only 5 of us in the LD group, but it was great to interact with such a small number of 'students'. One peer, Satish who is a new lecturer in Architecture, is great. I had a very positive interaction with Satish whilst wearing my LD hat. He was feeling in over his head with this module and that he maybe had made a bad decision by choosing undertake this NSM. After breaking down his thoughts, fears and concerns, it became apparent to both of us that he has chosen wisely as this module should really help him in his new role of programme leader. Understanding the LD pedagogy will help him to implement the changes that he would like undertake that will improve the connectivity between the taught materials across a few modules within the first year and link more effectively to 2nd year material.
During the LD session, we had to creatively illustrate one of the papers that we had to read prior to the session. Three of us worked together on the 'Embedding Study Skills' paper... we came up with something great to illustrate the differences between embedding study skills into the modules themselves as opposed to having them as a 'bolt-on' addition to degrees. Here is what we came up with: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151526569784871&set=a.10151293046004871.490068.511454870&type=3&theater
I thought I had a clear idea as to what I wanted to research for the LD assignment, but as the day progressed, by mind started to fill with so many ideas. That has been the crux of the whole PGCAP course... the more I learn, the more I want to explore. What I think that I have finally settled on is looking at the performance differences in students when study skills are embedded in programmes rather than the bolt-on approach. I feel that Plymouth is a mixture of the two. Some academics embrace developing their modules with the students' needs in mind, whereas others only consider what is easiest for them. I am hopeful to find enough primary literature to make a good assessment of it and perhaps use it to build a case to improve our skills module.
As for the NSM 770 (TEL), I had hoped for more hands-on learning, but there was an awful lot of discussing instead. We did venture into creating an online quiz, which was pretty cool. There was also a lot of talk about using an iPad in and outside the classroom. It seems that most all people in MBERC have been given an iPad to use in their work, but not me. Sad. Not sure how I can move this forward so that I have access to all resources that other staff have. Can I make a business case? I need to spend a lot of time thinking about how to approach some of these issues tactfully so that whatever the outcome it is in my favour.
However, there are so many ways I want to use TEL in what I do. I just have to remember that 1) Rome wasn't built in a day and 2) that small changes over time are more likely to be accepted than big changes over a short period of time. These are the two concepts that I struggle with the most as I have such grand ideas rattling around in my head.
During the LD session, we had to creatively illustrate one of the papers that we had to read prior to the session. Three of us worked together on the 'Embedding Study Skills' paper... we came up with something great to illustrate the differences between embedding study skills into the modules themselves as opposed to having them as a 'bolt-on' addition to degrees. Here is what we came up with: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151526569784871&set=a.10151293046004871.490068.511454870&type=3&theater
I thought I had a clear idea as to what I wanted to research for the LD assignment, but as the day progressed, by mind started to fill with so many ideas. That has been the crux of the whole PGCAP course... the more I learn, the more I want to explore. What I think that I have finally settled on is looking at the performance differences in students when study skills are embedded in programmes rather than the bolt-on approach. I feel that Plymouth is a mixture of the two. Some academics embrace developing their modules with the students' needs in mind, whereas others only consider what is easiest for them. I am hopeful to find enough primary literature to make a good assessment of it and perhaps use it to build a case to improve our skills module.
As for the NSM 770 (TEL), I had hoped for more hands-on learning, but there was an awful lot of discussing instead. We did venture into creating an online quiz, which was pretty cool. There was also a lot of talk about using an iPad in and outside the classroom. It seems that most all people in MBERC have been given an iPad to use in their work, but not me. Sad. Not sure how I can move this forward so that I have access to all resources that other staff have. Can I make a business case? I need to spend a lot of time thinking about how to approach some of these issues tactfully so that whatever the outcome it is in my favour.
However, there are so many ways I want to use TEL in what I do. I just have to remember that 1) Rome wasn't built in a day and 2) that small changes over time are more likely to be accepted than big changes over a short period of time. These are the two concepts that I struggle with the most as I have such grand ideas rattling around in my head.
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Looking back over the PGCAP week...
WOW... my head is spinning a bit. Four out of 5 days this past week have been spent on the PGCAP course. The first two days were finishing off the core module (PGCAP 700) where we covered topics such as group work, equality and diversity, and research informed teaching before giving some peer feedback on the short piece we had to write as part of our assignment. The last two days were for out Negotiated Study Modules. I had selected to do Learning Development (PGCAP 760) and Technology Enhanced Learning (PGCAP770) as I felt they would help me in both of my current roles at uni.
All I know at this moment in time is that there is a tremendous amount of work ahead... 10,000 words (1 x 5,000 and 2 x 2,500) before it is all said and done. UGH. I did get good feedback on my extract, so it would seem that I am at least headed in the right direction. Although since Tuesday, I have begun reworking it again after attending the NSMs and doing some mind-mapping exercises today. It is going to be extremely difficult to keep focussed and address each of the learning outcomes as well as the UK Professional Standards Framework values. :-S I feel that there will be SEVERAL iterations of each section to make sure that my writing is concise and addresses all of the criteria for a PASS.
All I know at this moment in time is that there is a tremendous amount of work ahead... 10,000 words (1 x 5,000 and 2 x 2,500) before it is all said and done. UGH. I did get good feedback on my extract, so it would seem that I am at least headed in the right direction. Although since Tuesday, I have begun reworking it again after attending the NSMs and doing some mind-mapping exercises today. It is going to be extremely difficult to keep focussed and address each of the learning outcomes as well as the UK Professional Standards Framework values. :-S I feel that there will be SEVERAL iterations of each section to make sure that my writing is concise and addresses all of the criteria for a PASS.
Meeting with Mick Fuller
On the 10th, Andy and I had a meeting with Mick Fuller, the Head of the Graduate School, to talk about how to enhance the employability of our postgraduate students whilst providing greater opportunities for our undergraduates. When I was a PhD student I did lots of things that have helped improve my CV immensely in terms of leadership, organisation, teaching, etc. Most PhD students do not undertake the sort of opportunities that were so important to me. There have been an increasing number of publications surrounding the employability of doctoral graduates and it seems that most universities are missing the mark in developing a student's skills. Articles in Nature, Science, and Conservation Biology as well as other educational journals all make the point that PhD graduates don't have the requisite transferrable skills that employers want. Pretty eye opening for anyone involved in teaching at a university.
It was a tremendously positive meeting and Mick fully supported what I was bringing to the table. He talked about a timeline and rollout, what some of the barriers might be and who I need to approach to get the ball rolling. This, like everything else, is super exciting in what it may deliver and how it will change our PhD students' lives, BUT, just like everything else that I get involved with will take a lot of time, negotiation, organisation, etc. I am excited to undertake this project within the School of Marine Science & Engineering in this pilot, but I am wondering WHEN ON EARTH might I find the time to commit to getting this off the ground. Maybe this summer..... along with everything else!
It was a tremendously positive meeting and Mick fully supported what I was bringing to the table. He talked about a timeline and rollout, what some of the barriers might be and who I need to approach to get the ball rolling. This, like everything else, is super exciting in what it may deliver and how it will change our PhD students' lives, BUT, just like everything else that I get involved with will take a lot of time, negotiation, organisation, etc. I am excited to undertake this project within the School of Marine Science & Engineering in this pilot, but I am wondering WHEN ON EARTH might I find the time to commit to getting this off the ground. Maybe this summer..... along with everything else!
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