Going to Sweden as academic staff for the 2nd year MBO field course was a phenomenal opportunity. Not only did I get to spend the week with my PGCAP mentor, Geoff, I also got to know and talk to Kerry a whole lot. What I came to realise is that I am not alone in my battle for change in how students are taught. The Sweden field course is a perfect example of that in that it isn't about generating numbers and testing hypotheses... it is about the power of discovery and observations. It is about listening and connecting the dots, and creating the bigger picture.... how do habitats influence habits? Of course the students were assessed during the field course. They had a set of 30 organisms that they they had to identify during a spot test and a 20 question theory test to take on the last day. They also had a keep a field/lab notebook during the whole week, which was to include notes from lectures/talks given on the ship, drawings of organisms, information about the types of sampling undertaken, what were the physical conditions of the water like, etc. A great learning experience indeed.
In terms of taxonomy, at first the students were put off by the 'big green bible' (Hayward & Ryland), but the vast majority told me that by the end of the week, they loved the book and found it incredibly useful. They had managed to work through their frustrations and come out with knowledge and understanding. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
As I had had little contact with these students prior to Sweden, it was interesting to hear their stories and get their take on their degree course so far. I was astounded to hear that they were not really given the opportunity to do some basic taxonomy whilst they were at Roscoff the previous year. They told me that everything was identified for them and that they hadn't even opened Hayward & Ryland before arriving in Sweden.
During the lab sessions, it came to light that none of them were aware of the fact that Geoff had written the mollusc section of the book... when I pointed that out to them, Geoff was further elevated on that pedestal they had firmly placed him on. He commands great respect from the students and this comes from how he engages with them. He treats them as equals, encourages them to think, and comes across as a normal person. This is exactly how I want all student interactions that I am involved with to occur... person to person... it makes sense.
Being able to converse freely with Geoff, Kerry and Roger was great. There was simply YEARS and YEARS and YEARS of experience there. We talked about the introduction of the PALS programme into the marine biology degrees. Both Kerry and Geoff seem interested, but also weary in some ways. I think it is just going to be a matter of proving to everyone through evidence how great the programme really is and why it is so vital to students success and confidence.
There were soooooo many late night conversations between Kerry and I. Very inspirational. I really like her and I want her to shine. But, just like me, she feels that there are certain members of our research group (as does Geoff) that are dividing the group, making it nearly impossible to function effectively and cohesively. It all boils down to communication and the fact that it simply isn't happening on the 6th floor. It doesn't do any good finger pointing, but it was said that Pete should be facilitating this conversation. Pete has tried (Red Chairs lunch date every Tuesday), but Pete is also drowning in lots of other admin stuff that he can't ever get on top of. With it being the year of the REF, people are stressed out, strung out and seemingly pissed off. Hmmm... we have many problems that we need to address. Our group really needs an away day to sort a whole bunch of stuff out.
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