Teaching and Learning Enhancement Projects (TLEP, formerly ‘Mini’ projects) – Page 5

Dr Graham J. Holloway, School of Biological Sciences
g.j.holloway@reading.ac.uk
Year(s) of activity: 2014-15

Overview

8750 Students (mostly BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation students) carried out species identification activities in The Centre for Wildlife Assessment and Conservation on Wednesday afternoons. Students were encouraged to ‘adopt’ and focus on a taxonomic group (or community) to acquire deep learning. As a result of this and other activities, we have increased the campus species list to nearly 1700 species, an impressive statistic that we use during Information Days.

Objectives

To develop a sense of community amongst the BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation students.
To increase appreciation of the importance of extra-curricular learning.
To develop skills valued by many potential employers of these students.

Context

There is often a mismatch between what students value from their time at universities and what employers value. Employers in the conservation sector frequently value extracurricular skills in addition to modular learning. A skill that is acutely lacking in graduates is an ability to identify species and, therefore, to carry out surveys under field conditions. The Campus Wildlife Champions project offered a way for undergraduate students to develop their CVs.

Implementation

The Ecology and Wildlife Conservation programme adviser meets with the students on a regular basis. During these meetings the importance of a strong CV that provides evidence of understanding, interest and learning, vital for career development in the conservation sector, is impressed on the students. Funding provided by the Teaching and Learning Development Fund was used to provide resources to facilitate engagement of students with species identification. Every Wednesday afternoon the project leader, along with Mr. Chris Foster (a Teaching Associate of the School of Biological Sciences), worked with the students in labs to help them to get to grips with specialised identification keys.

Impact

One of the main objectives was to encourage students to appreciate that on completing their degree programme their CV becomes the most important element in their armoury. Students need to take charge of their own learning to develop their skills so that their CVs showcase who they are and what they can deliver to a potential employer. Relying entirely on learning through modular teaching is unlikely to make them special. For this reason I was not happy to make this activity compulsory; students had to choose for themselves whether they were interested and how far they would like to take the activity. Seventeen students engaged with the project but this number dropped off as the academic year progressed, in particular as the examination period approached. Several students though remain active and it is hoped that they will continue a second year.

Reflections

This type of activity had not been attempted before so we were unsure how it would unfold. To have several students still interested in the activity is great and I will be encouraging these students to resume engagement during the coming academic year and to interact with the new cohort of students starting in September 2015. Continuity was a major aspiration so to have a real prospect that Part Two students could become mentors for Part One students is excellent. It is not obvious how we could have done things differently or better while operating within the constraints.

Links

The Campus champion project has appeared as a university news item:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR618137.aspx

Data from the project are contributed to the Whiteknights Biodiversity website:
http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/whiteknightsbiodiversity/

Dr Alan Renwick, School of Politics, Economics and International Relations
Year of activity: 2014/15

Overview

DSC_0289 - Copy Our Teaching and Learning Development Fund (TLDF) award was used to fund the purchase of a laptop and recording equipment to help students in preparing materials for broadcast in the Politics Show on Junction11 Radio, the Reading University Students’ Union radio station. This facilitated learning activities that greatly boosted students’ self-confidence, engagement with politics, and transferable skills.

Objectives

Deepen students’ engagement with politics by creating a forum for them to discuss it on live radio.
Deepen students’ understanding of the role of media in politics through practice as well as academic learning.
Foster students’ self-confidence and their skills of research, communication, presentation, and audio editing.

Context

The hardest part in studying politics is often connecting what we learn through academic study with what is happening around the world today. The Politics Show and allied Media and Politics module are designed to facilitate that, as well as to foster a range of crucial transferable skills. The ability to record and edit material ahead of broadcast is essential, and our TLDF funding allows that.

Implementation

The Politics Show was broadcast every Tuesday evening during term throughout the year, between 7 and 8pm. Much of the show involves live studio conversation, but pre-recording some content allows us greatly to open up the range of material that we can include, and most shows have therefore involved at least some such content. We have, for example, included vox pops hearing the views of students around campus, recorded interviews with notable visitors to campus, recorded interviews away from campus with a range of political figures, and recorded material on location, including reviews of exhibitions at the British Museum and British Library. While most such material can now be recorded with a good quality smart phone, the equipment we were able to purchase through the TLDF gives the highest quality of recorded sound and ensures that all students have access to the means of recording and editing, even if they do not own the requisite equipment themselves.

Impact

The Politics Show has been a tremendous success: students who take part visibly grow in confidence and ability to communicate and in engagement with politics. In addition, anyone with access to a computer can listen to the show live or through our podcast edition, and many people do so, ensuring that the show helps advertise the University of Reading and the Department of Politics and International Relations – and the achievements and professionalism of our students – to the wider world. The show is a core element in the package that we promote to applicants during open days and visit days. Again, these opportunities require that the show’s quality be high, and our TLDF funding has helped ensure that.

Reflections

We regard the Politics Show and the associated Media and Politics module as a very clear success, which is due in large part to the energy that this activity has unleashed among our students. We plan some tweaks to aspects of the module that are not related to our TLDF funding in response to lessons learnt over the past year. But we see no reason for substantial changes to the Politics Show itself or the role of pre-recorded material in it. Our one frustration this year was that, for administrative reasons, we could not purchase our new equipment until late in the year, but we will be able to integrate it more fully into the show more continuously in 2015/16.

The show’s original host, Dr Alan Renwick, has now moved on from the University of Reading, and two new hosts – Dr Dawn Clarke and Dr Mark Shanahan – will therefore be taking over. Given that they will be new to this kind of activity, we do not plan to experiment much with innovations over the coming year, but further refinement and evolution of the format may take place thereafter.

Links

The archive of podcasts from the show is available here: http://www.reading.ac.uk/spirs/about/spirs-PoliticsShowPodcasts.aspx