Teaching in Higher Education by Dr Cindy Becker

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This month sees the publication of my latest book, Teaching in Higher Education, written with Professor Pam Denicolo and published as part of the SAGE series Success in Research of which we are editors.

I suppose it is inevitable, given our busy lives, that we do not always have the time to analyze all the ways in which we teach and/or learn. We develop new ways of getting the best out of our students, we recalibrate our approach so that they get the best out of us, but we frequently do this instinctively. This instinct of the educator is vital to our role within the university, and the range of Teaching and Learning support offered within our workplace now allows us some time and space to think more deeply about our methods, and to share our successes and challenges with each other.

Despite this space for sharing, I was still aware that much of what I do as I face my students each day is ‘just what I do’. You might imagine, then, my pleasure at being asked to write a book designed to guide those less experienced in our profession. I was being given the chance to sit down and think about all aspects of teaching, to interrogate my assumptions and articulate my ideas.

After months thinking about how we do what we do, I still believe that teaching is a vocation, an activity for which you need to call up passion, energy and patience, but I have also come to the view that it can be taught: Teaching in Higher Education is the result.

Teaching in Higher Education‘If you are considering teaching or are new to the role, this book contains invaluable advice which will not only help you to get started but will help you to make teaching a rewarding, life-long career!’
– Serena Simmons, Nottingham Trent University

Chemistry’s Mini MOOC Attracts Industrial Interest by Dr Elizabeth Page and Professor Mathew Almond

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Course participants see NMR in practice with Dr Geoff Brown in the CAF during an on-site visit

Dr Elizabeth Page and Professor Matthew Almond developed an online distance learning course in 2011-2012 with funding support from the National HE STEM programme. The distance learning course entitled ‘Fundamental Analytical Techniques for Industry’ encompasses a host of analytical chemistry techniques typically used in a variety of scientific industries – pharma, food, agrichemicals etc. The course was targeted at employees in these industries without a background in higher education and designed to give staff a more thorough understanding of the theories behind the day-to-day processes they are routinely using. The course was piloted in 2011-2012 with a small number of students and fully rolled out this year with employees from a variety of major science based companies. Employers are viewing the course as cpd opportunity for staff wishing to enhance their personal portfolios.

A successful spin-off from development of the course is establishing and strengthening links with industry. A major international pharmaceutical company with analytical and QA operations in Maidenhead has contacted the Department of Chemistry about placement and employment opportunities. The company is offering either a placement year or summer internship for undergraduates and is recruiting to two full-time positions for graduates in June. We are also discussing the possibility of them sponsoring a local school leaver to study Chemistry at the University.

Institutional exposure via the provision of online courses or MOOCs is certainly leading to opportunities which could not have been foreseen when the idea of the course was first discussed.

For full information see: http://www.reading.ac.uk/chemistry/businessdevelopment/chem-e-learning.aspx

Showcasing Excellence in Students’ Research at Reading By Dr Anne Crook and Professor Julian Park

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The T&L away day in September 2011 focused on the theme ‘Building an Undergraduate Research Community’. Arising from these discussions a group of staff met to investigate ways in which undergraduate research at Reading might be more effectively showcased across the institution (and beyond). The group has expanded since its conception in 2011 and now meets once a term, consisting variously of staff from across the Faculties, support services and RUSU and is co-chaired by Dr Anne Crook (CDoTL) and Professor Julian Park (Associate Dean T&L, Life Sciences). The remit of the group has also expanded to encompass both undergraduate and postgraduate research activities and aligns with one of the key strategic priorities in the new Learning and Teaching Strategy (2013-18), namely ‘to engage students in research and enquiry in the curriculum’.

The aim of this blog post is to update colleagues on the activities of the group and to seek your feedback on other ways in which we may showcase excellence in students’ research at Reading.

Members of the group are currently engaged in the following activities:

1.  Developing a framework for disseminating students’ research news, e.g. on a webpage of the University’s website

The outputs of student research (undergraduate and postgraduate) are sometimes published in academic journals and other publications. However at present there is no central ‘forum’ for communicating the high quality contribution that is made by some students through their research activities (within and extra curricula). The group felt that a more effective forum of communicating these contributions, and the experiences which the students gain by being involved in research, is required. The group are therefore currently working with the Communications Office to investigate ways in which high quality students’ research may be showcased, both internally and externally, taking into account the different audience that such a website may cater for (current/prospective students/alumni/research community etc.)

2.  Further investigation of the possibilities of publishing high quality Master Theses on CentAUR

The issue of Masters theses remaining largely ‘on the shelves’ after submission was considered and it was agreed that the highest quality dissertations could be an excellent research resource for other students (and staff). The possibility of theses being accessible once relevant permissions/copyright had been sought, e.g., in PDF format via CentAUR, is being pursued. It is worth noting that it is already possible to search for papers with an UG or PGT  author and this currently returns 40 papers.

3.  Support for and dissemination of students’ attendance at the 2013 British Conference on Undergraduate Research

The conference will take place in April at Plymouth University and a number of Reading students will be attending and presenting (at least 5), some of whom have been funded by members of the group. The group will be working with the Communications Office to ensure these students are showcased on the University website following their attendance at the conference.

4.  Financing a UROP in 2013 to focus on the impacts to students’ confidence in undertaking research placements.

This is being funded by the Science Faculties and is currently being advertised. The project will be supervised by Dr Gillian Rose in Agriculture.

5.  Liaising with the University Committee on Museums, Archives and Collections (CMAC) to establish the ways in which University resources held within its museums and collections are currently being used to support T&L.

6.  The Associate Deans for T&L within the group, Julian Park and Orla Kennedy, are taking forward discussions to establish the nature and extent to which students at Part 1 and Part 2 are undertaking research activities. 

7.  Liaising with RUSU regarding the possible involvement of the Students’ Union in supporting a University-level student-led conference to showcase excellence in student research activities, which could build on the existing annual UROP showcase event in the Autumn Term.

8.  Exploring opportunities with the Communications Office whereby the annual UROP showcase event could ‘dovetail’ with other events taking place on campus at that time to maximise the potential impact of the UROP event.

9.  Drafting an article for the Engage in T&L blog to solicit staff ideas for other ways in which we may showcase students’ research.

The group would welcome your feedback and suggestions on its work, in particular, additional ideas for ways in which we could be showcasing the excellent research activities that many of our UG and PG students undertake at Reading. Please send your suggestions to Anne Crook (a.c.crook@rdg.ac.uk) and Julian Park (j.r.park@rdg.ac.uk). Thank you!

Online resources for physical and life sciences students by Helen Williams

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Even more online support has been made available for students here at Reading seeking work placement and graduate employment. A new online tool dedicated to helping students find opportunities within the life sciences industry has been launched this month by the Biopharma Skills Consortium (BSC), which is led by the University of Reading and comprises seven universities from across the southeast.

Students can readily access advice on how to make stronger applications for work placements and employment. The resources, available on the BSC website at http://www.bsc-biopharma.org.uk are designed to help students further their understanding of the industrial environment and highlight how to make a rapid impact when starting a new job.

The new resource is timely as a High Fliers report released on 14 January 2013 found that a third of jobs will be filled by graduates who have already spent time at a company, through work experience or industrial placements during their degree.

Orla Kennedy, Associate Dean for the Faculty of Science here at Reading explains: ‘The recent High Fliers report shows just how important work placements are for securing graduate employment. This website allows students access to audio clips that provide insights in to working in the bioscience sector and contains guided web links to useful web sites and training materials.’

James Gazzard, Professor of Workforce Futures at the University of East Anglia added ‘in a globally competitive job market university students and recent graduates need support to help them to effectively engage with employers. It is vital that universities develop platforms to support students to articulate their skills, particularly higher level competences gained through work placements.’

Study support for MOOCs – do the Study Advisers have the answer? by the Study Advice team

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The recent announcement that Reading has been selected as a partner in the Futurelearn project to provide free online courses is an exciting move towards new ways of engaging with a potentially massive cohort of students. However, concerns have been expressed about the lack of support for students studying the courses, especially those run by profit-seeking companies. The Times Higher Education Supplement (14 Feb 2013) reports Prof Josie Taylor of the Open University commenting that it is unethical to recruit large numbers of ‘inexperienced learners’ without providing them with support for their learning practices. Certainly if one of the aims of MOOCs is to act as a recruitment tool for future students by providing a taste of the teaching available at institutions, building in the probability of failure seems both wrong and commercially unwise.

Futurelearn’s webpage on MOOCs explained notes that ‘Due to the large number of students studying MOOCs, learning support comes from the online learning community rather than academic staff… MOOCs attempt to encourage students to be independent and self-motivating.’ Students will be encouraged to form online support networks using social media to build peer relationships. While peer learning and support is certainly a valuable and increasingly well-used strategy in universities, such initiatives involve peers already embedded in study at HE level, who are usually supported or mentored by trained staff. Independence and self-motivation are qualities we would all like to encourage in our students – but it’s equally important to recognise when expert guidance is more appropriate and have access to that guidance.

A project supported by the Annual Fund and carried out by the Study Advisers may have a potential answer to this problem. We have been developing a series of ‘bite-size’ screencasts on key aspects of learning practices, focusing on the issues most frequently discussed with students in Study Advice sessions. These avoid the traditional ‘talking head’ format, combining an explanatory spoken voicetrack with visual illustration of the ideas discussed, including animations and text extracts. Students can pause and re-watch parts of the presentations to build their understanding in ways that would be impossible during a lecture presentation.

We hope to launch the screencasts for access to Reading students via Blackboard later in the summer, as well as using them for a ‘flipped learning’ model for Study Advice workshops. If you would like to preview the resources developed so far and give us some feedback, please contact Michelle Reid (michelle.reid@reading.ac.uk) or Sonia Hood (s.hood@reading.ac.uk).

Virtual Careers Fairs by Amanda Duggan

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Virtual_Careers_FairThe Careers, Placement and Experience Centre’s investment, thanks to a grant from the Annual Fund, in a software package for virtual fair technology, has enabled the service to extend its traditional offer of careers fairs and provide students with a virtual environment in which to interact with employers. Continue reading →

Learning on Screen Awards by Nadja Guggi

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Learninng_on_screenCongratulations to Matthew Nicholls, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics, who has been shortlisted for a prestigious Learning on Screen Award by the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUVFC) in the Courseware and Curriculum Non Broadcast/Multimedia Award category.

Here is a short clip from Matthew’s entry, ‘Digital Modelling of Ancient Rome and the Roman World’:

http://youtu.be/THM3ovAS6vQ

Matthew has been using digital modelling software to build a detailed model of the ancient city of Rome as it appeared around AD 315. He spoke about ‘Rebuilding the ancient world, digitally’ at the ‘Sharing Good Practice’ event last July and presented on ‘Integrating digital modelling into student teaching and assessment’ at the recent Teaching & Learning Showcase on ‘The use of technologies in Teaching & Learning’.

If you want to find out more, Matthew will talking about his project in a keynote speech at the University’s annual IT Supporters Conference on 18 April – just before heading off to London for the Awards ceremony! Fingers firmly crossed.

Internationalising Student Support Community of Practice (COP) by Matthew Daley

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The Internationalising Student Support COP has been established with the remit to offer opportunities for staff involved with and interested in the development and enhancement of student support and experience in relation to internationalisation; to share best practice and discuss current challenges and opportunities for providing a high quality international student experience for all students. This COP is led by the University’s International Student Adviser in partnership with RUSU’s elected International Students’ Officer and supported by the Associate Dean (Science).

Each meeting focuses on a particular theme and good practice and ideas for improvement on that theme are presented and shared, with the intention of exploring how to disseminate good practice effectively.

The second meeting took place on Thursday 7 February with the theme ‘Tailoring Support for International Students’ and attracted over 30 members of staff from across the University.

Some of the highlights were:

Dr Michelle Reid gave an overview of the collaborations and work Study Advice is involved in with Departments to tailor support for their international students. What has tended to work well is embedded support working with Schools and the Study Advisers work has shifted with a 100% increase in work which focuses on embedding study skills. Some examples of embedding study skills highlighted were workshops on plagiarism and referencing, time management, working smarter not harder and independent learning for students in Food Sciences. Tailored sessions for Study Abroad and ERASMUS students included Adjusting to studying in the UK and preparing for exams.

There are currently two projects that Study Advice is currently working on; the development of screencasts and animations to explain the principles of essay writing and referencing. The other project is a collaboration with the Library and ISLC on producing a toolkit for referencing.

Liz Smith is the PPD Co-ordinator at the Institute of Education and talked about the International Student Enrichment Programme which was set up in 2006. The Enrichment Programme this year has been further developed into a formal non-credit bearing module. The Enrichment Programme (EDM159) currently includes language and study skills sessions, social events and pastoral support. The module is ‘Front-loaded’ with lots of support in the Autumn Term, reducing gradually during the spring and summer terms.

The activities and sessions on the module are divided into 3 themes, ‘Speaking and Listening Skills’, ‘Learning Enhancement’ and ‘Academic Writing and Language Skills’. Some of the sessions delivered include ‘A cultural visit to Reading’, ‘Understanding essay questions’, ‘Participating in Debates’ and ‘Paraphrasing’.

Future meetings and their themes are below and bookings can be made via CSTD:

  • Integration and Languages (staff supporting all students)

–        Wednesday 24/04/2013 – 13.00-14.00

Students like live lectures (and online ones as backup) by Rebecca Reynolds

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Amy with pots 3
Dr Amy Smith, Ure Museum curator

Every year, students on the first year Analysing Museum Displays optional module have a talk from Dr Amy Smith at the Ure Museum, looking at the display there about the Greek symposium. This year I put the lecture online along with a transcript, photographs of the display, and a worksheet. I told them to use the materials instead of attending the weekly lecture that week.

Eighteen students filled in a questionnaire the following week giving responses to the lecture and saying whether they preferred it online, live or both. Nine students would prefer both, eight would prefer the live lecture only, and one student preferred the online lecture only.

Students liked the interactivity of live lectures, so the lecturer can go off script, students can ask questions and also learn from their peers. Students also preferred being in the actual museum, with four students saying this made the lecture more memorable. Two students said that they paid tuition fees for more than online learning. The main advantage of the online lecture was its usefulness for revision and its controllability.

In other words, what students valued was not the lecture format per se but the fact that they were with a real person in a real learning environment. Affective aspects connected with students’ reason for liking the live lecture could include some less easy to define such as the passion for their discipline shown by the lecturer, the fruitful discoveries and moments of realisation which can occur in a learning environment but which may be unconnected with the main topic of the session, and approaches to the subject shown by other students.

Recommendations are to make lectures as interactive as possible, and use online resources as backup. Tutors might also wish to ask students to listen to online lectures in their own time and save contact time for more interactive sessions – however, this holds practical challenges.

The online resource was developed as part of a JISC-funded digitisation project called OBL4HE (Object-based Learning for Higher Education), a partnership between UoR, University College London and the Collections Trust. The Reading side is based at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL).

The full report is here response to educational resources

Project blog: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/oblhe/

Other resources developed as part of the project are available here (scroll to the bottom of the page): http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/LearnatMERL/merl-museumstudies.aspx

Contact: Rebecca Reynolds – r.m.reynolds@reading.ac.uk

Presenting the brand new Placement Guide for staff by Em Sowden

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managing placements 3The new placement guide has been written for all University staff involved in managing student placement options, internships, work placement programmes and volunteering schemes in and outside of the curriculum.operational processes involved in managing placements, alongside the details of key people within the University who can provide support. The guide also refers to national guidance on managing student placements, in accordance with the QAA and the University Code of Practice on Placement Learning and has useful templates and downloadable materials for you to use.

http://www.reading.ac.uk/closed/managing-placements/mp-about-this-guide.aspx

Placement Community of Practice

We will be holding our first Placement Community of Practice  of the year on March 5th 12.15pm-13.45pm in HumSS room 44 – lunch will be provided. It is expected that anyone with a placement remit should attend this community of practice to ensure we are sharing best practice across the University. Please contact CSTD to confirm your attendance.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Placement and Development Manager, Em Sowden e.l.sowden@reading.ac.uk ext. 8354