Friday 23 November 2012

New edition of Enhancing the Learner Experience in Higher Education


Enhancing the Learner Experience in Higher Education

ISSN 2041-3122



The publication of this new edition of Enhancing the Learner Experience in Higher Education serves as a mini re-launch for the journal with a new editorial team. Thank you to the authors who submitted their work, and thanks to the reviewers who provided useful feedback to improve the articles. There is now an open call for papers for forthcoming editions, and we welcome enquiries and submissions from individuals wishing to publish their work in the journal


Vol 4, No 1 (2012)

Table of Contents

Editorial

EditorialPDF
Rachel Maunder, Scott Turner, Simon Sneddon, Anna Crouch1-2

Articles

Students’ views on higher education learning environments for professional teacher educationPDF
Diane Stoncel, Ann Shelton-Mayes3-16
Assessing the impact of students facilitating workshops within the context of a collaborative cross institution projectPDF
Grant Petrey17-31
An action research project to explore the effect of a pre-assessment intervention with undergraduate occupational therapy studentsPDF
Anita Volkert32-43
An exploration of the motivations of service users and carers involved in student social work education and the challenges that such involvement bringsPDF
Valerie Gant44-58

Critical case studies

Using culturally relevant case studies to enhance students’ learning: a reflective analysis of the benefits and challenges for social work students and academicsPDF
Prospera Sorviel Tedam59-69

Work in progress

Coping with the first fail: a strategic approach to student retentionPDF
Simon Smith, Andrea Lee70-74

Book reviews

Helping Doctoral Students Write – pedagogies for supervisionPDF
Nick Sutcliffe75-77


ISSN: 2041-3122

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Opinion: Curation Software to use or not to use?

What is curation software?
The number of resources on the internet is increasing in most areas and search engines can are helpful but it is not the same as someone telling you this is a good resource. Digital curation takes this further allowing people to produce lists of internet resources that can be dynamically updated but filtered resources - if you like a dynamic reading list of web resources.

Two free example tools are shown below Scoop.it and paper.li

1. Scoopit(http://www.scoop.it)




Two examples sites used in my teaching are shown here:
artificial intelligence for students




Robot resource


















The good feature of scoop.its is you have control over what content you present, you are the filter. Content suggestions are also made, but it is up to you if you select them. The aim is to increase the amount of student suggested content.



2. Paper.li (www.paper.li)

Allows you to set up a newspaper-like resource that takes feeds from blogs, rss feeds and if you want Twitter. Unlike scoop.it you have control over the feeds you choose but less control over the content displayed; so careful selection of the feeds is needed



An example of what other universities are doing in this area can be found at Curtin University.

Thursday 15 November 2012

URB@N Project: Evaluation of the barriers and opportunities for wastes management distance learning courses


The School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton has funding from URB@N for three projects. URB@N stands for ‘Undergraduate Research Bursaries at Northampton’. It is a bursary scheme offering opportunities for current undergraduate students to participate in a pedagogic research project taking place at the university. Details of one of these projects is included here.


Staff Involved:
Terry Tudor
Paul Cox
Nigel Freestone
Louise Maxwell
Ruth Copeland-Phillips
Margaret Bates

Overview:
In recent years there has been increasing emphasis globally on managing the
environment, particularly wastes, in a more sustainable manner. Linked to
this has been a desire to increase the competencies and skills of individuals
in the field of environmental management and more specifically wastes
management. The Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences,
at the University currently offers a range of environmental management
courses, with a growing provision of distance learning. Indeed, within the
past few months, the Department has been approached by universities in
India, Kenya, Nigeria, Iraq and China, with requests for provision of waste
management course. However, it is not possible to deliver by traditional
classroom based methods in all interested institutions. The Wastes Team is
therefore looking at a range of alternative delivery methods including, but not
limited to, blended learning, flying faculty and distance learning. We wish to
undertake research into the perception and logistics of wastes management
course delivery by distance learning so that we can better meet the student
expectations and enhance their learning experiences. The project’s main
objectives are to:


Examine the key socio-economic, cultural and logistical factors that
might influence the successful uptake of alternative delivery methods in
waste management courses
Identify possible strategies to overcome these factors which would
facilitate an enhanced student experience.

More details about URB@N can be found at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/urban

URB@N Project: Student perspective on a quality learner experience


The School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton has funding from URB@N for three projects. URB@N stands for ‘Undergraduate Research Bursaries at Northampton’. It is a bursary scheme offering opportunities for current undergraduate students to participate in a pedagogic research project taking place at the university. Details of one of these projects is included here.



Scott Turner
John Sinclair

Overview
The project will form part of the larger work going on within the school
on what is a “quality learner experience” both from the staff and student
perspective.

The URB@N student project focus will be on the student perspective and as a peer can hopefully get an more unbiased view through staff not being directly involved in collecting the information.

It is anticipated that results will be disseminated throughout the School
and will inform all Subject teams in terms of the student perspective on
the current learner experience. With the expectation that this will lead to
proactively targeted enhancement activities at subject-level.


Over several years, the School of Science and Technology has been
concerned that its NSS scores, whilst improving, lag behind those of the
rest of the University of Northampton. The development of the KIS has
permitted ready comparison with competitors and whilst there is a recognised
sector-wide issue with low scores in science/technology students, we are not
managing to exceed the outcomes for the majority of similar institutions. In
2011/12, efforts were made to establish student focus groups to investigate
this issue, but student participation was low. We therefore wish to try a different approach, in which the research will be conducted by a student,
which we hope will enable greater buy-in and participation from students
within the School.

The URB@N project would enhance the ongoing project within the school into
what is a quality learner experience.


For more information about this project go Student perspective on a quality learner experience
More details about URB@N can be found at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/urban

URB@N Project: University 101' for the University of Northampton


The School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton has funding from URB@N for three projects. URB@N stands for ‘Undergraduate Research Bursaries at Northampton’. It is a bursary scheme offering opportunities for current undergraduate students to participate in a pedagogic research project taking place at the university. Details of one of these projects is included here.

  University 101' for the University of Northampton 

Staff involved:
Nigel Freestone
Sindy Banga - Health

Overview
The project aims to develop and evaluate the on-line Northampton University
101 transition course. This course has been written to help new students
and International students to make the transition to The University of
Northampton successful, easier and effective. It is an on-line course that
addresses the UK HE academic culture that is new to many students.

The non-credit bearing course aims to:
• To increase student engagement, retention and academic performance
• To familiarise students with the UK degree structure, programmes
and academic expectations e.g. learning outcomes and assessment
strategies
• Foster a sense of belonging
• Familiarise students with the University of Northampton’s academic
practices including plagiarism and the grading criteria.
• Introduce the resources and facilities available to students
• Promote engagement in the curricular
• Help students develop and apply study skills, such as essay structure
and writing, critical analysis and referencing.

Students would be required to complete Northampton 101 before they
commenced their programme of study. It is anticipated that Northampton 101
will run for the first two weeks after enrolment, on-line. This is important in
order to meet the demands of International programmes such as students
based in India. There will be a number of academic activities, such as; The
Learning Styles Questionnaire, Turnitin, and a written activity linked to their
first module.

Student will only be allowed to move on to the next stage once they have
passed the previous stages.

For more information about this project go to University 101' for the University of Northampton
More details about URB@N can be found at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/urban

Saturday 10 November 2012

public engagement event

On 7th November The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public engagement (NCCPE) ran an interesting and informative event for Public Engagement ambassadors at King's college, London (KCL). Held within KCLs new Museum of Life Sciences, providing an interesting backdrop to the event.

After the introduction, the morning started with talks about three public engagement projects KCL are partners or lead. What made this particular interesting, for me, was they were all about science-based research. One particular project that caught my attention, that could be implemented elsewhere, is the idea of researchers putting images from their work forward as art exhibits (or working with artists to make it into one). Added to the images would be a bit of explanation, and so further disseminating their research at same time. There are probably many researchers that have images that are suitable, and then the art work is sold on - though how would you feel if yours doesn't sell!

The afternoon focused on networking between ambassadors and then a series of activities around how do you evaluate the impact of your public engagement activities.

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public engagement (NCCPE) has a whole range of on-line resources on public engagement and disseminating your research to the public. For more details go to: http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/how


If you want to know more about being a Public Engagement Ambassador, details can be found at: http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/how-we-help/ambassadors-scheme


Profile: http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/how-we-help/ambassadors/dr-scott-turner

Thursday 1 November 2012

flying start for Masters students

A new feature to the School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton is a bespoke 'flying start' programme for all MSc and final-year direct entry students, run by the Centre for Academic Practice.

The school has for the last few years being recommending, on certain courses, that first year students enrol on the Flying Start programme before joining their course. A specific masters version has been running in the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) for several years; this year the concept has been rolled out across the school. 

The Flying Start programme consists of a mix of interactive-lectures, workshops, discussions supported by experienced academic tutors and looks at academic skills appropriate to the level of the students. In this case the emphasis is on what is expected of a masters student. This programme is not meant to replace the work course tutors do; but to complement and support what is done in the class.