PG Cert in L

1
PG Cert in LT in HESupporting Student
LearningStudy Day 2

• Dr John Peters
• Dr Rowland Gallop
• 13th September 2007

2
Feedback issues

• Confirms group work and sharing experience
• Need to establish confidentiality
• Need to mix groups
• Maslows hierarchy of needs food and drink
  supplied
• Constructivism same session different
  experiences, humour or no humour?!

3
Homework

• Some success with registration
• Materials put on website
• Timetable produced
• Some experienced course members attending later
  with portfolios
• Assessment issues this afternoon
• Some profile forms and statements coming in

4
Small group problem experiences

• Students or staff ill prepared and un-involved
• Motivation not strong
• Maslow issues with basic needs environment
• Inappropriate or unfortunate language
• Group dynamics
• Too diverse
• Droning dominant tutor or student
• Silent group or inactive group
• Organisation focus unclear

5
Responsibility for failure

• Environment
• Uncontrollable or unknown external factors
• Institution
• Students
• Tutor
• Not responsive
• Not adaptable
• Group chair or organiser
• Nature of the content and format
• Lack of flexibility

6
How can these issues be avoided?

• Preparation Awareness know about group
  environment
• Address emotional issues
• Monitor group dynamic
• Create safe environment unconditional positive
  regard is this possible?
• Willingness to adapt and be responsive
• Establish ground rules or a contract
• Keep activities interesting!

7
Using group work techniques

• Others include - Role Play, Speed dating,
  debating,
• When does a small group become a large group?!
• Group work overkill student expectations
• Monitoring and responding to issues
• Keep aware and health check at end
• Breadth v. depth
• BUT reading plus group work as quick as
  lecturing and better for understanding!
• Teacher coverage v student understanding
• Subject www.heacademy.ac.uk

8
Possible constraints on group work with large
groups

• Accommodation raked lecture theatre
• Doesnt stop groups but does constrain
• Feedback from all groups
• Time to get round groups
• Sample groups or use methods that dont require
  direct feedback eg. crossover
• Content focus rather than process focus
• But why? Group work to encourage application and
  testing of knowledge and understanding
• Importance of good, clear instructions, structure
  and timing with large groups

9
Practice with large groups

• Activities on case studies
• Vicarious video
• Engaging in short professional task
• Eg Psycho test, doc analysis, planning
• ACTIVITY no practice without it!
• Labelling diagrams
• Interpreting charts
• Applying theory to a case or personal situation

10
Feedback with large groups

• Small group activity peer feedback
• Elf-assessment against provided or produced
  criteria
• Producing posters and circulation
• They do it in groups and all feedback,
• They do it, you model it
• Be explicit about purpose

11
Theorising with large groups

• Activity that makes reflection engaging
• Cake / clock model of progression through a
  change process
• Journaling, individual theorising feeding into
  group
• Team conferencing group responses
• World café
• Using images and stories

12
Motivation with large groups

• Front load activity
• Before and after repeat activity
• Making it relevant
• To assessment
• To course
• To real world
• To their experience
• Activity for them to discover relevance

13
Portfolio Building issues

• Flexibility of portfolio assessment
• Good Navigation important
• Start early keep rough notes or diary
• Making links between outcomes and values
• Experiment in your teaching and evaluate
• Find some theory get some help
• Peer observation can be helpful
• Lots of informal things count as evidence

14
Assessment matters

• What are the learning outcomes?
• Whats the year group? does it matter?
• Importance of referencing conventions
• Can you find it?
• Is it in criteria?
• What are the criteria?
• University level
• Subject or task specific

15
Why assess?

• Two key purposes
• Arriving at a grade summative
• Supporting student learning formative
• Feedback purpose acknowledge strengths, justify
  grade, propose possible improvements, keep to a
  few key points, encourage reflection
• Feedback sandwich
• A positive, development issues and a positive