Teaching & Learning Presentations

Research and evaluation: a framework for learning, teaching and assessment across courses for healthcare students

Lesley Baillie, Sharon Black, Rebecca Jones, Sandra Leggetter, Glynis Pellatt, Rosie Preston, Bella Madden
Acute Health Care Community Services
Contact: Lesley.Baillie@beds.ac.uk

A framework for teaching and assessing research and evaluation is developmental for students and provides a coherent guide for academics.

Research and evaluation skills are core skills for university students but there is potential for the facilitation of these skills to be approached in an ad hoc manner without ensuring their coherent development across all academic levels . In addition, healthcare course content must meet professional body requirements for the application of research skills and knowledge to promote evidence-based practice. This presentation will explain a research-informed teaching framework, developed by Health department academics. The framework aims to promote a coherent and developmental plan for teaching, learning and assessment of research and evaluation content across academic levels 3-7, meeting both academic and professional requirements for healthcare students. The framework also includes principles for teaching and assessing research and evaluation in a creative and engaging manner, with suggestions for application to courses at each academic level.

Reflection-for-learning, self-directed learning and students' perception of feedback

Philip Beckwith, Mary Beckwith
Department of Acute Care
Contact: philip.beckwith@beds.ac.uk

We've created a learning activity based upon reflection that successfully encourages the students to articulate a personal action plan based on their feedback encouraging self-directed learning.

The Operating Department Practice (ODP) team was surprised to receive poor National Student Survey results for student feedback despite positive remarks from our external examiner. The ODP course is a widening access programme; students' ages range from 18 to 50 years and entry requirements are General Certificates in Secondary Education (GCSE). Their lack of exposure to further education may contribute to their underappreciation of feedback provided. An intervention involving positive reinforcement of feedback through the use of the Reflection-for-learning model (Beckwith & Beckwith, 2008) was created. This intervention asks students to engage in this Reflection-for- learning process and articulate their personal action plan based upon their feedback. The aim is to improve the students' learning by encouraging formulation of self-directed learning goals thus developing effective life-long learning habits. This method has not only resulted in improvements in learner engagement with feedback, but has also revealed the effectiveness the feedback provided.

Beckwith M A R & Beckwith P T (2008) Reflection or Critical Thinking?: A pedagogical revolution in North American health care education. http://www.g- casa.com/PDF/Krakow%202008/krakow%20papers%20pdf/paper%20database%20krakow/Beckwith.pdf

Education, hefts and expectations of success

Erik Blair
Department of Education Studies
Contact: erik.blair@beds.ac.uk

Universities are not necessarily the right bodies to set and assess what a successful outcome for an individual student might be.

This presentation examines the problem of divergent expectations of success by addressing it from two perspectives: the learner and the learned, and argues that there is a need for a philosophical change in what is considered to be a successful outcome of education. Instead of expectations of success being imposed upon students it is proposed that we might consider a model of education that allows people to feel successful because they have achieved in the areas that are important to them. Such a model would question the value of educational institutions attempting to embed concepts such as employability and progression within their sphere of activity.

Using Quick Response (QR) Codes in the Learning Resources Centres

Alan Bullimore, Bill Mortimer
Learning Resources
Contact: alan.bullimore@beds.ac.uk

How we can try new technologies to let students know that we care (on the cheap)

Certain books are in high demand in the LRC, and often attract multiple reservations on the library system. Sometimes these books are available electronically. We decided to use posters on the shelf ends to let students know about the electronic version. The posters used QR (Quick Response) codes linking the e-book catalogue record directly to a student's phone. We had no idea what the take-up would be, but the whole process was done very cheaply and easily. Results were encouraging with some posters being 'zapped' by 40 or 50 phones over a two month period. We hope that the impact was partly to show students that we are aware of their frustrations when unable to find their textbooks, and are trying to help. Cranfield and City University both showed an interest in the project and said that they would attempt similar initiatives.

lrweb.beds.ac.uk/qrcodes

Primary research conference - valuing and disseminating student research outcomes

Neil Burton
Primary Education
Contact: neil.burton@beds.ac.uk

Students share their research outcomes with their peers in order to collaboratively learn and appreciate the value of research activity for future CPD.

The Annual Primary Research Conference provides an opportunity for undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education students to come together and share the outcomes of the 'best' pieces of research completed that year. Innovative pieces of research and interesting and informative research outcomes are shared with peers in informal seminars both to value the research as meaningful professional development and to instill in students an appreciation of the wider application of research activity within professional learning situations. The conference is also attended by undergraduate students about to enter their final year so that they can learn from and engage with professional research in preparation for their own dissertation activity. The combination of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the same event has also been praised by our external examiners and has elicited financial support from a professional association as well as being 'copied' by other HEIs as exemplary practice within the teaching profession.

Primary Research Conference BREO Organisation: http://breo.beds.ac.uk/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_122991_1

Does a journal club approach with pre-session reading help midwifery students see the relevance of research?

Karen Chapman
Health Faculty (PgCAP action research project)
Contact: karen.chapman@beds.ac.uk

A journal-club approach helps to motivate and enables students to understand research.

Midwives are expected to be analytical thinkers, able to critically review evidence that informs practice. However, midwifery students appear to have difficulty understanding basic research principles and applying them to practice. The aim of this study was to enable students to better understand and see the relevance of research in practice through the acquisition of critiquing skills. The traditional method of delivering this unit solely by lectures was replaced with a 'learning by doing' approach on journal club lines using seminar groups and larger, plenary sessions. Pre-session reading was utilised, with students being supported and encouraged to take control of their own learning development. The effectiveness of this method was evaluated with a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire, student feedback and assignment outcomes. The findings suggest this method of learning is liked by students, increases understanding and improves assignment outcomes.

PAD Self Assessment: Hello BREO learning units. Goodbye paper

Nick Collis, Steve Briggs
Learning Technology (Centre for Learning Excellence); Professional Academic Development
Contact: nick.collis@beds.ac.uk

BREO learning units can overcome many of the problems inherent with paper-based self assessment

Over the last four years the Professional and Academic Development Team have given first year students a paper based self-assessment booklet during induction. This booklet enabled students to assess what study skills they need to develop. However, the booklet was limited because its generic content was unsuitable for use with all university courses. We've sought to improve our existing system through the introduction of a technology based solution which permits assessment content to be customised to meet the needs of different courses. The Learning Technology and PAD teams are utilising BREO learning units to deliver an engaging and adaptive study skills assessment which will be made available at the start of the coming academic year. The aims of this project are to widen access to study skills support, improve efficiency by eliminating the need for paper copies, and enabling a simple one-click mechanism to incorporate the study skills package into your units which can be customised to your requirements.

Reaching out to health students: or, What a difference a cake makes!

Janine Farnham, Averil Robertson
Learning Resources
Contact: janine.farnham@beds.ac.uk

Academic Liaison Librarians hold drop-in sessions at NHS libraries for students on placement. Recent introduction of lunchtime sessions with snacks has seen a huge increase in attendance.

For some years, Academic Liaison Librarians have held drop-in sessions at NHS libraries where our students are on placement, in collaboration with the NHS librarians. Health students can find it difficult to travel to the University for information skills instruction, so these sessions provide an opportunity for them to access professional help in finding resources for their academic work, as well as help with problems in referencing, document delivery, and so on. Takeup of the service has been sporadic in the past, but the recent introduction of joint lunchtime group Q&A sessions with free snacks at the L&D hospital, combined with better marketing (in collaboration with the NHS librarians) has seen a surge of interest with greatly improved attendance. With the appointment and cooperation of the new librarian at Bedford Hospital, we have recently rolled out the programme there. Students have been very appreciative and enthusiastic and we plan to build on our success to expand the programme further.

An experience of digitally enhanced patchwork text assessments to support the delivery of critical social psychology

Alfredo Gaitan, Joseph Adonu, Maja Jankowska
Department of Psychology
Contact: alfredo.gaitan@beds.ac.uk

Patchwork Text Assessments are a valuable alternative to traditional assessments when it is important to capture the learning processes rather than merely the final product

The presentation describes a case study on the impact of a Patchwork Text Assessment (PTA) within a Level 3 unit ('Critical Social Psychology'), as part of a JISC-funded project on Digitally Enhanced PTA. The unit had incorporated features of 'inquiry-based learning' with good results the previous year and this year it was hoped that PTA would help make explicit the individual and group processes of inquiry as well as facilitate the final evaluation of student learning. The students wrote individual expansions of the inquiries and other pieces of coursework ('patches') and a final assessment that linked ('stitched') them all up in a PTA using PebblePad. A sample of these were analysed with permission from the students. These data were complemented with interviews where the experience was explored in depth. Findings on the experience of using PTAs, as an alternative to traditional assessments, are discussed.

Winters R (2003) Contextualising the Patchwork Text (...) Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 40,112-22

The failure of students to grasp instruction and its underlying factors

Alison Hancock, Martin Harwood
Department of Language and Communication
Contact: alison.hancock@beds.ac.uk

Student misinterpretation of instructions and its implications for realistic task assessment and successful studies.

In spite of careful and repeated instruction, many students are failing to respond adequately to task rubric. This impacts on task success and on staff-student interaction. While this is clearly detrimental for the learners, it may lead to lowered expectations from the staff of what is a realistic learning outcome. This presentation will consider some instances of student misinterpretation of task and attempt to determine the nature of the classroom experience for the newly-arrived student from the Indian sub-continent. It may be appropriate to redefine what is a realistic learning experience for students who are unfamiliar with the academic culture of the UK university.

A systematic review of contemporary development in logistics and supply chain management (A RiT project)

Q He, D Richardson, E Philpott, Y Bentley, D Owen, D Kapofu, J Castro
BMRI
Contact: Qile.He@beds.ac.uk

A RiT project resulted in a literature base and a literature review menu toolkit to assist students and tutors in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Given that logistics and supply chain management is a subject area evolving rapidly, teaching of logistics and SCM also needs to be improved and updated with the support of the most current research. Although plenty of literature in the area is available in libraries and various databases, the lack of systematic, up-to-date review of the current development in logistics and SCM has limited the ability of students to draw clear boundaries between current developments in the subject area and reflect the subject knowledge into the learning process. Based on a mapping of literatures with the curriculum structure of a specialized MSc course in Logistics and SCM, members of the Operations and Knowledge Management (OKM) research group in the Business Systems Department developed a literature base and a literature review menu tool kit to assist students and tutors to get the most up-to-date and relevant literature in learning and teaching.

Developing and testing a methodology for crediting vocational education and training that is workable across Europe

Neville Hunt, Yanqing Duan
Marketing Department, Business Systems Department
Contact: neville.hunt@beds.ac.uk

The key to developing/implementing a workable EU-wide scheme to credit non-formal and informal learning is simplicity, ease of assessment and broad applicability

With the objective of facilitating transnational job mobility, the EU is committed to developing a method of crediting Vocational Education & Training (VET) to be valid across all Member States. UoB as partner in Leonardo da Vinci information transfer project M-ECVET-S is contributing experience in modular education, credit allocation and vocationalism to develop a modular ECVET credit scheme to assign vocational academic credit to learning acquired through non-formal and informal learning. Modular schemes are not widespread across Member States, and support for the venture is variable. The challenge is to devise a scheme that is truly workable, simple to apply to a variety of educational systems and easily assessed. The scheme has been developed and it will be fully tested in the accounting field in Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey and the UK in autumn 2011. If successful, the project outcomes will have profound impact on European VET systems and practice.

http://www.ecvet-modular.eu/index.php?lang=en

Reflecting on the transition from nursing practice to education - The journey to becoming an effective teacher in Higher Education

Becci Jones
Department of Acute Services, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of Bedfordshire.
Contact: rebecca.jones@beds.ac.uk

Supporting new teachers, reflection, transition to higher education, facilitating learning, role boundaries

This paper will discuss my journey of transition from nursing practice to education by reflecting on the opportunities and challenges of this process. It will utilise reflective principles to identify strategies for universities to consider when supporting new teachers. Higher education presents a significant challenge for new teachers in becoming competent and overcoming the barriers that may impact on students learning. Nurse education requires a teacher to be dynamic, supportive, caring, empathetic, challenging and knowledgeable. Maintaining the balance of the role in supporting students and sustaining identity is the beginning of the journey to becoming an effective teacher in higher education. I will consider how I have applied my nursing skills, to facilitate and support students, reflecting on aspects of my transition which have been challenging. Drawing on my reflections, I will conclude with messages for new teachers and their support needs as they develop in higher education.

Exploring the practices of feedback to Higher Education students

Desmond Kapofu
Business Systems Department (PgCAP action research project)
Contact: desmond.kapofu@beds.ac.uk

Feedback needs to be placed in the context of unit assessment design, encompassing a comprehensive clarification of requirements for assessments, guidance, feedback, and feed-forward.

This action research study was undertaken primarily to investigate and address problems associated with assessment feedback. The study involved three focus groups of undergraduate students at the third level completing degrees in the Business School at the University of Bedfordshire. It focused on student perceptions of feedback, its impact on their learning and preferred modes of delivery. Similarly the analysis and progression of the project through the stages of action research sought to enhance student identification of feedback (particularly formative feedback), assess feedback modes of delivery for effectiveness, and evaluate the overall role and impact of feedback with respect to learning on the unit. To that end a contribution is also made towards literature which discusses the conversational form of feedback.

Resourcing dance practice

Maggie Killingbeck
Department of Physical Education & Sport Studies
Contact: Maggie.Killingbeck@beds.ac.uk

The link between excellent subject knowledge and high quality outcomes cannot be overestimated.

In theory the 'midway model' (Smith-Autard 2002 The Art of Dance in Education) underpins dance education pedagogy, i.e. teaching dance in an educational context is informed by elements of the 'educational' and 'professional' models. For various reasons, in practice, the professional model prevails. This project sought to acquaint dance practitioners with the central elements of the educational model in order to redress the balance. The impact was extremely positive. It has spawned a dance education unit at masters level and another research project with a far wider remit.

Preston-Dunlop V & Sayers L-A (2010) The dynamic body in space: developing Rudolf Laban's ideas for the 21st century

How the virtual queue has improved the student experience

Amanda Krebs, Steve Briggs
Student Information Desk, Student Services, Registry; Professional Academic Development
Contact: amanda.krebs@beds.ac.uk

Queuing data allows effective and efficient management of resource and services and is used to deliver service improvements, with a positive impact on student experience.

In 2010, the University introduced SiD Online, an enquiry management system across its student-facing teams. The software includes a Queue Management component which aids the management of large volumes of students. This employs screens which allow students to join virtual queues. Staff manage queues by requesting that students come forward to a specified location at a suitable time. This has significantly changed how students engage with University teams. The Professional and Academic Development (PAD) Team are using the Queue Management software in their drop-in area. Virtual queuing has significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of PAD drop-in support that can be offered to students. Virtual queues have also been used by PAD as an alternative to workshop registers. During this session an overview of the SiD Queue Management component will be presented. PAD usage of the queuing system will then be used to illustrate the benefits of this system.

http://www.beds.ac.uk/sid/aboutus

Using SiDOnline to improve the student experience

Amanda Krebs
Student Information Desk, Student Services, Registry
Contact: amanda.krebs@beds.ac.uk

SiDOnline was procured to underpin the network of cross campus Student Information Desks. How has it benefitted the students and staff that use it?

In July 2010, The University of Bedfordshire introduced the enquiry management software, SiDOnline across its student support teams and Student Information Desk network. There are now over 30 teams and over 250 SiD Online users across the University. Over 80,000 enquiries have been logged since launch. The enquiry management software is used to record and to respond to student enquiries. The enquiry management software includes a queue management component, bookable slots, and a knowledge bank of FAQS. SiDOnline is also a self-service support tool, students are able to log and access their own enquiries. This session will explore the benefits for students and staff from introducing SiDOnline .

http://www.beds.ac.uk/sid/aboutus

The Language Centre: the way forward

Nicola Latimer, Kristina Narvet
Language Centre, UOB
Contact: nicola.latimer@beds.ac.uk

Increasing staff awareness of the services and facilities available at The Language Centre and review future cooperation with other departments.

The first part of the presentation will outline the services and facilities currently on offer within the Language Centre. To demonstrate the variety of support available, we will present examples of current co-operation with course leaders. This cooperation has resulted in targeted support for groups with particular English Language needs. We will then set out our ideas for future development with the aim of generating discussion and suggestions about ways to establish links with other course leaders to target support at those students most in need. We hope that as a result of the presentation • Staff will be more aware of the services on offer to support students with English as a second language. • More groups in need of targeted support can be identified. • Suggestions for establishing links can be investigated further and where possible incorporated into future plans.

languagecentre@beds.ac.uk

Developing, enhancing and sustaining research skills in a diverse population of students undertaking a Masters in Public Health: an action research study

Sandra Leggetter, Susan Sapsed
Department of Acute Health Care; Department of Community Services
Contact: sandra.leggetter@beds.ac.uk

With effective institutional support international students can develop their knowledge and understanding of key research skills and go on to achieve a good outcome.

Recruitment of international students at the University of Bedfordshire (UoB) has seen a sharp increase in recent years and the Master's in Public Health recruits highly from this population. Having identified that some students arrive with a limited knowledge and understanding of key research skills the perception of the teaching team was that international students face additional challenges. Following the introduction of the online mode of delivery we also considered what additional teaching and learning challenges would present. It became increasingly clear that we needed to explore the nature of our student population and, specifically, the interaction between student and teacher. Early findings challenge our perceptions. Possible reasons for this are explored. Changes to pedagogy and practice are examined and future challenges identified. Implications for the UoB's postgraduate curriculum framework and recruitment strategies are explored.

http://www.g-casa.com/conferences/vietnam/paper/Leggetter.pdf

Reflexivity in university education

Theo Maniski
Dept of Language and Communication, Business School, UoB
Contact: theo.maniski@beds.ac.uk

Getting students to study themselves provides opportunities to learn about the biggest factor in anyone's future plans.

The use of reflexive journals is well-known in counselling and therapeutic scenarios to help people cope with events such as separation and bereavement. University education has little in common with such experiences, except for two notable exceptions: coping with change, and understanding the 'self'. It transpires that these areas are complex, inter-related, and central to academic progress. Final year undergraduates in Language and Communication keep a reflexive journal of 'milestone' events in their 6-week work placement in a professional setting of their choosing. Journal entries follow the clinical model requiring each event to be reported in terms of Situation, Affect, Interpretation and Decision. The journals prompt earnest reviews of roles and behaviours, reactions and assumptions all under the guise of studying how communication theories are manifest in the workplace. Students report that reflexivity raised self-awareness, academic achievement and influenced their academic, personal and professional relationships too.

For a concise summary of reflexive journals, see Lesley Jolly's notes http://www.vacs.uq.edu.au/final/2_1.pdf

Conflicting cultures: how tutors and learners may not always see eye to eye

John Lapwood, Theo Maniski
Department of Language and Communication
Contact: theo.maniski@beds.ac.uk

Recent experiences of hostility in class made us look to intercultural communication theory to explain the bad behaviour of some home students.

According to an independent survey for 2011, the English Language suite at Bedfordshire ranks number 2 nationally for student satisfaction; yet this year we saw some of the worst student behaviour ever. One unit, offered across the University on academic writing, is where problems arose. Teachers encountered unmotivated students who attend poorly, are unprepared, uninterested, and disruptive. When challenged, they become hostile and abusive. All hopes of creating a positive learning atmosphere quickly vanished, to the detriment of all concerned. This is an account of how the Department decided to intervene in order to support colleagues, influence attitudes and try to change behaviour. Preliminary findings suggest that this is not an isolated incident; some universities are far from immune to badly behaved students. The case continues.

Principles of teaching international students

Eve Rapley
Centre for Learning Excellence
Contact: eve.rapley@beds.ac.uk

Practical and effective strategies for teaching international students

Effective teaching of international students requires teachers to consider and appreciate how students’ academic experiences in their home country can impact upon their approach and performance in the UK. With an emphasis on viewing the international dimension as one which brings benefits to everyone in the classroom, this overview highlights key pedagogic, cultural, linguistic and practical issues to consider when teaching international students.

http://www.beds.ac.uk/learning

Assessing the impact of an embedded information skills programme

Averil Robertson, Pat Roberts, Isabella McMurray
Learning Resources; Department of Psychology
Contact: averil.robertson@beds.ac.uk

Information literacy has been embedded into the Psychology curriculum at Levels 1 & 2 since 2008. Our research assesses the impact of the programme on student information skills, and evaluates the success of the delivery methods used.

Information skills are seen as vital transferable skills for academic work and employability. A programme to deliver teaching in this area has been embedded into the Psychology curriculum since 2008, taught by the Academic Liaison Librarian for Psychology in collaboration with academic staff. The programme utilises a variety of methods, including hands-on practice, submission of tasks via PebblePad, group discussions, and instruction via the VLE. The programme has evolved over the past few years, based on observations by staff and feedback from students; for example, the submission of tasks at Level 2 is now credited at 5% of the unit in which it is embedded. We are now undertaking a systematic evaluation of the programme using SurveyGizmo to gather self-assessment data, and focus groups and individual interviews with students for their feedback, as well as assessing PebblePad tasks, and are working with the Learning Technology team to develop online tutorials that will measure actual skills pre- and post- instruction.

Learning Literacies in a Digital Age project site - exemplars of best practice: http://www.caledonianacademy.net/spaces/LLiDA/index.php?n=Main.UniversityOfBedfordshire2

Staff evaluation of the efeedback electronic feedback system

Ian Robertson
Department of Psychology
Contact: ian.robertson@beds.ac.uk

The efeedback system allows a greater degree of consistency and detail in student feedback as well as providing it quickly. It is not the easiest system to learn, however.

Efeedback is an Excel based feedback system developed by Phil Denton from Liverpool John Moore's University. Before marking takes place, markers can input a set of criteria linked to grades. In our version these were phrased in terms of what the student had successfully achieved or what the student needed to do to achieve a particular grade. Similarly a set of common or typical comments can be added in advance - e.g., about referencing, paragraph structure or comments specific to the assignment. During marking student-specific comments can be added to the criterion grades or appended. Finally general comments can be added after marking is complete. Once marked the feedback can be emailed to all students at the click of a single button. Staff views varied about how easy it was to learn to use it at first but most felt that their marking and feedback speeded up with familiarity with the system and that there was greater consistency between markers.

http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/index.php?title=Assessment_and_Feedback http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/lid/ltweb/86276.htm

Do digitised reading lists improve student reading and encourage use of e-books? Findings of an action research project

Adele Robinson
Learning Resources (PgCAP action research project)
Contact: adele.robinson@beds.ac.uk

Results from the action research suggest that digitised reading lists have a positive impact on student reading and use of e-books.

An action research project was undertaken as part of the PGCAP course to ascertain whether the use of digitised reading lists had a positive impact on the way students access and use the recommended resources. 22 reading lists were digitised and uploaded onto the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). Data was collated from three sources: tracking statistics option on the VLE, e-book usage statistics and results from an online survey of students. Initial findings suggest that students found the digitised reading lists beneficial as it helped to locate reading quickly and easily and encouraged greater use of e-books. The digitised reading lists utilised the blended learning possibilities available via the VLE and offered a dynamic and consistent solution to locating and accessing recommended resources.

Stokes P (2008) Reading lists: a study of tutor and student perceptions…, Studies in Higher Education, 33 (2) pp. 113- 125

Growth of the Public Health Masters at the University of Bedfordshire

Susan Sapsed, David Mathew
Institute for Health Research
Contact: david.mathew@beds.ac.uk

The evolution of the Public Health MSc, including the project's move overseas and the challenges that is has faced in a multilingual market, to evidence good practice in the use of technology

On the tenth anniversary of a Department of Health statement in 2002, stating that the use of distance learning in health care education is driven by the students involved, we present the evolution and development of the MSc in Public Health, which has proved the DoH's statement correct. We present the current situation with regards to the MSc and the project to launch it into a fully online delivery; then we cover the evolution of the online programme, from its humble beginnings in 2006. We chart the project's move into the overseas market, and highlight some of the specific challenges faced in a multilingual market. We explore the notion of technology cultivating a learning atmosphere of global interconnectedness, through the germination of social networking, collaboration and interoperability. With this approach in mind we hope to exhibit good practice in the use of technologies as tools for learning.

Can we offer the same learning experience to our distance learning students as we do to our taught students?

Susan Sapsed
Institute for Health Research
Contact: Susan.sapsed@beds.ac.uk

Exploring learning experiences, between taught and distance learning students

This presentation explores the ways in which the Team have tried to enable the distance learning students to have a similar learning experience to the taught group. The MSc in Public Health engages the taught group and distance learning in parallel. The students have mixed backgrounds in public health most are professional. The group's nationality is varied; 40% are overseas. The Team has worked with the student groups over the last 3 years trying to cultivate one community. The programme is supported by BREO which lends itself to the use of discussion boards, wikis, and blogs. Using video we have introduced the University and messages from the VC, Dean of Faculty, Head of the Medical School and Team. Telephone or Skype is used for tutorials. The material and emails are available to the whole group. The team works hard enabling the distance learning students to feel part of the whole.

Beetham H & Sharpe R (2007) Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age, designing and delivering e-learning. London: Routledge

Using e-feedback to improve student development and staff efficiency

Kevin Teoh, Ian Robertson, Isabella McMurray, Christopher J. Hand
Department of Psychology
Contact: Kevin.Teoh@beds.ac.uk

A new e-feedback system introduced within the Psychology Department has led to improved student performance and increased marker efficiency.

The feedback from each of 3 reports (R1, R2, R3) in Level 1 Research Methods in Psychology were designed to "feed- forward" to subsequent reports. Previously, a number of obstacles prevented this: legibility of feedback, efficiency of feedback delivery, and consistency in volume of feedback across markers. This year an electronic marking system was introduced, with a list of criterion statements for each report section. Markers could select standardised comments, and specific statements from a set list, or input personalised comments. Feedback was then simultaneously e-mailed to students. Grades from R1 to R2 increased significantly, demonstrating reliable "feed-forwarding", with no significant increase between R2 and R3 grades. However, R3 grades showed a significant increase from R1, demonstrating impact-permanence of feedback on generic report-writing skills. Incorporating analysis between the current and previous academic years, this investigation highlights the positive impacts of the new electronic feedback system on students' performance, and presents a summary of student and staff reflections on the feedback process.

Improving the impact of a librarian’s blog in higher education: an action research project

Alan Wheeler
Learning Resources (PgCAP action research project)
Contact: alan.wheeler@beds.ac.uk

Academic blogging is an effective tool in supporting student learning

An action research project was undertaken as part of the PgCAP qualification to determine the impact of an academic librarian blog. The study examined online blog subscription and the style/content of the blog as factors in the effectiveness of a librarian blog. 60 students, divided into subscribing and non-subscribing groups, took part in a month long blogging project and provided feedback via Survey Gizmo. Analysis revealed that blog interaction (number of postings, likelihood of offering feedback) was higher amongst students who subscribed. Student satisfaction was generally high concerning the style and content of the blog. The findings have lead to blog promotion and subscription being included in student induction.

http://bedtimesanddeadlines.blogspot.com