Akoranga issue 4 (February 2009) by Adon Moskal

Akoranga Akoranga

A periodical about learning and teaching from the Higher Education Development Centre

ISSUE 4: FEBRUARY 2009

– IS LEARNING UNDER THREAT? – SUPPORTING LEARNING ON OUR NORTHERN CAMPUSES – GETTING UNDERGRADUATES INVOLVED IN RESEARCH – WHAT WENT ON AT ‘SPOTLIGHT 2008’?

www.hedc.otago.ac.nz

Welcome from the Editorial Team

Akoranga

Kia ora koutou! Another year dawns and here we are again with our fourth edition of Akoranga, in which we hope you’ll find plenty to fire up the proverbial teaching juices for 2009. We’d also like to wish you all the best of the best for yet another year at the University of Otago – both in your teaching and for life in general.

ISSUE 4: FEBRUARY 2009

After a pleasantly warm and sunny Christmas and New Year break, 2009 is already shaping up to be promising – a year to institute some new ideas into your teaching practice maybe, or revisit and refine old ones? Or perhaps 2009 will be a good time to put some of the current theories about students and learning under the spotlight? Whatever your plans for the year, we’re confident this issue of Akoranga will provide both practicality and inspiration, and, we hope, some challenges to your current processes and perspectives.

Akoranga is produced by the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC) at the University of Otago for all University staff. Design: Peter Scott Marketing and Communications University of Otago Printing: Southern Colour Print This newsletter is printed on recycled paper Editorial Team: Nell Smith and Candi Young Contact Details: Nell Smith nell.smith@otago.ac.nz Copyright: We welcome reprinting if permission is sought. We would like to acknowledge and thank all contributors to this newsletter. Cover image: Laurentius de Voltolina painting of a medieval lecture circa 1350.

With research playing the crucial role it does in academic life, the question arises as to how to train undergraduate minds to develop a research bent. In our second issue we featured an article by Rachel Spronken-Smith in which she argued the case for facilitating situations where undergraduates actually did research as part of their course work. In this issue, Rachel and Rebecca Walker, drawing from their findings in a recently completed research project, convert the argument to action and present some exemplars of courses where research has been embedded into the design. From course design we move to teaching practice – both in the form of useful advice from some of 2008’s winners of the OUSA, University of Otago and the National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards, and also in an exploration of the Teaching and Learning Plan. And because both articles concern the process of learning, we include a provocative little piece by Jenny McDonald that debunks, albeit lightheartedly, some of the current railing against student academic behaviour. Do teachers really have something to worry about, or is it a case of the same age-old problems simply being recycled in new forms? Perhaps the picture on our cover might proffer a few clues. Dr Michael Winikoff takes a critical look at the self and peer assessment facility on Blackboard version 8 and Dr Sarah Stein provides a further checklist for supporting the University’s hardworking tutors and demonstrators, this time at the paper level. Also included is a sample of the great variety of presentations from Spotlight Colloquium 2008. Started two years ago, the colloquium is already providing a popular inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional forum for the celebration of teaching. If you were unable to attend this time, we hope the sampling will go somewhere towards to providing an idea of the scope of the event. Having provided learning support at the Dunedin campus for years, HEDC is now pleased to be able to offer support in Wellington and Christchurch. We’re very happy to introduce our two Learning Advisors – Carole Acheson and Karen Johnson – and even happier to allow them to introduce themselves to you in this issue. Most of all, we’re pleased to be back in print with more ideas and challenges to keep teaching and learning in its best mettle here at the University of Otago. May 2009 prove to be our best year yet

Getting Undergraduates Involved in Research: How to Embed Inquiry? In the second issue of Akoranga (February 2008), Rachel Spronken-Smith argued for the need to strengthen links between teaching and research, and in particular to give undergraduates experience in actually doing research. Rachel, and Rebecca Walker, from HEDC, recently completed a nationallyfunded research project that examined the use of inquiry in undergraduate education. This article explores different ways to incorporate inquiry activities into courses, and is illustrated by local examples. “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” This well known adage is at the crux of inquiry-based learning (IBL). By actually getting the students to do something – in this case research – the learning is more meaningful, more memorable and more enjoyable. The key elements of IBL are that:

learning an existing body of knowledge. Students engaged in IBL should develop valuable research skills and be prepared for life-long learning. The inquiry model (Figure 1) demonstrates the cycle of knowledge construction in IBL. Central to the process is an attitude of self-reflection and evaluation.

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Learning is stimulated by inquiry, i.e. driven by questions or problems.

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It enables students to experience the processes of knowledge creation – ie. that is they develop research skills, as well as generating new knowledge.

However, inquiry need not involve the whole cycle as shown in Figure 1, but can be introduced in smaller chunks, through more structured and guided approaches.

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It is a student-centred approach to teaching in which the role of the teacher is to act as a facilitator.

Taking responsibility for learning

Structured inquiry – where teachers provide an issue or problem and an outline for addressing it. The timescale for this type of inquiry is quite short – typically occurring within a class, laboratory or tutorial session. For example, it may be

Engaging a topic & developing basic knowledge Evaluating success

Communicating new understandings

Developing a question

Self-reflection & Self-evaluation

Determining what needs to be known

Identifying resources, gathering data

Synthesising

Assessing data

Figure 1: Model of the inquiry process (Justice et al., 2002:19).

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It involves a move to self-directed learning with students taking increasing responsibility for their learning.

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It develops skills in self-reflection.

Inquiry-based learning is seen to be different from problembased learning (PBL), which typically focuses on students

a laboratory exercise that begins with a question and students are told a procedure to follow in order to get to an answer. Student learning outcomes typically include developing new knowledge and acquiring procedural skills, as well as communication skills.

Endocrinology – a stage 3 module in medicine (230 students) taught through small group sessions. In each session the teachers prepared one or more main cases, a set of explicit objectives, required reading, a self assessment quiz, and up to half a dozen ‘mini cases.’ Students had to prepare for each session and this was checked at the start, so that the session could focus on applying knowledge and checking understanding. Thus the sessions involved group discussion of specific cases and application of knowledge through problem solving and utilisation of concepts, rather than mere transmission or recall of facts. Guided inquiry – where teachers provide questions to stimulate inquiry but students are self-directed in terms of exploring these questions. Here teachers may wish to cover particular content areas, but these are framed through questions that students will pursue in order to explore particular content areas. Research skills may be taught and/ or developed as part of this mode of inquiry. The timescale is longer than for structured inquiry, with questions framing learning that may occur over days or weeks. Student learning outcomes typically include the development of new knowledge, a range of research skills especially in terms of locating and evaluating secondary data, and communication skills. Political communication in NZ – a stage 2 humanities course (about 30 students) taught via weekly one-hour seminars that involved group discussion around key topics. Each topic was framed through inquiry, using questions as a trigger for learning. A two-hour slot was timetabled so the class could be split in half, with 15 turning up for each hour. Students had to prepare for these sessions via accessing digital resources on Blackboard and doing background reading. Learning was assessed via weekly learning logs, an in-class test, and an essay. Open inquiry – where students formulate the questions themselves as well as going through the full inquiry or research cycle as shown in Figure 1. The timescale of the inquiry is generally longer with one question leading to research over several months, a full semester, or even a year. Teachers are often co-learners in this mode of inquiry and there is typically a very close relation between the teacher’s research, their teaching and their students’ learning. Student learning outcomes for this open mode of inquiry typically include the development of new knowledge, more advanced research skills such as the ability to ask a good research question, a sound understanding of research design, an ability to undertake independent research, and effective communication skills. Ecology Field Course – a stage 3 science course that aims to develop field research skills in students, as well as fostering an appreciation for the realities of field research. Accordingly the course is taught via an eight day residential fieldtrip and subsequent tutorial series once back on campus. During the fieldtrip, teachers cycle students through a series of modules in which students learn to question ecological patterns and processes. Subsequently students develop research projects to address these questions and undertake data collection and preliminary data analyses. Students must orally present research proposals while on the field trip and

upon return to campus they complete analyses, give a presentation on research findings and write a report in the style of a scientific paper. As one moves from structured through to open IBL, there is an increasing opportunity to strengthen teaching-research links. Although all forms of IBL are arguably of benefit for student learning, open IBL in particular can increase the capacity of students to do research, as well as lead to the formation of a Community of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), since students in this mode of IBL can identify with a community of inquirers/researchers. Thus, if teachers are planning to use IBL as a means to strengthen teaching-research links, they must be cognisant of the different manifestations of the links, depending on the mode of inquiry adopted. A further important distinction is whether the inquiry approach is used as the design principle for the course, or whether inquiry activities are embedded in a more traditional lecture-based curriculum. Although the best student learning outcomes appear to derive from an open inquiry course, the use of structured and guided inquiry activities or courses throughout the degree can provide a useful means to progressively develop inquiry skills until the students are capable of undertaking more advanced and independent open inquiry. Indeed, given the logistical constraints of large first year classes, the use of inquiry activities embedded into a tutorial or laboratory programme can provide a means to enhance student learning outcomes. Thus it is not necessary to have small classes in order to provide a quality inquiry experience for students; inquiry activities can be incorporated with success into large classes. An alternative design principle for a degree programme, in use at some institutions, such as McMaster University in Canada (which has a four year undergraduate degree), is to begin with open inquiry (but this is heavily scaffolded), and then include more structured and guided forms at second and third year, before returning to open inquiry (much less scaffolded) in a capstone course in the fourth year. Proponents of this model suggest that the use of this more spiral curriculum, allows the early development of a range of research and transferrable skills (e.g. time management, teamwork, communication), that stand students in good stead for the remainder of their university study (Dale Roy, pers. comm.). More details about the use of IBL in undergraduate education can be found at:

http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/projects/inquiry-based-learning and a future issue of Akoranga will detail the enhanced learning outcomes that can be generated by using inquiry approaches. Acknowledgements This research formed part of a larger project funded by the Ministry of Education Teaching Matters Forum. References Justice, C., Warry, W., Cuneo, C., Inglis, S., Miller, S., Rice, J., and Sammon, S. (2002). A grammar for inquiry: Linking goals and methods in a collaboratively taught social sciences inquiry course. The Alan Blizzard Award Paper: The Award Winning Papers, Special Publication of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Windsor. Lave, J., and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Winning Advice: Some tips from 2008’s best teachers HEDC congratulates 2008 OUSA, University of Otago and National Tertiary Teaching Excellence award winners and nominees: Jessica Palmer, John Reynolds, Tony Zaharic, Mark Henaghan, Mike Colombo, Blair Blakie, Rhiannon Braund, Ian McAndrew, Allan Blackman, Lyall Hanton, Selene Mize, David Bishop. Here some of them offer their useful and quite practical thoughts on what they think makes a good teacher.

I’ve found the most useful thing to be putting myself in the mindset of the students. What topics will be of most interest? (Engaging their curiosity really helps.) What will be the most difficult steps of a procedure? How can they be explained clearly? We spend lots of time on application of difficult concepts to new facts (clickers are great for testing students’ understanding). I also try to provide warning of common mistakes, so students are on guard against them. Be creative! I had some international students in a first semester course this year who were struggling a bit with English. I knew from past experience that they would not be allowed extra time on the exam. So I made up an alphabetical list of all but the most basic of words that were used on the exam and passed it out in class. (It ran to four pages but didn’t give away content of the exam). There was space for a translation to be written next to each word, so it could be prepared in advance and brought into the open book exam. I believe that caring passionately about teaching is even more important than caring passionately about one’s subject matter. It really comes down to being passionate and enthusiastic about what you are teaching, especially when you see the other nominees with topics that are difficult and varied. They must all truly believe in what they are teaching and its importance. Be approachable so that the students aren’t too intimidated to ask you to repeat difficult concepts and also to rephrase ideas. Sometimes what you intend to convey isn’t always clear to everyone the first time, so I often use examples or analogies to relate concepts to similar situations/examples that I think the students will be familiar with.

My few pieces of advice about teaching are: (1) Don’t assume what has always been done is the right way to do it. (2) Students crave to learn how the knowledge in your courses relates to current research. Try hard to make this link where possible. (3) The more engagement and interaction with the students the better. I think there are three things that should be taken into any teaching situation – relevance, clarity and enthusiasm. Relevance gives the student a reason to learn, and could be one or more of: it’s interesting; it applies to me or something I do; I need it to pass the exam! Information is cheap: good and bad can be found everywhere. Providing clarity (and insight/context) should be our raison d’etre as teachers. Our job is to distil the information to provide a clear framework, or set of objectives, that allows students to go away and develop their own understanding. We should clearly introduce the players; then it’s up to the students to work out how to play the game. It’s important not to dismiss clarity by suggesting it’s a synonym for easy, superficial or spoon-feeding. In practice it’s the exact opposite. The more difficult the concept or challenging the task, the more important it is to be clear about what you are trying to achieve. There’s nothing wrong with being ambiguous/flexible about how to get where you’re going (the journey is the fun part), but the destination(s) should be clear. Enthusiasm is infectious. You don’t have to bounce off the walls, but if the students don’t sense that you find the material inherently interesting, you’ve got no chance of making them think it has any merit. Even if what you are teaching is the

most tedious, perfunctory aspect of your discipline, a dash of enthusiasm coupled with a humorous or illuminating example can work wonders (and keep everyone awake). Don’t be afraid to challenge your students. They’ll moan, complain it’s too hard, and accuse you of expecting too much of them. Then at the end they’ll thank you for it. Don’t forget that what may be old hat for you is new, bright and shiny for the students. The fundamentals that got you hooked on your discipline will probably do the same for them. Teaching should be fun. You have a captive audience that has no choice but to sit and listen to you prattle on about something you are passionate about. Your friends and relatives won’t be so accommodating. Enjoy spreading the word. Acknowledge when material you are teaching is difficult. Otherwise you are seen as being out of touch. By letting students know that “this isn’t easy” they feel like you are shepherding them through the material rather than throwing them to the wolves.

When their eyes start to glaze over, a light-hearted “clear as milk”, “I’m speaking gibberish aren’t I” or “you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about do you” can work wonders for getting them back to you. There’s no right way to teach, just lots of wrong ways. Students are remarkably flexible with regard to style. If they feel that this is something you’re doing together, you’ve pretty much found one of the right ways. Tell your students a story. We all grew up with them, we understand their structure and almost everyone enjoys a good yarn. More importantly it provides a structure for what may seem to be unrelated facts and can be a potent mnemonic for future study. A good teacher needs to know their subject, love their subject and have a passion to share their subject with others. These are the fundamentals. There are many different ways of carrying out teaching.

The Teaching and Learning Plan: What Does It Mean? 8:51am Monday: A new academic (Bob) runs into their Head of Department (Alison) on the way to the office ... Professor Alison: “Morning, Bob”. Doctor Bob:

“Hi, Allison”.

Alison:

“How are you going with your new course?”

Bob:

“Almost finished revising the first month of lectures”.

Alison:

“Have you made any changes to the assessment?”

Bob:

“Some minor tweaks. Feedback from last time said there was too much assessment, so I’ve cut back on the main assignment. “

Alison:

“Ok.”

They reach Bob’s office. Bob:

“See you later!”

Alison:

“Oh, one thing, how does the course align with the university’s teaching and learning plan?”

Bob:

“The what?”

Alison:

“The university’s teaching and learning plan”

Bob:

“Oh that; I read it back when I started in September.”

Alison:

“So how does your course align with it?”

Bob:

“Haven’t really thought about it. What does the teaching and learning plan say?”

Alison:

“Have you got five minutes?”

The university’s teaching and learning plan (“TLP”, see www.otago.ac.nz/about/official_documents.html) sets out high-level goals and objectives for teaching and learning at the University of Otago. Unfortunately, the TLP is quite complex. It presents a lot of information: 9 objectives, 41 strategies, 6 dimensions of quality learning, and 14 graduate attributes. These various aspects aren’t explicitly linked: the TLP doesn’t say how, for instance, the first graduate attribute relates to the 9 objectives. The TLP itself does not provide examples (although the online TLP discussed below does), and the 41 strategies (which are intended to be suggestions to be mix-and-matched as applicable), are arguably too high-level to be immediately useful. In an attempt to make the TLP less abstract, an extended version was developed. This extended version (“Suggestions for implementing the objectives and strategies of the University of Otago Teaching & Learning Plan 2005-2010”, at http://los. otago.ac.nz/tlp/Implementing%20T&LP05.pdf, or follow links from the

HEDC’s home page) adds, under each strategy, a number of more detailed suggestions. Over 200 bullet points of specific suggestions are added to the TLP. There is also a collection of case studies that aims to illustrate how some of the strategies have been applied (http://los.otago.ac.nz/tlp/home.do). Unfortunately, the resulting document has not been widely used. Faced with 9 objectives, 41 strategies, 200 odd bullet points, and a deadline for having his course ready, Bob is simply doing what I imagine many would: keep the course in its current form, and make minor adjustments to address pressing issues. This short article attempts to present the key ideas of the TLP in a more easily digestible (and hopefully more memorable) form. It’s necessarily one person’s view of the TLP, rather than a broad consensual view. Instead of considering nine top-level objectives, we instead group related objectives into themes. The TLP’s first eight objectives can be loosely grouped into three themes (with a fourth theme, “theme 0”, covering the last objective).

Theme 1: Excellent teaching within a discipline. Excellent teaching means that the student learns not just specific chunks of knowledge, but that they have a broad understanding (a “map”) of the discipline, along with an appreciation of the map’s boundaries: areas where the discipline isn’t applicable, or where knowledge is still developing. Excellent teaching also means being able to apply knowledge and skills in real settings. Finally, we want the knowledge and skills learned to be useful in seeking employment and in contributing to society. This first theme is arguably the oldest and most familiar. It covers objectives 1, 4 and 8, and is related to the graduate attributes of “in-depth knowledge”, “interdisciplinary perspective” and “workplace-related skills” (see sidebar for the TLP’s objectives and graduate attributes).

Theme 2: Developing lifelong learning and intellectual independence Historically lifelong learning and intellectual independence have been associated more with postgraduate research degrees, however, driven partially by high rates of change in the world, there has been an increasing focus on developing these attributes in undergraduate students, and a recognition that ideally this should begin at the start of a degree, not left until close to the end of the degree. A “traditional” course that focuses on domain-specific knowledge and skills is likely to develop these attributes incidentally (and accidentally!). Instead, courses can include explicit coverage of these attributes (as is typically already

found in a graduate-level “research methods” course, but not typically at the undergraduate level), learning activities that develop these attributes by applying them, and assessment that requires and recognises these attributes. This theme covers objectives 2 and 3; and relates to the graduate attributes of “critical thinking”, “lifelong learning”, “research”, “scholarship” and “self-motivation”.

Theme 3: Linkages: ethical & social, research & practice, international The previous theme considers independent learning and thinking within a given discipline. This theme builds on the previous one by widening the context beyond a given discipline. The TLP singles out three specific directions: the linkages between teaching and research, the role of the university as “critic and conscience of society”, and the “internationalisation of the teaching and learning environment”. The different sorts of links between teaching and research have been previously discussed in Akoranga (Rachel Spronken-Smith, “Strengthening Links between Teaching and Research”, Akoranga, Issue 2, February 2008, and “Getting Undergraduates Involved in Research: How to Embed Inquiry in this issue). The teaching research link is also closely related to the first theme, in that a good “map” of a discipline necessarily includes research areas, and recognises the way in which research activities contribute to the discipline’s knowledge over time. This theme covers objectives 5, 6 and 7; and relates to the graduate attributes of “cultural understanding”, “ethics” and “global perspective”.

Theme 0: Foundations: Good Learning Environment, Teamwork and Communication As is often the case in rough taxonomies, we have some leftovers. The last objective (a good learning environment) is really underlying support for the above three themes. The

TLP defines a good learning environment as being safe and healthy, suitably resourced, and as recognising the rights and responsibilities of students. We also have three foundational graduate attributes that aren’t associated with any one of the three themes, but are generic and support all of them: information literacy, teamwork and communication. So, now that Alison and Bob have discussed the TLP, what is Bob to do? First, he takes stock: what aspects of the TLP are covered in his course? What aspects are not? Assuming the course is typical, Bob probably finds that theme 1 is well covered, but that the course doesn’t really align well with theme 2, and that theme 3 is not considered at all. Bob probably finds that Theme 0 components are never mentioned, but that with the exception of teamwork, they are covered or assumed. Second, Bob considers to what extent it makes sense to address the second and third themes in his course (since it it not necessary or always sensible for a given course to address all of the TLP’s objectives). He then explores ways of addressing the objectives in his course. In exploring options Bob brainstorms with colleagues. Some of the approaches considered would involve a complete restructure of the course, and are sensibly left for later. However, other options are quite practical. For instance, changing some of the assessment to help develop intellectual independence; removing some content from lectures and developing a reading plan for students; changing some of the examples to illustrate ethical issues; and spending some time covering the history of ideas and how they evolved from research to practice. Bob went through the appropriate processes to make these changes to the course. They didn’t increase his workload, but did increase both his and the students’ interest, and received positive feedback. The next year Bob took some time to instigate more significant changes. The year after he was put in charge of over-seeing a redesign of the curriculum that considered how the whole degree realised the TLP’s objectives and graduate attributes. But that’s a topic for another day ... Dr. Michael Winikoff

Teaching & Learning Plan Objectives (from the TLP) 1. Mastery of Knowledge: To develop in each student a mastery of a coherent body of knowledge through systematic, disciplined study.

7. International Learning Experience: To develop further international content, context and vision in the learning experience for students.

2. Intellectual Independence: To foster intellectual independence in students.

8. Employment Prospects and Contribution to Society: To develop in students skills, attributes and knowledge which enhance their employment prospects and their capacity to make a positive contribution to society.

3. Lifelong Learning: To develop the lifelong learning skills of students. 4. Excellence in Teaching: To promote, encourage and support excellence in teaching. 5. Teaching, Research and Professional Practice: To recognise, reinforce and promote interdependence between teaching, research and professional practice. 6. Ethical and Social Implications: To encourage students to reflect upon and evaluate the ethical and social implications of their knowledge.

9. Learning Environment: To maintain and improve the quality of the university experience and the supportive environment in which students live and work. Graduate attributes: communication, critical thinking, cultural understanding, ethics, global perspective, in-depth knowledge, information literacy, interdisciplinary perspective, lifelong learning, research, scholarship, self-motivation, teamwork, workplace-related skills

Is learning under threat? Jenny McDonald “In the ivory tower, warning bells are ringing,” chimed the New Zealand Listener. The byline for Matt Nippert’s October 25th article, “Is learning under threat from the morass of information masquerading as fact?”, propelled me through the next six pages to find out the answer. I didn’t find the answer, just a morass of informed opinion masquerading as fact.

Fewer students read or if they do it is “airport trash” (attributed to Prof. Jim Flynn). Really? I don’t doubt the perception. What I question is the generalisation that is drawn from it and the idea that because a generalisation is made by an emeritus professor that it is somehow more valid than generalisations made by the rest of us. Until otherwise proven (and I’m not holding my breath) I like to believe that students, and the rest of humanity will continue to read books if the books are enagaging and hold our

attention and interest. Plus, unless I’m mistaken, I’m sure I’ve seen the “worthier authors” like Huxley and Bashevis-Singer rubbing shoulders with “trash” like Follett, Brown and James in airport bookshops.

“Attention spans, anecdotally, seem to be getting shorter”(attributed to Prof. Cliff Abrahams). As an undergraduate medical student I slept my way through most of the second year anatomy lectures. The lights were dimmed, the slides (from a 35mm slide projector) clicked through, and the lecturers droned on and on...That was 25 years ago. The one bright point, and the only memorable one, was when a perennially soporific teacher took off his white lab coat and tore one sleeve from the rest of the coat. He was demonstrating something important about the anatomy of the foetal heart. He was passionate about it and it restored my faith

that he had a heart himself. I cannot recall what his point was, just the raw pleasure on his face from tearing up his coat, and, for one brief glorious moment, a glint in his eye as he realised he had his students’ full attention.

“An alarming rise in reported plagiarism in the last 10 years” (attributed to Jude Carroll – Oxford Brookes University).

Donald Bligh in 1971 reported a series of studies which investigated student attention span over the course of a lecture. If you believe these studies, student attention is highest just after the start of the lecture; it then drops down steadily until just before the end of the lecture when it picks up briefly (Bligh, 2000). In 1973, the Internet had only just been born, and Google was but a twinkle in the eye of Page and Brin (come to think of it, they might not have been born then either). It’s not that students don’t pay attention anymore; it’s that, in general, they never did.

Now this really is the sticky limit isn’t it? Bad enough that the current generation of students don’t read, can’t pay attention and are sucked in by flashy videos but they cheat as well. Parlous!

On the bright side, the same research demonstrated that the attention span of lecturers drops throughout lectures as well. Contrast this research with our fury at television ad breaks. Roughly every 10 minutes or so during The Sopranos, the Cricket or, God forbid, the Rugby (aren’t ad breaks during the rugby against the law?) we are distracted by mind numbing jingles and whizzing visual things which exhort us (usually) to spend money. Do we feel refreshed by these; do we heave a collective sigh of relief that we are now not going to fall asleep just when Tony confesses all to his counsellor? No, we don’t. The interruptions make us grouchy and irritable. The storyline, or the play, or the big match is doing very well at keeping our attention. Why then are lectures sending students to sleep? Is it really just a question of attention? I doubt it. It could be worth looking at what our students are being asked to be attentive to. Exercise: Look at the image of the Laurentius de Voltolina painting of a medieval lecture circa 1350. How many “students” can you find who are not paying attention? (Thanks to Prof. Geoff Crisp, University of Adelaide for highlighting this image in a recent HEDC Professional Development Workshop)

“[Lectures] now need to be spruced up with video and audio content”. Research that was done in the 1970s and 80s by Gavriel Salomon specifically looked at the affordances of media (in this case television) and its value in learning (Salomon, 1983). There is real value when the affordances of media are used to support learning. The specific affordances of video include illustration, dramatisation (simplification through story telling) and supplantation (the ability to provide images to support learning that a student may not necessarily be able to generate on their own. Visualising rotating an object in 3D-space is an example). Video, audio, and animations can all support learning when their specific affordances are carefully used. Today there is a rich variety of materials and media available and accessible online; orders of a magnitude greater than ever before. The challenge for teachers is to sift and collect this material together in ways that are meaningful and helpful for their students. Gratuitous media and effects will add nothing to lectures or powerpoint presentations. They are likely to have much the same effect as TV commercials, but without the singular reward of thinking about a potential shopping spree.

a) An alarming rise in reported plagiarism is not the same thing as an alarming rise in actual plagiarism b) What is actual plagiarism in these Web 2.0 challenged times? c) One might hope that there would be an inverse correlation between teaching scholarly communication and actual plagiarism, assuming that we are actually teaching scholarly communication. Has anyone looked to see whether there has been a similar alarming rise in plagiarism by academic staff? If someone did look for it they might be startled by the number of inadvertant gaffs that are made in the preparation of teaching materials. Gray and colleagues at RMIT provide a useful and contemporary overview of academic integrity issues in the Web 2.0 world and ask, “how many academics are able to teach students to apply the existing rules to these new [Internetbased] forms?”. (Gray et al., 2008) Copyright didn’t really feature in the New Zealand Listener article but since it commonly features in discussions around plagiarism and the web, and is another area where the new things we can do as a result of the Internet have outstripped our ability to regulate how we do them, I’m going to squeeze it in. Check out this TED talk from Larry Lessig:

www.ted.com/index.php/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_ creativity.html

“Our new information-seeking behaviour is changing the way our brains work. “I’m not going to tackle this one head on. My Winnie-the-Pooh take on it is, so what? Isn’t that the whole point? The whole point of a brain, as opposed to fluff, is that it allows us to adapt to new situations. Surely if a new situation didn’t change the way our brain worked we wouldn’t have a brain? Before I dig myself into a hole (on the other side of which there might very well be no kindly rabbit to read me sustaining stories) I have to agree with a highlighted quote from Flynn, “... oddly enough, despite the internet, highly educated people are more insular”. Alas, he could be right. References Bligh, D. (2000) What’s the Use of Lectures? 2nd ed. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. pp 48-56 Gray, K., Thompson, C., Clerehan, R., Sheard, J., and Hamilton, M. (2008) Web 2.0 authorship: Issues of referencing and citation for academic integrity. The Internet and Higher Education, No. 2, pp 112 – 118. DOI: 10.1016/j. iheduc.2008.03.001 Salomon, G. (1983) Using Television as a Unique Teaching Resource for Open University Courses. IET Papers on Broadcasting No. 225. (Available through ERIC No. ED298950)

Self and Peer Assessment in Bb8: Possibilities and Pitfalls Late last year the University of Otago upgraded Blackboard to version 8. This version has a number of new features, including a facility for self and peer assessment.

What is it? With self assessment a student submits an assignment in Blackboard, and then, after the deadline, criteria are provided and the student evaluates their submission. Evaluation can involve assigning marks (which can be set up to allow for partial credit, or just right/wrong), and/or textual feedback. With peer assessment the process is the same, except that instead of evaluating their own assessment, students evaluate a given number (e.g. 3) of other students’ submissions.

How might I use it? There are various approaches and reasons for using self/peer assessment. One reason is to reduce staff workload by shifting marking to students. The literature on peer-assessment has a range of studies that compare peer-assigned and staff-assigned marks. The conclusions are variable: some studies show very high levels of agreement, others do not. Given some of the issues and additional work required to make peer-assessment work effectively (see below), it appears that using peer-assessment to reduce staff workload is not sensible. Where self and peer assessment make sense is in relation to life long learning. Peer assessment is an opportunity to develop critical thinking. Self assessment is an opportunity to develop the ability to reflect on one’s progress, knowledge and skills. The combination can be particularly valuable: peer assessment can provide feedback that allows students to gradually “calibrate” their self-assessments. In deciding how to use self and/or peer assessment the following are some questions that should be considered: •

Will assessment be self, peer, or both? If peer, then how many peers will assess each submission?

•

Is the assessment used to aid learning (formative), or to assess whether learning occurred (summative)?

•

What is being assessed? An essay? Short questions? Is there a single assessment, or is peer/self assessment used repeatedly to provide regular feedback?

•

What marks are allocated? Are there marks for the assessment, for the peer reviews, for the self assessment, or for some combination? Are marks given based on the quality, or on participation?

•

What marking is done by staff? If there are significant marks and the assessment is summative, then staff marking becomes more important. On the other hand, if assessment has relatively limited marks and is formative, then staff marking may not be necessary (although it might be useful initially to give peer-assessors feedback).

What pedagogical pitfalls do I need to watch out for? Assessing is a skill. Students will need help to develop this skill. It is not reasonable (or effective) to just provide them with submissions and say “mark these”. One possibility is to discuss sample submissions in lectures/tutorials to illustrate the assessment process and thinking: what is a good assessor looking for? why do they assign marks? What makes a good submission? Clearly defined marking criteria are essential. One possibility (for small classes) is to develop these collaboratively with students. However, it is more likely that staff will develop criteria. Finally, it is a good idea to be explicit about aims and expectations: tell the students what you expect of them, explain why you are using peer/self-assessment, discuss reflection and critical thinking, and their relationship to life long learning.

What technical pitfalls do I need to watch out for? As is often the case with new features, there are some niggling issues. It is worth being aware of these, since these issues can be mitigated by being careful with how self and peer assessment is used. These issues are somewhat exacerbated by the nature of peer assessment: it’s not possible to thoroughly test things without having multiple accounts. A few issues concern the allocation of assessment to peers. One issue is that allocation is done when the deadline is reached. Since there is no facility to modify the allocation manually, it is not possible to handle late submissions. Another issue is that the allocation assigns missing submissions. Suppose we have a course with three students, Alex, Cameron and Jamie. Alex and Cameron both submitted assessments, but Jamie didn’t: perhaps Jamie has stopped attending the paper and the paperwork has not yet been processed. Alex and Cameron will each be asked to evaluate Jamie’s (empty) submission. Worse, Jamie will have been allocated Alex and Cameron’s submissions to evaluate, and these will not be evaluated.

Mitigating strategies include using peer assessment once membership of the paper is stable; not assigning significant marks to it; and being prepared to manually work around the system, for example, manually providing copies of Alex and Cameron’s submissions to another student, or to assess them yourself. There are also a few slight annoyances with the way the user interface is structured. The Results page allows the lecturer to see, for an individual student, the peer feedback and marks. One minor issue is that the page is sorted by evaluator. So, if Alex and Cameron evaluated Jamie’s submission, the order in the page will be something like: •

Alex’s feedback on question 1

•

Alex’s feedback on question 2

•

Cameron’s feedback on question 1

•

Cameron’s feedback on question 2

•

etc.

This makes it a little awkward to consider a given question and see all of the feedback on it at once. The mitigation strategy

here is simply to avoid setting too many questions. Another issue is that the Results page doesn't show the answer given, just the feedback on it. Overall, although the self and peer assessment feature has some issues, it can still be a useful tool. If you decide to use it we would love to hear about your experience, and if you would like support to use it please let us know. Dr. Michael Winikoff (tel: 479 5362) Acknowledgements I would like to thank Annemaree Senior for her assistance. Further reading: Dochy, F., Segers, M. and Sluijsmans, D. “The use of selfpeer and co-assessment in higher education: A review”, Studies in Higher Education, 24:3, 331—350, 1999. DOI: 10.1080/03075079912331379935 Keith Topping, “Peer Assessment Between Students in Colleges and Universities”, Review of Educational Research, 68:3, 249276, 1998. DOI: 10.3102/00346543068003249 (especially pages 265-267)

How do I create a peer/self assessment? 1. Go to the control panel, click on Quizzes, then select “Self and Peer Assessment” from the drop-down menu on the top right and click on go. 2. You then specify information for the assessment, including the deadline for submitting assessment, and the period during which peer and/or self assessment is to take place (which must start after the submission deadline).

3. You then need to add questions and criteria. Click on Modify (in the row of the newly created assessment), and then on Assessment Canvas. Then click on the “+Question” (top left) to create a question. Once a question has been created, you can modify the marking criteria for that question (“Criteria”, then “+Criteria” top left). 4. For more information, see ITS’ training courses (www.otago.ac.nz/its/training).

Supporting Tutors and Demonstrators in your Department A checklist of reminders for Departments about supporting casual tutoring and demonstrating staff was included in the last issue of Akoranga. In this issue we include another checklist: â&#x20AC;˘

a series of prompts for thought about supporting tutors and demonstrators at the Paper level.

The list is not necessarily comprehensive, but is intended as a reminder and prompt for thought and action. Coordinators may want to develop their own context-specific lists using the ideas presented here. Much of the content of these lists was developed from checklists from an Australian University Teaching Committee (AUTC) project on Sessional Teaching (www.tedi.uq.edu.au/ sessionalteaching). Checklists are also available via the HEDC Tutoring and Demonstrating site â&#x20AC;&#x201C; http://hedc.otago.ac.nz/hedc/asd/ Tutoring-Demonstrating.html.

Supporting Casual Tutoring and Demonstrating Staff Paper Level Checklist (after AUTC Sessional Teaching Project checklists www.tedi.uq.edu.au/sessionalteaching) 1. Recruitment and employment practices

Do you have a mix of both full-time and part-time teaching staff involved in the delivery of your paper/s?

If responsible for recruiting tutors or demonstrators, have you read the relevant University or Department policies? Do you consistently follow existing policies concerning equitable and fair recruitment practices in terms of gender, race, etc?

If over-burdened by supervisory responsibilities, have you approached anyone with regard to receiving support for your extra workload? If responsible for monitoring payment of tutors or demonstrators, have you ensured that they all receive appropriate payment according to their level of responsibility and in line with award rates and enterprise bargaining agreements?

Do your tutors or demonstrators have a document of agreement or statement of duties that outline the tasks, roles and responsibilities expected of them?

Do you always ensure that the workload and responsibilities of your tutoring or demonstrating staff align with their level of appointment?

Have all tutors or demonstrators received a contract? Have you met with each of them and ensured that they understand the contents of their contracts?

Do all of your tutors or demonstrators have access to office space, where relevant, necessary supplies including telephone, fax and computer facilities such as Blackboard, email, library rights and support services?

Do you specify the extent to which tutors or demonstrators should be available for student consultation time outside scheduled class hours? Are they paid for this time?

Are your tutors or demonstrators aware of and given access to policies and processes that affect them (e.g. a handbook)?

Do you give your tutors or demonstrators sufficient notice, and use the correct process if their contract is to be terminated, or they are not expected to be reappointed?

2. Training and professional development

Are all newly appointed tutors or demonstrators included in formal induction processes (including teaching and learning, completing administrative tasks and facilities, etc.)? Are they paid to attend?

Is there a resource for tutors or demonstrators (such as a kit, handbook or website) that contains all relevant information on policies and procedures that affect them including assessment policies, plagiarism policies, equity policies, teaching philosophy etc.?

Do you meet with your tutors or demonstrators soon after their appointment to discuss contracts, job expectations and implement other induction processes?

Do you regularly evaluate the induction processes you are responsible for?

Do you provide your tutors or demonstrators with written guidelines, which will assist them with teaching and other tasks?

Do you reflect upon your own supervision practices by way of feedback, discussion forums, etc. with part time tutoring or demonstrating staff?

Are tutors or demonstrators provided with ‘official documentation’ regarding their work performance?

Do you ensure that all your tutors or demonstrators receive training in marking students’ work to ensure consistency in assessment procedures?

Do procedures similar to those for general and academic staff exist for recognising tutors or demonstrators (e.g. for excellence in teaching or long-standing service)?

Do you ensure that your tutors or demonstrators are provided with training to use University or Department systems that are necessary to complete teaching and other tasks? Are they paid for this?

Are tutors or demonstrators encouraged to provide feedback on the perceived adequacy of the training and support they have experienced?

Are your tutors or demonstrators informed about occupational health and safety procedures and responsibilities?

Is there a system which allows you and other staff to contact your part time tutors or demonstrators when need be (e.g. via email lists, etc)?

Do you discuss with your tutors or demonstrators ethical issues that might arise between them and other staff or students?

Do you ever meet with tutors or demonstrators to discuss training needs?

Do all of your tutors or demonstrators clearly understand all of their roles and professional responsibilities? Are these roles and responsibilities clearly defined to begin with?

Do you let your tutors or demonstrators know about formal professional development courses, including those that lead to certification?

Does evaluation of staff development activities for tutors or demonstrators occur on a regular basis?

Do all tutors or demonstrators know what to do if students have concerns or needs external to their course or programme of study? Do they know to direct students, where appropriate, to the University’s various student support services?

Is there a staff member assigned to act as a contact person for tutors or demonstrators with regard to training, employment and pay issues? Are your tutors or demonstrators aware of who this is?

4. Integration and communication

Do you make opportunities for your tutors or demonstrators to meet and liaise with one another?

Do you share teaching tips with your tutors or demonstrators, or make publications and websites available that describe effective teaching and learning?

Do you regularly share ideas and strategies with your colleagues for supporting, training and managing tutoring or demonstrating staff?

In reflecting on your work performance, do you reflect on your supervisory practices?

Do you have regular team meetings with your tutors or demonstrators and full-time academics to discuss, review, outline and/or implement paper and course requirements?

Do your tutors or demonstrators have access to facilities, including workspace, letterbox, email, supplies, telephone, photocopier, course materials and texts, Blackboard, where relevant, and library borrowing rights?

Do you instigate or encourage opportunities for collegial interaction among your tutors or demonstrators and with full-time academics?

Are tutors or demonstrators able or encouraged to make contributions to the development of teaching and learning practices or course curricula? Are they aware of the organisational structures within the Department or Division and of any teaching and learning interest groups that they might access?

Do guidelines exist concerning the ownership of course materials and the tutors’ or demonstrators’ access to previous years’ materials?

3. Evaluation and recognition

Are inexperienced, newly appointed tutors or demonstrators provided with mentoring or coaching?

Do you encourage tutors or demonstrators to carry out student evaluations of their teaching on a regular basis?

Do you encourage tutors or demonstrators to reflect on their own performance and to improve their teaching skills?

Are part time tutors or demonstrators subject to performance review? Does training support follow if performance problems are found?

Is the information obtained in the evaluation and review process used for making decisions about subsequent or future appointment of tutors or demonstrators?

What sort of thing went on at Spotlight 2008? In November last year HEDC, in collaboration with the Otago Polytechnic and Ako Aotearoa hosted Spotlight, a two-day colloquium on tertiary teaching and learning. It was a positive and successful opportunity for staff across many disciplines and institutions to celebrate teaching. We have included a selection of colloquium abstracts here to show the sort of thing that went on at Spotlight 2008.

Making Learning Support a Means of Critical Inquiry Carole Acheson (Student Learning Centre, Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago, Christchurch Campus) One of the key aims of teaching in learning support is enabling students to acquire skills that they can then apply successfully to their own academic work. Unfortunately the raw material for some essential workshop topics like punctuation tends to be prescriptive, detailed and dull, and it is a test for the teacher to present it so that students are engaged and their learning i consolidated. This paper describes how critical self-reflection on previous teaching suggested a different approach to presenting such material to the students on the Christchurch Campus, where a third of the students are fourth or fifth year undergraduates studying medicine, and the rest are postgraduates in health sciences. Given the overall high level of achievement, it seemed worth trying to offer an intellectual challenge, rather than working on the basis that the students were largely novices who required some practical training. The class on punctuation, for example, was presented not as a list of rules simplified for non-specialists in English, but as an academic topic demanding critical thinking and debate about issues like style, register and culture. Information was interspersed with quizzes and small group discussion, the latter developing into some vigorous whole group argument about the literary effect of punctuating one way rather than another. Student evaluations of this approach have been very positive, and from a teaching perspective there has been a pleasing level of student involvement and understanding in class. When the skills taught in learning support workshops are placed in a context of critical inquiry, there is an opportunity not only to improve the grasp of the subject, but to practise the critical thinking central to university education.

Empowering International Students with an Investigative Project Alec Benson (Linguistics Programme, English, University of Otago) International students, in their first year of undergraduate study, grapple with not only the transition to university, but also struggle to make sense of the variety of academic demands in the English language. These demands include developing writing skills, communicating with lecturers and tutors,

understanding their major, learning about content, assessment and logical progression in university courses. In order to create a meaningful writing task for international students in my English for Academic Purposes paper (LING122), I decided on a project that would involve student qualitative research on one of their papers. The subject of English for Academic Purposes serves to support second language speakers of English in teaching English language skills of writing, reading, listening and speaking in order to facilitate student ambitions to graduate. There are two objectives for the project; to make students write a research paper following the “introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion” genre, and to empower the students to become more critically aware of their own majors. Student research preparation revealed significant knowledge gaps in relation to their majors, the tone of emails, the university culture and lecturers’ roles in course construction. In addition to providing essential writing practice, this project empowered students to take a more active and critical view of their studies, which enables them, in the words of one student, “to see the bigger picture”. I will describe the process international students go through as they explore the project. Student feedback and comments show that the most significant outcome of the project was not English language writing, but empowerment, and that the minimal contact with the academic community, represented by a single faculty member through structured interviews, resulted in an inspiring emotional step as students moved from the edge to a more central position in the community of learning at Otago.

The use of a Blog as the Medium for Online Role Plays in Nutrition in Postgraduate Study Megan Gibbons (School of Midwifery and Otago Institute of Sport and Adventure, Otago Polytechnic) Sandra Elias (School of Midwifery, Otago Polytechnic) One of the many challenges of teaching students online is the lack of face to face contact and the opportunity to utilize teaching methods that require that contact. This can limit the ability for discussion and learning from each other. Midwives have difficult hours of work, and the ability to organize an online conference with something like Elluminate is difficult to arrange. My aim was to engage postgraduate midwifery students in role plays using a blog as the medium. The formal outcomes from

this assessment needed to identify and describe key nutrition issues for women of child-bearing age and then identify dietary strategies to address these issues. This medium allowed the students to express their individuality, demonstrate knowledge from their practice and support their recommendations with scientific evidence. It was also a suitable medium to use as far as suiting their timetables and schedules as it allowed access whenever it suited them. As far as meeting the outcomes for assessment it worked well. The advantages of the blog were much greater than this though. The students felt that they engaged more often, there were comments from outside people which added to the discussion and the students started to use images and videos to add to the story. Other people reading the blog have also found it useful for their learning. In conclusion, for distance students, using a blog is a useful way of running role plays as it is not a closed scenario, and it allows access when it suits the student.

Experiential Education for Young Entrepreneurs – The Kickstart Case Brendan Gray (Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Otago) Ryan Priemus (Kickstart Coach) Brent Wilson (Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Otago) Peter Harris (Dunedin City Council) Experiential education has been mooted as a way of encouraging students to become deeper learners. In the context of youth entrepreneurship, experiential education can also have social and economic benefits for students and their wider communities. Increasingly, secondary schools, universities and other education organisations are encouraging youth entrepreneurship through formal and informal education, coaching and mentoring programs, as well as encouraging their students to take part in enterprise development and business planning competitions. This paper discusses the case of Kickstart, an innovative youth entrepreneurship program that helps tertiary students in Dunedin to start their own businesses. Although most of the learning takes place outside the class room, and students receive no academic credits for their involvement, the success of the program has important implications for enterprise education.

Developing a Blackboard Interface for the Facebook Generation. Enhancing Pre-Learning for Problem-Based Tutorials in 5th Year Medicine Simon Stebbings & Nasser Bagheri (Medical and Surgical Sciences, Dunedin School of Medicine) Kellie Perrie (ISIS Unit, Otago District Health Board) Major changes in the 2nd and 3rd year Medical school curriculum mean that by 2010 students entering the 4th and 5th year will have developed greater skills in relation to selfdirected and problem based learning. At present the 5th Year Medical course - MICN501 - is ‘traditional’ in as much as it comprises a combination of didactic teaching and clinical apprenticeship, part of what was formally known as the ‘clinical years’. In order to meet the challenge of better integration with the new curriculum, we aimed to develop a template to enhance

self-directed learning through a Blackboard interface that might appeal to a generation used to the immediacy and usability of sites such as Facebook. By enhancing self-directed multimedia pre-learning through Blackboard, we aim to free time in tutorials to abandon didactic content and concentrate on problem based learning within MICN501. Such learning has been shown to consolidate understanding and to develop many of the skills necessary to practice as doctor in the future. We will demonstrate our Blackboard interface, with particular emphasis on e-learning, using Wimba Create® software with its in-built self-assessment tools. We will also demonstrate how we have developed multimedia formats from traditional powerpoint presentations and videos suitable for podcasting. We will also show how we have integrated this with problembased learning in tutorials. A discussion of how best to develop appropriate assessment in the future will follow. We will present student feedback from a focus group and questionnaires following a recent pilot of the project.

Student Learning Experiences in First Year Health Science: Change in Curriculum, Change in Approach? Rebecca Walker, Carol Bond & Rachel Spronken-Smith (Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago) Fiona McDonald (Physiology, University of Otago) John Reynolds (Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago) Anna McMartin (Anthropology, Gender and Sociology, University of Otago) In 2007 the Health Sciences First Year was restructured and two entirely new Human Body Systems (HUBS) courses were introduced. These courses used a number of strategies to encourage deeper understanding and independence, including assisting students to develop essential study skills; encouraging students to prepare for lectures and to take good notes; using concept maps to enable students to make necessary links across the topics; self-directed learning modules; and greater use of formative assessment tools. This research examined the impact of the curriculum change on students’ approaches to learning using a learning inventory (Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, ASSIST) (Tait et al., 1997). ASSIST was completed by 599 students enrolled in a biology class under the old curriculum, and by 705 students at the beginning and end of the HUBS courses. ANOVAs were used to examine changes in students’ responses to ASSIST across time. The ASSIST scores for both HUBS courses reflected the dominance of a surface approach, followed by a strategic and then a deep approach. However, by the end of the year, students were taking a deep and strategic approach to a greater extent, and a surface approach to a lesser extent than before. Moreover, students enrolled in the new courses adopted a deep approach to their studies to a significantly greater degree than those studying the old curriculum, likely attributable to the new curriculum. The proportion of students preferring a surface approach probably reflected contextual factors including assessment, and is the focus of ongoing curriculum development. Tait, H., Entwistle, N.J., &. McCune, V., (1997). ASSIST: A reconceptualisation of the Approaches to Studying Inventory. In C. Rust (Ed.) Improving Student Learning: Improving Students as Learners (p. 262-271), Oxford: Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

Learning Support in Christchurch and Wellington For the first time HEDC is offering learning support on site, at the northern campuses. Learning Advisors Karen Johnson in Wellington and Carole Acheson in Christchurch can be contacted by email: karen.johnson@otago.ac.nz and carole.acheson@otago.ac.nz Here they share some thoughts on their new roles and what they involve.

Learning Support on the Wellington Campus

Learning Support on the Christchurch Campus

Kia ora, I am the new Learning Advisor at the Wellington Campus, University of Otago.

When I took up my role in mid-June last year of offering learning support for the University of Otago’s Christchurch students, I quickly realised that the campus is quite different from any other in my previous experience, and has very specific needs. All the students are in Health Sciences, with 231 undergraduates, all fourth to sixth year medical students, and 575 postgraduates, mostly from Nursing, Public Health, Medicine and Pathology. The postgraduates are generally over thirty and working professionally, undertaking diplomas or higher degrees for professional development.

Wellington staff welcomed me in August and I have spent the last couple of months getting to know staff and students, as well as getting workshops under way and seeing students individually. When I say “see”, I speak figuratively, as many of the students here are studying from a distance. Wellington has around 450 postgraduate students, two- thirds of whom are distance learners. While the majority of the PhD students are on campus, the other post graduates are dotted throughout New Zealand and overseas. Most of these students come to the campus for block courses several times a year, and it is during these times that I can offer workshops on thesis writing, study strategies and oral presentations. For a number of students it has been a while since they last did any formal study, so learning support is very helpful for brushing up on skills. My contact for the remainder of the year is via email, with students sending in drafts of their work for me to comment on. Wellington also has about eighty fourth, fifth and sixth year medical students on campus, as well as ninety medical radiation therapy students. Last October I had an enjoyable time sharing effective exam preparation strategies with the first and second year radiation therapy students. This year I will also be working with fourth year physiotherapy students when they come in to do research projects. I would like to thank the staff here in Wellington and at Otago for making me feel so welcome, and to the students of course, the reason I am here in the first place. Karen Johnson Lecturer in Learning Support University of Otago Wellington Campus

Students’ learning problems are mainly with structuring assignments and theses, writing literature reviews, and giving oral presentations, so my workshops have focused on these areas. Some highly qualified students returning to university were dismayed to find they had forgotten various study skills, so next year I will offer revision workshops on the basics too. The undergraduates have asked me to set up a special programme to help them with oral clinical presentations, and I have been very busy with postgraduates who want to structure and present their research effectively at medical conferences. An ongoing problem for providing learning support is that, apart from the minority writing a thesis full-time, the students have so little time to spare from their work and study commitments. Most appointments have to be in the lunch hour, with follow-up by email, and the occasional no-show usually has a very good excuse: a student recently called to apologise, explaining that he couldn’t leave the ward as his patient was dying. I have found it fascinating to be involved in the medical world, and am enormously grateful to all the staff at the School of Medicine who have taken the time to discuss their courses with me and suggest how I could help their students. Thank you also to all the Student Learning Centre and HEDC staff in Dunedin, who have been so welcoming. Carole Acheson Lecturer in Learning Support University of Otago Christchurch Campus

Ten Tips for Supervisors The most important qualities of the ideal graduate research supervisor.

SUPPORT

GOOD COMMUNICATION

Supportiveness is the quality that PhD students value most highly in supervisors. This involves supervisors being encouraging, mentoring, and aware that students’ lives extend beyond the PhD. Supportive supervisors make an effort to understand how the student prefers to work. In addition, such supervisors attend to the student as a whole person, rather than purely as a research student.

Ideal supervisors have good communication skills. In particular: good listening skills; the tendency to maintain an open dialogue about the project, its progress and problems; the ability to communicate in an open, honest, and fair manner about issues that arise as they arise; and making expectations clear with regard to matters such as the process of completing a PhD or Master’s thesis, budget considerations, and the role each party must play in performing the project research.

AVAILABILITY Students value availability in their supervisors. This involves supervisors meeting with students regularly, setting aside adequate time for students, and being contactable through several media (e.g., email, phone) – particularly if they are not physically present.

INTEREST AND ENTHUSIASM Students portrayed the ideal supervisor as someone who is interested and enthusiastic about the student’s work. This is achieved by supervisors who are positive, empowering, motivational, and committed. Such supervisors are often in the vicinity of their students and are likely to show an interest in the student’s progress.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE IN THE FIELD SURROUNDING THE PhD Ideal supervisors are those who have expertise in the field surrounding the student’s research. Students value highly a supervisor who can use their knowledge of the area to understand and demonstrate how the student’s research topic fits within the wider field. Students do not necessarily expect the supervisor to have expertise in the precise topic of their research, however. Having a supervisor with expertise in the methodologies required in their research is particularly important.

INTEREST IN THE STUDENT’S CAREER Ideal supervisors are likely to show an interest in the student’s career. They help to provide support for the establishment of the student’s career in several ways. These include having good contacts and introducing students to their network of colleagues, looking out for and informing students of conferences and seminars relevant to their research and career, and encouraging and facilitating the publication of the student’s research.

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK Students see an ideal supervisor as one who provides feedback and criticism of their work that is constructive and prompt. In addition students value consistency in the feedback given. Some valued consistency across time. This is often a sign that the supervisor and student share the same focus regarding the project. In addition, where more than one supervisor is responsible for providing feedback, consistency between supervisors is important.

PROVIDES DIRECTION AND STRUCTURE The ideal supervisor is perceived to be one who provides an appropriate amount of direction and structure to the student’s research project. She or he is prepared to create deadlines, challenge, and push the student a little when required. Such a supervisor is informative and helpful when it comes to areas of uncertainty.

APPROACHABILITY AND RAPPORT The ideal supervisor is approachable and works to establish a good rapport with their students.

EXPERIENCE AND INTEREST IN SUPERVISION Part of being experienced and interested in supervision, a key quality of an ideal supervisor, is having a complete understanding of the requirements and process of completing a thesis. In addition, students value supervisors who consider the needs of particular subgroups of the student population (e.g., international students, those with children, those with disabilities, and those with cultural differences). It is important that supervisors recognise the individual supervisory needs of each student. The full pamphlet on the ten most important qualities in a research supervisor and the ten most substantial problems faced by students in graduate supervision can be found on:

Akoranga www.otago.ac.nz/study/phd/docs/studentperceptsupervision.pdf

We welcome feedback to the Editor: nell.smith@stonebow.otago.ac.nz