Talking Learning Spring 2019
Volume 2 Issue 2
Contents:
Four Quarters Marking (p20—21)
Summary of ‘The Learning Rainforest’ (p4—6)
T-Levels – what we know so far… (p22—23)
When Physics Goes Wrong (p7)
Being a Governor (p8)
QMC in Partnership with Price Waterhouse Coopers (p24—25)
7 Techniques for Retrieval Practice (p9)
Geography Trip to DP World (p26—27)
Basingstoke Patoss (p10)
Careers at QMC (p28)
Summary of ‘Embedded Formative Assessment’ (p11)
QMC Apprenticeship Week 2019 (p29)
A Rather Strange Medical Experience (p12—13)
Interactive T-Shirts (p30—31)
Ergonomic Office (p32)
Using Card & Paper to Understand Nirvana (p14—15)
Links to Further Reading (p33)
Does anyone have any ideas how to…? (p34)
All Change...Again (p16)
The College Library (p18—19)
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Editor’s Notes Welcome to the Spring edition of Talking Learning. As we enter the final term of the college year the focus is very much on final assessments, coursework and exams meaning that staff have been doing some great things but just haven’t been able to find the time to write about them. Therefore, I really am grateful for those who have taken some time out from their busy schedules to contribute to this edition and it is pleasing to note that we have such a wide range of articles from across the college as well as welcoming both new and returning authors. One of my highlights from last term was being allowed to tag along with the Geography trip to Southampton docks to visit the port operators DP World. It made me think about how seemingly small steps in any project may seem insignificant at first glance but have such importance in any long-term strategy. I hope that we can keep working together as a college and this magazine can be one of those small steps to help sharing ideas as we look to achieve even better outcomes. Simon Green, Editor.
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Summary of ‘The Learning Rainforest’ by Simon Green This book by Tom Sherrington is available in the college library. He begins by explaining that the elements of each tree in the rainforest represent different aspects of the learning process:
The roots: establishing the conditions for great learning
The trunk and branches: building the knowledge structure
The canopy: exploring the possibilities
Each one supports the others; none exists without the others. Part one of the book takes the reader through the areas of influence that have led the author to what he describes as his ‘Learning Rainforest’. Part two is referred to as the ‘Learning Rainforest in Practice’ and this section sets out the practical ideas and strategies for teaching in a real classroom based on the three elements above. I will summarise some of the ideas from the first section below and the others in future editions of this magazine.
Establishing the Conditions Attitudes and habits for excellence
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Joy and wonder. Arguably one of the most important habits needed to create fertile conditions for learning is to communicate a sense of joy in what you and your students are learning and doing. Some of the ideas for doing that include:
Sharing your passion i.e. teach the things that get you excited about your subject.
Build joyful relationships. If there is occasional laughter, mutual respect, room to express interests and passions and veer off into new corners of the subject from time to time, then great teaching and learning are far more likely.
Celebrating achievement as its own reward.
Inspire awe and wonder. In a five period day, with exams to prepare for and a pile of marking to look forward to, you may
feel your inclination to inspire awe may be on the low side. But who else is going to do this if you don’t? We should aim to make it our default mode, our natural disposition, to seize every possible opportunity to fire students’ imaginations and to stoke their passions.
Teach to the top. It is a win-win to cater exclusively for the highest attaining students in any group; to ‘teach to the top’, pitching every lesson and unit of work to stretch them. In doing so, everyone benefits. The curriculum content is always at its most challenging so everyone is exposed to it; top-end students enjoy their learning, feel valued and feel normal. The learning environment in each lesson is characterised by high expectations. This raises aspirations and, through appropriate scaffolded support, all students are pulled along in the wake.
Plan learning objectives, resources and questions with the highest attainments in mind.
Find out what your students can do before you launch in with a topic via some form of preliminary formative assessment.
Relationships and behaviour
Don't talk down your own knowledge or make a virtue out of ignorance. If you struggled at school then find a story to tell about how you overcame struggles through hard work and determination; don't inadvertently become a role model for acceptable low academic aspirations or the idea that success at school doesn't matter too much.
Rigour. Great lessons are characterised by a high level of rigour. Rigour is part of a great teacher’s attitude. You don't settle for low-level disruption, sloppy thinking, mediocrity, laziness, half–hearted writing or incomplete answers. You can't do a bit of rigour every now and then; it is part and parcel of every lesson, relentless and automatic. The precise form of rigour is usually highly subject specific.
Pygmalion. If we set high expectations for every member of the class and truly expect more from them, then this expectation can become a reality.
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Foster relationships that are positive, caring and defined based on genuine and mutual respect, where there is no argument about expected standards of behaviour.
Establish routines for excellence. To quote Bill Rogers, “you establish what you establish”. This refers to the establishment phase with a new class and your subsequent maintenance of expectations. Right from the start, anything you allow becomes established as allowed; and anything you challenge is established is unacceptable. A typical issue is noise level and off task talking. If you do not challenge students to talk while others talk, you establish this is okay; it is no good getting bothered about it later. Similarly with noise level, if you ask for “silence” and then accept a general hubbub - then your message is “silence means general hubbub”. If you want silence, you have to insist on it.
Positive framing. Instead of using the negative language of correction, you focus en stating your positive expectations. For example, instead of “Will you stop talking” you say “I'd like everyone listening please”. Positive framing is about minimising conflict, maintaining positive relationships and keeping the atmosphere of a classroom upbeat and positive so that there is maximum focus on learning.
Silence is golden. To inject some real purposefulness and focus: silence. Not just “quiet”: absolute, total, complete, youcould-hear-a-pin-drop silence. If a silent atmosphere Is created in the right way, with the right spirit, it means this: “Okay, we’ve done all of the talking, we’ve thrown up all our ideas…now it's over to you to bring it altogether, to get really stuck in and produce something that shows what you've learned, by yourself”.
Summary of ‘The Learning Rainforest’ continued Planning the curriculum
Big picture, small picture. In order to support learning new material we should be conscious of the need to organise our ideas so that the individual components have some kind of structure when assembled. This will include something like that topic overview, a rough time frame for the course structure where that is appropriate, showing students when assessments are scheduled and where each topic fits in the sequence.
Specify the knowledge. In order to be certain that your students are learning what they need to know and what you want them to know, it is very powerful to spell this out in some detail. This could become a learning checklist or knowledge organiser for the topic. Students could self assess their knowledge of these key points, checking their recall of the specific details.
Skills and drills. Although there is an ongoing debate about the specifics, education research supports our everyday experience that we get better at things we can practise. The task for teachers is to breakdown complex tasks in to component skills that can be practised repeatedly through drills.
Build the words, plan the reading. A key component in successful learning is reading. The more fluent students are with reading the more independent they become and the depth to which they can explore the content of the curriculum increases.
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‘When Physics Goes Wrong ‘ by Alan Stewart There's something inherently interesting about stories where things go wrong. In physics we tap into students' morbid curiosity when we study nuclear engineering. The syllabus can sound a little dry - "Students need to be able to: describe the materials used and the operating principles behind control rods, moderators and shielding in a nuclear reactor". We've discovered that students much prefer researching the failure of these systems, rather than their success. I created several titles for students to choose from, including 3 Mile Island meltdown and the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters. I sorted the students into small groups to research a title of their choice. They had 2 lessons to prepare a presentation for the class. In their presentations I make sure they're hitting points from the syllabus by giving them a list of questions with each title. As all nuclear reactors follow the same fundamental principles this does lead to repeated information from presentation to presentation. On the day of presentations, students tend to recognise which of their slides they can speed through so it doesn't become tiresome. Plus, hearing the key information a few times can't hurt. What really makes the presentations engaging is the extra details the students include: Photographs of destruction, descriptions of unpleasant deaths and stories of how the Mafia got involved in nuclear waste disposal. I always ask students to take notes as they watch others' presentations and think of one question. These questions then feed into discussion afterwards. I like to take in their questions and sort them into categories, often based on how difficult they are to answer. Students can then take some tricky questions home for further research.
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‘Being a governor’ by Julie McLatch Being a governor at QM, and a trustee of the MAT, is a hugely rewarding role. The hard work of all the staff comes through at every committee meeting, and the outcomes - both visibly across the campus and in the exam results - are clear to see. These are challenging times for any educational organisation - with a demographic dip and cuts in funding at a time when pastoral and educational need is growing and QM is doing an excellent job of keeping its students at the forefront of all the decisions that it makes. This ethos has stood the college in good stead and will continue to do so for many years to come. The Local Governing Body is always looking for new members to bring fresh insight and viewpoints, and if you know of anyone who would like to be a parent governor or a community governor please contact Governor.Clerk@qmc.ac.uk
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7 Techniques for Retrieval Practice 1.
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Quick Fire Quiz. Everyone know this one but it can still be done well or badly: Teacher reads out the question or presents them . All students write down their answers. Teacher reveals the answers, one by one or all at once. Students check which they got right. Swapping answers to check is an option but it can be a faff and takes away from the message that students need to be evaluating the depth of their own learning. It’s important that the teacher discusses common wrong answers – which is one of the main functions. Paper Quiz. Everyone gets a copy of the questions and writes down answers at their own pace within a time limit. This is much less teacher-directed. It frees the teacher up to circulate and spot common errors as they emerge. It allows for a wider range of question types and makes it easier to engage in with worded questions that can be hard to read from a slide. Silent Self Quiz. If using computers then this can be done online or via an electronic version that automatically checks responses. Paired Quiz. In order to maximise the extent of retrieval practice that goes on, it is fantastic to get students to quiz each other in pairs. One student has the material – questions, answers, cue cards, knowledge organiser, text – and asks the other student questions. Self Explanation. Beyond simple recall, ask students to explain something to themselves. You simply give students a few silent moments to complete a mental task. They have to generate a version of what they understand that they can either then self-check or write down or use to respond to further question. However the process of mental rehearsal is important...making this explicit helps to train those who don’t do it spontaneously. Demonstration and Performance. Of course LOTS of knowledge isn’t simply quiz -able declarative knowledge. You can ask students to show what they know: a procedure; a technique; a routine. Have you learned it? Show me…Of course as a student shows what they can do to a teacher, they are showing themselves what they can do. This is important. Again, the intensity and frequency can be amplified by getting students to show each other in pairs rather than one-by-one with the teacher, as long as they have the tools to evaluate success. This is common in practical areas and performance areas – sport, music, art – but it also has a role in science, maths, English where the modelling process could be framed as ‘teaching’. e.g. teaching the class how to answer a maths problem. Paired or individual elaborative-interrogation A form of quizzing that can be done in pairs or as a silent private process, is elaborative interrogation. This is where students explore their schema by answering How and Why questions. Why does this happen? How does it work? Why does it work? Why did she say that? Why do you use that structure? Why is that the most important reason? How do you know? If you train students to use some of these question stems and give them resources that help them to verify the answers, this makes for a deep retrieval practice exercise.
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‘Basingstoke Patoss’ by Veronique Allen Basingstoke Patoss is a lively group of teachers in North Hampshire offering opportunities for affordable continuing professional development through termly meetings with respected speakers. These can inform your classroom practice working with students with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and other SpLDs and contribute to the renewal of your Practising Certificate. We offer resources for hire, networking opportunities and occasional specialist book stalls. The website can be accessed via: https://basingstokepatoss.org.uk/
Summer Twilight CPD is to be held on Wednesday July 3rd when Glynis Lavington will talk about skills all staff can pass on in the areas of meta-cognition, study skills and reading strategies. Anyone with a professional interest in Specific Learning Difficulties is welcome at our open meetings. This includes class teachers, SENCOs, head teachers, specialist assessors, learning support assistants, occupational therapists, educational psychologists, speech and language specialists and behavioural optometrists. Valuable contacts can be made and the talks are applicable to age ranges through primary to secondary and tertiary. We have a small Forum group to enable Assessors to discuss the practicalities of using and interpreting tests – particularly new or modified products. Meetings are held in a private house in the Basingstoke area. If you hold or are preparing for L7 or LAMBDA qualifications and wish to suggest discussion of a particular topic, or would like to be notified of forum meetings, please let us know at patossbasingstoke@hotmail.com
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Summary of ‘Embedded Formative Assessment: (Strategies for Classroom Assessment That Drives Student Engagement and Learning)’ by Helen Henderson This book by is available in the college library.
By integrating classroom formative assessment practices into daily activities, educators can substantially increase student engagement and the rate of student learning. The second edition of this best-selling book by Dylan Wiliam presents new research, insights, and formative assessment strategies teachers can immediately apply in their classrooms. Updated examples and templates are included to help teachers elicit evidence of learning, provide meaningful feedback, and empower students to take ownership of their education. Implement effective assessment strategies in the classroom by: Reviewing the five key strategies of formative assessment in the classroom. Learning more than 50 practical techniques for classroom formative assessment. Examining research that states classroom formative assessment is the most impactful and costeffective approach to raising student academic achievement. Exploring the use of classroom questioning, learning intentions and success criteria, feedback, collaborative and cooperative learning, and self-regulated learning to engineer effective learning environments. Discovering new insights into the current states of education and employment, and a discussion of how these changes affect student performance and teacher practice. Changes for the Second Edition: Over 30 percent new content including new research, techniques, examples, and templates New insights into the current state of education and how these changes affect student performance and teacher practice A deeper discussion of educational neuroscience, including memory studies and dual-pathway theory Contents: Chapter 1: Discovering Why Educational Achievement Matters Chapter 2: Making the Case for Formative Assessment Chapter 3: Clarifying, Sharing, and Understanding Learning Intentions and Success Criteria Chapter 4: Eliciting Evidence of Learners' Achievement Chapter 5: Providing Feedback That Moves Learning Forward Chapter 6: Activating Students as Instructional Resources for One Another Chapter 7: Activating Students as Owners of Their Own Learning. 11
‘A Rather Strange Medical Experience’ by Charlie Baxter Approximately 13 years ago I developed a dull pain in my shoulder, nothing too bad, just the sort of ache that you could get after over exertion of a joint. I couldn't identify the trigger point for the start of the pain, maybe it was the potting up of several hundred tomato plants for the annual charity sale that we used to do. Perhaps too much DIY, especially installing that new kitchen! However it started it was reluctant to go away, and over time got worse with the addition of weakness and restricted movement. When it got to the stage that I was securing one end of my bath towel in the door and was drying my back using one arm I sought medical help. Visits to my GP and the usual course of treatments ensued, anti inflammatory tablets for a couple of months, cortisone injections, and physiotherapy all helping to a small degree but the symptoms never fully went away. Fast forward a decade with some added physiotherapy, sports therapy treatment and T.E.N.S and the problem was still present. Just before Christmas I was being treated by my chiropractor for a rotated pelvis and sacroiliac joint issues caused by a tear to my thigh muscle earlier in the year (strange how the body works!), he mentioned my shoulder weakness and carried out some strength and resistance tests on me, his results and explanation were conclusive. The next day I had made an appointment to see someone who could sort my shoulder problem once and for all.
A few weeks later and just an hour before the treatment that was going to change everything, I nipped into the gym to strength test my weak, painful shoulder. Standing upright with my arms at my side I tried to lift a 5kg weight from my hip to above my head in a sideways circular movement (side lateral lift), no matter how hard I tried my arm would not raise above shoulder level. OFF TO GET MENDED. First thing the following morning in the gym I couldn't spot a 5kg so used a 7.5kg weight instead. Same stance, same arm, same motion but with a smooth painless lift right above my head!! For the first time in 13 years I had full pain free movement. Two days later I was at my chiropractor’s to go through the results and he was not the least bit surprised at the outcome. He has diagnosed lots of people with various weakness problems and has set them on a path to successful recovery. The key to his results is something called Afferent Input. In simplified terms it's the electrical impulses that rapidly carry messages from pain receptors all over our body to our brain, and vice versa. Tread barefoot on a piece of Lego and it's afferent input that makes you jump, you don't stand there thinking 'that hurts, I'll lift my foot' and then do so!
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In my case I had an interruption in these messages being carried, causing my brain to think that there was a problem with my shoulder and acting accordingly by, in effect, closing it down to prevent further damage being done. So, how was this interruption instantly terminated thus ending years of pain, weakness and restricted movement? I had a gold dental crown, that was fitted 13 years ago, simply replaced with a ceramic one! Honest!! Afferent Input. If you Google it you'll be there for ages! If you want a little more information, some extraordinary case study examples or some links to some YouTube video's please don't hesitate to ask.
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‘Using Card & Paper to Understand Nirvana’ by Graeme Rowe One of the more difficult challenges that can be faced when teaching students a new or old subject at any level is the introduction of a new set of vocabulary or a more advanced form of previous vocabulary. In my subject of Philosophy I have to introduce students to more advanced specialist vocabulary as part of the A-level, as well as what seems to be a whole new language with an added ‘alien’ cultural worldview as part of the Buddhism paper. Students struggle to spell the words and to differentiate some of the concepts; examples include Paticcasamapadda, Avalotikiteshvara and Madyhmakha. Therefore I needed to find a way to familiarise the students with the words, the concepts, the differences between the ideas and a method to ensure that students were able to connect the words to the theories and principles being taught. In the age of social media, tablets and smartphones I thought there must be a fool proof way to do this that would help me to ‘work smarter’ (i.e. low effort and high impact). I want to be a teacher who embraces technology and uses it effectively to enhance learning. I searched online, I asked colleagues and I asked my learners but what it came down to was that without developing a specific app for digital use that nothing was going to suit my purpose. A lightbulb moment occurred when I was teaching about Occam’s Razor- the simplest and most basic solution is the best. I realised that the ‘old school’ method of using words written on cards and used as a word-sort activity, alongside a glossary of words was the way forward. Tentatively I tried it out with one of my first year classes by getting them to do the following in groups of 3/4: 1. Sort the words out into two piles: a) those they recognise/can give the definition for; b) those that they don’t know 2. With pile a) check each other’s understanding and explanation of the word (using the glossary to confirm) 3. Pile b) words were to be looked up in the glossary and then students were to link the word with something from previous learning/teaching to ensure that consolidation and imprinting of the word was beginning to enter their memory. This approach enabled the students to visually recognise the words and to begin to associate them with synoptic ideas from other areas of the course. As this ‘pilot study’ had worked successfully I realised the potential that these cards had for other skills required for the course. With the other Year 1 group I repeated the group activity but developed the planned activity and therefore the outcome to more efficiently use synoptic skills: 4. Once all words had been defined and contextualised (using the glossary) the groups were to collect them together in groups of similar or related terms/words, e.g. Apple pear, banana, passionfruit or monkey, gorilla, orangutan, chimpanzee. 5. Once the words were collected together in similar/related terms students are challenged to look at the differences between the collected terms/words and then ascertain whether there are other ways that the words could be linked to ones in other groups, e.g. monkey from the example above could also be associated with banana. The impact that this has in facilitating synoptic learning and synthesis of ideas has been marked in the development of the learners’ understanding, as well as their ability to use technical terminology in the 14
correct context. The success of this activity for understanding and engaging with the Buddhism terminology in the course has encouraged me to use it for the technical terms on the other A-level papers as well. Repeating this activity at key points of the course serves as both an excellent revision tool for more able learners, as well as an opportunity for weaker learners to redress the balance and consolidate their learning. All students find value in the various parts of the activity for learning, consolidation or stretch & challenge; their confidence in using the terminology is much improved and therefore so is their writing. The principles behind the activity are not new, nor are they radical or revolutionary, but the simplicity of the ideas has made this key requirement of learning terminology for examinations/coursework much easier and with greater impact than merely being a cardsort activity. If you want to look at the card sets that I use or even learn some Buddhist terminology then come over and have a go.
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‘All Change… Again’ by David Smith
Wait for it… just as we are bedding in a raft of new courses in the brave new linear world… and with T levels just around the corner, the post-16 curriculum may be thrown up in the air once again. I know – just what we needed: more change; shifting the goalposts all over again. So why am I in favour? I attended a science/business forum at the Royal Society last month and heard strong arguments in favour of a broader, more balanced curriculum that properly prepares students for the jobs and challenges of the future. They argue for something more akin to the IB, that doesn’t categorise young people in two distinct camps, as either arts/humanities types or scientists. They also want to release teachers (and students) from the straightjacket of an exams culture, allowing teaching to develop the soft skills business leaders claim are so often lacking from school-leavers and graduates. Their belief is that, first and foremost, teaching should inspire young people and the precise body of knowledge to be covered can be negotiable. A less prescribed curriculum would free teachers up to bring their particular areas of interest to the classroom and reveal their passion, allowing lessons to go off at a tangent in response to something that has caught the class’s imagination. Einstein’s assertion was quoted here: that the most important ingredient for a promising scientist is imagination. The boldness of their vision is in their insistence that the current education system in the UK is unfit to equip young people for the world they will inherit, where digital skills and collaborative problem-solving will define their working lives. GCSEs, A levels and even the yet-to-launch T levels are the wrong prescription for a 21st century economy. This kind of talk makes us naturally nervous. Teachers are used to the education agenda being hijacked from on high and worn weary by the intemperate meteorology of constant change. Is it time to dig out our umbrellas once again? Actually, the purpose of the forum, refreshingly, was to sound out a few teachers on the logic of their vision. Could there be a better way? No longer teaching to the test – an exam factory approach with only a tiny fraction of the cohort studying across a range of subjects to age 18? The UK is the only country that requires children to begin to specialise at 14 and which places no restriction on the subject choices available to young people post-16. Everyone pursuing an academic path, they argue, should learn essay-writing skills, some higher mathematics, science and statistical analysis, whilst also studying literature, history, creative arts and a foreign language. Vocational programmes should be developed and run in businesses and industry, with technology at the centre of the curriculum whichever route is followed post-16. Most importantly, students should work in groups on open-ended projects over an extended period, with no requirement for external assessment at 16. AI and machine learning will transform the world of work and creative problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate ideas and form productive working relationships will be the recipe for a successful career, which will likely span disparate sectors over a lifetime. If we could break out of our subject silos and teach with a bit more spontaneity, occasionally veer off-piste without the need to cover the syllabus and cram for the exam, we might get to like it – inspire a bit more and fret a bit less. We could concentrate on developing character rather than rehearsing facts. Please see the reading links section of the magazine for a Royal Society document to giving a fuller picture of what they are proposing. 16
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‘The College Library’ by Veronique Allen
Illustration by Simini Blocker The QMC library is your library too. We welcome the opportunity to create displays for your subject, where we can include the books, magazines and databases that you would like your students to read or be aware of. It’s always very satisfactory when students decide to borrow a book from our display. Please make sure you contact us and use our services.
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The Law department asked the QMC library to put together a display showing examples of where studying law can take you. There are newspaper and magazine articles as well as a selection of book and references to the elaw Database and the Law Review available from Dynamic Learning Database.
This is the display put together in the QMC library in March 2019 to celebrate International Women’s Day. The display features regular posters on past women inventors as well as recent and relevant articles found in the Times, the I or The Voice newspapers that the library subscribes to. On the table are displayed a selection of books and magazines from the library, also offering information on the topic. So as we celebrate Women, there are books on feminism, books showing women in jobs which were traditionally held by men but also books by women poets, women photographers and so on.
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‘Four Quarters Marking’ – A Workload Solution? In ’What Does Learning Look Like in the Classroom’, Carl Hendrick and Robin Macpherson interviewed Dylan Wiliam on how to implement research on assessment in the classroom. A central problem in the area of assessment in the classroom has been in the way we often confuse marking and feedback. As Dylan Wiliam points out in our discussion, there is an extraordinary amount of energy expended by teachers on marking and often very little to show for it in the way of student benefit. Although feedback is one of the most effective drivers of learning, one of the more surprising findings is that a lot of it actually has a negative effect on student achievement. A set of marked books is traditionally seen as an effective proxy for good teaching but there is a lot of evidence to say that this might not always be the case. This problem is on a scale that might surprise a lot of people: Dylan: I once estimated that, if you price teacher’s time appropriately, in England we spend about two and a half billion pounds a year on feedback and it has almost no effect on student achievement. Certainly students need to know where they make misconceptions or spelling errors and correcting those is important. Doing so also provides a useful diagnostic for teachers to inform what they will teach next, but the written comments at the end of a piece of work are often both the most time-consuming and also the most ineffective. For example, taking the following typical comments on a GCSE English essay: Try to phrase your analysis of language using more sophisticated vocabulary and phrasing. Try to expand on your points with more complex analysis of Macbeth’s character. This is a good example of certain assessment practices where the feedback mainly focuses on what was deficient about it, which as Douglas Reeve’s notes, is “more like a post-mortem than a medical.” The other thing is that it doesn’t really tell the student what they need to do to improve. What is more useful to the student here? receiving vague comments like these or actually seeing sophisticated vocabulary, phrasing and analysis in action? It’s very difficult to be excellent if you don’t know what excellent looks like. Often, teachers give both a grade and comments like those above to students, hoping that they somehow improve by the time their next piece of writing comes around a week later and then berate the student when, lo and behold, they make the same mistakes again. Perhaps part of the problem here is that we have very low expectations of what students are willing to do in response to a piece of work and do not afford them the opportunity to engage in the kind of tasks that might really improve their learning. To address this problem, Dylan advocates a much more streamlined model of marking that is not only more manageable for teachers, but also allows students to have more ownership over the process: Dylan: I recommend what I call ‘four quarters marking.’ I think that teachers should mark in detail, 25% of what students do, should skim another 25%, students should then self-assess about 25% with teachers monitoring the quality of that and finally, peer assessment should be the other 25%. It’s a sort of balanced diet of different kinds of marking and assessment.
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After producing a piece of work, instead of using abstract skills based success criteria, it is probably more powerful for students to have access to a bank of exemplar essays or worked solutions to see concrete examples of success against which to self-assess their own work. Marking everything in sight and leaving detailed comments is an established cultural norm now but this practice doesn’t appear to be based on good evidence. We know for example that many students will look at a grade and not engage with the feedback but is that feedback always useful anyway? As we discuss in the book, a common issue we see again and again in using research in the classroom is the ‘Chinese whisper effect’ where by the time evidence works its way down to the level of the classroom, it’s a pale imitation of its original form. This is especially prevalent in the area of marking where convoluted policies such as triple marking are enacted as a means of raising pupil achievement whereas all they are doing is often increasing teacher workload. As Dylan William reminds us, “feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor,” but how do you change a culture that has traditionally been the opposite?
Dylan: In terms of what we do about this, I would say first of all, head teachers should lay down clear expectation to parents and say things like, “We are not going to give detailed feedback on more than 25% of what your child does. The reason for that is not because we’re lazy. It’s because there are better uses we could make of that time. We could mark everything your child does, but that would lead to lower quality teaching and then your child will learn less.” Heads have to establish those cultural norms. If a teacher is marking everything your child does, it’s bad teaching. It is using time in a way that does not have the greatest benefit for students. As a profession, we are too some extent, we are our own worst enemy. Using marking policies that have little impact on student achievement and a negative impact on teacher workload and morale makes little sense. By adopting an approach like four quarters marking, we might go some way to address this issue and at the same time, give students more ownership over their own learning.
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‘T-Levels’ – what we know so far…’ by Helen Henderson ‘T-Levels’ is the name that has been given by the media to government’s planned overhaul of technical education. Between now and 2022, 15 new pathways will be developed in 15 sector areas where substantial technical training is required to progress into employment. These are:
Agriculture, environmental and animal care
Business and administrative
Catering and hospitality
Childcare and education
Construction
Creative and Design
Digital
Engineering and Manufacturing
Hair and Beauty
Health and Science
Legal, Finance and accounting
Protective services
Sales, marketing and procurement
Social care
Transport and logistics
For each T Level there will be one awarding body only. Specifications are being written by the Institute for Apprenticeships with employer involvement and match the apprenticeship standards. The choice for young people seeking more work based learning beyond 16 is an apprenticeship (based in the workplace with possibly some educational input around GCSE Maths and English) and T Levels (based in colleges, but with substantial work experience – minimum 45 days). Within each T Level there are Core and pathway options. T Levels are being phased with the first three being offered by small number of providers from September 2020. These will be offered in the following three areas:
Digital –the software applications design pathway (Havant & South Downs College
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Business administration
Catering and hospitality
Creative design
Levels will consist of 1800 hours over two years.
Core (20% to 50% of technical qualification hours depending on T Level) – knowledge and understanding of concepts, theories and principles related to the T Level broader route, core skills related to the T Level. This will be assessed through an external examination and a substantial, employer set project (could be marked internally)
Occupational specialism (50% to 80% of the total technical qualification hours) – knowledge, skills and behaviour required to achieve threshold competence in an occupational specialism. Maths, English and digital skills integrated where they are necessary to achieve a threshold competence. This will be assessed through rigorous practical assessment.
T Level placement (315-420 hours) under taken with external employer, minimum 45 days, students develop technical skills and apply their knowledge in the workplace, employers not expected to pay students.
Maths and English GCSE or Functional Skills if required
Feedback we have picked up so far:
Close working relationship is desirable for T Level providers in an area – getting a consistent message across about new qualifications is key as well as preventing overlap in contacting employers. Challenging in a competitive environment. Selling the concept to stakeholders is challenging.
Entry requirements – same as A Level? Due to the content being set by Institute for Apprenticeships (and employers) they are tough. Initial providers are considering grade 5s including Maths and English to access content.
Huge challenges around engaging with employers and setting up models for the 45 day placement – unreliability; losing students to apprenticeships once on placement; what if a student does 20 days only because they are let down by an employer?
Employer set projects will be a choice from 2 or 3 set by the awarding organisation.
Grading of the project is likely to be A-E. Grading of the Core likely to be P/M/D. How grading/assessment will work in practice is unclear.
Sufficient funding?
UCAS points?
The TES produced an article in February on T levels and rejection by some of Britain’s top universities. This summarizes some key responses that they received: A spokesperson for Imperial College London, ranked as the eighth best university in the
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‘QMC in Partnership with Price Waterhouse Coopers’ by Lucy Poynter PwC’s new initiative seeks to increase the number of women in technology related careers alongside over 100 partners who share this vision. The Tech She Can Charter aims to tackle the root cause of the problem at a societal level by inspiring and educating young girls and women to get into tech careers and sharing best practice across the organisations involved. Why this matters? We know this is an important problem to solve as technology is set to influence every aspect of our lives. We need to ensure that the people creating our technology solutions are representative of the population and that females have an equal opportunity to take part in the jobs of the future. PwC research with over 2,000 A-Level and university students shows that the gender gap in technology starts at school and carries on through every stage of girls’ and women’s lives. Only 27% of female students surveyed say they would consider a career in technology, compared to 61% of males, and only 3% say it is their first choice. The initiative is using the power of intelligent digital to see beyond the gender gap, to a world where women can reimagine our future. PwC have created a ‘women in technology’ programme and degree, changing the ground rules to make technology a more attractive, inclusive, working environment for all. By signing up to the charter, organisations pledge to the following actions: * Working with schools * Supporting social mobility
* Creating role models * Inclusive access * Attract, recruit, retain * Sharing best practice Queen Mary’s College is proud to pledge to the Tech She Can charter. As a leading provider of post 16 education in Hampshire we strive to embed core values such as determination, resilience and equal opportunities for all of our students. Supporting young women to access their full potential in technology related careers plays a significant part in our day to day ethos and we are looking forward to sharing this with other practitioners, colleagues and partners. As a college we will be entering into the ‘Improving Education’ work stream which sees us collaborating with primary and secondary schools, other colleges and organisations to work towards the charter. Current teaching resources and lesson plans are geared towards school age children but as more sixth form providers become involved we hope to expand this reach to continue good practice post 16. 24
Here is a link to the full report https://www.pwc.co.uk/women-in-technology/women-in-tech -report.pdf Here is a further link to some useful infographics https://www.pwc.co.uk/women-intechnology/women-in-tech-report-infographic.pdf Carol Vorderman and her daughter, Katie, spoke at the charter’s first anniversary celebration earlier this year. The event shared the successes of the first year and the vision for the future. Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=p4HObJTX0iA&feature=youtu.be
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‘Geography Trip to DP World’ by Simon Green I was fortunate enough to be able to visit DP World in Southampton with a group of Geography students last month as they got to experience the operations of a global port operator. We were provided with a fascinating overview of the background, history and day-to-day running of the company and a tour of the offices before hopping onto the mini-bus for a guided tour of the port with our host for the day Rob Freeman. The students (and staff) were able to see one of the largest container ships in the world alongside called the CMA CGM Louis Bleriot. This ship is pictured but has to be seen in real life to imagine the sheer scale, measuring nearly 400 metres long and a draught of 14m.
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‘Careers at QMC’ by Beth Linklater Since I arrived at QMC in 2004 our Careers department has diversified a lot, as Carolyn’s report (overleaf) on our Careers Fair shows. We used to be solely focused on university, and those students who didn’t want to go often complained that we would just refer them to Connexions (remember them?!) and take no further interest! It wasn’t quite that simple, but I understand how students could feel like that. We had never heard of Unifrog, Firefly or Viewpoint, the careers library only existed in paper form, and predicted grades were on pieces of paper which the students carried between teachers, interrupting them in the middle of classes to get signatures. The UCAS queue began at help desk, and stretched right down the central registry corridor to the old science classrooms, past Peter and Sue’s offices. Not only have we now modernised systems and locations, but we have brought our advice into the 21st century, and are willing and able to help everyone with a range of different career paths and work experience opportunities, as well as the usual UCAS applications – from Edinburgh to Aberystwyth! (The queues do remain, it has to be said!) It was fantastic to see how busy the Careers Fair was in early March, and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, including Premises and IT, but of course in the main Kirsty, Nicky and Mia. Thank you also to all the teachers who came along, and brought students with them. I know that students found future jobs, signed up to volunteer, and began to think of career paths they hadn’t previously considered. And of course this work was backed up by teachers during Careers Week, where we had some really interesting debates taking place. Careers events take place all the time in departments, and we are always being told of visiting speakers, trips and lectures, but do keep us informed. Our next big event will be the Careers Day talks on July 9th, which everyone is welcome to attend. In the meantime tutors can sign their groups up for a UCAS talk, or send 2nd year university students along to get help with student finance, and those 2nd years not going to university, who haven’t yet found a job or apprenticeship, can have a careers interview or sign up for some work experience.
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‘QMC Apprenticeship Week 2019’ by Carolyn Kirby Apprenticeship Week saw a return to QMC for several ex-QMC students who were keen to help inspire the next generation of apprentices. The Colleges Apprenticeship and Volunteering Fair was attended by a diverse range of employers including Visa, CGI and TechData, all of whom have been impressed by the calibre of the work-ready students who have gone on to secure apprenticeships upon leaving QMC. Visa were represented by two ex-students; Jenny Lloyd and Christoper Murray who both studied IT courses throughout their time at College. Jenny, who left QMC in 2017, said “I knew that university wasn’t for me and remember being really excited about Visa’s apprenticeship opportunities when they came in to deliver talks whilst I was at College. “I was lucky enough to secure a position with them and now enjoy being able to earn and learn at the same time.” Apprentice Josh Middleton who left QMC last year and is also “Enjoying the best of both worlds.” commented “I am currently studying for a Digital Technology Degree and attend Winchester University for one day each week. “I’m open minded about a future in Business or I.T. and my apprenticeship at CGI offers exciting opportunities for my future.” Kyle Henderson left QMC last year and secured a Datasales apprenticeship at a Basingstoke based IT distribution company. Kyle said “I started at TechData in September 2018 and the skills that I learnt at QMC, studying the Business Extended Diploma have been very beneficial. “I’ve really enjoyed coming back to QMC today to share my experience with students and to discuss their options for after College.” Current student Brett King was one of the students who attended the Apprenticeship Fair and found it really useful “It has been a great opportunity to explore ideas for after QMC and I also made some links with employers so I can gain some valuable work experience in the meantime.”
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‘Interactive T-Shirts’ by Penny Ley Students studying Health and Social Care enjoyed a hands on Anatomy and Physiology lesson last term. With the use of interactive T-shirts and a mobile app the students were able to learn about body systems in a fun and engaging way. Health and Social Care students often go on to pursue careers in a wide range of important and rewarding professional roles where a good understanding of anatomy and physiology is required. Previous students have gone on to work in nursing, midwifery, social work, paramedics, radiology and physiotherapy among many others.
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Ergonomic Office Desk, Ergonomic Chair, and Keyboard Height Calculator
Visit the following website: https://www.thehumansolution.com/ergonomic-office-desk-ergonomic-chair-andkeyboard-height-calculator/ Here you can calculate the ideal height for your desk, chair, keyboard and monitor based on your own measurements.
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Links to Further Reading If you’re reading the online version of this magazine then click on the following links for some interesting articles:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/09/a-lot-of-us-are-in-the-darkwhat-teenage-boys-really-think-about-being-a-man
https://www.tes.com/news/scrapping-btecs-reckless-and-rash-warns-ascl
https://theconversation.com/should-students-apply-to-university-after-they-receivetheir-a-level-results-110333
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2019/03/schools-are-fourthemergency-service-meet-rebel-headmaster-fighting
https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/publications/2019/jobs-are-changing-so-shouldeducation/
https://www.screencastify.com/blog/new-classroom-technology-tools/
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“Does anyone have any ideas how to…?” So that we can try to help each other, share ideas or experiences, please take this opportunity to fill this space in future editions with your requests:
Thanks for all of the responses to the section above. If anyone has any hints, tips or suggestions to tackle these questions below then please email in for publication in the next edition to simon.green@qmc.ac.uk
“I’ve been teaching the same subject for a good number of years now and I would appreciate some ideas on how to keep things fresh in the classroom?”
“I would really like some tips on how to manage all of the different students and their needs in tutor time.”
“I would like to see an article on how to encourage students to do more reading outside of lessons.”
“I seem to spend a lot of my time at the weekend doing preparation and marking. Does anyone have any tips on how to get a better work-life balance?”
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Queen Mary’s College
Cliddesden Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 3HF t: 01256 417500 e: info@qmc.ac.uk www.qmc.ac.uk
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