Case Studies (Archive)

Contact: g.hough@abdn.ac.uk

What and Why?

As a part of my second year courses on Philosophy and Language and Metaphysics I use sample essays, written by myself, as a teaching aid and as a way of engaging students in critical discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of these pieces of work.

Before starting to use this, I used to give my second year students a pretty succinct list of essay dos and don’ts but I found that teaching methodology in this abstract manner - by telling students what they should do and not do without giving any examples - ate into time that could be devoted to teaching the course material, and seemed to be of little benefit to the students. Students would often say that the dos and don’ts were obvious, but then would go on to make the very mistakes the list warned against. So I decided to try to approach this is a more practical way.

To address this problem, I came up with the sample essays task so that the students would be reading material on the course content (the essays themselves). Furthermore, grading the material and commenting on its qualities and faults engages them philosophically, whether by drawing on their knowledge of the course material or by requiring them to respond to some of the arguments in the essays. Finally, having completed the task, I still presented them with some general essay writing advice, tying it to the task just completed. So we get method and content all in one ... hopefully. I also believe that this gives students a chance to develop their critical thinking skills which they can then go on to use in different ways, both during their studies and beyond.

How?

The essays I’ve written all respond to the same question but are essentially scaled; the first is of low 2.2 standard and is an example of a student reporting in rough and ready terms the basic issues addressed by the question. The second is of mid-2.1 standard and is an example of a student demonstrating a pretty sophisticated grasp of the course material, but failing to engage in serious critical discussion of this material; and the third is an example of a student attempting serious original critical engagement with the course material, and is of 1st standard.

I circulate these essays to the students a week in advance of the tutorial prior to the essay submission date. They are required to read the essays prior to the tutorial; though I make sure that the essays are shorter than the essays the students will submit, so I’m not setting them a huge amount of material to read. In the tutorial itself, the students are split into groups of about 3 or 4, and are asked to discuss what they think is good and bad about each essay. Then they are asked to agree on a grade for each essay using the CAS mark descriptions circulated during the tutorial. Once they have completed this task, I randomly select three students (one for each essay) to give me their list of good and bad points for each of the essays. The other students are invited to add their comments as we go along. Then we compare the grades from each student group and from myself.

What's effecive?

I haven’t made any comparison of essay grades from courses which feature this task and courses which don’t. However, there are definitely some benefits to this approach to essay advice, and I can give anecdotal evidence of one interesting result:

students really are excellent at determining what is good and bad about each of the sample essays. They are also good on the whole at determining the correct grade band for the essays too - and notably, when they get it wrong they usually mark the essays lower than I do. I think the real task is to get students to realise that they need to apply these evaluative abilities to their own work, which isn’t easy! This is one of the main things I would like to work on in developing my second year courses.

The main benefit of combining method and content like this is that it seems to help a particular kind of student. That is, the student who understands the material, but has no idea what we are asking when we ask them to critically engage with the material. It is often the case that when students work through these essays, they are a lot clearer about what ‘original critical discussion’ means; and they often seem to feel more confident about their ability to do this sort of thing. I sometimes get comments along the lines of: ‘oh, ok, I can do that!’ I think this task takes some of the mystery out of academic writing for students who currently aren’t meeting their potential because they don’t know how to make the step from reporting to evaluating material.

Contact: a.bryzgel@abdn.ac.uk 

What and Why?

Modern Russian Art is a 30 credit junior Honours course which introduces students to the interrelation between art and politics in Russia during one of the most turbulent centuries in the country's history. The assessment for this course is varied and includes a slide test, a presentation, two essays (1,500-2,000 words each), and exam, and also posters which the students prepare and present, in addition to preparing an exhibition of the posters at the end of the course.

What's effective?

Following a class on propaganda art, students are asked to create their own photomontage advertisement for the University in that style. In a subject area where students are normally asked to write about or discuss art this is quite a novel approach for them, although we do take care to emphasise to students that we aren't assessing them on artistic or design ability but on their conception and execution of ideas. I think this task in particular gives the students a different appreciation of the topics in question, as they have to consider the art-making process from the side of the artist, as opposed to the viewer. Furthermore, they are able to deal with the subject matter in a much more hands on way than they would writing an essay or an exam.

A further aspect of this task which has given students the opportunity to expand on their skills and abilities is the organisation of an exhibition to display their posters. Students are assigned groups for their presentations, but then they also work in these groups to complete tasks they are set towards staging the exhibition, e.g. liaising with the University's Events office to organise the opening, writing a press release, creating a catalogue and title for the exhibition, as well as working with Neil Curtis (Head of Museums) to frame and hang the posters. This aspect of the course gives students the opportunity to develop transferable skills such as organisation and communication skills, which they may not do in more conventional tasks.

Benefits to students?

It provides student with some practical experience that may be relevant in their future careers as art historians. The group work aspects of this course also allow students to develop transferable skills that I hope they will draw on after their time at the University.

What and Why?

We designed a new first year course, specifically for the School of Medical Science, we were aware that many students weren't attending the second half session course, and we wanted to redress this problem with retention; and this was particularly true for students on particular programmes such as Sports Science because of the generic content of the existing course.

We decided to base this course around 6 modules, each of which would stretch over two weeks, covering a single topic and be taught by a single individual. Each module would then conclude with a single assessment, this course has no exam or essay but is assessed using multiple choice questions. We then decided to do this using the PRS handsets which allowed for a different level of interaction than traditional paper based MCQ assessments.

What's effective?

Although we still use paper copies of the questions, the PRS handsets then allow the students to work through the paper at their own pace (we do instruct students to use the self pace option), and this has been quite important for students allowing them to work at the speed that the find most natural. They're given 20 minutes to answer the 20 questions on the sheet then I fire up the system and then a few minutes later you can show statistics on a question to question basis. This allows the students to reflect on their own answers and it gives them instantaneous feedback as well. Student feedback has also been really good on this feature of the course, and it seems like the students really like it, too.

Problems?

The first year we did this, it was very successful, the students still liked it but we did have some technological problems which meant that it was perhaps less constructive for us than it was the first time.

The problem arose because there was a dramatic increase in student numbers, the first year we had about 80 or 90 students who actively participated in the course, the second time that rose to about 130 to 140 which meant there were many more people present. The room was really full and it also seemed to put strain on the system because I started to use multiple versions of the same quiz because they were all sat so tightly in the room. Now, the PRS system can cope with multiple versions of the same document (questions appearing in a different order), but the report function has had more trouble with this and this meant that it was much harder to give students their results the way I had previously. So, when it worked it was great but when it didn't it was really troublesome, and I've been in ongoing contact with Sara Preston from the eLearning team in trying to find a way round these problems.

Benefits to students?

The students seem to enjoy using the handsets and they also really like that they get the feedback when they can still remember what they did, and although you can do that in any form of assessment, it seems to be particularly effective with the PRS sets.

Own benefits?

I've become bolder perhaps, and I've learned a lot about different software and appliances and how they work, I've also become more aware of the potential pitfalls and how to avoid this. I think that's where I've benefitted most.

Contact

Michael Scohltz

René Van Der Wal
Senior Lecturer - ACES, School of Biological Sciences

What and why?

This is a module that I really enjoy teaching; it's a Master's course running over three weeks half time and it's aimed at strengthening students' abilities to debate, to hold a position and also to learn from each other. The course is very flexible, which I like, and it's whatever I can make it at that time.

Each year I invite two speakers, either from the university or from outside it, alongside myself, to do three two hour sessions with the students during which each lecturer talks about what he or she works on, at a conceptual level, and then following this they (the students) are sent off with a 'mission' to come back together with the lecturer for three follow-up 2 hour sections. For example, last year I provided them with ammunition to reflect on difficulties with nature conservation in general, to eventually have them focus on a more specific subject, the management of goose populations which I happen to work on. The students are then sent away to digest that information, in the case of the geese we orchestrated a formal stakeholder meeting during which we discussed a formal management plan for consultation from the Scottish government; students were assigned a position that they had to defend, which was rather hard for them when their personal perspective didn't agree with the position they were given.

Why it's good practice?

This process involved in this course seems to be very liberating for the students, and it gives them some insight into the fact that having an opinion is fine but sometimes within a society, or firm, you have to understand other people's beliefs. In 2008-09 one of the guest lecturers worked on ticks and disease transmission. Here, students had to come up with a research proposal and discuss it publically. It's all about taking a position and then articulating it with other people. As a part of this module they do an essay, which they can do on any of the topics they have encountered; and this is written in New Scientist format, which I know the External Examiner has been enthusiastic about, as it's a rather different, far more discursive, format from those normally used. It has to be said however, that many students find writing in such a loose style rather challenging whilst others do wonders.

Also, I try and get the course to coincide with the Ecology Research Day, when staff present their own research. For the assessment, students can choose a topic from one of these presentations or 2 hour sessions to work on if they want. When possible I also take the students to an external conference, although that depends on what's going on at that time, last year we went to one in Edinburgh which was on the Management of Non-Native Species. And this gives them a sense of what is out there, and what people are working on and how professionals position themselves, as well as how they talk and how they defend their position. A further aspect of this course is self-assessment; students mark themselves and each other and then I moderate this by setting the boundaries. It's amazing just how comparable the two sets of marks are.

Student impact?

Although there always seem to be some people who struggle with debating and openly positioning themselves, the majority of students are enthusiastic about this integral part of the course, and it really is a joy to teach. I think for the students this is a rather different course from any others we run, and there are those who initially think it's going to be light, but then once they do it they realise it isn't, but it doesn't seem to bother them: it's new and exciting and they seem to enjoy the challenges that come with it. It's training to think rather than training to get knowledge.

Often there's a hierarchy about student performance, and 'good' students always perform best, but this course seems to break away from that pattern and that's quite satisfying too, seeing students exceed what they normally do. It's also true that many students do well, not only because they are very talented, but also because they know what's being asked for; but these skills don't cover debating or some of the other aspects asked for in this course but some of the other students can, and sometimes there are students who struggle with other modules who really take to this one. It's nice, too when you see students who are otherwise shy people actually become animated over topics like this. But in general, I think it's the mixture of transferable skills which this course brings to the fore, including being more critical, about ideas and trying to understand why people hold certain positions which this course encourages to develop.

Own benefits?

Well, it's very exciting to teach. One of the things that I enjoy is working out how my marking compares to that of students as it gives you some sense of how fairly you feel you mark. Most inspiring, however, is the amazing amount of energy that comes out of the whole process and; it's a demanding undertaking, but students seem to really embrace it.

Contact:  r.vanderwal@abdn.ac.uk

Mervyn Bain
Lecturer in Politics and International Relations

What and Why?

I was keen to try and look past the traditional assessment balance within many of our taught undergraduate modules (40% essay and 60% exam) and particularly the fact that as a part of standard exam preparation students often revise only a very limited proportion of the course in general.

As a means of doing this on one of my modules I've introduced a second component, a multiple choice piece, which is worth 10% of their total mark for the module which tests a wider range of topics and therefore challenges them to learn more from the course.

Something else I've worked on is on our first year module, one of the things we've introduced there is that the students do an online test, it's only worth about 5% of the final mark but they do that at the end of week 4; we're lucky with having Trevor Salmon and Grant Jordan in IR and they're both concerned about student retention. This test only questions what they do in the first 4 weeks but it does allow us to check that they really are following the course and aren't falling through the cracks. In addition to this there's a bibliography test that the first years also do, it's worth 10% of their course mark and students in I. R. and politics do this (in this case their essay is worth 25% of their overall mark). They have to write three hundred words on a topic, but more than this they have to fully reference a book, a book chapter, an article, an online article and so on. Its aim to is make them realise how important referencing is, and also to try and deal with issues of plagiarism.

What's effective?

I don't know about effective but I am keen to really reflect on my teaching and about what the students might get out of courses that I teach on. It's also about re-evaluating what students are learning I think, students now have different strengths and weaknesses from those in the past but perhaps we can't completely change what we teach, but we have to think about what we can alter and amend. I'm not sure how students really perceive these, potentially they might just see it as more work, but I'd like to think that they benefit from these extra challenges.

The future?

I had hoped to start using PRS (classroom handsets) within my course but haven't managed to thus far, but I would hope to do this soon. I did the PG Cert run by the CLT, a few years ago, and it did help me to start reflecting on assessment and how the traditional assessments we rely on in the department perhaps aren't what we need to be doing for today's students, and as a part of that I'm still reflecting on what could be done.

Something else I've considered using is one of the software programmes like Tagxedo, but I'm not entirely convinced whether or not it would motivate the students to engage with the text in question, so I haven't taken it any further so far.

Benefits to students?

As I say, I'm not sure they view it as a benefit but I'd like to think that they are being challenged to think more about what they are learning and to engage with more of it, rather than being able to pass the module successfully having perhaps prepared only 30% of it for their exam.

Own benefits?

I think it's given me the confidence to reflect on the whole effective assessment issue and this consider how we can make assessments in general more valuable for students. This was something I gained from the PG Cert, but the more that I try and engage with different ideas, and technologies, the more confident I become with these issues.

Contact: mervyn.bain@abdn.ac.uk

Describe your course?

ED2550 is a 15-credit, Level 2 course, delivered by the University's Careers Service and available to students from across the three Colleges. The course aims to embed careers education in the academic curriculum, enhance student employability by encouraging engagement in effective career planning, and provide that vital link between academia and the world of work. The course explores career theories, job applications, skills development, labour market information, recruitment methods, and entrepreneurship. The course is also very practical, and local employers and other career professionals contribute to it. For the course assessment, students write a 2,500 word job analysis report, deliver an oral presentation on their job analysis report and undertake a CV construction exercise.

What's effective?

The assessed job analysis report is a particularly innovative and effective assignment. The assessment involves students researching a career option in which they are genuinely interested which enables students to analyse, evaluate and apply their research with regard to their own career-related ideas. Students are also requested to deliver a presentation on their job analysis report to an audience of teaching staff, peers and visiting employers. The presentations provide an ideal opportunity for employer engagement in the curriculum, with employer presence adding to the credibility of the course. Students are encouraged to include in their presentation: a summary of their job analysis and research; an account of the processes and skills involved in their research; an account of learning from the project; and a reflective analysis of their selected career option.

Student benefits?

The course provides a timely opportunity for students to focus exclusively on the inter-relationship between their degree programme, themselves and their future career plans. The course also helps students to develop a wide range of employability skills requested by graduate recruiters by providing intellectual space for employability and career planning within the curriculum.

Students appear to gain a significant amount from this course and respond very positively to the course content and the skills it encourages them to develop. Students often comment about the course being one of the most pertinent aspects of their university education and commonly cite benefits from the course such as: increased self-confidence; increased employment awareness; improved job acquisition skills; and an enhanced curriculum vitae.

"This course has been the most valuable thing I've done since coming to University." MA History Student

"If you are concerned about what you want to do when you finish University – this course really helps!" BSc Geography student

A further benefit of the course is that it encourages students to consider career planning at an earlier stage than they might otherwise do in their degree programme.

Own benefits?

The course has encouraged students to consider additional initiatives which the Careers Service delivers, such as the STAR (Students Taking Active Roles) Award and other co-curricular activities. The number of students participating and using the Careers Service provision has also increased since the inception of the course. In addition, by building links with employers and embedding employability within the curriculum, the Careers Service is helping to signal to current and prospective students the University's commitment to employability.

Contact and links

Joy Perkins
Educational & Employability Development Adviser

What and Why?

With the introduction of the MSci, in Computing Science, actively encourage our students to spend time in a work placement, or internship. This experience increases the employability of our Graduates, as well as enhancing their understanding of the applications of what they're studying. We have found that an increasing number of our students express an interest in taking such placement opportunities and are starting to see the value for their long term prospects.

What's effective?

We have also been involved in building up and cultivating relationships with industry, and a number of companies have now expressed an interest in taking on our students for placements. This is a very good thing both for individual students and for us as an institution. It is something that we plan to continue in the future and as our student numbers rise we aim to be able to offer an increased number of placements.

We have been working closely with the University's Career Services and we run a series of sessions for students where we give advice about completing job applications, compiling CVs and also interview skills. In terms of getting a placement or internship, the onus is very much on the student, but we support, and even coach, them through the different stages of this.

Stages in the process?

An employer will contact the University about a possible vacancy and then the departmental Placement Coordinator will look at the vacancy and we consider whether or not this placement would be appropriate for our students. If it is decided that a placement is suitable it is then passed on to the Careers Service and students can start applying.

To re-iterate: while the onus is on students, we work closely with Careers Service and arrange information sessions and workshops, as mentioned above, to help students get offers that they want. Once students get their offers, the departmental Placement Coordinator and the Head of Discipline will decide whether the offers are appropriate for our MSci programme. As this is a Scientific/Engineering programme we do insist that our students do a suitable placement and that it is not a purely helpdesk type role

Once a student is in a placement, if they are in the UK, we will visit them at least once, as well maintaining regular contact with them; if they are overseas, we're more likely to set up a video conference with both a student and their line manager and a means of assuring us and our student that everything is going well.

Students are required to complete reports, which bear credit, about different aspects of their experience and give presentations, both about their work and their experiences as a whole; this latter is something the returning students do for other students who are considering a similar placement the following year.

Student benefits?

Students who undertake a placement receive a solid introduction to working in industry. This means that on graduation they are better prepared to enter employment and are much more aware of their skills and abilities. It is also the case that students perform more strongly academically after their spell in industry.

These placements also appear to influence what our students do after graduation, and following a work placement or internship of this type many students seem to have a clearer idea of what they want to do next.

Contacts: jeff.z.pan@abdn.ac.uk and m.j.kollingbaum@abdn.ac.uk

What and Why?

This programme was developed in partnership with the National Autistic Society, together with local service providers from education, health, social care and the voluntary sector, as a response to what was perceived as a lack of training at postgraduate level for practitioners working with individuals on the autistic spectrum. It is an inter-professional programme suitable for teachers, therapists, care workers and other professionals who support individuals on the autism spectrum, as well as parents. I think one of the central components of our programme is that the student is very much at its centre.

This programme is a postgraduate Masters pathway. However, it has only been running for three years, with one cohort per year, so it is still in its early stage. We haven't had the opportunity yet to develop it at Diploma and Masters level. We currently have 23 people on the programme, which, considering its small niche is very good I think

This is a part time, face-to-face, programme. It brings different professionals together so that they can develop a shared understanding of good practice in autism. This format also means that as well as sharing an understanding of the positive aspects of different service cultures, students can explore the constraints that influence inter-professional collaboration and autism provision. It gives them an insight into why particular services work the way they do.

Face-to-face contact gives students the time to critically explore and investigate the theory, literature and research in the field of autism. We don't use a lecture format on this programme, but rather students come together to engage in active, discussion based learning. We use DVD's, games, paired and group tasks and problem-solving activities, etc. to enliven teaching and learning and to promote participation and motivation. Visiting speakers, including individuals on the autism spectrum, contribute to each of the four courses on the programme to enrich the learning environment and to enable students to link theory to practice.

Each course is followed by an assessment. These are practice based although students are required to draw on the theory, literature and research to explain and justify what they do and to provide a secure evidence base for practice. Each of these assessments is about 4,000 words in length. In order to meet student needs and cater for a range of different learning styles and preferences, students can approach the assessment in any way they like. They are not obliged to do a conventional assignment. It could be a report, or something visual, combined with a presentation. Having said this, whatever format is chosen, the students must still meet the assessment criteria. We are still looking for a postgraduate level of work, in terms of criticality, reasoning, synthesis of the literature, evaluation of the research, critical engagement with key ideas and themes and also reflective, evidence-based practice. This is clarified for the students, who receive a copy of the assessment criteria and also the marking criteria for passes at different levels. Interestingly, so far, no one has chosen to adopt an alternative approach. Everyone has submitted a formal essay assignment!

Why it's good practice?

The programme introduces students to relevant and up to date theory, policy, literature and research, and encourages critical reflection upon this linked reflection upon professional practice. We essentially give those enrolled in this programme a safe space to develop and deepen their knowledge, skills and understanding in dialogue with others from different service contexts. Dialogue is a vital component of the learning process and an important feature of good practice.

The programme is also student centred and research-led. It is student centred in the we aim to meet student needs, cater for different learning styles, ensure that courses are relevant to student concerns, and that they are interesting, motivating and fun! We also try to provide sensitive and individualised student support for academic and welfare matters. Something that works well is that all our students have a short 'Induction' at the start of the programme. Rather than expecting students to come equipped with the skills they need to deal with the academic rigours of the programme, we discuss expectations and explore important elements of postgraduate study, such as what we mean by critical thinking. Students respond well to this because it gives them a chance to explore what postgraduate study implies, and tune into the standard that is expected of them. This makes the assessment process more transparent and gives the students a vocabulary with which to discuss their learning and development. It also motivates and facilitates learning engagement and ownership.

The programme is research-led in that it is informed by up-to-date research in the literature as well as the research conducted by those in the teaching team. Students are encouraged to engage with research from the start and the Induction process facilitates this. It brings a rigour to their reading, thinking and writing that is important at postgraduate level.

Student benefits?

Our students come to us because they are struggling to support individuals on the autism spectrum and feel that they can benefit from professional development. They are here to engage critically with the theories of autism, the literature and research, and to study a range of evidence-based strategies and interventions. Most important of all, they are here to learn about what it means to be on the autism spectrum so that they can provide appropriate support and provision, and enable enhanced inclusion and participation in their service context.

Own benefits?

I've learned an immense amount through this programme. I come from an education background but many of my students come from different service contexts; fields that I know little about. I learn as much from my students as, hopefully, they learn from me.

The other point is that the Autism & Learning programme enables me to develop my specialism and generates opportunities for research. This research then informs teaching and learning on the programme, as I mentioned earlier. This is a really positive dynamic both for me, in terms of my own professional development, and for the students. I really enjoy teaching on the programme and seeing the students grow and develop in their understanding of autism and learning.

Contact: Jackie Ravet

What and Why?

I've supported a group of students participating in the Formula Student scheme. It's an extracurricular activity. It was something that a group of students initially approached me about, and they've essentially driven it since then.

As participants in the scheme they form a team and conceive, design, cost, and build their car, and then they present it and compete with it in different aspects, e.g. fuel consumption and endurance race, sprint etc, and these are then graded at a national and international level. To give a feeling for the competition last year at Silverstone there were 110 teams from 94 universities, and 21 countries

What's effective?

I think it gives students an excellent insight into how engineering works in the 'real world' and it helps build on their less obvious skills, which more traditional activities don't focus on as much. It's also been good to see the students recruit their fellow students onto the scheme and keep momentum going on it.

As a school there has been a benefit from the scheme, as it has raised our profile, and more than that it has benefitted us in terms of student recruitment and we've even had Erasmus students come to Aberdeen as a direct result of our participation in the scheme.

Student benefits?

I think students have benefited from participation in the scheme and the competitiveness that it gives them. But more than that I think it's their transferable skills which benefit the most. It gives them the opportunity to approach businesses, pitch their ideas and ask them for support, with which they construct the different aspects of their car. It also helps their communication skills, time management and so on.

Own benefits?

I don't know that I've benefited from it as such, but I have got to know the students more than I might have otherwise. It's also been good to see the students engage in something that they've been so passionate about and so driven with.

Contact and links

Richard Neilson
Reader in Engineering

More information on Formula Student can be obtained here

Dr Derek Scott
Senior Teaching Fellow in Biomedical Sciences

What and Why?

Developed and run an extra-curricular project for first year Biological Sciences students. We were aware that for many of them the first year taught course wasn't the most stimulating, particularly for those who had a fairly advanced background knowledge, and also that the course is very generic in year one. So, the Biological Challenges Project was one way of addressing this and giving students something more to engage with.

As a part of the project the students form groups, much of this is done using Web CT, and in these they choose a topic they're interested in and research it, developing a basic website to accompany it.

What's effective?

It's hard to develop something students will engage with when it isn't credit bearing, but I think this one has worked because it taps in to different aspects the students can engage with. For some it introduces them to people that they wouldn't otherwise meet properly, which in the case of shy, mature or other alternative entry students is invaluable. While others benefit from being able to look in detail at a topic which interests them and from being able to engage in some independent study and develop their research skills, and many of them get something from learning to basic web design and other employable skills.

It also encourages students to take responsibility for what they are doing, and to set their own deadlines and to take ownership over their learning, a transition many first year students struggle with.

Benefit to students?

I think what the students have benefitted from most is, as I mentioned above, the chance to develop their skills at their own pace, and the opportunity to research something of their choice. A lot of the brighter, more academically minded students like the chance to study something in their own discipline or which interests them, which they don't otherwise get to.

A number of our students are also interested in web design and other more technological aspects, so this project suits them. Another thing which I've already pointed out is that often the groups come from completely disparate disciplines, but this brings the shyer or more introverted ones out of their shell and introduces them to people who they have common interests with.

Since the course isn't credit bearing, we award prizes to the winners, and often for all the teams who complete their project, so I suppose at some level they might also benefit from those, and the fact that they are tangible and therefore they get something out of it.

Own benefits?

I actually learned a lot building it all, and putting it together and thinking about how you communicate these things with such a broad audience. It's also given me more contact with the first years than I would have had otherwise.

Something else that's been really good is that it gives you more of an insight into what the students are interested in, and at what level they're understanding things, a project like this is much more about their understanding than them memorising facts, which is really important within the context of their studies in general.

Dr Mervyn Bain
Lecturer in Politics and International Relations

What and Why?

I was keen to try and look past the traditional assessment balance within many of our taught undergraduate modules (40% essay and 60% exam) and particularly the fact that as a part of standard exam preparation students often revise only a very limited proportion of the course in general.

As a means of doing this on one of my modules I've introduced a second component, a multiple choice piece, which is worth 10% of their total mark for the module which tests a wider range of topics and therefore challenges them to learn more from the course.

Something else I've worked on is on our first year module, one of the things we've introduced there is that the students do an online test, it's only worth about 5% of the final mark but they do that at the end of week 4; we're lucky with having Trevor Salmon and Grant Jordan in IR and they're both concerned about student retention. This test only questions what they do in the first 4 weeks but it does allow us to check that they really are following the course and aren't falling through the cracks.

In addition to this there's a bibliography test that the first years also do, it's worth 10% of their course mark and students in I. R. and politics do this (in this case their essay is worth 25% of their overall mark). They have to write three hundred words on a topic, but more than this they have to fully reference a book, a book chapter, an article, an online article and so on. Its aim to is make them realise how important referencing is, and also to try and deal with issues of plagiarism.

What's effective?

I don't know about effective but I am keen to really reflect on my teaching and about what the students might get out of courses that I teach on.

It's also about re-evaluating what students are learning I think, students now have different strengths and weaknesses from those in the past but perhaps we can't completely change what we teach, but we have to think about what we can alter and amend.

I'm not sure how students really perceive these, potentially they might just see it as more work, but I'd like to think that they benefit from these extra challenges.

The future?

I had hoped to start using PRS (classroom handsets) within my course but haven't managed to thus far, but I would hope to do this soon. I did the PG Cert run by the CLT, a few years ago, and it did help me to start reflecting on assessment and how the traditional assessments we rely on in the department perhaps aren't what we need to be doing for today's students, and as a part of that I'm still reflecting on what could be done.

Something else I've considered using is one of the software programmes like Tagxedo, but I'm not entirely convinced whether or not it would motivate the students to engage with the text in question, so I haven't taken it any further so far.

Benefit to students?

As I say, I'm not sure they view it as a benefit but I'd like to think that they are being challenged to think more about what they are learning and to engage with more of it, rather than being able to pass the module successfully having perhaps prepared only 30% of it for their exam.

Own benefits?

I think it's given me the confidence to reflect on the whole effective assessment issue and this consider how we can make assessments in general more valuable for students.

This was something I gained from the PG Cert, but the more that I try and engage with different ideas, and technologies, the more confident I become with these issues.

Amy Bryzgel
Lecturer in History of Art

What and why?

Modern Russian Art is a 30 credit junior Honours course which introduces students to the interrelation between art and politics in Russia during one of the most turbulent centuries in the country's history.

The assessment for this course is varied and includes a slide test, a presentation, two essays (1,500-2,000 words each), and exam, and also posters which the students prepare and present, in addition to preparing an exhibition of the posters at the end of the course.

What's effective?

Following a class on propaganda art, students are asked to create their own photomontage advertisement for the University in that style. In a subject area where students are normally asked to write about or discuss art this is quite a novel approach for them, although we do take care to emphasise to students that we aren't assessing them on artistic or design ability but on their conception and execution of ideas. I think this task in particular gives the students a different appreciation of the topics in question, as they have to consider the art-making process from the side of the artist, as opposed to the viewer. Furthermore, they are able to deal with the subject matter in a much more hands on way than they would writing an essay or an exam.

A further aspect of this task which has given students the opportunity to expand on their skills and abilities is the organisation of an exhibition to display their posters. Students are assigned groups for their presentations, but then they also work in these groups to complete tasks they are set towards staging the exhibition, e.g. liaising with the University's Events office to organise the opening, writing a press release, creating a catalogue and title for the exhibition, as well as working withNeil Curtis(Head of Museums) to frame and hang the posters. This aspect of the course gives students the opportunity to develop transferable skills such as organisation and communication skills, which they may not do in more conventional tasks.

Benefits to students?

It provides student with some practical experience that may be relevant in their future careers as art historians. The group work aspects of this course also allow students to develop transferable skills that I hope they will draw on after their time at the University.

Dr Gerard Hough
Lecturer in Philosophy

What and why?

As a part of my second year courses on Philosophy and Language and Metaphysics I use sample essays, written by myself, as a teaching aid and as a way of engaging students in critical discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of these pieces of work.

Before starting to use this, I used to give my second year students a pretty succinct list of essay dos and don’ts but I found that teaching methodology in this abstract manner - by telling students what they should do and not do without giving any examples - ate into time that could be devoted to teaching the course material, and seemed to be of little benefit to the students. Students would often say that the dos and don’ts were obvious, but then would go on to make the very mistakes the list warned against. So I decided to try to approach this is a more practical way.

To address this problem, I came up with the sample essays task so that the students would be reading material on the course content (the essays themselves). Furthermore, grading the material and commenting on its qualities and faults engages them philosophically, whether by drawing on their knowledge of the course material or by requiring them to respond to some of the arguments in the essays. Finally, having completed the task, I still presented them with some general essay writing advice, tying it to the task just completed. So we get method and content all in one ... hopefully. I also believe that this gives students a chance to develop their critical thinking skills which they can then go on to use in different ways, both during their studies and beyond.

How?

The essays I’ve written all respond to the same question but are essentially scaled; the first is of low 2.2 standard and is an example of a student reporting in rough and ready terms the basic issues addressed by the question. The second is of mid-2.1 standard and is an example of a student demonstrating a pretty sophisticated grasp of the course material, but failing to engage in serious critical discussion of this material; and the third is an example of a student attempting serious original critical engagement with the course material, and is of 1st standard.

I circulate these essays to the students a week in advance of the tutorial prior to the essay submission date. They are required to read the essays prior to the tutorial; though I make sure that the essays are shorter than the essays the students will submit, so I’m not setting them a huge amount of material to read. In the tutorial itself, the students are split into groups of about 3 or 4, and are asked to discuss what they think is good and bad about each essay. Then they are asked to agree on a grade for each essay using the CAS mark descriptions circulated during the tutorial. Once they have completed this task, I randomly select three students (one for each essay) to give me their list of good and bad points for each of the essays. The other students are invited to add their comments as we go along. Then we compare the grades from each student group and from myself.

What's effective?

I haven’t made any comparison of essay grades from courses which feature this task and courses which don’t. However, there are definitely some benefits to this approach to essay advice, and I can give anecdotal evidence of one interesting result:

students really are excellent at determining what is good and bad about each of the sample essays. They are also good on the whole at determining the correct grade band for the essays too - and notably, when they get it wrong they usually mark the essays lower than I do. I think the real task is to get students to realise that they need to apply these evaluative abilities to their own work, which isn’t easy! This is one of the main things I would like to work on in developing my second year courses.

The main benefit of combining method and content like this is that it seems to help a particular kind of student. That is, the student who understands the material, but has no idea what we are asking when we ask them to critically engage with the material. It is often the case that when students work through these essays, they are a lot clearer about what ‘original critical discussion’ means; and they often seem to feel more confident about their ability to do this sort of thing. I sometimes get comments along the lines of: ‘oh, ok, I can do that!’ I think this task takes some of the mystery out of academic writing for students who currently aren’t meeting their potential because they don’t know how to make the step from reporting to evaluating material.

Contacts

• jeff.z.pan@abdn.ac.uk
• m.j.kollingbaum@abdn.ac.uk

What and Why?

With the introduction of the MSci, in Computing Science, actively encourage our students to spend time in a work placement, or internship, which can be done overseas. This experience increases the employability of our Graduates, as well as enhancing their understanding of the applications of what they're studying.

We have found that an increasing number of our students express an interest in taking such placement opportunities and are starting to see the value for their long term prospects.

What's effective?

We have also been involved in building up and cultivating relationships with industry, and a number of companies have now expressed an interest in taking on our students for placements. This is a very good thing both for individual students and for us as an institution. It is something that we plan to continue in the future and as our student numbers rise we aim to be able to offer an increased number of placements.

We have been working closely with the University's Career Services and we run a series of sessions for students where we give advice about completing job applications, compiling CVs and also interview skills. In terms of getting a placement or internship, the onus is very much on the student, but we support, and even coach, them through the different stages of this.

Stages?

An employer will contact the University about a possible vacancy and then the departmental Placement Coordinator will look at the vacancy and we consider whether or not this placement would be appropriate for our students. If it is decided that a placement is suitable it is then passed on to the Careers Service and students can start applying.

To re-iterate: while the onus is on students, we work closely with Careers Service and arrange information sessions and workshops, as mentioned above, to help students get offers that they want. Once students get their offers, the departmental Placement Coordinator and the Head of Discipline will decide whether the offers are appropriate for our MSci programme. As this is a Scientific/Enginering programme we do insist that our students do a suitable placement and that it is not a purely helpdesk type role

Once a student is in a placement, if they are in the UK, we will visit them at least once, as well maintaining regular contact with them; if they are overseas, we're more likely to set up a video conference with both a student and their line manager and a means of assuring us and our student that everything is going well.

Students are required to complete reports, which bear credit, about different aspects of their experience and give presentations, both about their work and their experiences as a whole; this latter is something the returning students do for other students who are considering a similar placement the following year.

Benefits to students?

Students who undertake a placement receive a solid introduction to working in industry. This means that on graduation they are better prepared to enter employment and are much more aware of their skills and abilities. It is also the case that students perform more strongly academically after their spell in industry.

These placements also appear to influence what our students do after graduation, and following a work placement or internship of this type many students seem to have a clearer idea of what they want to do next.

Irène Couzigou
Lecturer in the School of Law

Why it works?

This is an Honours Law course (although I also run it on the LLM programme, with a few differences in level, if not in content). I deliver it through a series of seminars, and I also use WebCT extensively.

Its content is very up-to-date and it focuses on what's happening across the world in terms of law and legal practice today. I took it over last year and updated the programme significantly taking it away from the subjects of law and politics towards law alone. I've also tailored it to my own research interests and topics which I think students find interesting and easy to engage with.

Something I think works well is that I prepare precise PowerPoints or Word documents for students and while we don't go through these during seminars – there isn't the time – students have them to use in independent study or revision. Students really seem to like these and appreciate them; they don't mean that students have to do readings etc but it supports them through the course and makes them feel more secure.

Benefits to students?

I think it helps them to develop analytical skills and critical thinking, and an awareness of both law in a world context and contemporary developments in law globally.

It also introduces students to the idea that the law isn't a fixed inanimate thing, but rather something which is continually developing and evolving, adapting to other things which are happening in the world.

Own benefits?

It's been really good for me from a research perspective and I'm aware that when I was revising the course I did build things in that I thought were interesting. But several times so far I've found myself thinking, I could write a paper on this or that would be interesting to research, I think in this sense my teaching on this course has benefitted my research, and this also feeds the other way, improving and strengthening my teaching as a result.

College of Arts and Social Sciences

t.faheypalma@abdn.ac.uk

You won the Award for CASS this year, what are your thoughts on it?

I was thrilled to win this award. It means so much that my students have had a positive experience on my courses. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with every cohort of students during my time at the University and I am honoured that they nominated me for this award.

Why do you think that you won this year?

I aim to create a positive, engaging, energetic atmosphere in the classroom where students can express their ideas in a comfortable and constructive environment. I believe that my students really appreciate this open learning environment and feel that they can contribute to interesting and stimulating discussions. I think that recognising that each group of students is different, and engaging in a dynamic that values each individual student’s contribution is very important. From feedback I have received, students really value this dynamic and the opportunity it creates for them to connect with their classmates.

I see that you have been described as an inspiration.  What do you think it is about your teaching that is “inspirational”?

I am very passionate about my subject and I try and relate this to my students through engaging and interactive teaching. The area of linguistics that I teach centres on human interaction and understanding different dynamics in communicative events. It is therefore important to enable students to reflect on their own experiences and connect with their classmates in order to enrich their learning experience. Perhaps it is this that students find inspiring, as I try to encourage them to see the world from a different perspective.

Do you think it will have an impact on your teaching in the future?

Definitely, I value my students’ feedback and I will endeavour to continue to provide engaging and motivational teaching in the future. I think that it is truly important to give students a sense of ownership of their subject so as to instill enthusiasm and enhance learning and I aim to provide them with the most positive learning experience possible.

College of Life Sciences and Medicine

emily.nordmann@abdn.ac.uk

You won the Award for CLSM this year, what are your thoughts on it?

I'm very happy to have won the award. I put a lot of effort into updating and improving my teaching and engaging with the students so it's extremely gratifying to have that rewarded. I first started teaching when this year's graduating class were in level 1. It's really nice that I've been able to see them develop from scared freshers into confident graduates, but they've also seen me go from a scared postgraduate demonstrator to a teacher they think worthy of this award.

Why do you think that you won this year?

I’ve done quite a lot of work on integrating the use of social media both into my teaching and across the Psychology programme as a whole, so I think one of the reasons is that I am inescapable! On a more serious note, a lot of the work I've done is very student-centered e.g., social media and peer-assisted learning. I think the best teaching is when you can have a dialogue, and the students appreciate that. I also consider myself lucky to work in the School of Psychology. We have a fantastic teaching team and are encouraged and supported in developing our teaching and trying out new methods and initiatives that play to our individual strengths.

I see that you are quoted as providing feedback which is informative and helpful. Do you have any tips or methods on how to provide constructive feedback?

I think it’s good to play around with different types of feedback to see what suits you and your students. I use Turnitin to do my marking online and I’ve found that building up a bank of QuickMarks allows me to provide more in-depth feedback, particularly on assignments that tend to have the same comments written again and again. I’ve also started using the audio comments that are built into Turnitin which I think can be very helpful. It’s easier to remember to be positive when giving audio feedback and at times the student being able to hear your tone of voice can be very beneficial.

Can you tell us more about the Peer Assisted Learning School in Psychology and the role you play in this?

PAL runs across levels 1-4 and it’s where students from a higher level help out those in a lower level. There are weekly sessions from weeks 2-12 and the content of the sessions is student-led. They mostly focus on helping to consolidate what’s been taught in lectures and guidance with assignments, but also general help and advice like how to study and how best not to panic during exams.  I set up the PAL scheme and I co-ordinate it (e.g., I select the students who will be PAL leaders, conduct training, deal with admin) but the credit should really go to the students. They’re the ones voluntarily giving up their time every week to help their peers.

Do you think it will have an impact on your teaching in the future?

We don't tend to get a great deal of feedback on our teaching outside of a few SCEF comments so it's good to know that a lot of what I'm doing is having a positive impact. I'll certainly remember the things that the students deemed important for my teaching in the future.

College of Physical Sciences

Professor Corrie Imrie received the College of Physical Sciences Award for his inspirational teaching and the excellent support and pastoral care he provides for his students.  Read more ...