UPSU SSTAR Awards 2016: Excellent Teaching Guide

Welcome to the UPSU SSTAR Awards 2016 The UPSU SSTAR (Student Staff Teaching And Representation) Awards are now going into their 6th year of running. Over the last few years, the awards have grown massively with the number of nominations growing each year. In 2011, its first year of running, there were just 46 nominations, whereas this year in 2016, the number of nominations reached a staggering 941. The number of nominations are spread across all faculties (including Partner Institutions) and awards (see graphs for more information).

The idea and aim behind the SSTAR Awards is to celebrate and reward some of the excellent University staff members and dedicated Course and School Reps we have here at Plymouth University. It is a process that truly demonstrates the excellent relationships and respect that exists between staff and students at the University. It is a key example of the Students as Partners agenda at the core of the University’s philosophy.

The overall winners are chosen by a focus group comprising of students, with advisory input from UPSU’s student elected VP Education. Students are able to nominate themselves to be a part of the judging panel, which means that any student has the chance to have a say in what they consider to be excellent teaching.

Students are able to make their nominations either online, or by filling out a physical nomination form. These nominations are then collated, and every single nominee receives an email to inform them of their nomination.

As part of the nominations process we asked students to detail reasons why their nominee deserved the particular award. By analysing the 941 nominations from this years awards, we have assessed which qualities Plymouth University students consider to be important across all of the staff categories. This “Excellent Teaching Guide” focuses specifically on what students believe to make someone an excellent member of teaching or support staff. The main themes and qualities from the nominations were counted and the statistics are shown within this guide. The combination of these statistics and quotations, anecdotes and examples can help answer the question: “What do students believe to be excellent teaching?”

The following categories and roles are discussed: »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

Personal Tutors Career Development Feedback Inspirational Teaching Innovative Teaching Methods Dissertation/ Project Supervisors Placement Support Support Staff

Steph Wearne

Vice President Education, 2015-16

Nominations

by Faculty total: 941 nominations

34.5%

19.5% 13% 7%

7% 4%

Although the categories exhibit a range of desirable characteristics, there is a common theme that occurs throughout. Our students really seem to appreciate staff members that appear to truly care about their students and are willing to take the time to offer valuable support and advice. Staff that go “above and beyond” their job description were mentioned extremely frequently and it is the perception that staff are willing to

3%

2.5%

2.5%

2.5%

1.5%

1%

1%

help that is so important. The softer traits actually appeared more often than more traditional characteristics such as the knowledge or experience that academics possess or indeed comments about “performance”.

Staff that are friendly, approachable and can offer simple reassurance and encouragement can go a long way to improve a student’s experience at University.

outstanding Personal Tutor The relationship between students and their Personal Tutor is often the most important relationship at University.

A Personal Tutor’s role encompasses both academic and pastoral issues, and a positive relationship can help to contribute to an improved University

experience. The value that students attach to having a Personal Tutor was clearly demonstrated as it was the category with the second highest number of nominations with a total of 187 nominations.

Health & Human Sciences Arts & Humanities Partner Institutions Business Science & Engineering Medicine & Dentistry other/unknown (2%)

But what do students want from a Personal Tutor?

42.5%

14%

13.5%

13.5%

12.5%

12%

11%

9%

9%

7%

6%

5%

4.5%

3.5%

3%

2%

1%

“Always responds to your emails the same day and gives up his spare time whenever you need him! Even if you just need a coffee and a chat.”

Click/scan here to hear from:

Andy Humphreys Winner of the Outstanding Personal Tutor Award 2014.

Pastoral & Personal Support Mentioned in 43% of the nominations, the most common quality of an outstanding Personal Tutor is the support and genuine care. Other nominations mentioned getting great advice and guidance and being encouraged and motivated by their Tutor. It is also clear to see from the nominations that students value a Personal Tutor that is kind, friendly, approachable and understanding.

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Dave Easterbrook Winner of the Outstanding Personal Tutor Award 2015.

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2016 Nominees

“She is absolutely inspirational, she has supported me through such a difficult time of depression and multiple losses, and is always there whenever I need her, to talk about anything and help me through with a cup of tea. She has given me a shoulder to lean on when I needed it the most.”

Emma Macleod-Johnstone

“An amazing personal tutor - supportive, understanding and simply kind. I felt like I could really open up, express any concerns and I knew I would be listened to. What students really need from their personal tutors is to be able to trust them. I was lucky enough to have such a tutor and I am very grateful for that.”

Rebecca Twinley

Availability Other simple qualities that students valued showed a Personal Tutor that is easy to contact, quick to reply and always has time to see their tutees, even if just for a quick chat.

Arts & Humanities

Gordon Smith Business

Health & Human Sciences

Andrew Foey

Medicine & Dentistry

Kate Roberts

Partner Institutions

Liz Stuart

Science & Engineering

Excellence in Championing Career Development In the current economic climate, career development is a huge area for concern for students. Therefore it is extremely important that it is prevalent in the University’s teaching ethos. At Plymouth University, we have numerous successful examples and projects where staff members consistently champion our students’

career development. This award celebrates the many staff members that go above and beyond to enhance students’ experience and knowledge via workshops, training sessions, additional schemes, industry experience, contacts, networking, advice and tutoring (shown below).

28% 23% 18.5% 14% 9%

9% 4%

Motivation & Drive The most valued quality in a member of staff was to be motivational and encouraging when it comes to career development.

A member of staff can positively influence a student by providing the

4%

4%

right information, and giving motivation and encouragement towards their chosen career.

“We have been encouraged by his outstanding skills and learned so much about the quality of education and career choices, with the way in which they bleed into one another. So, in short, thank you for brightening our futures!”

Student Voice Gold Awards The Student Voice Recognition Scheme aims to reward those students who are putting in a great deal of time and effort in order to make the student experience at Plymouth University even better. The Gold Award recognises 65 hours of work within the Student Voice Department.

Advice & CV Help Students also really value help and advice when it comes to putting together a CV and applying for placements, work experience and jobs.

“I would not have achieved the work experience and skills I have gained during my current job role without her. She goes above and beyond for the students, ensuring they get paid on time, ensuring everyone has a fair opportunity to work (internal student roles and ambassador roles). Without her support and encouragement, I would never have built upon my CV and gained vital skills for my chosen career path” “She has spent hours upon hours of her own time to help me develop my career as a marine scientist, even going so far as to provide me with a once in a lifetime experience to go on a scientific cruise with her and her and her research group.”

Jessica Ball Alan Willetts Sophie Godwin Mark O’Carroll Maja Smith

stand out forum chair UPSU has 15 student led Forums, each with a voluntary Chair. These Chairs put in copious amounts of their own time to make their Forums as inclusive and successful as possible.

Find out more about the student-led Forums by visiting: upsu.com/studentvoice/forums

outstanding school Rep The role of a School Rep is to liaise with Course Reps and students to identify issues across the School, Faculty and University and work with both UPSU and the University to find solutions and evoke positive change.

Most effective Feedback Receiving good feedback is crucial for students to improve their work and develop academically. From the nominations collected, the reasons given can be divided into three key areas: content, turnaround time, face

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to face feedback and objective setting.

The graph below outlines the most commonly mentioned qualities, and the percentage of the nominations that the quality was mentioned in.

Health & Human Sciences

5%

Arts & Humanities

12%

31% Partner Institutions Business

Total: 42 Nominations

19%

Science & Engineering Medicine & Dentistry

28%

28.5%

17%

9%

9% 7.5% 4.5%

4.5%

2.5%

skills/knowledge for reaching the objectives enjoyable. Jasmine’s feedback is timely, constructive and detailed, but the most important aspect was the personal side.”

Content Students value constructive feedback the most highly with this being mentioned in 28.5% of the nominations. Other qualities of the content of feedback included being thorough, detailed, concise and easy to understand. It was also commonly mentioned that students appreciated being told what they had done well, rather than just what to improve.

“She provided by far the best feedback I have ever received; really detailed and constructive with clear guidance on what I did right and areas to improve for next time. I have kept her methods and advice and applied them to my next module which I found easier to write following her guidance.”

“It is informative and gives details as to areas you could improve upon, but she always highlights the areas you have done well in, which is a really confidence boost.”

Face to Face feedback & objective setting Students appreciate being given time to discuss feedback face to face, rather than just receiving written marks and comments. It allows them to ask questions about their feedback and further understand how to improve for next time. Clear objectives for the task at hand also makes it easy to complete the work, but also to understand the feedback when it arrives.

“There were clear expectations and it made learning objectives easy to work towards.

The feedback and support made improving

“Taking the time to give detailed written feedback, as well as offering further verbal feedback if we wished to pop up to her office for a face to face feedback meeting.”

Turnaround time Waiting for results from coursework can be a nerve-wracking time for students, especially when feedback is later than expected. Unsurprisingly, students appreciate timely feedback and this was frequently mentioned in the nominations for most effective feedback.

“Feedback is given in detail, completed on time, and once marked a copy of the form is sent by email for download so you can view feedback without having to wait for it from faculty hand in.”

2016 Nominees Jo Lock Smith Arts & Humanities

Rong Huang Business

Pam Nelmes

Health & Human Sciences

Simon Fox

Medicine & Dentistry

Alison Marsden Partner Institutions

Victor Kuri

Science & Engineering

Inspirational Teaching The award for Inspirational Teaching was the most popular award in terms of nominations. It received 326 nominations over the last two years, nearly twice as many as the second most popular award, Outstanding Personal Tutor, and accounts for 34.6% of overall nominations. This immediately

suggests that despite the many other responsibilities and roles that staff have within the University, it is teaching itself that is the bedrock of the student experience, and is the characteristic that students deem to be of most importance.

4% 11%

37% 14% Total: 326 Nominations 15% 18%

Enthusiasm & passion

Support & guidance outside of lectures

Passion and enthusiasm were by far the most frequently mentioned traits for the category of inspirational teaching, and were mentioned in 26% of the nominations.

Inspirational teaching does not stop outside of the lecture theatre. Students valued those members of staff that were friendly and approachable and easy to contact outside of lectures.

Other “soft skills” were highly values such as being patient, caring, understanding and kind.

“The way she speaks so passionately about certain subjects is so uplifting and motivating” “She fills our lectures with emotion, laughter and passion. Her love for her subjects really shines through her teaching and we leave her lectures excited, interested and inspired.”

“He is by far one of the best lecturers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. His knowledge base, enthusiasm and support to not only myself but other students is second to none. He is contactable outside university hours too and always has time to chat and give great feedback too.”

“She’s always trying new methods to engage us, and asking for our feedback from them to make sure she’s helping us learn the best way possible. She gives us real life talk about what her career has involved (working in hospital labs) and has been such an inspiration to actually go into that career” “He took the time out of his busy schedule to go through the area with me including explaining gait videos, recommending books and journals and offering future career advice and suggesting work experience placements.

I felt that he went above and beyond his role and he really made me feel welcome and explained everything to me on my level.”

Knowledge Students enjoy being taught by staff that not only have amazing depths of knowledge but also by those that have the skills to make the complex topics easy to understand.

“Enthusiastic, knowledgeable and very engaging teaching style, that is easy to understand and makes complex topics understandable.”

“She always works hard to deliver a variety of teaching methods and will work on the spot, adapting her approach if it isn’t working for the class. She also brings in real life scenarios and is able to use her own experiences to support us and bring theory to life”

Click/scan here to hear from:

Suki Honey Winner of the Inspirational Teaching Award 2015.

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2016 Nominees

“She has an incredible amount of knowledge and is consistently enthusiastic about sharing this with us. She teaches difficult principles in a way that is easy to understand as she has a great knack of applying everything she teaches to our nursing practice.”

Emma Macleod-Johnstone

Use of teaching methods & resources

Sarah Tobin

Although “Use of Innovative Teaching Methods” is a separate awards category, it is clear from the nominations that many students feel that this is also an important part of being an inspirational teacher. 5% specifically mentioned innovative methods, and a further 11% mentioned teachers being engaging. Others mentioned humour, fun, use of life experiences or anecdotes and current case studies or resources.

Arts & Humanities

Mohammed Haddoud Business

Health & Human Sciences

Cherith Wood

Medicine & Dentistry

Edgar Mihas

Partner Institutions

Thomas Wennekers Science & Engineering

most Innovative Use of Teaching Methods This award sought to recognise and celebrate innovative and interesting teaching methods which have the aim of engaging students and encouraging and improving learning. There was a large cross-over of qualities between

“Inspirational Teaching” and “Innovative Teaching Methods” which shows that students really appreciate staff with both an inspirational personality and innovative teaching methods.

10% 10%

33%

10%

Total: 30 Nominations 10% 27%

23% 20%

20% 17%

17% 13%

13% 10%

10% 7%

7% 3%

When it comes to teaching methods, students appreciate being involved in their learning, and taking part in activities, discussions or demonstrations, rather than

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being simply lectured. Class activities was the highest mentioned teaching method in this category, and was mentioned in 23% of nominations.

“She works hard to ensure the environment is relaxing and welcoming, ensuring that we are relaxed and comfortable in order to openly engage with the session and the many discussions and interactive activities she has planned for us.”

“She is very supportive, understanding and adapts her teaching to suit her students. She immerses us in circle games, debates and workshops to facilitate our learning.”

Use of ICT Many staff have taken to using various forms of Social Media and other ICT/ online tools to create an effective way of learning. Methods suggested included showing videos, tweeting resources and using interactive quizzes.

“She uses Twitter to encourage and support students’ learning! Each week she gave a certificate and prize for ‘tweet of the week’ for someone who found extra materials or resources that would help the groups learning!”

“She is a master at doing the interactive-withremotes quizzes in lectures, she has us do different group work to help consolidate our learning in different ways, and she ALWAYS asks for feedback on how we found these new teaching methods.”

Unorthodox approaches Members of staff who put in time and effort to create new and interesting teaching methods do not go unnoticed.

Many nominations mentioned staff that put in extra effort, especially those that have particularly unorthodox methods of teaching.

“She’s brought in playdough breasts and plastic knives so we can perform dissections on them and find the jelly bean ‘tumours’ of different types (this must have taken her AGES to put together out of her own time)”

Ease of understanding The underlying reason behind creating interesting and innovative teaching methods is to aid ease of understanding, especially when it comes to more complicated topics.

By using interactive methods to help students immerse themselves in the subject, it can help students to fully understand and remember information.

“She uses different methods to help you learn, discussion, group work, her teaching is fantastic I have learnt so much up to date relevant information, which has not only taught me what I need to know to complete the module, but information that has helped me in my workplace also.”

“She uses a range of compelling media (videos, forums, online tests etc) which help to fulfil different learning styles and this inspires all of us to really get to know a subject and to continue our learning independently.”

2016 Nominees Emma Macleod-Johnstone Arts & Humanities

Jonathan Clark Business

Fayme Yeates

Health & Human Sciences

Carole Stoddard Medicine & Dentistry

Laura West-Burnham Partner Institutions

Timothy Reis

Science & Engineering

Most Dedicated Project/ Dissertation Supervisor Students tend to find the dissertation period one of the most stressful and difficult times of their University career. This award aims to recognise the lengths that supervisors go to, to ensure any stress and worry is kept to a minimum and to facilitate a successful dissertation. Having a dedicated supervisor can be one of the most

crucial factors during a student’s time at University and is a role which can be critical to the students’ academic and mental wellbeing. The graph below outlines the most commonly mentioned qualities, and the percentage of the nominations that the quality was mentioned in.

4% 7% 33% 13%

Total: 68 Nominations 15%

27%

43%

21%

19%

17%

16%

14.5% 12%

12%

10.5% 7%

6%

4%

4%

3%

3%

1.5%

Support & guidance

Knowledge & passion

Students valued a dissertation tutor that provided a high level of support and guidance throughout their dissertation period. Specific qualities included tutors that were encouraging, approachable, reassuring and patient.

Support and guidance can also include providing resources and giving good feedback on work.

Knowledge and passion can help students to become more motivated and enthused about their dissertation.

The nominations show that students also felt this was important in a dissertation tutor. Alongside being knowledgeable, students are looking for a tutor that is good at explaining and suggesting ideas.

“She has offered her continuous support when I needed it most, when I had to write up a proposal and struggled with the aims and objectives. She was always there for me even when she was short of time.”

“She has a wealth of knowledge which she is always willing to share and suggest avenues of research“

“He has been kind and supportive throughout my dissertation. He is always encouraging and down-to-earth and I feel that his dedication to educating his students, rather than schooling them, may often be under-appreciated.”

Availability & generosity of time A dissertation can be a daunting time, so a tutor that is easy to contact can go a long way in making this a smoother process and calm nerves. Over 20% of the nominations mentioned a tutor that is easy to contact and quick to reply.

Many nominations also mention tutors that are generous with their time and are happy to meet with their students.

“I couldn’t of wished for a better supervisor. He is committed to the students, he always makes time to see me, any emails get answered right away even on the weekend.”

“Any email is responded to almost immediately.

I have never felt like the help I have needed has been pushed to one side to get back to later or forgotten about like it has been with many other sources of help throughout my education.”

Click/scan here to hear from:

Simon Fox Winner of the Most Dedicated Dissertation Tutor 2015

goo.gl/s5upto

2016 Nominees Leonie Isherwood Arts & Humanities

Natalie Semley Business

Fayme Yeates

Health & Human Sciences

Simon Fox

Medicine & Dentistry

Stuart Collier

Partner Institutions

Stephen Burchett Science & Engineering

Best Placement Support Placements are an integral part of many programmes at Plymouth University.

As they are often a student’s first experience of professional practise.

The support of an academic or staff member can go a long way in easing the transition between the

theoretical learning of a lecture and the real life practise in a placement.

The graph below outlines the most commonly mentioned qualities, and the percentage of the nominations that the quality was mentioned in.

41%

32% 27% 22.5%

22.5%

22.5% 18%

18% 13.5% 9%

Support & positivity As placements can be a daunting time, students seem to appreciate placement support that is positive, encouraging and gives good advice in times of need.

The qualities of “Supportive”, “Advice and guidance” and “encouraging” were the three most frequently mentioned traits in the nominations, and all appeared in more than 25% of the nominations.

9%

4.5%

“If I ever have any worries I know I can go to her and see will do her best to support or advise me in any way she can. I feel my first placement has been such a great experience, and a lot of that is down to having a fantastic mentor who offers encouragement, support and a friendly attitude to work.”

Availability In times of need, it’s important to have a mentor or supervisor who is easy to contact and available to help. Students

appreciate placement support that is approachable and easy to talk to about any issue, big or small.

“He was always there to give advice and was always at the end of an email as well.”

“She has been a constant support, allowing me to contact her at any time and being freely available to me whenever I have needed anything, even though she has a great deal of work to do. Nothing is ever too much trouble.”

Providing opportunities The purpose of a placement is to learn in a real world setting. This is clear to see from the nominations, where students appreciate being given opportunities to learn new skills in the workplace. These opportunities can also be offered in the form of the placement itself. Placement support is also appreciated in students getting help in applying for placements, which was also mentioned in the nominations.

Course rep of the year This award is one of three categories awarded to Student Representatives to celebrate their outstanding work over the academic year representing their respective cohorts. The Course Rep position is voluntary and is testament to the commitment of our students that so many of them are willing to take the time to represent their peers.

2016 Nominees

“When opportunities arose for getting involved in different research areas, he would always recommend me”

Hannah Colson

“She has at length discussed my career aspirations, guided me and offered me opportunities that I did not think I was capable of. It is a joy to go into work every day.”

Robert Carnon

“She was a huge help to me during the placement process! Under time pressure from me making a last minute to apply for a placement with a deadline only a week away, she was so helpful and quick to reply to my emails, met me to thoroughly go through my CV and Cover letter (even provided cake!!), and guided me through decisions on whether to take the placement after the interview. I rang her once I had been offered the placement and she sounded genuinely pleased for me on the phone, I am so grateful for this support!”

Art & Humanities Business

Kelly Brown

Health & Human Sciences

Aaron Jackson

Medicine & Dentistry

Samantha Fox

South Devon College

Oliver Neville-Payne Science & Environment

one in a million support staff Whilst a lot of attention at University gets placed on teaching and lecturers, our students really appreciate the support staff continually working in the background, ensuring teaching and learning is able to occur consistently and effectively. This is shown by the

high number of nominations made in this category, making this the third most nominated category. Despite the huge range of support staff working across the University, there were a number of characteristics that appeared regularly in the nominations.

31% 29.5% 26%

15.5%

14% 12%

11% 8%

8% 6%

Personality Students seemed to appreciate support staff that are supportive, kind and friendly. There were many different traits that were used within this category but the majority showed how approachable their one in a million support staff are!

“He is one of the kindest people that I have had the pleasure of working with, a man who will always make time for anyone who needs it” “He is always chatty and friendly and always makes time for you and goes out of his way to help :)”

5.5%

5.5%

4%

3.5%

3%

3%

1%

“She is so supportive and has helped us to work things out in all areas of the course from time sheets to lecture times and days to just being a smiley person when we are stressing about deadlines and oars! She is definitely a one in a million and want to take her with me to organise my life when I leave uni!”

Expertise Although the areas of work for support staff is so broad, over 15% of the nominations noted that great support staff are knowledgeable in their area and further nominations mentioned staff that teach skills, problem solve and are enthusiastic and passionate about their line of work.

“He is always prepared to go the extra mile to help, solve problems, assist with projects, and is apparently endlessly generous with his time.

His knowledge of the technical is an invaluable resource, without which any music student (or staff) would be way up the creek without a paddle.”

Dedication & commitment to students Many of the traits mentioned are related to how hard support staff work, how dedicated they are and how willing they are to go out of their way to help. Students frequently mention the phrases “above and beyond”, “go the extra mile” and “nothing is too much trouble”.

“She’s the face of our campus and makes our lives so much easier in many different ways, nothing is too much trouble and she works tirelessly to help us.”

“She goes above and beyond her duties. She acts as a personal assistant for every single nursing student ensuring that we dot the I’s cross the T’s so we don’t fail a module/ placement/nmc requirements because of signature missed or an outstanding timesheet”

Click/scan here to hear from:

Jon Hall Winner of Outstanding Support Staff (University Wide) 2015.

goo.gl/4npd5K

best student-led campaign A campaign is a project that’s end goal is to create a positive change. This award is for a truly effective student led campaign that will make a change for Plymouth University students.

Best collaborative student work Across the University, there are great examples of students from different courses working together to achieve a joint goal. Whether this goal is to increase learning of a sector and understand the bigger picture, or create something amazing, this award is for an original student project that involves cross course collaboration.

2016 Nominees The Shine Project SHINE is created by students, counsellors and researchers. It is a platform which can be used to watch, read, listen, find apps and useful links to the best online resources and information about mental health and well-being.

The Bridges Project Nadine Johns Winner of Outstanding Support Staff (University Wide) 2014.

goo.gl/Sw3opD

‘Bridges’ is an interdisciplinary learning project formed at Plymouth University in 2013. The group’s aims are to bring students and staff from different health and social care related disciplines together to learn with each other and from each other’s perspectives.

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