HEar - Higher Education Ashton Review

Edition 1 September 2014

Welcome to our very first edition of Higher Education Ashton Review.

This publication is the culmination of many conversations about how to share and celebrate the research and work that goes on within our Higher Education community at the College. We aim to publish twice a year. Each edition will include items from students, staff and guest contributors. Students and staff are asked to tell everyone about their research interests, to share research tips and ideas and to share experiences of HE study. Our guest contributors are experts in their fields, writing about a whole variety of education based topics.

The Effectiveness of HLTAs

by Fiona Hall.................................................................2

Meet our Lead Student Representative Jenny Howell.................................................................3

Digital literacy... the real functional skill?

by Steve Ingle................................................................4

If you would like to contribute to Edition Two, let’s ‘HEar’ from you! Please get in touch with me on:

Academic Skills Sessions...............................5

E: jo.fletcher-saxon@asfc.ac.uk T: 0161 666 8224

Emotion in Learning

I hope you enjoy our first edition!

by Professor Colin Beard...............................................6

Research Project Top Tips

by Gillian Baines............................................................7

Doctor You? Jo Fletcher-Saxon Assistant Principal: Higher Education & Skills

by Doug Hoy..................................................................7

Upcoming Events................................................8 Coming up in the next edition...................8 Page 1

The Effectiveness of Higher Level Teaching Assistants

by Fiona Hall

Fiona is the Head of Higher Education at Ashton Sixth Form College. She currently teaches on the Foundation Year in Health Studies as well as Degree courses in Education and Early Childhood Studies. Fiona is working towards a Doctorate with Staffordshire University.

My main research interest involves the effectiveness of teaching assistants (TAs) and whether or not having a degree helps the individual to be more effective in what they do. I worked for many years in primary education myself and always valued the support staff I worked with for their enthusiasm, knowledge and dedication.

In 2012 I attended the Times Educational Supplement (TES) conference in Manchester where it was suggested

by Rob Webster, a London Institute of Education researcher, that TAs did not have much impact on teaching and learning. This surprised me so I decided to investigate further and there my research journey began.

The research that Rob Webster referred to was part of a large scale project called the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS), led by Peter Blatchford.

Although it considered many aspects of a TAs role, what was of particular interest was the section regarding the interactions between TAs and children. This was written up in more detail in a paper by Rubie-Davies et al (2010) who identified that TAs often asked low-level questions, giving children the answers, and were more focused upon task completion rather than helping children to

develop deeper thinking skills. What was clear, however, was that in this research, TAs were treated as one homogenous group and, as such, the different levels of qualifications TAs possessed, and what I believe are therefore different levels of skill in supporting learners, were not recognised. I originally planned to look at the effectiveness of TAs supporting in classes but increasingly TAs are either working on interventions, where there is already a great deal of research

“...I am on a long but interesting journey...” indicating what a fantastic job they are doing in this role, or in higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) roles, taking whole classes. I therefore decided to change my focus to work with HLTAs. I am still in the early stages of my research but I plan to observe HLTAs and look at how they offer support to children. I would also like to undertake interviews with the HLTA and the teacher with whom they work closely.

I have been developing my questions for the interview and have conducted a pilot questionnaire. This has been extremely beneficial in helping me to streamline my interview schedule.

One key point I have learned in my research is that until you start researching in journals, you do not really know whether your fantastic idea has already been worked on, however a small shift can still make it an original piece of research. Making use of the university library online research facilities has played a crucial part in achieving the subject depth required and using the ‘summon’ search tool at Staffordshire University has made life much easier! I am on a long but interesting journey and I look forward to continuing my research into the effectiveness of HLTAs next year.

Congratulations to all of our students who graduated in 2014!

We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours.

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Meet Jenny, our Lead Student Representative: “...Your rep represents you, your views and your experiences at this college...”

through surveys or via reps.

The College and its reps are happy to help you address any concerns. The student voice is powerful and, while I have been here, the things students have said have really made a difference to courses and facilities.

During my time here so far, I have been involved in representing students in the running of focus groups; dealing with difficult situations; helping students resolve problems; and making suggestions to the HE team about improvements. For example, I suggested that HE students would benefit from knowing more about the HE staff. As a result, this publication and the staff case studies on the web are part of the College’s response!

My name is Jenny and I have studied the Fd Early Childhood Studies and progressed onto the BA (Hons).

Since year one I have been the student rep but in 2013 I was asked to be the Lead Student Rep. In part, this was to play a role in ensuring the student voice is represented within the Higher Education Review which is to be carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency. Being appointed Lead Student Rep was also an indication that the College is looking at evermore diverse ways of ensuring that the College’s HE students are well represented in those matters which affect them.

For me, being a rep has been fulfilling and it has helped me to build my confidence and develop new skills.

Every class should nominate a student rep. Your rep represents you, your views and your experience as a student at this college and, as such, the College regularly seeks student opinions to help improve things, either

Jenny Howell

For 2014, the College is improving its approach to the rep system and replacing it with a HE Student Ambassador Network. Would you like to join us? If you would like to be an Ambassador, talk to your tutor about what it involves. But remember, all of the HE Ambassadors are there to listen to you and represent your voice so make sure that you are heard! A message to staff – encourage students to apply for Ambassador roles: it’s great for them and for the College too!

Lead Student Ambassador

Have you got what it takes to be one of our HE Student Ambassadors?

Recruiting

NOW

Be the voice of your fellow students.

Contact Jenny Liversidge on jal@asfc.ac.uk for more details.

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Digital literacy... the real functional skill?

by Steve Ingle

Steve Ingle is a quality improvement consultant for FE Associates, author, chief examiner and teacher educator.

For more information on Steve’s work, please go to www.steveingle.com.

“...are tutors and lecturers effectively developing their learners’ digital literacy?...”

In today’s digital-knowledge age, it is becoming ever more crucial for learners to have good digital skills, for example, to help them with valid online research; to use and navigate online systems, such as the virtual learning environment (VLE) and their ePortfolios; and to take part in online assessments. Colleagues working in further education will be acutely aware of the role and prominence of functional skills as an essential and often challenging part of many post compulsory learners’ study programmes. Whilst good standards of applied English and mathematics are clearly essential skills for all, are tutors and lecturers effectively developing their learners’ digital literacy?

In a digital age, learners need to practise and experiment with different ways of enacting their identities, and adopt subject positions through different social technologies and media. These opportunities can only be supported by academic staff who are themselves engaged in digital practices and questioning their own relationships with knowledge. (Beetham and Oliver, 2010: 167).

An essential part of the educators’ role then is not only to identify opportunities to embed and develop functional English and mathematics skills in approaches to learning but also to develop learners’ own digital literacy. The meaningful and appropriate use of learning technologies and the development of digital skills are very much the focus on the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG), set up in January 2013 by the then Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise. The sector group’s remit is to make practical recommendations aimed at ensuring the effective use of digital technology in learning, teaching and assessment.

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One of the key recommendations by FELTAG was for providers to identify, support and develop learners’ digital capabilities (FELTAG, 2014).

The increased use of VLEs and learners’ own mobile devices, coupled with pressures on funding, has facilitated a shift in how precious face-to-face learning time is best used. Whether this be in the classroom, workshop, salon or pitch, time with learners to build relationships, to facilitate the application of skills and to answer questions is critical to effective learning experiences. To maximize the use of this time and to develop digital literacy, many practitioners are considering some of the concepts of the ‘flipped learning’ model.

By taking a ‘flipped’ approach to teaching and learning, rather than spending the session time delivering a lecture to a whole group of learners, this knowledgetransmission role is replaced by a video, featuring presentation visuals (such as slides) and audio narration.

Learners engage with the multimedia resources in their own time through their computers or mobile devices and then spend the time in the face-to-face sessions engaging in more collaborative and interactive activities.

The tutor becomes the facilitator of learning: the ‘guide on the side’, rather than the transmitter of knowledge or the ‘sage on the stage’. A flipped approach demands that learners engage with technology as an essential part of their learning experience, helping them to develop skills and confidence with interactive and multimodal technology that is not just for ‘living’ but also for ‘learning’.

Find out more: Explore the EDUCAUSE guide to ‘7 things you should know about the flipped classroom’ and then consider one of your own units that you currently teach.

Could you develop multimedia resources to support a more ‘flipped’ approach to your curriculum design?

What are the advantages and disadvantages for your learners? www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-youshould-know-about-flipped-classrooms References: Beetham H. and Oliver M. (2010) ‘The Changing Practices of Knowledge and Learning’, in R. Sharpe and H. Beetham (Eds) Rethinking learning for a digital age, 155-169, London: RoutledgeFalmer.

FELTAG (2014) Paths forward to a digital future for Further Education and Skills; Recommendations for the Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise.

Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (online). Available at: http://feltag.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ FELTAG-REPORT-FINAL.pdf [Accessed May 2014]

“...I am on a long but interesting journey...”

Scholarly Activity Day with Professor Colin Beard: In July, the HE & Skills team were treated to a Scholarly Activity day with Professor Colin Beard.

Colin introduced his concept of Experiential Learning.

“A really good interactive scholarly day! Some great ideas. I would like to work with PGCE team on the introduction whereby one tutor gets the group to film their 20 second intro to themselves and uploads onto the VLE for other tutors to see.”

“I enjoyed yesterday, Collin had a very engaging style. I’ll definitely be using the cards and the walking activities with my learners.”

“Colin was very engaging and interesting. I will definitely make my lessons more student led.”

“I liked all the techniques provided by Colin Beard and I am going try a more experiential approach in activities.”

Experiential Learning: A Best Practice Handbook for Educators and Trainers For more information on Colin’s concept of Experiential Learning, why not take a look at his book:

Emotions in Learning

by Professor Colin Beard

Professor Colin Beard is a National Teaching Fellow, a Professor of Experiential Learning and a Faculty Teaching Fellow at Sheffield Business School. His recent research interests have been in the space between transition and transformation in particular the role of positive emotions in students.

“...students got strong positive feelings from the anticipation of interacting with new knowledge...”

My research interests have been focussed on challenging our understanding of the role of emotions in student learning in higher education. A recent publication looked at positive emotions and what gave students pleasure when they were undertaking their degree. In the early stages of their degree, students got strong positive feelings from the anticipation of interacting with new knowledge. Later as they started lectures and seminars in the first and second year much of the pleasure was short lived, and concerned with the relief of handing things in and getting things done, with getting good marks, and getting good feedback from lecturers.

Much of the pleasure was low level, as was the awareness of the emotional state. The pleasure seemed connected to very functional processes and concerned with pedagogic actions of getting, doing, and knowing things.

Positive emotions were also linked to (good) lecturers.

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Later, towards the end of their studies, some students showed signs of a deeper, more enduring positive emotional state. Examples included the loss of time whilst studying a really interesting subject, the sense of excitement about a specific challenging topic that changed their views for example in some way, or with comments about how they feel different about their ‘self’ or their identity in a positive way. The data suggested that emotions play an important role in student transformation and change.

For a free copy of Professor Colin Beard’s latest article on emotions and transformation from the publisher, follow: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ ejAkepSIQSzbuBdd7yYQ/full

Research Project Top Tips:

by Gillian Baines

Gillian Baines has recently completed her Foundation Degree in Education at the College and is progressing onto the BA (Hons) top up course. She currently works at New Charter Academy and believes that the first stages of a research project can be daunting, especially if you have never before taken part in a large scale research project. Learn from Gillian, and make use of her Top Tips.

• Log all of your research sites with dates and times if they are on the internet.

• Record your reference list in chronological order as you use quotes.

• Stick to deadlines, just in case any unforeseen events occur.

• Choose a subject that you are interested in. That way, collecting research is not a chore.

Doctor You?

by Doug Hoy

My name is Doug Hoy and I teach on the degree courses: Foundation Degree and BA (Hons) in Education here at Ashton Sixth Form College. I also teach maths and English to adults. I am currently studying towards an EdD, which will hopefully make me a Doctor of Education. I will be Dr Doug in 2017!

“...It is a discipline worth developing, a real life skill...”

I am researching curriculum inclusion, particularly maths. The new Functional Skills maths syllabus is supposed to ‘demonstrate real-life applications… in learning, work and everyday lives’ (excellencegateway. com). The curriculum however assumes a certain middle-class income, lifestyle and set of attitudes.

Sociology, media and linguistics students will recognise these concepts from modules concerning epistemology, stereotypes and cultural relativity, however anyone with an enquiring mind will also recognise this. Most organisations are required to be inclusive, both legally and morally. The curriculum content – what is taught and assessed – is a key starting point.

This is level 8 study and a noticeable step up from previous post-graduate study, as you would expect.

The depth of analysis and the level of detail is very challenging but extremely rewarding. All work is (eventually) peer assessed and reviewed and goes through the rigorous academic mill a number of times.

This starts very early on in the course. As the course progresses, the concept of ‘Google scholar’ fades into the background, leading to more specialist writers and thinkers. In my case, recognised ‘giants’ such as Foucault sit alongside modern writers, such as Norman Fairclough, providing a historical and contemporary context for issues of power and influence, involving organisations and individuals.

The secret to post-graduate study, particularly at this level, is effective reading and sourcing. There are no short-cuts: always read and note the source. There is no time to be wasted trawling files, electronic or otherwise, for a ‘gem’ of a vaguely remembered quote, yet happily the process becomes automatic. The earlier one can acquire these habits the better.

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Learn from my mistakes. It has taken me years to apply the self-discipline needed to read and source (yes, it becomes a verb!) in this way. It is a discipline worth developing, a real life skill.

Gaining a doctorate demonstrates a competence in specialised and bespoke research and moves you towards becoming a professor. It can also prepare you to play other roles (such as developing policy) in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Doctoral study also offers a unique opportunity to conduct intensive and prolonged research on a very particular topic, which can lead to publication. Finally, you get to tick the box that says ‘Dr’ on your passport form but if this is your main motivation perhaps studying at this level is not for you.

Coming up in the next edition: Dr Vicky Duckworth, Senior Lecturer in Further Education and Training, Schools’ University Lead and Research Fellow at Edge Hill University, UK discusses “What makes a great teacher”. Vicky has published widely on a range of issues in the field of literacy, critical and emancipatory approaches to education, widening participation, inclusion and community engagement.

Vicky’s research interests continue to include practitioner and collaborative research methods, participatory action research and linking research and practice. She remains strongly engaged in exploring empowerment and egalitarian approaches to learning and teaching.

Dr Jonathan Tummons, Lecturer and MSc in Educational Assessment Pathway Leader in the School of Education at Durham University, discusses the unique aspects of HE in FE teaching cultures. Jonathan’s research interests centre on: assessment (with a particular interest in assessment in further, adult and higher education); parttime and non-traditional students in higher education; transitions between further and higher education; and professional learning, development and assessment.

He is particularly interested in using frameworks and concepts that derive from ethnography, sociology and anthropology, including: communities of practice theory (a focus of on-going critical reappraisal); actor-network theory; material semiotics; and literacy as social practice (‘new literacy studies’).

Nichola Rivers, BA (Hons) Education graduate (2014).

Read an extract from Nichola’s dissertation about the impact of Forest School on young learners’ behaviour.

Edited by Jo Fletcher Saxon Designed by Jenny Liversidge

Upcoming Events: Academia Evening HE Students & Staff 8th October 2014, 5.30pm - 8.30pm We hope that you enjoy our Academia Evening! Let us know what you think of it with our Talkback feature under Student Feedback in the University Course section of the College website.

Talkback is a way for you to provide us with feedback throughout the year, whether you’re experiencing any issues or just want to let us know what you think.