[2a] 10.45am: Undergraduate Writing Retreats to Support Engagement and Performance.
Speaker
- Sian Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Business Management, Solent University.
Abstract
Writing retreats are routinely used in academia to support staff and postgraduate students. They are popular and widely recognised as an opportunity to carry out a sustained period of focused writing with peers and mentors in a supportive environment (see, for example, Kornhaber et al. (2016)). Laursen et al. (2017), in a systematic review, found that participants benefit from having dedicated time and space to write in a number of important ways, including reduced writing-related anxiety, collegial support, development of academic writing competence, and legitimising writing as an important academic activity. However, there is little evidence that writing retreats have been made available for undergraduates. In this presentation I will discuss how I developed and implemented writing retreats for L5 Business Management undergraduates, discuss student evaluations of the retreats and their impact on engagement and performance. I will also explore the extent to which students are experts in their own learning and curricula, and consider the ways in which we acquire and shape our own professional expertise through teaching experiences, critical self-reflection and academic CPD.
[2b] 11.15am: Investigating how 'personal writing chests' can support undergraduate trainee teachers in developing a ‘teacher as writer’ identity.
Speakers
- Kerry Assemakis, Lecturer Primary English, St. Mary’s University
- Finola Utton, Senior Lecturer Primary English, Primary English Lead, St Mary’s University.
Abstract
Recent studies indicate that many primary trainee teachers do not see themselves as writers and that this impacts on their developing pedagogy (Assemakis, 2020; Cremin, 2018). It is widely recognised that teachers need to engage with the writing process so they are able to identify as being writers, making them more able to support children with any challenges they face (Gardener, 2010). The purpose of the inquiry was to further understand how undergraduate trainee teachers see themselves as writers, and what teaching and learning approaches enabled trainees to develop their expertise, confidence and enjoyment in writing. The approach adopted consisted of introducing trainees to a personal ‘chest of words’; a personal writing box where they could collect and store their own writing for pleasure. Students were directed to complete specific writing tasks which they had the choice to share in sessions if they wished, developing a more flexible and self-directed free choice of writing tasks as time went on. Preliminary findings suggest that many trainees have benefitted from the opportunities provided. One trainee, for example suggested ‘I had lost my passion for writing and this encouraged me to get back into writing’. Further findings will be presented at the Teaching and Learning Festival.
[3a] 10.45am: The expertise of the collective: collaborating and creating as a holistic team.
Speaker
- Jennie Blake, Head of Teaching and Learning Development, University of Manchester.
Abstract
The University of Manchester Library works collaboratively across its services. The Teaching, Learning and Students team has taken this collaborative way of working and used it to create innovative and award-winning teaching materials and enhance our teaching. This talk will discuss the "Virtual Teaching" Team that was launched at the start of the pandemic and embodied a way of working online which enabled us to continue to support collaboration and encouraged everyone to create "out in the open". It will describe the principles underlying our development of teaching materials, the practices that supported staff in reaching out to each other for support and inspiration, and the bumps encountered along the way. It will also give participants a chance to think about their “15% solution” (https://www.liberatingstructures.com/7-15-solutions/) and how they might embed some of this practice in their own context and how collective collaboration can lead to greater inclusivity and accessibility.. We will spend time surfacing the collective expertise of the group itself as well, to enable us all to learn from what each of us have brought to the room, and we will all walk away with something to use right away, whatever our circumstances might be.
[3b] 11.15am: A cross-department collaborative approach to enhance undergraduate and postgraduate student experience and understanding through evidence informed practice.
Speakers
- Jessica Boyd, Lecturer, Physical Education, Sport and Youth Development, St Mary’s University
- Kirsty Harding, Senior Lecturer, Secondary PGCE Physical Education, St Mary’s University
- Jamie Ribolla, Lecturer, Secondary PGCE Physical Education, St Mary’s University.
Abstract
Bringing together two faculties allowed staff expertise to be shared to bring about the best possible learning opportunities for our students. The PE PGCE students were already on teaching placement at the time of lockdown, whereas the PESYD undergraduate students were limited in their opportunities to access teaching placements as theirs occurred later in the academic year when the peak was at its highest.
It was from this, that staff across the School of Health and Applied Sciences (SHAS) and Institute of Education (IOE) came together to explore how good practice could be promoted and shared via alternative avenues. Normally, an annual ingredient of the PE PGCE programme is the 'hot seating of good practice', whereby trainees visit partnership schools to observe a range of different pedagogical foci. COVID clearly prevented trainees visiting other schools and as such a collaboration with the PESYD students was created to allow the sharing of good practice and knowledge creation via a collective project.
Students across both courses were grouped and provided a topic to explore across four weeks. They worked independently and collaboratively to explore pedagogy in action and solve solutions to support and enhance teaching practice (PE PGCE students) and to develop a wider understanding of in-action reflective practice (PE PGCE and PESYD students).
At the end of the 4 weeks, groups shared good practice around their topic at a TeachMeet arranged by staff. Data collected at the end of the timeline showed positive qualitative and quantitative feedback from both cohorts of student. Feedback highlighted how they appreciated the insight that the opportunity brought and allowed them to reflect in situ for application in upcoming assessments.