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Learning Technology Unit
Research and Scholarship are central to our activities in Science and Technology. Our excellently equipped Faculty provides an ideal environment in which to undertake both applied and “blue skies” research and scholarship ...
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Embedding information skills training on student learning: making a differenceThis embedding project builds on one that was delivered in 2001, headed by Oliver Pritchard, Dudley Learning Centre Manager, leading a research team with staff working from different Learning Centres in the University. In the 2001 project, sessions on information skills were run in three differing subject areas for second and third years and their impact on student learning was assessed using questionnaires and focus groups for students and in-depth interviews with academic staff. Findings were encouraging. Skills and experience gained within the sessions were taken on and applied within assignment work to good effect. Within this small study there is evidence of a progression in student awareness, confidence and skills and Information Skills sessions bring a longer-term, practical and tangible element to the learning experience and are a valuable part of helping students to become more effective learners.
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Developing the information skills agendaTechnological advances by the database creators of the late 60’s and early 70’s enabled the ‘information explosion’ to be managed and accessed. Information professionals developed specialist skills to explore these bibliographic resources on-line. A decade later, as attitudes changed and resources became more accessible, a parallel agenda of user education programmes was being developed by librarians. The information skills agenda took shape across schools, colleges and Higher Education institutions and a skills hand-over began. The curriculum focussed on access to print resources initially to support the shift to resource-based and flexible learning initiatives. The rapid developments in desktop information technology in the late 80’s and 90’s brought the two developments closer together. It enabled information professionals, already supporting the development of user information skills, to include access to bibliographic databases and electronic resources on CD-ROM and on-line.
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The impact of information skills training on student learning: do we make a difference?Report of a CELT project on changing practice through innovation and research
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Embedding information skills on student learning: providing the modelshis Phase 3 (evaluation and embedding) project has been developed from a highly successful earlier project: Embedding information skills on student learning: making the difference (2006). The earlier project produced a programme of information literacy skills, based on SCONUL’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which was delivered to two modules of first year students from the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (HLSS) in bite-sized presentations at the end of their lectures. Importantly, it found that: “an effective Information Literacy programme delivered at the very beginning of Undergraduate life can contribute significantly to students’ ability to find, use and record information and increase their confidence regarding academic performance.” Bastable and Morris (2006). Valued by students, it clearly had a part to play in the learning experience of first year undergraduates and potentially in Schools’ retention and employability strategies. This was the impetus for a Phase 3 project which would test the information literacy programme on a more diverse range of students and subjects within HLSS and provide models which would encourage further take-up within the School and other Schools in the University. Other important outcomes from the previous project also needed to be carried forward and tested in a wider context: “We as librarians have been able to assess our approaches to the design and delivery of a structured Information Literacy programme. We have had the opportunity to work collaboratively as a team of librarians with academic staff and, crucial to the embedding process, earn important space on first semester, first year modules. We now know that the bite-sized sessions of information skills which are dove-tailed into existing lectures are a successful way to deliver the programme.” Bastable and Morris (2006). It was this combination of the following three features in Phase 2 which distinguished it from any other work being conducted in the field of information literacy: the partnership between academics and librarians, a structured information literacy programme and delivery in bite-sized sessions. So, it was these three crucial areas which would be put to the test in this current project by the delivery to an extended range of students.
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Using Facebook Pages to reach users: the experiences of University of WolverhamptonThis article shares the experiences of University of Wolverhampton's pilot project into the use of Facebook pages for academic libraries.
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We will take them from anywhere’: schools working within multiple initial teacher training partnershipsThis article reports on a small-scale study focusing on the role of the initial teacher training (ITT) coordinator in schools in England in terms of working simultaneously across and within a number of different ITT partnerships. Data collection involved a review of the relevant course documentation of the four main higher education institutions working in one region, a postal questionnaire to 113 primary schools and secondary schools within that region and semistructured telephone interviews with six school-based ITT coordinators. The data were analysed within broad categories identifying the facilitators and constraints of carrying out the role when working in partnership with a number of different ITT providers. The findings indicate that there is a developing trend towards schools in England working with multiple partners, particularly in the case of secondary schools and that, notwithstanding the administrative difficulties sometimes caused, there are clear perceived advantages to working in such a way, both for the schools themselves and for the trainees in those schools. The implications of this in terms of partnerships between schools and ITT providers are explored
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How might inclusive approaches to assessment enhance student learning in HE?This article reports some of the results from an investigation into issues around inclusivity in assessment undertaken at the University of Northampton (2009-2010). The Assess4success research project was conducted within a framework provided by the Higher Education Academy Summit programme on inclusive learning and teaching, and sought to explore the extent to which inclusivity, (a high level commitment in the university’s access and teaching policies), was embedded in students’ experiences of assessment. Drawing on internal quantitative data across the institution suggesting specific groups were more likely to struggle with summative assessment in Year 1, and qualitative data exploring sample student experiences in relation to formative assessment tasks, a series of generic recommendations to enhance the inclusivity of assessment practice both in the host institution and across the sector are offered.
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Enhancing professional self-esteem: learners’ journeys on a distance-learning Doctorate in Education (EdD)This article explores the motivations, experiences and perceived outcomes for Doctorate in Education (EdD) students in their journey through a relatively new form of doctoral education at a distance. The research draws on a range of individual EdD participant voices, both student and graduate, and is timely in focusing on an example of an under-researched but increasingly common phenomenon of part-time distance learning professional doctorates. The aims of the research were: to understand what motivated students to register for an EdD; to explore the factors which successfully sustained them on their journey; to identify common outcomes on completion. The researchers developed a case study of the student EdD journey in its distinctive professional context(s). Data was collected in a number of linked stages including postal surveys, semi-structured interviews, and students’ reflective evaluations at different points. Key themes related to professional postgraduate learner transitions emerge from the data, which contrast with previous work on the traditional PhD and relate to: the deliberate choice by students of a part-time distance learning route; a broader and better-informed understanding of professional outcomes on a professionally-oriented doctorate; the value of flexible support systems for EdD students working in demanding educational roles.
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“Towards professional multilingualism?” reconceptualising the school coordinator role in Initial Teacher Training.This article explores the school coordinator role in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in England. Recognising that mentoring is fully embedded and highly researched in ITT, it argues the role of the coordinator, while integral to partnerships (DfE, 1992) is far less researched. We investigate tensions in the role, between managing programme-wide quality assurance, teaching professional studies and developing school-based mentors. These questions were explored through multi-site case studies with four HEIs and their partner schools in four linked phases of data collection. Data analysis established a range of different conceptualisations of the role, with only limited evidence of a development role with their mentors. We argue for policies which establish a more coherent conceptualisation of the role, and an agreed nomenclature. A key recommendation is to free coordinators from bureaucratic demands on their time to enable them to exemplify a new “professional multilingualism”.
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Contextualised approaches to widening participation a comparative case study of two UK universitiesThis article reports on institutional research at two contrasting UK universities, each with different foci in relation to widening participation (WP). The researchers sought to explore senior staff perspectives on the WP agenda at a time of unprecedented uncertainty and turmoil in the UK higher education sector. The research consisted primarily of interview data from university leaders responsible strategically for WP activity. The findings offer a nuanced narrative of the policy and practice of widening participation at two contrasting universities. Researchers found that the WP discourse itself is perceived as confused and discredited. Viewing ‘widening participation students’ as a homogenised group risks both the benefits of differentiated responses through discipline or subject areas and the benefits of more student-centred measures of success.