UCLan Journal of Pedagogic Research

Transcription

Pedagogic 176x250 INSIDES September 2010_Layout 1 23/09/2010 09:48 Page 1
UCLan Journal of
Pedagogic Research
VOLUME 2
Copyright © 2010 University of Central Lancashire
This edition published in 2010
University of Central Lancashire
Preston PR1 2HE
Designed and Printed in Great Britain by UCLan’s
Print and Design Services
ISSN 978-0-9562343-3-9
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EDITORS
John O’Donoghue, Learning and Information Services
Gavin Sim, School of Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
EDITORIAL BOARD
Yvon Appleby, School of Education & Social Sciences
Helen Day, School of Journalism, Media and Communication
Stuart Hampton-Reeves, Centre for Research-informed Teaching
Helen Hewertson, Centre for Research-informed Teaching
Ruth Pilkington, School of Education & Social Sciences
Peter Stokes, Lancashire Business School
Vicki Tariq, Centre for Applied Educational Research, School of Education & Social Sciences
AIMS AND SCOPE
The UCLan Journal of Pedagogic Research provides an opportunity to raise the profile of pedagogic research.
Pedagogic research is, simply put, about researching into your learning and teaching practice and processes.
What is important is that it enhances the researcher’s theoretical understanding of teaching and learning
practice and experience, as well as contributing to the development of professional knowledge about the
specific issues for HE learning and teaching. The aim of the journal is to provide a focus for pedagogical
research within UCLan and provide a support mechanism to enable research in this area to flourish. Staff
new to publishing are encouraged to submit, as well as more ‘seasoned’ authors.
Papers, abstracts and reviews should address, but not be limited by, one of the following themes:
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Assessment
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Innovative teaching practices
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Student Feedback
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Student Experience
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Research-informed teaching
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Curriculum Development
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Pedagogical Research
Details on the preparation, submission and review process are available from the editors. The dates for
submission will be published across the University in AULookout. For further information or interest then
contact John O’Donoghue [email protected], or Gavin Sim [email protected].
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL JOHN O’DONOGHUE AND GAVIN SIM
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BOOK REVIEW
NORTON, L. S. (2009). ACTION RESEARCH IN TEACHING AND LEARNING: A PRACTICAL
GUIDE TO CONDUCTING PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH IN UNIVERSITIES HELEN HEWERTSON
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COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING EVALUATION TOOLKIT
CAROLYN GIBBON
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CLASS ACTS: PUTTING CREATIVITY TO WORK CATHERINE DARBY
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ENABLING PEDAGOGIC RESEARCH: THE IMPACT OF A MASTERS IN EDUCATION
(MED PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN EDUCATION) ON THE PRACTICE OF ACADEMICS
RUTH PILKINGTON
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METHODS ADOPTED IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS IN INDIA
KAJAL PATEL AND DANIEL WALLER
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TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG? USING BLOGS IN ASSESSMENT RUTH A. SMITH
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EDITORIAL
JOHN O’DONOGHUE, LEARNING AND INFORMATION SERVICES, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
GAVIN SIM, SCHOOL OF COMPUTING, ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES,
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
As contemporary society becomes increasingly diverse and complex, so does the process of preparing young
people for life as independent thinkers, productive citizens, and future leaders. The changing nature of
students, the collegiate experience, learning, teaching, and outcomes assessment all have substantive
implications for altering educational practice. There is a great deal of evidence that we can enhance learning
when as teachers we pay attention to the knowledge and beliefs that our students, our learners, bring to a
learning task. We band terms such as learner centred, knowledge centred, assessment centred, community
centred as new models of educational reform in our classrooms. Yet we still deliver directly to students via a
traditional lecture based methods. We are not dismissing these, as they do have a significant part to play in
our relationship with students in the learning process. However as 21st century educators we need to consider
additional enhancements to the more ‘formal’ didactic delivery. As we present lectures, seminars, practice
sessions and activity based scenarios are we conscious of the focus of pedagogy, does it matter, do we reflect
on the process of engagement and interaction. What of the interplay between students, tutors, parents,
employers in the learning process? Is this valuable? If so at what level and how does it integrate with what
we have in terms of assessment. As we weave a tangled thicket of questions relating to our engagement in
the practice of learning and teaching we need to be mindful of what is happening in the wider community.
This journal provides an insight into a lively group of like minded individuals at UCLan all engaged in
interacting in a variety of ways with their students. Real innovation is often driven by the passionate few,
frequently developed in their own time and enthused by a real desire to make a difference to the learning of
their students. This motivation is not unique, unusual or perhaps unexpected. However the real problem is in
‘mainstreaming’ this innovative practice or activity. The submissions within this journal reflect this passion and
motivation and we hope that many of the papers encourage you, the reader, to take up some of the ideas,
and to submit your findings to a future issue of the UCLan Journal of Pedagogic Research.
The content reflects the diversity of projects, work in progress and research in which staff at UCLan are
engaged. Whilst many of the authors are established as writers of externally published work, many are not
and this is their first transgression into the world of academic and peer recognition. This journal provides a
foray for new and aspiring researchers and academic staff into the publishing world and the process of
submission, review and feedback. This enables staff to experience the whole review process with its
associated structured criticism and comments in a supported environment.
The journal continues to present a range and quality of research undertaken within the university and
provides a support mechanism for new researchers to engage in pedagogical research.
This includes a review of Professor Lin Norton’s book, Action Research in Teaching and Learning, which
explores the practical aspects of performing pedagogical research through an action research methodology
in HE. We are also delighted to include a summary abstract from Carolyn Gibbon on problem-based learning
which has been championed in many disciplines as an effective student-centred process of learning. The
substantive papers cover a wide variety of subjects and their richness reflects some very engaging work with
students. Catherine Darby’s paper considers the next generation of journalists. This study explains and
reflects on what the assessment criteria were and how they were developed, based on identifying and
targeting genres. Enabling pedagogic research: the impact of a Masters in Education by Ruth Pilkington
investigates the application of action research within the MEd (Professional Practice in Education)
programme. The paper, methods adopted in teaching English to young learners in India by Kajal Patel and
Daniel Waller presents a study investigating the teaching methods adopted in teaching English language to
young learners in India. Last but by no means least, Ruth Smith’s paper to blog or not to blog? Using blogs
in assessment outlines the initial stages of an investigation into the use of blogs or web-logs to replace
reflective notebooks in a free choice elective designed to develop entrepreneurial skills in creative students.
You are encouraged to submit abstracts and papers and actively participate in the area of pedagogic
research. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody involved in this edition, in particular the
support from the Centre for Research Informed Teaching and the editorial team.
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BOOK REVIEW
ACTION RESEARCH IN TEACHING AND LEARNING: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CONDUCTING
PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH IN UNIVERSITIES. LIN. S. NORTON (2009)
Price: £21.59 • ISBN: 978-0-415-43794-3 • Publisher: Routledge • Pages: 224 pages
Professor Lin Norton explores the practical aspects of performing pedagogical research through Action research
methodology in HE. It is designed as a step by step guide for anyone working in HE who wants to research their
own practice. The books takes a pedagogical view point but the methods can easily be transferred across many
areas. The book is organised into eleven chapters which each deal with a specific area of focus from research
context and background to research methods and practical applications. These are presented in a logical order,
each with a summary at the end to illustrate the key points made in the chapter. The book includes case studies
throughout to illustrate key examples of research practice or a problem to be solved, and an extensive appendix
with many useful resources. This makes the book accessible when seeking specific guidance.
The book sets out the university context in the first chapter. It includes the pressures and constraints of
university life balanced with the benefits of Pedagogical Action Research (PAR). It uses case studies to identify
a pedagogical issue and uses these examples in other chapters to show how the researcher can develop PAR
to solve the problem. Chapter two gives an important introduction to reflective practice and what it means to
be a reflective practitioner recognising the value of reflection to action research processes. It gives insight into
how and why reflective practice works with more case study examples. Chapter three talks about the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), its background and application and why it is important and
relevant to HE. Chapter four makes the case for PAR. It gives a breakdown of the major principles, and
addresses the criticisms. It also looks into the application of PAR and briefly looks at disseminating findings.
Chapter five focuses on the reader, providing prompts for starting out with a PAR (Pedagogical Action
Research), study and suggests an action research cycle. The ITDEM acronym (Identifying a problem/paradox/
issue/difficulty; Thinking of ways to tackle the problem; Doing it; Evaluating it; Modifying future teaching), is
used to explain the stages of a PAR study. This chapter also examines examples of PAR from an interpretivist
approach and a positivist approach using the ITDEM acronym to break down each part of the study.
Chapter six looks at suitable research methodologies and gives a more detailed analysis of appropriate ways to
research a problem. It gives the advantages and disadvantages of each method discussed and also looks at some
of the ethical issues of the approaches. Chapter seven specifically examines Qualitative data. It discusses positivist
and the arts paradigms and gives a case for mixed methodologies. It presents examples of when it should be
used and detailed instructions on how to undertake thematic analysis, and content analysis and gives references
for further reading. Chapter eight looks more closely at Quantitative data, again giving examples of when it is
appropriate to be used, along with a detailed breakdown of descriptive statistics and the three main types of
methods used in inferential statistics. The book outlines sample calculations for dealing with simpler statistics
and makes recommendations to statistical software packages for the more difficult ones.
The last three chapters focus on specific issues around PAR such as how to develop and adapt pedagogical
research tools, ethical issues, and dissemination. Chapter nine talks about developing and adapting pedagogical
research tools. The key tools used in PAR and some background is discussed as well as examples of how to use
and adapt these tools for the readers own research. Chapter ten provides a particularly useful discussion of
ethical issues starting with the context and politics of PAR, and then offering a breakdown of types of research
and the principles of ethical research. Finally, chapter eleven explores how to disseminate research findings using
different media, it talks about small scale internal dissemination and larger scale external dissemination in
conferences and journals. It also has a brief section on research funding and how to further develop your PAR
cycle. The appendix has plenty of resources to support the chapters’ content, along with more case study
examples (e.g. combining qualitative and quantitative data) reflective practice methods, examples of research
protocols, experimental measures, relevant templates, and successful conference abstracts.
Overall this book was easy to read, accessible and relevant to anyone doing pedagogical research and wishing
to engage specifically in PAR. Much of the information could easily be transferred over to other research
approaches. The only flaw was limiting itself to just the area of action research, which might put people off
reading it, and prevent them benefitting from the broader relevance of the book to pedagogic research. With
the addition of a section about other approaches like appreciative inquiry and phenomenology, it would be
an ideal text book for anyone thinking of undertaking pedagogical research.
Helen Hewertson, University of Central Lancashire.
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COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROBLEM-BASED
LEARNING EVALUATION TOOLKIT
CAROLYN GIBBON, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Introduction
Problem-based learning (PBL) has been championed in many disciplines as an effective student-centred
process of learning. The body of literature extolling the virtues of PBL is vast, yet questions are still raised over
the effectiveness of PBL. PBL is credited with developing many transferable skills such as team-working,
collaborative learning, and communication skills, as well as knowledge acquisition. Yet it would appear that
PBL continues to demand scrutiny in a way that arguably, the provision of lectures does not (Boud and Feletti
1997). In order to support and encourage pedagogical research into this area, a PBL Evaluation Toolkit has
been developed. This paper will discuss the development of the Toolkit and how educational practitioners
may use the tools within to support their research.
Background
The Health Science and Practice Subject Centre of the Higher Education Academy, supports a number of
Special Interest Groups (SIG), including one dedicated to PBL. This multidisciplinary group (approximately 95
members) has been meeting regularly for 9 years to discuss and debate issues related to PBL and the author
has been the Facilitator of this group during this period. The maturity of the group is best illustrated by the
decision to move the focus to considering how PBL can be evaluated meaningfully and systematically in
order to deliver a high quality process, and ultimately to strengthen the evidence base for future practice. It
was determined that there was a need for easily accessible evaluation tools and the concept of the PBL
Evaluation Toolkit emerged.
Creating the Toolkit
Published evaluation of PBL in the UK has been patchy and lacking coherence (Marcangelo and Ginty 2006),
but despite this, there is a sustained belief that this method of facilitating student learning develops and
promotes motivation, meaning and lifelong learning skills. Using the networks of the SIG across numerous
higher education institutions, the aim was to obtain robust evidence through meta-analysis for what is
effective practice in PBL. Using a baseline for the collection of articles, a small group of volunteers met on a
regular basis to develop and write the Toolkit. This baseline is described within the Toolkit, along with the
list of editors (one of whom is the author) and the contributors. Whilst the Toolkit is presented here, it is
situated on-line with the Health Science and Practice subject centre, and its use is advocated by other
disciplines, including the health professions. It can also be accessed via the website dedicated to the
development of a PBL research database (address below).
The PBL Evaluation Toolkit
Following extensive literature searching (HEA Website) a Toolkit of evaluation methods that can be used with
the ultimate aim of building a fuller evidential base of the effectiveness of PBL as a learning methodology
was created. Four areas regarded as critical to the effectiveness of PBL have emerged and form the basis of
the toolkit. These areas are facilitation; student experiences of PBL; effectiveness of learning; and assessment
processes. The toolkit uses tried and tested evaluation methods appropriate to the particular area under
scrutiny, such as the standard course experience questionnaire (CEQ) and semi-structured interview
schedules (Ramsden and Entwhistle 1981; Maudsley 2001; Richardson 2005). Each section recommends
particular methods, with guidance on how to use the instruments to collect data in a manner that will not
only inform the local delivery team, but also contribute to larger scale evaluative research of effectiveness.
Collecting and sharing data
The Toolkit is published and available at http://www.pbldirectory.com/toolkit along with the opportunity
to add to the research database. Besides identifying areas for research, guidance is given both
diagrammatically, as well as textually, about collecting and sharing data. Guidance is also offered in respect
of obtaining ethical approval, as well as issues to consider when using surveys and/or focus groups (Cohen,
Manion and Morrison 2000). The PBL SIG has dedicated web pages (links can be found from the web
address above) within the Health Science and Practice subject centre and work is currently underway to
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create new pages specifically for PBL research that emerges out of using the Toolkit. It is hoped the Toolkit
will help to encourage researchers, especially new researchers and others new to pedagogical research, to
participate in this area.
References
Boud, D. and Feletti, G. (1997). The Challenge of Problem-based Learning. London: Kogan Page.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2000). Research Methods in Education. London and New York:
Routledge.
Marcangelo, C. and Ginty, A. (2006) ‘A Review of Evaluation Studies of PBL across Disciplines, and the
implications for our future practice’, Presentation at HS&P PBL SIG 16/11/06, King’s College London.
Maudsley, G. (2001). ‘What issues are raised by evaluating problem-based undergraduate medical curricula?
Making health connections across the literature’, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 7, 3, 311-324.
PBL Evaluation Toolkit. http://www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/commissionedwork/execsumpbltoolkit.
[Accessed June, 2010].
Ramsden, P. and Entwhistle, J. (1981). ‘Effects of academic departments on students’ approaches to
studying’, British Journal of Educational Psychology 51, 368-383.
Richardson, J. (2005). ‘Instruments for obtaining student feedback: a review of the literature’, Assessment
& Evaluation in Higher Education 30, 4, 387-415.
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CLASS ACTS: PUTTING CREATIVITY TO WORK
CATHERINE DARBY, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Abstract
What does the next generation of professional journalists need? Multimedia skills aside, the
core requirements are employability and creativity. The challenge lies in incorporating these
into an academic qualification. The Masters in Magazine Journalism at the University of
Central Lancashire (UCLan) offers its postgraduate students the option of researching,
creating and critiquing individual, original 68-page magazines. In partnership with academic
assessors, industry editors and publishers blind second mark the students’ magazine projects
according to set criteria. Experts thus assess creativity within an academic framework and
potential employers are provided with a professional seal on a coursework showcase of
students’ abilities.
This study explains and reflects on what the assessment criteria were and how they were developed, based
on identifying and targeting genres. It tracks how the projects’ pedagogical path changes students’ mindsets
from that of consumers to producers, yielding valuable reflections about that journey. It examines what has
been learned from this joint academic and industry process about enhancing creativity assessment in a way
that meets pedagogical goals in tandem with graduate and industry needs.
Introduction
In a medium where, according to the Periodicals Training Council (PTC), 98% of new entrants have a degree
and over half (58%) a journalism qualification, a Masters with a core magazine project harnessing reader
engagement can be a driver for employability. And beyond the college environment, for an industry that
seeks new, original, individual ideas to engage readers, what better than to involve employers from such a
high-ratio HE industry in the assessment process?
The first Masters in Magazine Journalism in the UK was set up in 2004 to complement an existing palette
of Masters courses, newspaper, broadcast and online, offered by the journalism department at UCLan and
as such fitted into an already well-developed structure. The pioneering MA Online, launched in 1999,
offered the third semester option of a project to set up a business client’s website.
For their MA triple-weighted module in semester three, as with its peer courses, students are offered the
choice of a dissertation or a project. To date, all but one student has chosen and completed the project,
attracted by the challenge it poses and the personal achievement upon its completion. In the five years it
has been offered, the project itself has evolved to refine its assessment procedures and incorporate industry
and academic developments.
Assessment and employability
Governments require a highly educated workforce to drive the economy, even more so in a recession,
placing pressure upon Higher Education to make graduates fit for purpose in the workplace.
In recruiting to specific graduate-level jobs, employers are looking for graduates and
diplomates who possess high-level skills, knowledge and appropriate personal attributes,
and who can ‘grow’ the job or help transform the organisation. (The Pedagogy for
Employability Group 2006)
The demand for employability is not incompatible with traditional academic values.
‘Good teaching and learning practices can serve both kinds of end, and assessment practices
need to cohere with teaching and learning.’ (Knight and Yorke, 2003: vii).
This is why assessment matters and, simultaneously, why it presents a challenge.
It matters to students whose awards are defined by the outcomes of the assessment process;
it matters to those who employ the graduates of degree and diploma programmes and it
matters to those who do assessing. Ensuring that assessment is fair, accurate and
comprehensive – and yet manageable for those doing it – is a major challenge. (Brown and
Glasner, 2003: 202.)
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The Holy Grail of successful assessment while developing employability is, as indicated, nothing without
students achieving the first essential: learning.
Race (2007:11), identifies five principal factors underpinning successful learning:
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Wanting: motivation, interest, enthusiasm
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Needing: necessity, survival, saving face, gaining a sense of ownership of the intended learning
outcomes.
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Doing: practice, repetition, experience, trial and error.
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Feedback: other people’s reactions, seeing the results.
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Digesting: making sense of what has been learned.
In Race’s terms wanting and needing are the motivation; doing is “at the heart of any good course”,
feedback “keeps the learning moving”; suggesting that – “all experienced tutors know how important it is
to give students the time and space to make sense of their learning and to put it into perspective” (Race
2007:12). Best practice assessments, therefore, should seek to meet the five factors of successful learning
while rising to the challenge of what is required for employability. This is the attraction of a project, which
also provides employers with a showcase of students’ knowledge and skills.
The Masters in Magazine Journalism’s project promotes and enhances the student learning experience by
demonstrating all their acquired research and reflective knowledge and practical skills in striving to produce
a project to a professional standard which engages their targeted reader. As such it is also a platform for
their individual interests, enhancing their employability and reflecting the diversity of their backgrounds and
interests, from DesiGirl (for teenage British Asian girls) to Go! (a glossy for disabled women), from BBC6 (a
magazine for fans of a music radio station) to Exhibit (focussing on North West arts and culture).
Learning Factor 1: Wanting
What the Masters’ project criteria are, how they were drawn up
and why they work: the methodology.
The project runs over the three months of semester three and has three assessments. The first is the
proposal, based upon original research, submitted at the beginning of the semester. The second is the 68page magazine dummy, house style guide and media pack and the third is a self-analytical critique of the
student’s journey to launch, both due at the end of the semester.
The first assessment, the proposal, sets out the student’s stall for the existence of their magazine project.
Based upon Johnson and Prijatel’s business plan brief in The Magazine From Cover to Cover (1999: 139) it
now also reflects the entry criteria for the PTC Magazine Academy competition as mirroring what the
industry itself would require. In this criteria the student pitches for a new consumer, business or even contract
magazine by examining the current market, competition and potential reader demand to justify the
newcomer’s existence. The pitch should include:
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A sample front cover communicating its core brand proposition to its reader.
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Title - “a good title positions the magazine and it does so with as few words as possible. It is short,
direct and clear.” (Johnson and Prijatel 1999:139).
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Magazine Type - B2B, consumer, contract, in-house or specialist
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A mood board - This encapsulates who the magazine is for and what it does for them.
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Editorial Philosophy - “An editorial philosophy explains what the magazine is intended to do, what
areas of interest it covers, how it will approach those interests and the voice it will use to express itself.
It is highly specific.” (Johnson and Prijatel 1999:139). Kinds of articles, other content planned and its
relationship to its “website” (for workload reasons, this is purely academic not an additional practical
construction).
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Audience - Demographics using research methods and/or focus groups to crystallize the reader
profile.
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Competitor analysis – who are the other players in the market?
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Circulation – including frequency and means of distribution.
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Advertising – who are the target advertisers and what advantages would the magazine offer?
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Manufacturing – to indicate production values such as paper category.
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How will you keep your readers coming back and acquire new readers?
Once assessed on four, equally weighted, criteria (content, structure, writing style and originality) students
are given feedback which helps to position their magazines ahead of the three months they have to produce
them. The proposal is then modified according to their magazine’s development and resubmitted as the
media pack for the second assessment, the dummy magazine itself, with a house writing and design style
which encapsulates the reader’s voice. By identifying and targeting their genres, it challenges the students’
mindset as consumers and sets them on the road to production.
The beauty and singularity of this first assignment is that the student is setting their own assessment criteria,
the media pack, for the second: does the product match up to the pitch?
This assessment meets the first criterion of Race’s successful learning criteria: wanting. It is critical that the
student selects an area they are interested in to generate the enthusiasm needed to motivate them to
complete a task that will dominate three months of their lives. This is where individual consultation with
course tutors before the pitch helps to draws out what the student wants to do. Even before the student
arrives on the course, they are asked to conceptualise a magazine. They are given feedback on this which
they can reflect on and take forward as their magazine project or, if understanding during the course that
it would not be viable, consider alternative options.
For example, a student’s initial brief was for a careers magazine for female postgraduates. 6 months down
the line she realised that she wanted to move on from being a student, other postgraduates might feel the
same and the subject was just too niche. Asked what subject she was really interested in, she said simply
‘cakes - and puddings’. Having identified this as a driving interest, research uncovered that there was no
magazine solely catering for her and fellow cake-lovers and no magazine that did not induce calorie-counting
guilt. This motivation led to her project magazine Indulge, tagline Bake Your Cake and Eat It Too, which not
only achieved a Distinction but also won the PTC Magazine Academy award for Original Concept in 2007.
In teaching and tutorials, students learn the hard commercial imperative that wanting to write about film,
celebrity and music, for instance, is very different from discovering whether there is a genuine need for
another magazine in that genre. Students also learn how they might ‘spin’ their offering to fill even a tiny
gap in the market. It is this professional knowledge and experience that gives students the edge and makes
them consider their choices of topic more carefully, sometimes leading them into innovation. So it is a
considered wanting, based on teaching and learning. It is also an objectified wanting, not subjective, which
introduces academic and industry rigour.
Kit Alexander the editor of Backboard magazine, for British basketball fans of whom he is one, found this
the attraction. He said magazine readers are constantly analysing what is read on a subconscious level, and
buying a publication depends on those judgements made while reading it. ‘The challenge comes in making
these judgements conscious and knowing why you think what you do. This is the first step in becoming a
producer rather than a consumer – by effectively analysing what is already there and what you’ve previously
done you can learn, improve and adapt, thereby improving what you produce in the future.’ Hence he
created a pull-out guide, more work for him but targeted at creating a community for his readership, which
was also possible given the number of pages in the dummy.
Consulting the magazine’s targeted readership is also formative in turning students from a consumer to
a producer. Getting feedback from their target audience makes them evaluate what their readers want
rather than what they would prefer themselves and thereby sets the agenda for the magazine’s content
and features.
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Learning factors 2, 3, 4 & 5: Needing, doing, feedback and digesting
Assessment should enable the demonstration of excellence. The very best students should be
able to be challenged to achieve at the highest standards. (Race, 2007: 30).
The second assessment, the dummy, seeks to give students this platform to stretch themselves to produce
a project to a professional standard as a complete magazine, not a series of separate feature pieces. This is
why it is set at 68 pages with 40% advertising which brings the number of editorial pages to 41. To
demonstrate students’ editing skills, ten per cent of the work may be commissioned.
This particular assessment was drawn up within two frameworks: practically, in consultation with industry
expert and publisher Sally O’Sullivan and academically, with the assessment based on the structure of
dissertations with the first marker as supervisor and the dummy magazine blind marked by the second
marker. The process has since been refined to team tutorials of the three first academic markers who have
extensive industry experience offering panel tutorials for each student. As in best practice for dissertations,
a log charts students’ progress at each one.
What is particularly innovative about this assessment is that the magazines themselves are now second
marked by industry editors interested in the academic process and bringing real world experience to bear in
judging creativity. They are guided by clear assessment criteria on a sliding scale, using the media pack and
the third assessment, the student’s critique, for background information. The final mark for the dummy is
negotiated between first and second marker in an email debate that may refer to the tutorial log during
moderation. The agreed conclusion is ultimately returned to the student along with the feedback and final
mark to see how it was arrived at. If required, a third arbitrator would be an academic.
This second assessment meets the outstanding requirements of successful learning: needing, doing,
feedback and digesting. The formative tutorial system offers an academically monitored safety net while
giving students ownership of the intended learning outcomes. Mandatory attendance (necessity) galvanises
students to save face by producing evidence in working dummies of moving on between each one. In their
own experience, learning by doing and through trial and error, issues and challenges are brought to the table
where students can see other people’s reactions and explore alternative channels.
For example, a celebrity interview central to their magazine readers’ expectations has fallen through, not
least as student coursework is low on the agenda of celebrities and their PRs. Working through alternatives
with tutors such as a different story angle or treatment (for example a photo essay instead of a word portrait)
with tutors helps the student keep control of their project and develop the lateral thinking needed to put
themselves in their readers’ shoes to find a suitable replacement feature. Moving from consumer to
producer, what would their readers expect to find in their magazine? And what will it take to provide it?
This demonstrates their knowledge and application of different journalistic genres.
Each tutorial builds upon making sense of what has been learned, feeding forward to students and their
careers in the industry. This is put into perspective by the third assessment of a self-critiquing analysis.
Setting appropriate assessment criteria is critical, however, particularly for a product seeking to be of a
professional standard.
In assessing the quality of a student’s work or performance, the teacher must possess a
concept of quality appropriate to the task, and be able to judge the student’s work in relation
to that concept. (Sadler, 1989:119)
Methodology for marking the student magazines
When it came to marking the dummies themselves, with all the nuances of magazinecraft, it made sense
to involve industry practitioners as second markers rather than fellow academics who may not have specialist
knowledge of that section of the media unlike the three team tutors who have all worked in it. In the first
year of trialling this, 2005, the methodology was tested with publisher Sally O’Sullivan on four project
magazines, including one which was the real-world launch of a Manchester edition of lifestyle magazine
Your Quarter.
The marking guidelines were then drawn up and issued as an assessment pack to second markers, with
previous examples. The priority in assessing the magazine is how it succeeds from the communication point
of view on four criteria, each weighted equally at 25%:
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1. In terms of content, does it meet the interests, expectations, aspirations of the targeted reader? On
the sliding scale of assessment first class work, for example, will be consistently well targeted and
demonstrate a high level of lateral thinking and originality, making it most suitable for publication. At
the other end of the scale, anything that is unpublishable, contains serious lapses of judgement or
serious errors is a failure.
The following three criteria are marked to equivalent levels.
2. Does the level of Writing match the genre?
3. Does the Design match the genre?
4. Has the Package delivered on the promise of its media pack with pace and a clear editorial voice? Are
the appropriate adverts placed without detriment to editorial? Bearing in mind the drawbacks of a
student publication, credit must be given on how they have achieved exclusivity (such as celebrities,
philosophers and rock stars) against odds not encountered by professional publications.
This assessment has two overall aims: that the magazine communicates clearly within its genre delivering
the goods to a targeted readership and that the student has achieved the best outcome they can as a nonprofessional within the scope of an academic framework.
There are two further refinements in what is expected to be a continuing development of this process. First,
students know that their projects will be second marked by industry editors but are not told who their
markers are so they don’t work (consciously or subconsciously) to the interests or expectations of one
person. Therefore they will focus all the more on their product and their reader not on the marker.
Second, a disparity of greater than five overall marks between the academic first and industry second
markers in two of the projects (neither of them to the detriment of their final mark) does address what is a
core challenge of coursework for employability: that these projects are a creative package not a real-life
commercial pitch. As part of preparing the students for world of work the MA course teaches them to
understand the business of journalism but the distinction must be clearly made within the academic
framework that students must achieve subject journalism learning outcomes not subject business learning
outcomes. To that end the Package criteria has been clarified that the product meets the criteria set out by
its own media pack not that of an industry-led pitch.
The third and final assessment, marked by the module leader, is the reflective critique of their project
experience, digesting what they have learned. Based upon the principles of a SWOT analysis, it should
include: current industry research, a prospectus for the launch’s future development and an analysis of how
the project developed with a comparison of what was achieved to the original stated aims. It is marked as
Assignment One on the four, equally weighted criteria of content, structure, writing style and originality. In
chronicling and analysing the journey to launch, students measure how much they have learned and make
sense of the experience.
From the students’ perspective an integral part of this was arriving at the understanding of the difference
between being a consumer and a producer.
As Rebecca Williams the editor of Bounce, a magazine for family fitness, commented:
I learnt that to make a good magazine, you can aim it at people like yourself, but to make a great magazine,
you need to separate yourself from the equation and write for others.
The link between an academic project and successful learning was summed up by the editor of
cultural travellers’ magazine Monument, who spoke of his “pride that it is the realisation of not
just three months’ work but of a whole year’s education.
Industry comment
This innovation was expanded for the cohort of 2007/08 courtesy of the Periodicals Training Council who
invited volunteers from the industry. So the students of 2008/09 had their magazines marked by editors from
the BBC, Today’s Golfer, Reed Business Information, Archant, Future Publishing, Business Insider and Peter
Baistow, (a guest speaker and the retired associate design director of The Sunday Times and colleague of
the legendary Harold Evans). Students can hardly better learning from and referring to a critique of their
work from such sources when they apply for employment within the same industry.
11
Peter Baistow enjoyed “being in touch with the next generation of journalists and seeing what they are
about”. He felt the benefit of industry second markers brought “a degree of reality to a project that must
not be trapped in its own vacuum”. Andrew Calton, editor of Today’s Golfer, said that it helped him to
understand students’ creativity:
It was good to see the creativity across such a wide range of disciplines from a student. It
showed how young writers are encouraged to think about the entire process – from the initial
idea, to the structure of the piece, the pictures and ultimately the writing. It showed how well
the whole process is being taught and understood. How students can visualise an idea – and I
think that’s really important and will help them massively when they get a job in media.
There may be immediate practical benefits too. Roger Borrell, editor of Lancashire Life, said in a different
economic climate he would have taken his findings further. “There was at least one piece of work which,
had the economy been different, I would have tried to develop into a section for one of our magazines using
the skills of the student involved.”
Conclusion
The latest PTC Original Magazine Concept in October 2009 was awarded to Wild, a children’s wildlife
magazine, which also pioneered the first professional publication of a student’s MA coursework project by
Dennis Publishing as an insert for The Week magazine. Wild’s author Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, who
started her first job in September 2009 as editorial assistant on Paper Craft magazine as soon as she had
finished the course says, “I loved creating my own magazine, it was a lot of hard work, but the feeling of
achievement and success when I handed it in and saw the finished product was unbelievable.”
There is material here for further analysis which is limited within the confines of this current platform:
exploring the elements of “deep” and “surface” learning within the tutorial process and meeting the
challenges of maintaining clear criteria and open lines of communication with a rapidly changing industry
will mean continuing refinements to the Masters. The insights gained may also be found to transfer across
to other subject area projects which call upon similar drivers of subjective creativity within an objective
context. Fashion design, for example, where an original design which meets customers’ desires could create
a new collection, even a trend.
The Masters magazine project is based on best practice in learning and seeking to meet the challenges of
assessing creativity in a way that meets pedagogical goals in tandem with graduate and industry needs. In
terms of employability, it is an excellent method of promoting the students’ interests and of introducing
industry to an understanding of students’ creativity. There are new magazine markets and audiences
developing all the time and students are at the cutting edge, both as customers and as the source of ideas.
The learning drivers to produce work to a professional level showcase their ideas and skills to potential
employers. Editors and publishers might wish for a first bite of what they have found and the students have
demonstrated that they are knowledgeable about their documented achievements and “able to present
them to putative employers in an appropriate manner”. (Knight and Yorke 2003: 13).
References
Brown, S. and Glasner, A. (2003). Assessment Matters in Higher Education: Choosing and Using Diverse
Approaches. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Johnson, S. and Prijatel, P. (1999). The Magazine From Cover to Cover. Lincolnwood: NTC Publishing Group.
Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2003). Assessment, learning and employability. Buckingham: Open University
Press.
Race, P. (2007). The Lecturer’s Tool Kit. Third edition. London and New York: Routledge
Sadler, D, R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems, Instructional Science,
18, 2, 119-144
The Pedagogy for Employability Group (2006). Pedagogy for employability, learning and employability
Series 1. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/tla/employability/
id383_pedagogy_for_employability_357.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2009].
12
ENABLING PEDAGOGIC RESEARCH: THE IMPACT OF A MASTERS IN EDUCATION (MED
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN EDUCATION) ON THE PRACTICE OF ACADEMICS
RUTH PILKINGTON, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Abstract
Using the model of action research explored by McNiff and Whitehead (2009), this article
investigates its application within the MEd (Professional Practice in Education) programme at
the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). The paper suggests that not only does the
programme develop skills of educational research for academics on the award, it also
supports them in developing as scholarly professionals. Using abstracts and comments from
participants on the course, the article discusses the ethical and methodological choices they
make during the process of completing their Master’s pedagogic research projects. Finally, the
paper highlights the evidence of impact, showing how such formal environments contribute
positively to academics’ profiles as educational researchers and as practitioners, and, more
importantly, contribute to the learning experience of their students. It raises again the
challenge for pedagogic research to demonstrate direct quantifiable impact upon student
learning but adds to a growing body of evidence that this is nonetheless happening.
Introduction
Stenhouse (1983) wrote of research (McNiff and Whitehead, 2009,11) that it was systematic enquiry made
public. McNiff and Whitehead (2009) apply this to educational action research commenting that action
research is systematic enquiry undertaken to improve a social situation and then made public. They situate
action firmly within improvement of educational practice; research involves a systematic process of enquiry
using formal methods of data collection purposefully applied; on the basis of this, practitioner-researchers
attempt to explain the why and how of practice, to theorise in other words; and finally, through sharing of
findings through journals, papers and presentations, communities of peers engage in critical review of their
research and it becomes part of a practitioner ‘body of knowledge’ about practice for both the individual
practitioners and their peers. This definition sets the framework for the following reflection on how it applies
more broadly to pedagogic research. The article explores particularly how this definition might be
understood and applied within a Master’s programme resulting in genuine impact upon practice and benefit
for practitioners and students alike.
What is also important about research within the reworked definition by McNiff and Whitehead (ibid) is the
social, educational, application of it, and the consequent, necessary, associated ethical and professional
consideration of that research: research within a moral framework that must involve reflection and
judgement on the part of the researcher. These are characteristics that reflect action research for McNiff and
moreover they are, I maintain, fundamental to any pedagogic research which is undertaken to benefit and
explore educational practice.
This short article uses an examination of research projects undertaken by academic staff at UCLan for the
award of Masters in Education to illustrate that pedagogic research can have a real impact upon practice
and that it is indeed appropriate, significant and meaningful research in terms of the above definition.
Participants used in this article have given permission to use their Master’s research projects as examples on
which to base this reflection, and they have in almost every case been able to offer statements substantiating
how their localised practitioner research has added to a research informed professional body of knowledge
through papers, conference presentations, and further application to practice.
A Training Platform for Educational Inquiry?
The MEd (Professional Practice in Education) is a Master’s programme designed to encourage and support
academic staff in acquiring skills and confidence in the process of systematic educational enquiry and, as a
result, to contribute to the development of a professional body of practitioner knowledge for teaching and
learning in their subjects (Ponte in Campbell & Groundwater-Smith, 2009). Since its validation in 2006, thirty
UCLan staff have completed elements (modules) from the award to develop aspects of their practice.
There are currently sixteen members of staff on the MEd completing Master’s projects. In contrast to usual
Master’s project experience, MEd projects are not undertaken solely using one-to-one supervision. The MEd
13
requires participants to participate in Learning Sets and workshops throughout their project year so as to
engage in a process of reflexive critique and collaborative review of ‘Work-in-Progress’. This ensures project
processes and educational purposes are constantly re-examined in a social context with active membership
of a Community of Practitioners (Wenger, 1998).
Projects have investigated a wide range of issues and challenges for practitioners. Characteristically they share
a strong focus on individuals’ discipline and localised concerns for their students, or their teaching practice.
Examples of project work to date include: how students inform their career plans; the role of the facilitator in
problem-based learning (PBL); transferability of skills training to clinical settings; students’ perceptions around
formative feedback. Projects have also involved research into perceptions by staff of diversity, and an
investigation into how the practitioner herself can support colleagues’ learning in clinical settings.
The next section of the paper presents examples of practitioner research undertaken as part of the MEd and
discussed research issues raised by projects: the choice of methodology, ethics, impact of the research and
practice development.
MEd Practitioner Research: making choices about methods
Educational research is often associated with qualitative research methodologies and whilst this trend
certainly has predominated within the projects so far, this is not always the case. The methods used by
Master’s projects have included quantitative data collection using surveys, for example, with, in one case,
the positivist approach of the home discipline culture exerting particular influence in this decision. In terms
of exploring practice, surveys can generate valuable data on trends, broader perceptions and attitudes, and
hence raise questions and issues for more detailed exploration around our practice (Thomas, 2009). Semistructured interviews are also a frequently chosen method for data gathering within projects, not only
because they allow a qualitative and detailed exploration of views and perceptions, but also because the
structure makes them manageable for relatively short intensive research projects (MEd projects normally
complete over a calendar year). The data that can be gathered through this method often complements
survey activity, or literature review, triangulation inevitably being a concern for those undertaking projects.
This association of methods is valuable for generating multiple viewpoints which typify educational research
using case study, and with a local focus of interest. Furthermore, interviewing is attractive to the practitionerresearcher in that it provides an important means of making the student voice heard, and exposing
perspective to critical interrogation. Less usual methods of research have included appreciative inquiry
(Cooperrider & Srivasta, 1987), adopted to avoid ethical challenges of power and influence, or the use of
the Delphi technique (Thangaratinam & Redman, 2005), again drawing upon the home subject discipline
as a resource. An important characteristic of all the Master’s pedagogic research projects are that they reflect
the influence and, of course, teaching and learning concerns of the home subject, as well as taking an
educational research stance.
The section below gives examples illustrating how some projects reported the methods of their research:
w
Data collected from five semi-structured interviews was analysed using a grounded theory approach.
The study replicated previous findings, e.g....
w
Using appreciative inquiry and two nominal groups staff on a XX Unit were asked for their perceptions
of the benefits to their personal and professional development of working with a lecturer practitioner.
w
From the literature there appears to be some debate on what facilitation is [in the PBL context] and
who should undertake the role or what the skills are required in order to perform the role effectively..
Seven lecturers .. who act as PBL facilitator were interviewed.
w
Participants completed a postal questionnaire
w
Case study methodology underpinned this project design (Yin, 2003); a questionnaire survey (n=30)
and semi-structured interviews from a purposive sample of four students were used as data collection
methods for this qualitative study.
The Challenge of Ethics when Researching Practice
Ethics created challenges for many of the projects and this is increasingly a concern within HE teaching and
learning research as is evident in the recent plethora of books addressing this issue for the sector
(Macfarlane, 2004; Cousin, 2009; Norton, 2009). At UCLan, outcomes of the RAE and the raised profile of
14
research, restructuring into Schools and the reduction in the role of the Faculty as co-ordinator of ethics,
have meant Schools assuming management of ethics for its staff and students’ research at a local level.
Within the MEd award ethical processes and concerns created tensions between the need to research one’s
practice appropriately and flexibly and local (department/school) ethical requirements. As Macfarlane
suggests in his book ‘Teaching with Integrity’ (2004), we have a duty of care to learners. At the same time,
as researching or inquiring practitioners, HE academics need to develop a professional knowledge base and
to be flexible and able to research what and how they teach. The professional standards framework (UK
PSF) makes this a professional responsibility (UK PSF, February 2006). For this reason it is important that
ethical processes are in place to enable practitioners to research the experience and perspective of their
learners. In the projects, reflection and the interrogation of process, researcher bias, power and influence are
assessed components. This ensures attention is paid to rigour and professional accountability. The narrative
of pedagogic research is one in which the researcher articulates and engages with the tensions and
challenges of researching those (s)he also serves.
Outcomes from reflecting on participants’ projects suggest that this is rightly a deep concern. The following
quotes – again from abstracts - indicate that participants were aware of the tension around ethics, and that
they responded to it appropriately as researchers and as professionals. The projects are motivated by
professional concerns for learning and the student experience; the findings invariably influenced
participants’ practice positively and contributed to the learners’ benefit.
w
The implications of these findings are discussed and a number of possible interventions (including the
ethical issues they raise) are suggested.
w
The challenge is engaging policy into daily practice whereby both staff and students feel confident
about parity within the environments in which they work.
w
The particular uniqueness of this project has been its student centred approach which highlighted
some issues that had not been previously considered.
w
Findings suggest that participants generally felt less secure about using PBL compared to traditional
teaching methods.
Support and engagement with ethical process also came from co-participants on the programme, through
critical review. This exposure of projects to critical review begins at the level of the project cohort as
participants share and explore ‘Work-in-Progress’ as part of learning sets within the MEd researcher
community, and often extends beyond the MEd to discipline and sector level. In this way, participants were
(are) able to influence the development of pedagogy and practice at a number of levels.
The Impact of Project Research
Wider critical review for most projects involves formal presentations to the cohort, in the first instance, and
subsequently to the university through departmental or school forums, or at conferences. One participant
reports presenting findings at a Nurse Educators conference, a Business Management and Accounting
conference and to the internal School Research Interest Group, spanning two years of refinement of their
project and the data acquired. Another produced a journal article to the Journal ‘Psychology Learning and
Teaching’ as well as a conference paper. Every one so far has involved wider dissemination at the very least
through papers at discipline conferences. There are growing numbers of discipline conferences that have a
teaching and learning strand to them facilitating wider dissemination and review; Subject Centres offer small
grants and remuneration for articles for their e-journals and websites, and there are increasing numbers of
journals about educational practice and the learner experience.
In the words of participants, it is clear that the MEd provided an important platform for developing
participants’ skills in researching their practice. This reflection also offers evidence that through programmes
like this pedagogic research is contributing significantly to the UCLan HE experience of students, and the
development of its staff. Participants reflect in the subsequent quotes on the contribution and impact of their
research.
15
Participant A strongly emphasises the scholarly contribution of their research to practice and the community:
Scholarly activity underpinning the study has ensured that practice is research informed.
Whilst implementation of findings from the study has enhanced feedback practice
consequently improving the student learning experience. Presentation of findings at the Nurse
Educators conference (September 2009) generated academic debate which hopefully
encouraged practitioners to reflect on their practice.
The study was undertaken in a school of nursing however it could be argued that the
findings are applicable to other student groups. This argument has recently been
substantiated by acceptance for the Business Management Accounting and Finance
conference (April 2010). To maintain the inter-professional agenda a second abstract has
been submitted for the Higher Educational Academy conference (June 2010).
The school is currently reviewing assessment and feedback practice. It is hoped that
presentation at the school research interest group (May 2010) will provide the opportunity to
debate issues highlighted in the study which might then have the potential to contribute to
changes to practice.
Participant B reflects on the value of the MEd and its contribution to the student experience:
The opportunity to research and write on professional development within higher education
is rarely available. However such a chance was offered in seeking to gain the award of Master
of Education (Professional Practice in HE) with staff development support. The chosen
research dissertation topic conducted an empirical study into equality and diversity with
specific reference to the implementation of HE policy into the teaching practice of today. The
findings had a direct impact upon my own professional development, in designing curriculum
content and the implementation of increased variety in teaching, learning and assessment
strategies. A clearer recognition of the student experience and the implications of
contemporary society informed not only what I did, but how I did it. I feel fortunate to have
achieved such an insight into a ‘real world’ understanding of education as it is lived by those
who invest within it daily. The overall programme provided a broader educational
understanding, that in practice reinvigorated greater innovation and creativity into the
classroom.
Participant C reflects on how researching his/her own practice highlighted wider sector concerns:
Problem Based Learning has always been of an interest to me since starting in HE and still is. I
still use this methodology within a pre-registration nursing module. However the same issues
are still evident. I have presented my dissertation as a paper at the Nurse Education Today
(NET) conference in September 2009. By doing this, it highlighted that the many issues I
worked through seem to be common place within many HEIs and it really seems that people
just get on with it and do the best they can.
Finally, Participant D considers the significant contribution made by the project to his/her teaching and
learning practice:
This MEd project provided an opportunity to explore the services available to students and the
extent to which students are aware of and engage with these services. This understanding
has shaped the manner in which I discuss these issues with students and encouraged greater
promotion of these facilities.
An oral presentation based on this work was presented at the Psychology of Education
Section Conference, British Psychological Society in October.
16
Conclusions
Evidently the research prompted by these practitioner-led Master’s projects impacts on many levels. In
returning to McNiff and Whitehead (2009), the quotes reinforce the view that educational research into our
own teaching and learning practice,
w
can inform our understanding of how students learn, the impact of our work and how we can
enhance teaching activity;
w
that such systematic inquiry into our own practice allows us to theorise our practice and transform it
on the basis of rigorous investigation and reflection; and
w
that it can subsequently inform the wider understanding of practice for the organisation, our peers
and the educational communities to which we belong.
The experience of these participants highlights the personal and professional value of their research projects.
This appears to confirm both the initial parameters about research as applied to the MEd, but it also suggests
that the MEd is an important platform for pedagogic research training and activity, and for supporting and
enhancing the student experience through research and professional inquiry. For academics whose primary
concern is often about teaching and learning with respect to the subject, and the engagement of students
in a motivating and transformative learning experience, the MEd is able to provide an invaluable and
impactful proving ground for educational researchers wishing to develop their practice, contributing to the
development of a Community of ‘Scholarly Professionals’ for HE (Gregory, 1995, cited Doncaster and
Thorne, 2000, 392). It confirms that the professional orientation of such programmes has a significant role
to play in building a body of practitioner knowledge, and supporting the growing numbers of ‘Scholarly
Professionals’.
One of the challenges for those researching practice and pedagogy, is the difficulty of providing quantifiable,
tangible evidence of impact within a field that explores the subjective nature of human learning. However,
the paper and evidence here does add to a growing body of evidence on this issue. Within the context of
pedagogic research, however, this paper is only able to discuss the impact of formal study. A valuable area
for further inquiry would be to evaluate the extent to which less formal environments such as the Pedagogic
Research Forum (PRF) at UCLan can contribute equivalent impact, support and community. The findings in
this paper might also prompt readers of this journal to consider priorities in this direction, for example,
w
the extent to which as members of the PRF they feel comfortable and able to generate similar
outcomes,
w
the extent to which they use educational research as a tool to develop practice,
w
and the extent to which they are engaging with communities of practice to benefit their own
pedagogic research.
References
Campbell, A. & Groundwater-Smith, S. (Eds) (2009). Connecting Inquiry and Professional Learning in
Education International Perspectives and Practical Solutions. London and New York: Routledge.
Cooperrider, D,L. & Srivasta, S. (1987). ‘Appreciative Inquiry in organisational life’, Research in
Organisational Change & Development, 1, 129-169.
Cousin, G. (2009). Researching Learning in HE: an introduction to contemporary methods and
approaches. London and New York: Routledge.
Doncaster, K. & Thorne, L. (2000). Reflection and Planning: essential elements of professional doctorates’
Reflective Practice, 1, 3, 391-399.
Macfarlane, B. (2009). Researching with Integrity: The Ethics of Academic Research. London and New
York: Routledge.
McNiff, J. & Whitehead, J. (2009) Doing and Writing Action Research. London: Sage.
Norton, L. (2009). Action Research in Teaching and Learning. London and New York: Routledge.
17
Thangaratinam, S. & Redman, C. (2005). ‘The Delphi technique’, The Obstetrician & Gynacologoist 7,
120-125.
Thomas, G. (2009). How to do your Research Project. London: Sage.
The UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education.
(2006). http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/rewardandrecog/
ProfessionalStandardsFramework.pdf [Accessed June, 2010].
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Yin, R.K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Third Edition. London: Sage
18
METHODS ADOPTED IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS IN INDIA
KAJAL PATEL AND DANIEL WALLER, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Abstract
This article presents a study investigating the teaching methods adopted in teaching English
language to young learners in India. The findings suggest that teachers are limited in the
choice of methods being adopted in class due to a range of constraints which exist within
classrooms. However, teachers are using what Prabhu (1990) refers to as their ‘sense of
plausibility’ to determine what works well for young learners and are relatively involved in a
principled eclectic approach to teaching, using various methods that exist within the field of
English language teaching. Teachers recognise that methods and approaches adopted should
create a supportive learning environment and reflect the students’ needs and requirements in
order to lead to successful language learning.
Introduction and terminology
English has become a core subject at all educational levels in India and increasing numbers of students are
learning the language due to the recognition that knowledge of English is a passport to a better career,
advanced knowledge, and communication with the world at large (Thirumalai, 2002). As a result, parents
are more interested in placing their child into an English-medium school, (a school where subjects are taught
in the English language, rather than in a local language school.)
The field of English language teaching is to some extent continually innovating and re-examining existing
methods. In the past 50 years alone, English language teaching has gone through a whirlwind of transitions
in its methodology (Pica, 2000). There has also been increasing recognition that students have different ways
of learning, and that many different learning and teaching methods can be effective (Baker and Westrup,
2000). With regards to the teaching of young learners, a number of methods have been observed in
language classrooms. The grammar-translation method had, and probably retains, fairly widespread use
around the world in that it treats language as an academic object of study. As has already been identified,
the direct method also enjoys widespread use but so do methods such as the Total Physical Response
method which Harmer (2001) identifies as being frequently employed with young learners, particularly at
beginner levels. Ur (1991) points out that young learners tend to be highly motivated, so it is not so much
the method that engages them as the actual tasks and activities, which is why discussions around teaching
young learners often focus more on the use of visual and aural stimuli and the use of stories and games as
being of major importance. With regard to the teaching of English in India, Thirumalai (2002) identified that
the traditional approach to English teaching in India is recognised as teacher-centred and textbook driven,
with a lack of interaction between teachers and students. This study, through the use of classroom
observations and semi-structured interviews carried out in India with a range of English language teachers,
examines the methods that they have adopted and their rationales for the use of these methods.
The terminology used to discuss the areas under discussion in this article can vary from writer to writer so
for the purposes of this article, method is defined following Richards and Rodgers (2001, p.20) in that a
method determines ‘objectives, syllabus and content...’ and specifies ‘roles of teachers, learners and
instructional materials’, while the implementation of these is, following the same model, ‘procedure’. An
approach, is defined as the ‘theories about the nature of language and language learning that serve as the
source of practices and principles in language teaching’. As such, an approach may incorporate several
methods without losing coherence as long as they remain in line with the underlying principles of language
and learning. Finally, at the classroom level there are techniques and tools which are the activities and
resources used in teaching.
Teachers’ views of teaching methods
Teachers have differing views of teaching and methods with most teachers using methods which correlate
with their style of teaching and are supported by their preferred teaching tools and techniques. Teaching
methods have a hidden agenda associated with them, in that all teachers carry a set of beliefs about learning
and teaching, and in most cases this determines the method adopted. Sowden (2007, p.308) points out
that ‘the qualities in a teacher are key to overall success in the classroom, although concern with the latest
techniques and methods has tended to obscure this fact’. This highlights that it is the competence of the
19
teacher in being able to adopt appropriate methods which converge with the learner’s learning requirements
that lie at the heart of successful teaching. This choice also depends a great deal on the context (Tann, 1994).
Bax (2003) also places emphasis on the teaching and learning environment and proposes that teachers need
to understand their local contexts, and ensure situations are compatible with learners’ backgrounds, beliefs,
and expectations. Therefore, it should be noted that while choice of method is important, it is just one factor
in successful language learning.
It has long been acknowledged that teachers tend not to employ only one particular method of teaching,
but utilise a number of methods, extracting what the teacher considers to be the most suitable features to
cater for the needs of their learners. The rationale behind what is termed ‘principled eclecticism’ was
explored by Prabhu (1990) who argues that teachers use their sense of ‘plausibility’ in order to select the
methods that they wish to employ based on their experiences and their awareness of the teaching situation
and the wider context. Such decisions may not actually be articulated, but are part of an experienced
teacher’s ‘unconscious competency’ (Hawari cited by Mann, 2000).
Prior to carrying out this current study, the researcher identified a range of methods that have been reported
as being used for teaching English in India. Traditionally, the Grammar Translation Method was in vogue but
was abandoned due to ignoring work on phonetics, pronunciation and fluency in speech (Patel, 1958).
Grammar Translation gave way to what was known as the Structural Approach, which shares many of the
principles and techniques of the Direct Method. In the 1980s, the Procedural Approach was introduced into
schools across the South of India. The basic assumption underlying the approach is that ‘form is best learnt
when the learners’ attention is on meaning’ (Prabhu 1982, cited in Brumfit, 1984, p.234). Thus, the primary
emphasis is on comprehension. Brumfit (1984) identified that the approach assumes minimal use of
technology with teachers relying on the blackboard and chalk. Indeed, Chalk and Talk itself has been
identified as a method and continues to be a widespread method of teaching languages throughout the
world (Thirumalai, 2002). Chalk and Talk is used widely in third world countries like India, where children
rely on teachers to conduct talk with the use of blackboard drawings to build up a complete situation.
However, Chalk and Talk has little claim to method status as it lacks many features such as an implied
teaching process, roles of teachers and learners or theory of language acquisition (Richards and Rodgers,
2001; Larsen-Freeman, 1986) and is probably best labelled as a tool or resource. Nevertheless, many teachers
identify Chalk and Talk as being a method.
Instruments & Participants
A qualitative approach was necessary in order to obtain detailed descriptions of teaching methods adopted
in teaching English to young learners in India and to explore with practicing teachers their rationale for their
use. Semi-structured interviews were used alongside classroom observations. Classroom observations were
necessary in order to cross-reference what Borg (2001) describes as ‘beliefs-in-action’ with ‘espoused
beliefs’, that is to examine whether what teachers say happens in the classroom is what they actually do.
Less structured data-collection methods were favoured so that the resulting data had a greater richness of
context. Data was retrieved from four schools in Mumbai (North West India); two in the suburban areas and
two in the city. A total of six primary and secondary school teachers of English were interviewed and
observed. All of the participating teachers were of Indian nationality and had completed a two-year teaching
course making them fully qualified to teach English as a foreign language. They were aged 30-48 years old,
and had taught from a minimum of 6 years to a maximum of 25. The teachers observed and interviewed
were predominantly female, due to the researcher visiting two convent schools. Only one male teacher was
observed and interviewed due to limited availability. Additionally, nine classroom observations were
conducted to view teachers’ practices. The classes observed were of mixed gender and ranged from 5 to 16
year olds. The students were from lower-middle-class, middle-class and higher-middle-class communities.
Consent for the research was gained from the head professors at all four schools. The procedures of the
research study were explained and assurance provided that data collected would remain confidential.
Interviews took between 20 minutes to an hour to complete and were held in English, so no translation was
required. All the teachers were interviewed individually using the semi-structured format. This allowed the
interview to develop naturally, avoiding rigidity and meant that issues raised could be explored in more
depth. Observations were conducted during a 30 minute taught lesson. The researcher’s observations were
recorded through class notes and interviews were audio-taped. In reporting the study, the participants were
given pseudonyms.
20
Major findings
Methods and approaches used in terms of teaching young learners
The research confirmed that there are numerous methods being adopted across the schools sampled in
India; with different schools advocating different methods in terms of teaching the English language to
young learners. Teachers are also using other methods in class for which they have received training.
Teachers identified the Narrative Method, Chalk and Talk and the Unit Test Method as the most widely used
methods. The Narrative Method lays emphasis on the use of stories to teach English, and as one teacher
pointed out, children enjoy learning through stories. This is supported by Ur (1991) who identifies the use
of stories as a key way of engaging young learners. Each teacher was observed using Chalk and Talk in class
and one teacher stated that she relied heavily on the traditional Chalk and Talk as her main teaching method.
She felt that her students learnt well from illustrations displayed on the blackboard and teacher-explanations
using what she termed ‘real’ and relevant examples to support the students’ learning.
However, what was termed the ‘Unit Test Method’ proved to be the most popular amongst teachers, due
to the great emphasis placed on tests. Teachers often taught out of a textbook, with the textbook itself being
the main teaching resource. Teachers adhered to it in order to cover the content in each unit. While the
textbooks did not overtly endorse any single method, they did promote a focus on developing all fourlanguage skills as well as grammar, vocabulary, and a strong emphasis on communication skills. The
textbooks gave systematic instructions for teachers to follow, with a 3-stage approach to teaching reading
and listening. The textbooks also encourage teachers to engage students in pair/group work activity,
however, these activities were frequently omitted by the teachers in favour of working with the class as a
whole. One teacher stated that conducting pair/group work was difficult to organise and supervise, as the
class became uncontrollable. Nonetheless, four of the six teachers interviewed were actually in favour of
group work, but unable to carry it out due to time constraints, large class sizes and excessive syllabus
objectives which had to be covered in the given timeframe.
Three of the least used ‘methods’ were the Context Approach, ETC (Education Through Computers)
Approach and the Phonetics Method. With the first of these, the Context Approach teachers appear to
share the same belief as Barkhuizen (2008) that teachers teach best and learners learn best in situations that
are compatible with their backgrounds, beliefs, and expectations. Despite the teachers’ interest of teaching
in context, it was not always possible to do so, due to the emphasis placed on covering all the content within
the syllabus in the allocated time.
The ETC Approach utilises an LCD (Laser Crystal Display) to present the language to the class. Observations
demonstrated teachers used the LCD to illustrate visuals to the class, and as one teacher identified, it was
extremely effective and saved the time of having to write everything on the blackboard. This was used at a
school where children came from higher-middle class families, where consequently the fees were higher
than at an average school allowing the institution to invest in more advanced technology.
The Phonetic Method, where the emphasis was on oral expression as the basis of instruction, was the least
popular with teachers. However, one teacher stated that grammatical rule giving should be avoided and the
focus should be on enhancing children’s pronunciation in English. However, reading, writing and speaking in
English are considered to be the most important skills to master rather than having good pronunciation skills.
The Procedural Approach as mentioned in the literature is employed by teachers in India, but its use was not
explicitly referred to by the teachers in the study. The primary attention during teaching was on
comprehension; teachers engaged a great deal in concept checking to ensure students comprehended the
messages being conveyed to them. Moreover, as suggested by Brumfit (1984), teachers were making
minimal use of technology and used the blackboard & chalk to teach English to young learners. Generally,
it was quite evident that teachers were practicing principled eclecticism. Teachers were combining various
features from different methods unconsciously, namely, the Direct Method and the Audio-lingual Method.
However, these methods were not explicitly referred to by the teachers in the interviews.
The majority of teachers had a good understanding of their class and utilised their personal
conceptualisation of what seemed to work well and least well with children, and how their teaching
supported children’s learning. The belief was that the majority of children learnt English well when
explanations were provided, accompanied by the use of authentic and relevant examples; with visual aids
21
playing a key tool towards effective language learning. Teachers believed that excessive amounts of teachertalk and limited interaction are detrimental to the children’s language learning. Teachers are encouraged by
their institutions to continuously promote interaction in class and believe that using interactive activities,
encouraging children to converse in class and being well-versed in the language with sufficient linguistic
knowledge, all played an essential role in children performing well in English.
Views held about teaching methods
The teachers in the study are content with the teaching methods adopted to teach English in class, however,
they stated that they would appreciate greater freedom of choice in the content being taught to students.
Teachers felt they were limited in their choice of teaching methods due to various constraints (class size,
lesson time, unit tests and limited availability of resources) that exist within classrooms, which did not allow
certain methods to be carried out effectively. The majority felt the need to remove the frequent tests that
appeared throughout the academic year; with the intention that other activities can be conducted, such as,
promoting students to listen and observe the target language in operation with some form of media
equipment installed into the classrooms. A great interest has been shown in increasing use of technology
within classrooms in the coming future. Nonetheless, some teachers would welcome the return of more
traditional methods to teaching on a national level, such as the Structural Approach (currently removed from
educational institutions due to a lack of interactive activities), due to a perception that it proved to be
effective whilst the teachers themselves were learning English as learners.
Pedagogical implications and discussion
The findings of the present study indicate four areas for discussion regarding methodology and teaching:
1. The equating of methods with activities
2. Textbook as instigator of method
3. The washback of tests on the classroom
4. Different methods and approaches for different students
The equating of methods with procedures, techniques and tools
The findings indicate that teachers often fail to separate a method from an activity. Chalk and Talk, Unit Test
and ETC are referred to as methods, but they appear to be more of a procedure, technique or a tool, lacking
an over-arching theory behind the teaching. Anthony (1963, cited in Richards and Rodgers, 2001), suggests
that a method is procedural whereas the Chalk and Talk is a resource rather than with an implied or fixed
procedure. Likewise, ETC did not emerge to have the quality that would make it a method; it appears
teachers are stretching it into a method in the belief that it implies a logical structure in teaching the
language. The Unit Test Method also appears to fail to meet the requirements of a method; it is merely a
teacher following the textbook. It can be seen that perhaps other methods are being used alongside these
activities, but it is not explicitly stated as to what those methods may be.
Textbook as instigator of method
Thirumalai (2002) asserts that the approach to English teaching in India has often been primarily textbook
driven. Consequently, the findings from the present study suggest that the current education situation in
Mumbai continues to remain textbook driven. The teachers in the study consider following a textbook to be
a method of teaching so the methods implied by the textbook becomes, to some extent, the method of the
class. Having analysed the results obtained from the research, it seems apparent that the textbook shares
similarities to the PPP (Presentation, Practice and Production) procedure, which denotes that the Unit Test
Method may well be more of a lesson framework than a method.
The washback of tests on the classroom
A question that arises is why do teachers adopt methods advocated by their individual schools rather than
opt for their own teaching method? Findings identified that there was a great emphasis placed on tests,
which occurred frequently between lessons. Teachers felt that these tests limited their choice in methods,
one teacher stated that these tests do not allow teachers to do what they think they ought to be doing in
the classroom and as a result they could not adopt certain methods of teaching. This could either suggest
22
that schools might consider striking a balance between assessments; moving away from repeated testing to
larger-scale summative tests delivered at the end of the year or that teachers might review which objectives
should be prioritised.
Different methods and approaches for different students
There is a lack of consistency in young learner’s education in India; with different schools adopting different
methods to teaching. Children from schools in the suburban areas of Mumbai are disadvantaged from the
opportunity of learning English via technology such as ETC; they may not experience exposure to the
language in different forms or obtain the full benefits of learning the language. The potential implications
of such different approaches on young learner’s education is that it can result in breaking the child’s
sequence of language learning and cause an impediment in enabling the child to reach their highest
potential. This is supported by Broughton et al (1978) that young learners learn well by unbroken sequence
of teaching English. During this study, the researcher observed that children at schools in the city of Mumbai
were educated to a much higher standard, with greater knowledge of the language and better
pronunciation skills compared to children in schools in the suburban area of Mumbai. It can be suggested
that the state governments across the country could work together to deal with this problem. If government
support was readily available, then schools could invest more in technology and utilise numerous methods
and approaches to teaching English.
Conclusion
The educational context in India is heavily encircled by the exam-orientated atmosphere. Students are put
through numerous tests and have no choice, since most of these tests are compulsory. The emphasis placed
on tests signifies that teachers will adopt such methods and approaches that will allow them to prepare
students sufficiently to the level required by the school. Teachers adopt methods that are learner-centred and
emphasise the role of the learner as an active participant but tend towards using methods advocated by
their individual schools and are inclined to rely on a textbook.
Teacher’s interest in methods is limited; with a far greater interest being in techniques and tools within
classrooms. Nonetheless, teachers in India are engaged in principled eclecticism; unconsciously using various
features from existing teaching methods; with methods varying from teacher to teacher and from institution
to institution. The methods being adopted are considered appropriate for young learners; however, due to
the excessive content in the syllabus, it is believed that justice is not given to the language. Those teachers
interviewed also voiced a desire for a single national syllabus to ensure that there is consistency and
continuity in a young learner’s education. The view was expressed that a child should be able to move from
place to place and continue with their English language education at the same level, irrespective of whether
they come from a rich background or a poor one. If this small-scale piece of research is accurate and
Thirumalai’s (2002) observation that text books exert considerable influence over classroom practice in India,
then the creation of such a syllabus upon which the text books could be based would seem a logical step.
However, it would almost certainly necessitate the re-examination the types of methods implied by the
syllabus and further investigation of teacher practices and beliefs with regard to methods.
References
Baker, J. and Westrup, H. (2000). The English Language Teacher's Handbook: how to teach large classes
with few resources. London: Voluntary Service Overseas.
Barkhuizen, G. (2008). ‘A narrative approach to exploring context in language teaching’. ELT Journal,
Volume 62, 3, 231-239.
Bax, S. (2003). ‘The end of CLT: a context approach to language teaching’. ELT Journal, 57, 3, 278-287.
Borg, M. (2001). ‘Teachers’ beliefs’ ELT Journal, 55, 2, 186-188.
Broughton, G. et al. (1978). Teaching English as a Foreign Language. London and New York: Routledge.
Brumfit, C. (1984). ‘The Bangalore Procedural Syllabus’. ELT Journal, Volume 38, 4, 233-241.
Harmer, J., (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman.
23
Larsen-Freeman, D. (eds) (1986). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Mann, S., (2000). ‘Methodology Module’ of Aston University MSc in English for Specific Purposes
Teaching Materials, Birmingham: Aston University.
Patel, M. S. (1958). ‘Teaching English in India (Baroda University)’. ELT Journal, 12, 3, 79-86.
Pica, T. (2000). ‘Tradition and translation in English language teaching methodology’. System, 28, 1-18.
[Online] Available at: www.elsevier.com/locate/system [Accessed: 2 July 2009].
Prabhu, N. S. (1990). ‘There is No Best Method – Why?’ TESOL Quarterly 24, 2, 161- 176.
Richards, J. C. and Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Second Edition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sowden, C. (2007). ‘Culture and the ‘good teacher’ in the English Language classroom’. ELT Journal, 61,
4, 304-10.
Tann, S. (1991). Developing Language in the Primary Classroom. London: Cassell.
Thirumalai, M. S. and Mallikarjun, B. (2002). ‘An Introduction to TESOL’, Language in India. 2, April.
[Online] Available at: http://www.languageinindia.com/april2002/tesolbook.html [Accessed: 2 August
2009].
Ur, P. (1990). A Course in Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Appendix: Interview Questions
INTERVIEW
This interview is aimed at finding out teachers' choice of methods in order to teach English to children,
and to identify methods that are overlooked. The information provided will be of great value and help to
my research.
Name of Teacher:
Number of students in the class:
Age of students:
Section 1: about the class and teacher
1) Which grade(s) do you teach?
2) On average, how many English lessons does each class have per week?
3) How long do the lessons last?
4) On average, how many students are there in a class?
5) How is the furniture arranged in the classroom?
6) What textbooks do you use in your class (if any)?
7) How do you think children best learn a language?
Section 2: methodology
1) What teaching methods and/or approaches does your School advocate using?
What do you consider to be the strengths and weaknesses?
2) What teaching methods and/or approaches do the textbooks promote?
3) What teaching methods have been replaced and why?
4) What teaching methods and/or approaches do you usually use in your teaching? Why?
24
5) What approach (s) do you believe work well with children?
6) What approach (s) do you believe work least well with children?
7) What is the nature of student-teacher interaction in the classroom?
8) Do children have the opportunity to determine what they learn in class?
9) Do you give your instructions in the L1 or a combination of L1 and L2?
Section 3: young learners and the language
1) How far do the children enjoy learning the English language?
2) What motivates the children to learn the language?
3) What learning strategies do you think the children employ?
4) How are the feelings of the children dealt with?
5) How do you deal with children with different levels of ability?
6) How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?
7) What areas of language skills are emphasised?
8) How do you measure children’s performance?
Section 4: suggestions
1) What would you change about the current way of how English is taught in your own lesson? at a
national level? and in textbooks in your school?
2) What teaching methods and/or approaches would you like to see being implemented in the classroom
in the coming future?
3) What aspects do you like about the teaching of English language in your School? And which aspects do
you least like?
25
26
TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG? USING BLOGS IN ASSESSMENT
RUTH A. SMITH, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Abstract
‘Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World’ published in March 2009 raised some important
issues for HE practitioners: how to capitalise upon the web-based skills of students in
teaching and assessment. Recognising the valuable employability skills derived from confident
IT usage, this paper outlines the initial stages of an investigation into the use of blogs or weblogs to replace reflective notebooks in a free choice elective designed to develop
entrepreneurial skills in creative students. Specifically, the research will consider how students
go about starting their blogs; what they blog about and whether there is any resistance to
using blogs in learning. The study which takes a mixed-methods approach is in the initial
stages of data collection and analysis.
Background
In March 2009 the report of an independent Committee of Inquiry into the impact on higher education of
students’ widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies was published. Web 2.0 is known as the ‘Social Web’
where software is available through the Internet that supports group interaction (Shirky, 2003). The
Committee’s report ‘Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World’ recognises the impact and potential challenges
of Social Web technologies faced by the various higher education stakeholders in the UK.
The Report highlights what many academics in higher education had already realised: students entering
higher education today exist in a digital world, where the use of Web 2.0 technologies is high and pervasive
from high school entrance upwards. As a consequence of the use of these technologies, there has been the
development of a new sense of ‘communities of interests and networks’ (ibid p.6). It seems that a majority
of young people have a clear awareness of the use of different on-line facilities (Luckin et al, 2008). Whilst
some sites are essentially personal (messaging sites such as MSN); others involve groups (e.g. Facebook) and
still more are about publishing or collaboration (e.g. Blogger.com and YouTube). These Web 2.0 technologies
have appeared and their use accepted very rapidly. Facebook (social networking) for instance appeared in
2004 with YouTube (social media) in 2005 and yet a survey of most young people will reveal both a high
level of familiarity and usage of these two sites (Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008).
The challenge for higher education is how to capitalise upon the web-based skills of their students in both
teaching and assessment, since the skills developed through the Social Web align closely to 21st century
employability skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, leadership and technology proficiency
(Grunwald Associates, 2007).
In July 2009, blogs replaced handwritten reflective notebooks as one assessment method in a free-choice
elective run by the Northern School of Design to develop entrepreneurial skills in creative students. A Blog
or weblog is ‘a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be
viewed in an HTML browser’ (Winer, 2003). Software to set up blogs is easy to use, interactive, flexible and
most such as Blogger.com, Wordpress.com are free to use, develop and maintain (Herring et al, 2004). The
blog would represent 30% of the final mark for the module.
Aim and objectives
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the success or otherwise of using blogs as a method of
assessment. Specifically, the research questions are:
w
How do students go about starting their blogs?
w
What do students blog about specifically?
w
Is there any resistance to using blogs in learning and what might be the cause of this resistance?
27
Why Blog?
Over the last few years there has been increasing interest in the potential of blogging in teaching and
learning. Since blogs ‘provide a space for students to reflect and publish their thoughts and understandings’
(Ferdig & Trammell, 2004) they are useful in helping students to think about and process learning. Vygotsky
(1978) emphasises the importance of knowledge construction and meaning making in education. Further,
Schon (1987) commented ‘reflection is a well-accepted practice for helping to integrate theory with
experience and is a key to learning’. Clyde (2005) suggests that blogging may develop these reflective skills.
Blood (2002) postulates that blogging makes people more thoughtful and articulate observers of their
world. Research by Chretien et al (2008) supports this view, whilst research by Bouldin et al (2006) suggests
that blogs not only promoted reflection but deeper learning which can be transferred to situations outside
the classroom.
Students using blogs are more actively involved in their learning (Forster and Tam, 2004), and following
feedback from tutors and fellow students work is easily developed and revised (Herring et al, 2004). This
feedback enables greater understanding of ideas and concepts and encourages meaning making (Boud,
2001). Indeed, student bloggers may form the basis of a learning community (Chuang, 2010; Holzberg,
2003) which improve motivation and enhance learning.
Blogs are not only an outlet for thoughts and feelings and a form of personal communication and expression
(Nardi et al, 2004), they encourage a sense of ownership of learning. Downes (2004) research proposes the
idea that blogs can bring learning to life. Blog postings are available to readers as soon as they are posted
(Forster and Tam, 2004), thus thoughts can be published whilst they are fresh in the student’s mind. Further,
blogs are connective, since the author can link to relevant material on websites or other blogs (ibid).
However, there may be barriers to using blogs. Students may be reticent about revealing their real feelings
since blogs are available for open access, although it is possible to restrict readership (Catalano 2005; Lenhart
and Fox, 2006). Herring et al (2004) propose that reflective blogging may be more attractive to some groups
than others, particularly young females. In their study, males preferred a more factual style of writing.
Guadagno et al (2008) concur with this view in their investigation of personality predictors of blogging,
suggesting that more creative individuals are more likely to enjoy blogging than others. Bouldin (2006)
reports that some students find blogging time-consuming and academic staff should consider how they
encourage reflection and deliver positive feedback.
Finally, Ferdig and Trammell (2004) recommend that students should be made explicitly aware of what is not
appropriate on a blog and that a set of rules for blogging etiquette should be devised with the student
group.
Study Design
The study comprises a mixed-methods approach involving a number of stages:
1. A brief questionnaire designed to uncover any barriers to using blogs;
2. Analysis of a selection of blogs to uncover particular themes;
3. In-depth interviews, designed to explore issues highlighted in the questionnaires and the emerging
themes of the blog text.
Participants
There are 80 students enrolled on the elective being researched. These are first and second year design
students from courses such as Textiles, Illustration and Graphic Design. All students will be asked to complete
the questionnaire, followed by an analysis of between 8 and 10 students’ blogs. Students contributing blogs
will also be interviewed and asked to describe their experiences of blogging, what they perceive the potential
benefits are and what if any challenges they had experienced. Students will also be asked how they felt
blogging had assisted their learning.
Participants will be made aware of the purpose of the study. All respondents will be offered the opportunity
to read the analysed, anonymous results. Consent to be interviewed will be sought and interviewees may
read their respective transcripts.
28
Data Analysis
The questionnaire is designed to identify any barriers experienced by students in setting up and maintaining
their blogs: such as access to computers, a lack of confidence in using information technologies or a
resistance to the nature of reflection itself. These data will be analysed and presented as descriptive statistics.
The blogs will be analysed using NVivo8: a software package which aids qualitative analysis of text. Themes
will be identified and subsequently explored during the interview phase of the study.
Anticipated outcomes
This research project will investigate the benefit and value of using blogs both as a learning tool to
encourage reflection and as a method of assessment. There may be a variety of reasons why participants
may not enjoy blogging, or indeed, why they found it an effective means of learning and assessment.
Further, participants may see the beneficial aspects of blogging as part of their professional practice as
designers, and subsequently set up blogs to promote their work. This would require a follow-up study to
determine what percentage of participants subsequently established blogs as design practitioners.
Stage of Project
The project is currently in the early stages of data collection, with completion of the project anticipated as
the end of June 2010.
References
Blood, R. (2002). The Weblog Handbook: practical advice on creating and maintaining your blog.
Cambridge MA: Perseus.
Bouldin, A.S., Holmes, E.R. & Fortenberry, M.L. (2006). ‘Blogging about Course Concepts: Using
technology for reflective journaling in a communication class’, American Journal of Pharmaceutical
Education 70, 4, 1-8.
Boud, D. (2001). ‘Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice’.
http://blogs.ubc.ca/csl2/files/2009/04/journalwritingreflectivepractice1.pdf [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Catalano, F. (2005). ‘Why Blog?’ T.H.E. Journal.: http://thejournal.com/Articles/2005/12/01/WhyBlog.aspx?sc_lang=en&p=1> [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Chretian, K., Goldman, E. & Faselis, C. (2008). ‘The Reflective Writing Class Blog: Using Technology to
Promote reflection and Professional Development’, Journal of General Internal Medicine 23, 12, 20662070.
Chuang, H.H. (2010). ‘Weblog-based electronic portfolios for student-teachers in Taiwan’, Educational
Technology Research & Development 58, 2, 211-227.
Clyde, L.A. (2005). ‘Educational Blogging’, Teacher Librarian 32, 3, 43-45.
Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience (2009) ‘Higher Education in a Web 2.0
World’. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/heweb20rptv1.pdf [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Downes, S. (2004). ‘Educational Blogging’, Educause Review 39, 5, 14-26.
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging
/157920 [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Ferdig, R.E. & Trammell, K.D. (2004). ‘Content Delivery in the ‘blogosphere’’, T.H.E. Journal 31, 7,:
http://thejournal.com/Articles/2004/02/10/01/Content-Delivery-in-the-Blogosphere.aspx?p=1 [Accessed 23
April 2010].
Forster, W.P., & Tam, T. (2004). ‘Weblogs and student-centred learning: Personal Experiences in MBA
Teaching’, Information Systems Education Journal 4, 15, 1-8.
Grunwald Associates, L. (2007). Creating and Connecting//Research and Guidelines on Social - and
Educational - Networking: National School Boards Association..:http://nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf
[Accessed 23 April 2010].
29
Guadagno, R.E., Okdie, B.M. & Eno, C.A. (2008). ‘Who blogs? Personality predictors of blogging’,
Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 1993-2004.
Herring, S.C., Scheidt, L.A., Bonus, S. & Wright, E. (2004). Bridging the Gap: A genre analysis of Weblogs.
In R. Sprague (Ed.) Proceedings of the 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences
(HICSS’04) – Track 4. http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/abs/proceedings/hicss/2004/2056/04/
205640101babs.htm. [Accessed 23 April 2010].
‘Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World.’ (2009)
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/heweb20rptv1.pdf. [Accessed June, 2010].
Holzberg, C. (2003). ‘Education Weblogs’, Tech & Learning. http://www.techlearning.com/article/1234.
[Accessed 23 April 2010].
Lenhart, A., & Fox, S. (2006). Bloggers. A portrait of the Internet’s new storytellers: Pew Internet &
American Life Project.: http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2006/PIP%20Bloggers%
20Report%20July%2019%202006.pdf.pdf. [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Luckin, R., Logan, K., Clark, W., Graber, R., Oliver, M. & Mee, A. (2008). ‘Learners’ use of Web 2.0
technologies in and out of school in Key Stages 3 and 4’. http://research.becta.org.uk/uploaddir/downloads/page_documents/research/web2_technologies_ks3_4.pdf [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Nardi, B., Schiano, D.J., Gumbrecht, M. & Swartz, L. (2004). ‘Why we blog’ Communications of the ACM,
47 (12), 41-46.
Schon, D.A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Towards a new design for teaching and learning
in the professions, San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Shirky, C. (2003) ‘Social Software and the politics of groups’.
http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_politics.html [Accessed 23 April 2010].
Subrahmanyam, K. & Greenfield, P.M. (2008). ‘Communicating online: Adolescent relationships and the
media’, The Future of Children; Children and Media Technology, 18, 119-146.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Winer, D. (2003). ‘What makes a Weblog a Weblog?’, Weblogs at Harvard Law.
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/whatmakesaweblogaweblog.html. [Accessed 23 April 2010].
30
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UCLan Journal of Pedagogic Research

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