research - Bradford College

R E S E A R C H
Issue 2 • Summer 2010
Bulletin
Bradford College Research Bulletin
EDITORIAL
Foreword
Welcome to the Summer issue of the Bradford College Research
Bulletin. With fundamental change taking place across
most areas of research endeavour
the picture for funding research in
Universities and Colleges is, at best,
uncertain. In this issue we look back
at the first and very successful BAR
Conference which was the vehicle
through which our TQEF (Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund)
researchers disseminated their findings. We were fortunate to attract
guest speakers and to be able to
facilitate a wider debate on a range
of important aspects of research
and practice.
It is perhaps a good opportunity
for me to express my gratitude and
thanks to all those staff who undertook and are currently involved in
research activity; your efforts are
very much appreciated and the
success of the conference is very
much down to interesting topics
and research findings that were
presented so professionally.
As we move forward to our third
year of supporting research and
scholarly activity in this format
there will be many challenges that
will need to be grappled with, most
obviously secure funding. However
one clear theme that has emerged
over the last two years of research
activity has been the very high levels of enthusiasm from researchers.
I hope that you enjoy this bulletin
and if you are inspired by what
you read and would like to explore
the opportunities for improving
the teaching, learning and assessment experience through your own
research please make contact.
’Beirne
Ronan O
Ronan O’Beirne
Editor
RESEARCH NEWS
Contents
Bradford College active in the Guild HE research group
Current Awareness - keeping up with research
The Peer Groups
BAR Conference 2009
Joolz is called to the BAR!
Nigel Ecclesfield - Policy, Research and Practice
Adam Mannis and Ian Taylor
Research Proposal Abstracts 2009/10
A day in the life of a keynote speaker
Round Britain-spreading the word on our good practice
I
n the summer of 2009 Bradford College became an associate member
of Guild HE, an inclusive body, a key advocate for institutional diversity across higher education and a champion for the high quality and
distinctive educational provision its members offer. GuildHE provides
a forum for members and their institutions to discuss and disseminate
guidance and to exchange useful practices and good ideas.GuildHE creates
a voice for its members on issues of common concern and a way to take
action on matters that affect them. It establishes a shared vision, a space
for collective endeavour and a community for mutual support.
We’d like to hear from you about...
the way your teaching and assessment strategies have been developed as a result
of your scholarly activities.
All staff are involved in scholarly activity of one form or another. Sometimes without
at first realising it, even the things we hear or see on television and in the press make
a contribution to our teaching. Turning these stimuli into ideas for teaching might
well be considered scholarly activity.
Of course, there are many more formal activities which staff undertake via the
CPD opportunities within the college, by collaborative working with colleagues and
by attendance at meetings and conferences and networking with a wide range of
groups and individuals.
We’d like to capture examples of changes which you have made, either to whole
modules or to individual sessions. We’re collecting this information to help our TDAP
reviewers gain a full understanding of the lively academic development across the
college.
Similarly we’d like to have ONE specific example of curriculum development you
have been involved in during the past two academic years. What has been your part
in the development of a course or module?
Please email [email protected] and provide us with the following details:
1. A specific example of a change to your teaching (content or strategy) or assessment as a result of scholarly activity. Name the module and describe the change
and scholarly activity which was the stimulus for you.
2. Provide the name of a course (and module(s) of the course) to which you made a
contribution in terms of curriculum development.
The tdap mailbox has been specifically set up for this purpose and will be used by
Pam Jarvis and myself only for the purposes of collating a report.
The mailbox is not accessed by the TDAP reviewers.
One other way in which we’d like to hear from you is my completing the requests for
evaluations which come to you after you’ve participated in one of the college’s staff
development events. Please do complete these – again they are helping us provide
additional evidence.
Many thanks for all your help and contributions.
Barry Miller
TDAP Lead
22 Issue
Issue 22 Summer
Summer 2010
2010
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Bradford College active in the
Guild HE research group
Ronan O’Beirne Assistant Director for Learning Development and Research,
represents the College on the Research Network which meets regularly.
Typically the business of these meetings is taken up with discussion on new
initiatives or changes within the overall management of research in member
colleges. Also time is spent considering and drafting responses to a range of
policy documents recently for example the HEFCE’s consultation on the REF
(Research Excellence Framework) which has replaced the RAE (Research
Assessment Exercise) and Vitae’s – Research Development Framework.
Planning is now at an advanced stage for a research network symposium to
be held in early July 2010 the main objective is to draw together academic
research colleagues and postgraduate students within the CREST grouping
and develop contacts and mutual support.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
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RESEARCH NEWS
Current Awareness:
keeping up-to-date with research
Keeping up-to-date with recent developments in your subject area is vital for
anyone undertaking research, but where do you start.
Bradford College Library subscribes to a number of electronic databases which
provide current awareness alerting services. They provide a way of keeping you
up-to-date with developments within your subject area with very little effort
and time on your part.
There are different forms of alerts such as tables of contents of new journal
issues or saved database searches. These alerts may also be delivered in a
number of ways, for example by email notification or an RSS feed. You will need
to register and setup your alerts.
If you are accessing a particular journal we subscribe to online, you can register
your details so that you are automatically sent the table of contents (TOC) by
email as new issues are published or in some cases pre-publication.
If we subscribe to the journal in full text then you will also be able to link from the
email to the full text of the articles. A full list of our journal titles is given in the
A-Z list of journal titles. Cambridge Journals Online, Oxford Journals Online, SAGE
Journals Online, Taylor and Francis (Informaworld) and Emerald all provide Table
of Contents (TOC) alerting services.
If you want to find out what has been published on a particular subject in journals and conference papers you can search one of the abstracting and indexing
databases the Library subscribes to. A number of these databases allow you to
save your search (you usually need to register) and then set it to run automatically
on a scheduled basis. The results of these searches are then sent to you by email
and in some cases by RSS feed. [In some cases you may need to re-run the search
manually.] Where the database also provides full text you will be able to access
the article from a link in the email.
CSA Illumina which includes the abstracting and indexing databases ASSIA,
DAAI and BHI provide a saved search alert function “Alert Me” with delivery
methods being by email or RSS feed.
EBSCOhost, which includes SocINDEX with Full Text, Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences Collection and Computer Source, offers a Search Alert feature with automatic notification of new results for a saved search being sent either by email or
RSS feed. These databases also provide access to the full text of the majority of
journals that they index.
Emerald’s My Profile provides a current awareness service enabling you to set up
TOC Alerts and Saved Search Alerts, the results are then sent by email with links
to the full text of the articles.
ZETOC is a major Table of Contents service provided by the British Library.
You can set up Zetoc Alerts for both TOCs and searches.
ticTOCs is a scholarly Table of Contents Service providing access to the most
recent tables of contents of over 11,000 journals which you can export to an RSS
reader or save on the ticTOC site.
For more information on accessing the databases and Journal Collections referred
to in this article or how to register and set up alerts please contact Deborah Duffy,
Electronic Resource Development Librarian.
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Issue 2 Summer 2010
‘The Peer Groups’ – the formation and facilitation of Action
Learning Sets within the HE Community of Bradford College
Dr Mark Joesbury
Introduction
Following the IQER ‘Developmental engagement
in assessment’ at Bradford College in November 2008, three Action Learning Sets (The Peer
Groups) were formed across the HE Community
the following February 2009, a fourth commenced
in October 2009; and a fifth had its inaugural
meeting in March 2010. The following reports on
the background to their formation, attendance
and involvement of staff, and the variety of their
achievements.
Background
The Developmental engagement team identified
“the embedding and sustaining of the College’s
Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Guidelines in the development of assessment” as one
of seven areas of good practice. These Guidelines
had originally been produced by a cross-college
working party of esteemed colleagues as a strategy
document entitled ‘Empowering Education’, and
adopted by College Academic Planning Committee
in April 2003.
The ‘Capstone’ purpose of the strategy is of ‘Learner Empowerment’ underpinned by five key elements
(pillars) for realising Learner Empowerment and a
‘Foundation Stone’ of sufficient Quality Resources
to secure implementation of the strategy.
The ethos and values of ‘Empowering Education’
promotes the ideal of the autonomous reflective
learner within the context of Lifelong Learning and
the ‘widening of participation’ agenda.
In preparation for the Summative Review and beyond (TDAP) it was envisaged from within the IQER
Support Team that the formation and facilitation
of Action Learning Sets (ALS) operating across the
HE Community would provide potential to cascade
‘good practice’; address issues and challenges
identified through the ‘themes’ of the Developmental Engagement; and provide staff opportunity in
creative and innovative reflective practice with the
option for participants to gain a leadership qualification. (ILM L5 Certificate in Leadership).
For several years ALS have been an effective component of management development programmes
delivered within the College. Based on the work of
Revans (1980) and dovetailing with the writings of
Argyris and Schon (1978) on organizational development; and Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning;
ALS promote progression from teaching to learning
(pillar 1) in that participants ‘engage in active
learning’; ‘develop as collaborative learners’; and
pursue ‘deep’ (double loop) learning.
Attendance and Involvement
In January 2009 three Presentations were arranged
across the college campus to promote interest in
this initiative with an introductory foreword provided by the Dean of HE. An open-access ALS (peer
Group) resource page was provided on Moodle to
stimulate interest. http://moodle.bradfordcollege.
ac.uk/course/view.php?id=676
Operational, administrative and technical support
managers were encouraged to attend alongside HE
academic staff. Following these meetings over 40
staff indicated interest in participating along with
their preferred ‘theme’ of enquiry.
However it proved problematic to form ALS of sufficient size, common ‘theme’ and same ‘window
of opportunity. Initially three ‘Peer Groups’ were
formed. A PDP Group consisting of C. James,
R. Layden. J. Montegue, K. Breeze, J. Hallam and
R. Brown immediately experienced attendance
problems and soon disbanded. However C. James
and R. Brown were then joined by A. Freund, P.
Jarvis and M. Brook-Sardinia to form a WBL Group
that continued to produce an extensive Moodle
WBL Resource page. http://moodle.bradfordcollege.
ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1021
The other groups adopted a ‘general’ theme approach. The first of these comprised of R. Wynne,
T. Moore, M. Reed, P. Brook, and G. Griffiths, who
were recently joined by J. George. This group has
been particularly interested in improving communication processes and procedures with time spent
discussing Mitigating Circumstance, Scholarly Activity, Dissertation Supervision, Assessment Feedback
and Additional Learning Support.
The third group comprises of P. Spencer, A. Meek,
J. Lister, D. Howard, B. Stafford, S. Wagstaff and
recently joined by W. Preston. This Group has been
exceptional in supporting the individual ‘issues’ of
it’s members, with several enrolled for the ILM L5
Certificate in Leadership.
A fourth Group was formed in October 2009 to
focus on PDP. This Group comprises P. Rooney, Z.
Musiyiwa, P. Towers, L. Jackson, K. Simpson, M.
Binder and C. Wood. Initial difficulties of attendance/commitment required the intervention of the
ALS Facilitator to reconvene this group in March
2010. A sense of purpose and direction has now
been re-established and positive moves forward
are expected in the near future. The members are
to share module handbooks and schemes of work;
and explain the rationale in the context of their
programme. The intention is to identify ‘themes’
supported by resources which can be placed on the
PDP Moodle site with an explanatory narrative as
to their potential use.
A fifth Group commenced on 25th March 2010
with ‘Moodle’ being the specific focus of attention. The inaugural meeting was attended by T,
Gildersleeve, B. Snowden, D. Duffy, M. Frank, G.
Lawrence, R. Layden, P. Jarvis and M. Joesbury. It
has since been joined by M. Owen and A. Townend.
Achievements
Through discussion with the participants one of the
major achievements has been the provision of ‘peer
support’ and the sharing of knowledge and expertise. Those involved represent a broad cross-section
from relatively new staff leading growth areas, to
greatly experienced staff with wide knowledge of
the college policies and procedures. This has been
of immense benefit for some – stating they have
learnt more in months than they would have done
in years.
Issues/topics discussed and developed by the
Group include –
The operation of the Groups is autonomous where
‘the Sets are run by their members’. They also
determine their own needs, occasionally inviting
senior management to their meetings to discuss
issues they have been exploring. One of the more
tangible benefits has been the breaking down of
barriers between various locations within the campus which has long been a feature of the college
culture.
Initial Evaluation
At the start of March 2010 members of the first
three groups were asked to respond to the following
two questions by e-mail –
“What have been the personal benefits of your
involvement in the Peer Group ?”
“What have been the College benefits of your
involvement in the Peer Group ?”
To date six responses have been received and these
are represented in the following summaries:-
Personal Benefits
“Networking…across different programme areas;
invaluable (in) recognising and sharing common
issues/difficulties; (feeling) valued and affirmed…
Sharing ideas and practice…(in) being a reflective
and critical practitioner…(within) a valuable forum
to try out ideas”
College Benefits
“Networking …having more critically aware
practitioners; …(allowing) for personal development; Ideas and sharing/changing good practice
which may benefit the whole community…but less
certain that the groups make much impact globally
– there has to be an outcome.”
In Conclusion
The IQER process provided a useful window of
opportunity to promote ‘action learning and
reflection’ as part of staff development within the
HE community. The facilitation and evaluation of
the Peer Groups will continue as part of the TLF
(HE) role following the disbanding of the IQER
Support Team. For more information on Action
Learning Sets please contact the author.
Revans, R. W ((1980) Action Learning, London:
Blond & Briggs,
Argyris, C., & Schon, D. (1978) Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective, Reading, Mass:
Addison Wesley
Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning. Experience
as a source of learning and development, London:
Prentice Hall.
•• Module Handbooks
•• Referencing protocols
•• Being ‘critical friends’ for the Course Tutors
Handbook
•• Cascading ‘Peer Group’ initiatives
•• EBS timetabling of Scholarly Activity; TOIL and
Distance Learning
•• Course team support for Validation process
•• Plagiarism Plans for Moodle ELGG Connection
•• Student Module Evaluation forms and Moodle
Issue 2 Summer 2010 5
BAR CONFERENCE
Mike Harwood
Conference Introduction
and Welcome
Executive Director,
Teaching, Learning and
Curriculum, Bradford College
Ronan O’Beirne
Assistant Director,
Learning Development
and Research
Marian Brooks-Sardinha
Malcolm Smith
Public Services, Sport, Leisure
and Hospitality, Bradford College
School of Teaching,
Health and Care, Bradford College
Presentation:
Distance Learning-developing and
improving practice
Presentation:
What impact does the use of
e-portfolios have on the quality of
teaching and learning?
Claire Dean
Tony Laycock and Annie Townend
Richard Brown
The Sixth Form Centre,
Bradford College
Directorate, Bradford College
Presentation:
Assignment feedback:
formative or futile?
Presentation:
Improving progression potential
Workshop:
Using Moodle in Recording Assessment Decisions
School of Teaching,
Health and Care,
Bradford College
Pam Jarvis and Stephen Newman
Nigel Ecclesfield
School of Teaching, Health and Care,
Bradford College
Manager FE and Skills:
monitoring, evaluation
and research, Becta
Presentation:
Using critical incident analysisin peer review
Keynote Speaker:
Policy, Research and Practice
Conference Dinner
Entertainment
Joolz Denby
Guest Speaker
After Dinner Speaker
Charles James
Issue 2 Summer 2010
Dave Howard
Bradford Law School,
Bradford College
School of Business
and Management,
Bradford College
School of Teaching,
Health and Care, Bradford College
Presentation:
Cognitive and Academic
Linguistic Proficiency
Presentation:
Assessment Strategies
that benefit all learners
Presentation:
Towards a model for inclusive
education in initial Teacher Training
Bruce Stafford
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Katrina Denison
Tamsin Spain and Gill Rooker
Engineering, Construction
and Technology,
Bradford College
UK Resource Centre for Women in
Science, Engineering and Technology
Workshop:
Using an e-Portfolio to
Support Peer Groups
Workshop:
Addressing the needs of underrepresented HE learners
Gill Kirkup
Head of the Research Data and
Policy Team and the UKRC
Presentation:
Using Research to develop and
support policy
Ian Taylor
Adam Mannis
Head of Evaluation Unit
University of Liverpool
UK Centre for Materials Education,
part of the Higher Education Academy
Keynote Speaker:
Implementing Change:
a Bradford College case study
Keynote Speaker:
Implementing Change:
a Bradford College case study
Issue 2 Summer 2010
7
Joolz Is Called To The BAR!
Joolz Denby is full of surprises but she hasn’t
taken silk! However, we did enlist her services as
a guest speaker as part of a lively cultural and
artistic programme designed to enhance the
academic agenda at the BAR (Bradford Action
Research) Conference hosted by Bradford College on 19th and 20th November 2009.
We wanted delegates to relax and recharge
their batteries, as well as make the most of
network opportunities, between two days of
intense activity involving our latest research
developments on aspects of teaching, learning
and assessment, so an evening of amusing
treats was held at the National Media Museum.
If you fill up the mind of a young person with
stimulating things they will never develop an
internal life, which is the only thing that will
sustain them. We are robbing our children of
the chance to develop an internal life by constantly over-stimulating them. Parents put kids
in front of TV as a babysitter and even libraries
are places to stare at computers or talk. In
my day very strict librarians forced you to be
quiet. Allowing kids to have computers and TVs
in bedrooms is a terrible crime. Children need
space. Your bedroom should be where you can
read a book, draw or just daydream.”
After a delicious dinner in the Kodak gallery,
Dean of Higher Education, David Smith, bravely
tackled the thorny task of introducing Joolz, a
woman whose portfolio is so extensive that she
defies easy description as well as convention.
Joolz Denby
Guest Speaker at the BAR Conference
E
xpressing her thanks for the invitation to address the delegates, Joolz
explained that she viewed all her “fields
of endeavour just as being an artist
and the different ways I express my creativity.”
She emphasised the significant and increasing contribution of creative industries to the
national economy, before recalling her own
education, which included more than one spell
as a Bradford College student. She disclosed
that she had started a Dip HE thirty five years
earlier but that she never completed any HE
course that she enrolled on, distracted by gang
membership and an early marriage.
VIP guests, including the Deputy Lord Mayor,
Councillor Naveeda Ikram and her husband, Saqib Salam Shah, joined delegates to watch
a special performance of song, dance and
drama given by our talented Performing Arts
students at a drinks reception in the Experience
TV Gallery.
David briefly explained that Joolz is a renowned
author, poet, performer, illustrative, fine art and
recording artist, curator, photographer, broadcaster, band manager, tattooist – and much
more besides!
To complete our cultural offering, delegates also
enjoyed lunch in the Gallery of the Yorkshire
Craft Centre, giving them chance to browse two
fantastic exhibitions: Darren Baker and BeDazzled.
Conference Dinner Article and Photographs:
Shelagh Ward.
“I am the pupil from hell; the worst in your
class, who is not listening. I would be doodling
in my rough book or gazing into space. I felt
my education had nothing to do with real life.
I went to a very strange school in Harrogate
where I was taught how to get out of a limousine, how to write a cheque and we went on a
school trip shopping in Paris!
When I was eleven, an English teacher took
some rough books away that had poetry in
and sent them to Ted Hughes. He wrote to me
critiquing my work. I was annoying, strange
and had my head packed with ideas but that
teacher did not condemn me for my difference. She understood my daydreaming was
functioning not dossing about. It was part of
my becoming an artist.
My mother worked full-time and father worked
away on oil rigs so my nana brought me up.
She had two phrases: ‘The devil makes work
for idle hands’ and ‘Don’t!’, employed if she
saw me sitting thinking quietly to myself, doing
nothing or dozing.
What is seen as wasting time is a most necessary part of any creative thinking. Times of
quiet daydreaming where the mind lies fallow
allow creative thoughts to come through the
mush of daily existence. If you stare into the
dark peat water of a tarn on the moors, you
will see the pale fish. These are like the creative
thoughts which need to have time to come to
surface.
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Issue 2 Summer 2010
Joolz then discussed a recent TV programme
she had seen where children were bullied for
being different. She criticised the teachers who
told the bullies ‘We know he is irritating’ about
their victim, while instructing him to behave
more like the others. “Schools are full of artistic
kids who are different. We can’t allow them to
be bullied. We should celebrate their difference. I was bullied and look at me. I am a living
work of art! We need to distinguish between
kids being inattentive on purpose and those
actually thinking.”
Creativity is a very broad church. My old father
in law was a master carpenter who could make
the most beautiful things. I told him he was
an artist. We sometimes restrict the meaning
of creativity but we have got to find out what
it is to do a thing properly and well. That is
the craft of an artisan. I am wearing earrings
made by an artisan carver and jeweller, depicting goddesses who sleep and dream the world.
We owe it to our children to allow and encourage them to dream their world in peace.”
Joolz had promised an “interaction and event,
not a talk” and she certainly lived up to this, as
delegates enjoyed a very spirited debate with
her to round off the evening.
Joolz told how she attended a conference
where everyone was asked what would make
their life better. “When I suggested a maid
I was told off and called a Bolshevik. I was
thrilled! They expected me to suggest a computer or some other technological piece of kit.
I have to do all the housework so I want a maid
to let me daydream! I can’t do this when I am
working. If I am tattooing and I make an error
I mess up someone’s life. But for a novel I need
time to mull over characters. A maid would
be invaluable because artists need time not
toys. This is especially so when they are young
and constantly told, ‘do this … do that’.
Children need quiet, safe places two think.
They need an internal life. TV is one of the
most destructive forces in our culture today.
We can’t un-invent technology but have to create a balance. I know it is hard bringing up kids.
The mothers of this world are not honoured in
the way they should be. They are educators at
home.
We need to find a way to save a whole generation otherwise, when these children are adults,
they will have no attention span and be unable
to forge relationships. We cannot wait. I see
people who have an internal life and they are
really living. I worked within the music industry
for thirty years. Many professional musicians
don’t listen to music at home but regrettably
most have been robbed of silence by tinnitus. Everyone is constantly subjected to noise, for
instance, by mobile phones, which have eroded
the space between personal and public life. We
need these spaces. There are generations of
people not knowing how to think because they
have never been encouraged to do so. I have
worked extensively in prisons and with marginalised young people, who are all saddled with
ideas that they are gangsters. They feel they
have to live up to this stereotype as there is no
alternative and they tell me that even if they
want to do something different, the media
won’t let them.
Issue
Issue 2
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Nigel Ecclesfield
Manager FE and Skills: monitoring, evaluation and research, Becta
Adam Mannis
UK Centre for Materials Education,
part of the Higher Education Academy
Ian Taylor
Head of Evaluation Unit
University of Liverpool
Keynote speech – Policy, Research and Practice
Keynote speech – Implementing Change: a Bradford College case study
A summary of Nigel’s speech by Margaret Naylor. Project Support Officer, Learning Resources
A summary of Adam and Ian’s speech by Margaret Naylor. Project Support Officer, Learning Resources
Nigel opened the session by talking about Becta and its role in the use of technology in the British
education system and the contexts and methods for the organisation’s work.
The work carried out by Becta includes National Surveys of post-school sectors, which include FE Colleges,
Adult and Community Learning and Work Based Learning. In 2008-09 they found, in FE Colleges, that:
•• Staff ICT skills seen as improving substantially in the past year by both managers and staff.
but only 65% of practitioners are using these skills for e-learning.
•• Infrastructure meets or exceeds current learning or teaching demands in 90% of colleges.
•• Significant progress seen in the provision of assistive devices for learners with special needs.
•• 60% of colleges have regular reviews of technology investment.
•• Learning platforms are installed in more than 90% of colleges.
The findings of the survey have been developed into a range of key questions to help Becta design the most appropriate
way forward to achieving its aims.
Some of Nigel’s work has focussed on how Becta can make research more personal, or as his presentation called it,
Making Research Real. He spoke about issues that were identified by research projects and about the challenges faced
by practitioners and managers in understanding how their findings might influence practice, processes and learners.
These questions led him to consider that there are two sides to research; finding out about reality and exploring the new.
In a review of Becta’s experience, Nigel spoke about research activity linking local and national work with national agencies
having input such as funding, dissemination of findings and provision of research media for the sector. The links enable
colleges to support and acknowledge communities of practice, promote research in a variety of ways and disseminate
research activity to staff, learners and other stakeholders.
Barriers to the success of research work have been identified - along with the major factor of time, Nigel mentioned barriers
relating to dissemination of findings, poor take up of research findings by organisations, funding limitations and perceptions
that research is a specialist activity and needs to be presented in highly formalised publications using specialist vocabularies/
jargon. Nigel also spoke about research in the college environment being in a supportive context, despite the many barriers
discussed.
In closing the session, Nigel offered some advice for researchers in the college environment:
•• Take time to find out about research and policy, as these frame almost every aspect of our work.
•• Use the resources available to you, if there is little in your place of work look to
external agencies and peer support groups.
•• Use the opportunities for discussion and review to air your questions and discuss how you
might investigate them.
•• Try to identify colleagues who have similar questions and find out if you can collaborate.
•• Identify potential sources for funding for any work.
•• Look for places to publish your work – think about how you can make it accessible to the widest
possible audience both within your place of work and outside.
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Issue 2 Summer 2010
During the keynote presentation on the final day of the conference, Adam and Ian presented delegates with an insight
to implementing change in a project based college environment, following their involvement with the SPaCE-FD project.
The college has nationally recognised expertise in relation to establishing foundation degrees, promoting work-based
learning and developing distance learning. The need to evolve and change this practice put the college at the centre,
as a senior partner in a shared enterprise.
A number of possible barriers to change were identified in UKCME research and were considered in relation to this project.
These were:
••
••
••
••
••
A mismatch of priorities.
Limited collaborative culture in relation to educational development.
A lack of time to initiate and implement change effectively.
Limited ongoing support for the change initiative.
Institutional factors.
In addition, barriers to inter-institutional change were also considered.
Adam and Ian spoke about their methods of avoiding the pitfalls in a project such as SPaCE-FD. From the point of view of
an institutional context the advice is to ensure that the project is made a priority, internal collaboration is promoted and
that the project receives ongoing support. To assist the practitioner’s acceptance of the change, it was considered that the
change must be proved to fit a comparative organisation, practitioners become exposed to practice and the suitability of
that practice and the actions stimulated by the work are all considered in relation to the practitioner’s organisation.
It was also considered that the making of mistakes leads to a great deal of creative development and learning.
The speakers moved on to talk about the impact of the work on Bradford College. Feedback the project received said:
“Staff at Bradford College are convinced that some of the students are now using the newly developed technology in ways
beneficial to their learning.”
A raised awareness of the technologies and the benefits of adopting them was also discussed.
The presentation was closed with recommendations on the best way forward:
•• Consider both the use of experts and the limitations of using experts.
•• Make mistakes, learn from any mistakes that are made.
•• Look beyond the technology.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
11
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
Richard Hall
Kate Breeze
Problem based learning in an integrated e-learning environment
Developing inter-community and inter-cultural dialogue through International links
This project will focus on the evaluation of student-centred teaching strategies in which students
collaboratively solve problems and reflect on their experiences. The development and increasing
availability of online collaborative resources has opened up the possibilities for incorporating
problem based learning within an integrated e-learning environment. This includes the delivery,
support, administration and assessment of a course.
The focus for this project will be to participate in the Global Xchange programme to Nigeria
(Sept – Dec 2009). The purpose of the programme is to work with community leaders and people
who work with young people to develop an inter-community and inter-cultural dialogue to promote
the participation of young people in making a positive difference in their community. The programme
aims to recruit 15 people from Bradford to take part and be paired with a counterpart from Nigeria.
The key areas of focus will be:
The key areas that will be explored will be:
• •
The delivery of problem based learning for HE courses being delivered in FE institutions.
• •
• •
Investigating commercially available online resources to support problem based learning.
• •
• •
The discovery of the strengths and weaknesses associated with using an integrated e-learning
environment to deliver problem based learning.
• •
This project will enhance the quality of teaching in HE by:
• •
How Bradford College can develop the quality of our teaching of global issues in relevant
curriculum areas.
How Bradford College can develop students’ critical learning including challenging stereotypes
and assumptions and exploring the mutual issues and connections.
How Bradford College can develop opportunities for students to participate in International
volunteering and fieldwork opportunities to further their learning and development of
professional skills.
How Bradford College can develop effective networks for mutual learning and development
of best practice with partners from other global communities.
• •
Recommending strategies for implementing the use of HE online learning software in an
FE setting.
This research will enhance the quality of teaching in HE by:
• •
Recommending specific software packages to reduce duplication of effort across College.
• •
• •
• •
Disseminating the best practice in problem based learning to widen participation of
students creating a positive experience.
• •
• •
Proposing an assessment strategy that allows students to evidence knowledge appropriate
to a given grading taxonomy and allows for differentiation within a collaborative submission.
• •
• •
• •
• •
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Issue 2 Summer 2010
The development of critical debate and the development and dissemination of resources.
Building an active and sustainable network both locally and globally to support our
curriculum development.
Providing staff and students with the opportunity to work alongside colleagues from Nigeria
and discuss and debate global and professional issues.
Developing students’ awareness and critical skills in challenging stereotypes and perceptions
of other global communities.
Developing links with partners in the voluntary and statutory sectors across Bradford to
strengthen our work with young people around participation and social cohesion.
Developing students’ awareness of volunteering opportunities open to them to enhance
their skills and experience.
Exploring the possibilities of developing fieldwork opportunities in Nigeria with partner
organisations.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
13
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
Andrea Wilde
Jim Hordern
How to improve student engagement with Personal Development Plan (PDP) research
via e-learning, online resources and online feedback
Making better use of the part time employment experiences of HE students projects
in the workplace
This project aims to closely link the PDP modules with the practical modules so that the students fulfil
their learning outcomes in a more efficient manner whilst providing the students with a more practical
approach to their PDP modules. Therefore the PDP modules are less theoretical.
This project will investigate the potential benefits of incorporating student part time employment experience into their studies. Something which is often overlooked with indifference. This will be achieved
through a range of approaches including developing project based modules and assessment strategies.
These approaches could act as vehicles for accreditation of employment skills and experience.
Also reflection on employment experiences should be integrated with case studies and theoretical input
to enable students to contextualise their experiences and develop these skills. There may be significant
benefits for the student in terms of recognising the potential transferable skills to that of the workplace.
This will enable the students to:
• •
• •
• •
• •
Become more evaluative of their current practical work.
Research the context of their work, the market place and competitors.
Research potential destinations on progression for themselves.
Know how to present and promote their work and themselves upon graduation.
This project will examine ways to engage students more fully with the research required of them by
creating more interactive tasks via e-learning in both written and image based work. It will follow the
traditional cycle of planning, acting, observing and reflecting from which a revised plan is formulated.
It is intended that comparative experiment be carried out in the following areas:
• •
• •
• •
• •
What happens if students are given a research task in class via handouts with some source
supplied and are asked to carry out the paper based research in class?
What happens if all the supplied sources are linked to Moodle?
What happens if part of the set task is to use established sources linked to Moodle but also to
find and upload their sources onto Moodle and students are then required to share and
comment on the sources found by fellow students?
What happens if no sources are given and marks are purely given for sources found and
information gathered from those sources and shared between the students via the forum?
The following areas will be undertaken:
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
This project will enhance the quality of teaching in HE by:
• •
The project will enhance the quality of HE teaching by:
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
The project will also look at how students on blended learning courses use Moodle compared with
those taught in the classroom. And also how Moodle can facilitate feedback from formative
assessment.
• •
14
Contributing to the knowledge of how to facilitate deep learning via e-learning in addition
to other methods of learning, specifically to the fields of PDP, Art and Design and assessment
via e-learning.
It will increase the variety of teaching and learning experiences within PDP for Design Degrees
and allow greater autonomy and flexibility of study time on those courses.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
Desk research reviewing previous work that has aimed to make use of the part time employment
experiences of undergraduates in an educational context.
A brief survey undertaken with a sample of HE students at Bradford College investigating
employment experiences and skills developed in the workplace.
Interviews with a sample of HE students currently in employment to obtain more detailed data
regarding employment experiences and awareness of learning and skills development at work.
The development of a series of project based teaching and assessment strategies that aim to
make better use of part time employment experiences.
Workshops gathering ideas through the collective experience of colleagues at Bradford College.
Reports written summarising key outputs from research activity and workshop dialogue with
colleagues.
Providing robust learning and assessment strategies which will make better use of student
experiences.
Providing students with the necessary tools to better realise their potential in the workplace.
Developing learning around project based assessment which will produce a high quality outcome.
Providing staff with the tools to support students in project based assessment.
Utilising collective staff knowledge allowing trials of new techniques and ideas.
Developing a toolkit for staff to realise the potential of students undertaking part time
employment in a positive manner.
Strengthening the staff collective understanding of the importance of student employment
experience and how that may be incorporated into student learning and assessment.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
15
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
Malcolm Smith
Tamsin Spain
Developing e-portfolios as a central aspect to a student’s Personal Development
and Planning (PDP)
Exploring the use of role models in IT
This project aims to develop the use of e-portfolios within Teacher Education in order to enhance both
teaching and learning. It intends to build on the work already completed within the Department of
Teacher Education on the Mahara e-portfolio system to undergraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
students. The project will develop the integration of the e-portfolio with the PDP to form a cohesive
structure within which students will work. This includes the development of a “study buddy” system by
which the e-portfolio will be the conduit by which the process will take place. The project will concentrate on first year undergraduates.
Little formal research has been done on the use and effectiveness of female role models from industry,
within the curriculum, although there has been much discussion on the topic. Through our work with
women in a-typical careers, we have found that role models and mentors can make a significant
difference to a woman’s career progression.
We will explore the following areas:
Key developmental areas are:
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
The use of the e-portfolio to develop a culture of peer review specifically related to classroom
practice with the students sharing their work.
The use of formative assessment to develop the practice of critical reflection so essential for
professional practice.
To develop the process of planning for the integration of the e-portfolio throughout the
student’s undergraduate programme.
This will enhance the quality of teaching in HE by:
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
16
Developing the confidence and skills in the use of ICT by colleagues which will lead to the
development of greater media rich programmes.
Providing a more learner-centred approach within programmes of study
Integrating two aspects of PDP in order to reduce duplication of time and effort
Giving students a greater responsibility for their own PDP in a flexible format where they
can better reflect on their achievements
The use of formative assessment to enable more effective teaching and learning.
Increasing flexibility within teaching and learning to enable a more personalised curriculum.
The development of effective communities of learning.
Enhancing the avenues of the scholarly communication through Web 2.0 technologies.
Enhancing the concept of lifelong learning.
Implementing and exploiting the social aspects of learning effectively.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
• •
• •
• •
Is the IT department already using workplace role models in its teaching, and if so, how?
What are student and staff views of role models?
What do students want from role models? Is there a difference between male and female
student needs?
What do staff want from role models? What are the practical issues in using role models
as part of the curriculum?
What effect do role models have on students’ development and learning?
How can role models benefit lecturers when used as part of the curriculum?
What are the most effective ways of facilitating students’ access to role models?
The UKRC will facilitate the project and identify and engage suitable female role models from industry.
Role models will be sought through local companies and through our online searchable facility –
‘GetSET Women’.
We are keen for staff to take ownership of the project so that the work we do this year can be continued in the future. Therefore we will involve them at each stage of the project and endeavour to mainstream the successes of this project.
Using role models as part of the curriculum will:
• •
• •
• •
• •
Enhance the learning environment and support lecturers in demonstrating different
career paths.
Add a new dimension to HE teaching and bring the curriculum to life.
Increase students’ interest in and commitment to their subject.
Bring relevance to the classroom by showing the application of learning in the workplace.
Issue 2 Summer 2010
17
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
09/10 RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS
Assia Hussain
Brian Hindmarch
Developing teaching strategies to enhance the progression of ESOL learners on to HE
courses and boost the successful completion of their HE qualification
Comparative studies of teaching typography (specific to the Netherlands)
The aim of this project is to look at widening the participation of non-traditional learners on HE courses
at College and develop strategies to enable those learners to successfully complete their qualification.
The project will focus on ESOL students and the typical courses that they progress to.
The aim of this project is to compare and contrast the way in which teaching strategies vary to
students being taught in a language which is not their first language from the unique perspective
of teaching in the secondary language. Also to look at their best practice in teaching art and design
with the intention of incorporating that into teaching and learning at Bradford College.
The project will enhance the quality of teaching in HE by:
Key areas of investigation are:
• •
To investigate the factors which encourage or discourage ESOL students regarding HE courses.
• •
To investigate the kinds of HE courses that ESOL students might progress to.
• •
To investigate how ESOL students might contribute to the British economy on completion of
an HE course.
• •
To investigate the barriers that ESOL students face on entry to/during HE courses and how
that might be overcome.
• •
To compare Bradford College with a similar college in order to gain perpective.
• •
Sharing best practice gained from an internationally renowned institution.
• •
Applying the experience of teaching overseas in order to enrich teaching at Bradford College.
• •
Sharing firsthand knowledge of Dutch design in order to inspire Bradford College students.
This project will enhance the quality of teaching in HE by:
• •
Helping to increase retention from non-traditional HE entrants, thus providing a richer
experience for all HE students.
• •
Increasing the positive experience of ESOL students.
• •
Making recommendations across College to support ESOL students more effectively on
HE courses.
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Issue 2 Summer 2010
Issue 2 Summer 2010
19
A day in the life of a keynote speaker
I was pleased to receive a request from the organisers of the 2nd International Conference on Governance, Fraud, Ethics and Social Responsibility to act as one of their keynote
speakers. As well as myself, there were two UK professors from the Cass Business School and
Nottingham Trent University respectively, as other keynote speakers. In addition, prominent
international academics and practitioners from numerous countries ranging from Japan to,
India and the US submitted papers to the conference. The conference was held in the largest island off Istanbul (Buyukada AKA Prince Island). A ninety minute ferry trip costing
approximately £1.50 took passengers from Istanbul to the island.
As a marketing (and CSR) specialist, I concentrated on the theme of putting ethics and
CSR into practice. Despite a great deal of theorising and conceptualising about CSR, can it
really be implemented by organisations? Due to its popularity, CSR is used extensively by
organisations in the private and public sector (including governments) for purely marketing
purposes, and sadly at times it is a mere window dressing exercise. Analogous to environmentalism and ecological policies where a great deal of ‘green-washing’ occurs, CSR policies are invariably used by some firms as a smokescreen behind which to hide from public
gaze and criticism. The code of ethics of Enron apparently ran to 64 pages, and we all know
what happened to it!
One of the benefits of attending international conferences, as well as publicising Bradford
College, is the exchange of information, knowledge and learning about how other
academics carry out research. Furthermore, it facilitates collaboration between academics
at universities and colleges and forges international links which at times leads to Erasmus
agreements and student recruitment.
Khosro S Jahdi
Staff engaged in TQEF research 2009-2010
Kate Breeze, Richard Hall, Brian Hindmarch, Jim Hordern,
Assia Hussain, Malcolm Smith, Tamsin Spain, Andrea Wilde.
Edited by Ronan O’Beirne
Contact: r.o’[email protected]
Design: Gordon Yates
© 2010 Bradford College and Contributors as identified
www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk
20
Issue 2 Summer 2010
Round Britain –
spreading the word
on our good practice
Recently I travelled to the Engineering Centre for Excellence in Teaching
and Learning (engCETL) at Loughborough University to speak at the Higher
Education Academy’s Scholarly Activity
Workshop. This was the second in a series
of three events, at which I was invited to
speak, the first was at Stockport College
and the third will be at Bristol College.
The events run by Angus Carpenter,
Research Centre Manager at City College
Norwich and Becky Turner, Educational
Researcher at the University of Plymouth.
The aim of the series of workshops is to
‘develop and enhance the practice and
management of scholarly activity and research within Further Education Colleges’.
Barbara Edwards from the QAA opened
the proceedings looking at the challenges
of building a research ethos.
My presentation looked at the development of the research agenda across Bradford College giving examples from our
TQEF cohort of projects, explaining our
use of our home-grown virtual research
environment, outlining our use of research
support staff such as academic liaison
librarians, and of course talking about the
2009 BAR conference. It was well received
at both workshops with a lot of people
asking questions both in the session and
later throughout the day.
Other presentations included a well constructed assessment of scholarly activity
and its benefits by Jim Logan from Blackpool and the Fylde College; aspects of
research project management and most
interestingly how to attract funding from
a range of different agencies delivered
by Angus Carpenter and Neil Witt, Head
of Technology Enhanced Learning again
at University of Plymouth. Becky Turner,
helped by Phil Lester of the Higher Education Academy, looked at the support that
is provided by Regional Support Centres,
and also Phil outlined the HEA’s professional recognition scheme of associates,
fellows and senior fellows. The issue of
linking with the Institute for Learning,
raised by an audience question, was also
discussed.
Ronan O’Beirne