Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Research Methods seminar
Size of student group: 40
Observer: Linda Aloysius
Observee: Rosaline Love
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
This session is to introduce research methods to BA 1st year Graphic Design Communication (BAGDC1) students to support one of their units. The unit is 5 weeks long and is the first instance of students assessed on research elements of their work as they will end the unit by writing a short essay with evidence of research.
I have worked with this group twice since the beginning of the academic year, in the capacity of providing them an induction to the library space along with an information skills session and an option special collections session.
The intended outcomes for the students are:
· Getting started and refining initial ideas
· How to start finding high quality resources to support your work
· Using the library
· Using your found research effectively
· Next steps
I would particularly like feedback and suggestions on how to engage students who are in a large group and when the content of the session is quite prescriptive and transmissive (the session is only 45 minutes and includes demonstrating research methods, a library demo and setting them an after session task).
Feedback will be exchanged through discussing the lesson plan and slides.
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Observations (see recorded session):
- The session is extremely thoroughly prepared and shows meticulous attention to detail and care for what your students experience.
- Overall, the session is mainly ‘transmission’ based; from earlier discussions during micro-teach sessions with TPP participants, we are all aware that transmission-based teaching can create challenges for students regarding (non-) inclusion.
- The amount of information to be disseminated is overwhelming; during our meeting today, we ran out of time for you to give me an overview.
- As the session is primarily a support session, there is currently very little scope for you to re-design the session.
- You mention at the start of our meeting that students have limited familiarity with you – and presumably your colleagues; how does this impact upon student engagement and learning? See question below.
Suggestions:
- ‘Flip’ the session: we identified two (loosely speaking) ‘parts’ or approaches in the session, the first being where you encourage student engagement and begin to offer what might feel to them like the start of a bespoke journey through the research resources available to them; this soon becomes a potentially / likely overwhelming and disorientating experience involving receiving a lot of information about resources available to them.
The session could instead:
- Begin with a single map / visual overview of all of the facilities available
- Involve a transparent approach on your part where you admit to the potential vastness of this and reassure them that the more thorough version is available on a video – see comment below
- Discuss a selection of these resources with them – Ideally, this would involve students choosing ‘at random’ which resource to discuss ie. involve them in choosing which seems the most interesting.
- Make information about all these resources available to them on an alternative format learning resource – for example, a video recording of you talking through the resources as you normally would in this session.
- Move on to what is currently the first part of the session where students work through an exercise in research using their own chosen object(s). Ideally, this would involve students helping you to re-arrange desks to work in groups – if that’s not possible, they could stay in rows and work in pairs or threes to ensure some student interaction / co-teaching between them.
Questions:
- Can you take a solution-based approach and identify what your concerns are more specifically regarding ensuring student engagement – and, consequently, their quality of learning experience – within the session, and come up with possible solutions? The above provides some suggestions.
- Can you talk to your Line Manager about the session to outline your concerns and potential solutions regarding student engagement within the session and see what changes may be possible?
- Could you make yourself more ‘known’ / identifiable to the students through a video recorded session that they can watch either prior to meeting with you for the exercise in using the resources (see above suggestion) and / or during this exercise and / or after it?
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Thank you for this feedback. I really value having a space to discuss this workshop as it represents some challenges which I appreciate talking through and for the suggestions you have provided. It has given me a lot to think about in terms of how I approach this topic and this year group.
One element that we discussed and you mention in your feedback is making myself more known to students as a member of staff who doesn’t see them on a daily or even weekly basis in a formal teaching capacity and I have been actively working on being more visible to students:
- This year group are 1st years so have already met a lot of new teachers, lecturers and support staff. I need to be conscious that I see them consistently throughout their time at UAL and build up a relationship over time. For example, by the time they are in their final year, the number of students who contact me for advice and tutorials increase significantly.
- I often see students in transitional spaces and in the library when I am on the information desk. It might sound small, but I have been making a conscious effort to ask a student how their project is going if they come up to me on the desk for something. This has already resulted in really fruitful conversations about topics and research with students who may not have been in touch with me before.
- I have been in touch with all the unit leaders in Graphic Design to sit in on their unit briefs at the beginning of term to introduce/reintroduce myself and highlight my contact details and signpost to information about the library.
Reflection on suggestions
The suggestions you’ve proposed would work really well to break up the ‘transmission’ based format of the existing session and the overwhelming amount of information. When I deliver this session again, I plan to:
- As you have suggested, start with an admission that this is a huge topic, one which they will be returning to multiple times over their time at UAL and that this is the start of this journey.
- Create a visual overview of the library services available; this is similar to a tentative project with Academic Support at Chelsea to create a ‘handbook’ of resources. This could be written information with a video alongside it. Your suggestion has highlighted how helpful this would be as a resource for students.
- Discuss a selection of resources; I think this would work well as a group task where students can choose a resource to explore, therefore giving them control over their learning.
- Setting the students an exercise in relation to their own chosen object(s); I really like the point you made about getting people to move about if possible to change the energy of the room.
I think already from reconstituting the elements of the existing session, it could become a much more engaged and active experience for students.
Thank you for your kind comments on the preparation and attention to detail; I am hoping that next time I deliver this session with these suggestions in mind, this preparation will have a bigger impact on the students.