University of Cumbria Open Access Journals
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What students’ want in written feedback: praise, clarity and precise individual commentary
Get PDFThis research paper explores a sample of written summative feedback which was provided to undergraduate social science based students in 2014-2015. A series of focus groups were facilitated where students evaluated 95 pieces of individual written feedback and discussed their findings. Texts were scored, ranked and used to create mini corpora of high and low ranking feedback. A contrastive analysis examined frequency counts, keyword analyses as well as concordances, collocations and semantic analyses. This analysis was supported by student annotations of their evaluations and thematic coding of the verbal discussions which took place.
This research has been able to outline the characteristics of feedback which students in this sample judged to be effective - specific praise, clarity and completeness, forward orientation, interpersonal positioning and clear and error free text. The contrastive analysis brought the metadiscoursal features strongly into focus, with distinct linguistic patterns emerging in the use of modals, personal pronouns and the mitigation of criticism. Findings confirmed the highly interpersonal nature of academic feedback and students demonstrated particular sensitivity to the tenor of the feedback and the way criticism was incorporated. There were also distinct preferences concerning the length and presentation of text, the quality of praise, and whether it contained a forward orientation
An examination of some of the additional struggles a trainee teacher with disabilities must overcome
Get PDFThis paper describes my journey to become a teacher, despite seemingly overwhelming odds of autism, a stammer and other physical disabilities. I begin by explaining my methodology which is based on interpretivism and explains how I interpreted my recorded behaviours to give a detailed representation of what it is like to be student teacher with a disability from my own perspective. I then set out my literature review before presenting the conclusions of my research. I have concluded that there is a lack of clear guidance and understanding when it comes to trainee teachers with disabilities. By highlighting this knowledge gap, I hope it will pave the way for more in depth research to be undertaken in the future
Video recorded Cross-Examination or Re-Examination: A Discussion on Practice and Research
Get PDFThe Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (YJCEA, 1999) was designed as a support mechanism to alleviate fear, and enable vulnerable and intimidated witnesses (VIW) within criminal trials Special Measures (SM), such as screens and video recorded evidence (Hoyle & Zedner, 2007). The introduction of video recorded cross-examination, or re-examination, under s.28 of the YJCEA is one of the most recent SM to be used within criminal trials. This procedure reduces the time between initial examination of some witnesses and the subsequent cross-examination in not guilty cases. This discussion paper emphasises a number of key research areas that could yield future improvements within s.28. The development of linguistic psychology, best evidence, and disclosure rules would be future avenues for research, providing emphasis and direction. It is a well-recognised fact that there are inherent issues around the identification of witnesses who may benefit from measures under the YJCEA (Ellison, 1999; Burton et al., 2006; Charles, 2012). There is still a significant gap within research around the development of the Intermediary service amongst other areas of the CJS, and in relation to VIWs; however, this is seen to have strong links with the ability to conduct through interviews with witnesses and defendants alike (Plotnikoff & Woolfson, 2007; Oxburgh et al., 2016). There may be much to be gained from a process of analysis where s.28 cross-examinations take place, and subsequent recordings, are subjected to interdisciplinary research scrutiny
The Lived Experience of Older University Students with Longevity in Life and Work Experience
Get PDFThis is a phenomenological study into the lived experience of university students over 45 years old. The aim of the study was to collect data on older university students, which is lacking in the existing literature. Moreover, with the recent widening participation policy agenda (Browne, 2010), there is a need to ascertain if older students have different academic needs to younger students, with much less life experience. Three students were selected using convenience sampling from two different universities. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured format, the recordings of which were transcribed and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Seven themes emerged from the data, which were encapsulated in three master themes; the experience of living in different worlds, self-categorisation and stereotypical discourse relating to maturity, and learning and development. An analysis of the interviews revealed a real risk of inter-group conflict arising from: a professional identity gained from living in the real world, a lack of older student/tutor relationship, teaching styles and personal attributes valued by the participants. The themes are discussed in relation to Tajfel’s (1981) Social Identity Theory, and Turner’s (1982) Self-categorisation Theory. In conclusion, there is an argument for specific courses that recognise and utilise the older students’ past experience. Therefore, more research is needed into the needs of older university students and how to utilise their previous experience as a way of enhancing their learning
Five go marking an exam question: the use of Adaptive Comparative Judgement to manage subjective bias
Get PDFAdaptive Comparative Judgement (ACJ) is an alternative to conventional marking in which the assessor (judge) merely compares two answers and chooses a winner. (Scripts are typically uploaded to the CompareAssess interface as pdf files and are presented side-by-side.) Repeated comparisons and application of the sorting algorithm leads to scripts sorted in order of merit. Boundaries are determined by separate review of scripts.
A small pilot of ACJ in the fourth year of the Manchester Pharmacy programme is described. Twelve judges used ACJ to mark 64 scripts previously marked conventionally. 50 students peer-marked their own mock examination question using ACJ.
Peer-marking was successful with students learning from the process, and delivering both marks and feedback within two weeks. There was very good consistency among the students acting as judges, and accuracy (as defined by Pollitt, 2012) of 0.94.
Staff were similarly consistent, but the agreement with marks obtained by conventional marking was disappointing. While some discrepancies could be attributed to conventional marking failing under the stress of marking during teaching term, the worst discrepancies appeared to originate from inadequate judging criteria.
We conclude that ACJ is a very promising method, especially for peer assessment, but that judging criteria require very careful consideration
Developing communities of practice in school-university partnerships
Get PDFThe study underpinning this paper developed from a review of current practice with regard to partnership in a Postgraduate Initial Teacher Education Programme in England. Typical partnership activity between the university and partnership schools centred round the needs of the trainee teacher, however the aim of the study was to re-envisage this through the development of a collaborative partnership model focused on developing school-university research-based practice. Teacher professional knowledge was married with the expertise of university staff to facilitate systematic school-based enquiry. This paper reports on a qualitative study involving four university participants and seven participants from primary schools who were involved in the school-based enquiry project. Analysed through the lens of the concept of a “Community of Practice” (CoP), the findings illustrate the practice, relationship and role changes that occurred. In the discussion, the main factors that contributed to the development of this particular CoP are considered: both their strengths and limitations
Digital Makeover: What do pre-service teachers learn from microteaching primary science and how does an online video analysis tool enhance learning?
Get PDFThis paper reports on pre-service teachers’ experiences of using the web-based video analysis tool VideoAnt during microteaching seminars in primary science. Opportunities for pre-service teachers to observe and teach high quality primary science lessons during placement may be restricted by the focus on Numeracy and Literacy and recently reported decrease in the profile of science within the primary curriculum. This in turn will compromise the confidence and competence of future teachers with respect to teaching science. Within initial teacher education Microteaching continues to be used widely as a means of introducing the practice of teaching in a gradual and controlled manner. Data obtained from questionnaires and focus group interviews of 93 undergraduate students suggests that the online video analysis tool VideoAnt adds significant value to the learning resulting from each of the three features of microteaching; shortened lessons, video analysis and feedback. The majority of pre-service teachers enjoyed using the tool and reported that the experience had increased their levels of confidence in teaching primary science and that as a result they would now be better equipped to learn during the course of school placement. The findings may help address the challenge of achieving greater integration between the college-based and school-centred components of ITE programmes, and enhance pre-service teachers’ experience of teaching in curricular areas such as primary science where the opportunity for practice during placement may be limited
A critical analysis of outdoor learning experiences and the impact on pupil development and conceptual understanding
Get PDFOutdoor learning in education is an area that is difficult to ‘measure’ the benefits of. This paper is a critical analysis of outdoor learning experiences and aims to explore the impact opportunities may have on pupil development and children’s subsequent conceptual understanding. It provides an attempt to yield a better understanding of ‘experience’ as a key concept of learning and to ultimately find ways to better personal practice and enhance the opportunities for children to reach their potential. The results of this research suggest that outdoor learning is best utilised when supplemented with focused classroom learning, providing learners with multiple sources and styles of information to deepen their conceptual understanding. A clear connection between pupil and teacher enjoyment and their subsequent engagement was present in the data, culminating in significant leaps forward in understanding and learning, thus providing evidence to support the provision of as many outdoor and experiential learning opportunities for students as possible.