University of Cumbria Open Access Journals
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Students’ perceptions of interventions for supporting their engagement with feedback
Get PDFRecent approaches to assessment and feedback in higher education stress the importance of students’ involvement in these processes, where effective reception of feedback is as important as effective delivery. Many interventions have been developed to support students’ active use of feedback; however, students’ engagement will be influenced by their perceptions of the utility of such strategies. We presented students with descriptions of ten possible feedback engagement interventions, and asked them to discuss which would be more useful and why. Students clearly articulated the perceived benefits of each intervention, but also discussed issues that might preclude strong engagement. These issues illustrate that students believe they lack the skills required to engage with interventions, and also show how student emotion and cognition are likely to influence their engagement. We offer some recommendations as to how the framing of such interventions could promote stronger student engagement
‘Evidence based teaching’ (EBT) in the Carter Review on Initial Teacher Education (2015): Rhetorical devise or something more?
Get PDFIn May 2014 Michael Gove Secretary of State for Education announced that there would be a review into Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the UK. The report was led by Andrew Carter OBE, the Headteacher of a school-centred ITT provider and ITT lead on the Teaching Schools Council. The report was published in January 2015 and one of the principle recommendations in the report was a call for evidence based teaching (EBT). In this paper it is proposed that in broad terms the call for EBT is not well defined. On the one hand it can be seen as a positive recommendation especially if this heralds a sustained engagement with scholarship. However, EBT should not be viewed as an unquestioned good because it can also be seen as the search for ‘perfect practice’. Given that education is a concern with human relationships and recognising the heterogeneity of educational contexts, the reduction of teaching to a sharply defined set of behaviours is problematic. This reduction is especially difficult given that this places teacher preparation within the purview of the more restrictive ‘technical rationalist’ model of professionalism
Who’s that talking in my class?: What does research say about pupil to pupil exploratory talk that leads to learning?
Get PDFThis paper explores the literature to determine if exploratory talk could aid pupil learning and understanding in secondary schools and, if so, how it could best be utilised and what the roles of the ‘teacher’ and the ‘learner’ are in the process. We found five main themes related to talk and learning: exploratory talk is educationally valuable but not easy to implement; ‘initiation-response-feedback’; is much more commonly used; there are other types of talk which are generally less good for developing thinking; exploratory talk is good for collaborative learning; and exploratory talk is best organised with a set of ‘ground rules’. It became apparent to us that agreeing and setting the ground rules was a very important factor in generating successful pupil to pupil talk for learning and that there is a strong relationship between adherence to ground rules for talking together and improving children’s ability to solve problems. For consistency of a whole-school approach, we found that these group-specific ground rules should be set within an overall framework developed through teachers developing ways to work collaboratively with colleagues to investigate ways of promoting exploratory talk with all classes. Finally we highlight to school leaders the importance of developing and supporting a whole school approach to exploratory talk
Praise, Power and Pupil-teacher Relationships
Get PDFThis research paper explores the views of class teachers and support staff regarding the various behaviour management (BM) strategies deployed within the Early Years Foundation Stage within a school setting. Participants were asked to identify which BM strategies they considered to be the most effective in providing a positive learning environment. The collated data was then analysed resulting in the emergence of three themes; teacher-child relationships, positive reinforcement, rules and routines. Further analysis of the data revealed another, more prominent yet less obvious theme of ‘power’. A final review of the emergent and underlying themes resulted in the conclusion of ‘teacher-child relationships’ and ‘power’ as forming the foundations of all the other emergent themes and the suggested behaviour management strategies. A proposed intervention action plan would serve to raise awareness of the two prominent themes allowing for teachers to establish effective and positive behaviour management
Write away from it all! The Value of Running a Writing Retreat for Doctoral Students
Get PDFDoctoral candidates often struggle to write at doctoral level. This struggle has many causes, but includes finding the time and support to write. We analyse a doctoral writing retreat aimed to encourage doctoral candidates to develop their academic writing and offer new insights into successful retreats. A comprehensive review of the literature about writing retreats and how these have been conceived and devised, includes the international literature about development of academic writing and the range of retreats. We identify the approach to writing within the UK and the limited references to retreats to support doctoral candidates to develop their writing. The writing retreat we devised is considered in detail. Features of the retreat which were valued by participants are identified and explored including specific skill development, a supportive environment with time and space to write. The findings extend the knowledge and understanding within the existing literature about doctoral writing retreats
In the case of high attaining, phonemically aware, bilingual Year One children, can spelling tests using phonemically irregular words be an effective strategy in order to improve spelling?
Get PDFPoor spelling can stifle creativity and limit the range of vocabulary that young children may attempt to use, which will in turn limit the quality of their writing. Many schools look to utilise spelling tests as a strategy designed to improve spelling despite valid criticism from educational psychologists and linguists for being anachronistic and incompatible with the way that pupils actually learn to spell (see the work of Charles Read who describes spelling as a creative skill). Yet could spelling tests aid pupils learning with English as an Additional Language considering their potential lack of exposure to written English morphology? This study observed notable improvement in target language spelling in both experimental and naturalistic conditions even 4 weeks after initial testing. However, the impact on promoting a broader range of spelling strategies and in particular morphological awareness appears more limited.
Embracing ‘science capital’: An investigation into the approaches and initiatives established by a post-primary school to promote the uptake of STEM related subjects and subsequently STEM related careers with a particular focus on how this is helping to r
Get PDFThe motivation for my study on the STEM gender imbalance was sparked when I read the statistic that currently in N Ireland “the ratio of males to females employed in STEM-related industries is 3 to 1” (Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, 2015). The insufficient number of females who study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects at A-Level through to industry is a highly concerning issue for the future of the N Ireland economy. I believe it is my responsibility as an aspiring post-primary teacher of mathematics and science to promote the uptake of the STEM subjects and careers to the female population for the future success of our economy. I set out to identify the successful strategies being used in one post-primary school and promote those strategies through the creation of a professional development resource to be of use in future practice.
What can Art Teachers do to Promote the Benefits of Studying Art and Design?
Get PDFThe aim of this research was to discover what teachers could do to promote the benefits of studying Art and Design (A&D) at GCSE, as the EBacc’s[1] recent introduction has narrowed down GCSE options. Research was carried out with the hypothesis that students would neglect A&D at GCSE due to a limited understanding of the career prospects or transferable skills that A&D education promotes. Research included the stigmatisation of A&D education, the attitudes of students towards the subject and how the EBacc might potentially impact the number of students opting for creative GCSEs. A poster that communicated these benefits was produced in response to data. The poster, which could be displayed in A&D classrooms, was trialled with a focus group and a class of Year 9 students. The Year 9 students were asked to write what they felt were the benefits of studying A&D both before and after viewing the poster. The poster was found to have an 83.33% success rate. [1] EBacc = English Baccalaureate: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-baccalaureate-ebacc/english-baccalaureate-ebac
