editors’ lntroduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 the foundation of business education is the same as every other discipline within education. as educators, we aim to develop critical thinking, inspire students to explore new concepts and encourage them to be responsible citizens who will lead future generations. however, each discipline, or group of disciplines, are inevitably faced with their own unique challenges. in addition to the general aims of higher education, business educators are tasked with inspiring the minds of future business leaders. this includes the complexity of understanding the functional areas that operate within a range of organisations as well as linking students’ future roles and influence to the social responsibilities that we all have, in other words, to become responsible business leaders. discussing good practice is essential and it is the only way we can improve the student and educators’ experience, and develop our craft to adapt to the new generation of students who are entering our learning environments. generation z bring new challenges for us as educators, and learning from each other and drawing on good practice from other disciplines is an essential component in developing the business leaders of the future. this special edition of compass evolved from the annual learning and teaching festival within the business school at the university of greenwich. the festival was developed to sharpen our focus on learning and teaching and inspire more people to engage in research and scholarly work in the area of pedagogy. the festival includes mainly educators from within the school but also includes representation from our transnational education partners. it provides a safe place to talk, share the challenges we face and, importantly, explore new and innovative ways to teach business and its related disciplines. many of the items within this special edition were presented in the 2019 festival, such as submissions by reilly, luo, sun and warren; robson, and mogaji. there are also submissions from those external to the event who want to share either their practice within business education or how we can learn from approaches in other disciplines, for example breen, and krastev; compton, jackson and bruce. we have a selection of thoughtprovoking opinion pieces, conference reflections, a video, a case study and an article which cover a wide range of issues that are currently important to the world of business education. for example, there are a number of submissions that examine how social and cross cultural issues impact the way we teach our subject area and we have a selection of opinions on how we can improve our delivery through innovative approaches such as role play, guerrilla teaching and diy exhibitions. this special edition therefore includes a wonderful range of ideas from across the academic community to challenge and inspire us as we take the practice of business education forward. liz and dawn dawn reilly and elizabeth warren, business school, university of greenwich, february 2020. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 proposing a cross-cultural peer support programme to enhance chinese direct entry students’ academic performance and learning experience xiaowen gao university of greenwich keywords: cross-cultural peer learning, personalised learning, chinese direct entry students, business education since the recognition that personalised higher education (he) learning experiences enhance student satisfaction and retention (keenan 2014), the number of united kingdom (uk) universities implementing peer support programmes to facilitate personalised learning has been growing rapidly. personalised learning is learner-centred learning, tailored to an individual’s learning needs, abilities and goals (becket and brookes, 2012). the adoption of peer-assisted learning (pal) has been proved to be successful in personalising students’ learning experiences and promoting students as active partners in their learning (hea, 2014). these positive outcomes should encourage us to consider a design which is more culturally inclusive in order to benefit international students. continuing innovation undertaken in he in the uk has always attracted a growing number of international students to study in uk universities. in particular, the number of chinese students is up by 43% since 2011-2012 (bolton, 2019). this year alone, applications from china have increased by thirty per cent (weale, 2019). international students are important stakeholders of higher education institutions (heis) in the uk, their contributions to universities extending beyond the revenue they bring to the international profile of the hosting universities and the strategic alliances with other nations (alfattal 2016). needless to say, the learning experience and satisfaction of international students are of importance for universities. however, the support for international students’ personalised learning is lacking in uk heis. it is claimed by bond and scudamore (2010) that learners from various cultures learn differently, affected by a range of factors including educational experience, age, gender and social status. it is unrealistic to expect formal learning to accommodate the learning needs of each individual student. therefore, pal could play a significant role in accommodating students’ personalised learning experience. pal is not a replacement for professional teaching conducted by lecturers but supplementary learning allowing students to learn in a student community which represents a safe place for them to ask questions and gain confidence (herrmann-werner et al., 2017). since active support among status equals leads to the acquisition of knowledge and skills (topping 2001), it offers academics opportunities to engage and work in partnership with students to enhance their personalised learning experience, ensure their retention and enhance their satisfaction. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 becoming a pal leader is voluntary for experienced students; leaders are awarded points linked to the university’s employability development reward scheme. students participating in pal schemes have described their experience: “rewarding”; “not only gaining real-life transferable skills but also the satisfaction of having an impact on someone else’s university life” (university of reading); “settled into the course more quickly”; “really useful and enjoyed the sessions” (university of brighton). pal programmes have also been highly commended by academic staff from various universities, as they not only result in a higher level of student engagement, but also create both links between year groups and student partnerships with academic and administrative staff (ody and carey, 2009). chinese direct entry (de) students would particularly benefit from pal for two reasons: first, they have been commonly characterised as ‘silent’, ‘collective’ learners (bond and scudamore, 2010) who have high respect for lecturers in formal learning but are not very verbally responsive to classroom teaching. peer-to-peer assisted learning would therefore be more effective when they learn from peers in an informal environment. second, there is a lack of collaborative learning between chinese de students and other student groups on uk university campuses. chinese students often exclude themselves from other student groups owing to weak language skills. they may also be regarded by other student groups as too exclusive, only talking to and being friendly with fellow chinese students. a cross-cultural peer-to-peer assisted learning programme would mutually enhance students’ international experience by enabling learning from each other. a cross-cultural pal could build a bridge between chinese students and students from different cultures to the benefit of all, academically and culturally. currently, little attention has been paid to pal programmes aimed at supporting international students’ personalised learning on uk-based campuses. only one trial targeting chinese students was reported in the higher education academy’s 2014 report – it was carried out in china by a small number of second-year students from the university of leeds during their trip to china (keenan, 2014). although it is important to implement a cross-culture pal scheme, some potential challenges need to be considered beforehand. first, when students learn from each other in an informal environment, it is important to make sure that the learning is well structured. second, students need to be motivated to learn from one another – participating in peerlearning without motivation would result only in reduced time for independent learning, with possible adverse impact on academic performance. third, there are cost implications in setting up the programme and providing training to students. in conclusion, international students’ satisfaction is essential for universities, which can benefit from offering opportunities on personalised learning. despite the challenges mentioned above, we believe peer-to-peer cross culture pal could be an effective approach to providing personalised learning for international students. we therefore propose that such peer learning should be initiated at the university of greenwich business faculty and, indeed, all business schools in the uk. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 reference list alfattal, e. (2016) ‘a new conceptual model for understanding international students’ college needs.’ journal of international students, 6(4). available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1125549.pdf (accessed: 11 september 2019). becket, n. and brookes, m. (2012) ‘the potential benefits and challenges of personalising uk higher education.’ journal of hospitality, leisure, sports & tourism education, 11, 21-28. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1473837612000056 (accessed: 15 september 2019). bolton, p. (2019) ‘higher education students numbers.’ briefing paper. available at: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/researchbriefing/summary/cbp-7857 (accessed: 15 november 2019). bond, k. and scudamore, r. (2010) woking with international students: a guide for staff in engineering. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/working-with-international-students.pdf (accessed: 12 september 2019). herrmann-werner, a. and gramer, r. (2017) ‘peer assisted learning in undergraduate education: an overview.’ zefq. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28545616 (accessed: 14 september 2019). keenan, c. (2014). ‘mapping student-led peer learning in the uk.’ the higher education academy. available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/mapping-student-led-peer-learning-uk (accessed: 11 september 2019). topping, k., (2001) ‘peer assisted learning: a practical guide for teachers’, cambridge, ma: brookline books. isbn 978-1571290854. weale, s. (2019) ‘chinese students’ applications to uk universities up by 30%.’ the guardian. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jul/11/chinese-students-applications-to-ukuniversities-up-by-30 (accessed: 9 september 2019). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1125549.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1473837612000056 https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/researchbriefing/summary/cbp-7857 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/working-with-international-students.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28545616 https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/mapping-student-led-peer-learning-uk https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jul/11/chinese-students-applications-to-uk-universities-up-by-30 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jul/11/chinese-students-applications-to-uk-universities-up-by-30 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 cameras on or off? there's more than meets the eye with engaging students in online learning. rebecca whyley-smith academic services librarian, university of greenwich, uk. abstract the shift to online learning has caused feelings of isolation and there has been a noticeable lack of engagement by students in this context, owing to uncertainties about the expectations of online etiquette. research has shown that video cameras are a step in the right direction where building rapport is concerned, but they are not the only tool at our disposal for creating an online community. keywords: video, camera, online, etiquette, student engagement cameras on or off? online learning is a new experience for many students. some of them feel anxious when in a classroom environment new to them and are noticeably hesitant about participating online, often joining sessions with personal audio and video camera switched off. rasheed, kamsin and abdullah (2020) offer various reasons for this reluctance by students: they may lack confidence or be reserved; they may not have access to appropriate technology; they may simply not have a study space suitable for the purpose. if all participants’ cameras are on, the tutor may more readily gauge the group’s understanding of a topic from visible nonverbal cues. furthermore, when all members of the class and the tutor can both see and hear each other, the online experience clearly is far more constructive and engaging for everyone (castelli and sarvary, 2021). certainly, many educators have recognised the likelihood of individual disengagement if any cameras are switched off, for, without them, presenters obviously struggle to create a completely inclusive online community, for some faces and voices are missing. online presenters often, therefore, find themselves at a disadvantage when tasked with establishing relationships that are crucial to the academic success and satisfaction of students (martin, 2019). the ‘academic support team’ (ast) at the university of greenwich started delivering online synchronous sessions at the beginning of the pandemic and found that many students join online sessions passively. it is true that students are often unaware of the contrasting dynamics of seminars and lectures: they are uncertain about the etiquette expected of them in each context. new students may be welcomed to university in large induction groups and so may often, in that situation, be required to turn off their cameras and mute their microphones to save on bandwidth. within seminar or workshop sessions, however, students are expected to turn their cameras on and participate when asked to do so. if these two very different ways of delivering synchronous teaching are not made explicit to students, their confusion over etiquette is to be expected. the added complexity of being online creates uncertainty about the expected level of engagement. it has therefore become opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 apparent that clear guidelines are needed, so that all students are aware of the etiquette expected of them when in groups online. such guidelines, however, are best co-created, so as to ensure that learners are able to control their own learning experience while also meeting the engagement expectations of the educator. such co-creation could take the form of an open discussion about online etiquette (‘netiquette’) at the beginning of a live online session, when such a conversation would allow everyone, students and educator, to have a common awareness and understanding of the netiquette to be followed, as well as of expectations and anticipated challenges; the educator would also have the opportunity to explore attitudes and preferences relating to the use of cameras. the ast developed a range of sessions entitled ‘preparing to learn online’, covering aspects of digital skills and including online etiquette. the session design allowed all students new to online learning the opportunity to reflect both on the benefits to be gained and the possible challenges to be faced. during the resulting open discussion, the team found that, in most cases, the concerns expressed by some students were resolved by others in the session, so illustrating the value of peer-to-peer discussion in an online environment. research has shown that “motivation can be enhanced greatly by peer-to-peer interaction, leading to the forming of learning communities. however, this does not happen without the facilitator setting up a conducive environment” (ryle and cumming, 2007, p.42). rhim and han (2020) state that the role of the educator in the online environment involves not only providing information but also motivating and empowering students to enrich their learning experience. activities to ensure that learners can engage with each other are therefore a necessity in online lesson design. feedback from the live sessions conducted by the ast indicated that students enjoyed the informal conversations between presenting staff: they felt part of a welcoming community. research has shown that having the “instructor disclose personal experiences, a personal photo and video communications ultimately strengthens the online learning experience” (caskurlu et al., 2021, p.8). it therefore became apparent that the educator should be a positive role model, for to follow personal expected netiquette encourages reciprocity by the students in the group. the personalisation of synchronous sessions could also be brought into asynchronous learning. photos, videos and discussion forums are a way to bring about interactivity and all play an important role in social learning. turning cameras on does give students the opportunity to build rapport, but there are other tools that can be used to ensure that students are able to interact with each other and the material at hand. harnessing such ‘teams’ functions as chat, whiteboard and breakout rooms, together with ‘mentimeter’, is a meaningful use of technology to check understanding and build a sense of belonging. answering questions, taking part in a quiz or holding discussions in smaller groups or in the chat function are all experiences that build a social learning environment. online learning therefore requires an adjustment of perspectives. learners should not be seen as passive recipients, but as autonomous, active learners who take control of their own learning experience by taking advantage of the tools that are made available (rhim and han, 2020). in conclusion, the use of video cameras in synchronous teaching is an important step towards successful encouragement of engagement, but it is not the only tool at our disposal. post-pandemic pedagogy should reflect the importance of creating an online community to ensure that students have every possible opportunity to engage, just as they opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 would in a face-to-face environment. it should also not dictate boundaries but open a dialogue between educator and learners about the expectations of good netiquette. reference list caskurlu, s., richardson, j.c., maeda, y. and kozan, k. (2021) 'the qualitative evidence behind the factors impacting online learning experiences as informed by the community of inquiry framework: a thematic synthesis.' computers and education, 165. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.104111 castelli, f.r. and sarvary, m.a. (2021) 'why students do not turn on their video cameras during online classes and an equitable and inclusive plan to encourage them to do so.' ecology and evolution, 11(8), 3565–3576. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7123 martin, j. (2019) 'building relationships and increasing engagement in the virtual classroom: practical tools for the online instructor.' journal of educators online, 16(1). available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1204379 (accessed: 28 may 2021). rasheed, r.a., kamsin, a. and abdullah, n.a. (2020) 'challenges in the online component of blended learning: a systematic review.' computers and education, 144. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103701 rhim, h.c. and han, h. (2020) 'teaching online: foundational concepts of online learning and practical guidelines.' korean journal of medical education, korean society of medical education, 32(3), 175-183. available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32894921/ (accessed 26 may 2021). ryle, a. and cumming, k. (2007) 'reflections on engagement in online learning communities.' international journal of pedagogies and learning, 3(3), 35-46. doi: https://doi.org/10.5172/ijpl.3.3.35 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.104111 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7123 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1204379 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103701 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32894921/ https://doi.org/10.5172/ijpl.3.3.35 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 the future of vocational higher education: the blended-learning approach jason jeevaruban, gemma boden university of greenwich, uk the social distancing measures introduced because of the covid-19 pandemic have caused, in higher education, an abrupt change from the traditional approach of face-to-face teaching on campus to the provision of online and blended learning. in this opinion piece, i discuss how and why the blended approach has been effective for vocational courses (such as healthcare, sports science and design, amongst others), drawing on my own experience as a student studying an undergraduate paramedic science course. blended learning is relevant and pragmatic within the higher education sector, offering a combination of face-to-face and online learning systems (hrastinski, 2019) and providing many flexible opportunities for an individual’s development. while online learning is composed of pre-prepared materials for students to work on at their own pace, as well as content delivered through live streaming platforms, blended learning adds vital elements of face-to-face teaching in seminars and practical sessions on campus. during the pandemic, many benefits from delivering teaching online have become evident. modern, innovative online platforms allow learning to be accessible to those unable to be physically on campus several times per week, such as caregivers and those in remote locations. as a result, regardless of place and time, students can take part in both synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities. online teaching sessions can take place live, allowing for group work and discussions using break-out rooms, for example. this facility is one that students such as i find very convenient (sandhu and wolf, 2020; rose, 2020). using this approach and through the sharing of sound, video and chat facilities, tutors can establish a classroom dynamic which includes verbal, non-verbal and written communication, including body language and facial expressions. in my experience, this facilitates understanding and enhances students’ appreciation and retention of key points (mitra et al., 2010). a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online learning is particularly beneficial to students on vocational courses, as they are likely to be combining academic studies and professional placements as well as other, personal commitments (carolan et al., 2020). however, while the online opportunities have been important and beneficial to me, i realised during the pandemic that having the opportunity to come on to campus to take part in faceto-face sessions has been essential for putting my learning into practice. it is of great benefit, for example, to be able to practise techniques physically on mannequins and equipment, thereby preparing myself for real situations in a safe environment where mistakes i may make both initiate and consolidate experiential learning. on campus, we were able to participate in team-based, advanced life-support simulations – helpful and valuable because we needed to be able to meet, communicate, practise and work together as a team. to be better skilled in our subject area, it is essential that vocational students like us have opportunities both to receive live feedback from course facilitators on our developing skills and competencies and to respond constructively to it. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 online learning on its own and not as part of a holistic blended-learning approach may hinder academic achievement on vocational courses because of the difficulties that would arise in evaluating a vocational student’s competencies. rintala and nokelainen (2019) conclude that an online practical examination would be ineffective in recognising a student’s practical application of knowledge. i, along with many other vocational healthcare students, experienced a sense of anxiety on my return to clinical placement, following the transition to online learning at the beginning of the pandemic (hickman, 2020). the temporary change to learning clinical skills online led to us having concerns about our ability to develop a safe level of competency in both communication and clinical skills, two areas primarily developed through continuous practical application. furthermore, reinforcing the benefits of blended learning (as opposed to online learning on its own), raymond-hayling (2020) adds that, as students are unable to develop key communication skills by learning only online, communication within a clinical placement setting may be compromised. an exclusively online delivery may present other challenges. dhawan (2020) points out that the sudden onset of the pandemic forced institutions to navigate new online platforms very rapidly and to find innovative ways to engage, attract and motivate students to attend online teaching sessions. problems could arise because students may be international and living in different time zones or may lack the technical skills, experience and confidence needed to engage fully with the course. in the longer term, while there are sure to be benefits to including online delivery in teaching and learning strategies, maintaining the campus-based sessions will, without doubt, continue to play an important part in helping students to feel connected and build relationships with peers and tutors, as well as allowing for the development and assessment of practical, clinical and communication competencies as discussed above. the adjustments to teaching in 2020-21 will change higher education pedagogical methods in the future and will continue to raise further questions for research within learning and teaching. it is nevertheless important to emphasise, even though the flexibility of a blendedlearning approach will improve opportunities for both institutions and learners, that it is critical at the design stage to consider students’ experiences and views when deciding which mode(s) of delivery will best suit students. reference list carolan, c., davies, c.l., crookes, p., mcghee, s. and roxburgh, m. (2020) ‘covid-19: disruptive impacts and transformative opportunities in undergraduate nurse education.’ nurse education in practice 46(1), 1-2. available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102807 (accessed: 26 august 2020). dhawan, s. (2020) ‘online learning: a panacea in the time of covid-19 crisis.’ journal of educational technology systems 49(1), 5-22. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0047239520934018 (accessed: 03 october 2020). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 hickman, m.m., gosney, e.r. and hare, k.l. (2020) ‘medical student views on returning to clinical placement after months of online learning as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.’ medical education online 25(1), 1-2. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2020.1800981 (accessed: 26 august 2020). hrastinski, s. (2019) ‘what do we mean by blended learning?’ tech trends 63(1), 564-569. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00375-5 (accessed: 07 february 2021). mitra, b., lewin-jones, j., barrett, h. and williamson, s. (2010) ‘the use of video to enable deep learning’ research in post-compulsory education 15(4), 405-414. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2010.526802 (accessed: 07 february 2021). raymond-hayling, o. (2020) ‘what lies in the year ahead for medical education? a medical student’s perspective during the covid-19 pandemic.’ medical education online 25(1), 1-2. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2020.1781749 (accessed: 14 march 2021). rintala, h. and nokelainen, p. (2019) ‘vocational education and learners’ experienced workplace curriculum.’ vocations and learning 13(1), 113-130. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-019-09229-w (accessed: 14 march 2021). rose, e. (2020) ‘medical student education in the time of covid-19.’ jama 323(21), 21312132. available at: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.5227 (accessed: 26 august 2020). sandhu, p. and wolf, m.d. (2020) ‘the impact of covid-19 on the undergraduate medical curriculum.’ medical education online 25 (1), 1-2. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2020.1764740 (accessed: 26 august 2020). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 what does decolonising the curriculum mean for stem subjects? dr monica fernandes brunel university london, uk abstract the concept of decolonising the curriculum is currently under widespread discussion in higher education. while it is clearer how this can be done in disciplines within humanities and social sciences, it is less obvious how it may be achieved in the stem subjects, which are based more on technical knowledge and problem-solving. keywords: decolonising the curriculum; inclusive teaching; stem introduction with the move towards decolonising the curriculum in institutions, how do the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) subjects diversify their curricula when they tend to be based on sums, formulas and problem-solving? this question will be explored through considering what ‘decolonising the curriculum’ means as a concept and considering how this can take place in practice in stem subjects. what does ‘decolonising the curriculum’ mean? the background of decolonising the curriculum can be traced to 2015, with the ‘rhodes must fall’ protests at the university of cape town in south africa. the south african context, with the backdrop of apartheid in its history, challenged the wider education system and advocated decolonising education in a bid to diversify narratives and perspectives. while at first glance this can be interpreted as a political notion, on closer inspection from a wider viewpoint on the education system, it also calls on educators to consider inclusive pedagogy, where inclusive curriculum design is at the forefront and students have a say in what they are taught and how (florian and black-hawkins, 2011). from this perspective, decolonising the curriculum may be seen as a twofold process, allowing academics to consider 1) what is taught and 2) the way in which it is taught. as educators, we need to review what we teach. decolonising the curriculum means going beyond western models or theories and including various perspectives and voices, often without race and gender constraints. rethinking what we teach allows students to be exposed to various contexts, views and opinions, so contributing to their development as independent learners and critical thinkers. we also need to consider how we teach. this an opportunity to redesign curricula so that they are based on such inclusive approaches as diversifying assessments, using inclusive language, reviewing the skills that we want students to develop in our modules and considering various teaching platforms to ensure that all students have opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 equal access to module materials. students can be consulted to get a sense both of what they want the module content to be and how they would like it to be taught. on an institutional and sector level, there is additional pressure to address decolonising education. the black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) student awarding-gap data illustrates that black students are the most disadvantaged. in 2018/19, there was a 22.1% difference between the numbers of black students and white students who obtained either a first or upper second class of degree (ofs, 2020). to address this discrepancy, the office for students (ofs) highlighted nine ‘key features’, one of which was for institutions to ‘review curriculum, teaching and learning practices’ (ofs, 2020). how can stem subjects be decolonised? what does decolonising the curriculum look like for stem subjects – disciplines which are more technical or problem-solving? one way could be to include the history, philosophy and evolution of science subjects (raju, 2012) and perhaps include more diverse individuals or voices, by whom and by which racism and misogyny may be challenged (akinbosede, 2020). there may also be scope to explore and include alternative methods to problem-solving that may be less familiar, but are practised in other countries and cultures (for example, teaching the japanese model of multiplication or exploring how the comma is used in decimals in maths in other countries). teaching alternative problem-solving techniques have two significant benefits: students learn that there are several ways to solve a problem, with consequent appeal to their different learning styles; they see that stem subjects are not eurocentric but have a diverse background (nhemachena, hlabangane and matowanyika, 2020). such innovative approaches will undoubtedly challenge the nature of stem subjects and could possibly bridge the gap that currently divides stem from social sciences/humanities. the challenge of decolonising the curriculum in stem subjects is the belief that science is objective and neutral (bhambra, gebrial and nisancłolu, 2018). to overcome the challenge of neutrality, we academics need to reassess how we think of stem subjects. some have suggested re-orientating science in the wider body of knowledge to make it more inclusive (bhambra, gebrial and nisancłolu, 2018) and thereby more truly objective, as it’s taking into account multiple and diverse perspectives (future learn: n.d). while stem subjects might be presented as neutral disciplines, the context in which these subjects emerged was not. how and why were theories developed and by whom? part of inclusivity is to recognise where knowledge has come from and which individuals contributed to these disciplines. to do this means that those contributory voices, so far eliminated from the narrative, will now be heard – as they should be. for example, chien-shiung wu, an americanchinese female physicist who specialised in beta decay, provided experimental evidence for theoretical physicists chen ning yang and tsung-dao lee, which led to their being awarded the nobel prize for physics in 1957 (johnston, 2020). wu’s contribution, like that of many others, hasn’t been acknowledged, but decolonising the curricula may correct that, for it has created an opportunity to introduce new knowledge and inspire students who question the lack of representation of opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 marginalised groups in their subjects, for they wish to see themselves represented in the subjects they are taught. conclusion decolonising the curriculum enables educators to rethink what is taught and how it is delivered. it allows for a more holistic, inclusive and creative approach to the designing of modules and curricula and also encourages a dialogue to take place between educators and students. stem subjects are not exempt from having to review their curricula; if such measures are taken, there may well be more coherence between the sciences and humanities, where individuals and different perspectives on theories are included. reference list akinbosede, d. (2020) ‘science curricula must be decolonised too.’ times higher education, 5 june 2020. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/science-curricula-must-be-decolonisedtoo (accessed: 11 february 2021). bhambra, g.k., gebrial, d. and nisancloglu, k. (2018) decolonising the university. 1st edition. london, pluto press. isbn: 9780745338200 florian, l. and black-hawkins, k. (2011) ‘exploring inclusive pedagogy.’ british educational research journal, 37(5), 813-828. available at: https://berajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411926.2010.501096 (accessed: 8 february 2021). future learn (n.d.) interview with science journalist angela saini about decolonisation of stem subjects. available at: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/decolonising-education-from-theory-topractice/0/steps/189727 (accessed: 20 april 2021). johnston, h. (2020) ‘overlooked for the nobel: chienshiung wu.’ physics world. available at: https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiungwu/#:~:text=overlooked%3a%20chienshiung%20wu%20in%201963%20at%20columbia%20university.,led%20to%20imp ortant%20discoveries%20regarding%20the%20elementary%20particles%e2%80%9 d (accessed: 8 february 2021). nhemachena, a., hlabangane, n. and matowanyika, j.z.z (2020) decolonising science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) in an age of technocolonialism: recentring african indigenous knowledge and belief systems. mankon, bamenda: langaa research & publishing cig. isbn: 9789956551866 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/science-curricula-must-be-decolonised-too https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/science-curricula-must-be-decolonised-too https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411926.2010.501096 https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411926.2010.501096 https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/decolonising-education-from-theory-to-practice/0/steps/189727 https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/decolonising-education-from-theory-to-practice/0/steps/189727 https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/#:~:text=overlooked%3a%20chien-shiung%20wu%20in%201963%20at%20columbia%20university.,led%20to%20important%20discoveries%20regarding%20the%20elementary%20particles%e2%80%9d https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/#:~:text=overlooked%3a%20chien-shiung%20wu%20in%201963%20at%20columbia%20university.,led%20to%20important%20discoveries%20regarding%20the%20elementary%20particles%e2%80%9d https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/#:~:text=overlooked%3a%20chien-shiung%20wu%20in%201963%20at%20columbia%20university.,led%20to%20important%20discoveries%20regarding%20the%20elementary%20particles%e2%80%9d https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/#:~:text=overlooked%3a%20chien-shiung%20wu%20in%201963%20at%20columbia%20university.,led%20to%20important%20discoveries%20regarding%20the%20elementary%20particles%e2%80%9d https://physicsworld.com/a/overlooked-for-the-nobel-chien-shiung-wu/#:~:text=overlooked%3a%20chien-shiung%20wu%20in%201963%20at%20columbia%20university.,led%20to%20important%20discoveries%20regarding%20the%20elementary%20particles%e2%80%9d opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 office for students (ofs) (2020) degree attainment: black, asian and minority ethnic students. available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-andguidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/effective-practice/black-asian-and-minorityethnic-students/ (accessed: 26 february 2021). raju, c.k. (2012) ‘decolonising math and science education.’ in: alvares, c. and faruqi, s.s. (eds.) decolonising the university: the emerging quest for noneurocentric paradigms. malaysia: penerbit universiti sains malaysia and citizens international. isbn: 9789838615419 https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/effective-practice/black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-students/ https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/effective-practice/black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-students/ https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/effective-practice/black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-students/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 teaching in a pandemic: using body healing to support your wellbeing dr poppy gibson1, amber bale2, university of greenwich1, northumbria university2, uk. how have you been feeling during the covid-19 pandemic? as an educator, reduced opportunities, owing to lockdown, for much needed collaboration and socialisation may have left you feeling lethargic or overwhelmed (lavie et al., 2021). it is widely recognised that the issues the pandemic has brought will heighten emotional distress as well as increase risk for psychiatric illness (pfefferbaum and north, 2020). the body and mind are often thought of as different entities; body healing is a holistic mind-body approach – based on the principles of healing and wellbeing of the whole person (rasweswe et al., 2021) – that involves physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual wellness (francis, 2020). though some issues need medical attention and treatment, the co-authors of this opinion piece argue that there is something to be recognised in the role of body healing to help improve our mood, motivation and overall wellbeing while teaching during a pandemic. the struggles of teaching during a pandemic lockdown has seen the closing of many physical classrooms and a shift to online education, but can remote pedagogical approaches replace face-to-face interaction? our higher education (he) system has been hit hard (alvarez, 2020). numerous courses have been disrupted, thus requiring teaching to be moved, reshaped and reformatted (oki et al., 2021), meaning heavy workload for educators. more importantly, the ‘personal’ relationship between educator and student has been lost and replaced by a distanced, virtual one (mishra et al., 2020). educators are experiencing zoom fatigue, which is described as the “tiredness, worry or burnout associated with overusing platforms of communication” (wolf, 2020). student engagement diminishes, while absence because of stress or caring responsibilities increases, often leaving lecturers preaching monologues to their webcams and suffering consequent job dissatisfaction – and stress, too. while we cannot control external stressors around us, we can control our reaction to them and learn methods to help restore our inner balance and peace. the human mind-body possesses an innate ability to heal (kaufman, 2018). it is this ability that we should use to be able to take back control of our own minds, health and general wellbeing. individuals can take ownership of their own healing (malchiodi, 2020). what is body healing? body healing uses mind-body therapies – strategies that rely on the influences of thought, emotion and mental imaging in order to make positive impact upon the body (koithan, 2009). these therapies are among the most widely recommended and used form of complementary and alternative medicine (koithan, op.cit.). there is an extensive range of mind-body therapies that we can partake in to help our bodies heal, with something for everyone: those that use movement – such as yoga, dance, tai chi, mindful walking and therapeutic gardening – and those that focus more on our mental state – such as meditation, imagery, deep breathing and hypnosis. from our personal experience, we have found meditation to be the most useful mind-body therapy during the pandemic. we can meditate almost opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 anywhere and learning how to meditate is easier than ever, with helpful apps such as ‘headspace’. even a five-minute meditation can reduce stress as well as increase our focus, productivity, mindfulness and ability to remain present (headspace, 2021). two ways to use body healing within your daily routine: i) fitting body healing around your lectures, seminars and meetings if you are feeling lethargic and struggling with the effects of the pandemic on your life, why not consider implementing simple body healing strategies into your weekly routines? begin your day with the radio on, or with your favourite playlist on a music app, and dance for ten minutes to the songs you enjoy most; dance is proven to help reduce anxiety and stress levels (saumaa, 2021). if you have been spending hours in front of a screen, make sure you schedule in a lunch break each day and use it to walk outside, around your local area (richardson et al., 2021). you can track your walks using a simple fitness app if you want to monitor your progress; ‘strava’, for example, allows you to share your distances with friends who can celebrate your exercise with you. as many physical social connections with colleagues have been lost in lockdown, find ways like this one for connecting virtually with others. in addition to specific mind-body therapies, it has been proved that something as apparently simple as spending time in nature can benefit health and wellbeing: to enjoy the optimum benefits, spend at least 120 minutes per week out of doors (white et al., 2019). ii) before sleep at the end of a busy day using body healing before sleep is key to feeling rested. you could keep a journal or even use a notes app on your phone to write down three things each evening: something you are grateful for, something you are proud of and something you wish you could change. reflecting on these aspects of our life helps us to remember the positives as well as to acknowledge things we are not happy with. we need to admit to uncomfortable emotions in order to be mindful of them. either use lavender spray on your pillow or rub a deep-sleep cream containing essential oils on your hands and inhale well (karadag et al., 2017). you could also try a mindfulness app to listen to before you sleep or one of the many free sleep meditations on youtube (huberty et al., 2021). in conclusion, the use of mind-body therapies, though just simple adjustments to our behaviours, can have a profound effect on both our physical and our mental health, thus equipping us better for teaching our students. following these recommended practices can also have a positive impact on our students. in addition to revitalising our own energy and ability to teach, it enables us to be better role models and teach our students the importance of prioritising their emotional wellbeing. reference list alvarez, a.j. (2020) ‘the phenomenon of learning at a distance through emergency remote teaching amidst the pandemic crisis.’ asian journal of distance education, 15(1), 127-143. available at: http://asianjde.org/ojs/index.php/asianjde/article/view/453 (accessed: 12 february 2021). http://asianjde.org/ojs/index.php/asianjde/article/view/453 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 francis, e.a. (2020) whole body healing: create your own path to physical, emotional, energetic & spiritual wellness. minnesota: llewellyn worldwide. isbn: 0738762180 huberty, j.l., green, j., puzia, m.e., larkey, l., laird, b., vranceanu, a.m., vlisides-henry, r. and irwin, m.r. (2021) ‘testing a mindfulness meditation mobile app for the treatment of sleep-related symptoms in adults with sleep disturbance: a randomized controlled trial.’ plos one, 16(1), p.e0244717. available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244717 (accessed: 12 february 2021). karadag, e., samancioglu, s., ozden, d. and bakir, e. (2017) ‘effects of aromatherapy on sleep quality and anxiety of patients. nursing in critical care.’ 22(2), 105-112. available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26211735/ (accessed: 12 february 2021). kaufman j. (2018) ‘nature, mind, and medicine: a model for mind-body healing.’ explore, 14(4). available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29891437/ (accessed 12 february 2021). koithan, m, (2009) ‘the inner healer: mind-body strategies for health.’ the journal for nurse practitioners: jnp, 374-375. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2754856/ (accessed: 12 february 2021). lavie, i., steiner, a. and sfard, a. (2019) ‘routines we live by: from ritual to exploration.’ educational studies in mathematics, 101(2), 153-176. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10649-018-9817-4 (accessed: 12 february 2021). malchiodi, c.a. (2020) trauma and expressive arts therapy: brain, body, and imagination in the healing process. new york city: guilford publications. isbn: 9781462543113 mccabe, g. (2008) ‘mind, body, emotions and spirit: reaching to the ancestors for healing.’ counselling psychology quarterly, 21(2), 143-152. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09515070802066847 (accessed: 12 february 2021). mishra, l., gupta, t. and shree, a. (2020) ‘online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of covid-19 pandemic.’ international journal of educational research open, 1, 100012. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s2666374020300121 (accessed: 11 february 2021). oki, o., shah, s., scrivens, l. and guckian, j. (2021) ‘covid‐19: challenges and solutions for the future of uk dermatology undergraduate curriculum delivery.’ clinical and experimental dermatology, 46(1), 171-173. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ced.14386 (accessed: 12 february 2021). pfefferbaum, b. and north, c.s. (2020) ‘mental health and the covid-19 pandemic.’ new england journal of medicine, 383(6), 510-512. available at: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmp2008017 (accessed: 12 february 2021). https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244717 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26211735/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29891437/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2754856/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10649-018-9817-4 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09515070802066847 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s2666374020300121 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ced.14386 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmp2008017 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 rasweswe, m.m., mogale, r.s., musie, m.r. and rikhotso, r. (2021) ‘re-defining holistic healing: from transdisciplinary perspectives in south africa.’ european journal of integrative medicine, 101300. available at: https://www.x-mol.com/paper/1354517446223339520 (accessed: 12 february 2021). richardson, m., passmore, h.a., lumber, r., thomas, r. and hunt, a. (2021) ‘moments, not minutes: the nature-wellbeing relationship.’ international journal of wellbeing, 11(1). available at: https://www.internationjournalofwellbeing.org (accessed: 12 february 2021). saumaa, h. (2021) ‘dance, somatics, and self-care.’ alternative and complementary therapies. available at: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/act.2020.29311.hsa (accessed: 12 february 2021). white, m.p., alcock, i., grellier, j., wheeler, b., hartig, t., warber, s.l., bone, a., depledge, m.h. and fleming, l.e. (2019) ‘spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing.’ scientific reports 9, 7730. available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3 (accessed: 12 february 2021). wolf c.r. (2020) ‘virtual platforms are helpful tools but can add to our stress.’ psychology today. available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-desk-the-mental-healthlawyer/202005/virtual-platforms-are-helpful-tools-can-add-our-stress (accessed: 24 march 2021). headspace (2021) ‘five minute meditation.’ available at: https://www.headspace.com/meditation/5-minute-meditation (accessed: 24 march 2021). https://www.x-mol.com/paper/1354517446223339520 https://www.internationjournalofwellbeing.org/ https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/act.2020.29311.hsa https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-desk-the-mental-health-lawyer/202005/virtual-platforms-are-helpful-tools-can-add-our-stress https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-desk-the-mental-health-lawyer/202005/virtual-platforms-are-helpful-tools-can-add-our-stress https://www.headspace.com/meditation/5-minute-meditation editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 welcome to volume 13, issue 2, of compass, journal of learning and teaching! this issue presents an interesting and varied mix of articles, case studies, opinion pieces and technology reviews on current topics, including innovative methods of formative assessment and how best to support students’ employability and interpersonal skills. several papers discuss techniques and tools for working with students in an online or blended context, ideas which are likely to be of particular interest as we adapt to new and flexible ways of working with students in 20-21. there are thought-provoking pieces that reflect on the view of students as digital natives and on imposter syndrome in academics. a brief snapshot of each paper follows. xue zhou, stella-maris izegbua orim and peter wolstencroft of coventry university offer a detailed and balanced appraisal of the potential benefits of, and challenges involved in, incorporating learning technology into the higher education classroom, with a strong focus on mobile devices. on the basis of studies of the deployment of two digital learning tools, tophat and socrative, and a careful scrutiny of relevant literature, this paper serves to alert teachers to 1) the widespread but erroneous assumption that all students are digital natives with an easy affinity with software and thus 2) to the risks of badging them as a homogeneous group. with a clear portrayal of the teaching and learning context as it has become, with teacher and student roles and relationships very different from the traditional, the authors emphasise the need for the purpose of digital learning to be made fully clear, the technology being to facilitate learning, not to be an end in itself. the paper presents a framework for implementing learning technology in the classroom, with clear caveats about assuming that such resources are guaranteed to be successful. 1a technology review by brandon sabourin, of the university of windsor, ontario, homes in on another web-based tool, mindomo, designed to facilitate the creation of digital concept maps (“multimodal document[s] created to represent the relationships between connected ideas”). brandon’s considerable experience in using both concept mapping and mindomo is evident in this authoritative paper, which draws upon his work as the tutor of a pre-service digital teaching course. like the previous paper, this offers both lecturer and student perspectives, but perhaps most helpful here is the inclusion of a swot analysis of mindomo, itself in the form of a concept map, which succinctly summarises the tool’s strengths and opportunities. the author is very positive about the value of the medium, but recognises from his students’ feedback that using such technology might possibly usurp the development of other important learning processes and recommends interested users to consider carefully whether concept mapping aligns with the goals and outcomes of the learning experience they aim to provide. in their study of the deployment of blended learning in segi college penang, malaysia, krishnamoorthy kumarasamy, kalaivani kalimuthu and mahalecumy narayanansamy explore students’ and academics’ views and seek to determine the benefits, challenges and limitations of the methods used. based on a qualitative and quantitative survey of both groups of users, the authors report a largely positive response from both groups. learners seemed to understand online content and enjoyed the flexible scheduling of activities and taking personal control of their learning, while their teachers liked being able to monitor easily their students’ individual progress. the authors were able to define from their study editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 some key elements for successful blended learning: appropriate teacher skills from proper training; provision of suitable resources; raising of student awareness of both the approach and the expectations; training for students in the use of digital tools; opportunities for teacher-student consultation; and, very significantly, teacher enthusiasm. another online opportunity, this time for learners of languages other than their own, is reviewed by hiromi nishioka, of waseda university, japan. meetup offers its general users access to social events of interest to them; it may therefore be harnessed by language learners to have authentic face-to-face interaction with native speakers with similar interests and hobbies. the author explains the workings of the meetup platform and shows its pedagogical potential for providing novice speakers of language with the support of experts, namely native speakers. the constraints of the conventional language classroom, which lacks the dimension of real events in a social and cultural setting for learners to use their target language, may thus be overcome by teachers who recognise that recommending meetup will create appropriate contexts to support what formal education offers. the author identifies many linguistic and cultural benefits, however she also points out that learners who are shy or have less well-developed language skills may not find it easy to participate and may prefer teacher feedback. she concludes that to gain the most from meetup, participants must identify what they mean to gain, attend events regularly and be prepared to develop their autonomous learning ability. in her second piece in this issue of compass, hiromi nishioka reviews hinative, a question/answer app for language learners, who may ask – using typed word, image or short audio recording – questions of native speakers via nine pre-designed formats for, currently, 110 different languages. the author offers a tabulated breakdown of functions available for premium and non-premium users and a detailed swot analysis with informative commentary. as a higher education teaching resource, hinative’s restriction to short questions without social networking, a limitation rather than a disadvantage, enables users to develop their linguistic and inter-cultural understanding through various accessible learning activities and, helpfully for language learning, in small doses; furthermore, with appropriate support, they can take more control of their own language learning beyond the classroom, by participating in online language learning communities where, as expert native speakers themselves, they may eventually assist others. heba ezzeldin helmy of the modern sciences and arts university, egypt, chose to “design and allocate a formative pecha kucha (pk) assignment on one economic school of thought to groups of students in a history of economic thought class.” the pk is a presentation sequence with twenty images, each shown successively for twenty seconds, with accompanying commentary. with such a piece of formative assessment, the author aimed: to increase students’ engagement with technology; to help them to learn autonomously and collaboratively; to tackle breadth as well as depth of learning. this study corroborates others which demonstrate the benefits of pk, especially in relation to skills development in communication, comprehension, language learning and design. with its careful and stimulating presentation of the perceptions of both the instructor and the students of this kind of assignment, this approach has much to offer as a means of getting students to absorb breadth and to present their learning concisely. pk seems to address many of the common criticisms of powerpoint as a mode of presentation. editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 john barrow, joy perkins, pietro marini and ann davidson, from three scottish institutions, surveyed 300 life sciences students about their responses to a workshop – the two-hour ‘future ready ideas lab’ – designed to make them aware of core enterprise skills to be developed during their courses. exploring “the interplay between enterprise skills, students and employers”, the authors emphasise the role of higher education institutions (heis) in preparing students to be resilient, flexible, creative, innovative and adaptable to rapid change in the world of employment, where having transferable personal skills is more important than mere focus on jobs. heis, they aver, must make explicit in their curricula the linkage between academic learning and workplace skills. though this workshop, now embedded in the curriculum, was designed for bioscience students, the authors believe it to be readily transferable to other disciplines and recommend it as one means of engaging students in enterprise education. a reflective piece by poppy gibson and samuel coombes of the university of greenwich considers how their planning and delivery of a workshop on ‘impostor syndrome’, at the 2019 university of greenwich ‘shift’ conference, helped them to challenge and overcome their own fears and self-doubt. presenting at conference as they did, they suggest, may well help academics – through “reflection, feed-forward, perspective, support network and talk” – to deal with the apparently prevalent sense of feeling a fraud. the authors address in turn these five strategy mechanisms, a process offering a coherent explanation of their rationale, and believe that the final one – talk – is fundamental to all of them. the paper leaves the reader with a reassuring sense of the authors’ honesty about their private feelings and of the genuine value of mutually supportive interaction between empathetic fellow practitioners. in a detailed study of the design and delivery of a new team-based learning (tbl) module for third-year chinese students in engineering and technology, rami ghannam and wasim ahmad of the university of glasgow explain that, while in western nations, there is sustained decline in stem applicants, china is producing very many graduates in these subjects, though they lack the team-working skills for the global workplace. this paper presents the authors’ response to a still very teacher-led engineering curriculum: a tbl approach intended to develop the active independent learning, communication, and presentation skills of students in china. they say that tbl requires pre-class guided selflearning of course basics and objectives, then assessment of students’ understanding of those – both individually and in teams – and finally the application of this learning to a team project (in this case, the building and working of robotic rovers). student feedback about the module indicated that most participants felt they had learned more from team involvement than they might have done individually, and they certainly preferred team activity to working alone. the authors recommend this approach to curriculum development and conclude that it is particularly useful for large cohorts, for multiple teams may be facilitated by a single instructor rather than by several. silvia colaiacomo, from university college london, presents results from the digital classroom project at the university of kent, which investigated the relationship between space, technology, and pedagogy in two new seminar rooms equipped with special furniture and technology. a key feature of the project was the close collaboration between academics, professional services, and students. qualitative and quantitative data were collected via observation and interview. it was found that both students and staff enjoyed and benefitted from working in these rooms. the author highlights the benefits of having teaching spaces editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 that facilitate active, collaborative learning and opportunities to experiment with new pedagogical approaches which are customized to meet students’ needs. finally, kevin johnson and tema george of ravensbourne university london, provide a detailed look at current strategies and findings around supporting students with disabilities. they point to the recent and substantial increase in the proportion of students at university who have a range of special educational needs and challenges. their study used questionnaires with staff and students, with and without support needs, to explore views on a range of important and practical issues, for example, awareness of support available, clarity of assessment briefs, benefits of collaborative working and effectiveness of adjustments. they identify key recommendations for materials, teaching and institution-wide approaches to improve provision for students and develop a culture of inclusive practice. we hope that readers will find these papers stimulating and helpful and will enjoy reading them as much as we have enjoyed preparing our first issue as co-editors. with best wishes to all compass readers and contributors, yang and rachel conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 ‘the digital classroom project’ at the university of kent silvia colaiacomo arena centre for research-based education, ucl, uk abstract ‘the digital classroom project’ at the university of kent aimed to investigate the relationship between space, technology and pedagogy in two new seminar rooms equipped with special furniture and technology. a key aspect of the project was the close collaboration between academics, professional services and students. the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data shows that both students and staff benefitted from working in these rooms and that the spaces allowed opportunities to experiment with new pedagogical approaches tailored on students’ needs. keywords: active learning, learning technologies, learning spaces, distributed leadership introduction ‘the digital classroom project’ phase 1 (academic year 2017-18), is an investigation aimed at developing a clear understanding of the use of two seminar rooms designed and equipped with specialist furniture and technology to create ‘digital classrooms’. the project was led by the unit for the enhancement of learning and teaching (uelt) at the university of kent and presented at the 2018 apt conference at the university of greenwich. the seminar rooms (24 seats each) are equipped with group tables, repeater screens for group work and an interactive touch screen at the front (figure 1). the rooms are centrally timetabled and used for teaching activities by the three faculties at the university (arts & humanities, social sciences and sciences). the project can be considered an example of distributed leadership (jones and harvey, 2017) as it comprised the work and input of four teams around the university (academic staff, uelt, information services and timetabling). each team held with critical responsibilities and expertise for a different aspect of the project. uelt’s investigation focused on observing the relationship between space, technology and pedagogy. we were interested to see how the rooms were used for teaching purposes; the activities that took place there; advantages and barriers of their use and whether they had an impact on teaching and learning. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 figure 1: digital classroom – templeman library university of kent data analysis and discussion qualitative data and quantitative data was collected throughout the academic year and analysed using a grounded theory approach (glaser and strauss, 1967). qualitative data comprised 10 hours of class observations and in depth interviews with 15 members of staff and 25 students across different discipline areas, both ug and pg. quantitative data comprised an analysis of student numbers, attendance patterns, room usage (table 1). the analysis of data suggests that both students and staff enjoyed and benefitted from working in these rooms and led to three main areas and findings: the need for spaces that enhance collaboration and purposeful exchanges; the importance of reliable and flexible technologies that can be used for different purposes and enable new pedagogical practices; and, the importance of team cooperation, including the active involvement of students. first of all, the rooms were considered flexible spaces enabling work with various teaching and learning styles and fostering active learning (prince, 2004) group work and cooperation. the rooms allowed users to move freely, group tables facilitated collaborative work and the variety of technology available was used to different degrees, depending on disciplinary needs (healey, 2000) and learning and teaching preferences. the terms ‘adaptability’ and ‘flexibility’ were used recurrently in interviews to signify that the rooms allowed different pedagogical approaches without forcing users to opt for a particular model of delivery. as well as enhanced interactions, the second key finding concerned the positive response to the technology available. the rooms provided direct access to both core university systems (e.g. university vle and lecture capture system) and non-core tools (e.g. google docs, commercial applications and social media). the possibility to use personal devices in class and to access and share files, applications, data repositories and resources on the repeater screens encouraged students to extend their learning experience outside the scheduled seminar time (waite, 2011). this was also supported by the nature of the assignments given, such as interactive posters. finally, the collaborative teaching approach enhanced by the rooms’ layout facilitated working on soft skill training (brungardt, 2011). students worked around group tables discussing tasks, assigning roles and sharing workloads throughout the conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 sessions; teaching staff noted how skills such as the ability to negotiate, present and debate developed more robustly than in a traditional space. the project highlighted the importance of collaboration and shared leadership as only through the support and expertise of the different teams the rooms managed to move from ‘equipped spaces’ to an active learning environment (oblinger, 2004). this project modelled a valid example of collaboration (jones et al., 2012) between academics and professional services. schools no. modules no. academic s seminar lecture other business school 5 8 4 1 economics 1 4 1 unit for the enhancement of learning and teaching 1 1 pc lab film studies 1 1 1 anthropology and conservation 2 2 2 total 10 16 8 1 1 table 1: number of modules, academics and event types in the digital classrooms 2017-18 reflection on conference presentation two points were raised in the discussion following our presentation and they related to possible risks of depersonalisation of teaching (roland and chapman, 2009) and an emphasis on technology at the expense of pedagogy. both points are quite common in the literature on innovative teaching (tabata and johnsrud, 2008) and considering them in the context of the conference presentation provided a valuable opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of how we articulate our findings. our data did not lead to the elaboration of concepts such as depersonalisation of teaching and an emphasis on technology at the detriment of pedagogy. they seem to suggest quite the opposite. the recurrent use of the word flexibility in interviews indicates an element of personalisation of pedagogical approaches and awareness of different uses of technology. our data shows how the interaction of space, technology and pedagogies triggered a ‘virtuous circle’ where each component played a crucial role. the desire of academic staff to conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 experiment with new teaching approaches was the essential starting point of this circular process. in the context of this project, such desire seemed to be mostly initiated from an understanding that the dichotomist model lecture/seminar does not suit the needs of a varied student population (keyser, 2000). personalising the session to the needs of the students was therefore something all the academics involved considered crucial when planning their courses. this in turn led to a collaboration with professional services teams and students to experiment with possible solutions provided by the technology and the space. finally, a better understanding of technology and its potential offered further opportunities to stretch teaching practices beyond what initially planned (for example by reshaping assessment to include digital artefacts). the cycle saw students having an important and active role, not of receivers but of co-constructors of learning and teaching (crawford, 2012), as students’ feedback, level of engagement and understanding was central to the development of the most appropriate input and resources. conclusions and further development ‘the digital classroom project’ – phase 1 outlined a model of shared leadership and collaboration between academic and professional services to enhance learning and student experience in higher education (bovill and bulley, 2011). the success of this project resided in the input and cooperation of teams holding different types of expertise and responsibilities. a three-step ‘virtuous cycle’ was identified in the synergy between academics, students and professional services and it is articulated as desire to experiment with new pedagogical approaches, looking for and receiving support and, finally, stretching initial ideas further. the response to phase 1 was very positive and in 2018-19 the number of modules scheduled in the rooms increased from 10 to 17 across 8 schools. phase 2 of the project is currently undergoing and moving in the direction of exploring discipline-based approaches (baik and greig, 2009) and extending the student-staff partnership to develop the design of future spaces. reference list baik, c., and greig, j. (2009), ‘improving the academic outcomes of undergraduate esl students: the case for discipline‐based academic skills programs’, in higher education research and development, 28:4. bovill, c., and bulley, c.j. (2011), ‘a model of active student participation in curriculum design: exploring desirability and possibility’, in: rust, c. (ed.) improving student learning (isl) 18: global theories and local practices: institutional, disciplinary and cultural variations. series: improving student learning (18), oxford: oxford brookes university: oxford centre for staff and learning development, pp. 176-188. brungardt, c. (2011), ‘the intersection between soft skill development and leadership education’, in journal of leadership education, 10:1, 1-22. crawford k. (2012), ‘rethinking the student/teacher nexus: students as consultants on teaching in higher education’ in neary, m., stevenson, h., bell, l., towards teaching in public: reshaping the modern university, london: continuum books, pp. 52-67. https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=it&lr=&id=hqfuhndgpzec&oi=fnd&pg=pa52&dq=crawford+2012+students+co-constructors&ots=a_tsk352oq&sig=bcjusqogkanbhnpjgasa2jyqobc https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=it&lr=&id=hqfuhndgpzec&oi=fnd&pg=pa52&dq=crawford+2012+students+co-constructors&ots=a_tsk352oq&sig=bcjusqogkanbhnpjgasa2jyqobc conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 glaser, b. g., and strauss, a. l. (1967), the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. chicago: aldin. healey, m. (2000), ‘developing the scholarship of teaching in higher education: a discipline-based approach’, in higher education research & development, 19:2, 169-189. jones, s., lefoe, g., harvey, m. and ryland, k. (2012), ‘distributed leadership: a collaborative framework for academics, executives and professionals in higher education’, in journal of higher education policy and management, 34:1, 67-78. jones, s. and harvey, m. (2017), ‘a distributed leadership change process model for higher education’, in journal of higher education policy and management, 39:2, 126-139. keyser, m. w. (2000), ‘active learning and cooperative learning: understanding the difference and using both styles effectively’, in research strategies, 17, 35-44. oblinger, d.g. (2004), ‘the next generation of educational engagement’, journal of interactive media in education, 2004:1. prince, m. (2004), ‘does active learning work? a review of the research’, in journal of engineering education, 93, 223-231 ronald s. l. and chapman, a. (2009), ‘the technologisation of education: philosophical reflections on being too plugged in’, in international journal of children's spirituality, 14:3, 289-298. tabata, l. n. and johnsrud l. k. (2008), ‘the impact of faculty attitudes toward technology, distance education and innovation’, in research in higher education, 49, 625– 646. waite. s. (2011), ‘teaching and learning outside the classroom: personal values, alternative pedagogies and standards’, in education 3–13, 39:1, 65-82. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360080x.2017.1276661 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360080x.2017.1276661 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 employability themes for economic recovery helen kofler university of greenwich, uk abstract as part of the university of greenwich shift 2021 conference on teaching and learning, i led a discussion workshop called ‘employability themes for economic recovery’ in which delegates considered economic recovery after the covid-19 pandemic, the inevitable changes in working practices and, consequently, the changes’ influence upon student employability skills development. in this article, i reflect both on the current context of significant workplace change across the globe and how we as educators should respond if we are to skill students for this new working world. a reflection in recent times, and especially as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, a landmark transition from face-to-face to virtual working practices has taken place. this article explores how these changes have consequences for the technical and soft skills at work, the impact of which may be viewed through three different lenses: of the employer, the employee and the educators. impact is also explored from a short, medium and long-term perspective. the first focus is on how economic recovery from the pandemic crisis might take shape. next, some of the current technical advances and implications for digital literacy is reviewed. then, having explored the evolution of the workplace, conclusions are drawn with ideas shared at the workshop which led to actions for enhancing employability skills training for students at universities. today, a ‘k’-shaped recovery, in which some organisations are benefiting massively from the crisis and others are falling behind (aldrich, e., 2020), is beginning to happen. one such example is zoom video communications inc. which, at the time of writing, is currently valued at $100 billion in market capitalisation – roughly five times the value of british telecom (google finance, 2021). one obvious reason for the success of firms like zoom is their ability to pivot quickly and adapt to new virtual norms. before the crisis, technology companies were one of the only sectors to have fully embraced remote working and as a result have been able to scale and ramp up services showing flexibility (bick et al, 2020). during the shift 2021 conference workshop, delegates were asked to think conceptually about reliance on technology and reflections were made on the delegates’ experiences over the last year, including engaging with colleagues and employers remotely and increasing reliance on tech (preen, 2020). a poll was used to assess delegate response to the following statement: “the more we rely on technology the less we depend on our own intuition and judgement.” the majority of delegates found this statement to be false, suggesting that most are enjoying this supplementary addition to working practice. virtual working has seen a rise in various trends, including: 1) a decentralised workforce which may be called ‘global villages’; 2) the rise of the digital nomad; 3) growth in the conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 numbers of project-based teams; 4) predictions of more flexible work, with companies hiring more freelance workers and a rise in the number of self-employed. further, for some, remote working is fulfilling the promise of an improved work/life balance. it is clear that all of these trends will have an impact on what skills and work will be required by businesses (global solutions summit, 2020). the change to remote working will certainly alter the traditional structures of leadership and management: it has been suggested that managers can no longer operate by means of command and control (the executive centre, 2019). employees now have different expectations of managers who are increasingly acting as mentors, relying on emotional intelligence and empathy in the absence of those physical cues they would have had in the office (rowell, 2019). at the other end of the spectrum, some organisations are using software to monitor remote-working productivity, viewing remote working as a risk to output (global solutions summit, 2020). at the shift 2021 conference workshop, delegates were asked to think conceptually about how they had engaged with colleagues remotely; they were also asked to respond to the statement ‘being physically close to someone is important for truly collaborative work.’ most favoured either ‘partly true’ or ‘true’ which suggests that people are missing the social interactions that come with working physically near to someone. interestingly, some theorists suggest that relationships are formed through body language, heat and olfactory experiences; this being the case, virtual relationships are therefore lacking these dimensions of interaction (bryan, 2020). at the financial times ‘new world of work’ digital dialogue event, it was suggested that companies will need to reconsider the purpose of the office, to make it functional post pandemic. during the shift workshop, participants discussed whether, post pandemic, the office should be seen as a collaborative creative space and, if so, how would the design be adjusted accordingly? if architecture is relevant, how might it be configured to optimise faceto-face connections while keeping us safe? some have suggested that, in the future, dual working – with a mixture of face-to-face and remote working according to the needs of the business – will be the norm (financial times digital dialogues, 2020). the delegates then looked at automation and how it could affect the skills required for work. mckinsey, the management consulting company, reports that 30% of work activities could be automated by 2030, which equates to 375 million global roles (bick et al, 2020). an increase in automation may mean we need to update our digital literacy skills but also enhance softer human skills, enabling us to thrive in these virtual conditions. reading and filtering out short messages via connectivity software could become the new listening in virtual conditions (clark, 2020)? there could be a need for more creativity in the content we provide to compel us into engaging, since virtual communication may not be as rewarding? how will we cope with problem-solving in times of crisis when our colleagues are not sitting next to us? delegates cited examples of how employers are viewing this skills gap. mckinsey says that while 87% of organisations are seeing skills gaps, only 28% are trying to close them (mckinsey global survey). jp morgan has invested $350 million dollars to develop growing technical skills and amazon has promised $700 million dollars to retrain employees for conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 skilled roles in tech (bick et al, 2020). another great example is microsoft’s ‘get on 2021’ which is a five-year campaign to help 1.5 million people in the united kingdom (uk) to build careers in technology by 2025 (financial times digital dialogues, 2020). there are lots of other examples of organisations that are adapting to help equip students and graduates with employability skills. for example, pricewaterhousecoopers has created a virtual park to give an insight into its work setting (pwc careers, virtual park, 2020). it has also created an ‘employability hub’, which delivers skills workshops and insights to support staff (pwc careers, employability hub, 2020). there has also been a rise in edtech through organisations such as handshake, a graduate events and recruitment platform, which works with employers and universities to help make students more employable (handshake, 2021). to add to the discussion, recent graduates from the university of greenwich attended the shift workshop and shared their insights into the skills gaps they experienced when transitioning from higher education to remote working. themes included: more demanding technical skills needed for specific job functions; confidence in adapting to different connectivity software platforms; resilience to use resources with little practical guidelines from others in close proximity; mental health and ways to keep yourself well when working on your own; virtual networking (a key issue) and the need for prior preparation (there are no physical cues as could have been relied upon in the physical office); general communication skills (including being able to talk openly with others about your skills and successes as they are not so readily visible in a virtual context). delegates reflected on a framework – from the european skills/competencies, qualifications and occupations commission (esco) – called ‘the covid-19 skills watcher’ (european commission, 2020). this tool combines up-to-date labour market intelligence with evolving skills in the light of the pandemic. although this is not a formula, it will help exploration into which skills are needed for a particular role. for universities, how can these skills be built into a professional development plan or teaching schedule? this also gives educators some structure to be able to talk about skills with relevant labour market intelligence so that students can target growing industries. educators will, therefore, not be reacting, but planning and preparing more formally via provisions of support at universities. to conclude, the shift conference workshop provided insights and provoked thought on the evolving, pandemic-related employability themes and demonstrated that more discussion is required in this area. there has clearly been a huge change to working practices and this has inevitably affected the skills graduates need for long-term success. universities have a moral responsibility to make students more employable and so, ending the workshop with the words of educational reformer john dewey, “if we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow”, i asked delegates to think more deeply about the topic and to set the tone for a potential future discussion on student-centric skills development (preen, 2020). conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 reference list aldrich, e. (2020) ‘what a k-shaped recovery means, and how it highlights a nation's economic inequalities.’ business insider. available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/kshaped-recoverydefinition?r=us&ir=t#:~:text=a%20k%2dshaped%20recovery%20is%20a%20post%2drec ession%20scenario%20in,k%22%20%e2%80%94%20hence%20the%20name (accessed: 21 february 2021). bick, r., hazan, e., khan, h., lacroix, s., sarrazin, h. and welchman, t. (2020) ‘the future of work: reskilling and remote working to recover in the next normal.’ mckinsey digital, available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/thefuture-of-work-reskilling-and-remote-working-to-recover-in-the-next-normal# (accessed: 21 february 2021). bryan, a. (2020) ‘navigating the new rules of personal space in the workplace – ideas, wework.’ available at: https://www.wework.com/ideas/worklife/navigating-the-new-rules-ofpersonal-space-in-the-workplace (accessed: 21 february 2021). clark, d. (2020) ‘what your zoom body language says about you.’ newsweek. available at: https://www-newsweek-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.newsweek.com/what-your-zoombody-language-says-about-you-1548438?amp=1 (accessed: 21 february 2021). esco (european commission) (2020) covid-19 skills watcher. available at: https://ec.europa.eu/esco/portal/howtouse/bfe2a816-f9dd-49df-a7d2-ec8fafcfce95 (accessed: 13 january 2021). financial times digital dialogues (2020) ‘the new world of work.’ financial times. available at: https://newworldwork.live.ft.com/page/1649858/full-overview (accessed: 21 february 2021). global solutions initiative global solutions summit panel discussion (2020) ‘the future of work in the post pandemic world global solutions initiative.’ global solutions summit, available at: https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/global-table/the-future-of-work-in-thepost-pandemic-world/ (accessed: 21 february 2021). google finance (2021) zoom video communications inc. google. available at: https://www.google.com/finance/quote/zm:nasdaq (accessed: 13 january 2021). handshake (2021) handshake. available at: https://www.joinhandshake.com/ (accessed: 21 february 2021). preen, m. (2020) the future of work guide. available at: https://nationalcareersweek.com/2021fow/ (accessed: 21 february 2021). pwc careers (2020) employability hub, pwc. available at: https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/employabilityhub.html#:~:text=at%20pwc%2c%20we're%20focussed,explore%20our%20different%20re sources%20below (accessed: 21 february 2021). https://www.businessinsider.com/k-shaped-recovery-definition?r=us&ir=t#:~:text=a%20k%2dshaped%20recovery%20is%20a%20post%2drecession%20scenario%20in,k%22%20%e2%80%94%20hence%20the%20name https://www.businessinsider.com/k-shaped-recovery-definition?r=us&ir=t#:~:text=a%20k%2dshaped%20recovery%20is%20a%20post%2drecession%20scenario%20in,k%22%20%e2%80%94%20hence%20the%20name https://www.businessinsider.com/k-shaped-recovery-definition?r=us&ir=t#:~:text=a%20k%2dshaped%20recovery%20is%20a%20post%2drecession%20scenario%20in,k%22%20%e2%80%94%20hence%20the%20name https://www.businessinsider.com/k-shaped-recovery-definition?r=us&ir=t#:~:text=a%20k%2dshaped%20recovery%20is%20a%20post%2drecession%20scenario%20in,k%22%20%e2%80%94%20hence%20the%20name https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-future-of-work-reskilling-and-remote-working-to-recover-in-the-next-normal https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-future-of-work-reskilling-and-remote-working-to-recover-in-the-next-normal https://www.wework.com/ideas/worklife/navigating-the-new-rules-of-personal-space-in-the-workplace https://www.wework.com/ideas/worklife/navigating-the-new-rules-of-personal-space-in-the-workplace https://www-newsweek-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.newsweek.com/what-your-zoom-body-language-says-about-you-1548438?amp=1 https://www-newsweek-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.newsweek.com/what-your-zoom-body-language-says-about-you-1548438?amp=1 https://ec.europa.eu/esco/portal/howtouse/bfe2a816-f9dd-49df-a7d2-ec8fafcfce95 https://newworldwork.live.ft.com/page/1649858/full-overview https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/global-table/the-future-of-work-in-the-post-pandemic-world/ https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/global-table/the-future-of-work-in-the-post-pandemic-world/ https://www.google.com/finance/quote/zm:nasdaq https://www.joinhandshake.com/ https://nationalcareersweek.com/2021fow/ https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/employability-hub.html#:~:text=at%20pwc%2c%20we're%20focussed,explore%20our%20different%20resources%20below https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/employability-hub.html#:~:text=at%20pwc%2c%20we're%20focussed,explore%20our%20different%20resources%20below https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/employability-hub.html#:~:text=at%20pwc%2c%20we're%20focussed,explore%20our%20different%20resources%20below conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 pwc careers (2020) virtual park, pwc. available at: https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/undergraduate-graduatecareers/ourevents/virtual-park.html (accessed 21 february 2021). rowell, c. (2019) ‘here’s why trust is key when embracing a flexible workplace.’ wework. available at: https://www.wework.com/ideas/office-design-space/heres-why-trust-is-keywhen-embracing-a-flexible-workplace (accessed: 21 february 2021). the executive centre (2019) ‘open plan design: what have we learned?’ the executive centre. available at: https://www.executivecentre.com/blog-article/open-plan-design-whathave-we-learned/ (accessed: 21 february 2021). https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/undergraduate-graduate-careers/ourevents/virtual-park.html https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers/undergraduate-graduate-careers/ourevents/virtual-park.html https://www.wework.com/ideas/office-design-space/heres-why-trust-is-key-when-embracing-a-flexible-workplace https://www.wework.com/ideas/office-design-space/heres-why-trust-is-key-when-embracing-a-flexible-workplace https://www.executivecentre.com/blog-article/open-plan-design-what-have-we-learned/ https://www.executivecentre.com/blog-article/open-plan-design-what-have-we-learned/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 let’s talk about webcams, and a pedagogy of kindness alison gilmour university of greenwich, uk abstract with the move to online and blended learning, there has been much focus amongst educators on webcam use in online classes. mandatory webcam policies and privileging use of webcams as the preferred form of engagement disregard the covid-19 context – in which students have had limited choice about learning in blended or online modes – and significantly undermine trust. this piece argues for the adoption of a pedagogy of kindness, through teaching and learning practices that are sensitive to the material experience of diverse groups of students, and considers some of the complex reasons why insisting on webcam use may exacerbate inequalities. keywords: webcams; pedagogy of kindness; online learning; compassion; inclusion the context of covid-19 has seen many higher education teachers embrace synchronous online teaching via various web-conferencing platforms, but this practice has been accompanied by discussion about – possibly even an “obsession” (bali, 2020) with – the setting of expectations for student use of webcams and rules and policies associated with deploying web camera technology. such approaches go well beyond supportive encouragement of webcam use and acceptance of varying types of online participation and may in fact serve to create barriers to participation, generate unnecessary stress and contribute to an environment of distrust that undermines learning (denial, 2020). here, i urge educators to consider their viewpoint on webcams and take into account kindness as a pedagogical practice. there are positive sentiments driving support for webcam use. when teaching online, seeing the faces of your students via their webcams can assist teacher awareness of body language and non-verbal cues – those helpful indicators in face-to-face teaching often cited as supporting reflection-in-action (schön, 1983) and enhancing our ability to be responsive and reflexive teachers. there are benefits too from a wellbeing perspective. when we can see our students, changes in their demeanour can be visible and lead us to recognise all is not well with individual students. it can enable us to identify students who may be experiencing difficulties for any number of reasons and who may be in need of additional support. many advocating the use of webcams do so from their perspective as teachers: it is more encouraging to look at videos of our students than at a blank screen (cheetham and thomson, 2020). however, i have heard the webcam debate conflated with the challenge of active student engagement in online sessions, where expressed desire for webcam use is an indicator of participation: ‘how do i know my students are there?’ or ‘have they logged in, but aren’t listening?’ i understand this desire to know, yet it belongs with the more problematic reasons for requesting or mandating webcam use fuelled by notions of presenteeism, performativity and surveillance, all of which undermine learning and – more opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 significantly – trust. so, let us consider the issue of webcams through the lens of a “pedagogy of kindness” that “asks us to apply compassion in every situation we can, and not to default to suspicion or anger” (denial, 2020, p.217). for many teachers and students, live online classes are relatively new to us: the technology, format, and ways of participating. the processes of orientation and socialisation (salmon, 2013) to online participation should support students to become effective learners in digital spaces. however, a recent jisc survey indicated that just 51% of students agreed “they received guidance about the digital skills they needed for their course” (2020, p.3) and only 7% considered themselves to have been “supported to manage their digital identity” (2020, p.12). supporting the development of digital literacies is not the sole responsibility of student academic support colleagues. our role as teachers includes supporting our students’ digital personas and devising practical strategies for managing learning in a digital environment. for example, discussion on webcams should be a joint opportunity for staff and students to explore managing online privacy and making use of virtual backgrounds to foster understanding of effective and safe ways of participating digitally. fundamentally, in traditional campus-based universities with restrictions imposed because of covid-19, we did not choose to follow the blended and online teaching models that were adopted; nor did our students choose to learn that way. students may be joining online classes from environments not conducive to webcam use. international students, owing to differences of time zone, may be joining live sessions at times when other household members are in bed; their places of study may be cramped. student carers may be reluctant to use webcams because they fear that their children may accidentally appear on camera. students who are first in family to attend university may be in the presence of relatives who, being unfamiliar with the conventions of joining an academic class, may possibly intrude. students joining classes do so from their personal environment and some have no choice but to join from the spaces in which they sleep and even from their beds, on account of heating costs. to insist on webcam use may pressure students to reveal to all of their peers the context in which they live – and having to do so may cause anxiety, embarrassment or even fears of bullying. for me, this lack of choice and infringement of privacy are key in the webcam debate: they provide a central counter-argument to the insistence on webcam use during online classes. the absence of choice is even more pertinent when social-distancing measures on university campuses limit access to it or other facilities. covid-19 has the potential to exacerbate existing inequalities. universities celebrate the diversity of their academic communities, but, when we know that our student body is diverse (particularly if our institution has a strong commitment to widening participation), we must acknowledge social disadvantage. the lived, material experience of our students determines how readily they may access online classes: availability of suitable it equipment and reliable broadband is essential. the student who joins online classes on a mobile phone and from a car may be doing so to access wi-fi while parked outside a local café. video can sever or hamper a weak internet connection, making following the class, let alone participating actively in it, extremely difficult; it is therefore unreasonable to insist on video use for everyone. central to a pedagogy of kindness is compassion, defined as, “the noticing of social or physical distress to others and the commitment to reduce or prevent that distress” (gilbert, opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 2017, p.189). this being so, we as educators should be aware of when our actions may be requesting modes of participation that may ultimately cause distress. many arguments for the use of webcams are not about genuinely supporting interaction or engagement but reflect an obsession with ‘seeing’. ‘being seen’ can be a source of anxiety for students (moses, 2020) and mandated webcam use has resulted in students reporting feeling “[a]nxious, worried, like i am being watched” (engineering student cited by bali, 2021). an expressed counter-argument is that being seen by others online should be no different from being visible in a face-to-face class on campus. however, in such classes, you do not see yourself as you do online: an image on display to the entire class. i do not experience anxiety when using my webcam, but sometimes when i joined online meetings during the united kingdom spring 2020 lockdown and caught sight of myself, i was uncomfortably reminded of the physical toll of the lockdown and consequently turned off my camera. significantly, for neurodivergent learners, awareness of being seen can fuel anxiety, as well as create difficulties about where to direct attention (exceptional individuals, 2020) – a reminder, if needed, that allowing students choice about using webcams and variously supporting active online participation does help students to avoid being overwhelmed, distracted and disconnected or suffering what has been called “zoom fatigue”: fatigue caused by video engagement (moses, 2020; ray, 2020). for us as educators led by compassion, adopting a pedagogy of kindness is ultimately shaped by reflecting on our own positionality and considering with care our interactions with students (denial, 2020). stommel, friend and morris (2020, p.6) remind us: “a compassionate pedagogy is more necessary now than ever before: to see the student beyond the screen, to recognize the limits and affordances of body, space, and technology, to identify issues of privacy in an increasingly surveilled digital world, and to be conscious of the basic needs of students which must be met to make learning possible.” one of the main things to come out of the experience of teaching during this pandemic is raised awareness of the material and lived experiences of a diverse student body accessing education away from campus. our students have complex lives that can present many barriers to access; they may also lack proficiency in the digital literacies necessary for effective engagement in online classes. adopting a pedagogy of kindness, we should focus on ensuring that our learning and teaching practices do not create barriers or intensify them. our desire to ‘see’ our students in online classes is powerful, but this should be driven by pedagogical necessity, such as physical or demonstration aspects that have to be performed live. such exceptions aside, we must distinguish between 1) our desire for presenteeism and performativity and 2) supporting inclusive engagement. active engagement does not depend on having your camera on and, in fact, it ought to be supported in a range of ways, all valued equally; also, development of student digital literacies should be scaffolded. at worst, mandating webcam use – or, at best prioritising it – as the preferred form of engagement cuts across a commitment to inclusive teaching and virtual classrooms premised on trust. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 reference list bali, m. (2021) ‘students talk to me about webcams.’ reflecting allowed (maha bali’s blog about education), 25 march. available at: https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology2/students-talk-to-me-about-webcams/ (accessed: 1 april 2021). bali, m. (2020) ‘about that webcam obsession you’re having…’ reflecting allowed (maha bali’s blog about education), 22 june. available at: https://blog.mahabali.me/educationaltechnology-2/about-that-webcam-obsession-youre-having/ (accessed: 24 june 2020). denial, c. (2020) ‘a pedagogy of kindness.’ in: stommel, j., friend, c. and morris, s.m. (eds.), critical digital pedagogy: a collection. washington, d.c.: hybrid pedagogy inc, 212218. isbn: 978-0578725918 exceptional individuals (2020) ‘webcam anxiety from a neurodiversity perspective during covid-19.’ available at: https://exceptionalindividuals.com/about-us/blog/webcam-anxietyfrom-a-neurodiversity-perspective-during-covid-19/ (accessed: 7 september 2020). gilbert, t. (2017) ‘when looking is allowed: what compassionate group work looks like in a uk university.’ in gibbs, p. (ed.), the pedagogy of compassion at the heart of higher education. london: springer, 189-202. isbn: 978-3319577821 jisc (2020) ‘student digital experience insights survey 2020: uk higher education (he) survey findings.’ available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/reports/student-digital-experienceinsights-survey-2020-uk-higher-education (accessed: 11 october 2020). moses, t. (2020) ‘5 reasons to let students keep their cameras off during zoom classes.’ available at: https://theconversation.com/5-reasons-to-let-students-keep-their-cameras-offduring-zoom-classes-144111 (accessed: 11 october 2020). ray, s. (2020) ‘video fatigue and a late-night host with no audience inspire a new way to help people feel together, remotely.’ available at: https://news.microsoft.com/innovationstories/microsoft-teams-together-mode/ (accessed: 11 october 2020). salmon, g. (2013) e-tivities the key to active online learning. 2nd edition. new york: routledge. isbn: 978-0415881760 schön, d. (1983) the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. new york: basic books. isbn: 978-0465068746 cheetham, j. and thomson, s. (2020) ‘a spotlight on… webinars: webcams off or on?’ centre for innovation, university of liverpool. available at: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/centre-for-innovation-in-education/staffguides/webinars-webcams-off-or-on/webinars-webcams-off-or-on.pdf (accessed: 10 march 2021). https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology-2/students-talk-to-me-about-webcams/ https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology-2/students-talk-to-me-about-webcams/ https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology-2/about-that-webcam-obsession-youre-having/ https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology-2/about-that-webcam-obsession-youre-having/ https://exceptionalindividuals.com/about-us/blog/webcam-anxiety-from-a-neurodiversity-perspective-during-covid-19/ https://exceptionalindividuals.com/about-us/blog/webcam-anxiety-from-a-neurodiversity-perspective-during-covid-19/ https://www.jisc.ac.uk/reports/student-digital-experience-insights-survey-2020-uk-higher-education https://www.jisc.ac.uk/reports/student-digital-experience-insights-survey-2020-uk-higher-education https://theconversation.com/5-reasons-to-let-students-keep-their-cameras-off-during-zoom-classes-144111 https://theconversation.com/5-reasons-to-let-students-keep-their-cameras-off-during-zoom-classes-144111 https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/microsoft-teams-together-mode/ https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/microsoft-teams-together-mode/ https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/centre-for-innovation-in-education/staff-guides/webinars-webcams-off-or-on/webinars-webcams-off-or-on.pdf https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/centre-for-innovation-in-education/staff-guides/webinars-webcams-off-or-on/webinars-webcams-off-or-on.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 stommel, j., friend, c. and morris, m. (2020) ‘introduction: the urgency of critical digital pedagogy.’ in: stommel, j., friend, c. and morris, s.m. (eds.), critical digital pedagogy: a collection. washington, d.c.: hybrid pedagogy inc, 1-8. isbn: 978-0578725918 genre paper case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 a narrative approach to considering the role of the lecturer in developing autonomy in final year undergraduates jesmond lewis university of greenwich abstract this paper reviews the process of adopting a collaborative approach to enabling final year students to develop autonomy through the use of a negotiated learning plan and coconstructed curriculum. the students undertake a collaborative project that models realworld working practices. the lecturer supports the students’ objectives. this piece takes a narrative approach to reflecting on the experience of the lecturer. the approach the intention of the chosen approach was to explore the possibilities of taking on a less traditional form for research and academic writing. the narrative approach to research involves documenting the “lived experiences of the interacting individual” (cresswell, 2007). this could mean recording the stories of others or, as in this case, recording one’s own story. the resulting material is then written in a narrative genre. the process was modelled on cresswell’s discussion of the 3d enquiry space of narrative form (cresswell, 2007). in this model, my lived experience becomes the data. this data is expressed in the form of a treatment, which provides the outline of a story; it is an initial development tool for a film or television programme, setting out how the audience will experience the narrative. dramatic conflict is provided through the use of a literary device adopted by marlowe in doctor faustus: a good and a bad angel characterise the internal conflict in the protagonist’s mind. the two chosen voices are: graduate attributes and market forces. they are not intended to be oppositional in terms of good and bad, but to characterise concerns lecturers need to address and the internal conflict this may cause. graduate attributes, the less critical voice, is a reflection of my purpose. market forces is a reflexive voice, reflexivity being a “continuing mode of self-analysis and political awareness” (callaway, 1992). here, market forces is used as a questioning voice from the current political inclination for a market-led curriculum. the scenario i’m sitting in the back of a small classroom, in which the tables are arranged in a rectangle with an open centre. there is a presentation console at the head of the room, in front of a window overlooking greenwich park. i’m sitting by a small stray table behind the door, watching two students presenting to a group of around ten peers sitting around the rectangle. they are having a discussion about the suitability of the work being presented for their project and considering alternatives and possible adaptations. i’m wondering about my role: i feel somewhat redundant; things haven’t turned out quite as i’ve planned. i’m happy about this, but can’t help feeling a tinge of guilt. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the cast i’m a senior lecturer in digital media, film and tv production and i’m running a final year course on multiplatform television production. the students are from a cohort of fifteen, of whom roughly a third are highly motivated, another third poorly motivated (having failed a prerequisite course at level 5) and the remaining third somewhere in between. the setting the majority of the course is spent undertaking a coursework project that provides the students with the opportunity to develop and publish a transmedia story campaign over a variety of internet and television platforms. this year, my intention has been for the students gradually to take over the course and manage the production stage for themselves. this includes: setting their own individual coursework deliverables and stating how they wish them to be graded; setting the agenda for the three-hour contact time; formulating the plan for completion of their project. students can, therefore, decide what they are going to contribute to the overall project (such as camera operation or web design) and what balance of grade they would like between tasks (e.g. 40% camera operation, 60% script writing). the course is front-loaded with the traditional delivery of relevant skills and knowledge. this is followed by sessions to practise idea development and teamwork and to agree a schedule. student-scheduled and -managed sessions run in term two. the idea is to develop confident, self-managing, industry-ready graduates with grounding in an area of employment growth. the conflict here we have the trope of conflicting voices: on the one side, we have graduate attributes: graduate attributes is looking for students who are developing their ability to propel themselves into the labour market. on the other side, we have market forces: market forces is looking for popularity and value for money. graduate attributes views the scene: the students are self-directed, confident, independent; their discussion is impervious to my presence. i have been dislodged from the ‘teaching space’ and taken up residence outside the group. market forces views the scene: it asks: “why so few students? why aren’t they all present? what is the lecturer doing? is she not being paid to provide for the students? as they get only three hours with the lecturer anyway, isn’t this a waste of resources?” the interplay i’m happy my students have taken over. for the two-hour sessions in the classroom, i initially set some taught elements, mostly to fulfil traditional expectations of course structure case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 and delivery. i also planned the time so that each session opened with a fifteen-minute progress meeting with me as their executive producer, followed by a group discussion suited to their schedule, and finished with a final fifteen-minute meeting with me to outline plans for the week ahead. essentially, without this structure, i wasn’t sure the sessions would be fully used. initially, they were a little shy: they described their work and were reluctant to take over the complex-looking ‘teaching space’ with the av console and interactive screen. i encouraged them to use the computer and projection systems to show their work, on one occasion asking for formal presentations by each production area. this then became second nature; they came in, presented their progress and discussed it, along with any changes and plans for the following week, in one continuous flowing session without the need for prompting by me. graduate attributes so they demonstrated autonomy, analytical ability, curiosity and responsiveness? market forces so you reneged on your deal? stepped back and didn’t deliver as promised? a tinge of guilt led me to point out that i had scheduled taught sessions and to ask: did they feel they were missing out on the delivery of knowledge? the answer was: no, they were happy using the time to develop their ideas and manage their work. at times, i did feel a bit of guilt about my passive position. why, i felt, interrupt their highly-productive session to establish my importance as an audience? i decided to forget the formalities as they were unnecessary and could have been counter-productive. graduate attributes so why the guilt? on a few occasions, i provided a process for them to follow and spent half an hour or so watching them ignore the process and run into a cul-de-sac. (should i intervene and bring them back? should i leave them to run the wrong way?) i waited… guilt. market forces so this is their time to get your support and advice; why watch them fail? why not bring them straight back? well, if i interrupted their flow, constantly controlled them and insisted that they follow the process i had set out for them, how would they attain confidence or autonomy? i felt i needed to provide the space for them to experiment and develop for themselves. once a natural break occurred in the activity, i would point out the process again and how they’d missed it. they would now understand its purpose, rather than just be following instructions, and be motivated to use it. i would reassure them that the time wasn’t wasted and that they could keep hold of ideas generated in that activity for a different occasion. i did feel uncomfortable as i watched them take the wrong tack, but i didn’t view my feelings to be case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 paramount as long as i held the conviction that this was the most fruitful approach in the long term. graduate attributes so the end result is a group of students with an informed understanding of their practice, who think independently, analytically and creatively, are responsive to challenges, demonstrate resilience and initiative, communicate effectively, develop creative solutions, respond to unfamiliar situations, make use of information and communication technologies and engage effectively in groups whose members are from diverse backgrounds? market forces but isn’t it a failing course? there are half the students necessary to run an efficient and sustainable model and, even then, they don’t all show up. this is a luxury we can’t afford, isn’t it? there is very little demand for this subject. the resolution about the demand: multiplatform television, which utilises transmedia storytelling techniques, is a new and developing concept; skills and knowledge in this area are highly desirable in the broadcast industry. students, however, tend to stick more to traditional subjects because they feel more certain about them and understand the career possibilities even if they are confined due to saturation of the market. popularity rests on familiarity and the certainty of what they already understand. popularity itself doesn’t guarantee that the needs of industry are being met. investment in an effective marketing strategy could resolve this. sustainability? to an extent, all final year specialist courses will attract smaller numbers. a potential way forward is to investigate the practicality of merging this course with a similar one in games production and another in animation, to create a single course formed around a studio model, with production teams led by a subject-appropriate lecturer. the discussion resolution is a site of the discussion of validity in ethnographic studies. cresswell (2007) proposes that a narrative study should be open-ended, continuously open to interpretation and re-interpretation. lecompte and preissle (1982) question the whole notion of validity being based on generalisation and re-applicability, suggesting that this urge leads to simplistic resolutions and the poverty of standardisation. here, i have presented a clearly personal experience with a resolution that fits my understanding of my broader experience. presented within a narrative methodology, the documented experience exists as a useful source of information. this experience does not constitute or represent a model of the projected experience of others undertaking the same project. you are, therefore, invited to draw your own conclusions from your own interpretation of my story. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the outcome the resulting coursework was outstanding. all the students passed with a mean grade of 69%. course satisfaction was 100%. since this paper was written, the course has had a second instance: the students operated quite differently and the dynamics, process and product were very different; however, the results were the same, with outstanding coursework, a 70% mean grade and 100% satisfaction. references owing to the narrative approach, there are few citations; i have therefore included the key sources that directly informed the methodology, the writing practice and the characterisation of graduate attributes and market forces. alvesson, m. and skoldberg, k. (2009) reflexive methodology: new vistas for qualitative research, sage publications, 7th edition. alsford, s. (2012) ‘the greenwich graduate – engaging with students’, compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, university of greenwich educational development unit, issue 4, january 2012, pp.1-8. cohen, l., manion, l. and morrison, k. (2011) research methods for education, routledge, 7th edition. callaway, 1992 in pillow, w.s. (2003) ‘confession, catharsis, or cure? rethinking the uses of reflexivity as methodological power in qualitative research’ qualitative studies in education, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 175–196. cresswell, j.w. (2007) qualitative enquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches, sage publications, 2nd edition, p.214, 158,185. harvey, l.j. and myers, m.d. (1995) ‘scholarship and practice: the contribution of ethnographic research methods to bridging the gap’, information technology & people, vol. 8 issue: 3 pp. 13 – 27. lecompte, m.d. and preissle goetz, j. (1982) ‘problems of reliability and validity in ethnographic research’ review of educational research, spring 1982, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 31-60. british medical journal ;337:a1020 doi:10.1136/bmj.a1020 tooley, j. (1998) education without the state, iea education and training unit skillset, sector qualifications strategy. available at: http://www.creativeskillset.org/qualifications/development/article_3334_1.asp (accessed: 13 march 2013). http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/doctor-faustus.html (accessed: 13 march 2013). http://www.creativeskillset.org/qualifications/development/article_3334_1.asp http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/doctor-faustus.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 creating a pathway to employability in a business school: developing professional practice through collaboration katherine leopold, dawn reilly university of greenwich abstract within business education, our students study technical skills and gain commercial knowledge which will equip them for their future careers. in addition, our students need to develop the ‘soft skills’ which employers are looking for when they recruit graduates. to create a pathway to employability, we have used a collaboration between a module leader and a business school employability consultant to support second year students. we set out how we have included the consultant in planning and delivering specific topics within the module, and in giving formative feedback to students. in this way we have embedded employability skills in the curriculum and built a relational pathway to the business school’s careers support for students. keywords: business education, collaboration, employability, formative assessment, teamwork introduction this case study describes how we have used collaboration to support second year students studying an accounting degree with an information systems (is) focus in the business school at the university of greenwich. students on business-related programmes are acquiring knowledge and developing skills which are of interest to employers. here, as is specialists, much of the students’ time is spent in computer labs where they learn technical skills which equip them for their future careers as the graduates of tomorrow. however, the broadening competition for ‘talent’ in industry means that our employability skills development must deliver on two additional fronts: internally, in order to enhance the student experience; and externally, producing students who have the transferable skills they need in order to be ready for graduate employment opportunities. despite the consensus that developing employability skills is important, what constitutes a successful set of ‘employability skills’ is the subject of considerable discussion and there can be tension around where it should ‘fit’ in the academic curriculum (di pietro, 2017; mcquaid and lindsay, 2005; wilton, 2012). tan and laswad (2018) argue that employers are increasingly treating soft skills on a par with academic achievement. their analysis of australian and new zealand job advertisements demonstrates that employers value accountants’ teamwork and interpersonal skills, including the ability to present and discuss views. the office for students (2018: 3) states the following: we want to ensure that students leave their courses with the knowledge, qualifications, skills and attributes that are required by employers, both now and into the future … case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 within an is degree programme, opportunities to work in teams and to discuss ideas with their peers, thereby increasing students’ ‘soft’ employability skills, can be restricted. to address these potential shortcomings in the programme, the students study a core financial analysis and professional practice single semester module in their second year. the financial analysis element includes researching corporate information using online sources consistent with their degree’s focus on is; the professional practice element includes teamwork and presentation skills. placement years undertaken by business and management students can have a positive impact on graduate outcomes (wilton, 2012). however, our students may perceive that there are barriers to applying for placements (shepherd and sumner, 2018). for example, students are focussed on their university studies and dealing with assessment deadlines so thinking about placements and completing application forms may not be their priority. also, students can lack confidence that their application will be successful. therefore, it is important that we encourage second year students as much as possible in this area and the module provides the opportunity to create a pathway for them to the business school’s employability support service. design the aim of the financial analysis and professional practice module is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to perform an in-depth evaluation and comparison of a company’s performance. results are presented via a three-stage portfolio of linked assessments: an initial individual report; a group presentation; and a final individual report. the module has approximately 30 to 40 students each year. in 2018-19 we reviewed the delivery of the module in order to embed employability clearly in the module through content and via meaningful interaction with a representative of the business school’s careers service. to enhance the employability content of this core module, the module leader brought an employability consultant onto the module team. in collaboration, the module leader and consultant planned the schedule for the term. the consultant planned and delivered sessions on teamwork and presentation skills. she also provided formative feedback to students on the group presentations which the students were required to make as part of the assessment structure. professional practice session 1: working in a team this session had immediate relevance for the students because they were starting work on a group presentation. developing teamwork skills is a complex activity because simply discussing it in abstract results in students presenting idealised versions of teamwork which they do not then experience. the class started with a mentimeter exercise to establish students’ current understanding of what makes a good team and the consultant then discussed their ideas (figure 1). having set up a theoretical context for teamwork, the session moved into a very practical lego teambuilding exercise. working with lego enables teamwork to be experienced without the pressure of required prior knowledge and therefore it creates a more level playing field in the team. the students were given random assortments of bricks and instructed to build ‘the tallest tower’, using their planning time to communicate and then using minimal communication once building had started. they ignored the second instruction. once the winner had been announced, there was a discussion about whether their teams had shown case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 the elements that they had collated in mentimeter and many students acknowledged that they had not. the class asked for a re-run of the exercise and entered into that enthusiastically, driven by the element of competition between groups. the consultant then discussed with the class how what they had demonstrated during the exercise would have meant that they performed well at an assessment centre, drawing out what employers are looking for. this linked their skills and experience to something which students can be cautious about tackling. figure 1: mentimeter results professional practice session 2: delivering a successful presentation this session began with a short powerpoint introduction to the topic by the employability consultant which provided a real-life demonstration of an effective presentation. students then worked in their groups to create and tell a short fairy story. each story was based on three random images provided by the consultant and were abstract, non-culturally dependent and open to multiple interpretations. choosing this as the vehicle meant that the introduction to the session which talked about what makes a good presentation in theory could be put into immediate practice because it required no input from the financial analysis case study within the module. the students engaged with the task they were given and demonstrated considerable imagination, and teamwork skills, as they tackled the task together. in the whole class discussion which followed the group presentations, most students used the opportunity to talk to the consultant about their nervousness with interview presentations. however, the well-deserved praise and positive feedback they received from both the module leader and the consultant boosted their confidence. the consultant then talked to the class about placement years and encouraged them to apply. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 formative feedback in the employability office our aim was to build a pathway for our students into the business school employability office. this pathway was to be both relational and physical. conversations with students about their work help to build relationships and therefore the consultant gave verbal feedback to students on their mock presentations before the actual summative assessment presentation sessions with the module leader. the aim of the feedback was not for the consultant to comment on the technical financial analysis content but rather to focus on slide design and the way the group was working together. these conversations enhanced the relationships which had already been built through the consultant’s delivery of the teamwork and presentation sessions. the feedback was delivered in scheduled face-to-face group meetings in the employability office in order to build a ‘physical’ bridge to our employability support for students. in their first year, students had been encouraged to visit and engage with the employability office within their professional development module. we wanted to remind the students about the location and encourage renewed interaction with the support provided. bringing students to the business school employability office to talk about their presentations demonstrated that this was a safe place to go, even if the finished product was not ready to be reviewed. this mirrored the situation for students with incomplete job applications, cover letters and curricula vitae who might be unsure if they could seek help on their drafts from the consultant and her colleagues. the meetings also gave the consultant the opportunity to talk about placement applications in small groups thereby removing the pressure of a one-to-one conversation but still able to focus on the needs and interests of individual students. implementation it was important that the module leader and employability consultant communicated frequently throughout the project and that the students knew that the content delivered by the consultant was an important part of the module and not ‘extra-curricular’. the module leader therefore attended the teamwork and presentation skills sessions. the module leader also organised the mock presentation schedule and informed students about their group’s appointment. only one group did not attend this appointment although the student who did attend from that group then accessed employability support and secured a placement so his frustration at the team was mitigated by the longer-term outcome. after the feedback sessions, the consultant briefed the module leader on her conversations with students, identified non-attenders for follow up by the module leader, and referred any questions that had arisen on technical content. evaluation and limitations the way in which we redesigned the delivery of the module in 2018-19 provided a good student experience. 92% of students who completed the end of module online survey agreed that they were satisfied with the teaching on the module and 92% also agreed that the module has helped to enhance the skills and knowledge needed after graduation. one student commented as follows on her experience of bringing the employability consultant into the module: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 x's input was refreshing (nice to have a break from the academic side) and helpful. she gave good pointers on the presentation. was nice to meet her as well, as i feel comfortable to go to her to ask for any job application help. benefits from this collaborative approach between the module leader and employability consultant included the opportunity to promote placements within the module facilitating conversations with second year students and giving them encouragement to apply. reflecting on whether we achieved this aim, we know that several students did go on to apply for placements and some secured a role. looking ahead, as this cohort moves into the final year of the programme, they can also benefit from the pathway which the module has built to the business school employability office through relationship with a named individual. in addition, it is hoped that students’ confidence in their ability to perform well in an area such as giving a presentation where they do not consider themselves strong will help them have the confidence to apply for graduate schemes and graduate roles earlier. this would increase their chances of securing professional roles immediately after graduation. this case study has set out our experience for the first year of collaborating in this way. based on student feedback and the module leader’s and consultant’s observations of the good level of engagement with the module and the employability initiatives within it, we do not propose any major changes in the second year. one point to note however is that there will be a larger number of students on the module next year. this will not cause any major resourcing issues but it is acknowledged that for a very large cohort, the small group feedback on mock presentations might become challenging to arrange. however, the delivery of the whole class sessions on teamwork and presentations by an employability consultant would continue to be possible. the module in this case study includes professional practice in its content and this facilitates collaboration with employability colleagues. in the module we were able to promote the transferable skills of working in a team and presenting with confidence in a novel way for business students on a programme with a technical focus. in other modules, the opportunities for collaboration might not be as obvious but where a module includes group work or a presentation, skills which until now might have been introduced by the module team, there can be an opportunity for this type of content to be delivered by colleagues from our careers services. in this way we are able to create pathways for students to employability. reference list di pietro, g (2017), degree classification and recent graduates’ ability: is there any signalling effect?, journal of education and work, 30(5), 501–514, [online] available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13639080.2016.1243230 (accessed 8 september 2019) mcquaid, r and lindsay, c (2005), the concept of employability, urban studies, 42(2), 197–219. office for students (2018), office for students strategy 2018 to 2021, [online] available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/465d993d-daa8-42d2-a875-4a5fe63b211b/ofsstrategy-2018-21.pdf (accessed 8 september 2019) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 6 shepherd, a and sumner, m (2018), year in industry: barriers, challenges and motivations project report, [online] available at: http://teachingexcellence.leeds.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/11/year-in-industry_barriers-challenges-and-motivations_projectreport_final.pdf (accessed 28 july 2019) tan, l and laswad, f (2018), professional skills required of accountants: what do job advertisements tell us?, accounting education, 27(4), 403–432 wilton, n (2012), the impact of work placements on skills development and career outcomes for business and management graduates, studies in higher education, 37(5), 603–620, [online] editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 a warm welcome to volume 14, issue 2, of compass, journal of learning and teaching! this edition of compass includes our usual mix of research articles, case studies, opinion pieces and reviews on current topics. many of these papers reflect on the teaching strategies used and the outcomes obtained in the context of blended delivery of teaching in 2020-21, including student as well as staff perspectives. topics include the use of cameras in online teaching, how to support student well-being and how to engage students’ affect and create a sense of belonging, as well as facilitating their learning. there are two reviews of technology which may be helpful for teaching online in the future. other papers focus on topics such as relating assessments to the skills needed in employment, the tacit knowledge of markers and how best to support students with their resit assessments. here we provide a brief digest of each paper. in a thoughtful and balanced appraisal of blended-learning and covid-19-driven online learning, jason jeevaruban and gemma boden, of the university of greenwich, present an opinion piece from the point of view of an undergraduate student on a paramedic science course. it is extremely valuable for course designers to hear the voice of students, for they speak with authority about what it is like to learn on a range of programmes, each with its own set of appropriate pedagogical strategies. in this case, though online learning has much to offer, the author fully appreciates the importance of being on campus, of hands-on opportunities for building practical clinical skills, working as part of a team and making mistakes as a fundamental element of learning. there is no doubting, here, the powerful endorsement of blended approaches for their combining (especially for vocational courses) face-to-face sessions with the flexibilities of online learning, but the author remains objective in offering the advice that the choice of mode of delivery should not be made without consulting the views and experience-rich understanding of learners. the succinct detail of this paper deserves scrutiny. alison gilmour, from the university of greenwich, reminds us that obliging students to use webcams as part of online or blended-learning activities (perhaps because we would like to know that they are present or because we wish to avail ourselves of non-verbal insights into how they are learning) does not take into account the fact that access to and familiarity with this technology are not equal for all students, nor that some students may not wish to have their personal domestic situation exposed to view. the pandemic has drawn attention to the material and lived experiences of a diverse student body and the author of this paper advocates the adoption of a ‘pedagogy of kindness’ that recognises that a blanket requirement to use webcams may well counter a commitment to inclusion and may damage or destroy trust. “active engagement,” the author says, “does not depend on having your camera on” and we ought to be much more aware of social disadvantage, especially at a time when students certainly need support for managing their learning in digital spaces, support that is not universally forthcoming. does assessment within higher education (he) degree courses adequately prepare students for the tasks they will be given to do in the workplace? debbie bartlett and deborah sims, of the university of greenwich, joined forces to research this question in the context of ecology/environmental management and civil engineering courses and jobs, seeking editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 responses from newly employed graduates and from their employers. by means of a wellselected range of reference to the literature on this topic, the authors of this interesting study draw attention to the need for he assessment – if it is to tackle the ‘skills gap’ – 1) to develop learning, not just measure it, and 2) to emphasise the acquisition of transferable skills, alongside technical skills. the findings from the surveys conducted are thoughtfully presented and considered and will provoke thought about the clear value of competencybased assessment strategies, involving constructive feedback along the lines of that used by employers to their employees, that really will enhance employability. a project by catherine farrant, raluca marinciu, dawn reilly and liz warren at the university of greenwich set out to improve the quality of support offered to students for resits on business programmes. by exploring second-year student experiences of resits at the end of year one (with information gathered from interviews and discussion forums), the authors demonstrate their determination to improve existing support and, therefore, outcomes. this case study focuses on bandura’s ‘self-efficacy’, a positive emotional state created perhaps by the supportive comments of lecturers, peers or friends and family, but certainly by ‘mastery experiences’, or prior success in a similar situation. self-belief and self-confidence can help to improve preparation for resits and students’ willingness to set personal goals and can reduce procrastination. these research results illustrate the need for a range of strategies, including past paper question practice and good, regular communication between tutor and student, which may include re-visiting and explaining previous feedback to help with a coursework resit and conveying to students the meaning and extent of the ‘resit support’ available. “[t]he journey has been a transformative one for me and my pupils” is a telling comment made by one of the 150 schoolteachers who took advantage of a professional development opportunity with a research team (adewale magaji, ana cabral, andrew lambirth, roger mcdonald, ashley brett and christopher philpott) from the university of greenwich to explore aspects of their own practice by means of action research. conventional personal development for school teachers has not normally extended over four years, as this did, and participants have not usually registered as university students, which suggests that the greenwich collaboration indeed marks a transformative stage in giving practitioners in the school sector agency over their own learning to foster change, for their findings will be contextually informed and relevant and therefore likely to result in measurable improvement in their own classrooms and schools. this case study paints a very positive picture of the benefits of providing teachers with the tools to undertake effective action research, when the process is supported by a university team to guide, advise and manage challenges and involves constructive interaction between all the participants. a cross-disciplinary team at the university of leicester (kerry dobbins, neil adams, ellen bishop, mehman ismayilli, martha papadopoulou, megan phillips, nadine tauchner, elizabeth van wessem and joe watkins) placed graduate teaching assistants (gtas) as codesigners, -evaluators and -disseminators of an equal-status project to support them in their roles by means of developmental peer observations of teaching across the disciplines. like the academic coach in the previous paper, the very liminality of this role demands that institutions create opportunities to succeed for such phd students as these at leicester, who undertake a great deal of teaching. the value of this project is abundantly evident in the very informative comments and summaries of the eight gtas involved, providing an authentic editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 insight into various significant aspects of the learning involved, not least the self-reflective element so fundamental to effective teaching throughout a career. it is unsurprising that many current academic papers are addressing and assessing the impact of covid-19 on teaching and learning. this one, by poppy frances gibson and amber bale of the university of greenwich, differs from most in offering direct advice – relevant to students also – about how to embrace a personal ‘body-healing’ (a holistic mindbody approach) method to counter emotional distress – and possibly psychiatric illness – resulting from loss of the usual human contact and, consequently, the normal patterns of socialisation and collaboration. the authors recommend choosing from a range of possible mind-body therapies, explaining that to adopt some simple adjustments to our behaviours, especially at the beginning and end of the day, can revitalise us and help our ability to teach, to be better role models and to encourage our students to prioritise their emotional wellbeing. feeling more positive now? at the university of greenwich business faculty’s virtual teaching and learning festival 2020, xiaowen gao made a presentation on personal strategies for affective engagement of students in wholly online learning. reflecting on other presenters’ methods for stimulating active learning in this pandemic-engendered context, where inequalities in high-speed internet access so obviously exist, the author emphasises the necessity for creating in students a sense of belonging, to counter feelings of isolation. though there are such student-centred, text-based, asynchronous online collaborative learning activities as wiki pages and discussion forums, synchronous occasions are inevitably more challenging. with genuine passion, the author addresses the difficulties by adopting measures to establish, for all participants, social presence, so each becomes real to the rest, as in a physical classroom. sustaining student engagement in longer modules constitutes considerable challenge for academic teaching staff. however, for those in computing-related subjects, the authors of a very interesting article about the co-organising (students and staff together) of ‘hackathons’ may have found a solution. nuno correia, of the university of greenwich, offers experience and best practice gleaned from three such events – occasions when participants gather to collaborate in teams to design and develop products and services, usually digitally. the activities, with their tight time constraints, are short, intensive and competitive, and have broad appeal, but especially popular for those who perform best on tasks that do not require lengthy attention spans. rewards take various forms (gift voucher prizes, sense of personal achievement, camaraderie, recognition) and the author sees plenty of evidence of strong motivation. assessment literacy and, specifically, its importance in enabling students to grasp fully the criteria used by markers, are the focus of gemma mansi of the university of greenwich, with reference to those learners following extended courses, having entered higher education via a btec national route. the author argues cogently – based on the findings of qualitative research, with data collected from informal discussions with both students and staff – that several tactics to make assessment expectations explicit need to be adopted, from thinking about the assessment type (especially for those students less familiar with written essays and exams) to giving students practice opportunities to develop their assessment literacy. editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 through open dialogue, markers must help students to understand the markers’ tacit knowledge of what is required and students should have active experience in engaging with the marking process. when the language of assessment is not understood, this too must be discussed. until staff cease to make assumptions about students’ prior assessment experiences and instead build in time for crucial academic literacy skills, learners will continue to be frustrated. what and how we teach are always central to sound educational practice, but never more so than when decolonising the curriculum is at stake. monica fernandes, from brunel university london, knows well that: devising curricula with a diverse – not merely western – range of subject matter, contexts, perspectives and voices will develop independent learning and critical thinking; redesigning curricula with teaching methods that diversify assessments, use inclusive language, review the skills to be acquired and make the study materials accessible to all will overcome inequalities between students, whatever their backgrounds and circumstances. furthermore, consulting students about what they would like seems very logical indeed. the author’s emphasis here is upon science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) subjects – not widely seen as lending themselves to decolonisation (being about technical knowledge and problem-solving) – and she provides a powerful set of suggested ways that demonstrate that they are not exempt from a holistic, inclusive and creative reappraisal, a re-think that may well create greater coherence between stem subjects and the humanities. colin mcclure and paul williams, of queen’s university, belfast, explore educator and student opinions of the proximity-based video-conferencing platform ‘gather.town’ in a study striking for its thorough and objective analysis. the current pandemic-driven move to distance learning has led educators in higher education to seek platforms that will support synchronous and asynchronous tailored learning, enable educator-student and peer-to-peer interaction and encourage the development of successful learning communities. findings indicate that gather.town has much to offer both groups. nevertheless, the authors are at pains to identify the platform’s limitations, to acknowledge that other technologies have some similar capabilities and to make clear that such resources are not a substitute for face-toface teaching and learning and are not to be regarded as a sole teaching tool. the paper’s conclusion, that gather.town will be very useful as one of a range of strategies in a blendedlearning approach post pandemic, captures its potential value precisely. another innovative strategy for getting online learning to function much more nearly to the physical classroom experience is the brainchild of gerhard kristandl from the university of greenwich. the pleasant fluent style of this article engages the reader from the start, suggesting that students will be similarly fascinated by the author’s application of role play to an online session on how to prevent internal fraud in a business, so that accountancy and finance information systems students will grasp the fundamental concept of ‘internal controls and segregation of duties’. translating the activity from real classroom to screen was the challenge the author met by means of the free ‘open broadcaster software (obs) studio, with its ability to overcome the restrictions typical of other video-conferencing software. clearly able to empathise with teachers who struggle with the demands of hardware and software, the author provides an exposition that is informative, clear and supportive, outlining the method and appraising obs simply and precisely. editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 in a reflective piece from the university of greenwich, authors poppy gibson, robert morgan, andrew sinclair, rachael hartiss, agnieszka kosek and ashley clark consider the efficacy of a partnership between academics, academic skills staff and students to support the latter – following an accelerated two-year ba – in acquiring a range of skills to achieve independent learning. the authors are convinced that, when the staff work together to provide consistency of message and approach and there exists a culture of effective communication between them and the students, entry-level inequalities are evened out and all learners benefit from individually tailored support. at the greenwich 2020 shift teaching and learning conference, a team representative of all parties involved presented, as a proven means of promoting student success and outcomes, the partnership’s model for embedding skills. we hope that compass readers will enjoy reading these papers and will find them informative and helpful. with best wishes to all compass readers, contributors and reviewers, rachel and yang editors case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 co-organising hackathons with students: opportunities and best practices nuno n. correia university of greenwich, uk and iti/larsys, portugal abstract we identify problems regarding teaching in higher education, particularly in computing subjects: short attention spans; lack of focus on cutting-edge topics; lack of attention to relevant issues for students; and disconnect from research. we propose that co-organising hackathons with students can assist in addressing these issues. we present a literature review, our experience in organising three hackathons and the resulting feedback gathered from participants. based on that experience, and in articulation with related literature, we suggest best practices for organising these events. we also discuss applicability to other fields beyond computing. keywords: hackathons, technology, computing, student engagement, working with students introduction lecturers are often faced with students who disengage from modules, with possible serious consequences for their degree performance. this is particularly serious in certain topics within the field of computing that are crucial to building technical skills. in contemporary society, attention spans are getting shorter as smart phones, social media and other technologies compete for our attention (lorenz-spreen et al., 2019). sustaining student engagement in longer modules is therefore problematic: often, modules do not tackle issues that students consider relevant to them; modules are sometimes not agile enough to address emergent technologies and knowledge; students are often disconnected from our research activities in the field of computing. these issues present an opportunity for organising more condensed events and exploring new methods and techniques in computing and related subjects, with both staff and students involved. such events could have positive outcomes for both research and teaching. literature review hackathons are intensive design-and-development events where participants gather to “conceptualise, prototype, and make (mostly digital) products and services” (lodato and disalvo, 2016). they are an exchange between organisers and participants: the former offer logistics (space, electricity, wireless internet and sometimes food), while the latter bring computer devices, their skills and their “undivided attention” (irani, 2015). hackathons can differ greatly in their themes – from a corporate setting (nolte, chounta and herbsleb, 2020) to digital arts (correia and tanaka, 2015), user interface design (correia and tanaka, 2017), and humanitarian aims (linnell at al., 2014) – but they follow a similar structure: hackathons last for a day or two; challenges are presented to the participants, who form teams around those; the teams engage in a “fervour of activity” to develop solutions; and, at the end of the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 event, the teams show their work, judges judge and awards are given (lodato and disalvo, 2016). in recent years, hackathons have been successful in attracting a wider audience beyond computing and technology communities (taylor and clarke, 2018). six factors for the success of hackathons have been identified (mohajer soltani et al., 2014): (i) how well the problem area is defined; (ii) what sort of return is offered to the winning solution(s); (iii) how diversified each team member’s competences and skills are; (iv) whether mentors are in place and how well they communicate their expertise; (v) whether jury members understand well enough the area(s) in focus; (vi) the entry requirements of the competition. hackathons organised and participant feedback we believe that co-organising hackathons with students can complement existing modules and address the identified problems: short attention spans; lack of focus on cutting-edge topics; insufficient attention to issues that are relevant to students; and disconnect from research. during the last two academic years, we have collaborated with two student societies at the university of greenwich – ‘gredevjams’ and ‘compsoc’ – in the organisation of three half-day hackathons: • tech4good (with gredevjams, on diversity and inclusion in smart cities; 8 november 2018; fifty-four students) • crack the code (with compsoc, on cybersecurity; 28 february 2019; twenty-two students) • hack the planet! (with compsoc and on cybersecurity; 28 february 2020; twentythree students). students were grouped into teams of three or four participants. more information on the hackathons organised can be found in our blog, hack central1. feedback on tech4good this was the first hackathon we co-organised with students and feedback was not collected in a systematic way. however, we received a good amount of informal positive feedback. we report two spontaneous feedback statements from students: “it was great! i enjoyed taking part and realised that i can actually produce something presentable in a short time.” “i found it challenging, but everyone was helpful and made me feel i can do it.” standard questionnaire for feedback following our first hackathon, we designed a questionnaire, intending it to be implemented as a standard procedure in subsequent hackathons. it contained the following questions: 1 https://blogs.gre.ac.uk/hackcentral/ https://blogs.gre.ac.uk/hackcentral/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 1. how enjoyable was the event? 2. was it a useful learning experience? 3. what aspects did you like the most? 4. what could be improved? 5. any other comments? questions 1 and 2 are likert-scale questions, with a scale of 1 (not at all enjoyable / useful) to 5 (very enjoyable / useful). the other questions allow for open-ended answers. feedback on crack the code regarding feedback for the crack the code hackathon, we obtained seven anonymous responses to our online feedback form out of twenty-two (approximately one third of the participants). two of the participants considered it very enjoyable, four found it enjoyable and one gave a neutral answer. four participants considered it very useful, two found it useful and one considered it not useful at all. figure 1 summarises these results. participants liked the flexibility offered by the hackathon set-up (specifically, that any programming language could be used to solve problems). two participants enjoyed the level of the challenge: it was considered difficult and intriguing, hard enough but not impossible, and with stimulating content. meeting other students and “the freebies” were also mentioned as positive factors, as was the friendliness of the organisers. regarding negative aspects, two participants complained about the difficulty level and another two stated that the level of programming experience required for the event had not been adequately described in the advertising for it. figure 1: charts summarising feedback from the crack the code hackathon case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 feedback on hack the planet for the hack the planet hackathon, twelve participants out of twenty-three (approximately half) filled in the feedback questionnaire. by comparison with the previous hackathon, the results improved (see figure 2). eight participants evaluated it as very enjoyable, three as enjoyable and one as not enjoyable. seven found it very useful, four useful and one not useful at all. in terms of positive aspects, collected from the open-ended answers, the hackathon challenge was mentioned by four respondents, while another three mentioned other aspects, such as the teamwork, the friendly atmosphere and the helpful staff. regarding suggestions for improvement, two participants suggested having free food and drink as in previous events; two mentioned that information on the tools to be used could be improved; and one student mentioned the highly demanding linux skills required. figure 2: charts summarising feedback from the hack the planet hackathon discussion we identify best practices that could be useful for lecturers planning to organise hackathons with students; they align with the above factors for success presented by mohajer soltani et al. (2014): i) allow the students to pick the problem area, but assist in refining it, to achieve an adequate scope for the timeframe of the hackathon. ii) offer certificates of participation for all students attending and prizes for the top teams. for example, we have offered gift vouchers, bought in advance, to the winning and runner-up teams. we recommend that these are handed out at the end of the event, following a swift deliberation process by the jury – mirroring established practices for these events. iii) if possible, allow for students from different backgrounds to participate, integrating multi-disciplinary teams (for example, computer science and digital media students). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 iv) request that organising students engage with a member of staff knowledgeable in the field of the hackathon, who would act as a mentor and who should be part of the jury. v) following the previous point (iv), the jury should include a member of staff specialising in the topic of the hackathon. vi) when recruiting participants, the level of difficulty, the prior knowledge required and the target audience should all be made clear (for example: students from all levels or final-year students only). we would add a seventh recommendation, which does not align with the six factors of success presented above. it may seem trivial compared to the other factors, but it helped us to improve upon previous events: vii) collect feedback from participants in a systematic way, with a consistent questionnaire, allowing comparison of results from a sequence of events. hackathons are “brief bursts of collocated activity” (trainer et al., 2016), where participants usually show their “undivided attention” (irani, 2015). as such, they address the identified problem of short attention spans. from our observation, students concentrate better in these events because of a tight deadline for finishing the task. the rewards gained are also motivational: a sense of self-achievement, camaraderie generated by intense group work, recognition from peers and lecturers and the actual prize. we believe that the intensity of the event and participant awareness that it is short and significant encourage students to focus well and to postpone possible distractions to afterwards. in our collaboration with student societies, the students themselves pick the challenge for the hackathon – there is therefore a bottom-up approach in terms of the theme of the event, ensuring its relevance to the students. additionally, we request the involvement of a member of staff who is an expert in that topic, which fulfils a double objective: on the one hand, the quality assurance of the hackathon task and outcomes; on the other, a learning experience for the organisers by collaborating with an expert in the field. in turn, this specialist member of staff becomes more aware of issues that students are interested in and so constructive adaptations to curricula may possibly take place as a result. the feedback we have collected from participants is in tune with some of the best practices above. participants enjoyed the prizes and rewards – recommended in best practice ii) above. in the second hackathon, we did not follow best practice vi) in the above list – the difficulty level was not properly advertised and so led to negative feedback. in the third hackathon, we took care to make the difficulty level clear in the promotional materials, resulting in more positive feedback from students about the clarity of description of the challenge level. (however, information issues were not entirely solved, according to feedback.) more generic recommendations that emerge from the positive feedback – that organisers of such events should take into account – are to facilitate socialisation and to create a friendly and supportive atmosphere. however, we did not include this in our proposed best practices, as it is a broad, commonsense observation. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 conclusions and limitations with this paper, we have aimed to raise awareness about the potential of co-organising hackathons with students, particularly in computing-related subjects. using experience gained from running three hackathons, we have also extended existing literature on the topic by identifying best practices. the feedback we collected from students supports several of our findings. the best practices identified through hackathons can be applicable not only to computing students, but also to other disciplines applying technology for a specific purpose, such as social issues and business (trainer et al., 2016). regarding the limitations (identified from student feedback) of the hackathons conducted, we highlight the lack of adequate prior information about the difficulty level and the tools involved. despite our efforts to make those elements clearer in promotional material, participants still considered the information insufficient. it remains a challenge for our future hackathon information provision. reference list correia, n.n. and tanaka, a. 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(2020) ‘what happens to all these hackathon projects? identifying factors to promote hackathon project continuation.’ proceedings of the acm on human-computer interaction, 4(cscw2), 145:1-145:26. [online] available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/3415216 (accessed: 16 november 2020). taylor, n. and clarke, l. (2018) ‘everybody’s hacking: participation and the mainstreaming of hackathons.’ in: proceedings of the 2018 chi conference on human factors in computing systems, chi ’18, new york, ny, usa, association for computing machinery, 112. [online] available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173746 (accessed: 22 february 2021). trainer, e.h., kalyanasundaram, a., chaihirunkarn, c. and herbsleb, j.d. (2016) ‘how to hackathon: socio-technical tradeoffs in brief, intensive collocation.’ in: proceedings of the 19th acm conference on computer-supported cooperative work & social computing, cscw ’16, san francisco, ca, usa, association for computing machinery, 1118–1130. [online] available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2819946 (accessed: 16 november 2020). http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-22258 https://doi.org/10.1145/3415216 https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173746 https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2819946 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 guerrilla teaching and diy exhibitions: how an assault on comfort zones can engage and inspire martin compton, amy jackson-bruce, viktor krastev university of greenwich, ravensbourne university, imperial college london abstract this case study and video show the process and outcomes of a ‘flash’ briefing to a group of first-year fashion promotion students. the surprise collaborative task was presented to the students outside the comfort of their usual lab space and required them to likewise exhibit previously produced ‘zines’ in a space away from the host institution. with a view to helping students understand how sub-culture artefacts can be exhibited using low-cost, guerrilla marketing strategies, the lecturer drew on some of these same strategies to present the brief. engagement and participation levels are demonstrably high and the final exhibition is an evident success; the whole experience, we argue, suggests that to challenge norms and to take such risks may well produce positive outcomes. whilst we believe this case is potentially relevant to anyone interested in higher education pedagogy, the approach is likely to appeal immediately to anyone teaching subjects where promotion is fundamental as well as to those where marketing principles are elemental. link to the video: https://youtu.be/0b7dwbd7s8c keywords: zine, marketing, guerrilla marketing, edupunk, problem-based learning, pbl, situated learning, video, exhibition, promotion 1. introduction a series of fortunate events brought together a fashion promotion and ux/ui lecturer at ravensbourne (a specialist design and digital media university), an academic developer from the university of greenwich (a comparatively large post-1992 university) and a video producer from imperial college london. as part of a post graduate certificate in higher education (pgcert), the fashion promotion lecturer was required to video her taught session then reflect on it. as part of his own research into unorthodox approaches to observation for professional learning in higher education (he), the academic developer was invited to observe the videoed session. the video producer was, in turn, invited to record the session and the subsequent student exhibition to ensure adequate audio and video quality was achieved in unconventional settings. whilst it was not originally conceived as a paper, we were all, in our own ways and in terms of our own interests, inspired by the taught session and what the students achieved as a consequence. the account below and the accompanying video illustrate what we feel is an excellent example of the potential of risktaking and problem-based learning (pbl) inspired by the ‘guerrilla’ tactics of flash marketing campaigns. whilst it may be fair to argue that the approach was more likely to have flourished in creative contexts, its application reflects wider acknowledgement that business and marketing educators need to consider how work environments and work practices are https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/l-7tcywgztg0ywjtgweyg?domain=youtu.be case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 foregrounding gaps in students’ work-readiness as curricula struggle to keep pace (ye et al., 2017). 2. context first year undergraduates on a graphic communication module (part of the ba fashion promotion programme) had been producing a ‘zine’ series. these hand-produced, photocopied and self-published works are associated with subcultures and, in contrast to the computer-mediated work typical on their undergraduate programme, provide a stark counterpoint to polished, high production value publications. as duncombe (2014, p.6) puts it: “...scruffy, homemade little pamphlets. little publications filled with rantings of high weirdness and exploding with chaotic designs.” whilst the students were aware from the start of the zine production requirement, the lecturer contrived to present them with an additional task. conventionally this might be labelled a surprise, collaborative, formative assessment. the briefing and task were much more unconventional, however. in line with the sub-culture thread and the ultimate goal of the task, students were invited to join the lecturing team at a creative/artistic space beyond the typical lab or classroom (in this case the turbine hall at the tate modern in london http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern) and, once there, told that their ‘problem’ was that they were all part of a creative direction agency and had two weeks to set up and then hold a ‘guerrilla/ flash do-it-yourself (diy) zine exhibition’, open to the general public in a suitable location at least a mile from the host institution and on a budget of just £54. the accompanying video shows extracts from both the briefing and exhibition. the narration from the lecturer and one of the students is complemented below by responses to and perceptions of the briefing and exhibition from our positions as the lecturer, an observer and a film-maker. 3. guerrilla teaching after an observation of her teaching, the pgcert mentor of the fashion promotion lecturer at ravensbourne challenged her to ensure that digitally focused practice did not give students an opportunity to hide behind screens whilst appearing to engage in class-based tasks. this drove her to consider the possibilities of real-world, situated learning opportunities which align closely to the recommendations of rohm et al. (2019) who argue for more problembased, experiential and skills-oriented approaches to marketing education. such approaches, when trialled using colonised space for exhibition-like events as an initial part of the first-year zine task, presented unexpected challenges. the physical space of the institution and the way timetabling is managed in some ways discourage situated and problem-based approaches. “the new ravensbourne was designed as an institution that would show the way for others. the plan always was that everyone should be flexible about their use of the space.” (hodges, 2010); nevertheless, it impeded some activities typically associated with promotion events. at ravensbourne, teaching spaces are shared and classes migrate from one space to another lesson by lesson, meaning that teachers wanting to show physical objects within the class have to transport, arrange, put up and then take down these displays within a single session. what began as an effort to place more value upon non-digital teaching and learning opportunities became a desire to experiment with where the learning happened. the fashion promotion lecturer sensed an opportunity to present some of the realities of exhibiting work under such constraints as are experienced in ‘real world’ contexts, particularly in relation to guerrilla marketing approaches, rather than http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 those – much less relevant – imposed by such internal institutional circumstances as timetabling and room sizes. she therefore asked the class to meet outside of the campus environment to receive a briefing about a ‘flash’ zine exhibition in the tate modern turbine hall. the space was chosen because: it connected to the brief in terms of its function as an art gallery; it challenges many of the norms of gallery spaces; and, pragmatically, it is accessible and free to enter. the outside observer was immediately struck by the similarity of the activity design to the controversial practices of the ‘edupunk’ movement, though such an approach was not consciously followed or advocated. the diy nature of the zines themselves, the deliberate eschewal of both the comfortable and familiar digital and physical spaces and even the punk aesthetic of the venue later chosen by the students echoed the edupunk challenge to the hegemony of monolithic institutional systems and constrained practices (wheeler, 2015). the emphasis on personally-defined goals for each individual within the group and the contrast between this and other more traditional teaching and assessment strategies on the programme also located it in this domain (kamenetz, 2010). there was, however, a conscious attempt to exploit and raise awareness of guerrilla marketing techniques. this approach is defined by its unconventionality, low costs, creativity and very narrow targeting of potential consumers (levinson and godin, 1994). the invitation to the tate modern, the raising of anticipation about the purpose of the visit and the big ‘reveal’ that can be seen at the start of the video all draw on guerrilla marketing techniques, as does the approach that the students were then encouraged to take. much more evidently deliberate in the pedagogic design of the flash briefing was the social learning conception of pbl. central to this is that the ‘problem’ is something that pushes students beyond existing knowledge: it cannot be immediately resolved but requires active investigation by the students working together (barrett, 2005). this task required core outcomes of a pbl approach: effective problem solving; self-direction; effective collaboration; intrinsic motivation (hmelo-silver, 2004) and developing student understanding of specialist knowledge and transferable skills (barrett and cashman, 2010). the flash zine exhibition also had value in its connection to contemporary creative practice in industry where independent publishing is challenged by a decline in sales resulting in a diversification of launch strategies and the adoption of experiential marketing tactics. this connection to industry and practical coursework is valued and sought after by students who often take study positions at ravensbourne for its live briefs and close connections with industry. the approach taken here clearly emphasises what rohm et al. (2019) define as the four essential skillsdevelopment areas for workplace-ready marketing students: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills. the challenge of putting together a temporary exhibition in a short period whilst displaying publications made on the fly (itself a two-week brief) captured the creative minds of the students. though it was not possible for this to become a portfolio piece for future display, it proved to be of value in the raising of students’ confidence and belief in their ability to execute, with little notice, innovative and creative marketing. in this way, the challenge – and course module – had a lasting effect on the students involved. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 4. guerrilla teaching in many ways, the off-campus venue of the briefing and the unpredictable location of the exhibition mirror the ephemerality of the zines themselves. the situation drove us to seek a way to challenge this ephemerality, to capture both events and to produce the accompanying video artefact. in its own way, the video is a valuable record, not just for presenting a summary of the approach and its outcomes but also as a way of capturing the essence of a pedagogic approach and the core lessons learned – from both a lecturer and a student perspective. media technologies, especially video, have proven to be very powerful tools when it comes to motivating, engaging and/or instructing students. because of its transformability and transferability, video can open new horizons in teaching and learning (woolfitt, 2015). in this case, the documentary record provides a point of focus for lecturer reflections, evidence of a successful collaboration and achievement by the students and an artefact to prompt other lecturers and future students to value guerrilla approaches to teaching or self-promotion. in short, video can enhance not only the overall educational experience, but it can also be a very valuable tool for reflection (cheng and chau, 2009; schmid, 2011). a key challenge around the videoing of the session was to be able to capture the natural essence and feelings of the process without actually interfering or posing any influence on the students or the lecturer. the venue itself assisted with this but also presented a technical challenge. the background noise and activity of other visitors to the tate modern and then the exhibition space selected by the students (rye wax record shop and club in peckham, london http://www.ryewax.com/) needed accommodating though it also provided a convenient mask to the filming and enabled the film-maker to blend in. it was also crucial to enable the students to be as natural and comfortable as possible in terms of the presence of a camera and for them to be comfortable discussing in an unfamiliar and comparatively uncomfortable space, so hand-held equipment and only basic video recording techniques were used. after a brief reconnaissance of the locations and by carefully looking into the structure of the lesson, the video producer decided that a handheld, digital, single-lens camera, and a wireless ‘clipper’ microphone would be used. the ability to move freely around the spaces, without compromising the sound quality, allowed him to successfully follow the narration of the lesson, and at the same time to video capture the natural flow of the student experience and interactions. the same clipper microphones were used to capture the lecturer’s reflections in situ and this was overlaid in the post-production stage. 5. conclusions this session was not a one-off; nor could it be described as typical of the curriculum design of the degree programme. nevertheless, its success made us all conscious of what can be gained from taking risks and by donning our coats and escaping the labs and lecture halls. as evidenced from the lecturer comments, student engagement in the video and the exhibition itself, the separation of students from the comfort of the traditional classroom more than achieved the broad goal of enabling students to see beyond the creative activities they had previously been engaged in within an essentially artificial learning context and instead to grasp how their ideas and strategies might shape up in the face of the working world realities of self-publicising and exhibiting on minimal budgets. that collaboration lay at the heart of the activity presented some risk, but even had the whole thing dissolved in acrimony among http://www.ryewax.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 the participants, opportunities would still have arisen for discussion of the nature of what makes successful collaboration, especially when high rewards might accrue. building creative confidence in the student cohort is a goal that defines the whole programme and is something that all the students identified as a key behaviour they wanted to develop when entering the course at the start of this year. their responses to this one activity indicate to us very clearly that it has gone some way to achieving that aim. in terms of fashion promotion, it is hard to imagine something more professionally valuable to the students than the opportunity to see how they can build relationships with a cultural venue that sells and distributes independent publications. publication and exhibition are themes revisited throughout the course and this experience provided students with a reminder of opportunities that exist when their individually innovative, artistic and imaginative endeavours are taken out into wider creative communities. in the creative world ‘employability’ is so much more than demonstrating skills. increasingly, these new skills are seen as prerequisites in the traditionally less creative programmes undertaken by business and marketing students. whatever the area of study, this case study illuminates how connections are made and how the levels and mechanisms of promotion, influence and contacts are interconnected. more now than ever before, therefore, to use such guerrilla tactics in your teaching you do not need to be working in a creative field. we believe that the approach could be applied to any discipline, so long as you are willing to risk breaking away from the comfort of the classroom reference list barrett, t. (2005) ‘what is problem-based learning?’ in: emerging issues in the practice of university learning and teaching. o'neill, g., moore, s. and mcmullin, b. (eds.). dublin: aishe. isbn: 978-0955013409 barrett, t. and cashman, d. (2010) a practitioner's guide to enquiry and problem-based learning. dublin: ucd teaching and learning. isbn: 9978-1905254-45-3 cheng, g. and chau, j. (2009) ‘digital video for fostering self‐reflection in an eportfolio environment.’ learning, media and technology, 34(4), 337-350. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439880903338614 (accessed: 16 december 2019). duncombe, s. (2014) notes from underground: zines and the politics of alternative culture. portland, united states: microcosm publishing. isbn: 9781934620373 hmelo-silver, c.e. (2004) ‘problem-based learning: what and how do students learn?’ educational psychology review, 16, 235-266. available at: https://doi.org/10.1023/b:edpr.0000034022.16470.f3 (accessed:16 december 2019). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 6 hodges, l. (2010) ‘ravensbourne college gets ready to move in to eye-catching new premises.’ the independent. available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/ravensbourne-college-gets-readytomove-in-to-eye-catching-new-premises-2026802.html (accessed: 18 march 2019). kamenetz, a. (2010) diy u: edupunks, edupreneurs, and the coming transformation of higher education. white river junction, vermont, united states: chelsea green publishing. isbn: 9781603582346 levinson, j.c. and godin, s. (1994) the guerrilla marketing handbook. new york: houghton mifflin harcourt. isbn: 0046442700139 rohm, a.j., stefl, m. and saint clair, j. (2019) ‘time for a marketing curriculum overhaul: developing a digital-first approach.’ journal of marketing education, 41(1), 47-59. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475318798086 (accessed: 16 december 2019). schmid, e.c. (2011) ‘video-stimulated reflection as a professional development tool in interactive whiteboard research.’ recall, 23(3), 252-270. available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0958344011000176 (accessed: 16 december 2019). wheeler, s. (2015) learning with 'e's: educational theory and practice in the digital age. carmarthen: crown house publishing. isbn: 978-1845909390 woolfitt, z. (2015) ‘the effective use of video in higher education.’ lectoraat teaching, learning and technology. rotterdam: inholland university of applied sciences. available at: https://www.inholland.nl/media/10230/the-effective-use-of-video-in-higher-educationwoolfittoctober-2015.pdf (accessed: 21 march 2019). ye, c., van os, j., chapman, d. and jacobson, d. (2017) ‘an online project-based competency education approach to marketing education.’ journal of marketing education, 39, 162-175. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475317724843 (accessed: 16 december 2019). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 learning theories in the context of teaching law nandini s. boodia-canoo abstract the following is a reflective case study on common approaches to teaching law in higher education, and how these may be informed by learning theories. the paper looks specifically at social learning theory, constructivism and cognitive load theory. following a critique of certain practices, suggestions are made to encourage further evolution of methods relevant to teaching problem-solving skills to law students at undergraduate level. introduction the previous academic year, i was fortunate to be a student again by enrolling for the postgraduate certificate in higher education course at the university of greenwich. completing the programme whilst working full time proved challenging yet genuinely rewarding. the opportunity to examine learning theories in some detail led me to reflect on their application in the context of teaching law at university. social learning theory and cognitive load theory in particular raise important questions for the teaching of a social science that requires the acquisition of practical skills. the pedagogy of legal education remains a niche area, and it is hoped that the thoughts and arguments presented here will stimulate reflection and debate. teaching law – how and why to place the arguments in context for readers of different disciplines or jurisdictions, it should be noted that the process of qualifying as a lawyer in the uk is divided into three stages which can be summarised thus: an academic stage, a professional education stage and a practical training stage. it is the academic stage which is covered at undergraduate level. in order to progress to the professional education stage,1 a “qualifying law degree” (qld) must be obtained,2 the requirements of which are regulated by the relevant professional bodies.3 1 at the professional education stage the path splits. those intending to become solicitors complete the legal practice course, now soon to be replaced by the solicitors qualifying examination (sqe), whereas those intending to qualify as a barrister undertake a bar course (previously named the bar professional training course/bar vocational course). the sqe will not require a qld in the traditional sense, and since last autumn, elements of the bar course may be completed at different points in time. 2 the graduate diploma in law for non-law graduates. 3 the solicitors regulation authority and the bar standards board. see ‘academic stage handbook’ <https://www.sra.org.uk/students/academic-stage/> accessed 3 january 2020. https://www.sra.org.uk/students/academic-stage/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 literature review without much prior knowledge of learning theories, after studying a selection as part of the programme, i noticed one in particular: social learning theory (slt) as explored by albert bandura (1971). the key conceptualisation flowing from bandura’s research is that learning takes place primarily by observation. thus, new behaviours are acquired not solely through direct experience, but through the observation of others (ibid. p.5), an exercise more accurately evoked through bandura’s choice of the word ‘modelling’ (ibid. p.5). within his theory, certain cognitive processes are deemed essential, which are as follows: 1. attention attentional processes are significant, because mere exposure to a concept will not induce learning by itself. a presence of mind is thus required at the outset to allow for learning to take place. bandura posits that “associational preferences” are significant in this respect, since opportunities for learning will vary with context, and inevitably, some members of a social setting command greater attention than others. 2. retention this refers to the cognitive function of memory. without the ability of long-term recall, observed behaviour cannot be repeated. bandura recognises that not all observational learning occurs immediately, which accentuates the requirement of adequate recollection. 3. motoric reproduction in order to reproduce modelled behaviour, a person would have to possess the relevant set of skills. a lack of such skills, which may exist simply owing to physical limitations, would prevent reproduction of learned behaviour. bandura gives the example of a child who has learned the associated movements for driving a car, but without suitable height will be unable to set the vehicle in motion. 4. reinforcement and motivation this final requirement illustrates bandura’s proposition that unless the behaviour in question is desired or otherwise received in a favourable manner, it is unlikely to reproduced, even if all the preceding processes are in place. as such, reward and punishment play a key role in encouraging observational learning. i came to realise that i have previously employed bandura’s propositions extensively. this is likely because observational learning is linked to the most instinctive form of teaching: demonstrative instruction. “look at me… pay attention! watch what i am doing. now do the same…. very good, well done!” – these are the sentences through which children are taught basic skills from an early age. perhaps inevitably therefore, much of that approach channelled itself into my teaching practice, particularly in the delivery of modules concerned with practical skills. learning by observation is the preferred method put in place for oral competencies such as advocacy or client interviewing. the student is expected to learn by observing the teacher, a lawyer in a video clip or, indeed, fellow students in practice sessions. the widespread acceptance of this approach notwithstanding, the method has marked limitations, particularly in legal education. the primary skill to be acquired is that of incisive case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 legal analysis. arguably, the ability to discern relevant material from irrelevant detail can be demonstrated easily enough, but more complex cognitive processes well beyond attention or recollection must be developed before the behaviour can be reproduced. more broadly, the question of learning by observation in higher education raises a significant issue that must be considered in the context of a diverse student body. bandura highlights a fundamental notion with regard to his first stipulation, namely attention. he states (bandura, op.cit., p.7): “the functional value of the behaviors displayed by different models is highly influential in determining which models will be closely observed and which will be ignored. attention to models is also channelled by their interpersonal attraction.” what then determines the ‘functional value’ of a model? for many students, it may boil down to whether they can relate to their teacher. at a time when students, especially from ethnic minorities, do not always feel they can identify with staff at their institution (greenwich students’ union, 2019), this raises pertinent questions. for example, how is learning affected in a department (or indeed an institution) where the composition of teaching staff does not mirror the student body? while there is a growing scholarship on issues of inclusion and diversity, more initiatives and focused research in this area are required. furthermore, a crucial issue with this type of learning theory is the significant number of assumptions it makes: it presupposes a certain ‘baseline’ in all learners with respect to mental and physical capacity. proponents of this approach take these presumptions for granted (wenger, 2008), which is problematic. it has been demonstrated that, for individuals with certain conditions such as autism, this method is less advantageous (yang et al. 2017). as a consequence, if taken as a dominant understanding of how learning occurs, it may also create stigma for those who do not meet the assumed baseline of ability. after contemplating these issues, it is with some shame i came to realise that my expectations of my students have frequently been based on assumptions too. issues of mental capacity would be hard to discern, of course, unless disclosed by students. but assumptions are made even regarding physical abilities. for example, students are required to stand in advocacy classes when delivering their arguments, including during the final assessment. while in my previous cohorts all appeared sufficiently able-bodied to do so, i assumed as much without enquiry. the basic instruction of letting me know if they are comfortable to stand for the duration required would be a simple measure for deconstructing assumptions in the assessment process. it is worth noting that it may have not previously occurred to me to address such assumptions, because no-one enquired into my capacities when i was studying practical skills as a student. the temptation to teach precisely the way one was taught, or in the manner a subject is habitually taught, is unfortunately compelling. to return to the limitations of slt and observational learning for the time being, numerous assumptions as to learner ability is only one the criticisms that may be leveraged against this conceptualisation of learning. another outcome i have observed, which may arise if there is a heavy emphasis on ‘modelling’ in teaching, is that of basic imitation without a critical thought process. this is perhaps more drastically illustrated in the context of written skills. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 teaching legal skills – a case study as part of my teaching duties during the previous academic session, i was involved in the delivery of a module called ‘problem solving and the law’. it is a compulsory level 4 (year 1), fifteen-credit module on the bachelor of laws degree (llb) at the university of greenwich which takes place in the autumn term, and thus, at the very beginning of undergraduate studies for new law students. the module requires students to work on two given scenarios for the entire term as a way to acquire problem solving skills. this approach to legal studies at undergraduate level is rather new but presents the preferred mode of instruction at post-graduate level for the professional courses which lead to qualification. the problem-based way of instruction is rooted in constructivism and the notion that learners are to actively participate in the creation of knowledge and not to be passive receivers (pritchard and woollard, 2010). proponents of the constructivist approach expound on its merits by emphasising learner independence, critical thinking and real-life problem solving, amongst others qualities that this teaching approach fosters (ibid., p.45). prior to studying learning theories, i had only an instinctual (yet deeply-felt) reservation to employing this type of teaching strategy at level 4. i considered that at such an early stage, students lacked the necessary knowledge (meaning the basic contents of statute and case law) to benefit from a problem-based learning approach. after the conclusion of the module and the final marking process, as well as acquiring a deeper understanding of learning theories in the meantime, i feel my concerns were valid. evaluation within weeks, it became evident that students were indeed very much struggling with this level of learner independence and critical thinking skills expected of them at the outset of their studies. this is dealt with on the course by exceedingly prescriptive modelling of how the problem scenarios provided are supposed to be tackled. thus, unattainable constructivist expectations are ostensibly fulfilled, but by little more than observational learning. the students were shown how to write an answer – through instruction and written feedback on coursework – with no deviations from the model permitted. requiring strict adherence to a model answer runs counter to every proclaimed benefit of problem-based learning. far from developing critical thinking in students, the pursuit is reduced to the most basic outcome derived from observational learning: reproduction. the shortcomings of that approach became starkly evident for me when marking the final assessment, consisting of one written answer that had received detailed prior feedback, and one answer which had been composed by students without extensive guidance from their tutor. frequently, the second answer fell short, on the very same aspects the student had purportedly already ‘learned’ when composing the first answer. in such circumstances it was clear that no actual learning had in fact occurred, for the ‘knowledge’ was not being replicated. it also put into question the value of the feedback provided, which manifestly was not developmental. this serves to illustrate the limitations of the observational learning and teaching approach. if the modelling (whether by direct instruction or feedback) is highly prescriptive, a frequent case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 outcome will be merely mechanic imitation. the learner will not have grasped the reasoning behind the instruction or the feedback, and thus will be unable to successfully apply the concept to a separate situation. in the case of the module discussed, students experience the lowest manifestation of the two teaching approaches, with the ambitious constructivist aspirations of pbl remaining out of reach as a diminished form of observational teaching is employed to achieve a basic replicative outcome. what could be a potential alternative? cognitive load theory (clt) takes a critical stance on constructivist approaches. it draws a distinction between what is termed ‘biologically primary knowledge’ and ‘biologically secondary knowledge’, arguing (in broad terms) that the former is acquired through evolutionary cognitive abilities which cannot be taught.4 only the latter, presenting knowledge obtained for social or cultural reasons can be – and are – taught (pritchard and woollard, ibid.). clt stresses the importance of long-term memory as the place where learning is stored, and it is claimed that “[t]he purpose of instruction is to increase the store of knowledge in long-term memory. if nothing has changed in long-term memory, nothing has been learned.” (pritchard and woollard, ibid. p.24.) knowledge, in the sense of biologically secondary knowledge that makes up curricula, consists of “domain-specific schemas that must be acquired” and which “[provide] a complete description of expertise.” (ibid.) this lays out an interesting hypothesis to a dilemma i have been pondering since i started to work as a lecturer. i have wondered how do i teach what is arguably the main skill emanating from any law module: legal reasoning. the question has puzzled me for a long time, and occasionally i have queried whether it is teachable at all. the module described above aims to focus specifically on that particular skill, but, in my view, largely fails to do so. the question arises as to why this difficulty exists. legal reasoning could be considered simply an advanced version of basic problem solving. it is a process that similarly requires the application of plain logic, but with the difference of operating within the parameters of a certain set of rules. if taken as such, legal reasoning would amount to what clt terms biologically primary knowledge, and therefore would not actually be teachable. what is teachable, and what represents ‘expertise’, are, as noted above, domain-specific schemas, meaning in this instance patterns of thoughts relevant to legal practice. this insight has profound implications for a conceptual understanding of legal education. if the skill i am seeking to teach is not acquired through instruction (because it cannot be taught) but through exposure to the relevant patterns of thought, my entire approach must be designed to implement that; otherwise the endeavour is futile. research related to clt indicates that, in order to achieve expertise in an area, domainspecific knowledge must be acquired first, as shown by de groot’s work with chess players (pritchard and woollard, ibid.). this supports my submission as to why i consider the problem-solving approach at level 4 not a useful exercise. “we must carefully consider whether many recently popular instructional techniques associated with inquiry, problembased or constructivist learning procedures that do not emphasise domain-specific knowledge have any base in our cognitive architecture.” (ibid., p. 25) as already mentioned, problem-based learning as part of legal studies commonly takes place at post-graduate 4 sweller, j., ayres, p. and kalyuga, s. (2011) cognitive load theory. new york: springer. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 level, which indeed seems a more suitable point in time for this method. the trend to introduce this approach at undergraduate level is recent, and no doubt partly engineered with the aim to increase the employability appeal of the llb. what has become clear to me however is that the timing and manner of instruction is crucial for the exercise to be successful. constructivist techniques are useful and have their validity, but only after a sufficient grounding in basic understanding has been achieved. further, the instruction method of slt (“observe and reproduce”) should not become the default fall-back teaching approach, even if it is liable to be treated as such. conclusion where praxis-orientated subjects are concerned, learning theories are easily dismissed as hypothetical concepts of remote speculation. yet, on closer view, they present a wide repository of inspiration and teachers of law should be encouraged to engage more with the various hypotheses of how learning occurs. despite the strong psychological pull to shirk innovation which perhaps inevitably accompanies the delivery of a regulated degree, it is important for instructors to assert their agency in reviewing and using inherited course materials. this also applies to the adoption of modern trends, for all strategies must be rigorously tested, and nothing is as effective and insightful for doing so as the lived classroom experience. part of the process is willingness to dismantle personally held assumptions we as teachers hold about students and teaching and learning processes. reflection, whether as i have done here in this paper or in discussions with colleagues, is the driver for the requisite sustained improvement of legal education. reference list bandura, a. (1971) social learning theory. new york: general learning press. isbn: 9780382250255. greenwich students’ union (2019) minority ethnic (bame) student consultation group: final recommendations [unpublished report]. university of greenwich. pritchard, a. and woollard, j. (2010) psychology for the classroom: constructivism and social learning. oxford: routledge. isbn: 9780203855171. sweller, j., ayres, p. and kalyuga, s. (2011) cognitive load theory. new york: springer. isbn: 9781441981264. wenger, e. (2008) ‘a social theory of learning’, in contemporary theories of learning, ed. by illeris, k. oxford: routledge, 216. isbn: 9780415473446. yang, y., tian, y., fang, j., lu, h., wei, k., yi, l. (2017) ‘trust and deception in children with autism spectrum disorders: a social learning perspective’, journal of autism and developmental disorders 47, 615. available at: <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-016-2983-2> (accessed 18 november 2019). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-016-2983-2 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 'next slide, please': developing students' digital literacy and online collaboration skillsets dawn reilly business school, university of greenwich katherine leopold business school, university of greenwich abstract the setting for this case study is a second-year core module for accounting students in the business school of a modern university. we shall explain how we have used authentic, practical online experiences in the module to enhance students' employability. the business school offers a range of activities to support students as they develop the skills they need to make them more employable. in addition, we have brought an employability specialist into the module's teaching team to deliver sessions and, importantly, to make explicit the employability skills embedded in the module. this case study will show how, in an online environment, we have used a technical module on the programme to give students the experience of working in virtual teams. this provides them with an opportunity to develop the skills they will need in their future careers and to be successful in virtual assessment centres. introduction the long-term employability of our students is an important issue for us and is one aspect of the university’s strategic priority of student success. in addition, across the higher education (he) sector, metrics related to the graduate outcomes of our students are included in league tables and can be used as indicators of teaching quality (bradley et al., 2021), which is one reason why universities increasingly support the employability of their students through intracurricular and extra-curricular activities. traditionally, these activities have focused on developing students' transferable skills, such as written and verbal communication and faceto-face teamwork. however, our graduates are going to be part of a future workforce that operates in the technology-driven ‘fourth industrial revolution’. consequently, bremner and laing (2019, p.16) "recommend that future university teaching should address skills development with students in digital literacy, digital storytelling and group collaboration". based on a survey of 18,000 people in fifteen countries, dondi et al. (2021) identify thirteen skillsets which will be required by the future workforce. these skillsets are grouped into four categories: cognitive, interpersonal, self-leadership and digital. one skillset in the digital category is described as 'digital fluency and citizenship', which includes the ability to collaborate in a digital space. in their report on remote working, gitlab (2021) surveyed 3,900 remote professionals in seven countries. 63% of respondents said that they use videoconferencing when they are working remotely. further, 48% of teams first meet online before communicating asynchronously using chat or project management tools. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 it is easy to assume that our students are already digitally literate, as part of ‘generation z’ – proficient consumers of digital content. however, digital literacy includes the ability to communicate, work as part of a team and collaborate, all in the online environment (blau et al., 2020). on the basis of a content analysis of academic articles and policy documents, suarta and suwintana (2021) suggest that digital business communication and digital business teamwork skills are part of the generic skillset which will be needed by the future workforce to support digital business. therefore, khuraisah et al. (2020) note that, from the perspective of employers, it is vital for employees to have effective online communication and online collaboration skills. so far, this introduction has focused on that aspect of employability which is about whether our graduates will be successful in their future employment. however, as tymon (2013) notes, employability is a multi-dimensional concept. specifically, it also includes the ability of our students to gain employment. in a united kingdom (uk) survey of 258 undergraduate psychology students, bradley et al. (2021) found that less than half of students attended the careers events offered by their university. they note the competing demands on students' time, including academic work, social (including family) commitments and paid work. these can make engagement with employability services outside scheduled class times difficult for some students, particularly those who arguably would benefit the most. however, sarkaret (2020) observes that students are more inclined to engage with an activity if it is linked to an assessment. this suggests that an important component of fully inclusive employability support includes employability skills’ development within assessed modules. this should complement rather than replace the extra-curricular activities provided by an institution, enabling more students to achieve their ambitions. our second-year students consider whether to apply for a placement. the benefits of a placement year for students potentially include better academic performance in the final year, the increased probability of getting a job after graduation and higher pay (bradley et al., op. cit.). assessment centres are an established part of placement recruitment schemes and we have seen these centres move online during the covid-19 pandemic. employers are now exploring a permanent move to virtual assessment centres, which are often more costand time-effective and enable access to a larger geographical spread of potential early career talent. it is therefore important to prepare as many students as possible for this type of digital recruitment activity. the need to increase every student's confidence in making applications for placement and, later, graduate jobs in an increasingly online environment has informed our module design. to achieve this boost in confidence, it is important that we make explicit to students the links to employability and explain how the activities they undertake on the module are preparing them for both virtual assessment centres and the future workforce. case study contemporary professional practice in an online environment the case study discusses a second-year core module for accounting students, whose degree has a focus on information systems. the module comprises a financial analysis of companies and two assessments: a group presentation and then an individual report. in the module, we make explicit the link between the academic tasks and professional skills. 20202021 was the third year of embedding employability into the module, a process supported by case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 an employability specialist to maintain a focus on contemporary professional practice. in 2020-21, we used the enforced pivot to online delivery to enhance the development of contemporary team and communication skills, recognising that the changes to workplaces necessitated by the pandemic are probably going to be long-lasting, with remote meetings one of the most likely contenders for long-term adoption (lund et al., 2021). working in virtual teams the module is delivered over the spring term in twelve two-hour workshops. in 2020-21, the pandemic prevented us from running those workshops on campus and we delivered the module entirely online over microsoft teams, with forty-seven students split into two classes. week 1 was an introduction to the module, incorporating the formation of the groups that students would work in throughout the module to, for example, create and deliver online group presentations. teamwork is regularly identified as a key skill needed in the workplace (jones, 2014) and the employability specialist focused on this during her first session in week 2. this, an interactive session, had previously engaged students in a team-building exercise using lego (leopold and reilly, 2020). in 2020-21, we needed to find a way to replicate the hands-on experience in a remote setting, while recognising the variability of students' access to digital resources. our solution was to have the students – in virtual teams in microsoft teams breakout rooms – discuss an online problem based on an assessment centre exercise. having introduced the task to the whole class, the employability specialist asked students to go into their breakout rooms. the specialist circulated around the groups to check that everyone understood the task, was engaged and could navigate the technology. one student from each group then presented to the rest of the class by talking through a shared, co-created document. this provided a non-threatening introduction to presenting live on microsoft teams and introduced technical key skills, including screen-sharing and working in online collaborative spaces. it is interesting to note that for many of the students this was the first time that they had used functions such as screensharing and co-creation of documents, suggesting that the gap between being consumers of digital content and confident authors of content had not previously been addressed, despite a term of studying other modules in blended environments before the module began. delivering online presentations the second session, led by the specialist during week 3, was on delivering a good presentation. previously, students had worked in groups to present in the classroom, using a story that they had constructed with non-culturally specific pictures (leopold and reilly, 2020). in the new setting online, students continued to create group presentations based on similar pictures, but developed their presentations in virtual groups and then presented them via microsoft teams. this time, all team members spoke: a valuable learning opportunity for them each to experience the benefits and limitations of using microsoft teams as presenters rather than as audience, as well as a useful reinforcement of the teamwork messages, for the students worked together to navigate any technology-related problems and support each other. the teaching team is strongly committed to providing formative feedback, one aspect of which is the observation of mock presentations in the workshop the week before the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 summative assessment. the feedback from the employability specialist, who observed the mock presentations in the breakout rooms, was not about the technical content but about the slides' design, the presentation's delivery (including the way the slides were screen-shared) and communication. in the whole-class plenary at the end of the mock presentation workshop, the specialist discussed the application of the exercise to what might be encountered in a virtual assessment centre and the module leader delivered formative feedback on the technical content of the presentations. discussion to enhance the graduate outcomes of our students, the business school provides employability support, including regular employability-related events and workshops. however, some students do not engage with activities that they see as extra-curricular (tymon, 2013). in this case study, we have shown how employability can be embedded in a technical module to support all students in developing their transferable skills. we have explained that bringing an employability specialist into the team has enabled us to emphasise the transferable skills that the module facilitates, thereby developing students' confidence in their capabilities. the employability specialist emphasises the contemporary nature and use of the skills, drawing on other students' current and past experiences on work placements, and employer engagement with the business school. this ensures that academic teamwork is seen as an experiential learning opportunity rather than a purely academic exercise, reflecting the need to match theoretical knowledge with practical workplace skills. reference is made to the team activities which students may encounter in a virtual assessment centre and some of the things that an assessor would be looking for. in the session on presentations, the specialist points forward to the group presentation on the module and explains how online presentations are increasingly used in recruitment processes and business. if our students are to gain the jobs they aspire to upon graduation, they must be ready to perform well in assessment centres, which an increasing number of employers intends to remain virtual. our students will have to interact with people who are not in the room with them and such interaction may include collaborating to create presentations virtually with people whom they do not know. it is thus important to embed these activities in the curriculum and make this embedding explicit to students (wood, 2020). the specialist therefore explained the links to employability, including online assessment centres. in terms of the module’s technical content, the activities were also designed to prepare students to work in virtual groups to create and deliver an assessed online presentation. the module leader explained this purpose of the activities. engagement with both the assessment centre teamwork exercise and the storytelling online presentation was good: students approached both activities positively and the level of engagement from all team members (observed by the specialist as she dropped in on the virtual group preparations for both activities) suggests that students enjoyed these activities. after the group presentation, the second assessment on the module was an individual report. the final section in the report was a self-reflection on the knowledge and skills learned. in their reflections, several students commented on the benefits of having the opportunity to present over teams for the first time, develop communication skills in an online environment and work as a virtual team. compared to a similar-sized cohort the previous year, the number of this group’s students who have secured placements has tripled. 21% of the 2020-21 module cohort are on case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 placement in 2021-22, compared to only 7% of the 2019-20 module cohort who were on placement in 2020-21. of course, we cannot claim that the module is solely responsible for this outcome. our practice on the module is just one part of a multi-faceted approach to employability support for our students which starts on day one of year one and includes both intra-curricular and extra-curricular elements delivered in the department and outside. however, the module has played its part in achieving this outcome. our practice on the module can be adopted for any module where students work in virtual groups to complete a presentation or other group project on any subject. the module group in this study is fairly small, with fewer than fifty students, but our approach could be rolled out to a larger group. although developing digital skills, the module actually involves a straightforward use of microsoft teams and so staff and students need no advanced information technology skills. however, it is important that the relevance of the two 'employability activities' to assessment centres and the future workplace are made explicit to students in order to build their confidence with regard to making placement or job applications, both of which may require participation in virtual assessment centres. conclusion employability can be made explicit in a technical module, especially if one of the module team has experience in recruitment. we can extend the impact of the learning experience beyond the module into the development of future workforce skills. additionally, the ability to come across well in a virtual assessment centre is essential, but students not used to being live on screen may often find such a virtual context daunting. by bringing an employability specialist into a timetabled module, we are enhancing our employability provision for those students who cannot always find the time to engage with extra-curricular events provided by our employability services. this is an important aspect of inclusivity, as we try to support all students toward success in virtual assessment centres and their future careers. as academics, we are now familiar with delivering sessions on teams or zoom and our students are used to watching us. however, that does not mean they are confident in delivering virtual presentations or collaborating in digital spaces and so we need to give them opportunities to practise. students default to the platforms with which they are most familiar: for example, whatsapp, for teamwork communication. as we extend their digital capabilities, we prepare students for the online recruitment activities they will encounter and we enhance their effectiveness in their graduate careers. reference list blau, i., shamir-inbal, t. and avdiel, o. (2020) ‘how does the pedagogical design of a technology-enhanced collaborative academic course promote digital literacies, selfregulation, and perceived learning of students?’ the internet and higher education, 45(0), 111. available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2019.100722 (accessed: 12 january 2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2019.100722 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 bradley, a., quigley, m. and bailey, k. (2021) ‘how well are students engaging with the careers services at university?’ studies in higher education, 46(4), 663-676. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1647416 (accessed: 12 january 2022). bremner, p. and laing, a. (2019) ‘the disrupted workplace: are the digital and group skills needs of employers being addressed by universities?’ journal of learning development in higher education. plymouth, uk, 0(16), 1-27. available at: https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/535 (accessed: 12 january 2022). dondi, m., klier, j., panier, f. and schubert, j. (2021) ‘defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work.’ mckinsey global institute. available at: defining-the-skills-citizenswill-need-in-the-future-world-of-work.pdf (mckinsey.com) (accessed: 30 june 2021). gitlab (2021) ‘2021 remote work.’ gitlab. available at: https://about.gitlab.com/resources/downloads/remote-work-report-2021.pdf (accessed: 30 june 2021). jones, r. (2014) 'bridging the gap: engaging in scholarship with accountancy employers to enhance understanding of skills development and employability.' accounting education, 23(6), 527-541. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2014.965959 (accessed: 6 march 2021). khuraisah, m.n., khalid, f. and husnin, h. (2020) 'preparing graduates with digital literacy skills toward fulfilling employability need in 4ir era: a review.' international journal of advanced computer science and applications, 11(6), 307-316. available at: https://www.academia.edu/43852976/preparing_graduates_with_digital_literacy_skills?fro m=cover_page (accessed: 12 january 2022). leopold, k. and reilly, d. (2020) 'creating a pathway to employability in a business school: developing professional practice through collaboration.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 13(1). available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/1050 (accessed: 23 april 2021). lund, s., madgavkar, a., manyika, j., smit, s., ellingrud, k., meaney, m. and robinson, o. (2021) ‘the future of work after covid-19.’ mckinsey global institute. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1647416 https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/535 https://www.mckinsey.com/%7e/media/mckinsey/industries/public%20and%20social%20sector/our%20insights/defining%20the%20skills%20citizens%20will%20need%20in%20the%20future%20world%20of%20work/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work.pdf?shouldindex=false https://www.mckinsey.com/%7e/media/mckinsey/industries/public%20and%20social%20sector/our%20insights/defining%20the%20skills%20citizens%20will%20need%20in%20the%20future%20world%20of%20work/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work.pdf?shouldindex=false https://about.gitlab.com/resources/downloads/remote-work-report-2021.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2014.965959 https://www.academia.edu/43852976/preparing_graduates_with_digital_literacy_skills?from=cover_page https://www.academia.edu/43852976/preparing_graduates_with_digital_literacy_skills?from=cover_page https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/1050 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19 (accessed: 6 march 2021). sarkar, m., overton, t., thompson, c. and rayner, g. (2020) ‘academics' perspectives of the teaching and development of generic employability skills in science curricula.’ higher education research & development, 39(2), 346-361. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1664998 (accessed: 12 january 2022). suarta i. and suwintana i. (2021) ‘the new framework of employability skills for digital business.’ journal of physics: conference series, 1833(1). iop publishing. available at: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1833/1/012034/meta (accessed: 30 june 2021). tymon, a. (2013) ‘the student perspective on employability.’ studies in higher education, 38(6), 841-856 available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2011.604408 (accessed: 6 march 2021). wood, g. (2020) ‘what does moving online mean for employability?’ in: gibbs, b. and wood, g. (eds.) emerging stronger: lasting impact from crisis innovation. godalming: engineering professors' council. available at: http://epc.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2020/08/gibbs-wood-eds-2020-emerging-stronger.pdf (accessed: 6 march 2021). https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19 https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1664998 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1833/1/012034/meta https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2011.604408 http://epc.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/gibbs-wood-eds-2020-emerging-stronger.pdf http://epc.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/gibbs-wood-eds-2020-emerging-stronger.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 the perceptions of undergraduate surveying students of online learning during a pandemic and their preparation as industry practitioners andrew thompson anglia ruskin university barbara vohmann anglia ruskin university introduction students on undergraduate courses in surveying are the practitioners of the future: their course must be designed to prepare them as industry professionals. as part of students' learning experience, opportunities to carry out, in the safety of the formal learning environment, activities which practitioners undertake in their everyday work are invaluable preparation for industry. however, the 2020-21 covid-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdown resulted in an enforced shift to online delivery of courses which had originally been designed for face-to-face delivery; this represented a challenge for all concerned. the lockdown phases (figure 1) resulted alternate periods of being entirely online or having a mixture of online and face-to-face learning. in the case of the latter, although an advantage to those who were able to participate in person, having to wear masks and sit socially distanced meant that conversations easily became stilted and tutorial discussions could be difficult. figure 1. timeline of english higher education (he) national lockdown these challenges required a reflective approach by tutors, who had to draw from their experience and skill to maintain an engaging learning environment (thompson, 2013). they had to devise means of retaining authentic, real-world industry-based learning activities, which, though still a vital component of these courses, were difficult to deliver under lockdown. in some instances, though online solution did meet some needs, it could not entirely replicate all aspects of the real world. consequently, there was concern that this enforced shift to solely online learning, combined with this problem, might impinge adversely on students learning experience. this case study explores undergraduates surveying students’ perceptions of how the online experience affected their learning; it seeks to understand their perspective of this unforeseen experience and aspects which are deemed worth retaining in a return to face-to-face teaching. as undergraduates are future industry professionals, it is important that their perspective is understood so that resources may be tailored to help support their online learning needs. first lockdown phase march-may 2020 second lockdown phase 31 october 2nd december 2020 third lockdown 6th january 8th march 2021 he online, but lockdown being eased case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 this study was undertaken at a post-1992 university and involved undergraduate students on royal institution of chartered surveyors (rics) accredited courses. approximately sixtyfive per cent of students on these courses study either part time one day per week or via a degree apprenticeship. almost all students on these courses are, or will become, industry practitioners, applying knowledge and skills they acquire through their formal studies; this informs the learning experience provided. this study focused on the students’ perspective and how their learning and development as industry practitioners could be maintained during the online experience; subsequent retention in course delivery of any identified positive elements of the pandemic-enforced strategies might then serve to enhance post-lockdown student learning on these courses. context vocational undergraduate degrees accredited courses are each designed for a specific profession and must adhere to their professional, statutory and regulatory body (psrb) requirements. in built environment courses these requirements include acquisition of theoretical knowledge, demonstration of practice-based learning or competencies and development of soft skills. consequently, authentic practice-based learning and assessment activities are used to develop students as practitioners. the pandemic tested the 'choice' element of he. faced with the change to online learning, students could have transferred to an online provider such as the university college of estate management or the open university. equally, there was the possibility of intermitting for a year. in this crisis, although 'choice' was available, the evidence from our teaching context was that students did not exercise choice to change provider or to intermit. influences on learning and perceptions of online learning the value of aligning teaching, learning and assessment (biggs and tang, 2011) is widely known. for surveying students, a practice-focused pedagogy and assessment contribute to their learning and development as industry practitioners and promote a deep approach to learning. tapping into students focus on assessment as the object of their learning energies suggests that designing assessment to replicate practice-based activities could bridge theory-practice gaps. such a deep approach to learning in assessment activities is associated with looking for meaning (gijbels, segers and struyf, 2008). however, in the online learning environment such activities became challenging, with options limited to either having no such activities or devising an alternative. for example, students on one these courses undertook a building survey, but doing so online is not the same as the experience of conducting a survey in the real-world setting. other challenges emerged in designing the online experience: for example, undertaking a schedule of dilapidations or producing a home buyer’s report without going in person to a building could, for novices, limit the range and depth of their responses. online learning presents challenges which are not present in the face-to-face environment; engaging students and keeping them focused is vital (angelino, keels williams and natvig, 2007). yet at the outset of lockdown students were already part way through their course, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 meaning they then encountered new learning challenges, and ones for which they had not enrolled. the enforced shift to online learning required students to develop a different approach to their learning: students had to adapt to learn in a digital environment and this, in turn, is linked with self-regulated learning (anthonysamy, koo and hin, 2020). however, unlike students who choose to study online, these students had enrolled on a face-to-face course, which might suggest a degree of reluctance to engage with the online environment. method the aim of this project was to understand student perceptions of the online environment in order that future resources and practice could be enhanced. the study gathered qualitative data regarding students' perceptions of their online learning experience through an online questionnaire and interviews. having designed the project, we, the researchers, secured ethics approval from the university using the required documentation and followed the approval protocols throughout the research process. we were ‘insiders’ to this project in that we worked within the system under investigation (checkland, 1981). we debated the possibility of personal bias in our research role (cohen, manion and morrison, 2018), but considered this risk of minimal significance as we were seeking to understand the unknown 'other' perspective. recruitment criteria for participants were that they had to be in their final year of study on the bsc (hons) building surveying or bsc (hons) quantity surveying. this gave a population of approximately 210 students, whom we provided with information about this study and invited to participate. the survey was completed in students own time and undertaken through onlinesurveys uk, which is the institutionally used platform. the number of participants was capped at ninety to remain within the ethics approval requirements. the survey was available from 1 march 2021 to 31 march 2021, and twenty-five responses were recorded. the first question was to establish students' willingness to participate; those who declined were thanked for their time and then locked out of the remaining questions. this resulted in the departure of two volunteers from the survey leaving twenty-three full responses. the survey contained three free-text response questions concerning students’ perceptions of their experience. students were invited to discuss their perceptions in more depth via an interview and three students did so, again a self-selecting group. interviews were conducted from 1 april 2021 to 6 april 2021. the pandemic meant that to be covid-19 safe all interviews were conducted via ms teams, which was used to record each interview. these recordings then provided the basis of transcripts which were generated via microsoft stream and placed into a standard word document for analysis. at the start of each interview, to help put students at their ease, it was first explained that they – not we the tutors/researchers were experts in the subject under investigation. we also explained this study’s potential value to the learning experience of subsequent students on the same courses that they were following. following each interview, the transcript was checked for accuracy and corrected as necessary. we chose thematic analysis as the method of data analysis since it would enable case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 us to identify and examine the key issues contained in the data (braun and clarke, 2006). thus, we put each transcript and, separately, the survey data onto an excel sheet, with each sentence or phrase on a separate line. next, we examined each sentence for meaning and wrote the word or phrase which best represented the response (braun and clarke, 2006) in the adjacent box. having checked for accuracy, we then set about grouping these meanings into themes, which once again, we subjected rigorous scrutiny to ensure everything was correct. findings through this research, we are concerned to understand surveying students' perceptions of those experiences and 2) to identify aspects of pedagogic practice which were perceived as valuable in supporting learning and should be retained in the return to a face-to-face environment. we should note 1) that students reported very high levels of satisfaction with the response that tutors provided to the new situation and 2) that they expressed appreciation for the work done to provide the best possible experience under the circumstances. communication in response to the questionnaire, students identified lecturers’ recordings as most important as students could re-wind the recordings as they needed and were able to access them at any time. students considered this effective as they could focus on any areas about which they were unclear. for example, one student articulated “i've found [recorded lectures] really helped me a lot, and if i haven't understood something, i've been able to re-watch”. online materials were also important. one interviewee commented “i can [read powerpoints] in my own time”. in advance of the online classes, one tutor provided pre-recorded lectures containing demonstrations of real-world professional practice activities: for example, taking off from drawings to produce a bill of quantities. online classes subsequently discussed the material, meaning that class time was devoted entirely to student-tutor communication. students found this approach very helpful, as it provided opportunity to resolve queries in particular concerning assessment. it also meant that they were able to continue developing their readiness for industry. another tutor provided recorded building surveys with a voice-over, to explain the aspects of the survey, to highlight relevant noteworthy points for the practitioner and to show how these relate to rics requirements. the most pronounced learning challenge raised was about communication in the online environment, for students had the perception that being entirely online had reduced opportunity for discussion with tutors. one student commented “if i had you in front of me and i had a problem, it'd be easier”. ironically, although tutors were available for meetings outside scheduled classes, students seemed reluctant to take advantage of this opportunity. students, perhaps unsurprisingly, missed the social dimension and friendship part of university education experience. the social dimension was integral to their experience and helped students to feel a sense of belonging, something which became difficult online: “you kept in touch with your friends … we've had a whatsapp group chat since day one really, which we communicate through”. the social dimension of their learning experience in the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 conventional sense may have become a more powerful part of their experience by its absence. students’ role interestingly and perhaps counter-intuitively, the online experience led students to appreciate their role in their own learning. this was manifest in their recognising in particular the significance of time management: “… use your time wisely…”, “… plan ahead as much as possible…” with this research, we were keen to understand the student perspective of online learning. however, we didn’t anticipate that students would include their own contribution to learning; nor the fact that they came to recognise their time management (as well as their ability to overcome challenges) as important. unexpectedly, a small number of students reported their fears: “… fear of being alone at home doing it…” one respondent alluded to the experience of initially finding the dissertation difficult, as “a new way of working…” fear may also account for the fact that, in spite of encouragement to do so, students did not turn on their cameras during online classes. one comment from the survey “… don't be scared to ask for help…” also drew our attention to the fact that students could be deterred from asking questions to resolve uncertainties because they were ‘scared’ to do so. students alluded to the practical challenges or the luxuries of working from home, according to the extent of space or resources to do so effectively: “… no set up or individual working area to concentrate.” “… create a space that is workable for whatever you're doing. and kind of make it as nice as possible…” the online delivery had thus introduced a degree of inequality and had also caused students to reflect on their environment as important for their learning experience. discussion communication was the greatest challenge presented in the online environment. most obvious was the reduced opportunity for students to have discussion with tutors to clarify points. without this, students relied more on finding their own understanding via electronic resources provided. communication is recognised as an important part of the teachinglearning process (witt, 2016), but the enforced online environment reduced the efficacy of this process. consequently, students found themselves having to adapt mid-way through their studies. opportunities to discuss with tutors became highly prized as this was an important means to clarify points of subject matter or assessment requirements. this suggests that widening opportunities for dialogue is important and should be given consideration in the online environment. it was interesting that some students had set up their own lines of communication via a whatsapp group. as a communication route between students, such an informal channel may have provided support, as well as opportunity for case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 discussion of the subject, and been a way to avoid the fear of formal online sessions. educators’ encouragement of such informal lines of communication could well help to resolve challenges of communication. that communication was central to students concerns suggests that using online time for discussion offers scope for deeper learning, since, out of necessity, students engage with the subject. students were of the view that prior online provision of pre-recorded lectures and/or demonstrations would enable face-to-face class time to be devoted to such interactive learning activities as workshops and discussion. this surprised us since we had previously perceived that students seldom attended lectures having engaged beforehand with the learning material provided. however, this flipped approach, offering real-world activities in the pre-class material and more interactive engagement in class does seem to offer possibilities for enhancements to pedagogy in the future. it was clear that tutors were able to reproduce online resources to support students learning and preparation as practitioners: for example, use of 1) gopro recordings which could form the basis of the learning experience, or 2) the flipped classroom to focus students on professional practice activities embedded in assessment. such activities were valued by students. they also removed an element of fear as they could be used by students outside the classroom yet contained real-world simulation. students recognised that it was important to take control of their own learning and environment. self-regulation has been acknowledged as important in students learning and correlates with the learner able to seek help as and when required (nicol and macfarlanedick, 2006). possibly students were suddenly confronted with 'self' as central to the learning experience rather than passively relying on the scheduled classes. vygotsky's zone of proximal development emphasizes the significant role of teacher providing support for learning (long, et al., 2011); online this represents a dilemma for students. overcoming this challenge during the pandemic could be regarded as a triumph. interestingly, during the pandemic, online learners valued the flipped classroom which matches findings of izagirreolaizola and morandeira-arca (2020). it was interesting that the negative emotion of fear emerged as a facet of the online experience and, in particular, fear in relation to asking questions and becoming 'visible' to others in a group. this was a new experience for tutors, as students apparently sought often to remain invisible, frequently remaining silent during online classes with their cameras switched off. findings of this work are similar to those of lemay, bazelais, and doleck (2021), in terms of the adaptability of pedagogy to meet students’ needs, communication challenges and a degree of student emotional distress (which in their study was represented as ‘stress’). it was interesting, too, that students made no reference to professional practice and skills they were developing. it may be that the real-world focus remained central to tutors’ pedagogy and that, consequently, students experience, although online, remained directed towards industry. re-creating the real-world as far as possible, in whatever way deemed appropriate, meant students continued to have a practice-based learning experience. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 it is recognised here that a limitation of this study was the small number of participants; findings should be treated with caution. however, these findings do offer insight into issues in the online environment and suggest means of enhancing pedagogy. conclusions we were concerned that this paper should identify those online learning resources and activities which surveying undergraduates find valuable for their online learning and which might be useful in the post-lockdown era. it was evident that there were key elements of the enforced online experience which might successfully be deployed in a face-to-face learning environment. use of online resources to underpin a flipped classroom and online simulation were aspects of delivery which students felt valuable and worth keeping in the face-to-face environment. such devices provide significant support for students as novices engaging with professional practice activities and their preparation as effective industry practitioners. exclusive use of online delivery of courses presented new challenges. remote delivery of learning and assessment activities was perceived as the best which could be provided under the circumstances. evidently, students felt that tutors were providing the best service they could in what were difficult times. considering these findings, it is clearly important that, if we are to support student learning better in the return to the face-to-face environment, we use online resources differently. references angelino, l., keels williams, f. and natvig, d. 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(2011) ‘teaching for quality learning at university. what the student does.’ 4th ed. maidenhead: mcgraw hill. isbn: 10: 0 33 524275 8 braun, v. and clarke, v. (2006) ‘using thematic analysis in psychology.’ qualitative research in psychology, (3)2, 77-101. available at: https://biotap.utk.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2019/10/using-thematic-analysis-in-psychology-1.pdf.pdf (accessed: 15 july 2021). checkland, p. (1981) ‘system thinking, system practice.’ new jersey: john wiley and sons. isbn: 0 471 27911 0 cohen, l., manion, l. and morrison, k. (2018) ‘research methods in education.’ 8th ed. london: routledge. isbn: 978 0 415 58335 0 (hbk) gijbels, d., segers, m. and struyf, e. (2008) ‘constructivist learning environments and the (im)possibility to change students' perceptions of assessment demands and approaches to learning.’ instructional science, (36)5/6, 431-443. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23372649 (accessed: 5 december 2021). izagirre-olaizola, j. and morandeira-arca, j. (2020) ‘business management teachinglearning processes in times of pandemic: flipped classroom at a distance.’ sustainability, 12(23), 1-18. available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10137 (accessed: 5 december 2021). lemay, d. j., bazelais, p. and doleck, t. (2021) ‘transition to online learning during the covid-19 pandemic.’ computers in human behavior reports, 4(2021), 1-9. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s2451958821000786?via%3dihub (accessed: 1 august 2021). long, m., wood, c., littleton, k., passenger, t. and sheehy, k. (2011) ‘the psychology of education.’ 2nd ed. london: routledge. isbn: 978 0 415 48689 7 (hbk) nicol, d.j. and macfarlane-dick, d. (2006) ‘formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice.’ available at: https://www.reap.ac.uk/reap/public/papers/dn_she_final.pdf (accessed: 26 july 2021). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 9 thompson, a. (2013) ‘a response to 'teaching 'dry' subjects without tears.’ compass: the journal of learning and teaching, 4(8). available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ compass/article/view/91/146 (accessed: 28 february 2021). witt, p. l. (2016) learning in response to instructional communication. in: p.l. witt, (ed.) ‘communication and learning.’ boston: de gruyter. isbn: 978 1 5015 1073 1 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 role play as a teaching method to improve student learning experience of a bachelor degree programme in a transnational context: an action research study zheng feei ma university of liverpool, liverpool, uk; xi'an jiaotong-liverpool, suzhou, jiangsu, china abstract role play provides additional learning opportunities to students through interaction with other students in classrooms. modes of delivery in modules for a bachelor degree programme at xi’an jiaotong-liverpool (xjtlu) – a transnational education (tne) provider – are mainly teacher-led lectures and seminars. in my action research, an intuitive proactive approach was adopted, kodotchigova’s modified role play method. after the role play, a survey with open-ended questions (modified from xjtlu student module feedback questionnaire) gathered the perceptions of students of the role play on their learning experience. twentyfive students aged ≥ eighteen years (twenty females and five males) agreed to participate. eighty per cent of the students reported that role play helped them to learn and seventy-two per cent that role play stimulated their interest in the module’s subject. in conclusion, role play was a very useful teaching strategy for helping students to demonstrate, after first learning various theoretical perspectives, practical application to real-life situations. however, role play might not be suitable for all students, as some may prefer it mixed with other teaching strategies in classrooms, particularly in a tne context. keywords: business education; role play; pedagogical approach; transnational education introduction the world is changing fast and advances in technology have profoundly influenced modes of learning, teaching and assessment in higher education (darling-hammond, 2016). effective teaching methods can help students to think critically and generate enthusiasm for actively engaging in classrooms (cherif and somervill, 1995; wood, 2003). in addition, criticalthinking skills have been regarded as an important tool for the intellectual development of students, especially in a transnational education (tne) context (fonseca et al., 2015). however, the main educational focus of most universities local to xi’an jiaotong-liverpool (xjtlu) is to deliver factual information to students, not to involve them in active learning or improve their ability to think critically. such traditional modes of learning and teaching can limit students’ development of critical-thinking skills and their productivity (dunlosky et al., 2013; rayner, 2007). a review of the literature has suggested that learning is a process involving social and peerto-peer (i.e. student-student) interaction (hurst et al., 2013). for example, the ‘vark’ model of four modes of learning (visual, auditory, reading and kinaesthetic) details how students learn in classrooms (hawk and shah, 2007). one teaching technique that can encourage articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 students to participate actively in the classroom is role play (chan, 2012), a learning technique allowing students to act out adopted roles in simulations of real-life situations. confucius, a famous chinese reformer and philosopher once said, “i hear and i forget. i see and i remember. i do and i understand.” (specht and sandlin, 1991). role play, in enabling students to interact with each other in the classroom, can therefore provide them with additional learning opportunities. role play requires active participation by and motivation from students (rashid and qaisar, 2017). a role play activity can help participating students to develop critical-thinking skills and allow them to apply their knowledge by engaging them in various real-life scenarios (rashid and qaisar, 2017); deployed by teachers, it proves an effective strategy for nurturing critical thinking among students enrolled in transnational education (tne). a review of the literature has shown that role play can help students to apply their knowledge to practice (chan, 2012; kodotchigova, 2002; specht and sandlin, 1991). for example, role play has been incorporated in business education so that undergraduate and postgraduate students may come to understand business processes. they may also, since they find themselves exposed to alternative interpretations of and explanations for their own and other students’ contributions to the role play, develop the ability to argue cogently. role play has the additional advantage of facilitating peer-to-peer interaction, associated with such positive learning outcomes for students as social and motivational benefits (kodotchigova, 2002) and so promote a higher level of cognitive learning. however, role play does not take place spontaneously in classrooms and teachers play a significant part in making it happen. more and more universities have now combined to offer tne and, in this century, university staff and students may travel freely from one country to another country (bovill et al., 2015). tne may be defined as a higher education study programme in which learners are based in a country different from that of the awarding institution (knight, 2016) and it may manifest itself as distance learning, branch campuses, collaborative provision or partnerships, some of which may overlap with each other and thus not form a discrete type (knight, 2016). one example is xjtlu, an international sino-british joint-venture university between the university of liverpool (uol), united kingdom (uk), and xi’an jiaotong university, china. undergraduate students enrolled in xjtlu are awarded with degrees both from the uol and xjtlu, while postgraduate students – including doctoral students – receive a uol degree. in the national student survey, the uol’s overall satisfaction rate was 85%, placing it tenth within the russell group. english is used as a teaching language throughout xjtlu modules and classes. according to the feedback from my module questionnaires and the students i taught, some new teaching strategies, such as role play, were deemed to have improved student learning experience at xjtlu, a tne provider. having received this feedback, i therefore reflected upon my own teaching practice – as a step towards enhancing the quality of learning and teaching practice at xjltu. i decided to use the ‘intuitive proactive’ approach in my action research project, as best suited to my own pedagogical practice. such an approach could also help me to address my action research questions (dunlosky et al., 2013; marsh and roche, 1993). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 methods research question in my project, my primary research question was: how effective was role play as a teaching method for improving students’ active learning experience and critical-thinking skills by facilitating peer interaction in a diverse student body within xjtlu (i.e. a tne context)? my secondary research question was: how did the students feel and think about the use of role play in classrooms? did the use of role play improve the students’ overall active learning procedures i adopted the modified role play methods of kodotchigova (2002) for my project. in semester 2 of the academic year 2018-2019, the role play activity took place after a one-hour lecture on the topic of the module in a bachelor degree programme at xjtlu, suzhou, jiangsu province, china. importantly, the lecture first provided the knowledge and skills for the students to apply in the role play. without the lecture, students would have been unable to understand the situation of the role play and the given roles. at the beginning of the role play, students were briefed about the roles and the description of the situation. they were asked to form smaller groups of four or five people and were then given a specific task and role to be completed in fifteen minutes. having been asked to imagine themselves as the experts in the roles they were assigned, they then played the roles. after the fifteen minutes, each group was asked to present its members ideas and thoughts on the task and role they had played, while the other groups would pose two questions based on the presentation given. this ensured that every student in the group had an equal opportunity to participate in the role play activity. finally, students were asked to complete an open-ended question survey – modified from the xjtlu student module feedback questionnaire – in order to collect their perceptions of the effectiveness of role play in improving their learning experience. to ensure that all students participated in the role play, i had set some ground rules for the students to follow. i had also obtained the ethics approval (ref. no. 18-03-12) from the xjtlu ethics committee prior to the implementation of my project. all the data from students were kept confidential and anonymous. for the data analysis, qualitative and quantitative data were collected. i applied coding and categorising techniques in order to organise students’ perspectives of the role play into different categories and themes. in addition, i used statistical package for the social sciences (spss) for the descriptive analysis in my project. results twenty-five year 1 students aged ≥ eighteen years (twenty females and five males) agreed to participate in my project. eighty per cent of them reported that role play had helped them to learn better in classrooms and seventy-two per cent that role play had stimulated their interest in the module’s topic that i had taught. ninety-two per cent reported that i had explained the role play clearly, with an appropriate level of guidance, and a majority (seventy-two per cent) found role play a valuable learning experience and said that it had improved their critical-thinking skills. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 of the twenty-five students, a majority (eighty-eight per cent) provided some written feedback in the questionnaires that enabled me to perform some coding analyses – i categorised the written feedback into different themes. most of the students (sixty-four per cent) reported that they understood the content of the lecture better after the role play; a majority of the students (sixty-four per cent) found that role play had made the learning in classrooms more interesting and practical; a minority of students (twenty-four per cent) were more active in classrooms when the role play was introduced. however, a small number of students (twenty per cent) reported that some – but not all – students had been actively involved and suggested that a longer time should be given for the role play. the students also suggested that every student, instead of each group, should be asked to present her/his ideas and thoughts and that, in addition, alternative learning topics could also be introduced and included in the role play so that it could maximise their gains from this classroom learning experience. discussion before conducting my project, i was doing most of the talking and students demonstrated limited active engagement in my classroom. however, after the project’s completion, i noticed that students were now more actively engaged in the class activities and i was doing less of the talking. furthermore, i have now become more reflective. before the project, i would blame the students for not actively engaging in my class activities, but afterwards, i turned the analytical power of deep reflection upon myself, my practice, my module design and my class activity content, realising that the problem of lack of engagement by my students lay not with them but with my own methodology. during the first five minutes of the role play activity, i noticed that some students seemed afraid to share their ideas and thoughts in front of their peers and teacher, even in a small group, perhaps because it was their first experience of role play or because of low selfesteem or lack of confidence in expressing opinions (rashid and qaisar, 2017). yet, when the activity was over, it was apparent that the students who had previously been shy now were showing more self-confidence and had made some improvement in their communication skills, possibly indicating the positive influence of increased interaction with their peers. such forms of student-student and teacher-student interactions may well enhance communication. role play can develop students’ problem-solving skills, too, thanks to simulations – of reallife situations – which enable reflection on personal learning experience and then encourage the application of critical-thinking skills and effective construction of argument, drawing upon knowledge gained from the lectures (choy and cheah, 2009). did the role play activity improve students’ overall learning experience? based on my findings, the answer is ‘yes’. the feedback from my students was largely positive. the role play had helped them to engage actively and provided them with opportunities to relate theory learnt in the classroom to practice. my findings were consistent with those of other action research projects (kuśnierek, 2015; moss, 2000; rashid and qaisar, op.cit.): role play encourages peer-to-peer interaction; students can learn by interacting with other students rather than only with teachers. role play can also be used by teachers to assess students’ understanding of a topic previously taught in class. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 although some students reported that participating in a role play session can sometimes be a stressful learning experience, this challenge can be overcome if the session is welldesigned and led by a well-trained teacher (johansson et al., 2012). in my case, for the role play to be carried out effectively and to meet planned learning outcomes, i need to have very good understanding of module topics; i also must establish a classroom environment conducive to the acquisition of critical-thinking skills through active learning. using the gibb’s model, i reflected that, before the implementation of my action research project, i had been working within my comfort zone and not experimenting with alternative teaching strategies that might improve the student learning experience. i have now acquired some new ideas for encouraging active classroom engagement (craig, 2018) and been challenged to continue reflecting on my learning and teaching practice, especially in a tne context (smith, 2009). my findings suggest that role play can be used as a productive teaching strategy to enhance student learning experience in a diverse student body within xjtlu (i.e. a tne context) and have helped me to understand better the role of a teacher working in such a tne context as this (waters and leung, 2013). thanks to the project, i have incorporated inclusive teaching methods into my own practice and intend to develop these. now, i am able to acknowledge, recognise, meet and accommodate the different learning needs of a diverse student body in my classroom (yorke, 2003). xjtlu advocates a student-focused approach and the application of an outcome-based method to its tne education. as a tne teacher, i am thus very aware of my responsibility for facilitating my students’ development (tian and martin, 2014). i need also to be aware of the differences in learning approaches between chinese and western students. confucianist elements have significantly influenced learning and teaching approaches in china, including a strong hierarchical relationship between students and teachers (heffernan et al., 2010). chinese students are less likely to express their own opinions (heffernan et al., op.cit.; hou, 2015) and might well lack confidence in speaking english (wang and roopchund, 2005). as a tne teacher at xjtlu, in the light of the developmental model of intercultural sensitivity, i can better understand and explain how my students engage with and experience the differences in culture of learning and teaching in my classroom (greenholtz, 2000). the inclusion of more local content in my module is another approach i should like to explore, with examples, short videos and case studies related to public health in china, so that they may able to distinguish how public health systems in asian and western countries differ from each other. by means of pedagogical context in assessment tasks, i can help to improve the student learning experience (jayakumar, 2008; to and carless, 2016). i acknowledge that, when i design the role play activity again, i should like to set more initial ground rules, whilst also giving more flexibility to the students. i hope that, with these changes, student engagement in the role play will increase, thereby resulting in the achievement of the module learning outcomes. conversations with students have indicated that a mixture of techniques – including role play but with the addition of, say, the flipped classroom or online discussions – to meet varying learning styles may address what i have articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 6 observed: that role play as a single strategy, no matter how hard i try, will not interest all students to an equal degree. i should also like to include some research-led learning and teaching elements in my classroom activities, because students would like to know how the knowledge they learn can be applied to real life or the research world. subsequently, this will help them to undertake inquiry-based learning and become active learners. i wish to re-design my module and assessment tasks, incorporating some virtual learning environment and in-class technologies, because online and offline learning now can supplement each other to improve students’ learning experience and encourage, in my students, greater learner autonomy. a reconfiguring of the module learning outcomes and having a flipped classroom will almost certainly help to maximise time for supporting student learning. how to apply these findings to other disciplines, including business education? as a teacher, especially one working in tne, i realise that there are many different challenges in teaching, including the urge to maintain enjoyable and captivating teaching and learning processes in classrooms. i do believe that my project findings could be applied to other disciplines. in a business education programme, which involves teaching to students the fundamentals and operations of business practice and industry – communications, entrepreneurship, leadership, international business and interpersonal skills, some of these topics are rather abstract and most students have limited working experience; here – especially for students enrolled in tne – role play would be beneficial because they can develop global competency skills and understand diversity in the business environment. the incorporation of role play into teaching and learning business processes may actively engage students in classroom and improve their learning outcomes. conclusions my findings have provided me with a rich and contextualised understanding of role play. i have demonstrated that role play can be used as a pedagogical approach to improve students’ active learning experience in the classroom because it is a student-focused approach. in addition, i have found that role play has played a significant role in improving the communication skills and learning behaviour of students in my own classroom within the tne context. my findings also suggest the applicability of role play as a teaching and learning method to other disciplines, such as business education in tne, because it can reinforce learning and enhance knowledge retention among students in the classroom. it is therefore important that future studies should consider exploring its much wider application. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 7 reference list bovill, c., jordan, l. and watters, n. 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(2003) ‘formative assessment in higher education: moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice.’ higher education, 45(4), 477-501. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/a:1023967026413 (accessed: 18 march 2019). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/a:1023967026413 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the development and evaluation of employability within the fashion curriculum: a case study lesley peacock and elaine mcneill liverpool john moores university, liverpool school of art and design introduction this case study describes the development of a pedagogical model to embed employability into a 24-credit professional practice module at level 6 for a fashion ba hons programme at liverpool john moores university (ljmu). this model was developed by redesigning the focus, structure and delivery and is informed by current he employability research. in line with the wilson review (wilson, 2012), the programme has worked towards strengthening and facilitating links with local industry for live projects, events and placements. within the past decade, there has been a plethora of reports and research to implement models of embedded employability, but to date there is no reported evidence of robust evaluation of methods of delivery and evaluation of impact of work-based learning within the fashion curriculum. the rationale behind the development of this module was directly linked to the expectation of knowledge and skills in the fashion sector. the academic and vocational skills a fashion graduate has to offer no longer satisfy industry requirements; instead, fashion employers identify, as recruitment essentials: work experience, transferable skills and degree classification. increased higher education fees have focused attention on employability: the most frequently asked questions from potential students and parents at ljmu fashion open days now relate to graduate progression. in the guardian, professor helen higson (provice-chancellor, aston university) welcomed the wilson review. she discussed the need to focus on employability and the need to forge links and partnerships with business: ‘placements don't just provide employment experience, they also help students develop their self-confidence and ensure graduates are used to the disciplines of the jobs market – such as punctuality, organisational skills and meeting deadlines.’ (higson, 2012) background the professional practice module was introduced to a newly-validated programme in 2011, with the intention of preparing students for graduate employment through the embedding of work placements, live projects and competitions into a year-long, 24-credit module. this module, designed to run alongside three others, is stand-alone, but does cross over into elements of activities undertaken on the design-based modules. the module is mandatory for all level 6 students on both the communication and design pathways. examination of the low uptake of work experience by previous cohorts pointed to several key factors:  the financial implications of working away from university (unpaid short placements, often london-based).  the effort involved in finding work placements.  course work overload. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014  lack of understanding of the importance to learning of engagement with the range of interlinked tasks and activities.  non-relation of pdp (personal development planning) to progression. the lack of student engagement in this professional practice module was evidenced by the students’ end-of-year grades and progression into employment and postgraduate education. during the first three years, all students passed the learning outcomes and assessment criteria, but elements of the work lacked focus and direction. there was a clear need for an elevated standard of attainment in areas of self-awareness (watts, 2006) and evaluative reflection about both themselves and others (knight and yorke, 2003). the structure and delivery of the module was flawed and did not succeed in engaging the students in the activities provided. it was important to re-evaluate the module in the context of the whole programme, with special regard to embedding and linking employability-related modules from levels 4 to 6, to enable students to develop personal autonomy (yorke and knight, 2006). it was also key to ensure that ljmu’s employability strategy was embedded into the fashion curriculum. in 2007, ljmu developed a world of work programme for all students, in response to government reports and the need to develop graduate skills in higher education. the initiative was developed in consultation with local and national employers; it aimed to ensure that every student recognised the skills needed to stand out from applicants from competitor institutions and engage successfully in the world of work. the programme required students to analyse their skills and competencies and develop personal statements simulating the application process. to counter low attendance at the world of work sessions, it was important that the students could make a direct link between engagement and employability. problem – what we needed to do fashion academics faced a complex range of issues and needed to adopt a holistic approach to engage large numbers (68 in the 2012/13 cohort) with a variety of employers and curricular assessment, as well as to embed institutional pdp and employability strategies. employer engagement would require the programme to be flexible and commercially responsive, whilst remaining academically robust. like other areas of transformation within higher education, the development of work-based learning programmes which involved collaboration between universities, employers and other stakeholders could be complicated and time-consuming. in the context of graduates, the term ‘employability’ can be defined in a number of ways. there is a broad consensus that qualities, characteristics, skills and knowledge increase the chances of graduate employment. graduates are expected to have technical and discipline competences from their degrees, but should also demonstrate a range of broader skills and attributes that include analysing, problem-solving, team-working, communication, interpersonal skills, planning and organising. a report on the employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates highlights research undertaken by harvey et al (1997): ‘most employers are looking for graduates who are proactive, can use higher level skills including analysis, critique, synthesis and multi-layered communication to facilitate case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 innovative teamwork in catalysing the transformation of their organization’ (harvey, cited by lowden et al, 2011). our task was to create opportunities for students to demonstrate the skills that employers wanted, but still work within an educational framework. the participation in work placements, live projects and competitions would need to promote ‘skills, understandings and personal attributes’ (knight and yorke, 2006) to enable fashion graduates to benefit themselves and the wider community. taking a longer-term view, a later case study by harvey and locke (2002) suggests that employability is not just about gaining a graduate job; it implies something about the capacity of the graduate to function in a job and be able to move between jobs, thus remaining employable throughout his or her life. an employability model produced by the sector skills council highlights that individual need will be based on the point at which someone is in his/her career (belt et al, 2010). this recognises the importance of continued professional development to sustain a career. often the creative graduate will work freelance and have a number of jobs and a portfolio of clients. this typical creative portfolio career is documented in the creative graduate creative futures longitudinal report, which states: ‘portfolio careers are well established, with 48 per cent of graduates in multiple jobs at the time of the survey, typically combining employment with self‐employment, study or developing their creative practice’ (ball et al 2010). it is therefore important that a fashion professional practice module reflects this career dynamic. employer engagement one of the challenges of the professional practice module was to engage students in a realworld environment that fostered creative practice and encouraged professional development. we recognised that it was essential for graduates to put their creative practice at the centre of their future progression (ball, ibid). gaining entry to the fashion industry requires fashion graduates to be resourceful and to demonstrate a willingness to work hard; there is also the challenge of collaborating with several partners from a variety of industry contexts. the module required a coherent structure and the flexibility to engage with a number of industry employers. it was important that individual students were able to identify work experience opportunities that would be pertinent to their own career development. unpaid internships are a given in the fashion industry and this is a defining factor for students when deciding to apply for work experience. ljmu fashion students are encouraged to engage in placements from their first year of study; this allows a variety of industry experiences to support their professional development. curricular assessment the assessment criteria changed to include a broad range of activities under the component weightings of the module to include pdp, competitions, live projects and a diffusion project, as well as a work placement report or a market report. this diversity was designed to provide alternatives to work placements, whilst also ensuring that the students undertook a range of activities which would support their own interests and professional development. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 embedding pdp and institutional employability the design of the curriculum had to be revisited to ensure that all three years of the programme were interlinked from level 4 to level 6, in order to create a streamlined delivery for pdp and career-focused modules. this incorporated the school’s pdp questionnaires, designed to unify personal tutorials throughout the school and embed the institutional world of work programme stages: bronze (level 4), silver (level 5) and gold (level 6). the world of work team was scheduled to deliver workshops in the module, with fashion staff in attendance, which highlighted to students the value of engagement. the delivery of the module was a year long, with formative feedback and one-to-one feedback points throughout semesters 1 and 2. this feedback was structured to enable individual students to reflect on their experience and identify how they could build their individual career pathway, to encourage ownership and autonomy in their learning (bryan and clegg, 2006). an integrated learning environment was necessary to encourage studentcentred learning. we intended to support the students’ individual personal and professional development by facilitating experiential learning, dialogue and reflection (race and pickford, 2007). we scheduled a range of learning activities to draw on the existing talents and abilities of the students, to build their confidence through industry participation and place their aptitudes in an industry context. the activities incorporated a variety of teaching and learning methods and, where possible, we aimed to locate the students’ learning in authentic contexts to replicate real-world scenarios (table 1). table 1 professional practice learning activity definition desired learning outcome employer engagement live projects live projects are activities set for students by commercial clients or community partners. briefs for projects are developed in consultation between academics and external partners to solve a particular industry-relevant problem. such projects may involve visits to workplaces or introductions by employers. students locate their learning in authentic contexts and hone their decision-making, communication and teamworking skills whilst acknowledging industry perspectives. placements work placement is a term loosely applied to any formal, structured work experience. organisations may have a structured scheme which could include working on a specific project and/or shadowing, by which students gain a working knowledge of various departments. students will be able to assess and develop relevant transferable graduate skills. they will also be provided with an opportunity to explore their chosen career paths. industry competitions these real-world scenarios give the students insight into the pressures and issues that have to be managed by students practise the type of negotiation and creativity required of them as case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 industry professionals in day-to-day operations. professionals. guest lectures guest lectures set the scene for students to learn about industry opportunities and characteristics. students learn about specific industry roles and develop valuable contacts. career fairs recruitment events give students the opportunity to meet potential employers face to face. students are encouraged to attend a range of events at ljmu, regionally and nationally, including graduate fashion week. students meet with industry contacts, especially hr personnel, to ensure that they are aware of employment opportunities. students can network. institutional employability strategy career development workshops these workshops are led by the ljmu careers team and include: cv writing, mock interviews and presentations. students develop and learn skills pertinent to the recruitment process. ljmu world of work initiative ljmu’s world of work programme aims to ensure that all students are equipped with the skills they need to stand out from applicants from competitor institutions and successfully engage in the world of work. students write personal statements to demonstrate that they meet the world of work skills criteria: self-awareness, organisational awareness and making things happen. tutorials one-to-one pdp tutorials intensive personal and professional development tutorials for individual students. students become more aware of their own abilities, aptitudes and aspirations and are offered development advice. seminar group tutorials focused personal and professional development tutorials for small groups of students. students engage in collaborative and interactive learning with their peers. assessment portfolios a systematic body of student work relating to the students’ professional practice activities and accomplishments. students reflect and evaluate as they assemble work that illustrates their talents and achievements. outcomes of employer engagement during the year, the staff team was able to bring in three substantial live projects, which enabled the students to undertake work experience in house. a live project with english national ballet engaged fourteen students, split into two groups in which project management and creative design roles were allocated. the staff overseeing the project incorporated teaching and learning processes within assessment tasks required for group work and peer learning (boud et al, 2001). to achieve objectives and outcomes, the students had to plan, liaise and organise the event within a clear framework. it was important that they were able to determine from the outset the context of the project in relation to their case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 own learning and individual investigation into work-based learning (race & pickford, 2007). within the group, the students were assigned individual tasks which enabled a sense of autonomy. the staff formed smaller specialist focus groups to allow all students to contribute and investigate how their performance was working towards their individual assessments. understanding the student view of group work (ruddick, 1979) was essential, so that all members of the group would feel that they had contributed effectively, rather than that only the fluent and confident speakers would perform well. the assessment, which was led by the module criteria, allowed the students to concentrate on a clear set of skills to define the final submission. the transferable skills required by the students to make the group activity work enabled employability to be developed further. live projects involved a range of processes and understanding, while the reflective assessment process encouraged students to pay attention, not only to the ‘content to be learned, but also to the process(es) through which that learning takes place’ (yorke & knight, 2006). positive engagement with industry led the way for several live projects including: dr martens (two-day styling shoot), north west cancer charity (merchandising and ovarian cancer awareness event), liverpool community health (redesigning the uniform for 7,000 national health workers from doctors to nurses and community health care workers).the lch project was showcased at the end-ofyear catwalk show (2013), with a presentation to the winning student by the chief executive of lch. for each of the projects they worked on, all members of the cohort were required to present their work to representatives of the organisation and/or industry. group and individual presentations fed into midand end-of-year summative assessment reviews. it was the intention of the staff to engage the students in evaluating and presenting their work as much as possible to understand the benefits for future employability (marciniak et al, 2013).the students were supported in this activity via workshops from the careers and world of work centre as well as by staff working on the fashion programme. fashion students are mainly responsible for obtaining and securing their own placements. most students who take up placements early in their studies tend to gain several work placement opportunities. such placements vary from local high-end retail and design outlets to national and international haute couture design, retail, pr and marketing companies; they can last anything from a one-day shoot to a day a week for a whole year and, in many cases, students are working part-time alongside their programme of study. students who have part-time jobs in high street retail are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities available from their employers. for one student, this proved most valuable: during her employment with zara as a retail assistant, she was offered training to become a zara merchandiser and secured a graduate merchandising role before completing the course. another student who had completed several industry work placements also gained a graduate role as a menswear buyer at matalan before graduating. in comparison to the traditional fashion placement academic models, this flexible approach to professional practice combines traditional placements/internships with in-house live projects and structured pdp, allowing staff to guide and nurture the students, to develop their skills and professionalism and to provide structured feedback as the students’ performance is assessed both formally and informally. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 4% 20% 35% 21% 18% 2% career progression pdp 121 live projects placements guest lecture cv writing presentation skills evaluation we set out to explore and examine the impact of work-based learning and employer engagement on graduate employability. as part of the online questionnaire, all students were invited to discuss their participation in professional practice activities during their final year of study. these activities included: cv writing, pdp (one-to-one) tutorials, presentation skills, guest lectures, seminar style (group) tutorials, the ljmu world of work process, mock interviews, careers fairs and work-based learning (live project and placements). knight and yorke (2006) define employability using four broad and inter-related components: subject/industry knowledge, skilful practice, efficacy beliefs and meta-cognition (including self-awareness and a capacity to reflect on development). adopting these employability characteristics, we analysed three key variables: meta-cognition in relation to career development, skilful practice (employability skills) and industry knowledge. the students were asked to scale all of the professional practice activities in relation to these three areas of development. the evaluation also included analysis of a 2,500-word, student-assessed placement/market report and professional practice portfolios; we included group tutorial feedback, pdp tutorials and staff reflections.  all students engaged with a placement and/or live project. 78% fashion students (40 out of 51) recognised that they gained industry experience. . of the eleven students who didn’t acknowledge that they had gained industry experience, seven took part in at least one live project and four gained work experience as teaching assistants in schools or summer camps abroad.  100% of fashion students felt that placements were important for their careers. (29% important; 71% very important). many described how they developed industryspecific technical skills as well as the vital graduate skills, such as communication, team work, time management and negotiation ability.  several students defined their employer engagement experiences as a significant factor in deciding their future career paths. some students also recognised the benefit of developing fashion industry contacts whilst on work experience. figure 1. student perceptions as to which professional practice activity helped develop their career progression case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 6% 16% 29% 45% 0% 0% 0% 2% 2% industry knowledge pdp 121 live projects placements guest lecture careers fairs other 12% 12% 19% 6% 41% 2% 2% 6% employability skills pdp 121 live projects placements guest lecture cv writing presentation skills wow careers fairs figure 2. student perceptions as to which professional practice activity has raised awareness of relevant employability skills the students were able to reflect on the skills they had used during their work experience and live projects to tailor their cvs and applications for specific roles in the fashion industry. feedback from the cohort indicated that workshops for cover letters and cv writing had been useful in developing confidence when applying for positions across the sector. students were extremely positive about guest lectures and particularly valued talks from alumni. most students commented on how these talks gave them a real-world insight into the fashion industry. we also noted the impact of the timing of these lectures: students were more career-focused by the second semester of the final year. figure 3. student perceptions as to which professional practice activity increased fashion industry knowledge case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 conclusion in conclusion, the cumulative evidence suggests that there has been a shift in the students’ perception of employer and industry engagement. the significant transformation of this module has generated a rich professional development and industry context, although we recognise that there are still improvements and challenges ahead. the evaluation highlights a need for live projects, placements, guest lectures and cv support. we shall also be introducing summative feedback at points throughout the academic year, to enable students to experience and recognise progression. it is clear that students who engage with a number of industry-focused activities during their studies are more likely to gain graduate employment within their chosen field than students who do not participate. the staff team was able to deliver a curriculum that embedded the challenges of the workplace within the context of the aims and outcomes of the module. the work placement report (2,500 words) enabled students to reflect on their experience in the context of their ambitions for future employment. the situations presented to students during live projects added to the students’ exposure to the skills fashion employers demand: analysing, problemsolving, team-working, communication, interpersonal skills, planning and organising. we have followed the cohort which undertook this module and the results so far are very promising, with over 30% engaging in work experience and/or paid internships on graduation and with a further 30% in paid work in the fashion sector. in january 2014, two graduates from this cohort came in with the head of pr from matalan to talk to the undergraduates. one student entered and won a live matalan competition run at the end of the professional practice module. the student’s designs were manufactured and featured in matalan’s newlyopened city centre store in liverpool. on graduation, the student applied to the company and secured employment as a designer. with support from staff, the other student, whilst studying in her final semester, applied for and gained a post at matalan. for many of our graduates, employment in the fashion sector is preferable and desirable, but any work is a first option to pay bills and enable an independent lifestyle. a number of students work in fashion retail during their studies and continue to do so as graduates. this is complemented by freelance work within the creative sector to build a portfolio of experience and skills for future employment in their preferred area. it has been interesting to note that the students who engaged the most in the professional practice module and sessions (silver and gold awards) with the world of work team have gained paid employment in their chosen fields of study. we are currently in discussions with the world of work team and careers centre at ljmu regarding embedding the silver and gold awards into the curriculum in levels 5 and 6 (bronze is currently mandatory in all ljmu level 4 modules). overall, these findings encourage programmes to engage with employers as much as possible to support and increase opportunities for future cohorts of students. the results provide a positive benchmark from which to build and expand our graduates’ opportunities. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 references ball, l., pollard, e. and stanley, n. (2010) creative graduates creative futures, london: council for higher education in art and design and university of the arts. belt, v., drake, p.,and chapman, k. (2010) employability skills: a research and policy briefing. london: uk commission for employment and skills. boud,d.,cohen,r.,sampson.,j (2001). peer learning in higher education, london: kogan page. bryan,c.and clegg,k (2006) innovative assessment in higher education. london: routledge. gee l. & pickard,h.(2011) ‘shaping future fashion leaders’ in:kemp p,and atfield r, (eds) (2011) ‘enhancing graduate impact in business and management,hospitality,leisure,sport,tourism’,threshold press. harvey, l., locke, w. and morey, a. (2002) enhancing employability, recognising diversity, london: universities uk. higson, h. (2012) ‘how to improve employability: aston university's placements programme, the guardian, 29 th february 2012, http://www.theguardian.com/higher-educationnetwork/blog/2012/feb/29/aston-university-student-placements lowden, k., hall, s., elliot, d. and lewin, j. (2011) employers’ perceptions of the employability of new graduates, london: edge foundation. leitch, s. (2006) the leitch review of skills. prosperity for all in the global economy – world class skills. final report. london: the stationery office. marciniak, r.; holley d. & dobson c. (2013) "fashion students engaging in iconic designs in a business work", chapter in p. mcintosh & d. warren "creativity in the classroom: case studies in using the arts in teaching and learning in higher education, the university ofchicago press. mcconnell, c. (2008) ‘fashion, textiles and related industries: work-related learning and the student experience’ in networks magazine, hea art design media subject centre. issue 5, autumn 2008. mcquaid,r and lindsay,c .(2006) ‘the concept of employability’ in mcquaid, r., green, a. and danson, m. (eds.) employability and the local market, london: routledge. knight, p. and yorke, m. (2003) assessment, learning and employability, buckingham: open university press. race,p and r,pickford (2007) making teaching work, london: sage. robertson, a. (2008) ‘learning on placement: an investigation of work placement opportunities within the designer-maker community’ in networks magazine, hea art design media subject centre. issue 5, autumn 2008. robertson,c & scott,m.(2010) ’personal enquiry project: students’perceptions of world of work initiatives; does anybody know that they’re out there? innovations in practice’, centre for excellence in teaching & learning (cetl) issue 6, november 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2012/feb/29/aston-university-student-placements http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2012/feb/29/aston-university-student-placements case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 ruddick j.(1979) learning through small group discussion, bournemouth: direct design ltd. watts, a. g. (2006) ‘career development learning and employability’, in learning and employability. series two, york: the higher education academy. whyte, w. (1991) participatory action research. london: sage wilson, t. (2012) a review of business-university collaboration. london: department for business innovation and skills. yorke, m. (2006) ‘employability in higher education: what it is, what it is not’, learning and employability. series one. york: the higher education academy. yorke, m. and knight, p. (2006) ‘embedding employability into the curriculum’, learning and employability. series one. york: the higher education academy. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 sectors together for professional development: a university team in an action research collaboration with school teachers and senior leaders adewale magaji1, ana cabral2, andrew lambirth1, roger mcdonald1, ashley brett1, christopher philpott1 university of greenwich1, queen mary university of london2 , uk corresponding author: a.magaji@greenwich.ac.uk abstract action research promotes teaching and learning as it may allow teachers to explore areas of their practices that require improvement. the purpose of this case study is to highlight the steps involved in carrying out action research and any challenges that teachers may encounter in this learning process. this study was developed as a professional development course from 2015 to 2019 attended by more than 150 teachers from early years, primary and secondary schools in london and kent in the last 4 years. the teachers were registered as students at the university of greenwich and supported by a university team of researchers. the study identified five steps of the development of teacher-led action research and highlighted the challenges for each step. the steps included defining the field of action; planning; action; evaluation and reflection/(re)planning. this led to the development of an innovative model for the facilitation of action research and collaboration between the university team and participants. the model is used as a framework to enhance the development of teacher-led research in schools. keywords: action research, teacher-led research, models, collaboration introduction the landscape of teacher development in england began changing because of a wholesystem reform and structural change, with teaching school alliances and multi-academy trusts promoting the development of teacher-led research in schools. research carried out with and by teachers has become increasingly significant in efforts to improve the quality of teaching (bera, 2014; dfe 2014; nctl, 2015) and learning. it is not, therefore, surprising to see that such school alliances and academies are beginning to include in teachers’ contracts the need to commit to undertaking action research (ntr, 2011) to improve their development. this contractual change may in part represent a new way of supporting teachers, though, arguably, some teachers in a sector not traditionally research-orientated may regard it as an intrusive and authoritarian measure, especially if their inclination is to teach and not research. if teachers lack research knowledge, their continuing professional development (cpd) preference may well be for one-day training run by the school or other agency rather than for engaging themselves in action research. however, experience suggests that action research by classroom practitioners into aspects of their working context is more likely to result in informed, relevant findings that lead to successful strategies for improvement. mailto:a.magaji@greenwich.ac.uk case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 school improvement requirements have been identified as a driving force in encouraging teachers in participating in action research (bryan & burstow, 2016) by working with researchers in the university as this gives them the agency in deciding on their professional development needs and how to improve them. however, biesta et al. (2015) reported a mixed feeling about teacher agency in terms of their professional development as a driving force in school improvement as we know that some teachers may be reluctant in engaging in action research. in this case study, we argue for collaborative learning, supported by a team from the university of greenwich, to provide requested professional development for teachers in the form of an action research approach (carr & kemmis, 1986; kemmis, 2010; cordingley, 2013) to enhance pedagogy and explore the process and the challenges of such a strategy. theoretically framing the literature a pedagogical shift to classroom-based research may require schoolteachers in england to engage in action research to improve their practices (cordingley, 2013). at the heart of this is the need for collaboration between experts from university, teachers and senior leaders in facilitating the process of action research. this has been emphasised by the dfe’s (2016) standard for teachers’ professional development. action research will advance teachers’ pedagogy (kemmis, 2010) and bleicher (2014) considers this professional learning as an active process as it may change their knowledge bases, beliefs and practices. it provides teachers with the agency to accentuate their development in a collaborative environment fostering professional relationships with experts from the university (mockler & groundwatersmith, 2015) towards learning enhancement and school improvement. the teachers will be able to develop the research knowledge and skills to improve their practices. carr & kemmis (1986) propose three approaches to action research such as technical, practical and emancipatory action research. our work with teachers focuses on practical action research (par), however, aspects of other approaches cannot be dismissed. carr & kemmis (1986) describe action research as being about the understanding of the practice and the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place. consequently, kemmis, mctaggart & nixon (2014) suggest the following stages as informing an action research cycle; reflect, plan, act, observe and reflect. these are important in supporting teachers as researchers and helping them to work effectively with the university research team. however, to achieve a collaborative learning process, lofthouse et al’s. (2016) model of conceptualising collaborative action research involving the zones of collaborative, contributory and proximal activities was utilised in this study to promote learning among the teachers. this will be discussed in the implementation section. description of the participants in 2015, a group of school alliances and multi-academy trusts requested the greenwich team to help it build teacher-led systematic research into teachers’ everyday practice. this gave rise to the project teachers as researchers that formed this study. the project was carried out for 4 years from 2015 to 2019 and involved 150 early years, primary and secondary school teachers from london and kent. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 the headteachers of the multi-academy trust schools encouraged voluntary participation of their teachers in action research to reflect on and improve their classroom practices. teachers were given incentives to take part: fees were paid directly to the university and the course delivered in the school setting and at the end of the school day. teachers were also invited to register as students at the university, have their final report assessed and be awarded 30 credits from the ma in education (module: negotiated independent study: professional knowledge). teachers were supported by the university team throughout the whole process of action research and collaboration and offered individual supervision when writing their final reports or disseminating their work through publication and presentations in conferences. implementation the university team included a professor of education (with over twenty years’ experience working alongside teachers on action research), a research fellow (with expertise in research methodologies and teacher development) and four faculty members who were experts in teacher education, professional development and educational research. the four-year project provided support for teachers and included, during one academic year, at least six ninety-minute afternoon workshops (at intervals of five to seven weeks) to guide the teachers through the steps of action research and collaboration. the study is based on the action-research steps mentioned above: reflect, plan, act, observe and reflect (mcniff and whitehead, 2005; kemmis, mctaggart and nixon, 2014). the articulation between these steps of the action-research cycle and the tasks involved in the facilitation and collaboration (lofthouse et al., 2016) constituted the main structure of our model (figure 1). a detailed discussion follows below. in the workshops, participants collaborated intensively with each other and with the university team of facilitators. according to mitton-kukner (2016), this type of interaction stimulates reflection about practice and fosters the development of opportunities for professional learning. further details about the activities in the workshops will be discussed in the section on steps for developing action research. we facilitated the process of action research by guiding teachers in designing projects, providing support on ethical issues, data collection tools, analysis and research literature to inform action. they identified a specific aspect of their practices that they would like to improve and engage in one cycle of action research. they held discussions with colleagues, observed teaching by other teachers and read related professional and academic articles. all of these informed the action they undertook in class to effect change, as it helped them to identify the types of data to collect and then, with colleagues and the university team, to evaluate their professional actions. senior leaders, in a supporting role, ensured that teachers did attend the workshops, discussed with them areas for development, provided clarity on aspects of school improvement as a focus for teachers who did not have specific areas of research and offered pedagogical support. senior leaders additionally created opportunities for teachers to collaborate with colleagues across various departments in their school and other schools of the same trust. they also ensured that outcomes from the action research were disseminated for the professional development of other teachers in the school (presentations in meetings and events and publication on the school website of all the action-research reports). in some cases, senior leaders also supported the participation of teachers in conferences to present their work (e.g., ukla conference) and contributed to the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 tuition fees for those teachers who wanted to complete the ma (using their thirty credits from our course and, in some cases, the credits gained from their pgce). our model the model of conceptualising collaborative action research designed by lofthouse et al. (2016) defines the nature and implications of the zones of activities between all participants in this study and this has informed our model of collaboration (figure 1). this model includes zones of collaborative, contributory and proximal activities. the zone of proximal activity occurs before collaboration and after collaboration. to facilitate this process, we organised workshops for teachers to discuss their classroom experience of teaching and their knowledge of research and to explore areas of professional development. this enabled us to identify the level of research experience of the participants, by which means we established that the participants would need support in carrying out action research. the zone of contributory activity helped us to identify key roles that the participants have in their schools and the focus of their research. we achieved this by placing them in groups of six, to encourage discussion, reflections and peer review. each member of the research team was assigned to work with the groups, followed by whole class feedback and questions to refine their areas of research. this activity allowed us to draw on their skills and guide them on the areas of research they would like to explore. the zone of collaborative activity also involved discussion, reflection and peer review. it allowed us to engage the participants in the action research cycle (kemmis, mctaggart & nixon, 2014): reflecting (involved participants in defining the field of action), plan (planning the action), act (implementing the action), observe (evaluation of the action) and reflect (reflection and replanning). these steps will be discussed in detail in the next section. during the contributory and collaborative processes, we supported the teachers by providing them with relevant literature on areas of interest to link theory to practice. we encouraged them to keep a research log and delivered tutorials and lectures on data collection and analysis, ethical guidelines and report writing, all of which were important in promoting research skills. consequently, we realised that participants became confident about what they want to explore, accessed relevant research materials and supported each other. the proximal activity happening after the collaboration may be expanded and influenced by the outcomes of the collaboration. at this stage, the participants can disseminate their work at conferences or publications with the help of the research team. throughout these processes, we sought participants’ views about engaging in the action research process and samples of their comments are presented in our discussion of the steps of action research. however, a detailed evaluation is planned. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 figure 1: model of collaboration/facilitation for the development of teacher action research source: lambirth et al. (2019) steps in developing action research. we identified 5 steps in developing teacher-led action research and some challenges in each step as highlighted below. defining the field of action these involved participants reflecting on their practices and discussing ideas with other teachers and the university team. doing that encouraged them to use their professional knowledge and classroom practice to identify a specific area of interest they wanted to address. we encouraged them to keep a research log to record, plan, evaluate and reflect and provided them with appropriate support. however, the challenges we encountered included difficulty among participants in addressing motivation and finding a research focus. this may be seen in relation to the notion of teacher agency, with such teacher comments as “teachers should be motivated and willing to do it” and “if it is forced, it will not work.” other unanimous comments from the teachers included ‘the lack of research knowledge may affect my confidence in this project but willing to work with the team’. we, therefore, argue that schools need to define clear criteria to regulate the recruitment of participants to avoid co-opted participation and “compelled inclusion” (lambirth & cabral, 2017, p. 8). model of collaboration/ facilitation before collaboration participants facilitators training: launch session embracing an action research approach and methodology ‘zones of proximal activity’ (1) tacit/ practice knowledge classroom experience local/ insider knowledge research experience (if any) knowledge about educational research knowledge and experience about research skills research cycle (1) tasks ‘zone of contributory activity’ (2) support: sessions online contact reflect definition of the field of action motivations concerns ‘zone of collaborative activity’ (2) reflection discussion peer review research focus questioning research log area of interest resources ar cycle literature repository vle support via email 1:1 tutorial progress report (checkin) plan planning the action criticality research skills data to inform the action design of the action data to evaluate the action looking for information reading critically ethical guidelines data collection tools data analysis act action power relations ethical awareness observe evaluation of the action professional judgement peer review links theory-practice reflect reflection (re) planning transformation transformation st sustained development sustained developm report framework examples of reports report writing support after collaboration ‘zones of proximal activity’ (2) publication/ presentation postgraduation publication/ presentation (1) mcniff and whitehead (2005) and kemmis, mctaggart and nixon (2014) (2) lofthouse et al (2016) d u r i n g c o l l a b o r a t i oo n case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 although this may not be the norm, however, we know that, in certain situations, teachers may be persuaded in participating in research. planning the action participants were encouraged to read selected literature in their field, challenge each other’s ideas and work as peers. the university team played a key role in developing criticality by promoting moments of reporting and discussing the design of the studies, reflection and ethics; the team encouraged cooperative and collaborative working environments using peer assessments and such elements of the pedagogy of facilitation of teacher inquiry (poekert, 2011) as introducing, wondering, experimenting, evaluating, learning and sharing. participants commented that this enabled them to “realise the need to incorporate regular research into teaching practice”. one said, “the project exceeded my expectations” and others conveyed similar enthusiasm. however, challenges encountered ranged from time allocation, lack of research skills of participants and criticality. to develop this step of the action research cycle, participants received dedicated support at the level of research skills (ross and bruce, 2012). through collaboration, teachers can critically engage with research evidence, reflect on their meanings, gain new perspectives, and change their practice (procter, 2015). action we created an opportunity for the participants to reflect and develop their context-awareness with help of teachers from their school, other schools and the university team. this included providing prompts for discussion about ethics and power relations based on ethical guidelines (research log) (bera 2018). teachers collected and analysed data about the action (research log: data to evaluate the action). they implemented the action and received specific support via email and individual tutorials based on the use of progress reports (individual check-ins). teachers found this useful in their professional development, as comments like these confirm: “the project has helped me to think about my practice differently and more critically” and “it helped me to take onboard children’s views to make what they are doing interesting and support learning”. the challenges encountered included power relations and ethical awareness. however, both the teachers and senior leaders have a shared responsibility for ensuring that the action research process is aimed at improving teachers’ professional development. teachers decided areas of focus for their research and, where applicable, senior leaders provided direction, as mentioned. in this regard, mockler (2014) recommends that we discuss with teachers the issues of informed consent, voice and ownership, transparency, negotiation and deliberative action in the context of both practitioner inquiry and classroom practice. evaluation of the action participants were invited to discuss their experiences and issues associated with the implementation of the action by evaluating their practice (poekert 2011) and analysing the data collected. the university team promoted moments of questioning and facilitated discussions about the differences between practice and theory. comments from the teachers showed how this had a positive effect on their development; for example: “it made me look more closely at how i can change my practice and be a better teacher”; “the journey has been a transformative one for me and my pupils” and “it made me think about my case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 practice in a more critical way”. some teachers considered the need to promote autonomous learning as an important aspect of engaging in this research: “students need to be challenged and discover things by themselves”, while others asserted that “lessons were livelier, children appeared more enthusiastic about their learning and took more control over it”. despite the support, the challenges identified included participants’ lack of confidence in making a professional judgment, conducting peer review and linking theory to practice. the achievement of an agency should emanate from the “complex interplay of individual capacity and collective cultures and structures” (biesta et al., 2017, p.52). we may argue that engaging in this process has resulted in some level of improvement among the participants, though the issues encountered will further guide us on how best to support their professional development. reflection and (re)planning participants and facilitators were involved in group reflections and discussions based on a set of transformation stimuli. these included: the confirmation or change of perspectives; innovation; learning opportunities; sustained development. these group reflections and discussions about the results of the action were the starting point for the development of the topics to be included in the final report (research log: report framework). to support this step, participants received the reporting framework and guiding questions for each section and were given access to examples of reports. the consensus was that it encouraged transformative professional learning: “the journey has been a transformative one, both within me and pupils” and “it was helpful to use my findings to reflect on my practice and how to develop that of others and school provision”. this process promoted confidence about engaging in action research, but we also faced challenges – such as the weak ability of participants to share good practices and collaborate with others as co-researchers. however, we created an opportunity for them to review their learning through various activities to support knowledge-sharing and collaboration. this enabled them to disseminate outcomes by moving from a transmission model to a transformative model of professional learning (kennedy, 2007) – vital in helping them accomplish the process of action research (figure 1). conclusions and limitations this project shows that facilitated action research can be used as a tool for promoting professional learning and fostering change. it allows teachers to learn from their interactions with each other and support from the university team. in our case, this was achieved by following the steps of the action-research process and model of collaboration as this study confirms. however, each step has its challenges, and the university team should help teachers or students overcome these challenges by creating opportunities for them to review their learning through well-structured learning activities to promote collaboration, research knowledge and skills. the model we created (figure 1) helped us to theorise practice and construct knowledge based on our experience, driven by the interpretation of the contexts we worked in. this model is therefore contextualised by nature. the model is currently used by colleagues and schools engaged in action research to improve teachers’ practices and it contributes to the existing body of knowledge. carrying out such a project with multi-academy trusts for four years has influenced the creation of an action-research model of collaboration and facilitation. however, this should case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 8 not be taken at face value, as efforts should be made to consider all facets of successful action research through collaboration and facilitation. this may involve considering the various approaches to action research and deciding which approach suits the participants, as our model may be tailored to specific research needs. we shall review the effectiveness of the model by carrying out interviews with colleagues and schools currently using this model to promote action research. reference list biesta, g., priestley, m. and robinson, s. 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(2012) ‘evaluating the impact of collaborative action research on teachers: a quantitative approach. ’teacher development, 16(4), 537-561. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2012.734746 (accessed: 22 september 2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2015.1105535 https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2012.734746 compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 first published in february 2020 by: greenwich learning & teaching university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, greenwich learning & teaching, university of greenwich guest editors liz warren, director of teaching & learning, business faculty, university of greenwich denise hawkes, head of department international business and economics, university of greenwich guest co-editors dawn reilly, gerhard kristandl, tesfa mehari, sara gorgoni, business faculty, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, greenwich learning & teaching, university of greenwich editorial board paul breen, university of westminster louise hewitt, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university dawn reilly, university of greenwich clare rossato, university of greenwich danielle tran, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series reviewers timos almpanis, university of kingston lucy ansley, de montfort university monica fernandes, brunel university london rachel george, university of greenwich man fung lo, the hong kong polytechnic university harriet lowe, university of greenwich articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 the impact of camera angles in learning videos on the perception of teaching excellence and emotional connectedness of students in the creative industries dennis a olsen university of west london, uk abstract with the use of learning videos in higher education (he) on the rise, and an increased importance assigned to the perception of teaching excellence by students in the united kingdom (uk) and worldwide, this paper considers the impact of camera angles on students’ perception of teaching excellence and students’ emotional connectedness. two focus groups comprising undergraduate students studying full time in subjects of the creative industries watched and discussed two videos with identical content (a presenter, presenting) but different camera angles – low-shot versus eye-level. the videos were provided as part of the course materials. the responses elicited in the focus groups suggest that an eye-level camera shot positively affects student perception of the presenter’s credibility, goodwill and professionalism in learning videos. at the same time, findings call into question the suitability of presenterfocused learning videos altogether for the teaching of creative industries subjects in he, since students perceive that they lack sufficient presenter sparkle to enthuse, motivate and engage their audience. keywords: learning design, learning videos, camera angle, teaching excellence, creative industries the teaching excellence and student outcome framework in england, and in parts of wales and scotland, has put an increased emphasis on the importance of students’ perception of teaching quality in higher education (he) within the united kingdom (uk) (ashwin, 2017). this appears to have resulted in a disparity between disciplines within higher education institutions (heis), with subjects associated with the creative industries, such as design and communication studies, traditionally scoring – in the national student survey (nss) – worse for teaching and learning than other disciplines (burgess, senior and moores, 2018). possible explanations for this range from the pedagogic culture in creative subjects to personality traits emphasised in the creative industries (vaughan and yorke, 2009). irrespective of precisely what causes the disparity between disciplines, the reality is that the comparably lower score in terms of student perception of teaching and learning excellence has put additional pressure on educators within creative industries subjects to identify and apply novel teaching and learning approaches in order to boost levels of perception of teaching quality. generation z, those born during or after 1995, currently makes up the majority of undergraduate students in heis. this socio-demographic cohort exhibits a distinct desire for “educational opportunities that use technology and visual media” (mohr and mohr, 2017, p.92), thus articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 furthering the continuous production of video content and its integration into he as part of online, hybrid and collaborative learning environments (greenberg and zanetis, 2012; johnson et al., 2014). from a student’s point of view, the advantages associated with the use of video content are manifold and include – to name just a couple of examples – the “thinning of classroom walls” (siemens, gašević and dawson, 2015, p.205) – that is, the decreasing importance of gathering in the same physical learning space – and the ability to revisit and review classroom material more independently. depending on their motivation and available time, students, for self-paced learning, employ different video-consumption strategies, ranging from rather structured approaches – such as watching videos from beginning to end in a single sitting – to zapping or skipping through video content (boer, 2013). notwithstanding these individual consumption approaches, yousef, chatti and schroeder’s (2014) meta-analysis of research, that considers video-based learning, concluded that the implementation of video content appears to have a positive impact on both the achievement of learning outcomes and learner satisfaction. gorissen, van bruggen and jochems (2012) specify that video content, such as recorded lectures, appears to support students’ learning, particularly during periods of exam preparation, when it becomes an effective tool for revision. according to hansch and colleagues (2015, p.4), “talking head videos” – that is, videos featuring one or more presenters talking at the camera – are among the most widely used audio-visual content in online learning settings. this presenter-centred content can facilitate a connection between the presenter and the audience, something that adds “nurturing value” (koumi, 2006, p.46) to the educational environment, enhancing the student-staff relationship and improving student engagement and motivation (guo, kim and rubin, 2014; hansch et al., 2015). all of these aspects have been identified as playing a key role in students’ evaluation of teaching quality (su and wood, 2012). when it comes to the creation of video content, it appears to be the exception for presentercentred videos to be produced in a professional film studio environment. the production at brick-and-mortar educational institutions within the uk, as in most other countries, rarely falls within the responsibility of a centralised department and is often subsumed into the responsibilities of individuals or course teams without specialist equipment or training. the use of built-in cameras in laptops and desktop computers to record videos for educational purposes is, therefore, commonplace (hansch et al., 2015; berger, 2019). this, however, might have unintended consequences for student perception of teaching quality, for media research has repeatedly shown that the camera angle has a distinct impact on how audiences perceive video content and on how emotional connections between the audience and the people on screen are formed (kuchenbuch, 2005; schwender, 2006; cao, 2013). for their 2017 conference paper and subsequent journal article published in 2020, ramlatchan and watson investigated, inter alia, camera angles in learning videos, comparing the impact on instructor credibility and immediacy of high-angle and eye-level shots. the authors concluded that videos featuring an eye-level shot were significantly better received by students compared to those shot at a higher angle. the study did not include lower camera angles, which might articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 seem surprising, as the established use of laptops and desktop computers for the recordings of learning videos is likely to result in such shots. low-shot angles often trigger feelings of inferiority and powerlessness in audiences (schwender, 2006). in the context of students’ perception of teaching excellence, this might be particularly concerning, as the establishment of effective learning partnerships, with mutual respect between learners and teachers, is of paramount importance (fried, 2001). given that teaching is a profoundly emotional practice (liston and garrison, 2004) and that it is essential for excellent teaching to have “a capacity to forge meaningful connectedness” (su and wood, 2012, p.151), it may be that certain camera angles in learning videos do improve or hinder staff connection with students. connectedness refers to a ‘felt concern’ for students, which is apparent to learners and inspires and enthuses them, thus creating an environment in which learning is perceived as pleasurable (barnett, 2007; pring et al., 2009; su and wood, 2012). for the present study, therefore, successful connectedness would mean that learning videos actively contribute to the creation of such an environment during self-paced learning. this paper contributes to the continuing discussion by examining the impact of low-shot and eye-level camera angles in learning videos on students’ perceptions of teaching excellence and emotional connectedness. owing to the specific challenges arising from the introduction of the teaching excellence and student outcome framework within the uk, the focus of this study is on the creative industries within he. in the context of the recent covid-19 outbreak and the consequent accelerated shift towards online learning and teaching around the world, this research has become even more relevant. by april 2020, all heis in the uk and in most parts of europe have moved their teaching and learning efforts online, with a large number of academic staff, mostly unfamiliar with the specifics of distance learning, now exploring alternative modes of audio-visual communication with students to ensure effective teaching in the absence of a face-to-face teaching environment. during these times of heightened stress and anxiety for both students and academics (lui, 2020; venema, 2020), forging meaningful connectedness with students and keeping them engaged with their learning to create a sense of ‘normality’ seem of the utmost importance. the present paper has therefore a broad appeal to any educator who aims for effective and excellent teaching in he via digital audio-visual channels. the strategic use of camera angles in both pre-recorded and live video communication might positively contribute to this objective. research design two short learning videos were produced, using two identical cameras for one low-shot version and one eye-level version of otherwise identical talking-head videos (figure 1). each video lasted four minutes and fifty-five seconds and discussed the ‘unique selling proposition (usp)’ concept; it included a selection of definitions, application strategies, advantages and limitations of the concept and also current industry examples. whilst the eye-level camera was adjusted according to the presenter’s real-life eye level, the height of the low shot was selected to replicate an in-built camera in a fourteen-inch laptop. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 figure 1: the investigation material consisted of two learning videos, identical except for the camera angle after their creation, the two videos were shown to and discussed with two academic colleagues – from the london school of film, media and design at the university of west london – who regularly produce learning videos as part of their own teaching practice. the purpose of this pretest was to confirm the appropriateness of the investigation material as a representation typical of a short learning video within the creative industries. both colleagues independently verified the suitability of the investigation material, so that there were no changes to the videos for the final data collection. based on schwender’s (2006) investigation into audience perception and reysen’s (2005) likability scale, a question guide featuring thirteen open-ended questions was created, addressing aspects related to likeability, credibility, goodwill, communication immediacy and feeling of distance. before the final data collection, a user question-comprehension pre-test (with two undergraduate students – not part of the final sample) took place and led to the minor rewording of just one question in order to improve its clarity. subsequently, two focus groups with full-time, second-year undergraduate students (fheq level 5) from the university at west london were conducted on 20 march and 12 april 2019 at the university’s st mary’s road campus, london, uk. participants were recruited via an open call in the london school of film, media and design and were subsequently selected on the basis of comparable previous learning experiences – for example, level of study and previous exposure to learning videos as part of their studies. the first focus group comprised n = 6 advertising and public relations students (four female and two male), with a mean age of 21.7 years, σ = 2.1. the second focus group comprised n = 8 media and communications students (four female and four male), with a mean age of 21.3 years, σ = 1.3. both courses typically feature face-to-face learning environments, but occasionally incorporate learning videos in their virtual learning environment (vle), enabling students to revisit and re-view content outside their weekly classes. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 focus group: ad and pr (n = 6) focus group: media and communications (n = 8) figure 2: flowcharts illustrating the two independent focus groups as set out in figure 2, each of the two focus groups was initially split evenly but randomly into two sub-groups. each sub-group was shown either the eye-level (el) or the low-shot (ls) video first and then discussed it, before merging back into their two focus groups for extended discussions. the advantage of this staged approach was to gather initial, independent reactions to and opinions about each video, and thus camera angle, before moving to a more comparison-driven discussion. all parts of the focus groups were audio-recorded and the data subsequently analysed using qualitative content analysis (mayring, 2014). findings during the analysis of the qualitative data, three key themes emerged. the findings below are presented according to these key themes: (i) credibility and engagement; (ii) format and setting of the video; and (iii) quality, value for money and appropriateness of the learning artefact. to ensure anonymity, each participant was assigned a letter from a to n. the corresponding participant letter is indicated after each comment. credibility and engagement in the eyes of the participants, a good lecturer, irrespective of whether s/he is in a face-to-face or online learning environment, must be a dual expert with both “knowledge about the industry [and] about how to teach” (e), while at the same time “not [being] patronising” (c), viz., interacting with students in a respectful manner. a sense of humour was also repeatedly pointed out as “very important to keep (…) engaged during a class” (g) and the ability to build a good rapport with students. regarding the learning videos, the groups unanimously agreed that the low-angle shot “looked patronising” (i) and felt “more informal” (b) compared to the eye-level shot, which was perceived articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 as “more professional” (a). although the presenter’s body position was pointed out as appearing more relaxed in the video featuring a low angle, this was not seen as a positive by students, but amplified the perception of unprofessionalism, with several participants in both groups characterising the video as “too relaxed” (f), “unserious” (a) and “sloppier” (l). despite being more critical overall of the low-angle shot, some students acknowledged that this reflected what they were familiar with from traditional face-to-face learning environments; however, participants’ responses indicated that their reception of learning videos might be influenced less by their knowledge of classroom settings than by the consumption of other video content in their spare time. “our generation watches a lot of youtube and videos like that, it’s always on [eye level], whereas in the class (…) the teacher stands in the front and we are sat (…) but this is different. we’ve learned so much with video content and it is more on our level; when it’s a lower angle, it’s not necessarily on our level” (c). neither of the camera angles was found to convey enthusiasm or motivate viewers to engage further with the content; both aspects, however, were pointed out as “definitely important” (m) for a good lecture. “if i was doing a course and i was watching those sort of videos every single week, i’d lose interest in the course” (l). “i’d click on it, watch it for ten seconds and then completely off-click it” (n). “you’re facing a screen and you’re watching someone talk directly at you. and obviously, you get that in real life experience when you go to a lecture, but that’s more engaging than this” (b). format and setting of the video overall, participants from both groups seemed to question the use of presenters in learning videos, finding the experience “a bit unsettling, staring at someone who is staring back at you (…); i felt uncomfortable” (i). “why do you need to show your face? just show some visuals” (f). it also seemed that there was an additional level of scrutiny of both the presenter and the content in learning videos compared to face-to-face learning environments. “it’s the small things that bug me here (…) and in all videos that i see online, to be fair. in class with a lecturer, i’d probably not even notice” (k). “in videos, these things are more obvious” (b). in terms of consumption situations, students agreed that the implementation of presenter-centred learning videos within a face-to-face learning environment was not desirable, but implementation as part of a vle might be beneficial for their learning experience. “i would not want this as part of a lecture (…) but maybe on blackboard for when i am at home” (h). “this could be good for when i revise things between classes, but definitely not in class” (a). inspiration for possible improvements was primarily drawn from social media, particularly youtube tutorials. “youtubers are better at this” (f). participants unanimously agreed that what makes social media tutorials more successful than the presented learning videos was the fact that they were “more like a conversation” (d), involving interaction and movement on the presenter’s part. participants emphasise the importance of using visuals beyond the depiction of presenters, including “visual examples” and “subtitles” (a). all agreed that for them, it was crucial “to make [the video] more of an interesting visual (…), because we have short attention spans anyway” (b). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 quality, value for money and appropriateness of the learning artefact there seemed to be an expectation from students in both groups that the creative approach and production quality for learning videos in subjects of the creative industries should apply and reflect the skills that are purportedly being taught to the viewers. “it’s kind of ironic that we’re talking about a unique selling point, when the video is completely un-unique and completely not very well designed” (n). “talking about something that is creative in the least creative way possible, i’d think i wasted my time and money” (e). several participants in one of the focus groups also questioned the use of videos as a suitable mode of delivery for content outside classroom settings overall, criticising the sequential nature of learning videos and the difficulties arising from navigating and searching for specific information. “even though short, i don’t like that i can’t just jump in and out easily of a video (…) i’d always have to start again or search for the right stuff for ages” (g). “maybe it would need to be broken down more? so, i can navigate (...); like maybe one-minute soundbites or something” (m). “i don’t feel [a video] can replace reading a book. it is just way too difficult to go back and forth when i need to hear something again because i didn’t get it the first time, or when i am looking for something specific” (k). discussion and implications between the two camera angles examined, the findings indicate that an eye-level shot might be more appropriate for presenter-centred learning videos. as in ramlatchan and watson (2017; 2020), the eye-level shot appears to affect positively the presenter’s credibility and goodwill, in accordance with expectations derived from media theory (schwender, 2006). an increase in perceived professionalism and decrease in the feeling of inferiority with an eye-level angle corresponds to fried’s (2001) call for a learning partnership and mutual respect between learners and teachers. however, the findings call into question the use of presenter-centred learning videos as a format, with both videos perceived as lacking presenter enthusiasm, as well as being unable to motivate and engage, all of which were described by participants – and su and wood (2012) – as key to students’ perception of teaching excellence. further, the perception that presenters talking into the camera was an eerie experience, irrespective of angles, indicates decreased approachability (a quality identified by su and wood (2012) as an important aspect, from a student’s perspective, of a good lecture). the desired emotional connectedness therefore might not be achieved by presenter-centred learning videos alone. a more visual-led approach, or at least enhancements that increase perceived quality, with an improved mechanism for navigation and use of interactive elements (lui, 2020) could be a more effective way forward, chiming also with this age group’s desire for “frequent educational opportunities that use technology and visual media” (mohr and mohr, 2017, p.92) and having positive impact upon students’ levels of satisfaction (yousef, chatti and schroeder, 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 nevertheless, this study, in combination with ramlatchan and watson’s (2017; 2020) insight, suggests to other he practitioners that, when it comes to learning videos featuring presenters, an eye-level camera angle should be applied. although likely not the default position of desktop computer or laptop cameras, the adjustment – that is, usually elevating the camera – might be worth the extra effort to facilitate effective teaching, particularly considering the increase in emphasis on students’ perception of teaching quality in uk he, owing to the teaching excellence and student outcome framework and the current shift towards online teaching. a more professional approach to the production also appears to be advisable, in the light of the added level of scrutiny by students when interacting with video content outside classroom settings. creative industries departments within heis interested in supporting their teaching and learning experience with the help of learning videos might wish to consider additional support for academic staff involved in the production process. future research the present study has underlined the importance of continuing research into learning videos and hopefully will inspire follow-up studies that expand on its findings. future research might wish to build on the existing body of research in a meaningful way, by considering, inter alia, the following when recruiting participants: widening previous learning experiences. students’ level of study might influence their perception of learning videos. it could be that students who are exposed to talking-head videos early on during their studies regard these as the norm and thus view these videos more positively. further exploration of whether student perception differs between those student populations more accustomed to distance learning and those primarily exposed to face-to-face learning environments seems also necessary for more generalisable conclusions to be drawn. including non-creative disciplines, such as law or economics, which often feature a more lecture-centred approach to teaching compared to the workshop-driven learning environments common in creative subjects. as a result, students’ relative experience with classroom settings might have a bearing on the way they perceive presenter-centred videos. looking at different learning needs. the individual needs of students might also influence their perception of learning videos. for example, hearing-impaired students might find a presenter’s facial cues helpful and thus would evaluate a talking-head video more positively. students whose first language is not english might have a more pronounced appreciation of learning videos in general than would native speakers, as the medium allows for increased control – such as pausing, replaying, etc. – of spoken teaching content. lastly, future research might also consider whether the negative perception resulting from an additional level of scrutiny by student audiences can be counteracted by a meaningful choice of presenter background – for example, via background blurring, or ‘screened interior’ (rossi, 2020). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 conflict of interest the author declares that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article. reference list ashwin, p. 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(alice, avril lavigne, 2010) 2 julie hughesa, debra curetonb, jenni jonesc a.the college of learning and teaching, university of wolverhampton, b. the doctoral college, university of wolverhampton, c. the faculty of arts, business and social sciences, university of wolverhampton, uk abstract in 2019, a diverse, post-92, midlands university implemented a new, hybrid third space role called the ‘academic coach’ (ac) to support its mission to make its educational provision fully accessible to all its students, to retain them and to ensure their success. since a sense of belonging to their institution is such a powerful influence on students’ sense of wellbeing, their development of an academic identity and their resilience in the higher education context, with consequent positive impact upon their retention and success, this role is devoted to the pastoral care and personal tutoring of levels three and four students. this case study considers the journey of the ac in defining and shaping this new role and offers the acs’ perceptions of their influence on the experience of students at levels three and four by enhancing collaborative and learning relationships within the wider university. keywords: third space professionals, transitions, levels three and four undergraduates, retention, success, belonging 1 quote from alice through the looking glass by lewis carroll (1871) and from the avril lavigne song ‘alice’, 2010. it has been chosen as the title for the paper, as it represents students’ struggle to understand the rules of academia, with consequent adverse impact upon their retention and success (cousin and cureton, 2010). nb. the word ‘cannot’ is replaced by ‘can’t’ in the avril lavigne song. 2 this quote from the avril lavigne song ‘alice’ (2010) is used here as it highlights both the resilience shown by many of the students at the case study university as they strive to change their lives through education and the determination shown by the academic coaches in carving out the space and practices involved in the role they play to support our students so skilfully. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 introduction the university of wolverhampton is proud of its long history of excellence in widening access to higher education (he). to this end, social justice is central to the university’s mission and so it defines itself as the ‘university of opportunity that it serves its local community well, having ‘place’ embedded within its strategic plan. as a consequence, the university is highly diverse and, of its c. 22,000 students in 2020, 60% are from index of multiple deprivation (imd) quintiles 1 and 2, 48.4% are mature students, 68% of students are first in family to attend university, and 90% of students commute from a twenty-five-mile radius to study. over half (51.1%) of the students who attend the university are from the global majority groups (formerly known as bame) and a wide range of ethnic groups contributes to this 51.1% of students3. in order to serve the community through the graduates that the institution produces, equality in the retention and the success of its students is a key strategic goal. to support student retention and success, an innovative approach to students’ transition and support was taken, through the development of three hybrid roles: the ‘graduate teaching assistant’ (gta), the ‘academic coach’ (ac) and the ‘student transition teacher’ (stt). the gta role was launched in 2014 and to date has offered 120 recent undergraduates a twoyear post with the opportunity to undertake a postgraduate certificate in education (pgce) for the post-compulsory sector. unique to the he sector, this role is focused upon teaching and supporting students. the ac role was created – initially as a pilot – in 2018, to build upon the gta role and to offer a career development opportunity for gtas and professional services staff. from an initial pilot, with nine acs in two faculties, there are now twenty-eight permanent acs acting as personal tutors for all new students at levels three and four. the stt role, with seventeen across all faculties, is a 2020 initiative offering a further permanent career route for acs and gtas. the focus of all three hybrid roles is to support students through the earlier stages of transition into he at levels three (foundation year) and four, so developing an academic learning relationship and building student understanding of the nuances of he learning. by these means, students’ prior expectations of he may be met where possible (or, if unrealistic, gently modified) and, it is hoped, students will develop their sense of belonging, known to positively affect retention and success (thomas, 2012; thomas et al., 2017). the gta, stt and ac roles are carried out within the domain between academic and professional spheres, termed the ‘third space’ (whitchurch, 2008, p.3). as they are performed by staff who are neither academics nor administrators, we discuss in the next section the ‘third space’ nature of the roles and how they support he students. particular reference will be made to the ac role, which will be the focus of the rest of this case study. literature review the current united kingdom (uk) he context is in a state of flux, not only as a result of the 2020/21 covid-19 pandemic, but also on account of the looming research excellence framework (ref) assessment in 2021, the introduction of the teaching excellence framework (tef) (govuk, 2017a) and the introduction of the knowledge exchange framework (kef) in 2020 (ukri, 2019). increasingly, universities are feeling the pressure of 3 university of wolverhampton (2020) internal data provided by the university’s planning office https://re.ukri.org/news-events-publications/news/effective-knowledge-exchange-to-put-universities-at-the-heart-of-our-countrys-future-universities-minister-chris-skidmores-speech-to-engagement-forum/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 sector-wide comparisons with funding implications. of particular interest is that the amount of funding universities receive is now linked to their tef results, with the aim of increasing teaching excellence (gunn 2018). additionally, with the shift in emphasis in the office for students’ regulatory framework (2018) to a focus upon the student lifecycle, our university felt that the introduction of new third space roles, created to support student transition into and passage through university (matheson et al., 2018) could enhance student retention and success, which, in turn, would improve our funding position. gravett and winston (2019) usefully conceptualise student transition as troublesome and fluid against a literature and policy backdrop of ‘bridges’ and phases to be settled (briggs et al., 2012; yorke, 2000). they contend that sectoral and institutional drivers and metrics do not address students’ complex and messy, lived and living, realities. gravett and ajjawi (2021, p.6) develop this further and present students as nomadic subjects in motion. they argue that ‘overlaps and tensions’ in transient states may fruitfully offer new insights for practice. simultaneously, key transition roles and activities such as personal tutoring remain underdeveloped and under-researched (walker, 2020, p.1) in the sector despite uk he’s being unique in operating personal tutoring (grey and osborne, 2020). the emerging situation is characterised by a lack of clarity over the role and concern over the developmental support required to assist staff in an activity perceived as an intersection between the academic and pastoral. whitchurch (2013) documents the creation of hybrid or intersection roles in he and transition into them, identifying that to explore a third space identity grapples with – and is able to accommodate – the tensions of being in a modulated or mutated professional role where a loosening of earlier boundaries is evident. fanghanel’s (2012, p.2) exploration of turbulent moments of practice in academic identities stresses the elasticity of the role – an indication of how boundaries and categories of staff in the he workforce at the time were blurring. acs inhabit a modulated space with fuzzy and evolving identities, for they are not academics and not professional services personnel, but instead are taking a role which diversifies and spans the student lifecycle and transition into and passage through university. as alumni and recent employees, their own transition into a new role is worthy of study, for they may offer new, “knowledges, relationships, legitimacies, and languages that they create” (whitchurch, 2013 p.xiii). this case study seeks to explore the unpredictability and contestability of the developing ac role and its ability to offer multiple viewpoints of the institution and its support of student belonging. description of the sample acs from cohorts one (2018) and two (2019) were invited to an information-gathering event (detailed below). fourteen acs from all faculties of the university attended the event. of these, five were from cohort one and nine were from cohort two. cohort one acs had been in post since 2018/2019, whilst cohort two acs had been in post since 2019/2020. nine acs were female and five were male. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 implementation method of analysis/evaluation the data was collected by means of a modification of the ‘consensus oriented decisionmaking approach’ (hartnett, 2010) to include data collection points. this formed the ‘consensus orientated research approach’ [cora – see below] (cureton and cousin, 2012). this approach was adopted as consensus approaches are rooted in social justice practices (susskind, 2008), aim to replace hierarchy with shared power, value equality, freedom and co-operation and respect everyone's point of view (seeds of change, 2013). focus groups of varying sizes were also used as they empower participants’ voice and promote opportunities to make social change (wilkinson, 1998; 1999). given the aim of the ac role, the implementation of a social justice-focused research approach and research tools to enhance participant empowerment were necessary. figure 1:the dynamics of the cora process the data was collected over the course of a full-day event and involved gathering informed consent, so creating a safe place in which to share experiences, opinions, attitudes and perceptions. playful techniques were used to encourage feeling of safety. discussion groups of various sizes explored the subject matter. further details of this process are detailed below. at the start of the first session, acs played snakes and ladders in small groups as a means of exploring enablers (ladders) and hindering factors (snakes) within their roles; a player hitting a snake or a ladder was asked to note a relevant incident on a post-it note. the facilitators then organised these into themes which the full group discussed (with notes taken) for thirty minutes. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210x.12860#mee312860-bib-0086 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210x.12860#mee312860-bib-0087 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 in the second session, ‘auto-driven photo elicitation’ (ford et al., 2019) was the focus for three small groups (n = 5, 6 and 6). acs had been asked to bring photographs depicting two positive aspects of their role and two aspects that caused them concern. the acs shared and collated their pictures in the groups, discussing what their photographs represented and any critical incidents that had particularly drawn their attention. the participants and focus group facilitators summarised the discussions on flipcharts and the conversations were recorded. each group presented its thoughts back to the full group to facilitate further discussions of the findings. again, these discussions were transcribed by note takers and recorded. the final full-group discussion session gave the acs the opportunity to consider what would support the delivery of their role and support their practice, with consideration of possible solutions and how best to move forward. through these sessions, we were able to collect acs’ perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes through which we were able to identify what the acs did well, how they did it, what supported them in doing what they did and what got in the way of their further enhancing the role. analysis and presentationof the data analysis of the data from an initial review of the data, it was evident that the acs had mostly used metaphors to describe their experiences. to this end, we carried out an inductive thematic analysis (braun and clarke, 2006) of the presented metaphors. metaphor analysis is a qualitative research approach that focuses on the metaphoric linguistic expressions (mles) presented by participants. through these, the researchers aim to unpick the participants’ thought patterns and understandings of a given topic (cameron and low, 1999; de guerrero and villamil, 2002). the presented metaphors were explored as they ‘… are a valuable research tool for gaining new insights into education practice and theory” (jensen, 2006 p.13). as many of the metaphors presented pertained to alice’s adventures in wonderland (for example, going down rabbit holes, navigating a maze, metamorphorizing from a caterpillar to a butterfly), the researchers developed wonderland-inspired theme names. presentation of the data seven themes emerged from the data which provide insight into how the acs navigated the curation of their role. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 6 figure 2: the themes that emerged from the thematic analysis in the beginning, acs likened their role curation to a journey in which they were navigating ‘a maze’ and ‘unchartered territories’. this blurring/loosening of boundaries (whitchurch, 2013) they described as ‘jumping into an abyss’. acs started out without a map as they attempted to find their way from appointment to embedding the role into their respective faculties. they felt that they were alone. along the way, they faced many barriers – ‘mountains that they had to climb’ – that often centred on role uncertainty (for both ac and faculty staff), unhelpful attitudes at times from others and the fact that the university systems ‘do not talk to each other’. this left acs feeling frustrated, and ‘banging their head against a brick wall’, whilst constantly having to ‘jump through hoops’ in response to ‘red tape’, which hindered their support of students. one important factor in navigating this maze was comradeship. the acs formed a community of practice and shared their learning, as well as garnered support and guidance from the role creators and coordinators. they felt they were ‘all in the same boat’ and that they would ‘sink or swim’ together. their ability to swim arose from the ‘dunkirk spirit’ that comradeship has afforded them. on their journey, they encountered ‘chaos’, most notably in the form of university systems, which appeared monolithic, anchored and siloed. their rigid and at times unyielding nature scratched and grazed the acs’ desire to be the human ‘face and touch’ of the institution. they rightly identified the need for the’ right tools for the job’ and questioned how much ac activity could be mechanised in what appeared to them to be an already industrial-scale, data-driven coupling of student and institution. the acs found themselves at the ‘chalk face’ of interventions and noted that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’; the ‘right tools for the job’ might not always be available and might need to be sourced elsewhere or even invented/created. the ac’s encountered two forms of ‘rabbit holes’ on their journey. the first related to seeking information to no avail (as noted above); the other related to spaces where the acs felt safe. as this journey was not without professional etiquette lessons, there was some ‘stepping on toes’, together with loggerhead exchanges, uncomfortable feelings of being ’an unwanted messenger’, ‘a spy’ who was ‘swimming against the tide’, and ‘hitting their head against a brick wall’. it is thus clear that having safe spaces is important. the acs created one safe space by offering a mutually neutral ground in the form of the coaches kitchen. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 7 here the acs cooked and ate with those who attended, thus allowing for dialogue, as acs, other staff and students could come together there to talk, to share, to be and to foster a sense of belonging to wider groups within the university. however, there were still tensions and this highlights the importance of the acs’ offices, ‘their bolt holes’, to which they retreated to glean support from each other. the acs experienced the university as ‘bound by red tape’ and ‘a closed book’. to navigate this part of their journey, they do have to understand institutional ‘power and politics’. the acs appreciated the need for red tape, but wished that the systems had more fully supported their welcoming and nurturing role. they were aware that they too were ‘part of the machinery’ of the university and should also ‘oil the wheels’. however, for acs, ‘oiling the wheels’ simply meant cracking codes and solving mazes as the best means of achieving benefit for their students. it was the acs’ humanness which allowed them to see the systems and their internal politics as ‘something to be played’. consequently, the acs questioned and challenged the systems where they found contradictory information. in some instances, this constructive criticism has been welcomed and acted upon whilst in other settings it has been rejected. the acs analogy of the jigsaw is important here: they saw themselves as ‘finding the missing pieces’. they carried and accumulated odd bits of information which formed a larger picture only in the context of conversation and collaboration with others. sometimes this felt too much, like ‘swimming through mud’. despite the mud and chaos they described, they also felt that they were constructing and co-constructing new tools, new working practices and new resistances. although the role was outlined in a job description, the acs shaped it and enhanced others’ understanding of what they were able to achieve through ‘being curious’. in this, they were curators; they found what gaps students fall through and became a ‘bridge’ connecting the pathways between the students and the institution. they helped others understand the consequences of this by ‘shining a spotlight’ on the barriers and provided solutions to ‘open up the gateway’ towards filling those gaps. they attempted to ‘break down the walls’ by sharing their learning, not just with the students, but with others within the wider institution. however, as with any journey, not everyone wants to take or support the ‘path less trodden.’ some people listen and make changes, but sadly others do not. like ‘chameleons’, the acs delivered their role by responding to the need presented to them. they often did this by drawing on their wits and implementing prior knowledge. there was a strong sense that the role was hard work, exhausting at times, on account of the ‘long winding road’ of the ‘maze’, if students were to be supported to navigate beyond the ‘brick walls’ that they sometimes encountered. the acs likened their role to ‘pedagogic bungee jumping’ whereby they were adapting to this new role while working hard to meet the needs of both the students and the rest of the institution, with differing levels of ‘pull and push’ from both groups. the acs recognised that ‘growing up’ is important to the journey for both them and their students. they ‘sculpted’ the role, ‘broke down boundaries’ and ‘paved the way’ for students to settle in more quickly and grow. in recognition, the acs acknowledged that relationships take time and effort to grow and that this is a work in progress. they commented on the ‘family’ atmosphere between acs as they shared with and supported each other; equally, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 8 they recognised that their role with their students was to move beyond the merely supportive role of a ‘parent’ to reach the point of ‘passing them the baton’ so they could independently continue their own personal journey. so, acs were simultaneously growing and stretching themselves into new spaces and places whilst facilitating, for their students, this growth beyond them. despite the challenges of relationships, the acs felt this to be the most transformational sphere they inhabited and had influence over; through this, they could ‘dream big’, while also encouraging their students to ‘go for gold.’ this proved to be where they felt they had the most autonomy and freedom. they felt that it was ‘vital to be trusted’. this trust might lead to further professional relationship building as acs found themselves valued as lenses into the student experience, able to problem-spot and problem-avert. they were a ‘lighthouse that sheds the spotlight on issues’ and sought to offer safe navigation and even rescue those in distress. acs were ‘providing a personalised service rather than customer care’, through which they were giving their students ‘a leg up’ and helping them ‘achieve their dreams’. the acs achieved this by responding to the students’ needs. often this was an individual need, but acs also responded to the university’s need, as students who join us may have greater support needs. acs explored student need and found solutions to the students’ problems by putting together the pieces ‘like a jigsaw puzzle’. they performed ‘triage’, and in doing so felt that they had their ‘fingers on the pulse’. as a result, the acs were ‘many things to many people’. however, much of their ability to understand the difficulties faced by students was located in their own recent experience as students at the university. this provided a common ground where rapport and trust between student and ac could grow. conclusions and limitations the aim of this case study paper was to share the collective journey of the acs as they worked to define and shape their role and to share the acs’ perceptions of their impact on the experience of levels three and four students. the findings highlight how powerful the ac role is in improving students’ retention and success and creating a sense of belonging at these levels. it is clear, despite the obstacles from within the systems, processes and sometimes difficult ‘others’, they were able to offer much-needed support and guidance to those students in the early stages of transition into the university. acs managed to do this through building trusting relationships with students, through creation of safe spaces for themselves and others, through supporting each other, through problem-solving with and for the students and by shining the spotlight on key barriers in order to make changes for the future. despite the hard work needed, their huge efforts and persistence did make changes for students and ultimately the institution and led to an increased sense of belonging, known to enhance retention and success (thomas, 2012; thomas et al., 2017). however, although metaphors are a valuable research tool (jensen, 2006), there are limitations to this study, since it focuses solely on metaphors and on only one of the three groups initially mentioned. metaphors are short and culturally specific and thus could be easily misaligned by three associate professors, however seasoned, who, unlike the acs, were new graduates three decades ago. however, care has been taken to share the metaphors directly provided by the acs, together with the ‘alice in wonderland’ metaphors, in order to show clearly from where they were derived. the intention is that analysis will be case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 9 carried out, investigating the key themes coming through from the cora approach used, and connections made to identifiable specific impact upon student progression and retention figures. these are not available as yet. in addition, similar work will be done to measure the impact of the gta and stt roles too, so there is a better sense of the contribution collectively and individually of these three key student support roles. though this work provides just an initial top-line analysis of the ac role, it does clearly highlight the difficulties that the acs encountered in curating a third space role and shows how they worked hard to embed this into the academic arena. it also emphasises how those in supporting roles may well need to access support themselves if they are to be able to support others consistently. in memory of dr derek walton, who, along with julie hughes, created and championed the academic coach role, supported the coaches’ development and called them his ‘terriers’, in recognition of their tenacious ability to keep digging until they found the root cause of a problem or a much-needed solution. he will always be at the heart of academic coaches’ practice. reference list briggs, a.r.j., clark, j. and hall, i. 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(2000) ‘smoothing the transition into higher education: what can be learned from student non-completion.’ journal of institutional research, 9, 35-47. available at: word pro yorke.lwp (aair.org.au) (accessed: 30 march 2021). http://www.aair.org.au/app/webroot/media/pdf/jir/journal%20of%20institutional%20research%20in%20australasia%20and%20jir/volume%209%2c%20no.%201%20may%202000/yorke.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 a socio-cultural approach in virtual classrooms key implications for practice for business education renu bhandari the open university abstract as online classrooms have recently become integral to the teaching of business education in the united kingdom (uk) and as a key challenge here is to use available resources effectively, all business teachers must be proficient in deploying virtual learning. most international students entering business education do not know how to use a virtual learning environment (vle); many are grappling with the transition to adult life, living alone and away from families. all business teachers are therefore responsible for engaging and involving each of them; by adopting a socio-cultural model in virtual learning classrooms, they can work with students on the gradual development of key business skills and characteristics with potentially broad application. this article discusses: a socio-cultural approach to the online teaching and learning of business education, together with implications for practice; the socio-cultural model proposed by brenton (2014), with its key elements – people (who), shared purpose (why), locating framework and social conditions (where), method (how) and activity (what). this particular model clearly incorporates the social and cultural characteristics of the student in business; it explains to students and develops in them such key business skills as problemsolving, creative thinking, communication, planning and organisation; it encourages in them self-management, self-efficacy, self-monitoring and a sense of responsibility. all of these skills and characteristics enhance employability and pave the way to future success in business enterprise. understanding what business education students each bring to the virtual classroom is therefore essential to the creation of independent learners. the article focuses on the cultivation of collaboration in online classrooms and on developing communities of learning, with ideas for practice; it outlines the role of the lecturer in the virtual classroom, especially in sustaining inclusivity; it concludes by affirming the importance of lecturers’ development of a social collaborative process in virtual classrooms, of their establishment of an inclusive online ethos and of their encouragement of skills that enhance employability and lead to success in business too. many learners with anxiety, shyness and personal barriers to integration with other business students can benefit from the application of a socio-cultural model in vles. there are clear implications for all key stakeholders – students, lecturers, policy makers and developers of online classroom technology. keywords:socio-cultural approach, online classroom, communities of learning, collaboration, business education articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 1.0 introduction the use of technology to engage learners in the learning process has gathered momentum over the last few years. in some instances, traditional classroom models are disappearing and are being quickly replaced by the virtual learning environment (vle) (alavi and leidner, 2001; hanna et.al.,2000; palloff and pratt, 2001). a vle is a virtual classroom where students and lecturers can communicate with each other and exchange course-related information, assignments and learning material. the business education lecturer can communicate with students in real time, using a web camera to deliver group activities and course content effectively. in some business education teaching, a combination of face-toface and virtual classrooms – the ‘blended approach’ to teaching and learning – is being adopted. the core threads of all teaching programmes are employability, ethics, responsibility and global and cultural insights (butcher, 2014) and the delivery of all business teaching – face-to-face and online – should encompass them. they are woven into all key business education subject areas – business organisation, people in business, marketing, operations and production, finance and strategic management. clear understanding of each of the two mediums of teaching can enable lecturers to deliver effective business teaching in virtual classrooms. bhandari (2017), in a recent study, emphasises the importance of creating effective teaching environments. face-to-face teaching sessions and online adobe sessions are contrasting, unique mediums used by all lecturers to deliver teaching in business education subjects. acquiring confidence in using them effectively to create an environment conducive to independent learning is a challenge for all. the ultimate goal of both of them is to encourage learners to be independent, with learners taking sole charge of the process and direction of learning (balapuni and aitken, 2012). engestrom (1999) maintains that the key aspects – learners, others, learning environment, learning activity and the learning outcomes – are vital to the planning of all sessions. all sessions should aim, as garrison (1997) states, to develop an effective learning environment, with due consideration of self-management and control of the learning task, self-monitoring and responsibility, along with motivation and self-efficacy as factors important to independent learning. for business education students, selfmanagement, self-efficacy, self-monitoring and responsibility are all fundamental to both employability and success in business enterprise. in both types of delivery, the design of the session is an important aspect. according to brenton (2014), there are five key components to keep in mind when designing any online or face-to-face session – people (who), shared purpose (why), locating framework and social conditions (where), method (how), and activity (what). most sessions are tailored to student needs. knowing students as active, social, creative learners can aid in planning business sessions well. 2.0 the socio-cultural approach and business education the socio-cultural approach to learning focuses on the interaction of socio-cultural environment and learning and, particularly, on how learning is influenced by engagement in socio-cultural activities. this approach maintains that students should be perceived as active learners who develop new social identities through participation in ‘communities of learning’. business education students should be given opportunities to engage in collaborative articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 activities; they should be equipped with tools and concepts for application within communities of learning. lave and wenger (1991) developed the framework for understanding learning as participation in social practices to develop the concept of communities of practice – in these, people come together to engage in activities where the learning is central to all interaction. through online virtual classrooms, all business education students can develop the important skills of communication, engagement, collaboration and problem-solving. 3.0 business students in a virtual classroom on arrival, business education students bring with them past experience of teaching and learning, knowledge of concepts and ideas, real-life experience and the particular characteristics of age, gender, sociability, motivation and personal goals. biggs (1993) discusses the ‘3p’ model – presage, process and product. many researchers have discussed what a student brings to the classroom – the influence of socio-economic context, expectations of success (duffy and jonassen, 1992), ways of thinking (gardner,1993), emotional intelligence (goleman, 1995) and teaching in higher education (prosser and trigwell, 1999; ramsden, 2002). all such factors are in constant interaction in the online room and relationships between students are therefore always changing; the lecturer, as facilitator, must manage and shape this state of flux. as part of the delivery of module content, the lecturer must make sure that students, in the vle, create meaning and demonstrate understanding of business concepts and ideas and must nurture the process of creating, maintaining and perceiving relationships. rogoff’s (1993) study discusses shared meaning-making and intersubjectivity. it is clear that previous teaching and learning episodes can facilitate joint focus and effective collaboration where learners understand and create meaning together in the vle. in online classrooms, awareness of others and their sources of knowledge aids collaboration and enables students to meet the learning outcomes designed for that online session. garton (2003) argues that ‘theory of mind’ is important in terms of awareness of another person in the interaction; specific awareness of that person’s source of knowledge can also help learners to create relationships in the virtual classroom. as virtual classrooms are heavily reliant on talk and on-screen visuals, some studies, like that by teasley (1995), explain the importance of talk in problem-solving in teaching and learning. furthermore, differences between learners in terms of sociability and language in the online business classroom may be of critical importance in determining whether the session succeeds or not, as may differences in expectations, motivations and attitudes. bonino and cattelino (1999) identify the concept of ‘cognitive flexibility’ in learners. this is the ability to suppress one’s response and switch to another response in reaction to an external cue or changes in the environment. in virtual classrooms, cues are from the talk and the visuals presented in the online discussion. virtual classrooms demand adaptation by and cognitive flexibility in all participants, including the lecturer. in virtual classrooms, the relationship between the lecturer and the students changes according to the delivery tool. students in virtual classrooms are unable to make judgements about the competency level, personality or ability of the other learners. it is important to sustain both awareness and acceptance of the fact that each learner brings to the virtual articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 room clear personal objectives, a social and cultural identity and an individual journey so far. business students bring real-life experiences of work, leadership and practical understanding of real-life issues, along with course content, all of which constitutes a rich means of creating inter-relationships between these online learners. as many international students opt for a business education degree, the range and depth of their cultural and social experiences are respectively diverse and complex. a competent way to deliver and shape an effective business education session is to draw on the cultural and social factors this wide range of students brings to the virtual room, using small-group interaction to build a base for discussion and subsequent development of content knowledge, to lead thereafter to communities of learning. drawing on examples of practice and details of personal experiences can further enrich such group discussions. 3.1 people (who) some researchers correlate the successful setting of expectations before the online session with the success of teaching and learning. if lecturers prepare students for what is to be expected online, what to look for in terms of learning outcomes and how to succeed ahead of time, then the chances of effective delivery are high (cook, 2000; evans, 2001; jones and kelly, 2003). online teaching makes it difficult for lecturers to understand fully the specific needs, circumstances and pre-engagement of learners (coppola et al., 2002). this may be advantageous in that the lecturer must build into the virtual business classroom academicrelated information and conceptual clarity, but it may also be difficult to guess at facial expressions or check misunderstandings if learners are minimally engaged. it is therefore extremely important to identify ‘the person’ in the virtual classroom before key conceptual engagement and delivery. this can be done effectively in a number of ways – before the start of the session, during it and at its end. identifying and addressing the group before the online session in emails or face-to-face interaction or on forums can initiate a dialogue about such significant issues as specific personal learning difficulties, threshold concepts and factors affecting the learning process. during the session, there should be at least two or three opportunities for learners to interact in pairs or small groups or add comments to the chat box. writing on the slides on the virtual white board is one technique that all students enjoy. at the end of each online session, learners should be given time to clarify any doubts and misunderstandings. competence in the use of an online tool in a virtual classroom can also be an important factor in achieving understanding of the person. some business education students and lecturers may be very competent with the tools and tasks of the virtual room, while others may be less confident, reserved and shy to engage – in order to avoid errors. lecturers should endeavour to scaffold the confidence of the learners in each session by maybe giving, at the start, a tour of the room and its specialist function keys. it is advisable to run some trial or pilot sessions for students who are new to virtual learning and so build their confidence. in an online classroom, the lecturer should follow an inclusive approach to learning where there is a variety of ways for students to engage with the topic, offering flexibility to students who have different educational needs, dispositions and tendencies in the way they learn (brenton, 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 to build confidence in business education students, lecturers themselves should not have any barriers to their own understanding or use of online tools, but must keep abreast of changes in technology and undertake training for upgraded vle tools. many settings offer staff development programmes and encourage the building of lecturer communities of practice. pairing less competent lecturers with more adept staff in virtual rooms can also aid in building their confidence. 3.2 shared purpose (why) as in a face-to-face teaching session, there are ample online opportunities for the teacher and learners to check and align expectations, clarify learning outcomes and clear up misunderstandings (conaway et al., 2005). the purpose of the online session should be created and maintained by lecturer and students together. giving students choice in the online session enhances learning and creates the element of ‘social presence’ that links into the community of learners (stein and wandstreet, 2003). each online session should have clear aims and learning outcomes, which are then aligned to the materials, activities and assessment (brenton, 2014). all sessions should pivot on smart learning objectives and the learners should be able to shape and align the objectives and purpose of a session in terms of specific (unique to each learner) and general (specific to the module and curriculum). it is sometimes effective to ask students on the forum and in groups about key concepts and ideas for which they need help and support. 3.3 locating framework and social conditions (where) it is extremely important in all online business education sessions to locate where the learning activity for that session is placed in terms of the wider module, assessment and other key concepts. it is crucial to identify how that online session advances to the next level the required knowledge and understanding. (brenton, 2014). johnson and johnson (2005) discuss how ‘joining together’ in the online sessions can create ‘swim or sink together’ scenarios for the learners, where each learner recognises the value of contributions made by others. in many business education subjects that students engage in, these ‘swim or sink together’ scenarios assume considerable importance and prepare for that integral part of business learning – group work – which moves learners from independence to interdependence in online communities of learning. in real practice, it may be effective to incorporate reflections on teaching and course themes by starting the session with group and individual input on learning so far. it is of benefit if lecturers indicate the themes addressed and where the present learning session fits in with the ‘big picture’ of the module or content. 3.4 method (how) online teaching sessions should focus on two key aspects in the method of delivery: first, initiative taking and communicating and, second, learning to learn. these two aspects are critical in all business education modules. all online sessions should aim for clear communication between the learners, these having been contacted early, before the sessions. lecturers should take the initiative to make this prior contact with learners, highlighting by means of group or individual contact the shared goals of the session. the lecturer takes on a proactive, supportive and facilitating role (conaway, easton and schmidt, 2005). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 6 the lecturer in the virtual classroom acts as a facilitator of the learning process and has a complex relationship to maintain with all learners. the facilitator should allow the learners to take ownership of their learning process and build new information and meaning through interaction with others. building trust in the group and creating an encouraging learning environment in the community of learners online constitute the facilitator’s key role. for many business education lecturers, this could be the application of all teaching, social and business skills learnt throughout their interaction with the learners. building trust and a level of comfort can further help communication to flow effectively before, during and after the session, to its overall benefit (hiltz and turoff, 2002). for students, an online session should have the inherent goal of making them effective learners and enabling their progress towards realistic personal and group targets. ‘learning to learn’, or metacognition, is another important area the virtual learning environment can tap into. brown (1997) highlights how reflective activities like discussion, questioning, querying and criticism should be incorporated into all teaching. these self-reflective activities are then gradually internalised and help to develop ‘communities of learners’. facilitators should make sure that reflection and self-reflection are incorporated well, into all sessions. there should be enough time and opportunity in each session for these reflective activities. ability to reflect, weigh options and make changes and decisions are an important part of business education learning. 3.5 activity (what) the inclusiveness of selected activities and their clear purpose should be kept in focus throughout the online session. the activity selected should be in line with the goal and the wider context of the course delivery. smart objectives of the session should align with the key goals of the activity. before the selection of each activity for an online session, the lecturer should consider carefully its purpose and the rationale for its use. the activities selected should not be merely for the sake of engagement but should enable learners to develop deeper understanding of concepts and ideas. in each online session, lecturers should make a clear attempt to include critical analysis and reflection. the activities should be inclusive – encouraging students of all different learning styles to engage – and have multiple prompts and peer feedback; all learners must realise their own personal goals (brenton, 2014). a wide range of activities should be used: videos, reflective tasks, activities for the building of study skills and critical evaluation of the material, concepts and ideas. details of the activity and how students will approach it should be considered well before any online session. brenton’s (2014) five key components – people (who), shared purpose (why), locating framework and social conditions (where), method (how), and activity (what) can create an inclusive environment for the teaching of business online. all lecturers who are continuously looking for techniques for including all students and for effectively delivering module outcomes can benefit from applying these five key components to create an inclusive online ethos. collaboration online can help in overcoming barriers to learning in business education. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 7 4.0 inclusive collaboration in learning online christiansen and dirckinck-holmfeld (1995) state that collaborative learning requires a means and an environment of study, where students should together be able to create joint goals, apply personal motivations and experiences and use dialogue to enquire. collaborative activities remove a sense of isolation and loneliness in online business education sessions. studies maintain that the greater the involvement of students in the design, assessment, content and evaluation of the learning, the more motivation and responsibility for their learning process they demonstrate. business education online lecturers should promote the fair involvement of all learners in the shaping and structuring of all sessions, as well as in the suggesting of ideas for assessment. leidner and jarvenpaa (1995) discuss the collaborative model in creative thinking online. this kind of collaborative working online helps learners to externalise learning and use their experiences in the learning process. creative thinking is an important skill that all business education learners develop through online teaching. to create joint goals in an online session, it is important that lecturers negotiate the goals with the learners. lecturers should set a plan for the session and ask students to give their input about their own expectations and goals, in line with the key group goals. thus, they may see and understand planning and organisation, with clear goals in action too. after introductions and learning expectations, the session can start with some icebreaker activities. lecturers should ask the learners to comment on introductions of other learners and meet and greet each learner as s/he enters the virtual room. when forming teams in an online session, it is effective to give the learners choice in forming their groups. lecturers can help learners in setting a clear directive, with guidelines, about small-group activities. brookfield and perskill (2005) maintain that the collaboration is set to grow effectively if students engage online with each other rather than with the lecturer. the role of the lecturer is therefore as facilitator of this collaborative talk in online classrooms. since achieving success in collaboration online is an addictive process, students who are successful in collaborating online will enjoy doing it more in future tasks. this in some ways helps students with inhibitions about interaction and communication to work with others. for many students, this reduces the sense of isolation and loneliness in the university. promoting feedback to the lecturer and the online community of learners in a virtual classroom is extremely important. covey (1989) states that developing a way of first understanding and then being understood is important in feedback in virtual classrooms. the feedback has to be deeper than just stating a positive brief comment such as “this is good.” if so, it promotes interdependence and a sense of community in collaboration in online sessions. differences and diversity among the students in the online session should be perceived as appropriate positives rather than deficiencies (barnett, 2007). these differences should be valuable in further shaping and making the session inclusive. 5.0 reflections on business teaching practice in an online classroom session creating an environment that makes students independent learners is a continuous and cumulative process for all business education lecturers. reflections on how far the goals of each session were achieved and how far it led to successful completion of individual and group goals are an important method of assessing its success. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 8 there should be an opportunity in the virtual classroom for each learner to rate the effectiveness of the content and process of teaching. the last part of the session should be an open discussion, allowing students to write on the virtual whiteboards their reflections, worries and what they could not achieve. all this then becomes a strong thread for inclusion in forum discussion and later sessions for supporting the learning of content. for the lecturer, the craft of teaching online can be shaped further by building and integrating the reflections and points of improvement into the sessions to follow. business education lecturers should practise what works and make relevant changes in small parts to make sure that all session goals are well achieved. it is sometimes effective, before the real online session takes place, to practise with peers the session and tool use in empty online classrooms. observations of peers and peer walk-in to the virtual classrooms can further support lecturers in the shaping of an effective teaching and learning process. conclusion classrooms online are a reflection of complex socio-cultural factors with impact upon their use and continuing effectiveness for both lecturers and students. developing a social collaborative process in virtual classrooms, with lecturer as a facilitator, can enable the best use of virtual classroom. applying the socio-cultural model to online business education teaching can help all students to develop some important key skills: problem-solving, creative thinking, communication, planning and organisation. this model further develops self-management, self-efficacy, self-monitoring and responsibility in business education students. business education lecturers can create an inclusive online teaching and learning environment by applying benton’s (2014) five key components – people (who), shared purpose (why), locating framework and social conditions (where), method (how), and activity (what).understanding and applying knowledge about students to create and maintain an inclusive ethos online can further support students with psychological and personal barriers. many learners with anxiety, shyness and personal barriers to integration with other business students can benefit from application of the socio-cultural model in virtual learning environments. reference list alavi, m. and leidner, d.e. (2001) ‘research commentary: technology-mediated learninga call for greater depth and breadth of research.’ information systems research, 12(1). available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informsisre.12.1.1.9720 (accessed: 01 april 2017). altbach, p.g., gumport, p.j. and johnstone, d.b. (2001) in defense of american higher education. baltimore: johns hopkins university press, 1-10. isbn 978-0801866555. balapumi, r. and aitken, a. (2012) ‘concepts and factors influencing independent learning in is higher education’. in: acis 2012: location, location, location. proceedings of the 23rd australasian conference on information systems, 1-10. available: http://hdl.handle.net/10536/dro/du:30049160 (accessed: 01 april 2017). https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informsisre.12.1.1.9720 http://hdl.handle.net/10536/dro/du:30049160 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 9 barnett, r. (2007) a will to learn: being a student in an age of uncertainty. buckingham: srhe and open university press. available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 (accessed: 01 april 2017). bhandari, r. (2017) applaud: accrediting & promoting professional learning & development. (submission for the award of fellowship of higher education academy uk). biggs, j. (1999) teaching for quality learning at university. buckingham: society for research in higher education and open university press. isbn 9780335201723. bonino, s. and cattelino, e. (1999) ‘the relationship between cognitive abilities and social abilities in childhood: a research on flexibility in thinking and cooperation with peers.’ international journal of behavioural development, 23(1), 19-36. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/016502599383982 (accessed: 18 october 2016). brenton, s. (2014) 'effective online teaching and learning.' in: fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (2014) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice. available at: http://open.eblib.com/patron/fullrecord.aspx?p=1770537 (accessed: 18 october 2016). brookfield, s. and preskill, s. (2005) discussion as a way of teaching. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn 978-0787978082. brown, a. (1997) ‘transforming schools into communities of thinking and learning about serious matters.’ american psychologist, 52, 399-413. available at https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.52.4.399: (accessed: 18 october 2016). butcher, c. (2014) 'describing what students should learn.' in: fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (2014) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice. available at: http://open.eblib.com/patron/fullrecord.aspx?p=1770537 (accessed: 24 october 2016). christiansen, e. and dirckinck-holmfeld, l. (1995) ‘making distance learning cooperative.’ in: fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (2014) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice. available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 (accessed: 24 october 2016). clanchy, j. and ballard, brigid (1997) essay writing for students : a practical guide. 3rd ed. south melbourne: longman. https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/h21g24/44opn_alma_ds2162132820002316 (accessed: 19 november 2019). cook, k.c. (2000) ‘online professional communication: pedagogy, instructional design, and student preference in internet-based distance education.’ business communication quarterly, 63(2), 6-110. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_108056990006300211 (accessed: 19 november 2019). http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/016502599383982 http://open.eblib.com/patron/fullrecord.aspx?p=1770537 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066x.52.4.399 http://open.eblib.com/patron/fullrecord.aspx?p=1770537 http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/h21g24/44opn_alma_ds2162132820002316 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/h21g24/44opn_alma_ds2162132820002316 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_108056990006300211 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_108056990006300211 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 10 conaway, r.n., easton, s.s. and schmidt, w.v. (2005) ‘strategies for enhancing student interaction and immediacy in online courses.’ business communication quarterly, 68(1), 23-35. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_1080569904273300 (accessed: 19 november 2019). covey, s. (1989) the seven habits of highly effective people: powerful lessons in personal change. new york: fireside. isbn 9780743269513. duffy, t.m. and jonassen, d.h. (eds.) (1992) constructivism and the technology of instruction. hillside, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. isbn 978-0805812725. engeström, y. (1999) ‘activity theory and individual and social transformation.’ in: engeström, y., miettinen, r. and punamaki, r.-l. (eds) perspectives on activity theory, cambridge: cambridge university press. available at https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1017/cbo9780511812774 ( accessed on 01 april 2017). evans, j.r. (2001) ‘the emerging role of the internet in marketing education: from traditional teaching to technology-based education.’ marketing education review, 11(3), 1-14. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_10528008_200 1_11488753 (accessed: 19 november 2019). fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (2014) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice. london: routledge. available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 (accessed: 01 january 2020). garrison, d.r. (1997) ‘self-directed learning: toward a comprehensive model.’ adult education quarterly, 48(1), 18-33. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_074171369704800103 (accessed: 01 april 2017). gardner, h. (1993) frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences. new york, ny: basic books. education quarterly, 48(1), 18-33. available at: url https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_wj10.1002/pam.4050030422 (accessed: 19 november 2019). goleman, d. (1995) emotional intelligence. new york, ny: bantam books. isbn 9780747528302. hanna, d.e., glowacki-dudka, m. and conceicao-runlee, s. (2000) 147 practical tips for teaching online groups: essentials of web-based education. madison, wi: atwood publishing. isbn 978-1-880094-65-5. hiltz, s.r., and turoff, m. (2002) ‘what makes learning networks effective?’ communications of the acm, 45(4), 56-59. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_acm505273 (accessed: 19 november 2019). https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_1080569904273300 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_1080569904273300 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1017/cbo9780511812774 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_10528008_2001_11488753 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_10528008_2001_11488753 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_10528008_2001_11488753 http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_074171369704800103 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_sage_s10_1177_074171369704800103 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_wj10.1002/pam.4050030422 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_wj10.1002/pam.4050030422 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_acm505273 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_acm505273 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 11 johnson, d. and johnson, r. (2005) joining together: group theory and group skills (9th ed.). new york: allyn and bacon. isbn 978-0132678131. jones, k.o. and kelley, c.a. (2003) ‘teaching marketing via the internet: lessons learned and challenges to be met.’ marketing education review, 13(1), 81-89. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_1052 8008_2003_11488817 (accessed: 19 november 2019). kear, k. (2010) social presence in online learning communities. proceedings of the 7th international conference on networked learning. available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/reader.action?docid=1770537&ppg=14# (accessed: 01 april 2017). kuhn, d. (2012) 'metacognitive development.' business wire (english), 9(5), 178-181. 10.1111/1467-8721.00088. lave, j. and wenger, etienne (1991) situated learning : legitimate peripheral participation. cambridge: cambridge university press. available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/h21g24/44opn_alma_ds2164757470002316 (accessed:1 april 2017) leidner, d.e. and jarvenpaa, s.l. (1995) ‘the use of information technology to enhance management school education: a theoretical view.’ mis quarterly, 19(3),265-291. available at: https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_proquest218130058 accessed: 01 april 2017). palloff, r.m. and pratt, k. (2007) building online learning communities: effective strategies for the virtual classroom. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass.isbn 9780787988258 available at: http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d b=nlebk&an=199976&site=ehost-live&scope=site (accessed:01april 2017). palloff, r. and pratt, k. (2001) lessons from the cyberspace classroom: the realities of online teaching. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn 978-1-118-12373-7. prosser, m. and trigwell, k. (1999) understanding learning and teaching: the experience in higher education. buckingham: open university press. isbn 033519837. ramsden, p. (2002) learning to teach in higher education. (2nd edn.) london: routledge falmer. isbn 0-203-41393-8. rogoff, b. (1990) apprenticeship in thinking: cognitive development in social context. new york, ny: oxford university press. isbn 10: 0195070038. rogoff, b. (1998) ‘cognition as a collaborative process.’ in: kuhn, d. and siegler, r.s. (eds.) handbook of child psychology: volume 2, cognition, perception and language (5th edn.). new york, ny: wiley. isbn 978-0471272892. stein, d. and wanstreet, c.e. (2003) ‘role of social presence, choice of online or face-toface group format, and satisfaction with perceived knowledge gained in a distance https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_10528008_2003_11488817 https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_informaworld_s10_1080_10528008_2003_11488817 https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/reader.action?docid=1770537&ppg=14 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/h21g24/44opn_alma_ds2164757470002316 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/h21g24/44opn_alma_ds2164757470002316 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_proquest218130058 http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&an=199976&site=ehost-live&scope=site http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&an=199976&site=ehost-live&scope=site articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 12 learning environment. midwest research to practice conference in adult, continuing, and community education.’ in: fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (2014) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice. available at: available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 (accessed: 01 january 2020). stockleben, b., thayne, m., jäminki, s. (2017). towards a framework for creative online collaboration: a research on challenges and context. education information technology vol 22(2), 575–597 available at: https://pmteu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_springer_jour10.1007/s10639-016-9483z (accessed 01april 2017). teasley, s.d. (1995) ‘the role of talk in children’s peer collaborations.’ developmental psychology, 31(2), 207-20. available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.31.2.207 (accessed: 01 april 2017). weller, m. (2011) the digital scholar: how technology is changing scholarly practice. london: bloomsbury academic. isbn 1-84966-497-8. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docid=1770537 https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_springer_jour10.1007/s10639-016-9483-z https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_springer_jour10.1007/s10639-016-9483-z https://pmt-eu.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/gvehrt/tn_springer_jour10.1007/s10639-016-9483-z https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0012-1649.31.2.207 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 supervision tracking: improving the student and staff experience for projects and dissertations dr ray stoneham and aliyah essop university of greenwich communication between students and their supervisors in an academic environment has evolved from face-to-face meetings in college rooms to multi-faceted interaction using a range of increasingly complex digital tools (e.g. email, messaging, video, social media, cloud storage). however, many of these tools contain data silos with access restricted to just one or a few users by passwords, which makes it difficult to share and integrate the data into a managed learning environment (stoneham, 2012). as a result, keeping track of this interaction is difficult for both staff and students, and is particularly difficult for academics who are supervising large numbers of students. this presents significant quality assurance issues, since concerns with supervision are often identified far too late to allow any effective action to correct the problem and investigation of complaints can be hampered by lack of access to data. in addition, the student experience is often far too dependent on the allocated supervisor. these concerns were identified over ten years ago in the school of computing and mathematical sciences (cms) and a supervision tracking system was implemented by one of the authors as part of the cms managed learning environment (stoneham, 2013) to address the issues. the basic idea is that all interaction between students and their supervisor is recorded in the system, including uploads, feedback, details of meetings, messages and student blogs. email is used only for notification of new entries needing attention. a dashboard for supervisors shows progress of their students and a dashboard for managers shows the progress of all students. cases where little or no interaction is recorded can be easily identified and corrective action taken if necessary. the system has proved effective, with details of over 600 undergraduate and postgraduate projects being recorded each year. the transparency of the system, whereby all staff can view the progress of all students, has developed a sense of community among staff involved with project supervision. the system has been favourably mentioned by students in surveys and highly praised by external examiners and accreditation bodies, including the qaa and the british computer society. evidence shows that there have been fewer complaints by students of poor supervision since the system was introduced. the authors of this article have used the system in different roles. as well as being the system designer and developer, ray stoneham has supervised over ten students each year using the system and, as programme manager, has had oversight of the progress of around 100 students each year on masters projects. aliyah essop has used the system as a student on her masters in computing and information systems. figure 1 is an example of the student profile page as viewed by a project manager, who can allocate supervisors and second markers. other teaching staff see the same data, but without the editing options. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 1: example student profile page figure 2 is an example of part of a supervisor dashboard, showing the status of each of his/her students. it includes links to mp3 recordings of the student project pitch and viva, which students find to be particularly useful. figure 2: example supervisor dashboard students view the same data (but only for themselves) and have appropriate functionality through a dashboard on the cms student intranet, as in figure 3. figure 3: current student dashboard case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 although effective, the current system has a clunky user interface and has time-consuming maintenance overheads each year. the system was developed in a hurry and was not expected to last as long as it has. it was built using the appropriate technology of the time (classic asp, access, xhtml) and needs to be updated appropriately for use on mobile devices and to improve the user experience. essop (2013) surveyed students and staff about the current system to determine how it could be improved. the research focused primarily on the functionality, effectiveness, usability, responsive design aspects and suggestions for future improvements in order to reflect good supervision practices. responses were obtained from thirty-four users of the current system. the results of the survey indicate that, overall, stakeholders positively endorse and make good use of the current system.  75% of student respondents find that a dedicated area for projects motivates them to engage actively with their supervisors through an effective communication and feedback loop.  64% of respondents indicate that an improved user interface would facilitate and ease interaction.  71% of the respondents favour a responsive version of the current application, given the proliferation of diverse computing devices. additional functionalities that would support the needs of users were also identified. these included processes to increase the efficiency of project supervision management and to enhance the student learning experience. thus the features proposed for the new system mainly related to improvements of the user interface, added functionalities and deployment on other devices such as mobile phones, tablets and pcs. figure 4 illustrates the proposed design for a supervisor dashboard. in this case, similar key indicators have been grouped into a tab which eases navigation and formats the information in a more coherent manner. figure 4: proposed student dashboard case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 essop interviewed staff in other schools of the university to ascertain whether they would benefit from a supervision tracking system for projects and dissertations. the staff interviewed included senior managers, directors of learning, programme leaders, project coordinators, supervisors and students, as well as the director of learning at a partner university. based on the responses to these structured interviews, she developed a detailed specification for a supervision tracking system that could be introduced university-wide. a prototype system, with an improved interface, enhanced functionality and easy implementation on a standard web platform, was presented at the july 2013 apt conference at greenwich and received positive feedback. it is hoped that resources will permit the implementation of a more effective supervision tracking system in the near future. discussions are currently taking place between schools in the university and the university’s central it services, with a view to scaling up school-based systems to university-wide systems. tracking of project supervision is one system being investigated. in addition, the merging of schools into a smaller number of faculties is giving further opportunity for spreading good practice in the use of intranet-based systems such as this. the only example of a similar system essop (2013) found was developed in ireland for offcampus supervision (mackeogh, 2008), although jaldemarka and lindberg (2013) have subsequently published research into technology-mediated supervision of dissertations in sweden. they showed that the supervision of students' undergraduate dissertation work has proved resistant to change, whether technology-mediated or not, but that students in general find such mediated participation helpful for supervision and they suggested that mediation by technology is a productive way to enhance the supervision of students' undergraduate dissertations. this is in agreement with our findings. stoneham (2014) is currently developing an etutorial system along similar lines to the supervision tracking system and it is being implemented for recording and monitoring the interaction of over 2,000 cms students with their personal tutors. it has already demonstrated its benefits in helping the school to meet the requirements for tutorial support set by the university. the long-term strategy is to integrate the etutorial system with the supervision tracking system and also with an existing online enquiry system, to develop a simple but effective customer relationship management system to track as much communication between staff and students as possible. it is planned to integrate this further with a student learning analytics system (jisc, 2013; de quincey and stoneham, 2013) to give the ‘big picture’ of student engagement, with the aim of improving student retention and achievement. references de quincey, e. and r. stoneham (2013): ‘learning analytics and dashboards: identifying potential sources of data and metaphors’; presentation at apt conference, university of greenwich, july 2013. essop, a. (2013): ‘design and development of a project support system for the university of greenwich’; msc thesis, university of greenwich. jaldemarka, j, and j. ola lindberg (2013): ‘technology-mediated supervision of undergraduate students' dissertations’, studies in higher education, vol. 38, 1382-1392. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 jisc (2013): ‘how can i use analytics to benefit my students?’, jisc inform, issue 36, 13-17. available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/inform/inform36/qanda.html (accessed 14 february 2014). mackeogh, k. (2008): ‘using moodle to support peer and group online undergraduate research supervision’; edtech 2008, the ninth irish educational technology users conference, 23 may 2008. stoneham, r. (2012): ‘managed learning environments in universities: are they achievable?’ compass (the teaching and learning journal of the university of greenwich), vol. 6, 45-54. stoneham, r. (2014): ‘etutoring’. work in progression. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/inform/inform36/qanda.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 cinematic reproduction as multimodal composition in first-year composition rachel mccabe department of english, la salle university abstract this case study introduces an assignment from a large midwestern university first-year composition (fyc) program, which emphasizes analytical writing by introducing students to a series of increasingly layered texts, including film. teaching multi-perspective, evidence-based visual and textual analysis has many advantages for student writers. for students to see textual constructedness, the instructor requires they remake film scenes using their cellphones, employing and then articulating their use of generic conventions. this article details the original assignment and tracks its evolution, brought about by students’ innovations. one group’s project, a scene from the shining (1980), highlights multimodal re-creation’s capacity to help students re-envision and more fully analyze cinematic elements, adding depth and specificity to their analytical writing. keywords: multimodal production, video, film, recreation, first-year composition introduction during my time teaching first-year composition at a large midwestern university,1 my syllabi asked students to write about a variety of texts.2 these syllabi, organized in large part by the required assignments of the english department’s composition program and the standards set by the council of writing program administrators,3 focused on reading traditional texts4 early on in the semester and built outward to visual analysis. in exploring how to get students to turn their pre-developed visual literacy into academic analysis and writing, film production became an optional component in the assignment sequence. this case study outlines how i shifted a 1 indiana university is a public four-year university located in bloomington, indiana. it averages 33,000 undergraduate students and 10,000 graduate students each academic year. according to the university’s website, the predominant demographic of the university’s undergraduate population is white students from the midwestern united states, with 25% of students identifying as part of a minority and international students making up 6% of the student body. most first-year college students have completed high school the semester before they begin (“student diversity”). 2 first-year composition is a required writing course in most american universities. it acclimates students to academic writing while teaching rhetorical strategies and reading skills required not only for writing courses, but also for any writing in their university coursework. at some universities it is a one-semester course, but in others it is part of a larger writing course sequence. 3 the council of writing program administrators suggests in their “wpa outcomes statement for first-year composition” that first-year writing courses focus on building rhetorical awareness and critical thinking, reading, and writing skills through a process-oriented model of writing instruction” (“wpa”). 4 examples include chapters from john berger’s ways of seeing, michel foucault’s discipline and punish, and gloria anzaldúa’s borderlands. all of these readings are meant to be introductions to academic reading and are written by, and for, a variety of academic and non-academic audiences. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 visual production assignment toward visual reproduction, as well as the benefits this shift had on the student writing process. by examining the changes to this assignment and the impact of film reproduction in my writing courses, i demonstrate the benefits of assignment flexibility, for it leaves room for student creativity and innovation. i also argue for the benefits of multimodal production in the composition classroom and show how recreation can reduce time while maximizing student engagement within film genre exploration. the included final product, while showing the outcome of the assignment’s final iteration, also reveals the fascinating ways that scene recreation can generate sophisticated analysis of films. in the process, the analytical skills developed in the exercise led students to more detailed observations, which were then reflected in their writing about film. this multimodal exercise highlights the benefits of flexible assignment design and the potentially exciting impact of visual production on student analysis and writing. research and practice: a brief review during my time teaching at indiana university, i had the privilege of both being trained by, and working with, a team of composition instructors devoted to exploring the capability of film in the writing classroom.5 the benefits of writing about film have, for decades, been examined in composition studies. ellen bishop (1999), daniel wild (1999), and henry giroux (2001) have written about the complex relationship between film and student writing. in “breaking into the movies: pedagogy and the politics of film,” giroux claims: “as a form of public pedagogy, film combines entertainment and politics, and, as i have attempted to argue, lays claim to public memory (though in contested ways given the existence of distinctly varied social and cultural formations)” (p.588).6 this meeting place of high and low art within a structured narrative makes film feel culturally significant, not only to broader audiences, but also to students. its unique combination of visual text, narrative, and cultural representation make it a powerful medium for student writing. filmmaking and the use of film analysis are critical to the development of skills that i see as parallel to the traditional writing heuristics we teach to students in our first-year curriculum. daniel wild (op.cit) explains in his essay “writing images: some notes on film in the composition classroom” that, while revision helps students to see their work from a new perspective, film literally asks students to see and think in different ways, a difference they can then articulate in their writing (p.23). unlike other forms of multimodal production, film facilitates this “act of seeing,” which proves serviceable when we ask students, in their writing, to see the world through a perspective other than their own. this production assignment became a touchstone in our classroom discussion about how a director’s cinematic choices shape our viewing experience. 5 this primarily took the form of written analysis of film, developed and revised over time by composition directors christine farris, john schilb, and dana anderson. 6 in the process, this public memory comes from two sources: “mining the twin operations of desire and nostalgia, they are also sites of educated hopes and hyper-mediated experiences that connect the personal and the social by bridging the contradictory and overlapping relations between private discourses and public life” (giroux 588). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 this assignment also demonstrates the benefits of the experiential challenges that come with the multimodal production process explored by jody shipka. as shipka states in composition made whole (2011), the now famous ballet shoes “...allowed [shipka] to see, and so to understand, the final product in relation to the complex and highly rigorous decision-making processes the student employed while producing this text” (p.3). in the same way, this video assignment allowed me to see the complexity of my students’ visual literacy. their careful analysis of the original text was reflected in the project they made, even if they couldn’t necessarily move to the metacognitive step of explaining why they had made the choices they did. context one of the central obstacles was integrating the complex visual knowledge students bring to their writing courses with the vocabulary necessary to talk about visual analysis effectively.7 while the majority of my students were adept at filming content with their smartphones, most students thought of films as polished products which existed outside of the process-oriented work of other creative processes like writing. similarly, while most students could list film genres and knew some of the conventions of genres, they gave little thought to the specific choices and details that constructed these tropes. i implemented an assignment in which students were assigned cinema genres and asked them to film short scenes that they would expect to find within that genre. this assignment was an optional part of the curriculum, but i saw value in involving students in the cinematic production process. the goal was to help students make connections between the composing process of writing and the composing/directing of film. rather than see films or visual media as polished products, having students write, stage, and edit a short production would allow them to experience all of the steps and choices that go into film scenes. once these choices became visible to them, students would be able to articulate more clearly in their writing the rhetorical impacts of these choices. once assigned a genre (such as ‘action’ or ‘horror’), students were given a worksheet that asked them to choose their role in the group project and to map out the characteristics of their assigned genre, their characters and their setting. after the scene had been filmed on one group member’s phone, students answered questions on the same worksheet asking them to summarize the scene they had created and to analyze the details they had chosen to feature. after one class period devoted to filming the assignment, the next class meeting began with a ‘class screening’. the members of each group stood at the front of the class and played their 7 building on the analytical skills required for visual analysis, former graduate assistant director of fyc jennifer juszkiewicz designed an optional assignment that asked students to create a series of photo stills from an imagined film within an assigned genre. this assignment was meant to get students thinking about the ways in which generic expectations help us to analyze and interpret films. students were given different toys and asked to take a series of photos that, when shown together, represented a possible scene from a romantic comedy. the accompanying worksheet asked students to designate their different roles in the creation process, including director, cinematographer, set designer and casting director. it also asked students to explain how the choices they made represented the generic conventions of the type of film they were exploring. this assignment was a starting point to think about how production could get students to demonstrate visually their knowledge of these generic conventions. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 scene for us on the classroom’s screen projector; afterward, they explained their choices and why they felt their scene represented the conventions of their assigned genre. this assignment helped students see the components of a film scene and led into the next assignment, in which students would watch a film and choose a specific scene to write about.8 once they located an interesting scene, they would analyze the visual details and draw a claim about the director’s goals. asking students formatively to plan and film short scenes beforehand exposed the complex processes that go into the creation of the films, television shows, and youtube videos they watch on a regular basis, illustrating how these (often) seamless final products are the result of innumerable rhetorically-driven decisions. owing to the dramatic shifts in student access to smartphones, it seemed feasible to divide students into small groups, making sure that at least one student was willing to use her/his phone to film the project, and ask each group to create a film scene.9 the assessment of this assignment came in three spaces: the final cinematic product, the group’s description of its work, and the subsequent written analysis of a film scene. while the final product and presentation weren’t graded, subsequent writing was evaluated and graded on the basis of the student’s written argument and ability to draw connections between the details of the scene and the director’s overall goal. implementation after teaching this assignment for two semesters, i began to notice several patterns develop: 1) students often couldn’t necessarily articulate the reasons why they executed specific cinematic decisions other than to focus on the technical limitations of the production process. 2) the drafting phase of the project was very time-consuming and often took up far more time than the filming stage. 3) in many cases, even though students couldn’t clearly articulate the cinematic choices that went into their own projects, their subsequent written cinematic analyses of the films we watched in class often included more cinematic details and devoted more time to explaining how these details had led them to the conclusions of their analysis. 8 the required assignment in the ‘film unit’ of the curriculum was an essay in which students applied the heuristic of “using a source as a lens” from writing analytically (63-68) to synthesize a central concept from the reading and then use this concept to see a film scene in a new light. for example, students who read michel foucault’s “panopticism” could apply the idea of the panopticon to alfred hitchcock’s rear window to read the film’s voyeurism and visual power in foucault’s terms. 9 as steve wheeler and richard gerver describe in learning with 'e's : educational theory and practice in the digital age, the technological landscape of the composition classroom has shifted dramatically with the seeming ubiquity of personal technology and internet access. in both formal and informal settings, “students are taking greater responsibility for their own learning, creating their own learning and discussion spaces online outside of the auspices of the parent institution. they are engaged in unprecedented levels of peer learning, supporting each other through a variety of new technologies and personal tools” (p.33). allowing students to use their smartphones to film short scenes was not only a possibility (since each group had access to at least three phones with filming capability), but also an activity that students were deeply engaged in. by 2014, most students were arriving to class with at least some technological literacy on how to film content with their smartphones and then upload it to their computer. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 while the benefits of the production process seemed clear, i continued to look for ways to help students get as much value out of the assignment as possible. step 1: limiting assignment questions to maximize planning time i limited the questions on the worksheet and focused more on the planning stages to help students structure this time more effectively. i also asked them fewer response questions and instead had all the members of each group present any information they wanted to share when they showed their video to the class. the flexibility of this presentation component allowed the class to point out aspects of each group’s video that worked well for their assigned genre. this conversation helped foster a communal spirit around the film creations.10 step 2: ensuring flexibility within the assignment because of the flexible nature of the assignment (and assignment sheet), students began asking if they could alter the assignment: in some cases, making short films so they could follow a full narrative arc rather than segmenting the content. groups asked if they could make trailers for their film genres, which proved to be extremely effective, since they allowed us to discuss both genre conventions and how they are emphasized in film advertising. originally, i cut up paper figures so that students wouldn’t need to act in the films if they didn’t want to perform on camera. however, as their projects became more and more elaborate, some students asked to forgo the paper figures and act in their videos themselves. step 3: supporting student investment and facilitating ‘bring your own device’ (byod) in addition, by allowing them to use whatever software and cinematic tools with which they were comfortable, little technological instruction was necessary. as steve wheeler and richard gerver (2015) note, “those who do support byod for students will need to invest significant time and resources into ensuring cross-platform operability and seamless delivery to students’ personal technologies” (pp.37-38). i deliberately avoided any explicit expectation of technological literacy or access and, instead, structured groups loosely, allowing for students to self-select the tasks of the assignment they wanted to complete. groups quickly determined who had the most cinematic experience or interest and divided the different levels of cinematic creation accordingly.11 as a result, students were able to showcase different skill sets that might not have been shared in more traditional writing assignments. 10 according to eileen carnell’s 2007 article “characteristics of effective teaching and learning,” the central characteristics of effective teaching and learning are that the learning process is transparent, brought about through dialogue, and built by a community of learners in order to generate knowledge (pp.30-33). this project encapsulated these elements by exposing the unknown composition elements of film-making, creating a dialogue between the students, their texts and the class as a whole and building a sense of community around the creative elements of their work. 11 it should be noted that this self-selection process occurred not only for the technologically savvy students, but also for those with artistic talent and other skill sets that became highlighted during the creation process. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 step 4: supporting different group needs to maximize creativity over time, i noticed that, while some groups struggled with the lack of directions, other groups thrived under less specific guidance. as i continued to think through this difference in the final products students generated, i noticed a parallel to lars von trier’s (2003) documentary the five obstructions. in the documentary, jørgen leth must recreate his film the perfect human (1968) with different limitations set by von trier. leth thrives under the rules of the documentary, specifically because each project has only one obstruction he must work within. the limited directions allow for maximum creative potential. the film’s projects parallel the assignment i designed, in which students had unlimited potential within their assigned film genre. while all groups could speak to valuable production-related lessons they had learned, the final product of groups of students with a stronger belief in their own creative ability was often more nuanced than the final product of groups of students who vocalized concerns that film production was something outside of their skill set. to mitigate this difference, i spent more time helping students who described themselves as feeling “less creative” to brainstorm their scenes, while i let more confident students explore their ideas in whatever ways they were excited to try. step 5: rewriting reproductions after multiple rounds of revision, the assignment’s parameters continued to shift, but its focus on genre reconstruction remained the same. in 2017, i assigned one group the ‘horror’ genre and asked that they compose a scene or trailer (since i had expanded the assignment on the basis of the work of previous groups). when we reconvened to watch the films, the ‘horror’ group presented its work: the group had brought a bicycle into our building and recreated the famous scene from stanley kubrick’s the shining (1980), in which danny rides down the hotel’s hallway and sees the ghosts of two murdered girls. because the video showed our adult classmate covering his eyes as two paper girls were shredded with a pair of scissors, the class roared with laughter.12 when i asked the group how many times they had to watch the scene in order to execute this project, they said they’d watched the clip at least eight times and talked about how difficult it was to match the camera angles and cuts that kubrick chose to use in his film. they also talked about which cinematic elements they manipulated to adjust to the limited resources they had, which led into a fruitful discussion about the ways that re-creation can often have a comedic effect. students laughed because they were familiar with the original scene and seeing their classmate imitate the actions of a little boy, along with the substitution of cut-up paper dolls for murdered children, made the content much lighter. in addition to the pleasure experienced by watching this comedic remake of kubrick’s horror scene, they were also able to identify why the re-creation made them laugh. in our discussion, they talked about the original scene as well as the re-creation by pointing to specific cinematic details that led to both the horrifying impact of kubrick’s scene and the comedic results of their classmates’ reproduction. 12 the student work can be viewed here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etsmnrmvkc0&feature=emb_title [accessed: 18 november 2020]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etsmnrmvkc0&feature=emb_title case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 evaluation the central success of this assignment was the re-watching of the film scene. in order to think through the choices kubrick made, the group watched the scene many times. this is exactly the type of work visual analysis asks for in writing: the careful review of a specific moment to break down and expand upon the cinematic elements at play. in turn, i adjusted the assignment and, in subsequent courses, i asked for the reconstruction of a well-known film scene. this cut down on the prep time and allowed students to think specifically about the production techniques they would utilize, rather than spending time inventing a film. bringing multimodal composition into the writing classroom may well feel like time away from other necessary reading and writing skills, so balancing time constraints while maximizing room for innovation can be challenging. imitation allowed for creative re-imagining of the film scene, but also limited the most timeconsuming part of the original assignment: the imagining of a scene from a genre. it also facilitated student innovation within the rhetorical borders of the assigned film scene. methods the three points of feedback for this assignment were the final product of the videos, subsequent class discussion, and the following written assignment on cinematic analysis. as the assignment became more flexible and allowed students to create a short film or trailer, the ‘creativity gap’ began to develop between groups: while the final products of some groups were more detailed and more visually advanced, other groups struggled to capture their genre’s conventions using the available resources. that said, all groups still generally showed more detailed responses in their subsequent writing on film. there was also a consistent disconnect between final products and group presentations of their work. some groups were better at explaining the ways their final product developed (regardless of how the video actually looked), while other groups had phenomenal final products and couldn’t explain the choices they made. class discussion was necessary to push all students to see some of the rhetorical impacts they didn’t anticipate. when these three methods were used to evaluate the reproduction assignment, several changes were immediately evident. first, the creativity gap was dramatically reduced because no group had to invent a scene, trailer, or short film from scratch. by watching the assigned scenes together, each group started at the same ‘creativity level’. while students were still not necessarily able to explain clearly all of their choices during the presentations of their videos, the discussions between presenters and the larger class were more detailed because every member had seen the starting point for each project. by watching the original film scenes together, every student saw the starting material for each group’s video and they were able to ask about the specific interpretation methods used by the students presenting. this shift in the assignment allowed students to derive the same benefits for their subsequent writing assignments (using specific cinematic details as evidence, drawing claims about the film’s rhetorical impact, etc.) while reducing the time spent trying to invent a film genre from scratch. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 limitations the success of my students’ reproduction assignment was, in some ways, a result of their economic and educational demographics. each semester at indiana university, i taught students who were generally middle-class, white, and with some previous experience of multimodal or creative assignments. while one or two students even had experience with video editing or production software, the majority were familiar with recording content on their smartphones (and almost all had these). i structured the groups in a way that would divide up students who self-identified as creative or artistic, but this didn’t always evenly disperse the ‘creative’ students – having even one group member with filming experience could greatly influence that group’s final product. in addition, my feedback from students encompassed a small data set. i worked with about 100 students in all between the start of my experiments with scene-creation projects and my second time teaching the re-creation assignment. while i was able to see patterns within student presentations and writing over these semesters, the limited data set and consistency of student demographics should be considered when reviewing these findings. the four conclusions conclusion 1: in addition to shaping our classroom community, this assignment helped students conceptualize the larger academic community with which they were in conversation. in joseph harris’s textbook rewriting: how to do things with texts (2006) the second chapter on ‘forwarding’ academic writing suggests that students should resist the pressure to invent something new out of thin air. instead, he suggests they see their writing as part of a larger academic conversation. he explains that the metaphor of “writing as conversation” is beneficial because “[i]t highlights the social aspects of intellectual work, the ways in which academic writing responds to the texts and ideas of others” (p.35). specifically, the reproduction of film served as an example of extending the cinematic and cultural conversation produced by kubrick’s original text. this allowed me again to connect the film-making process to the traditional writing process for student essays: this assignment was a way of visually quoting kubrick’s work by adding a comedic lens. in von trier’s the five obstructions (2003), leth demonstrates the creative potential of thinking through an idea under new circumstances. this act of re-creation allows him to focus more on how he’s constructing each new version of his film than any other creative factor. similarly, students who recreated kubrick’s famous scene focused more on the camera angle, framing and editing than any other group that semester, primarily because the original film provided them with a different starting point from that of their peers. in the process, attention to these editing techniques and their relationship to the film’s genre helped students to articulate the specific details that led to their analysis of the scene in their writing. students went from making generalizations about visual texts to drawing specific claims from visual details. for example, students writing about alfred hitchcock’s vertigo (1958) went case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 from using phrases such as “the green lighting in the hotel room gives the room an eerie look” to detailed paragraphs that explain the rhetorical impact of these cinematic effects: the green lighting in the room pours in from the neon sign outside, making the otherwise neutral room glow. this green haze, (green being a color associated with rebirth) fills the frame as judy is seemingly reborn as madeline when she reenters the room. judy also appears hazy and translucent, creating the feeling that the ghost of madeline is walking through the doorway. hitchcock uses the lighting to show how scottie’s desire of bringing back madeline has been fulfilled.13 this level of detail increased once students saw visual texts as the result of rhetorical choices rather than texts that exist as finished products. for me, this was evidence of improved student analysis of visual texts that then appeared in their writing. this was accomplished both by practicing visual analysis as a class and through this multimodal assignment. conclusion 2: re-creating an existing film scene helped level the ‘creativity curve’. as was noted in previous iterations of this assignment, some students thrived under the lack of structure when assigned to create a scene they would expect to find within a specific film genre. however, others found this task difficult, particularly students who described themselves as not being ‘creative types’. while film production had a consistently positive impact on student thinking and writing, the differences in the final product showed that groups with students describing themselves as ‘artistic’ often found it easier to capture their ideas on video. asking students to recreate a famous film scene leveled this ‘creativity curve’. to begin the assignment, i began by screening the assigned scenes for the class. each group was then given a worksheet to help them divide tasks to recreate the assigned scene. some students were excited by the idea of making significant changes in their scene, while others were interested in executing a reproduction that modelled itself as much as possible on the original scene. all groups had to consider resource limitations and the limited amount of time with which they had to work, but ultimately could be as creative as they wanted to be in their final product. reproduction was a mode all students could access. students experienced the benefits of cinematic production: they paid close attention to the original scene and tried to capture the elements of this original work by thinking about the rhetorical impact of lighting, sound, casting, set design, and editing. 13 these two sentences are paraphrased from student work on the ‘film scene analysis’ assignment that followed the scene recreation assignment in spring 2018. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 10 conclusion 3: throughout the evolution of this assignment, my flexibility as an instructor was rewarded. particularly in my initial years as an instructor, i saw it as my job to make sure students were following the directions i wrote out in assignments. however, the more creative structure of this assignment showed me the ways in which students can potentially exceed expectations when given the space to do so. just as the five obstructions (2003) demonstrated the benefits of reproduction, so this approach reveals the ways in which creative work thrives with limited obstacles and maximum flexibility of interpretation. this flexibility was balanced with clearer directions for the assignment. rather than setting students free to create a film or film scene, the reproduction assignment included more specific expectations. specificity is what then enabled creativity, as long as students produced a final product that met the assignment’s goals. this model of flexibility could be beneficial, not only to writing instructors, but also to any faculty looking to incorporate multimodal assignments into their curriculum. while not all fyc curriculums have the flexibility to include assignments such as these, the basic heuristics around reproduction and multimodality are fairly accessible and can be built into classroom activities in small ways. these could include recreating instagram posts, youtube videos, or photographs. willingness to include the visual and technological literacy students bring with them to the composition classroom paid off in dividends, not only in the visual analysis they were able to produce, but in the development of a classroom community in which multiple skills and viewpoints were considered valuable. conclusion 4: my students, like shipka’s student, exposed their visual literacy through the details of their videos. the careful editing, filming, and acting all stress their close viewing of the original product. according to shipka (op.cit.), “having gained a greater appreciation of the contextual or situational aspects of communicative practice...students would prove themselves to be more flexible and reflected communications than students enrolled in traditional freshman courses” (p.26). while this assignment wasn’t a required one in the standardized first-year curriculum at my university, i recommended – and continued to recommend – this assignment to instructors as a way to develop, showcase, and reward students for the visual literacy they bring with them to their writing classes. many of the benefits, then, came not only from the creation of student videos but also their presentation to the rest of the class. when considering the benefits of film analysis in the writing classroom, wild (op.cit) claims that the goal of writing courses should move beyond teaching students grammar and rhetorical writing skills. in the process, “[t]he primary focus thus becomes the production of writing that moves toward a self-reflexive understanding of its discursive functions, an understanding of the student writers’ role within this discourse and an emerging sense of the scope of intellectual practices in writing” (pp. 22-23). in my classroom, this reflexivity came both in the production of the multimodal product and in its delivery to the rest of the class: students may not have been able to vocalize why the changes they made in adapting case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 11 a scene helped them achieve a particular rhetorical effect, so their classmates helped them come to these realizations by explaining the impact the videos had on them as viewers. reference list anzaldúa, gloria. (1987) borderlands = la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco: spinsters/aunt lute publishing. isbn: 978-0933216259. berger, j., blomberg, s., fox, c., dibb, m., and hollis, r. (1973) ways of seeing. london: british broadcasting company and penguin books. isbn: 978-0140135152. bishop, e. (1999) cinema-(to)-graphy: film and writing in contemporary composition courses. portsmouth, nh: boynton/cook publishing. isbn: 978-0867094589. carnell, e. (2007) ‘conceptions of effective teaching in higher education: extending the boundaries.’ teaching in higher education, 12(1), 25-40. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510601102081 (accessed: 18 may 2020). council of writing program administrators. (2014, revised 2019) outcomes statement for firstyear composition (3.0). available at: wpacouncil.org/aws/cwpa/pt/sd/news_article/243055/_parent/layout_details/false (accessed: 15 october 2020). foucault, m. (1977) discipline and punish. translated by alan sheridan. new york: pantheon publishing. isbn: 978-0679752554. giroux, h. (2001) ‘breaking into the movies: pedagogy and the politics of film.’ jac: a journal of composition theory, 21(3) 583-598. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20866426 (accessed: 18 may 2020). harris, j. (2017) rewriting: how to do things with texts. boulder, co: university press of colorado. isbn: 978-0874216424. indiana university. (2020) ‘student diversity.’ university institutional research and reporting. available at: https://uirr.iu.edu/facts-figures/enrollment/diversity/index.html (accessed: 15 october 2020). kubrick, s. (1980) the shining. los angeles, ca: warner brothers. rosenwasser, d. and stephen, j. (2011). writing analytically, 8th edition. boston, ma: cengage learning, isbn: 978-1337559461. shipka, j. (2011) toward a composition made whole. pittsburgh, pa: university of pittsburgh press. isbn: 978-0822961505. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510601102081 http://wpacouncil.org/aws/cwpa/pt/sd/news_article/243055/_parent/layout_details/false https://uirr.iu.edu/index.html https://uirr.iu.edu/facts-figures/enrollment/diversity/index.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 12 von trier, l. and leth, j. (2003) the five obstructions. hvidovre, denmark: zentropa entertainments. wheeler, s. and gerver, r. (2015) learning with 'e's: educational theory and practice in the digital age. carmarthen, united kingdom: crown house publishing. isbn: 978-1845909390. wild, d.h. (1999) ‘writing images: some notes on film in the composition classroom.’ cinema-(to)-graphy: film and writing in contemporary composition courses, 22-31. portsmouth, nh: boynton/cook publishing. isbn: 978-0867094589. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the early impact of initiatives to close attainment gaps at ucl rosalind duhs, julie evans, paulette williams, parama chaudhury university college london abstract this article provides an overview of core aspects of efforts to close the black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) attainment gap across university college london (ucl). although the main ‘catalyst student success’ project focuses on home undergraduate students, at ucl we are also using similar approaches to enhance inclusivity in postgraduate courses. the focus in this paper is nevertheless on undergraduates. the detailed use of student attainment data by the ucl centre for teaching and learning economics is outlined and discussed to underpin the introduction of the use of ucl’s ‘inclusive curriculum health check’ (ichc) – ucl bame attainment project 2018 – as a framework for the initiatives taken by departments. a table with the initial responses from the departments in one faculty is presented and selected points are discussed. the value and potential of the initiatives recommended through the ichc are explored in a table which links systematic review evidence (schneider and preckel, 2017) to the ichc. staff actions in partnership with students are designed primarily to have a positive impact on the experience and outcomes of bame students, but the research evidence suggests that favourable effects will accrue for all students. introduction this introduction starts with an outline of ucl’s initial engagement and its significance. the official launch of the ‘catalyst student success’ bame attainment gap project at university college london (ucl) was marked by a one-day ‘bme attainment conference’ on 10 april 2018. staff from across the university participated. the university has around 19,000 undergraduate students, 15,000 postgraduate taught students and 4,200 academic and teaching staff. as late project joiners, ucl benefited from the ground-breaking work done by bame attainment gap project participants elsewhere, especially kingston and de montfort universities. ucl has adopted the whole-institution approach to closing attainment gaps, as advocated by mcduff et al.(2018) and taken initiatives informed by kingston’s inclusive curriculum framework (icf). the value-added (va) metric initiated by kingston, whereby the probability of students gaining a first-class or upper-second degree is calculated in relation to qualifications on entry and subject choice, has been helpful to universities where qualifications vary. the va metric has facilitated the deep analysis and use of the data as a catalyst for action at other universities such as kingston. the detailed analytical work carried out by economics at ucl – based on the oaxaca-blinder decomposition technique applied to student degree classifications – is explored here. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 mcduff (2019) points out that ‘in 2016/17, for qualifiers in undergraduate degrees, the bame attainment gap was 13.6% and a shocking 24.1% for black students’. bame student outcomes at ucl are affected by the comparatively high tariff for student admission (offers in the range a*a*a to abb) so the va data which accounts for entry tariffs is not useful.1 however, there are documented attainment gaps between bame students and other students at ucl. in 2017-18, 95.7% of white students and 91.8% of bame students achieved a good degree (either a 1st or 2.1), so overall there is a gap of 3.9% on average. gaps naturally vary across the institution, as reflected in the analysis carried out by economics (see figure 1). some faculties are small, affecting reliability. the school of slavonic and east european studies (ssees) has a gap of -4% with bame students outperforming white students, although, as numbers here are low, this figure is not statistically significant. at the other end of the scale, there is an attainment gap of 18% in the faculty of the built environment. figure 1. choice of programme 2017-18: % of 2.1s or 1sts by ucl faculty. (chaudhury et al., 2019) analysing bame attainment at ucl the ucl centre for teaching and learning economics, department of economics, decided to drill down into graduate degree class outcomes data at ucl. the researchers were interested in learning more about the bame attainment gap and wanted to find out how it varied over different groups and to attempt to identify the main reasons for the gap. they surmised that, if department and degree choice, ucas tariffs, and parental/household characteristics were comparable, the unexplained part of the attainment gap might partly be caused by ‘discrimination’. they measured possible discrimination using the oaxaca-blinder 1 the va metric looks at the gap in average marks conditioning only on entry qualifications and departments or programmes. the ucl analysis broadens this to look at the probability of acquiring a particular class of degree (which arguably matters more than the specific mark both for jobs and for further study) and condition on a wider array of factors such as parental occupation, disability status and gender which significantly affect attainment. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 decomposition technique2. the ultimate aim was to ensure that policy implications were thoroughly understood and actions planned in the light of insights gained. table 1 shows the overall results of the analysis, separating out the raw gap in the percentage of white and bame students respectively gaining a 2.1/1st into discrete proportions explained by department/programme, ucas tariffs on entry, gender etc. (see figure 2) and then comparing it with the part of the gap not explained by any of these. it is important to note that the percentage characterised as ‘discrimination’ – the unexplained part of the gap – is larger for a 1st than for a 2.1. the results of this study ‘imply that after controlling for differences in observed characteristics, bame students should actually have a larger probability of getting a 1st, and therefore being eligible to enter higher degree programmes’ (chaudhury et al., 2019). (higher degrees are master’s and phd.s). graduates with first-class degrees are more likely to embark on higher degrees and enter academia. a recent report by advance he (adams, 2018) stated that, in 2016-17, only 0.6% of uk professors were black. this is disquieting not only because it may be a sign of discrimination, but also because it means that bame students lack role models. table 1. probability of getting a 2.1 or a 1st (chaudhury et al., 2019) probability of getting a 2.1 total gap between white and bame students 6.5% explained part of the gap 0.5% unexplained part of the gap 6% probability of getting a 1st total gap between white and bame students 5.4% explained part of the gap 3.4% unexplained part of the gap 8.8% as mentioned above, mcduff (op. cit.) highlights the 24.1% attainment gap for black students. chaudhury et al. (op. cit.) underline the larger attainment gap amongst black students in comparison to asian students (see figure 2). even though the total gap is larger for black students, the unexplained part is proportionally larger for asian students. 2 the blinder oaxaca decomposition technique is widely used to identify and quantify the separate contributions of group differences in measurable characteristics, such as education… to racial and gender gaps in outcomes. (fairlie, 2003). see also the world bank’s explanation. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=2ahukewikm-ka_43iahvtrbuihx2zbpqqfjabegqibxac&url=http%3a%2f%2fsiteresources.worldbank.org%2fintpah%2fresources%2fpublications%2f459843-1195594469249%2fhealthequitych12.pdf&usg=aovvaw3-2nyzywjuhd8xqhklnikx case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 figure 2. how does the decomposition vary by ethnicity? (chaudhury et al., op. cit.) it is evident from chaudhury et al.’s (op.cit.) detailed analysis that there is a lot of work to be done at ucl, even if the overall attainment gap does not appear to be large at first sight. we now focus on some of the strategies which have been adopted at ucl and then explore a quantitative meta-analysis. the meta-analysis confirms that the approaches which originate in kingston’s successful icf, adapted for integration with ucl’s annual quality assurance (qa) cycle, have every chance of exerting a positive impact on bame attainment. strategies to close the bame attainment gap: quality assurance mcduff (op.cit.) recommended an institution-wide approach to closing the bame attainment gap. ucl’s efforts to close the attainment gap have been thoroughly integrated into the ucl quality assurance and enhancement cycle. a cornerstone of this process is the ‘annual student experience review’ (aser) (owen, 2015), completed by departments. in the 201718 aser report, departments were asked to evaluate their progress towards the goals of the inclusive curriculum, through the ‘inclusive curriculum health check’ (ichc), which constituted a major step towards enhancing the experience of black, asian and minority students. this was a mandatory part of qa at ucl and outcomes were discussed by the quality review subcommittee, education committee and faculty tutor forum and were also circulated to deans and faculty leadership teams through race equality charter mark work. the icf as approached by de montfort was adapted by julie evans, project co-lead, to create the ichc. the aim was to build up a snapshot of current practices. for this purpose, the checklist style approach was most appropriate, as it was straightforward for staff to use. the initial draft of the ichc was circulated for comment to the bame attainment gap working group, the ucl arena centre for research-based education, and the vice provost education and student affairs and his office. reponses to the ichc are not benchmarked or moderated; they reflect departments’ perspectives on their own curricula, teaching and assessment. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the resulting set of criteria is provided in table 2. staff received the ichc with their aser forms; instructions were provided, inviting programme directors to map their current curriculum and learning activities as well as student support activities in relation to the extent of their engagement to the ichc. guidance was available from bame project faculty leads, ucl arena centre faculty teaching fellows, and bame co-leads as needed. table 2 illustrates the outcome, providing the perceptions of eight departments in one randomly-selected faculty as to the extent of the inclusivity of their curricula measured against the ichc criteria at the end of the 2017-18 academic year. the numbers in the table represent the total of departments in the sample faculty which selected the corresponding classification of engagement with the inclusive curriculum. the ichc reports were analysed and constructive feedback provided to each department. the level of detail supplied by most departments was impressive and the bame project team was pleasantly surprised at the amount of inclusive activities currently in existence. engagement with the student experience was for the most part profound. the numerical table (table 2) cannot convey the detail provided, but it does serve to highlight some areas where more support will be needed. patterns emerged across the faculties. perhaps most noticeable was the patchy involvement of students in ‘the formative and summative annual review of your programme looking at content and attainment from an ethnic diversity perspective’ (ichc question 13, table 2). other catalyst projects have found student engagement extremely effective. as ucl has a well-developed ‘changemakers’ initiative, which organises successful partnerships between students and staff, it should be possible to extend these to focus on steps to close the attainment gap. we are working with student curriculum partners, seeking out those from bame groups to investigate their experience, using training materials and guidance based on the icf. another area which is surprising is that – although it emerges from the ichc responses to question 7 (table 2) from ucl departments that a lot of group work takes place across faculties – very few departments consider the advantages of ethnically-diverse groups. most respondents explain that they do not influence the composition of groups. we know that diverse groups work well (provided there is an appropriate ethnic diversity of students to allow this best practice). sedghi and rushworth (2017, p.10), for example, found that ‘tutors should deliberately assign [students] to mixed groups rather than expect them to find their own group’. a brief initial analysis of ichc data has shown that students should be more closely involved in reviewing ‘content and attainment from an ethnic diversity perspective’ (ichc question 13, table 2) and that the purposefully-diverse composition of groups (ichc question 7, table 2) should be encouraged. a more detailed study of the data across all the faculties will enable project leads and each faculty lead to refine initiatives to support staff in their efforts to benefit bame students. we plan to revisit and further develop the ichc for the next iteration of aser, drawing on expertise from the ucl institute of education. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 table 2: inclusive curriculum health check report 2017-18 perceptions of 8 departments in one faculty criteria programme (s) meets all criteria programme (s) meets some criteria no evidence on our programme (s) content: to what extent does your programme curriculum total number of departments to select each criterion category 1. create opportunities to discuss different perspectives within and outside the uk related to ethnic diversity? 5 3 2. use material that explores different data, models and theories related to ethnic diversity – even within a historical context? 4 4 3. have reading lists and resources that contain a diverse range of authors including those from different ethnicities, from outside the uk and from non-academic sources where relevant? 3 5 4. develop students’ critical thinking and awareness of different perspectives on issues relating to diversity in ethnicity, culture and nationality? 5 3 5. allow students to gain an understanding of how different factors e.g. social, economic, ethnicity influence outcomes and perspectives? 5 3 in teaching and supporting learning: to what extent does your programme 6. have an engagement strategy that follows up those not attending or engaging? 7 1 7. ensure that allocation of students to small group work enables the creation of ethnicallydiverse groups from different educational backgrounds? 1 2 5 8. encourage discussion from students with diverse backgrounds and include topics where personal experience and views are expressed? 5 3 assessment: to what extent does your programme 9. offer a variety of forms of assessments ensuring that all students have the chance to practise new forms of assessments? 4 3 1 10. offer formative assessments before all summative assessments, ensuring that all students have the chance to practise new forms of assessments? 4 4 11. offer individualised and peer feedback? 5 3 12. offer opportunities for students to reflect on feedback and marks? 6 2 13. involve students – apart from the aser process – in the formative and summative annual review of your programme looking at content and attainment from an ethnic diversity perspective? 4 4 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 evidence that ichc strategies are research-informed as in institutions across the uk, the scientific disciplinary background at ucl prompts staff to question approaches to initiatives. before they embark on the introduction of innovations, they need to know that these are likely to have a positive impact. small case studies based on qualitative data do not convince. the issue of how steps to close the attainment gap affect the experience and outcomes of all students has also been posed by staff. however, as we have seen from successful outcomes in institutions such as kingston, approaches which have proved effective in closing attainment gaps often correspond to good practice in teaching and learning in higher education (he). practice is considered ‘good’ if it is effective in enhancing the student experience and if student outcomes improve across the student population. in the context of this project, special attention must above all be devoted to ensuring that those from minorities have full agency and so feel thoroughly welcome and find that the curriculum resonates for them so they can identify with the topics they study. an outline follows of the elements of the ichc (ucl bame attainment project, 2018) in relation to specific teaching, learning and assessment practices. the link between ichc recommendations and the research evidence is outlined in table 3. each ichc element is linked to a specific area of evidence. the research evidence derives from studies which disregard student ethnicity, so the table 3 data answer staff questions concerning the wider impact of the initiatives promoted through ichc guidance. the table has been sent to staff with queries about the underpinning of ichc dimensions in the research into teaching and learning in he and used at staff development sessions where staff plan actions they would like to take to increase the inclusiveness of their curricula. the research evidence on the impact of instructional practices in table 3 is drawn from a synthesis of ‘3,330 effect sizes from quantitative empirical studies involving a total of 1,920,239 students’ in he (schneider and preckel, 2017, p.592). schneider and preckel’s systematic review confirms that ‘[the] effectivity of courses is strongly related to what teachers do’ (op.cit., p.592) and that ‘the choice of teaching methods has substantial effects on achievement’ (op.cit., p.593), which is important for steps to close the attainment gap. they conclude that their findings ‘[emphasise] the importance of teacher training in higher education’ (op.cit., p.596). a brief overview with related resources has been published by ucl teaching and learning (2019). the evidence in table 3 (data derived from schneider and preckel, op.cit., table 2, pp.568581) starts with initiatives with the strongest positive effect. the authors point out that even initiatives with a small effect size make a difference to student learning (op.cit., p.592), harmonising with angel rose’s comment that ‘small changes can make all the difference to the students accessing the course’ (rose, 2019). explanatory comments on schneider and preckel’s study have been added in italics (see table 3). table 3 also includes mapping to the relevant dimensions3 of the uk professional standards framework (ukpsf) for teaching and supporting learning in he (higher education academy, 2011). the rationale for this addition is that the ukpsf reflects the activities, knowledge and values which underpin our pedagogical choices. this will be familiar to those 3 the ukpsf dimensions overlap. subject knowledge informs teaching and assessment and values influence choices of approach. primary dimensions have been mapped in the table, but additional dimensions are also relevant. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 who already hold advance he fellowships based on the appropriate ukpsf descriptor criteria. fellows will recognise how their work to close the attainment gap constitutes a powerful indicator of remaining in good standing, observing the advance he ‘code of practice’ (higher education academy, 2013). the ukpsf is also relevant to staff who are applying for fellowships, as they will recognise how their efforts to end disadvantage for black, asian and minority students provide strong examples of effective practice to include in their applications. although the bame attainment project at ucl is relatively new, there are signs of the potential for a favourable impact, based on ichc feedback from many departments. one department has already managed to cut the gap from 3% to 0.3%. it remains to be seen how black, asian and minority ethnic students themselves regard these first steps. if bame students neither benefit nor achieve their potential, we will have to seek new ways of approaching the burning issue of unfair outcomes. we do not accept the attainment gap and are determined, in partnership with students, to close it. summary and conclusion this article has outlined the multi-level approach of ucl in its efforts to close the bame attainment gap. we have drawn on and adapted the initiatives of our catalyst project partner institutions, engaging staff in working with all students to enhance the experience of bame groups. we have benefited greatly from the support and advice of senior management and the ucl committee structure. the focus here started with an overview of research carried out by the ucl centre for teaching and learning economics, applying decomposition techniques to student degree outcomes data. a study of the ichc followed, including an example of how departments in one faculty responded, reflecting their perceptions of the current status of their approaches to the curriculum; learning, teaching and assessment; and student support. the elements of the ichc are examined in light of evidence from a large-scale systematic review of research into learning, teaching, assessment and student support and learning environments. the results are promising. this account depicts early steps. we have generated a strong awareness about and interest in eliminating the bame attainment gap across ucl. we are further exploring the experience of bame students to determine the nuances of the quality of their experience in an effort to ensure that we pinpoint the most effective ways of empowering them to achieve their full potential. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 table 3. systematic review evidence (schneider and preckel 2017)4 related to the inclusive curriculum health check (ichc) ukpsf mapping: the overarching professional value is 1: ‘respect individual learners and diverse learning communities’. area and category definition with explanation cohen’s d5 annotated summary of related ichc guide items instruction: assessment ukpsf mapping area of activity 3 assess and give feedback to learners student peer assessment peers grade a student’s achievement in addition to the teacher-given grade high effect size indicates high similarity showing that students can assess the quality of peers’ work so have insight into learning requirements for a successful outcome 1.91 offer individualised and peer feedback peer feedback is based on the assessment of work (any assessment task appropriate to the relevant module) peer assessment of drafts has proved to have a strong positive impact on student outcomes at ucl. see, for example: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teachinglearning/case-studies/2013/aug/peer-review-virology-essays student motivation ukpsf mapping area of activity 3 assess and give feedback to learners performance self-efficacy perceptions of academic performance capability if students are provided with feedback which increases their confidence in their ability to succeed, they will do better 1.81 offer opportunities for students to reflect on feedback and marks feedback which encourages students to succeed by clarifying how they can develop their learning and enhance performance increases motivation instruction: presentation ukpsf mapping area of activity 2 teach and/or support learning teacher’s clarity and understandableness [sic] the instructor interprets abstract ideas and theories clearly … the instructor makes good use of examples and illustrations to get across difficult points 1.35 have reading lists and resources that contain a diverse range of authors including those from different ethnicities, from outside the uk and from non-academic sources where relevant a diverse range of resources broadens scope for the use of examples and illustrations which resonate with all students student strategies frequency of class attendance 0.98 have an engagement strategy that follows up on those not attending or engaging 4 psychological bulletin impact factor 2017: 13,250 5 cohen’s d – (d = deviation) 0.2 is a small effect size, 0.50 is a medium effect size, and 0.80 or more is a large effect size. schneider and preckel explain: “the results of original empirical studies with different measures can be synthesized in a meta-analysis by considering a standardized index of the effect size instead of the absolute values that were measured. many studies use cohen’s d as the standardized effect size index,’ (op.cit., p.566). they provide references for further detail on cohen’s d. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/case-studies/2013/aug/peer-review-virology-essays https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/case-studies/2013/aug/peer-review-virology-essays case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 ukpsf mapping area of activity 4 develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance time spent supporting students who do not attend face-toface sessions or engage in online activities is well spent in terms of enhancing student outcomes instruction: assessment ukpsf mapping area of activity 3 assess and give feedback to learners student self-assessment students grade their own achievement in addition to teachergiven grades high effect size indicates high similarity showing that students can assess the quality of their own work so have insight into learning requirements for a successful outcome 0.85 offer opportunities for students to reflect on feedback and marks self-assessment deepens insight into feedback and marks instruction: presentation ukpsf mapping core knowledge 1 the subject material teacher’s stimulation of interest in the course and its subject matter the instructor puts materials across in an interesting way; the teacher stimulated intellectual curiosity 0.82 all items under ‘content’, for example, ‘allow students to gain an understanding of how different factors, e.g. social, economic, ethnicity, influence outcomes and perspectives’ relating course content to the real world including diversity and the consideration of inclusive approaches to ethnicity stimulates intellectual curiosity instruction: social interaction ukpsf mapping core knowledge 3 how students learn, both generally and within their subject/disciplinary area(s) teacher’s encouragement of questions and discussion the instructor was willing to help students having difficulty; the teacher was accessible to students outside class 0.77 encourage discussion from students with diverse backgrounds and include topics where personal experience and views are expressed learners’ personal experience and views enable the teacher to evaluate development and progress and identify students in difficulty case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 instruction: stimulating meaningful learning ukpsf mapping area of activity 1 design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study clarity of course objectives and requirements the purpose and policies of the course were made clear to the student; the teacher clearly defined student responsibilities in the course 0.75 overarching aim to ‘improve the experience, skills and attainment of all students’ if students have the opportunity to gain insight into module/programme purposes and policies, they have a better chance of doing well instruction: social interaction ukpsf mapping core knowledge 3 how students learn, both generally and within their subject/disciplinary area(s) open-ended questions these require students to manipulate information to create and support a response closed questions in contrast call for verbatim recall or recognition of factual information 0.73 create opportunities to discuss different perspectives within and outside the uk related to ethnic diversity open-ended questions framed to explore different perspectives have a positive impact on learning instruction: stimulating meaningful learning ukpsf mapping professional value 2 promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners teacher relates content to students new information is presented in a way that explicitly relates it to the students (self-reference effect) it is particularly important to be aware of all student groups when providing opportunities for learners to benefit from the self-reference effect 0.65 all items on content, for example: use material that explores different data, models and theories related to ethnic diversity – even within an historical context students are better able to engage with new content if it relates to them; exploring different data will enable more students to enhance their learning through self-reference instruction: small group learning ukpsf mapping area of activity 1 design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study small groups of two to ten students work together toward a common goal group work increases opportunities for discussion and exploration as well as learning from peers 0.51 ensure that allocation of students to small group work enables the creation of ethnically-diverse groups from different educational backgrounds diverse groups lead to enriched learning opportunities because a range of possible approaches to reaching common goals will emerge case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 instruction: academic skills professional value 4 acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates recognising the implications for professional practice interventions which directly target the skills and knowledge deemed necessary for students to successfully perform [at university] can be extracurricular or integrated into module/programme learning adequate preparation for diverse assessment tasks 0.48 offer a variety of forms of assessments ensuring that all students have the chance to practise new forms of assessments variety in assessment tasks enables students to develop skills and knowledge, play to their strengths, and counteract any weaker areas instruction: social interaction ukpsf mapping area of activity 4 develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance teacher’s concern and respect for students, friendliness the teacher was friendly toward all students; the teacher took students seriously an approachable teacher who is concerned that all students should do well creates a positive learning environment. 0.47 overarching aim to ‘[ensure] that all students, regardless of background, are able to participate fully and achieve at equal rates’ concern and respect for all students create an environment which is conducive to learning for all respect for students is also conveyed by involving students in the formative and summative annual review of your programme, looking at content and attainment from an ethnic diversity perspective case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 reference list adams, r. 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(2017) ‘the relation between multi-cultural group work and the integration of home and international students.’ new directions in the teaching of physical sciences, 12(1). available at: https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/newdirections/article/view/857?acceptcookies=1 (accessed: 29 may 2019). ucl bame attainment project (2018) inclusive curriculum health check. available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/sites/teachinglearning/files/ucl_inclusive_curriculum_healthcheck_2018.pdf (accessed: 27 april 2019). ucl teaching and learning (2017) new analysis confirms existence of attainment gap for bame students at ucl. available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teachinglearning/news/2017/dec/new-analysis-confirms-existence-attainment-gap-bame-students-ucl (accessed: 27 april 2019). ucl news (2019) inquiry launches into history of eugenics at ucl. available at: https://uclnews.org.uk/t/uaa-65h50-bbugaa3a64/cr.aspx (accessed: 27 april 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000098 https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/new-directions/article/view/857?acceptcookies=1 https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/new-directions/article/view/857?acceptcookies=1 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/sites/teaching-learning/files/ucl_inclusive_curriculum_healthcheck_2018.pdf https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/sites/teaching-learning/files/ucl_inclusive_curriculum_healthcheck_2018.pdf https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/news/2017/dec/new-analysis-confirms-existence-attainment-gap-bme-students-ucl https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/news/2017/dec/new-analysis-confirms-existence-attainment-gap-bme-students-ucl https://uclnews.org.uk/t/uaa-65h50-bbugaa3a64/cr.aspx conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 the challenges of teaching and learning during a pandemic become an opportunity: reflections on a student and academic partnership. giulia getti, sarah harris, ioana-christina alexandru, raphaelle boulas, louise brempong, rebekah huckstepp, vishwa hiteshbhai gandhi, diana patricia muntean, ana c pires piedade, clara tresserras-segura, adanonso ugwuanyi school of science, university of greenwich, uk abstract the current pandemic has forced us to implement major changes in the way we communicate, interact and work, all of which have had a massive impact upon all aspects of our lives. academics and students alike have had to adapt very quickly to the new situation and the challenges encountered, although viewed from different perspectives, are largely similar. changes are often unsettling and taxing, especially when they are not the result of a personal choice, but they can also offer great opportunities, the most significant of which is for lecturers and learners to develop best practice together, in partnership (kurczek and johnson, 2014). this article reflects upon how sharing our experience of a students-andstaff partnership at the university of greenwich 2021 shift conference has affected our experience of teaching and learning during a pandemic. keywords: student partnership, on-line learning, confidence, conference, higher education background this project started from a desire to learn, from students, which of the changes they experienced during the pandemic have improved their learning experience. our aim was to present our findings at the university of greenwich shift 2021 conference on teaching and learning so that the students’ voice would reach a wider audience. our working group comprised eleven women: nine students and two lecturers from different ethnic backgrounds and nationalities. all of us, sharing an interest in science, microbiology and the power of diversity in expanding our learning and understanding, contributed equally to the design and the progress of the project. we believe that to look at the same problem from the varying points of view of our diverse cultural backgrounds offers a broader perspective and fuller understanding, with consequently a better learning and teaching experience. we placed strong emphasis upon supporting the collaborative aspect of the project, something often neglected in collaborative learning (le et al., 2017; healey et al., 2014). close interaction between students and academic staff is well known to be important to the improvement of student learning, development, engagement and satisfaction in higher education (astin, 1993; kuh et al., 2005). nevertheless, interaction between academics and students tends, by and large, to place the student as the receiver of knowledge and the academic as the deliverer of it. that approach has several well-known limitations (benware and deci, 1984; biggs, 1999) and does not recognise that learning does not end when one conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 becomes an academic, and that learners are best placed to make academic staff aware of which approaches work best in their education. moreover, establishing a partnership empowers all students to engage deeply with their education (scager et al., 2016). the pandemic has imposed such profound changes on the way we do things, it has forced us to leave our comfort zone and inspired us to change our perspective as well brought us closer as a university community. we have come together at weekly meetings to discuss and reflect on how the current pandemic has impacted our university experiences and to discuss best practice. this led us to share our experiences and the journey that we took with our university. we reflected on and identified best practice; we also inspired each other and supported confidence-building both through discussion and also by presenting our reflections (getti et al., 2021). each one of us presented one slide. here, we share what this partnership has taught us. reflections there seems to be an invisible wall between academics and learners, which we inherit from the past and do not question. delivering a collaborative presentation at shift has allowed us all, students and staff, to expose our respective roles to joint scrutiny, reappraise them and adjust in the interests of better learning and teaching. for our group, this has resulted in that wall coming down. traditionally, universities promote collaborative learning between students, but there is little or no collaboration between academic staff and learners – a barrier that contributes to some students’ hesitancy about engaging with academics, with the inevitable consequence that academics’ understanding and ability to support students’ learning fully are limited. during the pandemic, both students and teachers have faced similar challenges and this project showed us how, by working together and breaking down the wall between us, we can overcome them. the project ‘teaching & learning during covid-19’ was a great way for students to build a stronger relationship with lecturers and with peers. lack of face-to-face interaction, combined with great changes to delivery of the curriculum, made things extremely difficult: for lecturers, to obtain timely feedback on the degree of success of the changes; for students, to feel listened to. we found that this, in many instances, resulted, for students, in a growing sense of isolation and consequent disengagement and, for staff, in a similar sense of remoteness. our collaborative experience, however, allowed for the development of stronger connections between fellow student learners and between students and lecturers (themselves learners). it enabled the creation of an online community with no geographical barriers, even when we found ourselves spread across several countries due to lockdowns and restrictions on movement. this helped both sides to overcome the sense of isolation and maintain motivation throughout the academic year. working together towards presenting at shift changed our perspective of the university ethos, showing our institution’s investment into the culture of learning, not just academically, but also in the holistic development of its students, so encouraging their curiosity and their confident independence of thought during their passage through higher education. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 joining the ‘teaching & learning during covid-19’ group started from the desire to feel a sense of community during these unprecedented (and often lonely) times. presenting our experience at shift made us realise that there is a tremendous power in our voice. throughout the past months, we have supported one another through difficult times; we have made connections; we have had important discussions about how to better our teaching and learning – not only during the pandemic, but after it, too. this project has showed us that despite – and sometimes because of – the challenges faced this year, studies have been as valid as they were previously. it has offered an opportunity to usher in new modes of teaching; it has inspired students to take ownership of their learning and lecturers to explore new teaching approaches and learn from the students’ experience. moreover, the presentation at the shift conference gave students a new-found confidence, not only in their communication and presentation skills, but in their personal capability and value. it allowed learners to realise how much they have grown during their academic experience and encouraged them to make their voice heard by actively participating in group meetings and in sharing ideas. as lecturers, we have been able to reflect on the positive influences that closer collaboration with students can have, not only on their confidence, but also on their academic performance and wellbeing; in addition, we have gained invaluable information about best practice. as important tools for a successful blended-learning strategy, students identified interactive teaching material, live sessions, continuous assessment, supportive teamwork and enthusiasm in an educator’s delivery. conclusion our experience reflects the findings by cook-sather et al, (2014), that partnerships tend to produce similar outcomes for both students and academic staff. these include enhanced motivation and learning, as well as development of a stronger sense of identity. this project has been an incredibly successful experience, one that we felt fortunate to have participated in and one that we hope to continue. as breen and littlejohn (2000) suggest, sometimes the greatest constraint to moving in a new direction comes from the limits of “our own imaginations or assumptions”. reference list astin, a. (1993) what matters in college? four critical years revisited. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn: 978-0-787-90838-6 benware, c. and deci, e. (1984) ‘quality of learning with an active versus passive motivational set.’ american educational research journal, 21(4), 755-65. available at: https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312021004755 (accessed: 08 june 2021). https://doi.org/10.3102%2f00028312021004755 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 biggs, j. (1999) ‘what the student does: teaching for enhanced learning.’ higher education research & development, 18(1), 57-75. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0729436990180105 (accessed: 08 june 2021). breen, m.p. and littlejohn, a. (2000) ‘the practicalities of negotiation.’ in: breen, m.p. and littlejohn, a. (eds.) classroom decision-making: negotiation and process syllabuses in practice. cambridge: cambridge university press, 5-38. isbn: 0-521-66614-7 cook-sather, a., bovill, c. and felten, p. (2014) engaging students and partners in teaching and learning: a guide for faculty. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn: 978-1-118-43458-1 getti, g., harris, s., hiteshbhani gandhi, v., huckstepp. r.l., pires piedade, a.c., tresserras segura, c., alexandru, i.c.c., ugwuanyi, a.o., boulas, r.h., muntean, d.p. and brempong, l.a. (2021) ‘teaching and learning during a pandemic, a challenge and an opportunity.’ shift conference presentation, university of greenwich, 13th january 2021. abstract booklet available at: https://docs.gre.ac.uk/rep/learning-teaching/shift2021programme (accessed: 08 june 2021). kuh, g.d., kinzie, j., schuh, j.h. and whitt, e.j. (2005) assessing conditions to enhance educational effectiveness: the inventory for student engagement and success. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn: 978-0-787-98220-1 kurczek j. and johnson j. (2014) ‘the student as teacher: reflections on collaborative learning in a senior seminar.’ journal of undergraduate neuroscience education,12, a93-9. le, h. janssen, j. and wubbels, t. (2018) ‘collaborative learning practices: teacher and student perceived obstacles to effective student collaboration.’ cambridge journal of education, 48(1), 103-122. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764x.2016.1259389 (accessed: 08 june 2021). healey, m., flint, a. and harrington, k. (2014) engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. location: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership .pdf (accessed: 08 june 2021). scager, k., boonstra, j., peeters, t., vulperhorst, j. and weigant, f. (2016) ‘collaborative learning in higher education: evoking positive interdependence.’cbe: life sciences education, winter, 15(4), ar69. available at: https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-070219 (accessed: 08 june 2021). https://docs.gre.ac.uk/rep/learning-teaching/shift2021-programme https://docs.gre.ac.uk/rep/learning-teaching/shift2021-programme https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 an investigation of students’ views on decolonising the science curriculum neil williams kingston university audrey benjamin kingston university abstract decolonising the curriculum in higher education has attracted a lot of recent attention. however, most of the work done on this topic has been within the arts and social science disciplines. by means of a questionnaire, this paper explores science students’ understanding of decolonisation of the curriculum and their views on a range of potential actions to help achieve that, based on swartz’s theses for the process. the results indicate that, although understanding of decolonisation was low, a high proportion of students was supportive of actions linked to the agenda for decolonisation of the curriculum. of particular note was the result that black african/caribbean students were more supportive of actions to decolonise the curriculum, particularly for actions focused on the content of the science being taught, than the rest of the student population. the results support the call to decolonise the science curriculum, in order to reflect the diverse student population. keywords: decolonisation, inclusion, curriculum, bame introduction decolonisation of the curriculum originated as a movement to ensure that indigenous knowledge was taught in the universities of post-colonial countries (gaudry and lorenz, 2018; botha, 2007; walke, 2000; alvare and farugi, 2014). more recently the ‘decolonising the curriculum’ agenda was reignited in south africa in 2015 with the ‘rhodes must fall’ movement. le grange (2016) defined it as “africanising the curriculum”, meaning that knowledge based on african thinking and practices should supplement western science. in 2020, the resurgence of black lives matter after the death of george floyd in america has raised the profile of decolonising the curriculum. even though the united kingdom (uk) is not a post-colonial country, the agenda for decolonising the curriculum is prominent, owing to the uk’s role as a coloniser. the national union of students’ ‘why is my curriculum white?’ campaign (hussain, 2015) has been influential. the use of the term ‘decolonising the curriculum” is contested, as decolonisation has been defined as the “repatriation of indigenous land and life” and it has been argued that it should not be used as a metaphor for improving aspects of society (tuck and yang, 2012). this position is acknowledged by bhambra, gebrial and nişancıoğlu (2018), though they argue that decolonisation should not be confined just to settler-colonialism projects and should be considered as a global project. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 liyanage (2020) has recently defined decolonisation as “a fundamental re-evaluation of the existing forms of teaching, learning and pastoral support in higher education”. she also highlights that many people do not know what it entails and that misconceptions about decolonisation are widespread. as a result, some universities avoid the use of the term. to date, much of the focus of this agenda has been within the arts and humanities disciplines. hussain (2015) suggested that these have the most work to do regarding decolonisation, but all subjects have opportunities to reconsider teaching matter. there is increasing recognition that the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) curricula need to be decolonised as well (akinbosede, 2020; fernandes, 2021). at kingston university, work relevant to decolonising the curriculum has been part of a “developing an inclusive curriculum” initiative (hughes et al., 2019). this work has been informed by theoretical research in the areas of critical race theory, culturally responsive pedagogy, universal design for learning and decolonising the curriculum. however, the initiative has not made prominent use of the term ‘decolonising the curriculum’. inclusive learning and teaching have been defined as “ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all” (hockings, 2010). developing and inclusive curriculum has similarities with decolonising the curriculum because it encompasses the diversifying of content and reading lists and the reviewing of pedagogical practices and assessment. it has a broader scope in that it considers the broader diversity of all the protected characteristics, ethnicity being just one of them. however, it can be argued that focusing just on an inclusive curriculum can result in failure to consider the impact of politics and power hierarchies on the curriculum. decolonisation recognises that knowledge is marked by power relations and the disproportionate prominence of contributions from the global north. nationally, the decolonising the curriculum agenda has grown in prominence, particularly after recent black lives matter protests. the fact that black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) students do not see themselves or their backgrounds adequately reflected in the curriculum could cause the under-stimulation and the under-achievement of these student groups, as reported by richardson (2015). a key aim of decolonising the curriculum is to ensure that all students can see themselves and their backgrounds reflected in the curriculum. as a result, various uk universities have developed guidance on how to decolonise the curriculum – school of oriental and african studies (2018), university of bath (2020) – and how to decolonise a science curriculum – university of sheffield (2020). swartz (2018) has proposed “theses for decolonising the curriculum” that recommend consideration of the following: • the geographical location where you teach/learn; • what is excluded and elided from and silenced in the curriculum is as important as what is there in it; • who teaches, “so that students can be exposed to a multiplicity of views from different kinds of people, and also be able to identify with people like them”; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 • the biographies and histories of who teaches and who is taught and who is being taught; • the ‘hidden curriculum’ must be made explicit; • what is taught needs to be considered: e.g., local and indigenous knowledge; • how teaching is conducted: e.g., pedagogies; • southern knowledge should be seen as having global relevance. this paper takes these suggestions as a starting point in thinking about what actions can be taken to decolonise the science curriculum. it is accepted that others may dispute that these actions are relevant to decolonising this particular curriculum. the aims of this research project were: 1) to explore science students’ understanding of the agenda for decolonising the curriculum and of developing an inclusive curriculum; 2) having provided students with a simple definition of decolonising the curriculum, to investigate their views of actions to decolonise the curriculum on the basis of swartz’s theses for this purpose. this research was carried out prior to the recent black lives matter protests. any advocacy of science students for initiatives to decolonise the science curriculum could help persuade more staff to take action on changing the curriculum. method the main research questions were: ‘what do science students know about the agenda for decolonising the curriculum?’ and ‘what actions do students think staff should take in order to decolonise the science curriculum?’ a questionnaire was developed to interrogate students’ awareness and understanding of decolonising the curriculum and developing an inclusive curriculum. students were asked to rate their level of agreement – using the likert scale (i.e., from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’) – with the following statements: i have heard of the ‘decolonising the curriculum’ agenda; i understand what is meant by term ‘decolonising the curriculum’; i have heard of the ‘inclusive curriculum framework’; i understand what is meant by an ‘inclusive curriculum’; the curriculum of my course would benefit from decolonisation; the curriculum of my course would benefit from being made more inclusive. respondents were then provided with the following definition – from muldoon (2019) – of decolonising the curriculum. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 “there are diverse views of what ‘decolonising the curriculum’ means, but it generally involves a reconsideration of who is teaching, what the subject matter is and how it’s being taught, to ensure all students can see themselves and their backgrounds reflected in the curriculum.” students were then asked to rate their level of agreement (using the likert scale) with eight potential actions for decolonising the curriculum, on the basis of swartz’s theses (swartz, 2018). these are given below. in order to decolonise the curriculum of my course, academic staff should: 1. reflect on what is excluded from the curriculum, not just what it contains; 2. review who teaches the course to so students can be exposed to views from different kinds of people; 3. include biographies and histories of scientists being taught and those who teach; 4. make more explicit the ‘hidden curriculum’ (the unwritten information that students pick up from close interaction with staff); 5. include more knowledge from the global south in the programme; 6. consider the geographical origins of the science being taught; 7. review how the programme is taught with greater focus on active learning; 8. include students more in the delivery of teaching; ethnicity data was collected using a question based on harmonised country specific ethnic groups recommended by the uk’s office for national statistics. the variety of national ethnicities were grouped under the five main categories: 1. white; 2. mixed/multiple ethnic groups; 3. asian/asian british; 4. black / african/caribbean; 5. other ethnic group. in this work the responses of students who identified as black / african/caribbean are compared to the responses of the four other groups combined. ‘white’ includes english/welsh/scottish/northern, irish/british, irish/gypsy or irish traveller and any other white background. the asian/asian british group is split into five sub-groups: indian, pakistani, bangladeshi, chinese and any other asian background. ethical approval was gained from kingston university research ethics committee via kureos. paper copies of the questionnaire were distributed face-to-face in lectures. a participant information sheet and consent form were distributed with the questionnaire and a short verbal introduction given. all students were encouraged to complete the survey but were reminded that it was voluntary. data analysis questionnaire responses were coded and input into an excel spreadsheet. the data within the spreadsheet were anonymous. clustered bar charts were used to present the likert scale data as befits non-parametric data. given that the data were non-parametric, mann-whitney tests were used to test the hypothesis of whether the median rank of likert scores for individual likert items differs articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 between black african/caribbean students and students from all other ethnic groups, in order to identify whether responses were different between these two groups (de winter and dodu, 2010; hollingsworth et al., 2012). a significance level of p<0.05 was used in all tests. results students (n=141) from chemistry (n=12), pharmaceutical science (n=21), pharmacy (n=89) biomedical science (n=13) and pharmacology (n=6) courses completed the questionnaire in november 2019. the study population – table 1 – was ethnically diverse, which is reflective of the very high percentage of bame students on science courses at kingston university. in 2019/20, 80.7% of students in the school of life science, pharmacy and chemistry were from a bame background. students from all levels completed the questionnaire: third year (n=56); second year students (n=73) and first year (n=12). table 1. ethnicity of participants ethnicity n black african 33 black caribbean 3 asian-indian 18 asian -pakistani 12 asian-bangladeshi 14 white 15 asian-chinese 0 asian-other 14 other (middle east) 11 not declared 14 mixed/multiple ethnic groups 7 understanding and support for decolonisation and inclusion the results of questions interrogating students’ understanding of decolonisation and inclusion are presented in figure 1. they highlight that only a small proportion of students said they understood what was meant by an inclusive curriculum or decolonising the curriculum. in light of the black lives matter movement and that the awarding gap is greatest for british black african/caribbean students, the data was analysed in order to make comparisons between responses of british black african/caribbean students and all other students (presented in figure 2). black african students were the largest ethnic cohort within the responses. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 figure 1. low understanding of decolonisation and inclusion terminology figure 2. students more supportive of having an inclusive curriculum 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 heard of decolonising the curriculum understand decolonising the curriculum heard of inclusive curriculum framwork understand inclusive curriculum p er ce na tg e re sp on se sa agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a 0 10 20 30 40 50 decolonisation being made more inclusive decolonisation being made more inclusive black african (n=36) all other (n=105) p er ce nt r es po ns e the curriculum of my course would benefit from... strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 actions to decolonise the curriculum the suggested actions to decolonise the curriculum included in the questionnaire were based on the theses of decolonising the curriculum proposed by swartz (2018). it is recognised that decolonisation of the science curriculum requires continuous reflection and dialogue on the impact of colonialism on science and higher education (he). the levels of student agreement with these proposals to decolonise the curriculum are presented in figures 3 and 4. figure 3. who teaches is identified as more important than inclusion of biographies figure 4. how course is taught is identified as more important than geographical origin of knowledge 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 reflect on what is excluded review who teaches include biographies of scientists make hidden curriculum more explicit p er ce nt ag e re sp on se in order to decolonise the curriculum staff should... strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 include more knowledge from global south consider geographical origins of science being taught review how course is taught with more active learning include students more in delivery p er ce nt ag e in order to decolonise the curriculum staff should strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 8 views of black african/caribbean students the data were analysed in order to identify any difference in responses between black african/caribbean students and others. figures 5-8 indicate that students of black african/caribbean origin are more supportive of most of the proposed actions to decolonise the curriculum than are all other students. it is noteworthy that students of black african/caribbean origin are more likely to agree that more biographies and global south knowledge should be included in order to decolonise the curriculum. in the wider student cohort, these actions gained the least support. the non-parametric mann-whitney test was used to test the hypothesis of whether the median rank of likert scores for the proposed actions to decolonise the curriculum differed between black african/caribbean students and students from all other ethnic groups (table 2). a measure of effect size, r, can be calculated by dividing z by the square root of n. figure 5. responses to actions on content and who teaches on the course 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 reflect on what is excluded review who teaches the course reflect on what is excluded review who teaches the course black african (n=36) other (n=105) p er ce nt r es po ns e in order to decolonise the curriculum staff should.... strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 9 figure 6. responses to actions based on geographical origin of knowledge and science figure 7. differences in responses for actions based on teaching style 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 include more knowledge from global south consider geographical origins of science include more knowledge from global south consider geographical origins of science black african (n=36) all other (n=105) p er ce nt r es po ns e in order to decolonise the curriculum staff should... strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 focus on active learning include students in delivery of teaching focus on active learning include students in delivery of teaching black african (n=36) all other (n=105) p er ce nt r es po ns e in order to decolonise the curriculum staff should... strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 10 figure 8. differences in responses to actions on biographies and hidden curriculum table 2. statistical analysis of difference in likert scale responses between black african/caribbean and other ethnic groups. mdn (o)a mdn (ba)b u z p r reflect on what is excluded from the curriculum 3 4 1353 -2.53 0.011 0.213 review who teaches the course 4 4 1497 -1.85 0.064 0.156 include biographies and histories of scientists 3 4 1371 -2.45 0.014 0.206 make the ‘hidden curriculum’ more explicit 3 4 1670 -0.88 0.378 0.074 include more knowledge from the global south 3 4 1371 -2.45 0.014 0.206 consider the geographical origins of the science 3 4 1204 -3.12 0.002 0.262 review how the programme is taught 4 4 1376 -2.43 0.015 0.204 include students more in the delivery 3 4 1357 -2.45 0.142 0.206 a mdn (o) = median response of students from all other ethnic groups combined b mdn (ba) median response from black african/caribbean students 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 include biographies of scientists make hidden curriculum more explicit include biographies of scientists make hidden curriculum more explicit black african (n=36) other (n=105) p er ce nt r es po ns e in order to decolonise the curriculum staff should....... strongly agree agree neither disagree strongly disagree n/a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 11 discussion understanding and support for decolonisation and inclusion as noted above, student understanding of the terms ‘decolonisation’ and ‘inclusion’, as applied to the curriculum, was low. students were more familiar with the term ‘an inclusive curriculum’. this is perhaps to be expected, given kingston university’s focus on promoting an inclusive curriculum (mcduff et al., 2020). in addition, more students thought that the curriculum would benefit from being more inclusive than that it would benefit from decolonisation. this may be partly because ‘inclusion’ embraces a broader range of protected characteristics, such as disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. it is worth noting that this survey was carried out in november 2019, before the black lives matter movement gained pace in 2020. nonetheless, the results do suggest that more needs to be done, by extensive discussion by academic staff and students about what decolonisation of the science curriculum means and what it would entail. this has been to a certain extent achieved through workshops for academic staff that introduce what decolonisation of science means and how it can begin to be addressed it within individual academics’ work practices (karodia and lalemi, 2019; lalemi, 2020). a key feature of such workshops is the provision of a safe space for discussion, learning and growth in decolonising science, as well as examples of work on decolonisation in science courses. this should improve staff confidence in discussing the issues with students. on first inspection it appears that students from a black african/caribbean background were more likely to think that the curriculum would benefit from decolonisation (30%) compared to all other groups (12%), as figure 2 shows. in the ‘all other’ group, more students disagreed with the statement that the curriculum would benefit from decolonisation than agreed. the opposite was seen for black african/caribbean students. however, more detailed analysis through a mann-whitney test (u [nb = 36, no = 105] = 1587, z = -1.37, p = 0.171) showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the response to this question of black african/caribbean students compared to all other students. however, there is a statistically significant difference in the response to the question about making the curriculum more inclusive ((u [nb = 36, no = 105] = 1142, z = -3.4, p = 0.0006), where 64% of black african/caribbean students agreed that the curriculum would benefit from being made more inclusive, compared to just 27% from all other ethnic groups. this highlights one of the shortcomings of grouping such a diverse range of students as bame. there is likely to be considerable variation between different ethnic groups. the fact that students with the largest degree-awarding gap are showing greater advocacy for a more inclusive and decolonised curriculum provides strong evidence to persuade staff to reflect on this when they review curricula. this is particularly important in schools – such as the school of life science, pharmacy and chemistry at kingston university – where a large percentage of students come from a black african/caribbean background. it is also reflected in the views of black african/caribbean students on actions to decolonise the curriculum, discussed below. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 12 actions to decolonise the curriculum it is acknowledged that many of these actions would be considered good learning and teaching practice and students would be likely to support them outside this particular context of their contributing to decolonising the curriculum. figures 3 and 4 generally indicate that students are more supportive of actions focused on who teaches and how they teach rather than what they teach. there is less support for inclusion of scientists’ biographies and knowledge from the global south. it is interesting to note that reviewing who teaches on the courses and how the course is taught with greater focus on active learning gained the most support (58% agreed). reviewing how the course is taught with greater focus on active learning may not have been the first action to consider with regard to decolonising the curriculum; however, it has been heavily promoted as the means of improving the quality of teaching in he in recent years (freeman et al. 2014). a recent meta-analysis of research on active learning publications (theobald et al. 2020) revealed that active learning narrows achievement gaps for under-represented students in undergraduate science. the work highlighted that active learning benefits all students, but most benefits students from under-represented backgrounds, reducing award gaps for examination marks and pass rates. this is significant, as one of the driving forces for decolonising the curriculum is that it is thought it may well help to address the issue of awarding gaps. given the low level of understanding of ‘decolonisation of the curriculum’, as revealed in the earlier questions, it is perhaps not surprising that more specialist actions regarding decolonising the curriculum – such as including biographies and histories of scientists and more knowledge from the global south, as well as considering the geographical origins of the science being taught – got less agreement, while many students would be expected to support actions centred on established good learning and teaching practice, such as active learning. nonetheless, these results do show there is support from students for actions that swartz has suggested underpin the decolonisation of the curriculum. they also offer a counter argument to the claims that students are not interested in decolonising their university and so a reason for academics not to engage with decolonisation (liyange, 2020). views of black african/caribbean students on actions to decolonise the curriculum mann-whitney statistical tests on the questionnaire results the tests indicate that black african/caribbean students were more supportive of the following actions to decolonise the curriculum than students from all other ethnic groups combined: • reflect on what is excluded from the curriculum, not just what it contains; • include biographies and histories of scientists being taught and those who teach; • include more knowledge from the global south in the programme; • consider the geographical origins of the science being taught; • review how the programme is taught with greater focus on active learning. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 13 many of these actions are centred on the actual content taught on the science programmes and indicates there is a strong desire for more focus on the contributions and knowledge of people from the global south by students from a black african/caribbean background. the tests indicate that there is no significant difference in the response of the two groups for: • review who teaches the course to so students can be exposed to views from different kinds of people; • make more explicit the ‘hidden curriculum’ (the unwritten information that students pick up from close interaction with staff); • include students more in the delivery of teaching. it is worth noting that the median score for ‘review who teaches the course’ was high for both black african/caribbean students and all others. this is evidently something all ethnics groups favour. the much stronger advocacy for action regarding content by black african/caribbean students highlights the importance of reflecting global south knowledge, diverse biographies and the geographical origin of the science being taught to this group of students. this backs up the work of many writers who have called for greater representation of the contribution from the global south in the curriculum. akinbosede (2020) has noted that the discussion of race in the context of science subjects might increase engagement and a sense of belonging for students of colour. the teaching of the biographies of those involved in the science provides opportunities to discuss racial injustices within science as well as diversifying representation. there is now an increasing number of biographical resources (ries and mensinger, 2021) to help lecturers diversify content. these actions are important as they would help black african/caribbean students see themselves being reflected in the curriculum – a key feature of an inclusive curriculum. it is noteworthy that reviewing how the programme is taught, with greater focus on active learning – one of the popular actions for the overall cohort – was still significantly more supported by black african/caribbean students. the importance of such action is reflected in recent recommendations for supporting historically under-represented students in science, which highlighted the value of implementing student-centred learning (arif et al., 2021). liyanage (2020) recommends that a change of pedagogy and broadening of content are needed as part of decolonisation, as is reflected in swartz’s theses for decolonisation. however, she also notes that conflation of decolonisation with diversity and inclusion can be damaging, allowing tokenistic or unrelated measures to be branded as decolonisation. the keele manifesto (2021) states that decolonisation should be more than diversity and inclusion and should consider the power structures behind the hierarchy of knowledge and seek to break down the prominence given to knowledge derived from the global north. the strong advocacy of black african/caribbean students for ‘reflecting on what is excluded from the curriculum not just what it contains’ highlights the need for this within the science curriculum. it is important to note that decolonisation is more than equality, diversity and inclusion. impact of research articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 14 these results have influenced the continuing development of teaching of science at kingston university. the redesign of a first-year chemistry module involved the replacement of a series of lectures with a project-based learning approach (williams, 2021). this allowed students to co-create the curriculum around atmospheric chemistry pollution and encouraged them to explore the global impact of atmospheric pollution. this approach addressed the actions of reviewing how the programme is taught and incorporating more active learning and a greater focus on the global south and the geographical origins of the science. the positive impact of this approach has led to the introduction of project-based learning into the foundation year of kingston university’s extended degree programmes in science. staff have also taken steps to introduce the biographies of a diverse range of chemists into the chemistry curriculum to coincide with black history month. in addition, workshops are being run to discuss and support staff in the decolonisation of science (lalemi, 2020). conclusions despite the promotion of the inclusive curriculum framework (icf) at kingston (hughes et al. 2019), most science students do not understand what is meant by an ‘inclusive curriculum’ or ‘decolonising the curriculum’. this indicates that more work needs to be done to generate discussion about these topics with science students. after having the term ‘decolonising the curriculum’ explained in simple terms, students were most supportive of actions centred on who teaches and how they teach, rather than on what is taught. interestingly, students from a black african/caribbean background are more supportive of actions about what is taught and how it is taught than students from all other groups combined. both sets of students are similarly supportive of actions regarding who does the teaching. in addition, around half of students from a black african/caribbean background agreed that, to decolonise the curriculum, the geographical origins of science should be considered and that more knowledge from the global south should be included. these results highlight the problems of treating bame students as a homogenous group, as there is likely to be variation between different ethnic groups. overall, the results indicate there is considerable student support for decolonising the science curriculum and that this is particularly strong for students from a black african/caribbean background. reference list akinbosede, d. (2020) ‘science curricula must be decolonised too.’ times higher education. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/science-curricula-must-bedecolonised-too#node-comments (accessed: 7 january 2022). https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/science-curricula-must-be-decolonised-too#node-comments https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/science-curricula-must-be-decolonised-too#node-comments articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 15 alvares, c. and faruqi, s.s. (eds.) (2014) decolonising the university: the emerging quest for non-eurocentric paradigms. penang: penerbit usm. isbn: 9838615412 arif, s., massey, m.d.b., klinard, n., charbonneau, j., jabre, l., martins, a.b., gaitor, d., kirton, r., albury, c. and nanglu, k. 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(2018) ‘decolonising the curriculum: what we can learn from global south theories and experiences.’ available at: https://cpb-euw2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dist/f/575/files/2018/11/decolonising-the-curriculum-uclioe-31-oct-2018.pdf (accessed: 7 january 2022). theobald, e.j., hill, m.j., tran, e., agrawal, s., arroyo, e.n., behling, s., chambwe, n., cintron, d.l., cooper, j.d., dunster, g., grummer, j.a., hennessey, k., hsiao, j., iranon, n., jones, l., ii, jordt, h., keller, m., lacey, m.e., littlefield, c.e., lowe, a., newman, s., okolo, v., olroyd, s., peecook, b.r., pickett, s.b., slager, d.l., caviedes-solis, i.w., stanchak, k.e., sundaravardan, v., valdebenito, c., williams, c.r., zinsli, k. and freeman, s. 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(2012) ‘decolonization is not a metaphor.’ decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 1(1). available at: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18630/15554 (accessed: 7 january 2022). university of bath (2020) ‘decolonising the curriculum.’ available at: https://teachinghub.bath.ac.uk/curriculum-principles/support-the-needs-of-alllearners/decolonising-the-curriculum/ (accessed: 7 january 2022). university of sheffield (2020) ‘decolonising the curriculum: a guide for aps.’ available at: https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/decolonisingecolevol (accessed: 7 january 2022). walke, p. (2000) ‘native approaches to decolonising education in institutions of higher learning.’ the australian journal of indigenous education, 28(2), 28-34. available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s1326011100001629 (accessed: 7 january 2022). williams, n.a. (2021) ‘using an inclusive curriculum framework to address an awarding gap in a first-year chemistry module.’ journal of chemical education, 99(1), 171-6. available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00362 (accessed: 7 january 2022). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18630/15554 https://teachinghub.bath.ac.uk/curriculum-principles/support-the-needs-of-all-learners/decolonising-the-curriculum/ https://teachinghub.bath.ac.uk/curriculum-principles/support-the-needs-of-all-learners/decolonising-the-curriculum/ https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/decolonisingecolevol https://doi.org/10.1017/s1326011100001629 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00362 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 defining social change as social action: higher education’s role in addressing social change mazia yassim university of greenwich, uk abstract social issues that need addressing have never been in short supply and, despite regular calls for action, some of them recur with unfortunate regularity. higher education institutions have a key role to play in addressing social change issues, through the education and empowerment of students. based on critical discourse, this article puts forward the opinion that effective development of students as social change makers requires education and impact measurement. context the world we currently live in has undergone changes for the better in very many ways, from social and economic to technical aspects. we cannot deny that we have made great strides in very many areas. however, there are some fundamental, seemingly recurrent issues which affect society in many parts of the world. racism is one of them. racism is not a new phenomenon and goes back centuries. we have lost count of the number of campaigns to address racism and the number of world leaders who promised to address it. but how much has actually changed? recent resurgence of the ‘black lives matter’ movement as a result of george floyd’s death in the united states of america is an unfortunate and uncomfortable reminder to us all that this issue has not been effectively dealt with. the efforts of higher education institutions to raise awareness of social issues the global financial crisis of 2007/8 was a wake-up call for many educational institutions, especially for business schools, to reform educational approaches. following critique of the focus of higher education institutions (heis) on developing economic beings (abbott, 2007), many heis have taken measures to instil social consciousness as part of their graduate development (iverson and james, 2010; rountree and koernig, 2015) and have introduced various initiatives. these include incorporating the ‘sustainability development goals’ (sdgs) of the united nations (un), appointing sustainability champions, promoting an inclusive curriculum and signing up to the un principles for responsible management education (prme), aimed at transforming business and management education. given all these initiatives, why do we still encounter evidence of racial insensitivity and abuse? for instance, businesses and brands are often foremost in their support for challenges to racism and for movements such as black lives matter. on the other hand, they may contradict themselves, for example by producing blackface sweaters (gucci) and exploiting movements such as black lives matter for commercial gain (pepsi’s use of kendall jenner in an advert depicting a protest). these are some constant reminders to us in heis that we need to do more and the recent resurgence of the black lives matter movement should be prompting opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 us to review what we do and to see what more we can do. heis are doing well in raising awareness of social issues, but just being aware is not enough – it is now time to focus on action. moving on from awareness to action despite the various efforts by heis to build social change agendas into their practices, there is almost no evidence of the effectiveness of these methods. unfortunately, to date, objective measurement of the impact on our students of social change initiatives has been negligible and so there is no reliable means of knowing whether our graduates are socially active in their employment arena or in life in general. we also remain in the dark as to whether their increased social consciousness is influencing their lives – and, if so, how – and also, in particular, employment practices. so how may we ensure that we move from merely raising awareness to facilitating action? there are at least two ways by which we can do this – education and measurement. an hei wishing to be successful in embedding sound practice for educating students about social change must, with full senior management buy-in, establish it as an integral part of its culture. it must also ensure that social change is given the same curricular weight and profile by all disciplines. a framework that can help with this is the cultural competency for social justice (ccsj) proposed by goodman (2013). the author suggests that social justice should be part of the culture we develop in students and, in order to inspire a sense of social justice and cultural competence in our students, we need to facilitate their development through five stages: 1. self-awareness – addresses, among other things, our own prejudices, biases and internalised notions of superiority or inferiority. 2. understanding and valuing others – addresses aspects such as social identities and culture of others and the ability to value those who have different perspectives. 3. knowledge and societal inequities – is about understanding the history, ideologies and various manifestations of inequalities. 4. skills to interact effectively with a diversity of people in different contexts – is about the skills needed to deal with conflict arising from cultural differences, social identities and inequality. 5. skills to foster equity and inclusion – is focused on developing the skills required to transform institutions and create social change. part of this education of students should also build their confidence in their own ability to create change. it is important that we do not allow our students to fall into the downward spiral of a feeling of individual helplessness ‘what can one person do?’ or ‘i don’t have the power to make any difference.’ research into the development of people from children to adults has shown that empathy, positive emotions and a growth mindset all have a positive impact on prosocial behaviour and social responsibility ( oros and fontana nalesso, 2015; hernández and carranza esteban, 2017). every one of us, regardless of who we are and where we are on our career ladder, can influence society positively. it is important that our students graduate with not just the confidence to exercise their discipline or employmentspecific skills and knowledge, but also with full competence and confidence to be able to create and deliver social change. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 of course, to educate our students effectively about social change and to develop this social justice cultural competence, we need to ensure that all our academics receive the relevant training and support to embed into the curriculum the means of generating such competence and to convert it into suitable content. measurement of social change initiatives is essential if we are do more than merely demonstrate evidence of impact: to understand how and where we can improve. according to ratliff (2019) the measurement starts from embedding social change cultural competences into learning outcomes across a programme of study. this ensures that, at a programme level in every discipline, emphasis is given to developing student skills to create social change. as well as programme-level measurements, institutional and sector-wide measurements are also key to driving this change. in the higher education (he) sector and in a given market, measurement of the standing and reputation of heis needs to take into account the level of social change measures that are implemented effectively. tracking of alumni progress and career profiles should include consideration of their social change engagements. national surveys – such as destination of leavers from higher education (dlhe), national student survey (nss) and postgraduate taught experience survey (ptes) – must include social change components so that social change education forms part of the focus of all heis. conclusion he has a duty to consider social change as a necessary part of student development (simpson, 2014). in order to ensure that social justice and support for related movements such as black lives matter do not remain a futile concept, there must be a focus on education and measurement. students need to understand how to define social issues – in terms of specific change action within any given discipline or sector – and have the skills and confidence to be able to create and deliver these change actions. measurements at programme, institutional and even national levels are key to ensuring that social change remains at the forefront of the he sector’s practices. reference list abbott, a. (2007) ‘education for humanity: a challenge within globalisation.’ the international journal of the humanities, 5, 223-227. goodman, d.j. (2013) ‘cultural competency for social justice,’ the csjc blog. available at: https://acpacsje.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/cultural-competency-for-social-justice-bydiane-j-goodman-ed-d/ (accessed: 1st august 2020). hernández, r.m. and carranza esteban, r.f. (2017) ‘happiness, optimism and selfrealization in students from a higher education program for adults.’ [felicidad, optimismo y autorrealización en estudiantes de un programa de educación superior para adultos.] interdisciplinaria, 34, 307-325. iverson, s.v. and james, j.h. (2010) ‘becoming “effective” citizens? change-oriented service in a teacher education program.’ innovation in higher education, 35, 19-35. https://acpacsje.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/cultural-competency-for-social-justice-by-diane-j-goodman-ed-d/ https://acpacsje.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/cultural-competency-for-social-justice-by-diane-j-goodman-ed-d/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 oros, l.b. and fontana nalesso, a.c. (2015) ‘socially skilful children: how much influence do positive emotions and empathy have?’ [niños socialmente hábiles: ¿cuánto influyen la empatía y las emociones positivas?] interdisciplinaria, 32,109-125. ratliff, d. (2019) ‘educating for justice: curricular social justice education at institutions of higher education,’ jesuit higher education: a journal, 8, 37-48. rountree, m.m. and koernig, s.k. (2015) ‘values-based education for sustainability marketers: two approaches for enhancing student social consciousness,’ journal of marketing education, 37, 5-24. simpson, j.s. (2014) longing for justice: higher education and democracy's agenda, toronto: university of toronto press. isbn: 978-0-8020-9670-8 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 improving students’ knowledge and skills using an innovative pecha kucha presentation assignment in a history of economic thought class heba ezzeldin helmy october university for modern sciences and arts (msa), egypt in this article, the author considers the motivational power in allocating to groups of students in a history of economic thought (het) course a new formative pecha kucha (pk) presentation assignment on one economic school of thought. following this, each group then posted its pk on the moodle course forum and commented on pk presentations by other groups. the assignment aimed to encourage students to engage more with technology; to learn on their own and with each other and from each other; to acquire abstracting skills; to address the breadth rather than only the depth of learning; and to make use of the brevity of pk in shortening the long history of economics. the author weighs up the advantages and limitations of this assignment and reflects on its applicability to other courses. keywords: pecha kucha; powerpoint; education; history of economic thought; economics education; multimodal teaching jel codes: a20; a22; b0; b40 1. introduction this paper analyses the outcomes of an innovative pecha kucha1 (pk) formative assignment that i experimented with in my history of economic thought (het) class, as i aimed to give greater breadth to students’ learning and to feed forward to their summative assignments. in this assignment, i asked groups of students to design and prepare a pk presentation on one economic school of thought that i had allocated in advance. each group was then to post it on the moodle course forum and comment on two other pk presentations. i intended with this assignment to encourage students to engage more with technology; to learn on their own and with each other and from each other; to acquire abstracting skills2; to have a helicopter view of the different theories in order to address the breadth rather than the depth of learning; and to make use of the brevity of pk in shortening the long history of economics, which begins with the writings of the ancient greek philosophers and extends to theories of contemporary economists. in the het courses that i teach2, i emphasise both the depth and breadth of learning. deep learning requires students to explore deeply one concept or theory and test it through their summative research papers, in addition to evaluating and criticising different economic theories through summative examinations. as i have mentioned, my focus on enhancing breadth – not just depth – of learning led me to propose an assignment which would achieve student articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 understanding of the key features of the theories studied by presenting them with in-a-nutshell concision. also important to me was to train students to summarise the long presentations of their summative research papers and to substitute them with live pk presentations. a formative pk that would feed forward to the summative presentation assignment therefore seemed to me an appropriate way forward. since the students would need to make several trial-and-error attempts – at the expense of considerable lecture time – to fine-tune their pks, i thought of having the formative pk recorded on moodle, so that the students could listen to themselves first and rehearse until they were able to adjust to the pk format the pitch, speed and tone of their voices. at the end of this experiment, i asked students to evaluate their experience in doing the pk assignment and their attitudes toward it through a twelve-question questionnaire and two open-ended questions. quantification of the results pinpointed numerous positive outcomes for the students. this paper seeks to prove that the pk is an innovative and interesting pedagogical tool which,in addition to providing students with a multiplicity of skills, can also enhance breadth of learning – especially in courses such as het that require students to understand and study many theories in a constrained time period. 2. evaluating the application of pk in higher education: a review of the literature 2.1. pk as a pedagogical tool in recent years, many have criticised traditional powerpoint presentations(ppts) on several grounds (jobs,s., as cited in isaacson, 2011; thompson, 2003; tufte, 2003), though the most widely known condemnation was by garber (2001), who accused them of delivering “death by powerpoint” to the audience in the form of poorly structured, lengthy and boring presentations. pks, as one means of overcoming such criticism, have since been gradually penetrating both business and academic arenas. according to anderson and williams (2012), who employed pks in three of their graduate and undergraduate management courses, pk made communication strategies – an integral skill of business students – both sticky and lean. as audience, students felt that pks were more interesting than ppts. asked whether they would use pk in future presentations, seventy-five per cent of the undergraduate students said that they would. however, despite their positive responses, students also reported some negative aspects of pk, like not being able to go into important details, spending too much time on practising and having to learn the slides by heart. pk assignments have been found to improve students’ knowledge of course content, in both undergraduate (mcdonald and derby, 2015) and postgraduate (levin and peterson, 2013) modules. furthermore, pk was found to enhance english language competency. in an asian international college offering a variety of courses related to business administration in english, students reported that pk enhanced their self-confidence, improved their english through practising and stimulated them to think creatively about the topic and learn more about it. the impact of pk in enhancing english language skills for foreign students was underscored by zharkynbekova et al. (2017). such other positive outcomes as raising awareness of the importance of visual aids, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 timing and building presenter confidence were also reported in courses for teaching business students english for academic purposes(robinson, 2015). in a group of studies done on engineering students, pks were found to enhance students’ skills in designing, an important graduate attribute. according to gries and brooke (2010),pk has revived the role of powerpoint in the world of design, as it has made students not only writers but also designers, an outcome also emphasised by eriksen et al.(2011). however, having assigned a pk presentation to first-year engineering students, swathipatnaik and davidson (2016) concluded that, while most students liked the pk exercise, only thirty per cent of the students performed quite well, forty per cent displayed average performance and the remainder were poor. the most common complaint was that they could not finish each slide in twenty seconds. nevertheless, the authors recognised increased presentation practice. finally, results were less certain about whether or not pks – when compared to ppts – enhanced students’ retention levels(beyer et al., 2012; freeman, 2016). 2.2. formative assessments in theory and practice aside from being a pk, my assignment was also a formative one. although bloom (1969) was not the first to use the concept of 'formative assessment’4, he was probably the first to use the term to mean corrective feedback provided to students at each stage of the learning process as distinguished from summative assessment, which is used to assess what the students have learnt by the end of a programme or course. while formative assessment has been criticised by some scholars as not being underpinned by theory, moeed (2015) believes that many facets of formative assessment are already based on a number of learning theories, such as cognitive theory, constructivism, socio-cultural theory, behaviorism and social constructivism. according to bennett (2011), most empirical studies support the evidence that formative assessment – if done correctly – can facilitate learning; however, such studies also pinpoint the fact that benefits of formative assessment differ according to kind and across different cohorts. in fact, black and wiliam (2009, p.8, as cited in asghar, 2012) identify five main strategies for formative assessment. formative assessment has risen in importance over the last few decades at the expense of summative assessment (black and wiliam 2003; guskey 2005). gradually, summative assessment came to be perceived, unintentionally, in the literature as bad, while formative was seen as good (lau, 2016).higgins et al. (2002), for example, defend formative assessment on the basis of the positive effects it brings to learning and disagree that students are motivated to learn only by marks. nevertheless, barnett, (2007, as cited in lau, 2016) believes that educators should resist putting all weight on formative assessment, as, while it might be more open-ended relative to the confining nature of summative assessment, the latter has the power of authenticity and motivation. such opinion was earlier supported by biggs (1998), who asserts that formative and summative assessment should be complementary – rather than mutually exclusive – in enhancing students’ learning. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 2.3. pk as a formative assessment pk as a formative assessment was employed in two previous studies in disciplines other than economics. smith (2013) applied pk to her own teaching for the postgraduate certificate in higher education (pgcerthe) related to the topic of learning theories. as her cohort was split into eight groups four face-to-face groups for students studying in the uk and four online ones targeting students in transnational programmes the face-to-face groups presented live while the online groups uploaded their pks on moodle. while students liked the pk, describing it as an interesting way to gain insight into complex issues and to identify only the fundamental aspects of the topic, they nevertheless complained that pks were time-consuming, besides being constrained by their structure. it might be questioned here whether the live pk or the recorded pk is preferable. since pk is a mode of presentation that assesses the students’ presentation skills when facing a real audience, the answer would be the live pk. however, recorded pk via moodle – especially if it is formative assessment, as in my case– can be extremely beneficial in training students to adjust their final live pks. furthermore, recorded pks can be advantageous in transnational education or moocs when live pks are not feasible – as in smith’s case. hirst's (2016) more recent study of two formative pk assignments done within two undergraduate modules suggests that there was some disparity between the respective perceptions of students and staff of the purpose of the formative assessment. his study highlights that the formative assessment can be a supportive mechanism for learning rather than being an indication or proof of learning. 3. methodology: how i assigned a formative pk assignment in a history of economics course i first decided to assign a pk formative assignment to my development of economic thought ii class in spring 2018. assessment in this course consisted of three summative assessments: a mid-term exam weighing twenty per cent of the total mark, a final exam weighing forty per cent and a research paper accounting for the remaining forty per cent. while learning at a deep level entails students in exploring deeply one concept or theory and testing it through their summative research papers, the evaluation and criticism of different economic theories and models are assessed through summative examinations. however, through studying all economic theories in detail, students might sometimes miss the basic essence or the main tenets of each theory. to overcome this issue and link all parts of the story of economics together in a nutshell, i assigned this pk formative assignment. besides, a pk can also instil life and a sense of joy through exciting images in a course that tackles mostly dead economists (especially in part i) and can feed forward to the students’ summative assessments: the exams and the research paper. i started the preparation of the formative pk before the semester began by allocating ten schools of economic thought to ten groups and cited these schools in a table in the module guidelines.i also included links to the main pk website which offers demos and exemplars of pk. on the first day of classes, i showed the students a demo about how to make a pk. instead presenting their pk in class, i asked students, to record the voice accompanying each slide and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 upload the pk file to moodle. i did not provide a rubric for this assignment in the first semester of application. nevertheless, in the subsequent semester, when i applied this formative assessment for the second time, i provided additional instructions and a rubric to clarify to the students what constitutes a good pk. to overcome the problem mentioned by eriksen et al. (2011), about not giving scope for discussion by examiners and peers, i required students to upload their pk to moodle and comment on two other pks. the pk group members would then respond to the comments. in this way, i could instigate an online discussion, thereby encouraging peer assessment. finally, a two-week deadline from the start of the semester was provided to the students. 4. results and discussion 4.1. instructor’s view from my perspective, i believe that the pk assignment was successful in achieving a number of desired outcomes: 4.1.1. outcome 1: improving the breadth and not only the depth of learning one of my prime objectives in assigning this pk formative assignment was to engage my undergraduate students in grasping the main tenets of each theory, so that deep learning through class lectures would not come at the expense of a broad understanding of the overall tenets of each theory and of how the ideas and concepts of the different evolving schools of economic thought are linked together. as far as this aim is concerned, i feel that i have successfully achieved my objective. as i proceeded through the semester, explaining new theories each week, some students would excitedly comment at the beginning of a new one: “this is my theory!” i feel that my pk assignment has achieved what sometimes flipped classrooms fail to do, as, in the latter case, many students come to class without having read the assigned material. 4.1.2. outcome 2: engaging with new technologies technology is swiftly changing the face of education as technology-related activities are increasingly being incorporated into the teaching and learning activities (conference board of canada, 2014, cited in bates, 2015).while students are accustomed to using ppts, most are unaware of new software and technologies that enhance presentations – for example, powtoon, vyoud, infographics and many others. one of my objectives was to engage students with these new technologies, from familiarity with which they can benefit in their future jobs. 4.1.3. outcome 3: benefiting from students’ multiple skills (not only essay writing) most coursework assignments depend on essay writing and traditional presentations. notwithstanding the importance of essay writing, especially in the economics discipline, many students may be competent in other skills, such as designing artful presentations. by assigning articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 this pk, i was providing new opportunities for enhancing students’ graduate skills, such as creativity, professional skills, communication skills and teamwork (biggs and tang, 2011). 4.1.4. outcome 4: shortening the long history of economics through the brevity of pk since a pk is six minutes forty seconds long, then ten theories of economic thought discussed in detail throughout the whole semester can be briefly reviewed in slightly more than one hour. a summary of the 2000+-year-long history of economics from greek philosophers to contemporary economic schools (studied through two semesters across the year) can be reviewed in little more than two hours. this guarantees that students retain the main characteristics of each theory even after graduation. 4.1.5. outcome 5: engaging students in collaborative work traditional methodology in group assignments leaves it to the students to select their partners in group projects. in most cases, partners are friends who work smoothly with each other. unfortunately, this situation rarely exists when students are employed and are forced to work with other less friendly and/or less cooperative colleagues. to prepare students for such a situation and acquire team-work graduate skills (biggs and tang, 2011), i allocated students randomly in five-member groups. 4.1.6. outcome 6: pks are fun, attractive and can bring dead economists alive as the vast majority of the economists whom i discuss in class in the two-semester history of economic thought courses i teach are actually dead, pk, with its artistic and creative designs, appeals to students4 and brings dead economists alive again. this helps in engaging students to achieve the course’s learning outcomes, currently a prime objective in higher education (biggs and tang, 2011). 4.2. students’ views 4.2.1. designing the questionnaire in order to quantify students’ attitudes toward the pk assignment, i distributed a twelve-question questionnaire to my students in the development of economic thought ii in the spring semester of 2018, and those in development of economic thought i in the fall semester of 2018. twentynine students responded in the first class while twenty-two students responded in the second (making the total number of observations equal to fifty-one) by choosing from five possible choices: strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree. each response was given a code starting from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). 4.2.2. results of the questionnaire table 1 summarises the results of the questionnaires distributed in the two classes. as evident from the table, question 1 (which asked the students whether or not the pk had improved the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 students’ understanding of the theory by presenting it in a nutshell) had the highest average score (4.55). this aligned with what i previously mentioned in outcome 1. in fact, the percentage of students who strongly agreed and agreed on this question amounted to 96%. it is worth noting that this question scored the lowest standard deviation in all questions attesting to how all students did not differ much in that respect. question 10 (which asked students whether the pk had enhanced their summarising ability) recorded the second highest score (4.33), with nearly 94% of the students agreeing or strongly agreeing, while question 8 (which asked students whether pk provided a fun learning environment) had the third highest score (4.26). for this question, the percentage of students who strongly agreed and agreed amounted to 84%. on the other hand, the lowest score (3.55) went to question 3 (which asked students whether pk had enhanced the students’ learning by learning with each other) recorded the lowest score (3.55) with a percentage of agreement of 61% signifying the difficulty some students find in collaborative work, and especially with the case of the existence of free-riders. question 12 (which asked students whether or not they would like pk to replace ppts) recorded the second lowest score (3.73) with nearly 67% agreeing. furthermore, this question scored the highest standard deviation (1.40) among all questions, denoting how students’ opinions differed widely in that respect. table 1: attitudes toward pk formative assignment uploaded on moodle question response no. percentage average standard deviation 1. do you agree that the pk improved my understanding of the theory by briefly presenting it in a nutshell (i.e. brief form)? strongly agree 30 58.82 4.55 0.58 agree 19 37.26 undecided 2 3.92 disagree strongly disagree 2. do you agree that the pk raised my interest in the theory and encouraged me to read more about it? strongly agree 10 19.61 3.96 0.69 agree 30 58.82 undecided 10 19.61 disagree 1 1.96 strongly disagree 3. do you agree that the pk enhanced my group learning through learning with other students? strongly agree 9 17.65 3.55 1.08 agree 22 43.14 undecided 10 19.61 disagree 8 15.69 strongly disagree 2 3.92 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 8 question response no. percentage average standard deviation 4. do you agree that the pk enhanced my group learning through learning from other students? strongly agree 11 21.57 3.77 0.95 agree 23 45.10 undecided 12 23.53 disagree 4 7.84 strongly disagree 1 1.96 5. do you agree that a pk enhanced learning through new technologies that i was unaware of? strongly agree 23 45.10 4.18 0.95 agree 18 35.29 undecided 7 13.73 disagree 2 3.92 strongly disagree 1 1.96 6. do you agree that a pk improved my english speaking skills by letting me hear my own voice and rehearsing reading the text until perfection? strongly agree 18 35.29 4.04 0.92 agree 20 39.22 undecided 11 21.57 disagree 1 1.96 strongly disagree 1 1.96 7. do you agree that the pk improved my listening skills by making me listen to other pks? strongly agree 14 27.45 3.98 0.84 agree 25 49.02 undecided 9 17.65 disagree 3 5.88 strongly disagree 0 0 8. do you agree that the pk provided a fun learning environment? strongly agree 24 47.06 4.26 0.87 agree 19 37.26 undecided 5 9.80 disagree 3 5.88 strongly disagree 9. do you agree that the pk enhanced my self-confidence and talking in front of people? strongly agree 17 33.33 3.84 1.01 agree 14 27.45 undecided 15 29.41 disagree 5 9.80 strongly disagree articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 9 question response no. percentage average standard deviation 10. do you agree that the pk enhanced my summarising and abstracting skills? strongly agree 21 41.18 4.33 0.65 agree 27 52.94 undecided 2 3.92 disagree 1 1.96 strongly disagree 11. do you agree that the pk enhanced my reflective skills by critically evaluating other pks? strongly agree 13 25.49 3.90 0.86 agree 23 45.10 undecided 12 23.53 disagree 3 5.88 strongly disagree 12. do you agree that the pk should be applied in other courses to replace faceto-face ppts? strongly agree 21 41.18 3.73 1.40 agree 13 25.49 undecided 4 7.84 disagree 8 15.69 strongly disagree 5 9.80 source: survey conducted among students enrolled in my courses of development of economic thought iiin spring 2018 and development of economic thought i in spring 2018. the average score for each question was calculated by going through each respondent’s questionnaire and adding in the following codes: strongly agree=5; agree=4; undecided=3; disagree=2; strongly disagree=1. calculations done by the author. aggregating the students’ responses to all twelve questions demonstrated the positive attitudes students felt toward the pk assignment in general, with nearly 76% of the questions receiving a strongly agree or agree response on a positive aspect of the pk (figure 1). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 10 figure 1: students’ responses to 12 questions on pecha kucha source: survey conducted among students enrolled in my development of economic thought ii class during the spring semester of 2018 and my development of economic thought i class during the fall semester of 2018. the average score for each question was calculated by going through each respondent’s questionnaire and adding in the following codes: strongly agree=5; agree=4; undecided=3; disagree=2; strongly disagree=1. the figure pertains to the total respondents’ answers to all questions. 5. conclusion this paper charts my experiment in designing and allocating a formative pk assignment on one economic school of thought to groups of students in a het class. overall, students have responded positively to the pk assignment. as a pedagogical tool, the pk introduced the students to a new presentation style they were unaware of, enhanced their presentation and summarising skills, through practising, and their use of technology in learning; it was also, among many other advantages, fun. the study is thus is in line with previous studies on the benefits of pk, especially with respect to enhancing communication skills (anderson and 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 45.00% strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree 34.48% 41.34% 16.18% 6.37% 1.63% figure 1: students responses to 12 questions on pecha kucha articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 11 williams, 2012), comprehension (levin and peterson, 2013), english language through extensive practising (zharkynbekova et al., 2017) and – most notable to me – their designing skills (gries and brooke, 2010; eriksen et al.,2011). nevertheless, some students found the ‘time and content’ constraint challenging. thus, only sixty-seven per cent of the students said that they would like it to replace powerpoints in other courses, a percentage lower than that in anderson and williams’s (2012) study (seventy-five per cent). however, i believe that the ‘time and content’ constraint is an advantage rather than a challenge, as it shifts these constraints from the instructor to the student. tutors always face the challenge that students delve into excessive detail during presentations and consume much more time than the instructor intended to allocate to their presentations. for me, the pk fulfilled most of the intended outcomes. my overall evaluation is that a pk proved to be a beneficial technological tool in learning, especially in courses where students have to learn many theories in a limited time. in that respect, pk can be applied in some – but not necessarily all –courses; for example, in mathematics courses, which may require students’ understanding of long mathematical proofs, students might need more time – than the twenty seconds per slide – for them to comprehend, making pk-style presentation inappropriate. although some of the pks presented were outstanding, the fact that some pks were deficient in the first semester the pk was applied may have resulted from my not having provided a rubric for this formative assessment, or from the fact that the formative assignment did not build, one way or another, to a summative one (asghar, 2012), or simply because the assignment was formative. in the second semester of implementation, i decided to address the first two potential factors. first, i added a rubric which stated clear criteria for what constitutes a good pk. according to panadero and jonsson (2013), rubrics have the power to improve students' performance, as students can continuously check whether their progress conforms to the standards and review their work before submission. i also made this formative assignment feed forward more explicitly into their summative assignment by requiring that the presentation for the summative research paper be also in the form of pk rather than in traditional ppts, yet live this time rather than being recorded. while this requirement had improved the students’ formative pk, it made students’ summative presentations markedly more engaging, the images more eye-catching and creative and the presentations precise and timely. instructors who are willing to apply the formative pk assignment (posted on moodle forum or any other open source learning platform) in their classes could make use of the following guidelines: 1. prepare a list of topics and insert them in a table, each topic in a separate box. these are the topics that you want your students to master during your course through performing a pk, and give each topic a group number. 2. when you receive the class list of students at the beginning of the semester and know exactly the number of students in your class, start assigning the names of five students haphazardly under each group in the table. 3. in the course handbook or guidelines, provide your students with the following: a) useful questions and a reading list that they can use in performing their pks; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 12 b) a rubric comprising the criteria that you will use for evaluating their formative pks; c) internet links on how to do a pk, exemplary of good pk and relevant online material needed for their pks; d) instructions on the maximum number of words accepted (if you do accept) per slide, so that students do not cram the slides with text; e) instructions on the rules for peer review on moodle. 4. upload to moodle the table comprising the groups of students and the course handbook. 5. expand the maximum size of the moodle forum to cope with the large file sizes of pk which comprise images and videos. 6. assign deadline dates for students to post their pks on moodle forum and comment on their peers’ pks. in the third semester witnessing my implementation of this pk assignment,students who had studied the first part of this module (and had done their first time pk) were studying the second part of this course and uploading their formative pk to moodle. since the same cohort was doing the pk exercise for the second consecutive semester, students were apparently more experienced in implementing this style of presentation. it is interesting to remember in a course which starts with the greek philosophers what aristotle (bc350) said in that respect: “for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” notes 1according to the pecha kucha website http:/www.pechakucha.org/faq a “pechakucha 20x20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. the images advance automatically and you talk along to the images.” accordingly, the total time a pk takes is six minutes and forty seconds. 2in the institution i work at, het is studied in two consecutive courses – development of economic thought i and development of economic thought ii – that run over the whole year. the courses mentioned in this paper were the development of economic thought ii, taught in the spring semester of 2018, and the development of economic thought i, taught in the fall semester of 2018. my first experiment of the pk was in part ii, while my second was in part i to a different cohort. during the writing of this paper, the same cohort which implemented it in part i in fall 2018 were implementing the pk assignment in part ii on different schools in spring 2019. 3most of the literature credits scriven (1967) for being the first to introduce the term ‘formative assessment’. nevertheless, the term he used meant the evaluation of programmes or curriculums prior to their final assessment. 4i remember one 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https://riunet.upv.es/bitstream/handle/10251/83672/ipp-dom%c3%a9nech%3bvincent%3bpoza%20-%20proceedings%20of%20the%203rd%20international%20conference%20on%20higher%20education%20advan....pdf?sequence=2 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 developing the inclusive course design tool: a tool to support staff reflection on their inclusive practice susan v smith, ruth pickford, janice priestley, rebecca sellers centre for learning & teaching, leeds beckett university, uk abstract inclusivity is fundamental to higher education, its course design, its assessment and its delivery. the principles of inclusivity offer all students the opportunities to achieve to the best of their ability. the purpose of this case-study is to outline the context, process, development and initial evaluation of a newly generated tool designed for academic colleagues. the inclusive course design tool (icdt) offers a series of questions for reflection with supporting guidance rooted in theory and research on inclusion, pedagogy, multiculturalism, universal design for learning and implicit and unconscious bias. this first version of the tool encourages course teams to reflect on and interrogate the nature of inclusive academic practice in their courses, in their course curricula, their classrooms (virtual or physical) and their approaches to student learning and support. the contextualised rationale for the tool, its design, the consultation process, its early evaluation and future considerations as an institutional tool are explored. this paper specifically explores its use to try to reduce the black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) student award gap and enhance success and graduate outcomes, as well as academic practice and staff reflection. introduction a project team in the centre for learning & teaching generated the inclusive course design tool as part of our institutional access and participation plan (app) activity, particularly, at first, to help to address our bame student award gap and also to address and support the office for students’ (2019) drive for wider excellent inclusive practice. it is one strand of a range of initiatives to catalyse leeds beckett university to fulfil its key performance indicators for student continuation, satisfaction and success and to generate impetus in improving our inclusive practice specifically at course level to support all our diverse student groups and to improve the equality of opportunity for under-represented groups to access higher education (he) and to progress and succeed in it. the inclusive design and delivery of teaching, learning and assessment methods that allow all students to engage meaningfully with the curriculum and achieve their full potential is fundamental to good course design (thomas and may, 2010) and the project team felt that ‘the course’ – its curriculum, syllabus and design – was the place to concentrate colleagues’ energies. the tool was born of many institutional and sector contextual and practical pressures and a strong feeling that we needed a simple ‘one-stop device’ which would enable staff to scrutinise the design and detail of their courses through a diversity and inclusion lens. the tool was intended to catalyse the course teams to reflect on and interrogate their course-level inclusive design and practice. it was to be used once for each individual course at the design phase and thereafter as an enhancement tool. we wanted the outcome of our case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 collaborative work to promote ownership of subject-specific inclusive practice and catalyse actions for enhancement through deep reflection, not just a superficial ‘ticking off’ of perceived activity. a pure ‘checklist’ approach would not have fostered in educators this deep reflection (de la croix and veen, 2018) and colleagues’ feedback showed something better designed, likely to promote reflection, interrogatory and yet administratively ‘light’ would encourage more ownership and colleague engagement. our different diverse student groups there was a clear need to consider the inclusive learning experience of and best practice for different student groups and their intersectionality had become a priority. in addition, we had to address a closing of our bame student award gap while also respecting the specific needs of all our diverse student groupings: for example, our international students, those with mental health needs, disabled students, those from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, students who commute, estranged students or those who may be entering university from care. for 2019-20, however, the reducing of the bame student award gap needed close attention to catalyse more rapid change and improvement. in 2020, 19.2 % of our students are bame (leeds beckett university, 2020) and our gap has been slowly closing with a downward trend over the past three years from 2016, reducing from 20.7% to 14.4%. the university had already made a range of clear, evidence-based strategic actions to address this – such as projects to research bame students’ lived experience (smith, 2017), focused activity relating to placement access, inclusive practice resources and webpages, enhanced practice guidance (centre for learning and teaching, 2018; 2019), exploration and enhancement of course entry routes and the decolonising of curricular content and reading lists – but institutional results were patchy. the tool was ‘invented’ 1) to combine a full consideration of the evidenced factors which have impact on student achievement, with a nuanced understanding of course-specific pedagogy; 2) to allow staff to consider, specifically, the highlighting and enhancement of bame students’ experience. contextual literature the tool questions needed to be rooted in best practice research. a literature review explored the key factors which impact on student satisfaction in higher education, student success and inclusive academic practice. the tool project team synthesised the findings and distilled them into the early drafts of the tool questions. the project team explored literature about intercultural education (salkind, 2008; hea, 2014; advance he, 2013; sian, 2017), ethnicity and attainment (cotton et al., 2013; stevenson, 2012; smith, 2018; miller, 2016; hoffmann et al., 2002) and students’ sense of belonging (ahn and davis, 2019; hausmann et al., 2007; woodyat and brooker, 2019; tovar, 2013) to give context to the key issues. then, literature relating to teaching excellence (pickford, 2018; palmer et al., 2014), cocreation of curricula (bovill et al., 2016) inclusive feedback (thomas and jones, 2017;) placement practice (jones et al., 2017) and institutional racism and microaggressions (sue et al., 2007; pilkington, 2013) was used to identify best practice. for local and applied context, academic colleagues and our bame student ambassadors discussed our own recent institutional projects into our bame student award gap, the needs of commuting case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 students (disproportionately represented in bame students) (smith, 2017; 2018) and hopes for the future of the education of all our students. main aims of the icdt the tool was primarily developed to: a) encourage colleagues, through active reflection stemming from using the tool, to be more focused in their appreciation of inclusive practice as core to their design of new courses and integral to the content and approach of existing courses; b) underpin the ‘signingoff’ for quality purposes (by school senior leadership teams) of the linked tool action plans; c) focus colleagues’ attention on considering the factors which impact on student success and narrowing the award gap for bame students. the flagged questions are designed to help with this; d) embed basic standards of inclusive practice for all, thereby enabling a review of the current reasonable adjustment process; e) increase the visibility of specific groups of students through the wording of the questions and the language and terms used; f) ensure accessibility. under the equality act (2010), we are required to ensure that all our services and materials are accessible to disabled students. as such, it is necessary to ensure that all teaching and learning environments can be accessed and used by any disabled student, not only those students who choose to tell us they have a disability. we used the jaws (job access with speech) accessibility test to assess the accessibility of features used in the tool on android and ios devices; g) be suitable for teams of course staff to use online or face to face or on blended courses. this was especially pertinent with changing ways of practice during and after the coronavirus pandemic. equally, the language used in the tool needed to relate to the diverse ways we deliver courses (i.e. wholly online, blended and face to face). alongside the literature review of current contextual research, we undertook a scoping of other course-focused inclusive practice resources in the sector, reviewing their accessibility, quality, breadth, practicality and supporting guidance (mmu, 2020; soas, 2018; ucl, 2018). most of these resources, though valuable, adopt a checklist approach or one that focuses on specifics and less on the adoption of a coherent holistic approach to good course design, delivery and pedagogy. our approach acknowledges the philosophy of the ‘connected curriculum’ (fung, 2017) which advocates that students should learn actively through research and critical enquiry, rather than by passively receiving accepted knowledge. it also reflects croucher and roman’s (2007) work, which affirms that inclusive course design case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 acknowledges all students’ entitlement to access a course and to participate in it and advocates consideration of this entitlement through all elements of a course life cycle. we also acknowledge that students are individuals and learn in different ways and that a nonfragmented, coherent and inclusive course design lends itself to simpler teaching, is easier to plan, is easier and more meaningful for all students to understand and generates better student outcomes (hea, 2011; hockings, 2010). although moore et al. (2017) have devised a reflective tool for united states (us) universities which considers inclusion, this primarily addresses broader social issues (e.g. unconscious bias, multicultural education and the hidden curriculum) and has less emphasis on specific reflection upon the practical and pedagogic course-related issues. our icdt uniquely focuses on six elements (pickford, 2018) which, when synthesised, enhances the coherence of the design but also offers the opportunity for colleagues to reflect on the specific needs and style of their course and how to improve its pedagogy and practical delivery. key features of the icdt the key features and approach to implementation are: a) we mapped and considered our institutional app requirements as part of conceptualisation and design of the tool. the tool itself (and its questions for reflection) is designed around the philosophy that student success is dependent upon individual student engagement and that engagement is an individually-owned and personal concept (saks, 2006). our methodology builds on this philosophy by explicitly specifying the requirements for maximising student engagement in a course (table 1, pickford, 2016). the tool specifically focuses course team reflection on curriculum design, the learning environment and different learning activities. table 1: inclusive course-level design. requires opportunities for all students individually to engage with their course: can be provided only through design of a course’s: is achieved through course-level: behaviourally curriculum planning learning environment management emotionally student support learning activities community conceptually student development curriculum student challenge these six best practice core sections which structure the format of the tool (see figures 1a-1f below) are consequently 1.) planning your course, 2.) managing your course, 3.) supporting all students on the course, 4.) building the course community, 5.) providing appropriate development opportunities for all students and 6.) challenging all students on the course. institutional priorities (for satisfaction, continuation and student outcomes) and requirements for the united kingdom (uk) quality code for he and framework for higher education qualifications (fheq) requirements and outcomes are encapsulated in its content (pickford, 2018). it has underpinned approaches to course development at leeds beckett university since case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 2016 and has been evaluated and tested in use at an institutional level as well as having informed practice across the sector. its perceived quality has led to requests to use it from other higher education institutions (heis). the tool’s questions are all underpinned by research evidence and a full, linked talis aspire reading list is integrated into each of its sections. each segment of it has tailored resources and simple, jargon free, contextual guidance. b) we developed contextual guidance which was then reviewed through several iterations by colleagues for relevance and understanding. we also asked them to offer their own discipline-specific literature on inclusive practice to inform the research base and we integrated suggestions into the reading list. c) our internal centre for learning and teaching (clt) teach learn page hosts the tool and its guidance, with supporting text for colleagues. we intend to make it available to the sector through open access and we’ll consider licensing it to creative commons after it has been fully evaluated on completion of two academic cycles. d) we established face-to-face and online webinars for staff development across both campuses to support colleagues to use the tool. e) all course teams were expected to use the tool from march 2020 (after its approval by the university academic board) to explore their inclusive practice in both the design and delivery of their courses. f) course directors were expected, by summer 2020, to formulate an initial action plan, which in the first year focuses specifically on the thirteen flagged specific bame attainment / experience-related questions. (see figures 1a-1f). in practice, some of this activity was unfortunately delayed and patchy due to pandemic related priorities. g) action plan implementation is to be undertaken as part of the course monitoring annual review and enhancement processes and reported on through our academic quality and standards committee. h) from 2020/21, the tool must be used to inform all new course validations. our university deans will then need to sign off the use of the tool and its new coursedesign action plan prior to the granting of new course approval. the development process: we gradually refined the tool through four consultative phases from an initial booklet with seventy-three questions to a forty-two-question graphical form with eighty-five unique, supporting, evidence-based resources. we sought wide consultation over several months from academic and professional service staff, the students’ union and their representatives prior to formal university approval. this iterative development process revealed the need to consider inclusive practice at course, rather than module level. colleagues felt that a more holistic reflection would offer a more integrated, coherent view of activity, identify gaps and reduce silo working. staff felt that there was then potential for an individual module review of inclusive practice, to follow case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 once the gaps and concerns had first been identified and discussed collaboratively at course level. the feedback from colleagues and students mainly focused on the need for: plain english; more flagging and increased visibility of the questions which targeted bame students’ learning experiences specifically; more rigorous accessibility software checking; ease of use (hard printed copy or online completion across all formats and platforms); and tighter, clearer, research-based guidance recommendations. a sign-off sheet for senior managers was also requested and this was included into the tool. the tool questions: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 figure 1. inclusive course design tool the tool’s questions are detailed below in the shaded sections (sections 1a-1f). the questions marked with a  highlight some important areas which, based on the literature, may help to address our bame student award gap. some questions were piloted and rephrased many times during the consultation process to ensure clarity. simple supplementary research-based explanations (to explain the rationale of each question) were inserted in the linked guidance. academic colleagues do, as part of the nature of their role, take a critical and interrogatory approach to information. this was regarded as important during the writing of the questions and the supporting tool guidance. ambiguities in wording which led to staff confusion were taken seriously. for example, during consultation, staff discussed their understanding of inclusive terminology and using inclusive images in relation to question 1.8 “do your course and module materials and handbooks use appropriate plain, inclusive terminology, language and images?” the insertion of specific supporting references to enhance clarification, guidance from the plain english campaign about inclusive language and the statement “simple jargon-free language allows more students to engage more easily with materials “helped clarify understanding about the question for colleagues. each question was systematically explained and addressed in this way. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 planning your course 1.1 have you included a clear course statement related to inclusive programme values within your student-facing course documents? 1.2 do your course aims and the overarching course design consider your students’ diverse prior learning experiences (especially those who may be from underrepresented groups)?  1.3 does planning for the first term include taking active steps to understand the subject and broader academic/life experiences for all groups of incoming students? 1.4 do you identify in advance, specific groups of students who may need additional support at pre–arrival, during induction or at course transition points? 1.5 do you offer a choice of different assessment methods/tasks/topics to reduce the need for alternative assessments and is this choice clearly embedded in the module design and course assessment strategy? 1.6 is there a clear course process for considering the clarity of assessment tasks and marking criteria? 1.7 are your assessment submission dates planned using cultural calendars to ensure you are responsive to the religious and cultural needs of a diverse cohort? 1.8 do your course and module materials and handbooks use appropriate plain, inclusive terminology, language and images? 1.9 does the course team provide students with electronic copies of teaching materials developed and produced in accordance with uk accessibility guidance? 1.10 do you specifically consider how to integrate commuting students into the course? (e.g. consideration of social space, careful timetabling, blended learning, assessment submission timing)  figure 1a. questions for planning your course managing your course 2.1 does your course monitor the number of applications received from different groups of students and actively seek to address any differences? 2.2 do your interview (if applicable) and selection processes support all groups of applicants equally? 2.3 are students made aware of all potential additional costs and equipment pre-entry? 2.4 does your course have a consistent language and structure across its online spaces that students can easily navigate? 2.5 do you record lectures/sessions? do you have an agreed, documented course guidance on sharing recordings? 2.6 do you have strategies in place to understand and share feedback on the experiences of all students (especially those from under-represented groups)?  figure 1b. questions for managing your course case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 supporting the students on the course 3.1 do you have access to the individual profiles and support requirements of all students? 3.2 do you have a clear process for each student to have a named academic advisor (aa)? 3.3 do you have any course aa projects/schemes that target specific groups of students?  3.4 do you have library induction/study skills/diagnostic learning timetabled into induction and the early part of the course? 3.5 do you provide online/face-to-face opportunities for all students to share their diverse experiences (especially those who may be from under-represented groups) very early in the course?  3.6 do you offer formative bite-size assessment opportunities early in the course, so students have an opportunity to ‘fail safely’ and seek support? 3.7 do you run defined sessions for students who may have failed elements of their assessments? (e.g. structured summer support, revision sessions etc.)? 3.8 do you have a clear course communications process to promote engagement at critical times for all your students (pre-arrival, post-christmas, first assessment period, during exams, study abroad, during off-campus placement)? 3.9 is space and time given in some teaching sessions and office hours for students to openly acknowledge and discuss racist or racialising behaviours?  3.10 do your students have opportunities and a place to go to discuss racist or racialising behaviours which have impacted on them?  figure 1c. questions on supporting the students on the course building the course community 4.1 does the programme explicitly plan activities that nurture a culture of academic belonging from the beginning?  4.2 does the course explicitly foster a culture of social belonging at all levels? 4.3 do you co-create or seek feedback from students on the planned course timetable and consider its potential to disadvantage certain groups? 4.4 do in-class and online learning activities promote inclusion and expose students to a range of views, opinions and cultural contexts?  4.5 do your course reading lists and resources offer a lens representative of a diverse population by including black and people of colour (bpoc), indigenous scholars and other authors with different cultural viewpoints?  4.6 are your course materials and learning resources available electronically to support parity of access for distance, commuting, print-impaired students? 4.7 does the way you allocate students to group work activities enable the creation of ethnically diverse groups from different educational backgrounds?  figure 1d. questions on building the course community case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 10 developing all the students on the course 5.1 are there safe, well-managed, interactive, virtual and physical classroom opportunities for all students to develop critical thinking and debate on issues relating to race, gender, global, social and cultural issues?  5.2 are there planned opportunities in the curriculum/course design and delivery for all students to co-create some elements of course activity if they wish? 5.3 are there explicit, embedded and accessible opportunities for all students (especially those in under-represented or vulnerable groups) to access and benefit from qualityand-equality-checked placements, paid internships and preparation for graduate employability? 5.4 are academic skills integrated into the course, preparing students to take control of their further development? 5.5 do you vary the session type to allow for all different types of learners and could any of these inadvertently exclude particular groups of students? figure 1e. questions on developing all the students on the course challenging all the students on the course 6.1 does the course team have a way of identifying students who may be struggling with academic content? 6.2 likewise, does the course team have clear practice in identifying talent and supporting those who need more stimulation and challenge? 6.3 does the course use a range of differentiated activities and reading to support and challenge diverse cohorts? 6.4 are the module assessment methods across each level of the course designed to enable all students to perform to the best of their ability? figure 1f. questions on challenging all the students on the course evaluation the tool’s webpage has a feedback box, through which updates are continuously made in response to the users. the tool was being used by all our courses as mandatory in 2019-20 (161 undergraduate and 189 postgraduate courses). the covid-19 emergency stalled initial completion by some of our courses, but all must complete and report on it as part of the 2020-21 academic quality cycle. use of the tool will be fully evaluated after one academic cycle. an online survey and a focus group of a selection of academic course teams will explore: the quality of reflective discussions that were undertaken in the course teams; any changes made; the ease of use of the tool; its value and practicality and recommendations for future amendments. module-level reflection will be encouraged once the initial course level gaps have been identified. in parallel, we shall undertake some thematic qualitative analysis (braun and clark, 2013) of the action plans and enhancement reports to elicit innovative actions and practice themes which can be shared as best practice. we will also explore, as a specific measure, changes in course bame attainment gaps, student satisfaction and retention rates as part of our continuous quality monitoring. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 11 in the meantime, interim feedback has been sought from internal users by email. users have welcomed the tool and appreciate the wide consultation which has informed its design. it is regarded as “very assertive, which many other inclusive initiatives lack”. the flagged questions highlighting the focus on issues underpinning the bame students’ award and success gap have been praised for their focus. we will undertake a full evaluation and further cycle of amendments in time which will illuminate further staff thoughts on the tool. early feedback is positive, especially in relation to the rooting of the questions in research, the simplicity of the guidance and language and the ability for course teams to discuss their own course needs in relation to consideration of their own course student demographics and teaching approach. the general nature of the questions means that solutions can be found that best suit the academic style of the students and the discipline being taught. for example, courses in our business school, which had lower numbers of students accessing placements and internships (question 5.3), are working on a new project with the careers staff to address this. other courses, for example in health and social care, that have no issue with placement access, have developed more focus on considering how students are allocated to groups (after question 4.7 generated practice gaps). the perception that “thankfully, this is not a one-size-fits-all approach” appears to be an emergent factor in colleagues’ willingness to use the tool. staff have used it to complement the institutional drive to improve our student retention and our graduate outcomes – which has been a cause for concern, with our institution reported to have fallen 15% behind the uk average of 80% for graduate jobs. in 2017, the gap between our performance and the national average, was 15%. this has now narrowed to 5%. future considerations the tool is comprehensive and its aims and purpose and the innate complexity of enhancing inclusive practice will continue to make it a work in progress. it is just one part of a huge initiative the institution has taken, gradually to improve the outcomes of our students. there is more to be done to push the scores up. practising what we preach, we feel such an inclusion tool should be inclusive itself and thus we want it to available, as soon as it is refined after the next cycle to a broader network of educators to grow its visibility and effectiveness. we have already facilitated deeper conversations about inclusion and diversity in our university. a follow-up activity which encourages teams to review their module practice and to focus on questions in the ‘supporting’ (figure 1c), ‘building community’ (figure 1d), ‘developing’ (figure 1e) and ‘challenging’ (figure 1f) sections of the tool will be undertaken if the courselevel reflection identifies gaps in practice which could usefully be ironed out at a more granular level. some staff feel that their awareness of diversity issues, raised through reflection on the questions has improved and changed their practice. discussion with staff during and after early use of the tool and as part of the institutional drive to raise highly skilled graduate employment rates led to new initiatives for their student groups. these included planning a new bame student mentoring scheme, improved detailed guidance and academic advisor practical staff training focused on supporting all diverse student groups. institutionally, the funding of more mock assessment centres and student visits to employers are being case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 12 considered; such developments will form part of the institution’s access and participation work and equality and diversity activity. recent world events have also led to discussions about wider black inclusion issues at our university. the tool – particularly the questions on racialised behaviour (questions 3.9 and 3.10), social belonging (question 4.2) and reading and resource lists (question 4.5) – have helped course teams understand that he is not immune from racism and they must strive to address the persistent inequalities in students’ access, participation and experience. this discussion is helping to raise awareness and bring about action through wider initiatives, such as our zero tolerance campaign, plans for contextual offers, hardship funding and our progress towards better outcomes reported through our app narrative. close attention to the inclusivity of just one course, generated by a course team that takes the needs of all the diverse groups of students seriously and diligently, may well improve that one course over time, but one course alone will not be sufficient to meet the needs of a whole university and enhance its overall attainment and experience data. it is therefore important that the tool continues to be promoted via a coherent two-pronged approach – both as an institutional, strategic, contextualised directive and as a tool for course-specific, action-focused reflection and enhancement. in the meantime, the tool is for use by others and we shall seek – and much appreciate – feedback about its use, clarity and value in the wider he sector. reference list advance he (2013) ‘engaging home and international students: a guide for new lecturers.’ available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engaging-home-andinternational-students-guide-new-lecturers (accessed: 29 april 2020). ahn, m.y. and davis, h.h. 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(2018) ‘the experience of commuting and living at home: how does it affect the engagement of bme students with the university and their learning.’ journal of educational innovation, partnership and change. volume 4, no 1, 1-14. available at: https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/5 20/pdf (accessed: 29 april 2020). soas (2018) ‘decolonising soas learning and teaching toolkit for programme and module convenors.’ university of london. available at: https://blogs.soas.ac.uk/decolonisingsoas/files/2018/10/decolonising-soas-learning-andteaching-toolkit-ab.pdf (accessed: 12 may 2020). stevenson, j. 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(2019) ‘student success: special issue: psychological wellbeing and distress in higher education.’ student success, 10(3). available at: https://studentsuccessjournal.org/article/view/1419 (accessed :29 april 2020). https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code https://studentsuccessjournal.org/article/view/1419 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 the climate emergency in higher education: working together to meet the challenge of student activism iain cross1, alina congreve2 st mary’s university, twickenham 1, independent researcher 2 abstract this conference reflection explores the themes raised by participants in the authors’ interactive workshop at the shift 2021 conference. the workshop focused on how universities are responding to the climate emergency through innovative teaching practices. keywords: climate change, sustainability, ethics, academic developers, collaboration introduction the overwhelming majority (90%) of university students are ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about climate change (sos, 2021). greta thunberg and the rise in the number of school strikes have highlighted the urgency young people feel about the slow rate of progress in addressing climate change. this presents several challenges for universities beyond greening their campuses: they are under pressure to develop fresh approaches to teaching climate change, including in subjects where it has not previously been taught. this impacts on the work of academics and academic developers in programme design and connects to existing activity on employability and civic engagement. this article reflects on an interactive workshop – ‘the climate emergency in higher education: working together to meet the challenge of student activism’ – we presented at the shift conference on learning, teaching and assessment at the university of greenwich in january 2021. sustainability and climate change in higher education there has, in recent years, been significant interest in how to embed sustainability and climate change in united kingdom (uk) higher education. this interest has been driven by young people being advocates for change, and also by public policy, which will intensify in 2021 as the uk hosts the glasgow climate conference cop26 (delayed by the covid-19 pandemic from november 2020 to november 2021). the issue has re-emerged since the higher education academy (hea), between 2010 and 2015, funded a series of projects exploring education for sustainable development. the climate commission for higher education1 encourages and supports institutions to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. the qaa has also recently released guidance on embedding sustainability in higher education2. the combination of national policy concern and pressure from young people and champions working in higher education is a powerful force for change. the first step for many universities has been to declare a climate emergency; the 1 https://www.eauc.org.uk/climate_commission 2 https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/education-for-sustainable-development conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 challenge now is to develop innovative and collaborative approaches to embed climate change teaching. our workshop the shift conference gave us an opportunity to explore with participants our research into the challenges and opportunities of climate change teaching. the conference theme – ‘radically reimagining higher education for a new era: working together for a just and sustainable future’ – provided a natural platform for us to run an interactive workshop. we would like to thank the organising committee for their professionalism and commitment, including useful feedback on our session proposal. our workshop was based on a programme of research which began in march 2020. we interviewed leaders of geography programmes about how they taught climate change (cross and congreve, 2020). in a parallel piece of research, we explored the same topic in other disciplines. working online at the start of the pandemic allowed us to interview participants across the uk. then, drawing from those interviews, we chose innovative case studies from fashion, law and chemistry to generate debate in our workshop. we aimed to provoke discussion among academic and professional services colleagues about effective teaching approaches to address climate change, with a focus on sharing good practice and identifying common challenges. the format of the workshop was: a series of short presentations given by us; reports on case studies based on our research; structured discussions arising from reflective questions to encourage peer learning. having ourselves been unimpressed by online conferences that lacked interactivity, with our format we encouraged participants to share their thoughts with each other, either by speaking to the group or by giving feedback via the chat function. we used a poll to explore environmental behaviours among students and then breakout rooms to identify: i. the challenges of teaching and learning about climate change in disciplines that have not traditionally addressed it; ii. examples of embedding sustainability in policy, practice and curricula in their department or institution. the conference focus on collaboration was also important to us and the discussions explored the importance of strong partnerships between academics and professional colleagues. we were pleased to attract academic and professional staff and students from the university of greenwich and other uk universities to our session. reflections on our workshop thanks to the evident engagement of workshop participants, their comments led to wideranging discussions that both aligned with some of our original ideas (cross and congreve, 2020) and introduced us to new perspectives. our reflections are structured around three key themes that emerged from our workshop activities. graduate careers and professional identity graduate careers and professional identity framed our wide-ranging discussion about how climate change is positioned in a curriculum and students’ engagement with it. we considered in detail the relevance of climate to a graduate’s profession. one of the examples conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 raised in the workshop we had not seen in our previous research was about law firms and the significant efforts some of these are making to position themselves as climate-aware. students wishing to pursue a career with them were motivated to study climate change to help secure their desired position. this contrasted with our research, which found that addressing climate change in law was relatively niche practice, despite its relevance to legal theory and practice. in our research, we had noted the importance of alumni with graduate roles; the discussions in the workshop emphasised to us the importance of them as advocates who might influence current students to ‘see the value’ of climate change teaching. workshop participants explored how professional bodies could play a significant role in incorporating climate change into graduate outcomes and, in softer ways, through their influence on professional identities. our research had identified a lack of agile thinking about climate change – and a paucity of innovation relating to it – by a number of professional bodies, despite the fact that many of them gave climate a high profile in their policy work. in practice, they do not often effectively drive change in courses they accredit. the ‘crowding’ of the curriculum was blamed on the substantial and often competing demands of professional bodies for students to meet specific learning outcomes, as well as on institutional guidance on employability and skills. participants strongly agreed with these findings from our research and supported our views that requiring climate change to be added to these demands is unhelpful and risks its being treated as an inconvenient addition to an already long list of issues for course teams. workshop participants were passionate about seeing climate change woven into professional identities and about having it as a theme underpinning accreditation standards. both of these could positively influence programme design and the behaviours of graduates working in the professions. participants advocated for climate change to be considered in terms of professional ethics – a new idea to us and one we had not previously considered in our research. adopting a professional, ethical approach includes respect for others, taking responsibility for one’s actions, being fair and being concerned for the well-being of others. these four behaviours map well to climate-sensitive behaviours. participants shared with us how their alumni were increasingly likely to question their prospective employer about a company’s ethos, which again was something new to us. more professions need to be ethically grounded in respect for the natural environment and concern for people who suffer the negative effects of climate change. professional acceptance of the urgent need to take action on climate change creates a space for new graduates to propose measures that better reflect the scale and urgency of the challenge. this useful discussion has raised new angles for us to explore in professional ethics and identity. framing climate change climate change is one of the most pressing challenges society faces today and it has been termed a ‘super-wicked’ problem (levin et al., 2012; lazarus, 2009), owing to its complexity, the lack of clear authority and leadership in responding to it and timescales too short to develop solutions. our workshop participants extended our current thinking by highlighting the significant moral dilemmas that climate change highlights. these include intergenerational responsibility, (lack of) political engagement and (lack of) diversity. if our actions now adversely affect society in other parts of the world and for decades to come, what cost should we be prepared to pay today to avoid this? universities are best placed to conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 explore, with their students, issues of interand intra-generational equity and to consider new and inter-disciplinary approaches to move society forward. workshop participants identified how being more aware of climate justice emphasises the super-wicked nature of the problem; framing climate change in alternative ways (e.g., the united nations sustainable development goals, global health and wellbeing, financial and market implications) can provide ‘hooks’ into different disciplines. this point has shed new light on our current research project and will prompt a new line of questioning in our continuing interviews. connecting climate change to classroom practices the third important theme from the workshop was the need to support academics to integrate climate change teaching into their teaching. our research had identified a lack of support as an important barrier to innovative practices and participants in the workshop further highlighted both how widespread this is and how it clearly restricts the expansion of teaching about climate change. effective support is also important if programmes are to be designed that specifically address climate change (e.g., the bsc climate change at greenwich) and teach demanding practical skills usually delivered in specialist masters programmes or professional development. academics need skills in working across disciplines if they are to teach effectively about climate change. we reflected on the importance of academic developers as catalysts for collaboration: one example was students working with estates teams to collect energy usage data, subsequently used to develop their data management skills. academics also need support to enable them to make global-scale climate challenges relevant to specific teaching sessions. we argue that framing climate change at an early stage of curriculum development is vital if we are fully to exploit creative and collaborative teaching on this topic. we are working on a toolkit to support academic developers and programme teams develop climate change teaching, which we will present at the seda conference in december 2021. conclusion the chance to run the workshop at the shift conference has advanced our thinking in key areas: professional responsibility and ethics; how we frame the problem with our students; the importance of doing more to help academics develop climate-relevant teaching materials and curricula. the discussions proved invaluable for shaping our work and we look forward to the opportunities presented in 2021 by the glasgow climate conference and climate commission to progress the discussion further. acknowledgements we would like to the thank the participants in our workshop for sharing their ideas with enthusiasm, and the conference organisers for their support and helpful feedback on our session proposal. two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on a draft of this manuscript. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 reference list cross, i.d. and congreve, a. (2020) ‘teaching (super) wicked problems: authentic learning about climate change.’ journal of geography in higher education. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2020.1849066 (accessed: 26 february 2021). lazarus, r.j. (2009) ‘super wicked problems and climate change: restraining the present to liberate the future.' cornell law review, 94, 1153-1233. available at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/159 (accessed: 26 february 2021). levin, k., cashore, b., bernstein, s. and auld, g. (2012) ‘overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems: constraining our future selves to ameliorate global climate change.’ policy science 45, 123-152. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-012-9151-0 (accessed: 26 february 2021). sos (2021) ‘student opinion: climate change. students organising for sustainability.’ available at: https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/our-research/our-research-reports/energy-andclimate-change/climate-change-tracker. (accessed: 26 february 2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2020.1849066 https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/159 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-012-9151-0 https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/our-research/our-research-reports/energy-and-climate-change/climate-change-tracker https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/our-research/our-research-reports/energy-and-climate-change/climate-change-tracker opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 the challenges of using disruptive technologies/innovations in a cyberlandscape mary kiernan university of greenwich introduction the term ‘disruptive technologies’ was coined by clayton christensen in his 1997 book ‘the innovator’s dilemma’. disruptive technologies are new technologies that, even though often lacking refinement and performance, unexpectedly replace an established technology. one of them, itunes, completely disrupted the music market. another, minecraft, is a version of online lego and was created by markus persson as a gaming website for his friends. it was initially afflicted with bugs, the graphics are poor and it uses cursor-key-driven pixelated blocks as building blocks. at first, people built structures as a defence against nocturnal monsters, but, as the game grew, players worked together to create “wonderful, imaginative things” (minecraft.net). in spite of its defects, it is very easy to use and is, in essence, an online lego kit that has effectively taken over the online lego market. lego did produce lego universe, but, though the company had a large customer base, there was no online social network to build on. having introduced the social network, too late, in 2012, lego was obliged to withdraw lego universe later in the same year. as of 25 march 2015, 18,990,788 people have bought minecraft (www.minecraft.net/stats). minecraft started with friends, as did facebook, and so socialisation was already embedded into the online environment. how can we ensure socialisation happens early in any online course? this paper outlines the author’s prior research into and experiences of massive open online courses (moocs) and argues that socialisation is the key to any successful cyber-landscape. disruptive innovation in arguably the first massive open online course (mooc) in 1999, the open university piloted a course entitled ‘you, your computer and the net’. the author was part of the delivery team and undertook research into the perceptions of the tutors, whose verdict was that the technology was slow and bug-infested and the quality of the online materials was inferior to that of the hard copies; they also felt that guidance for their students and facilitation of group discussions would be managed much better by faceto-face contact. in 2000, the course was launched with 12,000 students enrolled, it was the largest online course at the time and received favourable feedback from the students (kiernan et al, 2000, 2003). a key factor in the success of the course was the use of the conference facility (for early socialisation activities), in which students and tutors could interact. further research into what tutors felt about the course revealed that, though their primary focus had initially been pedagogical, they had rapidly become aware of the importance of socialisation in this online medium. yet more research in 2006 highlighted once again the significance of socialisation, as well as demonstrating a direct correlation between students’ online input in the early stages of the course and their final course mark (kiernan, 2008). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 experiences as a student on a massive open online course (mooc) moocs have increased in popularity in recent years and, in 2012, there were over 6.7 million online learners (sloan report, january 2013). barber et al (2013) forecast that, owing to moocs, the business models for higher education would collapse, just as minecraft had led to the demise of lego universe. when a colleague completed the mooc course and reported favourably on his experiences (valsamidis, 2012), i was stimulated to study on the open learning design studio massive open online course (olds mooc), ‘learning design for a 21st century curriculum’, a course designed as a ‘c-mooc’, using connectivism learning theory and having a more social approach to learning, rather than as an ‘x-mooc’, which involves a more individual learning style and uses a cognitivebehaviourist approach. this nine-week course started in january 2013 and was led by the open university’s institute of educational technology, in partnership with the university of greenwich, goldsmiths university, heriot-watt university, university of leicester, university of london and the university of oxford. the olds mooc was a collaborative, project-based course with a structured set of activities that “reflect[ed] a proposed process for a design inquiry project. in such a process, designers identify a (learning/curriculum) design challenge, explore it to gain an understanding of its context and driving forces, generate possible solutions, implement a solution and reflect on the process as a whole and its outputs.” (www.olds.ac.uk). after an easy enrolment process, i felt highly motivated and full of anticipation for the course, but an unavoidable interruption prevented my starting immediately and i discovered, at my delayed login after two or three days, that there had already been many postings: i had missed the boat. my morale was hardly improved by this paragraph in a tutor email, received midway through the first week: “as the weekend comes to a close in the uk, we reach the midpoint of week 1. there is much to celebrate, so far, with over 800 posts in the open forum, and over 100 project clouds created in the dreambazaar. they range in subject from the internet of things to leadership to constructing moocs.” i realised that i had missed the initial formation by the students of their study groups and felt both dejected and isolated; however, i was not completely alone, as another student posted (http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/7298) what mirrored my own feelings: “coming to the end of the first week i feel that my glider is still stuck in turbulence and my compass is broken. occasionally i hear messages on my radio giving me instructions of where to steer a safe passage (thank you yishay!) but these are mostly drowned out by the air as it rushes around this delicate shell…” the lack of early socialisation in the course meant that, in spite of my attempts to regain what i had lost, i became (to my own disappointment) a ‘lurker’, following and reading posts but not posting or interacting myself. i was experiencing exactly what my research had shown, that those who do not socialise early do not maximise their learning on the course (anderson and dron, 2010; kiernan et al 2008). my subsequent observations of the forum indicated a few very active members and led me to conclude that a significant number of students had either become lurkers like me or given up the course. jeff haywood, professor of education and technology at edinburgh http://www.olds.ac.uk/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 university, commented on the 12% completion rate of edinburgh’s first batch of moocs: “while completion rates on nearly all moocs are low – somewhere below 10% – this doesn't matter … many sign up to "window shop" or dip in and out, which is no bad thing. ... edinburgh's students came mostly from the us and uk and those who responded to the survey said the courses met or exceeded expectations” (pozniak, 2013 online). socialisation is the key many studies indicate that socialisation is key to developing an effective online learning environment (chang, 2015; khalil & ebner, 2013; salmon, 2013). my recent research into developing computational thinking using an online game also highlighted this, as students asked for the ability to socialise with fellow students to share experiences and provide mutual support (kazimoglu et al, 2011). mackness et al (2010) found that, in their mooc, “[t]he more autonomous, diverse and open the course, and the more connected the learners, the more the potential for their learning to be limited by the lack of structure, support and moderation normally associated with an online course, and the more they seek to engage in traditional groups as opposed to an open network.” though there is an array of types of moocs, some course-led and some for like-minded people to share their knowledge (for example, how to use constructivism within courses), i argue that socialisation underpins all of them and is key to students’ maximising their potential, regardless of the medium. an evaluation of the old moocs course states: “the example of collaborative group working has been a particularly interesting case study with evidence suggesting that whilst this was encouraged and built in to the course design (and indeed attempted by over a hundred participants), it did not work as envisaged so those who chose to continue did so by working by themselves but with the more general support of course community.” cross (2013). this certainly was true of my experience, as outlined above. i did not maximise my learning potential (http://oro.open.ac.uk/37836/), as i was trying to find a role within the group and thus felt too disempowered to post. preece’s (2014) large-scale research, where 29.7% of learners did not contribute because they were still finding out about the group, corroborates my experience. socialisation, managed in a non-threatening way, must therefore happen at the very beginning of any course, but incorporating socialisation within a mooc is challenging. it would be helpful to suggest that students should form groups of small size; it would certainly help to encourage all students to share a little about themselves and for the moderator/lead participant to do the same, as well as to provide a photograph or avatar. a simple introductory group task/exercise would enable participation and formation of group norms and create a congenial environment for subsequent activities. conclusions we are currently facing rapid changes in how we can both deliver learning material and support students. the added flexibility and enhancement of ‘bring your own devices’ + cloud technology (a “tablet+app+cloud” combination) will enable minor tutor-based alterations in learning provision to become major changes in student involvement and engagement. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 too often, educators want to use the latest technology because they believe it will enhance learning, but we must remember, as naughton (2009) stresses: “don’t confuse existing forms with the functions that they enable. it’s the functions that matter. forms may be transient, the product of historical or technological circumstances.” the biggest challenge for online education is how to engender socialisation quickly at the start of a course. we now have wonderful opportunities to enhance student learning at a time, place and format that meets all of their needs. however, as my research and current experience show, early socialisation is still the foundation on which effective online vibrant communities develop. without this, regardless of how well-structured the learning material and activities are, retention and achievement rates will remain very low. reference list anderson, t. and dron, j. (2010) ‘three generations of distance education pedagogy.’ the international review of research in open and distance learning, 12 (3), 80-97. chang, y. (2015) ‘the relationship between perceptions of an innovative environment and creative performance in an online synchronous environment.’ computers in human behaviour, 49, 38-43. cross, s. (2013) evaluation of the olds mooc curriculum design course: participant perspectives, expectations and experiences. olds mooc project, milton keynes. available at: http://oro.open.ac.uk/37836/ (accessed: 1 april 2013). davis, h.c., dickens, k., urrutia, l., sanchéz, v.m, del mar, m. and white, s. (2014) ‘moocs for universities and learners: an analysis of motivating factors.’ in: 6th international conference on computer supported education, 01-03 april 2014. pozniak, h. (2013) ‘moocs are the clever way to keep up to date.’ the guardian, 18 june 2013, available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jun/18/leading-unis-launchfree-courses (accessed 1 april 2014). kazimoglu, c., kiernan, m., bacon, l. and mackinnon, l. (2011) ‘understanding computational thinking before programming: developing guidelines for the design of games to learn introductory programming through game-play.’ international journal of game-based learning (ijgbl), 1(3), 30-52. khalil, h. and ebner, m. (2013) ‘how satisfied are you with your mooc? a research study on interaction in huge online courses.’ proceedings of world conference on educational media and technology 2013 (830-839). association for the advancement of computing in education (aace). kiernan, m. (2000) ‘does the medium dictate the message? how 30 minutes changed the perceptions of new on-line conference moderator.’ vienna: ict in education 2000 association for computer machinery. kiernan, m. (2008) ‘effective e-moderation in e-courses.’ higher education academy elearning conference, greenwich, june 2008. kiernan, m., thomas, p., woodroffe, m. (2003) ‘signposts in the sand.’ proceedings of the world conference on e-learning in corporate, government, healthcare, and higher education. lee, s., park, d., han, i. (2014) ‘new members’ online socialization in online communities: the effects of content quality and feedback on new members’ content-sharing intentions,’ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 computers in human behavior, 30, 344-354, issn 0747-5632, available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.09.015 (accessed: 1 april 2015). mackness, j., fai, s., mak, j., williams, r. (2010) ‘ideals and reality of participating in a mooc.’ 266-275 proceedings of the 7th international conference on networked learning 2010. dirckinck-holmfeld l, hodgson v, jones c, de laat m, mcconnell d & ryberg (eds.) t266 isbn 978-1-86220-225-2. preece, j., nonnecke, b., andrews, d., voutour, r. (2014) ‘online lurkers tell why.’ proceedings of the tenth americas conference on information systems, new york. salmon, g. (2013) e-tivities 2 nd edition. taylor & francis ltd., routledge isbn10: 0415881765 isbn13: 9780415881760. valsamidis, t. (2012: ‘a learner’s experience of a massive open online course.’ compass (the teaching and learning journal of the university of greenwich) 6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.09.015 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 software review: meetup nishioka hiromi waseda university, faculty of human sciences, japan introduction meetup (https://www.meetup.com/apps/)1 is an online platform designed to get people to share similar interests and to enjoy social activities with other members offline. users have access to a wide range of meetup events that they may wish to participate in, according to their personal interests, date and time availability and location. although meetup has been developed for general users, language learners can adopt the application for the purpose of language learning, creating face-to-face interactions with native speakers and proficient users of the languages (also referred to below as native speakers). access to such opportunities is not always easy for learners studying the target language either in their home country or in a host country (allen, 2010; kim, 2011). for example, learners of japanese who are based in the uk may have few opportunities to converse in japanese. even learners of english who are based in the uk may lack opportunities to practise english outside their classroom. however, learners can break down the access barrier by using meetup for language learning – namely, to identify and participate in social events providing learners with naturally occurring interactions with native speakers. by participating in these events, language learners can meet native speakers sharing similar hobbies. the social setting provides learners with exposure to the target languages and to opportunities to communicate, using the target language, what they feel passionate about. evaluation technological features meetup provides both weband mobile-based platforms. image 1 shows the meetup homepage on the web-based platform. to familiarise first-time users with the application, meetup provides a self-introduction video on the home page (see image 1). users can also learn more about the platform by accessing the ‘help’ link located at the bottom of the home page. meetup’s mobile application can be easily installed from either google play (android) or the app store (iphone). the application requires devices with the 5.0 operating system (or later) for android, and the ios 12.0 (or later) for iphone. 1 this paper is written based on information available by july 8, 2020. https://www.meetup.com/apps/ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 image 1: meetup homepage (web-based platform) signing up to meetup and navigating the platform are easy. once the application has been installed to a smartphone, meetup prompts users to choose from the categories according to their interests. after the user has selected a category, meetup provides details of the relevant groups according to their interests and location. users may then choose which groups they wish to join. following completion of this procedure, the application prompts the user to sign up using an existing facebook/google account or e-mail address. users can easily explore the meetup events they wish to participate in according to their interests, date and time availability and location, either from the home page or by clicking the ‘explore’ icon on the home page. once logged on, meetup prompts users to choose the date of an event in which they may wish to participate. after selecting the date, meetup provides the details of several events organised by the groups the user has joined (see image 2). users may also, however, explore the meetup events organised by other groups by clicking the ‘explore’ icon (see image 2). clicking each event page provides users with a description of the event, the time and date and the location. to participate in the event, users click the tick (√) symbol on the event page (see image 3). to attend this event, click the tick symbol describes the event shows the events organised by groups with which the user is registered to explore other groups’ events click ‘explore” to send personal messages click ‘messages’ image 2. showing events by my groups image 3. an event page meetup introduces the service by providing a self-introduction video technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 users can communicate with the event organiser or other participants by posting a message in the event page (see image 4) or by sending a personal message to the members attending the event by clicking on their picture (see image 4). the platform then opens the page for sending a personal message. pedagogical features participation in face-to-face interactions with native speakers provides learners with favourable conditions for language learning, namely: 1) observing how the target language is used by the speakers; and 2) practising the language in naturally occurring settings. despite the benefits, access to such opportunities is not necessarily easy for learners who do not have native speaker friends in the immediate learning environment. as a strategy to break down the access barrier and to create opportunities for language learning, language educators may suggest to adult learners that they use meetup for language learning. that is, to identify and participate in meetup events where they can mingle with native speakers. meetup encourages learners to interact with native speaker members comfortably and confidently by providing native speaker interlocutors who share similar interests and social contexts to discuss topics about which they feel passionate. users can search for those with a shared interest or for others who are learning the same language and based in the same area. except for specifically designed language-exchange meet-ups, the meetup group activities do not provide specific language-learning activities or focus on language corrections for learners. meetup does, however, provide a social context where learners can communicate with native speakers spontaneously, using the target language while enjoying activities together. language interactions in classrooms are often controlled by teachers and learners have limited opportunities to construct the discourse (strobelberger, 2012). on the other hand, the naturally occurring language interactions during meetup events allow learners to co-construct their interactions with native speakers by choosing the topic they wish to discuss and how they interact with the speakers. given the nature of the interactions with the native speakers in meetup events, regular participation at such events may help to users can type questions and messages here to send personal messages to attendees, click their picture image 4. communicating with other members technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 develop learners’ speaking and listening proficiencies as well as their pragmatic and intercultural competencies. teacher fit (approach) language learning via meetup events is best described by sociocultural theory – namely, that learning is mediated by use of cultural tools and interactions with more capable members. scaffolding provided by more experienced members enables a novice to achieve what s/he cannot do alone (lantolf, 2000). meetup is a cultural tool designed to bring together, with an enjoyable social dynamic, people who share similar interests. in terms of meetup’s application in a language learning context, it promotes language learning by connecting learners (novices) to naturally occurring interactions with native speakers (experts) sharing similar interests. participations in the events may provide learners with the opportunity to observe how native speakers use the language in an authentic social context. native speakers, as experts of the languages, may also support language learning by providing multiple forms of scaffoldings to language learners including: 1) requesting that they reformulate their utterances so that their comments may be better understood; and 2) providing language learners with expressions they know but which they cannot construct by themselves. thus, multiple forms of scaffolding mediated by meetup enable learners to use and learn target languages in ways they cannot otherwise achieve without using the application. despite the benefits for language learning, it is difficult for some learners to locate such useful online resources as meetup to use for language learning (lai, 2015; lai and gu, 2011). to encourage language learners to use the target language outside the classroom, it is important to expand their repertoire and use of online resources. recommending the use of meetup to language learners is one pedagogical strategy for increasing their access to naturally occurring interactions with the native speakers. however, meeting strangers for language learning is not risk free. since some meetup members do use the application for inappropriate purposes, educators should remind leaners to use the application carefully and to meet its members only in public places. learner fit (design) meetup is appropriate for intermediateor advanced-level learners who want to have face-toface interactions with native speakers, but who cannot access such opportunities easily in their immediate learning environment. in particular, this application is suitable for sociable learners who are willing to meet new native speaker members sharing similar interests to enjoy social activities together. the social context provides a shared setting to discuss and perform the language during the activities. consequently, meetup encourages learners to communicate, using the target languages with native speakers, what they feel passionate about. thus, language learners can use meetup to break down the barrier to accessing native-speaker interactions as well as to construct highly personalised learning spaces. despite the discussed benefits, the meetup platform is not useful for every learner. first, owing to their limited language skills, learners with low language proficiency may find it intimidating to participate in conversations with native speakers at meetup events not focused on language learning. intermediate or advanced language proficiency levels are therefore a prerequisite for understanding and participating in naturally occurring interactions with native speakers. however, those learners with low language proficiency may feel comfortable participating in meetup events organised to promote learning language and culture. these events are more likely to be attended by language learners of a similar technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 proficiency level and the native speaker attendees may speak both their first and target languages for them. second, language learning in meetup requires learners to be willing to learn the target language by socialising with native speakers. opportunities for language learning in meetup arise while learners socialise with native speakers using the target language. however, shy learners may feel intimidated or uncomfortable about interacting with native speakers whom they have met for the first time at the event. third, those learners who prefer to learn the target language by receiving corrective feedback may not feel motivated to use the application, as the native speaker participants usually do not provide such feedback at meetup events. some language learners expect native speakers to provide corrective feedback for their erroneous expressions, even in naturally occurring interactions (kim, 2011). however, native speakers often prioritise flow of communication over correction of learners’ linguistic errors in such communication contexts (nagami, 2005). to motivate such learners to use meetup for language learning, language educators can share the benefits of participating in naturally occurring interactions with native speakers for language learning. finally, using meetup for language learning requires learners to develop their ability as autonomous learners. meetup does not provide a fixed learning schedule or pre-designed learning materials such as those that learners are likely to find in classroom learning contexts. to enhance efficiency of language learning using meetup, learners must be motivated to schedule participation at meetup events on a regular basis. they should also be able to identify what they wish to learn from interactions with native speakers at the events and actively to initiate interactions with native speakers to facilitate such learning. summary many language learners have difficulty accessing face-to-face interactions with the native speakers. meetup can be used to overcome this constraint in that learners can easily locate and participate in social events in which they engage in face-to-face interactions with native speakers. participation in the events enables learners to use the target languages spontaneously while enjoying shared interests with native speakers. the social setting also encourages learners to communicate, using the target languages, what they feel passionate about. given that, meetup can be used as a pedagogical tool to empower learners by providing access to native speaker knowledge as well as to opportunities to communicate on topics about which they feel passionate. acknowledgement publication of this paper is supported by a publication grant provided by waseda university, japan. reference list allen, h.w. (2010) ‘language‐learning motivation during short‐term study abroad: an activity theory perspective.’ foreign language annals, 43(1), 27-49. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.19449720.2010.01058.x?casa_token=pvm9vbbfsmkaaaaa%3a_giq9lvpbiars6yfuswik0wq oghuzrypfqx3wvfc6oacck_fwrbzu6i-5xyj6pqzk1ztm0y6jf7d-iw. (accessed: 3 may 2020) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01058.x?casa_token=pvm9vbbfsmkaaaaa%3a_giq9lvpbiars6yfuswik0wqoghuzrypfqx3wvfc6oacck_fwrbzu6i-5xyj6pqzk1ztm0y6jf7d-iw_ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01058.x?casa_token=pvm9vbbfsmkaaaaa%3a_giq9lvpbiars6yfuswik0wqoghuzrypfqx3wvfc6oacck_fwrbzu6i-5xyj6pqzk1ztm0y6jf7d-iw_ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01058.x?casa_token=pvm9vbbfsmkaaaaa%3a_giq9lvpbiars6yfuswik0wqoghuzrypfqx3wvfc6oacck_fwrbzu6i-5xyj6pqzk1ztm0y6jf7d-iw_ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 kim, t. (2011) ‘sociocultural dynamics of esl learning (de) motivation: an activity theory analysis of two adult korean immigrants.’ canadian modern language review, 67(1), 91122. available at: https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cmlr.67.1.091. (accessed: 3 may 2020) lai, c. (2015) ‘perceiving and traversing in-class and out-of-class learning: accounts from foreign language learners in hong kong.’ innovation in language learning and teaching, 9(3), 265-284. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17501229.2014.918982 (accessed: 3 may 2020). lai, c. and gu, m. (2011) ‘self-regulated out-of-class language learning with technology.’ computer assisted language learning, 24(4), 317-335. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09588221.2011.568417 (accessed: 3 may 2020). lantolf, j.p. (2000) ‘introducing sociocultural theory.’ in: lantolf, j.p. (ed.) sociocultural theory and second language learning (1-26). oxford: oxford university press. isbn: 0194421600. nagami, m. (2005) ‘友だちとの会話と第 2 言語学習は両立するか: l1 使用者と l2 使用者の 会話における訂正と発話援助: are “conversation with a friend” and “second language learning”: correction and assistance in conversation between l1 user and l2 user.’ handai nihongo kenkyū, 17, 27-57. available at: https://ir.library.osakau.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/11573/?lang=0&mode=&opkey=r158848553851900&idx=2&chk_sche ma=3000&cate_schema=3000&codeno= (accessed: 3 may 2020). strobelberger, k. (2012) classroom discourse in efl teaching: a cross-cultural perspective. hamburg: diplomica verlag gmbh. e-isbn: 9783842823730. https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cmlr.67.1.091 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17501229.2014.918982 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09588221.2011.568417 https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/11573/?lang=0&mode=&opkey=r158848553851900&idx=2&chk_schema=3000&cate_schema=3000&codeno= https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/11573/?lang=0&mode=&opkey=r158848553851900&idx=2&chk_schema=3000&cate_schema=3000&codeno= https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/11573/?lang=0&mode=&opkey=r158848553851900&idx=2&chk_schema=3000&cate_schema=3000&codeno= conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 could there be an alternative to the undergraduate marketing student’s dissertation? emmanuel mogaji university of greenwich background undergraduate students at united kingdom (uk) universities are expected to write a dissertation at the end of their studies. the dissertation has been described as a seal of undergraduate degree programmes in the uk (rowley, 2000). students view it as the “single most substantial, and independently worked upon, piece of work they will undertake while at university” (webster, pepper and jenkins, 2000, p. 72). the emotional rollercoaster for students embarking on their dissertation has been well documented. the experience can sometimes require a tutor to step in and guide the students (todd, bannister and clegg, 2004) and this raises questions about the academic support being provided for them. it may be best to look for an alternative to tutoring to solve this problem and enhance the student experience while maintaining academic quality. to ease these challenges, various alternatives were presented at the university of greenwich business school 2019 learning and teaching festival. the festival explores teaching practices by encouraging: the sharing of effective pedagogies and learning and assessment practice; the exploring of issues regarding student engagement. this piece offers a short and hopefully thought-provoking reflection upon uk student dissertations and support for undergraduate marketing students (mogaji, 2019a); it raises questions about alternative methods for supporting undergraduate marketing students with their dissertations and acknowledges the challenges that undergraduates face; it identifies key issues that have given rise to questions about the dissertation process and provides alternatives for consideration by tutors and academic staff supporting their students; it also presents the potential advantages and limitations of adopting these alternative methods. challenges associated with the undergraduate dissertation the support provided to students for the writing of their dissertations is crucial (heinze and heinze, 2009), for they experience a variety of challenges during this phase of their undergraduate studies. silén (2003) notes that the freedom of independent research has the negative effect of ‘chaos’ and ‘cosmos’ as students feel uneasy and yet excited about their dissertation journey. that students, expected to choose a topic for their independent research, often struggle to generate one is considered problematic (todd, bannister and clegg, 2004). these authors found that students frequently find it challenging to produce a research question that is, in fact, researchable; they note that this could be because of lack of experience or limited opportunities and thus call for additional support to help students with the emotional difficulties associated with defining a researchable topic. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 likewise, reis (1999) acknowledges the initial anxiety and uncertainty undergraduate students face when deciding what topic they are going to work on and highlights the need to provide them with such help as will enable them to feel prepared for and have commitment to an investigation into relevant and current research. unlike postgraduate students, finalyear undergraduates have not yet experienced academic research to the level demanded of dissertations. considering these concerns about undergraduate dissertations and students’ struggle to find ‘researchable’ ideas, this paper raises the question ‘could there be alternative methods for research question selection?’ and offers an answer in the form of a teaching innovation aimed at easing students’ anxiety, relieving their sense of pressure and dispelling their uncertainty about choosing their research topic; it also outlines the support provided for students during the process. proposed alternatives often, students are expected to select their topics and work with a tutor (a member of the teaching staff) who will support them throughout the process. since this arrangement has been criticised because of its associated challenges, two alternative methods are presented for consideration. call for papers a call for paper (cfp) is a document circulated by a professional organisation, such as an academic publisher, journal or conference organiser. it invites individuals with interest in a topic (or a list of topics) to submit their research in the form of original scholarly articles for review and consideration for publication in a journal or book, or for presentation at a conference. a cfp often contains background to and rationale for the request, a literature review, a list of relevant topics – often in bullet points – and also key dates for submissions. for the purposes of an undergraduate dissertation, a tutor could use such a document to provide students with various topics, one of which they might opt to explore; it would act as their guide to research questions current within marketing. alon (2009) recognises the need to do research that is both feasible and interesting, as that is likely to extend our knowledge significantly. elmar (electronic marketing list information) – an academic resource offered by the american marketing association to the marketing academic community around the world – is a good platform for accessing cfps for marketing researchers. working in tutors’ research areas an alternative method would be to invite students to find a topic within their tutor’s specific research area. as tutors supporting the students with their dissertations are more likely to have interest in their respective research areas, they could suggest that students consider topics associated with these. for example, a tutor with interest in social media and stakeholder communications strategies might invite students to explore how different sectors communicate with stakeholders on social media. without giving an exact topic, the tutor could in this way help streamline the search for a research question. students would then need only to find a sector and explore possible research questions relevant to that context. as many marketing students have trouble grasping the concept of research (love and stelling, 2012), making them work with tutors on a specific research area would help conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 integrate them into the modalities of research. this method would involve supporting students to develop their research method skills and knowledge and so prepare themselves better for their dissertation. this alternative is not about giving the students a specific topic to research; instead, it is about refining the stream of topics to enable them to make relevant, researchable choices for possible exploration. fiedler (2014) notes that choosing a topic that is ‘research-worthy’ is essential for a successful dissertation and that there is a need to pay attention to the broader implications of one’s research for various audiences, especially those in academia. advantages and limitations of proposed alternatives reflection on past experiences of adopting these alternatives, as well as on feedback from students and staff during the presentation, indicates that there are advantages and limitations that should be considered. one significant advantage of these alternatives is that they give the students a sense of direction for their dissertation: they feel they have a place to start and a path to follow – often a crucial motivation, for once they have that sense of direction, they are spurred on to explore the topic further and conduct their literature review. staff confirm that students are more motivated when their research topic is finalised. in addition, the tutor is likely to demonstrate greater willingness and eagerness to give support when the student is researching within the tutor’s own area of interest; the tutor is better equipped to share readily available information, especially that from relevant and current literature. the student is also aware that more guidance is forthcoming during the process – as there is a sense of collaboration and understanding between tutor and student – and feels less pressure and greater reassurance in the presence of available tutor expertise. despite these advantages, a couple of limitations must be considered. with regard to the second proposal, tutors need to make sure that their own ideas align with the working principles of the dissertation modules in their universities. this issue was also raised during the presentation. it is, however, important to note that the students are not explicitly provided with research topics and questions but rather with a cfp that is open to different interpretations. in addition, there is no guarantee or expectation that students will be interested in and excited about this process. there are students who may feel they want to continue with the proposal they wrote in their second year, and their wish should be respected. conclusion this reflective piece raised a question about an alternative approach to the undergraduate dissertation, as presented during the ‘sharing good practice’ session at the 2019 university of greenwich business faculty learning and teaching festival, where tutors could share their own practices with other colleagues. during the presentations, attending staff were able to corroborate the practices being shared, offer feedback to enhance pedagogical research and discuss how they might implement such methodology in their departments to suppport their undergraduate students. the majority of session participants were unaware of the approaches to the student dissertation presented in this piece and it was certainly fascinating to see their surprised recognition that they have, in their own fields, cfps from which students might well benefit! conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 the piece provides insight into the presentation, which itself highlighted a problem regarding the selection of dissertation topic by marketing undergraduate students; it offers two alternative methods that benefit students by introducing them to current research questions that need answers, making them less anxious about their research topic and helping them to develop skills relevant to their future careers. these alternatives are aimed at tutors working with students who are struggling with selecting a research topic and working on their research methods as they plan for their dissertations. it is important to note that some students may also be reluctant to work with these ideas, as they may feel that they are too rigid and that they would rather do without them. however, tutors can be flexible with regard to the research areas they offer to the students and can show them additional cfps to choose from. tutors must make the students aware of these alternatives to help them find a topic that both aligns with their interests and is researchworthy. most importantly, they should always support students in their decision. students should also be informed that it is not compulsory to choose a topic that has been suggested or made available by the cfps. students are still responsible for their learning and should therefore be supported in choosing a topic that they are personally interested in. reis (1999) argues that finding the ideal research topic is more than just selecting from options provided by tutors. students may prefer not to select from limited options and therefore it is important to recognise their need to develop an interest of their own choice; they should be supported in developing their research skills and capacity for independent research (mogaji, 2019b). the presented alternatives, with their advantages and limitations outlined here, are meant to be optional suggestions for tutors and students and should never act as roadblocks to research freedom. students are still expected to gain, competently and individually, new knowledge that they find fascinating and self-expressive (alon, 2009). tutors should act as guides to the students in exploring alternatives. reference list alon, u. (2009) ‘how to choose a good scientific problem.’ molecular cell, 35(6), 726-728. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19782018 (accessed: 16 december 2019). fiedler, s. (2014) 3 important things to consider when selecting your research topic. available at: http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/3-important-thingsconsider-selecting-research-topicguest-blogger-blair-harrington (accessed: 02 february 2018). heinze, a. and heinze, b. (2009) ‘blended e‐learning skeleton of conversation: improving formative assessment in undergraduate dissertation supervision.’ british journal of educational technology, 40(2), 294-305. available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.14678535.2008.00923.x (accessed: 16 december 2019). http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/3-important-thingsconsider-selecting-research-topic-guest-blogger-blair-harrington http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/3-important-thingsconsider-selecting-research-topic-guest-blogger-blair-harrington conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 love, e. and stelling, p. (2012) ‘volcanic experimentation: using mentos and soda to teach causal research in a marketing research class.’ marketing education review, 22(1), 2732. available at: https://doi.org/10.2753/mer1052-8008220105 (accessed: 16 december 2019). mogaji, e. (2019) could there be an alternative to undergraduate dissertation? a discussion from the marketing teams. university of greenwich business school learning and teaching festival. greenwich, london: greenwich learning & teaching festival. available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10504250.v1 (accessed: 16 december 2019). mogaji, e. (2019b) ‘student engagement with linkedin to enhance employability.’ in: employability via higher education: sustainability as scholarship. cham: springer, 321-329. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26342-3_21 (accessed: 16 december 2019). reis, r. m. (1999) ‘choosing a research topic.’ the chronicle of higher education. available at: https://www.chronicle.com/article/choosing-a-research-topic/45641 (accessed: 08 august 2018). rowley, j. (2000) ‘thirteen tips for successful supervision of undergraduate dissertations.’ educational developments, 1(1), 14-15. available at: http://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/91745/ (accessed: 16 december 2019). silén, c. (2003) responsibility and independence in learning—what are the role of the educators and the framework of the educational programme? hinckley, uk: paper presented at the 11th improving student learning, symposium, 19 september 2003. todd, m., bannister, p. and clegg, s. (2004) ‘independent inquiry and the undergraduate dissertation: perceptions and experiences of final‐year social science students.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 29(3), 335-355. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000188285 (accessed: 16 december 2019). webster, f., pepper, d. and jenkins, a. (2000) ‘assessing the undergraduate dissertation.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 25(1), 71–80. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930050025042 (accessed: 16 december 2019). https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10504250.v1 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26342-3_21 https://www.chronicle.com/article/choosing-a-research-topic/45641 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 assessment strategies and employability in the environmental and engineering sectors debbie bartlett1, deborah sims2 1 faculty of engineering & science, university of greenwich, uk, corresponding author d.bartlett@greenwich.ac.uk orcid id 0000-0002-5125-6466 2 faculty of engineering & science, university of greenwich, uk abstract this case study builds on material presented at the hea advance stem conference held in birmingham, england, in january 2019 which raised the issue of assessment strategies, suggesting that, for example, examinations do little to prepare students for the workplace. the initial research has been developed to provide an analysis of the current assessments in ecology/environmental management and civil engineering and the relevance to the tasks new entrants carry out in their roles as young professionals. we have developed our initial research, carried out in spring/early summer 2019, to explore this in more depth, using a survey to investigate early career professionals’ perceptions of the usefulness of the various types of assessment they experienced at university and to the requirements of their jobs. at the same time, we asked the employers of graduate ecologists/environmental managers and civil engineers how well prepared they feel graduate entrants are for their job roles and whether they are finding it difficult to recruit applicants with the appropriate competency, with respect to both transferable and technical skills. we argue that greater links and communication between employers and education providers would benefit the employability outcomes for graduates and ease the transition between university and the workplace and we make recommendations for competency-based assessment strategies. this research was supported by the university of greenwich learning and teaching fund. keywords: authentic assessment; feedback; competency; employability background the higher education landscape in the united kingdom (uk) is changing. while ‘employability’ has long been a buzz word in academic circles, particularly with respect to curriculum development, it is surprising how few direct links there are between universities and industry. rising fees have increased competition and prospective students are more discerning, particularly those considering an msc in such science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) subjects as ecology, environmental management and engineering, where professional body accreditation is increasingly important in giving graduates a place on the career ladder. engineering apprenticeships are well established, with those for environmental practitioners (level 6) and ecologists (level 7) just coming online. this effectively places the employers, rather than the students, in the client role and, consequently, they are likely to be highly critical of programmes that do not deliver real value mailto:d.bartlett@greenwich.ac.uk articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 for money (wade and bartlett, 2017). there are worrying implications. shayer (2019), in an article directed at landscape architects, advised employers to look beyond graduates, suggesting that many degree programmes are out of date and that other recruitment strategies have the added benefit of new entrants without the burden of student debt. evidence of a ‘skills gap’, the mismatch between the products of the (higher) education system and what employers want, is well established. osmani et al. (2015) reviewed the attributes required by employers in the business management, accounting and computer science sectors; bartlett and gomez martin (2017) focused on the skills gap in ecology and environmental management. both studies highlighted the importance of transferable – often considered ‘soft’ – skills, as opposed to sector-specific technical ones. apprenticeship standards are based on knowledge, skills and behaviours (ksbs) and professional bodies use these as the basis for evidencing competencies, the ksbs necessary to perform activities to the required standard to progress between membership grades. mueller (2005) drew attention to the need for ‘authentic assessment’, to measure the knowledge and skills students have acquired during the learning process. fook and sidhu (2010, p.153) argued that, while the purpose of assessment is to evaluate students’ performance, “institutions of higher education have to revisit their purpose of assessment if they hope to equip their learners with skills and competencies needed to succeed in today’s workplace”. these authors develop this theme further by suggesting that assessment should be the means of increasing and developing learning rather than merely measuring it. while this is the rationale for providing feedback and, in an ideal world, would stimulate reflection and improvement, how does assessment by examination fit in with this notion of transformative learning? little – if any – feedback is given on exam scripts other than the final mark. haak (2019) reminded academics that focusing on summative assessment ignores decades of research on the ways that assessment can facilitate and enable students’ learning, a perception corroborated by the systematic review of learner engagement with feedback carried out by winstone et al. (2017). formative feedback is a much more active approach, can enable genuine transformative learning (lam et al., 2017; mccarthy, 2017) and is closer to workplace reality, where work is likely to go to a superior and be returned, with comments, for amendment. it is possible that academics may see this as increasing workload, although that could be alleviated by peer review and/or reduction in the overall number of assignments. students may likewise consider formative submissions as additional work and it may be necessary to explain their direct relationship to workplace competencies, rather than merely as learning outcomes in the module descriptors – i.e., increasing assessment literacy (carless and boud, 2018; haak, 2019). a recent times higher education (the) feature entitled ‘does university assessment still pass muster?’ suggested that exams and essays should be replaced by assessment methods that are much closer to real-world tasks, in response to concerns about employability and student satisfaction (mckie, 2019). the authors of this paper combine active roles in their respective professional bodies with teaching and have introduced an increasing amount of authentic assessment in their ecology/environmental management and civil engineering modules, but this an uphill task when colleagues tend to favour traditional assessments. we designed this research to assess how useful graduates have found different types of assessment in the early stages of their professional careers, to provide an evidence base for informing future assessment articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 strategies, particularly in the applied stem areas of ecology/environmental management and engineering. method while there are significant numbers of greenwich graduates in both subject areas, we wanted a wider pool of responses. we contacted the institute of civil engineers (ice) and the chartered institute of ecology and environmental management (cieem), the relevant professional bodies, and both committed to distributing simple questionnaires to graduate members to enable national circulation. in the case of cieem, these numbered around 850. we decided to limit the number of questions and to keep them as simple as possible to maximise response rate – since early career ecologists and engineers are under time pressure. we offered no incentive for completion. although we discussed the option at length, we agreed that nothing would be gained from acquiring data on gender or ethnicity. the aim was simply to find out which types of assessment had proved most useful in the workplace. we developed two separate questionnaires, one aimed at recent graduates in the early stages of their career and the other at employers of graduates. after approval in january 2019 by the university of greenwich research ethics committee, these were piloted in february 2019 on twelve recent graduates and two employers and then put into surveymonkey for distribution. timing was an issue. the questionnaires were ready in early march, but, as cieem were already running a survey on wellbeing in the workplace, the survey was delayed until early may, after the easter holiday period. we publicised the employers’ survey on linkedin and ran it concurrently. question 1 contained a list of typical assessments generated from discussion with msc environmental conservation and civil engineering students at the university of greenwich; it asked respondents to indicate how useful they had found each type in preparing them for the tasks they were required to perform in their workplace. question 2 asked to what extent the feedback they received while at university had enabled them to improve and question 3 asked how this had prepared them for the type of feedback they received in the workplace. the rationale for these questions was that while students are given feedback to enable them to improve in future assignments in job roles this would be with the expectation that they would respond, revising their work to the standard required for it to be signed off. question 4 asked respondents to identify their job role so that responses from ecologists and engineers could be differentiated. question 5 was open, providing an opportunity for respondents to comment freely on their university assessment experience. we kept the employer survey questions to a minimum as we anticipated it would be difficult to get responses. the first question asked if graduate employees were adequately prepared for their job roles; the second asked for suggestions for any specific assessment tasks that could increase employability; the third asked whether recruitment focused on bsc or msc articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 graduates. we targeted personal contacts as we felt this would be the most successful way to get engagement. results the results from the two surveys appear separately in the following sections. the graduate survey this contained five questions and received sixty-two responses with a 100% completion rate for those participating. unfortunately, as we received only three responses from engineers, we removed these and based the analysis on the fifty-nine from the ecology/environmental management professions. responses are provided in the following tables. table 1: summary of responses to q1 assessment tasks identified as most useful in the job role (in the order they appeared in the survey) * indicates assessments relating principally to civil engineers. very useful fairly useful useful neutral not very useful not useful at all practical field investigations 32 19 51 6 2 0 presentations 30 21 51 8 0 0 carrying out risk assessments 26 22 48 1 3 7 critical review of documents 28 19 47 9 2 1 presenting research to peers 19 28 47 11 1 0 group projects 25 20 45 9 4 1 plant identification 26 18 44 13 0 2 practical tests 21 23 44 11 3 1 essays 19 24 43 12 2 2 dissertations 20 22 42 8 7 2 writing method statements 21 21 42 9 4 4 carrying out phase 1 habitat survey 23 18 41 11 5 2 cpd portfolio to evidence competency 22 17 39 8 3 0 site visit reports 21 18 39 10 3 7 project management scenarios 22 16 38 10 6 5 writing management plans 23 15 38 10 6 5 preliminary ecological assessment 24 12 36 10 6 7 lab reports 16 18 34 13 8 4 mock advice to clients 16 18 34 9 5 11 poster presentations 13 20 33 14 9 3 computer modelling 7 22 29 17 7 6 exams 8 19 27 12 12 8 writing business plans* 5 19 24 17 10 8 compiling risk registers 10 12 22 20 6 11 writing contract documentation* 8 12 20 21 7 11 videos 5 11 16 25 9 9 role play 2 13 15 21 12 11 prototypes* 1 6 7 31 6 15 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 conversely, those considered least effective are shown in table 2, below. table 2: the assessment tasks identified as least useful in the job role very useful fairly useful neutral not very useful not useful at all not useful role play 2 13 21 12 11 23 prototypes** 1 6 31 6 15 21 exams 8 19 12 12 8 20 videos 5 11 25 9 9 18 writing business plans* 5 19 17 10 8 18 writing contract documentation* 8 12 21 7 11 18 compiling risk registers 10 12 20 6 11 17 mock advice to clients 16 18 9 5 11 16 computer modelling 7 22 17 7 6 13 preliminary ecological assessment 24 12 10 6 7 13 lab reports 16 18 13 8 4 12 poster presentations 13 20 14 9 3 12 project management scenarios 22 16 10 6 5 11 writing management plans 23 15 10 6 5 11 carrying out risk assessments 26 22 1 3 7 10 site visit reports 21 18 10 3 7 10 dissertations 20 22 8 7 2 9 writing method s 21 21 9 4 4 8 carrying out phase 1 habitat survey 23 18 11 5 2 7 group projects 25 20 9 4 1 5 essays 19 24 12 2 2 4 practical tests 21 23 11 3 1 4 critical review of documents 28 19 9 2 1 3 cpd portfolio to evidence competency 22 17 8 3 0 3 plant identification 26 18 13 0 2 2 practical field investigations 32 19 6 2 0 2 presenting research to peers 19 28 11 1 0 1 presentations 30 21 8 0 0 0 question 2 asked participants whether feedback had helped them to improve their work, with most responding that it had enabled moderate improvements (table 3). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 table 3: impact of feedback on improvement did feedback enable improvement? responses % (rounded) a lot 21 36% moderately 34 58% not at all 4 7% question 3 asked whether participants felt that the feedback they received as students had prepared them for their experience in the workplace. twenty-five (42%) felt it had, while thirty-four (58%) felt it had not. question 4 was open and asked respondents to name their job role. forty-one (69.5%) had the word ‘ecologist’ in their title and most of the others included the term ‘environment’ or ‘environmental’. question 5, also open, asked for comments on university assessments. these are included below, grouped into comments (verbatim) on 1) assessment and feedback in general and 2) technical/practical topics. table 4: responses to open question 5, grouped by topic assessments i felt assessment grading was too rigid in terms of meeting criteria and sticking to a certain format that did not allow any creativity within the content not overly useful or reflective of real reports. but a good variety of formats, such as report, presentations etc. minority of assignments were assigned for the ‘sake’ of assignment, rather than thinking about what practices would be useful in a professional setting i would have preferred a project management course/assessment maybe too much group work plant and animal id tests were useful, memorising essays to write under exam conditions are not useful. essay writing and completing a mock section of an environmental statement was useful. field id most useful thing. they were not applied enough in their nature too academic career focused they need to be valuable for employers to see skills have been built striking the right balance between academic rigour and professional reporting is crucial they were not applied enough in their nature a lot of made-up scenarios, would be good to use more practical real-world examples practical work prepared me better than my exams could more report writing practice would have been useful feedback very subjective sometimes feedback unhelpful, particularly when working at a high level but still wanting to improve, the feedback generally just tended to be "very good" rather than constructive improvement not very useful sometimes very late return content it would be more useful to learn about planning and policy at university rather than focus as much on practical ecology need more practical field-based oriented modules good background on legislation, lacking on protected species survey skills more field identification (id) skills would have been useful articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 other my masters was very challenging and helped me grow as an individual but the way i was tied to one supervisor's opinion on everything made for a very difficult and stressful relationship my university career had sandwich placement at a botanic garden. the course was very broad, entitled "ecology, evolution and behaviour" and was not necessarily intended to prepare students for careers in ecological consultancy (or other) so much as to teach them about current research. the placement year was the key aspect in terms of facilitating my career in ecology (of which consultancy is only a small part); however, the degree was a requirement for all the jobs i have applied for. the employer survey this received fourteen responses, from over thirty contacted. four identified as in the ecology/environmental management sector and ten as engineering companies. this may be misleading as many large companies, while primarily engaged in engineering, have large ecology/environmental management divisions. question 1 asked whether graduate employees were able to carry out the required tasks adequately. twelve answered yes, with two responding that they were not, although one caveated that this was unless they had taken a specialist degree and had additional work/field experience. one of the ‘yes’ responses added that this was not in all cases, suggesting a ‘maybe’ option was needed. question 2 asked whether there were any specific assessment tasks that could increase employability. responses are grouped into specific technical and transferable (or ‘soft’) skills in table 5. table 5: employers’ views on assessments that would improve job readiness. technical skills bat surveys using professional survey kit (e.g. walkabouts, ‘echo meter touch’ (a type of bat detector); great crested newt and reptile surveys the core role of the university must remain to teach the principles of the academic field of study awareness of business information modelling (x 2) designing mitigation for species based on survey findings interpreting legislation understanding the national planning policy framework and the policy drivers for ecology health and safety digital engineering transferable skills professionalism coaching: communication skills, asking questions, being enthusiastic, asking for more experience, being present (and leaving the phone alone), updating managers on progress and delivering to deadlines communication skills and project management work-private life balance setting goals basic office tasks reporting back to line mangers on progress and using initiative to suggest next steps after completing work. group assessment tasks, working and being effective in collaborative groups with people you do not know. question 3 asked whether graduates were employed with a bsc (one), msc (two) or both (eleven). one who replied ‘both’ added that there had formerly been a preference for msc articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 8 candidates, but that they were increasingly finding that the best bsc graduates are as good and so more are being recruited at that level. discussion while it might not seem at first glance to be entirely logical, it is the response to question 4 that frames this discussion of the results. although the original intention was to engage with early career ecologists, environmental managers and engineers, forty-one (69.5%) respondents had the word ‘ecologist’ in their job title, with most of the remainder having the term ‘environment’ or ‘environmental’ included in theirs. only three were engineers. the results need to be considered within this context. conversely, the employers were more mixed, with four identifying as in the ecology/environmental management sector and ten as engineering companies. the graduate survey the responses to question 1 showed that the assessment tasks considered most useful were the practical ones (table 1). combining responses to practical field investigations (51), plant identification (44), practical tests (44) and phase 1 (41) gives a total of 180 positive responses, with roughly two thirds of respondents identifying that a high proportion of their work would be field-based, particularly early in their careers. as it is usual for newly employed graduates in this field to assist initially with surveys, competency in, for example, plant identification is likely to be tested during the recruitment process. the data collected is usually passed on to more senior colleagues for processing into information and report preparation. all fieldwork requires risk assessment, something else likely to be mentioned in interviews, so it is not surprising that this was also high on the list. presentations, including presenting research to peers, also featured high in the ranking, generally agreed to involve key communication skills and, again, likely to be useful in job interviews and so valuable components of employability. critical review of documents was ranked fourth and combines research skills, critical thinking, and concise writing, all valuable attributes in the workplace. however, group projects, sixth in the combined ranking, was a surprise as these are unpopular with students and often lead to disagreements about allocation of workload and unfair marking. it would be gratifying to think that this is the result of maturity, with the realisation that teamwork, getting along with other people, sharing skills, and collaborating towards a common goal all form a valuable part of the student journey. the top six in the least favoured assessments (table 2) are, in the main, tasks that would be more relevant to engineers than ecologists and environmental managers. the fact that role play was deemed the least useful is perhaps no surprise, as again this is something students tend to dislike and feel awkward about. competency comprises knowledge, skills and behaviours; therefore, arguably, an element of role play could be an advantage in the workplace, though perhaps not at the early career stage surveyed for this research. prototype-based assessments, ranking second, would be relevant only to engineers, as would compiling risk registers (7). it was not a surprise to find exams at number 3. writing business plans and contract documentation, ranking 5 and 6 respectively, are more likely to be used as assessment for engineers, with management plans probably the ecology/environmental management equivalent, but junior staff would, no doubt, not be involved. it was surprising to us that portfolios – which we use to evidence competency, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 9 indexed against the cieem competency framework (cieem 2019) – did not rank more highly, as these are popular and highly useful in interviews and to supplement curricula vitae to secure employment. maybe this assessment method is not common in other universities (nine respondents left this blank). in retrospect, for clarification, we should have included an additional question, asking which assessment types had been experienced, or a ‘not applicable’ option. alternatively, while portfolios may have value at the job application and interview stage, they may not be useful once in employment. one participant mentioned that commercial and business awareness was very useful for their current job role; perhaps this should be included in the professional studies modules that seem to be replacing research methods in applied subjects. perceptions of assessment tasks that demonstrated transferable skills, particularly communication, tended to contrast with the view voiced by martini (2019) that students do not always recognise the importance of transferable skills, such as communication. it would have been interesting to see if there was a difference in perception here, between students and early career professionals. it may be that the value of assessment tasks becomes apparent only when these are used in the workplace. an additional question could, in retrospect, have been included, asking which types of assessment respondents had experienced during their university studies. this would have added a further dimension to the analysis. the importance of there being an appropriate range of assessments was discussed by evans (2013) and is particularly important for students on vocational programmes, particularly mscs that lead directly into specific careers. question 2 related to feedback on assessments asking whether this had enabled improvement. the response was a lukewarm positive with the majority (~58%) responding that it was moderately helpful. additional comments on this were made in response to the open question 5 (see table 4 in the results) highlighting the need for feedback to be timely, useful and constructive. these reflect the well-established dichotomy between the vague assessment of learning, demonstrated by the unhelpful ‘very good’, and the type of feedback and assessment for learning where the comments made by the tutor – ideally – facilitate development (fook and sidhu, 2010), while it is likely that respondents came from many different uk universities that, without doubt, have differing assessment and feedback strategies. however, constructive and timely feedback on assessment is central to the ‘10 guiding principles’ of the qaa expectations and practices for assessment (2018) and it would be expected that all higher education institutions (heis) would working within this context. question 3 asked how well participants felt that the feedback they received as students had prepared them for the type of feedback they had experienced in the workplace. the results showed a relatively even distribution, with twenty-five (42%) feeling it had while thirty-four (58%) felt it had not. this is a particularly interesting topic and may reflect the extent to which formative assessment is used across the sector. in the workplace, graduates will produce work that is submitted to their line manager for comment, probably to be returned for amendment and re-submission before approval. for students, submitting formatives tends to be voluntary, with outlines or ‘work in progress’ being the basis for feedback that can, on this basis, be only rather general, as opposed to the more detailed – and so more constructive – response that can be given on full drafts. assessment deadlines are often, of necessity, towards the end of modules and this fact, combined with the habit of some to leave work till the last minute, militates against using formatives in the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 10 most productive way for learning. this student behaviour may also reflect a short fall in assessment literacy and genuine realisation of the value of interim comments aimed to improve the final submission and so the mark. we have seen good results in the environmental law and policy module, by asking students to give a presentation on which they receive feedback from tutors and peers, which can then be incorporated into their final summative report. this is not referred to as a formative, but the method and rationale are explained early in the module, effectively developing assessment literacy. as administrative burdens on staff are tending to increase, this may seem to create additional marking, but it may also serve to spread the marking load more evenly. students’ responses have demonstrated that they appreciate this approach and it can have a positive impact on employability, not least by increasing confidence. question 5 was open. the responses are given in table 4 in the results section, grouped into the topics of assessment, feedback, content and ‘other’. most comments on assessment support the idea of more practical and/or more authentic tasks, based on real-world examples. while practical tests might not exactly fit into the category of authentic assessment – on the basis that these would not really be a task carried out in the workplace – these were highlighted as particularly useful. however, these might well be a component of the interview process for junior ecologist positions and so could be considered as authentic learning to enhance employability (ornellas et al., 2019). a particularly interesting comment related to evidencing skills: “they need to be valuable for employers to see skills have been built”. this was corroborated by other comments, such as: “not overly useful or reflective of real reports”; “……. rather than thinking about what practices would be useful in a professional setting”; “they were not applied enough in their nature”; “would be good to use more practical real-world examples”. fewer comments were made on feedback, but those received suggested it could be improved. retrospectively, a question exploring the extent to which formative assessment was practised would have provided further insight. other comments related to programme content, with two wanting more field skills, though another suggested that there should be less focus on this and more on planning and policy. it must be remembered that, while about two thirds of respondents were early career (or junior) ecologists, the remainder identified as belonging to the wider, more varied ‘environmental’ category. universities offer programmes across the spectrum, from those specialising in survey techniques to those focusing on environmental impact assessment and environmental planning and monitoring. no programme could possibly cover everything and the most successful strategy for student satisfaction may be to identify a niche, with a likely career projection and to communicate this clearly to potential students. in every case, the balance between academic rigour and professional relevance is crucial, as pointed out by one of the respondents to the open question. the employer survey question 1 asked whether graduate employees were able to carry out the required tasks adequately. twelve answered that they were (one adding that this was not true in all cases), two that they were not (one adding the caveat ‘unless they had a specialist degree and/or additional work/ field experience’). it is important here to remember that all employees would https://www.emerald.com/insight/search?q=adriana%20ornellas articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 11 have successfully completed a selection process, so these responses are not necessarily indicative of the competency of applicants for graduate positions. the earlier cieem skills gap project revealed that employers, commenting on applicants, required better plant identification and transferable skills, particularly project management and communication (bartlett and gomez martin, 2017). question 2 asked whether there were any specific assessment tasks that could be useful for increasing employability. there was a surprising number of transferable skills mentioned, including communication (twice) and the ability to meet deadlines – surely inherent in university education. again, this reflects the findings of the earlier cieem skills gap project (bartlett and gomez martin, op.cit.). the extent to which students understand the purpose of assessments and are aware of the transferable skills that they are developing and demonstrating has been questioned (martini, 2019). perhaps the relevance of these to employability needs to be made explicit. the degree apprenticeship standards are based on knowledge, skills and behaviours and, arguably, it is the ‘softer’ elements, the skills and behaviours, that secure positions, as all candidates will have a degree that evidences basic knowledge. while it was not surprising that employers wanted skills, together with familiarity with equipment and standard techniques, it was perhaps more informative that many referred to behaviours. examples, extracted from table 5, included asking questions, being enthusiastic, asking for more experience, being present (and “leaving the phone alone”), work-private life balance, setting goals, reporting back to line managers on progress, using initiative to suggest next steps after completing work and being effective in collaborative groups with people you do not know. these would apply equally across the breath of the sector and, remembering the employer respondents were biased towards engineering, not just to ecologists and environmental managers. question 3 asked whether graduates were employed with a bsc (one), an msc (two) or a mixture of both (eleven). one who replied ‘both’ added that formerly candidates with an msc had been preferred but increasingly the best bsc graduates are as good and so more are now being recruited. cieem accreditation, introduced six years ago, has now been achieved by ten bsc and seven msc programmes, which may account for the rise in standards. implications professional bodies such as cieem use competencies, each defined as a combination of knowledge, skills and behaviours (or ksbs), as the criteria for membership and for progression between the career grades. these are also the basis for degree apprenticeship standards, developed in collaboration with employers, with the aim of providing the competencies required by the industry. this research demonstrates that while universities are traditionally specialists in knowledge development, graduates and employers, when considering assessment tasks, are placing a greater value on those that demonstrate skills and so contribute to evidencing competency. the important ‘hidden’ element is that knowledge underlies – and is a prerequisite for – the skill; for example, the ability to identify plants is based on knowledge of the differences between them. perhaps the most interesting dimension relates to behaviours. apprenticeship standards give a more equal weighting to the ksbs than is apparent in university assessment. while meeting deadlines is essential throughout, expecting students to demonstrate a professional demeanour is not. professional bodies have codes of conduct and professional standards, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 12 but unless teaching staff are members, they may not have easy access to these documents, nor to the relevant competency framework. fundamental to developing an authentic assessment strategy to improve employability outcomes for students is the extent to which staff are aware of industry needs and the very rapid changes experienced in the environmental sector. this can be an additional burden on time and some programmes alleviate this by setting up an advisory group to inform the curriculum. bringing outside speakers is another route to raising student awareness of industry expectations and how these differ from university ones. limitations this research suffered from time constraints. while it had been hoped to issue the survey in early spring and hold focus groups before the busy summer survey season began, this was not possible. the response rate was disappointing. it was mailed to around 850 graduate members of cieem generating fifty-nine responses (~15%). the timing was not ideal, as the frantic summer ecological survey season begins in april/may with junior staff working long hours doing great crested newt and bat surveys at night, as well as day work. the constraints of the funding, requiring research to be completed by july, gave no choice regarding timing; we would have preferred to run the survey during the winter, when ecologists are less busy, and this is something that others working in this area might do well to bear in mind. we have no explanation for the lack of engagement from engineers, although responses were generated from employers of this group as well as those from the ecology/environmental management sector. despite these shortcomings, the findings provide support for ‘authentic assessment’ and strengthen the argument for a move towards tasks that are focused on enabling students to evidence competency. however, it can be difficult to advocate for change within the context of academia, where administrative structures designed to ensure the quality of learning and teaching tend to stifle innovation. it is often easier to continue with the same ‘tried and true’ practices rather than to change, even when the benefit is evident. furthermore, not all academics have direct workplace experience. closer links with employers and with graduates as they develop in their careers could raise awareness of the rapid changes in the workplace and expectations of graduates – and of what is needed from heis, particularly as more degree apprenticeships become available. the responses to all the questions are likely to have been influenced by the respondents’ job roles. while an ecologist will find basic practical skills most useful, environmental managers are more likely to be engaged in research, analysis, and both written and verbal communication. as ecologists develop their careers, they are likely to use a combination of technical and transferable skills, so different responses might have resulted had the survey extended beyond the graduate career grade. conclusion and recommendations this is a highly topical area of research and, despite the issues of survey timing and the lack of uptake by engineering graduates, it has produced interesting results. it seems clear that there is an appetite among both students and employers for more authentic assessment and feedback, requiring a move away from traditional essays and exams to tasks that combine academic evaluation while evidencing competency to prospective employers. the change of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 13 emphasis from assessment of learning to assessment for learning, well established in the literature, is particularly important in the increasingly competitive marketplace, where apprenticeships mean that employers are the clients rather than the students. for this to happen, we recommend that: • programmes are supported by an advisory group of employers who can identify the tasks they require graduates to be able to perform and advise on appropriate assessment to develop the required ksbs; • quality assurance requirements are flexible enough to enable more realistic assessments to be set; • the intended learning outcomes, included in module descriptors, make the links between ksbs and the purpose of assessments clear, particularly evidencing transferable skills; • authentic feedback strategies, as well as those for authentic assessment, are promoted and adopted for applied stem subjects. there are many examples of good practice in this area and, while in the first instance it might seem to be additional work for already overloaded staff, surely the outcomes for students from genuinely work-integrated learning are worth a little extra effort? to conclude, there is a saying: ‘if you want a better answer, ask a better question. to ask our students better questions, we need to work closely with employers to ensure we are producing graduates with the competencies they need to address the industry skills gap. the next phase of this research will be to hold focus groups with both graduates and employers to explore these issues in more depth. reference list bartlett, d. and gomez-martin, e. 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(2019) ‘how can we reap the rewards of thinking smaller?’ landscape, 2, 22-23. available at: https://issuu.com/landscapeinstitute/docs/landscape_journal_2019_2_human_skil (accessed: 2/6/21). wade, m. and bartlett, d. (2017) ‘level 7 apprenticeships on the horizon: are you ready to embrace them?’ in practice. 98, 46-47. issn 0263-841x (print), 2042-7689 (online) available at: https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/18317/(accessed: 2/6/21). winstone, n.e., nash, r.a., parker, m. and rowntree, j. (2017) ‘supporting learners’ agentic engagement with feedback: a systematic review and a taxonomy of recipience processes.’ educational psychologist, 52(1), 17-37. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538(accessed: 12/3/21). https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/advice-and-guidance/assessment https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 making a compulsory course compelling giuseppina madonia university of greenwich abstract this case study focuses on teaching a small group of level 4 personal and professional development (ppd) students on the bsc economics course at the university of greenwich. a student-centred approach to learning, combined with joint decision-making, is shown to have successfully created a more engaged and productive learning environment. evaluation is based on a mixture of oral feedback, testimonials and assessment outcomes. the possible limitations and lessons of this exercise are also discussed. keywords: higher education, student-centred approach to learning, student partnership, student experience. introduction the increased emphasis on employability has led to universities’ developing personal and professional development (ppd) courses that can be offered as either no-credit or creditbearing modules. this case study focuses on my experience of teaching a level 4, compulsory, credit-bearing ppd course during the 2019-20 academic year at the university of greenwich. in my teaching, i have always followed a student-centred approach to learning, as i like to put my students first and aim for a more active form of learning (baeten et al., 2010); for example, through small group activities and peer learning. in teaching this module, however, my student-centred approach (sca) worked only partially, in the sense that i got to know the students and their concerns about ppd, but i could not get them to engage actively with the material, as most of them thought that this compulsory course was not relevant to them. in this case study, i explain my use of an sca and the background that led to my intervention, which consisted of co-decision making with a small group of students. i then discuss the evidence of changes in the attitude of the students and how this led to improved performance on the module’s summative poster assessment, drawing on measures of student engagement and performance, as well as oral and written feedback. finally, i attempt to interpret the results of the case study and evaluate the teaching methods used. student-centred learning and partnership with the students student-centred learning (scl) is a well-known and well thought of approach in he pedagogy (baeten et al., 2010). it often consists of facilitating small groups in the classroom to perform certain tasks or activities, in order to encourage peer learning. the idea is to enable students to talk to each other and to be more active in their learning. if the lecturers do all the talking, it may lead to more passive learning (roberts, 2019). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 although student-centred teaching methods may be conducive to a deep learning approach, there are other factors that may determine whether this results in a successful outcome. harju and åkerblom (2017), for example, suggest that a student-centred framework alone does not necessarily increase student involvement and lead to a better outcome. trinidad (2020) discusses the practical challenges for implementing this approach (including the fact that some students may not be comfortable speaking up in class). the literature on ‘students as partners’ (sap) in learning and teaching demonstrates that this can also be an effective way to facilitate student engagement (healey and healey, 2019b). the partnership framework points to four distinct, though overlapping, sap categories: “learning, teaching and assessment, subject-based research and inquiry, scholarship of teaching and learning (sotl), curriculum design & pedagogic consultancy” (healey and healey, 2019b, p5). there are several guides for creating partnerships with students. bovill, felten and cook-sather (2014) provide guidance on the use of partnership with students in learning and teaching and report some previous applications, including partnerships in research (healey and jenkins, 2009), in the creation of curricula (bovill, 2014) and in the creation of course content (cook-sather, bovill and felten, 2014). there are, however, some challenges in starting a partnership with students. most importantly, there is an unequal level of subject knowledge between lecturers and students and an unequal power relationship. the latter can be overcome by the voluntary participation of all the members in the group and their agreeing the objectives of the partnership, which sets its context and limits (bovill et al., 2014). choosing which group of students to involve is also important and, for this, i think that getting to know each student in the group, facilitated by a sca, is a prerequisite for starting a partnership. the case study i was given a ppd group of ten bsc economics students (economics and international business department) in my 2019-20 teaching timetable. ppd is a fifteen-credit module for level 4 students, which is also offered to other programmes in the department and to international partners. the allocated time was two hours per week for one semester, which were intended to be split into a lecture and a seminar. overall, the ppd module had nearly two hundred students and they were taught in small groups of ten to twelve. the module leader had uploaded into the moodle platform the lectures, the questions for the seminars and the assessment details. the latter was in the form of mywritinglab online tests which contributed 20% of the module grade and a portfolio, which overall had a 80% weighting and comprised different tasks: a mock job application (25%), a group poster presentation (25%) and an individual reflective report (50%). i spoke to the students, got to know them, helped them to split into two groups, gave them the tasks and encouraged them to start working together. my objective was to create a student-centred environment (harju and åkerblom, 2017), which i find facilitates students’ learning. to begin with, discussion with students focused on their concerns about the course material. their initial impression was that the course was not relevant to them, as there was repetition of content from secondary school, from other previous experiences or from prior reading. at this point, they perceived assessment as overly complicated and some students reported that they would prefer to withdraw from the module, while others said they were case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 bored. as elpidorou (2018, p.1) puts it: “boredom informs one of the presence of an unsatisfactory situation …” i reflected on this and, after the class, talked to the students individually and wrote down some of their comments. to address the problem of the lack of engagement, i decided to develop a joint decision-making partnership with the students. in each weekly session, we would decide together on the material to cover in the lecture and seminar. at the same time, we also agreed that they would work hard on the research necessary for the assessment to achieve an excellent outcome in the production and presentation of the poster. partnerships with students can occur in many diverse ways (healey, flint and harrington, 2014). my objective was to enhance learning in my group by giving the students some decision-making power over the content of the taught sessions. although decision-making was an element of my collaboration with the students, the partnership was limited in scope; for example, we could not change the module assessment. as healey and healey (2019a, p.1) comment, “undertaking partnership is messy and no single approach will be effective in all cases.” with this agreement in place, i began to present the content in the lecture slides. the students were now all focused and the classroom turned into a dynamic place where students were empowered to say when they felt that the material was not relevant to them. when this happened, discussion followed, in which the students who had come forward spoke about their previous learning about the part of the lecture which they wanted me to skip and we would then elaborate on any additional aspects that they had not covered. this is a form of recontextualisation of students’ practical experiences to an academic context (harju and åkerblom, 2017). it is also in line with race (2020, p.19), who notes that it is important that we help students to discover “strengths they already have”. time went by quickly and it was evident from their behaviour that the students were much happier and more fully engaged. in the second part of the two-hour sessions, the students had to perform some tasks; these took place in small groups. because of the joint decision-making and shared ownership of the session content, engagement gradually increased and students began to have lively discussions in which they drew on their own experiences and perspectives. my role became the facilitator of their learning. in the pedagogic context of a student-centred framework, the lecturer facilitates the control over the acquisition and production of knowledge by the students (frambach et al., 2014), but i had achieved this only after entering the co-decision partnership with them. as for the assessment, the agreement was that they would decide how to do this in their assigned group of five. the online tests and preparation of the mock job application were straightforward, but the poster presentation was a more stretching task as they had to create and present, as a group of ten, an academic poster on a topic relevant for their programme of study. the completed poster would then be used for a presentation for which they would get a grade and, finally, they would produce an individual reflective report on their learning experience, to be submitted in the second semester. in line with the partnership approach, i let the students decide the research project through brainstorming individual ideas, including mine. the members of the group then suggested, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 explained and discussed various equally worthy projects and i asked questions and contributed to the discussion. ‘the effects of technology in business’ was chosen by a democratic vote and everyone seemed happy to accept this outcome. i then helped them to split the overall task into smaller ones, including the design of the poster. in allocating the tasks to the groups, i used my knowledge of the students’ relative strengths and took account of their preferences. the student-centred approach and our partnership resulted in greater motivation and a more enjoyable experience for everyone in the classroom, as evidenced in the student testimonials and informal feedback i received. the resulting poster and the presentation were impressive. they had done excellent work and they presented it clearly, speaking with confidence and pride. they also respected their self-allocated speaking allocations. the time spent in getting to know each student and the partnership had paid off in terms both of their learning and of the positive outcome. i facilitated their group work only by, for example: encouraging them to meet regularly; listening to presentations on some relevant scholarly papers for the choice of the final reference list; and by debating with them how to separate the information into the positive and negative aspects of technology in business. the poster (figure 1) produced by my seminar group is reproduced below: figure 1: group poster evaluation and outcome a small case study makes it feasible to use qualitative feedback. this enables “a deeper, more context-specific perspective of the student experience” (steyn, davies and sambo, 2019, p.21). my evaluation of the sca, combined with a co-decision partnership with students, makes use of oral feedback and written testimonials from the students. i also provide evidence of student engagement (measured by attendance) and information on the assessment outcome (the mark for the poster and the overall mark for both the poster and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 the reflective report). as my group was part of a larger group of ppd students, i am not able to report specifically on their end-of-module feedback. my intervention to adopt a joint decision-making partnership was followed by a new consensus across the class, which manifested itself in very positive oral feedback to me and other students on campus. the students all told me that they felt engaged and part of the process of learning. at a formal meeting with all ppd students, my group stood out in expressing that they were happy with the module. after the meeting, my head of department remarked on this to me and asked me what i was doing with my students. attendance was consistently good and the students even managed to encourage one of their number, who had been absent for personal reasons, to go back to the library and into class. for the poster, the group was awarded a high mark of 90%. this mainly reflected the quality of the content, analysis and the presentation, which was meticulously timed and organised to allow each of them to have a small role. students in my group achieved a mean mark (combining poster and individual reflective report) of 69.4%, which compares favourably with the average mark of 57.3% across all students doing the course. i told the students that i wanted to write up our experience as a case study and they all offered to contribute with a testimonial or written feedback. i report here testimonials from three students in my seminar group (who all granted permission for their words to be reported): the “collaborative method of teaching the ppd module meant that we as students were at the centre of the process of learning which meant that the material became more engaging and we were able to achieve better outcomes given that we were granted some power. the lecturer’s support and partnership with us was so beneficial to our learning. as a ppd class we were able to look beyond each other’s education qualification, to skillset, drive and personality which were key in creating the warm and non-judgemental environment we had going on”. “there was a very healthy form of dialogue amongst all of us. …the learning environment was both informative and fun, and also tailored to us being university students, so there was more maturity amongst all of us in the class and our relationship with our lecturer.” our lecturer “ensured that every member of the class had an opportunity to have their voices heard and encouraged the shyer members of the class – myself included – to engage in more group discussions and build our confidence.” conclusions this is only a small-scale case study, based on a single semester, but it shows that there are many diverse ways to engage students in face-to-face teaching of small groups in order to achieve better outcomes. i regularly use an sca, but the addition of a partnership approach was new to me and, in my view, the results were extremely encouraging. putting this into a broader context, there is evidence that the sap experience may have longer-term benefits to students, in terms of their skills and even their future employability (pauli, raymond-barker and worrell, 2016). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 it has to be acknowledged, however, that this is just one case study and my approach might not be suitable for other compulsory courses, especially where teaching of content may be more rigid. moreover, more thinking would be required to adapt the methods used for larger seminar groups. a final caveat is that, in a student-centred framework, whether pure or combined with other variations, there are other hidden factors which may play a role in a successful learning approach: for example, the authority and personality of the lecturer. baeten et al. (2010, p.243) make the point that: “… teachers play a role; if they are involved and oriented towards students and changing their conceptions, students are inclined to use a deep approach.” despite these limitations, i think that there might be more general lessons that go wider than how a specific ppd course is designed and delivered. this case study shows that a modest partnership with the students can release a lot of talent and creativity, resulting in greater engagement and better outcomes. the main implications i draw from this are that we need to involve students more in the design of modules and find ways to empower them. this will not be easy, but there are surely ways to create some additional flexibility and give students more control over the creation of their work, if it leads to increased engagement with their studies. reference list baeten, m., kyndt, e., struyven, k. and dochy, f. (2010) ‘using student-centred learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness.’ educational research review, 5(3), 243-260. available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.06.001 (accessed: 20 march 2021). bovill, c. (2014) ‘an investigation of co-created curricula within higher education in the uk, ireland and the usa.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 51(1), 15-25. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.770264 (accessed: 20 march 2021). bovill, c., felten, p. and cook-sather, a. (2014) ‘engaging students as partners in learning and teaching (2): practical guidance for academic staff and academic developers.’ international consortium on educational development conference, stockholm, sweden, 1618 june. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271200592_engaging_students_as_partners_in_l earning_and_teaching_2_practical_guidance_for_academic_staff_and_academic_develop ers (accessed: 20 march 2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.06.001 https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.770264 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271200592_engaging_students_as_partners_in_learning_and_teaching_2_practical_guidance_for_academic_staff_and_academic_developers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271200592_engaging_students_as_partners_in_learning_and_teaching_2_practical_guidance_for_academic_staff_and_academic_developers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271200592_engaging_students_as_partners_in_learning_and_teaching_2_practical_guidance_for_academic_staff_and_academic_developers case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 cook-sather, a., bovill, c. and felten, p. (2014) engaging students as partners in teaching and learning: a guide for faculty. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn: 978-1-118-43458-1 elpidorou, a. (2018) ‘the bored mind is a guiding mind: toward a regulatory theory of boredom.’ phenomenology and the cognitive sciences, 17(3), 455-484. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-017-9515-1 (accessed: 29 march 2021). frambach, j., driessen, e., beh, p. and van der vleuten, c. (2014) ‘quiet or questioning? students’ discussion behaviors in student-centered education across cultures.’ studies in higher education, 39(6), 1001-1021. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2012.754865 (accessed: 17 march 2021). harju, a. and åkerblom, a. (2017) ‘colliding collaboration in student-centred learning in higher education.’ studies in higher education, 42(8), 1532-1544. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1113954 (accessed: 17 march 2021). healey, m., flint, a. and harrington k. (2014) ‘engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education.’ available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership .pdf (accessed: 17 march 2021). healey, m. and healey, r. (2019a) ‘student-staff partnership comes of age.’ available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-views/student-staff-partnership-comes-age (accessed: 6 april 2020). healey, m. and healey, r. (2019b) ‘student engagement through partnership.’ available at: https://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wp-content/downloads/2020/02/sap-guide-updated.pdf (accessed: 28 july 20). healey, m. and jenkins, a. 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(2016) ‘the impact of pedagogies of partnership on the student learning experience in uk higher education.’ york: higher education academy. available at: https://s3.eu-west2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-documentmanager/documents/hea/private/impact_of_pedagogies_of_partnership_1568037341.pdf (accessed: 20 march 2021). race, p. (2020) the lecturer’s toolkit. fifth edn. london: routledge. isbn: 9780367182267 roberts, d. (2019) ‘higher education lectures: from passive to active learning via imagery?’ active learning in higher education, 20(1), 63-77. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1469787417731198 (accessed: 20 july 2021). steyn, c., davies, c. and sambo, a. (2019) ‘eliciting student feedback for course development: the application of a qualitative course evaluation tool among business research students.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 44(1), 11-24. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1466266 (accessed: 15 december 2021). trinidad, j.e. (2020) ‘understanding student-centred learning in higher education: students’ and teachers’ perceptions, challenges, and cognitive gaps.’ journal of further and higher education, 44(8), 1013-1023. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2019.1636214 (accessed: 29 july 2021). https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/impact_of_pedagogies_of_partnership_1568037341.pdf https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/impact_of_pedagogies_of_partnership_1568037341.pdf https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/impact_of_pedagogies_of_partnership_1568037341.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1469787417731198 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1466266 https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2019.1636214 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 building communities of practice in distance learning courses for higher education teacher development stephanie fuller queen mary university of london abstract a ‘communities of practice’ approach has been shown to be an effective way of supporting the development of educators within higher education (he). it enables members of a group with common interests and experiences to learn from each other and to develop their professional practice together. distance learning has become an increasingly important means of delivering professional development for teachers in he, but to build and develop communities of practice in an online context can be a real challenge. this article explores the ways in which distance learning teacher development courses can effectively build communities of practice. it investigates participants’ experiences of community on modules with different distance learning delivery modes. it finds that a community of practice was developed to an extent, but that this was established more successfully within synchronous delivery modules with webinars than in asynchronous modules. however, across all modes of delivery, the presence of peer feedback, peer learning and collaborative activities within the learning design was crucial for effective development of a community of practice. keywords: community of practice; distance learning; teacher development; peer feedback; webinar introduction a ‘communities of practice’ approach has been shown to be an effective way of supporting teacher development within higher education (he). it enables members of a group with common interests and experiences to learn from each other and to develop their professional practice together (patton and parker, 2017; boud and brew, 2013; warhurst, 2008). there is also a growing body of research which demonstrates the benefits of using a model of communities of practice in distance learning education (baran and cagiltay, 2010; boulton and hramiak, 2012; kirschner and lai, 2007). such communities have become increasingly embedded within distance learning in he, a process which has been greatly accelerated by the covid-19 pandemic. however, building and maintaining a sense of community can be a real challenge within a distance learning context (rovai, 2000, 2002a). this article seeks to explore how online educational development courses for teachers in he can effectively build communities of practice. if, in line with social constructivist approaches, we understand learning to be a social process (brown et al., 1989; vygotsky, 1978), then it is vital not only for student experience and social networks, but also for learning, and particularly so within a professional development context. community itself is a learning tool and in previous studies has been found to be “an intrinsic part of [students’] ability to learn online” (conrad, 2005, p.14). this approach draws on wenger’s proposal that meaningful learning is a socially situated process. wenger, mcdermott and snyder (2002) define communities of practice as: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis… over time, they develop a unique perspective on their topic as well as a body of common knowledge, practices, and approaches. they also develop personal relationships and established ways of interacting. they may even develop a common sense of identity. they become a community of practice.” (op.cit., pp.4-5) online spaces can provide an excellent environment for the development of online communities and communities of practice and, equally, distance learning courses can be designed to try to engender and support these communities. while there is much literature establishing the theoretical underpinnings of online communities of practice, there remains a lack of detailed research into the practical features of successful examples of these communities and the ways in which they can be developed (kirschner and lai, 2007). research has previously been undertaken into online communities of practice within teacher education (special issue of technology, pedagogy and education vol 16, issue 2, 20071), though it has focused on compulsory education teacher training and, while there is research supporting the use of a communities of practice approach in developing he teachers (patton and parker, 2017), this has not explored in detail such communities within an online or distance learning context. nevertheless, since the rapid move to online delivery of he teaching, the development of online communities has been at the forefront of efforts to support students through the covid-19 pandemic (brown and mccall (2021). this is the case both for he teacher education programmes and for the courses that these teachers deliver to their own students. the present article will therefore investigate how effective communities of practice among he teachers can be established in distance learning courses. establishing effective practices within these courses is important both for participants’ learning and experience and for that of their own students. a small research project explored the experience of participants on an educational development programme at a united kingdom (uk) russell group university. the course is a pgcert in academic practice (pgcap), undertaken by new members of academic staff – some of whom are required to complete the programme for their probation – and other colleagues with a substantial teaching role who enrol on the programme voluntarily. course participants come from all disciplines across the university and include nhs staff who teach on university programmes. participants in the project’s survey were based at a variety of campuses and sites, both within the uk and overseas, and there were also a number of colleagues from external institutions. as all were completing the course alongside their job, there had to be enough flexibility to enable them to fit the programme around other responsibilities. a distance learning programme was therefore developed and offered alongside the traditional face-to-face offering on campus. this, coupled with the dispersed nature of the cohort, both in terms of discipline 1 https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtpe20/16/2?nav=toclist articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 and location, meant that developing a community of practice approach was particularly useful for this population. all participants who took distance learning modules on the programme were invited to take part in a survey and follow-up interviews were also held to explore respondents’ views in more detail. the study sought to understand to what extent participants had felt part of a community on their modules, what kind of a community they experienced and what they felt were the key factors contributing to the building of community online. the primary research questions were: • to what extent was a community of practice established in these distance learning modules? • what impact did the mode of delivery (synchronous or asynchronous) have on participants’ sense of community? • what were the key factors in establishing successful communities of practice? literature review communities of practice for he teacher development a ‘communities of practice’ approach has been shown to be an effective way of supporting teacher development within he (patton and parker, 2017; boud and brew, 2013; warhurst, 2008). while boud and brew (2013) challenge the effectiveness of formal professional development courses for he teachers because they are distant from the site of educators’ practice, warhurst (2008) finds that participation in such courses can enhance lecturers’ understanding of learning and student outcomes. remmik et al. (2011, p.189) argue that these courses provide a “good opportunity to support the creation of communities of practice on teaching” because the structure they provide supports the creation of networks with peers and the building of lasting collaborations. boschman et al. (2021) use the idea of “significant conversations about teaching” as a way of investigating the origins and formation of communities of practice among academics in he. they argue that, for academics, communities of practice “can create and sustain the enabling conditions that allow for the deep work of reflecting on why we teach, how and what we choose to teach, how we understand student learning, and how we learn about and expand our repertoire of teaching practices” (op.cit., p.309). such communities are vital for effective academic and teaching development, which for boschman et al. was within the context of a cross-disciplinary community of teachers. for groups of new teachers in he, these opportunities are even more crucial, to support them to develop their practice. remmik et al. (2011, p.188) make the importance of communities of practice clear, as they argue that “lecturers’ workplace learning in communities plays a substantial role in their identity development and their practice”. the importance of communities of practice for distance learning the importance of community for effective professional distance learning has already been established within the literature. boulton and hramiak (2012, p.508) found that students, when on a teacher training course, participated in reflection as part of a community, they were “capable of achieving more in terms of their development as reflective practitioners than if they had reflected in private.” the students were asked to take part in writing reflective blogs and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 the study found that, because these blogs were communal, read by all students, interlinked and connected between each other, the students could more effectively develop their practice. the study therefore found a clear link between effective learning and community and supports the need to explore community building in distance learning. conrad’s 2005 study into a cohort-based programme explores the question of who should be responsible for creating an online community. the study argues that students progressively take more responsibility for the development and maintenance of community as a distance learning programme progresses. conrad finds that an increased sense of community in the case of his students manifests as “increased comfort in online discussions and postings […] more off-line time together and more and better collaboration on group projects.” (op.cit., p.7) there is a clear link between active participation in the course and enhanced engagement and collaboration and sense of community. conrad argues that ability to learn effectively online is inextricably linked to the development of a sense of community among the cohort. this study suggests that, when students remain together as part of the same cohort throughout their programme, a sense of community naturally develops and strengthens over time. however, it does not explore ways in which community can be developed online within the context of a shorter period of study or single module. aside from the practical steps which can be taken to help develop community, there is a range of personal motivators and barriers which also have an influence on online community building. in a study of a distance learning professional development site for teachers, baran and cagiltay (2010) observed the following factors as key motivators for participation in the online community: personal factors included participants’ being given more responsibility for leading elements of the online material, growing self-confidence as the course progressed, degrees of personal sociability, interest in the topic and altruism in terms of wanting to help fellow participants; inter-personal factors included wanting to gain a reputation, defending and debating ideas; environmental factors included the quality of tools and the design of the distance learning course (op.cit., p.84). conversely, personal barriers included lack of time, giving the course low priority and not wanting to disagree with peers. interpersonal barriers included fear of being criticised and environmental factors were information, communication and technology (ict) skills, technical issues, internet access and course design (op.cit., p.87). this study is useful in beginning to identify ways by which we can design online learning in order to facilitate, in the best possible way, the participation of all students. however, while the study explores wider factors influencing participation in an online community, it does not consider the specific elements of learning design which can contribute to the establishment of an effective community of practice. one such element which has been previously investigated in terms of building effective online communities is interactivity, which has been found to be a key factor in the effectiveness of online communities. kent et al. (2016, p.116) find interactivity within distance learning to be a “process of knowledge construction”, which is a “socio-constructivist process in which learning results from the interactive exchange of information” (op.cit., pp.116-7). while this research focuses on demonstrating a positive correlation between level of interactivity and attainment of learning outcomes, it also raises important questions about the relationship between interactivity and community. it suggests that, for communities to develop, there need to be opportunities for students to interact with each other and also to take part in interactive learning activities within the online environment. the authors also highlight the important role that the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 teacher plays in determining the level of interactivity in distance learning teaching and learning, arguing that “[t]he instructor’s moderation mechanisms, discussion structuring and its adaptation to the designed learning outcomes of a course” all serve to “moderate” interactivity (op.cit., pp.118-9). therefore, the curriculum design and the tutor’s role within the online learning environment can also have a significant effect on interactivity and the development of community. closely related to interactivity is the presence of opportunities for peer collaboration. this can take many forms, including synchronous discussions, asynchronous discussions, providing peer feedback, and group project work or assignments. it is, of course, key for enabling communities to develop among members of a group and is vital for distance learning students. in the peer learning literature, approaches for establishing effective peer learning online are explored (boud, 2001; vasquez-colina et al., 2017). within the distance learning context, delahunty et al. (2012, p.260) argue that distance learning students need “deliberately orchestrated, multiple opportunities to engage with others” in order for them to have an effective learning experience. the integration of peer feedback, learning and collaboration opportunities may therefore be crucial to the effectiveness of distance learning courses and the development of communities therein. communities of practice the concept of communities of practice was originally posited by wenger in 1998, but grew out of earlier work on situated learning (lave and wenger, 1991) and has evolved over time since then (arthur, 2016; tummons, 2012). in communities of practice (1998), the idea of communities of practice is deployed as an analytical tool to explore and define how organic communities were successfully operating outside formal and hierarchical organisational structures. this work argued that such communities could not be deliberately created. communities of practice were defined by three identified dimensions: “mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire” (wenger, 1998, p.152). however, wenger’s later work moves towards exploring communities of practice as a “design intention” and explores how these communities can be purposefully built (2010, p.11). communities of practice are defined more loosely as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (wenger, mcdermott and synder, 2002, p.4). there has been criticism of this move within the literature which argues that the idea of communities of practice has become more diluted and less coherent (hughes et al. 2007; vann and bowker 2001). however, despite the change in focus, the idea of communities of practice still presents an interesting way of looking at both organisational structure and, more relevant here, professional development, which is non-hierarchical. given the importance of peer learning and support for professional development, it remains crucial to try to find ways to foster this kind of community, particularly within distance learning. the literature relating to ‘online communities of practice’ often uses the term interchangeably with others, such as ‘networks’, ‘virtual learning communities’ and ‘community of inquiry’. macia and garcía (2016, p.293) define the difference between communities of practice and networks as follows: “commitment to participate in a community should be high and sustained whereas participation in a network can be spontaneous, unpredictable and serendipitous”. in practice, groups can operate as both communities of practice and networks, as argued in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 wenger, white and smith (2009, p.11). for example, ranieri et al. (2012) claim that both communities of practice and networks are needed to describe the relationships established through social network sites. within different contexts, it may be the case that being online enables communities of practice to take different forms, with much larger groups and different levels of participation among members. notably, online communities of practice enable the presence of ‘lurkers’ who observe and listen in but do not necessarily actively contribute to the community. however, these silent participants can still be of real benefit to communities as this form of “peripheral participation is often a prior step to posting materials or getting more involved in community discussions” (macia and garcía, op.cit., p. 301). online communities of practice can take on a wider range of forms because of their online nature. methodology this research surveyed all participants of distance learning modules which were taken as part of the educational development programmes at a uk russell group university between the academic years 2017-18 and 2019-20, inclusive. these programmes are professional development courses for new academics, clinicians who teach and phd students who teach. distance learning modules on the programme throughout this period took a variety of forms, with some using regular scheduled synchronous sessions (webinars) combined with asynchronous activities (online activities students complete independently in their own time) and others using purely asynchronous learning design. synchronous modules were designed using a flipped classroom model, with activities for participants to complete in their own time, both in preparation for webinars and as follow-up. webinars had a focus on active learning and facilitation of sharing of practice and peer learning, to support the development of a community and to draw on participants’ experiences and expertise. while pre-webinar preparation comprised largely individual activities – for example readings, videos or recorded presentations for review – post-webinar activities were again designed to support exchange of ideas, peer feedback and peer learning through forum activities, in which participants shared ideas and were asked to comment on each other’s posts. asynchronous modules were designed to encourage interaction among participants through online forums. alongside independent activities including readings, videos and presentations for review, participants were asked to share ideas to forums and to provide feedback to colleagues on their posts. the design laid strong focus on tutor feedback, in order to provide detailed and individual support to participants, and tutors gave individual feedback to participants on their forum posts. a questionnaire, designed and emailed to all distance learning module participants, asked for reflection upon personal experiences of the distance learning modules. it contained a mixture of 5-point likert scale answers and free-text answers. following ethical approval by the university, participants were issued with an information sheet about the study and asked to confirm their agreement for their responses to be used anonymously. participants were also asked if they would be willing to participate in follow-up interviews. if so, they were invited to respond to further questions and elaborate on their answers via online interviews and by email. given the exploratory nature of this study, quantitative and qualitative research methods were combined to give a detailed picture of participants’ experience of distance learning and the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 extent to which they felt a community of practice had been developed. likert scale questions were used to categorise the data and generate statistics to support the qualitative analysis. the inclusion of likert questions also enabled busy colleagues who did not have the time to dedicate to detailed free-text answers the opportunity to respond quickly to the questionnaire. free-text answer questions enabled the generation of themes from responses and also the collection of participants’ detailed experiences and suggestions. the list of questions follows. while these drew influence from rovai’s ‘classroom community scale’, (rovai, 2002b) the questions were much more limited in number and included more free-text answers to preserve brevity and encourage as many responses as possible. likert scale questions: • i felt part of a community on this module. • my learning experience was enhanced through interaction with other colleagues on the course. • how important were webinars for creating a sense of community? • how important were online asynchronous forums for creating a sense of community? free-text questions: • which elements of the module contributed to your sense of community? • what more could the course team do to help foster a sense of group identity and to support learning as a social process in this module? • do you have any other comments on the extent to which you felt part of a community or cohort on this module? data was collected at the end of each of the two semesters during the period 2017-18 to 201920, in january following semester one and in may following semester two. the questionnaire was emailed to everyone who had been enrolled to a distance learning module semester and used a google form to collect data. the questionnaire was issued a total of 279 times, generating 51 responses (18% response rate). of the respondents, 32 were members of staff, 18 were colleagues at different institutions and 1 participant was a member of nhs staff teaching the university’s students. this is representative of the range of participants on the educational development programmes during this period. participants from external institutions took all modules via distance learning, though staff from the home institution could take a mixture of face-to-face and distance learning modules as part of their programme. 23 participants indicated they would be willing to take part in a follow-up interview; either synchronous or asynchronous interviews were conducted with 7 of them, following a set script of questions and discussion points designed to explore in more detail their experiences of their distance learning modules. the interview transcripts were combined with the qualitative information from the survey and used to provide more detailed insight into and exploration of the topics which were highlighted within survey responses. data analysis drew on the approach of ely et al. (1997) to conduct an “analytical and interpretative” review of the data collected from the questionnaire and interviews (1997, p. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 8 163). this process involved reading, re-reading, categorising and then identifying themes within the data. the data were also split into categories, in order to explore differences between participants studying in either synchronous and asynchronous modes. results mode of distance learning study and effect on perceptions of community responses for synchronous modules (i.e., those with a regular live webinar combined with asynchronous activities) totalled 38 (75%), representative of the fact that most of the distance learning modules over this period were delivered synchronously. of this group, 74% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt part of a community, a higher proportion than that of the whole dataset (63%). 79% of the synchronous group agreed or strongly agreed that their learning was enhanced through peer interaction, which was again higher than the proportion for the entire group (75%). 76% found webinars to be important or very important for creating a sense of community and 39% thought the same of asynchronous activities. in response to the free-text question about which elements of the course contributed to sense of community, answers from the synchronous group were themed around discussion, interaction and collaboration within webinars and asynchronous forums. the presence and style of teaching were also mentioned in several responses: • “i feel that the webinars are an innovative and convenient way to interact and learn as a group”; • “[being able to] see and speak to people who had offered feedback on my work – closing this loop helped me feel more involved and connected”; • “sense of reciprocity in commenting on blog posts”; • “ongoing conversations and progress”; • “all participants are encouraged to talk and share ideas”; • “the instructor's presence and style of teaching”. for the asynchronous group (i.e., modules where there was no live webinar, only asynchronous activities, n=13, 25%), only 31% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt part of a community, a significant difference from the response of the synchronous group. however, 61% still felt that their learning had been enhanced through interacting with peers and 61% found asynchronous activities to be important or very important for building a sense of community. it is clear that those participants who could access a webinar had a much stronger perception of community; and, where webinars were present, asynchronous activities were seen to be much less important for building a community. for the asynchronous group, the answers to the free-text question about what contributed to sense of community focused on existing relationships with colleagues, the role of forums and again the role of the tutor. for example: • “i felt very alone on this module as it was asynchronous i couldn’t have conversation in real time with other participants”; • “the design of the module could be modified to facilitate more asynchronous interaction”; • “pre-existing relationship with another student, offline”; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 9 • “knowing colleagues from previous face to face modules”; • “hard to attain sense of community with only asynchronous activities”; • “very inclusive teacher. always positive and constructive feedback”. compared to those on solely asynchronous modules, participants of synchronous courses clearly found their experience to be much more discursive, interactive and collaborative and they therefore perceived a much greater sense of community. however, those on asynchronous modules felt that asynchronous interaction with peers through forums was a significant way by which their learning was enhanced. internal and external participants data were collected on whether survey respondents were internal staff or colleagues working at other institutions. despite the fact there were far fewer external colleagues on the programme, a very similar percentage of internal and external participants felt there was a sense of community on their course. more internal staff agreed that learning was enhanced through interaction with peers. however, a greater proportion of external colleagues found webinars and asynchronous activities to be important for community building and a greater proportion felt the experience of community on their distance learning module was similar to that they had experienced in face-to-face learning (table 1). it may be assumed that the presence of external colleagues on the programmes will to some extent have affected how well a community of practice developed. although all participants had in common their role as teachers in he, their membership of different institutional communities may have made building a community among the cohort more challenging. table 1. comparison of responses from each group entire data set synch asynch internal staff external colleagues % agree / strongly agree they experienced sense of community 63% 74% 31% 65% 63% % agree / strongly agree learning enhanced through interaction with peers 75% 63% 61% 84% 58% % agree / strongly agree community feel similar to faceto-face modules 22% 24% 15% 19% 26% % found webinars important/very important for community 75% 76% n/a 69% 84% % found asynchronous activities important/very important for community 45% 39% 61% 41% 53% what kind of community was experienced? articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 10 the answers to two free-text questions (‘to what extent did you feel part of a community?’ and ‘which elements of the course contributed to your sense of community?’) in both cases provided useful information about the characteristics of the community that participants experienced. answers to both questions were therefore combined, analysed and coded into themes. table 2 below shows the number of answers which mentioned these themes (only themes appearing more than once are listed). table 2. thematic ideas of community in response to questions ‘to what extent did you feel part of a community’ and ‘which elements of the course contributed to your sense of community’. themes number of answers which mention theme – synchronous group (n=38) number answers which mention theme – asynchronous group (n=13) collaboration 14 (37%) 0 relationships 11 (29%) 2 (16%) discussion 10 (26%) 1 (8%) feedback 6 (16%) 0 group 6 (16%) 1 (8%) not a community 5 (13%) 5 (38%) responding 4 (11%) 1 (8%) inclusivity 2 (1%) 1 (8%) tutor support 2 (5%) 2 (16%) for the synchronous group, the type of community they describe has strong elements of discussion, collaboration and a focus on relationships. the sense of a group is important and group activities such as peer feedback take a prominent role. the community is perceived to be built around relationships between participants. the idea of responding to each other was a strong theme, with the community creating a sense of reciprocity, and was also linked to regular communications back and forth between participants via the online forums. there was additionally a number of participants whose answers indicated clearly that they did not feel their module had created a sense of community. there were many fewer responses on which to draw for the asynchronous group, both because the numbers were lower and many respondents left these answers blank. however, by far the strongest theme for this group was that a sense of community was absent. answers relating to this theme discussed loneliness, isolation and feeling distant. of the other themes drawn from these responses, relationships and the support of the tutor were seen as important elements of community. within the follow-up interviews, similar themes emerge in terms of the kind of community which was experienced. answers to the interview questions revealed a specific focus upon how community was built on discussion, webinars and exchanges on forums. the interview responses showed that these ideas are closely linked to participants’ learning through and from each other and to the relationships built through this process: • “i felt that [the module] encouraged a sense of community as there was discussion both during the live sessions as well as the asynchronous forums. we would comment and give feedback on each other's answers” [synchronous participant]; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 11 • “listening in the webinars to other people’s perspectives and experiences helped shape my own in a more rounded sense” [synchronous participant]. when asked if and why a community was important for their learning, respondents again highlighted the role of discussion, replying to each other and learning from each other: • “it’s very helpful for me to explain ideas to people and to hear them explain theirs” [synchronous participant]; • “i think it is important to have a sense of community, as it is important to hear what other people have to say about your teaching style and take their feedback on board in order to improve. also it is important to see how other people practice teaching and decide for yourself which of their techniques you would like to adopt into your own teaching style” [synchronous participant]. • “i think it is very important, especially in this type of programme where peer experience is a major element. we can learn a lot from our peers, but might need to be pushed to do so over our busy schedules” [asynchronous participant]. there is certainly a clear understanding among participants of the importance of a community approach for professional educational development courses such as this. the interview responses begin to move towards a description of a community of practice here through the focus on learning from each other, observing and learning from others’ practice, and exploring ideas through discussion and interaction with peers. specific factors influencing sense of community we have already seen a clear divide in the extent to which participants felt part of a community of practice depending on whether the module design was synchronous or asynchronous, despite attempts to design interaction, collaboration and peer learning into all modules. the interviews also explored the specific elements of the design which had most contributed to participants’ sense of community. from across the full range of the interviewees, some key similarities and themes emerged. firstly, the benefit of the use of breakout rooms (separate online rooms within a webinar, where participants are split into smaller groups to complete activities) within the webinar environment was seen to be crucial for building relationships with, and learning from, peers on the course: • “during the webinars, especially when working in breakout groups, we would chat a bit, and maybe not do all the aspects of work assigned...haha...but getting to know people a little more” [synchronous participant]; • “there was room for everyone to express their thoughts, especially in the breakout groups” [synchronous participant]; • “in terms of community sense, break out groups was important” [synchronous participant]. the interviewees also concurred on the importance of both seeing and hearing other participants during the webinars: • “connection is stronger when you see and interact with a face” [asynchronous participant]; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 12 • “if we all had our microphones on and were mostly looking at each other rather than slides, we would get some of the [social] cues” [synchronous participant]; • “it was helpful to see the faces of the people in our group during the webinar” [synchronous participant]; • “when students only communicate via chat [ie., via text only], this takes away from the sense of community” [synchronous participant]. the theme of feedback was repeated throughout the interviews, as in the questionnaire responses. interviewees elaborated on this and it became clear that this idea of responding to each other, reciprocity and peer feedback is bound up with finding out about each other’s teaching practice and learning from each other’s experiences, ideas and approaches: • “i really enjoyed the presentation aspect of the module, you got to see other faculty in a teaching moment” [synchronous participant]; • “by exchanging ideas and giving constructive feedback to each other, i feel we all learnt some valuable lessons” [asynchronous participant]; • “we had some good discussions in the forums where we would give constructive feedback to each other, hence building a sense of community” [synchronous participant]; • “when it comes to a course such as this, it is crucial that we are learning from each other” [asynchronous participant]. enhancing sense of community questionnaire respondents were asked in what ways they thought the sense of community on their module could be enhanced. suggestions included: • more forums for interacting and sharing ideas; • making responding to posts in forums mandatory; • group work activities; • peer feedback; • presentations about teaching to learn more about each other’s roles; • encouraging social online groups using whatsapp or similar; • having consistent participants in webinars; • encouraging all participants to contribute to webinars; • encouraging participants to use audio and video in webinars; • making all webinar recordings available, even if there are multiple versions of each session; • having a one-off face-to-face session at the start of the module. there are many excellent ideas here, and they again span the areas of forums and asynchronous interactivity, group work, learning from each other and peer feedback, social community building, enhancing community within webinars and combining the distance learning delivery with a face-to-face meeting. discussion and analysis articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 13 to what extent was a community of practice created? overall, just over half (63%) of participants in the study agreed or strongly agreed there was a sense of community on their course. this proportion was higher for those who studied synchronous modules (74%) and much lower for those who studied asynchronously (31%). the mode of study therefore had a significant impact on the extent to which participants experienced a sense of community, more so than other factors such as whether they were internal staff or external participants. this was despite attempts to design community building into all modules. webinars were the most significant element of the course design in terms of community building for all groups of respondents. returning to the definition of communities of practice offered at the start of this article, the key elements of such as community are understood to be “groups of people who share a concern”, who “deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis”. over time, they “develop a unique perspective on their topic”, but also “develop personal relationships” and potentially “a common sense of identity” (wenger et al., 2002, p.4-5). where participants felt they had experienced a community, the characteristics of the community they describe focus on elements of discussion, interaction, collaboration, peer feedback and peer learning. these processes fostered the development of relationships among the group. this experience certainly seems to be in line with key aspects of the definition of community of practice, specifically in terms of the shared concern and the development of knowledge and expertise through interaction. the interviews, too, placed a central focus on learning through peer feedback, whether via discussion forums or feedback on presentations. 75% of the whole dataset agreed or strongly agreed that their learning was enhanced through interaction with peers. other elements of a community of practice seem to have been less developed, particularly the establishment of personal relationships and a common identity. although ‘relationships’ was one of the key themes arising within questionnaire responses, and interviews discussed the process of getting to know other participants, this may not have been wholly as a result of the online community of practice. within text answers, respondents also discussed personal relationships in relation to colleagues they already knew personally outside the distance learning module. while elements of the distance learning course design seem to have helped support the development of relationships, this area was one where participants felt more could be done to develop community, as multiple respondents suggested ways of addressing this. key factors for establishing a successful community of practice in distance learning this research has shown that participants on synchronous modules within a distance learning professional development programme experienced a much greater sense of community than those studying asynchronously. webinars were the most important element of learning design for building a community of practice and asynchronous discussion forums did not seem to provide a similar sense of community. webinars enabled direct discussion, interaction, peer learning, relationship building and shared construction of meaning. within webinars, respondents highlighted two aspects which played a key role in community building: breakout groups and audio-visuals. breakout groups are small online rooms within a webinar room which are used for small group discussions and group work. incorporating breakout groups into teaching design gives participants space to work together and to have discussions away articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 14 from the large group and course tutor. this is clearly vital in enabling relationships to grow and for peer learning to take place. respondents also highlighted the use of both audio and video in webinars. they found that when webinar participants used only the chat text function, it was much harder to build relationships and therefore resulted in much less of a sense of community. the use of breakout rooms is also closely connected to this issue, as participants would often turn on their audio and video when in the smaller breakout group, even when they turned these off within the main room. making use of audio and video in webinars mandatory is problematic, as participants may not have a strong enough internet connection or may not have a quiet or suitable space at home that they feel comfortable about for this purpose. yet offering regular opportunities for breakout group work and encouraging all participants to share audio and video within the smaller groups, where they can connect and feel comfortable to do so, can be a useful strategy for community building. the practical aspects of learning design discussed above (presence of webinars, breakout groups and audio-visuals) all serve to help facilitate discussion and collaboration and particularly enable peer feedback and peer learning to take place. this research has shown that peer feedback and peer learning are key factors in establishing a successful community across all the forms of distance learning discussed. participants on all modules found peer feedback to be valuable for learning and saw it as an integral part of the community of practice in so far as one was established. this was the case for both synchronous peer feedback, for example, where participants gave presentations during webinars which were followed by discussion and feedback from peers, but also for asynchronous forums where participants were asked to post their work and give feedback to a colleague. establishing this interactivity within the learning design is clearly important for community building and particularly so within a professional development programme such as this. peer feedback and peer learning may be the key pedagogic approach to incorporate into distance learning course design in order to support the development of a community of practice. further areas to explore for enhancing sense of community to explore in more detail the impact of peer feedback and peer learning as a course design strategy for the development of communities of practice in distance learning would be very useful. the study respondents also suggested a range of other interesting ways in which community might be further developed. key suggestions were to develop more groupwork activities, which could involve participants working together within webinars and also asynchronously. additionally, group presentations on particular topics could also generate peer feedback as another element of community enhancement. encouraging module cohorts to set up online social groups could also be a useful way of improving the personal relationship aspect of a community of practice. such groups would have to be led by, and for, participants, but it may be appropriate for tutors to suggest to groups that this could be a useful way to keep in touch, share relevant resources and materials and discuss ideas outside of the formal module space. many respondents wrote and spoke about the lack of informal social interaction with peers on distance learning compared to that within face-to-face teaching. online social groups may help address this. other areas which could be explored are opening the webinar room early or leaving it open after the session for participants to talk, or setting up a regular more informal, participant-led, synchronous slot for articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 15 more informal conversations. designing introductory activities such as creating profiles, finding things out about each other and spending more time on icebreakers in webinars could also be beneficial. conclusions this study sought to find out the extent to which participants of educational development distance learning modules experienced a community of practice. the results indicate that synchronous modules were much more successful at building communities than wholly asynchronous modules, despite efforts to design this feature into all modules. holding scheduled synchronous webinars was the single most important factor determining sense of community. also, within webinars, utilising breakout groups to enable small group work and discussion and encouraging use of audio and video by participants in these groups proved very successful. however, across all course formats, increasing opportunities for peer feedback, peer learning and collaboration is key and the practical considerations above serve to facilitate these peer interactions. finally, in order to encourage further development of personal relationships and a common identity, measures could include: use of online social groups; building in more synchronous spaces for informal chat and discussion; and activities specifically designed to encourage members of the group to get to know one another more. while there has been debate within the literature around whether communities of practice can indeed be designed and developed deliberately, this study has found that the type of community established via the design of distance learning modules does have many features of a successful community of practice. within webinars, it was the opportunity for small group discussion and the use of audio and video that were highlighted as significant features of building a community: both enable immediate discussion, feedback, sharing of ideas and concerns, all helping to enable the beginnings of social connections and personal relationships. webinars and use of breakout groups in particular help facilitate peer feedback and peer learning. peer feedback and learning opportunities were also considered to be the most effective asynchronous element. this study therefore finds that this learning approach is one that should be further investigated and deployed in order to support community building. he is undergoing a period of intense change, prompted by the covid-19 pandemic, but resulting in permanent shifts towards distance, online and blended learning. since community plays a central role in learning, particularly for professional development courses, enhancing the development of communities of practice is an important way of developing participants’ learning both within the course and beyond. if communities and relationships are successfully established within this programme, then this can provide a continuing form of professional peer learning and support throughout participants’ careers and also support course participants to encourage the development of successful communities of practice within their own teaching. 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(2009) digital habitats: stewarding technology for communities. portland: cpsquare. isbn: 9780982503607 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02691720110076567 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070802211828 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 staff and student perspectives of online teaching and learning; implications for belonging and engagement at university – a qualitative exploration lija abu, craig chipfuwamiti, adrian-mihai costea, alison faith kelly, krisztina major, hilda mary mulrooney kingston university, london, uk abstract a sense of belonging within higher education (he) enhances educational engagement and attainment. the rapid shift to online provision has implications for reducing students’ sense of belonging at university. we have previously shown that students consider belonging in he to be important and that their personal sense of belonging was high. we also found that sense of belonging had elements of people and place: relationships with peers and staff were influential and the physical campus facilitated social relationships. in the first lockdown, we showed that sense of belonging in both staff and students at our large wideningparticipation london university was reduced. in this paper, we report on a continuing project to explore the impact of sustained provision of learning online, focusing on qualitative interviews carried out with forty-three students and twenty-three staff. both groups identified advantages and disadvantages of online provision. advantages included flexibility and accessibility, with savings – financial and time – owing to reduced commuting. however, both groups identified a negative impact on social relationships, student motivation and engagement. future development of blended learning should be planned, supported and structured to optimise the benefits. keywords: blended, online, belonging, social, engagement background the sudden onset of the covid-19 pandemic resulted in fundamental changes in how teaching was delivered. in an attempt to flatten the curve and support the social distancing advocated as national policy in most countries, teaching and learning moved online almost overnight in march 2020. from mid-april, an estimated ninety-four per cent of learners enrolled in 200 countries were affected by closures of schools and colleges (un, 2020). traditionally, online learning has meant distance learning (barr and miller, 2013), characterised as “a distant and reciprocal” relationship between staff and students (kearsley and moore, 2012). previously, it was assumed that online learners tended to be older, intrinsically motivated and juggling other commitments (hanson et al., 1997). however, even before the pandemic, it appeared that technological advances and globalisation of education resulted in younger and more diverse online learners, who nonetheless had strong academic self-concept, were technologically savvy, willing and able to take part in social interaction and collaborative learning online, and were self-directed (dabbagh, 2007). however, choosing to study online is one thing – being forced to do so because of a global pandemic is another. from academics’ perspectives, there was little time to plan the move online. aside from concerns about the pedagogic adequacy of education provision and the ability articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 and capacity of students to access it, moving away from the physical campus has implications for a sense of belonging at university, which in turn influences engagement, retention and attainment. in response to the pandemic and to investigate the effects of the shift to online teaching and learning, we carried out a research project in two parts within our institution, kingston university london: 1) exploring the impact of the abrupt move to online teaching in the first lockdown (part 1: march 2020) and 2) exploring from both staff and student perspectives the effectiveness of online teaching and learning currently in place (part 2: continuing). in part 1, we found that the sense of belonging, for both staff and students, lessened in the first lockdown (mulrooney and kelly, 2020a). why does belonging matter? a sense of belonging is complex and multi-dimensional, encompassing people and place. ahn and davies (2019) suggest that it has four components: social engagement, academic engagement, surroundings and personal space. it overlaps with connectedness, a construct which includes students’ sense of belonging, integration and satisfaction with their relationship to their institution (rovai, 2002). we might intuitively expect, if students feel a sense of legitimacy, of fitting in with their institution, of being welcome and having a place, that their level of satisfaction will improve, and as a consequence, our retention figures. indeed, belonging has been shown to enhance students’ engagement and attainment (hausman et al., 2009; freeman et al, 2007; thomas, 2012). however, belonging also matters to staff: those who feel that they fit into their organisation are more likely to develop connections with students (o’brennan et al., 2017). this, in turn, is likely to boost students’ sense of belonging, since establishing relationships with their peers and with academic staff is recognised as part of the social element of belonging (dwyer, 2017; ahn and davis, 2019). opportunities for contact – within staff groups and between staff and students – also enhance staff work satisfaction (szromek and wolniak, 2010). thus, belonging is intertwined with and therefore influences important institutional priorities for both staff and students. out of necessity, the move to online learning changed the nature of interactions within and between staff and student groups. as part of our continuing work, we want to explore whether the reduced sense of belonging we identified in the first lockdown has since persisted – and if it will carry on for even longer. within a large post-92 higher education institution (hei) with a strong widening participation focus, our student body includes many atypical groups with diverse support needs (e.g., mature or commuting students, those working part-time or with caring responsibilities, careleavers or those first-in-family to higher education (he) or from diverse ethnic backgrounds). current internal statistics show that approximately 63% of our students are from black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) groups, 59% are female, 49% are mature, 55% are commuters and 43% are first-in-family to he. this presents challenges, since developing a sense of legitimacy and belonging in he may be more difficult for atypical students (reay et al., 2010; wainwright and marandet, 2010; waite, 2013; o’shea, 2015/2016; southall et al., 2016). exploring how the move online affects our diverse staff and student groups does matter, since it is likely that a blended-learning approach will be adopted in the future. in addition to belonging, our current work focuses on perceptions of online teaching and learning – what is working well and not so well – so that future plans may be evidence-based. traditionally, our teaching has been campus-based and almost entirely face-to-face in mixed-size groups. in a study involving 617 undergraduate respondents and using articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 questionnaires to collect qualitative and quantitative data, we previously found that 73% of participants agreed that a sense of belonging at university was important, while 78% had a personal sense of belonging. the importance of social aspects was clear: respondents highlighted relationships – with academic staff and with other students – and extra-curricular social activities such as clubs and societies (kelly and mulrooney, 2019). respondents also identified good relationships with academic staff and the feeling that students mattered individually to staff as hallmarks of high quality he (dicker et al., 2017, 2018) – this an important consideration in the competitive world of education provision. rather like ahn and davis (2019), we have also found that there is an element of ‘place’ in belonging: that geographical location affects belonging in level 3 (foundation) students (goldring et al., 2018) and that the physical space on campus helps to develop belonging in undergraduate students (mulrooney and kelly, 2020b). this is unsurprising, since the nature of the physical space will influence how easily social interactions within and between staff and student groups occur. given that peer and staff inter-relationships and the physical space on campus so powerfully assist belonging, the suddenness with which the pandemic hit teaching and learning had significant implications. our continuing work is a collaboration between undergraduate students at level 5 and staff; it aims to build upon our previous findings, exploring in what ways and to what degree the changes to teaching and learning methodology altered the sense of belonging of both staff and students, as well as determining the wider educational implications of changes caused by the pandemic. in this paper, only qualitative data from the interviews in part 2 of the current project are presented, though, for the sake of completeness, we describe below the methodology for the whole project. methods: part 1 of the project collected data by means of online questionnaires (this work has been completed and published (mulrooney and kelly, 2020a); part 2 used online questionnaires and optional online interviews, individual or group; this work continues. ethical approval for both parts of the project was granted by the university’s faculty research ethics committee. qualitative data collection: questionnaires for both parts of the research, we collected qualitative and quantitative data via questionnaires; optional interviews in part 2 provided additional qualitative information. we have already described the questionnaires for part 1 (mulrooney and kelly, 2020a). bespoke questionnaires for part 2 explored belonging, using 1) a series of statements derived from yorke (2016) and ribeira et al. (2017) and 2) levels of agreement with a series of statements on teaching and learning. an open text box allowed for the addition of qualitative information. we constructed questionnaires by means of microsoft forms and sent them via institutional email addresses. we are still collecting questionnaire data and thus have, at the time of writing, not yet analysed it. qualitative data collection: interviews part 2 of the research project (continuing) has included optional interviews with staff and students willing to participate. student partners interviewed students and staff partners interviewed staff. we conducted all interviews online on microsoft teams and used interview articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 guides to ensure consistency. we made audio recordings and took contemporaneous notes. interviews with staff focused on: how the pandemic had affected their jobs; what they liked most and least about online teaching; and whether and how online working affected their relationships with other staff and students. student interviews focused on: how the pandemic affected their learning; what they liked most and least about online delivery; whether the mixture of live and pre-recorded materials used affected their study; and whether and how their friendships and social interactions were affected. staff and students were given the opportunity to add anything else they wished. all interview materials were stored in box in password-protected files to which only the research team had access, to ensure participant anonymity. this paper describes the findings from the interviews. analysis of qualitative data: we analysed the interviews using basic thematic analysis, each interview by one researcher; another team member re-analysed a random sample of ten student interviews (23%) to ensure consistency with the main themes identified. we collated descriptive statistics for the main themes and the number (%) of responses for each. in addition, we collated basic demographic statistics on interview participants. results participants forty-three students and twenty-three staff were interviewed. table 1 shows demographic details of participants. table 1: demographic characteristics of student participants. data are expressed as numbers (%). interview participants gender male female students 11 (25.6) 32 (74.4) staff 13 (56.5) 10 (43.5) ethnicity+ white black asian mixed/other students 21 (48.8) 8 (18.6) 6 (14.0) 7 (16.3) staff 13 (56.5) 0 (0.0) (0.0) 10 (43.5) age (years) 18-21 22-25 26-29 ≥30 students* 16 (37.2) 15 (34.9) 2 (4.7) 10 (23.3) year of study* level 3 level 4 level 5 level 6 students* 9 (20.9) 9 (20.9) 15 (34.9) 8 (18.6) +one student (2.3) preferred not to state ethnicity; *two students (4.7) were postgraduate. we did not ask staff about age and year of study was not relevant to them. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 staff interviews impact of the move to online teaching on workload staff described an increase in workload, with several contributory factors. these included increased meetings and emails, learning new tools for online delivery and preparing recorded materials. all of these resulted in longer hours of work and difficulty in separating home and work lives, with negative feelings as a consequence (table 2). table 2: staff experience of the impact of the move to online teaching on workload theme subthemes no (%) increased workload emails and meetings new processes and practices new tools: intranet, pre-recordings online sessions: cannot cover as much as face-to-face 19 (82.6) emotions frustration uncertainty disorientation unhappiness 17 (73.9) concerns capacity to deliver online running exams and assessments online technical problems on and off campus 20 (87.0) the pros and cons of online teaching: staff perspective many saw the move to blended learning as inevitable. in that sense, the response to the pandemic was described as an opportunity to make changes, with important potential future advantages for both staff and students (table 3). however, this was by no means unanimous and lack of response from students – perceived as lack of engagement – was frequently described. without non-verbal cues, staff struggled to estimate their effectiveness and student understanding of and interest in the material. staff expressed concern about student attainment: because they were unable to see their students and had limited feedback from them, they found it difficult to ascertain exactly how well students understood and engaged with the material: “we will have to wait and see how they do” [male staff member] staff were mindful that students needed to see them online, but the opposite was not true (often for logistical reasons): “you switch on webcams but no-one else does” [female staff member] articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 6 table 3: the pros and cons of online teaching from the staff perspective. frequency expressed as numbers (%) stated next to each theme. pros cons opportunity • easier to record online meetings (17; 73.9%) • new skills gained; learn from others (16; 69.6%) • more inclusive; e.g. disability (12; 52.2%) • flexible working (11; 47.8%) • incorporate into revamped courses (3; 13.0%) • cross-disciplinary working (2; 8.7%) • advantages for research (2; 8.7%) lack of feedback • no student feedback or interaction; no cues about pace, degree of interest or level of understanding (21; 91.3%) • students do not use microphones or cameras (17; 73.9%) flexibility • accessibility to material increased (14; 60.9%) engagement and effectiveness • hard to estimate engagement or judge student progress (18; 78.3%) • potentially poor attendance owing to pre-recordings (15; 65.2%) less time wasted • travel time reduced (14; 60.9%) static model • backwards pedagogic move, potentially (10; 43.5%) lack of facilities • it and technical support (17; 73.9%) • suitable space/background noise (11; 47.8%) • family needs (11; 47.8%) no breaks • more meetings; back-to-back (12; 52.2%) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 7 effect of the move to online teaching on relationship with students and staff: the staff perspective relationships were highlighted as a major concern; in particular, developing and establishing relationships with new students, with possible adverse effects on their learning. with existing students, staff had already formed relationships and could capitalise upon them, but with new students no such relationships existed: “some i’ve never met face-to-face” [male staff member] staff had concerns about the mental health of their students. they also felt they had lost creative and networking opportunities with colleagues. communications were viewed as far more difficult, with staff having to take responsibility for them since students did not. emails were seen as a barrier to optimal communications, with potential for misunderstanding. table 4: the effect of the move to online teaching on relationship with students and staff: staff perspective. frequency expressed as numbers (%) stated next to each theme. with students with staff negative impact • particular issue with new students (21; 91.3%) • negative impacts on learning (10; 43.5%) negative impact • lack of spontaneity and creativity (11; 47.8%) • networking opportunities lost (6; 26.1%) mental health issues • many students with substantial difficulties; loneliness (3; 13.0%) emails • barrier to communication; intrusive (18; 78.3%) • can be misunderstood (3; 13.0%) communications • have to be managed (8; 34.8%) • much more difficult (6; 26.1%) student interviews impact of the move to online teaching: the student perspective a total of fifty-four comments were made, which fell into four main themes, as shown in table 5. students described a range of emotions in response to the move to online learning, many of which were associated with anxiety about what would happen and how to navigate new articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 8 systems. inability to access the physical space of the campus and bespoke learning spaces such as the library was problematic. “attending campus motivates learning e.g., after lecture i can use the library for other module work” [level 6 female student] “being in academic environment allows us to perform better” [level 4 male student] additionally, lack of interaction in the online world harmed both learning and social interactions. by contrast, some students recognised potential benefits for the future: “this year (it’s) not just about online learning to gain scientific knowledge…grow your abilities to adapt to situations & be flexible” [level 6 female student] “makes students more proactive & lead life independently & push themselves…they are not the passenger” [female postgraduate student] table 5: the impact of online teaching and learning on study: the student perspective. data are expressed as numbers (%) theme (expressed as numbers (%) of overall comments) subthemes (expressed as numbers (%) within each theme) emotions (10; 18.5%) confusion (1; 10%); anxiety (1; 10%); guilt (1; 10%); reduced motivation (7; 70%) lack of interaction (18; 33.3%) no sharing ideas and lack of communications (15; 83.3%) group work not collaborative (3; 16.7%) physical space (16; 29.6%) difficulty of being at home 24/7 (10; 62.5%) loss of library: social and place to learn (6; 37.5%) can be beneficial (6; 11.1%) increased independence (3; 50%) employability skills (3; 50%) pros and cons of the move to online learning: the student perspective like staff, students saw benefits as well as disadvantages of online provision. they valued lecture recordings and the flexibility that these offered in terms of when and how they were accessed and used – especially beneficial for revision. for students with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, the availability of recorded materials proved to be a significant advantage, allowing for better note-taking and alleviating some of the difficulties faced in standard delivery. some students said they had more time for study now, while others felt that their studies were adversely affected. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 9 online material (both synchronous and asynchronous), was seen as monotonous and less engaging, requiring greater discipline and motivation. “too much information & less explanation compared with face-to-face lectures” [level 4 female student] some students, having to manage their time themselves (something that many were not used to doing, especially if new to university), also found that asynchronous sessions – not timetabled – were difficult to navigate. they also described the lack of interaction with each other as a significant disadvantage to learning and mentioned the difficulty of being unable to ask questions of staff in real time. “learning now a lot more individual & isolated” [female postgraduate student] “no interaction with teachers to build human relationships” [level 3 male student] students recognised staff efforts to support them, but the online means by which this was done appeared to reduce its value and effectiveness for some: “you don’t know the staff even though they are trying to support you – all online, like robots” [level 4 female student] many students relied on their home environments to learn; these were not always suitable and did not feel like a ‘proper’ university experience. “in a lecture theatre i have to be focused because there is nothing around to distract me” [level 6 female student] “at home, procrastination is very high. i’ve cleaned the ovens, i’ve cleaned the bins…i’ve done everything i possibly can to not get on with what i’m supposed to be doing. motivation has gone out of the window” [level 6 female student] by contrast, the learning environment on campus was seen as more motivating, which in turn enhanced learning and attainment. being online also resulted in less physical movement between classes, less fresh air and more screen time, which some found difficult. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 10 table 6: what students like most and least about online learning (online and prerecordings). data are expressed as numbers and percentages of total responses like most (n=58*) like least (n=75) study skills, motivation and accessibility recordings helpful for revision (11; 19.0%) lack of motivation: no interaction, not engaging, not able to concentrate (21; 33.3%) learning is more organised, more independent (6; 10.3%) learn more in hands-on sessions; e.g. labs (6; 8.0%) accessible and flexible – links, speed, timing (10; 17.2%) passive: needs discipline and concentration (2; 2.7%) easier to make notes using recordings, especially with disability (4; 6.9%) stopped coming to lectures as recordings available (4; 5.3%) can structure learning: know what to ask (2; 3.4%) important future and employability skills (2; 3.4%) learning environment studying at home – tranquil, less anxiety (3; 5.2%) miss the library and other resources (10; 13.3%) studying at home: distracted, monotonous, mental health impact (10; 13.3%) no physical activity/fresh air/routine (4; 5.3%) more interruptions online (2; 2.7%) social synchronous: interaction possible (2; 3.4%) no interaction with classmates (6; 8.0%) can ask questions: anonymity online (3; 5.2%) asynchronous, cannot ask questions (3; 4.0%) staff are more available online (1: 1.7%) does not feel like ‘proper’ university experience (1; 1.3%) time management save money and time on travel; use for study (11; 19.0%) pre-recordings not timetabled: have to manage time (5.3%) increased workload (listening to recordings and classes) (2; 2.7%) *additional 3 miscellaneous positive comments articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 11 effect of online learning on social interactions and friendships: the student perspective online learning had a negative impact on social interactions between students. this was particularly acute for students new to university who did not have existing relationships to fall back on. those who did found social media useful to help them maintain those relationships, but, even so, they preferred being on campus. the negative impact on relationships related to learning as well as social occasions. interacting in class, building relationships with peers and getting to know each other were all more difficult. students found group work harder, since they were unable to ask questions and interact with each other as they would on campus. from the social perspective, although many student societies continued to operate, getting to know each other was harder (table 7). table 7: the impact of online learning on student friendships/ social interactions. data are expressed as numbers and percentages of total responses. themes subthemes (n=49) no (%) reduced sense of connection harder to connect/ stay in contact with others; feel detached, no casual contacts 23 (46.9%) building relationships difficult to make friends, especially if new to university; easier on campus 9 (18.4%) societies societies online, but cannot easily meet 6 (12.2%) social media can use social media to connect with current friends 5 (10.2%) staff staff supportive, but contact by email; no interaction with staff 3 (6.1%) working in groups intimidating to ask other students questions when you cannot see each other; group work more difficult 2 (4.1%) lack of structure lack of purpose to the day 1 (2.0%) discussion and implications staff and students recognised advantages and disadvantages of online teaching and learning. students identified online learning as advantageous in several aspects: recordings were flexible and accessible, useful for revision and note-taking; both time and money were saved on travel; and the mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning helped them articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 12 become more independent. on the other hand, their major concerns included lack of engagement with online learning, loss of university facilities (in particular the library), difficulties with motivation, poor time management and lack of social engagement with others. staff identified flexibility, accessibility and time saved as advantages of online learning and also saw benefits for cross-disciplinary learning and acquisition of personal skills. however, they expressed a variety of concerns for their students, as well as for themselves and colleagues. key to these was a perceived lack of student engagement, the difficulties in establishing relationships or enabling students to do so in the online world and the increase in workload, which meant the lines between home and work were frequently blurred. key themes are discussed below, with illustrative quotes from participants. student engagement and social implications of online learning student engagement with online learning was a cause for concern. they tended not to use microphones or cameras and, while this was understandable, the result for staff was a feeling of isolation, even loneliness, very different from the usual teaching experience. it was described as a feeling of “speaking into the void”, so that staff felt “like something is always missing”. teaching is essentially a social activity: part of the joy of teaching is being in groups, reading student responses and altering teaching pace or content in response to verbal and visual cues received. without these, it is difficult for staff to gauge the extent of student understanding or engagement. previously, little was known about the experience of staff teaching online (kimmel and fairchild, 2017). however, feelings of isolation among both students and staff have been described in reflections upon the experience of online teaching (perrotta and haeussler bohan, 2020). in addition, communications online (usually email) were viewed by our respondents as problematic for establishing relationships – aptly described by one participant as the “barriers of distance”. students, too, found online learning difficult. some of this was logistical, relating to the structure of synchronous and asynchronous provision within programmes. much, however, related to the social aspects of learning, for several participants expressed a feeling of isolation. the online environment was seen as a barrier to forming relationships with each other and with staff. asynchronous learning can result in weaker engagement if students feel disconnected from the group (serrano et al., 2019), whereas synchronous sessions can increase personal participation and thereby potentially improve cognitive involvement (hrastinski, 2008). our students did not distinguish between them, perhaps on account of the unique circumstances this year. planned provision initially aimed for 30% on-campus delivery and 70% online (synchronous plus asynchronous), but all provision moved online because of lockdowns. being together – forming a community – had social as well as educational value for students and they recognised and valued human contact, which was perceived as less in the online world: “staff members & lecturers make me feel like i belong to the university” [female postgraduate student] “it’s so much nicer to see a face and talk to somebody face-to-face and have that interaction with the lecturer” [level 6 female student] social relationships are not important solely for helping students and staff feel part of the institution, important though that is. establishment of social presence is intrinsic to the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 13 ‘community of inquiry’ model, espoused by garrison et al. (1999). social presence is the extent to which students feel emotionally connected to one another (kozan and richardson, 2014) and should go beyond social interactions and relationships to encourage cognitive presence through social interaction (garrison and arbaugh, 2007). given this, the lack of academic motivation that many of our student participants expressed alongside their feelings of social isolation was unsurprising. establishing a sense of connection in students is essential and possible through collaborative learning groups (laux et al., 2016). this is clearly easier in a truly blended approach, incorporating face-to-face as well as online learning, in contrast to the approach needed this academic year because of the national restrictions. interactive learning environments have been shown to predict learner selfregulation, satisfaction and self-efficacy in the e-learning environment (liaw and huang, 2013) and socialisation in e-learning has been shown to be increased through use of social media in foreign language acquisition (asfaranjan et al., 2013). socialisation is clearly possible with social media and many students choose to use it. however, this is usually a choice made to augment their social experience alongside face-to-face encounters, different from the enforced physical separation currently in place for many. the learning environment staff and students valued not having to commute to university and appreciated the associated savings in time and money. simultaneously, both groups highlighted the loss of social interactions, casual conversations and day-to-day communications which build connections, enhance creativity and promote learning. the physical space of the campus was missed, not just for loss of access to learning resources, but for the messages it gave about togetherness and the sense of connection this evoked: “doesn’t feel like (i) belong less because of not using the facility but being in class together reinforces togetherness and belonging; noises in corridor and students passing by reinforces we are part of a community (ecosystem)” [level 3 male student] for many students, the environment at home was not conducive to learning, often because of other distractions; a lack of motivation to study was common. flexibility and independence self-paced learning is a major potential advantage of online learning (serrano et al., 2019), and students themselves recognised the value of recordings which they could access any time, listen to at their own pace and use for note-taking and revision. this academic independence was seen as a current advantage, as well as an employability benefit. for some groups, e.g., with disability, this flexibility has the potential to reduce stress and increase accessibility to learning by addressing inclusion inequities. (for staff with disability, online working also represented a significant advantage, allowing them to participate in events online that would not have been possible in person.) however, self-paced learning carries responsibilities with it and, for several students, this was a challenge. asynchronous activities were not timetabled, the onus being on students to prepare for synchronous sessions. this was difficult for many, unused to such responsibility and unprepared for it. it is therefore important that thought is given to the best mechanisms to support students in the transition to blended learning, such that they gain maximum advantage. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 14 current situation is not optimal staff recognised that aspects of online teaching were advantageous, but accepted that the current situation is problematic. “lots of things are a little bit trickier & some things are a lot trickier” [male staff member] the emergency shift to online teaching, at short notice in march 2020, and the lack of certainty about the nature of delivery for september 2020 onwards was very stressful for staff. although on paper they had the summer to prepare for the new academic year, plans were unclear because of fluctuations in national policy. this resulted in a sense of emergency provision even though it was the start of the new academic year. one participant described it as: “a plaster on top of it & hope for the best” [female staff member] changes to the university’s it resources, as well as continuing modifications as the systems developed, added further stress. using what was available, with specialist support lacking, to develop resources (including pre-recorded sessions) was also frustrating for staff, who felt that, despite substantial time preparing, their best was not good enough: “..end result is something passable, not something good – frustrating” [female staff member] implications for the future many institutions are likely to take a blended-learning approach as they move forward (maguire et al., 2020); future extended lockdowns are possible with the emergence of covid-19 variants and students will need to catch up (laurillard, 2021). indeed, many staff in our study recognised the significant potential of working online, not just for teaching, but for enhancing cross-disciplinary activity and research. however, they were clear that, in moving forward and incorporating blended learning within programmes, planning is key to truly benefiting students. to be effective, blended learning must achieve a “harmonious balance” between different elements (garrison and kanuka, 2004), namely face-to-face delivery, online learning and self-paced learning (serrano et al., 2019). this is different from what we used this academic year: while blended learning was the intention, the third lockdown meant that all teaching moved online. our findings must be interpreted in this light. to implement blended learning successfully, clear institutional direction and policy are needed (garrison and kanuka, 2004; de neve et al., 2015), with a strategy, structure (including technological infrastructure) and support for staff in place (graham et al., 2013). this will require resources: implementation of a blended learning approach poses challenges in terms of the optimal blend, as well as the extra time needed (serrano et al., 2019). there is the potential to learn from colleagues who are already using blended learning, although best practice may not reflect the realities for all – student needs may be different, just as levels of expertise and support available to staff across institutions are variable. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 15 most staff supported the notion of incorporating some elements of online learning into their future delivery although this was not universal. given the investment that staff and institutions have made in online learning in the last year, it would be a pity to lose it altogether in the future. however, it is important that the benefits are retained while the disadvantages are minimised and this may differ from institution to institution, depending on their staff and student demographics. identifying what works well should be explored and supported with technology; also required will be time for teams to plan pedagogically sound blended learning. a key issue is the provision of opportunities for interaction (e.g., groupwork), enabling students to develop relationships with each other and with staff within online sessions, in order to enhance their sense of connection to each other and the institution. in addition, it cannot be assumed that all young people are equally technologically savvy and a scaffolded approach will be needed, to support students to develop the selfdirected learning their studies require. there will have to be: clear signposting to activities and resources to support students’ learning; explicit expectations about what must be done for each session; and clarity about how the online and in-person sessions map out against the content. institutions will also have to ascertain how much equipment provision to make in order to support students’ blended learning (e.g., laptops, webcams). other researchers have shown that varying staff approaches to blended learning derive in part from institutional perspectives (boelens et al., 2018). it will be interesting to see the extent to which institutions are truly willing to invest in and support effective future blendedlearning provision, but the cost of not doing so is likely to be high. this is a small study, with a limited dataset, in part because the project is still under way. of interest is the fact that 35% of the student participants were from level 5, compared with approximately 21% each from levels 3 and 4 and 18% from level 6. it appears from our findings that level 5 students felt more strongly about taking part than other year groups. level 3 and level 4 students, being both new to the university, had no other university experience as a comparison. level 6 students had already established relationships with staff and students and, while the pandemic was severely disruptive for them, they were focused on their own work. level 5 students, by contrast, had at least one normal year at university before the pandemic to compare with. it is also a year that many of our students find difficult anyway and the imposition of the pandemic made academic life much harder for them. although the qualitative data identified similar issues across all year groups, analysis of the quantitative data on completion of the project will allow us to explore whether significant differences between the years of study exist. reference list ahn, m.y. and davis, h.h. 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https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/sg_policy_brief_covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2010.487643?casa_token=fbu8kzepdzmaaaaa:xjxa0_jcithtedwbnkltu2s-6jbypi8-zxt1dnkddiwh2ko8k-t6jtksgrpilxcf--xeykg3koid https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2010.487643?casa_token=fbu8kzepdzmaaaaa:xjxa0_jcithtedwbnkltu2s-6jbypi8-zxt1dnkddiwh2ko8k-t6jtksgrpilxcf--xeykg3koid https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2010.487643?casa_token=fbu8kzepdzmaaaaa:xjxa0_jcithtedwbnkltu2s-6jbypi8-zxt1dnkddiwh2ko8k-t6jtksgrpilxcf--xeykg3koid https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0305764x.2013.792787?needaccess=true https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02602938.2014.990415?needaccess=true technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 learning languages and culture using hinative hiromi nishioka waseda university, faculty of human sciences, japan introduction hinative (https://hinative.com)1 is a question/answer application designed for language learners. users can ask native speakers questions related to over 110 languages and culture2. this application is particularly useful when learners want to ask native speakers short questions, though the speakers are not available on the spot. the nine types of pre-designed question formats guide the users to formulate their questions and native speakers generally provide the answers within a few hours and sometimes within a few minutes. the popularity of the application is evident in the growing number of users. by august 2018, user numbers had reached 3,410,000, with services being offered for 110 languages in 240 regions3. this paper reviews the features of the hinative application and the pedagogical implications of its use. features of the application the aim of hinative is to promote users’ learning of language and culture by providing a question/answer platform. users can post short questions related to over 110 languages and cultures using the platform. to enable users to post their questions easily, hinative provides nine types of pre-designed question formats, such as: “how do you say ... in your language?”; “is this expression natural?”; and “free questions”. to formulate the questions, users can use written words as well as an image and a short audio recording file. they can generally receive feedback from the native speakers shortly after posting their questions. the application provides both websiteand smartphone-based platforms. as it takes little time for users to post short questions and to check the feedback, busy learners can use the smartphone platform to engage in anytime and anywhere learning using their downtime. learners who do not have many native speaker friends of whom to ask questions can use the application to access native speaker knowledge quickly and easily. in addition to hinative, there are alternative platforms which learners can use to ask language and culture-related questions, including language-exchange applications such as speaky (https://www.speaky.com) and social network services for language learners such as hellotalk (https://www.hellotalk.com). however, what distinguishes hinative from these applications is the specific focus on posting questions and receiving responses to them. unlike speaky and 1 this paper is written based on information available by july 8, 2020. 2 a hinative developer, lang-8, describes the service at https://lang-8.jp/en/ 3 the number of hinative users can be confirmed at https://thebridge.jp/en/2018/09/hinative-jpy650m-funding (the author accessed the website on january 3, 2019). https://hinative.com/ https://www.speaky.com/ https://www.hellotalk.com/ https://lang-8.jp/en/ https://thebridge.jp/en/2018/09/hinative-jpy650m-funding technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 hellotalk, hinative does not provide a function for social networking with the native speakers or for searching them and exchanging personal messages with them. however, for learners who just want to receive native speaker feedback without socialising with them, this is a strength. moreover, unlike hellotalk, hinative helpfully signposts users to question/answer posts from multiple users per question category. such classification design allows learners who want to use other members’ posts as a learning resource to browse posts easily for their chosen category. use of the application is free, although the premium edition provides a greater range of functions for a small fee. users who want to use this can choose to pay either annually (about 9600 yen) or monthly (about 1200 yen). table 1 compares the functions provided for nonpremium and premium members. table 1: comparison of functions provided for non-premium and premium members functions provided by hinative premium members non-premium members use all question templates ● x (a template for requesting language corrections is available only to premium members.) notify arrival of feedback to own questions ● ● notify arrival of feedback to the questions the user has bookmarked ● x search older posts uploaded by the user ● ● search bookmarked posts ● x ticket to prioritise questions to receive further feedback from native speakers 10 times per month 3 times in total play audio recording feedback provided by native speakers to the user ● ● play audio recording feedback provided by native speaker to other users ● x input messages using voice recognition system △ △ remove advertisements ● x as table 1 indicates, the premium edition of hinative provides advanced functions to enhance language learning on the platform. the functions include the ability to: 1) receive native speaker language corrections to short sentences; 2) prioritise to indicate which posts are to receive further feedback; 3) search the users’ bookmarked posts for review; and 4) play audio recordings by native speakers for other users to learn from the audio recordings. image 1 provides a screenshot of the page to upload a question. to cater to the different needs of technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 learners, hinative provides two options: 1) types of questions the learner can post; and 2) types of communication modes (see image 1), such as the typed word, an uploaded image or tensecond audio recording and a message inputted using a voice-recognition system via a smartphone. users can also input their question using the voice recognition system, though it may not effectively recognise learners’ utterances in their target language. image 1: template for ‘how do you say this?’ the design of hinative is based on the principle of ‘tandem learning’ – namely learning via reciprocity and autonomy (little and brammerts, 1996). vinagre and lera (2008) characterise the concept of ‘reciprocity’ as members mutually supporting each other, contributing and gaining benefit at an equal level and taking on an equal role. the principle of ‘autonomy’ refers to learners working in tandem to take responsibility for their own learning and learning by their peers. little and brammerts (op.cit.) suggested that learners provide their language learning partners with corrections and suggestions for improvement using their expert knowledge of the target language and culture. to motivate the native speakers to provide speedy and quality feedback to the learners, hinative adopts gamification, a feature where they can raise their ranking by providing speedy feedback to language learners and by receiving a positive evaluation from the recipient of the feedback. swot analysis of hinative using hinative to learn a language and the culture in which it is embedded has its pros and cons. table 1 indicates the results of a swot analysis for hinative. the upper level rows 1) choose the desired language to ask the question 2) type a question 3) upload an image and audio 4) type additional information if necessary 5) tick if the user wishes to use a ticket prioritising the question 6) click ‘ask’ to upload the question technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 indicate the internal strengths and weaknesses, whereas the lower rows indicate the external opportunities and threats. table 1: hinative swot analysis results strengths 1. easy to post a short question using the predesigned question templates 2. does not require much time to complete posting questions and checking the native speaker responses. → encourages busy learners to engage in language learning 3. users can post questions either by typing text messages, inputting text messages using the voice-recognition system or uploading an image or audio recording. → can adopt hinative at beginners’ level 4. simple interactions in an open space → can reduce learners’ hesitation to interact with native speaker strangers weaknesses 1. 1. can post a short question with a ten-second audio recording or an image. → can be used only for activities requiring short questions 2. 2. a temperate for requesting language corrections is available only to the premium users. →need to purchase the premium account to receive language corrections or use alternative applications 3. 3. does not provide functions to add members as a friend or to send personal messages to them. → need to use the alternative online platforms to socialise with native speakers opportunities 1. users can engage in anytime and anywhere learning 2. users can receive multiple feedback from different native speakers → can learn variations of languages and cultural practices by comparing the feedback from multiple native speakers threats 1. the response speed and the amount of feedback varies depending on the availability of the native speakers who are willing to answer the question 2. the quality of feedback varies depending on the native speaker’s language knowledge and ability to clarify answers 3. the effectiveness of the voice-recognition input function depends on the user’s pronunciation the major internal strength of hinative is the simple platform design. even non-tech-savvy users can easily navigate the platform, thanks to its simple and explicit design. they can easily post a short question, using nine pre-designed question templates. secondly, the short task design is also a strength, in engaging busy learners in language learning with a small-time investment. it takes only a few minutes for learners to post a short question and check the native speaker responses. educators can therefore suggest that learners adopt hinative as a platform to learn languages during their downtime. thirdly, hinative has the capability to post questions using multiple modes: typed words, images and audio recordings. the multimodal capability is a strength, encouraging even beginners, who cannot yet type in target languages, to engage in language learning using hinative. for example, educators teaching beginner level can still provide homework requiring learners to ask culture-related questions using an image. fourthly, the simple interaction design in an open space – ‘question and answer’ – is a technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 strength, for it reduces learners’ hesitation about interacting with native speaker strangers for a language learning purpose. learners may feel less hesitation in posting questions via hinative as such activities do not require them to exchange personal messages in a closed online space. given these benefits, educators can adopt hinative as an introductory activity to engage learners in online interactions with native speakers. learning opportunities on hinative are affected by external factors. the main external opportunity for language learning on hinative is the capability to engage in language learning anytime and anywhere. however, to use hinative for anytime and anywhere learning purposes, learners need to have a smartphone, wi-fi access, and enough smartphone data. another external opportunity of language learning with hinative is the capability to receive feedback from multiple native speakers. given the opportunity, educators can integrate learning activities requiring learners to compare multiple feedback provided by the native speakers to understand variations of their language use, cultural practices and perspectives of a certain topic. however, these learning opportunities also depend on the availability of multiple native speakers willing to answer the questions. despite the strengths and opportunities for language learning available via hinative, the application has several internal weaknesses and external threats. the major internal weakness is the design, which allows users to post only short questions. the interaction design deters educators from adopting hinative for the purpose of encouraging learners to receive native speaker feedback on longer compositions or speech. in addition, a template for requesting language corrections is available only to the premium users. therefore, learners who want to receive native speaker corrections need to either purchase the premium edition or use alternative applications. another weakness is the absence of a social networking function with native speakers. to engage learners with interactions with native speakers, educators need to adopt alternative platforms such as hellotalk and speaky. finally, language learning on hinative is also affected by external threats. the most significant external threat is feedback provided by the native speaker members. the response speed and amount of feedback depend on the availability of native speakers willing to answer the question. the quality of feedback is also influenced by their linguistic knowledge and ability to explain the answer clearly. to mitigate the drawback, educators can suggest that learners post their questions again, but by paraphrasing them. it is also useful to explore further the language usage and cultural practices by using the previously mentioned alternative platforms for languages learners as well as websites for a general audience. implications for teaching hinative provides a limited capacity, asking only short questions. despite this limitation, the application can be used to achieve multiple teaching goals in language classrooms at tertiary level. given the asynchronous interaction design, hinative can be adopted as a platform to complete homework by asking the native speakers short questions. first of all, hinative is useful for engaging learners in a wide range of learning activities – namely requesting native speakers to 1) explain the meaning and usage of an expression technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 learners cannot find in dictionaries; 2) provide language corrections for a few sentences; 3) explain a situational language usage; 4) share cultural practices; and 4) provide their opinions for a topic. with globalisation of the business sector, universities have increasingly regarded developing students’ inter-cultural competency as one of their urgent missions (newton, 2016). hinative can serve as a useful pedagogical tool to develop learners’ inter-cultural competency, particularly in a foreign language learning context where they cannot access native speakers easily. for teaching purposes, educators can provide homework requiring learners to ask native speakers cultureand language-related questions using hinative; such as 1) ‘how do they behave..?’ or ‘how do they say..?’ under a specific communication context; and 2) ‘how do they interpret..?’ given utterances and behaviour under the specific context. as follow-up classroom activities, educators can ask learners to 1) compare the similarity and differences between perspectives and cultural practices of themselves and the ones of the native speakers; and 2) discuss how they can interpret and perform appropriately both in their own culture and others. needless to say, to help them to work on the assignments confidently, it is essential to provide hands-on class activities prior to issuing the assignment, so as to familiarise students with the online platform. secondly, integrating hinative into a language curriculum allows educators to achieve what mcloughlin and lee (2008) refer to as ‘pedagogy 2.0’. the aim of this pedagogy is to move learners beyond a teacher-centred classroom learning environment by encouraging them to “exploit more fully the affordances and potential for connectivity enabled by web 2.0 and social software tools” (op.cit., p.15). the authors assert that educators can achieve this goal by adopting the following approaches to assist language learners: to 1) participate in online communities for language learning; 2) make decisions about their own learning to construct a personalised learning environment; and 3) produce their own ideas and knowledge. by embedding the use of hinative into the language curriculum, educators can promote language learning beyond the classroom by assisting users to participate in online language learning communities. use of the online platform encourages learners to construct, by means of the affordances of the technology, personalised learning spaces – by choosing what to learn, when to learn and how to learn. finally, this pedagogical approach enables learners to contribute to other online community members by sharing their expert knowledge as native speakers. finally, educators can adopt hinative in order to expand learners’ repertoire of out-of-class language learning activities. lai’s (2015) study found that language learners often integrate resources used in classrooms into self-directed language-learning contexts. the findings also showed that language learners prefer to use less time-demanding online resources. hinative is a platform enabling language learners to engage in learning using small chunks of time. given the empirical findings discussed above and learning design of hinative, the integration of hinative into language classrooms may motivate learners to adopt online platforms for selfregulated language learning. conclusion this paper has reviewed the features of hinative and the pedagogical implications of its use in the classroom. hinative is a question and answer application, promoting the users’ language technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 and culture learning by asking short questions to native speaker members. despite its limited capability to ask only short questions, the application can be adopted in language programmes to engage learners in a wide range of learning activities, including the ones to develop their inter-cultural competency. use of this application will be particularly useful to encourage busy learners to use their target languages using their downtime. it can be beneficial for learners who do not have native speaker friends to access native speakers’ knowledge quickly and easily. integrating online platforms such as hinative into language programmes provides learners with first-hand experiences of affordances provided by web 2.0 technology for language learning. consequently, it may motivate them to act on the affordances to expand opportunities for out-ofclass learning. acknowledgement publication of this paper is supported by a publication grant provided by waseda university, japan. reference list lai, c. 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(ed.) handbook of research on computer-enhanced language acquisition and learning (361376). new york: iga global. isbn: 9781599048956. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17501229.2014.918982 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed399789.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej895221.pdf compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 first published in july 2020 by: greenwich learning & teaching university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editors rachel george, greenwich learning & teaching, university of greenwich yang yang, greenwich learning & teaching, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, greenwich learning & teaching, university of greenwich editorial board paul breen, university of westminster louise hewitt, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university dawn reilly, university of greenwich clare rossato, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series reviewers martin compton, university of greenwich alison gilmour, university of greenwich mark dawson, university of greenwich danielle tran, university of greenwich tesfa mehari, university of greenwich nihal amer, msa, cairo liz warren, university of greenwich case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 pedagogic development of a gamified approach to enhancing engagement in interprofessional education sarah aynsley1, valerie ball2, jonathan berry3, angela hancock4, rebecca harrison5, katie maddock3, andrew morris1, alison pooler1, patricia procter5 and russell crawford*6 1 school of medicine, 2 school of allied health professionals, 3 – school of pharmacy and bioengineering, 4 – school of nursing and midwifery and 5 – school of life sciences and *6 falmouth university and corresponding author. keele university, keele, st5 5bg falmouth university, penryn campus, treliever road, penryn tr10 9fe abstract inter-professional education (ipe) is an integral part of learning for undergraduate healthcare students. from the evidence in the literature about the benefits of linked learning, collaboration between the health professions early in student development can lead to improved patient outcomes. this article reflects on the adoption at keele university in the united kingdom (uk), of a novel approach to introducing inter-professional education – with the intention of increasing interest in undergraduate health students across the health faculty. a card-based scenario game (a ‘braincept’ game) in the style of a pub quiz introduced elements of gamification, in order to engage students and increase their awareness of various healthcare professionals’ roles and interactions. this article assesses the impact of using gamification elements and outlines pedagogic principles underpinning development of this novel intervention. keywords: interprofessional education, gamification, learning and teaching, pedagogy introduction in ‘inter-professional education’ (ipe), two or more professions come together to learn with, from and about each other (buring et al., 2009). the literature strongly suggests that effective inter-professional clinical practice reduces the length of patients’ stays in hospital; such practice is also linked with fewer reported medical errors and therefore with overall improved patient care (greiner et al., 2003). the main aim of ipe is to facilitate whole-group student collaboration and learning, so that when these learners eventually find themselves in the workplace environment, they have already had personal experience of communicating with those in other health professions and are thus aware of the entire range of roles in providing quality collaborative patient care. however, as professions have not yet become secure within their own disciplinary identity, early exposure to this may risk stereotyping – and therefore possibly erroneous perceptions of roles – by students, who may then perform to what they think is expected of them in their profession. so, until disciplinary identity has become embedded in students’ understanding and awareness, educators must, in their case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 teaching, take steps to prevent the possible adverse impact of such misconceptions about roles on students’ professional development at a critical time in their academic and clinical careers. to take account of this risk, our interventions in the approach we adopted, as we explore later, deliberately incorporated the management of student expectations. as a key aspect of their acquisition of these ipe skills, university healthcare students must be exposed at the earliest point in their training to the work of the full range of healthcare professionals; in various ways, including bespoke, facilitated, inter-professional activities and also reflection on inter-professionalism in practice, they must then cumulatively build on this experiential learning as their respective disciplinary curricula unfold (reeves et al., 2013). ‘gamification’ (a term used to describe gaming elements in non-game contexts) has been used in a variety of educational subject settings to enhance engagement and some such approaches show evidence of learning gain (deterding et al., 2011; aynsley et al., 2017 and 2018). the pedagogic literature shows that games can, beyond their intended gains, also enhance – through, essentially, ‘metagaming’ – such skills as communicating, interacting, listening and team-building, all with significant professional potential (veltsos, 2017; bodnar and clark, 2017) and therefore constituting an essential outcome of ipe. rationale for the approach to ipe at keele university our prior experience and formal evaluation of the ipe programme at keele university have demonstrated that healthcare students sometimes lack interest in in the ipe philosophy and highlighted that some students might fail, at this point in their training, to see how ipe is linked to their courses. to address both of these, the programme has, since its inception, undergone several redevelopments. at keele university, the ipe curriculum is ambitious, involving all students from all five schools of the health faculty and one school in the faculty of health sciences and delivering whole-cohort events simultaneously across multiple sites. in the first year (level 1 ipe), students are provided with facilitated sessions in multi-professional groups, with the aim of enhancing their team-working skills, increasing their grasp of roles and interactions in healthcare and developing knowledge of the principles of ethical and compassionate care. the activity has changed and evolved in response to student and facilitator feedback (it was initially a physical poster, group-created, and then became, after the feedback, a group presentation), each iteration with the aim of improving the overall experience of level 1 ipe. however, one consequence of changing the format of ipe between the years during which the programme has run has been that students have requested more opportunities to explore the diverse healthcare roles of others in their groups, according to the mode of group work (poster or presentation) they experienced. the introduction of gamification was one suggested avenue, in order to unify and facilitate exploration of roles and enhance the changes already made to level 1 ipe. the rationale was that gamification would introduce a task that would enable discussions to take place in an engaging and informal manner, encouraging students to discuss and share ideas and experiences with each other. this paper qualitatively evaluates the use of this gamified approach to increase awareness of various aspects of healthcare roles, with, as the particular focus, the students’ views of how engaging and informative they found the gamified elements. developing the gamified elements case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 two gamification approaches were implemented – a team challenge in the form of a ‘pub quiz’ and a scenario-based group board game. the first was developed as an awarenessraising, ice-breaker activity, while the latter focused on the roles and decision-making of an inter-professional team. to have implemented both proved useful because they addressed student feedback from previous ipe evaluation data, which had indicated little or no understanding of the roles of others and a desire to learn about those roles in a meaningful way. gamification for basic information delivery using gamification for topics which are usually taught by rote learning (defined as memorising, based on repetition) or which contain key information can be particularly effective in encouraging students to engage in their learning (aynsley 2018). to this end, a competitive quiz was chosen as an ideal way to introduce students to common healthcare acronyms and specialist professional roles. in an effort to limit or prevent possible side-lining of participants in what was intended to be an ice-breaker activity, each of three rounds – ‘common acronyms’; ‘where am i?’; ‘who am i?’ – had questions relating to the whole spectrum of healthcare professions, enabling individual members of the groups to share their own specific expertise. the ‘who am i?’ round encouraged students to match statements of job roles with titles of health professionals and aimed to introduce students to other health professions beyond the ones represented in the student body and encouraged them to think of uk healthcare more holistically – something that would have otherwise been delivered as a list. virtual or physical? studies have indicated that gamification of learning can lead to improved engagement, increased motivation and enhanced learning for students (yildrim, 2017; sailer et al., 2017). historic references in the literature to the term ‘gamification’ suggest it was first used in the pedagogic lexicon sometime in the 1980s, with the first academic papers in the higher education (he) context emerging around that time (malone, 1980). from a more contemporary viewpoint, gamification as a pedagogic concept has grown to encompass both the physical and the virtual modes (i.e., defined respectively as: games using physical components and played in person; digital-based games played synchronously but not necessarily in person), conserving critical key educational design concepts that are required to be present, irrespective of the mode of game delivery. although the virtual and electronic gamification literature has been growing in quality and quantity over the last half decade, physical games (viz., games that use more traditional game components to structure play) have been quietly gaining momentum as well, despite broad misperceptions in the he community that gamification is synonymous with electronic games (gentry et al., 2019). the decision to use a physical board game was made for logistical and educational reasons. with over 600 students across multiple sites with varying degrees of it access, having a physical intervention permits delivery with minimal infrastructure and it support. clearly, in a post-covid context, this might have proved challenging from a social-distancing perspective and our continuing work with all our games is now looking at synchronous and asynchronous implementation routes which preserve, as far as possible, the benefits of playful learning at safe distance. from an educational perspective, a physical game encourages development of a myriad of positive learning skills under broad pedagogic outcomes, such as cognitive (textual/non-textual learning), motor (compilation and synthesis), affective (attitude and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 motivation) and communicative (co-operation and negotiation) (wouters et al., 2009). designing these interventions in this way has allowed us to incorporate this range of beneficial learning gains into the sessions to underpin the inter-professional learning inherent in the event’s design. degrees of freedom? the rules inherent in pre-determined games mechanics allow play to be experienced in a “structured, contextual and thematic” way (miller, 2013). furthermore, with careful gamedesign decisions, play strategies can evolve to allow players to access the range of enhanced learning benefits provided by gamified approaches to learning (iosup and epema, 2014). one of the pedagogic benefits of the decision to create physical – rather than virtual – games was to have the gameplay centred on small-group learning as the key mode of play. the literature shows that this is a reliable way for learners to explore and create knowledge collaboratively (nevin et al., 2014) and, even in a post-covid context, there are extremely convincing educational benefits to having elements of social interaction either replicated or simulated as part of an enhanced student learning experience, as articulated by raj phani in his blog on the subject of gamification in the pandemic (https://www.peoplemattersglobal.com/blog/life-at-work/advantages-of-gamification-amidthe-pandemic-27526). for the scenario-based game, the key design questions considered for the rule set of the game concerned complexity and structure of play (morford et al., 2014): with too many rules, players cannot keep track; with insufficient rules, the goal is obscured. the creation of game rules and play-testing were therefore core steps in generating an enjoyable and rewarding play experience. we opted to have the game unfold in stages and to conserve the rules’ progression for each stage, ensuring that, once the first stage in the first game has been played, each subsequent stage in every other game is now familiar and that learners are not struggling with the rules at the expense of the learning (garone and nesteriuk, 2019). the game is constructed to have ‘model’ answers, rather than correct answers, to encourage players to challenge and discuss the answers generated. implementation at keele, the inter-professional education programme (est. 2007) adopts an activity-based model at levels 4 and 5, to be undertaken by cohorts of around 600 students. the institutional ipe strategy develops mutual understanding and respect between professional groups and promotes inter-professional learning across the various schools within the faculties of medicine and health sciences and natural sciences. in recent years, level 1 ipe (year 1 undergraduates from eight different schools across keele university) fed back that the development of new activities for the event had deprived them of the opportunity to find out about each other’s roles and to learn from each other. level 1 ipe was delivered to the 2018/19 cohort across seven sites on campus with fifty-four groups of twelve to fourteen students from across the mentioned faculties. following welcome and introductions, the game activities were facilitated in the morning session, with students playing the pub quiz before moving on to the roles and decisions game. in the afternoon, students worked in groups to explore scenarios based on cases reported in the mid-staffordshire nhs foundation trust public inquiry (francis, 2013). the aim was to encourage students to explore the core nhs and social care values of care, compassion, courage, communication, https://www.peoplemattersglobal.com/blog/life-at-work/advantages-of-gamification-amid-the-pandemic-27526 https://www.peoplemattersglobal.com/blog/life-at-work/advantages-of-gamification-amid-the-pandemic-27526 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 competence and commitment, known as the ‘6cs’ (cummings, 2012). each of the sessions was led by an ipe facilitator familiar with the games, who promoted discussion in the groups. the inclusion of our game-based intervention for students at the start of activities encouraged groups to start thinking about roles and sharing their understanding of each other’s professions. the game explores these core ideas through the completion of up to six scenarios (including model answers and case review questions to prompt further and deeper discussions within the team), to complete which the players work together. after playing, students consented to complete likert feedback forms related to their play experience. reflections feedback was broadly positive, with over 85% of students feeling able to challenge and question the views of others in their team. we have reflected on a series of questions related to our project to cover the main evaluation points our ipe intervention aimed to improve: did the quiz element help students to learn more about other health professions and, by extension, to avoid stereotyping? over 80% felt that they knew more about the role of other healthcare professionals in patient care, with those who did not agree citing a high starting level of knowledge gained either from placement or from having previously worked as a healthcare professional. when we talked with students after gameplay, we were able to detect a strong positive feeling that the play experience increased awareness of the roles of various healthcare professionals. future work will explore the nuances of these positive perceptions, for they may derive from a range of factors from group dynamics to clarity of the games’ rules of play. was our game-based approach more inclusive and was it accessible to the students? ipe facilitators across the sites observed a high level of interaction between group members. an issue raised by students in previous iterations of level 1 ipe was, for some specialists, the lack of inclusivity of scenarios. student midwives, in particular, struggled historically to relate the various ipe scenarios to their practice and risked becoming disengaged during group work. after our introduction of the gamified approach and ensuring that the scenarios played involved a broad range of professionals, students said that they felt more included in decision-making. for example, a physiotherapy student, in conversation with a facilitator, had felt able to be involved in the discussion and to contribute knowledge that the rest of the group did not have. it is worth reiterating here that the core aim of ipe is to facilitate students’ learning with, from and about each other, as this student’s response demonstrated very well. what did the students think about the degrees of freedom embedded into the game design? interestingly, the informal student post-gameplay feedback that most closely matched our ‘degrees of freedom’ related to the complexity of the game rules, with some students feeling that the game was confusing. however, upon examination, it became apparent that all of those comments came from the same large venue (one of many) where the task was being run and coincided with comments about neither being able to hear the facilitators’ explanation nor see the screen outlining the game. it is likely that much of the confusion was down to the way by which some groups were introduced to the game. in relation to the game’s having model answers, rather than a ‘right’ answer, our discussions with the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 students indicated they liked that aspect the most, as it meant that an element of negotiation was present in the scenario and that some students felt empowered by being able to present their perspective as a ‘case’ to be considered by the group. are there any changes we would make in a future development of our approach here? in a post-covid world, the major change to our gamified approach to ipe learning must centre on the delivery model of the gaming experience and how to manage the scale of this game-based intervention within a world that will be feeling the impacts of social distancing for many years to come. adopting a multi-model approach akin to a ‘blended play experience’ is one of our most recent lines of game development (using a hybrid of online synchronous interaction and print-and-play mechanics for the physical experience), but we also steadfastly adhere to the core physical aspects of gameplay in person, a critical element we are loathe to see lost, especially given our positive perception of impacts on ipe learning evidently working at scale in this study. summary overall, using a gamified approach encouraged discussion and sharing of experience; it allowed students an opportunity to contribute to a group experience, thereby both enhancing shared knowledge and imparting lived experience of inter-professional practice. reference list aynsley, s. and crawford, r. 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(2009) ‘current practices in serious game research: a review from a learning outcomes perspective.’ games-based learning advancements for multi-sensory human computer interfaces: techniques and effective practices, 232-250. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46707445_current_practices_in_serious_game_ research_a_review_from_a_learning_outcomes_perspective (accessed: 03 november 2021). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1096751617300696 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2329490616676576 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46707445_current_practices_in_serious_game_research_a_review_from_a_learning_outcomes_perspective https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46707445_current_practices_in_serious_game_research_a_review_from_a_learning_outcomes_perspective compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 managing editor karen smith, educational development unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, school of education wendy cealey harrison, learning and quality unit ian mcnay, school of education simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering sarah crofts, information and library services paul dennison, educational development unit edward phillips, school of humanities & social sciences lynne jump, school of health & social care ed de quincey, school of computing & mathematical sciences malcolm ryan, school of education nola stair, business school james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 using flipgrid for teaching practice: pre-service student teachers’ reflections and lessons learnt tiani wepener school of education, sol plaatje university, kimberley, south africa abstract owing to the covid-19 pandemic, south african universities have, like other universities worldwide, been faced with the transition from face-to-face classes to online teaching. teaching practice (tp) coordinators (university lecturers responsible for the work-integrated learning component of teacher training programmes) found themselves having to improvise and innovate to meet this sudden pedagogical change by revisiting conventional tp models and approaches and finding new ways to give student teachers valid and constructive alternatives to face-to-face classes when these were suspended (carrillo and flores, 2020; hojeij and baroudi, 2021; sepulveda-escobar and morrison, 2020). from the perspective of pre-service student teachers at a south african university, this case study reviews the effectiveness of ‘flipgrid’, a sociallearning video platform, which was successfully integrated into a third-year tp module. one of its greatest strengths proves to be its ability to provide pre-service student teachers with the opportunity to gain confidence in their teaching abilities. 1. introduction in 2021, flipgrid, as an alternative platform to microsoft onedrive, was implemented and integrated into the teaching practice (tp) of year 3 at a south african university, to provide preservice student teachers with the opportunity to share their voice and practise their teaching during this time of crisis. it was unclear whether flipgrid could successfully fulfil the purpose of virtual teaching and/or replace physical school visits as had been the norm for this university’s student teachers. however, by practising and applying specific teaching strategies and methods, students were able to share with their peers and lecturers the videos they felt satisfied with. the deployment of flipgrid provided the opportunity for the presenters, their peers and education lecturers to observe the presenters ‘in action’ for the first time. the lesson videos and lesson plans, having been shared on flipgrid by their creators, were distributed to the respective specialisation lecturers for evaluation and feedback. over 3,700 video submissions by 322 thirdyear, pre-service student teachers were made. in this paper, the author would like to share the experiences of ten randomly selected pre-service student teachers, to highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of flipgrid as a platform for tp. recommendations are also made to tp coordinators who are considering using flipgrid as a platform as part of the work-integrated learning component of teacher training programmes. technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 2. understanding flipgrid unlike many other platforms, flipgrid (www.flipgrid.com) is a free and user-friendly video discussion platform which facilitates collaborative and social learning between students (stoszkowski, 2018). taylor and hinchman (2020, p.26) define flipgrid as “a valuable experiential learning tool” which “enables educators to engage students in a variety of learning and assessment activities”. flipgrid can be accessed via a web-based browser on a computer or via the mobile application (stoszkowski, hodgkinson and collins, 2021). according to mcclure and mcandrews (2016), flipgrid, in its original form, limited – to ninety seconds or less – students’ opportunity to critique articles, to reflect and to demonstrate understanding of course content. now, it allows video responses of up to ten minutes, so opening up new and better possibilities for engagement with the course. taylor and hinchman (2020) point out that flipgrid can be utilised, among other purposes, as a tool for both group discussion and assessment. flipgrid’s functionality is based on two types of navigation options, namely the educator dashboard (requiring the creation of a flipgrid educator account) and member view (requiring a join code or custom link). the platform employs grids and topics. a grid created for a course houses the topics (discussions) (green and green, 2018). by entering a join code or by clicking on a custom link, students are able to upload their discussion videos on a specific topic. before submitting a video, students can each record their screen and add photos and effects, together with a hyperlink and music. when a video has been uploaded, others (those who have access to the code or link) can view it and post public or private comments about it. such responses can be given in a written format or a video of up to ten minutes). this feature gives course coordinators and fellow students the opportunity to provide constructive formative feedback about the work. the educator or course coordinator manages the videos in the dashboard. in each topic, the number of video responses, total views, views per video, number of comments and hours of engagement are provided. all of these can reflect the students’ and lecturers’ online presence and their engagements with the posted discussion videos. flipgrid has many more strengths – and some weaknesses – as summarised by stoszkowski (2018). 3. case study findings this section presents some of the main findings that resulted from the reflections of the ten preservice student teachers on the use of flipgrid. 3.1 unfamiliarity and lack of privacy at first, students’ lack of familiarity with flipgrid caused some of them anxiety and frustration. in some cases, the size of a video was problematic (student 9), while, in others, the students experienced challenges with uploading (student 4). fortunately, after the first week, a significant reduction in requests for technical support indicated that users were feeling more comfortable about the practicalities of the platform. also, before flipgrid introduced the ‘backdrop’ option (launched in august 2021), students had to record their videos in their rooms or personal spaces. thus, their private physical backgrounds were readily visible and, understandably, when peers http://www.flipgrid.com/ technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 and lecturers were able to view what they had produced, they were clearly self-conscious about, say, their ‘home situation’ (student 1). the lack of privacy makes students feel uncomfortable about recording and sharing their lesson presentations. student 9: “submitting the lesson on flipgrid was also what i least enjoyed because i was challenging sometimes the videos will be too big or too small.” student 4: “what i enjoyed least about the experience was the reliability of the app as it had a number of flaws which always resulted in us as students submitting late usually i can load a video for hours without loading it into the app for us to submit.” student 1: “at first i was very nervous, when i saw that all my peers could view my video and that they would have been able to commented on my lesson. whether it could have been good or negative comments it would have rattled me. i wanted everything to be perfect from the place where i standing in the video to the correct content of the material that i would use. i honestly wouldn’t want my peers to judge me or my home situation.” 3.2 connectivity issues flipgrid requires users to have a device with a functional camera – such as a laptop, mobile or tablet – and good internet connectivity. in some cases, students had to borrow devices from family members, neighbours or community members to record their lesson presentations. while it is easy to assume that most, if not all, students have access to smart devices and good internet connectivity in our contemporary high-tech world, that is certainly not the case. having to stay at home to reduce covid-19 transmission meant that not all of them had access to the high-speed fibre internet available on campus. despite the university’s supplying internet data to all the students, this challenge persisted. it resulted in the stalling and failure of video uploads to the platform (students 2, 5 and 6). the majority of students (approximately 80%) at this university are from the northern cape province, where, in some remote districts, internet access and connectivity tend to be poor and restrictive. poor connectivity was a major cause of the student teachers’ anxiety. student 2: “…connectivity issues made it more difficult to effectively keep up with flipgrid, it required data because vpn was not in support of.” student 5: “during the 3 weeks of virtual teaching, i also experienced connectivity issues, and there were times when i did not have data to submit my lesson or to find teaching media.” student 6: “sometimes slow connections make it difficult to upload the video.” 3.3 opportunities for teaching and reflection it is evident from the pre-service student teachers’ reflections that the creation and uploading of teaching videos to flipgrid contribute to their confidence, preparedness and the overall quality of their lesson presentations (students 8, 5 and 10). flipgrid provides a non-threatening learning technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 4 environment for pre-service student teachers (students 6 and 1) because unlimited attempts are allowed and students can upload the lesson presentation video that they feel is ‘up to standard’ (students 7 and 5). by watching and re-watching their own teaching videos and the videos of their peers, students reflect on their teaching and are able to rectify their mistakes in their next recorded video (students 3 and 10). student 8: “what i most enjoyed about using flipgrid for virtual teaching was that i got to gain experience in the process of giving lessons (i.e., doing lesson plans, preparing content, presenting the lesson) without having to do contact lessons, but from home.” student 6: “what i most enjoyed about using flipgrid for virtual teaching was that it allowed me to present a lesson without any fear or pressure of the live classroom. i was pretending as if i was in a real classroom and this make to feel confident as it prepare me for the real classroom. if i have made a mistake, i was able to restart a video.” student 1: “what i enjoyed most about using flipgrid was the fact that i saw it as a safe haven. i felt comfortable and could teach, without feeling as if a lot of people were looking at me. i could plan my lessons and do and re-do the videos if i was not satisfied with the video that i had made. there was no negative comments made on our videos from our peers. this made me feel courageous to keep on doing them. doing these videos gave me a chance to reflect back on what i could have said or done to improve the lesson. it kept me on my toes and eager to do more of the lessons.” student 7: “i was able to present my lesson with imaginary learners and after watch the lesson i have recorded for reflection purposes and to improve the lesson with. flipgrid teaching and learning can be perfect or amazing since as a student teacher if there was anything that can be improved in the recorded lesson, there was a chance to record another lesson that is improved.” student 5: “what i most enjoyed about using flipgrid for virtual teaching was to see myself teach. by taking videos, i could watch it over and over again and improve on my weaknesses and know my strengths. i also had the opportunity to practice my teaching skills and to build confidence in teaching, because i had a chance to rectify my mistakes before sharing my teaching with others and opening myself to judgement. during the 3 weeks of virtual teaching, i became more creative, because i had to improvise. since i had no learners in my class, i made my own learners from paper. i lived myself into teaching and imagined that it was real learners to ensure that there is interaction amongst me and the learners.” student 3: “… once you present, there was a chance for us to reflect on our lessons and go backwards in our reflections, so we could rewind or change what we did not like about our presentation, something that does not happen in a regular class setting.” student 10: “what i most enjoyed about using flipgrid for virtual teaching was being easy to teach and having confidence in myself while teaching. the pressure of having to stand in front of the class and teach was not there i could just plan my lesson and record it and that will be all. technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 5 another thing is that flipgrid app was easy to use and it stored our lesson videos where i can always go back to reflect on my videos as well as on other fellow student videos on how to do better for my next video lesson.” 3.4 absence of learners unfortunately, flipgrid does not replicate the real classroom, offering only one-way communication and lacking actual interaction with learners. the physical absence of learners means that pre-service student teachers feel that they need to imagine learner responses to their questions or their particular style of teaching. the experience therefore lacks authenticity because it feels ‘scripted and planned’ (student 7). they voiced their desire to manage real-life challenging classroom situations, such as ill-disciplined learners (students 5 and 8). student 5: “what i least enjoyed about using flipgrid for virtual teaching was the absenteeism of learner reaction, since i had to respond as the learners. furthermore, i did not have the opportunity to practice how i will deal with difficult learners. although i could have pretended that there was difficult learners, it is not the same as with real learners, because you never know what to expect.” student 6: “i had to pretend as if there are learners in front of me. however, this makes me to feel like i am speaking alone because i had to ask questions and answer them by myself. sometimes i was losing focus because i felt like i am speaking alone.” student 7: “i was teaching imaginary learners which is different to teaching learners since the learners responses are scripted and planned unlike when teaching learners because as a teacher you don’t know what type of answers learners will give and how they will behave in the classroom. with flipgrid everything was sort of rehearsed. teaching imaginary learners sometimes wasn’t challenging as teaching learners.” student 8: “having no one in attendance to present lessons to, denies teachers the chance to gain experience in working with students. more specifically, student participation in class, how to deal with disruptive students, and keeping students involved and interested in lessons.” 4. how to use flipgrid effectively for teaching practice: lessons learnt despite all the challenges reported by students, the deployment of flipgrid for tp was relatively successful because most pre-service student teachers managed to upload their teaching videos and were assessed by lecturers. except for more obvious recommendations such as that students should have access to proper technological devices and internet connection, the author makes the following recommendations which might make flipgrid more effective for tp (including assessments). firstly, to demonstrate complete lesson presentations effectively, multiple video submissions may be necessary. the current ten-minute video length restriction might be sufficient neither for student teachers to showcase their teaching competencies nor for lecturers to make reliable technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 6 assessments. to break the lesson up into a number of smaller videos – for example, part 1 (introduction), part 2 (body) and part 3 (conclusion) – works well. secondly, before students submit their videos, they are provided with the opportunity to name their video and to add more details. flipgrid has a nametag option that can help to organise video submissions by large groups of students. similarly, pasting a link to the lesson plan (via, for example, onedrive and google drive) into the ‘link’ field before submission means that the students’ video presentations and lesson plans will be located in one place, thereby increasing accessibility and streamlining assessment. thirdly, with large student groups and multiple video submissions per student, it is important to consider carefully the naming of topics within a particular grid. while to do so according to subject area might be considered logical, it depends on staffing capacity within an education faculty. fortunately, the moving of videos from one grid to another can be done by the educators. fourthly, flipgrid’s august 2021 deactivation and removal of the rubric functionality can affect the summative assessment of lesson presentations for tp. tp coordinators will have to propose alternatives if they are to grade students’ work on flipgrid. lastly, tp coordinators should not rely too heavily on the exported ‘comma-separated values’ (csv) data file. while the file is useful for record purposes and has a summary of the submission made, the file format and the layout are not user-friendly. accessing videos and analysing video submission data using this file are time-consuming. details regarding a specific video submission can be more easily retrieved direct from an individual’s video. 5. conclusion the aim of this case study was to focus on the effectiveness and practicality of flipgrid as a sociallearning platform, primarily from the perspectives of pre-service student teachers from south africa. it was found that flipgrid can be used by university education faculties to help pre-service student teachers to practise their teaching competencies. the successful implementation of flipgrid into tp is largely dependent on internet connectivity and the support made available to students. the case study also makes valuable recommendations that can be useful to tp coordinators in education faculties. since 2021, the author has continued to use flipgrid as an assessment tool in a variety of education modules (other than tp). with the majority of student teachers now back on campus, complaints have been minimal. that said, the search for alternative platforms has continued, especially for a free online platform that allows video submissions longer than ten minutes. the author is planning, in a follow-up paper, to share a detailed analysis of students’ reflections of the pedagogical value of submitting videos on flipgrid. technology pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 7 reference list carrillo, c. and flores, m.a. 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https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/63966477/us-china_education_review_20201b20200719-130104-hyr396-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?expires=1642682007&signature=hdai~dvicjrzlzox~qipehfpu21mksgbvuptozi-ux8udpzujlkscjw3ae2xrhbaexi~9m-isxhhfl~cqkjgu3iusmdop1m9vdkgjbimue8idfzttimzen4jztgu72msxrfourvfwgtdbjvkwxkfmlth~qrrid2shgxk4ia8orgttmtir4eagwfjxqfkbo5phbewvbwapkctab3rgei6jnooeuqbnzu7loh1w8gk7wes3zvzaxxtzx~kvif6dh2yomqkvdk7~3ofpxtxohbondwiaw6oy7suvhyp0c4jfjvhvix2xgckapzv6u2~g~zfy0yrzr9nmkxvo7z6cupbda__&key-pair-id=apkajlohf5ggslrbv4za#page=31 https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/63966477/us-china_education_review_20201b20200719-130104-hyr396-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?expires=1642682007&signature=hdai~dvicjrzlzox~qipehfpu21mksgbvuptozi-ux8udpzujlkscjw3ae2xrhbaexi~9m-isxhhfl~cqkjgu3iusmdop1m9vdkgjbimue8idfzttimzen4jztgu72msxrfourvfwgtdbjvkwxkfmlth~qrrid2shgxk4ia8orgttmtir4eagwfjxqfkbo5phbewvbwapkctab3rgei6jnooeuqbnzu7loh1w8gk7wes3zvzaxxtzx~kvif6dh2yomqkvdk7~3ofpxtxohbondwiaw6oy7suvhyp0c4jfjvhvix2xgckapzv6u2~g~zfy0yrzr9nmkxvo7z6cupbda__&key-pair-id=apkajlohf5ggslrbv4za#page=31 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 developing an educational game to support cognitive learning cagin kazimoglu, mary kiernan, liz bacon and lachlan mackinnon university of greenwich introduction this paper outlines how an educational game can be used to support the learning of programming within the computer science (cs) discipline and reports on the qualitative results of a series of rigorous studies of the use of this game by first-year introductory programming students. although this paper applies to the cs discipline, computational thinking (ct) as an intrinsic part of the games process is applicable to any discipline. this is because ct combines logical thinking with cs concepts to produce a recipe for solving problems, regardless of where a problem lies. many studies indicate that learning through educational games appeals widely to students, regardless of their backgrounds (liu et al, 2011; papastergiou,2009). however, though many of these studies demonstrate enthusiasm for educational games and indicate that games can enhance motivation for learning, they offer very few conclusions about what students learn from playing them or whether or not they acquire cognitive abilities thereby (denner et al, 2012; connolly et al, 2011). learning to program introductory programming students often perceive the learning of computer programming as difficult. guzdial (2011) emphasises that a 30-50% worldwide failure rate in introductory programming courses has been reported for decades. even after passing their programming courses, many students still do not have the ability to use programming codes to solve problems within the cs discipline (loftuset al, 2011). one reason for this may lie within the nature of computer programming. learning to program in order to solve real-life problems successfully requires comprehending abstract concepts about cs and arranging these into a rational order. computational thinking this term was first introduced by papert (1996) as a powerful infrastructure for learning. wing (2006) expanded this notion and argued that ct is a problem-solving approach which combines logical thinking with cs concepts to produce a way to solve problems. it is widely accepted that ct is concerned with conceptualising, developing abstractions and designing solutions, which overlaps with logical thinking and requires fundamental concepts similar to computing (wing, 2011; wing, 2008). although there is still lack of clarity of definition amongst researchers (berland & lee, 2011), many agree that there are five key ingredients involved in ct: 1. conditional logic refers to solving problems with logical thinking through using various computational models. students can evaluate a problem and specify appropriate criteria in order to develop applicable abstractions. at this stage, students distinguish between problems and understand them at an abstract level. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 2. building algorithms involves the construction of step-by-step procedures for solving a particular problem and developing abstractions robust enough to be reused to solve similar problems. 3. debugging is the analysis of problems and errors in logic or activities. at this stage, students receive feedback on their algorithms and evaluate them accordingly. 4. simulation is the demonstration of algorithms and involves designing and implementing models on the computer, based on the built algorithm(s). at this stage, students design or run models as test beds, to make decisions about which circumstances to consider when completing their abstraction. 5. socialising refers to coordination, cooperation and/or competition during the stages of problem solving, algorithm building, debugging and simulation. it is reported that socialising is one distinct feature of ct that distinguishes it from traditional computer programming, as this characteristic allows brainstorming, assessment of incidents and strategy development among multiple parties. game-based learning (gbl) according to the large survey study undertaken by the interactive games association (2012), the top two reasons why people play games are: a) despite being challenging, playing games is an entertaining activity; b) games provide meaningful feedback that engages and motivates players to continue to play. the survey results also show that many players spend considerable time playing games and they also demonstrate systematic plans to overcome certain challenges during their game-play, even when they do not do well in the game. as games are immersive environments, it is imperative to harness this energy into learning for educational purposes, particularly in the practice of ct, so that students will be able to transfer knowledge and skills acquired from games to other problems they encounter when learning computer programming (kumar & sharwood, 2007). figure 1: interaction feedback loop model (iflm) for games based learning case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 in figure 1, we developed the interaction-feedback loop model (iflm) that builds on the work of garris et al (2002) and is proposed as a way to address the flaws of their input process-output model. the crucial difference is that in the iflm the learning material is an integral part of aesthetics, dynamics and game mechanism, rather than being overlaid on top of the game-play. thus, we argue that the iflm was explicitly designed to develop ct skills within a cyclic mechanism and, as players interact within the game and demonstrate good game-play, they also develop their skills in computational thinking through a constructivist approach to learning. research vehicle in order to test the iflm, a game prototype named program your robot (http://www.programyourrobot.com/) (figure 2) was built, in which the previously-identified ct characteristics (except socialisation, which has still to be fully implemented) were blended into a puzzle-solving game. program your robot was designed to achieve two important goals: firstly, to develop a framework that would allow players to practise their skills and abilities in ct, even with little or no programming background; secondly, to support the learning of procedural and applied knowledge for a limited number of key introductory computer-programming constructs. the theme of the game is to help a robot to escape from a grid platform by reaching the teleport square which will take players to the next level in the game. there are six levels in the current version of the game, each more difficult than the previous. figure 2: program your robot game the game provides both formative and summative feedback to evaluate students’ learning progress. whilst formative feedback provides suggestions based on student actions, allowing them to try different solutions and to understand the problem at a deeper level, summative feedback rewards students for achieving their goals through an integrated reward system of achievements and high scores. http://www.programyourrobot.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 associating game-play with computational thinking four out of the five cognitive skills characterising ct can be practised during the game-play in program your robot. the game was not explicitly designed to encourage the remaining ct skill of socialising because it was primarily aimed to encourage the development of individual cognitive abilities to support the learning of computer programming. nevertheless, a limited level of socialising can happen indirectly through the reward systems integrated into the game. for those players who want to have additional challenges, a high score list has been designed, to which advanced players can submit their scores and share them with other players. table 1 shows a set of game activities and describes how students can develop their skills in ct through game-play and, more specifically, through playing program your robot. table 1: examples of game activities associated with various categories of ct task associated ct skill category game activity rationale of the skill category problem identification and decomposition problem solving help the robot to reach the teleporter. activate robot’s light when robot stands on the teleporter. ct is described as a problem-solving approach in various studies (guzdial 2008; wing, 2006). in conjunction with this, schell (2008) explains the idea of what a game is: “a problem-solving activity, approached with a playful attitude.” creating efficient and repeatable patterns building algorithms create a solution algorithm to complete all levels with as few slots as possible. use functions to create repeatable patterns. perkovic et al (2010) describe computation as “the execution of algorithms that go through a series of stages until a final state is reached.” practising the debug-mode debugging press the debug button to monitor your solution algorithm to detect any potential errors in your logic. wing (2006) describes “debugging” as an essential component of both ct and programming. practising the runtime mode simulation observe the movements of your robot during the run-time. can you follow your solution algorithm? do you observe the expected behaviours? moursund (2009) reports that “the underlying idea in computational thinking is developing models and simulations of problems.” brainstorming socialising examine the winning strategies of other players. compare their solutions with yours. what advice would you give yourself and to them for scoring better in the game? discuss. berland & lee (2011) refer to the social perspective of ct as “distributed computation in which different pieces of information or logic are contributed by different players during the process of debugging, simulation or algorithm building.” experimental studies two different rigorous studies were designed for first-year introductory programming students, in order to establish a systematic and structured evaluation of program your robot and the underlying game model. over 200 students from two different countries participated in this research and in this paper we share a sample of the qualitative feedback obtained from the studies in relation to the five main characteristics of ct. student quotes are cited below to demonstrate the flow of game activities relating to the computational thinking stages from the game description. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 associated computational thinking skill: conditional logic student 1: “i tried all sort of tricks using decision making instruction but i failed going any further than level 4 probably because of my poor problem solving skills . nonetheless, it was good fun crossing the first 3 levels. i liked the fact that the further i was going the more sense it was making.” student 2: “i enjoyed playing the game and it enhanced my knowledge towards methods and how to call declared functions. overall, i thought the game encourages you to think logically and was really entertaining at the same time.” associated computational thinking skill: building algorithm student 3: “the game is very well designed and it is one of the games which need a lot of thinking. i got total score of 30750. i didn’t experience any errors while finishing this game and it was very easy. in my point of view this game was really good to introduce the fun of programming to students who want to study programming.” associated computational thinking skill: debugging student 4: “i found the debug button useful because it provides messages when i forgot to call a function. however, when i ran the debug mode it didn’t find an error or tell me that i have missed the lights or i could not progress until i have done it.” associated computational thinking skill: simulation student 5: “the game is very well thought out, for example, the demonstration of decision making logic through an if statement was a well thought out example, and the graphical demonstration of this concept is quite creative.” student 6: “i thought that the whole idea behind the game is a good one and i found that using it was quite enjoyable because it included one of the very fundamental premises for teaching programming which is motivating students to continue through regular reward for accomplishment.” associated computational thinking skill: socialising student 7: “the game needs a high score page to reward people who use guile and don’t rush through the screen. nonetheless, i enjoyed playing it because i competed against a friend of mine.” none of the participants stated that they experienced a crash in the game. however, some participants reported bugs (i.e. degraded performance and quality in the game) and almost all of them provided constructive feedback regarding the game mechanics and user interface. some of these suggestions are cited below: student 8: “it is not clear you need to activate the lights at the end of the run, if you run debug mode it doesn’t find an error or tell you that you have missed the lights.” student 9: “the game has an auto save system which is impressive but it doesn’t notify case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 users of [sic] such a system exist.” student 10: “i have completed all levels in the game. i did not encounter any problems but i found the game interface quite complex and overly done. as the game went on, it became more complex but i managed to understand the concept behind it.” conclusion and future work the qualitative feedback gathered from the studies provided strong evidence that program your robot has the potential to enhance the computational thinking skills of students who are learning introductory programming. many participants provided a critical evaluation of the game and their comments provided strong qualitative evidence to support the conclusion that using program your robot does provide a motivational route for practising computerprogramming constructs and that the progressively more complex levels made them use ct skills to solve the problem. the research presented here is being statistically analysed and quantitative results of three empirical studies will be published in the near future. currently, the interaction-feedback loop model (iflm) has been utilised to develop ct skills within the computer science discipline; however, an important area of future work is to ascertain if this model could be used to develop ct skills in students from other disciplines. finally, program your robot was not designed to measure the social aspect of ct. possible future work could explore how an explicitly-socialised game-experience could have impact upon students’ learning progress. one strategy for doing this would be to adapt program your robot into one of the social networks (facebook, google+). by this means, the social aspect of learning and how it affects the learning of computer-programming constructs might be investigated at the ct level. references berland, m., & lee, v. r. (2011). collaborative strategic board games as a site for distributed computational thinking. international journal of game-based learning, 1(2), 65. connolly, t. m., stansfield, m., & hainey, t. (2011). an alternate reality game for language learning: arguing for multilingual motivation. computers & education, 57(1), 1389-1415. denner, j., werner, l., & ortiz, e. (2012). computer games created by middle school girls: can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts? computers & education, 58(1), 240-249. garris, r., ahlers, r., & driskell, j. e. (2002). games, motivation, and learning: a research and practice model. simulation & gaming, 33(4), 441-467. guzdial, m. (2011). a definition of computational thinking from jeannette wing. available at: http://computinged.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/a-definition-of-computational-thinkingfrom-jeanette-wing/ (last access: october, 2013). interactive games association, 2012, available at: www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/esa_ef_2012.pdf (last access: october, 2013) http://computinged.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/a-definition-of-computational-thinking-from-jeanette-wing/ http://computinged.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/a-definition-of-computational-thinking-from-jeanette-wing/ http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/esa_ef_2012.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 kumar, d. d., & sherwood, r. d. (2007). effect of a problem based simulation on the conceptual understanding of undergraduate science education students. journal of science education and technology, 16(3), 239-246. liu, c. c., cheng, y. b., & huang, c. w. (2011). the effect of simulation games on the learning of computational problem solving. computers & education, 57(3), 1907-1918. loftus, c., thomas, l., & zander, c. (2011). can graduating students design: revisited. in proceedings of the 42nd acm technical symposium on computer science education, 105110. acm. papastergiou, m. (2009). digital game-based learning in high school computer science education: impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation. computers & education, 52(1), 1-12. papert, s. (1996). an exploration in the space of mathematics educations, international journal of computers for mathematical learning, vol. 1, no. 1, 95 – 123. werner, l., campe, s., & denner, j. (2012). children learning computer science concepts via alice game-programming. in proceedings of the 43rd acm technical symposium on computer science education (pp. 427-432). acm. wing, j. m. (2006). computational thinking. communications of the acm, 49(3), 33-35. wing, j. m. (2008). computational thinking and thinking about computing. philosophical transactions of the royal society a: mathematical, physical and engineering sciences, 366(1881), 3717-3725. wing, j. m. (2011). computational thinking. in vl/hcc (p. 3). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 perceptions of blended learning in higher education among academics and learners in segi college penang, malaysia – a case study krishnamoorthy kumarasamy, kalaivani kalimuthu, mahalecumy narayanansamy segi college penang, malaysia abstract this paper explores students’ and academics’ perceptions of a blended learning approach to a whole course and identifies what they regard as the perceived benefits, challenges and limitations of this approach to teaching and learning. to examine their perceptions, this paper has used a mixed-methodology questionnaire for the students and a structured interview survey for the academics. data from both were analysed at the end of the course after all the content had been delivered and the assessment strategies and blended learning processes had been deployed. results indicated that the students’ perceptions of blended learning were largely positive, though some concerns were expressed as to the format of the approach. likewise, the academics who applied blended learning to their teaching had a similarly favourable view of it. the academics also shared their insights into the benefits, challenges and limitations of blended learning. keywords: blended learning approach, perceptions, perceived benefits, limitations and challenges 1.0 introduction the process of teaching and learning has changed over the years. one approach now widely used in teaching and learning is blended learning, considered an innovative means of combining technology and available resources to enhance knowledge. though malaysia is still at the infancy stage of the implementation of technology-based teaching and learning, its higher education institutions (heis) are transforming themselves, in order to be fully electronic in the near future (lim, fadzil and mansor, 2011; maznah, 2004). blended learning, as a technologybased methodology, is increasing in popularity in malaysian heis. blended learning environments combine face-to-face and online learning activities that are meant to complement each other (boelens et al., 2015). blended learning is a combination of instructional modalities (i.e. on-site, self-paced learning and web-based learning), delivery media (i.e. internet, lectures, powerpoint presentations, textbooks); instructional methods (faceto-face or technology-based sessions) and web-based technologies (e.g. wikis, chat rooms, blogs, textbooks, online courses). the precise combination of elements selected depends on such criteria as learning goals, course content, teacher experience, teaching style and learner characteristics (dziuban, hartman and moskal, 2005), but blended learning is essentially an integration of both face-to-face and online delivery methods (chew, turner and jones, 2010). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 marsh (2012) stated that blending teaching approaches should be adaptable to students’ needs if they are to provide a good learning environment. similarly, lightbown and spada (2013) emphasised that teachers should use a variety of teaching materials, such as videos, blogs, online forums and other digital tools to expand the range of learners’ learning strategies. this study therefore investigated both students’ and academics’ perspectives of blended learning, the better to understand its value and impact. 2.0 literature review 2.1 students’ perspectives a review of relevant literature reveals curiosity about the perceptions of blended learning of both students and instructors. osgerby (2012) maintains that the blending of media, the teaching processes and presentations should not be the only focus of any examination of the effectiveness of blended learning, but that appropriate attention should also be paid to the varied experiences of learners and to what was happening to them during the learning process, both in and out of the classroom. several studies on student satisfaction with blended learning courses confirm a number of benefits. for instance, edginton (2010), in his study of the teaching of basic pharmacokinetics with blended learning and face-to-face approaches, found that students in blended-learning courses appreciated flexible scheduling, self-paced online materials and face-to-face interactions with instructors. another study by rodriguez (2010), on students’ views of a hybrid ecology course, found that blended learning helped students to develop responsibility for their own learning. likewise, won and yong (2016) examined the main variables affecting learners’ satisfaction in a blended-learning environment by distributing a detailed questionnaire among respondents (who were, on average, twenty years old) to find the impact of six themes – learner, instructor, course, technology, design and environment – on students’ satisfaction. this study focused specifically on the e-learning components within the blended learning environment. results from univariate regression analysis indicated that all six themes are positively associated with elearner satisfaction, with design singled out by this young sample as the main element related to their satisfaction with blended learning. as an early exploration, ramnanan and pound (2017) conducted a review into medical student perceptions of the benefits and limitations of the flipped-class approach to teaching and learning. on the whole, these students showed a strong appreciation for it – especially for the pre-class preparation activities. in a comparison with lecture-based instruction, they appeared to prefer the flipped classroom’s more concise delivery, the readily accessed online tools and the interactions, as well as the engagement with small-group classroom activities. similarly, akyol and garrison (2011), on the basis of their study into understanding cognitive presence in an online and blended community, showed that students following both online and blended courses were more likely than those in traditional teaching contexts to reach high levels of cognitive presence and achieve high-quality learning outcomes. gomez, jeong and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 rodriguez (2016), who aimed with their study to evaluate both a) the effects of the flipped classroom on student performance and b) student perceptions of this new methodology, found a very significant contrast between all aspects of the assessments of students on a flippedclassroom course and of those taught with more conventional approaches. overall, the flippedclass students performed higher on average, their performance apparently enhanced by their having the ability to pause or rewind – for recapitulation of lectures at any given time or place. indirectly, it helped to increase individualised learning and teacher availability. gyamfi and gyasee (2015) similarly reported in their study of student perceptions of the blended learning environment that the problem of slow internet connectivity and lack of internet access for some students outside campus hindered the effectiveness of blended learning, despite the fact that the main findings showed positive perceptions of students of this same approach. 2.2 academics’ perspectives blended learning may be integrated into teaching and learning, but it should – and this is most important – be adaptable to students’ needs. furthermore, the teaching content should be eyecatching and appealing because, as a flexible style of teaching, it can increase student motivation. the results of a quantitative research study, conducted by buitrago (2013), into the needs of novice online tutors indicated that novice tutors needed training on tutoring competencies and skills, as well as on the specifics of online language learning platforms. according to nizkodubov and evseeva (2015), blended learning reduces instructors’ workloads and they will consequently have the flexibility and time to prepare online class materials. the results of these studies suggest that, for a classroom to be successfully interactive, educator feedback is a significant component. a qualitative study of teachers’ perceptions was conducted by satar and akcan (2014). the participants, having been provided with pedagogical and technical training in the application of tools, had to share their experiences of deploying blended learning. the results indicated that the teachers viewed this strategy positively. similarly, when ozel and arikan (2015) researched teachers’ perceptions of integrating the internet into teaching, their findings revealed that english as a foreign language (efl) instructors were enthusiastic about using the internet and web 2.0 tools in language classes, though they agreed that they were not using such web 2.0 tools as blogs, podcasts, wikis and social networking sites in their teaching. as these examples illustrate, there have been numerous researches into the implementation of blended learning that indicate its benefits and few empirical studies show that blended learning has no impact on students’ performance. nevertheless, alshwiah (2009) found that, at the arabian gulf university, it made no significant difference to students’ attitudes toward the english language and chang et al. (2014), investigated the effects of blended e-learning on electrical machinery performance, concluded that there were no significant differences in student outcomes. therefore, blended learning seems to be effective only when conventional teaching methods and e-learning are integrated, though, in malaysia, the integration of blended online courses into articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 the learning processes of private colleges has not yet been explored. this present study therefore aims to focus both on students’ perception of blended learning and on academics’ insights into creating well-designed class materials and establishing an interactive classroom. the aims of this study are: ▪ to determine students’ and academics’ perceptions of a blended learning approach to teaching and learning at segi college penang; ▪ to determine the perceived benefits, challenges and limitations of the implementation of blended learning tools in teaching and learning. in summary, on the basis of the existing literature on students’ and academics’ perceptions of blended learning, more students and academics in heis favour a blended-learning approach, but some aspects need amendment if this approach to teaching and learning is to be effective. 3.0 research methodology this research focused on two distinct groups of respondents: learners and academics. learners were grouped into various types of demographics, such as gender, field of study and academic status. by applying quantitative and qualitative methodologies, data analysis was carried out to explore further the perceptions of learners towards blended learning. to be more specific, quantitative survey questions were distributed to a sample of 147 learners from various fields of study and of varying academic status. the research topic samples were selected and limited within segi college penang, with participation strictly voluntary and anonymous. the survey questions consisted of three simple demographics questions, such as gender, field of study and academic status, mainly to determine whether demographics played a significant role in learners’ perceptions of the implementation of blended learning at the college. six questions were designed to gauge learners’ overall perceptions of blended learning from different perspectives. the survey questions were tagged, along with some open-ended questions and learners’ feedback, as part of qualitative data collection. the research findings also derive from continuous observations of learners’ actions and reactions in relation to blended-learning content and activities. meanwhile, academics were also given a set of structured interview questions. a total of fifteen academics participated and responded. in order to obtain more information about academics’ perceptions of blended learning, the qualitative and quantitative survey, observations and interviews were carried out from march to april, 2019, during the active semester timeline when both academics and learners participated in blended learning as part of classroom delivery. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 4.0 data collection and analysis the demographic profile of 144 respondents is shown below: table 1. gender demographic gender no of respondents male 65 female 79 according to table 1, the respondents for quantitative survey questions were in almost equal numbers of males and females: 45% male and 55% female. inclusion of this demographic in the quantitative survey was to determine possible gender variation in perceptions of blended learning. table 2. learners’ academic status learner status no of respondents full-time (local) 74 full-time (international) 12 working adult (local) 58 according to table 2, 51% of participants in the quantitative survey were full-time students and 40% were working adults; 9% of participating students were international. various participant perspectives of the benefits of blended learning – local, international, full-time and working-adult – will be highlighted in the learners’ perceptions section below. table 3. field of study field of study no of respondents business management 45 computing 31 engineering 30 accounting / finance 20 hospitality / tourism 18 according to table 3, the distribution of respondents based on field of study was: 31% business management, 22% computing, 21% engineering, with the remaining respondents from accounting or finance and hospitality or tourism. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 learners’ perceptions figures 1 to 5 focus on the overall learner perceptions of blended learning, on the basis of a quantitative survey and open-ended questions given to learners. figure 1. figure 1 clearly indicates that a majority of the learners are positive about this perspective. 74% of learners agree or strongly agree that blended learning makes it easier for them to understand the course content. such online content may be in the form of video, audio, web links or animation, where the content is very visual and much more simplified. additionally, blended learning also enables students with different learning styles (slow, fast, shy and quiet learners) to adapt and pick up lessons at their own pace. the blended learning content can be repeated, participated in and re-visited as many times as necessary, thus precluding any possible disappointment among learners (gomez, jeong and rodriguez, 2016). generally, female students are more receptive and participate more actively in blended learning; they seem to be more motivated and more focused on their studies and blended learning actually helps them to explore more knowledge within and outside the classroom. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 strongly disgaree disagree neutral agree strongly agree blended learning makes it easier to understand the course content articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 figure 2. discovering knowledge from all resources provided online is a good aspect of life-long learning. 71% of learners agreed that blended learning helped them to discover more knowledge than did an in-class lecture. it was noticeable that blended learning helped learners to develop analytical and information-gathering skills, a finding supported by the results of a study by akyol and garrison (2011), evidencing, from a blended approach, a strong fundamental knowledge of subject matter, with the potential for further enhancement to applications or practical skills. learners in the present survey also commented that what they learned in a traditional classroom setting was very limited and difficult to retain and added that this limitation could be solved by a process of discovery and further research, when they tended to know more and retain the concepts or applications for longer. however, 23% of learners were neutral and about 6% disagreed with this particular perspective. these percentages may reflect the degree of learners’ readiness for and motivations towards blended learning. 29% of learners may have considered that blended learning was also in conflict with their learning style. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 strongly disgaree disagree neutral agree strongly agree blended learning has helped to learn and discover more knowledge compared to in-class lecture articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 8 figure 3. 77% of learners agreed that online content was beneficial to class preparation. at segi college penang, both management and academic staff emphasise that lecture notes and other teaching materials should be uploaded before the start of class, to make sure that learners are prepared in advance. online content uploaded before class enables students to prepare diligently so that they may participate – with the requisite fundamental knowledge already acquired (ramnanan and pound, 2017) – in tutorials, discussion and group activities. figure 4. a majority of learners also seemed to believe that blended learning makes for better use of time and provides a flexible learning environment, for 77% agreed with this perspective. full-time learners have perceptions that blended learning provides them with an opportunity to discover more knowledge and content at any time, anywhere. like bielawaski and metcalf (2003), as 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 strongly disgaree disagree neutral agree strongly agree online course content is beneficial for class preparation 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 strongly disgaree disagree neutral agree strongly agree blended learning enables students to utilize time effectively and provides a flexible learning environment articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 9 cited in tosun (2015), they consider blended learning useful, for they are able to understand challenging concepts in detail, thanks to multimedia content and links. learners – especially working adults and international students – experience learning freedom through blended learning. learners have been observed to have flexible scheduling on their learning too (edginton, 2010). figure 4 indicates that independent learning allows students to be more adaptable than is possible when they learn in traditional settings. the concept of learning ‘anytime, anywhere’ is commonly held to be a feature of blended learning. edginton (op.cit.) argues that blended learning implementation, with strong communication between instructors and learners, as well as between learners and learners, enhances the learning process, for guidance and sharing opportunities are available not only within the classroom, but outside it, too. figure 5. figure 5 reveals learners’ perceptions of interaction within the blended learning environment. 61% of learners agreed that they were able to participate actively in an online community, such as a forum or online discussions. these groups of learners experienced a strong social presence within the blended learning environment (osgerby, 2012). based on the feedback, they felt able to meet new people, learn new things and, at the same time, have fun. class observation corroborated this, especially among full-time and international students, for they were excited and wanted to participate in online forums and discussions. perhaps, however, instructors also need to encourage more reticent learners to participate and share via online activities, since about 39% of learners were either neutral or disagreed that they could take part easily. perhaps this reflects the degree of learner readiness, the perceived complexity of tools and grading criteria and the nature of the program itself. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 strongly disgaree disagree neutral agree strongly agree i am able to participate actively in online community for discussion and sharing of ideas and knowledge articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 10 academics’ perceptions academics’ perceptions were gauged by means of a qualitative survey and structured interviews with a small group of lecturers. the qualitative survey covered such topics as the implementation of blended learning and personal experiences, as well as learner adaptability, development of learner life-long skills, recommendations and perceived limitations. the findings about academics’ perceptions of blended learning implementation at segi college penang were: ▪ blended learning implementation. based on a survey conducted among fifteen academic staff at segi college penang, academics agreed to and supported the implementation of blended learning, which started in 2015. “blended learning implementation has to be further reviewed and researched on its suitability on technical and non-technical subjects.” “technical subject might not be appropriate with blended learning as learners’ prefer face-to-face learning whereby learning and feedback can be obtained immediately” some academics revealed their doubts about how blended learning could be implemented within subjects like mathematics, programming and accounting. academics were also concerned about whether learners were aware of, ready for or motivated to participate in blended learning methods (isiguzel, 2014). ▪ blended learning experience. generally, academics seemed to have had good experiences with learners in blended learning environments. engagement in blended learning enabled the lecturers to track and monitor learners’ progression during any activities and they were able to evaluate directly student performances online (lightbown and spada, 2013). they offered both positive and negative perspectives: “learners are able to access to online materials and they could come prepared to class with expected the lesson outcomes.” “i faced negative experience in which they encounter very lack response from students on online activities. learners are not taking initiatives and lack of motivation to learn independently especially students at diploma level and below.” “technology support and complicated tools are also one of the factors in which blended learning approaches are challenging.” ▪ learners’ adaptability. most academics revealed a mixed response about learners’ adaptability to blended learning. “in order to learners’ to fully adapt and be benefitted from blended learning is matter of time and technology availability.” “i find learners who highly tech savvy tends to adapt fast compare to those who are not. some learners also feel that they are no ready for blended learning based on their experiences in secondary school.” “blended learning supports students to be intellectually responsive with providing authentic real-life experience and skills for survival and progress in future” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 11 ▪ development of life-long skills. in their opinions and comments, academics acknowledged that blended learning was a good approach for current teaching and learning initiatives. however, the benefits did, they said, depend on several factors, such as learners’ learning style, time investment and motivation. “blended learning, it developed analytical and information gathering skills. it also enables students to take charge of their learning and provide learners opportunity learn through exploratory research.” ▪ recommendations for the implementation of blended learning. academics expressed serious concerns about internet connection and tools used to support blended learning (ozel and arikan, 2015) “blended learning is where learning can take place online and it need to have a good internet connection and acceptable and easy to use tools.” “training and workshop on blended learning tools and technology are required on consistent basis as it could expose lecturers to latest tools and lecturers would be able to use new technology and methods for blended learning.” “implementation of survey questions (entry and exit) on blended learning for each course to review and make continuous improvement from time to time.” “lecturers should be given sufficient time and space for lecturers to develop online contents. this is to make sure quality of content are maintained and learners find it engaging. one of challenges in blended learning could be due to lack of creativity in content developed.” ▪ limitations of blended learning. various limitations were perceived and shared, such as the nature of subjects, learners’ readiness, motivation and awareness, content development, available time and adequate technology with good connections. “learners’ readiness and motivation can be one of the biggest limitations on blended learning implementation. “factors like learners’ discipline, time management skills, and comfort with technology, preferred learning style and investment of time can play a crucial role on the success and failure of blended learning.” “unstable internet connection and lack of technology and tools exposure can be also be a barrier for blended learning.” 5.0 discussion the analysis and the consequent findings suggest that both learners’ and academics’ perceptions of blended learning have been largely positive since the project was launched in 2015 at segi college penang. learners appear to understand online content and appreciate flexible scheduling of learning activities, discovering knowledge for themselves and having an online social presence (kosar, 2016). there are limitations and challenges to the successful implementation of blended learning, viz. the reduction of face-to-face time, the degree of learners’ readiness and motivation, the methodology’s appropriateness to individual learning styles, the nature of subjects, the quality of academics’ skills and the extent of their capabilities and training and, finally, the technology available for use. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 12 though both academics and learners acknowledged that blended learning is important and has the potential to be the ‘next big thing’ in education, they expressed some concerns about how well it can be deployed at and systematically managed by any institution (singh, 2003). raising student awareness and making expectations clear and visible are of the utmost value to those enrolling for the first time on a blended learning course, as guzer and caner (2013) also suggest. providing consistent support to the students throughout the semester is equally important, for example by conducting workshops and holding a series of training sessions for students on the use of blended learning tools, time management, motivation for self-directed learning and a hybrid learning style. in addition, as osgerby (2010) mentions, academics are also encouraged to hold consultation slots for learners to seek additional help with online activities. academics have an important role to play if blended learning is to be properly implemented by any hei: they should be enthusiastic, eager to learn new approaches; they should be provided with proper training and resources whose quality and impact are monitored (ozel and arikan, 2015). academics should be able to balance face-to-face and online components and actively engage and motivate learners. generally, for any successful implementation of blended learning, the following important elements should be carefully considered in order to achieve and sustain positive perceptions by learners and academics: academic engagement, awareness and support, technology availability, learners’ readiness for and motivation towards self-directed learning (haron, abbas and rahman, 2012). these areas are to be further researched, in order to identify the overall effectiveness of blended learning implementation in an institution. reference list akyol, z. and garrison, d.r. 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(2013) ‘evaluation of blended learning approach in computer engineering education.’ procedia social and behavioral sciences. 141, 807-812. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266208637_evaluation_of_blended_learning_approa ch_in_computer_engineering_education (accessed: 10 april 2019). http://asianvu.com/digital-library/elearning/blended-learning-by_singh.pdf http://asianvu.com/digital-library/elearning/blended-learning-by_singh.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283165305_the_effects_of_blended_learning_on_efl_students'_vocabulary_enhancement https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283165305_the_effects_of_blended_learning_on_efl_students'_vocabulary_enhancement https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266208637_evaluation_of_blended_learning_approach_in_computer_engineering_education https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266208637_evaluation_of_blended_learning_approach_in_computer_engineering_education editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 welcome to volume 14, issue 3, of compass, journal of learning and teaching this edition of compass is a special issue which brings together contributions from shift2021, the conference of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich. needless to say, this was an exciting time to organise a conference in learning and teaching. in only a few weeks, higher education institutions, in the uk and globally, pivoted their approach to teaching, experimenting with distance learning and different approaches to blended delivery. shift2021 became a timely opportunity to engage with colleagues across the sector to share experiences and take stock of lessons learnt, challenges faced and to reflect on the unprecedented times which led to the conference. however, shift2021 needed to be more than a retrospective exercise and instead become an opportunity to start designing the future of higher education. under the umbrella title ‘radically reimagining higher education for a new era: working together for a just and sustainable future’, shift2021 welcomed contributions in four domains: reclaiming educational commons; intersectional curricula; working together; post-pandemic pedagogy. the title and themes highlight the inspirational and ambitious nature of the conference, which expected presenters and attendees to engage in thought provoking discussions to shape the future of higher education. the idea of ‘working together’ was also reflected in a radical decision: for the first time since its creation, shift would be open to attendees and presenters outside the university of greenwich. such a decision added to the inclusive nature of shift and provided a wider platform to exchange ideas, views, and practices across different professional communities. shift2021 was a very successful event. 56 submissions were received, 14 of which from staff external to the university. the proposals submitted reflected the appeal of the event to many groups within the sector, with 10 submissions from professional services members of staff and a third of the submissions being authored, collaboratively or independently, by students. almost 400 delegates took part in the online event, with more than 35% of them being external to the university of greenwich. figure 1 represents the network linking delegates to the different sessions they attended. it is interesting to observe how some attendees (red circles) were very selective and attended only one or two sessions (blue squares), while others attended more events throughout the day. the figure also confirms however how all the different sessions have been well received and attended. editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 figure 1. attendance to shift2021 tracks by attending the same sessions, attendees could engage with each other, also thanks to the use of online facilities and a dedicated ms teams site. the co-attendance of different events established a potential platform for the exchange of ideas and practices. the network resulting by co-participation at shift2021 tracks is captured in figure 2. the attendance of different tracks generated a very cohesive and dense network, confirming the potential of the conference to be a channel to foster debate and collaboration. figure 2. co-participation at shift2021 tracks the main themes and ideas discussed in the different tracks can be visualised in figure 3. the word cloud captures the prevailing words in shift2021 abstracts. the figure clearly suggests the online experience of students during the past year was a predominant focus, driven by the changes imposed by the pandemic. presentations covered different aspects of learning and teaching, including assessment, feedback, engagement, employability, together with issues associated with sense of belonging and identity. interestingly, the event was an opportunity to discuss macro trends and broader social issues, as evidenced by words such as sustainability and environment. editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 figure 3. shift2021 abstracts – word cloud this special issue brings together selected contributions from shift2021. the eleven articles included in the special issue can be broadly categorised in four main areas. the first three papers provide the context for the following ones, discussing advantages and disadvantages of the move to blended learning and stressing the importance of maintaining engagement and a sense of community for students. the issue of engagement and social cohesion is more specifically unpacked in other contributions. four additional papers cover this topic, three of them specifically discussing online engagement, with one of them instead presenting the case of students being involved in a co-curricular project and invited to present at shift2021. two articles focus on new roles created specifically to support and retain students. finally, two papers summarise the ideas emerged during two workshops which discussed respectively the impact of changes in the job market and of the climate change debate on design of learning and teaching activities. each paper is briefly presented in the following paragraphs. the contribution from getti et al is useful in setting the scene and opening the special issue. echoing the idea of working together embedded in the shift2021 title, the paper summarises the reflections of a mixed group of academics and students about the challenges and opportunities experienced in the past months. emphasis is put on the challenges associated with the limited face-to-face interactions, but also on the power of students-academics partnership and the opportunities associated with the change we recently experienced. focusing on the lessons learnt and starting to capitalise on them is important if, as the article by greve and tan suggests, new models to promote student engagement based on a variety of technological platforms are becoming the ‘new normal’. the article warns lecturers about the risks of technological overload and against broader generalisations about the notion of technology. at the same time, building on qualitative data collected through semi structured interviews with students, the study also demonstrates the value of technology. the paper puts forward recommendations for practice considering three main factors: the editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 learner, the facilitator and the technology. such factors need to be considered in their interaction and in light of the specific context of learning and teaching activities. the work of chipfuwamiti et al also builds on qualitative data collected interviewing students but integrates them with a staff perspective on the move towards online teaching and learning. similarly, to the other studies included in this special issue, both groups mention advantages and disadvantages associated with online delivery. the paper raises the critical issue of the deterioration of the social aspect of learning, with implications for sense of belonging and ultimately engagement. recommendations about the planning of future blended learning initiatives are put forward based on the findings of the study. a second group of contributions included in this special issue focuses indeed on the topic of engagement, often with an emphasis on the role of technology. the article by whyley-smith specifically places the discussion about the challenges of promoting online engagement within the context of uncertainty surrounding expectations about online behaviour and etiquette. the paper focuses on the use of cameras as a way to establish a rapport with students, but also remarks how other tools remain available to educators. also, this article highlights opportunities for and the value of co-creation with students, for example in relation to guidelines about expected behaviours associated with online learning. co-creation lies also at the heart of the paper by owen et al. based on a case study about the university of manchester master of public health, the authors portray technology as an enabler of social cohesion. the paper describes how to promote engagement via the design of an open collaborative assessment in the form of a reflective blog, well integrated with other online initiatives. the content of such blogs is expected to become a learning resource for future students, also generating continuity across different cohorts. the article concludes encouraging practitioners to experiment with a similar approach in different programmes and contexts. the objective of promoting a sense of belonging to an online learning community also underpins the paper by gao. the author specifically explores the integrated use of different technologies for the delivery of teaching to students based in china and joining the final year of their study via an articulation agreement. the case is particularly interesting, as it discusses the experience of learners who are new to the uk, the university and its systems, adding to the complexity of online engagement. the objective of the study is to explore how different tools can be used to promote both cognitive as well as affective engagement. while focused on partnership delivery, findings from the study can be useful to design activities in a wider range of situations. the work by hewitt and owusu-kwarteng, instead, highlights how specific projects and cocurricular activities can be at the base of an increased sense of belonging. the paper builds on autobiographical accounts of the students involved in the innocence project london (ipl). taking part in the ipl created ‘a sense of community amongst the students who work on it – one that remains beyond graduation’. furthermore, the opportunity for students to present their reflections at shift2021 was a way to develop employment-relevant skills, such as public speaking and creative communication. in addition to deeper considerations of the role of technology and co-curricular activities in fostering engagement, sense of belonging and cohesion, the special issue also provides editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 timely and relevant examples about the importance of new roles to promote student retention and success through two specific articles. hughes et al present the experience of academic coaches at the university of wolverhampton. the paper provides an in-depth analysis of the role of these third space professionals as part of a broader set of hybrid roles introduced by the university and their success in supporting transition into university for level three and four students. the work of farrant et al is another example of a paper written by a team of academics and students and describes the experience of a student peer mentoring scheme piloted within the greenwich business school. the qualitative evidence collected by the authors suggests the scheme has been very effective to support first year students, but also for the mentors themselves. the authors plan to extend the pilot so that to involve a larger group of students and create a community of practice for mentors; at the same time, the importance of guidance and training for both mentors and mentees emerged as a priority when scaling up the project. finally, two papers discussing broader societal trends conclude the special issue. kofler’s contribution summarises the topics discussed in a workshop attended by employers and recent graduates from the university of greenwich. the paper reviews relevant trends in the current job market and their implications in terms of the relevance of different skills. several examples of different initiatives are presented in the paper, which ends with a clear call for action for educators to plan activities embedding the skills more in demand within learning and teaching. the content of another workshop is behind the paper concluding the special issue. the work by cross and congreve discusses the challenges and best practices associated with embedding sustainability and climate change issues in teaching, especially in subjects traditionally not covering these topics. three key themes emerged from the workshop, linking teaching climate change to career prospects, the importance of the framing of the issue in a multidisciplinary perspective, and the need to provide additional guidance to educators to embed materials and activities discussing climate change. the contributions in this special issue raise fundamental questions for future reflection. we hope this collection of papers will be a stimulating and exciting reading, and the beginning of a conversation within and across our professional communities to ‘radically reimagine higher education for a new era’. with best wishes to all compass readers and contributors, riccardo de vita and tania struetzel guest editors of volume 14, no 3. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 the parrot brief: a drawing guide for first-year architecture students adriana cobo school of architecture & construction description the parrot brief is an audio drawing guide for first-year architecture students, devised in mp3 format, which received university learning and teaching innovation funding. it is downloadable from the school of architecture’s digital studio, and also available for loan in the avery hill library. the guide can be played over and over again, repeating the same text as many times as the user requests, hence the name the parrot brief. taking advantage of the fact that the students of today are used to carrying portable, personal electronic devices (ipods and sophisticated mobile phones with various sound and image applications), the drawing guide is intended to be a personal companion. the parrot brief allows students to replay the content as many times as needed, anytime, anyplace; it complements printed studio briefs (environmentally unfriendly and frequently lost) and studio tutorial sessions. aimed at improving stage one architecture students’ observational drawing skills through sketching, the parrot brief is intended to enhance teaching and support the design process through formative sketchbook work. it focuses on enabling students to produce successful year one architectural drawings. teaching context within the teaching and learning context of the classroom or design studio, observational drawing is usually left to field trips or dedicated, outdoor drawing sessions. these need to be carefully scheduled with students working together in a group, usually with one tutor and 10 to 20 students. with an mp3 audio guide, observational drawing can be taught outside the classroom. the personal aspects of drawing are supported – students decide themselves when and where to go, and how to use the guide – leading to a higher degree of commitment and concentration. there are, however, difficulties in teaching using recorded, standardised instructions and guiding someone through a highly, personal, individual task such as drawing. when drawing we aim to communicate our individual expression or style and this can be difficult to achieve if the instructions are too prescribed. as opposed to one-to-one tutorials, where the tutor is giving comments to several students and therefore spending only a few minutes with each person, the audio guide’s tutoring voice accompanies the user throughout the whole process of making a drawing. the vocal delivery of the recorded instructions is therefore important, with a playful approach easing the tension for the student, between following instructions and drawing freely. in their book drawing for the artistically undiscovered, quentin blake and john cassidy (1999) state that the intention of the book is to provide readers with the tools for expressing originally and uniquely their ‘you-ness’. they propose celebrating mistakes (often feared by a person who wants to the parrot brief: a drawing guide for first-year architecture students 2 start drawing) and provide pencils without erasers to accompany the book. it is important to consider some differences between drawing in architecture (the parrot brief is specifically about drawing buildings) and art, the subject of blake and cassidy’s book. when drawing architecture, there are specific factors to consider, size, proportion, context and fixedness. drawing people, animals or nature (some of the subjects from blake and cassidy’s book) calls for a different approach. capturing the ‘soul’ of a building or place through drawing may be a harder task than doing the same with animated subjects. if one looks at an architect’s sketchbooks and drawings, such as aldo rossi’s, one discovers powerful renderings of cities and buildings, which reflect personal beliefs and memories. rossi believed cities were accumulations of personal stories, structures made through fragmented memories and unpredictable events, and this is what he drew throughout his life. rossi mixed childhood images and personal objects with existing buildings and projects, re-interpreting real views of buildings, places and cities while transforming them into halffictional, half-real images. his projects, both constructed and not, reflect this combination. i believe achieving a balance between ‘fun’ learning experiences, while delivering lasting, essential skills, is at the core of any teaching methodology (and of any tutor’s thoughts) and is a difficult task to achieve. i consider this audio guide to be one step on my own journey as a tutor, exploring new techniques and enhancing both my teaching and my students’ learning. making the guide: analysis of the process i started by doing four drawings myself in order to decode the techniques that i use when drawing. these internal reflections formed the basis of a script for the audio guide which then takes students through the same four drawings. decoding my own drawing and sketching techniques proved a challenging experience, since it involved me recording a step-by-step process describing the way that i draw (a process that by now has become mostly automatic). however, this was essential in designing a guide that could be used without the direct assistance of a tutor. usually, drawing subjects involves a great deal of direct tutoring. it includes monitoring students while they are drawing and commenting on their results right after their drawings are finished. sometimes students are asked to sketch a view or make drawings of specific subjects as homework and feedback is given through tutorials, with the purpose of developing subsequent drawings. all these techniques involve a learning process based on trial and error, where the students themselves discover techniques, as they practice drawing at home or during monitored, drawing sessions. these teaching methods effectively promote ‘individual expression’ and result in unique drawings. as with any audio guide, the tutor is ‘replaced’ by a recorded voice so her/his role as a witness of a student’s drawing process is removed. therefore, a prescribed set of instructions to be used by anyone in exactly the same way could conflict with students developing their own style. the advantage however, is that the guide represents a half-hour monitored process for each drawing with each student, something which is almost impossible when working with tutorial groups larger than twelve students (equating to six hours of tutorial time per drawing). feedback the guide was made during the academic year and two of the exercises were tested at the end of it by a group of five people, including students and practitioners. the students who tested the guide were already at the end of the first year of their ba programme so its effectiveness for new the parrot brief: a drawing guide for first-year architecture students 3 students, with little experience of drawing architecture, is difficult to assess. most of the volunteers commented on the guide being prescriptive and said that it prevented them from doing ‘their own drawing’. interestingly enough, when looking at the results, each drawing was very different from any other, even drawings of the same view. all of the drawings showed fine proportions, good size and scale. this proved that it is possible to use the guide as personal tool without producing standardized results. the feedback that i obtained from the volunteers was more useful for adjusting the tone of the guide than for the content on drawing techniques. the feedback also touched on questions of whether digital briefs could replace traditional tutoring, or act as a useful complement for direct contact time. a combination of both teaching methodologies is the ideal and i believe that the guide is a tool that enhances face-to-face tutorials. sample drawings london is an endless architectural resource. the guide uses some of the city’s iconic locations to take students through the joy of drawing, some results of which are presented here. these drawings are reproduced with special thanks to my colleagues elinor stewart and alys williams, and first-year students ahammed hussein and neal fairman, who volunteered their time and valuable feedback after testing the guide. the british museum, south portico by adriana cobo by alys williams the parrot brief: a drawing guide for first-year architecture students 4 by ahammed hussein by neal fairman the canary wharf skyline by adriana cobo by elinor stewart by neal fairman conclusions drawing is the architect’s main tool for representing ideas and as such is a key skill to develop from the beginning of an architecture degree. architects design through drawing. all buildings and projects start as sketches. learning how to draw requires ongoing practice and a great deal of time. new students need to be taught how to represent what they see. to observe space, buildings and objects is the first step towards learning how to draw. looking at things with an ‘architect’s eye’ is key for achieving representational skills. guided observation and constant repetition are important tutoring tools, especially throughout the first stages of the learning process. tutorial time is never sufficient, particularly when it comes to teaching drawing, so the guide is intended to contribute additional tutorial time for observational drawing and is to be used freely by students. drawing is the parrot brief: a drawing guide for first-year architecture students 5 equally a skill that can be taught, but is also an individual discovery. the parrot brief addresses both. general reflections on methodology the introduction of new ways of teaching using blended forms of learning does cause some concerns: ■ does basing the guide on a set of prescribed, precise instructions from a single tutor work against individual expression? ■ does the more traditional ‘trial and error’ methodology, based on a high level of tutor contact time, achieve better results in the long run? ■ are these questions relevant to other professional disciplines which are not design-related? when presenting the guide at last year’s engaging students annual learning and teaching conference 2009 at the university of greenwich, to a group of colleagues from different schools, i discovered similarities with staff teaching first-year undergraduates in law. in the case of law, steps for analysing a law case are given to students in the form of printed briefs. using these, students develop their own views. this was a pleasant surprise and it raised the possibility of employing an audio guide as a teaching methodology for non-design related disciplines. in the case of law, some essential steps for analysing a law case are given to students in the form of printed briefs. using these, students develop their own views. similarly, podcasting for understanding and decoding a poem could become a tool for teaching english, basic steps for studying body structures could become a tool for teaching forensic science or anatomy, and so on… in general, although my background is in a discipline which incentivises individual creativity, i have seen how a prescribed structure for performing a task yields interesting results, especially in the early stages of learning. where to find the guide please visit www.digitalstudio.gre.ac.uk. or go to the avery hill library and ask for the parrot brief. references adjmi, m. and bertoletto, g. (eds.) (1993) aldo rossi: drawings and paintings. new york: princeton architectural. blake, q. and cassidy, j. (1999) drawing, for the artistically undiscovered. usa: klutz. http://www.digitalstudio.gre.ac.uk/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 developing an online learning community through an open reflective assessment john owen, catherine wasiuk, ailsa nokes, sian roderick the university of manchester, uk abstract the concepts of learning communities, open educational practices and co-created teaching and learning are topics of current debate, particularly since the switch to online learning in 2020/21 because of the covid-19 pandemic. this case study uses student feedback to evaluate a new assessment method introduced within an online distance learning master of public health programme. the assessment required students to blog about their motivations for studying public health, submitting their reflections to an open online platform, resulting in the co-creation of a shared, open-learning resource for current and future students. the assessment design was informed by the benefits of open educational practices and co-created teaching and learning, with the overall aim of developing an online learning community that will continue to grow and develop beyond the initial assessment and cohort. feedback suggests that the open, reflective nature of the assessment had a positive impact on the student learning experience and contributed towards a sense of learning community through enhanced social cohesion within the group. keywords: learning communities, open educational practices, co-created resources, reflective assessment background the university of manchester master of public health (mph) is a global, online, distance-learning programme. traditionally, most students studying for the mph already work in public health or in areas relating to it. however, over recent years, the programme has attracted interest from a broader range of students from non-traditional public health backgrounds. responding to the needs of these students, a new course unit, ‘introduction to public health’, was added to the programme in september 2020. this presented an exciting opportunity to design and implement an authentic learning experience for students new to the subject, including open educational practices and cocreated resources. the benefits of active learning communities were also considered during the design of the course unit’s formative and summative assessments, resulting in new assessment methods not used before on the mph programme. this case study evaluates one of these new assessment methods. introduced in the first week of the course unit, one such assessment method required students to write a reflective blog post about their motivations for studying public health. the reflective writing assessment was a 600-word blog post worth ten per cent of the unit marks and assessed using equally weighted criteria for clarity, relevance, analysis, interconnections and self-criticism. once they had written their blog post, the students were encouraged to publish it on an open platform (‘medium’), with the option to submit it via the virtual learning environment (‘blackboard’) if they felt uncomfortable about publishing it on medium. after publishing their reflections, students could also case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 submit them to an online open publication called ‘why public health?’ that was created specifically for this assessment on medium. the aim of the assessment was to ● introduce reflective writing early in the course unit ● share authentic student experiences with peers on an open platform ● present an opportunity for co-creation of teaching and learning to benefit current and future cohorts ● develop the foundations of a learning community for the current cohort. the reflective blog complemented a range of activities in the course unit aimed at encouraging student-student engagement and group cohesion. these included a ‘padlet’ map board for students to introduce themselves (background, interests and location) and four formative discussion board questions relating to each of the four topics. a summative group project also presented an opportunity for students to work in small teams on a health communication project of their choosing. the case study draws on current literature to highlight the benefits and challenges of implementing the personal, reflective assessment through an open online platform and to demonstrate how the approach can form the basis for learning communities through co-created, student-generated content. implementation the assessment required students to reflect on 1) how a personal event or experience challenged their assumptions and biases in the context of health and wellbeing and 2) how this motivated them to study public health. it was anticipated that introducing reflective writing early in the course unit might help students get to know each other – by sharing their personal reflections on an open platform – and present students working within their curriculum with opportunities to co-create it. bovill and woolmer (2018) define co-creation in the curriculum as “co-design of learning and teaching within a course or programme usually during the course or programme”, and co-creation of the curriculum as “co-design of a programme or course, usually before the programme or course takes place”. students studying introduction to public health would not only be creating and sharing their own content and learning during the course; they would also be developing content and potential learning materials for future student cohorts. furthermore, johnston and stewart (2020) argue that the concept of open pedagogy can help provide a meaningful foundation for student-staff partnerships. they suggest that open pedagogy and the ‘students-as-partners’ approach are both “high-impact practices focused on authenticity, community, and responsibility” (healey et al., 2014, p.82). this supports the approach taken during the conceptualisation, planning and design of the new course unit and particularly its authentic, student-centred assessments. medium was selected as the platform for the assessment. medium is an online publishing platform enabling individual authors to write a ‘story’ (now referred to as ‘blog posts’). it has the additional functionality of publications – collections of related blog posts by different authors. students were instructed to submit their reflection on medium, but, if they felt uncomfortable about publishing on an open platform, they could either write under a pseudonym or upload a word document privately to an assignment on blackboard. if students chose to publish their blog post on medium, they could case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 also submit – as an optional step, not a compulsory assessment requirement – to the ‘why public health?’ publication. the assessment was designed to create a shared, communal, open-learning resource (bonk, 2012; blake et al., 2019), so departing from the common practice of submitting individual assessments on closed institutional platforms like blackboard. this is an example of how the use of technology in education can create pedagogical innovation (conole, 2013, p.52) by “providing new ways of collaborative creation and exchange of learning content” and establishing “new forms of communication amongst learners and teachers.” the assessment design has the potential for enhanced social cohesion and the development of an online learning community through open, critical reflection in a public space (conrad, 2005; kear, 2010; kear et al., 2014). methods the new course unit, ‘introduction to public health’, ran for the first time in september 2020. there were twenty-five students on the course unit. most were based in the united kingdom (uk), with two from ireland and three from sub-saharan africa. generally, the students who chose this course unit were from a diverse range of non-traditional public health backgrounds and were often returning to education after more than five years. feedback on this new method of assessment was gathered from several sources. survey an online survey was distributed to the cohort to gather feedback on writing about a personal experience on an open online platform. the survey consisted of a combination of ten open and closed questions with the opportunity for free-text comments to elaborate on given answers; one of these questions offered a list of statements and asked students to say how far they agreed or disagreed with them (see appendix 1). the aim of the survey was to analyse how students felt before the assessment and how their feelings changed after it, as well as to draw on the positives and negatives of this assessment type, with specific reference to the open nature of the assessment, authentic learning and social cohesion as an online group. additional evaluation processes feedback was also gathered from other channels throughout the course unit, including the standard end-of-course-unit survey, the online discussion boards in blackboard and a topic feedback form. the discussion boards and the topic feedback form were always open to the students. they did not directly ask the students for feedback on the assessment, though some responses specifically mentioned the blog). evaluation results all students (n=25) on the course published their reflections on medium. no student took the option to submit a word document to blackboard, but two students did publish their blog post under a pseudonym. fourteen students chose to submit to the publication ‘why public health?’. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 figure 1: the four publishing options for the assessed blog post table 1: feedback on the assessment was obtained in the following formats: method number of respondents direct feedback (questions specifically asked about the blog assessment) survey 10 indirect feedback (specifically mentioning blog assessment / reflective writing) end-of-course-unit survey 4 online discussion boards in blackboard 3 end-of-topic feedback form 4 discussion in the survey, students were asked how they felt writing about a personal experience on an open online platform. four students said they ‘didn’t feel any apprehensiveness writing about a personal experience on an open online platform’; four students ‘had no problems writing about a personal experience, but were concerned about posting it on an open online platform’; two students were ‘mostly worried writing about a personal experience rather than posting on an open online platform’. optional encouraged required students write a reflective blog post about their motivations for studying public health (25 students) students encouraged to write their blog post on an open platform (medium) (23 students) option to submit their blog post to the online, open publication ‘why public health?’ (medium) (14 students) option to write their blog post on an open platform under a pseudonym (medium) (2 students) option to submit on the virtual learning environment (blackboard) (0 students) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 of those responses that were mostly concerned about writing on an open platform, the main issues related to how others would react to their blog posts, either from a professional or personal perspective. one student was concerned about the potential for their employer or clients to read and perhaps misinterpret their words and another did not want their name to be attributed to their blog post. one student said that they had googled their name and it had appeared high in the search results, so they changed their name on medium – “not anything to be ashamed of or secret just private and personal! felt a bit exposed”. others were concerned about negative comments and whether their blog posts would be of value to others. it is recognised that an open learning philosophy and the reflective nature of the assessment might be problematic for some learners (and educators) and such personal and emotional exposure could affect their digital wellbeing (hibberson et al., 2020). furthermore, deeley and bovill (2017) suggest that co-created assessments in the curriculum “may unearth hidden risks and anxieties for both teachers and students” and that not all staff and students view this as “an exciting new foreign landscape of assessment.” these clear challenges highlight the potential risks for all involved in both open pedagogy and co-created teaching and learning. writing on a course discussion board, one student reflected: “i found the concept of putting my personal thoughts out there a little daunting but once i got going it was ok, in fact better than ok i had too much to say which led to the problem of cutting it down to fit the word count.” the potential for students’ anxiety was considered during the design of the assessment, mostly in the context of openly publishing their personal reflections. the option of private submission or writing under a pseudonym was therefore included, in order to mitigate the risks. however, those who had expressed concern about writing on an open platform said that their feelings had ‘changed’ or ‘somewhat changed’ after the assessment, as they had received positive feedback and no negative comments, which helped alleviate their concerns. the assessment was also presented to the students as an opportunity to co-create learning materials for the benefit of their cohort and that of future students and the openness of the final assessment enabled them to use the marking framework to make a private evaluative judgement on the quality of other blog posts. students’ feedback suggested neither positive nor negative attitudes to the co-creation aspect of the assessment, although they weren’t specifically asked about this through either survey. however, there is acknowledgement that providing students with opportunities to develop evaluative judgement can not only improve their understanding of assessment and feedback processes, but can also support them in becoming responsible self-regulated learners, developing skills required for within educational settings and for beyond them (tai et al., 2018). an assignment submitted to a closed platform and kept private would have resulted in a very different learning outcome for the students. the ‘why public health’ publication enabled a rapid insight into the current role and life experiences of individuals on the programme. to achieve this would otherwise take weeks of 'getting to know you' discussions, even on a face-to-face course, and may never be achieved in an online course. traditionally, these are assessments that would never have been read by anyone other than the tutor marking them. interestingly, nine out of ten students ‘agreed’ or ‘completely agreed’ that ‘reading other students’ personal reflections helped them to relate to other students on the course’. many blog posts were deeply reflective and expressive accounts of students’ journeys to studying public health. one student commented: “it’s very interesting to hear what brings everyone to the course and reaffirmed we are all on different pathways and it's ok to feel a little overwhelmed!” case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 6 hearing reasons for why other people had chosen to study, set in the context of their work and life experiences, gave other students confidence that they had made the right choice; they consequently felt able to share their reasons and personal reflections with others. nine out of ten students ‘agreed’ or ‘completely agreed’ that the publication ‘helped them to understand the breadth of experience of all students on the course’. in her study of student and staff perceptions of partnership projects, lubicz-nawrocka (2018) found that “co-creation of the curriculum had a transformational effect on student participants who felt respected, valued, and more confident to contribute not only in the classroom but also in wider society.” citing noddings (2005), she suggests that care and respect develop through safe environments where students and staff can explore new approaches to learning and teaching. bovill (2020) adds that whole-class co-creation can help develop relationships (student-to-student and student-to-staff), offering greater opportunities for inclusive practice and potentially leading to a stronger sense of community and belonging. the publication has been shared widely across the programme and individual blog posts shared by students through social media. some students commented that they were able to share their blog posts with friends and family and felt it helped to communicate to others what the course was all about and why they were doing it: “i was very pleased with the positive comments about my blog it's not normally possible to get such feedback from peers, friends and colleagues about your assignments.” some students felt that reading other people's blog posts resonated with them, gave them insights and made them think about how they might react in similar situations. this suggests that the open, reflective nature of the assessment has created broader learning opportunities for the cohort and provided a platform for engagement with other views and experiences. the survey responses overwhelmingly showed that the benefits of writing on an open online platform helped develop online social presence, enabling connection with others on the course and with a wider audience. this suggests the emergence of a learning community for this cohort. however, only five out of ten students ‘agreed’ or ‘completely agreed’ that ‘writing about a personal experience and reading other reflections early in the course helped create a feeling of overall group cohesion’. other elements of the course unit contributed to an overall sense of community within the cohort. this included the active engagement on the course discussion boards and the team project later in the course. additionally, the students created their own whatsapp groups, which provided further group support outside the formal learning environment (greenhow and lewin, 2016). however, the timing of the reflective assessment at the beginning of the course unit did appear to have a positive impact on the other factors that contributed to a sense of learning community, as students in the cohort were able to identify individuals on discussion boards, in webinars and in the team projects. one student said that “you felt like you had a connection with these people, even though you had never met”. interestingly, six out of ten students ‘agreed’ or ‘completely agreed’ that they felt ‘a stronger bond to students on this unit than in other units they were taking’. conclusions student feedback suggests the open, reflective nature of the assessment has improved their learning experience and contributed towards a sense of learning community through enhanced social cohesion within the group. many students who were new to public health or who had returned to studying after a long absence were apprehensive at the start of the course unit, but felt that the blog posts had helped them find out about and empathise with each other, and explore and reflect on their personal reasons for joining the programme. this gave them confidence that they had case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 7 made the right choice and they felt able to share their reasons and personal experiences with others. although not the initial intention, the reflective assessment became an effective icebreaker for students on this course unit. with the current shift to online education, developing innovative pedagogies for strengthening social presence and building productive learning communities are now more important than ever. the ‘why public health?’ publication is an example of co-created teaching and learning both in and of the curriculum (bovill and woolmer, 2018; lubicz-nawrocka, 2019). the co-creation of the publication can benefit future student cohorts’ experience. it can help to support the transition of students new to public health and postgraduate-level study. as it is an open online resource, students new to the programme can engage with these blog posts before they officially embark upon it, and the blog posts can help support online induction activities to reassure new students and help them feel part of a broader community. the publication can also help support new students in understanding assessment processes at the beginning of the course unit. for example, a formative task could require students to use the marking criteria to make evaluative judgements on previous posts and help them write their own reflections. future cohorts of students will add to the publication each year, continuing the cycle of co-creation of teaching and learning both in and of the curriculum on this course unit. plans are already in motion to adapt this assessment as an induction activity for a new bsc in public health, to start in september 2021, using the publication as a co-created element of the undergraduate curriculum. learning activities will be designed around the publication and students will be encouraged to add their own reflections to it. the publication has the potential to grow into a broader, open learning community of engagement with public health issues beyond the initial cohort. however, it is recognised that further work is needed to ensure that the publication is accessed beyond the assessment task, through embedding it into the broader curriculum and programme activities. for example, all staff and students on the mph can contribute to the development of this resource, owing to the open nature of the assessment, to create a cross-programme collaboration. additionally, the publication can support induction activities and marketing of the course. this approach to assessment might well be applied to other programmes of study as an induction or icebreaker activity, where students on a course would benefit from seeing each other’s contributions and where each contribution would, collectively, create a sense of cohort and community. some academics, however, might see the open nature of the assessment as a barrier and thus not engage, especially if they were new to open assessments or not yet open practitioners. academics who wanted to explore this method of assessment could gradually introduce more open practices into their work before exploring open approaches to assessment. the reflective element of the assessment could also be seen as problematic by some disciplines and levels of study without reflective writing in their programme or whose student body is homogeneous – by contrast with the context of this case study, where all the students had varied and unique backgrounds and motivations to study public health and often told fascinating personal stories about how they became interested in the topic. however, this assessment could be adapted for any type of writing (e.g., creative writing or academic writing) to suit the discipline or any situation where an open element is required. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 8 reference list blake, j., millson, c. and aston, s. (2019) ‘bursting out of the bubble: social media, openness and higher education.’ in: chris rowell (ed.), social media in higher education: case studies, reflections and analysis. cambridge, uk: open book publishers. available at: https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0162 (accessed: 24 february 2021). bonk, c.j. (2012) ‘making a contribution: opener #6: learner participation in open information communities’. in: bonk, c.j. (ed.), the world is open : how web technology is revolutionizing education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. isbn: 978-1-118-01381-6 bovill, c. and woolmer, c. (2018) ‘how conceptualisations of curriculum in higher education influence student-staff co-creation in and of the curriculum.’ higher education, 78, 407-422. available at: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0349-8 (accessed: 24 february 2021). bovill, c. (2020) ‘co-creation in learning and teaching: the case for a whole-class approach in higher education.’ higher education, 79, 1023-1037. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734018-0349-8 (accessed: 24 february 2021). conole, g. (2013) designing for learning in an open world. new york: springer new york. isbn: 978-1-4419-8517-0 conrad, d. (2005) ‘building and maintaining community in cohort-based online learning.’ international journal of e-learning & distance education, 20(1), 1-20. available at: http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/78 (accessed: 24 february 2021). deeley, s.j. and bovill, c. (2017) ‘staff student partnership in assessment: enhancing assessment literacy through democratic practices.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 42(3), 463477. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1126551 (accessed: 24 february 2021). greenhow, c. and lewin, c. (2016) ‘social media and education: reconceptualizing the boundaries of formal and informal learning.’ learning, media and technology, 41, 6-30. available at: http://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2015.1064954 (accessed: 24 february 2021). healey, m., flint, a., and harrington, k. (2014) ‘engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education.’ available at: https://www.advancehe.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teachinghigher (accessed: 24 february 2021). hibberson, s., barrett, e. and kelly, j. (2020) ‘digital wellbeing of learners.’ available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/digital-wellbeing-of-learners (accessed: 24 february 2021). johnston, s. and stewart, b. (2020) ‘the open page: a case study of partnership as open pedagogy.’ international journal for students as partners, 4(2), 81-89. available at: https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i2.4182 (accessed: 24 february 2021). kear, k. (2010) ‘feeling connected.’ in: kear, k. (ed.), online and social networking communities: a best practice guide for educators. london: taylor & francis group. isbn: 9780415872478 https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0162 http://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0349-8 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0349-8 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0349-8 http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/78 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1126551 http://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2015.1064954 https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/digital-wellbeing-of-learners https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i2.4182 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 9 kear, k., chetwynd, f. and jefferis, h. (2014) ‘social presence in online learning communities: the role of personal profiles.’ research in learning technology, 22. available at: https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.19710 (accessed: 24 february 2021). lubicz-nawrocka, t.m. (2018) ‘students as partners in learning and teaching: the benefits of cocreation of the curriculum.’ international journal for students as partners, 2(1), 47-63. available at: https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3207 (accessed: 24 february 2021). lubicz-nawrocka, t.m. (2019) ‘more than just a student: how co-creation of the curriculum fosters third spaces in ways of working, identity, and impact.’ international journal for students as partners, 3(1), 34-49. available at: https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3727 (accessed: 24 february 2021). noddings, n. (2005) the challenge to care in schools: an alternative approach to education (2nd edition). new york: teachers college press. isbn: 0-8077-4609-6. tai, j., ajjawi, r., boud, d., dawson, p. and panadero, e. (2018) ‘developing evaluative judgement: enabling students to make decisions about the quality of work.’ higher education, 76, 467-481. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-017-0220-3 (accessed: 24 february 2021). https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.19710 https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3207 https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3727 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-017-0220-3 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 10 appendix 1 – online survey 1. did you add your reflective post to the ‘why public health?’ publication? a. yes b. no 2. what was the reason you didn’t add your reflective post to the publication? 3. how did you feel writing about a personal experience on an open online platform? (select the one that mostly summarises your experience) a. i didn’t feel any apprehensiveness writing about a personal experience on an open online platform b. i had no problems writing about a personal experience however i was concerned about posting it on an open online platform c. i was mostly worried writing about a personal experience rather than posting on an open online platform d. i felt very apprehensive writing about a personal experience on an open online platform 4. please elaborate on any concerns you had about either writing about a personal experience and/or posting on an open online platform. 5. did your feelings change after completing the reflective blog post? a. yes b. no 6. please elaborate on what changed after completing the reflective post. 7. what do you think were the benefits of writing on an open online platform? 8. were there any negatives to writing on an open online platform? 9. to what extent do you agree with the following statements... a. reading other students’ personal reflections helped me to relate to other students on the course b. the ‘why public health’ publication helped me to understand the breadth of experience of all students on the course c. writing about a personal experience and reading other reflections early in the course helped create a feeling of overall group cohesion d. writing about a personal experience early in the course has encouraged me to engage more with the discussion tasks in the course e. reading other students’ personal reflections has helped me bond with teammates in the group project assessment f. i feel a stronger bond to students on this unit than in other units i am taking (if applicable) 10. in your opinion, did anything else impact on the cohesion of the group? case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 personal learning space and digital reputation using a greenwich degree geoff rebbeck organisational and historical context universities and colleges have been experimenting with how personalised learning, supported through a personal learning space, might develop the learner and improve the learning experience. the ability of learners to capture and assimilate aspects of their course and learning into individual context and circumstances means that each student can graduate with what amounts to the record of a unique learning journey. with a personal learning space comes the potential to add to it other experiences and ideas important to the individual that may arise within and beyond the university experience. in order to test how this might be possible, this case study shows how a greenwich university degree might be captured and marshalled into e-portfolio form, as a starting point to creating a fuller personal learning space. to that end, a greenwich university degree completed in 2007 has been added retrospectively and almost in its entirety to a personal learning space. the product created was presented at the greenwich apt conference in july 2013, the e-portfolio being visually presented on the wall and made available via a url to delegates with wifi devices. the purposes of the exercise are: • to show that a degree course can be presented inside an e-portfolio (rebbeck, 2013), demonstrated de facto and discussed at conference; • to explore some of the pedagogical and methodological issues in creating a degree e-portfolio like this, in terms of time, effort and outcomes; • to find what limitations may be encountered in the process and to assess the benefits of this approach in creating a personal learning space; • to consider and evaluate the value to graduates of this approach, from a personal perspective and more widely. a potential benefit, not tested in this case study, is the ability to give breadth and depth to the degree content in order to be able to offer, through selective publishing of the range of evidence thus provided, a more complete portrayal of a person, who wishes to deploy it in pursuit of employment or, with the intention of taking up self-employment, in seeking potential clients. however, this exercise, as a starting point, opens the possibility of curriculum re-design the better to capture course components and add opportunities to explore and discover contextual learning beyond the course, with the aim of developing a more fully-representative personal learning space. technical specifications of the project the personal learning space used is pebblepad, in a version unavailable when the degree was completed in january 2007.though the university does use pebblepad, it has not yet hosted a full degree on it. the course is a bsc in education, with malcolm ryan and simon walker as principal tutors. using the timeline structure of the degree, artefacts (notes and files, completed case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 assignments, gapped exercises completed by the author, records, discussions, marking and assessment, tutor guidance and course notes, synoptic writing and examples of group work) were added around the course units. digital storage, fortunately readily available in 2003-2006, made this exercise possible. after the scanning of written feedback forms, the process of creating the eportfolio from scratch took approximately ten hours’ work. discussion of pedagogy jisc has provided an excellent library of resources and research concerning the development of e-portfolios. one of its publications (jisc, 2012) looked at how colleges and universities that had made the transition into using e-portfolios had gone about doing this. experiences reported suggest the need for thoughtful implementation based on pilots and early adopters, but not before there is agreement on clear and precise aspects of pedagogy to match the properties of portfolios and student behaviours in creating a personal learning space. a further jisc study (joyes, 2012) resulted in the publication of an e-portfolio toolkit. joyes’ work demonstrated the method and range of applications in both fe and he in the uk, australia and new zealand. his study made the same points relating to pedagogic preparation and the need to develop the method through ‘champions’ and early adopters. the underlying issue is the personal nature of each portfolio production and the need to incorporate narrative that gives coherence. the value of persevering with this is that links, threads and themes can be identified through reflection, joining up aspects of study that span the whole study period. both studies argue that simply seeing e-portfolios as another extension of ‘what we do now but with the addition of computers’, is wrong and that what is required is a conceptual change in both student learning approaches and tutor design of the curriculum. in this case study, a crude and retrospective upload of content to the e-portfolio provided a straightforward capture of the degree, but demonstrated the classic ‘repository’ result, none of it making sense as a whole. consequently, the top level pages in the portfolio required new narratives, drawn from a consideration of the content. the availability of end-of-semester synoptic writing, completed at the time, provided a valuable connection with the experience of the degree rather than just its process. to make sense of them, such collections of content do need their narratives to be indexed and doing this, as became obvious early in this study, underlines the value of reflection upon whole experiences, rather than the mere recounting of component learning. this study has also highlighted a change in thinking since 2006 about the place and function of the vle, as software created for the many has given way to software geared to the individual. a mechanism for students to present themselves beyond their qualification the greenwich graduate skills were not available in 2007 but could easily have been accommodated in an e-portfolio through the use of common tags for each student. tags allow the content to be re-sorted into collections, so that any aspect or artefact can be used to evidence different ability levels. personal tags chosen by an undergraduate (such as ‘intellectual curiosity’, ‘new ideas’, ‘emerging technology’ etc.) can also be applied, thereby enabling the re-sorting and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 assembling of evidence relating to a theme. it would be worthwhile to explore whether a degree could be wholly re-designed on the basis of tagging of attributes (to gather evidence of learning), which then would become the main vehicle for presenting the degree; a student’s own academic development, currently tested only minimally in the presentation portfolio, would by this means take precedence over the traditional ‘timeline’ structure dictated by administration of learning. a personal learning space allows its owner to present her/his academic experience and final qualification to multiple prospective employers (or clients in the case of self-employment) via the internet. with the addition of other aspects of personal life experiences, values and beliefs and its re-presentation of the story, the e-portfolio becomes a much more complete portrayal, only a part of which is the actual qualification. the re-purposing of content tagging can be further developed. it is possible to reassemble content into collection behind tags describing other soft-skills (‘critical thinker’, ‘creativity’, ‘research skills’ etc.). the owner need only write new summaries, whilst the re-marshalled content sits behind it as evidence to be explored if the reader so wishes. tagging enables collection of such learning features as agreed tutor/student targets (e.g. to develop research or presentation skills, to demonstrate sustained enquiry, to research a particular idea), extended synoptic writing, which could count as a final project, or other assignment as an integral part of study. this method would be equally applicable to and effective in masters courses. being able to re-purpose content transforms the completion of a degree from a summative moment into a continuous formative professional development (rebbeck, 2012). the greenwich graduate skills may also be easily added, by tagging artefacts against one or more skills, and these can help towards a fuller portrayal of a person than the simple provision of degree components would provide. with such enrichment, an e-portfolio would be better termed a personal learning space, the e-portfolio itself becoming just a component part of this. repurposing personal learning space is relatively straightforward and demonstrated in the e-portfolio: in effect, pages are created against each of the graduate skills and evidence is added, drawn from the artefacts. each page then requires a piece of synoptic text that introduces the evidence (rebbeck, 2013). implementation 307 artefacts created or used in the original course were uploaded into a previously empty eportfolio. the structure emerged during construction and was based upon units completed, semester by semester, in the original degree, following the degree course timeline. for completeness of the study, every artefact still available from the degree was added. however, only around a quarter of that content is available through links, the remainder simply forming a body of work that sits in the portfolio, demonstrating that the content of a degree can be stored in one place, if required, and that the portfolio can be seen as an alternative to a vle as a repository of the trail and administration of learning. it was by this means possible to find and use any aspect of coursework to illustrate or verify conclusions or reflections that emerged in the writing of the summaries. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 being able to write ‘in the moment’ allows the capture of nuance and detail not possible when writing after the event; formative contemporaneous collection, weaving course requirements with experiences, ideas, values and wider personal exploration creates something of far greater quality and depth than a mere summative account. the author’s course required him to draw on current practice and experiences, but a personal learning space would have supported a compilation of self-validated learning. much of the written work was summative in nature and aimed at completion of units, rather than developing a continuous narrative of learning. an illustration of this is the theme of ‘developing independent thinking and understanding’ that did not figure as an overt part of the course, yet in fact was the main benefit of a learning process that developed seamlessly; this study shows that such a significant element may be easily demonstrated in a personal learning space. this case study demonstrates only proof of concept, the degree content having been added in little more than a day’s work. using an e-portfolio in this manner shows what a common vle can achieve, once personal space becomes available. completing an e-portfolio retrospectively cannot be considered ideal. no curriculum design was available in 2006 to accommodate this approach and so much of the richness of contemporaneous discussion, contemporary note-taking, diary-keeping and enquiry is missing because there was no mechanism to capture it in detail at the time. e-portfolio content needs to be developed over time and gathered ‘in the moment’; retrospective approaches are inevitably too summative and perfunctory. replicating the structure of the degree in an e-portfolio is relatively easy. because of the personal nature of e-portfolio creation, it is a good student skill to learn how to capture experiences during the course and to follow the directions taken by personal interests and enquiries (indeed, it is quite likely that, if a fellow student had also undertaken this particular exercise, the e-portfolio would have looked very different in content and presentation). rather than simply uploading standard forms and papers, the owner achieves a detailed, reflective representation of experience and achievement by real interaction with, and at all stages of, the course. the reflection, making of connections, drawing of conclusions, identifying of themes and summarising of content help convert an e-portfolio into a personal learning space and it is in this student-centred behaviour that the real value to learning presents itself. none of the social and learning communications between learners in the degree has been included here as they are lost. likewise, no longer is there evidence of the group learning and collaboration that was a strong and important feature of the course. none of the units and their assessment was designed with an e-portfolio or personal learning space response in mind. consequently, many of the properties in pebblepad have not been brought to bear on formulating the story of this learning passage. evaluation the value of this approach reflection as a study technique undoubtedly leads to a re-evaluation of learning and this approach could transform the narrow summative presentation of a student into a well-rounded and detailed formative picture of the person and the learning achieved. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 it produces a strong foundation for the addition of further evidence and, as a result, new overarching summative writing, discussing how other influences, experiences and ideas might well follow for those who want to maintain the discipline. the degree becomes a starting point from which new themes and strands of learning and enquiry can emerge. this process can include any experiences and allows for the fusion of study and professional and personal life. it is very clear that the approach adopted for this study would allow graduates to re-purpose learning and student life into a learning space that is self-controlled, available for re-selection, remarshalling, re-formatting, re-purposing and re-telling as understanding is developed and improved, thus telling a story of professional and personal development rather than offering jus a summative statement of ability. it is a completely different way of presenting a university experience and its real value is in encouraging the owner to make connections and links and to invest time and effort in developing a narrative. the time involved in uploading content is minimal; the real effort is in reflecting, connecting and adjusting conclusions in the narrative. unlike the course, personal learning is never finished and can support a career-long journey using synoptic writing as evidence in further summaries and adding layers of new experiences and learning. what was essential evidence in demonstrating degree competence will diminish over time into an incidental body of evidence, but one that gives weight to new arguments and ideas. helping students develop and sustain a positive digital reputation is best served by encouraging them to keep a formal e-portfolio and to use it as a personal learning space. only pages and content published to the web will contribute to the reputation. the rest acts as evidence: private thoughts or supporting evidence of specific tasks completed that the owner chooses not to share or collections of thoughts and ideas that are published for separate purposes. an unexpected consequence of attempting to re-purpose content to the greenwich graduate attributes was the author’s identification of large gaps in the content of his study relative to these headings, which meant that no evidence relating to cross-cultural issues and sustainability could be found. however, scores of examples of attempts at scholarship were available. university undergraduate experience has developed hugely in recent years in preparing graduates for the modern world and this study shows how a personal learning space might add further value, by finding gaps in development that can be addressed and presenting a very complete picture of student attributes. references jisc (2012) crossing the threshold – moving e-portfolios into the mainstream. available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios/crossing.aspx (accessed: 24 october 2013). joyes, g. (2012) the e-portfolio implementation toolkit (jisc). available at: https://epip.pbworks.com/w/page/28670505/the%20implementation%20toolkit (accessed: 24 october 2013). rebbeck, g. (2012) personal learning spaces (e-portfolios) and digital reputation. greenwich university open lecture series: transcript of an open lecture. available at: http://vimeo.com/channels/uogedu/52201388 (accessed: 8 september 2014). rebbeck, g. (2013) a full greenwich university degree in a portfolio available at: http://tinyurl.com/pebbledegree (accessed: 19 february 2014). http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios/crossing.aspx https://epip.pbworks.com/w/page/28670505/the%20implementation%20toolkit http://vimeo.com/channels/uogedu/52201388 http://tinyurl.com/pebbledegree compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 managing editor karen smith, educational development unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health wendy cealey harrison, academic quality unit ian mcnay, faculty of education & health simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, faculty of engineering & science sarah crofts, information and library services paul dennison, educational development unit edward phillips, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities lynne jump, school of health & social care ed de quincey, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities malcolm ryan, independent critical friend nola stair, faculty of business james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 the future ready ideas lab: future-proofing bioscience students’ enterprise skills john barrow1, joy perkins2, pietro marini1, and ann davidson3 1institution of education for medical and dental sciences, university of aberdeen, uk. 2centre for academic development, university of aberdeen, uk. 3scottish institute for enterprise, glasgow, uk. abstract given the pace of technological change, today’s students need to be prepared for changing employment roles in an ever-evolving world. increasingly, employers require graduates to be innovative, adaptable and resilient and to have an enterprising mindset. enterprise education supports students to develop these key attributes and skills, enabling them to engage with the pace of change. as enterprise educators, in the school of medical sciences and the centre for academic development at the university of aberdeen and externally, at the scottish institute for enterprise, we have collaborated to develop students’ formal enterprise learning. with a shared interest in building our students’ enterprise skills, we recognised the need to address the challenge of developing enterprising behaviours in our 300 life sciences students and to do that at an early stage of their degree programme. as a starting point, we created a bespoke enterprise workshop called the ‘future ready ideas lab’. to assess the effectiveness of the workshop a kirkpatrick evaluation-based survey was then used to investigate the following themes: 1) students’ reaction to the enterprise session; 2) students’ ability to articulate their skills; 3) participants’ behaviour post session and 4) benefits derived from the session. the data collected reveal students’ awareness of their skills and their understanding of what may be required of future employers and their employees. however, it is also clear from the data that broadening the horizons and the enterprise engagement of all students is challenging. the next step is to conduct a longitudinal study to gather a timeperspective view of this cohort’s enterprise knowledge and learning. keywords: enterprise education; employability; skills; employers introduction employability in higher education (he) is a key strategic priority of most, if not all united kingdom (uk) universities (wilson, 2012; universities scotland, 2018; cmi, 2018). to help address and embed employability in universities’ curricula, he institutions have increasingly focused on the development of students’ attributes, skills and competencies in taught modules and degree programmes. this approach is designed to complement disciplinespecific curricula knowledge, helping to ensure graduate readiness for and transition to work (garcía-aracil et al., 2018). despite these curricula developments, recent studies indicate that further focus on skills and competencies and more support for students are both required if graduates are to transition successfully into the complex and evolving labour market (world economic forum, 2018). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ (also referred to as 4ir or industry 4.0) is a term coined to depict how the adoption of automation and technology (marr, 2018) has rapidly altered the way individuals live and how they work with and relate to each other. given the pace of technological change, today’s graduates need to be flexible, prepared for changes to job roles and the impact of artificial intelligence (ai) as well as to develop their understanding of robotics and of how the evolving employment landscape demands commensurate modification of skills. higher education institutions must respond and adapt teaching, learning and assessment to make them relevant to such a dynamic transformation of the working world if graduates are to be prepared and ‘future-proofed’ to deal with these new employment environments and able to take advantage of their opportunities (world economic forum, 2016). the recent deloitte report, ‘preparing tomorrow’s workforce for the fourth industrial revolution’ (2018), makes it clear that soft skills, such as communication, complex problem solving and critical thinking, are essential; it also acknowledges the importance of creativity, innovation and enterprise skills to businesses, if they are to flourish. the uk quality assurance agency (qaa) provides guidance to help educators to embed enterprise in the academic curriculum and to enhance and promote it across institutions. the qaa publication ‘enterprise and entrepreneurship education’ defines enterprise education as “the process of developing students with an enhanced capacity to generate ideas and equip students with the behaviours, attributes and competences to enhance their employability prospects” (qaa, 2018). in view of this, and to meet employer expectations, universities therefore have a clear responsibility for – and a significant role to play in – supporting students to develop their practical enterprise and employability skills – a priority, considering that nesta found in its 2018 study that growth is expected in employer need for graduate creativity. if students are to succeed in their learning and their future careers, both staff and student awareness of and engagement with enterprise skills in the classroom are critical (qaa, 2018). this case study explores the interplay between enterprise skills, students and employers; it highlights the importance of academic staff, learner developers and external organisations in championing creativity, design thinking and innovation in the bioscience curriculum; it investigates how bespoke interdisciplinary learning activities have helped to support firstyear bioscience undergraduates to future-proof their skills. using kirkpatrick’s evaluation model, we investigate students’ enterprise learning and behaviours alongside their boundary-crossing skills (akkerman and bakker, 2011). methodology we used an online snap survey to gather both quantitative and qualitative data, in order to find out first-year students’ perceptions of, attitudes to and understanding of enterprise education following the two-hour, ‘future ready ideas lab’ workshop. the survey comprised compulsory open and closed questions and was distributed to 300 life science undergraduates at the end of the session. based on kirkpatrick’s evaluation model (kirkpatrick, 1996) the survey collected information under the following fields: 1) students’ reaction to the enterprise session; 2) students’ ability to articulate their skills; 3) participants’ behaviour post session; and 4) benefits derived from the session. we analysed quantitative data with snap software and qualitative data via thematic analysis to code student case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 responses into specific categories. the survey was anonymous and any data collected treated confidentially, in accordance with the data protection act 2018 (dpa, 2018). all pedagogic research conducted followed the quantitative and qualitative survey guidance and practice provided in the higher education academy (hea) publication ‘getting started in pedagogical research in the stem disciplines’ (2014). implementation our ‘future ready ideas lab’ workshop is designed to help students engage systematically with the pace of change and to develop strong, actionable insights to develop their enterprise and innovation skills. following the usual laboratory class teaching pattern, which split the large class of 300 students into three separate groups of 90-110 students, we formed sub-groups of a maximum of twelve students to enable them to work through the defined structure of the workshop in four linked stages (figure 1). figure 1: the ‘future ready ideas lab’ workshop structure the workshop session lasted three hours, with approximately forty minutes allocated to each stage, and was co-delivered by two members of sie staff and the two module co-ordinators (both discipline experts in the life sciences). this co-delivery provided students with both the familiarity of core teaching staff and the opportunity to draw upon external expertise for information and inspiration. results and discussion 181 students from a class of 300 completed the survey. given the large cohort, the practical class was offered in three sittings. analysis of the respondents was as follows: first-year students studying a life sciences degree; aged mainly between eighteen and twenty-four; sixty-three per cent female. the age range for the students taking the first-year module is characteristic of most uk universities. typically, scottish degrees take four years to complete – rather than the three years normal in other areas of the uk – and it was encouraging to secure the high response rate of fifty-seven per cent of the cohort. to analyse and evaluate the ‘future ready ideas lab’ workshop, we used the kirkpatrick evaluation model, which consists of the following four defined levels, as described in the methodology. c a li b ra ti o n class discussion around current ideas and developments in innovation and technology. f o re s ig h t using current innovations (clues) from around the world, students work in small groups to “sense the future”. in s ig h t selected clues are used to identify possible innovation opportunities and risks for a new product/idea. a c ti o n development of the product/idea as a pitch to a potential investor. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 level 1: students’ reaction to the enterprise session quantitative data was analysed from the post-workshop survey to identify students’ overall satisfaction with multiple aspects of the class, as well as to ascertain their reactions to what they liked best and least about the session. students had mainly positive views of the class (figure 2). figure 2: quantitative responses showing student reaction to the workshop (data are presented as number of respondents answering on a five-point likert scale from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’.) free-text data were collated and thematically analysed for the questions which asked what students liked best and least in the workshop session. the proportion of positive answers was far greater, with 113 positive and 68 negative reactions. from these two classes of response, three clear themes arose that linked responses to students’ learning, student interactions in the workshop and workshop engagement (figure 3). one comment is representative of the positive attitudes to the session: “as a student of biological sciences, i’m not used to learning through discussion, so this was new, and i think it engaged my imagination.” there were negative comments about the length of the session, the workshop structure and the non-biological nature of the topic, as illustrated by this comment: “it did not relate directly to the cell module.” case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 figure 3: thematic analysis of free text questions asking students what they liked best and least from the workshop session (white bars, negative comments; orange bars, positive comments.) level 2: students’ ability to articulate skills to assess the impact of the workshop session on participants’ learning and skills, students were asked for responses to the following: “before participating in today’s session, what did ‘enterprise’ mean to you?” “what have you learnt from today’s workshop session?” “list three skills you used in today’s workshop session.” when asked what the word ‘enterprise’ meant to them, most responses (54% of 173 respondents) linked the term to business, with 35% linking the term to entrepreneurship or innovation (figure 4), highlighting that life sciences students’ views of enterprise are often firmly anchored to the business world. students noted points about skills and ideation, as illustrated by the following comments: “the development of new ideas.” “ability to make ideas into real things.” however, there were many more comments which referred to business-related terminology, as this one does: “a car rental place and business.” these comments make a valuable and important contribution to the design, content and terminology of future enterprise workshops. given recent reports about the importance of interdisciplinary learning (stentoft, 2017), it is vital that opportunities are provided to encourage students to be outward-looking beyond a single discipline. sufficient disciplinary case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 knowledge and understanding, that are also transferable into different learning contexts, are therefore key to supporting contemporary student enterprise learning. figure 4: students’ understanding of the term ‘enterprise’ before the workshop session students also highlighted that they had learnt about innovation and technology (figure 5) and had used communication, creativity and teamworking skills during the session (figure 6). figure 5: key learning points students identified from the enterprise workshop case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 figure 6: the key skills students identified as developing in the enterprise workshop skills are now the global currency of the twenty-first century (cmi, 2018) and it is vital that students can identify and evidence their key skills (such as creativity, communication and teamwork) to help them to work successfully within the growing technology-driven employment landscape (marr, 2018). it is particularly encouraging that early-year students were clearly able to do this in their survey responses. level 3: participants’ behaviour post session a single question was used to ascertain if participants’ behaviour or thinking had changed because of the enterprise session. students were asked to list three skills that they planned to develop following the workshop. skills listed in their responses were quantified, the top five being future-thinking, creativity, communication, teamwork and innovation (figure 7). as, according to the world economic forum (2016), employers from different employment sectors and sizes are expecting graduates to have these creative and innovatory skills, embedding these skills into the student experience is crucial. figure 7: top five skills students identified to develop following the workshop session case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 8 level 4: benefits derived from the session the fourth level of kirkpatrick’s model focuses on the student benefits derived from the enterprise session. to explore this, the students were asked about how they considered enterprise skills fit within the workplace and with employability via the following three questions: “how do enterprise skills help support your academic studies?” “how do enterprise skills help develop your employability?” “why do you think enterprise skills are valued by graduate employers?” thematic analysis of student responses to these questions reveal that students had a clear view about how enterprise skills provide them with self-awareness, enhance their study skills and make them more future-ready to support their studies (figure 8). when asked how enterprise skills could benefit their employability, most students thought it enhanced their awareness of careers and gave them an improved skill set for their own employability (figure 9). overall, the students were able to highlight, as the key benefits employers would value, adaptability and – linked to that – a diverse set of skills (figure 10). figure 8: analysis of survey data: how enterprise skills supports students’ studies they don't 17% selfawareness 17% future ready 25% study skills 31% employability 10% case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 9 figure 9: analysis of survey data: how enterprise skills develop students’ employability figure 10: analysis of survey data: why employers value enterprise skills students demonstrated their attitudes and intentions through free-text comments that showed a variety of opinions and viewpoints within the themes listed below. study skills: “it helps me to not only focus on the now, i.e. exams and assessments but also the effect that this will have on my future career.” being future-ready: “they allow me to consider my employment in a world full of different ideas and disciplines. the world encompasses more than pure science.” they don't 14% career awareness 41% creativity 14% adaptability 9% enhancing skill set 22% don't know 5% synergism 14% adaptability 41% diverse skill set 32% business improvement 8% case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 10 enhancing their skill set: “having pointed out my shortcomings, i can now spend time developing them so that they are no longer shortcomings.” career awareness: “makes me more knowledgeable about current ideas and futures in the scientific field.” requirement for a diverse skill set: “because they increase the chances that the prospective employee might have skills that add value to the work place.” adaptability: “because moving forward, things are constantly changing and it’s important to be able to adapt and change to this fast pace.” overall, the main focus of the ‘future ready ideas lab’ workshop is perfectly summarised by this final quotation. our main aim was for the students to scan their own horizons and acquire the ability to adapt as they move forward in their education and professional lives. that is why this workshop was incorporated into, implemented during and delivered within our first-year curriculum. our findings support the qaa publication on enterprise and entrepreneurship education (2018) and the identified synergies between enterprise and employability, which result in employment and entrepreneurship. it is evident from the survey data and students’ comments in class that the enterprise workshop does develop students’ capacity to generate ideas, as well as the behaviours, attributes, and competencies required by employers. student responses also provide an insight into their understanding of enterprise learning and their ability to identify new learning boundaries through reflection of their experiences during and after the workshop (akkerman and bakker, 2011). conclusions it is evident from the survey responses that many students view the early stages of their degree programme through a single discipline lens. students often focus on how to pass their modules rather than on their enterprise skills and the process of putting ideas into practice. it is also clear from the raft of employer reports (wilson, 2012; universities scotland, 2018; cmi 2018) that combining knowledge and skills coherently across disciplines is crucial for workplace success. tackling these issues through collaboration with the scottish institute for enterprise (sie) has helped academic staff to embed the enterprise workshop in the curriculum and has also deepened staff expertise in this area. as engaging disengaged students in enterprise education can be a real challenge, sharing design and delivery responsibility across internal and external stakeholders has been extremely helpful. this approach is certainly transferable to other academic subject areas. this case study illustrates that enabling students to develop their skills can be more effective if academic learning and the world of work are linked. the survey data indicates that many students enjoyed the enterprise session. a clear message from the recent publication ‘future work skills 2020’, highlights the need for a workforce focused on personal skills case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 11 rather than on jobs – new or different – that may exist in the future (davies et al., 2019). this study clearly illustrates a possible approach to addressing this requirement for students’ skills awareness and personal skills development for the complex and evolving labour market. the data also contribute to the under-researched field of embedding enterprise education in the academic curriculum. it is clear from our survey data that some students may not grasp the learning potential of the enterprise workshop when exposed to these concepts early in their degree programme. despite this, the rationale for an early-engagement approach is that delivering this workshop in the first year does increase student awareness, so that they set about acquiring the skills they view as important for their future. that said, on account of the limited sample size in this study, further enterprise education research is required to ascertain whether these findings may be generalised to other academic disciplines. while the data presented here indicate a generally positive student attitude to this type of provision, analysis of a larger sample size of first-year students – to explore, say, any differences between student nationalities at a wider range of universities – would help provide further insights into the conclusions drawn through this case study. the next research step is to conduct a longitudinal study, to gather a time-perspective view of this student cohort’s enterprise knowledge and learning across their four-year degree programme. reference list akkerman, s.f. and bakker, a., (2011) ‘boundary crossing and boundary objects.’ review of educational research, 81(2), 132-169. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0034654311404435 (accessed: 18 may 2020). chartered management institute (cmi) (2018) ‘21st century leaders: building employability through higher education.’ report. available at: https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/files/reports/insights/research/21st_century_leader s_cmi_feb2018.pdf (accessed: 28 june 2019). kirkpatrick, d.l. and kirkpatrick, j.d., (2006) kirkpatrick evaluating training programs: the four levels. san francisco: berrett-koehler publishers. isbn: 978-1-57675-348-4. davies, a., fidler, d. and gorbis, m., (2019) ‘future work skills 2020.’ report. available at: http://www.iftf.org/futureworkskills/ (accessed: 1 august 2019). deloitte (2018) preparing tomorrow’s workforce for the fourth industrial revolution for business: a framework for action. available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/deloitte/global/documents/about-deloitte/gxpreparing-tomorrow-workforce-for-4ir-executive-summary.pdf (accessed: 30 june 2019). garcía-aracil, a., monteiro, s. and almeida, l.s., (2018) ‘students’ perceptions of their preparedness for transition to work after graduation.’ active learning in higher education, onlinefirst, 1-14. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0034654311404435 https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/files/reports/insights/research/21st_century_leaders_cmi_feb2018.pdf https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/files/reports/insights/research/21st_century_leaders_cmi_feb2018.pdf http://www.iftf.org/futureworkskills/ https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/deloitte/global/documents/about-deloitte/gx-preparing-tomorrow-workforce-for-4ir-executive-summary.pdf https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/deloitte/global/documents/about-deloitte/gx-preparing-tomorrow-workforce-for-4ir-executive-summary.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 12 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1469787418791026 (accessed: 18 may 2020). grove, m. and overton, t., (2014) ‘getting started in pedagogic research within the stem disciplines.’ available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/getting-startedpedagogic-research-within-stem-disciplines (accessed: 12 july 2020). marr, b. (2018) ‘why everyone must get ready for 4th industrial revolution.’ available at: https://www.bernardmarr.com/default.asp?contentid=966 (accessed: 6 august 2019). nesta, (2017) the future of skills: employment in 2030. available at: https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/the_future_of_skills_employment_in_2030_0.pdf (accessed: 30 june 2019). quality assurance agency (2018) enterprise and entrepreneurship education: guidance for uk higher education providers. report. available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaas/enhancement-and-development/enterprise-andentrpreneurship-education-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=15f1f981_8 (accessed: 30 june 2019). stentoft, d., (2017) ‘from saying to doing interdisciplinary learning: is problem-based learning the answer?’ active learning in higher education 18(1), 51-61. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469787417693510 (accessed: 18 may 2020). universities scotland (2018) ‘made it happen.’ available at: https://www.universitiesscotland.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/made-it-happen-final.pdf (accessed: 27 june 2019). wilson, t., (2012) ‘a review of business–university collaboration: the wilson review.’ report. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-universitycollaboration-the-wilson-review (accessed: 18 may 2020). world economic forum (2016) ‘the future of jobs employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution.’ report. available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/wef_future_of_jobs.pdf (accessed: 29 june 2019). world economic forum (2018) ‘the future of jobs.’ report. available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/wef_future_of_jobs_2018.pdf (accessed: 30 june 2019). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1469787418791026 available%20at:%20https:/www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/getting-started-pedagogic-research-within-stem-disciplines available%20at:%20https:/www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/getting-started-pedagogic-research-within-stem-disciplines https://www.bernardmarr.com/default.asp?contentid=966 https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/the_future_of_skills_employment_in_2030_0.pdf https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaas/enhancement-and-development/enterprise-and-entrpreneurship-education-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=15f1f981_8 https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaas/enhancement-and-development/enterprise-and-entrpreneurship-education-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=15f1f981_8 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469787417693510 https://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/made-it-happen-final.pdf https://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/made-it-happen-final.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-university-collaboration-the-wilson-review https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-university-collaboration-the-wilson-review http://www3.weforum.org/docs/wef_future_of_jobs.pdf http://www3.weforum.org/docs/wef_future_of_jobs_2018.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 extended programmes: widening participation by narrowing content dawn reilly, jing luo, wenxian sun, liz warren university of greenwich keywords: business education, extended programmes, year zero, foundation year, widening participation in september 2016, the university of greenwich business school introduced its first portfolio of extended programmes. the majority of these programmes followed a common initial year, referred to for the remainder of this opinion piece as ‘year zero’. the programme design for year zero was intended to launch students on their programme of study by introducing basic academic writing and communication skills, while also including general business-related content. on extended programmes, the benefits of generic foundation years such as year zero include the efficient use of resources. as all students are studying the same modules, it is easier for universities to forward-plan and to run larger lectures than would be possible if each programme had its own year zero with smaller student numbers. the reasons for the business school’s approach to programme design for this new initiative were therefore obvious and logical. there were economies of scale to be had, especially by basing year zero on existing foundation modules already available within the university, as the programmes could be set up relatively swiftly for the initial cohorts. this was very helpful, because, as these students would be recruited through clearing 2016, there was no clear idea of expected numbers in the early stages of the recruitment cycle. however, in this piece, we argue that a bespoke year zero design, with a focus on a narrower range of subject-specific topics, enhances the experience of the students on our extended programmes and is worth the investment. the use of the plural ‘cohorts’ in the previous paragraph is deliberate, as it gets to the nub of the problem we encountered. whilst, in the early days, we may have referred to all ‘extended students’ en masse, the students did not see themselves as a single group of ‘general business’ students. their programme identities and departments were very important to them. although the programme structures were set out clearly on the university’s website, the students had not anticipated a quasi-generic foundation year plus three years; they had enrolled on to a four-year extended programme commencing with year zero. the students expected programme-specific content from the outset and, from the feedback we received from the first few weeks of term onwards, it became apparent that something had to be done. this opinion piece represents the views of colleagues from three departments within the business school and demonstrates how we took a united approach to resolving the problem which we all encountered. our response was twofold. first, we regarded the feedback as reflecting a serious and immediate problem, which we addressed by adding previously unplanned extra-curricular content into the year. one example was a trading competition in term one. in term two, the department with the highest number of extended students provided four weeks of taught sessions to its students on a programme-specific topic. this content, not assessed, was of a opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 technical nature and attendance was voluntary, but the fact that attendance proved to be excellent demonstrated both that students considered this topic crucial and that they appreciated access to subject-specific content in year zero. our second response was therefore a complete re-design of the business school’s extended programmes. with an eye on cost efficiencies, we retained some common modules for all of the school’s extended students. however, each department now also offers significant bespoke content during year zero. students achieve academic skills and familiarisation with the university’s support services and systems via a new extended project module, which exposes students – under the guidance of their personal tutor during timetabled project classes – to an academic research opportunity in their chosen discipline. the discipline-specific modules are particularly popular with our extended students and feedback in liaison meetings and via online module surveys suggests that they have had a largely positive experience over the past two years. the results on the online feedback forms changed from very concerning to excellent after the implementation of the design. during the re-design, the team asked not only ‘what do the students want?’, but also ‘what do the students need?’. many of the students on our extended programmes join us following disappointing results from a levels or alternative qualifications. to work at a university that embraces widening participation by providing these students with the opportunity to pursue higher education in their chosen field is a privilege and something we should all be proud of, but it also brings a responsibility: the students of course want – and deserve – to study the subjects they have chosen, but it is essential to consider precisely what year zero should include to prepare the students, not only to progress from year zero but also to achieve well in year one when they join the new students who enrol on our three-year programmes. it is the performance of these students in year one (as well as how they compare with their direct-entry peers) that serves as the ‘critical test’ for extended programmes (harwood, 2016, p.16). although the students come to us with lower entry qualifications, we have failed them if they feel they are the weakest students once they enter year one. bandura’s (1997) theory of ‘self-efficacy’ emphasises the importance of a student’s belief in himself or herself to achieve a certain goal, such as passing year one. without this, the determination to overcome obstacles and challenges is diminished, making positive achievement less probable. the modules in the new year zero have therefore been designed to expose students to some year one content, thereby affording them a ‘foundation’ of relevant knowledge, laid in the foundation-type extended year and building confidence about what to expect in future. in this way, we hope to build up perceived selfefficacy for students whose previous level 3 qualifications may have made them question their self-belief. we also include exposure to a range of assessment styles in year zero, including one or two exams (in relevant programmes) where this method of assessment will be used in year one. introducing exams in this way helps to build self-confidence as students see that they can achieve in an academic context, that they have the skills required to revise for exams and that they are ready to progress to the next stage of their programmes (pearce et al., 2015). the challenge for students with low entry qualifications is to achieve a good degree, despite their grades at school and college. the challenge for us as educators is to design extended programmes which help students to achieve. our experience over the past three years opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 suggests that a bespoke year zero design, with a focus on a narrower range of subjectspecific topics, has the potential to help us to meet that challenge and therefore merits the additional investment when compared to a generic provision. reference list bandura, a. (1997) self-efficacy: the exercise of control. new york, ny: w.h. freeman and company. isbn: 9780716728504. harwood, d. (2016) ‘extended science: a powerful tool in widening participation.’ journal of learning development in higher education, 10. issn: 1759-667x available at: http://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/263 (accessed: 20 december 2019). pearce, h., campbell, a., craig, t., le roux, p., nathoo, k. and vicatos, e. (2015) ‘the articulation between the mainstream and extended degree programmes in engineering at the university of capetown: reflections and possibilities.’ south african journal of higher education, 29(1), 150-163. available at: https://journals.co.za/content/high/29/1/ejc172793 (accessed: 20 december 2019). http://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/263 https://journals.co.za/content/high/29/1/ejc172793 compass bame editorial editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 editorial simon walker university college london the black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) attainment gap that exists in universities has been rightly referred to as “the great unspoken shame of higher education” (tatum, 2019). this special issue of compass – through its opinion pieces, case studies and articles – adds to the wave of new scholarly publications that are trying to help us understand this inequality better. these papers capture the experiences of staff and students working in different institutional contexts and with a common goal: to throw light on the many practices and structures that have led to some avoidable attainment differences. they help us to understand how we can address attainment inequalities at all levels – institutional, programme and module; they show that we need to take a close, hard look at how the curriculum, in its design, delivery and assessment, excludes many of our students. there is a strong moral imperative for changing our thinking and practice. in our increasingly competitive world, dominated by high student fees, social mobility is in decline and, with it, our meritocratic traditions. all students should have the opportunity to flourish, but the attainment gap project referred to by nona mcduff in her preface shows that this is far from happening. we have to recognise that, up to now, we have been largely trying to fix the student, not the institution. this needs to change. it is not the job of any regulator to tell us to care about our students and our local communities – it is a collective responsibility that should be within every institution’s dna. one well-tried and tested approach to changing attitudes is to promote and amplify the student voice and engage in constructive dialogue with our students. many institutions have successfully funded student partnership activities and some have focused specifically on developing inclusive practice through curriculum consultancy schemes. angel rose and antonela chirilov, students at the university of greenwich, together with students’ union representation coordinator, esther olorunsomo have been playing a powerful role in helping to create a level playing field for students. angel notes that small steps can be effective: “as curriculum consultants, we aim to view course materials from a student perspective and to offer appropriate recommendations on how to make these more inclusive. the changes we recommend are often small, but these small changes can make all the difference to the students accessing the course.” inclusion needs to be considered in every aspect of the way we design and deliver higher education. this cannot be achieved in a partial way. we need to examine our institutional cultures, processes and attitudes so that inclusivity permeates everything we do. the data provide us with insights to start conversations and create new narratives. however, our editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 leadership needs to recognise, reward and drive inclusivity. after all, a diverse classroom, in which every student feels that she or he can thrive, is a better classroom. this issue of compass illustrates a range of responses and ideas from members of academic and professional services staff in institutions involved in the office for students (ofs) catalyst student success project. in the preface, nona mcduff, project lead, discusses how kingston university reduced the bame attainment gap through a combination of meaningful metrics to raise awareness, followed up by the use of a framework for developing inclusive curricula.this approach proved to be highly successful in her own institution, in that it positively engaged staff in discussion which, in turn, led to concrete actions. in the articles that follow, readers can see how this approach was applied by other institutions. participation in a 2017 project to widen success in higher education led danielle tran to reflect on what is needed of academic staff and their institutions to achieve a ‘decolonising’ of curricula. as students currently campaign to achieve this latter, their teachers, the author says, have to face up to the challenges of discussing potentially difficult matters concerning class, gender and race and of responding sensitively and thoughtfully to the issues that relate to student experience of the classroom and education as a whole. institutions are certainly under increasing pressure to create a much more inclusive learning experience that caters for the needs and concerns of a diverse student body. this opinion piece emphatically places the responsibility of achieving decolonisation of the curriculum upon the shoulders of individual staff, who must not shy away from perceived barriers if they are to achieve a personal understanding of and empathy with their students’ very varied backgrounds and diverse perceptions of the world. at de montfort university, the voice of bame students is being heard and responded to, as the institution sets about countering the attainment gap through its ‘freedom to achieve’ project, with co-creation at its heart. on the basis of qualitative data, lucy atkins and richard hall evaluate the success of a recent (2018) series of co-creation events in creating institutional understanding of the experiences of bame students. against the backdrop of a thorough survey of the literature, the authors explain how students and staff came together to discuss ways of addressing attainment inequalities, with their focus upon the four themes of curriculum, environment, development and community/belonging. we are left with a clear sense of the worth of the project for its encouragement of authentic conversations between the institution and its staff and students, and its strong emphasis on communication and the practical application to teaching and learning of the principles of respect, reciprocity and responsibility. kingston university’s student curriculum consultant programme (sccp) is that institution’s way of harnessing the lived experiences of its very diverse student body to address the attainment gap; it is an integral part of the university’s ‘inclusive curriculum framework’, outlined for readers here. authors annie hughes, kamal mohamad, nona mcduff and christina michener describe the development of the programme from its inception, editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 explaining how paid ‘student curriculum consultants’ have worked with staff across the university in co-creation activities, three of which provide case studies within this issue. careful evaluation of what has obviously been a successful start to the programme should guarantee its continuing development and improvement and help to access the hitherto untapped and very rich resource of student experience, bringing its diversity to bear upon the practice of academic teachers and so significantly enhancing students’ learning and life prospects. substantial staff experience of teaching chinese students in two departments of the university of greenwich business school and some sensitive, empathetic appraisal of the challenges such learners are likely to face when studying in the uk lend rigour to a case study about strategies for raising their attainment nearer to that of their peers. liz warren, dawn reilly, wenxian sun and iwona vellam explain that increasing numbers of chinese direct entry students (cdes) – who, under articulation agreements with higher education institutions in china, study at greenwich – benefit from learning with uk lecturers in china before coming to the uk. they improve their use of english and become acclimatised to more active forms of learning, which may be an unfamiliar approach for those previously educated in more didactic systems. other things which help to minimise culture – and learning culture – shock are carefully discussed: for example, a semester at greenwich prior to a return to study later on, amendments to induction, programme content and delivery and one-to-one meetings with staff. thoughtful evaluation of the work done so far to close the attainment gap for chinese students and plans for improvements to come leave the reader with a sense of the genuine concern here to help all students succeed according to their potential. helen barefoot and cage boons provide a case study which charts the development of the ‘student advocate programme’, a university of hertfordshire initiative to reduce the bame attainment gap. the appointment – to paid part-time advocate roles – of ten students of diverse backgrounds and experiences has, according to this study, already borne fruit. these students have, within their own schools, risen to challenges – both pre-identified and discovered – and addressed matters of inclusivity with staff and curricula, earning the respect of senior university figures and of the staff with whom their roles have led them to work. this paper clearly explains the rationale of the scheme against the background of the literature and includes a detailed account of how the programme unfolded, listing its benefits to both students and staff. the authors are careful to add that some limitations affected the overall success of the advocates’ work, but the very fact that this institution has fully funded the programme’s continuation, initially for another year, confirms that it has already achieved a great deal. this institution’s experience seems to confirm that bame students themselves are a powerful means of implementing constructive change. the university of hertfordshire held inclusive practice workshops with the programme and module leaders of thirty-seven of its programmes. beginning with provision of relevant data to generate discussion about the sensitive issue of race and leading on to inclusivity and compassionate pedagogy, the facilitators sought to enlighten the curriculum leaders about the lived experience of people of colour and about how they might make their practice and editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 curricula more inclusive. the workshops were followed by interviews with the leaders who attended, conducted by members of the ‘bme student success’ working group. helen barefoot’s compelling article conveys the core substance of the personal narratives of the two workshop facilitators and two researchers who conducted leader interviews – these four themselves a diverse group who have all worked in higher education for some time. it’s impossible not to be moved by the powerful message of this paper which is bound to create empathy for bame students and staff and to aid understanding of the impact of experiencing, as a facilitator, very entrenched and challenging opinions. rebecca maccabe, ricarda micallef and mark carew present a study of the impact of peerassisted learning (pal) upon the retention, progression and attainment of pharmacy students at kingston university, london, where student mentors, with academics and the academic mentoring team, co-design student-centred active learning materials. the mentor role described in this study was trained and paid and involved supporting two pharmacy modules. on the basis of quantitative and qualitative data, the authors conclude that engagement with pal, which is voluntary, does produce higher progression, retention and module pass rates than achieved by non-engaged students. the study found that the most positive impact was with bame and disadvantaged students. this paper provides clear confirmation that students in partnership with mentors to co-create knowledge within an inclusive curriculum has very positive benefits for all those involved; in this case, the participants were unanimous in finding pal valuable and rewarding. two studies – qualitative and quantitative – of student ‘belonging’ at the university of wolverhampton provided authors debra cureton and phil gravestock with a wealth of material confirming strong similarities between the sector-wide evidence of disparity in the degree outcomes of ethnic groups and the measurable differences at wolverhampton between the sense of belonging of bame students and that of their white peers. interestingly, the authors, having first accepted the premise that belonging directly affects retention and degree success, do conclude from the studies that an individual’s sense of belonging can fluctuate during her/his time at university. this has obvious implications for whole institutional community awareness of the importance of creating and sustaining a social environment and learning relationship that engenders in all students the sense of feeling welcome, cared about and valued. the fact that bame students are clearly amongst those groups whose sense of belonging is the most vulnerable, should, the authors say, encourage universities to focus consistently on inclusive strategies from induction right through to graduation. in a companion piece to the paper above, phil gravestock and debra cureton explore in a case study the university of wolverhampton’s research into causes of ethnicity-based attainment gaps and this institution’s subsequent initiatives to reduce such disparities. the outcomes of two projects suggested that students’ lives, wellbeing, sense of belonging and subsequent success depend on resolution of a complex range of factors. the authors focus on three themes – ‘belonging’, ‘assessment activities’ and ‘expectations’ – and explore their implications in influencing students’ higher education experiences and final attainment. the study throws up some interesting lessons about how an institution may achieve the goal of editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 gap reduction/elimination and at the same time perpetuate the means by which such a success is accomplished. the key appears to be in a genuine embedding of principles and practice which will be sustained whether the institution undergoes restructure or academic staff come and go. a collaborative pilot project (offered by the faculty of education and health and information and library services) at the university of greenwich has sought to equip students with the skills and strategies they need to meet the challenges of learning on a two-year accelerated degree (ba in primary education). an opinion piece by poppy gibson, sharon perera, robert morgan and bonnie kerr makes very clear that students who frequently suffer anxiety, stress and self-doubt – and sometimes imposter syndrome – are more likely to face these problems during a compressed degree. the authors explain that the pilot embedded academic and information literacy skills into the taught programme to support students “and also to enhance their abilities and build lasting confidence through employability and citizenship skills”. if students are to improve their performance, motivation, optimism and empathy, it is incumbent upon higher education institutions and their educators to recognise the need of all learners to be engaged in active participation and to make sure that both academic and emotional support mechanisms are in place. four strategies that might be considered for deployment on other cross-faculty accelerated programmes conclude this interesting paper. louise owusu-kwarteng, a member of the applied sociology research group at the university of greenwich, offers a case study about staff-student research collaborations at this institution, confirming unequivocally the benefits of such partnerships in encouraging a sense of belonging amongst marginalised groups, especially bame students. of particular interest in this absorbing study is the way in which the author used sociology modules as the vehicle for such collaborations, with students’ autobiographical and semiautobiographical narratives springing from local neighbourhood research and personal experiences of shaping personal identity within society. equally striking in this paper is the account of the two symposia which the author and a colleague collaborated with students to hold, which involved the students in a public opportunity to present autobiographical research papers and in all the shared preliminary preparations for these events. it is refreshing to read of such relevant and productive approaches to student engagement and unsurprising that they were very successful! university college london (ucl) adopted a multi-level approach in its efforts to close the bame attainment gap. an informative article by rosalind duhs, julie evans, paulette williams and parama chaudhury describes how ucl drew on and adapted the work of other institutions to enhance the learning of its bame students. the paper outlines research into degree outcomes data which was carried out by the ucl centre for teaching and learning economics and underpinned the institution’s ‘inclusive curriculum health check’; departments’ initial responses within one faculty illustrate the value of initiatives recommended by the health check. staff engagement – in partnership with students – with various appropriate strategies certainly seems to be having a very positive influence on outcomes for the whole student body as well as narrowing the bame attainment gap. a strong, institution-wide awareness of the gap and interest in reducing it are key to student editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 empowerment. the article highlights the relevance of the uk professional standards framework (ukpsf) for remaining in good standing for staff who provide evidence to end disadvantage for black, asian and minority students. as you will discover, the articles in this compass special issue show the range of approaches taken by many of the universities involved in the catalyst student success project. what they do demonstrate is an institutional commitment to redress the bame attainment gap. we hope that you, the reader, will gain further insights into the common issues faced by a range of institutions of different sizes, cultures and missions and benefit from the ideas explored in these articles. reference list tatum, j. (2019) the great unspoken shame of higher education: tackling the bme attainment gap. available at: https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/medway/festival2018/schedconf/keynotes (accessed: 05 april 2019). https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/medway/festival2018/schedconf/keynotes conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 confronting the impostor: the role of conference presentation for confidencebuilding in academics dr poppy gibson, dr samuel coombes university of greenwich, uk abstract we often hear that facing our fears is the best course of action towards conquering them. it seems that many individuals are choosing to confront their deepest inner fears; data show that a fear of being an ‘impostor’ “runs thick in the veins of academics, from newly arrived graduate students to those nearing retirement” (revuluri, 2018, p.1). this reflection piece shares the authors’ personal experiences of planning and delivering a workshop on ‘impostor syndrome’ (is) that, ironically, helped to confront and conquer their own fears. this article highlights the key role that conference presentation can play in helping academics to overcome feeling like frauds through five key processes: reflection, feedforward, perspective, support network and talk. keywords: impostor syndrome, identity, confidence, conference, higher education article • “do you tend to feel crushed by even constructive criticism, seeing it as evidence of your ‘ineptness’? • do you believe that other people are smarter and more capable than you? • do you sometimes shy away from challenges because of self-doubt? • do you live in fear of being discovered or unmasked?” (young, 2018, p.1) we often hear that facing our fears is the best course of action for conquering them. it seems that many individuals are choosing to confront their deepest inner fears when we explore the data that show that a fear of being an ‘impostor’ “runs thick in the veins of academics, from newly arrived graduate students to those nearing retirement” (revuluri, 2018, p.1). answering ‘yes’ to even one of young’s above four questions may reflect that you suffer from ‘impostor syndrome’. impostor syndrome and is in higher education the term ‘impostor syndrome’ (is) was coined in 1978 by clinical psychologists clance and imes (1978), who defined it as “internal experience of intellectual phoniness in people who believe that they are not intelligent, capable or creative despite evidence of high achievement” (clance and imes, 1978, p.241). people may suffer from is at any age or stage of their education or career, but the one unifying feeling is that of a “secret fear” inside (qureshi et al., 2017, p.107; giles, 2010), a fear that “they are not adequately able to conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 perform a delegated role or that they lack the skills and knowledge” (gibson and coombes, 2018, p.3). it is important both to recognise is and to understand that, as this internal fear can result in anxiety, depression, and burnout, it may have negative impact upon people’s professional and personal lives as they “battle with this identity crisis” (ibid., p.3). why is is rife in higher education (he)? in academia, where is is reported as being ‘endemic’ (parker, 2019, p.1), many factors – from gender, ethnicity, age or experience – may influence the development of is. being an early career researcher (ecr), for example, involves trying to find an academic platform and developing an academic presence while also taking on the workload of planning and delivering teaching at he level. is means that an academic is “continually plagued with the feeling that you're not qualified” (parker, 2019, p.1) which can be detrimental to teaching and learning when the individual in question is, ironically, supporting students with gaining their own qualifications. the authors of this article suggest that conference presentation may be a key strategy for confronting is. the role of conference presentation in confronting is the authors of this article, having both experienced “deeply painful and damaging, almost paralysing” is (revuluri, op.cit., p.1), faced their fears through offering to present a workshop at the annual shift conference at the university of greenwich, 2019. as lecturers working in he, the authors had analysed how students at university may suffer with is and how this inner fear could be hampering progress and damaging student outcomes. five key strategies emerged from a meta-analysis of the literature, presented in figure 1. figure 1: five strategies for helping students to confront and conquer is reflection feedforward talk support network perspective conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 grayon and mateo (2019) highlight that is also leads us to believe that our achievements and our successes are down to being in the right place at the right time, or to luck, rather than a result of our abilities. worrying that our performances are not good enough may have negative impact upon confidence, self-esteem and mental health. successful conference presentation drawing upon the strategies to support students with is (figure 1), the authors found of great interest that to present a workshop to colleagues, peers and delegates at the shift conference helped them to admit to, and reflect upon, their own sense of is. the five strategies that could be used to support students with their studies in he also applied to the context of the conference and these are expanded below. reflection as presenters, the authors were able to consider previous practice as classroom lecturers and this gave them confidence when addressing fellow professionals. considering the mentor research of grimmett, forgasz, wiliams and white (2018), the authors also gained confidence in being able to reflect on their own research with their colleagues, who gave positive feedback and reinforced the insights that the authors were sharing during the conference. feed-forward the authors’ peers responded to the conference presentation and collaboration with some very constructive and supportive suggestions, encouraging them to take steps forward with their presentation and delve deeper into researching the feelings fellow professionals experience when they first join a new organisation, team or environment. support network colleagues’ support networks also improved confidence and sense of ownership, making it easier for the authors to share their thoughts and express their inner emotions. the mentoring relationships reviewed in the research of jekielek et al. (2002) showed, in young people, enhanced scholastic confidence and improved adult relationships, as well as, importantly, an overall development of their sense of self-worth when aware of close support from a network of friends and fellow professionals. the authors recommend the promotion and use of mentorship schemes within higher education. perspective from a presenter perspective, in contrast to that of a teacher or coach, more listening is involved in presenting at an academic conference than in teaching and coaching. listening will take place as academics discuss and debate with their peers the focus of the presentation and presenters may well feel at this point a loss of power and prestige. however, such feelings of inadequacy and lack of agency are misplaced, for colleagues merely act as sounding boards – or as mentors, where the focus is on guidance (sipe, 2002; miller, 2002). the authors’ experience demonstrated that a positive professional relationship is likely to develop when the insights and experiences of the presenters (in our case as new researchers in an area) bring a fresh perspective to established academics with pre-existing perspectives on the topic being presented (zachary, 2002). this differs from a didactic conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 teaching or coaching relationship, which tends to have set patterns and formats for the way the knowledge is directed and perceived by the recipient. confidence-building through conference presentation is therefore much more of a synergistic relationship (mullen, 1999, pp.38-9). talk the key strategy underpinning all the four processes mentioned above is ‘talk’. without communication, whether with others or with our inner selves, reflection and perspective cannot be achieved. by confronting is and finding the confidence to speak out and share our thoughts, we can gauge the reactions in others. we can challenge our ideas and develop our understanding. as academics, we try to encourage our students to engage in debate in seminars and we, too, should put ourselves outside our comfort zones on academic conference platforms to find our ‘flow’. conclusion: can is be conquered? this article began with the advice that we should confront our fears in order to conquer them. additionally, writing this journal reflection piece post conference has confirmed us in our absolute determination to confront is. jensen (2017) comments that many of us – academics and professional services staff – resist finding time to write or publish, fearing because of the influence of is that, though we may have “fooled everyone about our abilities”, “ the current writing project will be what blows our cover” (jensen, 2017, p.52). boice (1990, p.9) agrees that our “fear of failure” (wilson, 2019, p.196) is often what causes problems with our writing. if, as the literature and many self-confessions by academics seem to suggest, is is indeed rampant throughout academia (mcmillan, 2016, p.1), then conference presentation may be one significant measure towards eventually overcoming it. reference list boice, r. (1990) professors as writers: a self-help guide to productive writing. stillwater: new forums press. isbn 091350713x grayson, j. and mateo, d. (2019) ‘battling impostor syndrome: you persevered! luck has no place here.’ available at: https://rdw.rowan.edu/firstgenerationsymposium/2019/feb13/5/ (accessed: 09 september 2019). grimmett, h., forgasz, r., williams, j. and white, s. (2018) ‘reimagining the role of mentor teachers in professional experience: moving to i as fellow teacher educator.’ asia-pacific journal of teacher education, 46(4), 340-353. available at: https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/reimagining-the-role-of-mentor-teachers-inprofessional-experienc (accessed: 09 september 2019). jensen, j. (2017) write no matter what: advice for academics. chicago: the university of chicago press. isbn 022646170x. https://rdw.rowan.edu/firstgenerationsymposium/2019/feb13/5/ https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/reimagining-the-role-of-mentor-teachers-in-professional-experienc https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/reimagining-the-role-of-mentor-teachers-in-professional-experienc conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 jekielek, s.m., moore k.a., hair e.c. and scarupa, h.j. (2002) mentoring: a promising strategy for youth development. washington, dc: child trends. available at: https://www.childtrends.org/publications/mentoring-a-promising-strategy-for-youth-development (accessed: 13 april 2014). lumsden, k. (2019) ‘5 reflexivity in action: journeys through the professional and the personal1.’ reflexivity: theory, method, and practice. available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315692319 (accessed: 10 october 2019). mcmillan, b. (2016) ‘think like an impostor, and you'll go far in academia.’ available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/think-impostor-and-youll-go-far-academia (accessed: 08 july 2019). miller, a. (2002) mentoring students and young people. london: routledge. isbn 9780203417188. mullen, c.a. and lick, d.w (1999) new directions in mentoring: creating a culture of synergy. london: falmer press. isbn 9780750710114. revuluri, s. (2018) ‘how to overcome impostor syndrome.’ available at: https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-overcome-impostor/244700 (accessed: 02 february 2019). sipe, c. (2002) ‘mentoring programs for adolescents.’ journal of adolescent health, 31(6), 251-260. available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-11370-016 (accessed: 06 september 2019). wilson, e. (2019) ‘on academic writing.’ journal of new librarianship,4, 193-207. available at: https://www.newlibs.org/api/v1/articles/8238-on-academic-writing.pdf (accessed: 02 september 2019). zachary, l. (2002) the role of the teacher as a mentor. in: ross-gordon, j.m. (ed.) contemporary viewpoints on teaching adults effectively. danvers, ma: jossey-bass. isbn 0787962295 https://www.childtrends.org/publications/mentoring-a-promising-strategy-for-youth-development https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315692319 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/think-impostor-and-youll-go-far-academia https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-overcome-impostor/244700 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-11370-016 https://www.newlibs.org/api/v1/articles/8238-on-academic-writing.pdf welcome to our eighth issue of compass, which contains a number of firsts. a freshly designed front cover, in celebration of the second issue online, establishes a dynamic and colourful new feel. in recognition of the digital world in which we live and learn, we have a new format. in addition to research articles, case studies and opinion pieces, we now include technology reviews. for the first time, a response to an article in an earlier issue has been published, and we are delighted that the journal is fulfilling the conversational role that we always envisaged it would have. we hope that the articles in this edition will inspire other responses. compass provides a valuable forum for teaching and learning research as well as for articles submitted to the 2013 research excellence framework (ref). in the 11 articles published in this autumn issue, a number of themes emerge which sees the sector recovering from the dip in student recruitment, and the change in attitude and behaviour as institutions respond to government’s higher education white paper students at the heart of the system (2011). the digital world continues to exert its influence and make an impact on the content and type of articles submitted. in the first opinion piece, ray stoneham discusses the perennial topic of referencing. in our google era, he identifies shifts in academic practice regarding students’ search skills and an understanding of how information is organised. lynne jump critically explores the possibilities and drawbacks of the `flipped classroom’ in which the students individually study content, often provided as a lecture, and then participate in small group discussions where the tutor may provide more personalised support. andrew thompson’s response to an earlier article “teaching `dry’ subjects without tears”, by sandra clarke which appeared in compass number 3 in 2011, starts to develop a dialogue that touches on areas of student motivation and engagement, teacher experience, preparation and presentation, and threshold knowledge. one theme emerging in this issue is professional identity and its impact on career development. gemma richardson assesses the take-up of masters level primary mathematics continuing professional development (cpd). previous researchers have noted differences between male and female teachers and their view of their own academic identity. gemma considers whether reduced participation in cpd is due to the fact that many primary level teachers are female, who may not be considering promotion given the challenges of maintaining a work-life balance. students’ self identity is also a factor in mark betteney’s article in which he investigates students’ lack of risky behaviour. seeing themselves as acceptably “good”, rather than dangerously “outstanding”, he suggests, may lead students to keep to very safe lessons rather than venturing beyond the lesson plan in the teaching observation period. although this can result in a good grade, mark betteney’s view is that students need to move away from the safety of the perfect lesson in pursuit of the outstanding grade. higher education staff may already be familiar with the world café approach to facilitate group discussion that are popular in conferences and staff development events. jackie farr’s case study considers the effectiveness of the world café approach used in a revision seminar for her third year students, and the way in which it can promote interaction between different groupings of students. research-based learning has been the guiding principle behind angela laycock’s work on the comparative evaluation of rights mechanisms project that she has developed with her students. she maintains that participation in this project has encouraged deep learning in students as well as offering undergraduate students the opportunity to engage in the type of research more usually associated with postgraduate study. lastly, the three technology reviews cover a wide range of subject areas and technologies. anyone who has been searching for a user friendly system for conducting online seminars will want to read paul stoneman’s technology review of adobe connect, which he has used for webinars and online seminars. he has some suggestions for extending the use of this technology to record material for distance learners or for use at meetings. nola stair reviews bubbl.us, the free mind mapping software, and suggests inspiring ways of using it with third year students who produce mind maps in order to generate and organise their ideas for topics for their dissertations. sarah crofts explores how technology reviews by first year law students can be used as authentic assessment in the context of students’ library seminars. the compass team hope that you enjoy reading these articles and look forward to receiving your responses to them as well as your own articles for future issues. references bis (2011) higher education: students at the heart of the system. london: department for business, innovation and skills. available online at: http://www.bis.gov.uk//assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/h/11-944-higher-educationstudents-at-heart-of-system.pdf. (accessed 11 december 2013). author biography sarah crofts is a based in the greenwich campus library and is senior academic services librarian for law and criminology. she is interested in the general area of students’ digital literacy and is is co-author (with irene barranco, maggie leharne and rachael hartiss) of the iprogress online information skills course. sarah is also an associate teaching fellow and participates in teaching legal research on the law school courses. http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/h/11-944-higher-education-students-at-heart-of-system.pdf http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/h/11-944-higher-education-students-at-heart-of-system.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 learning how to read? the value of lectures in the context of he english literature1 dr. katarina stenke university of greenwich, london, uk abstract the increasing pace of change in today’s teaching and learning, the challenging employability environments and the plethora of new technologies now at the disposal of teachers may seem to render obsolete the older teaching and learning methodologies. however, this reflective case study suggests that one of the oldest delivery modes of all, the lecture, remains a relevant and potentially valuable way of connecting with and supporting students in their learning, particularly in subjects where students are expected to read at length or otherwise to engage with extended and complex discursive modes. this case study offers evidence and arguments for reconsidering the role of lectures in teaching and learning higher education english literature, taking as its evidence base levels 4 and 6 undergraduate english literature modules delivered in 2017-18 and 2018-19 at the university of greenwich. rather than dismissing – as does much recent research – lectures as encouraging ‘passive’ learning, this reflective study proposes lecturing as a teaching methodology with unique potential. introduction this reflective case study considers the value of lectures for teaching and learning in higher education (he) english literature, drawing on constructivism and social learning theory to re-think the function of lectures. the evidence base for the study consists of student and third-party observational feedback, along with the author’s own teaching experience, on levels 4 and 6 english literature modules delivered at the university of greenwich in 20172019. the argument made in this study is that traditional lectures should not be stigmatised as a medium encouraging passivity (fry, 2015, p.64), ineffective for promoting thought (as cited in bligh, 1972) or excessively teacher-led. instead, this study supports the findings of recent research that attest to the value of lectures across he (light et al., 2009, p.105; french and kennedy, 2017) and argues that, in the case of he english literature, this mode of teaching acts as a vital complement to other formats, one that can transform student affects in response to the subject matter and thus their attitudes towards it. history and context: teaching and learning literature at university 1 i would like to extend my thanks to the tutors on the university of greenwich pgcert in higher education, my participation in which was the initial prompt for the present case study; and to my greenwich colleagues in english literature, whose brilliant lectures constitute indisputable proof of the claims i make here. particular thanks go to ms sally alsford and dr john morton for their permission to quote excerpts from their unpublished reports (see appendix). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 english literature as a university subject dates from the early nineteenth century (scholes, 1998; graff, 1987), when lectures were the dominant formal learning activity (scholes, op.cit.). this may be contrasted to subjects in the sciences, such as chemistry, where practice-based learning, typically in laboratories, has been important since at least the eighteenth century. despite many changes to syllabus design, especially in the last thirty years, lectures continue to be a major component of most he english literature programmes in the united kingdom. the function of english literature lectures in today’s learning and teaching environment needs to be understood in the context of disciplinary learning norms. it is a striking yet underacknowledged fact that the most important learning activity for a student of he english literature is the independent reading of literature (chambers and marshall, 2006, p.136). in any given week, literature undergraduates will be asked to read hundreds of pages of imaginative and critical writing – and to read them more intensively and with a different kind of attention than would peers following other humanities subjects. as well as understanding what is being said, literature students are expected to pay attention to how it’s being said (young, 2008, p.62). what are the teaching and learning implications of the centrality of independent, long-form reading to the study of english literature? at the most basic level, one might suggest, students enrolled at university on a programme based on the reading of literature can and should be expected to become habituated to reading at length and are therefore likely to engage better than average with monologic, long-form teaching formats such as lectures. conversely, students who are being asked to develop the skills needed to read works of literature are likely to benefit from the experience of attending lectures, which may be said to consist of the oral and visual delivery of discourse and, as such, can themselves be considered a kind of text. given the correlation of the skill sets required and fostered by lectures and literary reading, the potential benefit of relying exclusively on conventional ‘practice-based’ group learning activities to support english literature students is less than self-evident. considering the attention span and independent development of comprehension required to read a victorian novel, for example, it seems dangerous to assume that the best mode of learning for such students will, necessarily and/or exclusively, involve short-form group exercises in a frequently rotating variety of formats. these claims seem to run counter not just to widely-disseminated studies arguing a deficit of student attention in lectures (lloyd, 1968; see wilson, 2007), but also to learning frameworks proposed by some of the most influential twentieth-century theories of teaching and learning. the next section considers constructivism and evaluates its usefulness in the specific context of university of greenwich ba english literature students, drawing on evidence from the author’s seminar-based teaching and third-party feedback. after arguing that student-led, constructivist approaches as instantiated in seminar teaching, while undoubtedly valuable, are not sufficient in themselves for encouraging learning in english literature, the study considers lectures as complements to seminar learning and discusses lectures given as part of level 4 and level 6 english literature modules delivered in 2017/18 and 2018/19 at the university of greenwich. subsequent to this discussion is a brief list of lecture strategies that the author has found to foster active learning and positive attitudes case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 towards set reading among students. finally, the study turns to social learning theory to reconceptualise the role of lectures in the discipline-specific context. constructivism in seminar-based learning for english literature levels 4-6 at the university of greenwich, english literature students at levels 4, 5 and 6 are mostly taught via a combination of lectures and seminars. each week, for a given module, they will attend a two-hour session consisting of a fifty-minute lecture followed by a fifty-minute seminar. for this session, they will be expected to have completed a reading assignment. in 2017/18, the author underwent two third-party observations (tpos), one by a school mentor, dr john morton, of a lecture for the level 4 module ‘the canon’ and one by a postgraduate certificate in education (pgce) in he observer, ms sally alsford, of a full twohour session for the level 6 ‘literature of the eighteenth-century’ module. students on these modules also completed an end-of-year evaluative feedback form. as in other humanities subjects, activityand discussion-based seminars are key to the teaching of these modules, yet to be successful they need to fulfil certain criteria. from a constructivist point of view, learning is most likely to be successful when it is ‘constructed’, ‘active’, ‘reflective’, ‘collaborative’, ‘enquiry-based’ and ‘evolving’ (papert, 1993). by these criteria, one of the crucial tasks for a teacher is to foster an environment where individuals feel 1) empowered to construct their learning actively, alongside and in ‘collaboration’ with their peers and 2) confident enough to engage in collective enquiry and reflection. for this, a minimum group consensus is required in order to allow conversations to develop. additionally, as far as group learning in english literature is concerned, ‘active’ critical debate among students is impossible if there is no common basis of textual knowledge – i.e. what constructivists would term shared ‘schemata’ (piaget 1950) – on which to apply the critical analyses and syntheses that are central to the practice of english literature as a discipline. one way of ensuring that everyone engages in a seminar is to plan activities that don’t rely on prior module-specific knowledge. for example, the second tpo (january 2018), observed by pgce in he tutor alsford, included an activity requiring students to (re-)read one of the two set scatological poems by the eighteenth-century writer jonathan swift, mapping the various body parts mentioned on a printed skeleton. the aim was to draw attention to the divergent manner in which swift invokes the body in each of the respective works. students responded well and alsford, in her verbal feedback, commented favourably on the exercise, though she added that students would ideally have moved from structured analysis to open, student-led synthesis, a process that could have been stimulated by appropriate questions on my part.2 that exercise used a format popular in the discipline, namely to provide short passages from the set text – which can be read and analysed in five to ten minutes – that the attendees close (re-)read before responding to questions or discussion points in groups. such an activity thus effectively provides the textual and historical ‘data’ – and the ‘schemata’ – in seminar. this provides a basis of shared knowledge and allows meaningfully evidenced 2 details of this tpo report, with relevant excerpts, are given in the appendix. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 arguments to develop, but the trade-off is that solitary (re-)reading takes up time that could be used for developing critical and analytical skills in group settings. furthermore, as alsford recognized, the wider contexts of a given passage, and the higher levels of the bloom taxonomy, tend to get left to one side. lastly, not just in this instance but also in my wider experience, generally less-engaged students tend to remain so. thus in this kind of group activity, the disparity between those who have completed the set reading and those who haven’t persists. the former are able and often keen to contextualise the short passage with reference to the set reading as a whole, and tend to feel frustrated if they are in the minority. by contrast, those who haven’t completed the preparatory reading tend to fall silent and dis-engage once discussion moves to incorporate the whole text. in short, where a sizeable proportion of students have not completed the preparatory reading, the potential ‘constructive’ outcomes of seminar-based learning remain limited regardless of in-seminar strategies designed to level the playing field. one of the key challenges in he english literature teaching is therefore to find ways of supporting and encouraging students to complete the required reading. based on informal polls among my own students, i estimate that sixty per cent of students who attend a level 4 or 5 core seminar will regularly admit to not having completed the set reading – this, despite the fact that reading is carefully paced to be manageable for students and is only slightly more substantial than the volume of reading expected of a-level english literature students. analysis: lectures as complements to seminars considering these challenges, and on the evidence of the present case study, it seems likely that a conventional lecture – acting as an advertisement for and introduction to the set text, habituating students to academic and literary discourse and modelling best practice in reading attention and academic argument – has the potential to foster positive attitudes to learning materials, get students reading and encourage active learning, both in seminars and during independent study. this, i propose, works in several ways. lectures, at their most basic, can ensure a minimum cross-group level of contextual/textual knowledge in advance of seminars, where, as we have seen, constructive learning relies on students’ having a shared basis of textual and contextual knowledge on which to practise critical and other skills. furthermore, where students are initially unwilling to engage in ‘flipped’ learning outside the classroom (steen-utheim and foldnes, 2018), i have found that successful lectures can help to enthuse as well as inform, so that learners leave the classroom more confident and engaged and therefore more likely to tackle future preparatory reading assignments. the lectures delivered for the english literature ba are frequently mentioned in the positive feedback column of student evaluation surveys as engaging and informative, views supported by third-party observation reports.3 in both of the tpos, the observers commented on the evident engagement and attention of the students and the positive relationship between students and lecturer; they also praised 3 these quotations are from the aforementioned tpo report by john morton (2017) and from university of greenwich student evaluation surveys from the modules under discussion. see appendix for details of and the relevant excerpts from these sources. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 the interest of the materials – this is also typical of lectures by colleagues.4 additionally, in several of my first-year core module seminars, students who verbally admitted to not having read the text added that attending the lecture motivated and equipped them to tackle the text in advance of the following week’s session. this evidence emphasises the fact that lectures don’t just – or even primarily – convey information. they have the potential to offer a live demonstration of how to read and of how the abstruse material of a literary work can be transformed into personalised meaning; they also advertise set texts as worth reading. consequently, they can transform students’ affects in response to a text, enthusing them to attempt extensive independent reading. drawing on the evidence discussed in this analysis and identifying common techniques from positively-evaluated lectures in my subject area, i suggest that lecture strategies for enthusing english literature students and fostering independent reading of literary texts might include: • explicitly sharing personal enthusiasm for, and enjoyment of, reading in general and of the set text in particular, while allowing students the space to articulate their own responses; • clearly articulating the benefits to students of reading and engaging critically with a given text; (these benefits might be learning-specific – e.g. ‘this text is a great example of how novels can use point of view to shape reader sympathies’; ‘reading this elizabethan sonnet will be helpful to you in future reading assignments, because its rhetorical and metrical strategies are imitated, developed and parodied in so many of the poems you’ll be reading over the next few years’ – or they might be at the level of enjoyment or personal meaning – ‘although this book initially seems rather serious in tone, later chapters are very funny; if you get as far as chapter 5 you’ll be rewarded with a comical set piece on…’; ‘if you’ve ever experienced x you may find this work really speaks to you, because…’) • taking time to ‘narrativise’ the lecture – for instance by announcing the kind of critical argument that will be made across (a section of) it or the kind of historical narrative that will be traced and by reminding students that these are practices they are expected to demonstrate in assessments; (this adds a sense of purpose to the sequence of materials and gives the students a way of connecting to the lecture beyond the interest/relevance of information provided.) • reflecting in-lecture on the lecturer’s own readings of set texts – especially difficulties they might have experienced as a reader before beginning to enjoy a challenging work – or the different ways they might have interpreted a text before deciding on how to present it in the lecture; (the aim here is communicate to students that it is possible to learn to enjoy reading a work that initially seems challenging. it can also be a way of reminding students that lectures not only present information but are also the outcomes of reading processes and critical analyses – skills that they themselves are developing.) 4 see appendix. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 • regularly noting the diversity of critical views that exist of a given work; (this can help activate students’ sense of agency as readers, by showing them that there are many ways of responding to a text and that these freedoms are available to them as readers.) • pinpointing connections between the – often historical and contextually remote – texts and students’ existing knowledge, experience and interests, such as current events, shared life experiences, cultural practices etc; (this offers a shared ‘schemata’ within which both lecturer and students are able to connect to a text and engage meaningfully with it.) • using in-lecture surveys or questions (via mentimeter or similar software) to help create collective ‘schemata’, foster inclusivity and enhance engagement. in implementing such strategies, it would be crucial to ensure constructive alignment between these elements of the lecture and the seminars to follow. re-theorising english literature lectures bearing the above in mind, how might we make use of established teaching and learning theory to understand discipline-specific learning parameters as well as how lectures operate, not necessarily in general he or humanities contexts, but specifically for english literature? one approach would be to challenge the hidden assumptions in such theories that misrecognise the nature of reading and of lectures as a teaching format and to re-tool the theory so that it can help us optimise our lectures. theories that at first sight seem inapplicable to literature studies and to contra-indicate lectures might thus allow us to reimagine their function and effects. take, for instance, social learning. one way to apply this theory to lectures is to argue that in a diverse and disaggregated student body, lectures help establish what etienne wenger terms ‘a community of practice’, in which subsequent active and social learning can develop (wenger, 1998; wenger, mcdermott and synder, 2002). yet many aspects of social learning theory militate against such a format. just as for papert, who argues that ‘the construction that takes place in the head’ often happens especially felicitously when it is supported by construction of a more public sort ‘in the world’ (papert, 1993, p.142), social learning theory prioritises world over mind. thus, for wenger, distraction-free, classroom-based (wenger, 1998, p.3) learning is suboptimal, because natural learning and the application of what we learn take place in social situations and situations in the ‘outside world’ (ibid.) teachers should therefore avoid artificially separating learning from ‘the world’ (ibid.), and instead learn from how learning happens in society, with techniques that encourage practice and active engagement of learners. but where does that leave reading, a practice which after all relies on an act of mental concentration which temporarily neglects ‘the world’ in favour of the text? must we assume that reading and learning are incompatible? if so, how do we learn how to read? and does this mean that the lecture – where, supposedly, the student body silently attends to the lecturer (itself a poor approximation of what actually happens in lectures) – must also be regarded as divorced from community and that, therefore, whatever it offers will fail to transfer to ‘the outside world’ (whatever or wherever that may be)? case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 in order to resolve these apparent impasses, it’s worth thinking carefully about that boundary wenger invokes, between ‘outside world’ and ‘classroom’. following the work of critical theorists in the late-twentieth century – and especially in the still-unfolding aftermath of the electronic revolution – we may wish to be wary of such neat borders. firstly, the hermetically sealed classroom or lecture hall or student room needs to be recognised as a straw man that never existed, since work by thinkers as diverse as michel foucault and bruno latour has made clear that social hierarchies, practices, dynamics and behaviours permeate inescapably into even the most sterile institutional and domestic environments (foucault, 1991; latour, 2005); the theories of freud and those post-structuralist thinkers who have developed his work further suggest that the very subject (whether teacher or learner) is, to an extent, a social world in itself, a shifting amalgam of competing impulses and discourses constituted out of a wider (social) world of language and action (lacan, 2001). secondly, once we introduce technology into the learning space, the border between inside and out becomes still more uncertain and permeable. perhaps the lecture hall and the student reading room are not so unor anti-social after all. with these qualifications in mind, a helpful term found elsewhere in social learning theory is that of learning ‘contexts’. in her introduction to understanding practice, the anthropologist jean lave writes that if context is viewed as a social world constituted in relation with persons acting, both context and activity seem inescapably flexible and changing. and thus characterized, changing participation and understanding in practice – the problem of learning – cannot help but become central as well (lave, 1993, p.5) social worlds are made up of people acting and relating in particular, ever-changing situations. as such, learning (defined as a process that ‘changes’ the way people act and relate) must also be socially ‘situated’. how might that work for teaching and learning english literature? if we now recognise that ‘social worlds’ may include those constituted by electronic social media, it’s worth remembering similarly that discourse itself – in printed or electronic form – should also be considered as a kind of social world, ‘a multi-dimensional space’, where, as roland barthes has argued, ‘a variety of writings…blend and clash’ (barthes, 2009, p.146). when students are enabled to enter the world of a literary text, they don’t find there an arid, authoritarian voice, but a teeming polyphony. the difficulty is learning to recognise, comprehend and then interact with that polyphonic discourse as a special type of social setting, to acquire and practise a set of skills relating to knowledge-acquisition and interpretation in that situation. conclusion with these demands in mind and recognising that lecture-attendance is not – any more than is solitary reading – an ‘unsocial’ or ‘unworldly’ experience, lectures may perhaps best be seen as offering a valuable bridge between student and text, shaping communities of practice by creating an intermediate social space. in this way, they can both stimulate critical thinking and promote reflective engagement. lectures, seen through this modified social-learning lens, share both the apparent monovocality and density of a literary text and the interpersonal setting and informal discourse case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 which we normally regard as typical of the ‘outside world’. the interpersonal nature of the lecture becomes clearer still if we see live lectures as social events, where both lecturer and students may be considered as actors. students in such a setting continuously perform their attention and engagement (or lack thereof) and their continuing professionalisation, feeding this back to both lecturer and peers and thereby inhabiting a posture of scholarship in ways that can shape their sense of identity and thus their ability to act as scholarly learners. this potential for lecturers to be subtly but powerfully interactive is intensified further still if student-engagement applications such as mentimeter are used to foster a sense of real-time community and investment and, by that means, to enrich the ‘schemata’ acquired by students working separately. moreover, one of the things that a lecture might achieve is to perform the process of reading itself, by means of narrative structures that dramatise the readerly progress from unfamiliarity to understanding. in this sense, then, understood as community-building performance, lectures offer the opportunity both to communicate ideas, facts and codes that may be deployed as a shared resource by the student group and to introduce students to unfamiliar ‘situations’. lectures, in short, might constitute an experiential process that would successfully and meaningfully shape responses, transform attitudes, and, thereby, ‘change behaviours’ (lave, op.cit.). this potential naturally relies on lectures’ having been carefully designed to achieve these different outcomes. in order to provide a more systematic study of strategies for achieving these outcomes, the author aims to conduct a longitudinal study to trial design principles and monitor outcomes. reference list barthes, r. (1977) ‘death of the author.’ in: image, music, text. new york: polity press. isbn: 9780006861355. biggs, j. and tang, c. (2009) teaching for quality learning at university. 3rd edn. maidenhead: open university press. isbn: 9780335201716. bligh, d. (1998) what’s the use of lectures? 5th edn. exeter: intellect. isbn: 9781871516791. bloom, b. (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives. handbook i: the cognitive domain. new york, ny: david mc kay. isbn: 9780582323865. brown, s. and race, p. (2002) lecturing: a practical guide. location: kogan page. isbn: 9780749436711. chambers, e. and marshall, g. (2006) teaching and learning english literature. london: sage publications. isbn: 9780761941729. fry, h., ketteridge, s., marshall, s. (2015) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education. 4th edn. abingdon: routledge. isbn: 9780415709965. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 french, s. and kennedy, g. (2017) ‘reassessing the value of university lectures.’ teaching in higher education, 22(6), 639-654. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1273213 (accessed: 12 december 2019). foucault, m. (1991) discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. harmondsworth: penguin. isbn: 9780140137224. graff, g. (1987) professing literature: an institutional history. chicago: university of chicago press. isbn: 9780226305592 lacan, j. (2001) écrits: a selection. abingdon, oxon: routledge. isbn: 9780415253925. latour, b. (2005) reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network-theory. oxford: oxford university press. isbn: 9780199256044. lave, j. (1993) ‘the practice of learning.’ in: chaiklin, s. and lave, j. (eds.), understanding practice: perspectives on activity and context. cambridge: cambridge university press, 332. isbn 9780511625510. available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511625510. (accessed: 13 december 2019). light, g., cox, r. and calkins, s. (2009) learning and teaching in higher education: the reflective professional. london: sage. isbn: 9781446243763. lloyd, d.h. (1968) ‘a concept of improvement of learning response in the taught lesson.’ visual education, october, 23-25. papert, s. (1993) the children's machine: rethinking schools in the age of the computer. new york: basic books. isbn: 9780465018307. piaget, j. (1950, repr. 2001) the pyschology of intelligence, trans.d piercy m. and berlyne, e. london: routledge and kegan paul. isbn: 9780415254014. race, p. (2007) the lecturer’s toolkit. 3rd edn. london: routledge. isbn: 978041540383. scholes, r. (1998) the rise and fall of english: reconstructing english as a discipline. new haven: yale university press. isbn: 9780300080841. steen-utheim, a.t. and foldnes, n. (2018) ‘a qualitative investigation of student engagement in a flipped classroom.’ teaching in higher education, 23(3), 307-324. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1379481(accessed: 12 december 2019). wenger, e. (1998) communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. cambridge: cambridge university press. isbn: 9789521663632. wenger, e., mcdermott, r. and synder, w. (2002) cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. boston, ma: harvard business school press. isbn: 9781422131107. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511625510 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 10 wilson, k., korn, j. (2007) ‘attention during lectures: beyond ten minutes’, teaching in psychology, 34 (2), 85-89. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00986280701291291 (accessed: 12 december 2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/00986280701291291 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 11 appendix the claims of this case study refer to data from unpublished sources. see below for details 1) sally alsford, third party observation (tpo) report on k. stenke, 2-hour combined lecture and seminar for university of greenwich level 6 module ‘school for scandal: literature of the long eighteenth century’, undertaken in january 2018. this observation was one of the required elements of a pgcert in higher education at the university of greenwich, undertaken by the author. ms sally alsford was at that time the programme director as well as one of the programme tutors. excerpts relevant to this study: ‘[the students] were clearly listening and learning in the more teacher-led/lecture parts of the session’. ‘[the observee was] very good at engaging students’. ‘i really liked [the observee’s] use of images, and the lists/skeleton activity, and students responded well to this, also to working in pairs where they were clearly learning collaboratively’. ‘i think [the seminar] should perhaps be stretching them further to develop their critical evaluation and analysis (especially at level 6), eliciting analytical points and examples from them, asking them more questions to help them develop their analysis and argument.’ 2) john morton, third party observation report on k. stenke, 1-hour lecture for university of greenwich level 4 module ‘the canon: a short history of western literature’, undertaken in december 2017. this observation was one of the required elements of a pgcert in higher education at the university of greenwich, undertaken by the author. dr john morton is associate professor in english literature at the university of greenwich. he undertook the observation in the capacity of pgcert mentor to the author. excerpts relevant to this study: ‘the communication of ideas was clear, informal, and precise. students were asked questions (and not given answers) on knowledge […] and [on their reading] response […] which encouraged active learning and engagement.’ ‘there were […] links back to other texts and topics from the course, encouraging a community of knowledge.’ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 12 ‘students clearly felt comfortable and there were some nice nods to their own lives […]. the introduction through shared knowledge helped to build confidence.’ 3) feedback from student evaluation surveys on level 4 english literature module ‘the canon: a short history of western literature’, university of greenwich, 2017-2018 and level 6 english literature module ‘school for scandal: literature of the long eighteenth century’, 2017-18 and 2018-19. the survey data are collected and compiled via evasys (https://evasys.co.uk/) excerpts relevant to this study: • ‘the lecture[r]s were great’ (‘the canon’, 2017-18) • “i like the format of lectures where a lecture is given and then activities are discussed in groups and later discussed as a class” (‘school for scandal’, 2017-18) • [the author] ‘deliver[ed] the lecture so that you understand everything’ (‘school for scandal’, 2018-19) conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 “a brain to pick, an ear to listen and a push in the right direction” (john c. crosby) catherine farrant, julia tybura, melanie rafe (khi), nelly ackon; marie-christin schmidt, amonlath chantaboury university of greenwich, uk abstract this paper provides the context and background to a ‘student peer mentoring’ scheme that was co-created with students and piloted within the business faculty in university of greenwich. we reflect on sharing this experience at the annual shift1 conference on teaching, learning and assessment and the lessons learned that will support the further development of this scheme. key themes that arose were around the value of mentoring to support first year students and the benefit for mentors in terms of their own self confidence and development as evidenced by their contribution to shift. lessons learnt were the need to provide more guidance to mentees in preparation for mentoring and providing supervision support to mentors to allow them to reflect on issues that arise out of mentoring. our complex approach to evaluation was challenged given the small numbers of numbers of mentors and mentees. we concluded that qualitative evidence gives enough support for the success of this scheme. it is planned to provide mentor training to all students on a voluntary basis leading to enhanced peer relationships and support. keywords: peer mentoring; student support; retention; active listening; development introduction overview four student mentors and two academics – both qualified coaches – from the business faculty of university of greenwich shared, at shift 20211, an overview of the human resource and organisational behaviour department’s ‘student peer mentoring’ scheme. this scheme was initiated by the year 1 programme lead to provide an additional layer of support, beyond that provided by academic and personal tutors. the lead academics were mindful of the purpose of mentoring, a mentor’s journey alongside the mentee to guide the latter’s own decision-making. mentors were trained using the arnold (2016) characteristics of mentoring and the ‘stop think ask reflect trust’ (start) framework. we recruited fifteen mentors only half-way through the autumn term, owing to logistic challenges caused by the pandemic. we recruited them on a voluntary basis; they qualified by being on a relevant undergraduate programme and having the motivation to be mentors. 1 a teaching, learning and assessment conference organised annually by university of greenwich. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 pedagogy and design we provided student mentors with a two-hour training workshop, predicated on research by gray et al. (2016) which encourages ‘active listening’ and ‘powerful questioning’. we see these as a firm basis for helping mentees “maximise their personal and professional potential” (icf, 2017). we shared with them the arnold (2016) mentoring framework (table 1) to help them to understand what mentoring is: advises and suggests shares knowledge and experience may need to make judgements guides to a decision leads by example gives examples and ideas helps to develop may work over a long period is usually more experienced takes a broader view stands close can feel responsible table 1: the arnold mentoring framework and provided them with the start framework (arnold, 2016) as an approach to mentoring. we also shared the grow (goals, reality, options, will) model (whitmore, 2017) as one means of helping mentees identify what they want to achieve. following the workshop, the mentors, having been allocated forty-five mentees between them, connected with half of these by end of term 1. at this point, catherine farrant, lead tutor, held a supervision session with mentors, in order to listen to their experiences so far, identify issues and offer support. supervision helped them reflect on skills and approaches and threw up some interesting issues concerning transference, by which we mean that the mentor takes on some of the anxieties of the mentee (mccauley 2003) and demonstrates self-doubt. the supervision session helped them to understand the importance of setting clear boundaries in relation to what support a mentor can offer as distinct from counselling or personal tutor support (arnold, 2016) and begin to develop self-confidence in their mentoring role (couchman 2009). subsequent surveys and interviews gathered feedback from mentors and mentees. early indicators were that the scheme was successful at developing mentor skill and confidence and that those mentees who engaged did benefit. our original plan was complex – to analyse a range of hard data and measure impact on academic outcomes and self-efficacy (zimmerman et al., 1992). co-presenting at shift has led to reflection on the viability of this ambition. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 reflection reflection is a key part of coaching and mentoring interventions and “plays a crucial role in progressing understanding in paradoxical situations” (gray et al., 2016, p.106). as the theme of the conference was co-creation with students, we asked student mentors to reflect on their mentoring experience and present this at the conference. their presentation reflections are summarised here: khi became worried that her mentees were not engaging with her and took this personally when it was not her fault and was simply due to conflicting demands and time constraints for both mentor and mentee. her evident anxiety coupled with the feedback from other mentors; tell us we need to provide some guidance to mentees on how to plan for and make the most of their mentoring sessions. we also need to start the process earlier, before assignment pressure begins, to give time for relationships to form. additionally, khi’s experience underlines the importance of supervision as a way to share ideas and reassure mentors about their role and contribution (bachkirova et al., 2012). nelly reflected that a student peer mentor is perceived as more accessible and relatable than a personal tutor and can act as a bridge or supplement to personal tutoring. this means mentors need to be clear about how to manage boundaries, understanding when they need to refer to a specialist academic tutor or mental health support counsellor (barnett, 2008). this was underlined by marie-christin, whose very challenging case – a late starter with no timetable and missed assignments – led her, proactively, to seek support and guidance from her mentoring supervisor. and finally, cert shared an eloquent video-clip on how developmental being a mentor was for her – enhancing her self-confidence and personal growth. presenting at shift as well as attending a range of presentations was a new experience for our student mentors nelly, khi and marie-christin and caused them to have many conflicting feelings. “i started feeling extremely nervous”; “i was excited, curious and nervous to present”; “anxiety had me fidgeting behind the screen undetected”; “i’m really looking forward to this!” the students were hugely proud of themselves once the presentation finished and we and they evaluated their contribution as highly effective. it was energising to see how capable and engaged our students are and what an enormous contribution they can make to the institution and its community. they added huge value to the discussion, fielding questions and sharing insights. “everything worked out as planned, and we got good feedback about the scheme and the presentation”; conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 “…by the time i was sharing my experience as a student mentor, i felt comfortable”; “the students presented very well, and we got some great questions and positive feedback”. they learnt from this experience of presenting and also much more from the other talks they attended. “it was an invaluable experience, where i developed personally very much, learned a lot about many important topics, and i got insights about the teaching perspective at the university. it showed me how much is being done to make universities a better place”; “i was glad that my contribution gave people some insight as i have also gained insights about different interesting topics”; “… one earlier speaker highlighted the support needed for older mature students returning to he impressed me, as i related the points raised to my experiences”; “… it provided a deeper insight into he on a macro level, and the presentation experience will strengthen my skills and confidence for a video interview”. through this novel experience, students gained valuable knowledge, presentation and teamworking skills and thus improved their academic and employability skills. more importantly, they contributed to an important discussion about how we can harness the power of student relationships and peer support to engage the wider community, improving student outcomes and retention. we reflected that use of mentors were effective ‘listening ears’ providing opportunities for mentees to ‘pick their brains’ and giving them a ‘push in the right direction’ (crosby nd). to train mentors phenomenologically seems to us a powerful approach, enabling serendipitous insights into mentoring, while also considering the notion of choice (watson, 2002; burnes, 2017). as coaches, we have reflected on the need for deeper and more structured supervision of mentors. we have identified the need to recruit and train mentors earlier, to allow the relationship time to develop before the pressures of academic achievement build up. we recognise the challenge of finding hard measures for outcomes; as this was a small sample, measuring both academic outcomes and self-efficacy quantitatively will not provide meaningful data. we continue to gather the data and hope over time to have a meaningful sample size. we will meanwhile, gather qualitative feedback to identify impact on both mentees and mentors at the end of term 2. lastly, it seems to us that giving all students mentoring skills will enhance their own selfefficacy and allow them to provide support and challenge to each other more effectively. we conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 plan to offer extended mentoring workshops that allow practice in triads, with follow-up supervision for all students as a voluntary choice, building a more informal community of practice (wenger-trayner and wenger-trayner, 2015) where all can reflect, share and learn in a different way. reference list arnold, j. (2016) coaching skills for leaders in the workplace. how to unlock potential and maximise performance. 2nd edition. london: robinson. isbn: 978-1845285685 bachkirova, t., jackson p. and clutterbuck d. (2011) coaching and mentoring supervision: theory and practice: the complete guide to best practice. maidenhead: oup. isbn: 9780335242986 barnett, j. (2008) ‘mentoring, boundaries and multiple relationships: opportunities and challenges.’ mentoring and tutoring, partnership in learning, 16(1), 3-16. burnes, b. (2017) managing change. london: pearson. isbn: 9781292156040 couchman, j.a. (2009) ‘an exploration of the lived experience of one cohort of academic peer mentors at a small australian university.’ journal of peer learning, (2)5, 87-110. available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36977047.pdf (accessed: 18 may 2021). crosby, j.c. (nd) available at: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=74032&section=2.1 (accessed:18 may 2021) gray, d.e., garvey b. and lane d.a. (2016) a critical introduction to coaching and mentoring: debates, dialogues and discourses. london: sage. isbn: 9781446272282 icf (2017) ‘icf core competencies.’ available at: https://coachfederation.org/corecompetencies (accessed: 18 may 2021). mcauley, m. (2003) ‘transference, countertransference and mentoring: the ghost in the process.’ the british journal of guidance and counselling, 31(1),11-23. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233606774_transference_countertransference_an d_mentoring_the_ghost_in_the_process (accessed: 18 may 2021). watson, a. (2003) ‘strategists and strategy-making: strategic exchange and the shaping of individual lives and organisational futures.’ journal of management studies, 40(5). https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00381 wenger-trayner, e. and wenger-trayner, b. (2015) ‘introduction to communities of practice.’ available at: https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ (accessed: 17 february 2021). whitmore, j. (2017) coaching for performance: the principles and practice of coaching and leadership. 5th edition. london: nicholas brealey publishing. isbn: 978-1473658127 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36977047.pdf https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=74032&section=2.1 https://coachfederation.org/core-competencies https://coachfederation.org/core-competencies https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233606774_transference_countertransference_and_mentoring_the_ghost_in_the_process https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233606774_transference_countertransference_and_mentoring_the_ghost_in_the_process https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00381 https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 6 zimmerman, b.j, and martinez-pons, m. (1992) ‘self-motivation for academic attainment: the role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting.’ american educational research journal, 29(3), 663-676. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1163261 (accessed: 18 may 2021). https://www.jstor.org/stable/1163261 welcome to the seventh edition of compass, the university of greenwich’s learning and teaching journal. this edition marks a significant development in the journal’s evolution as it is our first fully online publication. we believe that our online journal will be not only more environmentally friendly, but also more readable, more accessible, and more visible to the higher education learning and teaching community. it is through the hard work of gillian keyms, simon walker and jad orlinska that this online plan for compass has come to fruition. this edition brings together opinion pieces and case studies based on presentations and workshops delivered at the university of greenwich’s 2012 summer conferences. the conferences offered colleagues from inside and outside the university an opportunity to discuss and debate learning and teaching issues. we see this edition of the journal as a means of taking those discussions forwards. the fifth annual learning and teaching conference, shift, took place on 3 july 2012. it was entitled inspiring teachers: learning and leading in academic practice. the conference began with a master class in threshold concepts by professor ray land from durham university, which developed ideas seeded during his keynote in the 2011 learning and teaching conference. the conference closed with a dynamic (late night for the presenter) video conference keynote from andrew douch, a practising teacher from australia, who won the microsoft worldwide innovative teacher award in 2008. six papers in this edition come from the shift conference.  patrick ainley’s (school of education) opinion piece offers a critical review of stefan collini’s recent book what are universities for ? patrick argues that education is never for its own sake – it is much more important than that.  while patrick provided a book review (note future editions of compass will have a separate book review section), noel-ann bradshaw (school of computing and mathematical science) and karen richardson (it and library services)’s case study shows how a book review assignment encouraged mathematics students to read more.  my own opinion piece (karen smith, educational development unit) shows how my experience of presenting at the shift conference in the novel pecha kucha format led me to introduce a pecha kucha assignment into the university of greenwich’s postgraduate certificate in higher education.  muhammad ali imran (university of surrey) and kamrad arshad (school of engineering)’s case study also describes the introduction of innovative learning approaches. they outline the use of flipped classroom and just-in-time teaching techniques to enhance learning amongst postgraduate engineering students.  jane stokes (school of health and social care) and keena cummins (independent speech and language therapist) share their experiences of using videos with speech therapy students in order to enhance their students’ reflective practice and subsequent professional development.  finally, ray stoneham and matt pritchard (school of computing and mathematical sciences) ask through their opinion piece whether students actually read or access online feedback. they offer areas for future research and development. the tenth e-learning conference, apt, took place on 4 july 2012. it was entitled employer engagement in a digital age and it welcomed delegates from across the uk. it was opened with a keynote by education consultant marcus orlovksy and closed with a panel discussion around the theme: ‘in a digital age, how and what should universities be teaching’. four papers from this conference appear in this edition.  within their opinion piece, sheila mcneill (jisc) and bill johnston (strathclyde university) propose a framework for the strategic development of a digital university within the modern age. they map ideas for greenwich connect initiative to the framework.  linda bennett (gold leaf consultancy)’s case study reports on the introduction of electronic textbooks at the university of plymouth, offering staff and student views of working with electronic resources as part of a first year psychology programme.  julie laxton (university of leeds), paul dagg, janet hargreaves, duane laverick, and carrie mitchell (university of huddersfield) provide a case study that describes a collaborative project between staff and students to develop a freely available self-assessment tool to rate students’ preparedness to enter professional practice.  ian carruthers-jones (business school) describes the introduction of a mobiledevice-enabled (ipad) blended learning environment to support part-time professional postgraduate students on a human resource management programme. the intervention had a positive impact on student learning. the articles in this edition of compass cover a range of learning, teaching and assessment issues. hopefully, there will be something of interest to all readers. we hope to see you at the 2013 conferences. the apt conference, next generation learning spaces and work places, will take place on 2 july 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/apt2013). the shift conference, sharing practice, developing community, will take place on 3 july 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/shift2013). dr karen smith, managing editor http://tinyurl.com/apt2013 http://tinyurl.com/shift2013 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 teaching a master of professional practice in games development a case study of the ‘mprof’ in games development at abertay university ken fee abertay university introduction as game companies continue to monitor university courses with a high degree of suspicion, graduates themselves often struggle when trying to adapt to a professional, team-based, industry. this case study reflects on the key design considerations, issues and lessons learned in the development and delivery of a master of professional practice (mprof) of computer games development at abertay over the five years since it started. the main focus of the discussion is the area of applied practical aptitude rather than additional research or technical skills development. as programme tutor (course leader) responsible for the approval and delivery of ‘the mprof’, the author drew upon twenty years of experience as both an industrial practitioner and an academic within the field of computer games development and research, combined with interviews with students and graduates. in addition, a review of data was conducted, including assessment and grade analysis, module report forms, external examiner comments and feedback, industry mentor comments and feedback and employment destination records, in order accurately to report and comment on these aspects of the paper. collaborations with students and academic colleagues from other institutions proved invaluable in further expanding the picture of professional practice to encompass a global as well as a national and regional context. in addition, the author consulted with representatives from a further twenty-five professional companies 1 , representing a cross-section of modern games development from consoles to tablet and mobile platform developers. it is hoped that, through the employment of such a process of review and reflection, this paper portrays an informed discussion on the difficulties the games industry presents as a subject of study within this area of academic delivery and may also offer some useful insights or views as to how they may potentially be addressed. the challenge as degrees in game study 2 related areas were increasing in availability, by 2008, shortfalls in graduate ability were becoming all the more apparent as more sought to enter the industry; indeed, by 2010, the uk government itself had asked experts in the field of games development to report on how the drain of uk-based expertise should be addressed (livingstone hope review, nesta, 2011). further comments regarding undergraduates – as well as comments from undergraduates themselves – made it clear that graduates were 1 the companies involved were denki, tag, ruffian, ninja kiwi, digital goldfish, rockstar north, crytek, codemasters, travellers’ tales, sony, microsoft, outplay, 4j’s, stormcloud, dice, blizzard, relic, ea, ea mobile, blitz, jagex, kabam, longtail studios, yoyo games and eeogeo. 2 game studies is the general term given to a wide range of discipline-based activities that form part of the process involved in the creation of computer games – typically interactive design, art, code, audio and marketing. creative skillset identifies these areas in more detail than is practical here and is available at: http://www.skillset.org/games/industry/skills/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 perhaps being educated in theory and rhetoric at the expense of practical skills and experience. certainly, for reasons highlighted below, it was actually exceptionally rare for game industry practitioners to play any active role in these courses, leading inevitably to queries from both students and industry as to who exactly was teaching these courses, if no staff had ever made a game professionally. the scottish government, seeing the global success stories of such titles as ‘lemmings’, ‘grand theft auto’ and ‘crackdown’, was also very keen to help scotland and abertay further develop and maintain its strong technical and commercial reputation within the games industry 3 . a well-established and successful university in the field of games education, abertay was the logical choice to accept these challenges, with a proven track record of programme and graduate success as well as an extremely strong network of industry supporters. the ideal solution seemed to be to create one of the first ‘master of professional practice’ courses in fact the first within this area of study – whose emphasis would be on graduate employability and ‘real-world’ behaviours that industry so craved, rather than delivery of a more traditional msc programme which might still have focused on solitary study or theory. this led naturally to discussion within and between the university and industrial partners 4 , with the aim of identifying in more detail the precise concerns about game graduates at that time, in terms of their employability. the key concerns were identified as: 1. students’ acquired working habits were very unsatisfactory, such as leaving work until the last minute, not working in a structured manner, working only on things of personal interest or within comfort zone, poor punctuality, poor communication and poor responses to direction and feedback. 2. real-world-applicable skills and awareness were inadequate. students chased grades or assessment criteria results, confusing a bare pass with professional competence, without acquiring deeper understanding of subject areas. 3. ability to work within a team environment was typically very weak, with evident immaturity, and assessment potentially favoured students who relied on others to perform the collective work. an example would be where students received a single joint grade for a piece of group project work, irrespective of their individual contributions. the less conscientious students simply learned to let others to do the work, perhaps even receiving the same grade as their more diligent peers in the final assessment. 4. students did not understand the workload expected of professionals. 5. students arrogantly over-estimated their abilities. [in many professions, accreditation is required. without this, many game graduates try to enter employment with little or no appreciation of how much more they have to learn, or where they may effectively perform within a professional context (benavente, 2013).] the identification of these key concerns allowed planning staff to distil them into three main categories, suggesting desirable learning outcomes for the programme to pursue in order to meet the goal of improved professional practice from its graduates. these areas were classified as: industrial conformity and practice; student expectation and behaviour; academic support. 3 http: //www.abertay.ac.uk/about/news/newsarchive/2010/name,6277,en.html (accessed: 12 april 2013). 4 primarily electronic arts, sony, realtime worlds, tag, denki, 4j’s, eutechnyx http://www.abertay.ac.uk/about/news/newsarchive/2010/name,6277,en.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 industrial conformity and practice established research into the area of practice by renowned experts in the field, such as the work of professor michael eraut, formed a sound basis for pedagogical development in this area, but inevitably, idiosyncrasies of this profession would require unique interpretation and special attention. the main distinguishing factor of the games industry within this context was probably the somewhat troublesome fact that there were, in fact, no common working practices in the games industry. (there is no industry-wide conformity in the use of terminology, working practices or definitions and technologies change every few months or years. while bodies such as skillset and tiga seek to standardise working practices, the industry still often reflects its chaotic origins with hobbyists and small ‘bedroom-based’ development teams.) a further complication was that the games industry required no qualifications whatsoever in order to practice and, while many companies preferred to employ graduates, a degree was not a universal requirement and if it was, it was more often a means of addressing work visa obligations than perceived proof of a candidate’s skill superiority over others. with such failure by higher education to establish a meaningful, standardised and understood measurement of graduate skills, elements of the industry itself were often sceptical of university involvement. student expectation and behaviour in terms of those who study games at university, the vast majority do so because they love playing games 5 . however, games development is not at all like playing them. it is the equivalent of wanting to work in a car assembly plant because of a love for driving fast. it may take years to develop a game that takes only a few hours to play through – and the skills required to make a game bear no relation to the consumer experience. in terms of employability, the enthusiasm or passion of the graduate was far too dependent on his/her level of personal interest in the project at hand, even though that project could change at any time. in 2009, abertay game design and production management students asked gordon brown, visiting lecturer and character artist, what he had felt like the first time he had played grand theft auto 4, having worked on it for three years. he told them that he hadn’t even opened the box; he’d spent up to sixty hours a week for three years poring over it in development and the last thing he wanted to do was play it. this shocked the students, but is absolutely typical of a professional’s attitude. the logical question for the programme staff then became: if it’s not for the fun of it, what behaviours should the students actually have that are most suited to a successful career in games development? similarly, if students wished better to understand and research the field of practice from an academic perspective, how should they best be supported? 5 student interviews conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by the author at abertay, cumbria and birmingham city universities, revealed a love for playing games as being the prime factor in their decision to study games. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 academic support this area of games development is the largest in the world in terms of commercial value (charlton, 2012), but it still suffers in perceived cultural or intellectual value. the explosion of computer games courses in the last decade may well be more attributable to issues related to student recruitment than to a more widespread social acceptance of games as a truly valuable, cultural art form. additionally, in an industry that is still quite young and exists without the need for any academic qualifications to practice, where should subjectcompetent and qualified lecturing staff come from? while educational establishments have qaa regulations and protocols to follow to ensure that teaching and research staff are appropriately qualified, in practice this often means that very experienced game developers, who may have left school with few if any formal qualifications, but then worked in the games industry for twenty years, would have no academic credentials whatsoever. conversely, a young lecturer may have several degrees, but has never made a game; if trying to represent such a volatile and fast-moving industry, how could such a lecturer offer effective advice without any practical experiences of his/her own? pedagogical development once these three main areas of concern had been identified, the focus of the programme design team became the consideration of how they could be addressed within a pedagogical framework. while other core modules within the programme would focus on innovation and research, games industry awareness and narrative theory, a single module – worth 60 of the 180 credits required for the master’s qualification was named simply ‘games development’. this module would focus on professional team-based games development, in response to a variety of different projects and using various technologies, and, each semester, offer students the opportunity to experience the impact of different team sizes and creative control. the students would initially work in teams of two or three on ideas of their own and then, in teams of five or six, on ideas sanctioned by others and finally, in teams of ten to fifteen students, on live projects from clients. each project shift in team size and creative autonomy would allow them to experience and understand better the typical working practices of their professional counterparts. this module in particular would address the elements which consultation had shown to be of paramount importance, through the following guiding principles: 1) the importance of mentor involvement and guidance mentors (whether in person or remotely) would assist lecturers with module content and student support – not only for relevance of teaching materials, but also to demonstrate to the students that there existed an unquestionable level of genuine parity with industry expectation. in practice, it was occasionally the case that students who had performed well at undergraduate level – where perhaps theory or self-directed work was the focus – would stumble when turning to professional practice. such students could then develop a very negative attitude to both the programme and the staff, especially if they were used to being held in particular esteem by their peers in earlier programmes of study. once this dynamic arose, it could prove very challenging to resolve, with the potential for a student to perceive his/her assessment as destructive rather than constructive feedback, coming as it did from a different academic perspective from what they might have experienced before. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 under such circumstances, mentors could provide additional support to the teaching staff by delivering feedback directly to students and allowing the teaching staff to step back into a support and guidance role, helping the student to interpret the feedback and guiding him/her to focus upon solutions. 2) individual assessment within teams on many occasions, student teamwork is a source of great frustration for the best students and an easy ride for the worst, and this problematic inconsistency is compounded if they are all given a single combined summative team grade 6 . in the response to this typical dynamic, in the games development module, teams of students would work on games, but the games themselves would not be marked – they were just the means to an end, a framework on which behaviours could be developed and assessed. everyone within the team was assessed individually during the exercise of creating the game, against several key skills identified by industry practitioners as core to effective team-working (adapted from quite established academic theory in this area): i) practical and meaningful role within a game development team. ii) ability to apply and evaluate suitable techniques and approaches to game development within a team. iii) ability to evaluate problems critically, drawing valid conclusions from the available evidence. iv) ability to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and possible areas for improvement. v) level of proven ability, working in a team, to produce artefacts that are appropriate for masters level study. vi) effective communication skills as appropriate to their discipline. it is perhaps now clear how some students may find themselves receiving very different feedback from that received during their undergraduate course. 3) remove or mediate control in reality, few professionals spend their whole working lives on projects which satisfy their own passions and interests and they are very rarely in control of their work allocation. chris goodswen, lead character artist at crytek, offers a typical comment in this regard, ‘[placement students] were shocked to hell as they thought that being a character artist was all sculpting and making pretty characters...oh how they were wrong!’ however, this is the exact opposite of a typical undergraduate experience, where students usually pursue an area of enquiry that most interests them and develop that in their honours year. 6 conclusions reached following author’s discussion with undergraduate students, teaching staff and the external examiner at abertay university during august 2009 and june 2010, following project work undertaken by some 150 students across approximately 20 projects. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 in professional practice, it must be the actual process that the student enjoys and wants to pursue rather than the sense of personal control or ownership over what that artwork or mechanic actually is. if this is not the case, then the value of the graduate as an employee will be wholly dependent on just how much an individual project appeals to him/her and that is certainly not a sound basis for full-time employment by a studio. the same premise applies for freelancers, as the likelihood that they will be able to support themselves continuously by moving freely from one project of personal interest to another is remote (at least until they have made a reputation for themselves, so that the industry actually seeks them out as individuals of note). in terms of the module and execution, then, this translated into the following project brief requirements: i) students must work in a timely and focused manner, showing constant progress or reflection on a daily basis, and on occasion be asked to follow directions whether they agree with them or not. ii) they are not allowed to set their own hours or tasks, but rather follow schedules. iii) they must adhere to identified roles and responsibilities. iv) they must work together, with workspaces provided. v) the client, not the students, will determine the quality of their work. 4) feedback and review – reflective practice in action a single summative grade model would just confirm to students their assessed ability, but with no opportunity to learn how to improve (moon, 2006). formative feedback, on the other hand, allows for constant reflective practice, with students receiving direction and feedback every few days and thereby being able to demonstrate constant development in terms of their professional competencies. in addition, the module would make use of peer review, whereby team members would give feedback on one another based upon observations of professional behaviour such as communication, response to request for changes or feedback. while these reviews would not play a direct part in assessment, they would help students to understand how they were perceived within a team environment and allow module staff to offer more personalised reviews of their performance and support as required. the students providing the peer reviews were, of course, under examination as much as the peers they were discussing, to ensure that they understood how to regard others’ behaviours in a professional context and report on them accordingly. for example, in one cohort, students who were friends, but were struggling professionally, considered that one way of avoiding an unfavourable grade was for each to give a glowing appraisal of the other. one sought to explain that he had worked well and that it was actually the fault of another student that his design contribution was not correctly implemented, but he then proceeded to give that other student a glowing review. ultimately, this resulted in the designer’s receiving a poor assessment, both for his work and for his inability to review others’ work in a professional manner. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 similarly, the students were directed to avoid either commenting on the perceived skill levels of their colleagues or using scores, being asked instead to focus on short statements regarding each of the key skills. students had begun to term one another ‘extremely professional’ and yet, within the context of professional practice, they were not qualified to do so. instead, the students should have commented on the very team-work skills we were looking for, such as communication, willingness or ability to collaborate and so forth. in general, feedback remains the most contentious area – particularly for students who may have achieved first class honours at undergraduate studies. it transpired in this study that many, but by no means all, first class undergraduates had excelled in theory, but had almost no skills related to genuine practice. when asked to operate as professionals, they struggled the most. [this observation in itself is nothing new, professor georgina follett of duncan of jordanstone art school (djca) at dundee university having offered the opinion at a school review of djca as far back as 2005 that ‘…lower second class honours students are actually the most successful in professional practice.’] in addition, these students often have the most to lose in terms of peer respect and reputation, so often resist the most against what they regard as unexpectedly unfavourable or unflattering feedback, no matter how unanimous staff have been in their judgement or how incontrovertible it is as objective assessment of their performance. 5) a focus on team goals over individual gain while all students must be assessed individually (just as they would be employed as individuals, though then deployed to work in a team), the actual focus of their efforts must be for ‘the greater good’ – that is, the project. the irony is that each and every one of the separate disciplines within a game team often has a slightly different goal in mind. the artists want the game to be visually stunning, but then it may run slowly and take up more memory than the programmers feel is appropriate, as, in turn, the programmers want the game to run as fast and with as much stability as possible. designers, on the other hand, may want the game to be complex, yet the testers want all design locked down quickly and producers want the game completed last week! the client (in this case, possibly teaching staff) wants the game to be in under budget in terms of time and resources and act as a draw for future investment / student recruitment. it is of prime importance that students develop an understanding of the part they play in a bigger picture and are capable of making compromises and collaborative acts of sacrifice. 6) industrial placements industry placements were not necessarily of as much value as one might expect, at least within this particular area of professional practice. in many areas of industry, a company may well have its own way of operating, based upon a relatively established set of industry procedures and expectations and often derived from an extensive period of professional practice on which to reflect. the games industry, however, is so new and so chaotic that such established practices are very unlikely to be enshrined effectively in any one institution. it might be preferable to offer multiple short-term placements to obviate this, but the demands this would place on industrial support a finite resource at best and on academic monitoring would likely render the approach impractical. in addition, as mike mcshaffry (2009) notes, the instability of computer games companies, coupled with the purely case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 commercially-driven and potentially ethically-challenging nature of many of the projects, means that placements often present more challenges for he collaboration than solutions. if staff within companies act as mentors – instead of the companies themselves most of these concerns may be obviated, as these individuals retain their experience and value even if a company itself ceases trading. in a university setting – with proper mentor support from across a range of companies and locations – students have the opportunity to gain a far wider exposure to the industry as a whole. mike cummings (2011), an mprof graduate, concurs: ‘the greatest value was just watching a group of industry folk talk about our game in front of us, talking freely between themselves – the observations and thought processes flowed in a brilliant conversation, it was awesome.’ this is not so say such collaborations should be avoided, but they should be very carefully judged on a case-by-case basis; often, mentors appointed from these companies, each of whom being just one voice amongst dozens of mentors, do present a better solution, in ensuring that the students receive a truly industry-wide awareness of expectations and practices. the combination of close industrial ties and industry-experienced teaching staff working in close support of theoretical and research-based colleagues has meant that the mprof programme this year at abertay has sixty mentors available to the students. importantly, it is not necessarily the industrial expertise of the ex-industry staff on the programme that plays the key part in obtaining such support (though all sixty mentors have been organised through them), but rather their ability to access the connections and networks they managed to build up during their former period of industrial practice. reflections and summary for the author as an educator, the programme – and the core games development module in particular – has been a fascinating experience to be involved with. the difference between undergraduate students, albeit technically skilled, and what they must become to meet the far broader expectations placed on professional developers, has been clarified with every cohort, mentor visit and industry collaboration. the students themselves typically report during their studies that it is the hardest period of study they have ever experienced, yet, once in employment and asked to reflect back on their experience, they often comment that they had no idea just how easy the course was in comparison with their current work. this is never intended as a criticism of the course – nor is it taken as one – yet it is a further indicator of just how far removed some courses in the subject area are from genuine professional practice. the original programme was designed when console development was still the mainstay of professional games development, but, in the five years since its approval, the programme has had steadily to adjust to mobile, tablet and social gaming. the careful design of the core modules’ learning outcomes has meant that the design of the modules themselves has never needed to change, but the projects that were employed within them have had to. the key skills required for successfully working in a team – discussed above – do not change, regardless of the platform the game is developed for. the core professional attributes such as communication, adaptability and team work have not changed either and, with these forming the basis of the pedagogical model, the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 programme staff themselves, as well as the industrial mentors, visiting lecturers and associated academic colleagues, face the programme’s future with a large degree of confidence; however, they all remain very aware of just how dynamic the industry under focus is and how important it is to avoid complacency in order to ensure that the ultimate goal of the programme – the enhancement of students’ ability to evolve seamlessly from student into practitioner – continues to be met by preparation of the highest possible quality. when the programme was undergoing validation approval in 2009, colin anderson, ceo of denki, and colin macdonald, studio manager of realtime worlds, external consultants on the approval board, claimed that, ‘…this is the course the industry has been waiting for.’ clearly, these were very positive words and, though it has required constant work to ensure that the lectures, assignments and assistance from industry remain relevant, the programme is currently hosting its fifth cohort of students and the last destination data – covering the year graduating in 2012 – suggest that all bar one of the forty is now employed in the games industry or a closely-related discipline. whilst these are very satisfying results, they can be achieved only by dedicated team-work by educators, mentors and industry advisers; they are nevertheless indicative of an effective pedagogical model that, it is to be hoped, will remain relevant for many years to come. references benavente, e. (2013) interviewed by kenneth fee, abertay university, april 2013. cummings, m. (2011) interviewed by kenneth fee, abertay university, february 2011. charlton, a (2012) ‘video games outsell dvds to become biggest entertainment category’. international business times (22 march 2012 11:52 bst) available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/video-game-biggest-entertainment-category-uk-317940 (accessed: 14 august 2014). eraut, m (1994) developing professional knowledge and competence. london, falmer press. livingstone, i. and hope, a. (2011) the livingstone hope review, nesta, london. goodswen, c. (2013) interviewed by kenneth fee, abertay university, may 2013. mcshaffry, m (2009) game coding complete. hingham, massachusetts, charles river media. moon, j.a. (2006) learning journals: a handbook for reflective practice and professional development, 2 nd edition. new york, routledge. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 realising the inclusive potential of online teaching and learning for marginalised students donna hurford1, andrew read2 university of southern denmark1, london south bank university, uk2 what’s the problem? in spring 2020, in response to covid-19, united kingdom (uk) universities shifted much of their provision online (baker, 2020). however, because of a number of practical and commercial factors, many universities have retained elements of on-campus provision. as a consequence, hybrid approaches to teaching and learning, combining online and on-campus components, are now widely employed by uk universities. the hybrid model presents universities with logistical and ethical challenges. universities offering courses which involve practice-based assessment – in, for example, laboratory environments or the creative arts and performance – face complex decisions about how to facilitate socially distanced on-campus provision. it may be impossible to replicate online the full range of resources available to all students on-campus. on top of this, pressure to make a competitive offer to new students has pushed universities to return to ‘in-person’ teaching for the start of the new academic year (universities uk, 2020) and consequently to put in place safeguards to minimise the potential health risk to students. but the provision of socially distanced, in-person, on-campus teaching presents significant ethical and logistical challenges. black, asian and minority ethnic students are at increased risk of infection and death from covid-19 (aldridge et al., 2020). the orchestration of oncampus, discrete, socially distanced groups – to enable students to have meaningful discussions, collate their thoughts and then share these in meaningful ways with other groups – could place unreasonable or unrealistic demands on students, academics and ancillary staff. though on-campus provision may be essential in some contexts, online approaches can nevertheless offer a more practicable alternative to the ‘in-person’ socially distanced teaching across the board which many universities have committed to. online delivery may well be able to replicate – or, at least, closely match – the pre-covid on-campus provision and thus provide a more equitably accessible offer. for example, online platforms such as teams or zoom allow students to move between live, face-to-face, small group discussion and live whole-cohort debate in ways that would be almost impossible on a socially distanced campus. however, course designers do need to consider how to ensure that online collaboration is both motivating and inclusive. principles for inclusive online learning 1. be aware that belonging is significant. recognise that some students do not feel they belong to their university communities and that this can, in turn, affect their persistence, learning outcomes and final grades (amos and https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/coronavirus-growing-number-uk-universities-move-online-teaching https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/coronavirus-growing-number-uk-universities-move-online-teaching https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/guidance/covid-19-thematic-guidance-practice-lab-based-assessment.pdf https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/pages/most-universities-will-teach-in-person-this-autumn.aspx https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/pages/most-universities-will-teach-in-person-this-autumn.aspx https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-88/v1 https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-88/v1 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 doku, 2019; tinto, 2017; masika and jones, 2016). we must keep sight of this in our online teaching and learning. 2. ensure that synchronous online teaching and learning are purposeful. acknowledge that constraints, including access to quiet study spaces and disparity in the quality of online and digital access, especially affect excluded groups – hence the need to be clear about the learning objectives and relevance of synchronous online teaching and collaborative learning activities. 3. provide accessible guidance. avoid making assumptions about students’ digital expertise and understanding. provide clear, technical guidance on the online platforms; include the students in co-developing guidance on online etiquette. 4. design inclusive online learning activities. when designing synchronous and asynchronous online learning activities, apply a consistent design structure with which students can become familiar. in addition, design collaborative learning activities which require social interdependence and individual accountability, sending clear signals that collaboration is valued (johnson et al., 2014). putting principles into practice 1. be explicit about roles and responsibilities in the online course. share research on effective collaborative learning (johnson, op.cit.) and signal how the students’ collaborative learning is valued in the course and its assessment. 2. prioritise synchronous collaborative learning activities by flipping the content. make the content available asynchronously through videos, screencasts, readings etc., with associated reflective tasks which prepare students for synchronous collaborative learning activities. team-based learning provides a collaborative learning framework for face-to-face and online contexts. the online class starts with a meaningful quiz based on the flipped content. the students answer individually before being assigned to teams where they share their learning, re-take the test and in most cases improve their scores (parmelee et al., 2010). following the team quiz, the teacher focuses the teaching on the weakest areas of student understanding and sets the teams learning activities which require the application of their new knowledge and understanding. 3. integrate collaborative learning activities into synchronous teaching and allocate student groups to breakout rooms when using video conferencing platforms. upload relevant resources and descriptions of learning activities to accessible online platforms, such as microsoft sway or padlet, and share the link via the online platform’s chat function. this way students can easily access relevant resources and learning activity descriptions. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 online resources – like padlet or the whiteboards provided by some online platforms – facilitate resource sharing by the teacher and group-members. each group can use its own whiteboard to mind-map or concept-map their ideas, as well as sharing uploaded resources (novak and gowin, 1984). in the plenary, group members can then share their individual screens with the group’s whiteboard or other online resource where they have uploaded tasks or drafted their ideas. online teaching and learning can certainly contribute to inclusive and accessible teaching and learning. by prioritising inclusion, accessibility and careful planning, we may harness the potential of online platforms and resources for the benefit of all – and our most marginalised students will be the chief beneficiaries. reference list aldridge, r., lewer, d., katikireddi, s.v., mathur, r., pathak, n., burns, r., fragaszy, e.b., johnson, a.m., devakumar, d., abubakar, i. and hayward, a. (2020) ‘black, asian and minority ethnic groups in england are at increased risk of death from covid-19: indirect standardisation of nhs mortality data.’ wellcome open research. available at: https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-88/v2 (accessed: 03 september 2020). amos, v. and doku, a. (2019) ‘black, asian and minority ethnic student attainment at uk universities: #closing the gap.’ available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-andanalysis/reports/pages/bame-student-attainment-uk-universities-closing-the-gap.aspx (accessed: 03 september 2020). baker, s. (2020) ‘coronavirus: growing number of uk universities move to online teaching.’ times higher education supplement, 13 march. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/coronavirus-growing-number-uk-universitiesmove-online-teaching (accessed: 03 september 2020). department for education (2020) ‘higher education: reopening buildings and campuses.’ available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopeningbuildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses (accessed: 03 september 2020). johnson, d.w., johnson, r.t. and smith, k.a. (2014) ‘cooperative learning: improving university instruction by basing practice on validated theory.’ journal on excellence in college teaching, 25(3&4), 85-118. available at: issn: 1052-4800 (accessed: 19 december 2020). masika, r. and jones, j. (2016) ‘building student belonging and engagement: insights into higher education students’ experiences of participating and learning together.’ teaching in higher education, 21(2), 138-150. available at: doi: 10.1080/13562517.2015.1122585 (accessed: 17 december 2020). novak, j. and gowin, b. (1984) learning how to learn. new york: cambridge press. available at: doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139173469 (accessed: 19/12/2020). https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-88/v2 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/pages/bame-student-attainment-uk-universities-closing-the-gap.aspx https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/pages/bame-student-attainment-uk-universities-closing-the-gap.aspx https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/coronavirus-growing-number-uk-universities-move-online-teaching https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/coronavirus-growing-number-uk-universities-move-online-teaching https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1080%2f13562517.2015.1122585 https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/qqnqcgzgrtygav9tnchja?domain=doi.org opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 parmelee, d. and michaelsen, l.k. (2010) ‘twelve tips for doing effective team-based learning (tbl).’ medical teacher, 32, 118-122. available at: doi: 10.3109/01421590903548562 (accessed: 17 december 2020). quality assurance agency for higher education (2020) ‘covid-19: thematic guidance – practice and lab-based assessment.’ available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/guidance/covid-19-thematic-guidance-practice-lab-basedassessment.pdf (accessed: 30 november 2020). tinto, v. (2017) ‘reflections on student persistence.’ student success: a journal exploring the experiences of students in tertiary education, 8(2), 1-8. available at: https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v8i2.376 (accessed: 17 december 2020). universities uk (2020) ‘most universities will teach in-person this autumn.’ available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/pages/most-universities-will-teach-in-person-thisautumn.aspx (accessed: 03 september 2020). https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.3109%2f01421590903548562 https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/guidance/covid-19-thematic-guidance-practice-lab-based-assessment.pdf https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/guidance/covid-19-thematic-guidance-practice-lab-based-assessment.pdf https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v8i2.376 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/pages/most-universities-will-teach-in-person-this-autumn.aspx https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/pages/most-universities-will-teach-in-person-this-autumn.aspx editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 welcome to volume 14, issue 1 of compass, journal of learning and teaching! we are excited to bring you the first edition of 2021. this winter issue contains a fascinating range of articles, including a report on an iterative design process of an ‘inclusive course design tool’; a scrutiny of technological systems applications in he; and an evaluation of a blended-learning strategy incorporating self-regulated learning. contrasting case studies demonstrate a pedagogical intervention to develop creative writing skills; collaborative assessment design in the context of education for sustainable development; an evaluation of using ‘talking-head’ videos in online delivery and a call to re-establish the significance of traditional lectures in teaching english literature. there are also thought-provoking pieces: one proposes a framework on the elimination of race-based inequality in the world through higher education; another offers timely insights on inclusive online teaching. a brief snapshot of each paper follows. dennis a olsen, of the university at west london, conducts an interesting exploration into and evaluation of the application of ‘talking-head’ videos as a pedagogical tool in the online delivery of material to undergraduate students following subject courses in the creative industries. this well-balanced and informative paper describes how focus groups of students watched two videos – identical except for the camera angle (eye-level and low-shot) – of a presenter, presenting, before discussing their perceptions of the quality of the medium and of the teaching. in the context of both the teaching excellence and student outcome framework and the ineluctable movement of higher educational institutions to online teaching because of covid-19, the research exercise confirmed that students regarded the eye-level camera angle as superior to the low, but that they had, as regular youtubers, reservations about production quality and also about the apparent lack of the kind of sparkle they experienced in face-to-face tutorials, this latter much more likely to enthuse and engage them. the author draws conclusions about the need for institutional support for staff producing and taking part in such videos and the means by which presenters may enhance emotional connectedness, learning partnership and mutual respect in the student-staff relationship. presenter-centred videos may well not alone achieve these results or positively influence student satisfaction, though they have potential value, especially for revision purposes. the paper concludes with some suggestions for future research into relevant aspects of this approach. a detailed presentation of the ‘inclusive course design tool’ (icdt) describes the creation of a systematic means of addressing, in particular, the black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) achievement gap at leeds beckett university. it was intended as a way of encouraging course designers and course teams across the institution to examine their practice and reflect on how their courses might fail to be inclusive and thus not adequately meet the needs of very diverse groups of students, not just bame. by focusing attention on curricula, the classroom (virtual or physical), pedagogy and possible implicit and unconscious bias, the icdt has, in its first outing, clearly demonstrated its scope for enhancing teaching and learning for all students and, especially, those from underrepresented groups. the authors of this paper, susan v smith, ruth pickford, janice priestley and rebecca seller, are committed to the principles which underpin the tool’s application and here, against a background of relevant literature, describe the structured approach it offers, covering course planning, course management, student support, establishment and nurturing of a course community, provision of development opportunities for all students and ensuring challenge for all. eminently clear from this paper are the editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 complete commitment of the whole institution to the implementation of the tool, evidence of the creators’ careful consultation beforehand and the painstaking subsequent collection of feedback data to inform its continuing development. it is perhaps unsurprising that other higher education institutions have requested it and the authors confirm their intention that it should be made available. objective scrutiny of the various technological systems now available for application in education is vital if their best features are to support active learning and effective teaching, especially at a time when the traditional lecture has been very adversely appraised and, indeed, when lectures have not been permissible because of a pandemic. after providing sessions to familiarise all participants equally with the nature and practical characteristics of particular tools, michael detyna and eleanor dommett of king’s college london conducted small focus groups to take account of both student and staff perceptions, seeking to discover user views of which individual technologies might variously be harnessed to maximum pedagogical effect – in order to enhance the value of lectures by incorporating interactive and problem-solving experiences. their findings drew attention to how best to optimise existing practice, to support new approaches, to ensure ease of use for both students and staff and to avoid overload and distraction. there is considerable food for thought in this balanced and meticulous study, which recognises the importance of taking account of the often-conflicting attitudes to digital methodologies of students and teachers respectively. agnieszka herdan, antonella russo and elizabeth warren, of university of greenwich and lorenzo neri of birbeck university, carefully outline their study of the effectiveness of a blended-learning strategy incorporating self-regulated learning (slr) in enhancing the writing skills of business school students, in this case those following accounting courses. they report on their deployment of mywritinglab as a transferable means of addressing the identifiable written communication deficiencies in new graduates entering the workplace. the detailed findings of this research paint a very positive picture of the impact of the approach on students’ written communication skills as well as on student engagement and confidence, for such a method appears to promote a sense of personal responsibility for learning and a degree of autonomy; students also have control over their pace of study. such independent learning, in the context of dedicated online tools and teacher support in the classroom, clearly does produce in students a sense of satisfaction at having come to understand what they do and don’t know about writing and thus at being able to improve relevant skills. this paper offers helpful practical suggestions as to how to apply slr within blended learning. a fascinating exercise in analytical composition is provided by rachel mccabe of la salle university, who sought to develop in students an appropriate understanding of text (here, film) and of the complex choices behind its creation, in order to develop in their written responses a sharper critical awareness, a deeper and more sophisticated exploration of method and a more refined and relevant specialist vocabulary for discussing construction and impact of text. what is particularly interesting in this case study is the manner in which the author adjusted, over time and in the light of experience, the nature of the task, which began as small-group creation – using personal cellphones – of a film scene or trailer that typified a particular genre, but eventually became the filmed re-creation of a scene from a professional movie. this evolution helped to eliminate unnecessary and time-wasting preparation of original material and to achieve focus on analysis; it evened up inequalities in the creative skills students brought with them; it also aided innovation. the reader of this paper is left with a powerful sense of student engagement: the participants watched original editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 scenes repeatedly and together interacted with the content; post-screening discussion between creators and audience honed mutual appreciation; they were ultimately able to articulate well in writing the elements of composition, skills readily transferable to other kinds of text. evidence of social inequalities, social injustices and the persistence of racial prejudice is not difficult to find, however frequent the calls for change. in this forthright and cogent opinion piece, mazia yassim of university of greenwich offers a coherent strategy for higher education institutions to adopt in order to move their policy and practice from mere raising awareness of these issues to logical steps to the genuine achievement social change. the author sees the five stages of goodman’s (2013) ‘cultural competency for social justice’ proposal as a framework which, when given equal weight and profile right across institutions, will help to develop in their whole communities a sense of social justice and cultural competence and encourage in students the self-belief and determination to become social change makers. effective education about social change, she argues, must be embedded in the curriculum and the staff must be appropriately trained and supported to deliver it; students must enter employment confident that they can make a difference and achieve change. perhaps most striking in this piece is the author’s emphasis on adequate measurement of change at programme, institutional and even national levels; unless social change engagements by alumni are specifically included in the tracking of their progress beyond higher education and unless the impact of related institutional practices are monitored and properly measured, true improvement to society will remain elusive. it is certainly true that good teachers are those who continuously reflect on their own practice and are prepared to question methodology in the interests of pedagogical improvement. finding herself once again a student – on the postgraduate certificate in higher education course at the university of greenwich – nandini boodia-canoo took the opportunity to consider the teaching of higher education law (and her own previous teaching experience therein) in the light of, specifically, social learning theory, constructivism and cognitive load theory. her reflective paper here is a tribute to her critical acumen in appraising these theories against both her own teaching and generally accepted practices in teaching law to undergraduates; she is keen to stimulate discussion and debate and to encourage willingness to innovate, to challenge teachers’ personally held assumptions about students and how they learn, to question the efficacy of particular approaches, to review methods and materials and to enhance the learning experience of all those who choose to follow courses in law. the provision of expert advice on upskilling by staff to meet a real challenge – in this case, the application of online learning and teaching strategies in a pandemic context, when socially distanced, on-campus and ‘in-person’ measures have their own disadvantages – is always to be welcomed, particularly when it reminds us of the broader needs of all students and particularly of those who may be marginalised. donna hurford of the university of southern denmark and andrew read of london south bank university, recognise that universities and their staff may well benefit from some timely guidance about the provision of online delivery to ensure that it is both motivating and inclusive. this helpful paper summarises the key aspects of online methodology, listing the key principles for making it effective and accessible, and then offers precise information about putting those principles into practice. the whole is an excellent aide-memoire for all, emphasising as it does the fact editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 that those students with the least sense of belonging are likely to be the greatest beneficiaries of a well-executed strategy. in the context of a level 5 environmental management module, debbie bartlett of the university of greenwich set out to involve two small consecutive cohorts of students in curriculum and assessment design. in accordance with the literature, which clearly demonstrates the value of formative feedback in stimulating reflection and developing learning (because it is much more akin to workplace reality than ever summative assessment can be), the author opted to engage her students in module co-design in a conscious effort to increase their control over their own learning and to stimulate their assessment literacy. the students chose to use the ‘sustainable development goals’ as their focus, with two assessment tasks – a group presentation and an individual report. the reader will be interested to note that, during the course of her description of the work of the two cohorts, the author makes a clear case change from third to first person plural, which confirms the collaborative and participatory nature of this student/staff relationship. another striking aspect of this paper is the evidence of student enthusiasm for ‘real-world’ opportunities in the form of contribution to their institution’s iso14001 submission and the delivering of a conference presentation. the overall logic of this study is undeniable: if students exercise control over their curriculum and understand how it is to be assessed, the benefits to them far exceed conventional methods of final assessment. in a reasoned and well-constructed argument, katarina stenke of the university of greenwich maintains that, for english literature, the traditional lecture continues to have significant value and relevance, for students in this discipline are ‘expected to read at length or otherwise to engage with extended and complex discursive modes’ and are not, contrary to recent research, mere passive learners in the lecture setting; nor, indeed, is a literature lecture just a one-way transmission of content. the author argues that the literature lecture does a range of very powerful things: it introduces and advertises set texts, habituates students to academic and literary discourse, models best practice in reading attention and critical argument and demonstrates how to read and transform into personalised meaning what is often very abstruse material. looked at another way, the literature lecture becomes a social and worldly experience, a ‘community of practice’ that stimulates thinking and promotes reflective engagement. helpfully, the author illustrates ways by which such a learning and teaching medium can enthuse students and suggests that the social learning theories that lie behind condemnation of the lecture need to be repurposed to recognise their genuine constructive qualities. some offered insight into observations of katarina’s own teaching practice confirm that a lecturer’s personal dynamism and love of literature, as well as awareness of how to generate interaction in the lecture setting, may be also of crucial importance to a lecture’s success. we hope that readers will find these papers stimulating and helpful and will enjoy reading them as much as we have enjoyed collaborating with our hard-working authors and reviewers to put this issue together. with best wishes to all compass readers and contributors, rachel and yang compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 first published in february 2022 by: university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editors rachel george, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant ciprian alupei, university of greenwich editorial board paul breen, university of westminster louise hewitt, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university dawn reilly, university of greenwich clare rossato, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series reviewers claire rossato debra cureton ed de quincey emma kennedy eve rapley james wisdom kerry dobbins lorraine smith martin snowden monica fernandes rachel george surinder walia yang yang case studies design students blogging: a case study of identity and convenience sancha de burca university of kent at k college & the graphic design project this paper describes a case study, initiated in 2011, of the use of blogs in the research and development work of graphic design students studying for the university of kent’s hnd and ba (hons) top up, situated at k college in tonbridge. initially to develop the professional identities of blogging students, the project evolved into an exploration of the affordances of blogging as a convenience that resulted in raised levels of design thinking. these affordances included improved written skills, contemporaneous posting and ideas development and the production of knowledge in the form of instructional ‘how-to’ posts. this paper attempts to explore the logistics of how these best practices were enabled. background the use of blogs in the kent students’ graphic design process was first inspired by a talk by jim turner of john moores university at the university of greenwich e-learning conference in 2011. turner spoke about blogging as an activity that raised awareness of the blogger’s own identity. in particular, he had undertaken a research study with fine art students and found that the use of blogs helped increase their own perception of themselves as ‘professionals’ (turner, 2011). turner also emphasised that the professionalisation of these identities occurred only when students used real-life blogs, rather than in-house institutional blogs, such as moodle. this was because ‘real’ blogs had potential opportunities for ‘authentic’ audience reaction, especially the notion that other professionals were watching. turner’s students also liked to ‘lurk’ and to view what was happening on the blogs of others (turner, 2011). a few of the students on the graphic design programmes of the university of kent were already voluntarily beginning to use blogs as part of their design work and were submitting these as evidence of their bodies of work. the staff team had always encouraged learners to find their own best practice within their design processes. it was observed that some learners challenged by written work, such as dyslexics, also found blogging preferable to pen or pencil work. in september 2011, the new cohort was encouraged to use blogs for evidencing the body of work that led up to a final design piece: research, analysis, development of ideas, evaluation and reflection. they were invited to do this either in conjunction with traditional sketchbooks or instead of sketchbooks. some preferred conventional processes, choosing not to blog. methodology in october 2011, after an initial period when students who had not previously blogged rehearsed blogging, the new cohort, both bloggers and non-bloggers, was surveyed. this initial survey posed questions about how students experienced the change to blogging and whether or not they found this a positive method. it was also driven by what turner had discovered (2011) and solicited the bloggers’ own impressions of working in a potentially case studies public domain, asking how they reacted to the presence of others and how they perceived their own consequential growing professionalism. the results showed that, while bloggers enjoyed using blogs and saw them as a means of improving their design process, they had little or no contact with or interest in the wider blogging community and were not aware of becoming more professional. see the observations below for more detail. at the end of the academic year, this same cohort was surveyed again, along with the two cohorts in the years above (many of whom asked to be included and who had started blogging in response to the first-year trial). by this time, it was realised that some of the turner-driven community questions did not necessarily apply to our cohorts and so the logistical thrust of this survey was to glean feedback about design students’ experiences in their months of blogging and about how blogs were practically useful to them. as well as the two surveys, informal focus groups were used, together with additional ad hoc discussions. the latter were useful in allowing individual learners to volunteer unsolicited comments, especially about why they had chosen to blog (or not), and in encouraging learners to express their views about specific parts of the blogs, such as the ‘how-to’ posts. explorations of the blogs themselves were made, to observe and investigate individual uses made of them. overall, the implications for good practice of the use of blogs in teaching, learning and the design process have been an integral part of the case study, observations for which continued into 2013. a university of kent ethics protocol was initiated at the time of the surveys as part of the author’s pgche study. students were aware that their blogs were being scrutinised for a case study and individual permissions were sought for the use of examples in conference talks and publications. observations 1. blogging in general during the first term, there seemed, informally, to be a correlation between the students who blogged and the students who gained higher grades. the grades of the first-year cohort were immediately slightly above average. however, any direct correlation between the act of blogging and higher grades remains unproven. turner had pointed out that extrovert students took to blogging more easily (2011) and this factor may account for the inclination to post effectively amongst this gregarious group. blogging grew in popularity amongst the cohorts as a peer-led dynamic. a second-year student noted that it was a much easier process than sketchbook-keeping and that he meant that in a ‘meaningful way, not just a lazy way’. blogs were felt to be more relevant to the designer role and it may therefore be that this designand computer-oriented group took to blogging more easily than other disciplines might do. design companies use blogs as an attachment to their regular websites to demonstrate their informal and friendly side, to discuss their work in progress or to promote their identity with ‘everyday’ items and thus gain more clients (sheldon, 2008). moreover, blogs can easily be case studies regularly updated, are therefore seen as fresh and new (mathers, 2011) and can gather important feedback, so vital to any company in the social networking era of advertising (sheldon, 2008). blog of student ar showing typical design process account and ongoing evaluations 2. writing skills academic and blogging commentators are unanimous on one topic: that blogging is an ideal way of practising and developing writing skills (cassuto, 2011; saper, 2006, cited in kirkup, 2010). blog posts are not random, quick or lacking in thought. indeed, bloggers consider the completeness of each post as ‘a rounded piece’. writing of concise and ‘finished’ texts is practised (kirkup, 2010). many writers from the academic community also agree that blogging is a useful way of shaping ideas and of gleaning feedback and ideas from others. becoming more confident in the sharing of ideas is a side effect of blogging (kirkup, 2010). in this way, blogs fall into the overall notion of the shared, community body of collective knowledge and learning that is re-shaped by users (littlejohn, 2011). case studies the idea that blogs can drive specific identities appears across much of the literature on writing skills and blogging. gregg (2006, cited in kirkup, 2010) states that all blogging is ‘performative writing’, in that it has an audience, and ewins (2005, cited in kirkup, 2010) refers to ‘multiphrenic’ identities, when individuals are using a range of media, styles and narratives in which to write or occur. in relation to academics who blog, kirkup also states that blogging is a kind of ‘continuous development of the professional self’, in which identities morph and grow as blogging leads in new directions. for academics, this is an alternative to the peer-reviewed paper, permitting new areas of the public self to be aired (kirkup, 2010). the surveyed kent students were asked: ‘in what ways do you feel that your blog has helped you to develop skills of writing or analysis?’ most of the students surveyed agreed with the points mentioned previously that the “roundedness” and frequency of posting helped them to construct well-written texts. they also liked the fact that posts could be edited or added to. 3. contemporaneous posting problems with traditional sketchbook work were that learners could spend undue time collecting and collating research in the form of print-outs and objects. these needed to be physically glued into the book and annotated in a way that showed that meaningful conclusions were being drawn. however, students often focused upon their design process and left annotation until the end of the project. this rendered the notes almost useless, as they should have been contemporaneous with the thought processes in order for them to work as development tools and ideas-generators. late notes were often lacking in critical value or relevant inspiration. sketchbook work could thus become laborious and even, to an extent, pointless. in contrast, the first positive outcome, and one that had been an aim of the blogging activity, was that the blog posts were made on a regular basis, often, as one student described, ‘done from my phone on the way home’. now, blogging students were posting thoughts at more appropriate times and it was felt that this played back into the creative process in an effective way, enabling more meaningful problem-solving, which, in turn, made more effective design pieces and helped best practices amongst bloggers to develop. 4. convenience in the initial survey, the results showed that professional identity was not an overt or conscious issue amongst the bloggers. instead, the concept of convenience emerged as a motivating factor. for example, the groups were asked in what ways they felt a blog was better than a sketchbook, or not. the overwhelming answer was that everything was together in a blog and all you needed was the internet to access it. convenience outweighed any other reason for preferring them. again, students felt that they could work into them contemporaneously, such as on the way home, and that they didn’t forget to add notes. they could blog ‘on the job’, while researching online or using design software, simply by opening their blogs in a new window. this, in turn, helped their design process by actively enabling deeper consideration of issues. case studies furthermore, an able student mentioned that, in a blog, the post physically expanded to accommodate text and image, allowing for writing of any length, whereas a sketchbook limited the writing to available page space. his point was echoed across the blogging cohorts. this might account for the raised levels of analysis that were noted across the year and certainly relates to the roundedness of blog posts mentioned below. 5. format and purpose of blogs academic blogs, states lee skallerup besette (moorehead state university, kentucky, 2011), take three different forms: the journal, sharing thoughts; the ‘how-to’ blog-sharing advice or good practice, such as teaching notes; the reflective blog. it is possible that the blogs of the kent students, instigated because of the need to evidence bodies of research and development for specific programme learning outcomes, could fall into any or all of these categories as cognitive and technical parts of the design process are discussed. specifically, there are two realms in which these cohorts might blog: the professional realm of the graphic designer and the academic realm of the h.e. student (as novice academic). much of what is posted is auto-ethnographic in terms of being a critical record of own practice. however, many of the blogging students also posted ‘how-to’ articles, rehearsing their technical and practical experiments. members of the kent cohort stated that they used and appreciated outside blogs’ ‘how-to’ posts and wanted to reciprocate, thus actively and knowingly becoming producers of knowledge in the wider community. initially, students’ own evaluations of work in progress and, especially, summative project evaluations were used more within the blogs than within the sketchbooks, but this might simply have been the result of the ease of cutting and pasting an evaluative set of questions from a word document provided on moodle. more recently, a rise in self-initiated evaluation has been seen, with target-setting posts appearing immediately after events such as interim ‘crits’ or tutorials. again, this is considered to be best practice in the design process. case studies blog of student ag showing a how-to tutorial 6. ownership a further positive outcome was that some students were adding extras to their blogs, such as accounts of exhibition visits and other enrichment activities that were not directly part of the design projects, so blogs became journals and widened the blogger’s identity as a reporter of design and culture. many of these were personal research visits, rather than institution-instigated ones. in this way, learners took ownership of their own blogs, expanding and customising them. one blogger, who subsequently started many diverse blogs, stated that she ‘loved’ her first blog and felt inspired to run it. case studies bloggers also personalised and indeed professionalised their blogs by including portfolio pages, the links to which can be sent directly to clients and employers when students are seeking work or internships. more recently, bloggers have made their own knowledgecommunity connections by using their blogs to advertise and link to their other social networks, such as the design portfolio sites, behance and tumblr. although the bloggers surveyed did not report feeling more professionalised, they were nevertheless independently carrying out professional networking and customising activities. blog of student lo showing network links 7. community surprisingly, none of the students in the first survey felt any connection to a ‘community’ or reported any links with audiences. turner’s student subjects had been encouraged to feed into each other’s blogs, whereas the kent students would ask only the tutors to view their blog work. more recently, comments have been made by strangers, with the concomitant nuisance of spam. also, some learners have been requesting peer assistance via the ‘comments’ section of their blogs. case studies the second survey set of questions was less concerned with student identity in the public realm, as it was now understood that this was not important to the group. when asked what they thought about their blogs being in the public domain, many of the bloggers worried about others stealing their designs. some had taken to marking their own images with a named watermark. ‘fair use’ in referencing the work of others remains an unclear issue and bloggers use ‘links out’ when in doubt. some events, such as somerset house’s ‘pick me up’ exhibition, encourage blogging, whereas others, such as the artists’ books section of the victoria and albert museum, decline requests to use visited works in blogs on the grounds that individual artists, not the museum, hold the copyright. however, the notion of a ‘lurking’ or active audience is very powerful in blogging. frequently, no comments are posted, but the assumption of a hidden but potential audience influences how and what the blogger posts. bloggers have reported trying to make their posts more accessible for imagined audiences, or of being ‘attention-hungry’ (kirkup, 2010). kirkup’s study found that all of her blogging subjects wished to gain an audience and engage in dialogue. for turner’s study, it was the idea of an audience of peers and professionals that drove the blogger’s identity from ‘student’ to ‘fellow professional’ (turner, 2011). 8. signature pedagogy an unexpected side effect of the blogging activity has been the alteration of the staff mode of working and especially of assessing. blogs have almost entirely replaced sketchbooks, though some students still use them for all back-up work and many for thumbnail ideas which are then scanned into the blogs. design work that is more finalised can be included in the blog and more computer processes are detailed, thanks to added screenshots. staff can access a learner’s body of evidence at any time from any place, rather than just when a learner with sketchbook is physically present, and links can be sent to examiners ahead of their visits. feedback can easily be provided via the ‘comments’ section and in this way work that needs development can be ‘caught’. however, staff have noted that they often email or speak personally to a learner when remedial work is necessary, rather than add it as a blog comment (although comments are moderated by the blogger and do not automatically appear in public). when staff do comment, they do so via the course blog. however, it is not the fact of commenting in public that drives personal conversations, but rather the chance to engage in an unmediated dialogue to push design work forward quickly. conclusion the surveyed learners reported the blogging process to be organised, efficient, helpful, aesthetically smart and of-the-moment, in that most designers are using blogs. in conclusion, it cannot be said that blogging students developed their professional identities overtly. yet the bloggers moved into the comforting sense that blogging was part of the design community of practice; was developing their design processes, helping them to keep a record of interesting resources and keeping them up-to-date. this is encouraging in terms of their later moving out into the industry. via voluntary acts of best practice, such as taking ownership of blogs, producing knowledge in a public arena and setting up working networks, it can be suggested that professionalisation was nevertheless taking place. specifically, technological convenience was a motivating factor, enabling learners to work in more efficient and effective ways which allowed such best practices as these to develop as a natural consequence. case studies references adenekan, shola, (2005), academics give lessons on blogs, bbc news. available at: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/eduction/41 94669.stm (accessed 10 march 2012). cassuto, l. (2011) ‘the measure of blogging: the use of different media in academic publishing.’ the guardian higher education network, 31 august 2011. available at: www.theguardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/aug/31/print-blog-academicpublishing (accessed 10 march 2012). cohen, d. (2008) evans and cebula on academic blogging. available at: www.dancohen.org/2011/11/08/evans-and-cebula-on-academic-blogging/ (accessed 10 march 2012). framer, b., yue, a. and brooks, c. (2008) ‘using blogging for higher order learning in large cohort university teaching: a case study.’ australasian journal of educational technology, 24(2), 123-136. kaye, b.(2007), ‘blog use motivations.’ in tremayne, m. (ed) blogging, citizenship, and the future of media, routledge, new york, pp 127-148. littlejohn, a (2011) ‘charting and collective learning.’ own notes from greenwich apt keynote speech, 7 july 2011. littlejohn, a. (2012) charting collective knowledge: supporting self-regulated learning in the workplace, 2012, emerald group publishing ltd. available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17010279&show=abstract (accessed 30 october 2013). kirkup, g. (2010) ‘academic blogging: academic practice and academic identity’, london review of education, institute of educational technology, the open university, milton keynes. available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14748460903557803#.u84fdatwbmi (accessed 9 march 2012). mahers, a (2011) 6 easy ways of using writing on the internet to promote yourself, red lemon club. available at: http://www.redlemonclub/traffic/6-easy-wayss-of-usng-writing-onthe-internet-to-promote-yourself (accessed 10 march 2012). o’donnell, m. (2006) ‘blogging as pedagogic practice: artefact and ecology’. asia pacific media educator, issue no 17, dec 2006, pp 519. sheldon, g (2008) start your own graphic design business, entrepreneur press. available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=umbwadwiy8oc&pg (accessed 10 march 2012). skallerup bessette, l. (2011) profiling the academic blogosphere, guardian professional higher education network. available at: http://www.theguardian.co.uk/higher-educationnetwork/blog/oct /24/academic-blogging-landscape (accessed 10 march 2012). the times higher education (2008) ‘by the blog: academic tread carefully.’ available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/403827.article (accessed 21 october 2011) http://www.theguardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/aug/31/print-blog-academic-publishing http://www.theguardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/aug/31/print-blog-academic-publishing http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17010279&show=abstract http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/403827.article case studies turner, j. (2011) ‘blogging and identity’. own notes from greenwich university e-learning conference talk, 7 july 2011. ssrc (2009) ‘the immanent frame, 2.blogging and academia.’ available at: http://www.blogs.ssrc.org/toff/religion-blogosphere/religion-blogoshpere-2/ (accessed 10 march 2012). marshall scholar in theoretical physics name withheld (2007) ‘the value of blogs in academia: an american physics student in england, 2007.’ available at: http://fliptomato.wordpress.com/2007/02/11the-value-of-blogs-in-academia/ (accessed 10 march 2012). conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 thematic analysis of individual feedback: improving cohort feedforward richard edward meredith university of greenwich abstract assessment literacy is important for students’ academic success. this multi-case study explores scholarly writing mistakes commonly made by direct-entrant international students at level 7. the data consists of assessment data from 150 student scripts. results show common themes related to cross-cultural differences for international students who began their masters-level higher educational experience in a new culture and new environment. it contributes common factors, hitherto hidden in student assessment data in turnitin’s global writing technology. keywords: assessment and marking; thematic analysis; assessment literacy; feedforward, business education 1. introduction turnitin assessment text data can be made visible rather than remaining unseen, unnoticed and therefore unactionable (bienkowski et al., 2012). a poster presentation at the university of greenwich learning and teaching festival 2019 became a transformative learning experience that led to the perception of turnitin assessment data as a new data source for assessment analysis, modelled using activity theory. 2. background the poster reported an inductive study which developed an in-depth description and analysis of 150 cases of level 7 student essay assessments. the managing across cultures module was taught to 389 students in a united kingdom (uk) mba/ma international business degree programme for new entrant international students, mainly from the continent of asia. the learning aims concerned the topic of cross-cultural management and were scheduled for teaching in the first semester of arrival in the uk, alongside a module about foundations of scholarship. the poster presented at the learning and teaching festival aimed to provide a case study of how one sessional worker adopted qualitative data analysis (qda) software to manage the complexity and time pressure of high-volume assessment and marking. the turnitin software is designed to facilitate a single set of marks and feedback per student script, but doesn't currently include any features designed specifically to support either document management of multiple marking teams or assessment analysis across multiple students. in the case study, 150 student scripts were coded in the same way as in turnitin. the main rationale for doing so was to consult – more easily – those written and oral briefings, assessment criteria, module handbooks and additional study guides, descriptors and conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 samples of marked work as add document complexity to the enterprise of marking. accomplishing this activity smoothly – often in ten rather than fifteen days, irrespective of the assessment workload incurred by any one individual – is no mean feat. the assessment criteria defined in the module handbook were based on a portfolio assignment of three tasks: a) cultural interview and personal profile 550 words (15%); b) reflection on cross-cultural competencies 450 words (15%); and c) case analysis using cross-cultural management theories, 2000 words (70%). 3. research method the study aimed to provide a description of common areas of assessment feedback on the learning of a large cohort of students. such an analysis is in line with concerns of educational practitioners that “feedback is a troublesome issue in higher education” (nicol et al., 2014, p.102). the situational influence on the students’ learning gain was that these students were mostly from non-western higher education (he) systems and were entering level 7 as directentry international students studying cross-cultural management. a case study protocol and multiple data sources were used to provide data triangulation and to enhance the reliability and validity of findings (denzin 1989; yin 2015). thematic analysis of data within each case and analytic comparison of data across cases were conducted to unveil, along key themes, similarities and differences in the evidence (neuman 2006). at the same time, relevant module handbook documents and teaching team guidance and communications materials were analysed for corroborative or contradictory evidence to enhance the validity of the case study findings (yin, 2015). 4. results as it was exploratory in nature, an iterative approach to analysis and identification of themes and activities was employed in the multiple-case study research. by means of the software programme mentioned above – to code and refine the rich data through an immersion/crystallisation process enabling back-and-forth working between the themes and the database (cresswell and poth, 2018) – three themes were identified in the feedback: 4.1 theme 1: scholarly argument missing one or more of the following components: a) proposition; b) reasoning – usually from theory and supported by evidence; c) conclusion – the solution to the proposition and justified by the reasoning. 4.2 theme 2: lack of resourcefulness in data collection and of criticism in data selection; weakness in acknowleging sources. 4.3 theme 3: discomfort with writing reflectively – a common assessment type across the programme. 5. discussion the results indicated a potential correlation between student nationality and weak foundation in scholarship for demonstrating learning aims of the module in cross-cultural management. the module taught students about the need to understand cultures and how they can differ – sometimes significantly – between nations and regions. however, in the programme’s scheduling, this aspect was built neither into socialisation nor into creation and reinforcement of new normative beliefs. the results point towards the need for research on the impact of culture on assessment and, especially, a) the influence of group interests within conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 collective cultures (hofstede, 1983) and b) the respective influence of neutral and affective cultures (trompenaars and hampden-turner, 2012) on normative beliefs about argumentative and reflective writing. transformative learning the by-product of assessment and marking outside the turnitin system was that otherwise tacit knowledge of common assessment errors across a cohort of students was now captured for inductive thematic analysis and results were available for a) summary feedback when marks are released; b) narrative data for annual module reporting; c) learning gain data for reflecting on future assessment and module design. several conference delegates identified turnitin assessment analysis as an assessment analytic. my frame of reference to produce the conference poster was as a sessional worker coping with the process of marking. looking back, these delegate comments were integral to self-reflection and learning, helping to shape my thinking that thematic analysis of assessment data on any module could conceivably be used for re-designing the learning environment for the following academic year. mezirow (2000) suggested that transformative learning only occurs when problematic frames of reference that fix assumptions and expectations are consciously unlearned. “a frame of reference encompasses cognitive, conative, and emotional components, and is composed of two dimensions: habits of mind and a point of view.” (mezirow (1997, p.5). i had read about mezirow’s transformative learning in a recent book – ‘contemporary theories of learning’ (illeris, 2018) – and the delegates’ comments stimulated the metacognitive process of reassessing reasons. mezirow (2003) considered that an open mind and the ability to listen empathetically to others are necessary for reflective practice to occur. potential conceptual framework from transformative learning having been unfrozen (lewin, 1943) from my frame of reference of a marking process, what new frame pertaining to student learning activities might i change to? activity theory (engestrom, 1987) systemically examines the context in which learning occurs as well as the design process. the activity ‘system’ conceived by engestrom appears below (figure 1). the top half (shown as production), dynamically links the subject who performs an activity to the object of the activity and the tools that the subject uses in the activity. below this triangle is the context – the division of labour associated with the activity within the community or organisation, members of which share a set of social meanings or rules for conducting such activities. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 figure 1: activity theory model (source: engestrom, 1987) jonassen and roner-murphy (1999, p.62) argued that activity theory (engestrom, 1987) provides a powerful conceptual framework for designing a learning environment because “it posits that conscious learning emerges from activity (performance), not a precursor to it”. xing et al., (2014) operationalised activity theory in a computer-supported collaborative learning computer environment to develop a student performance prediction model based on the six activity theory variables – subject, object, tools, division of labour, rules and community. jonassen and roner-murph relied on very different epistemic assumptions about the design of a student learning environment from traditional methods which assume relevant knowledge to be embedded in the instruction for transfer to the learner in any context. they explicate, using activity theory, the methods for creating a constructive learning environment. the interpersonal dialogue at the conference about my poster led me to a new frame of reference. how about a theoretically grounded factorisation of three sets of data in order both to improve module design and adapt tutoring to individual student contexts? namely, the integration of – as an activiy theory tool of: a) historical assessment data, as a community factor; b) student categorical data, as a subject factor; and c) learning analytic data about inclass (audience participation tools) and on-line learning activities (virtual learning environment analytics). figure 2 models the structure of such an activity system, extending engestrom (1999) through inclusion of assessment data in the community component. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 figure 2 profiling turnitin data – an adaptation of activity theory model. source: author, derived from engestrom (1987) a description of activity theory operationalisation in order to make sense of historical turnitin assessment data as a learning catalytic is set out in table 1. table 1: student performance prediction model operationalisation of activity theory dimension definition production learning involves a subject student; the mental object of activity, being learning; the learning resource tools such as the vle that are used in the activity. as activity systems are conceived to be socially and contextually bound, the actions and operations that affect an outcome include the rules, community and division of labour. subject individual students who engage in the activity to achieve the object of learning. object completing learning tasks – represents the intention that motivates the activity. tools computers, online tools, systems, and environments that mediate the learning activity. division of labour individual assignments within the overall activity, which is also mediated by rules and social negotiation. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 6 dimension definition rules implicit and explicit rules and guidelines that constrain the activity. for example, institutional academic rules of student behaviour and quality standards and specific rules set by module leaders for learning tasks (explicit). an individual student can use only the function residing in the supporting tools (implicit). community the community of students at the same academic level who have previously completed the activity of learning. the customary areas of difficulty or errors in completion form the context of the activity in which it operates. the activity theory factor called ‘community’ in figure 2 and table 1 is perhaps contextually the most relevant to the design of a module. jonassen and roner-murphy (1999) argued that traditional methods of task analysis focused only on the technical core of performance, ignoring the contexts within which learning occurs. historical assessment text that identifies common themes and associated student categories offers the potential to yield a new source of rich context that is important when designing instruction. conclusion interest has increased in analytics as part of the solution to many issues in he (baker and yacef, 2009; romero and ventura, 2010). however, a practical means of identifying academic at-risk students before the start of term appears to have eluded researchers so far. mezirow (2000) believed that educational interventions are necessary to ensure that the learner acquires the understandings, skills and dispositions essential for transformative learning. this article offers a model for turnitin assessment text as a assessment analytic based on transformative learning experiences at the university of greenwich learning and teaching festival 2019. i hope this reflective report demonstrates that the festival was an effective intervention. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 7 reference list baker, r.s. and yacef, k. 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(1943) ‘defining the field at a given time.’ psychological review. available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0062738 (accessed: 15 january 2016). mezirow, j. (2003) ‘transformative learning as discourse.’ journal of transformative education 1, 58-63. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344603252172 (accessed: 28 september 2019). mezirow, j. (2000) learning as transformation: critical perspectives on a theory in progress. the jossey-bass higher and adult education series. eric. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass isbn isbn-0-7879-4845-4. mezirow, j. (1997), transformative learning: theory to practice. new directions for adult and continuing education, 1997: 5-12. doi:10.1002/ace.7401 (accessed: 28 september 2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02299477 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 8 neuman, w.l. (2006.) analysis of qualitative data in social research methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage, 457-489. nicol, d., thomson, a. and breslin, c. (2014) ‘rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 39, 102-122. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.795518 (accessed: 12 november 2019). romero, c. and ventura, s. (2010) ‘educational data mining: a review of the state of the art.’ ieee transactions on systems, man, and cybernetics, part c (applications and reviews) 40, 601-618. available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/tsmcc.2010.2053532 (accessed: 24 september 2019). trompenaars, a., hampden-turner, c. (2012) riding the waves of culture : understanding diversity in global business. (third edition) new york: mcgraw-hill. isbn 0786311258. xing, w., guo, r., petakovic, e. and goggins, s. (2015) ‘participation-based student final performance prediction model through interpretable genetic programming: integrating learning analytics, educational data mining and theory.’ computers in human behavior, 47, 168-181. available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.034 (accessed: 24 september 2019). yin, r.k. (2015) qualitative research from start to finish. new york: guilford publications. isbn 978-1-4625-1797-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.034 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 1 lecturer passion: a pre-requisite for inspirational teaching robert robson university of greenwich with reference to the ever-changing landscape within higher education (he) and the issue of marketplace differentiation, it has been suggested that universities need to prioritise the quality of the overall student experience, including the quality of classroom teaching (holbeche 2012). certainly, there exists a substantial body of literature relating to the theme of teaching effectiveness and – notwithstanding conflicting views, varying perspectives and the multi-dimensionality of the construct (madriaga and morley 2016) – it is evident that institutions of he are attempting to address the upskilling of their lecturers through a blend of initiatives. such initiatives include the provision of internal and external training courses, peer-review schemes and interventions by centralised educational development departments – for example, the provision of formal teaching qualifications such as a postgraduate certificate in higher education. in addition, some universities are holding learning and teaching festivals – events designed to provide a forum for discussion of topical learning and teaching themes and to enable the sharing of a range of good practice ideas. these initiatives are important because a number of student-focused research studies have revealed that students in he value teaching excellence, citing key qualities that they would like to see their lecturers display, such as enthusiastic delivery, capability, passion, dynamism and the ability to establish rapport (heffernan et al., 2010; kandiko and mawer 2013; bradley et al., 2015). in addition to the findings from research studies, universities have at their disposal institution-specific data relating to students’ evaluation of teaching quality, of which some is anecdotal and some derived from more formal mechanisms, such as individual module evaluations and the national student survey. so then, a question arises: with a body of evidence available regarding the quality of teaching that students would like to experience, coupled with clear initiatives to improve the effectiveness of teaching within universities, why do survey results continue to reveal that student concerns over teaching quality persist? i would argue that the true catalyst for transformational change is the passion for teaching which an individual lecturer personally feels. a lecturer’s passion for teaching does not in itself equate to inspirational teaching delivery, but it is, arguably, the key driver for change. a lecturer with a genuine passion for teaching will be motivated, continually, to fine-tune and hone her/his craft and to seek to perfect the art of teaching. without this passion, though lecturers may attend multifarious teacher-training programmes and undertake multiple peer observations, there is no guarantee, at the end of it all, that they will actively apply what they have learned. interestingly, the findings of one research study into the willingness of lecturers to adopt new teaching methods revealed concerns over a lack of training in this area and a lack of self-confidence in the personal skills-set required (bennett 2001). this is an important point. lecturers with a passion for teaching may be more likely to adopt a more self-styled approach to their personal development and actively seek out ways of enhancing their learning over and above the training that the institution provides. in addition, if a lack of opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 self-confidence is fed by a fear of the unknown, lecturers with a passion for teaching may possibly be more inclined to experiment and take risks because they have the desire to find out more about innovative teaching methods and ‘lock down’ new skills. it could be argued that most lecturers in he have a passion for their subject; however, that passion may manifest itself primarily through dedication to research. i would argue that a passion for subject without a genuine passion for teaching is not enough to achieve inspirational teaching as judged by the student recipients. it should also be remembered that classroom teaching is only one facet – albeit an important one – of students’ overall learning experience. students may also value post-class support and dependable continuing opportunity for student/tutor interaction. lecturers with a passion for teaching are well-placed to provide this because they will be driven not only by the satisfaction they derive from their classroom ‘performance’ that is the well-crafted mix of verbal exposition and other learning activities, but also by the eventual learning outcomes for the student. it is the passion for teaching that drives teaching excellence. this is critical, because, in the final analysis, the ability to inspire is the criterion against which lecturer performance will be judged. reference list bennett, r. (2001) lecturers’ attitudes towards new teaching methods. the international journal of management education. 2 (1), 42-58. bradley, s., kirby, e. and madriaga, m. (2015) what students value as inspirational and transformative teaching. innovations in education and teaching international. 52 (3), 231242. doi: 10.1080/14703297.2014.880363. heffernan, t., morrison, m., sweeney, a. and jarratt, d. (2010) personal attributes of effective lecturers: the importance of dynamism, communication, rapport and applied knowledge. international journal of management education. 8 (3), 13-27. doi: 10.3794/ijme.83.275. holbeche, l. (2012) changing times in uk universities: what difference can hr make? loughborough, universities human resources. [available at: docplayer.net/3165158changing-times-in-uk-universities-what-difference-can-hr-make.html (accessed: 29 october 2019). kandiko, c. b. and mawer, m. (2013) student expectations and perceptions of higher education. london, king’s learning institute. [available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/learningteaching/kli/people/research/dl/qaareport.pdf (accessed: 29 october 2019). madriaga, m. and morley, k. (2016) awarding teaching excellence: ‘what is it supposed to achieve?’ teacher perceptions of student-led awards. teaching in higher education. 21 (2), 166-174. doi: 10.1080/13562517.2015.1136277. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 bridging the gap between markers’ tacit knowledge and students’ assessment literacy dr gemma mansi university of greenwich, uk abstract there has been an increasing emphasis within higher education on the need for explicit articulation of assessment standards and requirements and for these to be communicated effectively to students (o’donovan et al., 2004; sadler, 2010; bloxham et al., 2011; mcgrath et al., 2019). however, in practice, this can be difficult to achieve, depending, firstly, on markers’ abilities to effectively articulate their tacit knowledge and expectations and, secondly, on the knowledge and understanding of assessments that students bring with them into their degree. this student ability often depends on their previous varied educational experiences. both students and staff may therefore find this a matter of challenge and frustration. this case study is based on discussions with students on the childhood and youth studies (extended) programme at the university of greenwich and with staff across the university, as well as on the researcher’s personal reflections on the findings. it highlights: how important it is for staff to work in partnership with students early on in their studies, so as to develop their understanding of assessment language and the standards expected; how staff consider the experiences students have had with assessment and academic writing; and how they draw implications for assessment practices in their teaching context. furthermore, the study aims to provide innovative recommendations for how markers can develop a continuing, meaningful dialogue with students, to enable them to build an understanding of their markers’ tacit knowledge about assessment and feedback in their discipline. keywords: tacit knowledge, student feedback, criteria, dialogue, assessment writing introduction there has been significant development in assessment materials across programmes at the university of greenwich, particularly since the introduction of a new ‘feedback and assessment policy’ in 2019. assessment-specific grading criteria, rubrics, assignment briefs and a standardised format for student feedback have all been introduced to deliver a more detailed and specific understanding of what is expected from student assignments. however, there remains contention among markers and students over how the markers communicate to their students the tacit knowledge they hold about how to write their assessments. nonaka et al. (1996) define ‘tacit knowledge’ as ‘personal knowledge’ – often derived from individual beliefs, values, hunches, intuition and experiences – which is therefore difficult to articulate and capture in language in order to transmit it to others. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 this problem tends to be most apparent amongst first-year undergraduate students. the contention manifests itself as a strong underlying frustration that tacit knowledge is a significant barrier to student satisfaction – with consequent harm to nss scores relating to assessment and feedback (elton, 2010), not to mention hampering student achievement itself. many authors have discussed how assessment expectations and standards may be communicated to students. polanyi (1962) used the metaphor of apprenticeship to suggest how tacit knowledge may be delivered from person to person and suggests that this happens through the learner’s emulating the examples of the teacher. subsequently ‘the apprentice’ unconsciously begins to pick up on the ‘rules of the trade’. polanyi also suggested that the ‘hidden rules’ of assessment language vary according to the discipline. elton (op.cit.), concurs with this point, that, for assessment language to have meaning, it must be embedded within a disciplinary context. similarly, mcgrath et al. (2019) state that assessment literacy and knowledge of subject matter must be developed together. they argue that academic skills support offered outside the discipline may well not assist within it the acquisition of the tacit knowledge needed for success. carless and boud (2018) recommend that students are provided with opportunities within taught sessions to engage actively with marking criteria before they attempt assessments. they argue that this approach is more likely to be effective in developing students’ assessment literacy than would be the provision of, say, more extensive feedback, because students may also lack full understanding of feedback language. there is therefore a real risk that feedback will be ineffectual because students may fail to grasp the implications of statements made within it (sadler, 2010). the lack of time currently dedicated to supporting the development of academic literacy poses a challenge when module teaching remains primarily focused on the delivery of subject knowledge. subject specialists may also lack the expertise required to deliver assessment literacy effectively. the aim of delivering subject-specific teaching and academic skills teaching together may thus be difficult to achieve (mcgrath et al., op.cit.). most recently, wollscheid et al. (2021) discuss the perspective of staff in relation to student preparedness for higher education (he). they claim that staff tend to focus on developing the student from the perspective of student failure rather than on building students’ understanding gradually across the modules, which would be more empowering for the student. it is argued that this ‘deficit’ model of assessment literacy may follow from staff assumptions that students already know and understand academic expectations in he and, if not, should themselves take responsibility for learning about it. however, where there is tacit assessment knowledge that is inaccessible to students, the barrier remains. sadler (2005) adds to this debate by arguing that, despite the use of marking criteria, the final judgements that markers make about the quality of student work can remain subjective and largely hidden from the students. furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that many markers do not necessarily apply the grading criteria in the way intended and instead use them post hoc to justify a holistic decision and refine written feedback (bloxham et al., 2011). in addition, o’donovan et al (2004) points out that there is potential for inconsistencies in case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 tacit knowledge held within and between marking teams. again, these points suggest that markers’ failure to make explicit their tacit knowledge may mean that there is a gap between their understanding and that of their students. the aim of this case study was to explore the informal narratives of students and teaching staff about the language used in assessments and to discuss pilot interventions designed to help bridge the gap between how staff articulate their expectations and instructions and how these are understood by students, particularly if they have recently joined university. rationale for the case study since 2016, i have been programme leader, module leader and personal tutor on the ba childhood and youth studies (extended) (cys) at the university of greenwich. during that time, i have become increasingly aware of a sense of anxiety and confusion among students while discussing assessments and standards with them, particularly in their first year of university. during group tutorials, i deliberately aired what i felt i was observing in the class and the students seemed relieved that a member of staff had noticed and understood what was becoming a real frustration for them. as a result, i wanted to explore, through informal student group discussions, the issues that were causing these feelings about assessment. i also arranged to carry out informal meetings with staff across the university who worked on extended programmes, the better to understand their experiences of working on assessments with their students. the entry route into university for the majority of the cys (extended) cohort is btec in health and social care. the btec national is one of the most widely recognised qualifications for admission to he in the united kingdom (uk) and is one of the top three qualifications used by applicants to enter the university of greenwich. btec is a vocational qualification and is focused on work-related learning. assessments normally focus on research projects and case studies, giving students an opportunity to apply theory, concepts and skills to real situations (pearson, 2019). the programme specification emphasises the development of assessment skills as part of preparation for university (pearson, 2019). it certainly appears that the btec specification at level three addresses the transferable skills necessary for a student to thrive at university. however, there remains some form of assessment challenge for students when it comes to assessment. this research was therefore aimed at exploring student and staff narratives about what they felt the issues were for students making their academic transition to university and what we could do as teaching staff to address some of those issues. the findings of this case study were also intended to help identify strategies for supporting students across the university who have also come from btec backgrounds. method student participants participants in the informal student discussion groups were drawn from the student cohort on the cys (extended) programme. this cohort is predominately female, aged 18-24, and the majority are from a black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) background. all students from year zero (level three) and year one (level four) of the cys (extended) programme were invited to participate in the study and all twenty-one agreed to participate. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 the data collection took place via informal group discussions for each year group, so allowing students to share their feelings and opinions about understanding assessments at university. to facilitate the discussion and enable students to identify specific examples of guidance that they did not understand, module assessment briefs and subject-specific grading criteria were provided at the meetings. data collection and findings were based on my own reflective note-taking and my own personal narrative of student discussions. the personal narrative was based on key points highlighted by students across the cys (extended) programme. staff participants participants of the informal staff discussion group were four module leaders from across the university who had worked with extended degree students. i met with colleagues separately and data collection was based on personal reflective note-taking on those meetings. results student responses it became evident relatively early in the discussions that assessment materials alone, particularly the grading criteria, can be relatively meaningless to students. the students identified that numerical grading criteria were new to them. for example, students who had undertaken a btec said that the criteria they were used to took the form of pass, merit and distinction; a numerical scale broken down into sub-sections for each criterion was not something they were accustomed to and they felt it to be too complex for complete understanding. in support of these findings, bloxham et al. (op.cit.) noted that, regardless of whether criteria are explicitly stated, their accessibility is restricted when there is little help to understand and contextualise the language used. nevertheless, students reported that they particularly liked the visual presentation of the criteria on the rubric which identified strengths and areas for improvement, providing a clearer picture of feed-forward. in addition, students mentioned that some of the language used in the criteria was unclear to them. examples included terms such as ‘analysis’, ‘argument’ and ‘evaluation’. students noted that teaching staff regularly mentioned these terms in their assessment preparation sessions but felt there was minimal explanation of what they meant and a lack of concrete examples to illustrate how they would be displayed in the assessment. this is consistent with the comment by wollscheid et al. (op.cit.), that academic staff may see assessment preparedness as primarily the responsibility of students. subsequently, it became yet more frustrating for students when such terms were used in written feedback as points needing further development, when, at all stages of discussing the assessment, the students felt they were no clearer about what the terms actually meant. these responses are consistent with o’donovan et al. (op.cit.) who concluded that assessment feedback regularly highlights what the assessment doesn’t do and provides little in the way of explicit examples revealing how assessment terms could be demonstrated within the context of the specific assessment. this can be a constant frustration for students, given they have quite a limited time to construct and adapt various interpretations of what is required for different assessments and for different assessors. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 however, regardless of the types of material or their detail, what was becoming increasingly evident from the students was that the degree of effectiveness of the communication of the marker’s tacit knowledge about key assessment terms had the greatest bearing on their understanding of the assignment. staff responses the staff were concerned that too many assessment materials and too much support offered about the assignment led to students’ becoming increasingly literal and prescriptive in their approach to their assignments. there was concern that student engagement with the content could be lost to focusing on the requirements only of the assessment. a more holistic approach to judging assessments was therefore considered preferable, as enabling more student autonomy over the work. typically, grading criteria take either a holistic or analytic approach. a holistic rubric requires teachers to score the overall assessment intuitively, while an analytic rubric requires markers to score separate, individual parts of the assessment, before summing the individual scores to obtain a total (ragupathi and lee, 2019). the typical form of assessment for first-year extended students within the areas of business and engineering was project-based learning. staff felt that one of the main reasons behind using projects was that it enabled the students to be assessed in a way already familiar to them from their btec studies. staff were very mindful of students’ previous experiences of assessment and of the need to support them in making a successful transition and giving them early opportunities to succeed. they felt that research projects were very helpful in doing that. similarly, presentations were regularly used in the assessment diet of first-year extended students, because it also was a form of assessment that students had experienced during their previous studies. myhill (2020) agrees with this assessment strategy, identifying that universities need to ensure a greater diversity of assessment and reduce the more traditional forms of assessment, such as written essays and exams, to avoid disadvantaging students whose further education assessments were more varied in kind. staff emphasised that both projects and presentations tended to produce good results and students reported that they particularly enjoyed this type of assessment. staff also noted that they did not perceive significant differences in the extended student’s ability to pick up on knowledge and understanding of the content itself; in fact, they felt it was very similar to that of students who entered the programme at level four. similarly, neither level 3 or level 4 entry students necessarily have previous experience or knowledge of the discipline. however, staff tended to find differences in ability between levels three and four in relation to academic skills. programme teams working with extended students therefore had specific discipline-based interventions to address the development of academic skills, which, in accordance with the literature, is the most effective way to support students in developing their assessment skills in line with their subject (elton, op.cit.). interestingly, in engineering, at the end of the extended degree programme, there were positive upward trends in terms of assessment outcomes for extended students compared to those studying on the three-year undergraduate programme who had not received the foundation year focused specifically on developing academic skills. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 discussion based on the findings, there is a clear argument that moving students from tacit to explicit knowledge of assessment expectations within a specific discipline goes beyond just telling them what to do. the process requires a shift towards thinking about the assessment type – in terms of how it supports students’ learning, particularly at key transition points – and building in opportunities for students to practise and develop their assessment literacy, enabling them to develop the ability themselves to make complex appraisals of different types of assessment (sadler, 2010). following the knowledge conversion model of nonaka et al. (1996), tacit knowledge can be passed from one person to another through ‘socialisation’. in the context of assessment, this would involve open dialogue between markers and students. ‘externalisation’ is the process of making tacit knowledge explicit and this requires markers to articulate their standards and expectations. through `internalisation’, which is experiential and requires active engagement, the learner understands and absorbs the explicit knowledge and can now act on it. finally, ‘combination’ commences where explicit knowledge can be articulated in different formats. successful interventions from this case study are consistent with this approach to thinking about sharing tacit knowledge. they include directed class time to discuss the assessment materials and opportunities for students to discuss and practise marking previous student exemplars, so enabling markers and students to share beliefs and learn how better to articulate their thinking through practice, instant feedback and simultaneous exchange of ideas. the findings also point to the need to maintain dialogue about written feedback, as this was another area where students needed opportunities to access the marker’s tacit knowledge. one possible approach to this is to ask students to complete a form evaluating how well they feel they have achieved in each of their assessments; the marker then comments on the same form how well s/he feels the student has met a particular objective or skill. both sides then discuss these in a tutorial session. while the findings in this study provide an important picture of staff and student views in relation to tacit knowledge throughout the assessment and marking process, a degree of caution is inevitably needed, given the small sample size, deriving as it does from one undergraduate degree programme at one university. a recommendation for the future would be a more extensive and systematic investigation into the topic, to investigate whether the findings are generalisable. nevertheless, the findings provided here largely reflect wider concerns identified within the literature. there has been significant development of assessment resources at the university of greenwich. however, what this case study illustrates is that such resources in isolation can hold little value for students. engaging students in a meaningful way, with activities that support the development of assessment literacy within the discipline, is needed to bridge the gap between staff expectations and students’ understanding of what exactly is required of them in their assessments. delivering a clear and simple explanation of tacit knowledge is by no means easy and having academics work alongside central academic skills services and ensuring standardisation amongst the marking team, to enable a dialogue and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 consensus about criteria, are essential. also, providing opportunities within modules where students can engage actively in the marking process not only develops their awareness and understanding of tacit knowledge but also broadens the assessment, from assessment of learning to assessment for learning (o’donovan et al., op.cit.). this case study suggests that staff need to reflect upon students’ previous educational experiences and the significance of the academic transition for many students. it is evident that many staff are mindful of the types of assessment used in students’ previous study and do include a variety of assessments to support the transition to he assessment. however, focusing only on the type of assessment and students’ knowledge of subject content is not sufficient. rather, their development of assessment literacy and what that means within the context of their discipline are key. the findings of this case study are consistent with the literature: that academics have ‘presumed knowledge’ of their students when they enter university (wollscheid et al., op.cit; mcgraph et al., op.cit.) this may explain why there may be a much smaller amount of contact time dedicated to developing academic skills within the discipline. consequently, staff may be unintentionally missing vital opportunities to work with their students on essential skills, which will help in bridging tacit knowledge between staff and students. conclusion based on the findings of this case study, what teaching staff need to consider in the delivery of their modules is a balance between delivering content and developing students’ assessment literacy. providing tasks which enable students to be active in the marking process and familiarise them with the differences between grade bandings is more productive in its mission for students to be successful than extensive amounts of written feedback to students. open conversations between markers and their peers continue the dialogue about what expectations are and, through experience, transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge which can be acted upon. reference list bloxham, s., boyd, p. and orr, s. 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(eds.) diversity and inclusion in global higher education, lessons from across asia. singapore: palgrave macmillan. isbn: 978-981-15-1628-3 sadler, d.r. (2010) ‘beyond feedback: developing student capability in complex appraisal.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 35(5), 535-550. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930903541015 (accessed: 14 march 2021). sadler, d.r. (2005) ‘interpretations of criteria‐based assessment and grading in higher education.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 30(2), 175-194. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000264262 (accessed: 14 march 2021). university of greenwich (2019) assessment and feedback policy, available at: assessment-and-feedback-policy-feb-2020-with-contents-table.pdf (gre.ac.uk) (accessed: 12 march 2021). wollscheid, s., lødding, b. and aamodt, p.o. (2021) ‘prepared for higher education? staff and student perceptions of academic literacy dimensions across disciplines.’ quality in higher education, 27(1), 1-20. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13538322/2021.1830534 (accessed: 19 april 2021). https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/f65a2a58-da6b-4b37-8130-62b161f17638/abss-transforming-transitions-exeter-report.pdf https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/f65a2a58-da6b-4b37-8130-62b161f17638/abss-transforming-transitions-exeter-report.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0170840606066312 https://doi.org/10.1080/1356251042000216642 https://doi.org/10.1103/revmodphys.34.601 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930903541015 https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000264262 https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/137827/assessment-and-feedback-policy-feb-2020-with-contents-table.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/13538322/2021.1830534 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 autobiographical accounts of students working on the innocence project london1 (ipl): students telling their story about how working on the ipl affected their lives dr louise hewitt, dr louise owusu-kwarteng institution university of greenwich abstract this reflection on a presentation at the greenwich learning and teaching conference (shift) 2021 shows how powerful a sense of belonging can be, not only for students, but also for academics. by sharing their autobiographical reflections’ project, the student and staff presenters so powerfully connected with their audience that everyone was struck by the importance of collaborations that give students a voice. the occasion both produced some unanticipated outcomes and enabled everyone to relate personal experience to that of others.’ keywords: autobiography, higher education, innocence organisation, human experience autobiography autobiographical accounts provide a means of understanding the human experience (hunter, 2015). through the telling of stories, individuals can not only construct an understanding of their own experiences, but also tell the stories of others connected to those experiences (letherby and cotterill, 1993). the process of individuals’ narrating and commenting on their own stories provides access to their thoughts and feelings about important aspects of life and encounters that have shaped them (letherby and cotterill, 1993). it is this aspect of autobiography that dr louise hewitt (lh) was drawn to when thinking about how to capture the impact that working on the innocence project london (ipl) has had on students. the ipl is a project where law and criminology students work on the cases of convicted individuals who have maintained their innocence but have exhausted the appeals process. the students deconstruct a claim of innocence by investigating either a new legal argument or fresh evidence that could form the basis for an application to the criminal cases review commission. anecdotally, students have told lh how innocence work not only changes their perspective on the criminal justice system and helps them develop skills not found in the classroom, but also has an impact on their lives. lh adapted an existing autobiographical reflection template, used in the sociology programme at the university of greenwich, that was devised by associate professor dr louise owusu-kwarteng (lok) as part of a module she teaches, entitled ‘self in society’ (discussed in more detail below). the adaptation produced the following aims: 1 the innocence project london was established in 2010 and is based at the university of greenwich. it is a probono registered charity that investigates claims of innocence by individuals who have maintained their innocence and have already exhausted the appeals process. it is a member of the innocence network which is based in the usa. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 • to engage students in recognising how the ipl has enhanced their outcomes • to enhance the student experience • to provide a voice to all students no matter their age, ethnicity, background or gender • to place students at the heart of their learning and provide them with a tangible experience. by using autobiographical accounts, lh wanted to give ipl students the opportunity to tell their individual stories about the impact upon them of innocence work, enabling them to engage in recognising and taking ownership of their learning. the presentation was a joint effort between lh, lok and two ipl students, victoria box (vb) (second-year law) and lidia stoica (ls) (msc criminology). lh and lok spoke about the value of autobiographical reflections and the process of working with students to write them; vb and ls spoke about how writing their autobiographical reflections affected them. radically reimagining higher education for a new era: working together for a just and sustainable future the use of autobiographical material as research is new to academic lawyer lh. it is, however, recognised as a well-established research tool in sociology and to some extent criminology. this approach gave students an opportunity to tell their stories about their ipl experience and engaged them in a new way of reflecting on their learning (lejeune, 1982). the shift 2021 conference theme of ‘radically reimagining higher education for a new era: working together for a just and sustainable future’ seemed to be the best fit for this work. lok shared her experience of using autobiography on the level 4 module entitled ‘self in society’, which encourages students to reflect upon their personhood in the context of broader social structures, including the family, education system, economy etc. lok places strong emphasis on the opportunities provided by staff-student collaborations such as this. her paper livin and learnin, tellin stories, challengin narratives: critical reflections on engaging students, from marginalised groups in academic research activities (2019) sets out the voice that this activity gives to students. hearing their stories helps us to understand not only who they are through their personal experiences, but it is also an excellent way to enhance key employability skills, such as public speaking and conveying information in concise but creative ways. the conference drew out aspects of ‘working together’ that lok has experienced; in particular, the notion of students’ voices and creating a sense of belonging at university. student voices the project was devised to give students the opportunity not only to record their individual stories but also to weave into them the stories of the ipl clients who inspire them (cotterill and letherby, 1993). however, these individual, subjective narratives that show each participating student’s experience (mcadams, 1997) had much greater effect than lh had initially anticipated. when ls and vb spoke at the conference, they demonstrated how their investment in reflecting upon their learning has helped them to construct an understanding of their positionality in the world. after the presentation, ls said she felt empowered: “…the audience were engaging with what i was saying, and even relating to some of the ideas i conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 was depicting which gave me a heartfelt sense of community.” vb said she felt the value of “being able to reflect on how important it is that we use our voices to help those without one.” both are passionate students who work closely with lh, but it was good to see that passion recognised by others who did not know them. awareness and recognition of the potency of giving the students a voice over and above that of everyday study became the most important aspect of this session. it was a pivotal moment when both vb and ls realised that what they had been doing was of interest to an audience bigger than the ipl and their law school. a sense of belonging the sense of belonging was something that lh had not foreseen as an intended outcome, but it very quickly became apparent that both the students were describing this idea to the audience. innocence work is difficult and challenging at times, but there came realisation during the presentation that, for the students, innocence work helps them feel part of a community (mcmillan and chavis, 1986). this sense of belonging coincides with and contributes to the construction of their identity in the legal world and beyond (walton and cohen, 2007). ls said it was a “great opportunity” to reflect on what she wanted to say and to perceive how it might affect those who heard it. vb added that being able to explain to the audience how innocence work had changed her “as a person for the better” and to feel them really listening to her constituted an important aspect of being on the ipl. she said, “these unprecedented times really highlight how lucky some of us are and i’m just so grateful to be able to help someone and give them a voice, so they are not forgotten about in society.” hearing a student say this is powerful, and at this point lh realised that the ipl creates a sense of community amongst the students who work on it – one that remains beyond graduation. in the end… writing this reflection has provided an opportunity to consider the effect of the autobiographical reflections project on the ipl, in particular the impact of telling stories and making voices heard. to have students as partners in projects such as this demonstrates the importance of being innovative. we should not underestimate the power of developing a community that builds for students a sense of belonging, especially when the learning experience is enhanced as a consequence, a point made by vb and ls. it is indeed rewarding for academics to collaborate with students in a venture that encourages the latter to feel confident about telling their own stories. the power of autobiography should be recognised more broadly in academia as an important way of capturing and giving voice to human experience, not only our own but that of those – including the often marginalised in society – whose stories are interwoven with our own. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 reference list cotterill, p. and letherby, g. (1993) ‘weaving stories: personal auto/biographies in feminist research.’ sociology, 27(1), 67-79, at 72. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/003803859302700107 (accessed: february 2021). hunter, b. (2015) white-collar offenders and desistance from crime. london: routledge. isbn: 978-1-138-79409-2. lejeune, p. (1982) ‘the autobiographical contract.’ in: todorov, t. (ed.), french literary theory today. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. mcadams, d.p. (1997) the stories we live by. new york: guildford press. isbn: 1-57230188-0. mcmillan, d.w. and chavis, d.m. (1986) ‘sense of community: a definition and theory.’ journal of community psychology, 14, 6-23. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1%3c6::aidjcop2290140103%3e3.0.co;2-i (accessed: february 2021). owusu-kwarteng, l. (2019) ‘livin’ and learnin’ tellin’ stories, challengin’ narratives: critical reflections on engaging students from marginalised groups in academic research activities.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 12(1). available at: https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/23904/ (accessed: february 2021). walton, g.m. and cohen, g.l. (2007) ‘a question of belonging: race, social fit, and achievement.’ journal of personality and social psychology, 92(1), 82-96. available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-23056-007 (accessed: february 2021). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/003803859302700107 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1%3c6::aid-jcop2290140103%3e3.0.co;2-i https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1%3c6::aid-jcop2290140103%3e3.0.co;2-i https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/23904/ https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-23056-007 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 effective/cost-effective screencasting tatiana simmonds, darrenlloyd gent, dr ray stoneham university of greenwich, school of computing and mathematical sciences introduction this article reports on a case study exploring the use of screencasts in three different areas in the school of computing and mathematical sciences (cms) at the university of greenwich. the case study was done over the academic year 2012/13 with a variety of courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. a few lecturers who initially participated in the case study found that technical issues with recording screencasting were interfering with the delivery of their course and therefore did not fully participate; the authors of this article persevered and were able to use screencasting to add value to their courses. lessons learnt from this case study, particularly in terms of streamlining the process, should encourage more lecturers in the school to experiment with screencasting in future academic years. what is screencasting? screencasts were introduced a few years ago, with screen capture software packages like techsmith’s camtasia and adobe’s captivate. the screencasts are often referred to as videos by students and others, but we would like to make a clear distinction between a screencast and a filmed video. a screencast differs from a filmed video as it is not a lecture or a lab session or tutorial that has been filmed, but is instead a digital recording of any events or presentations on the lecturer’s computer screen, with voiceover narration and explanation (roach, 2006). examples of screencasts are a powerpoint presentation with an explanatory voiceover and a demonstration of a software tool with voiceover. some advantages of this method over filmed video recordings are smaller file sizes, making laptop or memory stick storage manageable, and ease of editing. many filmed video recordings are quite complicated and require equipment setup as well as a technician to operate the recorder. live filmed video recording can also be distracting for the students. other advantages of screencasts include the flexibility of the presentation (which may be just snippets or whole lectures and either pre-recorded or live) and, since the presentation is audio, elimination of the need to worry about personal appearance. screencasts add an active, visual element to resources available outside scheduled class time (educause learning initiative, 2006). the school of computing and mathematical sciences has experimented with the effective and cost-effective recording of lectures and tutorials as screencasts, using low specification equipment and minimal technical support. the main additional cost has been for portable radio microphones (several hundred pounds each) and the main technical problem has been achieving consistent quality in the recording of the sound, owing to unreliable batteries and difficulties with software installation. most filmed video recording of lectures has relied on dedicated recording equipment supported by a technician able to monitor the recording as it happened and to edit it before publishing a final version. this was not an option for cms. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 what is effective screencasting? to make screencasting effective, a range of approaches was used: lectures delivered online before the timetabled lecture slot (a ‘flipped classroom’); screencast snippets to show how to perform specific technical tasks (screencast tutorials for practical sessions); live recordings of lectures. the choice depended on the subject matter and the lecturing style of the presenter. some recordings were done live (effective in use of time and perhaps more engaging, but with risks), or pre-recorded (more polished and with opportunity for retakes). what is cost-effective screencasting? to make screencasting cost-effective, only minimal technical support was needed, viz. a semi-automated, overnight procedure for transferring the raw recording to the school’s intranet for html5 browser access by students enrolled on the course. with only screen and sound stored, not the video, file sizes were smaller and therefore more manageable and the recording was easier to edit (though editing amounted merely to “topping and tailing” the recording and adding a splash screen). implementation the cms school used a variety of screen capture software, including microsoft expression encoder 4 screen capture to record all types of screencasting. expression encoder is easy to use: the user can choose to capture any portion of the screen or to capture live audio and, optionally, a webcam. the encoder can then be used to edit the footage and choose when to use the webcam footage, if captured. a free version of the software, limited to ten minutes of recording, can be downloaded from microsoft (download center, current) and there are user-guide videos on youtube (microsoft expression, current). the full version is expensive, but is included in a microsoft site licence at many universities and colleges. example 1: pre-recorded lectures for ‘flipped classrooms’ pre-recorded screencasts of the lecture material is one of the necessary cornerstones of the implementation of the ‘flipped classroom’ approach. logistically, screencasting of the prerecorded lectures has its challenges. first of all, it requires additional time at the computer to customise the traditional lecture notes into a more dynamic presentation, adding, for example, animation and sound to powerpoint slides as well as embedding other screencast materials into the lecture. second, it requires a quiet place and additional time to record the screencasts. also, implementation of a ‘flipped classroom’ approach leads to a rethinking of the activities during the contact hours with students and requires extra materials, like quizzes, interactive exercises, discussions etc. there are many benefits of the pre-recorded lecture screencasts. from the technical point of view, the lecturer has full control of the recording environment and can edit the screencast if required or, in rare cases, re-record the lecture partially or completely. from the learner’s perspective, this method has a wide range of benefits: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 since the recording is done in advance, the screencast lectures are made available to students to watch before the contact hours (lecture/seminar/workshop), allowing them to come prepared for interactive, inquisitive, thought-provoking sessions, and thus helping them to assimilate their knowledge in a deeper way and apply practical context to theoretical concepts. the students can watch the screencast when it suits their schedules and life styles; they can watch it once or several times; they can re-wind and go over a particularly difficult concept. there is also a sense of a personal connection with the instructor, which is an important element of the learning process (evans, 2011). the ‘flipped-classroom’ approach also stimulates the ability to learn independently and then verify the acquired knowledge interactively in the classroom (hea, 2013). it encourages and builds confidence in students, especially at the beginning of a course, by providing opportunities for them to bring to the class questions and observations which have arisen from watching the screencast (berrett, 2013). example 2: screencast tutorials for practical sessions with the preparation of lab materials for courses that utilise software, there is an imbalance between the time it takes to research, hone, organise, write and annotate various tasks and the time it takes for the students to attempt to complete the tasks. this is an issue that comes up repeatedly in media-related courses, where the software will change with annual releases. such amendments as buttons changing their icons, the renaming of techniques and new methods for completing tasks can make steps in a tutorial redundant within a year of their creation. in previous years, for the course 3d animation, the highly visual tasks were written in a stepby-step method, utilising static screen-grabs to illustrate the location of commands and actions, and would often become lengthy documents that students would need to follow in order to practise the practical skills needed for the course, let alone synthesise their own implementation. with screencast capture, the process becomes entirely different. previously, with written tutorials, a tutor would need to ensure that the wording used was clear and had no ambiguity, as the only other method that could communicate the same intentions would be static illustrations which would be constrained by the dimensions of the page. screencast tutorials allow the real-time demonstration of techniques with a more personable tutor narration, which is instantly contextualised with the actions seen on screen. by watching the actions and listening to the contextualisation of the methods presented, the students will be more likely to apply them in their own projects, rather than simply emulate the tutor’s example. the time taken by the tutor to produce the tutorials is significantly reduced. aside from researching and honing the task to fit the learning outcome of the practical, the time it takes to record is the time it takes to carry out the task. the only additional time is taken up with encoding the screencast into a format for the vle, but this can be batch-processed and left to run with no interaction. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 one method for the preparation of screencast tutorials is to break the tutorial into separate methods and techniques, rather than recording as one whole screencast or as a step-bystep process. from a pedagogical viewpoint, there are numerous benefits to this approach: for example, students would be presented with the concept and how to carry it out, but, as it would be presented and contextualised as a separate process rather than as a step in a larger process, students would be able to apply that technique to other situations, such as animating a sack of flour in the 3d animation course. one stage of this is to create a dummy object which can be used as a handle to alter a section of the sack model; whilst this is a critical step in the process, it is also a technique that can be used in other scenarios. presenting this as its own technique distinguishes it from a step used only in the animating of a certain object. the tutor should then not need to repeat the process. another benefit of breaking a tutorial into distinct chunks is that it relieves pressure on the tutor. if a tutorial is carried out in one long recording, a mistake can ruin everything done before it, unless the tutor is prepared to edit the recording. keeping screencasts to twoor three-minute chunks, the tutor can save the tutorial at that stage and begin the next; if a mistake is made, then the screencast can be stopped and scrapped and the tutorial set back to the last save point. with screencasts in bite-sized and appropriately-named chunks, students can quickly and easily find a process that they are having problems with, rather than having to trawl through a lengthy screencast. as the screencast medium is one that can be rewound, paused and fast-forwarded, students are able to stop at a particular point and not lose their place. if they are unsure of the point being explained, they can rewind, and, if they are revisiting the material, they can skip to the part they are looking for. example 3: live recordings experience shows that recording live lectures requires planning. microsoft expression encoder 4 screen capture, available at no extra cost within microsoft licensing by the university, was used to make the recording, and this needed to be installed and configured on all the lecture theatre main computers. a portable radio microphone needed to be brought to the lecture and plugged in, and the recording software set up and tested before the start of the lecture. with live recordings, it is essential to tell students when the recording is about to start and then remember to press the start button! students need to be aware that, if they ask a question or make a comment during the lecture and do not want it to be part of the published recording, they must inform the lecturer at the end of the lecture. it is also essential to tell students when the recording is finished and to press the stop button! there are many hazards with live screencasting. things can go wrong, and usually do. it is advisable to check that the software is available on the machine being used, that the microphone has sufficient battery life and that the sound recording level is set appropriately. the lecturer needs to repeat questions from the audience so that they are recorded clearly and sometimes editing is required: for example, when a fire drill interrupts the session. crucially, managing the recording at the same time as delivering the teaching is a challenge. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 process for making recordings available to students in all cases, the recordings were made available to students through the cms student intranet, with links to it from the moodle course. students had to agree to the following terms and conditions before they could access the recordings and they had to be attached to the course in the university’s management information system. figure 1: terms and conditions for student viewing statistics having the recording hosted on the cms student intranet means that extensive statistics are available. for example, the courses with many snippets had the most accesses, but the most watched screencast was one of the live lectures, probably because the requirements for the coursework were explained in detail in that lecture. the 3d animation course in the year 2012/13 utilised 148 individual tutorial screencasts over 22 teaching weeks. the total length of the screencasts came to 9 hours and 3 minutes, with an average of 3 minutes 51 seconds per screencast. there were 75 students registered to the course in the 2012/13 academic year and, across the whole cohort, the 148 screencasts had 10293 views between them, equating to 137 views per student. this statistic suggests that some students must not have watched all the screencasts, even though all techniques covered were assessed in their work. the visualisation in figure 2 that plots screencast views against a student’s achieved grade indicates that students who viewed the screencasts more than once passed the course, allowing them to apply the required skills into their work. this is far from the only variable which could affect academic achievement; in fact, there are examples of students who did not view all of the screencasts available and still achieved a grade of 70% or over. this could indicate that they had prior knowledge of the software, that they had gained enough knowledge from the lecture demonstrations or that they had sourced other tutorials. there is one exception to the assertion that if a student watched all of the screencasts, he or she would pass. one student in particular had 398 views in total, but failed the course. this would indicate that screencast tutorials did not work at all well for this individual, but, as the data was anonymous, no correlation is possible with other course performances or mitigating circumstances. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 2: screencast views vs. grades feedback from students the online cms student feedback system provided many positive comments. msc students commented:  ".. the videos prepared me for the class ahead and therefore made the class less strange and more interactive."  "it was a refreshing change from traditional teaching methods mainly because it helped me get more involved with the subject of the course. it gave me more time to deepen my knowledge of the subject rather than spending unnecessary time on basics."  “i watched the videos most of the times before class and in some cases i re-watched them while i worked on the coursework.” undergraduate feedback included:  "good to go and watch the video before the start of the lecture because it helps to understand it more."  "i found the video lectures which were released before each lecture to be extremely useful. watching the video and taking notes prior to the lecture meant that i was able to prepare questions to ask during the lecture so that i can clarify my understanding." there were no negative comments from students. conclusion the obstacles to effective screencasting have been a combination of technical issues, especially hardware and software unreliability. the best solution for this would be integration of the lecture theatre sound system with the recording software, but this was not part of the specification of the systems currently in place in the university lecture theatres. however, this is being implemented for 2014/15. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the benefits of the varied approach taken by cms have been motivated and satisfied students and resources that can be re-used, with minimal extra costs apart from staff time. in summary, to the question “is screencasting worthwhile?”, students clearly say "yes", but lecturers currently say "maybe". once remaining technical issues are overcome and the long-term benefits of recorded screencasts become clearer, it is hoped that lecturers will change their response to "yes". references berrett, d. 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(2012) ‘talking with students through screencasting: experimentations with video feedback to improve student learning’, the journal of interactive technology and pedagogy, 1 available at: http://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2012/talking-with-students-throughhttp://chronicle.com/article/how-flipping-the-classroom/130857/ http://chronicle.com/article/how-flipping-the-classroom/130857/ http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7012.pdf http://www.worldcat.org/issn/1935-9772 http://www.worldcat.org/issn/1935-9772 http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0009-2479 http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/internationalisation/isl_independent_learning http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=18974 http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=18974 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqisiud_wc http://www.worldcat.org/issn/1547-9714 http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype-801.php http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype-801.php case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 screencastingexperimentations-with-video-feedback-to-improve-student-learning/ (accessed 7 october 2013). tucker, b. (2012). ‘the flipped classroom’. education next, 12(1), 82-83 available at: http://hdexplorations.eportalnow.net/uploads/7/1/0/0/7100009/ednext_20121_btucker.pdf (accessed 1 may 2013) http://hdexplorations.eportalnow.net/uploads/7/1/0/0/7100009/ednext_20121_btucker.pdf compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vo1 1 (2009) 1 teaching information skills for legal method sarah crofts information & library services i have been involved with teaching information skills as part of the law department’s 1st year legal method course since 2000. these sessions have developed from a set of half hour sessions offered on a drop-in basis in 2000, to the current format of four seminars of an hour each. the four seminars deal with searching the library catalogue; searching the law databases for cases and statutes; searching for journal articles; and finding and evaluating material for law on the free internet. there are 10 seminar groups for legal method so each library seminar is delivered 10 times in the week. the aim of this article is to provide a snapshot of the seminars on journals from january 2009, which i hope will prove interesting to colleagues as an example of services provided by the academic services librarians. resources used i have been using webct to provide blended learning since 2005 and for workshops i tend to use a mix of powerpoint presentation, webct tools such as quizzes, self-tests and discussion lists, as well as discussion and hands-on searching. i also include material in the webct legal method course to which students can return later if they wish. one advantage of using the webct tools is that students are more easily engaged by activities such as the quizzes. the main disadvantage is in the reliability of the system, which is why i find it invaluable to have a powerpoint presentation ready to use in the event of the internet being unavailable. the first seminar group is at 9am on a monday morning and occasionally the internet, portal and webct have not been available. programme for the journals seminar the programme consisted of the following: what are journals? this was a short discussion in which i asked students for their ideas as to why journals might be useful in addition to books. although some groups were more forthcoming than others, most came up with at least two key reasons for using journals, such as currency and their importance as a means of disseminating research. after the seminars, i summarised these contributions and added them to webct for the students to refer to again if they wished. understanding citations and legal abbreviations this was an explanation of how citations are formulated with some examples of different styles. law students face the additional challenge of having to decipher legal abbreviations so that they can search for the item. some of these abbreviations are very similar and therefore, a perennial cause of confusion, for example: ‘med lr’ is the medical law reports but ‘med.lrev.’ is the medical law review. most students find this aspect of legal research rather boring, but i hoped that the online test teaching information skills for legal method 2 would help make the topic more interesting, as well as providing an opportunity to practice searching for abbreviations. for this quiz, i used a webct ‘short answer’ self-test with unlimited duration together with the cardiff university’s cardiff index to abbreviations tool, available at www. legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk. searching for journals and journal articles during this part of the session, i reminded students how to search for journals on the library catalogue, as this is an area which often causes confusion – students often try to search by article title rather than by journal title. another online quiz followed to test the students’ understanding for which i used a webct ‘fill in the blank’ self-test. planning the search during this part of the seminar, i gave students hints for planning their search. this covered concepts such as: analysing the question or topic to pick out key words, how to broaden or narrow the search, using connectors. most students use search engines such as google where any type of search will produce results; the library databases to which we have access require a structured approach and it can be quite challenging explaining the significance of this to students (see ‘challenges and problems’). practical search for the final part of the seminar students had the opportunity to search for an article for their english legal system seminar the following week. the students had to choose an article from a legal academic journal on one of the following topics: religious freedom, the denbigh high school case or the issue of qualified rights under the european convention of human rights. having found a suitable article, the rest of the task (to be completed after the seminar) was to prepare a presentation setting out the following: ■ the name of the article, the author and the citation ■ a summary of the content of the article ■ an explanation of the viewpoint of the author ■ whether the student agreed or disagreed with the author and the reason ■ the reason why the student found the article interesting. despite my emphasis on the importance of using keywords and not just cutting and pasting the essay title into the database, nearly everyone did just that, so there is more work to do here! in addition to improving their search skills, this task tested the students’ ability to identify articles from academic journals, something which we touched on in the initial ‘what are journals?’ discussion. i had also prepared a third activity ‘finding an article from a reference’, using the webct ‘short answer’ format. there was not enough time to include this, but it would have tested students’ ability to find an article on a database given the citation. challenges and problems this was the third in the series of library seminars and the size of the groups was becoming less of a problem, as the student numbers had dwindled since the previous seminars. one of the seminar groups started off at the beginning of the year with 30 plus students, but by the january seminar this had fallen to 18 students. there is room for 20 students in the room and i find that optimum http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/ http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/ teaching information skills for legal method 3 group size is around 15. students’ behaviour was a problem in only one of the groups with some students who talked throughout. as always, there were quite a range of abilities with some racing ahead on the self tests while others could not work out what to do. despite testing the activities beforehand, there were the inevitable few minor errors in the self-tests which i put right as the week progressed. however, as one of the tutors observed, there might well be errors in real life examples of citations. one of the biggest challenges concerns the students’ ‘digital literacy’. i imagine that students’ unquestioning use of google is a challenge faced throughout the university. although many students do not appear to have the skills to evaluate the sources retrieved from google, it is perhaps understandable that they prefer the google interface to many library databases and catalogues. it is beautifully simple and always provides results. a british library/centre for information behaviour and the evaluation of research (ciber) report (2008) noted that many students do not find library databases easy to use and prefer the familiarity of google. this question of students’ lack of effective search skills is an issue faced in many schools. i wonder if there are ways in which the university community could integrate an approach that could improve students’ performance of this key research skill. one approach includes the progression in information skills online learning skills modules, which are available to all students and staff of the university, as well as the recently developed progression for all, for anyone without a university user name and password, available at www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/ls/projects/progression. in addition, the university has been participating in a higher education change academy project, developing an institutional model for embedding academic and transferable skills, which began in april 2009. during this, a cross-university team investigated the concept of embedding these skills in university curricula. one of the benefits to students would be the development of information literacy, which provides them with the means to make appropriate judgements about the value and potential uses of different types of material and media, visit www.heacademy.ac.uk/changeacademy. finally, there is the issue of ‘user-friendliness’. although i have been using webct for some years, it now seems rather cumbersome compared with other tools and web 2.0 resources which have appeared over the years. students are so familiar with the look of resources such as facebook and other social media that webct probably looks rather old fashioned in comparison. assessment the legal method library seminars include assessments which form part of the students’ overall assessment for the course. i use a mixture of webct multiple choice question assessments with a deadline as well as other types of assessment. we are lucky enough to have the services of a lexis student associate and a westlaw student representative both trained and paid by lexisnexis butterworths and westlaw. the westlaw student representative offered an alternative assessment, in the form of a westlaw session to which students were asked to sign up. webct does not seem to provide a tool for this, so i used the free ‘we join in’ tool, available at www.wejoinin.com. http://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/ls/projects/progression http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/changeacademy http://www.wejoinin.com/ teaching information skills for legal method 4 feedback the students’ learning logs included some very positive comments about the seminar as follows: ‘the use of the journals that we were able to select in the class was useful as i have not seen a law journal before. i really enjoyed going through citations. it was very useful, as the citations for bibliographies and journals are completely different.’ ‘before this seminar i had no clear understanding how to read a journal, to look up a journal on lexisnexis or the other websites stated in the seminar. so i felt this seminar really helped me as it has also helped me with the research for the current essay i am writing now for foundations of criminology.’ ‘i was impressed by how easy it was to find relevant sources and think that this is going to assist my studies considerably’ ‘this seminar was in the library as we learnt how to find journals and abbreviations, etc. it was very useful as we needed it in order to do our work for els’ ‘i find the library seminars useful. this is because we are shown how to use the online sources in order to find cases and journals. cases and journals are essential for the other courses that we are attending. also, when i am at home and i am unable to reach a library i feel at ease to know that i can use the online sources. another thing that i find useful is that we are shown the correct way to input cases and how to abbreviate statutes and so on.’ conclusion the work i do with students is made more effective through close collaboration with, and support by, colleagues in the law department, who assist by suggesting topics that they will be covering in the students’ other courses such as english legal system. this ensures that the students recognise a relevance to the seminars which i hope makes it more meaningful for them. i think it would be useful to learn more about how colleagues in other schools integrate with their library services, and if there is scope for a cross-disciplinary approach to some of the common challenges students face in terms of information literacy. even within information & library services it can be difficult to share good practice with colleagues who are engaged in teaching students and this may also be the case for academic colleagues. a recent jisc report (2009) notes that, although they found much good practice amongst academic and library and computing staff, ‘staff are still operating in relative isolation from one another, in many cases, even within their own departments’. i have offered this case study in the hope that it might channel some discussion and debate in the university, and to start the process of sharing information beyond the ‘bubble’ in which we tend to operate academically. note teaching information skills for legal method 5 this is an example of just one information skills seminar for law. if you would like to find out more or make contact with your academic services librarian, please visit www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/ls/ services/asl. references centre for information behaviour and the evaluation of research (ciber) (2008) information behaviour of the researcher of the future. online. available at www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/resourcediscovery/googlegen.aspx, (accessed 10 november 2009). london: ciber. jisc (2009) learning literacies in a digital age. available at www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ documents/learningliteraciesbp (accessed 10 november 2009). london: jisc online. http://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/ls/ http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ preface compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 preface nona mcduff kingston university the bme attainment gap is a longstanding sector issue and, whilst the passage of time has brought with it advancements, there is still a long way to go. in 2016/17, for qualifiers in undergraduate degrees, the bme attainment gap was 13.6% and a shocking 24.1% for black students. when the bme attainment gap came to my attention over a decade ago, i was surprised that little was being done to address this systemic failure of the united kingdom (uk) highereducation system. but it was almost as if the gap was being ‘ghosted’. there was pervasive sector resistance to: producing data analysed by demographics; acknowledging that the institution could itself be contributing significantly to causing differentials; taking active steps to identify and address possible shortcomings of the institution (the more likely action being to respond by focusing on the characteristics of students – a.k.a. the ‘student-deficit’ approach). thankfully, though, various reports have convincingly challenged the student-deficit approach. the most notable of these large-scale reports were conducted by broecke and nicolls in 2007 and by hefce in 2013. the latter demonstrated that, when controlling for a number of variables (such as entry qualifications, the ‘participation of local areas’ measure, the subject of study, the previous school type and the current institution), the attainment gap was reduced by only one per cent, from 16% to 15%. consequently, there has been a call to move away from focusing solely on student interventions and instead to take into account all aspects influencing the student life cycle. many – including singh (2009), stevenson (2012), mcduff et al. (2018) – advocate a wholeinstitution approach to addressing the attainment gap, so as to create a sense of direction and purpose for staff and an environment for students that is truly inclusive and in which they sense that they belong, matter and have appropriate conditions to thrive. at kingston, the whole-institution, whole-student-life-cycle approach to the bme attainment gap has been facilitated primarily through detailed work to engage staff in discussions and actions using the ‘value added’ metric and ‘inclusive curriculum framework’ (icf), both developed at kingston. the ‘value added’ metric takes into account entry qualifications and subject of study to arrive at a probability that a given student will achieve a first or upper-second degree. aggregating these probabilities produces an ‘expected’ percentage for a given cohort of students who should achieve a first or upper-second classification and this can be analysed by ethnicity. simply put, if bme students as a group on a course do not achieve their expected value-added score of 1 then this becomes a pressing issue for the programme team. preface compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the strategic icf at kingston is a user-friendly mechanism for embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the academic life cycle, from ‘concept to review’. whether staff operate at a teaching-session, module, programme or institutional level, the icf challenges all stakeholders to assess systematically the extent to which their practices and curricula a) are accessible, b) enable students to see themselves in the curriculum and c) prepare students to contribute positively to a diverse world. for kingston students, the outcome of this work to reduce the bme attainment gap has been positive: the gap has narrowed over the last six years from twenty-nine to thirteen percentage points. we wanted to explore whether our approach at kingston could be transferred to other institutions and, as part of the office for students’ ‘catalyst student success’ project, we were delighted to join up with the university of hertfordshire, the university of greenwich, university college london, de montfort university and wolverhampton university. we have learnt – and are continuing to learn – from each other about what works and we share that understanding with the sector. this special issue of compass is part of that process and i am very pleased to note that it offers such a range of ideas, activities and reflections, each with the potential – with appropriate implementation – to reduce the attainment gap at your institution. nona mcduff obe, msc, ba hons, pfhea, cert education project lead director of student achievement, kingston university reference list mcduff, n., tatam, j., beacock, o. and ross, f. (2018) ‘closing the attainment gap for students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds through institutional change.’ widening participation and lifelong learning, 20(1), 79-101. issn (print) 1466-6529. singh, g. (2009) black and minority ethnic (bme) students’ participation in higher education: improving retention and success: a synthesis of research evidence. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/bme_synthesis_final.pdf (accessed: 22 march 2019). stevenson, j. (2012) black and minority ethnic student degree retention and attainment. higher education academy, higher education funding council. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/bme_summit_final_report (accessed: 23 march 2019). https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/bme_synthesis_final.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/bme_summit_final_report opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 comparing approaches to feedback in the context of english language teaching in higher education ramla alzadjali university of exeter i have been a university language lecturer teaching students english as a foreign language (efl) or second language (esl) in oman for three years. my students are arabs who learnt english at school but are not well-prepared for the demands of academic writing in english at university level. this situation is widespread in my country – students at higher education institutions often enrol on compulsory english language classes in their first year at university before they progress into their specialisation. the duration of the english language learning programme is generally between one and five terms, depending on how successful the learner is in learning the language. hence, the issue of how best to support students to develop english language writing skills is an important one in my higher education (he) teaching context. furthermore, what in my case relates to challenging choices about the best ways to use feedback to improve language has broader application to teachers in other contexts where judicious management of feedback is likely to have positive results. there is ample evidence from the literature on formative assessment that feedback on such assessments can enhance students’ work and engagement with their course (shepard, 2019). the feedback process can be vital in raising learners’ awareness of the strengths and weaknesses in their writing. this, in turn, can make a positive difference to their performance on their summative assessments and their eventual outcome on their programme. through the process of `feedforward’ (carless, 2006), students use the assessor’s comments to shape work they will do in the future. i have struggled with dilemmas regarding, firstly, the optimal amount and most effective focus of feedback when i provide it on written assignments and, secondly, how best to relate feedback to learners’ needs and expectations. in my experience (on the basis both of working with students and of their formal and informal comments), there may be some learners who assume that their instructor is responsible for correcting every single error in an assignment. others may have socalled ‘fossilized’ errors, ones that are repeated many times and are therefore likely to be very hard to unlearn and change. in both cases, students may prefer, expect or rely upon ‘unfocused’ or ‘comprehensive’ error correction (ellis et al., 2008). this may be because they are familiar with this approach from their previous years of schooling (i.e., their teacher corrected all errors and did not distinguish between different error types). in contrast, with ‘focused’ error correction, the educator may target specific categories of errors in turn. for example, the focus may initially be on grammatical errors relating to tenses and later, on lexical errors relating to word choice or collocation. in this approach, the teacher discusses the focus explicitly with students and so, in addition to the feedback, their development in that aspect of language is fully supported. with focused feedback, learners can process one or two ideas in depth at a given time and have already had the target areas opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 identified and discussed with them. focused feedback is therefore, arguably, more manageable for learners, more likely to bring about active engagement in learning and more likely to be acted upon in the future. moreover, by selecting specific types of errors to correct from learners’ assignments, educators can boost learners’ confidence and avoid the problem of students’ feeling overwhelmed by the amount and range of weaknesses identified in their work. ellis et al. (2008) support this, finding that learners are more likely to attend to corrections that are directed at a single error type (or a limited number of them) and more likely to develop a clearer understanding of the nature of the error and the correction needed. with a more focused and in-depth approach to the feedback process, in the context of language learning in he, students are supported to develop metalinguistic skills that will promote the development of autonomy and self-regulation. the narrower focus increases the likelihood of developing the target skills or knowledge, rather than making that task feel unmanageable. so, not only do students learn how to look up the correct spelling or meaning of the word or make use of grammar websites; they are also encouraged to practise their skills in the chosen feedback area as much as possible, both in their formal assessments and also by writing personal blogs and journals or posting their opinions, stories or thoughts on a social media platform. this provides opportunities to develop a dialogic approach to feedback (carless, 2007) in which students begin to engage in inner dialogue and self-monitoring when tackling a task. however, educators need to communicate these benefits clearly to students, who, as noted above, may express a preference for comprehensive error correction (leki, 1991). the comprehensive approach may be attractive to students because it is familiar, but for it to be effective, students need to use quite complex self-correction strategies, as they need first to identify what types of errors have been made and then to use a variety of resources to obtain the lexical and grammatical information that they need. as they may find this overwhelming, the disadvantages of this approach may possibly outweigh the benefits. for instance, unfocused error correction may result in a more passive role in the learning process. because of the range and number of corrections, students may engage with the process more superficially, making it less likely that they will be able to transfer the target language into the long-term memory. learners may then keep repeating the same errors and receiving the same feedback. in addition, too much correction might put words into student writers’ mouths which they did not intend in the first place; moreover, it might make learners feel that they are not good enough as writers by decreasing their motivation and confidence level. an important question is: ‘to what extent do these ideas have implications for the feedback process in the context of other academic disciplines?’ i would argue that, whatever the teaching context, we need a dialogue with students, the better to understand what they expect from feedback. we also need to consider what our aims are in providing feedback. finally, we need to consider the implications of our feedback approach for students’ engagement, subsequent learning and development as independent learners. all these issues are relevant to evaluating feedback processes more generally and across disciplines. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 to conclude, based on my experience in supporting second language learning in my teaching context, my view is that a focused approach to feedback has greater potential for supporting learning than a comprehensive one. in addition, whatever feedback strategy is adopted, it is essential to discuss the rationale with students, firstly to align expectations with the approach taken and secondly to develop students’ feedback literacy and build their understanding of how to use the feedback effectively. reference list carless, d. (2006) ‘differing perceptions in the feedback process.’ studies in higher education, 31(2), 219-233. available at: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/link.asp?target=contribution&id=k 3h781r855176150 (accessed: 20, january, 2020) carless, d. (2007) ‘learning-oriented assessment: conceptual bases and practical implications.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 44(1), 57-66. available at: (http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailstab&gathstattab=true& ct=display&fn=search&doc=etocrn202984070&indx=1&recids=etocrn202984070 (accessed: 30, january 2020) ellis, r., sheen, y., murakami, m. and takashima, h. (2008) ‘the effects of focused and unfocused written corrective feedback in an english as a foreign language context.’ system, 36(3), 353-371. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s0346251x08000390?via%3dihub (accessed: 4, march, 2015) leki, i. (1991) ‘the preferences of esl students for error correction in college‐level writing classes.’ foreign language annals, 24(3), 203-218. available at: https://onlinelibrary-wileycom.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1991.tb00464.x (accessed: 27, october, 2015) http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/link.asp?target=contribution&id=k3h781r855176150 http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/link.asp?target=contribution&id=k3h781r855176150 http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailstab&gathstattab=true&ct=display&fn=search&doc=etocrn202984070&indx=1&recids=etocrn202984070 http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailstab&gathstattab=true&ct=display&fn=search&doc=etocrn202984070&indx=1&recids=etocrn202984070 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s0346251x08000390?via%3dihub https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1991.tb00464.x https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1991.tb00464.x opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 shepard, l. (2019) ‘classroom assessment to support teaching and learning.’ the annals of the american academy, 183-200. available at: https://journals-sagepubcom.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002716219843818 (accessed: 9, december, 2020) truscott, j. (1999) ‘the case for “the case for grammar correction in l2 writing classes”: a response to ferris.’ journal of second language writing, 8, 111-122. available at: https://wwwsciencedirectcom.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/s1060374399801246?via%3dihub(accessed: 21, september, 2015) https://journals-sagepub-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002716219843818 https://journals-sagepub-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002716219843818 https://www-sciencedirect-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/s1060374399801246?via%3dihub https://www-sciencedirect-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/s1060374399801246?via%3dihub https://www-sciencedirect-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/s1060374399801246?via%3dihub opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 making the invisible visible: value and reward for personal tutors eve rapley university of greenwich michael talbot university of greenwich abstract academic advising is a core part of the teaching and learning experience in higher education, but it receives little recognition in workload allocations or institutional prestige. we argue that it is high time that personal tutoring and academic advising be valued and esteemed as much as other core parts of the modern academy. keywords: personal tutoring; cpd; invisible work; academic advising personal tutoring; invisible work? as long-term, experienced personal tutors, we increasingly feel that personal tutoring can be viewed as being “invisible work” (kaplan daniels, 1987, p.403). invisible work is labour that is unrecognised, peripheral or hidden, less valued and overlooked (hatton, 2017). framed within these terms, it can be viewed as work that is of less value or worth than ‘proper’ academic work, such as teaching and research. this view is one shared by the university of oregon social sciences feminist network research interest group (2017), which suggests that, along with teaching and research, an academic role also includes administration, service (to committees, for example) and advising (personal tutoring). however, the group contends that these roles are “not valued or rewarded equally” (op.cit., p.230) when compared to higher-status academic endeavours like teaching and research. perhaps unsurprisingly, research and grant capture are seen as having greater importance and as constituting a more certain route to promotion than the invisible “care work” of personal tutoring and student mentoring (ibid., p.213). such is the apparent lack of parity between the different roles an academic is required to perform that bird, litt and wang (2004) have suggested that engaging with lower-status advising care-work activity – such as personal tutoring – and prioritising it over research and teaching can limit realistic chances of academic promotion. this same view persists fifteen years on, with ashencaen crabtree and shiel (2019) and walker (2020) contending that pastoral care work is still not part of the metrics used to measure academics’ performance. instead, research output and top-graded teaching evaluations are what are prized and pursued by those seeking promotion and academic career enhancement. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 the challenges of the context in which personal tutors must operate are arguably exacerbated by an increasingly casualised workforce with precarious contracts – meaning greater turnover (williams, 2021) – and larger student intakes, together with competing interests, demands and pressures, all resulting in such staff-student ratios (grey and osbourne, 2020) as do little to support personal tutors in performing their roles effectively. however, over time, changing attitudes have become evident within the higher education (he) sector. the big question here is: why, when student experience is top of many institutional strategies, are personal tutoring and advising often operating in the shadows? it is within this context that this opinion piece seeks to shine a light on this frankly iniquitous situation, by recognising the institutional value of personal tutors and their vital role in supporting student progression, achievement and wellbeing (stuart, willcocks and browning, 2021). we suggest ways by which personal tutors might be developed and rewarded, as part of a process of recognition for what they do: a visible, legitimate and high-status academic endeavour which, we aver, should enjoy parity of esteem with teaching and research. personal tutoring and the pandemic – legitimate academic work in the spotlight despite those who position personal tutoring as ‘nice to have, but not really that important’ – a sideshow encouraging academic do-gooders to dish out “tea and sympathy” (mcintosh and grey, 2017) – we would argue that, far from being peripheral, personal tutoring has never been so important. in 2006, the global community for academic advising asserted that “academic advising is integral to fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of higher education” (cited in white, 2015). in all universities, the covid-19 pandemic has highlighted just how integral personal tutoring and advising really are and also clearly demonstrated that more time and resources are needed to provide pastoral and wellbeing support for students (office for students, 2020). the pandemic has revealed the complexity of the personal tutoring role and also what forms of knowledge are required to carry it out effectively: from discipline-specific and institutional knowledge to signposting to university services (such as student finance, academic support skills and student wellbeing, to name a few). though these may be, declaratively and procedurally, essential forms of knowledge, something less tangible and less institutionally valued, but still very significant, is knowledge concerning the personal relationship between tutor and tutee. until we consider aspects of emotional intelligence (mayer and salovey, 1997) – such as empathy, active listening and personability – as distinct skills and bodies of knowledge in their own right (ones which require development and training), personal tutoring will never be as fully valued as it should be. if we take seriously (as we should) the assertion that the values of personal tutoring espoused by lochtie et al., (2018) – for example, being approachable, non-judgmental and authentic, developing rapport and listening – are key skills as well as values, then this hitherto hidden element of personal tutoring practice needs equal development and recognition. voices from the frontline opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 what we have particularly learned from our own tutees during the pandemic is how much they value our interest in them as individuals and our concern for their wellbeing (stephen, o'connell and hall, 2008; starcher, 2011). this means: being there, being present and being visible. we argue that those who view the personal tutor-tutee relationship as little more than ‘a chat’ have pathologised it; they fail to recognise how, with a supportive and emotionally intelligent personal tutor, these ‘chats’ can be transformational for a tutee. for many students, these tutor-tutee interactions are vital and can have a profound impact (light, 2001); they can be the difference between dropping out or staying; between suffering a crisis or achieving full academic and/or professional potential. the simple fact of the matter is, at a time when university leaders extol the virtues of personalised learning (walker, 2020), against a backdrop of an acute interest in student mental health and wellbeing, personal tutoring remains the poor country cousin when compared to other forms of work within the academy. the simultaneously hidden and open value of personal tutoring lies in linking the many realms of student experience: academic skills, employability, wellbeing and personal development. to do this properly requires proper investment in training and workload support. however, it also requires that the esteem in which personal tutoring is held be very much higher indeed than it is at the present time. development and reward we argue that part of raising esteem and the status of the role can be afforded through formal training and development. given the importance of the role, it is perplexing and frustrating that personal tutors are usually left to learn the ropes with little or often no formal training or guidance (stuart, willcocks and browning, 2021). this is in contrast to other academic roles: there is usually mandatory training for those engaging in teaching (via a pgcerthe or advance he fellowship recognition), in conducting research or in providing doctoral supervision. personal tutoring development could be facilitated in house via continuing personal development (cpd) or, externally, through united kingdom advising and tutoring (ukat) professional recognition awards (ukat, 2019). further measures could include the development of promotion pathways for academics specialising in personal tutoring, with ukat awards as official markers of esteem/qualification for promotion applications. we also suggest paying greater attention in the first place to the process of selecting academics to act as personal tutors. not everyone has the skillset and mindset to be a personal tutor. arguably, those in the role should demonstrate the necessary skills as well as living the intrinsic values that the role demands. indeed, evidence suggests that poorly equipped and inadequately trained personal tutors can have a negative impact on students (wootton, 2006). finally, the role of the personal tutor could be further supported by exploring the judicious use of learning analytics. jisc research reported that using a data dashboard can support personalisation, student retention and enhancement of learning (sclater et al., 2016). however, we contend that any use of a data dashboard should not be at the expense of the fundamental, highly relational and dialogic personal tutor-tutee dynamic. systems need to be developed by opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 institutions in conversation with tutors and tutees, so that they encompass the needs and outcomes of personal tutoring, which is still rarely the case (francis et al., 2020). personal tutoring is all about people and about building and developing relationships, something that a purely data-driven model could never successfully replicate. conclusion at a time when students really want and need to “feel that they matter” (hudson 2006, p.45) and we want to live the values of the university, we urge leaders to make the invisible visible; to recognise the value and worth of personal tutoring to tutees and to the wider institution by supporting personal tutors and giving personal tutoring 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(2019) ‘playing mother: channeled careers and the construction of gender in academia.’ sage open, 9(3), 1-14. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2158244019876285 (accessed: 1 september 2021). bird, s., litt, j. and wang, y. (2004) ‘creating status of women reports: institutional housekeeping as women’s work.’ the national women's studies association (nwsa) journal 16(1), 194-206. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4317042 (accessed: 28 august 2021). francis, p., broughan, c., foster, c. and wilson, c. (2020) 'thinking critically about learning analytics, student outcomes, and equity of attainment.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education 45(6), 811-821. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1691975 (accessed: 17 september 2021). grey, d. and osborne, c. (2020) ‘perceptions and principles of personal tutoring.’ journal of further and higher education, 44(3), 285-299. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2018.1536258 (accessed: 3 september 2021). hatton, e. (2017) ‘mechanisms of invisibility: rethinking the concept of invisible work.’ work, employment, and society, 31, 2. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0950017016674894 (accessed: 6 august 2021). https://www.jstor.org/stable/4317042 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 hudson, r. (2006) ‘all of humanity is here!’ pastoral care, 24(2), 45-9. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.14680122.2006.00363.x?scroll=top&needaccess=true (accessed: 6 august 2021). light, r.j. (2001) making the most of college: students speak their minds. massachusetts: harvard university press. isbn: 9780674004788 kaplan daniels, a. 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(eds.), personal tutoring in higher education. stoke-ontrent: trentham books, 115-125. isbn: 9781858563855 http://www.ukat.uk/standards/professional-recognition http://www.ukat.uk/standards/professional-recognition compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 1, 2009 1 reflective practice: the enduring influence of kolb’s experiential learning theor y paul dennison business school since 1984 david kolb’s experiential learning theory (elt) has been a leading influence in the development of learner-centred pedagogy in management and business. it forms the basis of kolb’s own learning styles’ inventory and those of other authors including honey and mumford (2000). it also provides powerful underpinning for the emphasis, nay insistence, on reflection as a way of learning and the use of reflective practice in the preparation of students for business and management and other professions. in this paper, we confirm that kolb’s elt is still the most commonly cited source used in relation to reflective practice. kolb himself continues to propound its relevance to teaching and learning in general. however, we also review some of the criticisms that elt has attracted over the years and advance new criticisms that challenge its relevance to higher education and its validity as a model for formal, intentional learning. kolb’s experiential learning theory kolb’s elt first appeared in his book experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development (1984). this now familiar diagram (figure 1), owes much to lewin’s 1951 model for experiential learning (figure 2). kolb’s model captured the mood of innovation in the 1980s in management development and training and was an instant success. figure 1: kolb’s elt (1984). figure 2: lewin’s experiential learning model (1951). reflective practice: the enduring influence of kolb’s experiential learning theory 2 some of the reasons for this are: ■ it appeared to be grounded in reality – it was vocational – and denied the ‘artificiality of the classroom’. ■ it focused on the learner – it was learner-centred (which in 1984, made it ‘cutting-edge’). ■ it advocated learning from ‘experience’ and learning by doing. ■ it appeared to empower the learner, who could dispense with ‘tutor control’. ■ its model for learning mimicked true discovery, which at a stroke removed the ‘artificial’ distinction between research and learning. that it is still widely used was, perhaps, the most striking result of the small-scale study that was one of the starting points for this paper. the study and its findings a pilot study of ten interviews was conducted among lecturers from three departments in the business school, addressing the following broad areas of enquiry: ■ to what extent and in which courses were students required to demonstrate reflective practice? ■ whether lecturers undertook or had undertaken written reflection themselves? ■ how did students approach reflective practice? how seriously did they take it? what criteria did lecturers use to assess their reflections? ■ which authors/theories did lecturers offer students as underpinning the value of reflective practice to the practitioner? table 1: how students were required to demonstrate reflective practice. course programme/ stage referent guide length (words) weighting continuing professional development cipd cpd learning log 4000 100% personal & professional development 2 sms year 2 pieces of reflection 3 x 2000 100% professional update & development mba reflective portfolio 8 x 500 100% personal & professional development 2 man year 2 learning journal 800 15% strategy ma reflective report 250 10% management information systems year 2 reflective report 500 10% process control management year 2 critical reflection 500 5% strat financial management year 3 reflection on presentations 300 part of 15% reflective practice: the enduring influence of kolb’s experiential learning theory 3 table 1 illustrates the degree to which reflective practice is employed in courses. table 1 identifies two configurations: for a few courses, reflective practice formed 100 per cent of the assessment; for a larger group, it formed a minority element – less than 20 per cent. lecturers’ own experience and use of reflective practice only 2 out of 10 lecturers actually undertook written reflective practice, although all pointed out that they were reflective in their work – and were required to be. most had engaged in written reflective practice in their own educational history. there was an appreciation of the difficulty in assessing reflective practice; assessment was somewhat incongruous for an activity that was essentially a form of self-assessment or self-explanation. reflective practice by its nature is personal, rather than public, and to intrude upon it for the purpose of assessment is unwelcome. on the other hand, remodelling reflective practice as ‘public’ for the purposes of assessment was invalid and probably self-defeating. other authors had commented on this (macfarlane and gourlay, 2009). lecturers were in favour of retaining it, however, because they saw reflective practice as being at the heart of the concept of professionalism, which depends of on ‘re-assessing oneself and one’s work continually, habitually’. how seriously did students take it? lecturers reported great variation in the way students approached the reflective task. on the cipd programme, with its emphasis on a reflective culture, students took it very seriously indeed, but elsewhere only a minority (<10 per cent) of students did more than follow instructions in a formulaic way. students from other cultures found it very difficult to understand. criteria for assessment there was a corresponding divergence in grading criteria: reflective practice was often linked to other skills development and reflection was expected to focus on the developmental process. lecturers looked for openness – admission of error, doubt or difficulty – self-awareness, insight into others – group dynamics and interactions – authenticity. some lecturers had more developed expectations: one looked for ‘enthusiasm, opinions and openness – the triangulation between these’; another identified a three stage model – 1. simple description, 2. relating present experience to previous experiences, 3. identifying learning and how to use it in the future. authors cited in support of reflective practice the most commonly cited author on reflective practice was david a. kolb (1984), whose experiential learning theory (elt), was mentioned by 6 out 10 of respondents, followed by donald a. schön’s reflective practitioner (1983) with 4 out of 10. other sources were much less well known (cowan, 1998; lewin, 1951) and the johari window (luft and ingham, 1955). some textbooks treated reflective practice seriously (cottrell, megginson and whitaker, 2007) and at least one internet site was used (institute of reflective practice, 2003). kolb’s relevance today twenty-five years later, my small-scale study reveals that kolb’s elt is still regarded as relevant and influential by a substantial number – perhaps even the majority – of lecturers in business and management. his influence lives on and, although his exposition of elt has migrated somewhat from the original experiential purity of 1984, he is still adding to the literature surrounding the reflective practice: the enduring influence of kolb’s experiential learning theory 4 model (kolb and kolb, 1999; 2005; 2008; kolb and boyatzis, 2000). indeed there is something of an industry built around the concepts of elt – the international consortium for experiential learning lists 19 other organisations – available at www.icel.org.uk. elt has not gone unchallenged over those twenty-five years. several authors, including kolb himself (1999), have published compilations of criticisms (see http://reviewing.co.uk/research/ experiential.learning.htm#21). smith, for instance, (2001) grouped critiques of kolb’s elt under six key issues: 1. it pays insufficient attention to the process of reflection (see boud et al., 1985). 2. the claims made for the four different learning styles are extravagant (jarvis 1987; tennant, 1997). 3. the model takes very little account of different cultural experiences/conditions (anderson, 1988). 4. the idea of stages or steps does not sit well with the reality of thinking. there is a problem here – that of sequence. as dewey (1933) has said in relation to reflection, a number of processes can occur at once, stages can be jumped. this way of presenting things is rather too neat and is simplistic. 5. empirical support for the model is weak (jarvis, 1987; tennant, 1997). the initial research base was small, and there have only been a limited number of studies that have sought to test or explore the model (such as jarvis, 1987). 6. the relationship of learning processes to knowledge is problematic (jarvis, 1987). coffield et al., (2004, p. 69), in their authoritative, critical review of learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning, dismissed elt as the theoretical underpinning for kolb’s learning styles inventory (lsi) with the remark ‘the notion of a learning cycle may be seriously flawed’. new criticisms of elt the context that suggests itself as one in which experiential learning is most likely to thrive is that of sport. here is an arena where learning by doing is the norm, where the ‘artificiality’ of the classroom is acknowledged, where learning is learner-centred. it is also an arena where success in learning is instantly recognisable by success in competition; there is no need for assessment and evaluation of methods – the results of competition speak for themselves. when this specific context is examined, what do we find? serious sporting development is dominated by trainers – teachers. no serious sportsperson would begin development without one. one role of the sports trainer is to provide informed feedback – the external view – to the sportsperson, so necessary if they are to improve. a yet more crucial role is the setting of a training agenda – showing the sportsperson what is involved in the process of learning to win. both these roles are completely ignored by elt, where presumably the trainer is merely part of the learning environment. elt appears to advocate learner-centred sporting development by ‘trial-and-error’, which is slow and inefficient. dick fosbury won the gold medal for high jump in the olympics of 1968. it was the triumphant culmination of years of struggle to invent, perfect and get his ‘fosbury flop’ technique accepted. that process was one of true discovery – difficult, lonely, uncertain. today’s high-jumper learns the http://www.icel.org.uk/ http://reviewing.co.uk/research/ reflective practice: the enduring influence of kolb’s experiential learning theory 5 fosbury flop much more quickly – it is neither difficult, nor lonely, nor uncertain. their learning process is a pale shadow of the process of true discovery that dick fosbury went through. now, it may well be that dick fosbury ‘learned’ – that is to say invented – his new technique by following something like elt. the high jumpers that follow him do not. might it not be that kolb’s elt is describing not learning but discovery? by designing learning situations with only the assumptions of a discovery situation, we are ignoring the advantages to the learning situation supplied by the teacher or trainer, those of: ■ setting the learning agenda ■ providing efficient feedback to the learner ■ giving an expert perspective on the learning situation. these three advantages are crucial to success in ‘formal intended learning situations’ (jarvis, 2004), the kind we commonly refer to collectively as higher education. conclusions david kolb’s experiential learning theory survives as a powerful influence in business and management, despite years of criticism and, among other things, is still the most commonly cited source justifying the use of reflective practice. consideration of how learning takes place in the sporting arena – in particular the importance of a trainer/coach and crucial difference between learning and true discovery – suggests that elt is not a useful model for higher education, that its attractions (learner-centredness, grounded in ‘reality’, the need for a teacher down-graded) are partly illusory. learning is and needs to be, far more efficient than true discovery. the person of a teacher/trainer is central to this gain in efficiency by providing the agenda, the feedback and guidance, and another perspective to the learning situation. the use of reflective practice for the purposes of assessment is widespread in business and management courses, but this brings problems. lecturers find it difficult to assess and students find it difficult to undertake in an assessed context. despite this, reflective practice is felt to be valuable because of the professionalism it instils. in the current culture, it is argued that the only way to ‘drive’ reflective practice is to assess it; if so, then perhaps there is something amiss in the current culture. references anderson, j. a. (1988) ‘cognitive styles and multicultural populations’. journal of teacher education, 39(1): 2–9. boud, d. keogh, r. and walker, d. (eds.) (1985) reflection. turning experience into learning, london: kogan page. coffield, f. moseley, d. hall, e. and ecclestone, k. (2004) learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: a systematic and critical review. london: lsr cottrell, s. (2003) the study skills handbook (2nd edition). basingstoke: palgrave macmillan. cowan, j. (1998) on becoming an innovative university teacher: reflection in action. buckingham: srhe and oup. reflective practice: the enduring influence of kolb’s experiential learning theory 6 dewey, j. (1933) how we think. a restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process (revised edition). boston: heath. honey, p. mumford, a. (2000) the learning styles questionnaire: 80-item version. maidenhead: peter honey publications. institute of reflective practice. available at www.reflectivepractices.co.uk. jarvis, p. (1987) adult learning in the social context. london: croom helm. jarvis, p. (2004) adult education and lifelong learning: theory and practice (3rd edition). london: routledge falmer. kolb, d.a. (1984) experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. new jersey: englewood cliffs, prentice-hall. kolb, d.a. and boyatzis, r.e. (2000) ‘experiential learning theory: previous research and new directions’ in sternberg, r.j. and zhang, l.f. (eds.) perspectives on cognitive learning and thinking styles. new jersey: lawrence erlbaum. kolb, a. and kolb, d.a. (1999) bibliography of research on elt and the learning style inventory. department of organisational behaviour, weatherhead of school of management, case western reserve university, cleveland, ohio. kolb, a.y. and kolb, d.a. (2005) ‘learning styles and learning spaces: enhancing experiential learning in higher education’. academy of management learning and education, 4(2): 193–212. kolb, a.y. and kolb, d.a. (2008) ‘experiential learning theory: a dynamic holistic approach to management learning, education and development’ in armstrong, s.j. and fukami, c. (eds.) handbook of management learning, education and development. london: sage publications. luft, j. and ingham, h. (1955) ‘the johari window, a graphic model of interpersonal awareness’, proceedings of the western training laboratory in group development. los angeles: ucla. macfarlane, b. and gourlay, l. (2009) ‘the reflection game: enacting the penitent self’. teaching in higher education, 14(4); 455–459. megginson, d. and whitaker, v. (2007) continuing professional development (2nd edition). london: chartered institute of personnel and development. schön, d. (1983) the reflective practitioner. how professionals think in action. london: temple smith. smith, m. k. (2001) ‘david a. kolb on experiential learning’. the encyclopedia of informal education. online. available at www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm. tennant, m. (1997) psychology and adult learning 2e, london: routledge. online. www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm. http://www.reflectivepractices.co.uk/ http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 “all the world’s a stage” – the open broadcaster software (obs) as enabling technology to overcome restrictions in online teaching gerhard kristandl university of greenwich, uk abstract the open broadcaster software (obs) studio is free software that enables tutors to overcome the restrictions typical of video-conferencing software like ms teams or zoom. this paper develops from a real-life situation where the pandemic-induced move to online teaching has put severe restrictions on otherwise engaging teaching and student activities – specifically role-plays and use of props – hitherto run in the classroom. the goal is to demonstrate how obs studio was set up and employed to overcome this situation. in doing so, the paper offers, against this background, a simple set-up tutorial for two scenes to show that using obs studio is straightforward and intuitive. introduction when william shakespeare had melancholy jaques exclaim in as you like it that “all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players”, he likened human beings to actors on the stage of life. as we ‘act out’ our lives (to stay in that perspective) and assume many roles, so do we learn, not just by sitting and listening, but by doing, as “action begets learning” (alkin and christie, 2002, p.210; cavaliere and sgroi, 1992, p.7). it may be a long way from shakespeare’s past to our current present and future, but as covid-19 removed us from the classroom stage and put us firmly in front of a computer screen, most of our ‘stage of life’ moved online in turn. more often with dread and anxiety than optimism and hope (sycamore, 2020), many of us sat in front of that ever-watching webcam and ms teams/zoom platform, trying to figure out how this ‘online teaching stuff’ actually works. or, to pursue the bard’s own metaphor, how can we make this new ‘online stage’ work for our teaching and our students’ learning? how can we overcome the restrictions imposed by the technology that seemingly limits or even obstructs what we would typically do in the classroom to engage our students? the purpose of this case study is to present the open broadcaster studio (obs) software as an enabling technology that can help address the questions above. in the remainder of this paper, i shall show how obs can help to overcome the tight technological restrictions of typical video-conferencing software in terms of screen layout and design. i shall demonstrate this against the backdrop of a specific situation i was facing in terms of moving a studentengaging classroom activity – role-playing – to online. the situation technology might be either restrictive or enabling, but a mere screenshare functionality and a face below it in video-conferencing software like ms teams or zoom felt restrictive in case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 terms of what we could show to our students and do with them (remember that it took a considerably long time for the much desired breakout-room functionality to finally become a feature in ms teams). ‘natural’ did not come to mind – a tight technological corset with little control over the instruments and aesthetics. this was especially true for many of my classes where, under regular circumstances, we would perform a lot of role-playing, often supported by the use of such props as poker chips to mimic products or cash, teddy bears and flags to convey the concepts behind business process capabilities or lego bricks to demonstrate the difference between data and information. over the course of my long career as a teacher, i learned to hold such role-playing activities in high esteem owing to their potential to have a lasting impact on student learning (rao and stupans, 2012). i define ‘role-playing’ in this context as assuming/acting out various positions and perspectives in pre-defined scenarios to encourage learning both interactively (from application) and passively (from observation of others, as rao and stupans, 2012, lauber, 2007, baruch, 2006 and eitington, 2001 likewise believe). in this definition – inspired by baruch’s (2006) inclusion of drama in role-play teaching – i include the stage props i’ve referred to already as a dramatic element to add realism and tangibility to my scenarios. it is straightforward to imagine such role-plays being acted out in an actual classroom in front of and with students. but what about the digital ‘stage’ of a video-conferencing platform? of course, we can try to do as many of these things as possible in front of one webcam – that may as well be the one built into that laptop the online teacher is cramped over during sessions (both live and recorded). we can hold up props to the camera, or – if the tutor is tech-equipped enough – move an external webcam around. however, this seems not very practical and rather distracting in the moment. certainly, to me at the outset, it appeared that the alternative was a dim one: having to give up my popular role-playing intermissions and props – the very things that tended to stick in students’ heads long after they graduated. abandoning these in-class role-playing games in favour of ‘traditional’ teaching from the front (and now … to a camera!) was a big ask and seemed a few pedagogical steps backwards. i needed an alternative – an instrument enabling me to keep my role-playing, even in a digitally adapted form. that would entail a change of perspective: from the ‘view from the front’ to one more suitable to my purposes. in particular, i wanted to create a view similar to that of a visualizer in a regular classroom, where an overhead view of the person presenting would show the desktop as a stage for demonstrations or games and as visual base for roleplaying online in the absence of a physical in-class presence. at the same time, i wanted the students still to see me ‘performing’ – reactions, facial expressions and gestures included – to mimic the in-class experience as closely as possible. use of such a perspective is not unheard of and can be observed in many videos distributed by online content creators on platforms like youtube (a video distribution platform) and twitch (a live-gaming channel platform) where video-in-video and overhead shots are commonplace. these views often show presenters ‘doing’ something with their hands (e.g., repairs, unboxing of new smartphones, drawing) and provide an ‘over-the-shoulder’ angle for the audience to feel physically present. the software that enables these content creators to achieve this effect is the open broadcaster software (obs) studio, where the change in perspective could be employed to evoke in students that feeling of being physically involved in the role play, even though they are not because it’s online. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 implementation ‘tangibility’ of the learning experience is key to running successful role plays and games in a classroom. for the online context, this means evoking tangibility by means of props (toy figurines) that can be moved around to help develop the concept of internal controls and segregation of duties, following a scenario from a paper by groff (1989). in my case, the students who participate in this role play are year 2 (level 5) accounting information systems (ais) students studying on an accounting and finance (baaf) or accounting and financial information systems (afis) programme. i run the game half-way into term 1, at a stage when students have had an introduction to various types of employee and management fraud and segregation of duties, an internal control concept that can be difficult to grasp but is pivotal in preventing a wide range of fraud schemes that may threaten the business and its processes. in brief, the segregation of duties ensures that no single employee should be able to perform several steps in a process that entails physical custody of an asset, keep records for the asset and have authorisation to approve transactions and decisions regarding the asset (romney et al., 2021). if these duties are only partially or not at all separated and assigned to different people, roles, departments (or similar), then there is a risk that individuals could engage in fraudulent activities (e.g., theft, larceny, lapping, embezzlement, etc.). it is a crucial learning outcome that students not only understand the concept per se, but understand how the absence of internal controls, even partially, may pose a considerable financial risk to an organisation. however, as students at this stage of their studies do not have much exposure to business process thinking or risk to business processes by fraudulent activities, they tend to struggle with this, a concept that has relevance to and is of significance in most other ais topics. when i realised that in-class teaching would no longer be possible, i had therefore to exert the utmost effort to ensure that this crucial learning outcome was not compromised. the game itself focuses on a fraudulent manager whose intention is to steal products from her/his company, from the warehouse where the manager is located. the students are not instructed before the actual session except for the fraudster – played by a student – about a week before class. just as a company may be unprepared for fraud occurring, so is the rest of the class – thrown into the role-play unawares. figure 1 below shows the basic process: figure 1. basic process (round 1) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 over three rounds, the manager attempts to steal goods and falsifies records to avoid detection. basic process: three students are randomly named customers and given purchase orders (pos) with pre-defined quantity and price printed on them. each customer approaches the manager, who checks the po, processes it into a sales order (so) and checks whether there is enough in stock. if the order can be fulfilled from current stock, the customer is handed the number of products ordered (represented by poker chips; see also figure 2). if the manager cannot fulfil the order, s/he authorises the re-supply order that the supplier (typically played by the tutor) fulfils in turn. the manager returns with the items and fulfils the customer’s sales order and the process ends. in each round, the manager attempts to steal a portion of the items procured from the supplier and allocates the total purchase cost to the items s/he officially records as purchased. the remaining students keep a tally of revenue and cost of goods sold, as well as inventory levels based on the transaction they observe (the ‘true’ figures). all figures (sales prices, quantities, purchase prices, etc.) are called out loud to enable students to calculate the true figures. a round ends when all three sales orders are fulfilled. at the end of each round, students report the figures they calculated. the manager writes their figures (profit, closing stock) on a piece of paper and hands it to the reporting official (not shown in the flowchart in figure 1). the reporting official (another student or the tutor) reads out the figures reported by the manager – unsurprisingly, these figures will differ (lower profit, lower closing stock) from the ‘true’ figures the remaining students observe. each round will see changes to the duties that ought to be segregated: round 1: this corresponds to the basic process as described above. in this round, the manager holds all duties in her/his hand – physical custody of the asset, authorisation to purchase re-supply and record keeping. the manager is able to steal without detection. this scenario is devoid of any internal controls. round 2: in this round, a student will be randomly selected to be the accountant who takes over the record-keeping duty. physical custody of the asset and authorisation to purchase re-supply remains with the fraudulent manager. as the accountant is not privy to the transaction itself, s/he can only rely on the figures reported by the manager, who can continue to steal items and allocate the costs to the remaining items. when compared, profit figures and closing stock again differ between figures reported by the accountant and figures the students calculate based on their observations. this corresponds to a partial implementation of internal controls. round 3: in the last round, a procurement manager is introduced, who authorises (or rejects) purchase requisitions issued by the fraudulent manager and turns them into purchase orders. without this authorisation, the supplier cannot hand over the items required to fulfil the customers’ orders. as such, it has become impossible for the fraudster to steal inventory or hide the cost. because of the tangible experience and direct involvement of the entire class in the role play, students experience first-hand the concept of internal controls and how their absence or presence can affect the degree of vulnerability of the system. as the fraud unfolds (for they can observe and catch the manager in the act), they start to develop an understanding case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 of the fraud scheme and how internal controls act as preventive and detective countermeasures against it. in a way, everybody except the fraudster also acts as an auditing observer. they need to calculate the correct profit and closing stock and determine how the fraud happened. on stage, there unfolds not a whodunnit, but a howdunnit. the obs set-up (procedure described in appendix a) supports the delivery of the role-play to the students, using figurines as tangible stand-ins and schematics on a board (figure 2). figure 2. the set-up for the internal controls game via overhead cam the scenes set up in obs featured an overhead view, flipped so that the students were put in such a position as enabled them to look over my shoulder (the ‘watch somebody doing something’ view i’ve already referred to). to achieve this, i installed a second web cam and positioned it above the desk at an adequate distance. i happen to have the luxury of a shelf behind my computer screens, but without this advantage, a clamp and bendy holder for web cams may be attached to the computer screen). for visual cues, i drew a board that indicated what roles the figurines represented in the role-play – as figure 2 shows, there are the three customers, the fraudulent manager and a supplier. when first the accountant and then the procurement manager entered the stage, additional figurines were added to the view. as i went through each step in each round of the play, explaining what was happening in real time, students were able to follow the events on screen through this overhead view and communicated, either via microphone or chat, with one another and me. a second view (not shown here) featured the same overhead view as seen in figure 2, but with me as a ‘talking head’ in the bottom left corner, allowing me to come in between rounds to discuss with students the events of the preceding round. did it work? making in-class role-plays work as desk-cam plays using this set-up had clear advantages, as students, in lieu of ‘acting’ on the stage themselves in a classroom, could refer to the figurines as stand-ins and actors on their behalf (the ‘drama’, as baruch, 2006, puts it). this set-up allowed them to observe the events being played out as a desk-play as well as the reactions of other students in the chat (learning passively from observation) and still actively participate by taking the perspective of case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 customers, accountants, procurement managers, or suppliers (learning interactively). this observation is fully in line with rao and stupans (2012), lauber (2007), baruch (2006) and eitington, 2001): in their assumed role as auditing observers especially, they assumed both passive and interactive positions across the three rounds. dramatic elements and equal opportunities to learn passively and interactively created a tangible experience, despite them taking place online, as action indeed begot learning (alkin and christie, 2002; cavaliere and sgroi, 1992). this pulled students in and had a similar effect to that of the in-class role plays before. linked to the ‘learning by doing’ nature of role-plays (alkin and christie, 2002; cavaliere and sgroi, 1992), the students experienced a learning curve throughout the play – the first round with its basic set-up and small number of roles allowed students to learn the game play mechanics. by calculating basic accounting figures (revenues, cost of goods sold, profit, opening and closing stock), students could apply previous knowledge from their programmes. in each additional round, students gained more confidence in their understanding of the process, as complexities were gradually added. as such, there was no discernible difference in the online version from the same role-play performed in the classroom. if anything, the online delivery, with its focus on an auditing experience, enabled students to achieve the learning outcomes quicker than in class, where at times the distinctions between the roles were at times overlapping: for example, students who played the customers also needed to be auditors. this clearer distinction of the roles and which individuals are playing them is a great takeaway from the online performance. from my perspective as a lecturer and host of the role-play, the online delivery enabled by obs allowed a much better focus on a smooth delivery of the process. the need to focus even more on the roles and the process led to a highly satisfactory session. student feedback during and after the session was extremely encouraging, as figure 3 shows: figure 3. student feedback in teams during the session it appealed to this age group, owing to their familiarity with this type of media (headleand, 2019), but, most importantly, it was fun for all involved. based on that experience, i consequently put all my in-class role plays and games online, using my overhead cam enabled by obs. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 limitations new technologies can be daunting at any point. the overwhelming wave of software and hardware considerations, alongside the plethora of training and how-to sessions after our teaching moved online, put an incredible amount of pressure on all of us. obs studio, used purely as virtual camera feed into video-conferencing software, as described above, does demand some basic system requirements (see above), but it can be reasonably run next to the ms teams or zoom if the computer is not too old or under-specified. when obs studio is used for direct streaming and/or recording, the system resources are much more taxed because of the video encoding requirements. for example, i had many issues when running obs next to ms teams with my four-year-old laptop with 8gb ram, even with a quicker solid-state drive (ssd) installed. however, as it is a free software, tutors can quickly find out if their computer can, or cannot, run obs studio without issues. i recommend investment in a strong graphics card with a corresponding graphical processing unit (gpu) that enables hardware encoding, as well as good-quality microphones and additional webcams. i also suggest – especially for tutors new to the basics of video production and scene layout – adequate help and training in the use of software like obs, which might otherwise be a daunting and even off-putting experience. conclusions what can other tutors take away from this? this paper aimed to establish obs studio as an enabling technology to overcome restrictions otherwise imposed by video-conferencing software used in teaching. the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the move to hybrid and full online teaching and has caught out tutors who have found themselves no longer able to apply such engaging classroom activities as role-playing, a learning activity that fosters interactive and passive acquisition of knowledge (rao and stupans, 2012). as the case study demonstrates, such activities can still be made to work and achieve their purpose by using the right enabling technology. i found obs studio a very useful tool that enabled me to take full control over what i can show my students on screen, down to a very granular level if so required. this case study highlights the set-up of a visualizer-styled overhead camera (the ‘desk-cam’) that can easily be switched to and from other scenes. student feedback generally supported the impression that the possibilities of this free software helped generate a variety of ‘stages’ on which the tutor can break free from the restrictions of fullfrontal cam teaching, especially useful in an activity like a role-play, where observation and interactivity are key. obs is easy to set up initially and a basic layout (such as shown in appendix a) with a second webcam does not constitute a prohibitive barrier. of course, running obs studio may be demanding on the system requirements that the individual tutor might not be able to meet at home. while using obs studio as a virtual camera does not place an overly heavy burden on the computer’s cpu, gpu and memory, the workload does increase considerably should the tutor wish to expand using obs towards direct live-streaming and/or direct recording. added investment in peripheries, such as highquality microphones and webcams, might also be required but, given their added value, these may find financial support from the institution. future research could focus on a wider range of different learning situations both online and in the classroom to evaluate its full impact yet further, but also possible limitations to be factored into future applications. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 8 reference list alkin, m.c. and christie, c.a. (2002) ‘the use of role-play in teaching evaluation.’ american journal of evaluation. 23(2), 209-218. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2f109821400202300210 (accessed: 25 january 2021). baruch, y. (2006) ‘role-play teaching: acting in the classroom.’ management learning, 37(1), 43-61. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1350507606060980 (accessed: 25 january 2021). cavaliere, l. and sgroi, a. (1992) ‘active learning: perspectives on learning that leads to personal development and social change.’ new direction for adult and continuing education, 53, 5-10. available at: https://www.academia.edu/download/47016690/ace.3671992530320160704-15261rttkpx.pdf (accessed: 18 march 2021). eitington, j.e. (2001) the winning trainer winning ways to involve people in learning. 4th ed. boston, ma: butterworth heinemann. isbn: 978-0750674232 groff, j.e. (1989) ‘a game to introduce accounting information systems students to certain internal control concepts.’ developments in business simulation & experiential exercises, 16, 165-168. available at: https://journals.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/1887 (accessed: 18 march 2021). headleand, c. (2019) ‘streaming with students.’ manual. university of lincoln. available at: https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/44688/ (accessed: 15 june 2021). lauber, l. (2007) ‘role-play: principles to increase effectiveness.’ in: silberman, m.l. (ed.) the handbook of experiential learning. san francisco, ca: wiley, 185-201. isbn: 9780470117392 rao, d. and stupans, i. (2012) ‘exploring the potential of role play in higher education: development of a typology and teacher guidelines.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 49(4), 427-436. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728879 (accessed: 15 february 2021). romney, m.b., steinbart, p.j., summers, s.l. and wood, d.a. (2021) accounting information systems. 15th ed. harlow: pearson. isbn: 978-0135573006. sande, s. (2020) ‘video production with obs: what it is and why you should use it.’ [blog] rocket yard. available at: https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/62755-video-production-withobs-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/ (accessed: 15 march 2020). sycamore, r. (2020) ‘anxiety during covid-19.’ journal of paramedic practice, 12(6), 247247. available at https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2020.12.6.247 (accessed: 15 feb 2020). https://doi.org/10.1177%2f109821400202300210 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1350507606060980 https://www.academia.edu/download/47016690/ace.3671992530320160704-1526-1rttkpx.pdf https://www.academia.edu/download/47016690/ace.3671992530320160704-1526-1rttkpx.pdf https://journals.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/1887 https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/44688/ https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728879 https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/62755-video-production-with-obs-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/ https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/62755-video-production-with-obs-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/ https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2020.12.6.247 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 9 appendix a obs is a free open-source software that enables live video production (https://obsproject.com). it is used by online content creators for both live-streaming and recorded videos and is available for windows, mac, and linux operating systems. it allows for the creation and management of a variety of screen layouts (so-called ‘scenes’) where the presenter has full control over source/s, size, and location of its elements on screen. to start understanding how obs can be used in conjunction with video-conferencing software like microsoft teams or zoom, or recording software like panopto, i will demonstrate how to set up two simple scenes, a shared-screen one both with me as a talking head in a bottom left corner and an overhead-cam one. 1. technical requirements 2. download and set-up obs 3. screen components – overview 4. scenes and sources 5. controls: start streaming, start recording, start virtual camera, studio mode, settings, exit. use virtual camera to use for streaming or recording in ms teams and/or panopto 1. technical requirements for obs to run smoothly, there are some basic requirements (https://obsproject.com/wiki/system-requirements) that will enable it to start without errors: windows macos linux/unix directx 10.1 compatible gpu windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 intel cpu (ppc is not supported) opengl 3.3 compatible gpu macos high sierra (10.13) or later opengl 3.3 compatible gpu x window system table a1. obs system requirements further technical requirements are very much dependent on what exactly a tutor wants to do and show and would require a closer look at hardware encoders. for the three scenes we are about to set up, a basic modern laptop should be sufficient, but this may vary individually. most issues with obs streaming and recording quality stem from central processing cpus, gpus, and ram that are too weak to process the video quality. as an indepth discussion of the software’s technical requirements is outside the scope of this paper, please consult the link above to learn more about hardware encoding. https://obsproject.com/download https://obsproject.com/wiki/system-requirements case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 10 2. download obs and use the auto-configuration wizard downloading obs from https://obsproject.com/download is straightforward and available for the most-used operating systems windows, macos, and linux/unix. straight after installation, an auto-configuration wizard window will pop up and ask what the program’s intended use is (figure a1). figure a1: obs auto-configuration wizard – virtual camera selection and suggested settings in the context of this article, we will focus on using it as a virtual camera, as we want to feed this into another application (ms teams, zoom, or panopto). selecting ‘next’ will show the final results of the obs system test which may differ between computers. you can change these settings later (see later in this article), but as you get acquainted with obs, there will not be a need to at this stage. the suggested resolutions come from the monitor/s in use, and the fps (frames-per-second) are more than sufficient for the virtual camera. selecting ‘apply settings’ will complete the wizard. 3. screen components – overview next, a base obs screen will open. figure a2 and table a2 below highlight and explain these initial components: https://obsproject.com/download case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 11 figure a2. initial screen of obs studio without scenes or sources set screen component purpose screen preview/canvas the preview window where the screen layout can be arranged as required. scenes contain specific layouts and enable switching between scenes to transition between layouts. sources define what is to be captured inside a given scene. this can be anything from web cams, images, text, active windows, displays, microphones, etc. audio mixer offers control over the audio captured via microphones and/or desktop. scene transitions transitional effects when switching between scenes (e.g., fade, cut, swipe, slide). controls buttons to start streaming, recording, virtual camera, studio mode, settings, or exit obs. table a2: obs screen components and their purpose case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 12 as the beginning obs user will get more acquainted with these components, s/he will experience the wide range of options to change their appearances and uses. free add-on programs and plug-ins add extra-components to obs – examples are closed captioning (using google ai), special effects for sources, remote-controls for scene transitions and many more. however, for the purpose of this paper, we will be able to work with what came in the initial installation package. 4. scenes and sources scenes and sources are the bread and butter of obs and will help to set up an overhead visualiser view on the presenter. selecting the ‘+’ sign on the bottom left adds a new scene. figure a3 shows the addition of the ‘overhead cam’ scene. figure a3. adding a scene in obs selecting the scene titled ‘presenter screen’ allows the addition of various types of sources by selecting ‘+’ in the sources window, as figure a3 shows. the variety of sources allows for the addition of audio, web browsers, displays, images or specific windows currently open on the computer (figure a4). figure a4. selection of potential sources for the presenter screen scene case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 13 adding a display capture source allows the presenter to use her/his main screen (often the only screen) to become the ‘shared screen’ to show e.g., slides, documents, images – anything that can be shown on the main monitor. after selecting ‘ok’, the corresponding display can be selected and confirmed. the face cam can now be inserted as a video capture device source to add the talkinghead feature often seen in tutorial videos. selecting the main cam (provided there is a second one for the overhead cam later) will insert the face cam (figure a5). figure a5. adding the face cam as a source and its suggested properties the rearranging of the two sources (face cam and main screen capture) can be achieved by figure a6. adapting the scene using handlers case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 14 to crop out parts of the face cam view, it is necessary to hold down the alt key while using the red handlers accordingly. a bit of trial and error at this stage may lead to a layout like the one shown in figure a7. it needs to be noted that i have added a so-called chroma key filter to my face cam, which, together with a green screen in my home office, allows me to blend in with the background. this is not a necessity, however, and is outside the scope of this article. figure a7. talking head feature over main screen the layout of the overhead cam scene can be designed in a similar fashion and requires another video capture device source. a second webcam mounted above the desk (in my case) or above any other suitable surface will achieve that effect. however, as the first part of figure a8 below shows, this looks off in my case owing to the way the overhead cam is mounted on a shelf atop my desk. to achieve that ‘over-the-shoulder’ view rather than the ‘from-the-front-and-top’ one, the view has to be modified (‘transformed’) by flipping the image vertically and horizontally. figure a8. initial overhead view and flipped view for the over-the-shoulder effect case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 15 now we have two scenes ready to go! we can switch between a shared-screen with the presenter as a talking-head in the bottom corner to an overhead view on the desk to perform role-playing and games and using props, with the scenes seamlessly transitioning back and forth between them. it would be a simple task now to put another talking head into the overhead scene, resize it, move it to a different place on the screen – with obs, this is a quick task once the respective screen layout has been decided on. table a3 summarises the scenes, intended layout and the sources to be added for the purposes of enabling a shared screen and an on-desk display via overhead cam: title intended design/layout sources presenter screen shared screen with a talking head in the bottom left corner face cam (video capture device) main screen capture ( overhead cam visualizer overhead cam (video capture device) table a3. summary of scenes and sources created for this simple set-up, it is not necessary to define audio capture devices (like a microphone) because of its intended use as virtual cam feed into ms teams, zoom, or panopto. any audio would be captured by the video-conferencing software directly. therefore, the audio mixer component that also visible in obs, used to set the volume of individual audio sources, can be safely ignored at this point and for the purposes of this paper. 5. controls – virtual camera the controls component enables various pathways to output the scenes created. they can be either directly live-streamed to platforms like youtube or twitch (given the correct streaming settings), recorded and saved to the computer or output as virtual cam. it is also possible to live-stream, record and output as virtual cam at the same time, or any combination thereof. however, this would put added strain on the cpu. to output our scenes to ms teams, zoom, or panopto, we will select ‘start virtual camera’. the feed from obs is now usable in any video-conferencing software that allows use of a webcam in their corresponding settings (figure a9). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 16 figure a9. using the obs virtual camera in ms teams, panopto and zoom switching between scenes can either be done in obs itself by selecting the desired scene, via a keyboard hotkey shortcut that can be defined by the user (this is possible for any task or command in obs) or via a remote device. these devices can be physical ones (for example, the elgato streamdeck (https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck) or, if those are prohibitively expensive, via apps such as touchportal (https://www.touch-portal.com/) or deckboard (https://deckboard.app/). the possible applications of obs as a virtual cam are not limited to ms teams, zoom, or panopto. any application that allows use of a video feed can access the obs virtual camera instead of an in-built one or external one. https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck https://www.touch-portal.com/ https://deckboard.app/ compass: journal of learning and teaching managing editor karen smith, educational development unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, school of education ian mcnay, school of education simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering paul dennison, educational development unit mark ingham, school of architecture, design & construction lucie pollard, school of science lynne jump, school of health & social care ed de quincey, school of computing & mathematical sciences malcolm ryan, school of education james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 welcome to volume 15, no 2, of compass, journal of learning and teaching in he! we are very pleased to bring you the 2022 summer edition of compass. this issue contains a thought-provoking collection of papers, with topics including: an evaluation of the use of recap methods to support students’ learning on a business module; a case study on using low stakes, online assessments to reduce mathematics anxiety and help students prepare for summative tasks in life science; the co-creation of a workshop to enhance primary education students’ awareness of their digital footprint; an opinion piece on digital distance learning; a case study on co-teaching on a business module and a technology review of the sociallearning video platform ‘flipgrid’, as used in a third-year teaching practice module. a brief snapshot of each paper follows. students and staff at the university of greenwich business school participated in research to explore the effectiveness on learning of recap activities. the authors, duyen chu, university of greenwich, and hien nguyen, london south bank university, define ‘recap’ as “an innovative pedagogical approach which can provide an interactive summary and revision of previous content to enable active learning”, ensured that all participants had a shared prior understanding of this definition. this case study looks at perceptions of the value of recapping in the context of widening participation and its authors find that the method has benefits for both teachers and learners in meeting the diverse needs of students; the mixed-method approach adopted is, for research into this particular matter, innovative in seeking both student and staff opinion and some very informative qualitative data seems to confirm both groups’ broadly positive attitude to recaps. the authors nevertheless highlight what were perceived as recapping’s disadvantages, such as unnecessary repetition and greater initial workload, and so offer a balanced analysis helpful across higher education. as a whole, the study has much to interest staff determined 1) to encourage active engagement with what is taught and 2) to enhance continuity of student understanding from lectures to tutorials and seminars. in the university of greenwich faculty of engineering and science in 2016, the new leader of a second-year undergraduate study skills module in life science established that students following the module needed to acquire confidence with basic descriptive and inferential statistics, in order to prepare themselves for exams and final-year projects. finding that mathematics anxiety lay at the root of weaknesses in mathematical concepts and reasoning, the authors, susan force, mark goss-sampson and sarah harris, sought agreement to include relevant assessed numeracy in the first-year curriculum. after experiencing an unthreatening online diagnostic quiz at the start of the first year, consequent tuition and midterm formative ‘low-stakes’ testing (encouraging repeat attempts with minimal academic penalty), students were appropriately prepared for summative assessment of the same type. the authors describe, in an interesting case study here, the user-friendly, individually guided approach whose data outcomes indicate the likelihood of improved performance from engagement with the formative opportunities as preparation for the same kinds of question in summative tests. the authors are objective about possible confounding factors, but the availability of virtual learning environment quizzing tools indicates the potential transferability of the approach to subjects beyond science, technology, engineering and mathematics. the co-creation of a workshop about digital footprints, in order to protect students’ professional identities, involved primary education studies students. this workshop was intended to increase students’ awareness of these footprints, to guide them to check and protect their own editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 footprints and to curate a positive personal digital identity, so that subsequent screening of social media footprints by potential employers would not be prejudicial. furthermore, students might then access professional learning networks to greater personal effect. five undergraduates formed an online (because of covid) focus group to contribute to the creation of the workshop. the author, john parkin, anglia ruskin university, summarises the varied and stimulating workshop activities, clearly designed to provide range and depth of understanding of the implications of digital footprints, and quotes some of the participants’ comments, these constituting an interesting reflection on how well-designed, interactive activities can shape the thinking of those involved to their considerable advantage. like the numeracy training already described, this particular approach, the author says, can improve students’ understanding and awareness and equip them with skills that support their employability; it has relevance to higher education generally and could be included in personal tutor sessions. in an opinion piece about digital distance learning (ddl), the author, peter vlachos, university of greenwich, sets contemporary online technological learning opportunities against a historical backdrop of distance learning. the contrast between live theatre and television (the latter restricting performer autonomy) is compared with the contrast between in-class and online teaching. ddl and blended and hybrid delivery has, for this practitioner, significant challenges: increased workload, duplication, stress and exhaustion, as well as inadequate training for staff and information technology failures. the author is highly critical of ddl: the classroom is superior in many ways (reliance on ddl results in weaker analytical skills and source appraisal skills, as well as information overload); the digital medium enhances student inequalities; few students study full time; lack of engagement tends to be laid at the teacher’s door; ddl is poorly serviced and lacks sufficient technical support. nevertheless, this particular teacher acknowledges the inevitable longevity of ddl and – though its haphazard implementation during covid and growing student dissatisfaction with it hardly help – seeks 1) a more critical assessment of ways to deploy it to benefit students, by considering which modules and which students it will best serve and 2) much better resourcing. the concluding comment is telling: “how we teach our students is at least as important, if not more important, than what we teach them.” the covid effect had, by contrast to the critical tone of the ddl piece, a largely positive outcome for two experienced and clearly enthusiastic teachers in the university of greenwich business school, who decided to co-teach online a level 4 specialist transport and logistics module, the better to address the needs of a diverse student group. in a very informative case study, the authors, anusha pappu and alistair bogaars, compare student outcomes (across a range of parameters) for similar business school groups co-taught and taught by a single person, is based on a mixed-method approach. tutor observations do suggest that there are benefits to students from co-teaching, as there was evidence of greater student engagement with two teachers than with one, while the quantitative measures indicate that co-taught students had improved outcomes in terms of attendance, results and satisfaction, all these consistent with tutor observations; it is suggested, too, that the methodology may contribute to a narrowing of the black, asian and minority ethnic/white attainment gap. the authors are cautious about their results, drawn from what they call “a rudimentary approach to coteaching”, and recognise that there is room for more research, but perhaps the main conclusion to be drawn here is that two teachers, with shared determination to address an identified challenge and the ability to work well together and support each other, are very likely editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 to be able to see improved engagement by students. the ‘how we teach’ of the opinion piece chimes well with this. finally, a south african university perspective of the covid-driven move to online pedagogy concerns the tutoring of trainee teachers: a technology review of the social-learning video platform ‘flipgrid’, as used in a third-year teaching practice module, has, according to the author, tiani wepener, sol plaatje university, the ability to enhance confidence in student teachers preparing to enter the profession. flipgrid allowed these trainees to share – with their peers and education tutors – aspects of their teaching and lesson-planning for evaluation and feedback. the case study depends on a range of student teacher reflections on their use of flipgrid, indicating that the platform allowed students to practise their competencies in a secure environment and to repeat their video productions to make improvements. there were issues of connectivity as well as practical challenges arising from unfamiliarity with the software, but the absence of a class rendered the experience far less authentic than the real interaction of the classroom. the author provides a balanced review and is realistic about the shortcomings of this platform in achieving its desired purpose in the teacher training context. nevertheless, positive student comments do seem to indicate that the imposition of covid restrictions could be overcome to some extent by this means. we hope these papers will make enjoyable and informative reading. with best wishes to all compass readers, contributors and reviewers, rachel and the compass team at the university of greenwich articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 re-imagining the role of technology in higher education: the new normal and learners’ likes katharina greve, aaron tan university of greenwich, uk abstract the covid-19 pandemic forced universities to look at teaching provision. as a result, new technologies, an increasing usage of existing online platforms and alternative ways to engage with learners in the classroom, have together become ‘the new normal’. this research aims to answer the questions: how do higher education learners perceive the new role of technology in the classroom? is technology overload counteracting the potential benefits that blended delivery can offer? in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight students from two seminar groups reveal their positive perception of and continuous interest in the use of technology in the physical and virtual classroom. the study provides examples and recommendations, enabling the effective deployment of technology focusing on three areas: the learner, the facilitator and the technology. finally, this study makes important contributions to constructivism in the context of technology usage and current and postpandemic pedagogic practice. keywords: pedagogy, blended learning, constructivism, edutainment, technology 1. introduction the covid-19 pandemic has confronted universities all over the world with unprecedented challenges. higher education (he) providers were forced to look at teaching provision and, within a matter of weeks, transformed the delivery of their courses. in october 2020, 90% of united kingdom (uk) universities started to offer blended learning and 1.3% of he providers moved their delivery completely online (studentcrowd, 2020). institutions such as manchester metropolitan university (mmu), the university of manchester (um), newcastle and northumbria universities even changed their delivery mode after the start of term, owing to increasing numbers of coronavirus infections among the student population (bbc, 2020; mckie, 2020). following new government guidance, and as of february 2021, about 92% of uk universities now offer online learning and only 6% deliver blended learning (studentcrowd, 2021). as a result of this development, technology has become an integral part in daily teaching practices. studies suggest that technologies can help achieving better learning outcomes, a more effective assessment of these outcomes and a more costefficient approach to bringing the learning environment to the learners (jung, 2003; shi et al., 2020). the application of technologies, often complementing conventional classroom delivery, has not been a recent development (papert, 1973). indeed, the blended-learning approach and the associated benefits are widely discussed in existing literature (gonzalezgomez et al., 2016; pellas and kazandis, 2015). however, these technologies have become significantly more important in recent months. in addition to the transformation of teaching and learning by more extensive use of technology, physical classroom layouts underwent articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 change, adapted to meet government and university social distancing policies. because everyone in a classroom is physically separated from all the others, fostering relationships and building trusted connections between staff and learners and between peers have become more difficult. as effective learning is “inherently a social activity”, social distancing rules and online teaching affect the way students learn (fry et al., 2008, p. 94). the constructivist approach suggests that learners construct meaning and knowledge from experiences, mental structures and beliefs that they use to interpret objects and events. meaningful learning, as understood by constructivist theory, also emphasises the collaborative role of ‘others’ in this process. in particular, active interaction with other learners and the instructor plays a role in this context (bangert, 2004; partlow and gibbs, 2003; rovai, 2004). indeed, research overwhelmingly supports collaborative learning as the most effective way of learning (johnson et al., 1984). learners may compare their version of the truth with that of fellow learners to create a new, socially-tested version of truth. therefore, the quality of active and engaged interaction is a key determinant of the degree to which ‘deep’ or ‘higher-order learning’ is enabled (bloom, 1956). technology that supports social and experiential construction of knowledge is considered effective e-learning (fry et al., 2008; vygotsky, 1978). the rise of new technologies, the more widespread accessing of existing online platforms and alternative ways of engaging with learners in the classroom, have become ‘the new normal’. what might have been an exciting new approach to enhance learning and engagement in the classroom has, from force of circumstances, transformed and replaced ‘live’ interaction – the conventional group work and discussions that students were used to. furthermore, based on the law of diminishing marginal returns (parkin, 1998), research highlights that relying heavily on technology, once exceeding the optimum level, may actually incur negative outcomes (a curvilinear relationship). karr-wisniewski and lu (2010) describe this phenomenon as ‘technology overload’. this begs the question whether constructivist approaches to modelling the learning process are supported or hindered by the increasing deployment of technology in the classroom. considering the technology-usage transformation of the he sector as a result of the covid19 pandemic, this study investigates how learners perceive the regular use of technology to facilitate interaction in the classroom. this research thus aims to answer the following research questions: how do he learners perceive the new role of technology in the physical and virtual classroom? is technology overload counteracting the potential benefits that blended delivery can offer? following this introduction, the next section of this article discusses existing literature on the perception of the use of technology in he, as well as the application of various technologies within the classroom. the third section describes the study’s context and the methods that were employed to answer the research questions. the findings and discussion of this study are presented in section four, drawing attention to the critical roles of the learner, the facilitator and the technology. to conclude, the theoretical and practical contributions as well as limitations of this study are discussed. finally, building on the insights derived in this study, future research directions are outlined. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 2. literature review 2.1 the perception of the use of technology in higher education the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the development and adoption of new technologies in he. in light of this trend, it is important to understand the role of technology and how it can be effectively utilised in the classroom (müller and wulf, 2020). given learners’ increased daily exposure to technology, we think it essential to examine how they perceive the now ubiquitous presence of technology-based practice in the classroom. some studies argue that the ways in which learners use technologies in their day-to-day interactions with family and friends may often be different from their preferences for technology use in formal learning settings. for example, one study reports that many students stated they preferred technology to “remain within the scope of their private lives” and did not want “technology to eclipse valuable face-to-face interaction with instructors” (salaway et al., 2007, p.13). a more recent study by tugun and colleagues (2020) highlights a more favourable perception of the use of technology in he. this study includes seventyfive mature male and female students from four higher education institutes in russia. the results reveal that students overwhelmingly supported the use of technology in education leaving them “motivated by the lesson” (tugun et al., op.cit., p.9). the technological tools provide a medium for effective learning, which is explained in the study as the transfer of “knowledge to cognitive memory” (tugun et al., op.cit., p.11). a study by lee et al. (2019) focused on student teachers instead and examined their perception of the use of technology. student teachers are playing dual roles of learning and teaching as part of their training, providing an intermediary perspective of the topic. like the findings of tugun et al. (op.cit.), this research highlights that study participants have a positive view of the role of technology. the student teachers believe it plays an important role in the development of the country, both currently and in the future. these insights from new zealand are consistent with similar studies conducted in the netherlands (de klerk wolters 1989), germany, turkey and malta (sjøberg and schreiner, 2010). the work by lee et al. (op.cit.) also shows a noticeable difference between the perceptions of student teachers below the age of twenty-five and those of student teachers aged twentyfive or over. surprisingly, the latter group expressed more favourable attitudes towards technology in education. whilst it is unknown exactly why this was the case, it is hypothesised that, because curriculum involving technology was introduced in new zealand as early as 1995, education authorities there have succeeded in generating positive attitudes towards technology earlier than elsewhere in the world (lee et al., op.cit.). to understand better the role technology can play in he from now on, there is significant value in establishing why there is a meaningful distinction between the respective perceptions of those two different age groups. oblinger and oblinger (2005) highlight a generational aspect in relation to students’ use of technologies. the authors describe the characteristics of the ‘net generation’, which includes students born after 1980. they suggest that these students differ profoundly from previous generations in the way they process information, communicate and hence learn. they claim that the ’net generation’ is comfortable with technologies and the scholars argue that the ways in which members of this group learn is task-orientated and experiential. the study points out that learners prefer to receive information quickly, are used to processing information and multi-tasking and employ multiple/multi-modal communication channels to access information and communicate with articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 peers and tutors (oblinger and oblinger, op.cit). a more recent study by hernandez‑de‑menendez and colleagues (2020) discusses the educational experiences of generation z, which includes individuals born after 1995. this generation is “born with technology”; they are considered digital natives (p.849). as a product of their close attachment to technology, they are also known as ‘igeneration’, ‘gen tech’, ‘online generation’, ‘facebook generation’ and ‘switchers’ and they are “always clicking” (dolot, 2018; hernandez‑de‑menendez et al., 2020). researchers suggest that educators should incorporate technology in the teaching–learning process in a creative way. for example, podcasts, websites, simulations, interactive youtube tutorials and internet-based educational games are some of the technologies that can help to capture the attention of generation z, while social media like twitter and tumblr can be employed for communication and sharing of knowledge. facebook is described as a useful tool for discussions or posting updates about class activities (eckleberry-hunt et al., 2018). in order to educate generation z with technology effectively, tolbert (2015) describes six assumptions, summarised in table 1, that should be considered. table 1. assumptions of technology assumption 1. technology consists of the designs and environments that engage learners. 2. learning technologies can be any environment or activities where learners are engaged in active, constructive, intentional, authentic, cooperative learning. 3. technologies are not communicators of meaning. 4. technologies support meaningful learning when interactions with technologies are learner-initiated and learner-controlled. 5. technologies function as intellectual tool kits that enable learners to build more meaningful interpretations and representations of the world while supporting a course of study. 6. technologies and learners should be partners intellectually. source tolbert (2015) aside from generational differences, studies also investigate the perception and use of technology in relation to different disciplines. for example, kirkwood and price (2005) relied on open university data spanning five years to examine students’ attitudes to and experiences of technologies. the study reveals a dramatic increase in students’ access to and use of information and communication technology (ict) over the five-year period. their meta-analysis shows that there were differences in students’ experience of and attitude towards technologies across subject disciplines. a study by lam et al. (2014) finds that although students of different disciplines did not vary a great deal in their everyday usage of technology, there were variations in their level of confidence in using it. the scholars report that the use of technology differs across disciplines, though “all students have a similar (and positive) view about the need for the use of technology for teaching and learning” (lam et al. (2014, p.11). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 2.2 the deployment of different technologies in the classroom overall, the number of studies exploring the use and usefulness of technologies in he is growing (henderson et al., 2015). yet, the much-discussed potential of ‘technologyenhanced learning’ is not always apparent, often lacking clarity because of varying definitions, uses and understanding of the term ‘technology’. for example, tugun et al. (2020) refer to computers as technological tools used for education. however, computers incorporate a variety of functions and applications – including, but not limited to, a calculator, media player, word processor and graphic design tools. thus, treating computers as a synonym for technology ignores its various functions and tools and how these are being utilised. as a result, the true extent to which computers are used for educational purposes is not clear. in addition to the inconsistent and unclear use of the term, some studies (jack and higgins, 2018) also highlight that the areas and activities in which technologies are being deployed are not always evident. a review of existing literature by jack and higgins (2018), on how technology is used in education, reveals that there is a large focus on computers and tablets, these being mentioned in close to seventy-five per cent of the reviewed journal articles. the scholars point out that “it was unclear how technology was being used” (p.224). lim (2002) supports this statement by identifying that “…many [studies] lack detailed investigation of what takes place in the ict learning environment” (p.411). a recent survey reports that british university students spend an average of fifty-five hours per week online, only fourteen hours of which are dedicated to their studies (hughes, 2019). this further exemplifies that, whilst technology may be received favourably overall, the specific application or use of the term ‘technology’ in the context of he needs to be refined. the value of doing so is raised given the tendency of universities to introduce new pedagogical approaches using technological tools as a consequence of changing social demands (justice et al., 2009). using terminology with precision would allow for a more focused analysis and subsequent interpretation of such studies. establishing a baseline “understanding of technology […] enables the establishment of clear goals, classroom activities and authentic contexts” (lee et al., 2019. p.439). a growing trend incorporating technology is the application of digital games-based learning and gamification in he. advance he (2021) defines digital games-based learning as “the integration of gaming into learning experiences to increase engagement and motivation” and “gamification refers to the use of a pedagogical system that was developed within gaming design but which is implemented within a non-game context”. this trend reflects students’ engagement with technologies. as tugun et al. (2020) point out, the second most common use of technology by mature students at university is playing games. in line with this observation, the concept of ‘edutainment’ evolved. it combines elements of entertainment and education as an attempt to attract the attention of the learner and maintain engagement. the concept is largely overlooked in educational practices (aksakal, 2015). there are several approaches to implementing practices linked to edutainment which are summarised in table 2. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 6 table 2: approaches to edutainment description outline taking a role in interaction activities such as class discussions and debates allow students to participate, situations in which their active roles are integral to the learning experience. dramatisation the use of role play or performance allows students to reflect on how they would react to given scenarios. story (simulation) treating events as if they were real and then using the outcomes as the basis of reflection. curating a positive classroom atmosphere the teacher addresses the physiological and physical environment of the classroom setting. using computers using computers to attract and retain the attention of students with the use of colours, animations and interactivity. use of tv programs documentaries featured on channels such as ‘the discovery channel’ and ‘the national geographic channel’. source: adapted from aksakal (2015) interactivity through the use of computers is one approach to edutainment. more specifically, interactive platforms such as mentimeter can be utilised to create attract and retain students’ attention. growing numbers of studies, reviews and blogs discuss the application and effectiveness of the platform. for example, a study by mayhew (2020) reveals that 96% of students had a positive experience using mentimeter and 82% of study participants felt more satisfied with teaching sessions that used the platform compared to those that did not. the study further highlights that 68% of participants experienced an increase in their learning levels, which suggests that mentimeter helps to facilitate effective learning. there are additional benefits associated with mentimeter, such as enhancement of the student voice because users preserve anonymity; greater peer-to-peer interaction and a way for teachers to make more use of formative assessments to monitor the understanding of the cohort. at the same time, mayhew (2020) points out that the effective use of mentimeter (in a live setting) is dependent on the skills of the lecturer and her/his ability to encourage participation, respond to answers and manage the noise resulting from the excitement it generates. studies focusing on similar platforms, such as padlet and zapworks, also report positive results: padlet was received favourably by 100% of dentistry students and 80% of biomedicine students (mehta et al. 2021); zapworks was seen by 80% of students as helpful in understanding the material covered in lectures (reeves et al. 2021). one of the more common uses of technology in he relates to the recording of lectures. ebbert and dutke (2020) conducted a study examining students’ usage of recorded lecture material. the scholars identify that students have varying usage patterns for the recorded lectures, depending on their own goals. for example, gorissen et al. (2012) recognise that students may watch entire recordings of lectures to supplement their understanding; some students watch specific parts of the lecture recordings to gain clarity on a particular topic while others watch the lecture recordings in preference to attending the live lectures. studies suggest that lecture recording enables deeper engagement with course material (zhu and bergom, 2010) and that students learn better as it allows pausing and resuming the lecture when desired (dey et al., 2009). lecture recordings are considered beneficial because they articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 7 help in clarifying concepts discussed in class and are convenient for the review of material (toppin, 2011). research has shown that students who are non-native english speakers, or have learning adjustments, use the learning recordings much more (nordmann and mcgeorge, 2018). whilst technology has clear benefits and advocates, it is important to investigate the limit to which these benefits materialise in the current circumstances. karr-wisniewski and lu (2010) explore the potential of technology overload, which can lead to diminishing returns: ultimately, the introduction of more technology can cause negative outcomes and result in a curvilinear relationship. studies (fuglseth and sørebø, 2014) have found that when users experience anxiety and tension caused by over-using technology, they develop such a disposition towards technology as may cause nervousness and apprehension in using it. as a consequence, it has negative effects on users’ satisfaction and performance (tarafdar et al., 2010). delpechitre et al. (2019) explore technology overload in a workplace setting and conclude that technology overload can increase stress and lead to a decrease in the level of performance. one of the implications drawn from the study was that managers should consider carefully when improvements in technology are introduced. this would help to reduce the stress of employees having constantly to learn and adapt to new technologies alongside their day-to-day activities. the pandemic and the sudden, almost contemporaneous switch to a blended-learning approach illustrated how students may experience heightened stress levels if new technologies and new teaching practices are introduced simultaneously, even if they are measures intended to allow students to continue with their education. the use of communication technologies, such as zoom, ms teams or webex, re-designed virtual learning environments and engagement through different interactive tools suddenly became the new normal. harris et al. (2015) identify three types of technology overload. first, the scholars highlight ‘information overload’, which occurs when more information is provided than an individual can cognitively process. second, ‘communication overload’ is recognised. this takes place when an individual is interrupted excessively by, for example, email, instant messaging or mobile devices. third, the authors identify ‘system feature overload’, when the technology provided is too complex for the task at hand (harris et al., 2015). while studies define and measure technology overload differently (karr-wisniewski and lu, 2010; tarafdar et al., 2010; choi and lim, 2016; harris et al., 2013; harris and marett, 2009), the underlying concerns are of similar nature. more recently, the covid-inspired phrase ‘zoom fatigue’ has gained attention in the media (harvard business review, 2020; bradshaw, 2021), describing “tiredness, worry, or burnout associated with overusing virtual platforms of communication” (lee, 2020). considering the daily exposure to and usage of different technologies and the potential negative implications that technology overload can cause, it is critical to understand students’ perception of the use of technology in the classroom. 3. methodology 3.1 research context to explore students’ views on the use of technology in the physical and virtual classroom, undergraduate students from two seminar groups were interviewed. students experienced a range of different technologies in their online tutorials as well as during face-to-face teaching on campus. in line with governmental and university-specific social distancing rules, each seminar group experienced one week of on-campus teaching without technology support articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 8 and one week on-campus teaching employing a number of different technologies to facilitate interaction in the classroom. the first seminar included two activities. first, students were asked to reflect on and respond to three open ended questions related to entrepreneurship. second, students were asked to discuss and rank in order of importance a number of skills/traits of entrepreneurs. one seminar group carried out these activities without the help of technologies. in the other seminar group, the students – divided into groups and asked to engage with each other online – responded to the questions via ms google docs. for the second task, students, using mentimeter (an interactive presentation software), ranked in order of importance a number of skills/traits of entrepreneurs. for the following – on-campus – seminar, the seminar group that had previously not relied on technology used it and, in a similar reversal, the other seminar group interacted directly, without technology. the same approach was adopted for online tutorials. ms teams – the hosting platform of the tutorial class – included online sessions that incorporated additional technologies, while others – involving instructorled exercises and discussion – did not. in the context of this study, exposing students to a variety of technologies in some sessions but not in others, where technologies and tools were withheld, allowed learners to experience the difference directly and to reflect upon that. tutors, meanwhile could, observe which technologies students were able to engage with more effectively to achieve the intended learning outcomes. in addition to direct observations of the students using different technologies, tutors also engaged with the tools during the class, allowing them to make participant observations. throughout the term, students engaged with a number of different tools and platforms, as summarised in table 3. although the module utilised various technologies, this study specifically focuses on students’ perceptions of activities that incorporated mentimeter, google docs, high fidelity, youtube and panopto. other technologies and platforms are listed to provide contextual information about students’ engagement with technologies that play a role in the delivery of the module. table 3: application and role of technologies technology description of key features application in class role in this study mentimeter mentimeter is an interactive presentation platform with features that enable the user to prepare, present and analyse presentations. • quiz • poll • ranking focus google docs google docs enables individuals to collaborate to write reports, create joint project proposals, keep track of meeting notes and do various other things. • group work via shared google doc focus high fidelity high fidelity provides a virtual reality platform for users to join together to create, deploy, visit, and interact with virtual worlds. • discussion-based task focus articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 9 youtube youtube is an online video-sharing platform. it allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to playlists, report, comment on videos, and subscribe to other users. • presentation of information about case studies focus panopto panopto is a video platform which enables users to create and share videos securely. • lecture recordings focus microsoft teams microsoft teams is a collaborative workspace that acts as a central hub for team collaboration and integrates the people, content, and tools. • online tutorials (video and chat) • q&a after video presentations for students abroad context powerpoint powerpoint is a presentation program that allows users to create, edit, view, present or share presentations. • tutorial slides context moodle moodle is a learning platform or course management system (cms). • repository of module resources (e.g., slides, videos) context 3.2 research methods this article is based on qualitative research – particularly suitable, as little is known about students’ perceptions of the use of technology in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. qualitative methods play an essential role “[in achieving] understanding of a particular situation, or individuals, or groups of individual, or (sub)cultures, etc., rather than [in explaining and predicting] future behaviours” (bendassolli, 2013, p.2). semi-structured interviews are employed with a fairly open framework, in order to encourage focused, conversational and two-way communication (bernard, 1995). the approach is suitable for this exploratory research, which investigates what is scarce in the research literature: participants’ opinions, experiences and knowledge in relation to their perceptions of the use of technology in the classroom in the specific context of the covid-19 pandemic. using qualitative data to address the research objective of this study offers insights both rich and explanatory in nature. following ethical approval by the university research ethics committee, semi-structured interviews with eight level five students from two seminar groups were conducted. the students study business degrees and are, with the exception of one student of over fifty years of age, between twenty and twenty-four years old. the study is based on intensity sampling, which patton (1990, p.171) describes as “information-rich cases that manifest the phenomenon of interest intensely, but not extremely”. this approach aligns with the objectives of this study and included students who had attended relevant seminars that exposed them to the various technologies as well as sessions in which technology played no articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 10 role. an overview of study participants is provided in table 4. the names of students have been anonymised. table 4. study participants student male or female tutorial group programme of study amy f 1 ba hons logistics and transport management boris m 2 ba hons business entrepreneurship and innovation charles m 2 ba hons business entrepreneurship and innovation dorothy f 2 ba hons logistics and transport management eva f 2 ba hons business entrepreneurship and innovation frank m 1 ba hons business entrepreneurship and innovation greta f 1 ba hons business entrepreneurship and innovation henry m 2 ba hons logistics and transport management the in-depth interviews lasted between thirty minutes and sixty minutes and included four female and four male study participants. one interview was carried out in person, while the remaining interviews each took place via an ms teams video call. following participants’ consent, the interviews were recorded and transcribed using intelligent verbatim transcription. the interview data is complemented by the tutors’ direct observations and participatory observations. observations are suitable in the context of this research as they offer opportunities to study non-verbal expression of feelings, assess who interacts with whom, examine how students communicate with each other and investigate how much time is spent on a number of activities and how students navigate different technologies (schmuck, 1997). data coding and categorisation in nvivo were carried out to analyse the data thematically. 4. findings and discussion taking into consideration the unique context of the covid-19 pandemic, this study examines students’ perception of the use of technology in the physical and the virtual classroom. for effective employment of technology in the classroom, findings suggest a focus on three key areas (figure 1): the learner; the facilitator; and the technology. in the context of particular classroom activities, and considering the nature of the module and discipline, these areas and their relationship are further explored in the following sections. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 11 figure 1: focus areas 4.1 the learner: leveraging technology skills and gaining confidence “technology is the way forward” – charles. this student reflects on the role of technology during the pandemic and remarks: “i am not saying the pandemic was a good thing but most of us come to realise that technology is essential”. despite students’ exposure to a variety of technologies as part of their everyday lives, it is important to address the assumption that all learners are comfortable with using technology and assess what their actual abilities are. this is important because “a learner is unable to participate fully in technology if they do not have the understanding and desire to become involved” (lee et al., 2019, p.449). this is particularly relevant, as covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of he, exposing learners to new technologies and modes of delivery (world economic forum, 2020). apart from amy, who rates her it skills as very low, the interviews reveal that students are largely confident in their basic use of it. this is not entirely surprising because, as one participant states, “most people at university [...] have a phone or computer” – boris. as technology is ingrained in everyday life, the transition to using technology for educational purposes is, for many students, merely an extension of existing skill sets rather than needing to acquire new ones. these findings align with other studies (hernandez‑de‑menendez et al., 2020) that describe generation z as ‘digital natives’. even the mature student, belonging to generation x, says he is comfortable using different technologies once he has an opportunity to learn to navigate them. he describes himself as a quick learner and keen to adopt new skills for using technologies he has previously been unfamiliar with: “once i learn it, i am ready. i am always keen on using it. since the lockdown, i use it more than probably the past 7 years. it is part of our daily lives now” – charles. today, the application of technology in he extends beyond projecting visual aids. instead, technology is increasingly used to create virtual discussion spaces, produce simulations, hold opinion polls, interact in chats, develop digital mind maps, brainstorm ideas on virtual white boards and do many other things with applications and tools. while this provides an exciting opportunity for tutors to add to their toolkit, it is easy to make assumptions as to how competent students are in using technologies that they may not engage with in their daily lives outside the classroom. indeed, in their comments, students reveal that they are largely unfamiliar with google docs and certainly have had no previous experience of mentimeter and high fidelity until using them in class. as someone rating her own it skills as very low facilitator learner technology context articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 12 and being previously unfamiliar with these technologies, amy says she has benefited from her tutor’s guidance: “it was well explained in class”. the challenges that present themselves when students attempt to engage with new technology are exemplified through the case of high fidelity, a platform used as part of this study to host discussions. students were given an avatar which they used to navigate around a virtual environment, engaging in discussions with others. just like discussions in a physical space, the closer the avatar was positioned in the virtual environment to those of other students, the better they could hear each other. though the students described themselves as confident it users, they found this platform “awkward” and difficult to use. eva’s comment illustrates this: “the [platform] itself has technical difficulties". indeed, it is worth noting that this platform has not reached full maturity as its development halted in early 2020. students’ responses suggest that, to employ the technology effectively, a prior orientation session as part of the curriculum may be beneficial. furthermore, interviewees explain that learning new technologies is something they enjoy and consider beneficial. charles states that “it is better we learn it [tools] now, so that we can master it in whatever business we will need it in the future”. figure 2: summary: the learner the tutors’ observations and the insights delivered through interviews with students reveal that deploying technologies in the classroom effectively requires: • assessing learners’ level of it literacy; • examining learners’ experience with particular technologies; • providing training and supporting to learners navigating different technologies. 4.2 the facilitator: integrating technology in teaching and learning practices this study identifies the critical role of the facilitator in relation to the effective use of technology in the classroom. frank comments on the role of the tutors: “the way [the tutor] engages the class is a good thing which makes tasks easier.” in one tutorial, students have watched short youtube videos that explain the failure of three well-known businesses in adapting their operations to local cultures. though the students describe their tutors as skilled and engaging, they express a preference for technology to address this particular task. when asked if students could choose between watching these video clips and listening to the tutors’ own case summaries, charles is diplomatic, but clearly prefers the videos. he points out that “we can’t remove the tutors, they are doing a perfect job, don’t get me wrong [...] but what i am saying is that the combination of the tutors, showing the videos to us and then giving us their take on it provides the best out of both worlds”. eva has little doubt: "i'd prefer to watch the videos to get my own understanding of [the case studies]". it was evident that students preferred watching youtube videos to receiving a case summary from the tutor, however, this does not imply that students would like to replace direct interaction with tutors. instead, learners emphasise the complementary role that technology should play, with its capacity to enhance some classroom activities. in this situation, the video clips helped students to gain a deeper understanding of content by means of pictures and video articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 13 sequences. students also consider technology beneficial if employed in combination with class discussions. tools such as mentimeter were found to be particularly useful when polls of opinions could be taken and the results then explored further through tutor-led discussions. the rationale provided by the participants is that “technology is practical but misses emotional intelligence” – boris. referring to an exercise using a shared google doc for group work, amy explains her preference for combining the use of technology with discussions: “i cannot imagine just writing in google docs my ideas”. charles reflects on some challenges during the exercise: “initially, we were all in the chat room as we could not directly communicate with each other. then someone took charge [regarding the task] and we followed his lead. i have not used this aspect of the technology before but it was a learning process for me.” amy explains that being able to compare her understanding to that of other students, on the basis of how peers react during classes, forms a part of her learning. this substantiates the perspective that learning is “inherently a social activity” (fry et al., 2008, p.94) and ties in with elements of common social learning theory and constructivism. indeed, bandura’s (1977) social learning theory argues that we learn by observing and modelling the behaviour of others. this theory has been pivotal in understanding how we learn and, therefore, findings from this study suggest that to leverage technologies that enhance social learning establishes a suitable environment for learning to occur. boris describes his experience of technology in education: “like gravy: its good without it but better with it”. this analogy further illustrates the complementary role of technology, about which all study participants are in agreement. learners’ views concerning the extent to which technology is used in an educational setting is divided. one participant offers, as a rule of thumb, having teaching sessions with 30% technology and 70% without. henry suggests 60% of tutorial time without technology and 40% supported by it. he prefers to spend more time interacting without technology because it leads to a "better flow of discussion and better ideas". dorothy also states that, during lessons taught in the physical classroom, she would “prefer less technology and prefer more face-to-face engagement”. charles, dorothy, frank, and greta agree. however, none of the learners would want to abstain from technologies during on-campus sessions; they just want more direct interaction than interaction through technology. overall, students are positive about the current use of technology in a blendedlearning environment. charles specifies his position regarding virtual interactions and highlights that, while students were off campus, ms teams “was convenient and easier as we could deal with issues quickly”. despite their differing views on the extent to which technology should be deployed, the consensus among the participants is that the majority of time spent in tutorials should be focused on interaction with others, with technology playing a supportive rather than dominant role in the learning activities. "with google [docs] all we did was write down notes, we didn't really discuss” – eva. she suggests that “it is best to use a combination of technology alongside [face-to-face] communication". students’ preference for a blended approach also aligns with research findings by means et al. (2013) who use metaanalysis of the empirical literature, taking into account forty-five studies. the scholars conclude that “blended approaches have been more effective than instruction offered entirely in face-to-face mode” (p. 35). in line with the blended-learning approach, the role of the facilitator is to integrate technologies effectively with traditional instructor-led classroom activities, giving students more flexibility to customise their learning experiences. students appreciate engaging with a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 14 variety of technologies, as to do so makes the classroom activities more interesting. finally, this study finds that students appreciate instructors’ trying out new technologies even if the desired outcome is not achieved. “even when you are failing, it is not really a fail because [...] next time we learn from those mistakes” – amy. figure 2: summary: the facilitator the tutors’ observations and the insights delivered through interviews with students reveal that deploying technologies in the classroom effectively requires: • possessing skills and competencies as a facilitator to navigate different technologies; • integrating technologies as a supportive tool, complementing instructor-led activities; • being open to trying new tools. 4.3 the technology: recognising the nature and context of the tool this study recognises that employing technology in the classroom effectively is linked to the type of technology and the context in which it is utilised. for example, tutors’ observations during the sessions using high fidelity highlight a number of conditions vital to enabling the successful deployment of this particular technology. first of all, students have to be in a quiet learning environment, as all learners on the platform are simultaneously unmuted. the class size has therefore to be relatively small, so that everyone is able to engage in discussions without interruptions. at the same time, students have to have a stable internet connection and sufficient audio quality. boris explains that it “was difficult; we could not hear a voice clearly”. similarly, dorothy reflects: “i could not understand why i could not attend it [high-fidelity], nobody could hear my voice. maybe it was my fault and not the app”. according to harris et al. (2015), technology that is too complex can cause ‘system feature overload’. boris continues to suggest that social dynamics play a role and, for learners to interact with each other, it might be more beneficial if the tutor assigns a couple of students to breakout rooms instead of deploying high fidelity. in line with these findings, other studies (smyth et al., 2012) report that having difficulties with more sophisticated technologies represents a challenge to successful implementation of blended learning. in particular, reference is made to students’ having slow internet connections (smyth et al., 2012) which prevents students from engaging in online discussion (king, 2002) and causes frustration (hara, 2000; hara and kling, 1999). considering these pre-requisites and the barrier for students to engage effectively in discussions on account of the complexity of the platform and social dynamics of larger groups, the nature of the technology and its functions have to be taken into consideration. ‘fun’ is the word repeated frequently to describe technologies that were perceived positively. study participants state that employing different technologies makes classroom activities more fun and diversified. findings align with advocates of game-based learning (prensky, 2007) who suggest that students require learning to be fun and entertaining. gamification in education and how it can be used to engage students more consistently is also a theme reflected in the study by tugun et al. (2020). the scholars reveal that the second most articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 15 common use of technology of university students after communication is for playing games. this could provide a reference point for tutors as to how to include technology to complement their traditional teaching methods. this would avoid the dilemma of having to include technology in lessons for reporting purposes and being seen to ‘keep up’ at the expense of facilitating effective learning and the transfer of “knowledge to cognitive memory” (tugun et al., 2020, p.11). repeatedly mentioned in this context is the tool mentimenter, which is seen as fun and easy to navigate. this is in contrast to high fidelity, which is considered difficult and not beneficial for tackling the task at hand. indeed, attention should be paid to the nature of the task and anticipated learning outcomes when choosing technologies. for example, a shared google doc was utilised for a group task, so that students could work in teams and compile their arguments in a shared file. dorothy noted that several students did not engage with the task and relied on others to compile the notes in the shared file. other students recognised the benefits of such a shared resource which can serve not only as a useful resource during class, but also as a shared repository for future use. dorothy says: “i can now use it for my assignment”. one of the main benefits of the blended environment is the students’ ability to refresh and revisit material: for example, watching pre-recorded lectures at any time and as many times as needed. during the course of the interviews, dorothy mentioned that this might be of particular relevance to non-native speakers, as tools such as panopto offer captions, which aids comprehension. students point out that a purposeful approach to deploying technology has to be adopted and the benefit of using a particular tool has to be clear. this study suggests that students have a preference for technologies such as mentimeter that are considered fun and user-friendly. this could be partly because of the element of gamification that comes with the platform and the context in which it is used. the tool is also seen as useful because it allows students to get a sense what others in the classroom think. furthermore, both amy and dorothy suggest that they remember content better and that their learning is more effective when using mentimeter in class: “i can see the right and wrong answers afterwards. it is also competitive and sometimes you can see the ranking of people in your class [answering the questions] and it also introduces a little bit of fun as well” – amy. greta mentions that "without technology we wouldn't have the correct answers [...] we were able to take photos of it to reflect in the future". instead, google docs is seen as a useful tool for group activities involving note-taking, as the notes can be accessed in the future (e.g. coursework preparation). however, when google docs was used as part of wider class discussions, its benefits became much more limited. eva says that “technology was not needed as it spoils the discussion”. this sentiment highlights the importance of resisting the automatic urge to associate technology with positive student perceptions and the importance of deploying technologies purposefully and context-specific. "the use of technology depends on the activity it is being used for" – greta. the use of different types of technology needs to contribute to or be a logical extension of the planned teaching activities if students are to perceive them positively. simply using technology for no specific benefit or purpose might well negate the benefits it would otherwise deliver. finally, the technology should not create any barriers for engagement because of the level of conditions that need to be fulfilled, including – but not limited to – stable internet connection, quiet learning environment and audio quality. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 16 figure 2: summary: the technology the tutors’ observations and the insights delivered through interviews with students reveal that deploying technologies in the classroom effectively requires: • considering essential requirements to engage with the technology; • recognising the complexity of the tool; • selecting the tool with the task and learning outcomes in mind. 5. conclusion 5.1 contributions in the light of the unprecedented circumstances generated by the covid-19 pandemic, this study delivers new insights into learners’ perception of the effective deployment of various technologies in the physical and virtual classroom. given the risk of technology overload, the findings expose potential misconceptions about students’ willingness to use technology to support their learning. indeed, despite the increased exposure to and application of technologies in the daily lives of students, this study finds that learners remain interested in engaging with technologies in the classroom. furthermore, study participants agree that the use of technology has supported their learning. rather than using technology as a catch-all term, this study highlights the application of particular tools and platforms and describes the context in which they are deployed. more specifically, this study advances our understanding of the dimensions that need to be considered for effective he application of particular technologies, contributing important elements to social learning theory and constructivism. this research also delivers practical insights into the effective use of different tools in the classroom. based on in-depth interviews with learners and complemented by tutors’ observations, this study identifies three areas of importance: the learner; the facilitator; the technology. findings suggest that the learners’ level of it literacy, together with their previous experience with particular technologies, must be assessed. this is important, so that appropriate tools, aligned with the learners’ skills and confidence, are selected. in line with the learners’ skills’ level, training and support have to be provided to enable the learner to navigate different technologies. the role of educator is also essential, for the skills and competencies in navigating the tool and facilitating the technology-supported activity play a fundamental role. the facilitator should integrate technologies as a supportive tool, complementing instructor-led activities. furthermore, the educator should remain open to exploring new tools. the technology itself represents a key aspect that requires attention. essential requirements to engage with the technology, such as stable internet connection and audio quality, need to be considered. the complexity of the tool needs to be recognised and the tool should be selected with the task and learning outcomes in mind. the three areas highlighted in this study should not be seen in isolation but rather as factors that are closely linked, informing one another. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 17 the analysis has mirrored much of the existing literature focused on technology, especially in a blended-learning context, confirming it as beneficial and effective. however, technology is often used as a broad term for any electronically powered device or as a synonym for the term ‘computer’, which in itself is arguably a broad term. as stated in the review of the literature, an absence of a definition of the term ‘technology’ in the he context or any distinction made between the types of technology employed may prevent educators from fully capitalising on the benefits that different tools have to offer. this may well lead to illinformed teaching practices. this study highlights the importance of differentiating between the technologies that are being deployed in the classroom and using them in a purposeful manner, in line with contextual aspects, such as the type of audience, nature of the subject and task at hand, as well as the learning outcomes in mind. although, this study particularly focuses on the context of the covid-19 pandemic, lessons learnt are arguably transferable to post-pandemic pedagogy and the blended-learning approach which has been stresstested under current circumstances. 5.2 limitations and future research this study has two main limitations. first, the paper reports findings that are based on qualitative data collected through eight in-depth interviews. the relatively small sample size in relation to the data collection can present some limitations. however, despite the limited sample size, this study includes more than one third of students, part of a particular module, who experienced on-campus as well as online tutorials. furthermore, it draws on insights from both female and male students belonging to two different tutorial groups and programmes. second, given the particular context of the module and the discipline it belongs to, the findings of this study may not be easily applied to other disciplines. limitations also provide opportunities for future research as a means of gaining greater understanding of students’ perception of the use of technologies in the classroom. first, future research could expand on the sample size and extend this study to other programmes in the same discipline. investigating this phenomenon with a larger sample size would help in obtaining a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between such aspects and students’ learning styles/age and different technologies employed in the classroom. second, the study could be replicated in a different context to observe potential variations related to, for example, the discipline and nature of the module. third, a consistent understanding and interpretation of the term ‘technology’ have to be established and a more granular approach to the application and understanding of different tools is required. this study therefore calls for future research focusing on the categorisation of different technologies and platforms deployed in he. finally, and building on the previous recommendation, the differences between the technologies used in he require further exploration. more specifically, there must be further investigation into the suitability of the various types of technology to the intended context and conditions. acknowledgements we wish to express our thanks to the students of the systems management and strategy department, business faculty who have participated in this study. finally, we are very grateful for the feedback that we received at the shift 2021 conference. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 18 reference list advance he. 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(2010) ‘lecture capture: a guide for effective use.’ university of michigan crlt occasional papers (27). available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239605672_lecture_capture_a_guide_for_effectiv e_use (accessed: 1 february 2021). https://www.studentcrowd.com/article/university-responses-to-covid-19 https://www.studentcrowd.com/article/university-responses-to-covid-19 https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/127/ https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/127/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/covid-19-digital-transformation-higher-education/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/covid-19-digital-transformation-higher-education/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 the power of peers in gta development of practice: evaluation of an equal-status teaching observation project kerry dobbins1, neil f. adams2, ellen bishop2, mehman ismayilli3, martha papadopoulou2, megan l. phillips4, nadine tauchner5, elizabeth van wessem5 and joe watkins6 1leicester learning institute, university of leicester, uk 2school of geography, geology and the environment, university of leicester, uk 3school of business, university of leicester, uk 4leicester law school, university of leicester, uk 5school of history, politics and international relations, university of leicester, uk 6department of genetics and genome biology, university of leicester, uk abstract peer observation of teaching is a well-established professional development practice and can occur through a range of different activities (e.g., micro-teaching, lesson study, performance reviews, etc.). there is evidence that these various activities are being increasingly used to support graduate teaching assistants (gtas). this paper reports the findings of a pilot project that implemented equal-status, interdisciplinary and developmental peer observations. as a collaborative project, it was co-designed and evaluated by eight gtas and an academic developer. our observation framework involved gtas’ undertaking the observee and observer roles and retaining five of six identified dimensions of control. the findings show that the observation experiences encouraged both new and experienced gtas to take a self-reflective and critical stance to their teaching and disciplinary approaches. this confirms the value of gtas’ experiencing the observer role and their exposure to other disciplinary environments. the post-observation ‘learning conversations’ provided significant opportunities for gtas to discuss and reflect on their practice contexts and experiences together. this represents an effective example of peer supported learning, which also reduces the sense of isolation that gtas often experience. keywords: graduate teaching assistants, peer observation, phd students, professional development, teaching practice introduction this paper presents an evaluation of a pilot project for the peer observation of teaching designed by and for graduate teaching assistants, or gtas, at the university of leicester. by ‘gtas’, we refer specifically to phd students who undertake a considerable amount of teaching activity (following stocks, 2018). substantial research and scholarly attention have already been directed towards the impact of this professional development activity on teachers’ practice (e.g., gosling, 2002; hammersley-fletcher and orsmond, 2005; hendry, bell, and thomson, 2014; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 torres et al., 2017). this paper offers a unique perspective to this literature in that it represents the final outcome of a project that has been a fully collaborative endeavour between eight gtas (neil, ellen, mehman, martha, megan, nadine, liz and joe) and an academic developer (kerry). there is recognition of the value of observation experiences for gta development and recent years have seen a growing focus on them as an area for research and investigation. for example, reinholz, cox and croke (2015) and reinholz (2017) report findings from projects involving mathematics gtas in a peer observation or peer review process. sozer, zeybekoglu and alayli (2019) discuss the benefits emerging for gtas from observed micro-teaching activities. further investigations explore the use of disciplinary peer mentors (lockwood, miller and cromie, 2014; joyce and hassenfeldt, 2020), lesson study activities (deshler, 2015; lampley, gardner and barlow, 2018) and co-teaching experiences (howlett and nguyen, 2020). our study adds another layer to this research by exploring an interdisciplinary peer observation process that engaged gtas as co-designers, evaluators and disseminators of the project. in this way, they have also been introduced to and directly involved in the scholarship of teaching and learning (sotl) by embracing and enacting its key features. theoretical framework the benefits of peer observation for teacher professional development (i.e., those within a permanent and/or full-time academic role) are well established, particularly when undertaking the role of the observer (chamberlain, d’artrey, and rowe, 2011; drew et al., 2017; hendry et al., 2014; torres et al., 2017). this role has been recognised as helping teachers to become more self-reflective through the “double-seeing” (tenenberg, 2016, p. 765) process of considering one’s own practice through the comparison to other classrooms and learning environments observed. without the weight of leading the session on the observers’ shoulders, they can focus attention on student learning and behaviours that they may not usually have scope to register and reflect on when in the teaching role. reinholz (2017, p. 2) particularly equates the observer role to one that can bring significant opportunities for “enhanced noticing” of student thinking. as indicated previously, there is emerging evidence of peer observation practices (in a variety of formal and informal ways) being used to support gta development. gtas often occupy an uncertain space within higher education (he). they are usually relatively new to teaching; however, they may not necessarily be recognised as ‘teaching staff’ by their institution. various studies report gtas’ experiences of being caught in a space somewhere between student and lecturer; students view them as teachers but lecturers view them, at most, as teaching assistants (raaper, 2018). the liminality of their role can raise questions about how best to support them and the types of support that they can access (beaton, 2017). indeed, the nature, timing and institutional location (i.e., centrally based or department-specific) of training programmes have been discussed for many years and continue to be debated within the literature (chadha, 2013; lueddeke, 1997; stocks, 2018). the liminality of the gta role also has implications for the positioning of observation schemes where they are deployed as part of formal training opportunities. conduct of teaching observations by a senior or experienced academic may frame the experience as more evaluative than developmental. additionally, it is articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 unlikely that the experience will be reciprocal (i.e., the gta observing the academic and providing feedback) and so opportunities for gtas to develop self-reflective practices and enhance their noticing of student thinking may be more limited in this type of process. by contrast, a growing body of evidence suggests that when gtas have been involved in peer (specifically equal-status) observation or peer review of teaching projects, there are significant benefits to the development of their self-critique and reflective thinking skills (reinholz, cox and croke, 2015; howlett and nguyen, 2020). reinholz’s (2017) study of mathematics gtas also found that observing and giving feedback to each other encouraged them to feel less isolated in their roles and part of a professional learning community sharing similar worries, concerns and challenges. it was the benefits reported by these scholars as well as the considerable evidence cementing the value of the observer role for enhancing professional practice that led to the inception of the project that is the focus of this paper. whilst the pilot project was initially the idea of the academic developer, a fundamental feature of it was that it would be a fully collaborative endeavour by the gta group, from the planning and design stages through to evaluation and dissemination. a co-owned project would ensure that the ethos of peer support and development remained the central tenet. additionally, as a pilot project, it was important to have gtas’ involvement from the beginning so that they themselves would design the observation process specifically to meet their own self-identified needs, as opposed to what the academic developer might have assumed those needs to be. a further benefit of this collaboration is that it explicitly engages the gtas in the scholarship of teaching and learning. peer observation undoubtedly involves individuals in a scholarly activity (i.e., through observations they are gaining evidence to reflect on their own teaching practices). however, in this project, the gtas are also evaluating their (individual and peer) reflections and disseminating to the wider educational community the learning gained. these are the key features of a sotl-aligned peer observation framework, as presented by engin (2016). consequently, our paper adds to the growing gta-focused literature by presenting a richer picture of the gtas’ experiences through their co-evaluation of the impact of the project on their practices. peer observation project design mcmahon, barrett, and o’neill (2007) argue that the established categorisations of peer observation models e.g., gosling’s (2002) evaluative, developmental and peer review categories are problematic owing to the disparity of power or lack of trust that may exist between observer and observed, particularly in the two former categories. for example, it is questionable whether an observation that is being carried out for summative reasons by a superior (as in the evaluative model) or an academic developer (as in the developmental model) can really be described as a peer observation. instead, mcmahon et al. (2007) propose two types of peer observation (or third-party observation, as they refer to it) based on who has more control within the experience. in their type-a categorisation, control is maintained by the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 observee who retains exclusive access to the information generated by the observation and decides what, if anything, is reported and how. in contrast, control is maintained by others within the type-b categorisation, who can report on and distribute the observation outcomes without the consent of or consultation with the person observed. according to mcmahon, barrett, and o’neill (2007), only the type-a category can be legitimately called peer observation. our project falls soundly within this type-a categorisation, with the gtas retaining five of the six identified dimensions of control. specifically, they had: • control over whether or not to participate; • control over the focus of the observation; • control over how feedback was given (including control over the structure of the form and documentation used); • control over all information generated by the observation; • control over what is done as a result of the observation. the only dimension that they could not control was the choice of observer; the pilot nature of the project did not allow this. an outline of how the project was implemented will demonstrate how these elements of control were enacted. the project ran over the 2018–19 academic year. in september 2018, prior to the commencement of teaching, the academic developer put a call out to gtas across the university, which resulted in eight volunteer participants. at two meetings, convened in september and october, we collaboratively decided on the observation groups, protocols and documentation. being experienced in this area, the academic developer provided information to help inform discussions (e.g., presenting a range of observation documents from various institutions for the group to review), but all decisions about the observation process were made collectively. the gtas involved were from a range of disciplines (including members of five schools and departments across the university’s college of life sciences, college of science and engineering, and college of social sciences, arts and humanities). this interdisciplinarity was embraced by the group so that individuals could observe student learning in contexts and environments that might be quite different to their own. to ensure that the project was achievable within their already heavy workload of teaching and phd research activities, we agreed that individuals would be observed twice (by different observers) and would undertake the observer role twice. this schedule meant that the process was not a one-off experience and would provide the gtas with opportunities to reflect after each experience and put their learning into practice for a further observation or discussion. to make logistics easier to manage, the group was split into two sub-groups of four; each group intentionally contained a mix of disciplines and teaching experience. again, for practical ease, the academic developer created the observation schedules (i.e., who would be observing whom, which was the only element of control not maintained by the gtas). it was, however, their responsibility to review their teaching timetables and organise observation dates with their respective observers. the process agreed by the group was that each observation experience would consist of a preobservation discussion, the observation itself and a post-observation de-brief. whilst this is a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 fairly established peer observation process (race, 2009), the gtas themselves decided the points included in the form used to guide the discussions. it was particularly important that observees could direct their observers to such aspects of their practice as would provide them with the specific feedback they wanted. the documentation was designed in such a way as to ensure that each observation was a learning experience for both parties (see appendix 1). for example, the observer was also directed to consider what aspects of practice or student learning they might like to focus on in the environment that they would be observing. the postobservation de-brief was called a ‘learning conversation’ to emphasise the importance of both parties’ reflecting on and discussing the observation experience, rather than its simply being a one-way feedback process to the observee. additionally, the form used during the observation was designed to be open and flexible rather than directive. after reviewing various examples, the gtas were opposed to a tick-box approach (e.g., does the teacher identify the session learning outcomes? yes/no) and ones that listed many areas for the observer to comment on (e.g., introduction to the session, pace of the session, teacher’s tone of voice, etc.). they considered such observation documents to be unwieldy, artificial and potentially constrictive. instead, they chose just two key headings to direct the observer’s notes. these headings were ‘student engagement observations’ and ‘teaching approach/activities observations’. the observations took place between october 2018 and may 2019. the academic developer routinely kept in touch with the gtas throughout the period to retain contact and be available to help resolve any difficulties – such as in arranging observations though none, in fact, arose. evaluation design a qualitative approach was taken to the evaluation of the project. after all observation experiences were completed, a meeting held with each group of four gtas (conflicting timetables prevented us from meeting as a whole group at this point) – enabled discussion of the gtas’ experiences of the following: being the observee; being the observer; giving feedback to each other; the interdisciplinary aspect of the project; and impact on their teaching practices. these key points related to the particular priorities of this project. the academic developer led the discussions to ensure that the key points were addressed but at the same time allowed the conversations to accommodate what the gtas wanted to discuss. with the dimensions of control as an analytical frame, the academic developer identified which transcribed extracts from the discussions related to each dimension. for each dimension, and to manage and present the data efficiently, the developer combined and interwove relevant discussion threads from both groups, taking care to avoid possible misrepresentation of comments. each gta then analysed one extract (roughly a page in length) and provided a summary of the key themes emerging within it. this process ensured respondent validation of the interwoven extracts, but more importantly, enabled the gtas to be involved in analysis of the data in a manageable and achievable way. the summaries are presented in the following findings section. all the voices of the people involved in this project are therefore heard below and the gtas themselves have been key to interpreting and drawing out the important learning points. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 findings the findings section explores the gtas’ experiences and perspectives of the observation project through the framework of the dimensions of control. as explained above, extracts from the evaluation discussions are presented and the gtas have analysed and summarised them to identify the key themes emerging. control over whether to participate in the evaluation meetings, the gtas discussed their various reasons for wanting to be involved in the project. to provide an example of how the collaborative process of evaluating the project worked in practice, the full interwoven extract relating to this dimension of control is presented below, followed by neil and megan’s summary of the key themes emerging: neil: i had been observed once or twice at another institution but the idea of doing it as a group sounded very interesting. i was also interested in developing my teaching practice. joe: i thought learning more about the process of developing teaching would be interesting, which is something we’re not usually exposed to. also, i thought i was a quite good demonstrator and teacher but i knew that i could improve and it was difficult to work out how so it gave me an opportunity to delve into that more easily. nadine: similarly for me, i had an inkling about things i was not doing right and i wanted someone to see that and tell me, to make it really clear to me. and i was curious to see other people teaching and how they approach things. liz: that was a big thing for me, the chance to see other people’s teaching and learn about some other disciplines. neil: when we were defining the groups that was one of the things that i was quite keen to have, diversity of teaching styles, group sizes, that kind of thing. i thought that would be really useful. megan: i’m interested in questions like ‘what specifically is my role in this type of teaching?’ and doing a comparison with other roles in other disciplines can help you to understand your own role more. martha: i was curious about what other people are doing in other areas and i was also curious about how you do observing actually. ellen: i saw this as a chance to just begin reflecting on my own teaching. i’m in the first year so this is really my first proper experience of teaching. it was to start myself off being self-reflective from the beginning in the hopes that it would feed into teaching in the future. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 summary (neil and megan) the motivations for participating in the project varied between individuals and extended beyond simply wanting to improve our own individual teaching practices. firstly, motivations were shown to vary with the level of prior teaching experience. those with less teaching experience viewed the project as an opportunity to begin the process of self-reflection. they hoped that by starting this practice early in their careers, improvements could be fed into their future teaching. those with more teaching experience saw the project as an opportunity to develop our existing practices. it was hoped that having the perspective of other gtas would help in the constructive identification of possible changes in practice that could benefit both us as teachers and our students’ learning. the opportunity to take part in group observations with peers and to learn more about how the observation process works were also motivations for some to participate. another key set of motivations behind participation involved the interdisciplinary nature of the project and its multiple teaching contexts. specifically, we were curious about how gtas taught in other disciplines. to experience the teaching of others and their approaches was seen as a valuable opportunity. similarly, the inclusion of multiple teaching session styles (e.g., demonstrating, seminars, and tutorials) and multiple group sizes (e.g., entire undergraduate year groups, seminar groups, and small tutorial groups) was attractive. this was because it allowed the possibility of direct comparison with teaching similar to our own, but also the possibility to learn from different teaching contexts. the prospect of this comparison with other types of teaching was also viewed as a potential way to prompt reflection on our own role when teaching. the opportunity to be involved in observations between different disciplines (across the arts and sciences) was also important in motivating participation, because it allowed exposure to types of teaching that some of us might not experience in our own discipline. control over the focus of the observation martha summarises the benefits raised by the gtas of being able to control the focus of their observations. the pre-observation discussion was the point of the process at which the gta being observed was able to identify particular aspects that s/he wanted the observer to focus on. summary (martha) being able to control the focus of the observation was one of the key elements in the project and one of great importance. as individuals from different disciplines, with different experience levels in teaching and often with different instructions from module coordinators, a universal observation form would have been difficult to apply to all of us. for example, non-native english speakers (like myself) may want part of the observation focused on their wording selection and how/if they are making themselves understandable enough for their students. other gtas were equally interested in what the students thought of their teaching and by asking observers to focus on that, they gained some useful information. on the other hand, there was also the opportunity to mention to the observer what not to focus on. this was useful because some of us were constrained by directions from module coordinators about how to support students in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 8 sessions and others had physical limitations that prevented them from moving around the room or standing at the whiteboard: megan: it was also useful to say what not to observe me on. because of my physical limitations, i can’t stand at the board for most of the session and write things down so i’ve had to be innovative. so i could explain that i can’t physically do this so there’s no point recommending it. reflecting on the project, the creation of a more individual and flexible observation that the observer and observee co-created through the pre-observation discussion had multiple benefits for us as participants. firstly, it gave us the chance to direct the observation, thus creating a truly collaboratively environment. importantly, it also ensured that we tangibly benefited from the post-observation discussions as we gained constructive and valuable comments on the points that we specifically wanted to get feedback on. control over observation process (including structure and documentation) and method of feedback as part of the collaborative process, all involved agreed that the project should embrace an interdisciplinary element. additionally, all wanted the observation documentation to be loosely structured and flexible enough that each observation experience, including the post-observation discussion, could suit the specific needs of those involved and not constrain any flow of learning opportunities. in the evaluation meetings, discussions focused on the value of these points and how they led to and supported a powerful process of self-reflection. i. the value of interdisciplinary observations joe and liz summarise the benefits experienced by the gtas from observing peers in different disciplines. summary (joe and liz) the observations were particularly useful because it was deliberately cross-disciplinary, rather than within our own disciplines. this gave us all a chance to ignore the content of the teaching and focus on delivery instead. in fact, the more we failed to understand what could be very technical teaching the more it actually helped. this is because it meant we could see the techniques being used and have time to consider how to adapt it to our own teaching, whether that be in the present or future, classroom-based or fieldwork, university-based or elsewhere. being away from our own subject specialities allowed us to focus not on the subject matter but on how other people dealt with situations in teaching common to many of us, such as encouraging participation from quieter students. the ability to draw similarities from differences was a common theme. for example, martha likened techniques observed from unfamiliar small group tutorial settings in law and history to fieldwork study in geology: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 9 i found it very useful because even though small group tutorials are completely different to what i’m used to in geology and as a phd demonstrator, there are also field trips where you have to lead a small group and to see a completely different way of teaching, like how you handle a small group, how you bring things up, how you start the discussion, how you keep the discussion alive, was very useful. feedback on teaching during fieldwork is often very difficult to organise due to logistical issues. however, by observing across disciplines martha was able to get useful teaching tips that she would have struggled to obtain from observing large lectures or demonstrations. some of us not only reflected on our own personal teaching experiences, but also those of our respective departments. practices can become ingrained within disciplines or departments and this project was seen to help identify complacency and potentially challenge dogmatic practices: neil: departments may have specific ways of teaching things that have become ingrained over many years and they might not be the best ways... they might need someone to question ‘could we do this instead?’. and that might have come from observing someone in a different department or using different techniques. at least one gta wanted to take methods observed in other disciplines and approach their department about utilising those techniques. ii. the value of the ‘learning conversations’ (post-observation discussions) nadine identifies the key reasons that the post-observation discussion was such a powerful experience for the gtas. summary (nadine) an essential element to the success of the pilot project was the post-observation discussion. in addition to providing the feedback that was collected during the observation, these discussions offered the opportunity and space for an exchange of experience and took the form of learning conversations. in contrast to more conventional teaching observations, where a superior gives feedback about your performance, the post-observation meeting with a peer was less intimidating and therefore led to fruitful discussions about teaching styles and issues. this exchange had the added effect of making participants realise that they are not alone with their struggles and worries. another output of those conversations was the sharing of solutions and methods to tackle some of the issues teachers may experience. overall, the post-observation discussion proved to be a valuable experience for both the observer and observee because it offered time to immediately reflect upon what they had seen and experienced during the observation and to exchange their teaching experiences in general. iii. a powerful process for self-reflection in the evaluation meetings, all the gtas confirmed that the three-stage observation process collaboratively agreed upon did encourage and support a significant amount of self-reflection. ellen summarises the various ways in which the project led to this valuable activity. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 10 summary (ellen) the nature of this project encouraged a great deal of self-reflection. before the session that was being observed, a pre-discussion took place between the observer and observee in which they discussed contextual details of the class (e.g., class size, year group and gta role) and challenges that might be encountered. this discussion was really helpful for the person being observed to reflect before the session on potential challenges they may face and how to maximise good teaching practices during the session: neil: i found that the pre-observation discussion forces you to reflect before you even begin the session…so i found in the sessions that i was being observed compared to just my normal teaching, i actually probably taught better just because i had taken that time to reflect before the session on what i might need to do to maximise the students’ experience in the room. i realised that i should spend a bit of time before a session thinking through the challenges i might expect in particular sessions. surprisingly, many of us taking part in the project found that being the observer, rather than the observee, was the most insightful element of the project. whilst being observed and getting direct feedback on specific aspects of teaching practice was really helpful, it was difficult to reflect on your own teaching whilst focusing on academic content and how to help students. however, observing someone else teach gave the opportunity to reflect on our own teaching based on how someone else teaches. that it was an interdisciplinary project meant that observations were focused on teaching style rather than content. this was particularly helpful when undertaking the observer role because it provided an opportunity to reflect deeply on our own teaching practices and how other people approach teaching activities in a different way. the feedback form we created had a specific section to prompt and record self-reflections whilst observing someone else, considering what can be learnt from the delivery of teaching we were observing and the impact of our own teaching style on how students engage in the class. observing other people’s teaching gave many of us new ideas about teaching techniques and ways we can engage students, which we have since incorporated into our own practices: liz: i found that when i was being observed, i didn’t have time to think about what i was doing, i was just in teacher mode with the students…but when you’re doing the observing you’re not thinking about the content, you’re thinking about delivery and how that impacts on your own teaching so you’re making your own notes, not only to give feedback to your observee but notes to say, that’s a really good technique, i should do that. it’s a double process if you like. control over what is done as a result of the observation all the gtas retained control over the form that they completed as part of the observation experience. some chose to share them with their observation group and with the academic developer while others did not. as indicated above, many talked in the evaluation meetings of changes that they had made to their practices based on feedback received or methods they had observed. importantly, though, it was entirely their choice as to how or if they took any action. in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 11 the summary below, mehman describes the steps he chose to take and the lasting impact of the observation experiences. summary (mehman) the outcome of this project is invaluable to me because it was the first time that i received feedback regarding my teaching. the feedback was constructive and insightful, describing all the key points that i needed to develop. after each of the observations, i tried to act on the feedback as much as possible. every time i taught in the last semester, i constantly asked myself: “if the observers were watching my teaching again, would they recognise that i followed their advice?” all the observations i experienced taught me that sometimes the tiny details i had neglected could be an important part to complete the puzzle. discussion our findings confirm that peer observation can be incredibly valuable, both for new and experienced gtas. our findings also reinforce the value of observations that are truly peerfocused (i.e., equal status participants) and where the gtas retain control over many of the elements of the process, particularly the aspects on which they would like to get feedback. without a disparity in power or concern about performance being judged by a more experienced other or against potentially constraining criteria, the gtas in this project were less intimidated (as nadine suggests) and experienced many of the benefits identified in studies of this area. in particular, there was a sense of reassurance and feeling less alone, as reported by reinholz (2017) and hendry et al. (2014). supporting findings by torres et al. (2017), the observations and following learning conversations encouraged the sharing of practices and motivated the gtas to reflect on their individual methods and, in some cases, their disciplinary approaches too. what appears particularly valuable to them was the learning that they gained through taking on the observer role. liz echoes tenenberg’s (2016) “double-seeing” argument when she refers to the “double process” of considering your own practices through the act of observing the practices of others. consequently, our findings show that much significant learning can take place between gtas when they have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on their actual practice contexts and experiences together. additionally, for both new and experienced gtas, the observations have enhanced their repertoire of teaching methods and approaches to try out in their own classes. they have also specifically supported the new gtas to take a selfreflective stance to their teaching from the very beginning. in the two years since the observations took place, the gtas confirm that they have continued this practice of selfreflecting on their teaching. in this unique project, the gtas themselves have been involved in evaluating their own experiences, allowing deeper and richer insights to be gained about the impact on their development and teaching practices. apparent from the findings and the summaries is the benefit of interdisciplinary observations. these experiences provide exposure to other teaching environments and contexts that they may not otherwise gain. the findings confirm that this was an initial attraction for participating in the project for some of the gtas. this exposure fosters expanded thinking about individual teaching practices and, significantly, encourages disciplinary articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 12 methods to be viewed from another perspective. specifically, it appears to give the gtas an outsider view to some extent, with which, by comparing to other disciplines and teaching environments, they consider their own contexts with a fresh pair of eyes. in doing so, they begin to question some of the methods used in their disciplines and become aware of how teaching approaches and formats can become ingrained. the value of developing this critical perspective at this point in their teaching careers cannot be overstated. it means that, as they progress, they will be adopting a more scholarly approach to teaching by questioning whether the methods that they are using are the most effective or simply entrenched practices. they will also be continually open to the advantages of learning from other disciplines. finally, the findings demonstrate the positive effect of the post-observation learning conversations. these provide opportunities for discussion and reflection that may not otherwise be available to gtas. at a point when they feel inexperienced and potentially very unsure of themselves as teachers, they can talk to others who are feeling similarly challenged and share ideas, concerns and experiences in a low stakes and non-intimidating way. a limitation of the study is that it is a pilot and therefore reports the experiences of a small group of gtas. additionally, by their responding to the invitation to participate, it is clear that they were already motivated to explore and enhance their teaching practices. whilst the evaluation approach utilised was essential to the collaborative nature of this project, a positive subjective bias may also underpin the analysis to some extent. further research would be beneficial to explore the experiences of this type of observation process with a wider community of gta participants. such research could take a longitudinal perspective to identify whether significant changes and enhancements to practice continue to ensue following the observation process. it might also be of value to explore and consider the impact of the different elements of the process. a challenge with the peer (equal-status) observation approach is how and where those with more teaching knowledge and experience may be involved. the academic developer did not participate in or review the post-observation learning conversations, which might have been useful to augment the discussions taking place and address the promotion of any questionable practices. it would be useful to consider further the positioning of all stakeholders in the process, especially when rolling out to larger groups, so that peer learning is effectively supported and enriched. conclusion the project reported on here has been a collaborative endeavour between an academic developer and eight dedicated and enthusiastic gtas. as a pilot, gta involvement has been important at every step of the process, from the design stage to the evaluation. with their scholarly input, we have learnt a great deal about the positive impact and outcomes of this particular peer observation approach. this paper provides a rich picture of this gta group’s professional development experiences through their explicit engagement in the sotl-aligned peer observation framework (engin, 2016). we encourage further collaborative endeavours so that gtas are viewed not just as recipients of training, provision, etc., but as active agents in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 13 framing their professional needs and shaping the range of developmental opportunities available. reference list beaton, f. 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(2017) ‘what catches the eye in class observation? observers’ perspectives in a multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching program.’ teaching in higher education, 22(7), 822-838. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1301907 (accessed: 11 january 2019). https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2015.090211 https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2018.1453369 https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v6i1.288 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.950954 https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1301907 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 16 appendix 1: observation documentation template pre-observation discussion the observer and observee should meet before the observed teaching session so that both understand the context of the session and have agreed the areas of focus for that observation. the form below will help you to structure your pre-observation discussion. observee name: observer name: date, time and place: approximate number of students and level of study (e.g., first year, second year): kind of teaching/learning context (e.g., lecture, tutorial, seminar, demonstration, practical, etc): session topic: aims/learning objectives for the session (what should the students get out of the session?): teaching role/responsibilities of the observee in the session: what areas the observee would like to get some feedback on: anything else that would be useful to discuss? you may find it helpful to discuss areas that the observee would not like to get feedback on, e.g., issues that they are already aware of or areas that are outside of their control. have you both agreed: where the observer will sit? whether they will be introduced to the class? how long the observation will last? when you will have the post-observation discussion? the observer should use this space to consider what they might also like to focus on in the observation with regards to their own teaching development. for example, would like to see how others may deal with difficult questions, get students interacting with each other, etc, etc? articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 17 the observation session the observer may find it useful to use the form below to make notes during the observation. observation notes observations on the areas that the observee would like to get feedback on (you may find it useful to list these areas below): student engagement observations: teaching approach/activities observations: observations about the areas that i would like to particularly focus on (you may find it useful to list these areas below): articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 18 post-observation discussion – a ‘learning conversation’ the observer and observee will meet after the observed teaching session for a ‘learning conversation’. the observer will discuss their observation notes, particularly those focused on the areas that were identified by the observee in the pre-observation meeting. both parties will then reflect individually and/or together on what they have learnt from this observation experience and how it may inform their further teaching practice. the form below should be completed by both the observee and the observer. notes (use this space for any notes that you want to make during the post-observation discussion): reflection in relation to my teaching practice, what are the most significant things that have come out of this observation experience for me? how will i try to act on what i have learnt from this particular experience? opinion pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 it’s online, but is it learning? a reflection on the acceleration towards digital distance learning (ddl) in mainstream higher education. dr peter vlachos school of management & marketing, university of greenwich, united kingdom 1. introduction the coronavirus pandemic (march 2020-march 2022) accelerated investment in and use of digital distance learning (ddl) in higher education (he). few academic practitioners, observers, managers, or students could have foreseen the rapid pace of change. the emergency conditions created an opportunity to implement rapid changes to delivery methods with less consideration or scrutiny than would have been the case in more normal times. in this opinion piece, i begin with a brief history of distance learning. i then reflect on some pedagogical implications of the rapid transition to ddl in mainstream he and finally reflect on the future of ddl. 2. brief history of distance learning distance learning is a complex phenomenon that involves choices and transformations in “…instructional design and delivery, redefining the roles of partners in distance education teams, media selection, technology adoption, change implementation, methods and strategies to increase interactivity, inquiry, and active learning, learner characteristics and modes of learning, teacher mediation and learner support, operational issues, policy and management issues, and cost/benefit trade-offs.” (sherry,1995, p.337). digital learning in its essence is an extension of distance learning. in the 1840s, isaac pitman developed one of the earliest modern distance learning courses, to widen access to his innovative method of shorthand writing (archibald and worsley, 2019). the new system of universal postage in the united kingdom (uk) allowed learning materials to be distributed at a uniform cost anywhere in the country. the ‘penny stamp’ launched in 1840 is a precursor to modern-day fixed-cost internet broadband. the university of london ’external’ study programme was established in 1858. ‘mail order’ courses continued well into the 1970s. the open university uk, founded in 1969, has employed a variety of different media, including print materials supplied by post, television broadcasts and, more recently, web-based, and other digital modes of delivery. the notion of ‘distance learning’ can be traced back even further. mcluhan (1962) notes how the advent of the printing press allowed written communication to replace speech as the dominant form of academic communication. more than five centuries since the development of the modern printing press in europe, and a thousand years after mechanical typesetting emerged in china (needham, 1983), we continue to grapple with the disruptions and opportunities that arise from new communication technologies. opinion pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 3. impact on academic vocation teaching has been likened to artistry (barrell, 1991), performance (greenberg and miller, 1991; pineau, 1994; schonmann, 2005), performative act (liew, 2013), aesthetic labour (yang, 2016; lipton, 2021) and emotional labour (constanti and gibbs, 2004; berry and cassidy, 2013; bodenheimer and shuster, 2020). the modern classroom, notwithstanding contemporary ‘open-concept’ classroom design, retains its academic ethos. as social ritual, the classroom is similar to a theatre or temple. the in-class experience is a multi-sensory liminal experience. however, the digital education medium is more like television (again, recall mcluhan). as we know from the arts world, not all theatrical performers are suited to the small screen. conversely, television-trained performers can seem wooden or robotic in a large live theatre. the television (i.e., digital) medium is more restrictive of the performer’s autonomy than the live stage (chapple and kattenbelt, 2006). the transition to ddl, blended and hybrid delivery models has resulted in increased work and duplication of work, as well as stress and exhaustion owing to overwork, lack of training and information technology (it) failures (gewin, 2021). effective ddl is more reliant on technical and multi-media acumen than oratory skill and content knowledge. teaching-as-broadcasting explains the parallel rise in ‘teaching fellow’ and ‘teaching demonstrator’ roles. television weather presenters do not need to be climatologists, as long as they can read the forecast in a convincing manner. however, university teaching and learning must be more than mere content delivery. the notion of ‘hybrid’ educational delivery is fundamentally flawed. the needs, perceptions and experiences of the on-campus group will be distinctly different from the on-line group (mueser and vlachos, 2018). in television production, the studio audience is an extension of the props and set scenery because the ‘main’ audience is that receiving the broadcast. hybrid teaching models (rao, 2019; mourtzis et al., 2019) make the mistake of presuming that oncampus and on-line learning are the same. 4. impact on student critical and analytic skills in my classrooms, increased reliance on ddl appears to result in poorer analytic skills, weak source-appraisal skills, and information overload. students struggle to understand quality of sources: they do not understand what an ‘academic journal’ is. few have ever seen a physical paper version of an academic journal; the format is as foreign to them as vhs tape. students struggle to distinguish between a publishing platform (e.g., a website) and an author. in my teaching experience, live face-to-face teaching and learning appear to more effective for developing students’ critical capabilities. the physical classroom leaves little room to hide and enables prompt intervention when needed. by contrast, participation in online ‘breakout rooms’ typically results in weaker participation: it is simply too easy for students to remain hidden, with personal cameras and microphones switched off. stronger students stand to benefit more from the positive elements of ddl, such as ease of access to journals; speed; and the convenience of booking a one-to-one support meeting. however, reliance on ddl exacerbates inequalities. digital poverty creates barriers (digital poverty alliance, 2022). in 2020, the uk government, with the support of british telecom, identified the need to offer internet vouchers to 10,000 families, on account of concerns about opinion pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 the ‘digital divide’ affecting poorer students (coughlan, 2020). meanwhile, publishers and software providers flood the email boxes of academics and university managers with the promise of ‘mass customisable’ digital solutions. as the urgency of covid retreats, these increasingly resemble traditional sales tactics: a (digital) solution in search of a problem. the accelerated transition to ddl in mainstream he has hastened a move away from traditional full-time study. few students behave as traditional full-time students (i.e., seven hours per day, five days per week). instead, many of them adopt a fluid and less than wholehearted approach to their studies. for example, with their mobile devices, they tune in to lectures and tutorials when otherwise engaged: while they are at work; when they are driving (!) or travelling on public transport; or as they attend to other – such as domestic – obligations. this is not distance learning, but rather what i label ‘background learning’. moreover, in my experience, it is often students who rely on ddl because of these other responsibilities who would most benefit from the face-to-face support in a physical classroom. online ddl for many students is too prone to distractions. as in the live arts and entertainment industries (auslander, 2008), the live educational experience has an ‘aura’ (davis, 1995). by contrast, online attendance often results in poor participation and low interactivity. for many students, ddl is akin to tuning into a youtube video. 5. ddl moving forward is this ddl non-engagement very different from what typically happens in the on-campus classroom? numerically, perhaps not. however, the physical environment in which a student is, literally, physically surrounded by the learning experience offers more scope for (inter)active learning. ddl on a comparatively small screen competes for the attention with surroundings. ddl students need a quiet, distraction-free environment. yet it often seems that the students who are most desirous of ddl on account of its convenience are also often the same ones who have many other commitments (e.g., work and family) which leads to ‘background learning’. it is easy to blame academics for this lack of student engagement: “the tutor should use more interactive digital tools” or “it is the teacher’s job to keep the students engaged”. however, these technologies can become stale quickly, especially when overused across multiple modules. in my classes, for example, students quickly noted the repeated use of mentimeter across modules. the lustre of novelty soon dulls. during covid, a ‘pseudo-distance learning’ model emerged in a somewhat haphazard way, in response to constantly changing public health conditions and government policies. many he providers have treated ddl as an ‘easy fix’ during the covid crisis (pucciarelli and kaplan, 2021). however, after two years of covid restrictions, many students are already ‘fed up’ with online learning (waterhouse, 2021). ddl is here to stay in some form or another. the key questions are how and where it can be employed most effectively for the benefit of students, while placing realistic demands on academic staff. greater attention needs to be given to the segmentation of students, to ascertain which students or modules are most conducive to ddl delivery. for many, if not most, students, ddl is a next-best alternative to on-campus attendance. for some students, however, ddl may be their preferred, main means of attendance. more investment is needed in it upkeep and support and staff training. for ddl to work effectively, more it technicians are needed – and they need to be available at all hours. opinion pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 4 to conclude, i am reminded of mcluhan’s (1964) often-quoted mantra: “the medium is the message”. how we teach our students is at least as important, if not more important, than what we teach them. reference list archibald, d. and worsley, s. 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(2017) ‘are you listening to how i look?. reflections on the role of emotional and aesthetic labour in higher education.’ all ireland journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 9, 2822-2827. available at: https://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/282 (accessed: 20 july 2022). davis, d. 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(1991) ‘the player and the professor: theatrical techniques in teaching.’ journal of management education, 15(4), 428-446. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/105256299101500405 (accessed: 20 july 2022). liew, w.m. (2013) ‘effects beyond effectiveness: teaching as a performative act.’ curriculum inquiry, 43(2), 261-288. available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23524593 (accessed: 20 july 2022). lipton, b. (2021) ‘academics’ dress: gender and aesthetic labour in the australian university.’ higher education research & development, 40(4), 767-780. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2020.1773767 (accessed: 20 july 2022). mcluhan, m. (1962) the gutenberg galaxy: the making of typographic man. toronto: university of toronto press. isbn: 9780802060419 mcluhan, m. (1964). understanding media: the extensions of man. toronto: mcgraw-hill. isbn: 8114675357 mourtzis, d., panopoulos, n., angelopoulos, j., zygomalas, s., dimitrakopoulos, g., & stavropoulos, p. (2021). a hybrid teaching factory model for supporting the educational process in covid-19 era. procedia cirp, 104, 1626-1631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2021.11.274 (accessed: 20 july 2022). mueser, d. and vlachos, p. (2018), "almost like being there? a conceptualisation of livestreaming theatre", international journal of event and festival management, 9 (2), pp. 183203. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijefm-05-2018-0030 (accessed: 20 july 2022). needham, j. (1983) science and civilisation in china: volume 5, chemistry and chemical technology, part 5, spagyrical discovery and invention: physiological alchemy. cambridge: cambridge university press. isbn: 0521086906 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33723408/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/105256299101500405 http://www.jstor.org/stable/23524593 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2020.1773767 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2021.11.274 https://doi.org/10.1108/ijefm-05-2018-0030 opinion pieces compass: journal and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 6 pineau, e.l. (1994) ‘teaching is performance: reconceptualizing a problematic metaphor.’ american educational research journal, 31(1), 3-25. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00028312031001003 (accessed: 20 july 2022). pucciarelli, f. and kaplan, a. (2021) ‘transition to a hybrid teaching model as a step forward toward responsible management education?’ journal of global responsibility, 13(1). available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jgr-12-20200111/full/html (accessed: 20 july 2022). rao, v. (2019) ‘blended learning: a new hybrid teaching methodology.’ journal for research scholars and professionals of english language teaching, 3(13). available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed611486.pdf (accessed: 20 july 2022). schonmann, s. (2005) ‘theatrical representations of teaching as performance.’ in: learning from research on teaching: perspective, methodology, and representation. j brophy and s pinnegar (eds.) bingley: emerald group publishing limited. isbn: 9780762312542 sherry, l. (1995) ‘issues in distance learning.’ international journal of educational telecommunications, 1(4), 337-365. available at: https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/8937/ (accessed: 20 july 2022). waterhouse, j. (2021) ‘university students “fed up” with more online lectures in autumn.’ bbc. 18 may 2021. available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57162217 (accessed: 20 july 2022). yang, c.h. (2016) ‘a view of aesthetic labour practice in higher technical and vocational education.’ eurasia journal of mathematics, science and technology education, 13(1), 167188. available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?q=eurasia&pg=26&id=ej1120495 (accessed: 20 july 2022). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00028312031001003 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jgr-12-2020-0111/full/html https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jgr-12-2020-0111/full/html https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed611486.pdf https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/8937/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57162217 https://eric.ed.gov/?q=eurasia&pg=26&id=ej1120495 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 recapping: effective pedagogy to ensure inclusivity and optimise learning and teaching experiences dr duyen chu, university of greenwich, united kingdom dr hien nguyen, london south bank university, united kingdom abstract recaps have long been used in the media industry, where they have been found to be effective in supporting viewers’ understanding and recall of information. more recently, recaps have been explored in educational settings. this study examines whether recapping can support inclusivity and help to optimise learning and teaching experiences in the context of a business school in a widening participation university. we applied a mixed-method approach to collect data from both students and instructors. we used questionnaires to capture quantitatively their perceptions about recapping and semi-structured interviews to explore their opinions in more depth. our findings indicate that recapping is perceived as an effective pedagogical approach that can improve learning experience of students, teaching experience of teachers and ensure a more inclusive environment. the research makes both theoretical and methodological contributions to the literature. 1. introduction it is common that teaching in a business school involves a lecture attended by a large group of students and followed by smaller seminar groups or tutorials. lectures are often used to introduce topics, theories and concepts which will be further studied and applied in the seminars, using a variety of learning activities, including case studies, problem-based learning or simulation (desjardins and diedrich, 2003; maxwell, 2004; laditka and houck, 2006; dockter, 2012). for the teaching and learning process to be effective, students should be familiar with the key theories and concepts from previous lectures before coming to the next lecture or attending a follow-up seminar. however, it is not uncommon that some students arrive at class without knowledge about those prior theories and concepts, so limiting the effectiveness of their learning and making it challenging for instructors, such as the authors, two lecturers in london business schools, to deliver the planned teaching activities. the challenges may be even prominent in the context of widening participation in higher education (he) because students are varied in terms of their academic and socio-cultural backgrounds, prior educational attainment and english language skills. to be effective, pedagogical approaches need to carefully consider the needs of students from more diverse groups. in the media industry, experimental studies have found that recaps can contextualise and energise prior content, with the effect of improving audience recall and retention of information from television and radio. in their research, perloff et al. (1982) found that recapping enhanced viewers’ recall of the content of news stories. bernard and coldevin (1985) examined the effects of short, headline recaps on the recall of specific information from and knowledge about a television news programme. their findings showed that recaps increased viewers’ retention of the gist of the news stories. this applied equally to recaps that were presented in oral form and those where they involved oral plus visual information, while high overlap between information presented in a visual and verbal format. studying the use of recaps on viewers’ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 understanding of radio news, gerhard (1992) found that recaps produced a significant increase in performance. gunter (2015) explains that recaps can enable the internalisation – as well as retention in the cognitive processing – of new information. petruska (2019) suggested that recaps can also increase viewers’ desire to watch a programme. in the current literature on the use of recaps in education, there is no universal and consistent definition of recapping. wyse (2014) defined recaps as a teaching strategy in which an instructor summarises and situates salient information discussed in a previous class. in stavnezer and lom (2019), a recap is a short review of prior course content and can be effectively done in a student-led format. recaps can be done in text-based, image-based and video-based formats. in bothe et al. (2020), a recap is a quick revision of the learned topics and can be used at any point in a course and done in text-based, image-based and videobased formats. mcalister (2021) defines a recap as para-text which can be used to contextualise and energise previous content for viewers in the media generally and in the television industry. for this study, we define recap as an innovative pedagogical approach which can provide an interactive summary and revision of previous content to enable active learning. we include recaps done by both instructors and learners in a verbal-only format or in a verbal-plus-visual format. in educational settings, the use of recaps was first investigated by wyse (2014), who argued that recaps can enhance student engagement and ensure a more inclusive learning process. findings in more recent studies show that recaps can promote active learning, encourage class participation, assess class participation and emphasise student voices in philosophy classrooms (lowe, 2016), science, technology, engineering and maths (stem) courses (stavnezer and lom, 2019), massive open online courses (moocs) (bothe et al., 2020) and engineering classes (dart, 2020). wyse (2014) developed a four-minute recap activity in which students engage with peers and recall content in their own words. this provides opportunities for students to practise articulating the content and for questions to be answered. it is argued that recaps may be applied to any content and any class format and size. as this pedagogical approach can bring together diverse voices in the classroom, it may also promote inclusivity when students learn to listen to one another, value the input of others and see the value of many voices in the learning process. in a theoretical paper, lowe (2016) looks at the issue of remembering in the context of philosophy classes and argues that students tend to forget concepts and theories taught to them, even only a few weeks after they have been introduced, which is frustrating to philosophy teachers. to find a solution, lowe drew on cognitive science literature on how people learn and proposed a five-minute recap activity to aid student learning and increase the retention of materials and skills. lowe suggests this could be the best way to start each philosophy class. the limitation common to these two papers is that their respective arguments are developed theoretically but have not yet been tested systematically. stavnezer and lom (2019) look at student-led recaps in the stem context. two instructors at two different institutions collaborated and implemented a five-minute student-led recap at the beginning of each teaching session on three different courses – involving fifty-four students – and gathered feedback from the students on this pedagogical approach by means of a questionnaire after each teaching session and one at the end of the semester. their findings show that the use of student-led recaps was an effective and efficient strategy for promoting active learning, encouraging class participation, assessing class participation and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 emphasising student voices in classrooms. they argue that student-led recaps can enable a variety of cognitive processes in the learning process, including retrieval, practice and the testing effect (toppino and cohen, 2009; rowland, 2014; yang et al., 2019; yang et al., 2021). furthermore, they argue that student-led recapping is an inclusive pedagogy enabling all students to participate proactively in the learning process and that it promotes peer engagement. however, they acknowledge that their findings are based on the feedback and perception of students only and further research is needed to study the academic performance of students after this pedagogical approach is applied. bothe et al. (2020) examine the effectiveness of the use of a flashcard-like recap tool in the context of a mooc. they tested out their recap tool in three different courses over six weeks with a total of 799 enrolled students. they conducted a survey with a total of seventy-five participants at the end of the courses. the learning statistics were recorded automatically on the platform and could therefore be analysed to understand when and how learners used the recap tool. these researchers also investigated the relationship between recap use and the academic performance of recap users. their findings showed that recaps can provide personalised learning opportunities and that recap users on average perform better in graded assessments. however, they underline that the findings were based on the mooc’s context and that there could be differences in other contexts. in addition, the findings are purely based on quantitative data analysis, with no qualitative data element. dart (2020) investigated recapping using khan-academy style videos (animated reinforcement of the teaching message) in blended learning courses in the context of engineering. video recaps were implemented in three undergraduate engineering courses, with total of 3,290 enrolled students between 2016 and 2018. linear regressions indicated an improvement in student engagement where the video recaps were used; however, the relationship between the view duration and how much students learnt was not tested. further research would be needed to look at the correlation between video engagement and performance of students in their assessments. again, no qualitative data were used in the study. three gaps in the extant literature on the use of recaps in education have been identified. prior studies on recaps have been limited to some specific academic contexts, such as stem, moocs, philosophy and engineering and have not investigated the issue in the context of other academic disciplines. methodologically, studies on recaps have applied only experimental and quantitative methods. there has been no research using a qualitative or mixed-method approach. furthermore, no prior study has looked at the pedagogical approach from the perspective of teachers. findings in prior studies have been based on data collected from learners only. our paper seeks to address these three gaps. this paper examines the use of recaps in the context of a business school. we applied a mixed-method approach to collect primary data for investigation and examined the perceptions of students and teaching staff about the use of recaps by means of questionnaires. follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted, in order to understand the participants’ opinions in more depth. this study is the first to examine the pedagogical approach from the perspectives of both learners and teachers. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 4 2. method 2.1 participants participants of this research were students and staff at the university of greenwich business school. a quota-sampling approach was applied to the student survey. emails were sent to 400 students at levels 4, 5, 6 and 7. for the staff survey, the emails were sent to eighty-two teaching staff; the emails were sent three times: an initial email, a reminder email and a lastchance email. for the student survey, there were 122 responses, representing a response rate of 31%. 50% of the students were female, 48% were male and 2% identified their gender as ‘other’. in terms of level of study, 28% of the students were at level 4, 25% at level 5, 20% at level 6 and 27% at postgraduate level. regarding domicile, 43% of respondents were home students and 57% were international students. for the staff survey, there were forty-seven responses, a response rate of 57%. for the teacher survey, 51% of the respondents were module leader of at least one module and were also teaching in other modules, 45% were tutors only without any module leadership and 4% were module leaders and sole teachers in their own modules. in terms of teaching experience, 25% of the respondents had less than three years of experience, 23% had three to five years, 28% had six to ten years, 11% had eleven to fifteen years and 13% had more than fifteen years. in the follow-up interviews, there were student representatives of all levels of undergraduate and masters level study: three students at level 4, four at level 5, four at level 6 and six at level 7. for teaching staff, there was a good mix of teaching experience: two participants had less than three years of teaching experience, three had between three and five years, one had between six and ten years and two had over ten years. 2.2 materials both the questionnaire and the interview script included a definition of recap to ensure a shared understanding of this term between researchers and participants. in the student survey, we used nine questions to collect data on students’ demographics and opinions on the use of recaps. demographic information about students collected included gender, level of study, domicile and learning habits. we used one question to check students’ familiarity with recaps in their courses of study, one question to ask if they liked the use of recaps, one likert scale question allowing them to evaluate the helpfulness of the use of recaps for their study and two questions asking their preferences for recap type and length. table 1 presents the list of variables from the student survey and the breakdown of those responses. for the staff survey, we used six questions to collect data on their demographics and previous experience with the use of recaps. demographic information of teaching staff included their roles and teaching experience. four questions were used to understand their experience and perception of the use of recaps. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 5 the follow-up interviews were semi-structured, with questions prepared in advance to start and guide the conversations. the questions checked interviewees’ familiarity with recaps, what they liked and didn’t like about the use of recaps and how helpful they thought the use of recaps was for their learning/teaching experience. 2.3 procedure we applied a multiple sequential mixed-method approach (saunders et al., 2015) in which surveys were conducted first, followed by semi-structured interviews. questionnaires were used to examine the perceptions of students and teaching staff about recapping. the follow-up interviews were conducted with seventeen students and eight teaching staff. owing to the social distancing requirements and periods of lockdown because of the covid19 pandemic, the interviews were conducted online via ms teams. the typical length of an interview was thirty minutes. the timeframe for the data collection was between december 2020 and june 2021. the ethical application was approved by the university of greenwich research ethics committee before the data collection started. participants were provided with the participant information form and asked for consent before the data collection. we used ms forms for surveys, spss for analysing quantitative data from questionnaires and nvivo to analyse qualitative data. we followed the inductive analysis and the six-step process for thematic analysis in braun and clarke (2006). 3. results 3.1 quantitative data analysis following examination of the descriptive statistics, we ran cross-tabulations and conducted pearson chi-square tests to examine the relationships between demographic variables and variables in students’ experience and preferences for the use of recaps. variable responses familiar with recap 87% like recap (if familiar) 99% find recap helpful 10% extremely helpful, 68% very helpful, 15% helpful, 2% unhelpful preferred recap type 73% prefer verbal-visual recaps, 27% verbal-only recaps preferred recap length 3 to 10 minutes in a one hour lecture; one hour if used as preparation for assessment learning habits – prepare for lectures 33% always, 49% often, 15% rarely prepare table 1. key responses from student survey regarding recap familiarity, 87% of the students had seen the use of recaps, which means they knew about them and how they might be used in a teaching session. there was no relationship between recap familiarity and demographic group, meaning that students were familiar with the use of recaps regardless of their year of study, gender, domicile or learning habits. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 6 of students who had experienced the use of recaps before, 99% of them said that they liked their use. in terms of perceived helpfulness, 10% of students said that the use of recaps was extremely helpful for their study, 68% very helpful, 15% helpful and 2% not helpful, while 5% were not sure. recap likeability was significantly associated with level of study (x2 = 13.45, p = 0.04) but had no significant relationship with gender, domicile or learning habits. students at lower levels of study would have liked to see recaps used more. in the sample, 97% students at levels 4 and 5 would have liked to have recaps, while the numbers for levels 6 and 7 were 88% and 73% respectively. for recap type, 73% would have preferred verbal-visual recaps and 27% verbal-only recaps. regarding recap length, students would have preferred to have a recap of between three to ten minutes in a typical one-hour teaching session and a whole-session recap before assessments. there was no significant association between perceived helpfulness and recap length. preferred recap type was significantly related to level of study (x2 = 20.01, p = 0.01) and domicile (x2 = 10.64, p = 0.03), but had no significant relationship with gender or learning habit. students at lower levels of study tended to like verbal-visual recaps more. in the sample, 85% of students at level 4 would have preferred verbal-visual recaps, while the numbers for levels 5, 6 and 7 were 81%, 75% and 52% respectively. international students tended to prefer verbal-visual recaps. in the sample, 93% of the international students would have preferred verbal-visual recaps, while the figure for this for home students was 83%. there was no difference in recap type preference by students of different gender groups or learning habits. in terms of students’ learning habits, 33% of students stated that they always prepared before attending each teaching session and 49% often prepared, 15% rarely prepared and 3% went through the materials only when they needed to do the assessments. variable responses prior use of recap 98% frequency of recap use 21% used recaps in all teaching sessions, 19% used recaps in most teaching sessions and 58% used recaps for some teaching sessions preferred recap type 73% recap users used verbal form and 27% used verbalvisual recaps. perceived helpfulness 14% said that it was extremely helpful for their teaching, 50% very helpful and 28% helpful, with 8% not sure. table 2. responses in the teacher survey almost all teachers in the sample had used recaps in their teaching before, accounting for 98%. just 2% were not familiar with recaps and had never thought about their use before. however, the frequency of their use of recap varied. among the recap users, 21% applied recaps to all teaching sessions, 19% used them in most teaching sessions and 58% used them for some teaching sessions. in terms of recap types, 73% recap users used the verbal form and 27% used the verbal-visual. regarding perceived helpfulness, 14% said that it was extremely helpful for their teaching, 50% very helpful and 28% helpful, while 8% were not sure. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 7 we also examined the relationships between teacher demographic variables and use of recaps. there was no relationship between prior recap use, recap type, frequency of use or perceived helpfulness with role or teaching experience. however, recap use frequency was associated with length of teaching experience (x2 = 22.22, p = 0.04), meaning that those with more teaching experience tended to use recaps more often. the percentage of teachers who used recaps in all teaching sessions ranged from 90% of those with more than fifteen years of teaching experience, to 60% of those with eleven to fifteen years of teaching experience, 23% of those with six to ten years of teaching experience of those with three to five years of teaching experience and 17% of those with less than three years of teaching experience. 3.2 qualitative data analysis we conducted thematic analysis of interview transcriptions from interviews with students and teachers. two key themes emerging from the analysis were the benefits and drawbacks of recapping. figure 1 presents four sub-themes about the benefits of recaps for the students’ learning experience, learning process, improving teaching experience and ensuring a more inclusive learning environment. for the learning experience of students, recapping can make a learning session more engaging and interactive. many students said that, for them, a recap can be a short period of time for engagement, interaction, discussion, the sharing of ideas and clarification of possible misunderstanding of a theory. teachers underlined in the interviews that recapping is particularly helpful when there is a lack of understanding and engagement by students. they explained that poor engagement could be down to limited familiarity with theories and concepts. the use of recaps can create discussions which enable students to recall, refresh and share their knowledge in interactive ways. this argument was supported by many students in the interviews. one first-year student said: “it is useful and helps me recall main points because i do not always remember what study in lectures, not always watch videos and read slides before attending a class.” one third-year student said: “sometimes i have to go through an hour or two hours of lecturing, my brain will stand still and forgets totally what i have learned. but, recaps do help me to remember and go through a few main points. that really, really helps. that’s why i think recapping is very important, even for those who attend lectures.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 8 figure 1. sub-themes on the benefits of recaps for teaching and learning experiences the use of recaps was also perceived to benefit the learning process of students by providing multiple learning opportunities, ensuring better links between content and promoting retention of knowledge. one very experienced colleague explained: “retention is something that we need to constantly work on. recap can provide students with the opportunity to fully understand what they learn. if recap is not used, students literally have only one hit, and do not have another opportunity to actually learn and retain what they learn.” for improving teaching experience, teachers in the interviews argued that the use of recaps can help them to contextualise and ensure continuity in teaching and ensure better student engagement. they explained that the use of recaps can set context, link the current teaching session with the previous ones, provide students with baseline understanding of the topic being discussed and prepare and engage them better in the activities of a teaching session. many colleagues underlined that the use of recaps is particularly useful for modules that are heavy with theories and topics built on each other. students need to understand previous concepts and theories to learn new ones. teachers found that recapping can work well for online, blended and face-to-face teaching. they used recaps for all levels of study and teaching sessions, including lectures, tutorials and workshops. most colleagues used recaps at the beginning of a teaching session because they think that the hardest part is to warm up students and recaps can be used to do that. they used recap less often during and at the end of a teaching session because of their teaching styles and time management. however, they agreed that recaps can be used during and at the end of a teaching session. some colleagues found recaps can be used to encourage students to come to class on time. from their experience, if students know that there will be a recap at the beginning of a teaching session and they want to know and understand the topic, they will try to come on time in order not to miss the recap. benefits improving learning experience engaging and interactive sharing ideas clarifying misunderstanding improving learning process providing multiple learning opportunities ensuring better links between contents promoting retention of knowledge improving teaching experience contextualising teaching ensuring continuity in teaching ensuring better student engagement ensuring more inclusive learning environment diverse student backgrounds different circumstances various learning habits articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 9 the use of recaps is perceived to create a more inclusive learning environment by catering for students with different backgrounds, circumstances and learning habits. teachers in the interviews argued that the use of recaps can help to make sure students are on the same page in a teaching session, especially when working with students from a mix of academic backgrounds, languages, levels of preparation and understanding. some students attend teaching sessions regularly but there are also students who tend to skip classes. some prepare well but some do not engage with the teaching materials before a teaching session. some may understand immediately, while some may not. students may not follow the learning process that we expect them to, for example, we can’t assume they will all watch a prerecorded lecture videos or come to class prepared and ready to discuss a topic. even for engaged and high-attaining students, recaps can help them look at a topic from different perspectives, have deeper understanding and correct any misunderstanding about a theory. one experienced colleague argued: “if we just go straight to the content and activity in a tutorial, that’s a very sharp beginning without making sure people on board and we can lose students straight at the beginning. recapping can at least give students an opportunity to follow. recapping is not necessary the pure repetition of the previous lecture, but it is just to make the point that what is important that has been discussed so far and what’s new.” recapping is particularly helpful for students who miss previous teaching sessions or have little preparation before attending a teaching session. in the follow-up interviews, some students stated that they do not always go through the lecture slides, pre-recorded videos and other materials before attending a teaching session; they even skip classes. in the survey, many students also revealed that they rarely prepare before attending a class. in some cases, students have tutorials before lectures. in these circumstances, recapping can be helpful for them to learn and engage in a teaching session. one second-year student reflected on his experience: “sometimes i do miss lectures prior to attending the tutorials. it’s very seldom but it does happen. the use of recaps can help me catch up and engage in the learning activities.” teachers in the interviews also underlined that students have different learning habits and circumstances. the use of recaps can ensure that the learning of students can take place in many ways. some students acknowledged in the interviews that they were more introvert and tended to hesitate to ask questions even though they did have questions and would have liked instructors to clarify points. the proactive use of recaps by an instructor therefore can be helpful for them. a second-year student reflected on his experience: “some students, myself included, might be afraid to ask questions sometimes and recaps can clarify some of the questions that we may have but we are afraid to ask either because we feel silly to ask or maybe we are embarrassed to ask.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 10 students argued that verbal-visual recaps would be particularly useful for students with language barriers or difficulty in learning. for many students, recap with the written elements can be helpful for them to refer back to later or they simply do not want to miss any details in the recaps because the recaps are the key points. however, recapping is not a flawless pedagogical approach. figure 2 presents the three subthemes about the drawbacks of recaps: repetition, they can be counter-effective and there tends to be more workload at the beginning. figure 2. sub-themes on perceived drawbacks of recapping one theme emerging from the interviews with both students and teachers is repetition. some students explained that they always prepared well for each teaching session. therefore, they thought that recapping might be a repetition for them. recaps can take up the time that should be used for learning new things. one level 7 student said: “i think recap could be seen as time away from new contents. i’m sure, this is kind of a struggle for lots of lecturers, teachers and professors, there is so much that they know about, passionate about and the presence of recap could take away some of that time that could be spent for new original materials that could be presented to students.” one concern was that the use of recaps could also make some students less likely to engage with content in their independent study time. as students know that there will be a recap, they may not want to go through the materials themselves or hesitate to attend lectures. “the use of recaps may allow them to come disengaged, there might be some level of comfort of knowing that there would be a recap that would take place, that would help stir the understanding.” students and teachers in the interviews also voiced concerns that, if recaps are not used properly, they can be counter-effective. some possible circumstances in which they thought recapping could go wrong include inconsistency between content and/or instructors, low participation by learners and poor understanding of instructors about the diverse needs and characteristics of students. one third-year student said: drawbacks repetition less time for learning new things lazy students countereffective inconsistency low participation poor awareness of learners' characterstics more workload at the beginning teachers students articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 11 “if recapping is not carefully implemented, it could make students, especially shy and introvert students, feel uncomfortable if they are asked or tested.” the use of recaps could add more workload for both teachers and students at the beginning if they are not familiar with recapping. it would take time to prepare and add recaps to the design of teaching sessions if an instructor is not currently using and familiar with recapping. for student-led recaps, students would need time to get used to them and prepare. 4. discussion in this research, we look at recapping and examine whether it could contribute to an inclusive approach. through surveys and interviews with both students and teachers, the research findings capture their perceptions of the use of recaps for their learning and teaching experiences. recapping is perceived as helpful for improving the learning experience and learning process of students, by creating more engaging and interactive learning activities, providing multiple learning opportunities and allowing students to share their ideas and knowledge proactively, which can promote peer learning (topping et al., 2017). recapping can also provide opportunities to clarify and correct misunderstandings, increase retention of knowledge and ensure better links between content, which can promote scaffolded learning and teaching (taber, 2018). these findings are consistent with prior studies such as lowe (2016), stavnezer and lom (2019), dart (2020) and bothe et al. (2020). however, there can be varying learner needs for dealing with the use of recaps and different practices of teachers. our findings show that students at lower levels of study would like to have more recaps and they would prefer verbal-visual ones. international students also tend to prefer verbal-visual recaps. these findings are understandable, because students at lower levels of study tend to have lower levels of background knowledge and they are less practised in terms of technical knowledge and learning skills, while students at higher levels of study may have more background knowledge and can be more independent in their learning process. a language barrier may be a hurdle for international students to catch all the points in recaps. recaps with a combination of verbal and visual means can enable them to learn from recaps both verbally and visually. they can also have time to look up and take note of vocabulary and terms new to them. in terms of the recapping practices of teachers, our findings show that teachers with more years of teaching experience tend to use recaps more. as they have more teaching experience, they may well know more pedagogical approaches and teaching techniques, including recapping. in the context of widening participation, any effective pedagogy should take into account more diverse groups of learners. our findings show that the use of recaps is perceived by both students and teachers as an effective approach that can ensure a more inclusive learning and teaching environment. the use of recaps can cater for students of different backgrounds, circumstances and learning habits and put them on the same page in a teaching session. this finding is in line with wyse (2014) and stavnezer and lom (2019). findings in this research also reveal that recapping is perceived to be an effective approach that can improve the teaching experience of instructors. accordingly, the use of recaps may provide an instructor with many pedagogical benefits, including contextualising and ensuring continuity in teaching and increasing student engagement. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 12 however, recapping can also have drawbacks, such as repetition and additional workload at the beginning. the benefits of recapping could be negated and the method could even be counter-effective if recaps are not properly implemented. recapping is therefore not a flawless pedagogical approach; effective implementation requires the knowledge and skills of both teachers and learners. there are some limitations in this study that future research can delve into. this research captures only the perceptions of students and teachers. further research could look at more objective data, such as results from the evaluation of relevant courses. in this study, we look only at the perceived benefits for learning and teaching experiences. further research can explore possible associations between improved learning experience and student academic performance. our study is the first to look at the pedagogical approach from the perspective of teachers, touching on an area unexplored in the literature. future research could continue by examining possible relationships between improved teaching experience and work satisfaction. another possible endeavour would be to capture good practices in applying this pedagogical approach in a wider range of academic disciplines. 5. conclusion our findings are consistent with previous studies that show recapping can be an effective pedagogical approach that can improve the learning experience of students. however, it is important that it is used appropriately and that potential drawbacks such as repetition and additional workload are acknowledged. our study contributes to the newly emerging research stream on the use of recaps in educational settings. theoretically, this research provides evidence showing that the use of recaps can be an effective pedagogical approach in teaching and learning in the context of business schools. methodologically, our study is the first research applying a mixed-method approach to collect primary data to capture the direct voices of both students and teachers. reference list bernard, r.m. and coldevin, g.o. 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considering using mindomo and to encourage instructors to consider how concept mapping might facilitate higher-order thinking in their classes. keywords: bloom’s taxonomy, concept map, online collaboration, pedagogical design introduction a concept map is a multimodal document created to represent the relationships between connected ideas. traditionally created using analog materials, several digital applications have been designed for – or could be repurposed to allow – concept maps to be created digitally. this article introduces mindomo (www.mindomo.com), a web-based application designed to create digital concept maps and other graphical representations of ideas. mindomo is a webbased program designed to assist in the creation of digital concept maps and mind maps, which have been identified as effective strategies for learners to demonstrate an understanding of concepts and information while also making connections (novak, 2010). mindomo was developed in 2007 and re-built in 2016 (expert software applications, 2019); since then, i have found that its functionality has greatly improved. users begin with a map template or can create from scratch one of many styles of maps. maps are created using a series of editing tools which can customize font, colour, size, shape, and background. additional features include the ability to embed in a map images, audio, video and hyperlinks. sharing is possible across the platform and maps may be saved and downloaded in pdf format. mindomo operates on a freemium model: full tool functionality is free for students, teachers and the general public to construct three maps. various paid subscription tiers for educators range from $3 to $9 usd per month – i use the middle ‘teacher’ tier ($5/month) – and offer increases to the number of maps, publishing formats and learning tools interoperability (lti) integration into various learning management systems (lms). recently, an offline editing version of the program has been released. http://www.mindomo.com/ http://www.mindomo.com/ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 concept mapping as a pedagogical tool concept mapping is a technique whereby interconnected ideas related to a topic, idea or belief are represented in a visual way. unlike traditional content-driven activities designed for memorization of content and recall, concept mapping asks learners to represent their knowledge visually by showing connections between seemingly disparate pieces of content. that reading and creating concept maps can be difficult at first may cause confusion about their function; explicit instruction on the format of a concept map is usually necessary. as a pedagogical tool, concept mapping encourages deep learning, promotes creativity and promotes the connection between content, theory and practice. concept mapping is documented as an effective pedagogical strategy regardless of age, level of study or discipline (novak, 2010; schwendimann, 2015). additionally, concept maps can be employed for a variety of assessment and evaluation needs (turns, atman and adams, 2000), including demonstrating understanding of a given text and as a means of collaborative presentation of ideas. for example, a psychology student could construct a concept map addressing freudian theories and show the theoretical connections between psychoanalytic theory and psychosexual stages and break down psyche into the id, ego and superego, in addition to connecting examples from mass media that correspond to those theoretical concepts. there is no one ‘correct’ concept map for a given topic. concept mapping has been identified as an activity that engages students in higher-order thinking skills (novak, 2010). what distinguishes a concept map from other graphic organizers (e.g., mind map, t-chart, venn diagram, etc.) is the logical nature of a concept map. unlike mind mapping, which suggests summarization or a series of consistent relationships, concept mapping supposes a depth to the levels and types of relationships depicted. in this way, concept mapping moves students beyond lower-order thinking skills (i.e., summarizing, defining, classifying and memorizing) and engages them in higher-order thinking actions (i.e., justifying, analyzing, defending and hypothesizing). student creation of a concept map usually involves negotiating and clarifying ideas in ways that traditional assessment practices do not. these choices made by a student characterize what ausubel (2000) called meaningful learning, whereby new information is fit into a learner’s existing knowledge structure. a novakian concept map (kinchin, 2015) can be read in a logical way, owing to the following technical elements included in its construction: 1. ideas or concepts outlined in some sort of shape; 2. non-crossing lines that connect all concepts to at least one other; 3. directional arrowheads on the connecting lines to denote the direction the relationship between two or more concepts; 4. words written on each line to describe the relationship. the design of mindomo allows students to use this rigid structure or to use a more organic structure, depending on the task. how i have used mindomo over the past three years, i have taught a pre-service teacher education course called digital technology and social media applications a total of nine times. in each iteration of the course, i have included variations of concept-mapping assessment activities. during the 2018-19 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 academic year, the students (training to be k-12 teachers) worked in randomized groups to create multiple different concept maps, some of which were completed manually (i.e., using chart paper, post-it notes, pens, markers etc.) and others created digitally, using mindomo. these activities were designed to engage my students in deeper thinking about theories (e.g., technological pedagogical content knowledge [tpack; mishra and koelher, 2006], substitutionaugmentation-modification-redefinition [samr; puentedura, 2013], etc.) and issues (e.g., access, student collaboration, critical digital pedagogy, learning management etc.) related to teaching using technology. their concept maps were graded using a rubric which included the technical elements listed earlier as well as categories related to connection to course activities and the level of integration of digital media into the concept map. reflection on practice brookfield (1995) suggests that effective teaching and learning involves the practice of critical reflection. what follows is a snapshot of the unpacking of the use of mindomo from my perspective as the instructor and from the perspectives of some of my students. instructor’s reflection my first engagement with concept maps was as a doctoral student. a former professor of mine had been using them as a form of assessment for a number of years and encouraged me to think about the ways in which concept maps might promote more meaningful learning. now, as an educator, i strive to make connections between theory and practice in a way that will equip my students to think critically once they leave my class. the work my students have done has challenged me to think critically about my own perceptions of the course content as well as my pedagogical decisions. figure 1 shows a comment i made on a particularly striking concept map where students suggested that creativity in the classroom could (a) be promoted through selfdirected activities and (b) foster a sense of community. figure 1: snippet of a student-created concept map which suggested connections i had not considered were related technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 student feedback on mindomo throughout my years using mindomo in digital technology courses for pre-service teachers, i have received feedback on mindomo as a tool to create digital concept maps. a more detailed research project (sabourin, 2019) explored the perceptions of pre-service teachers in relation to digital concept mapping. the majority of pre-service teachers who have provided feedback to me describe positive experiences while using the software. many of them have suggested that concept mapping allowed them to engage with course content in a more meaningful way: “for the mindomo concept mapping activity, i learned a lot more in depth into the article “the kind of schools we need” because i worked with a group that took some different things from the article than when i read it. this allowed me to remember the article a lot better. i feel like i’ve retained the ideas in the article a lot better even a week later today than i would have if i had just taken notes and not done a digital concept map with a group of my peers.” (an intermediate-senior-level pre-service teacher) others appreciated how the complex ideas and connections of their group can connect with media beyond what can be represented in physical space and time: “one advantage to using mindomo to create our concept map is that we were less restricted than when we made the paper concept map. we didn’t need to conform to the size of the page, and it was easier to keep lines from overlapping because you can move them unrestrictedly anytime you have a new idea. it’s also a lot easier to add more detail, such as different coloured lines, pictures, and videos.” (a primary-junior level preservice teacher) alternatively, some were critical of how mindomo might sacrifice authentic discussion in favour of productivity: “a problem with making the concept map using mindomo is that although you’re still communicating with the people you’re working with, you don’t get the same amount of feedback as you do when you’re working with a group in person. in person, you’re able to bounce your ideas off one another. one person comes up with a concept, for example, and then the rest of the group adds in their opinion on if they think it’s a main concept and how to word it…online, a lot of the conversation was very much to the point.” (a primary-junior level pre-service education student) this last point highlights the need for educators to consider the trade-off between the advantages educational technology can provide and the degradation of other forms of communication that remain important. this is especially true in the concept-mapping process, as the process itself is a significant learning experience. a poor process, from my observation, often results in a poorly designed concept map. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 swot analysis mindomo is one of many tools designed to create digital concept maps. i have used a number of other desktop-based (e.g., cmaptools, microsoft visio) and online tools (e.g., coggle, mindmeister etc.), but i find mindomo offers the best user experience for teachers and students. the included concept map (figure 2) illustrates a breakdown of mindomo by way of a swot analysis (i.e., strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). i have identified internal strengths and weaknesses of the platform and the external opportunities and threats as they relate to my specific use, as well as more generally, regardless of the discipline. note how the concept map format allows for connections across the four categories of swot and how the concept map inherently requires active interaction by the reader. figure 2. concept map illustrating a swot analysis of mindomo. the concept map should be read from the middle outwards, and along each branch as indicated by the arrowheads. in general, mindomo’s strengths and opportunities rest in its treatment of users as learners who can use the tool to engage in meaningful learning experiences. although not a novel approach by any means, mindomo’s decision to allow full tool functionality in the free version allows users to complete tasks without annoying pop-ups asking the user to upgrade. additionally, considerable flexibility is built into the platform to allow users to share only limited personal information before first use. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 conclusion throughout many implementations of mindomo, i have found it to be a useful tool for my students to use to show how they uniquely conceptualize ideas and examples discussed in the courses i teach. student feedback generally supports the pedagogical use of mindomo, but raises concerns about whether using technology usurps the development of other important learning processes. as with all new digital tools, i recommend those interested in using mindomo should decide if concept mapping indeed aligns with the goals and outcomes of the learning experience they are looking to provide. in short, the adaptability of concept mapping as a pedagogy makes it suitable in a variety of disciplinary contexts and mindomo is an effective digital tool to aid in creation. acknowledgement i would like to express my thanks to dr. darren stanley for introducing me to concept mapping and for the numerous pedagogical and theoretical discussions we have had since. reference list ausubel, d.p. (2000) the acquisition and retention of knowledge: a cognitive view. dordrecht, netherlands: springer. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9454-7 (accessed: 25 april 2020). brookfield, s. (1995) becoming a critically reflective teacher. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. isbn: 978-0787901318. expert software applications (2019) history. available at: https://www.exswap.com/about.html (accessed: 12 august 2019). kinchin, i.m. (2015) ‘editorial: novakian concept mapping in university and professional education.’ knowledge management & e-learning, 7(1), 1-5. available at: https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.001 (accessed: 10 august 2019). mishra, p. and koehler, m.j. (2006) ‘technological pedagogical content knowledge: a framework for teacher knowledge.’ teachers college record, 108(6), 1017-1054. available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x (accessed: 10 august 2019). novak, j.d. (2010) ‘learning, creating, and using knowledge: concept maps as facilitative tools in schools and corporations.’ journal of e-learning and knowledge society, 6(3), 21-30. available at: https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/441 (accessed: 10 august 2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9454-7 https://www.exswap.com/about.html https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.001 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/441 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 puentedura, r.r. (2013, may 29) ‘samr: moving from enhancement to transformation.’ web log post. available at: http://hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html (accessed: 12 august 2019). sabourin, b.m. (2019) ‘pre-service teachers’ perceptions of technology integration in the k-12 classroom.’ available at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/research-result-summaries/80 (accessed: 12 august 2019). schwendimann, b.a. (2015) ‘concept maps as versatile tools to integrate complex ideas: from kindergarten to higher and professional education.’ knowledge management & e-learning, 7(1), 73-99. available at: https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.006 (accessed: 12 august 2019). turns, j., atman, c.j. and adams, r. (2000) ‘concept maps for engineering education: a cognitively motivated tool supporting varied assessment functions.’ ieee transactions on education, 43(2), 164-173. available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/13.848069 (accessed: 12 august, 2019). http://hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/research-result-summaries/80 https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.006 https://doi.org/10.1109/13.848069 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 please don’t put your phones away: the application of learning technology in united kingdom higher education and a framework for implementation xue zhou, stella-maris izegbua orim, peter wolstencroft coventry university, uk abstract the aim of this research is to identify best practice when adopting new learning technologies in united kingdom (uk) higher education (he). although technology is widely used within institutions and often has a positive impact on the learning experiences of students, there is only limited research designed to help lecturers with its implementation in the classroom. this research presents a critical review and assessment of some of the practices being incorporated in he teaching, learning from the experiences of both students and lecturers. this paper presents the outcome of two case studies of tophat and socrative learning technology tools used in the classroom; the findings highlight challenges and identify best practice. based on the case studies and the critical review of other, similar research, a ‘learning technology conceptual implementation framework’ has been developed; this offers guidance on the implementation of learning technology in the classroom. keywords: higher education; best practice; tophat; socrative; learning technology conceptual implementation framework background to the use of learning technology in higher education the use, during the last decade, of learning technology as an aid to teaching and learning in higher education (he) has become both accepted and in many ways, expected (mcknight et al., 2016). its many benefits, particularly in terms of interaction between staff and students and the assessment of students’ learning, have not been universal and, at times, its introduction has not seemed integral to an overall teaching plan; instead, the focus is on the technology rather than the learning experience as a whole. consequently, it is still necessary both to share the views of the students and lecturers who have experienced these technologies in the classroom and to try to develop a higher degree of coherence in their use. this study presents a conceptual implementation framework (cif) which has been developed on the basis of findings to a number of initial questions: 1. what are students’ experiences of the use of learning technology in he? 2. what are lecturers’ experiences of the use of learning technology in he? 3. what is best practice in the use of learning technology in he? learning technology while there have been many definitions of what is meant by ‘learning technology’, the definition that will be used in this paper is ‘the application of technology for the enhancement of teaching, learning and assessment’ (rist and hewer, 2019). deployment of learning technology within an educational framework has accelerated in recent years, driven by the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 belief that many current he students are ‘digital natives’ (prensky, 2001; thompson, 2013). though there is evidence to suggest that such a label is unhelpful and not reflective of the reality – that students’ ability in this area varies according to their previous experiences (johnson, 2015) – this has not prevented the wide adoption of mobile technologies – in particular, applications (apps) downloaded on mobile phones and tablets – as a learning tool in he (mcknight et al., 2016). the belief is that students are able to engage in the learning process with their mobile phones, personal laptops or tablets (osborne et al., 2013; pegrum et al., 2013). to analyse the concept of digital natives a little more, there is a generally held assumption assumption that, as students are digital natives (prensky, 2012), they will greet the introduction of new technology with enthusiasm and they will have the expertise to embrace this form of learning. such erroneous notions have been challenged. buckingham (2010) explains how digital literacy is about more than just knowing the processes – it is about the reified knowledge (wenger, 1998) that accompanies a whole different way of interacting with digital technology. this point has been made most recently by zhou and wolstencroft (2020), who argue that belief in the homogeneity of the student group is an assumption that can hinder the development of digital literacy within the sector. in addition to utilising technology that is well known to learners, the practice of including learning technologies within a lecture has altered the relationship between lecturers and students. the integration of mobile devices encourages learners who have traditionally been passive receptors of information to become self-regulating, active participants in the construction of knowledge (abrami, 2001). portable, personalised digital devices also contribute to connecting learners with their peers and lecturers in a ‘learning hub’ (wong, 2012) where they can learn collaboratively. norris and soloway (2008) suggest that mobile devices – with their personal learning tools, resources and self-created artefacts – offer the potential for ‘anywhere, anytime’ creative and collaborative construction of knowledge, something which can help the learning process, changing it from the standard lecture model (helfaya and o’neill, 2018). this transformation of the learning context may take many different forms; the ‘flipped classroom’ (wanner and palmer, 2015) is one such, in which the student is expected to take far more ownership of her/his learning and for preparing for the session. this way of learning fundamentally redefines the student-lecturer relationship and represents a shift of approach from pedagogy to andragogy (knowles, 1984), with more emphasis on the students and an expectation that they will be self-actualising, active participants, not passive receivers. though many innovative tools and apps have been introduced to improve teaching and learning practices in the education sector, there is consensus that digital technology enhances students’ engagement only if there is a clear purpose for its use (borup et al., 2014; sek et al., 2012; zhou and orim, 2015). an example of this would be research by zhou and orim (2015), who investigated the potential impact of the learning software ‘tophat’ – which includes a student response function, attendance record and an online discussion forum – on engineering students’ engagement and performance. their findings suggest that using tophat strengthens teaching practices by increasing interaction between lecturers and students inside and outside the classroom. other researchers have explored the influence of embedding technology in the assessment of students’ engagement and performance. sek et al. (2012) examined students’ perception of technology in relation to self-test e-assessment systems. they discovered that the selfarticles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 test quiz tool could facilitate students’ learning and provide formative feedback, but, again, only if there was a clear purpose to it. the key word here, as with much of the literature, is ‘facilitate’: the technology is being used to help the lesson and to improve relationships between lecturer and student, rather than being a focus in itself. in addition to being a vehicle for teaching and learning, mobile technology has also been adopted to deliver feedback to students. borup et al. (2014) examined the use of video feedback and its impact on blended courses. their results showed that students felt positive about the use of video feedback as a conversational and interactive approach which connects instructor and students, a finding that has been replicated elsewhere (wolstencroft and de main, 2020). regardless of the use of mobile technology as an educational tool, concerns have been raised about the under-utilisation of devices in an educational environment. mueller et al. (2012) carried out a pilot study on the use of mobile phones as an instructional tool with a group of business students. the findings from their study, while positive, did have a downside – they found that the most common use of phones in lessons was for communication between students, something that might well disrupt the learning process. this was corroborated by waycott et al. (2010) and also by wood et al. (2018), who listed a large number of examples of how technology might encourage off-task behaviour. finally, the use of learning technology without a clear purpose can alter students’ perceptions of the learning process. the use of digital technology has the tendency to encourage students to look for one answer, rather than embrace broader concepts, and also lessens their ability to look critically at any information, for they instead become reliant on the device (rowlands et al., 2008). returning to a key theme, the use of learning technology in he is based upon the assumption that ‘digital native’ students are capable of processing and thinking through information by adopting digital language. though there is certainly evidence that many expect this approach (prensky, 2004), it is important to state again that we should not treat this group as a homogeneous mass, as, for some students, technology remains a challenge (taylor, 2014). learning technology: the student view when analysing the use of learning technology in uk he, it is important to recognise the changing role of the student in the sector. whereas, prior to the era of mass participation in the sector, students generally accepted what a university offered them, now they are often viewed – and may view themselves – as student-consumers (tomlinson, 2017). this means that students’ views are collected and disseminated to lecturers at regular intervals, leading to a culture in which the ‘student experience’ is at the heart of the learning process. in this culture, there is an ‘expected’ pattern of learning which often revolves around a formal lecture supplemented by seminars to explore information in greater depth and with more interaction. given that research suggests that there is likely to be a correlation between exposure to technology in he and academic achievement (kirkwood and price, 2014; kong and song, 2015; venkatesh et al., 2014), the push is to fit the technology into the framework that students expect. this also creates a change in the relationship between staff and students, which means that to look at it in isolation is difficult. tomlinson very deliberately uses the word ‘consumers’ rather than ‘customers’ for students, as it relates to a service articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 rather than to a homogeneous product; however, the principles are still broadly compatible – the students’ perception is that, as they are paying for something, they have the right to have a say in what is delivered. while accepting the benefits of using learning technology, it is important to recognise that there are problems in its use. given the potentially disruptive nature of mobile phones, it is not surprising that students have found difficulty completing activities and fulfilling the learning outcomes when they have engaged in multi-tasking using the same device, potentially with online social networking, messaging, discussion and interaction with other communication platforms going on in the same lesson (junco and cotton 2011; selwyn, 2016). the key challenge is how to reduce possible disruption by personal devices of the learning process. learning technology: the lecturer view in spite of some inevitable overlap between the views of lecturers and students, it is still important to look at and assess lecturers’ views of digital technology: a similar story of benefits and potential problems emerges. returning to another key theme, the integration of technology is seen as a factor that drives a successful lesson. pegrum et al. (2013) talk about the need to integrate mobile devices into a broader learning ecology rather than merely to use them for the sake of using them – a commonly held view. another theme identified is that mobile devices can enhance student motivation (kong and song, 2015) and the increasing use in he of ‘bring your own device’ (byod) as a prevalent e-learning initiative (al-qahtani and higgins, 2013; pegrum et al., 2013) helps to facilitate that. the shift in emphasis from the lecturer’s providing new technology to the students’ using their own technology means that pressure on lecturers is reduced and also that personal digital devices facilitate learners’ attainment of intellectual, personal and social reflective engagement in he (kong and song, 2015). this increased engagement has been mirrored in other studies (pegrum et al., 2013) and, when handled correctly, can promote learners’ engagement in reflective inquiry for deep learning and personal growth. approaches that utilise byod technology can also influence assessment style and type, as well as the delivery timeframe. wanner and palmer (2015) explored students’ and teachers’ perceptions about flexible learning and assessment on a flipped university course. findings from this research and others (hwang et al., 2015) suggest that students enjoy their learning and are more engaged with it when learning in this manner. students prefer their personalised learning both in the form of online activities and, predominantly, in interactive, collaborative, well-structured learning activities in a face-to-face environment with flexible assessment. while accepting the benefits of utilising learning technology (via byods or other forms), it is important to restate the problems associated with their use in class. the list of off-task behaviours that can occur when students sense a lack of purpose in the use of learning technology (wood et al., 2018) suggests that it is vital for students to be made aware of why and how the technology is being used (stephenson, 2018). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 case studies this article is framed in a rather different way from many that cover similar topics. the main body consists of two case studies that the authors have undertaken. these will be used to inform a framework that can be used when applying digital technology to lessons. both are from business-related modules lasting eleven weeks and involve the introduction of learning technology in the classroom. the technologies chosen, tophat and socrative, were selected as they are relatively simple for both lecturers and students and are widely available. the findings are presented to the reader at the start of the section, with brief conclusions offered for each case study. then follows general discussion about the themes identified and their connection to the literature, before the framework is introduced as a natural conclusion to the evidence produced. both quantitative and qualitative data has been collected from the case studies. in some cases, checks on data were carried out using university systems; so, for example, it was possible to see how many students logged into the system prior to the lesson. for the majority of information however, a survey of all students was carried out. a further data collection method used was observation – very useful as a data collection method, for, if participants are not aware that their actions are being observed, they are likely to react in a way which is a truer representation of their approaches than they might when influenced by the presence of the researcher. although this represents a clear justification for using this method, it should also be noted that, when using observation, there is the possibility that observer bias may well occur. having three researchers look at the data to draw conclusions helped to minimise individual bias. case study 1: tophat’s impact on students’ engagement and the provision of feedback participants students registered on a year 1 business management module were invited to describe their learning experiences with ‘tophat’ (an active learning platform) by completing an online survey; thirty-five students participated. procedure and student reaction 1.1. timeline: prior to week 1 1.1.1. content/action • lecturers prepared questions and discussion topics on each module theme and loaded them on tophat; • lecturers checked the classroom arrangement and wi-fi coverage; • an email with detailed tophat registration instructions was sent to students before the lecture started. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 1.1.2. observation • only five students downloaded the software before the class. the other students either did not read the email or did not take any action until they came to the lecture. 1.2. timeline: week 1 1.2.1. content/action – in the classroom • the lecturer explained the function of tophat; • they then helped students download the software and register their account. 1.2.2. observation • most students were able to download the apps (i.e. through app store/google play), though a few students struggled to manipulate the functions on their phones; • the quickest student took three minutes to complete the registration process, while the slowest took fifteen minutes. 1.3. timeline: week 1-10 1.3.1. content/action • at the start each lecture, an attendance code was generated on tophat and its use was demonstrated to the class; • students were requested to input the code into the tophat system on their personal digital devices (every code was unique and was deleted after ten minutes); • different types of questions – such as multiple-choice, sorting, matching and click-on-target – as well as an online discussion forum were released to students during the lecture via tophat, serving to encourage students’ participation in the lecture; • a set of questions, designed to test students’ understanding of the module content, was released to the students though their digital devices in the last ten minutes of a two-hour lecture; • the lecturer monitored the results, and the results led to open-ended questions to test knowledge where that appeared to be lacking; • lecturers also used the results as a pointer to areas of focus for discussion. 1.3.2. observation ▪ students logged on to the tophat system and registered their attendance with the code (students not in attendance were not able to get the code); ▪ the use of some parts of tophat – e.g. click-on-target, word cloud and matching questions – attracted students’ attention and engaged them in the lecture; ▪ students were interested in participating in the online discussion forum and rating colleagues’ contributions; ▪ all students actively participated in the completion of the set of questions in the last ten minutes and raised questions when necessary; ▪ some students still checked their personal digital devices (e.g. to see if they had any texts) when they were requested not to use tophat. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 timeline: week 5 1.3.2. content/action • all the questions which had been discussed in the class on tophat so far were released, along with the answers for the purpose of student revision. 1.3.3. observation • students did use the revision questions to prepare for their phase test. 1.4. timeline: week 11 1.4.1. content/action • students were invited to participate in a tophat tournament, the purpose of which was to test their understanding of course content and identify the areas where they required improvement. 1.4.2. observation • students enjoyed competing with their colleagues, though some complained that they could not see the answers for the tournament questions. findings the majority (over 70%) of the students surveyed liked the interactive function of tophat, through which they could promptly discuss problems with their peers and lecturers. they also perceived that tophat could support their revision (43%). a few comments in relation to these findings are: ‘i could discuss problems with my classmates on tophat through my phone and i could also vote for their comments……’ ‘it gives me an idea how the questions will look like and helps a lot in revision’ however, some of the students expressed concern about the use of tophat in the module in their responses to the question ‘what is your least favourite part of tophat?’ ‘it is quite complicated to use….’ ‘i could not do the matching questions on my phone.’ ‘i did not find it’s helpful for the exams!’ challenges 1. students’ technological ability varies – they are certainly not all digital natives (prensky, 2001) – and the setting-up time for tophat in class for is lengthy. 2. not all tophat questions (such as matching questions) are supported by the android system. 3. as this is a management module, short-answer and multiple-choice responses cannot always test the students’ understanding properly. it is a challenge to phrase questions that allow students to demonstrate their understanding and enhance their higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis and synthesis and application of knowledge. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 8 conclusion this case study demonstrated the complexity of introducing technology into an existing pedagogical approach and in improving students’ acceptance and engagement. the benefits of tophat were recognisable in terms of gaining greater interaction between students and lecturers, monitoring attendance and helping students to prepare for their exam. however, the impact of the human elements, technical facility and subject characteristic factors cannot be ignored when new technology is introduced to the he context. case study 2: socrative as a digital literacy technology for the delivery of students’ feedback introduction this study investigated the impact of the use of socrative (an app that promotes engagement and can be used as an assessment tool) as a digital literacy technology for the delivery of feedback from students. participants registered students on two courses – a masters of information technology and a masters of information systems – were invited to participate in the investigation of the use of socrative as a digital literacy technology for the delivery of students’ feedback. out of twenty-two students who enrolled on the course, eighteen participated in the research. procedure and student reaction 1.1. timeline: prior to week 1 1.1.1. content/action • lecturers prepared questions and discussion topics in relation to each module session’s materials, with which students were expected to engage prior to their arrival in the classroom; • lecturers checked the classroom arrangement and wi-fi coverage; • the students were notified on the module website of the intention to use socrative to test their prior engagement with materials; • students were required (they were advised at induction and via follow-up emails) to engage with the required module content before coming to the sessions. 1.1.2. observation • over half of the students engaged with the module content prior to coming to the session; • this was reflected in their first-week scores, which showed clear understanding of the material. 1.2. timeline: week 1 1.2.1. content /action in the classroom: • lecturers explained the function of socrative and helped students to download the software and register an account; • lecturers gave students the socrative code for the module; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 9 • lecturers ensured that all students were able to access the virtual classroom by checking the number logged on to the session. 1.2.2. observation • most students were able to locate the right place to download the apps (i.e. app store/google play), although some went to google to find and download the software; however, a few students struggled to manipulate their digital devices; • the quickest student took five minutes to complete the registration process, while the slowest took fifteen minutes and needed assistance from a lecturer; • all students were able to log on to the virtual socrative classroom. 1.3. timeline: week 1-10 1.3.1. content • at the start of each session, the students in attendance were observed from the software dashboard; • they were allowed ten minutes to settle in and ask brief questions; • the socrative quiz was then started by means of the ‘start a quiz’ button on the dashboard; • the quiz was made live and student progress monitored as they completed the questions; • a set of ten questions, designed to test students’ understanding of the module content, was released to students through their digital devices in the first ten minutes of the three-hour lecture and tutorial session; • students were asked to attempt the ten questions in ten minutes; • different types of questions – such as multiple-choice and true/false– were released to students during the lecture via socrative, serving to check students’ prior engagement with the module content, to check their understanding and to encourage participation in the lecture; • lecturers monitored the results and used the results as a pointer for the area of focus for discussion; • the design of the questions in socrative was such that the answers to the questions were released immediately after the response to the questions, providing a formative approach to feedback. 1.3.2. observation • all students logged on to the socrative system and registered, with the number provided, their attendance in the virtual classroom; • students actively participated in the completion of the given set of questions at the start of the session and this afterwards led to some queries from the class. 1.4. timeline: week 11 1.4.1. content students were invited to participate in the evaluation of their use of socrative and its impact on their studies. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 10 1.5. observation the students were generally happy with the use of the software, although they commented that when they had other ‘very pressing issues and deadlines’ it became difficult to engage effectively with the content ahead of the session. rationale for its use • this approach was necessary because, since the delivery was flipped, there was a need to ensure that the students engaged with the content prior to the classroom sessions; • also, since part of the assessment style was a group presentation, it was a way of ensuring that every group member was actively involved in all aspects of her/his group work. overall observations • students’ technological ability varied, though the setting-up time in class had no impact on the teaching and learning time; • all the socrative questions were supported by the different operating systems. challenges • as this was a management module, multiple-choice, true/false and short-answer questions were not able to test the students’ understanding properly, but the system did indicate that they had engaged with the materials prior to coming into the classroom; • it was a challenge to phrase questions that allowed students to demonstrate their understanding and enhance their higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis and synthesis and knowledge application. findings the students liked the use of the socrative software and believed that it had a direct and positive impact on their engagement with module materials. lecturers reported that it also had a positive impact on the quality of their classroom discussions and presentation. a few comments in relation to these findings are: ‘the course delivery encourages everyone to go and read on their own and formulate their ideas during discussions in class and exhibit course understanding…’ ‘yes i am very happy because the module is very engaging intellectually, encourages research and personal study thereby bringing out best in you as a student…’ all of these resulted in a better learning experience, as indicated by some of those who responded to the question ‘are you happy with the delivery of this module?’ by stating: ‘yes, the module is very interactive and makes understanding way easier. everything about this course just syncs perfectly!’ ‘yes extremely happy! it’s very interactive, motivates us to study wide, hear the opinion of our peers, improve in our presentation skills, time management, team working etc.’ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 11 conclusion this study demonstrated the benefits of using digital software such as socrative to support a flipped classroom by ensuring that the students engaged with the module content prior to coming into the classroom. however, as stated in the section on the challenges, the key limitation was the fact that more complex questions could not be designed, because socrative would not support that level of complexity. discussions on the case studies and preamble to the framework what both case studies have told us is that learning technology has clear impact on students’ learning experiences in a variety of ways, most of which might well be said to be of a positive benefit to the learning experience and include greater engagement in the lesson and increased interest in the learning process. nevertheless, what came through in this research is that there are a number of challenges to be met if these benefits are to occur. many of the benefits found reinforced the belief that learning technology helps promote interaction – between students and their peers and between students and their lecturer – and also engagement with the material. this supports much of the literature discussed earlier (abrami, 2001) that showed how the technology was a means of improving this relationship rather than a catalyst for any great change. unlike the adoption of a passive approach, the use of learning technology in our case studies means that students are encouraged to engage, through the digital platform, with the subject material provided before classroom sessions (mcknight et al., 2016). research findings also indicated that students spend more time engaging with tasks and discussion with their peers and lecturers inside and outside the classroom. this is consistent with the findings by kirkwood and price (2014), who observed that there is a quantitative change – in terms of increased engagement – in the learning experience as a result of using information communication technology in he. digital learning devices also have the capability of testing students’ understanding and giving formative feedback – certainly a feature of the first case study. this made it possible to use the software as a platform for revision. in addition, students were observed in both case studies to take ownership of their learning, demonstrating such acquired soft skills as time management, leadership, presentation and team-working etc. in a way that mirrored the conclusion of venkatesh et al. (2014), that integration of ict may have positive effects on motivation and student interest and also instigate complex cognitive processes. from lecturers’ observations, the students often appeared to be uncertain about why digital learning technology was used in the classroom. in line with the findings of mueller et al. (2012), they seemed to believe that the digital devices should be used for social rather than academic purposes. however, what was very clear was the correlation between engagement and higher test scores, as students who engaged with the process were far more likely to get a high score in the assessment than those whose engagement was poor. at this stage we can state only that this correlation was there, rather than be certain that it was the engagement digital technology that increased scores; however, there remains strong circumstantial evidence that this was the case. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 12 the findings also indicated a shift from teacher-centred learning to student-centred learning following the adoption of digital learning technology. some of the these transforming skills could be related to greater use of reflective practice (cooner, 2010) or collaboration and knowledge-building (lee, mcloughlin and chan, 2008) skills, with students having to think about the learning taking place rather than merely accepting the information given. the use of socrative in case study 2 meant that students had to think actively about things rather than be passive and this was something that certainly contributed well to the lesson.furthermore, lecturers were able to identify quickly areas in which students struggled, track students’ progress and provide feedback in a novel way; as a result, the students felt greater satisfaction about their learning experience. although this research has found many positives regarding the use of digital technology in class, lecturers also had negative experiences, including: increased time needed at the start of the session to ensure all learners were logged on; pressure on lecturers to improve their ability with technology; students’ in-class disruption (specifically, students using their digital devices for non-academic purposes); the inability of lecturers to prevent or manage, in a timely manner, the unethical behaviour of some students. such behaviour may consist of impolite comments on the work of their peers and posting insensitive remarks. many of these points have helped to highlight the fact that to characterise students as digital natives (prensky, 2012) is far too over-simplified; the travails of some students in dealing with the technology was symptomatic of the fact that the student body is a highly disparate group which should not be thus stereotyped, a framework: identifying best practice in using learning technology in higher education? the original purpose of this research was to create a framework that can be used when introducing learning technology into the classroom. this framework is designed to be applicable to multiple types of technology and, from reflection on both the literature and the two case studies, it is clear that there are some steps that can help lecturers when using digital technology. the framework is presented in table 1. it comprises three stages: pre-class preparation, in class and after class . these stages are made up of different steps which are identified and listed in table 1. for the first stage, eleven identified steps and six resources are required. for the second stage, seven steps and resources are identified, while the third stage comprises three steps and six resources. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 13 table 1: learning technology conceptual implementation framework stages steps resources pre-class preparation 1. form the teaching team 2. equip the team with the necessary technology skills and devices 3. meet and discuss the process, roles and responsibility 4. determine which technology fits with the teaching objectives 5. agree on how to embed the learning technology in the curriculum; avoid having it as a standalone activity. 6. design the questions (self-study, in-class discussion, understanding test, homework) which could facilitate the achievement of the teaching objectives 7. investigate the suitability of the institution’s learning technology infrastructure 8. pilot in the classroom where the lecture/seminar will take place 9. set up the virtual classroom 10. send the students invitations to the virtual classroom 11. provide the student guidance notes for setting up the account on digital devices • teaching team • digital devices • internet • software licence • classroom • subject material • checks on compatibility of software in class 1. carry out an initial diagnostic of the students’ technical skills and ability 2. check the suitability of students’ mobile devices 3. introduce the function of the learning technology tools and its purpose 4. release the questions to the digital devices 5. observe students’ engagement and participation with the devices 6. encourage student involvement in the process 7. demonstrate the benefits of the learning technology and its linkage with the teaching objectives. additional to the resources in the preparation stage: • students’ digital devices after class 1. reflect on the outcome of the usage 2. ascertain students’ feedback on the learning technology 3. improve the teaching for the next session on the basis of students’ feedback and reflection the resources in the preparation stage articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 14 conclusion although the benefits of embedding digital learning technologies in he have been explored widely, detailed guidance or frameworks on how to use them have not been clearly introduced. this research has focused on interactive learning technology tools and seeks to ensure that all lecturers have a framework within which to work. what has been clear throughout the research is that using this framework (or indeed using digital technology in general) will not make a bad lesson good nor, indeed, stop all poor behaviour; what it can do is to encourage students to engage more with material and change them from passive recipients to active participants. a further caveat is that, lecturers must not fall into the trap of assuming that students are all digital natives (prensky, 2012) and that their skills are such that they are able to interact with technology and use it to their advantage. while this may be true for some students, it may not be true of all. linked to this common misconception is the belief that digital technology, when allied to other techniques such as flipped learning, will automatically change passive students into active participants. our research suggests this is not the case. to reiterate the point, the use of the framework is likely to be beneficial to the lesson but should not be regarded as a panacea for all ills. the key to the success of a lesson utilising learning technologies is ensuring that they add to the lesson and are used to achieve the objectives rather than as an end in their own right. by implementing the framework, lecturers will ensure that the use of learning technology runs smoothly and has the maximum possible chance of helping the students to engage with the lesson and also of promoting a positive learning environment. reference list abrami, p.c. 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(2020) ‘digital masters? reflecting on the readiness of students and staff for digital learning.’ bera blog. available at: https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/digital-masters-reflecting-on-the-readiness-of-students-andstaff-for-digital-learning (accessed: 20 may 2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2015.1113856 http://doi.org/10.1109/hicss.2014.22 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.11.006 https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2020.1759517 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01245.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01245.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00933.x http://ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter/article/view/313/132 https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/digital-masters-reflecting-on-the-readiness-of-students-and-staff-for-digital-learning https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/digital-masters-reflecting-on-the-readiness-of-students-and-staff-for-digital-learning conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 the power of a partnership approach: the tripartite relationship between academics, academic skills staff and students poppy frances gibson, robert morgan, andrew sinclair, rachael hartiss, agnieszka kosek, ashley clark university of greenwich, uk abstract this reflection piece shares the innovative approach to an embedded skills model on an accelerated two-year ba programme. at the university of greenwich annual teaching and learning conference (shift), in 2020, a collaborative team from the degree course presented a case study on this model. this article explores how, through such partnerships, student success can be promoted and student outcomes can shine. living and teaching through a pandemic has highlighted the importance of staff and student relationships to ensure success. keywords: partnership, academic skills, embedded, support, trust, connectivism introduction the role of all staff in higher education (he), whether professional services staff or academics and lecturers, should be to promote student success. at the recent university of greenwich annual teaching and learning conference (shift), in 2020, a team composed of lecturers, academic skills professional staff and students from an innovation accelerated degree, the twoyear ba (hons) in primary education, presented a case study on a partnership model that demonstrates how taking time to communicate between all involved can build a culture of support and, as a result, enhance student outcomes. in a model that originated with a pilot in 2018-19, academic and information literacy skills are integrated in the subject curriculum to support students with their studies and also to enhance their abilities and build lasting confidence through employability and citizenship skills (gibson et al., 2019). the article will reveal the reflections and experiences of the contributors during the academic year, as summarised at the conference. views from academic staff on why this partnership works the innovative research of lave and wenger (1991) uncovered how the professional workplace was the context in which the process of social participation underpinned the relationship between newcomers and experienced practitioners. within such a social environment, this integration of individuals occurred where learning involved participation in a ‘community of practice’. these authors’ description of ‘learning’ was a process which evolved continuously, becoming defined as a renewed set of relations perceived by the person engaging with the conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 learning. therefore, learning was centred in the relationships between people, where knowledge was shared. from an academic point of view, the relationship established between an academic skills team and students is one that erases assumption, promotes transparency and enhances academic outcomes. within he, it should be assumed neither that students know how to write for an academic assignment nor that they see their academic tutor as a partner in this process. so, a relationship between tutor, student and academic skills tutor becomes a community of practice, wherein each member has confidence in the others and so all can learn, with consequent enhancement of academic outcomes for students: staff come to understand how students learn during a two-year accelerated degree and therefore how to meet their needs by developing in them appropriate skills (morgan, 2019)1; students acquire the necessary skills and learn how to apply them. from a theoretical perspective, this illustrates the concept of “connectivism” a “knowledge of a connection within a network” (downes, 2004, in bell, 2009). connectivism is partly predicated on the notion of “nurturing and maintaining connections needed to facilitate continual learning” (siemens, 2004, in bell, 2009). this partnership works because of investment in programme reform, collaboration and trust. in our programme, we developed communication with the academic skills team so they could visit students during targeted modules. they were informed of the students’ assignments so their support could be specific; for example, giving possible structural advice for the assignment question. the members of this team could acquire, in ‘real time’, a sense of the academic needs of current students in order to plan future provision. in terms of collaboration, reform of the programme brought benefits: it enabled – during module teaching time with its more efficient skills-tutor-to-student ratio – better provision of support for students, while – in response to a popular complaint – ending the time-wasteful individual student appointments’ system opened up opportunities for timetabled support sessions for all interested students. trust is a key word for this partnership, this community. each of us responds favourably to trust: tutors addressing a student’s academic needs with academic skills development will place their trust in her; a student will trust his tutors to help him improve his academic performance; tutors show trust in the efficacy of academic skills as part of teaching programmes. this is the evidence from student surveys showing the effects of the partnership: gss 2020 “staff genuinely want you to succeed” “the lecturers are very welcoming and make a point of being available and providing additional support and reading even if not asked.” 1 this is a document entitled ‘preparation for written assignments’ (morgan, 2019) that is emailed to all students in qts and non qts programmes designed to help them with academic writing, and in particular structuring of academic assignments. the document refers to three zones that students follow in the development of an assignment: a – reading, b – writing the first draft and cdrafting and editing. copies may be received from robert morgan r.a.morgan@gre.ac.uk conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 “they clearly take an interest in the students’ wellbeing and performance and take steps to help.” module acad 1340 “the lectures and seminars are engaging and are very interesting. the delivery is brilliant and stimulates learning. b* and p* are two amazing lecturers. the guidance given to ensure we understand our assessment and is on track with everything is phenomenal. i enjoyed this module and i think it is one of the best modules on the programme along with personalised learning 1… they are very two supportive lecturers who are very organised and challenge us to learn and do our best.” views from academic skills staff on why this partnership works the benefits of embedding academic skills in subject programmes have been acknowledged for some time (wingate and andon, 2011; wingat et al., 2006). despite this, there is still a tendency in some quarters to view academic skills as a quick-fix solution, rather in the manner of a box-ticking exercise, to what is a much more complex problem. it is naïve to assume that students enter he with the requisite skills to cope with the demands of independent learning. unfortunately, the ‘bolt-on’ approach to academic skills provision tends to focus on generic skills without the necessary context, meaning that students are trying to learn in a vacuum. this denies them opportunities for experiential learning, problem-solving and reflection, all of which are essential for the development of independent learning skills (kolb, 1984). what this partnership approach has allowed us to do has not only been to embed academic skills in an academic programme, but also to deliver these in collaboration with the academic teaching staff. regular contact means we have been able to develop a good rapport with both the staff and students, allowing for a more individualised approach to learning, strengthened by good working relationships. this strategy breaks down barriers and has created a refreshing egalitarianism: we work together rather than in isolation. the academic skills interventions are tailored to the demands of the assignments, so that the skills can be applied in a context that is both specific and meaningful. the assignments have formative elements that allow students to receive feedback, to reflect upon that and then to act upon it, as a preliminary step to tackling the summative assessment. in this environment, the students develop greater autonomy and responsibility for their own academic development. as for the type of intervention, we work on specific interventions delivered with subject tutors in a classroom context; we offer drop-in sessions, either individual or group, aimed specifically at this cohort. students are also able to book one-to-one tutorials with an academic skills tutor or a librarian, sessions which are available to all students. we find that, on account of the greater classroom contact, many students avail themselves of these appointments and then, instead of perceiving academic skills in a remedial capacity, they see them – quite correctly – as support tools to maximise their full potential. in a mentimeter survey run with the pilot cohort, all students who participated in the survey either agreed or strongly agreed that the academic support they had received had helped them to progress. there are challenges in relation to conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 resourcing, since the academic support team is a very small team, catering for students across three campuses. nevertheless, the success of the partnership approach indicates that this is the way forward. views from students on why this partnership works many students, when commencing he, lack confidence in their ability to cope with the academic demands and feel unprepared for study (gibson et al., 2019). embedded in the structure of the two-year accelerated ba (hons) in primary education is a culture of effective communication between academic staff, professional support staff and the student. through continuous, multifaceted support, students are afforded an opportunity to enhance their work at an accelerated rate. as a result, their academic skills, self-esteem and communication all improve, leading to academic success within the programme. students are effectively scaffolded as they progress through the levels of study, working towards independence in their academic work. as students enter the degree programme from a variety of circumstances and backgrounds, the individually tailored approach is beneficial to their development. from a student perspective, having parallel support from academic and professional support staff provides a multi-disciplinary approach to learning. within the first term of the degree programme, the initial contact with the academic skills team, as part of a co-taught seminar, lays the foundations of academic thought. in the seminar, students are taught to source material effectively and thus to benefit their academic work. students are also guided on how to approach critical reading and filtering, to analyse and synthesise the information. to make such provision early provides students with a sense of the kind of support for adequately developing their academic skills that they may continue to expect: their knowledge gap will, they realise, be quickly closed and they will feel much more confident about moving forward through the levels of study. in the second year of study, there is a continuation of a multi-disciplinary approach, based on effective communication between all parties (figure1). the system of learning implemented is so structured that students are on an equal footing with both academic and professional staff. personalised teaching informed by student voices (gibson, 2020; gibson et al., 2019) narrows the learning gap, stimulates greater student engagement and develops positive studenteducator relationships. throughout the programme, access to drop-in viva-practice sessions with the academic skills team develops an understanding of assessment-based feedback. in turn, this aids the development of critical thinking, writing and reflective skills. the variety of opportunities (e.g., presentations) offered by lecturers positively influences the development of student's intra-personal skills – self-efficacy, motivation and metacognition – vital for selfdiscovery, academic success and the choice of a self-fulfilling career path. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 conclusion this short reflection has highlighted that – whether we are in a classroom together or having to teach and learn remotely owing to a pandemic – what is important is the union of staff in supporting our students. where academic skills are needed at the very core and foundation of successful study, having a partnership between lecturers and the academic skills team can offer to students a consistent and coherent provision; 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(2006) ‘doing away with study skills.’ teaching in higher education, 11(4), 457469. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562510600874268 (accessed: 12 january 2021). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469787410387814 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562510600874268 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 pedagogical approaches to support student resilience in higher-education settings: a systematic literature review adrian buttazzoni university of waterloo (waterloo, ontario, canada) abstract in recent years, higher education (he) students have continued to report rising rates of anxiety, depression and stress. one strategy employed to address these developments has been providing educational and administrative services that help to support and promote student resilience. efforts to improve student resilience in he may be bolstered by programs and strategies that go beyond traditional healthcare service delivery: for instance, initiatives such as in-course pedagogical approaches which target enhancing student resilience awareness and understanding. this systematic review aimed to identify, analyze, and synthesize the essential characteristics and programmatic features (e.g., methods) of pedagogical approaches (i.e., teaching strategies, curricula or other features) designed to support resilience among students in he contexts. searches were carried out in eric, psychinfo, and scopus and returned 1,545 results. ultimately, thirty-five articles were included in the final synthesis. a three-level thematic analysis of the included thirty-five articles was conducted, in order to develop rigorous and consistent analytical themes. the five analytical themes that were subsequently developed included: 1) resilience education: reflection, understanding, awareness; 2) individual strategies: personal skill development; 3) institutionor department-level: structural, curricular opportunities; 4) interpersonal strategies: relational skill development; and 5) learning community: cohesion, integration, resource awareness. the implications and effectiveness of these themes for he instructors are discussed. 1 introduction trends in higher education (he) contexts from multiple countries suggest that student mental health issues represent, arguably, one of the foremost challenges that institutions of higher learning must contend with. for instance, in canada, approximately 44% of students reported that within the last twelve months they have felt so depressed it was hard to function (american college health association, 2016); in the united states (us), 62.3% of students reported feeling overwhelming anxiety within the last twelve months (american college health association, 2018); in australia, 83.9% of students reported elevated distress levels (stallman, 2010); and, in the united kingdom (uk), 50.3% of students reported some thoughts of self-harm and 42.8% reported that they were often or always worried (the insight network, 2019). such developments highlight the necessity for establishing cost-effective approaches that enhance the mental health of university students, especially strategies which not only ameliorate present conditions but can prevent against future problems. one such approach increasingly being studied in he is resilience, or the process of one’s positively responding to adversity or trauma through utilizing a combination of personal and environmental resources (windle, 2011). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 recent scholarship has documented the potential of resilience with respect to assisting students and professionals in overcoming academic challenges and managing personal health (reyes et al., 2015), as well as aiding in professional development (sanderson and brewer, 2017). however, while research into resilience in he contexts is ostensibly growing, the concept remains somewhat misunderstood, as it has often been unclearly defined, conceptualized in a variety of different manners (e.g., maintaining well-being, surviving and thriving) and applied to multiple cohorts (e.g., private sector groups, education groups) (brewer et al., 2019). to improve precision in he contexts, this review examines the design and application of resiliencesupporting pedagogical approaches (e.g., course set-ups, curricula, teaching strategies) specifically for he students to outline better the ways in which such programs, implemented as either curricular or co-curricular initiatives, may promote resilience among this cohort. 1.1 conceptualising resilience and its relevance to university students resilience remains a somewhat unclear concept, owing to its being defined in multiple ways (windle, 2011). while common conceptualizations of resilience make reference to one’s returning to a pre-existing level of functioning after experiencing some form of stressor, the notion has been denoted as a broader concept pertaining to one’s adaptation to stress (friborg et al., 2009). in he research, it has been suggested to be a process of positive adaptation in response to adversity (brewer et al., op.cit.). for the purposes of this review, a more comprehensive definition of resilience will be used and, in particular, windle's (2011, p.12) overview, which defines resilience as: “… the process of effectively negotiating, adapting to, or managing significant sources of stress or trauma. assets and resources within the individual, their life and environment facilitate this capacity for adaptation and ‘bouncing back’ in the face of adversity.” in the he context, students’ perception of stressors and their capacity to manage effectively the challenges associated with their educational endeavors can be critical to their overall academic success and well-being. students report a number of potential stressors, including academic pressure, family instability, financial worries and social challenges (beiter et al., 2015). stress during this time can be exacerbated by the transition from adolescence into early adulthood, a period during which an individual lacking the necessary coping skills could experience additional stressors as a result of having not solidified personal identities, attitudes and values (london et al., 2011). consequently, resilience is not only associated with self-esteem, which can be even more important for students with learning disabilities (ghisi et al., 2016), but also students lower in resilience, or those who are stressed or not coping well with their learning, have also been found to require more teaching time and educational resources (lake and ryan, 2005). as resilience has been associated with prospective academic attainment (allan et al., 2014), lower stress, better self-regulation, improved coping with stressors and positive emotional well-being (leary and derosier, 2012), pedagogical approaches which aim to support resilience represent an important opportunity to affect students both significantly and positively. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 1.2 programs to support students’ psychological well-being and resilience in he multiple intervention methods have been implemented to address student resilience, including cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt), relaxation responses and stress management techniques (regehr et al., 2013). attempts to mitigate anxiety in university-aged populations have, in recent years, seen a similar rise in development, usage and evaluation, with mindfulness-based initiatives being among the most notable approaches (bamber and kraenzle schneider, 2016). scholarship investigating resilience-focused programs in other contexts related to he have also used a variety of approaches, including initiatives ranging from targets for workforce preparedness (sanderson and brewer, 2017), to learning leadership (mcallister and mckinnon, 2009), to training students’ reflective abilities (grant and kinman, 2012). however, despite this growth in intervention styles and relative to previous cohort trends, current generations of he students have tended to struggle significantly more with certain aspects of their mental health and resilience (e.g., stress management) (bland et al., 2012). accordingly, the demand among university populations for mental health and resilience services has seen a marked increase in recent years (center for collegiate mental health, 2017), suggesting that resilience-focused pedagogy approaches (i.e., those which go beyond traditional service-oriented programs) could play an important role in helping to address these trends. 1.3 research question and aim relevant contemporary reviews examining the concept of resilience have assessed the definitional and methodological characteristics of the concept, outlined the extent and nature of resilience-oriented interventions (brewer et al., 2019) and investigated the effectiveness of stress-reducing interventions targeted at students in he (yusufov et al., 2019). this review aims to complement these existing works by chronicling the essential characteristics and programmatic features (i.e., methods, designs and essential characteristics) of pedagogical approaches (i.e., teaching strategies, curricula or other features) designed to support resilience among students in he contexts. the review was guided by the following research question: “what are the methods, strategies and defining (essential) characteristics of teaching approaches, course curricula or other course-based approaches used in he to support psychological resilience among students?” the ‘picoc’ model of petticrew and roberts (2006) was used to operationalize this question for the systematic literature search: population: students in he populations (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, medical students); intervention: any course curriculum, educational activity, instructional strategy etc. that fosters or supports resilience; comparison: none; outcome: psychological, educational, leadership resilience; context: any (e.g., workshop, group setting, online etc.). the aim of this paper is therefore to identify, thematically synthesise and delineate the state of pedagogical initiatives used in studies examining student resilience in he. 2 methods 2.1 search strategy the search outline below (table 1) was carried out in three online databases: eric, psychinfo, and scopus. these three databases were selected to ensure that relevant articles were articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 included from educational (eric), psychological (psycinfo) and other social science (scopus) contexts. in accordance with the operationalized research question, the complete search strategy developed and implemented for this review contained three general concepts (resilience, teaching strategy, course design) for which lists of relevant terms were developed. search results were current as of may 17, 2021. table 1. search strategy conceptualization and terms concept search terms psychological/educational resilience “learner resilience” or “psychological resilience” or “pupil resilience” or “resilience” or “student resilience” and teaching strategy “coaching” or “education” or “educational activit*” or “method” or “strategy” or “teaching” or “teaching method” or “teaching strategy” or “training” or course design “awareness” or “capacity” or “competence” or “didactic*” or “instruction” or “literacy” or “pedagogy” or “pedagogics” or “study” search notes: eric search was a title search; psychinfo search was a title search with a peer-review filter on; and the scopus search was a title, keyword, abstract search. 2.2 eligibility criteria five inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied during the search and vetting processes of this review. the criteria stipulated that each article must: 1) contain an explicit and primary focus on student resilience (i.e., not a brief mention or peripheral aspect of a discussion, or a paper focusing on practitioner resilience or preparedness); 2) contain a discussion or analysis of a teaching, pedagogical or other course design strategy or method; 3) be written in reference to students or their equivalents (e.g., medical residents) who are in he (i.e., not professionals, practitioners etc.); 4) be a research article (i.e., not an educational report, bulletin, commentary etc. or dissertation/thesis); 5) contain some evaluation component (i.e., not only a feasibility study or proposal manuscript); and 6) be written in english. conversely, there were no bounds placed on geography, publication year or discipline. 2.3 study selection a total of 1,545 results were returned across eric (269), psycinfo (997), and scopus (279). initial title and duplicate screens resulted in the discarding of 994 potential articles. next, the screening of abstracts removed an additional 386 potential manuscripts. each of the 165 outstanding articles then underwent a full-text assessment, during which 144 titles were excluded, leaving 21 articles. the most common reasons for paper exclusions during the fulltext assessments were a lack of a clear or explicit student resilience outcome/focus (e.g., physician or instructor resilience), a lack of a described program or method included in the paper (e.g., conceptual outline of resilience), a lack of an evaluation component (e.g., proposed articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 curriculum with no examination) and resilience being examined in a non-he context (e.g., grade school, community setting). reference list checks of included studies added 14 articles to the synthesis. eventually 35 articles were included and thematically analysed in the final synthesis. 2.4 data extraction, coding given the multi-disciplinary nature of this review, the analysis (i.e., synthesis of included papers) was conducted through adapting the guideline of thomas and harden's (2008) thematic synthesis for systematic review approach. the first stage, line-by-line coding of text, was carried out as described with line-by-line coding being completed for each of the 35 included papers. coding was completed via applying labels throughout the articles to the text that represented relevant ideas, principles and concepts. importantly, the inductive coding strategy applied for this review corresponded to the general concepts of the paper’s research aim (i.e., text relevant to delivery methods, designs, essential characteristics and resources of student resilience programs was coded) and ultimately resulted in the generation of 72 first-level codes. for the second stage, the development of 'descriptive themes', the first-level codes were grouped together into larger descriptive, aggregate categories (second-level descriptive themes) based on common strategies, goals and implementation aspects. during this stage, 12 second-level descriptive themes were developed. in the third and final stage, the generation of 'analytical themes', the second-level descriptive themes were merged into analytical themes based on their relevant primary functions (e.g., skills-based, education-based) and defining qualities (e.g., level of intervention: policy/course, community, interpersonal, individual). from this process, five analytical categories were developed and were expounded in the ensuing synthesis section. 3 synthesis although the analysis methods resulted in papers’ being coded for their germane methods, designs and characteristics, only results of the most relevant codes are presented in the synthesis. to wit, not every feature of each program will be explicitly discussed, as some were only tersely explained in their corresponding articles; thus, the most illustrative examples are presented as a consequence of their being the most representative of their respective theme’s essence. also of note, some of the programs, owing to their approach, were coded and had certain aspects relevant to the discussions of multiple themes (i.e., some interventions will be noted in multiple results themes). regarding general characteristics, geographic locations of the studies included one from asia (3%), five from europe (14%), 23 from north america (i.e., canada, us; 66%) and six from oceania (17%). disciplinary contexts for the programs included nine that were multi-disciplinary or drew from a multi-disciplinary student sample, six in medicine (e.g., psychiatry) or a related health science area (e.g., kinesiology, physiotherapy), four in nursing, seven in the social sciences or humanities (e.g., education, psychology) and one in another discipline (minerology). nine articles were unclear about disciplinary context.1 the delivery methods of the programs contained a fair level of variety, with the foremost method being in-person (e.g., workshop, course), followed by online and mobile methods (e.g., computer, app), and then multi-modal (see ‘supplemental materials’ for list). the five analytical 1 this total is 36, one more than the 35 papers in the review, as a result of the robinson et al. article reporting two studies with two different samples (one psychology, one multi-disciplinary). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 themes developed were: 1) education: reflection, understanding, awareness; 2) individual strategies: personal skill development; 3) interpersonal strategies: relational skill development; 4) policy: structural, curricular opportunities; and 5) community: cohesion, integration, resource awareness (see table 2). table 2. resilience strategies/approaches for students in he, organized according to theme theme # of codes program, approach, strategy resilience education: reflection, understanding, awareness 21 individual strategies: personal skill development 20 institutional or department-level: structural, curricular opportunities 13 interpersonal strategies: relational skill development 12 learning community: cohesion, integration, resource awareness 6 notes: themes are listed in descending order (i.e., from mostto least-prevalent) according to the number of contributing relevant first-level codes identified across the 35 articles. as noted in section 2.4, codes were then aggregated to develop the descriptive themes which were subsequently combined to develop the final themes. 3.1 resilience education: reflection, understanding, awareness resilience support for students in he most often took the form of strategies related to education. such educational programming, both curricular and co-curricular in delivery, was unique in that it is bounded by the common denominator of having a foremost focus on an edification quality regardless of delivery level, which was unlike other themes that shared a particular level (e.g., individual) and quality (e.g., skill development). these education programming approaches, which featured in a range of strategies from targeted standalone interventions to course/program milestones, can be broken down into three subthemes: reflection, conceptualization/understanding and framing, and acceptance and awareness. while seemingly more of a complementary feature in many of the analysed studies, reflection-based strategies were a consistently employed method that encouraged student contemplation and introspection in furtherance of building resilience. such strategies included journal reflection activities to facilitate students’ commenting on personal and social connections (daniels et al., 2015), reflective writing assignments that instructed students to contemplate their strengths and how they could apply them in other contexts (dresen et al., 2019), reflection and inquiry periods to aid in meditation-related to study (galante et al., 2018) and reflection exercises to contemplate received resilience-messaging (stephens and gunther, 2016). a broader reflection intervention characteristic was also noted in a ‘self-reflective objective’ within a leadership curriculum which sought to train students to become more adept at knowing their strengths and weaknesses, engage in continual personal development and become emotionally intelligent (goertzen and whitaker, 2015). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 educationally focused initiatives also frequently included methods which emphasized individual conceptualization/understanding tasks and framing strategies related to resilience. regarding framing techniques, the abcde thinking model (activating event; belief about activating event; consequence, feelings, and behavior in response to belief; disputing disempowering beliefs, creating empowering interpretations; energy to handle activating event) was applied in a multiple programs to promote using empowering interpretations (dolbier et al., 2010; gerson and fernandez, 2013; robinson et al., 2021; steinhardt and dolbier, 2008). similarly, another program applied comparable framing techniques in an adaptive response learning initiative, outlining, among other things, the self-perpetuating cycle between feeling overwhelmed and responding maladaptively, the impacts of a pessimistic coping style (e.g., self-fulfilling prophecy), getting perspective (considering worst, best, realistic outcomes) and decatastrophizing (gerson and fernandez, 2013). considering conceptualizing resilience, a few different methods and materials were used to teach students about how to understand the concept. in one multi-method workshop, lego serious play (metaphorical understandings of resilience), concept-mapping (making connections between ideas, barriers, strategies related to resilience) and group discussions regarding fixed-mindset vs. growth-mindset were all used to broaden students’ comprehension of resilience (anthoney et al., 2017). two other efforts to improve students’ thinking about resilience included: 1) a hardiness course initiative (i.e., resilience under pressure, ability to turn stressful circumstances into growth opportunities) that provided classes about both the conceptualization of hardiness and research supporting hardiness (maddi et al., 2009); and 2) a ‘relaxation response to resilience’ program which administered group sessions and a workbook presenting positive perspective-taking and meaning-finding practices (chaukos et al., 2018). acceptance and awareness methods were additionally featured techniques among the educationally oriented initiatives. in several instances, these strategies sought to raise awareness of protective factors or acceptance of one’s current circumstances or outcomes as means to build constructive coping mechanisms. to this end, a multimedia intervention started each session with a ‘stress briefing’, to inform participants of the importance of maintaining healthy habits (rose et al., 2013); an app-based program provided students with a number of audio-guided meditations about acknowledging thoughts and being mindful of feelings (reyes et al., 2015); and a biopsychosocial intervention taught students about the physiology of breathing, the effects of breathing on stress and vice versa, the process of diaphragm breathing, and helpseeking behaviors (robinson et al., 2021). similarly, other programs tended to raise awareness by bringing to light the ubiquity of adverse experiences and promote acceptance of the events one has experienced as a healthful coping strategy. one workshop session for medical students, through having a facilitator share personal shame stories (bynum iv et al., 2020), discussed the concept of the psychology of shame and guilt that health professionals often deal with, while another intervention used group sessions to have students discuss shared problems in an effort to build solidarity (houston et al., 2017). last, a combined cbt, positive psychology (pp), and performance psychology program sought to improve students’ cognitive awareness of personal stressors through such teaching strategies as time management, arousal monitoring and coping statements based on strengths and past experiences (delany et al., 2015). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 8 3.2 individual strategies: personal skill development support for student resilience was likewise often targeted through programs seeking to develop personal skills. like education programs, the scope of individual skill development initiatives can be broken down into discrete subthemes: coping, stress management, and mindfulness skillbuilding methods; and personal autonomy, taking control, and leadership/initiative skill-building methods. with respect to the former, a general set of therapeutic and self-care approaches seemed to emerge, with some variation depending on the target audience. techniques prescribed for medical students included loving-kindness meditation, tonglen attitude/breathing practices (bird et al., 2020) and behavioral strategies to address commonly held thought distortions (chaukos et al., 2018); for undergraduates, mindful walks and eating, habit-breaking (galante et al., 2018), breathing, imagining, meditating and muscle awareness relaxation (maddi et al., 2009) strategies were taught; while nursing students participated in role-playing activities and engaged in workplace empowerment and disempowerment strategies (pines et al., 2014), as well as mindfulness practices encouraging focused attention on observing emotions and thoughts (van der riet et al., 2015). alternatively, some programs focused on enhancing personal organization skills such as a seminar-based initiative for psychology undergraduate students, which emphasized developing realistic expectations, balance, connectedness and complementary strategies of positive self-talk, stress-management and taking-action concepts (stallman, 2010). other relevant examples included: a multimedia intervention which promoted thought (e.g., weighing evidence, compartmentalization) and action (e.g., effective communication, problem-solving) skill-development activities (rose et al., 2013); and a mindfulness-based initiative which featured lessons focused on teaching skills to address thought traps (lee and mason, 2019). autonomyor agency-promoting approaches consistently featured among the programs designed to enhance individual skills related to resilience. relatively more direct approaches comprised: academic literacy programming sessions teaching academic writing, reading and argument-construction skills to improve student autonomy regarding learning habits (donovan and erskine-shaw, 2020); teaching and discussion sessions that encouraged student responsibility for managing stressful situations through problem-focused (e.g., active coping, planning) and emotion-focused (e.g., behavioral disengagement) coping strategies (dolbier et al., 2010; steinhardt and dolbier, 2008); and cognitive control development strategies like smart goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) and planning techniques (e.g., written time-linked checklists) (robinson et al., 2021). broader initiatives, meanwhile, featured a multi-modal (face-to-face, blended, online) leadership education intervention, which trained students’ leadership capacities such as the ability to introduce change and persistence in achieving the identified change (goertzen and whitaker, 2015), and a social emotional learning (sel) program that employed hands-on learning activities to support student autonomy through encouraging academic curiosity, self-awareness of material and positive engagement with course material in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) class (elmi, 2020). finally, cognitive control techniques, such as recognizing locus of control, time management and focusing on the process of learning versus outcome of learning, were also taught to enhance autonomy (delany et al., 2015). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 9 3.3 institution or department-level: structural, curricular opportunities student resilience was also supported through interventions that took top-down or structural approaches which reimagined course conception or curricular designs. although fewer in number, these approaches usually constituted multiple complementary methods. significant structural program changes were seen in one medical school’s redesigning its curriculum to reduce stress and burnout through implementing a series of complementary initiatives comprising: changing to an honors/near honors/pass/fail grading system, instituting longitudinal electives, establishing multiple learning communities and reducing contact hours across the first two years (slavin et al., 2014). in course-based initiatives, a social work class redesigned its curriculum to provide opportunities to develop multi-literacies (i.e., collaborative literacy activities and skill development), training regarding threshold concepts (i.e., core ideas or processes that aid in navigating information environments) and instruction which emphasized student learning capabilities/concepts over tools/resources to stimulate higher-order critical thinking skills, resourcefulness skills and coping mechanisms (bingham et al., 2017). a curricular initiative for nursing students applied a problem-based learning model centered on ethics and ethical theories and offered students tutorials, expert talks, ethics skills training and domain-specific lectures to strengthen their resilience (monteverde, 2014). other comparatively smaller approaches included: a group pedagogy course that employed relational resilience teaching methods (e.g., mutuality, empathy and mutual growth) (gilmore et al., 2019); multi-week adventure education programs that exposed participants to different mental and physical tasks to develop leadership and psychological resilience (ewert and yoshino, 2011; neill and dias, 2001); and service learning projects which had students frame and research an issue, develop a lecture and subsequently teach the lecture to elementary school pupils in support of developing persistence (daniels et al., 2015). 3.4 interpersonal strategies: relational skill development development of students’ interpersonal skills were employed in a few resilience programs, with competency training related to communication and building social connections being most common. germane approaches covered compassionate listening training, instruction for finding meaning (bird et al., 2020), goal clarifying in interpersonal situations and balancing interpersonal objectives skills (lee and mason, 2019), social interaction promotions for students studying abroad (dresen et al., 2019) and sessions teaching students about creating meaningful connections and how decisions to maintain being a part of or withdrawing from social networks can affect behavior and health (dolbier et al., 2010; steinhardt and dolbier, 2008). another relevant approach consisted of methods targeting positive interpersonal engagement strategies. this was seen in a hardiness training program which taught students how to engage in sociallysupportive interactions (e.g., giving and getting assistance and encouragement as opposed to destructive competition) (maddi et al., 2009), a nursing resilience program which taught problem-solving and conflict-management skill development (e.g., teamwork training) (pines et al., 2014) and a peer-mentoring program which employed conflict resolution competency training for mentors (fried et al., 2018). two additional initiatives in this context were a dailyacts-of-kindness program that sought to reduce social interaction anxiety through instructing students to complete daily acts of kindness (shillington et al., 2021) and a sandplay therapy articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 10 (i.e., ‘free and protected’ space for individuals to create physical manifestations of their imaginations using sand, water and objects) initiative, which had students engage in structured group sandplay activities to build communication/social skill capacities (wang et al., 2017). 3.5 learning community: cohesion, integration, resource awareness community-level approaches and characteristics were occasionally used in programs to support student resilience. examples generally reflected efforts to promote social cohesion and integration, or awareness of institutional resources. in pursuit of these goals, one illustrative intervention developed a self-help resilience workbook for undocumented students and included materials related to both integration (e.g., undocumented student testimonial about the value of social support) and resource awareness (e.g., links for online support resources at host university) (kwon et al., 2020). a couple of more targeted interventions leveraged extant community-level resources and networks to enhance integration: one tasking senior-level student mentors to guide first-year students in dealing with stressors and providing them with support (fried et al., 2018) and another utilizing a peer-coaching program approach to aid graduate students in developing their coping abilities (fried et al., 2019). other approaches were generally broader in their execution: one conducting supportive messaging for nursing students through twitter (stephens and gunther, 2016) and one a social and emotional learning (sel) curriculum providing a series of strategies to help students identify appropriate social resources and supports (elmi, 2020). 4 discussion supporting resilience in he students through pedagogical initiatives represents an important and significant opportunity to address some of the myriad factors contributing to the rising rates of mental health issues among those in this cohort, as well as offer additional strategies to help individuals persist in their new academic endeavours. the aim of this review was to document and synthesize the characteristics and programmatic features of pedagogical approaches designed to support resilience among students in he contexts. central findings of this review’s synthesis include a significant array of approaches employed to address resilience, specifically a considerable focus on resilience-awareness and conceptualization, individual skill development and interpersonal strategies. the foremost results of this review suggest that supporting student resilience in he is ostensibly a variable endeavour, as a collection of different approaches, methods and resources were used. more pointedly, student resilience in he is being approached as a multi-level and/or multicomponent issue, similar to findings from related areas, such as mental health promotion in he (conley et al., 2013). alternatively, this diversity of approaches could also suggest that he interventions for student resilience seem to recognize the concept in a manner that generally accords with windle's (2011) definition in that various methods pertaining to negotiating, adapting to or managing aspects of responses to and experiences of adversity were addressed. for instance, ‘managing’ strategies was recognized through the organizational skills taught to students (delany et al., 2015), ‘adapting’ strategies through the various mindfulness skills taught (galante et al., 2018), and ‘negotiation’ strategies through the use of the framing techniques taught (steinhardt and dolbier, 2008). the use of a variety of strategies may be advisable for articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 11 building resilience among this cohort as student understandings of the concept outline an understanding premised on maintaining perspective (e.g., self-reflection, goal-setting), staying healthy (e.g., physical and mental health) and developing support networks (e.g., peers, family) (holdsworth et al., 2018). considering this potential alignment, there is good reason for multicomponent or multi-level interventions to be developed and evaluated in future study, even though evidence of their widespread use and efficacy may still be lacking (brewer et al., 2019). a significant focus on skill development – and importantly those skills related to potential future professional tasks (e.g., conflict-management, communication, role-playing scenarios) and academic skills (e.g., multi-literacy training, writing training) – was consistently present in the results. subthemes among these findings, such as personal autonomy, taking control and social support in relation to individual and interpersonal skill development have been found to be important factors in other academic domains, including academic motivation (hensley et al., 2021) and developmental transitions (e.g., high school to university) (dvořáková et al., 2017). such skills training seems to be of significant value for academic success and resilience; however, a number of the programs included in this review appeared to draw on additional instruction or expertise from a larger research team (e.g., mindfulness training, co-active lifecoaching expertise) – expertise that many individual instructors likely lack in the context of a one-teacher classroom setting. the implications of this may be twofold. first, more universal educational methods for instructors to support student resilience (e.g., student learning approach perspective guidance, see next section) could be developed. and second, combining the growth and accessibility of cbt (e.g., macklem, 2010) and pp (wade et al., 2015) training resources, instructors in he could be encouraged to develop competencies in these areas to support integrating these resilience materials and resources in their courses. resilience programs for students in he also contained a strong proclivity toward preventive and protective sentiments, most often targeted at the individual or interpersonal levels. an important implication of this is that policyand community-level programs appear to be comparatively less evaluated and, consequently, that there are a number of important specific aspects that require further study if such strategies are to become more effective. for instance, determining key characteristics or competencies that relevant staff and group member co-facilitators should possess (kwon et al., 2020), implementation process and longitudinal evaluations (elmi, 2020; fried et al., 2018) and examinations of program efficacy with inter-disciplinary samples (daniels et al., 2015). although these developments may be partially owing to feasibility considerations related to implementation, budgets or timelines, structural approaches to promoting student resilience seem vital, given the noted rise in demand among university students for mental health and resilience programs (center for collegiate mental health, 2017). to this end, documented programs in this review suggest there is potential on this front as, for instance, slavin et al.'s (2014) medical school curricular restructuring illustrates an effective large-scale approach consisting of considerable changes to course marking procedures, student interaction and course offerings. future study could consider implementing and evaluating additional potential larger-scale structural, curricular or community initiatives (e.g., resilience modules in course design, peer coaching/mentoring, course resilience workbooks) to support student resilience. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 12 4.1 program effectiveness and implications for practitioners, he instructors findings of this review may likely be of most value to instructors in he when considering pedagogical approaches targeted at the individual and interpersonal levels. in particular, methods of instruction that counteract the either tacit or explicit suggestions of course learning as a discrete outcome and, instead, seek to emphasize the importance of various aspects that comprise a larger processual experience of learning appear advisable. promising results related to resilience development were found in relation to several such programs. examinations of the abcde model for promoting empowering interpretations of experiences or events reported significant improvements in self-esteem and stress-related growth (dolbier et al., 2010), as well as significantly higher student resilience scores and more effective coping strategies (e.g., selfleadership) (steinhardt and dolbier, 2008). multi-component educational interventions featuring mindfulness meditation and planning techniques also noted significant improvements with respect to lowering experimental group levels of trait neuroticism (robinson et al., 2021), reducing psychological distress and improving well-being (galante et al., 2018). lectures on decatastrophizing (i.e., reducing catastrophic thinking and anxiety; dattilio, 20002) and active problem-solving strategies (e.g., thinking about what one could do better next time) (gerson and fernandez, 2013), as well as seminars featuring taking action concepts (e.g., https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience3) (stallman, 2010), are other strategies that have reputed effectiveness with respect to positive behavioral change. pedagogical methods aiming to support autonomy or agency with respect to resilience and academic adversity represent an additional set of potentially effective strategies that instructors may implement. in this review, there were a few documented examples of effective autonomy and agency-oriented instructional methods, including initiatives featuring the use of smart goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) which significantly improved selfesteem (robinson et al., 2021), as well as techniques for recognizing locus of control (i.e., events can be determined by one’s behavior) and time management which were qualitatively suggested to have successfully increased confidence and cognitive control (delany et al., 2015). other effective interventions saw significant improvements with respect to problemsolving and coping abilities through hardiness initiatives (e.g., hardiness in-class lectures, workbook) (maddi et al., 2009), and more perceived control over stress via a self-guided multimedia intervention (e.g., stress management coach videos) (rose et al., 2013). it should be noted, however, that while the effectiveness of some techniques were observed, other strategies in this regard were more uncertain. for instance, mixed results pertaining to stress resilience development through conflict management training (pines et al., 2014) and coping skill enhancement after a resilience curriculum (chaukos et al., 2018) were reported. other approaches such as sel strategies (elmi, 2020) and focus group mindfulness methods (van der riet et al., 2015) also only reported more descriptive or qualitative results that lacked insights regarding generalizable program effectiveness. 2 example educational resource: https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/decatastrophizing (accessed: september 11,2021). 3 website was given as a reference in the intervention paper which utilised the resource; however, the intervention didn’t elaborate on the specifics of the resource which were implemented. https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/decatastrophizing articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 13 as a number of the discussed interpersonallyand autonomy-based strategies can potentially require certain competencies or additional resources that some instructors may not possess (e.g., mindfulness training, coping strategy guidelines), other potential methods may be implemented. in furtherance of incorporating resilience-focused content into he instruction, this review did identify a few relatively simple and effective behavioral changes that instructors can promote to their students. notably, support was documented for the effectiveness of techniques including providing instruction for finding meaning (e.g., avoiding wasting energy on trying to control what is beyond a student’s to control), thought activities (e.g., weighing evidence,4 compartmentalization) (rose et al., 2013), promoting compassionate listening (e.g., reminding students of the importance of being there for each other, acknowledging each other’s’ experiences) (bird et al., 2020), and socially-supportive interactions (e.g., giving and getting assistance) (maddi et al., 2009). however, along with the cases mentioned above, there were a few additional approaches included in this synthesis for which their effectiveness was rather inconclusive. examples include the mixed results regarding the effectiveness of a supportive online messaging intervention (stephens and gunther, 2016) and another online-based intervention reporting ephemeral (i.e., short-lasting) results (goertzen and whitaker, 2015). some notable design issues were also documented within the reviewed articles, such as the need to conduct future research that addresses the issues of small sample sizes and poor external validity (lee and mason, 2019), the use of convenience samples (houston et al., 2017) and a lack of replication (slavin et al., 2014). overall, the efficacy and effectiveness of the reviewed approaches reflected a considerable range outcomes and this review echoes the sentiments of included papers (e.g., elmi, 2020) that note that more research on the effectiveness of resiliencepromoting pedagogical approaches is warranted. 4.2 limitations limitations of this review bear mention. notably, there was significant heterogeneity across the target groups (e.g., medical students, undocumented students) of, and in the particular domains (e.g., anxiety, relational skills, awareness) within, the synthesized programs. such heterogeneity in these respects, while somewhat anticipated, given the complex nature of the ‘resilience’ concept, underscore that the effectiveness or suitability of the reviewed interventions aren’t necessarily translatable across all he contexts or groups of students and that the recommendations made in this discussion should be considered in an appropriate manner. the review’s scope is also limited to generally only one area of analysis and discussion (i.e., academic settings) regarding environments affecting he students’ resilience. consequently, the review did not consider other additional environments (e.g., home/living situation) that have the potential to contribute to strengthening or deteriorating resilience. likewise, the inclusion criteria applied, in order to maintain a robust scope of inquiry, excluded programs that did not explicitly mention resilience as a focus. this means that this review did not analyze programs for he students that solely addressed stress or anxiety, for instance. last, given the aims of the 4 example educational resource: https://sdlab.fas.harvard.edu/cognitive-reappraisal/positive-reframing-andexamining-evidence (accessed: september 9 2021). https://sdlab.fas.harvard.edu/cognitive-reappraisal/positive-reframing-and-examining-evidence https://sdlab.fas.harvard.edu/cognitive-reappraisal/positive-reframing-and-examining-evidence articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 14 synthesis, this review makes no suggestions about the priority that resilience should occupy in the pedagogical or course design approaches of instructors or larger institutions. 5 conclusion improving pedagogy to support resilience among students in he can positively affect student retention and assist students in developing critical skills needed to enhance their mental wellbeing and academic achievement. this review thematically analyzed and synthesized thirty-five articles containing pedagogical approaches implemented in he settings to support student resilience, principally finding that approaches are diverse with respect to the program operation level (e.g., individual, interpersonal) and program goals most significantly emphasized education and skill development. future research opportunities include the implementation and evaluation of multi-level programs, as well as the development of more structural and policy-level approaches to student resilience in he. 6 reference list allan, j.f., mckenna, j. and dominey, s. 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self-regulated learning, written communication skills gap. 1. introduction the quantitative skills gap of students leaving higher education (he) and its impact on the transition into the work environment has been examined extensively (cook, watson and vougas, 2019). a growing body of literature also details how adequate levels of written communication can help new graduates find their first jobs (finch, nadeau and o'reilly, 2013; nickson et al., 2012; remedios, 2012). over the last decade, both academics and practitioners agreed that written communication is one of the most important skills for students to have, because communication competence strongly supports high-performance outcomes (russ, 2009). although higher education institutions (heis) have for some time now been working on preparing students for the world of work, the united kingdom (uk) commission’s employer skills survey still identified written communication skills in graduates as lacking (davies et al., 2012). business schools have been criticised for failing to develop students’ writing skills effectively (pittenger, miller and allison, 2006) and there is an argument that we need more active teaching strategies to enhance the writing skills of business students (kermis and kermis, 2010). therefore, drawing on the literature highlighting the benefits of the blended-learning approach (gonzalez-gomez et al., 2016; pellas and kazandis, 2015), this research articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 investigates how blended learning can enhance the writing skills of business school students. the written communication skills gap investigated by moore and morton (2017) found that written communication requirements are often unique to specific professional areas or workplace roles. the reported lack of basic skills in the area of written communication requires a rethink about how he can reduce the gap by developing the students’ writing ability sufficiently for them to identify the distinctiveness of all communicative situations (moore and morton, op.cit.), an approach which requires the conceptualisation of writing as a process (dyson and freedman, 1990). the critical literacy approach (luke, 2000) describes a cognitive view of writing and explains the conscious use of language in context and how it can be developed in a collaborative, learner-centred environment. to enable the learner to achieve this, writing skills need to be connected with a self-regulated learning (srl) strategy (lienenmann and reid, 2008). srl is grounded in the social cognitive theory of bandura (2001); it is a dynamic, constructive process, whereby students are responsible for setting their own individual learning goals, monitoring their learning progress and controlling their motivation, behaviour and cognition (pintrich, 2004). according to zimmerman and schunk (2001), intrinsic and extrinsic learning goals, as significant drivers for the success of the srl strategy, appear to be an important factor in developing and enhancing writing skills. accounting and finance students, who are the subject of this study, typically assume that having good numeracy abilities guarantees a successful professional career (riley and simons, 2013). it is indeed unfortunate that many of them are unaware of the current expectations of the job market. furthermore, kavanagh and drennan (2008) argue that accounting education has been overly focused on technical skills at the expense of soft skills and generic skills, including communication skills. accounting educators now find themselves expected to develop not only the technical skills that industry requires, but also soft skills – and in particular written communication skills – which is why this study is important. this study evaluates the value of a blended-learning approach and, in particular, the online platform used for improving written communication skills according to the dimensions of srl. the most cited benefit of a blended-learning approach is based on the fact that it can cater to the needs of the individual learner, offering autonomy and flexibility, so that the student can choose her/his own study pace (bernard et al., 2014; chen, wang and chen, 2014; means et al., 2013; potter, 2015). the study evaluates how the student experience with the blended-learning approach improves confidence in personal writing skills in the context of the srl dimensions. thus, the aims of the current study are threefold: 1) to assess the srl dimensions implicated in the blended learning strategy; 2) to examine the relationships between srl dimensions and students’ performance; 3) to explore whether students’ perception of writing skills have been changed after the use of a blended-learning approach. first, we examine the literature related to srl and blended learning. after that, we provide the research context, methods and findings, before culminating with discussion and a conclusion. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 2. literature review 2.1 the writing communication as a self-regulated learning process the conceptualisation of ‘writing as a process’ is drawn from the early cognitive model proposed by flower and hayes (1981). ‘writing as a process’ is categorised into three phases: first, the generation and organisation of information (planning); second, the physical writing of the text; third, the revision of the written product. this model was developed further by theorists in terms of both research and pedagogy, incorporating the analysis and inclusion of ‘writing development in practice’ and the ‘social and political dimensions’ of the writing process (kelly, soundranayagam and grief, 2004 offer a complete review of the literature on the topic). the core concept of how students develop their writing competence (eves-bowden, 2001) focuses on learning activities that allow students to transition gradually from ‘knowledge telling’ to ‘knowledge transforming’, where there is a dynamic interaction between the students with essential writing skills and a reflective process (luke, 2000). the findings of moore and morton (op.cit.) suggest that, for a business student, the main goal in the area of writing is not to achieve just an adequate level of the basic skills (i.e. a skills approach), but rather to use those skills in a dynamic process. although moore and morton (op.cit.) acknowledge the existence of a written communication skills gap, they do not indicate ways to bridge that gap; this research will address that aspect. learning strategies suggest the need for developing student skills in planning, creation of ideas, self-evaluation, self-monitoring and reflection. students should have an in-depth understanding of what they are writing about, determining whether or not the task has a purpose. to achieve this level of understanding, they may need to research further, so that they become more motivated about the content of the task and plan and organise their thoughts. any learning strategy involving writing skills should therefore be based on a ‘student–centred strategy’, which will create the simultaneous interplay of learning approaches and srl in the writing process (lienenmann and reid, 2008). consequently, the role of the learner is a fundamental factor in the srl strategies model (efklides, 2011; greene and azevedo, 2010). when students set specific goals, according to a metacognitive awareness of their needs (cao and nietfeld, 2007), then they can establish an effective study strategy (schunk, 2005). although the application of srl is well documented in the educational context (cassidy, 2011; dresel et al., 2015; broadbent, 2017), there is a gap in the area of writing capabilities, which this study sets out to address. 2.2 blended-learning approach during the last decade, technology has made it possible for universities to provide an individualised support system (prinsloo and van rooyen, 2007). furthermore, studies by gonzalez-gomez et al. (2016) and westermann (2014) report that engaging in online activities can help students to develop essential skills. blended learning is becoming an essential educational approach and embedding various aspects of e-learning into university programmes offers several benefits. although it may be defined in a variety of ways (driscoll and carliner, 2005; means et al., 2013), blended learning in the present study is defined as the adoption of educational web-based technology (e.g. a learning management system) for articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 the purpose of online learning, in combination with face-to-face tools and including direct instruction from educators. it has been argued that, for the current generation of students, blended learning can be a good way of delivering academic programmes and improving students’ skills (gonzalezgomez et al., 2016; pellas and kazandis, 2015). it has been suggested that, in blended learning courses, students achieve better results (bernard et al., 2014; gonzalez-gomez et al., 2016; ryan et al., 2016). adapting support for basic knowledge and skills outside the classroom means the time spent together in lectures and tutorials can be focused on higherlevel activities (thornton and yoong, 2011). the features of the blended-learning method can then expose the full impact of what srl aims to achieve. in fact, as found by warren et al. (2020), the blended-learning approach creates an environment in which students feel responsible for their learning, as autonomy and flexibility of method give them the opportunity to select their preferred study pace, as well as a place and time for learning that is suitable for them (chen et al., 2014; potter, 2015). moreover, when blended learning allows students to set their own pace, this can increase satisfaction and reduce stress (klein and ware, 2003). in addition, this learning environment can aid self-efficacy by building students’ confidence as independent learners (venkatesh, croteau and rabah, 2014). ryan et al. (2016) therefore suggest a combination of online self-learning and classroom teaching to increase satisfaction and motivation in learning and improve results. love and fry (2006), in their analysis of accounting students, found that the blended approach added value to the learning process. furthermore, basioudis and de lange (2009) examined the impact of blended learning activities on the teaching and learning effectiveness of undergraduate accounting students and reported a positive impact on engagement and motivation. however, neither of these studies investigated a platform that can enhance students’ learning, nor any specific skills that students can develop. this study also addresses this aspect. despite growing interest concerning the use and effect of blended learning, most of the literature investigates the effects of this strategy and students’ perception of it in technical modules (warren et al., 2020). there is a gap in the literature in relation to examining the use of blended learning for different learning objectives, such as written communication skills. 2.3 self-regulated learning and blended-learning strategies according to the literature discussed so far, the approaches to both learning written communication skills and the blended-learning method are well documented. however, there remains a gap in terms of understanding how students use blended learning with regard to the dimensions of the srl strategy. this study applies the srl model described by pintrich (2004), the metacognitive strategy and its main dimensions, in order to understand how the students’ confidence and performance function within a blended-learning environment (means et al., 2009). metacognitive strategies can help to regulate and control cognition to accomplish a goal and include such strategies as goal-setting, planning, self-monitoring, self-regulation, time management, and help-seeking (o'hara, bourner and webber, 2004). this study focuses on how the use of a dedicated online platform for writing skills, in combination with other learning activities, can help students to understand what they know, discover what they do not know, and address the gap (cao and nietfeld, 2007). the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 combination of online learning technology with structure and the social aspects of face-toface time can enrich students’ experience, providing an environment in which srl dimensions can affect their performance by customising their learning process through selfmonitoring and time management (aldhafeeri, 2015). 3. research context and method 3.1 research context there were several drivers for introducing technology-based resources within a blended approach in the year one programmes in the area of accounting and finance. through feedback from educators, our observation of the difficulties observed on industrial placements and the employers` emphasis upon the necessity of improving written communication skills, the programme team recognised the importance of developing those skills in particular. in this study, students who join accounting and finance programmes come from a diverse range of backgrounds, including having different qualifications and countries of origin. the students have distinct cohort needs, though a variety of support and a traditional teaching approach did not allow the teaching team to provide an individualised learning plan. it was found that the limited time provided in tutorials was often insufficient to develop good writing skills and the large cohorts made it impossible to provide individualised feedback and help. it is also important to note that, typically, accounting and finance educators are not trained to develop writing skills to the requisite extent. in addition, in-class activities in areas of accounting and finance consist largely of number-crunching exercises and data analysis, with, owing to the professional accreditation that is sought on these programmes, limited emphasis on developing writing skills. as part of a blended-learning approach, three online platforms were introduced: 1) mywritinglab; 2) myaccountinglab; 3) mymathlab. to address these issues and support students more effectively, the programme team searched for online resources to give students unrestricted access to interactive study materials and to provide opportunities to practise and obtain regular feedback. although there are several possible solutions available, mywritinglab, was our preferred option, because it allows you to customise the content to the specific needs of students. mywritinglab is an online system intended to help students work on grammar, mechanics, writing and research skills. it allows students to practise persuasive, logical and effective writing. it starts with diagnostic pre-tests and allows students to assess their current level of writing skills, indicating the areas that they need to work on. it can be used to design individualised learning paths for each student and to support individual needs. in addition, students are able to access their grades and this encourages them to feel accountable for their academic success. we introduced mywritinglab to first-year accounting and finance students in 2014. from the twelve areas of study offered via the online platform, seven topics have been assigned to students as compulsory activities, carrying a thirty per cent weighting of the final summative assessment. we offer the rest of the topics to students on a formative basis. the following topics have also been selected as compulsory activities: 1. types of academic writing 2. writing in a uk academic context articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 3. understanding the task 4. planning and writing an assignment 5. critical thinking in academic writing 6. referencing 7. academic writing: avoiding plagiarism and synthesising the mywritinglab learning tool is introduced to the students in term one, in the third teaching week. the assessments are assigned to students between november and the middle of february and are usually separated by three-week intervals. students are able to complete diagnostic checks to evaluate the progress they have made. the lab provides students with unlimited practice and constant feedback, which is extremely beneficial for students. 3.2 research method we employed a mixed-methods research approach, the chief characteristics of which are that it provides an in-depth and systematic analysis of the research problem and minimises the intrinsic issues associated with purely qualitative and quantitative research methods. the participants in this study were students on three undergraduate programmes, all within the accounting and finance department who had completed a core module called personal professional development (ppd). the group consisted of 164 students, and 34% (56) volunteered to be part of the project, all of whom had studied ppd together in 2017-18 (the study did not separate the students into the three programmes because they all study a common first year). a larger sample size would have improved the validity of the study. 3.3 instruments and analysis we designed a survey with closed and open questions as a way to obtain quantitative and qualitative data and investigate students’ behaviour. the survey was used to explore the students` perceived use of an online lab after prolonged use. the first online survey link was sent in the first few weeks of the programme and the questions related to the mywritinglab were emailed to students two-thirds of the way through the second teaching term. the timing of the second survey was based on the students’ completion of all five compulsory tests. the students were encouraged to participate in the survey and express their opinions, but this was not compulsory. from the survey, we were able to collect useful data relating to the students’ socio-cultural characteristics – e.g. gender, uk/non-uk, previous studies, work experience, experience of blended learning. the students’ answers were coded so that their responses were anonymised once all the data had been checked for accuracy. for the coding, each participant was allocated a number, so that the responses could be analysed and information from both suverys could be linked. additionally, the performance of the participants was collected via the online platform and coded to anonymise the data. the data included details of performance, time spent using the platform, the number of assigned tasks completed and the number of tasks outstanding. the time spent on using the platform, the number of assigned tasks completed and the number of tasks outstanding were selected as explicative variables associated with the main srl dimensions applied in this specific blended-learning experience. the time spent in completing their tasks on the platform is a useful proxy for how the students managed their articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 resources (time management); the number of assigned tasks completed was linked to the students’ self-regulating and planning ability, as were tasks outstanding and capacity for selfmonitoring and goal-setting. using these variables, we could test possible correlations among key srl dimensions. 4. findings and discussion the collection of data from our survey and from the mywritinglab platform allowed us to evaluate the different factors and dimensions of the online platform part of the blendedlearning experience in the context of soft skills. the number of students who participated in both surveys was 56, of whom 53% were male and 47% female. among this population, circa 36% of the cohort had previous job experience and 66% had previous experience with blended-learning method. the most relevant srl dimensions in the use of a blendedlearning strategy were investigated via closed questions and responses given in table 1. table1 1: students’ preference for using online resources this question as reported in table 1 was used to assess the ‘self-regulated’ and ‘timemanagement’ dimensions that are considered essential to a successful blended-learning experience. almost all the students agreed or strongly agreed that the flexibility of the blended-learning method enhanced their learning experience. this is in line with the findings of warren et al. (2020) on the students’ appreciation of the flexibility of the learning and teaching activities. the srl dimensions most relevant for the students are shown in tables 2 and 3. 1 key: sa is strongly agree, a is agree, n is neither, d is disagree and sd is strongly disagree – all charts have the y axis providing the % response and x axis providing the way in which the students responded. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% sa a n d sd with the help of the lecturer i understood how to use mywritinglab effectively. table 2: ability to learn independently and table 3: where students use mywritinglab the students suggested that the independent learning process (self-regulated and planning dimensions) played an important role in enhancing their experiences with the blendedlearning approach. as for chen et al. (2014) and potter (2015), the option of using the platform from home helped them to manage their own time (for working or studying) more efficiently. from the data, it is evident that the students successfully applied their srl strategies within their blended experience. to investigate the specific feature of blended-learning methods that combine the independent learning experience with face-to-face activities, we tested the srl dimensions in terms of how students sought help with the online platform, as shown in table 4. since using mywritinglab effectively can be challenging at the beginning, to blend the support can help to address student concerns. once students establish some confidence with the platform, they can work independently and boost their srl. table 4: understanding of mywritinglab 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% sa a n d sd i generally use mywritinglab at home. 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% sa% a% n% d% sd% i was able to learn more independently articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% sa% a% n% d% sd% using online resources helped me to build my confidence during my studies 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% sa a n d sd i monitored my progress and i can see my improvements in writing in a more academic style the results reveal how the interaction, engagement and assistance (help-seeking dimension) still play a significant role in the students’ experience. this result supports the successful application of a blended-learning strategy and, as ryan et al. (2016) suggest, students still need a combination of online self-learning and classroom teaching to enhance their motivation and obtain satisfactory results. regarding the self-monitoring dimension, we used two questions (see tables 5 and 6) to determine whether the students had been able to monitor and evaluate their experience within the blended-learning approach. in mywritinglab, students can check their grades at the end of the task and have feedback on their mistakes. additionally, many of the tasks in their personalised study plan can be retaken in order to give students the opportunity to monitor their progress and evaluate their improvement in term of performance. furthermore, they can monitor their progress in terms of academic writing (see table 6) based on the tasks related to ‘critical thinking’ and ‘academic writing’. tables 5 and 6: use of the online resources and the ability to monitor progress the students demonstrated a good level of control of their learning activities and were able to observe the improvements achieved in their writing skills while they were using mywritinglab. with srl, the students actively construct their knowledge and take responsibility for their performance. the data in this study suggests that students appreciate how the blended-learning online platform helps with confidence and time management. this is supported by the responses to the open questions in the survey, with students explaining that the online platform made the work “easy”, both in terms of flexibility and accessibility. this perception of the blended learning experience implies that the students were able to work with it ‘independently’. one of the answers, for example, pointed out this aspect clearly: “the detailed practice questions followed by the test helped me to clarify how to improve grammar and the way i've been writing. i'm very confident after using mywritinglab” moreover, it was interesting that a proportion of the students was finally able to realise how important written skills are for their academic success (identify an intrinsic goal-setting), as shown in the following answers: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 10 “gives me a bit more knowledge of the information i may not already be aware of.” “helps in understanding how to write an essay.” “it taught me what critical thinking is, and i feel that i can apply that to my other respective courses.” “it goes through some of the things that are necessary when doing coursework, e.g. referencing. it tells you the importance of referencing and the consequences of not using harvard referencing and how it would affect your work”. the results and the students’ discussions demonstrate how the new learning environment aids self-efficacy by building students’ confidence as independent learners (venkatesh, croteau and rabah, 2014). the analysis shows how the srl dimensions play a significant role in the blended-learning approach, and this was reflected in the students’ performance, as shown in table 7. the average results achieved by the students on different tasks (modules) are provided in table 7. students were tested on referencing, planning and writing an assignment, academic writing, critical thinking and types of academic writing, and their results have been used to examine their performance. table 7: performance on different tasks within the online platform the use of srl within a blended-learning environment helped the students to achieve good results (bernard et al., 2014; gonzalez-gomez et al., 2016; ryan et al., 2016). coaching students through the importance of improving their writing skills in the face-to-face sessions and integrating this with an online platform that improved their confidence and gave them the flexibility to study when it suited them has worked in our programmes. additionally, we tested the correlation between the performance and srl dimensions collected from the online platform as reported in table 8. 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% module w2. types of academic writing module w3. critical thinking in academic writing module w5. academic writing: avoiding plagiarism and… module w7. planning and writing an assignment module w12. referencing performance articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 11 table 8: performance analysis performance time spent assigned as needs study still needs study performance 1 time spent -0.004187192 1 assigned as needs study 0.059703294 -0.485091374 1 still needs study 0.06653368 -0.514849303 0.993809122 1 in table 8: 1) ‘performance’ is the overall grade achieved by students in mywritinglab. 2) ‘time spent’ is a variable capturing the amount of time each student spent on the practice; 3) ‘assigned as needs study’ includes the items to be studied by students according to their initial performance, that can vary in relation with the students’ personalised path created by mywritinglab after the first assessment of students’ knowledge. 4) ‘still needs study’ is the variable showing the items the students have not covered in their personalised learning path. the data shows a correlation between the two srl dimensions, ‘assigned as needs study’ and ‘still needs study’ (0.99). the positive correlation demonstrates how it is important for the students to have a clear understanding of their own writing skills, for with this they may set their goals and achieve commensurate improvement in their writing. therefore, ‘still needs study’ is a is a good proxy for the level of self-regulated and self-monitoring dimensions of srl. the negative relationship between ‘time spent’ and the other variables highlights that students with a higher preparation in terms of writing skills took less time to obtain a better performance level. in accordance with mckenzie et al. (2013) and ryan et al. (2016), this analysis shows that a combination of online self-learning and classroom teaching increases satisfaction and motivation for learning and also improves results. the tables reveal how the blendedlearning experience has been able to influence the confidence of learners’ writing skills and develop independent learning. it is argued that independent learning is one of the most important dimensions and results of the srl strategy, goal-setting and achievement and is at the core of the srl experience. the data also supports the conclusion by love and fry (2006), in their analysis of accounting students, that students consider this learning strategy to be a value-adding exercise in their learning journey. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 12 5. conclusion the findings of this study reveal that srl dimensions play a significant role in the successful application of the blended-learning strategy. the effectiveness of the blended-learning approach in enhancing written communications skills among accounting students has been evident, suggesting that this approach would be useful for other programmes of a technical nature. additionally, our findings offer a learning strategy to address the unresolved skills gap, affecting written communication within business schools (boyce et al., 2001; datar, garvin and cullen, 2010). the study has relevant and practical implications for promoting the application of a blendedlearning strategy using srl. the analysis in this paper and the quotes from students support the idea that students applying srl are able to set specific goals which relate to their metacognitive awareness of their needs (cao and nietfeld, 2007). in this learning approach, the students were able to establish an effective study strategy and evaluate when they needed to change their approach to meet their goals (schunk, 2005). additionally, our findings confirm how blended learning can be a successful strategy, permitting students to work autonomously and with a high level of flexibility, in keeping with findings by chen et al. 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(2001) self-regulated learning and academic achievement: theoretical perspective. hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. isbn: 0-8058-3560-1 http://gala.gre.ac.uk/27609 http://gala.gre.ac.uk/27609 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 19 appendix questionnaire blended learning and self-regulated learning dimension 1) i liked using online resources because i can complete work around my schedule. sa a n d sd 2) i was able to work more independently. sa a n d sd 3) i generally use mywritinglab at home. sa a n d sd 4) with the help of the lecturer i understood how to use mywritinglab effectively. sa a n d sd 5) using online resources helped me building my confidence during my studies. sa a n d sd 6) i monitored my progress and i can see my improvements in writing in a more academic style. sa a n d sd case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 49 building working relationships with peers: an induction activity for students lili yan, dawn reilly university of greenwich, uk 1. abstract the initial period of transition to university (‘induction’) is important as this is when students first meet university staff and are introduced to university systems. students also meet each other for the first time and start to form friendship groups which will provide a source of peer support throughout their programmes. this case study sets out an activity which we use with the new students on our extended accountingand financerelated programmes to introduce students to library resources and enable them to start to build working relationships with their peers. the activity begins with information about the library from an academic services librarian, delivered using an interactive quiz format. students then work in small groups using the library pcs straight away which enables students to start to build friendships and work independently. the final part of the activity includes group presentations to the whole class. key words: business education, extended programmes, induction, library services, transition 2. introduction this paper discusses an activity which is part of our induction for new students who join the accountingand finance-related extended programmes in greenwich business school. getting induction right is important so that we support our students as they transition into university life. failure to transit from secondary to tertiary education successfully could lead to students dropping out of university. induction has traditionally been viewed as something provided by a university for a limited time of up to a few weeks, at the start of a student’s programme. there is an emerging view that the induction period actually extends beyond this, perhaps over the first year as students transition into higher education (he) and encounter different parts of the academic year for the first time (thomas et al, 2017). however, even within this view of induction, the first weeks of university are an important period when we need to help our new students develop a sense of belonging (gregersen et al, 2021). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 50 induction includes a mix of activities with the aim of providing information, introducing students to members of university staff, and giving students opportunities to get to know each other and make friends (thomas et al, 2017). peer support is especially beneficial to students to increase their self-efficacy (reilly et al, 2021) and so we need to design induction activities which enable students to build social and working relationships with each other as early as possible in their university journey. therefore, devis-rozental and clarke (2021) emphasise the importance of designing induction activities which enable social interactions among students. further, piper et al (2020) suggest that early exposure to group work supports students’ transition into he. induction is an opportunity to introduce students to services and sources of support from across the university because it is not only academic staff who are involved in induction activities (devis-rozental and clarke, 2021). there is a certain amount of information that needs to be delivered at induction but if that can be alongside meaningful activities for students, so much the better. what is meaningful for a particular student will be an individual construct but it is reasonable to assume that an activity has greater meaning if it facilitates interaction among students, gives students the opportunity to apply the information they are receiving, and links to their programme of study. 3. case study this case study discusses an induction activity for approximately 50 students entering the initial ‘foundation’ year on the extended programmes in the school of accounting, finance and economics in greenwich business school. on joining their programmes, extended year students need to adjust to their new environment, acknowledge their new identity as university students, become more independent learners, and meet new peers, faculty and non-academic staff. in relation to the latter, within he, libraries play a key role “in building the reputation of the institution and in easing students into and across their program of study” (weaver, 2013, p103). therefore, a well-designed library induction supports students’ transition into he. in addition, a student-driven activity is essential to help students get to know each other and develop friendships (thomas et al, 2017). our induction activities for extended students are spread over two days. on the first day, students receive information about the university, business school and their extended programmes, and there are activities to facilitate getting to know each other. this case study sets out our activity with students on the second day of induction. for the second day, we have designed a three-part induction activity: a library induction, a group research activity and group presentations. in the first session, students learn about the university’s library resources case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 51 so that they know they can use our study spaces and begin to learn how to access the information they will need on their programme. (this topic is then picked up again via librarian input after induction as it is important not to overload students with information in the first week.) in the second session, students are allocated into groups to research how large companies undertake corporate social responsibility (csr). in the third session, the students re-join the whole class to present their work to each other. 2.1 part 1: library induction in this session, we invite an academic services librarian for business to introduce students to the library services and how to access information using the resources provided by the university. the content of the session is delivered via an interactive online quiz so students can assimilate useful information about the library in an enjoyable way. by meeting the librarian early in their programme, students know who to contact when they need support to use the library resources. the academic tutors are present in the library induction so that they know what information is being imparted and this demonstrates a whole-team approach to induction including both academic and non-academic colleagues. this session takes place in a seminar room in the library building. students then move to a study space in the library to use the university resources for the group activity thereby putting into practice what they learned through the quiz. 2.2 part 2: group activity at the end of the library induction session, academic staff brief students on the group activity. it is explained to students that they will work together in small groups to investigate the definition of csr and to outline an aspect of an individual company’s csr activities. group sizes are flexible but we suggest around six to eight students in each group is optimal so that the work and presentation can be shared between students. each group can choose which csr activities they want to focus on. for example, this could include a company’s response to climate change, or action to support society during the covid pandemic. for those groups who want guidance on which company to look at, we provide a list of companies from different sectors that they can choose from including banking, fashion, electric vehicles and sport. this means students can focus on a sector they are particularly interested in for reasons which might include personal interest or professional ambition. for example, students on our financerelated programmes may want to consider the csr activities of a bank. this means the activity does not have to be viewed by students as a general induction activity but it immediately has relevance to their chosen programme of study. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 52 reilly et al (2020) argue that students on extended programmes value bespoke content which is relevant to their subject specialism so we should look for every possible opportunity to make learning activities relevant to students’ interests, starting at induction. using the topic of csr in the induction activity informs students about what is happening in the world of finance and business. however, it does not require any technical knowledge of accounting or finance so students can apply their pre-existing knowledge and explore their interest in sustainability and corporate citizenship right at the start of their programmes. clear instructions are provided to students, including the number of slides and question to answer in each slide. as this is an induction activity, the questions are kept simple (figure 1). this is to ensure that students feel confident they understand and can complete the task, and each presentation will finish in 10 minutes so every group will have a chance to present their work in part 3 of the activity. the academic tutors help students to form themselves into groups and check that each group has a company in mind and understands the questions before releasing them to work independently. the students then work together in the library and have two hours to create their group presentations. although this activity includes independent working in small groups, students know how to contact the academic tutors (either in person or by email) if they need help or have any questions during the two hours. this activity creates an opportunity for students to develop friendships, as well as academic and employability skills (for example, teamwork and communication). 2.3 part 3: delivering a presentation the third session includes the group presentations and takes place in a lecture room on the main campus. all groups present their work to the whole class and are asked to introduce themselves before starting the presentation. this is a way for students to get to know a wider circle of peers beyond those in their small group. we recognise that these are new students who may lack confidence and so give students the option of how to present (that is, one or two people present on behalf of the group, or everyone takes a turn at a small part). however, we generally find that most (if not all) students are happy to present with their groups. by watching their fellow students present, students are able to learn from each other. for example, although there might be two groups who choose the same company, the topics they choose to focus on in relation to how the company helps to combat climate change can be different. in this way, students can learn to see things from different perspectives. the academic tutor provides positive feedback after each presentation to make students feel confident that they are ready for university-level study. every year we find that all groups create and deliver a presentation, and students are very encouraging toward other groups. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 53 figure 1: task instructions 4. discussion there are several benefits of the induction activity described in this case study. first, students are able to start to familiarise themselves with the university’s resources and the study environment. the three parts of the activity take place in different rooms and different buildings. when moving from one building to another, students get the chance to explore the campus and become familiar with the environment. in particular, having the first two sessions (library introduction and group activity) in the library makes students aware of, and able to access, library facilities which promotes engagement with their future studies. second, students have the chance to get to know each other and develop academic and employability skills when working together. students can also see the different ways that their peers think when watching each other’s presentations. third, students learn about csr. csr is playing a growing and increasingly important role in finance and business but the term is new to many students. some felt challenged initially after receiving the topic as they were not sure what csr is. however, together they managed to apply their existing skills (teamwork, research, communication and problem-solving) to learn what csr is, as well as build an idea about the specific csr-related activities that companies undertake. fourth, students build confidence in their ability to study at university level as they see that they can use their previous knowledge slide 1: what is csr? slide 2: choose a company and explain what they are doing in relation to csr. slide 3: either: what are they doing in relation to climate change? or: what did they do to help society through the covid pandemic? case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 54 and skills to learn a new subject-related concept. some students felt more confident after the group presentation as they had successfully finished an activity designed by academic staff. fifth, students start to build working relationships with staff who will support their studies as they go through their programme. this includes not only academic staff but also the librarian. meeting the tutors and librarian helps students build connections so they know who to contact with any future issues. sixth, students start to have experience of delivering presentations at university which will be of benefit as there are presentations in various modules on their programmes. participation in the 2022 and 2021 sessions was good with all groups preparing a presentation which they then delivered to the other students. we have received positive feedback from students saying that this induction activity helps them explore their new environment, build friendships with peers, get to know academic and supporting staff, and feel more confident about their university studies. we deliver this activity to approximately fifty students each year. the initial library induction and then group research session can be used with any size of cohort. however, with a larger cohort, a challenge would be to have time to watch all the presentations in the final part of the activity. this could be overcome by dividing the groups between two (or more) rooms so that students present their work to different tutors. 5. conclusion adapting to he can be challenging for transitioning students as they are initially unfamiliar with their new environment. students can easily doubt their ability to succeed at university if they feel they do not fit in. this can cause a lack of motivation to study or engage with the other students on their programme. this kind of issue can be addressed by induction activities and encouraging students to use library services early (thomas et al, 2017; weaver, 2013). in this case study, we have shown how we embed a staff-driven library introduction and studentdriven activities into an induction activity to support students' transition into he. there is an emerging view that the induction period extends beyond the initial weeks and throughout the first year of a programme, as students settle in and start to experience he (tett et al, 2017). however, the initial period is important as this is when students first meet university staff and are introduced to university systems. students also meet each other for the first time and can start to form friendship groups which will provide a source of peer support throughout their programmes. our case study shows that in the activities which we design to case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 55 facilitate this interaction, it is possible to bring in subject-related content which will increase the relevance of induction in the eyes of our students. reference list devis-rozental, c. and clarke, s. (2021) ‘he staff’s attitudes and expectations about their role in induction activities.’ journal of learning development in higher education, 21. available at: https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi21.659 (accessed: 17 october 2022). gregersen, a., holmegaard, h. and ulriksen, l. (2021) ‘transitioning into higher education: rituals and implied expectations.’ journal of further and higher education, 45(10), 1356-1370. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2020.1870942 (accessed: 17 october 2022). piper, i., kelly, a. and mulrooney, h. (2020) ‘transition to higher education; prospective and retrospective student experiences.’ new directions in the teaching of physical sciences, 15(1). available at: https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i15.3279 (accessed: 17 october 2022). reilly, d., luo, j., sun, w. and warren, e. (2020) ‘extended programmes: widening participation by narrowing content.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 13(1), 1-3. available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/1073/pdf (accessed: 24 october 2022). reilly, d., warren, e., kristandl, g. and lin, y. (2021) ‘an investigation into the selfefficacy of year one undergraduate students at a widening participation university.’ teaching in higher education. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.2015756 (accessed: 20 october 2022). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi21.659 https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2020.1870942 https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i15.3279 https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/1073/pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.2015756 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 56 tett, l., cree, v. and christie, h. (2017) ‘from further to higher education: transition as an ongoing process.’ higher education 73, 389–406. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734016-0101-1 (accessed: 27 october 2022). thomas, l., hill, m., o’mahoney, j. and yorke, m. (2017) ‘supporting student success: strategies for institutional change.’ advance he. available at: https://www.advancehe.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/supporting-student-success-strategies-institutional-change (accessed: 20 october 2022). weaver, m. (2013) ‘student journey work: a review of academic library contributions to student transition and success.’ new review of academic librarianship, 19(2), 101-124. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2013.800754 (accessed: 22 october 2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0101-1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0101-1 https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/supporting-student-success-strategies-institutional-change https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/supporting-student-success-strategies-institutional-change https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2013.800754 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 1 engaging students in online learning: technology-integrated distance learning for chinese students at partner institutions in china xiaowen gao university of greenwich, uk abstract to mitigate the problems of lack of preparedness and lack of a sense of learning community associated with online learning, this case study illustrates how a range of technologies including online platforms and educational tools may be integrated to assist purposeful engagement with learners for active learning to ensue. this case is based on an undergraduate module delivered virtually to three tne partner institutions in china. zoom, mentimeter and wechat were adopted to help with cognitive and affective engagement by the students. while this design is focused on online delivery, there is also an important implication for classroom-based teaching in achieving purposeful engagement with students. keywords: online delivery, student engagement, chinese tne students introduction over the past two decades, learner-centred active learning has taken precedence over traditional lecturer-centred lecturing as the preferred pedagogy. active learning requires an educator to adopt teaching techniques which engage students in the learning process and has been reported as being more effective in increasing students’ performance (freeman et al., 2014). various forms of active learning have been developed – such as interactive engagements used in flipped-classroom teaching – all of which require classroom-based, face-to-face interactions to facilitate deep learning. when the covid-19 pandemic restricted classroom-based teaching, it became urgently necessary to find the most effective strategies for engaging students in a virtual learning environment. the university of greenwich partners with chinese universities which provide ‘3+1’ undergraduate programmes: students on the programme study at the partner universities for the first three years and then, for their fourth year of study, join greenwich as united kingdom (uk) third-year students. chinese students’ learning in their own country has been recognised as relying on repetitive rote-learning and memorisation (ballard and clanchy, 1991), but they are modest and diligent learners (park, 2000) who highly respect and value teachers (watkins and biggs, 2001). during the second and third years of their study at the partner institutions, university of greenwich academic staff provide and deliver to them several greenwich modules as preparation for entry into a different education system. this case study is based on one such module – in management accounting– taught virtually to three student groups at three partner universities in china. the online delivery of the module presented two major challenges, the first of which was technological. since the students on 3+1 programmes are not yet greenwich university’s registered students, they have access neither to moodle nor to teams or panopto. the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 2 technological challenge thus entails, as a minimum requirement, selection of 1) a suitable platform for storing and sharing module materials, 2) a form of software for recording lectures and 3) a platform for conducting live teaching, all of which the students at all three partner institutions must be able to access. the second challenge arose because, though the concept of active learning is not new in the uk, it is new to the students at the partner institutions; thus it is hard to stimulate active online learning by students who are normally passive learners even in the physical classroom. this case study is therefore focused on a technological integration to implement cognitive and affective engagement to facilitate active online learning. literature review online learning requires more self-regulated learning than do traditional learning practices. online, students are expected to view pre-recorded lectures before attending live sessions that focus more exclusively on application-oriented learning activities (kim et al., 2014). however, research has reported that only autonomously motivated students benefit from self-regulated learning outside of class: less autonomously motivated students experience the pitfalls of online learning and are less keen to engage with resources provided online (beenen and arbaugh, 2018). there is little research on how those less self-motived students may be extrinsically motivated to be better prepared for online learning. furthermore, existing studies report that learner isolation is one of the major obstacles to successful online learning (murdock and williams, 2011). some research suggests that forming a learning community can be an effective technique in online distance learning (shrivastava,1999). a learning community can generate effective interactions between a lecturer and students and encourages engagement between students; however, it’s less clear from the literature how a learning community may be established in an online setting. the growth of mobile device usage has promoted the incorporation of platforms and apps as learning tools in online learning. studies have reported that educational tools such as kahoot, socrative and mentimeter could greatly encourage the participation and involvement of students. mentimeter, subscribed to by the university of greenwich, is regarded as an engaging and highly interactive tool (díaz-sainz et al., 2021). so far, very little research has been carried out on the use of mentimeter in teaching and learning. in research by rodríguez et al. (2018), mentimeter was deployed as an innovative tool for teaching the subject of process control. as a means of encouraging student interaction, presentation slides had some blanks which the students were invited to fill, via mentimeter, during the presentation. however, neither using different questions styles provided by mentimeter nor affective engagement was discussed in the paper. thus, in this case study, i consider the application of an integrative approach to targeting the two online-learning problems identified above: lack of a sense of community and lack of student preparedness. module participants the module participants were third-year students studying on 3+1 programmes at three different partner universities in china: hunan agricultural university (hau), guangxi university of economics and finance (guef) and anhui university (au). the students had case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 3 the same ethnic background and studied the same module in a second language. after completing the first three years of studies at chinese universities, most of the students would come to the uk as third-year direct-entry students and were therefore without uk higher education experience. given the differences between the two educational systems, the academic team at the university of greenwich often observed that direct-entry chinese students were not active in tutorial discussions and group work and so it was important to prepare them with active-learning experiences before they joined the uk university. table 1 presents some basic information about the three student groups in this case study. the module was delivered at hau in may 2020, at gufe in september 2020 and at anhui university in december 2020. group number gender f m 1 (05/20, hau) 77 37 40 2 (09/20, gufe) 98 67 31 3 (12/20, au) 75 35 40 table 1. approach the module was delivered over a period of two weeks at each institution. to tackle the two problems identified and to assist the students’ active learning, the chosen strategy comprised three inter-related components: curriculum adaptation, teaching techniques and technology integration (figure 1). for curriculum adaptation, the original module materials for face-to-face classroom-based teaching were systematically revised, each topic was broken down around the key concepts and then two or three short videos were produced, the better to meet anticipated learner attention span in an online setting. in addition, tutorial questions were selected based on questions used in face-to-face tutorials to underpin a forward-feeding learning process. for teaching techniques, cognitive engagement and affective engagement were purposefully implemented, aimed at students’ learning of subject knowledge and relationship-building in virtual learning. a set of subject-specific questions were designed and used in the first ten minutes of each live session to engage and assist with the students’ learning of subject knowledge. this cognitive engagement aimed to test students’ preparedness prior to a class. (such questions are not only helpful in finding out whether students are ready for live interactive sessions; they also show where students are struggling and need more focused explanations. moreover, using them provides an opportunity for adding more complex, stimulating questions to challenge those students who are strong in independent learning.) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 4 another set of questions relating to the students themselves was used to engage the students affectively during the first few sessions of online delivery. this involved a variety of in-class and outside-class activities designed to increase social rapport among students in addition to facilitating exchanges of personal information among students (roblyer and ekhaml, 2000). the questions included why they were interested in the subject, what their hobbies were, who their role models were etc. (figure 2). such questions help instructors to know their students better and students in a large group to get to know each other. in addition, group discussions and formative group work were applied to facilitate the sense of a learning community. figure 1: the instructional strategy employed for technology integration, various technologies were integrated as follows. first, wechat, the most-used app in china, was adopted as the platform to store all teaching materials. the students could access these materials at any time via the app, but a wechat group was also created to facilitate communications in and outside the classes. second, zoom meetings were used for recording lectures, which were uploaded to wechat before every live session to assist asynchronous learning. they were also used for live teaching for synchronous learning. furthermore, in order to generate small-group discussion to facilitate collaborative team-based learning (burgess et al., 2019), zoom breakout rooms were used to allocate the students into small groups with pre-designed tasks. third, mentimeter, with its various styles of questions, was used to enhance live teaching interactions with students in a large group. subject-specific questions in the form of quizzes, true-or-false and open-ended questions were applied to test students’ preparedness. questions that related to students themselves in forms of word-cloud style were applied, aiming at affective engagement and relationship-building within the student group. (asking questions on mentimeter enables individual learners in the large group to have an equal chance of responding to the questions. the leader-board function for quizzes encourages competitiveness amongst students.) via mentimeter, immediate feedback was provided to the students from the results tabulated at the end of each question; it was also used to check students’ progress and adapt the level of difficulty in teaching content. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 5 figure 2: a sample of student responses on mentimeter evaluation of online engagement in this case study, the focus of interest is to explore how an integrated approach may be implemented to mitigate the identified challenges associated with online delivery: lack of students’ preparedness and lack of sense of community. students’ preparedness prior to joining live sessions to help the students to be better prepared for live sessions, a set of subject-specific questions was used at the beginning of each live session. these were based on the key knowledge delivered the day before. over the delivery period of this module, the students showed an increasing engagement with this activity across all three groups. participation proved to be most successful when quizzes were applied, possibly because of the element of competition created by the leader board function. for individual students, it was apparent that competition enhanced self-esteem and desire to win. (to be at the top of the leader board, a student not only must answer a question correctly; s/he must also submit the answer before anyone else.) one student commented: “i thought online learning would be dull, but the lecturer made it interesting. it was fun when we were invited to join menti to answer questions”. it was obvious that quizzes on mentimeter succeeded in increasing students’ participation in online learning, though some students unfortunately prioritised answer speed over quality of response, which discouraged their deeper reflection upon knowledge. questions asked in other styles on mentimeter demonstrated better participation than those asked via the chat function on zoom. when questions were asked in zoom’s chat box, a few high-performing students always responded to the questions quickly, which left little chance for other students. in classroom-based teaching, an instructor can easily direct questions to any students who may not be participating well, but it is harder to do this online. by means of mentimeter, i saw an increasing number of students responding to questions, since the interactive tool offers every student equal access. one student stated: “we normally won’t be asked to answer questions in a class, now i am used to answering questions in case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 6 mentimeter, these questions have helped me to learn.” another said, “i enjoy learning the module online. the class is interactive and we have access to everything needed online.” creating a sense of community in online delivery while the preparedness of students may be tested and observed during live sessions, there isn’t a ready measurement to examine whether a sense of community has been formed among online learners. our assessment of a learning community is therefore based on the students’ feedback as well as their academic performance. the process of creating a learning community was carried out in two ways, one by asking questions about students themselves using word-cloud questions on mentimeter, another by organising small-group discussions to facilitate collaborative learning. the students were active in responding to the questions about themselves. the responses revealed personal characteristics of the students, which were very helpful for building a sense of community since the students did not necessarily know their fellow students in the group. individual responses on mentimeter were shared in zoom meeting where all students could see others’ responses, so helping to bring them into a closer relationship. one student commented: “some people are really interesting. i feel that i know them better now from their answers to the questions about their hobbies and role models.” i used the breakout rooms function on zoom to split the students into small groups. by doing so, i expected to mimic the group discussion in normal classroom-based teaching and i hoped to be able to hear individual students’ opinions and the simultaneous groupdiscussion dynamic. students were randomly allocated into groups of five or six students. this allocation method was chosen as the students would otherwise have chosen (under a self-selection method for grouping) to team up only with those who lived in the same dorm room. the random allocation created opportunities for the students to team up with new acquaintances and work together on the tasks assigned. groupwork is one of the most common means of fostering student engagement, as working in small groups enables them to move beyond learning as individuals and to participate in collaborative learning activities that are engaging (davidson et al., 2014).) however, evident here was a lack of meaningful group conversation relevant to the subject knowledge. students later reported that they had never had group discussions before and speaking in english made it even more difficult to contribute to the task. one student stated: “i don’t understand the group work, i don’t know what to do i don’t think group work suits us.” even though online group discussions were not very promising, the average marks across the three groups demonstrated a good understanding of the module learning outcomes and the ability to apply the knowledge to exam questions. the average marks of the students from hau, gufe and au were 52.2%, 65.7% and 56.3%, respectively. such performance indicates that learning communities might have been created. the average mark from gufe was better, perhaps because a higher entry mark was set by this university than by the other two. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 7 limitations when the pandemic made face-to-face learning impossible, technology helped to overcome the challenges and enabled teaching and learning to take place virtually. a range of platforms and online tools have since been applied to check students’ preparedness for live sessions and to help them to build relationships with other learners in large groups. two limitations arise in this case study. first, given the intensive delivery style of the online module, the students were tested by means of a formative approach for preparedness and progress in learning the subject knowledge, as it was not feasible to test them formally by providing grades during a two-week block of teaching; however, formally marked tests may be more effective in motivating students to learn. second, although the integrated approach increased student engagement in large groups for synchronous learning, it didn’t create opportunities for asynchronous group learning. asynchronous group learning may have greater potential for facilitating learning and provides the time that is needed for developing relationships. conclusion the case study is based on an online delivery to three student groups at three chinese partner universities and explores whether purposeful interactions supported by technology integration can help to enhance students’ engagement in online learning. in order to provide a more effective learning experience, the study proposes leveraging as many suitable learning platforms and tools as possible for online teaching and adopting the mindset to engage students both cognitively on subject knowledge and affectively for relationshipbuilding. to improve students’ preparation and progress with subject knowledge, tests – either formal or informal – via interactive educational tools should be implemented in live teaching. to help with creating a learning community among students, synchronous group discussions as well as asynchronous learning groups outside the class should be initiated with pre-assigned learning tasks. reference list ballard, b. and clanchy, c. (1991) teaching students from overseas. melbourne: longman cheshire. isbn: 0582868327. beenen, g. and arbaugh, b. (2018) ‘flipping class: why student expectations and personsituation fit matter.’ academy of management proceedings, 17, 1-10. available at: https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2018.64 (accessed: 13 november 2020). burgess, a., haq, i., bleasel, j., roberts, c., garsia, r., randal, n. and mellis, c. (2019) ‘team-based learning (tbl): a community of practice.’ bmc medical education,19, 369. available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1795-4 (accessed: 1 december 2020). https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2018.64 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1795-4 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 3, 2021 8 davidson, n., major, c.h. and michaelsen, l.k. (2014) 'small-group learning in higher education–cooperative, collaborative, problem-based, and team-based learning: an introduction by the guest editors.’ journal on excellence in college teaching, 25(3/4),1-6. available at: https://ctl.oregonstate.edu/sites/ctl.oregonstate.edu/files/small_group_learning_in_higher_ed ucation.pdf (accessed: 1 december 2020). freeman, s., eddy., s., mcdonough, m., smith, s., okoroafor, n., jordt, h. and wenderoth. (2014) ‘active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics,’ pnas. available at: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/05/08/1319030111 (accessed: 27 april 2021). kim, m.k., kim, s.m., khera, o. and getman, j. (2014) ‘the experience of three flipped classrooms in an urban university: an exploration of design principles.’ internet & higher education, 22, 37-50. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1096751614000219 (accessed: 16 november 2020). murdock, j. and williams, a. (2011) ‘creating an online learning community: is it possible?’ innovative higher education, 36, 305. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-011-9188-6 (accessed: 20 april 2021). park, c.c. (2000) ‘learning style preferences of southeast asian students.’ urban education, 35, 245-268. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085900353002 (accessed: 15 january 2021). rodríguez, m., díaz, i., gonzalez, e. and gonzález-miquel, m. (2018) ‘motivational active learning: an integrated approach to teaching and learning process control.’education for chemical engineers, 24,7-12. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s174977281830054x (accessed: 15 january 2021). roblyer, m.d. and ekhaml, d. (2000) ‘how interactive are your distance modules? a rubric for assessing interaction in distance learning.’ the online journal of distance learning administration, 3(2).available at: http://eta.health.usf.edu/pto/module3/unit4/articleoninteractivityrubric.pdf (accessed: 1 december 2020). shrivastava, p. (1999) ‘management classes as online learning communities.’ journal of management education. 23(6): 691-703. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/paulshrivastava/publication/249669405_management_classes_as_online_learning_communiti es/links/0f31753c55e831fa06000000/management-classes-as-online-learningcommunities.pdf (accessed: 16 december 2020). watkins, d.a. and biggs, j.b. (eds.) (1996) the chinese learner: cultural, psychological, and contextual influences. hong kong/melbourne: cerc & acer. isbn: 9780864311825 https://ctl.oregonstate.edu/sites/ctl.oregonstate.edu/files/small_group_learning_in_higher_education.pdf https://ctl.oregonstate.edu/sites/ctl.oregonstate.edu/files/small_group_learning_in_higher_education.pdf https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/05/08/1319030111 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1096751614000219 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-011-9188-6 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085900353002 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s174977281830054x http://www.westga.edu/~distance/roblyer32.html http://www.westga.edu/~distance/roblyer32.html http://eta.health.usf.edu/pto/module3/unit4/articleoninteractivityrubric.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/paul-shrivastava/publication/249669405_management_classes_as_online_learning_communities/links/0f31753c55e831fa06000000/management-classes-as-online-learning-communities.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/paul-shrivastava/publication/249669405_management_classes_as_online_learning_communities/links/0f31753c55e831fa06000000/management-classes-as-online-learning-communities.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/paul-shrivastava/publication/249669405_management_classes_as_online_learning_communities/links/0f31753c55e831fa06000000/management-classes-as-online-learning-communities.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/paul-shrivastava/publication/249669405_management_classes_as_online_learning_communities/links/0f31753c55e831fa06000000/management-classes-as-online-learning-communities.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 exit velocity: is there truth in the commonly-held belief that grades for undergraduate students tend to improve from year 2 to year 3? a case study mark betteney university of greenwich this case study is being composed in december 2014 and is written in response to unexpected but repeated questions from many of the year 2 and year 3 students on the programme which i lead (ba, primary education, with qualified teacher status). amongst my third-year students, there has been a rather unhelpful outbreak of speculative projected calculation with regard to the degree classification that they might expect. those with lowerthan-anticipated grades during their second year are convinced that a ‘good’ degree is already beyond them and that, without a ‘good’ degree, employment opportunities will be severely diminished. i have tried to reassure these students that, from my experience of leading progression and award boards (pabs), it is the norm for student grades to accelerate (i.e. the trend is for year 3 grades to be better than those in year 2, in spite of the increase in academic demands). i have also explained to them that year 2 comprises only 25% of their degree and year 3, 75%, and that, as a result, this acceleration is a good thing. one particularly anxious student asked me: ‘how much better are the year 3 grades, on average?’ i could not answer that question; indeed, i realised that i did not even know for certain that my claim was true. so, it is to answer that student’s question and to satisfy my own curiosity that i have made an analysis of the last four years’ pabs data for the final-year students on my programme. do grades tend to improve from year 2 to year 3? the data for my programme hold interesting patterns and show that the answer to that question is: ‘yes… and no.’ supporting literature before the data is presented, the vocabulary needs to be explored and limited. here at the university of greenwich, we refer to the phenomenon of grade progression in the final year as ‘exit velocity’. i realise immediately that my assumption that student grades improve from year 2 to year 3 has been established in my mind because we have an official name for it. ‘exit velocity’ should not be confused with ‘academic momentum’, since this latter expression is a technical term, used mainly in america, and refers to the speed at which students complete modular programmes (attewell & scott, 2012). ‘grade inflation’ is not at all what this case study is focused upon, since this term is derogatory, suggesting grade awards which do not correspond with a student’s ability or performance. that is why, for the purposes of this case study, i shall use the phrase ‘exit velocity’ to denote an aspect of student progression whereby a student might be identified as achieving better average grades in the final year than in the previous one(s). the literature surrounding this field is very thin. there are some published sources which focus on the progress, retention and predicted attainment of first year students (ackerman et al, 2013; arum and roksa, 2011; geiser and santelices, 2007; upcraft et al, 2005; herzog, 2005; simonite, 2003). each of these sources is american and each offers either examples of the way one might predict retention, graduation or employment outcomes from pre case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 university or first-year grades or the categorisation of characteristics of pre-university or firstyear students who go on to be academically successful within given criteria. analysis of such data can tell us much about the efficacy of an institution or can inform an institution’s recruitment and selection policy, but does not focus on the specific aspect of academic maturation on which this study is based. similarly, there are sources which explore whether different types of learning (e-learning; learning-centred teaching) enhance grade improvement (bell and federman, 2013; mostrom & blumberg, 2012). however, despite a diligent search (swetswise, ebsco, google scholar, education research complete), i have found no article which asks and answers the question that this article poses whether (and the extent to which) grades for undergraduate students improve from year 2 to year 3. this article aims to begin to fill this rather surprising void. methodology the demographic of the students on my programme needs to be briefly described for readers who teach or study on other programmes and who might therefore make comparison or contrast to their own student body. across the four years of this study, the proportion of completing male students was consistent, being between 16-18% (average 17.1%). the proportion of completing bme students increased incrementally from 17.1% in 2010-11 to 19.8% in 2013-14. satisfaction levels were high, with 93% of students considering the quality of their training to be good or very good (national student survey data 2012-14). the average age on completion was 24.1 (10.4% of students were over 30, and 4.2% were over 40). the oldest student to complete was 44. there was no significant incidence of completing male students’ being on average older or younger than female ones. the data from students completing their degrees (with or without qualified teacher status) from 2010 to 2014 were analysed in two ways. the first was by student number (identifying the proportion of students whose results fell into diverse deciles at the end of their second year, and tracking them into the same or a different decile on completion).the second was by average grade (identifying and measuring the extent to which the average grade of a decile cohort of students at the end of its second year increased or decreased on completion). each year’s data are presented separately and then combined. the data, analysed by student number the tables below present the outcomes of the four most recent completed cohorts on the 3year undergraduate primary education with qualified teacher status programme, together with an analysis of each degree-classification cohort’s outcomes during its second year. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 2013-14 table 1: degree classifications by student number, 2013-14 total awards in year 3 number of students, in classification bands at the end of year 2 70%+ 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% total first 9 3 6 9 upper second 48 2 27 18 1 48 lower second 38 3 28 7 38 third 2 1 1 2 97 97 note how only 3 students averaged more than 70% at the end of year 2, and yet 9 students achieved a first class degree at the end of year 3, showing that 6 students (66% of the total achieving a first class degree) made decile improvement from their end-of-year 2 position. similarly, of the 48 students who were awarded an upper second, 18 (38% of them) improved from their 50-59% decile in year 2. at first glance, there appears to be truth in the claim about the existence of student exit velocity. however, things are not so encouraging at the lower end. of the 38 students who were awarded a lower second, 3 regressed from the 60-69% band of year 2 and only 7 (18% of those achieving a lower second) improved from the 40-49% band. with only two students awarded a third, no analysis is possible there. 2012-13 table 2: degree classifications by student number, 2012-13 total awards in year 3 number of students, in classification bands at the end of year 2 70%+ 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% total first 13 1 10 2 0 13 upper second 50 0 28 20 2 50 lower second 41 0 3 32 6 41 third 4 0 0 1 3 4 108 108 the same pattern with regard to evidence of exit velocity applies for the 2012-13 completers. in this cohort, only one student averaged more than 70% at the end of year 2 and yet 13 students achieved a first class degree on completion. similarly, of the 50 students who were awarded an upper second, 20 (40% of them) improved from their 50-59% decile in year 2. there is clear evidence that these students experienced exit velocity. again, however, things are more stagnant at the lower end. of the 41 students who were awarded a lower second, only 6 (15% of them) improved from the 40-49% band. of the four case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 students awarded a third, three were established there at the end of year 2 and one regressed (sharply, from an average of 58%). there is no upward movement here. 2011-12 table 3: degree classifications by student number, 2011-12 total awards in year 3 number of students, in classification bands at the end of year 2 70%+ 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% total first 8 7 1 0 0 8 upper second 45 2 32 11 0 45 lower second 42 0 6 29 7 42 third 8 0 0 1 7 8 103 103 the patterns are less marked in this cohort’s data, and the preponderance of final degree classification is more accurately anticipated at the end of year 2, particularly with regard to first class classifications. however, it can be seen again that the proportion of students who converted from 50-59% to achieve an upper second (24% of them) was higher than the proportion of students who converted from 40-49% to a lower second (16%). 2010-11 table 4: degree classifications by student number, 2010-11 total awards in year 3 number of students, in classification bands at the end of year 2 70%+ 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% total first 12 2 10 0 0 12 upper second 29 2 19 8 0 29 lower second 40 0 0 32 8 40 third 10 0 0 5 5 10 91 91 for the higher-achieving students, the data for 2010-11 return to the patterns seen in 201213 and 2013-14. only 2 students averaged more than 70% at the end of year 2, and yet 12 students achieved a first class degree at the end of year 3. of the 29 students who were awarded an upper second, 8 (28% of them) improved from their 50-59% decile in year 2. of the 40 students who were awarded a lower second, 8 (20% of them) improved from the 40-49% band. the most stark statistic is that, in this cohort, of the 10 students awarded a third (an unusually high number, not seen before or since), 5 were established there at the end of year 2, and the other 5 regressed. again, there is no upward movement here, and a sizeable downward pattern. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 the data, analysed by average grade the data in tables 1-4 have presented exit velocity as demonstrated by student number. the data can also be analysed by average marks. tables 5-9 group students by final classification, and identify the average grade for each group at the end of its second year. 2013-14 table 5: degree classifications by average grade, 2013-14 end of year 3 average grade end of year 2 average grade exit velocity (%age +/-) first 70.2 68.1 +2.1% upper second 62.1 61.0 +1.1% lower second 53.1 53.3 -0.2% third 48.0 45.5 -2.5% the pattern here is clear. there is a gradual weakening of exit velocity, and a linear change can be seen, with diminishing progression in the top two categories and increasing regression in the lower classification from first class to third class. 2012-13 the same regression applies in this cohort but the pattern is much stronger. note the 6.6% improvement made by the higher-achieving students compared with the 0.7% average improvement made by those awarded a lower second. the number of students awarded a third is small, but the average grade falls sharply and the data show that every student in this cohort receiving a third class degree regressed from her/his year 2 average. table 6: degree classifications by average grade, 2012-13 end of year 3 average grade end of year 2 average grade exit velocity (%age +/-) first 71.3 64.7 + 6.6% upper second 63.4 60.2 + 3.2% lower second 55.2 54.5 + 0.7% third 45.5 48.8 -7.2% 2011-12 above, this cohort does not fit the general pattern in terms of student numbers and, similarly, the pattern of average grade does not quite conform to the norm either. again, students achieving first class degrees made the most progress and those awarded third class degrees regressed, but there is not a linear regression of exit velocity in this cohort. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 table 7: degree classifications by average grade, 2011-12 end of year 3 average grade end of year 2 average grade exit velocity (%age +/-) first 71.3 70.3 +1.4% upper second 62.6 62.1 + 0.8% lower second 54.8 54.1 +1.3% third 46.7 48.1 -2.9% 2010-11 the linear pattern seen in 2012-13 and 2013-14 is seen again in the data for this cohort, and the pattern is strong. table 8: degree classifications by average grade, 2010-11 end of year 3 average grade end of year 2 average grade exit velocity (%age +/-) first 71.3 68.9 +3.5% upper second 64.4 62.6 +2.8% lower second 53.9 53.6 +0.5% third 46.2 51.0 -10.3% combined data tables 9 and 10 combine the data for all four year groups. table 9: degree classifications by student number, 2010-11 to 2013-14 total awards in year 3 number of students, in classification bands at the end of year 2 70%+ 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% total first 42 13 27 2 0 42 upper second 172 6 106 57 3 172 lower second 161 0 12 121 28 161 third 24 0 0 8 16 24 399 399 table 9 summarises that, over a four-year period, the data for students in the higherachieving deciles provide clear evidence for the existence of exit velocity. over the four annual cohorts that this case study has examined, 64% of the students who secured a first class degree did so by improving from the upper or lower second decile at the end of year 2. by comparison, during the same four-year period, 33% of the students securing an upper second did so by improving from the lower second or third class decile and only 17% of the students securing a lower second did so by improving from the third class decile. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 a consistent linear pattern is also demonstrated by looking at the average grades of the students in the four classifications (table 10). on average, over the four years, exit velocity has incrementally changed by approximately 1.7% for each degree classification band. table 10: degree classifications by average grade, 2010-11 to 2013-14 end of year 3 average grade end of year 2 average grade exit velocity (%age +/-) first 71.0 67.7 +3.3% upper second 63.0 61.3 +1.7% lower second 54.1 54.0 +0.1% third 46.7 48.4 -1.7% conclusion for two reasons, it is not possible to generalise about student progression from the data of this case study. firstly, the participant number (399) is not large enough and, secondly, as the students in this study were on a professional programme, there were additional variables at work, which students on non-professional programmes do not experience. if this study were to be replicated for a non-professional programme, it is possible that, just for that reason, the patterns of exit velocity might be significantly different from those represented here. there are a number of external characteristics and personal circumstances that this study purposely has not taken into account. during their time as undergraduates, students may have experienced health issues and/or financial difficulties. no account has been taken of those students for whom an array of life-style features may have negatively impacted upon their degree classification: those with children (some may have been single parents); those who were holding down part-time jobs; those who experienced complications in their personal lives; those who were living a long distance from the university; those who decided for whatever reason to follow a non-qts pathway. no extenuating circumstances have been factored in to the data of this study, although a co-authored analysis of the geographical domicile distribution of completing students will be submitted for publication in due course. nevertheless, patterns have been revealed in this study’s data and three conclusions can be drawn. for the students represented in this study: 1. exit velocity was likely to be present for students who ultimately secured a lower second class degree, or better. 2. the strength of exit velocity was consistently greater for the higher-performing students. 3. students awarded a third class degree tended to experience a regression in exit velocity. deeper analysis of the data for the students achieving a third class degree showed that over the four years of this case study, 19 of the 24 (79% of them) regressed from their year 2 average. the original question that this study sought to explore was: ‘is there truth in the commonlyheld belief that grades for undergraduate students tend to improve from year 2 to year 3?’ the answer, in this case study, was ‘yes’ to various extents for 94% of the students case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 represented, but, for those 6% for whom the opposite is true, the degree of regression is significant. reference list ackerman, p.l., kanfer, r. and beier, m.e. (2013) ‘trait complex, cognitive ability, and domain knowledge predictors of baccalaureate success, stem persistence, and gender differences.’ journal of educational psychology, 105(3), 911-927. arum, r. and roksa j. (2011) academically adrift. university of chicago press: chicago. attewell, p. and scott, h. (2012) ‘what is academic momentum? and does it matter?’ educational evaluation and policy analysis, 34(1), 27-44. bell, s.b. and federman, j.e. (2013) ‘e-learning in postsecondary education.’ the future of children, 23(1), 165-185. geiser s and santelices v. (2007) ‘validity of high-school grades in predicting students’ success beyond the freshman year: high-school record vs. standardized tests as indicators of four-year college outcomes.’ research & occasional paper series: cshe.6.07. university of california: berkeley. herzog, s. (2005) ‘measuring determinants of student return vs. dropout/stopout vs. transfer: a first to second year analysis of new freshman.’ research in higher education, 46(8), 883‐ 928. mostrom, a. and blumberg, p. (2012) ‘does learning-centred teaching promote grade improvement?’ innovative higher education, 37(5), 397-405. simonite v. (2003) ‘a longitudinal study of achievement in a modular first degree course.’ studies in higher education, 28(3), 293-302. upcraft, m., gardner, j.n., and barefoot, b.o. (2005) challenging and supporting the firstyear student. jossey-bass: san francisco, ca. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 higher than what? patrick ainley school of education & training introduction with its world heritage site greenwich can potentially create a university that combines the best of the old with something new. that this does not happen automatically shows that the french sociologist of education, pierre bourdieu, was wrong in his contention that higher education is all form and no substance. but what is the substance of ‘higher’ learning? higher than what? further than where? as sir toby weaver, author of our 1965 woolwich polytechnic speech, asked. some would answer that higher education’s (he) ‘higherness’ comes from specialisation but this is also the case in further education (fe). others would assert academic freedom allows he teachers to set their own courses linked to their research interests. however, although there is not (yet) a national curriculum for he, many programmes of study have long been agreed with professional bodies. and in an institution where the main activity of most staff is teaching or supporting teaching, research and scholarship exist, we admit, only in ‘pockets’. so this is not distinctive either. therefore, when we are pushed to characterise ‘higherness’, we fall back on what we often look for in student assignments: a critical analysis of the information required. this is seen as ‘deep’ rather than ‘surface’ knowledge. yet these tacit notions are often confused so that we know them when we see them but find them hard to justify explicitly. this contribution to greenwich’s new pedagogic journal seeks to do this as simply as possible in the interests of stimulating debate and innovation. academic higher education academics typically elicit metaphors of an ideal he, ‘above’ or ‘higher’ but definitely ‘apart from’ the rest of society. this provides an independent space in which ideas can be tested in argument and by experiment. for its student apprentices, he is seen to provide the conceptual tools to question received ideas and test their own claims to truth against the relevant criteria of their particular subject, whether through scientific experiment, logical proof, scholarly or more directly social research, technical practice or artistic creation. students then graduate to mastery of their respective disciplines, or to areas of practice in which they are able to defend, in the wider world, the conclusions they have arrived at in discussion with the community of scholars that includes their teachers. such discussion is encouraged by teachers, who themselves learn from representing their understandings based upon research in the subject community to which they belong. many programmes of study in he are based on this implicit model. students are presented with the received ideas of the canon as conceptual tools with which to order the information base of their subject discipline or area of practice. they are, thus, not in a position to produce academically acceptable work until they have ‘received’ the knowledge of the masters. this is not knowledge of everything, but of the rules by which everything that is known about a given field higher than what? 2 can be acquired and ordered. this ‘key knowledge’ (not ‘skills’) is what cardinal newman called ‘knowledge of the relative disposition of things’, the lack of which, he wrote, ‘is the state of slaves and children’ (1943, p. 113). newman could have added women and the working class of his day to those lacking this knowledge, even though they might have seen things differently. the class division between the professions associated with he and the trades associated with fe is one of the many things that have changed in modern society. the idea that universities prepare an educated elite for leadership is no longer sustainable. yet, competition in the examination of levels of literacy as proxies for what bourdieu called ‘cultural capital’ (itself a proxy for money capital) has become intense. competition starts earlier and goes on longer, with the result that the traditional selectivity of english education now stretches from primary to postgraduate schools. in this selective system, the majority are failed at every fence and made to feel they are failures. as michael young predicted in his 1958 satire on the 11+ ‘iq’ test, the result is: ‘there has never been such gross over-simplification as in modern britain. since the country is dedicated to the one over-riding purpose of economic expansion, people are judged according to the single test of how much they increase production, or the knowledge that will, directly or indirectly, lead to that consummation… the ability to raise production, directly or indirectly, is known as ‘intelligence’: this iron measure is the judgement of society upon its members.’ (pp. 134–5). a footnote reveals young’s real view: ‘that it is the very complication of modern society which demands the sort of basic intelligence that can speedily relate one part of a complex whole to another.’ (p. 160). alternatives to academicism alternatives to traditional disciplinary academic specialisation, which is paradoxically supposed to provide generalised managerial knowledge, have been extinguished with the dominance of a subject-centred national curriculum in schools and the imitation of the pre-existing university model by renamed polytechnics. nevertheless, teachers in all he institutions continue their mission impossible to widen participation whilst maintaining quality on a reduced unit of resource. so, rather than seeking to perpetuate traditional academic approaches, why do we not try to do something different? as dame ruth silver, ex-principal of one of our partner colleges, lewisham, suggested five years ago, at the same time as greenwich and goldsmiths’ students ‘aim higher’, why should they not also go further by attending their universities’ partner colleges to acquire the practical competences employers always complain are missing in graduates who have only theoretical ‘book knowledge’ without practical application. this would combine ‘higher’ with ‘further’, education with training and ‘deep’ with ‘surface’ learning, or theory with practice. what silver called ‘thick he’ would thus unite practical competence with generalised knowledge. unfortunately the idea never caught on! however, this is the way to think about ‘employability’, for instance. students outwith the charmed circle of the magic five top universities to which the big banks now reportedly restrict their choice higher than what? 3 of recruits, have to convince remaining employers that, while their abstract ‘book knowledge’ may not be expressed with the elegance of technical and largely literary exercises of the traditional type, their practical experience has given them the ‘nous’ to put that theory into practice. in the long term however, the crisis of legitimacy for a competitive education system undermined by recession, calls into question the continuing separation of the academic from the vocational (as in the latest diploma qualifications, for instance) and demands the integration of generalised knowledge with skill and competence. one response might be a foundation year for all undergraduates as in scotland, were it not for the fact that rising fees mean more expense for students. as graff writes of the usa, ‘“first year experience” courses… need to go beyond teaching study skills, time-management, using computers, and test-taking to give students more help in entering the academic culture of arguments and ideas.’ (2003, p.12) why not use the anticipated fee revision to admit that most of our nominally full-time students are actually part-time and provide part-time courses costed and paced accordingly? living at home whilst studying also reduces the intensity of traditionally compressed 3-year subject degree courses. alongside ‘standards-based’ vocational courses on which skill is confined to competence and knowledge to information, this all makes large parts of he more like fe. this is not to disparage fe, but to take the opportunity to complement academic courses with practical placements and training in the poly-technical generic competences required across the range of available employment (so-called ‘personal and transferable skills’). it also recognises that you cannot have education without training (though you can have training without education). real craft and professional skills can be cultivated in fe and he, alongside the generalised knowledge imparted by he no longer restricted to its academic (largely literary) form. above all, educational community should be preserved in the dialogue of teachers with students. we also need dialogue and debate amongst staff across disciplines, while being open to revision of our preconceptions and practices – just as the traditional notion of he expects students to be (above). then we would not accept at face value such current pedagogical fads as ‘learning styles’ and ‘emotional intelligence’. hopefully this journal will contribute to this process. no magic bullets there has already been too great an expectation that the expansion of he can change society on its own. so, while not abandoning the transformative aspiration of education, we have to be realistic about its prospects at the close of the economic period in which most of our students grew up. between 1986 ‘big bang’ and 2008’s ‘big crunch’, several things happened at once and these need to be appreciated to set the framework for discussion: ■ a reformation of social class to which expanded education and training has contributed. until the late 1970s, many left school at 15/16 followed by apprenticeships for some (mainly young men). this may have represented ‘jobs without education’ but associated cultural conceptions of skill have been largely lost in what has become life-long learning (instead of lifelong earning,again for men at least). the division of labour and knowledge between working-class manual and middle-class mental labour has been eroded by the growth of services and the application of new technology, which has been used to automate and outsource formerly skilled work, while the higher than what? 4 ‘unskilled’ or ‘rough’ section of the traditionally manually working class has been relegated to so called ‘underclass’ status. meanwhile, processes of deskilling formerly applied to skilled manual workers are now reaching up the new ‘respectable’ working-middle of society to reduce many former-professions to the level of waged labour. thus, for example, widening participation to higher education has been presented as the professionalisation of the proletariat while arguably disguising an actual proletarianisation of the professions, including notably the academic profession. there is an important gender dimension to this complicated situation. ■ a new competitive state has replaced the old welfare state. in the administration of this ‘post-welfare state’, power contracts to the centre as responsibility is contracted out to individual agents (institutions or individuals) for delivery. in education, this has turned a national system locally administered into a national system nationally administered. despite recent calls for international keynesianism, the new competitive system remains in place so that its individually competing institutions – such as schools, colleges and universities – still depend upon centralised contract funding in the new marketplace for students and research. this has fuelled increasing student numbers without always enabling sufficient support for it. ■ young people are over-schooled and under-educated, well described by a university of greenwich education studies undergraduate in his final year inquiry project in 2004: ‘students learn to connect their self-esteem and what they may achieve in later life to their exam results... over-assessment has made subject knowledge and understanding a thing of the past as students are put through a routine year after year, practising what exactly to write and where in preparation for exams’. ■ the application of new ict to education has facilitated a culture of cutting, pasting and plagiarising. despite the access to information which this has afforded, in many cases, as wolf writes: ‘these students are not illiterate but they may never become true expert readers’ and their ‘false sense of knowing may distract them from a deeper development of their intellectual potential.’ (2008, 225 and 226; see also ciber, 2008) the massification of popular culture has added to the overwhelming of intellect by information. conclusion to indicate the wider context of so-called ‘dumbing down’ above goes beyond the knee-jerk academic reaction of more selective examination. instead, fe and he together give those failed by over-schooling an entitlement to overcome their under-education. but we cannot do so by offering more of the same. more means different, as used to be said. just how different is a matter for debate in the pages of this journal and elsewhere on a campus which can live up to its heritage status by creating a community of students and teachers aiming higher whilst going further. references centre for information behaviour and the evaluation of research (2008). online. available at www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf. graff, g. (2003) clueless in academe, how schooling obscures the life of the mind. new haven: yale university press. http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf higher than what? 5 newman, h. (1943) the idea of a university. london: everyman. silver, r. (2004) 14–19 reform: the challenge to he. presentation to higher education policy institute at the house of commons, 29 june 2004. weaver, t. (1974) higher than what, further than where? lecture at rotherham college of technology. wolf, m. (2008) proust and the squid, the story and science of the reading brain. cambridge: icon. young, m. (1958) the rise of the meritocracy 1870–2033. an essay on education and equality, london: thames and hudson. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 the gonzo lecture: counterculture in the classroom charles bladen business school abstract this paper argues that certain university teachers consciously struggle against authoritarian oppression in their jobs and that the emergence of a countercultural teaching communication, in the form of a ‘gonzo’ style, is one inevitable development. the author proposes ‘the gonzo lecture’ in the light of this style’s reported origins, etymology, development and diverse, present-day expressions. suggestions are made for its potential research and operationalisation. introduction gonzo journalism was conceived by hunter s. thompson and its style was subsequently developed into a form of counter-culture by him and his companion, oscar zeta acosta. since then, gonzo has emerged as a style of creative expression in many diverse media. however, though the university lecture would seem highly suitable for the adaptation of this style, there has been no clear academic construct yet proposed. to further complicate this task, various adaptations called ‘gonzo’, which often promote aspects of counter-culture, do not otherwise clearly resemble this form of new journalism’s characteristics and objectives. the aim of this paper is to propose the elements of a gonzo style of education in the context of the supporting theoretical literature. in order that a gonzo style as applied to education might be measured and evaluated, it is proposed that it is first clearly defined, with reference to its likely origins, literary style and philosophy. its proposed application as a communication style and a tool of critical pedagogy can then be outlined. this also requires the demystification of some of the main misconceptions of the style in the light of recent, supporting literature. origins and definition of gonzo hirst (2004) observed that though the first use of the term ‘gonzo’ is clear, its origin and precise meaning is not. bill cardoso first used the term to describe hunter s. thompson’s style of journalism. though hirst cited filatreau’s (1975) rather obvious definition that gonzo simply referred to the journalistic style of hunter s. thompson, he also added that ‘gonzo’ was a term used among the boston irish to describe the last man standing after a drinking session. the author finally concurs with thorne’s suggestion that: ‘the word itself is an adjective meaning crazy or extremist and derives from a hipster expression made up of ‘gone’ (as in ecstatic, uncontrolled) and an ‘-o’ suffix (with the ‘z’ for ease of the gonzo lecture: counterculture in the classroom 2 pronunciation), or directly from the italian gonzo, meaning a buffoon or simpleton (thorne, 1994, pp. 97-98; cited by hirst, 2004, p. 6).’ thompson’s first reference to gonzo was related to his chicano lawyer, modelled on his real-life companion oscar zeta-acosta, dr. gonzo in fear and loathing in las vegas (1972). the term ‘gonzo’ according to carroll (1993; cited in hirst, 2004) was first found in a letter by journalist bill cardoso as the first, formal recognition of thompson’s journalistic style, which used the first person narrative to convey factual information, and included the writer as the central actor in the piece. the result was a style of writing which could not be clearly categorised as either fiction or non fiction, but like new journalism in general, was more engaging for the reader than the objective, thirdperson perspective found in traditional media. this was developed over time by thompson and also acosta to incorporate other features also considered uncommon in the journalism of the time, which included profanity, humour, exaggeration and embellishments of the facts. whilst thompson’s gonzo style was fuelled throughout by drug and alcohol use and abuse, acosta’s approach in autobiography of a brown buffalo (1972) and the revolt of the cockroach people (1989), was characterised more by a rebellion against conformity to what he perceived to be an unjust political and social system. in both cases, gonzo journalism was a chaotic counter to a perceived hegemony which had resulted from a corruption of the american dream (jiron-king, 2008). development of the gonzo style since its conception, the gonzo style has been adopted in a variety of different applications which include fiction (e.g. acosta, 1972; 1989), marketing (locke, 2001), sport (e.g. merrifield, 1991), pornography (weasels, 2008), documentary (e.g. moore, 2002) and even theology (e.g. goldstein, 2006). ‘gonzo pornography’ according to hirst (2004) has become the largest-selling segment of the adult entertainment industry. despite the sub-genre’s clear popularity to related fields such as marketing (locke, 2001), there has been no specific reference made to the application of the gonzo style to education. general characteristics of the gonzo style students of the gonzo journalism style generally concur that it is enigmatic, poetic, raw, and unedited. as an extreme version of new journalism style, it is journalism that can be read like a novel. hirst (2004) used the following quote to sum up the written style: ‘gonzo can only be defined as what hunter thompson does…it generally consists of the fusion of reality and stark fantasy in a way that amuses the author and outrages his audience. it is point of view run wild.’ (filiatreau, 1975, cited by mckeen). wolfe suggested that the style came into being mainly as a product of panic, due to thompson’s renowned tendency for meeting deadlines last minute, leading often to his hurriedly compiled manuscripts being sent to his editor too late for proper review and rewriting to be effectively performed. the gonzo style is foremost recognised as being funny and popular. thompson’s writings were idiosyncratically subjective, engaging, crazy and extremist, focusing on the feelings of the writer, rather than the facts of the incident being reported. the incidents portrayed were described by hirst as the ‘legendary rendering of key moments,’ (hirst, 2004) with sharp insights and bizarre subject matter which incorporated sex and violence and satirical, wild, dark humour. the gonzo lecture: counterculture in the classroom 3 in addition to the recognition he received for his more popular, ‘non-fiction’ works, thompson was also known as an outlaw journalist who, as an unconventional, confrontational hell-raiser with an addiction to danger, pursued a thrill-seeking, death-defying legacy against a corrupt system. in his best known works such as fear and loathing in las vegas (1972) the personal and involved accounts of the ‘fictionalised’ accounts of incidents that reportedly happened, were used to create a counter-culture, which was designed to overthrow not only the oppressive, established culture, but also the counter-culture initially brought in to replace it. jiron-king also recognises that thompson with acosta claimed that the initial counter-culture had developed its own form of corruption and their writings were a protest against this. the application of the gonzo style to university education there are various lines of educational enquiry related to education communication that include the use of humour, first person narrative, storytelling, language as well as the general concept of the teacher as performer. whilst these elements certainly apply to the gonzo university lecture, there has not yet been a clear investigation into the use of the gonzo style in an educational context. this is therefore worthy of such investigation in an attempt to answer a number of key research questions, which shall be proposed later as part of this discussion. in the light of this review of gonzo, it would be a shallow interpretation to consider the aim of the gonzo lecture to be a merely a humorous and entertaining educational presentation, or to ‘beef-up’ boring delivery. it would also be an error to suggest that thompson and acosta merely meant to promote drug and alcohol use as a method of escape from a corrupted society. educators such as leary (1999), though not associated with gonzo, have promoted drugs’ culture to their professional detriment. the gonzo style as a tool of critical pedagogy the fight against ‘hegemony’ the dominance of one social group over others is well documented (gramsci, 1957; 1973). such writings maintain that a dominant class asserts its beliefs over those of others, who accept them as common sense, in return for certain benefits from the ruling class. thus the compliance of those being ruled is essential to the relationship. hegemony continues through ongoing struggle due to the ‘common sense’ of the masses being in constant flux, preventing eventual revolution by the oppressed against the oppressors. the oppressed class, subject to this social conditioning, are incapable of realising their oppression. government funding of british universities continues to emphasise student recruitment and course completion as a basis for awards rather than student attendance. financial and social pressures continue to weigh heavily on students’ time, availability and motivation to engage with educational processes. educators are continually seeking new ways to engage students with subject knowledge and classroom activities. a common complaint by many academics has been that institutions recruit too many students/customers to programmes that are under resourced. to many, the resulting emphasis on quality standards, league tables and methods which have been more common in product manufacturing and consumer service industries, such as benchmarking and service blueprinting, have detracted from teachers’ focus on the profession of learning and teaching. the gonzo lecture: counterculture in the classroom 4 additionally, complaints are also made regarding inadequate student engagement, lack of basic study skills and lower attendance rates. however, students are often found to be increasingly experienced in media-awareness and consumerism, demanding greater levels of sophistication from the designed, lecture experience. often, outdated content and an unsophisticated delivery style by lecturers, has resulted in students evaluating their overall educational experience negatively, or avoiding much of it altogether. however, often students identify with popular gonzo role models, such as the controversial television chef gordon ramsay, the business tycoon alan sugar, the cult entertainment ‘guru’ simon cowell and crazy science shows, such as brainiac or those involving stunt performers such as ‘jackass’. gonzo education as experience immersion whilst traditional lectures involve mainly the transfer of knowledge, gonzo lectures mainly involve the transfer of experiences. this is particularly true of vocational degrees, which rely on sharing the lecturer’s industrial practice as much as they do on the related underpinning theories. the gonzo lecturer as performer uses a variety of techniques to support their oratory. whilst theoretical content is the focal point, the lecturer is constantly a part of each experiential account. an attempt is made throughout to take widely-accepted, academic underpinning theory and the actual facts of a true industry experience and embellish them with humour and exaggeration in order to convert them into an engaging experience. this is performed using personal narrative combined with a storytelling style. conclusion hunter s. thompson once said, “when it stops being fun, then it’s just wrong”. however, it would be a mistake to characterise gonzo simply as funny, rather than an artistic, education, communication technique, belonging to a counterculture intended to liberate teachers from the confines of oppressive, institutional hegemony and students from a dry, often un-engaging educational communication style. a future research focus is required in order to deconstruct the gonzo experience in education, with a view to its operationalisation as a more effective teaching communication style used to promote learner engagement. references acosta, o.z. (1972) the autobiography of a brown buffalo. new york: vintage. acosta, o.z. (1989) the revolt of the cockroach people. new york: vintage. gramsci, a. (1957) the modern prince and other writings. edited and translated by louis marks, new york: cameron associates, inc. gramsci, a. (1973) letters from prison. edited and translated by lynne lawner, new york: harper and row. goldstein, n. (2006) gonzo judaism: a bold path for renewing an ancient faith. st martin’s press. hirst, m. (2004) what is gonzo? the etymology of an urban legend. university of queensland, 19 january 2004, (retrieved 1 december 2007). the gonzo lecture: counterculture in the classroom 5 jiron-king, s. (2008) thompson’s and acosta’s collaborative creation of the gonzo narrative style. comparative literature and culture, 10(1), march. leary, t. (1999) turn on, tune in, drop out (6th edition). usa: ronin. locke, c. (2001) gonzo marketing: winning through worst practices. uk: basic books. merrifield, m. (1991) colorado gonzo rides: a mountain bikers guide to colorado’s best single track trails. blue clover press. moore, m. (2002) bowling for columbine. documentary. alliance atlantis communications. thompson, h.s. (1972) fear and loathing in las vegas. uk: palladin weasels, p. ‘the quick and dirty guide to gonzo’, www.gamelink.com (accessed 15 september 2008). first published in august 2022 by: university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor rachel george, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistants ciprian alupei, university of greenwich peter brown, university of greenwich editorial board paul breen, university of westminster louise hewitt, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university dawn reilly, university of greenwich clare rossato, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series leanne de main, de montfort university reviewers agi ryder dawn reilly ed de quincey emma kennedy eve rapley james wisdom jenny marie kailey hazeldene lorraine smith man fung lo rachel george stuart sims suzan koseoglu opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 11 teaching introductory economics: an interdisciplinary approach nabeel iqbal north south university, bangladesh abstract using three examples, this opinion piece argues that introductory economics can provide an effective context in which to introduce university students to interdisciplinary learning and thinking. the first example illustrates how input-process-output diagrams can be used to stimulate interdisciplinary thinking in classrooms when teaching the concept of production. the second and third examples illustrate how elasticity and the concept of circular economies, respectively, can be introduced using an interdisciplinary approach. these examples are suitable for introductory economics classrooms in which students gain a foundation of basic scientific and mathematical concepts. 1. context although interdisciplinary activity is increasingly present in postsecondary education (klaassen, 2018; davies and devlin, 2010; lattuca, 2001), it has not yet been fully investigated (cavigliaharris, 2010). drawing on my own experience as an educator and using examples from introductory economics, i argue that conducting such research has a great deal to offer. my examples were developed for teaching introductory economics in the tertiary education system of bangladesh, which offers four-year undergraduate degrees consisting of general education courses on arts, humanities, and social sciences. students have typically studied basic scientific and mathematical concepts as part of the curriculum in the compulsory stages of education. 2. introduction interdisciplinary instruction is defined as transcending subject boundaries with the aim of integrating frameworks and methods from different disciplines to explore a concept or problem (rover, 2002; goldsmith and casey, 2012; woods, 2017). among other benefits, an interdisciplinary approach can stimulate creativity in classroom activities and lead to the design opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 12 of more authentic assessments. there is evidence that interdisciplinary teaching can help students to improve their abilities to synthesise and integrate information, think critically and holistically as well as develop self-confidence and a passion for learning (caviglia-harris 2010, rover 2002, goldsmith and casey 2012). referring to the field of economics, caviglia-harris (2010, p.196) argues that interdisciplinary instruction “can assist students in recognizing the importance of the discipline and help them to understand how it relates to other fields”. however, there are a number of challenges. one obstacle for educators, identified by lindvig and ulriksen (2019), is a lack of `concrete examples’ of interdisciplinary teaching available for educators to use or to stimulate their own ideas. this opinion piece focuses on three such examples to address that gap. a further constraint is that there can be an expectation that interdisciplinary teaching will involve a restructure of the curriculum or require experts to be brought in from other departments (pharo et al., 2012; feedman, 2008). yet i would argue that by building on the existing knowledge bank of students, an introduction to interdisciplinary thinking can be delivered without these additional costs and disruptions. before entering higher education (he), economics students will typically have gained a foundation of knowledge in mathematical and scientific concepts. an interdisciplinary approach in introductory economics classrooms can leverage this knowledge base. another barrier, when putting interdisciplinary approaches into practice, is the growing specialisation of students’ knowledge, skills and mindset as they progress through their degrees. blair and durance (2012) argue that at higher levels of he, students find interdisciplinary courses to be challenging and difficult. however, at the introductory level, students have not yet specialised and so this may be the optimal time to use a pedagogical approach that demonstrates interdisciplinarity and enables students to make connections between the disciplines (freedman, 2008). moreover, first-year classes are more likely to include students from mixed discipline areas and interests, creating a context in which meaningful links between disciplines can help facilitate a sense of belonging. the literature does contain some examples of teaching economics using an interdisciplinary approach (goldsmith and casey, 2012; blair and durrance, 2012), but most of them are not suitable for introductory courses, which are likely to contain students who have never studied economics before (islam, 2011). this opinion piece, using three examples, illustrates how opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 13 interdisciplinary thinking can be stimulated in an introductory economics class by capitalising on the existing knowledge base that students typically bring with them into their learning at university. my own observations and informal feedback from students have suggested that this approach has been effective. 3. example 1: teaching ‘production’ using input-process-output diagrams this example shows how an input-process-output diagram – such as the one in figure 1 – used widely in other disciplines such as computer science and business studies, can be deployed to stimulate interdisciplinary learning and thinking in classrooms. input-process-output diagrams are, in my experience, one of the best introductions to interdisciplinary thinking, since the diagram is used to model different phenomena across different disciplines. for example, input-process-output diagrams are used to explain the function of a central processing unit (cpu) in computer science, and computer science students, who are usually required to take introductory economics courses, will be easily able to relate to the model. also, it is likely to be familiar to students from their learning prior to their entering college or university about other input-output processes or systems, such as photosynthesis and respiration. in the context of economics, input-process-output diagrams fit perfectly with the concept of production, defined as the process of transforming inputs (factors of production) into outputs (goods and services); discussion of this topic can therefore be facilitated and enhanced by reference to students’ prior learning and to multiple uses of this visual representation. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 14 interdisciplinary thinking can be stimulated in class after the introduction of the concept of production using the diagram above (or a variation thereof) by asking and encouraging students to give examples of input-output-processes from their existing knowledge base. then, based on the students’ answers, the instructor can point out that similar input-output processes exist across other disciplines, such as computer science and biology. for example, a living organism, such as a plant, also uses inputs, such as sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (the inputs), to produce its food (the output) and oxygen is produced as a by-product of this process. similarly, the production process of economics can also lead to by-products, such as pollution (negative externalities). the discussion can thus naturally move towards the important economic concepts of positive and negative externalities. 4. example 2: teaching ‘elasticity’ using an interdisciplinary approach elasticity is another topic in introductory economics which is well suited to stimulating interdisciplinary learning and thinking in economics classrooms. during an introduction to elasticity, the instructor has scope to encourage and aid students to integrate and synthesise diverse information, think more holistically about university education and identify patterns across disciplines. when teaching the concept of elasticity, the educator can highlight that, across natural and social sciences, we are interested in studying the relationship between variables – or more precisely, how a dependent/outcome variable responds to changes in an independent/explanatory variable. the educator can build on the familiarity that students are likely to have from prior learning with concepts such as rate of change, slope, or gradient. next, the teacher can point out that in economics, elasticity considers percentage changes while other units of measurement may apply in other fields. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 15 the instructor can then highlight a common question asked across many disciplines: if independent/explanatory variable changes by one unit, then how much does the dependent/outcome variable change/respond? the answer to this question is provided by the following formula for the rate of change, typically learned in the secondary school years. ∆𝑦 ∆𝑥 in case of elasticity, we are changing our question only slightly; if independent variable increases by one per cent, then by what percentage does the dependent variable change (pindyck and rubinfield, 2013)? the answer can be found by slightly modifying the formula above: %∆𝑦 %∆𝑥 this very generalised and interdisciplinary introduction to elasticity can be used to encourage students to find patterns/links across disciplines and encourage them to integrate and synthesise information accumulated in academic life. a generalised and interdisciplinary approach to teaching elasticity can also be used as a scaffold for creative exercises in which the students are required to apply the concept of elasticity in novel situations from their respective majors/disciplines. for example, an agricultural science student might be interested to find out if the percentage of fertilizer increases by one per cent, then by what percentage does the yield increase? in this case the formula, which students should be encouraged to derive, would be: %∆𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 ∆%𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑟 the aim is to draw out examples from students’ knowledge base and use them to facilitate a better, deeper and more holistic understanding of the concept of elasticity. 5. example 3: introducing the concept of circular economies using interdisciplinary examples in addition to providing another example of interdisciplinary teaching, example 3 is presented to argue that the concept of circular economies, a topic not included in many economics textbooks opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 16 (arnold, 2019; tucker, 2019; mankiw, 2016; mankiw, 2018a; mankiw, 2018b; pindyck and rubinfield, 2013), should be taught in every introductory economics classroom. in my experience, an interdisciplinary approach can be particularly effective when introducing the concept of circular economies. the educator can highlight the point that natural systems – such as the carbon and water cycles – that students may be familiar with from previous or concurrent learning are circular in nature and hence sustainable. then the educator can show that economic systems of production, consumption and disposal are, by contrast, usually linear in nature; however, economic systems can also be made circular through re-using and recycling. the following youtube video, which also uses an interdisciplinary approach, may serve to introduce students to the concept of circular economies. this exercise can help students to realise that ideas from one discipline can be very relevant to and applicable in another field, thus providing the building blocks of interdisciplinary thinking and learning. 6. conclusion the above examples have been used successfully to introduce interdisciplinary thinking and learning in introductory economics classrooms consisting of students from different disciplines who have a foundation of knowledge of basic scientific and mathematical concepts. it is argued that teaching certain concepts using an interdisciplinary approach may facilitate greater classroom discussion and dialogue amongst students from different disciplines and help them integrate and synthesise past and present information. systematic testing of this work, using a combination of student outcomes and feedback gained through focus groups, is planned to evaluate the benefits and explore limits and possibilities for extending and building on this approach with future cohorts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcrkvdyyhmi opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 17 references arnold, r.a. (2019) economics (13th edn.) boston: cengage. isbn: 9781337617383 blair, r.d. and durrance, c.p. (2012) ‘an interdisciplinary approach to teaching antitrust economics.’ in: hoyt, g.m. and mcgoldrick, k.m. (eds.) international handbook on teaching and learning economics. uk: edward elgar publishing, pp. 463-472. isbn: 9781848449688 caviglia-harris, j.l. (2010) ‘introducing undergraduates to economics in an interdisciplinary setting.’ the journal of economic education, 34(3), 195-203. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220480309595214 (accessed: 5 may 2022). davies, m. and devlin, m. (2010) ‘interdisciplinary higher education.’ in: davies, m., devlin, m. and tight, m. (eds.) interdisciplinary higher education: perspectives and practicalities (international perspectives on higher education research, vol. 5. bingley: emerald group publishing limited, 3-28. available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-3628(2010)0000005004 (accessed: 18 january 2023). freedman, o. (2008) ‘sex, class, and history: an experiment in teaching economics in an interdisciplinary setting.’ the journal of economic education, 39(3), 251-259. available at: https://doi:10.3200/jece.39.3.251-259 (accessed: 12 june 2022). islam, s. (2011) ‘teaching introductory economics to students of different majors.’ in: american society of business and behavioral sciences 18th annual conference, asbbs, 2011. las vegas, nv. 22-27 february. las vegas, nv: absbbs, 877-885. available at: http://asbbs.org/files/2011/asbbs2011v1/pdf/i/islams.pdf (accessed: 7 may 2022) klaassen, r.g. (2018) ‘interdisciplinary education: a case study.’ european journal of engineering education, 43(6), 842-859. available at: https://doi:10.1080/03043797.2018.1442417 (accessed: 23 may 2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/00220480309595214 https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-3628(2010)0000005004 https://doi:10.3200/jece.39.3.251-259 http://asbbs.org/files/2011/asbbs2011v1/pdf/i/islams.pdf https://doi:10.1080/03043797.2018.1442417 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 18 lattuca, l.r. (2001) creating interdisciplinarity: interdisciplinary research and teaching among college and university faculty. nashville: vanderbilt university press. isbn: 9780826513830 lindvig, k. and ulriksen, l. (2019) ‘different, difficult, and local: a review of interdisciplinary teaching activities.’ the review of higher education, 43(2), 697-725. available at: https://doi:10.1353/rhe.2019.0115 (accessed: 3 june 2022). mankiw, n.g. (2016) macroeconomics. (8th edn,) boston: cengage. isbn: 9781429240024 mankiw, n.g. (2018a) principles of microeconomics. (8th edn.) boston: cengage. isbn: 9781305971493 mankiw, n.g. (2018b) principles of macroeconomics. (8th edn.) boston: cengage. isbn: 9781305971509 pharo, e.j., davison, a., warr, k., nursey-bray, m., beswick, k., wapstra, e. and jones, c. (2012) ‘can teacher collaboration overcome barriers to interdisciplinary learning in a disciplinary university? a case study using climate change.’ teaching in higher education, 17(5), 497-507. available at: https://doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.658560 (accessed: 19 may 2022). pindyck, r and rubenfield, d. (2013) microeconomics. (8th edn.) boston: pearson. isbn: 9780132857123 https://doi:10.1353/rhe.2019.0115 https://doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.658560 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 19 rover, d.t. (2002) ‘interdisciplinary teaching and learning: what, why, and how.’ journal of engineering education, 91(4), 369-70. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2002.tb00718.x (accessed: 10 june 2022). staub, f.c., and stern, e. (2002) ‘the nature of teachers' pedagogical content beliefs matters for students' achievement gains: quasi-experimental evidence from elementary mathematics.’ journal of educational psychology, 94(2), 344-355. available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/00220663.94.2.344 (accessed: 5 june 2022). tucker, i.b. (2019) survey of economics. (10th edn.) boston: cengage. isbn: 9781337111522 woods, c. (2007) ‘researching and developing interdisciplinary teaching: towards a conceptual framework for classroom communication.’ higher education, 54, 853-866. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-006-9027-3 (accessed: 9 may 2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2002.tb00718.x https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.94.2.344 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.94.2.344 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-006-9027-3 compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 first published in july 2021 by: university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editors rachel george, university of greenwich yang yang, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, university of greenwich editorial board paul breen, university of westminster louise hewitt, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university dawn reilly, university of greenwich clare rossato, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series reviewers alice neal, university of greenwich alison gilmour, university of greenwich asegul hulus, university of greenwich dawn reilly, university of greenwich ed de quincey, keele university emma kennedy, university of greenwich eve rapley, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london helen hawthorne middlesex university james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series jenny marie, university of greenwich jessica hancock, city, university of london kerry dobbins, university of leicester laura muncey, university of greenwich leanne de main, de montfort university martin compton, ucl martin snowden, university of greenwich melissa pavetich, university of greenwich nihal amer, msa university, cairo rachel george, university of greenwich yang yang, university of greenwich technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 wearable technology in academia: proposed uses of google glass in the life sciences bradley elliott, artun sukan university of westminster introduction for those who have not seen it, heard about it or noticed the fuss about it, google glass is a major (indeed, perhaps, the major) entry into the new electronic device category of ‘wearable technology’. glass is a pair of spectacles with a small transparent prism that sits above the right eye and projects information just above the wearer’s normal view. the unit also contains hardware similar to that of a basic smartphone, including a forward-facing camera, 16 gb of internal memory, a microphone for voice commands and a small touch-sensitive surface on the right side of the frame, for use when voice control is not sufficient (figure 1: a). the features of glass that we anticipate will make it, or hardware like it, a key tool in learning and teaching environments are: a) the projected personal view; b) the forward-facing camera and c) its ability to understand and respond to spoken commands, allowing the wearer the significant advantage of using it hands-free. this article aims to outline how academic staff in higher education might exploit such a device as this for teaching and learning. we can immediately see four ways in which they might put this new tool to use: as a hands-free computer in a research lab setting; as a video podcast tool to instruct students in complex lab techniques and protocols; as a teaching aid, for lecture notes; for enhanced inclusion of students in a discursive or lecture environment. there have also been proposals, such as for ‘flipped classrooms’, augmented reality and technique analysis, for how students might use glass (dunn, 2013, parslow, 2014). figure 1: a) example of google glass (wikimedia commons). b) example view through glass, showing an overlay of technique protocol during a western blot. hands-free device in the teaching and research environment biological science research and teaching necessitates a significant amount of time at the bench. for those who are not familiar with ‘bench-top science’, there are strict rules and protocols that must be adhered to, to prevent serious harm to researchers and/or damage to their surroundings. two of these are relevant here: firstly, no phones, no computers, no b) a) technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 personal electronics; secondly, pens and paper that are in the lab must stay in the lab (i.e. avoid cross-contamination). while this typically precludes the use of modern devices in the biological sciences, there are methods to overcome such barriers. for example, the ipad project (dyer, 2012) developed simple disposable plastic covers to allow undergraduate students safely and easily to use ipads as electronic lab books. the ability to perform and check complex dilution calculations, read from electronic instruction sheets or rapidly research a point of interest online without removing gloves and other lab safety equipment is clearly a great advantage (for example, figure 1: b). there are also numerous occasions during bench-top sciences when the photographic recording of a result or stage is helpful. we therefore propose that a wearable, hands-free screen and camera would be of great use to the research student (or, indeed, to anyone in a research environment) to check protocols, visually record results and access information online. laboratory techniques podcast generation one continuing issue in the biological sciences is the financial pressure upon the teaching of practical undergraduate sessions. the intended learning outcome for students is typically practical experience in biochemical assays and/or in vitro techniques. these sessions are costly, in both money and time, to the university. furthermore, there is often a significant difference between the amount of written information given for a protocol and what extra notes are needed to complete a protocol successfully. for example, when describing a common protein quantification technique (the western blot), three lines are typically sufficient. in an undergraduate lab manual for sessions of 50-100 students, this institution uses approximately half a page, whereas, for the instruction of graduate students in a ‘oneto-one’ lab setting, 1-2 pages of detailed notes, tips and techniques are often required, as such biochemical techniques require the mastery of extensive ‘tricks’ and skills. we and others (munch-harrach et al., 2013) have successfully used podcast-style videos to ‘prep’ students on complex techniques prior to demonstration or practical sessions. such audiovisual aids are of great use for delivering rich information and practical skills. indeed, written protocols often don’t or can’t include the fine techniques necessary to complete an assay or procedure successfully. we therefore propose that a wearable camera such as glass makes an excellent tool for the production of first-person podcast videos, overlaid with an information-rich running commentary for the student user, whose hands are thus left free to perform the complex tasks demonstrated. seminar and lecture delivery the authors of this article don’t often use notes when delivering talks, but do occasionally like to have key points or reminders for some presentations. one simple use of a wearable device such as glass is to couple it to the laptop used for presentations, so that the presenter is able to see projected notes when changing slides; another, even simpler, is for the presenter to use a projected timer/countdown for seminars, brief talks or time-limited conference presentations, when delivery and timing are so critical. a further use in the lecture setting would be the live recording of lectures as they are delivered; to help their revision, students might well choose to record the spoken part of a lecture or seminar. however, some academics are cautious about audio recording, as words can be misunderstood out of context. furthermore, recording of inclusive/discursive lectures will include not only the academic’s voice, but those of participants also, which may have technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 legal implications (jisclegal, 2010). to overcome this difficulty, an academic might upload a version of the lecture (as it is or edited to avoid potential infringement of spoken word ownership laws) that represents the accepted values of the institution. we therefore propose that an academic wearing such a device could record a delivered lecture or seminar, which recording, in turn, could be attached to slides or notes and uploaded to a virtual learning environment as a more complete resource. while this function does mirror those of more common recording devices currently in use, the pairing of recording technologies offering different key features may simplify the process and not necessarily cause the academic to be overwhelmed by a plethora of tools. enhanced student inclusion one current use of glass that demonstrates its potential for enhancing student inclusion is an app called ‘captioning on glass’. designed for users who are deaf or have impaired hearing, this app records the spoken words it hears and plays them back to the wearer as caption text in real time. this has allowed deaf users to take part in lectures and even group discussions (mager, 2014). the eye-level screen allows the user to maintain eye contact during a discussion, rather than having to turn away from the speaker and thus breaking the flow of conversation. barriers to overcome any new technology has barriers to be overcome. for glass, the major concern to date has been one of privacy: some individuals are uncomfortable about the idea of being under the scrutiny of cameras attached to the heads of those around them. currently, also, cost is an issue, but this will fall as devices become more widely used. google suggests that battery life is ‘all day’, but early reviews suggest that three to five hours of constant use may be more realistic, which may be insufficient for longer tasks. in addition, an examination of the tool suggests that several barriers may arise in use. having a small screen permanently overlaying the right eye may prove more of a hindrance than an advantage in maintaining engagement and may result in a perceived or even physical barrier between learners and teachers. as opposed to collaborative tools, such as ‘smart board’ interactive displays, glass, as an individual experience, may preclude interactive efforts during group tasks. being constantly connected to the internet will also allow users to access a range of functions, such as e-mails, social networks and calendar reminders. since this tool currently requires an unbroken internet connection to perform the majority of its functions, selfdiscipline in its use (just as in the need to remember to silence one’s cell phone!) will be essential. conclusion like smartphones in the last eight years and tablets in the last four, wearable technologies such as glass are poised to become a ubiquitous item in society; they have the ability to enhance teaching and learning in higher education. in this article, we have proposed some of their likely practical applications and considered some disadvantages. we also note that, as is the case with any new tool or technological advance, we are likely to see further, perhaps unexpected, ways in which users will apply them within an educational context. technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 reference list dunn, j. 2013. teachers guide to google glass [online]. available at http://www.edudemic.com/guides/the-teachers-guide-to-google-glass/. [accessed 01-022015]. dyer, p. 2012. ipads in labs at the university of greenwich [online]. university of greenwich. available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bxj56dlgfc [accessed 13-082014]. jisclegal 2010. recording lectures: legal considerations. jisc online. available: http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/portals/12/documents/pdfs/recording%20lectures.pdf [accessed 18-08-2014]. mager, w. 2014. live subtitles: how smart technology could help deaf people [online]. bbc. available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-28672182 [accessed 13-08-2014]. munch-harrach, d., kothe, c. & hampe, w. 2013. audio podcasts in practical courses in biochemistry cost-efficient e-learning in a well-proven format from radio broadcasting. gms z med ausbild, 30, 44. parslow, g. r. 2014. commentary: google glass: a head-up display to facilitate teaching and learning. biochem mol biol educ, 42, 91-2. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 learning videos do they work for you? gabriela daniels university of the arts, london an exploration of the value of integrating on-line instructional videos into the students’ learning experience in practical workshops over the last two decades, learning technologies (accessed via personal computers and, more recently, mobile electronic devices such as tablet computers and smart phones) have pervaded all stages of formal education. their increased use has been furthered by widespread enhanced connectivity and the development of systematic approaches for integrating digital technology into pedagogic practices. one common term applied to the resources created by digital technologies is learning objects (los). wiley (2000) offers a definition of los: “…any digital resource that can be reused to support learning. this definition includes everything that can be delivered across the network on demand, be it large or small.” wiley’s definition encompasses a very broad range of digital resources, ranging from images, pre-recorded videos and animations to web pages, which aim to provide complete experiences via a combination of applications. this variety offers a range of opportunities for educators to develop and integrate los into the curricula in a phased and practical way, reflecting subject-specific needs and organisational technical capacity. this study evaluates the effectiveness of one type of lo specialist instructional videos produced with the intention of offering on-demand instruction and enhanced visual presentation of complex processes in an art and design teaching context. the study specifically focuses on the reusability potential of the videos and how instructional design is likely to affect it. two important organisational objectives drove the study: to develop sustainable and flexible pedagogic practices and to improve the internal organisational effectiveness of the process of video creation. both staff and students were involved in the study. the constructivist approach to learning puts the emphasis on supporting learners in their construction of knowledge (duffy and cunningham, 1996). consequently, the learners’ own context and engagement with the presented learning processes and aids are at the heart of current pedagogic practices. the proliferation of digital learning objects over the last fifteen years has prompted a wave of pedagogic research, seeking to review them in the light of constructivist learning. some review articles, voicing critical views of los, state that they “…do not cause learning, but provide availability”, owing to the lack of sound pedagogic approaches in their design and to their poor searching capacity (yahya and yusoff, 2008). other critics of the los suggest that their structures offer rather prescribed pathways within the learning processes, limiting learners’ active participation (bannan-ritland et al, 2000). these observations are consistent with the way wiley, within his broader los classification, describes videos as “combined closed systems” which are single-purpose, providing case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 instruction and practice and with constituents that cannot be used separately audio and visual information (wiley, 2000). despite the acknowledged limited reusability of learning videos, their appeal to many teachers and learners is undisputed. videos are broadly described as a multi-media learning resource (audio and visual) and their proliferation (youtube, vimeo and passwordprotected platforms) provides shared experiences to groups of learners. their use for instruction and teaching has been supported by cognitive theoretical frameworks such as the dual coding theory, further developed into a multimedia learning theory (mayer and moreno, 2007). based on empirical studies, these theories suggest that learners apply two types of information process systems: verbal (text, auditory narration) and visual (images/actions). in the initial stages of the cognitive process, each type of information is processed separately by the brain. at the final stage, the learner integrates and builds his/her own knowledge structure. on that basis, mayer and moreno (2007) suggest that the design of multimedia resources complies with the following fundamental principles: 1. the use of multimedia for instruction is likely to be more effective than text only. 2. text-based information in a multimedia resource should be presented as an audio narration, not as an on-screen text. 3. the above principles are more important to learners with low prior knowledge of the subject. 4. short audio highlights are more effective than detailed explanations. despite the documented validity of the multimedia cognitive theory, studies into the impact of videos on attainment have so far offered inconclusive evidence of their benefits in comparison with traditional instructional methods, such as face-to-face and text-based instruction. however, several studies report improved student motivation and increased enjoyment in the subject (whatley and ahmad, 2007; teng et al, 2009; cherrett et al, 2009), which might have a more pronounced long-term and positive effect on learning than a shortterm study can evidence. it is also important to note that most evaluation studies have focused on the students’ interaction with videos in a formal teaching context, as it provides the opportunity for quantitative comparisons of student outcomes. whilst this approach still remains a valid evaluation methodology, the current prevalent use of smart phones by learners and teachers is starting to affect teaching and learning practices in a way that is harder to measure and evaluate. mobile learning (mlearning) is a new form of e-learning that poses fresh challenges and opportunities. wang and cheng (2012) discuss the potential of mlearning in aiding the development of skills and knowledge in social and informal learning environments: “informal learning emphasises the autonomy of deepening awareness, asking learners to combine study with some research and exploration…” informal learning has always been a part of constructivist learning and mobile technology has expanded its potential exponentially owing to improved access to the available learning materials (los specifically). thus, whilst the use of video recordings in formal learning case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 environments might still compare unfavourably with face-to-face teaching and instructions, mobile technology provides opportunities for integrating on-line videos into an emerging new learning paradigm that mixes formal with informal learning. finally, the expectation of reusability suggests that learners should be able to adapt los to their own context. this requires the consideration of two critical types of content: the lo specific content and lo metadata. metadata is defined as “descriptive information about the resource” (wiley, 2000) and enables the searching and cataloguing of los by learners for their private needs. in addition, sequence and granularity how big the los can be are key elements of design, specifically in the case of more complex los. those design principles also apply to the creation of on-line videos, as a stand-alone resource or as an element of a more complex lo. ritzhaupt (2010) defines several groups of los stakeholders, representing a new economy of educational content development: the learners, the authors and instructional designers and the lo developers. furthermore, yahya and yusoff (2008) also discuss the need to use experts’ feedback on the los’ past usage when planning new los with high potential reusability. this study aimed to collect information from representatives of all stakeholders’ groups, thus hoping to improve the educational and internal organisational effectiveness of the process of video creation and integration in the learning experience. study methodology qualitative data was collected from the following groups: academic and technical staff who had created the selected instructional videos; professional staff who were involved in the planning, filming and editing; academic and technical staff, who were not creators, but could be using the videos. the former two groups were interviewed individually (four interviews in total), whilst the latter group was interviewed via two focus groups, each session beginning with the viewing of a selection of three instructional videos. data was collected, reviewed and compared against the following three criteria: alignment with multimedia cognition theory, potential for constructivist learning and reusability of resources. quantitative data was collected from students (n=44) and was combined with some qualitative statements. student groups were shown three full-length videos and asked to complete questionnaires, which required rating the videos against the criteria, stating whether or not they would view them in the future and providing information about the locality and type of mobile devices that they were most likely to use. the data was analysed using t-test: paired two sample for means. qualitative evaluation interviews with the video creators revealed the following: alignment with the multimedia cognition theory there was an agreement that the videos demonstrated techniques and processes which benefited from visual presentation: “…because it is a tacit skill…so for me it was really case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 important it was close up, clear and from different angles…” where more time and consideration were given to planning the video, as a part of funded projects, the use of a script was seen by the creator as key to providing clear and concise instructions. where staff had less time to plan their videos, they could point to a range of possible improvements which could have enhanced the videos in line with the principles of multimedia cognition theory: present close-up views of area and movement; provide concise talk. potential for constructivist learning the intention of the creators was that the videos could be used as an in-class resource and/or as an on-demand resource, available via the college vle: “…being able to show students at close range, when you’re demonstrating how to sew a seam; demonstrating this to twenty students sitting around a sewing machine is not practical.” “they can dip in and out; they can look at one thing, fully understand that, then they can go back. we try to divide it into chunks, so they can actually understand one chunk, before they move on to the next.” “demonstrate something different that can inspire.” the universal aim of the video creators was to enable the transition of a formal learning opportunity into an informal one to fit the student’s personal learning needs and/or to enhance a contextual knowledge creation. this approach to using on-line videos appeared consistent with the literature, suggesting that videos are context-dependent and represent informal learning opportunities. another set of data was gathered by an interview with a video content developer. the importance of key messages and metadata, as well as concise presentations was highlighted. the use of a script in preparing for the video filming and/or voice over was seen as key to managing the duration and the content of the video: “…the video needs to be simple, short and directly to the point, and very clear.” these criteria are consistent with general good practice in preparing other visual aids (such as powerpoint or similar presentations), but were seen as even more important in the context of the significant investment of time needed for video production (filming and even more so editing). reusability to examine the reusability value, two focus groups were set up and asked to view and discuss selected internally-produced instructional videos, as well as the use of videos in classes and in workshops in general. the technical focus group thought the videos were helpful in a variety of situations, such as: to enable students to remind themselves of the process at a time when they needed to revisit it; to benefit students who are not native english speakers and who might not have fully understood the workshop instructions, since following visual presentation is easier than following a set of written instructions. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the overwhelming view was that students could be referred to the videos as follow-up resources after a face-to-face instruction session. the student location at the time of using the videos was discussed too, as a traditional ban on the use of mobile phones in workshops could be preventing students from using those to stream videos whilst working in a workshop. however, this regulation is somewhat inconsistent with the widely-practised informal recordings of classes and demonstrations undertaken by students with lecturers’ permission. the need for legitimatising these new learning practices became clearer throughout the discussion. the academic focus group identified similar reasons to reuse the videos: to point students to videos so that they can catch up with details that might have been missed in class; to help international students; to deploy them as a motivational tool. an additional benefit of using instructional videos of processes rather than book illustrations was identified as the potential of the videos to show more clearly the development of a product from 2d to 3d. academic staff also expressed the need to produce additional resources linked to videos to enhance constructivist learning, such as machine-threading diagrams and a glossary of terms (particularly helpful to international students). in summary, the reusability value of instructional videos was confirmed amongst different staff groups, referring mainly to informal, learner-led situations. student data analysis forty-four students following a range of garment design and realisation courses in the school of fashion design and technology at the london college of fashion were involved in the study. the most common age group was 21-25 and most students were female (89%). most students (89%) had not seen the videos before, although they were available via the college vle. the device most often used for viewing the videos, as well as for accessing all types of electronic resources, was the laptop (fig.1). this information was further confirmed by the qualitative data collected in the short focus group discussions after the formal video viewing. fig.1. student usage of electronic devices 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 electronic resources any videos % of interviewed students case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 constructivism the students valued the videos as a use-at-your-own-time resource, suitable either for reviewing a process that might not have been fully understood when demonstrated at college, or when something had been forgotten. in that context, the following features of the videos were identified as useful: repeatability (video can be watched at any time); viewing can be paused and resumed at student’s own pace; provides an easier-to-comprehend visual narrative, where written instruction is less helpful. multimedia design three full-length videos were shown to the students: french seam (fs), demonstrating a sewing technique (camera on the work area, voice over, two minutes); over locker (ol), providing an introduction to a specialist machine (talking head, zoom in and out on machine areas and the presenter, three minutes); bespoke tailoring-jacket (btj), offering an overview of measuring for bespoke jacket creation (expert presenter and a model, approximately ten minutes). all videos had been produced internally, with the anticipated audience being the student group from within which the survey groups were formed. the videos were rated against three production-quality aspects duration, pace and av quality (sound and visual) using the likert scale of 1 to 5, where 1 was the poorest score and 5 the most favourable. the students were also asked to score their intention to view the videos again, using the likert scale in a similar manner. for the purposes of this study, ratings of 4 and 5 were grouped in a “positive” group of responses, whilst ratings 1, 2 and 3 were grouped in a “less favourable” group. 60 -70% of the students gave positive ratings to the fs video in all three criteria; the btj video received 60-70% of positive scores in the overall quality and pace criteria, but 50% of positive scores for duration. the ol videos received between 40% and 50% positive responses (fig. 2). fig.2. percentage of students giving each video “positive rating” against the three production-quality criteria. 0 20 40 60 80 duration pace overall quality fs ol btj % interviewed students case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the two-sample t-paired test was applied on each quality criterion (duration, pace and overall quality) rating set for the videos and the respective rating for future viewings (table 1). the test checks whether the mean value for each quality rating equals that of the intended viewings. for most data sets, the production-quality rating means were statistically higher than the respective intended viewings. this difference can be a result of the interviewees’ different rating approaches when responding either to a question regarding an object or to one regarding intentions. it is also likely that showing instructional videos in an out-of-studio context might have influenced the participants’ perceived need to see the processes again. therefore a correlation coefficient for each set of data was also calculated, aiming to identify whether an increase in production quality ratings was matched by an increased intention to view again (table 1). for btj and fs videos, the duration and pace ratings were correlated with the likeliness to view again, whilst the av quality of the video was not. this might signify that, where the instructional content is highly relevant, students are more likely to view again short and concise videos, whilst being less concerned with additional production values. there were no correlations of values for the ol video, suggesting that the students were unsure about the overall effectiveness of the video. after each viewing, the student groups were also asked to share views in a semi-structured focus group discussion. the multimedia style of the instructional videos seemed pertinent to demonstrations of processes: “…it's easier to obviously see how it's been made as opposed to if it's just been written down.” it is possible that the absence of interactive elements increased the importance of video length and pace for repeat viewings. in that context, the qualitative data appears to support the findings of the quantitative data: “as long as they are short and sweet kind of thing, and they drive on, then i will watch them.” “… it's hard to say because in some (videos) like the jacket's there is lot to do, so you can only shorten it to an extent, but i would say that the french seam was really good it was just like a few minutes.” table 1. statistical analysis of the data video: ol duration view again pace view again quality av view again mean score 3.49 2.97 3.51 2.97 3.56 2.97 variance 0.89 1.66 0.84 1.66 0.78 1.66 observations 39.00 39.00 39.00 39.00 39.00 39.00 correlation co-efficient 0.29 0.02 0.39 no correlation no correlation positive correlation video: btj duration view again pace view again quality av view again mean 3.57 3.62 3.62 3.62 4.05 3.62 variance 1.70 0.80 1.35 0.80 0.72 0.80 observations 37.00 37.00 37.00 37.00 37.00 37.00 correlation co-efficient 0.43 0.42 0.25 positive correlation positive correlation no correlation video: fs duration view again pace view again quality av view again mean 4.34 3.89 4.09 3.89 4.23 3.89 variance 1.02 1.41 0.92 1.41 0.88 1.41 observations 44.00 44.00 44.00 44.00 44.00 44.00 correlation co-efficient 0.40 0.34 0.15 positive correlation positive correlation no correlation case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the students also valued the videos as providing the opportunity to see an instruction again and to refresh their memory, perhaps after class, or to fill in gaps in knowledge after a group demo. they had viewed youtube videos of related processes, but found the ones shown to them in this study more informative. one student proposed that the videos be used for constructing the technical files, which each student is required to do as a part of the realisation units. good instructional video features a summary of the characteristics of a “good instructional video” that emerged from this study is outlined below. it is suggested that, if videos broadly conform to these characteristics, their reusability value is likely to increase:  key contextual information should be included in all instructional videos, even those that constitute a long chaptered process;  a glossary of terms should be provided;  voice over with fluent audio presentations should be aimed for;  audio information should be related to what is on the screen, rather than general information;  the videos should be short and clear;  editing cuts and switching between different filming angles should be minimised. reusability overall, the main reason expressed by the students for repeat viewings of the videos matched the creators’ intentions: to enable the construction of knowledge via practice at a time selected by the students. these findings resonate with the theoretical discussions about videos providing knowledge or instruction on demand. “…we photograph each stuff… instead of that you can go home, watch this and make your technical file notes while watching this…” “…you are going too fast, and you have so much to do. it's easier to forget, so if you go home and if i could just go, oh, how did they do french seami can just go in there so that's quite good…” “….you can stop that as many times as you want and go back to it. in a class there are always lots of people; you can't always ask as many questions as you want.” as the videos were shown to students in an out-of-studio context, they noticed the helpfulness of some concise contextual information, e.g. choice of fabrics and techniques. this relates to the suggestions for including glossaries, which, in turn, relates to the need to consider the video metadata at the time of planning the video. conclusion the development of instructional videos should be guided by the understanding of the user’s context and the anticipated benefits, which in turn should influence the design aspects of the video. this study aimed to evaluate instructional videos by gathering information from a case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 range of stakeholders, an approach broadly in line with the structure for evaluating los suggested by williams (2000), i.e. clarify who wants to use them, identify what users expect from los and compare the gathered data about how the objects measure up against the criteria. the staff (creators and users) expressed broadly similar intentions for the use of the instructional videos, primarily to enhance informal learning. hence, the integration of videos in the personal construct of knowledge was left to the students’ individual initiative and was expected to take place mainly outside the workshop environment. the creators and users specifically valued the capacity of instructional videos to provide visualisation of 3d processes, to support dyslexic students and/or international students by reducing the dependency on text-based instruction. these values, combined with the “on-demand” and mobile access afforded by modern technology, and their contextualisation potential suggest that instructional videos can become a more prominent component of student learning. improved pedagogy and better understanding of the principles of multimedia cognitive theory can aid their integration in more formal learning scenarios, too. the students identified several contexts within which they would view the videos (for example, at home, to prepare a technical file; to review a partly-forgotten technique) and these matched the scenarios anticipated by the creators and users. however, it is not unreasonable to assume that an initial introduction within a formal learning setting will enhance the potential benefits. berk (2009) suggests a range of techniques and approaches to multimedia teaching which would apply to most teaching environments and styles of videos, such as set discussion points or activities that enable the viewers to focus on an aspect of the video, or asking students to view and collaborate on a task. although the majority of students in this study were more likely to view videos on laptops at home, it was notable that they still preferred very short videos. this suggests that the reusability of an instructional video is likely to be assessed by the students in a more general practical context and not on the merit of its content alone. the likely increase of informal mobile learning in the future will strengthen the importance of length/duration considerations, as well as the visual and auditory qualities (shen and wang, 2012). the results of the student survey also suggest that a preliminary evaluation of instructional videos as a part of their development process can be helpful, as it highlights clearly those design features that are most important to the subject content and to the context of use. in summary, videos with their multimedia approach to instruction will continue to be used in art and design education because of their visualisation capacity; however, as with any other learning material or learning object, they should be actively promoted and used by creators and users in a variety of formal and informal learning situations. a consistent approach to the introduction and evaluation of all types of learning objects, specifically in their early adoption stages, is recommended. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 references bannan-ritland, b., dabbagh, n. & murphy, k. (2000) ‘learning object systems as constructivist learning environments: related assumptions, theories, and applications.’ in d. a. wiley (ed.), the instructional use of learning objects: online version. available at: http://reusability.org/read/chapters/bannan-ritland.doc (accessed on: 13 august 2012). beck, r. (2009) ‘multimedia teaching with video clips: tv, movies, youtube, and mtvu in the college classroom.’ international journal of technology in teaching and learning, 5 (1), 1-21. cherrett, t. et al (2009) ‘making training more cognitively effective: making videos interactive.’ british journal of educational technology, 40 (6). choi, j. and johnson s. (2005) ‘the effect of context-based video instruction on learning and motivation in on-line courses.’ the american journal of distance education, 19 (4) 215-227. duffy, t. and cunnigham, d (1996) ‘constructivism: implications for the design and delivery of instruction’, as cited by ritzhaupt, a. (2010) ‘learning objects systems and strategy: a description and discussion.’ interdisciplinary journal of e-learning and learning objects. 6. available at: http://www.ijello.org/volume6/ijellov6p217-238ritzhaupt701.pdf (accessed on: 25 march 2013). ellis, r. and child, m. (1999) ‘the effectiveness of video as a learning tool in on-line multimedia modules.’ journal of educational media, 24 (3). mayer, r.e. and moreno, r. (2005) a cognitive theory of multimedia learning: implications for design principles. available at: http://www.unm.edu/~moreno/pdfs/chi.pdf (accessed on: 18 july 2012). nikoi, s. (2011) ‘corre: a framework for evaluating and transforming teaching materials into open educational resources.’ open learning, 26 (3), 191-207. richardson, j. (2012) ‘face-to-face versus on-line tuition: preference, performance and pass rates in white and ethnic minority students.’ british journal of educational technology, 43 (1), 17-27. ritzhaupt, a. (2010) ‘learning objects systems and strategy: a description and discussion.’ interdisciplinary journal of e-learning and learning objects, 6. available at: http://www.ijello.org/volume6/ijellov6p217-238ritzhaupt701.pdf (accessed on: 25 march 2013). teng, y. et al (2009) create motivating youtube videos: using dual coding theory and multimedia learning theory to investigate viewer perceptions. available at: http://www.publicationshare.com/aera _09_youtube_0410_2009.htm (accessed on: 13 august 2012). http://reusability.org/read/chapters/bannan-ritland.doc http://www.unm.edu/~moreno/pdfs/chi.pdf http://www.publicationshare.com/aera%20_09_youtube_0410_2009.htm case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 verleur, r., heuvelman, a. and verhagen, p. (2011) ‘trigger videos on the web: impact of audiovisual design’, british journal of educational technology. 42 (4), 573-582. yahya, y. and yusoff, m. (2008). ‘towards a comprehensive learning object metadata: incorporation of context to stipulate meaningful learning and enhance learning object reusability.’ interdisciplinary journal of e-learning and learning objects. available at: http://www.ijello.org/volume4/ijellov4p013-048yahya185.pdf (accessed on: 10 august 2012). wang, m. and shen, r. (2012) ‘message design for mobile learning: learning theories, human cognition and design principles.’ british journal of educational technology, july 43, pt.4, 561-575. whatley, j. and ahmad, a. (2007) ‘using video to record summary lectures and to aid students’ revision.’ interdisciplinary journal of knowledge and learning object, 3. available at: http://www.ijello.org/volume3/ijklov3p185-196whatley367.pdf (accessed on: 15 august 2013). wiley, d. a. (2000) ‘connecting learning objects to instructional design theory: a definition, a metaphor, and a taxonomy.’ in d. a. wiley (ed.), the instructional use of learning objects: online version. available at: http://reusability.org/read/chapters/wiley.doc (accessed on: 13 august 2012). williams,d. (2000) evaluation of learning objects and instruction using learning objects. available at: http://www.reusability.org/read/ (accessed on: 20 april 2013). http://www.ijello.org/volume4/ijellov4p013-048yahya185.pdf http://www.ijello.org/volume3/ijklov3p185-196whatley367.pdf http://reusability.org/read/chapters/wiley.doc http://www.reusability.org/read/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 bridging the gap with intranets: linking connected learning in an open world to university league tables ray stoneham university of greenwich abstract linking connected learning in an open world to university league tables keywords: intranets, managed learning environments the internet offers great flexibility to tutors for interacting with their students. open educational resources provide a myriad of ways in which learning can take place outside the classroom (jisc, 2014), social media and cloud storage have introduced new methods of interaction (moran et al, 2011) and innovative peer and group assessment give evidence of skills needed by business and academia (british chambers of commerce, 2014). these are just some of the components of connected learning in an open world, which was the subject of a recent conference at which this paper was presented (university of greenwich, 2014). sophisticated corporate management information systems (often more than one in the same university), on the other hand, store student progress, match it to student data and implement complex algorithms approved by academic councils to provide aggregated grades, which themselves become statistics to funding agencies and to a variety of university league tables. these league tables, which also incorporate national student survey data based on the student experience of learning in the university, then affect the university’s reputation and future student recruitment. this gap between learning (an input) and information (an output) is illustrated in figure 1. figure 1: nature of the gap articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 to bridge the gap, universities face the dual challenge of converting all this innovation in learning and assessment into a single, achievement-reflective grade for each student at the end of her/his programme of study and justifying this to external examiners, auditors, regulatory bodies and, increasingly, appeal committees and the office of the independent adjudicator (behrens, 2013). a further challenge is to ensure that a university’s commitment to connected learning in an open world has a positive impact on its position in league tables. intranets, as illustrated in figure 2, can help a university meet these challenges, but only if they are fit for purpose, properly resourced and effectively managed. figure 2: bridging the gap different ways of bridging the gap have evolved in different universities, but many of these are labour-intensive and paper-based. off-the-shelf managed learning environments are not available (stoneham, 2012); virtual learning environments, such as moodle, are good at individual course/module level, but lack appropriate high-level reporting tools (elearnity, 2012); eportfolios provide the facility for students to curate their own work, but do not authenticate it (smith and kajita, 2014); custom-built intranets provide some good functionality for data-gathering/aggregation, but many are poorly supported and are often seen by central it services as ‘feral systems’ or ‘shadow it systems’ (vizard, 2013). portals are designed to link these disparate systems together, but many are also hybrid intranets that are difficult to navigate (caya and pernice, 2014). intranets are crucial to organisations needing efficient business processes. many major companies and organisations have invested heavily in intranets, and the benefits are clear (nielsen, 2014). in universities, however, intranets are often poorly resourced. they are often a neglected part of a university's website, having little functionality and a poorlystructured mixture of content for both internal and external audiences (robertson, 2013), and consequently leave a significant gap between the evidence of learning and the recording of it in the university's mis. in an attempt to bridge this gap, the school of computing and mathematical sciences (cms) at the university of greenwich has spent the past twelve years developing an intranet. top task analysis, an effective management technique introduced by mcgovern (2010), was used as part of a continuous, improvement-iterative process to prioritise development, thereby ensuring the system met user requirements. moderation of coursework and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 examinations, handling of plagiarism and extenuating circumstances, feedback to students, personal tutoring and supervision of projects are just some of the top tasks that are supported for over 2,000 students and 100 academic and administrative staff. significant progress was made during this period towards the development of a managed learning environment in cms (stoneham, 2012). unlike many university websites and intranets, the cms intranet was not a static structure, but a dynamic, data-driven, role-based site with clear workflows, relevant information architecture and a wide range of management reports. exception reports were widely used to identify what needed to be addressed in order to simplify quality assurance tasks. integration with the university's mis systems meant that common data about students was used, whilst integration with the university's external-examiner online reporting site enabled external examiners to view with ease samples of student work and relevant management reports. the cms intranet played a key role in several successful accreditation events by the british computer society and the qaa. the cms school has now been disbanded as part of the restructuring of the university of greenwich, but lessons learnt from the development of the cms intranet are now being used in the faculty of architecture, computing and humanities, whilst the university itself is working to develop systems and to extend them to a wider audience. there is also, now, the even bigger challenge of bridging the gap between the university's mis systems and connected learning in the faculty's collaboration centres and partner colleges around the world. progress on this, which involves over 30 centres and 3,000 students, as well as progress within the faculty and at university level, will be reported at a later date. there are many reasons why intranets do not already bridge the gap identified here in universities. one possible reason is that there are many examples of poorly-governed intranets that are not aligned to business processes, with a consequent lack of ‘buy-in’ from the users, and these have given intranets a bad reputation (vizard, 2013). as intranets are generally not seen as strategically important by university management and their potential is not appreciated, they are therefore not properly resourced. in addition, the benefits of a workflow-based intranet are not immediately apparent. in fact, when they are first introduced, workflow-based intranets are often seen as an imposition on academic staff as they force them to follow clear procedures, thereby losing some academic freedom and flexibility. administrative staff and managers, however, immediately perceive the benefits and, in time, so do most academics. in fact, an anonymous online survey completed by sixty-four cms staff just before cms was disbanded clearly showed how much all staff had come to rely on the intranet, and how concerned they were that it might no longer be available. a selection of comments follows: view of a lecturer “coursework moderation is easy due to the fact that you can see the marks and all the comments for the whole class in one place.” view of a personal tutor “the etutor system is a particular strong point of the intranet. it collects very useful information on each tutee in one place and allows one to easily keep tabs of conversations and of problems. communication with tutees or groups of tutees is made very easy by the etutor system. the same is true of the very similar esupervisor system.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 view of a programme leader “i used to resent having to take registers and enter them online. i use the cms intranet register system continuously for many different types of task ranging from the mechanistic record keeping through to exploring and testing thoughts about my students and student groups. i don't know how i would do my job without it. “when considering individual students the most useful features are: the dashboards graphically getting a picture of a student's courses and engagement across terms and weeks. i use these several times a day and it has helped highlight issues such as late starter poor performance. “for courses, obviously having a central repository for allocating tutorial groups that the course team can see and use is essential. again, the course dashboard view full register helps identify problem students before they are an issue and provides evidence of their engagement when needed. before each class i check and try to put few more names to faces and check the pronunciation of the names so that even for large lectures i can address students individually. it's a cheat because i only add a handful of names and faces each week, but over the course of a term it really has paid huge dividends in the group dynamic.” view of a manager “a full audit trail is provided which shows to internal and external quality personnel how the assessment process functions and enables quick responses during this process. it has alleviated the issue of 'lost', coursework as it is all online, it alleviates the issue of different systems and enables management to identify any areas where support is required.” a view of a user “i would be lost without the cms intranet.” to the relief of many, the cms intranet has continued within the departments that previously comprised the cms school and it continues to support the current student cohort. acknowledgements i wish to express my thanks to the many staff of the cms school who have contributed ideas to the development of the cms intranet over the years and to the cms technicians for their support with the development of its infrastructure and its maintenance. i should particularly like to thank the former dean of the school, professor liz bacon, for entrusting me with its development. reference list behrens, r. (2013) ‘resolving to do better.’ available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/resolving-to-dobetter/2003068.article (accessed: 27 february 2014). british chambers of commerce (2014) ‘young people need more support to make transition from education to work, says bcc.’ available at: http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/pressoffice/press-releases/young-people-need-more-support-to-make-transition-from-educationto-work,-says-bcc.html . (accessed: 1 october 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 caya, p. and pernice, k. (2014) ‘intranet portals are the hub of the enterprise universe.’ available at: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/intranet-portals/ (accessed: 1 september 2014). elearnity (2012) ‘insights into corporate moodle: what's the reality and opportunity for moodle in a corporate environment?’ available at: http://www.elearnity.com/ekcload.html?load=bykey/ajos8vqcm4 (accessed: 1 october 2014). jisc (2014) ‘a guide to open educational resources.’ available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/programmerelated/2013/openeducationalresources.aspx (accessed: 1 august 2014). mcgovern, g. (2010) the stranger's long neck: how to deliver what your customers really want online. london: a & c black publishers ltd. moran, m., seaman, j. and tinti-kane, k. (2011) ‘teaching, learning, and sharing: how today’s higher education faculty use social media.’ available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed535130.pdf . (accessed: 1 october 2014). nielsen (2014) 2014 intranet design annual. nielsen-norman group. available at: http://www.nngroup.com/reports/intranet-design-annual/ (accessed: 27 february 2014). robertson, j. (2013) ‘creating a new staff intranet at university of sydney.’ available at: http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/case-study-university-sydney/index.html (accessed: 27 february 2014). smith, j. and kajita, s. (2014) ‘authenticity: an essential characteristic of evidence for digital myself.’ available at: https://www.conftool.net/epic2014/index.php?page=browsesessions&path=adminsessions& print=yes&form_session=27&presentations=show (accessed: 1 october 2014). stoneham, r. (2012) ‘managed learning environments in universities: are they achievable?’ compass (the teaching and learning journal of the university of greenwich), 6, 45-54. available at: http://cms1.gre.ac.uk/sr65/publications/cms_mle_v2.docx (accessed: 20 february 2014). university of greenwich (2014) ‘apt2014: connected learning in an open world.’ available at: https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2014/schedconf/program (accessed: 1 october 2014). vizard, m. (2013) the problems with microsoft sharepoint. available at: http://www.cioinsight.com/it-strategy/messaging-collaboration/slideshows/the-problems-withmicrosoft-sharepoint (accessed: 1 october 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 teaching teamwork to transnational students in engineering and technology rami ghannam1 and wasim ahmad engineering education research group, university of glasgow, uk. abstract western countries are simply not producing enough graduate engineers. higher education institutions therefore need to consider re-designing their engineering programmes. in the meantime, china is producing over eight million science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) graduates each year. according to the literature, many of these graduates lack the professional skills that are required by the global job market. consequently, a course was designed in 2016 between the university of glasgow (uog) and the university of electronic science and technology of china (uestc) to help transnational students in china to cultivate the professional knowledge and practical skills needed in the field of electronic engineering. the aim of this innovative course was to build experience of working in a team to design and develop, within a budget, a rover that performs specific tasks. the course’s project covers areas such as electronic design, sensing, instrumentation, measurement, computing and communications, as well as project management, report writing and technical presentation. the learning outcomes and course details are described in this paper. this article describes the learning experiences of 152 chinese students who took part in our online survey, which aimed to find out student preferences towards teamwork and team-based learning. to appreciate the cultural differences, our results were compared with feedback from a similar survey implemented for a team-based activity in the united kingdom (uk). our survey’s results clearly show that this team-based activity was ideally suited to the culture and background of our transnational students in china. statistical analysis from the two surveys also showed that students valued the teamwork experience, which helped them learn more in comparison to individual study. we therefore believe that these team-based activities can help attract more students to engineering degrees and retain them. keywords: active learning, teamwork, engineering education, course design. 1. introduction since the invention of the transistor in the late 1940s, the field of electronic engineering has witnessed a rapid transformation. faced with this fast-growing discipline, students are expected to develop strong technical expertise as well as the team-working and communication skills required by the global job market. achieving these needs is a major challenge in the light of declining numbers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) applicants in many western nations. effective teaching methods are 1 corresponding author: rami ghannam, james watt school of engineering, university of glasgow, university avenue, glasgow g12 8bp, united kingdom. email: rami.ghannam@glasgow.ac.uk mailto:rami.ghannam@glasgow.ac.uk articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 therefore required to address these issues and to cope with the key economic challenges related to stem graduates in many western countries (great britain, department for business energy and industrial strategy, 2017; olson and riordan, 2012). despite the rapidly evolving field of engineering, the discipline is still taught using traditional teacher-centred methods. the literature clearly indicates a lack of student engagement during engineering classes. in fact, research has shown that up to sixty per cent of engineering classes lack any form of active learning (finelli et al., 2014). since universities typically reward research productivity rather than teaching excellence, faculty members are often reluctant to adopt new teaching approaches that replace teacher-centred methods (carberry and baker, 2018). furthermore, some faculty falsely believe that implementing active learning is more appropriate for majors in the arts and social sciences than for engineering (carberry and baker, 2018). consequently, these factors are among the barriers to successfully attracting new stem applicants (ejiwale, 2013), especially in service economies such as the united kingdom (uk). meanwhile, china’s manufacturing-based economy produces almost double the number of stem graduates than does the western world (stapleton, 2017, han and appelbaum, 2018). rapid economic growth, driven by manufacturing, is a key factor behind this difference in the number of stem graduates. nevertheless, many of these graduates lack the teamwork, communication and presentation skills needed by the global job market (british council, 2018, chan et al., 2015). therefore, as module leaders and staff members in the glasgow college-uestc programme, we aimed to ensure that our transnational students acquired these skills via a third-year module called team design project and skills (tdps). without doubt, teaching that relies on instructors who dictate at the blackboard makes it more difficult for students to become independent learners (miller and euchner, 2014). these traditional lecture formats typically result in poor exam performance by students (vogt, 2008), who are at least one and a half times more likely to fail a course than those attending classes that implement active learning methods (freeman et al., 2014). it is therefore now crucial to overcome some of these cultural influences by designing and delivering courses promoting active learning methods to prepare graduates for twenty-first century global challenges (ahmad et al., 2019). such learning methods have demonstrated improved student performance in stem subjects by up to six per cent (freeman et al., 2014; hake, 1998). team-based learning (tbl) is an active, collaborative teaching and learning technique initially developed for business education (haidet and fecile, 2006). it is a teaching strategy proven to promote effective teamwork skills (gallegos and peeters, 2011). according to zgheib et al. (2010), vasan et al. (2011) and thomas and bowen (2011), tbl has been clearly shown to improve student performance in exam results. many studies actually report successful practices in the teaching of teamwork in the classroom. moreover, strong teamwork skills are now considered essential for engineering graduates and professionals. owing to the growing skills gap articulated by industry, accreditation bodies now require higher education institutions (heis) to include teamwork skills in their engineering programmes (dunne and rawlins, 2000). according to the uk’s institution of engineering and technology (iet) accreditation requirements, students must demonstrate “an awareness of team roles and the ability to work as a member of an engineering team” (engineering council, 2014). the most common practice for achieving this requirement was articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 simply to assign group projects within the laboratory component of technical courses (price et al., 2010). however, this practice is inadequate for actively developing team-working skills in students who are in the process of becoming independent learners (gallegos and peeters, 2011). in fact, courses should be designed so that students transform their teams into effective learning environments (murzi, 2014; freeman, 2012). tbl involves more than just splitting students into groups – it combines pre-class guided self-learning with interactive group learning, which takes place during class. there are three main components of tbl, as shown in figure 1 (michaelsen and sweet, 2008). the first is the ‘preparatory phase’, during which instructors provide guided learning materials for the students to master course fundamentals and objectives. next is the ‘readiness assurance phase’, which involves probing and assessing individual student understanding of the guided or surface learning materials. the same assessment exercise is then delivered to the teams, the members of which must discuss the questions and agree on the answers among themselves. once this is achieved, the instructor must provide feedback to the teams and discuss the key learning concepts. finally, phase 3, ‘team application’, involves assigning a team project that involves collaboration, critical thinking and the concepts learned in phases 1 and 2. figure 1: main components of tbl (michaelsen and sweet, 2008). in this paper, we demonstrate how a new third-year course was designed to encourage and teach teamwork skills in china; it was called team design project and skills (tdps) (ghannam, 2019). like zhang et al. (2014) we believe that this practice will help attract more students to engineering degrees. we also believe that tbl is particularly beneficial for teaching large cohorts, since it enables multiple teams to be facilitated by a single instructor, rather than by multiple instructors (parmelee et al., 2012). 2. course design methodology according to michaelsen, tbl works best when it is tightly integrated within a course's design (parmelee and michaelsen, 2010). thus, during the initial stages of planning this new course, our approach to course design and delivery was split into four stages, as shown in figure 2. these were the preparation, methodology, assessment and evaluation stages. our practice aligned well with the methods described in (fry et al., 2008) and involved going through a checklist of essential items that included: 1. defining the learning outcomes of the course; 2. determining the level of the course and the intended audience; 3. determining the teaching and learning methods that will be adopted throughout the course; 4. identifying the resources that will be available; 5. understanding the course duration; 6. determining the assessment and evaluation methods. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 2.1 preparation the preparation phase was concerned with defining the course’s intended learning outcomes (ilos), determining the course’s level and intended audience, preparing the subject content and drafting the assessment mechanisms. by the end of the course, students should have developed the following learning attributes and can: • analyse technical requirements to develop an overall design plan; • design, assemble and test electronic hardware to perform specific functions; • design, populate and test printed circuit boards; • interface electronic and electrical (power) systems; • select and use appropriate components using the manufacturers’ information, including data sheets; • maintain control of a project budget; • maintain a personal technical laboratory notebook; • use a project planning methodology to keep track of progress; • run a project without undue reliance on a supervisor; • perform productively as a team, recognising contributions from all team members; • analyse published information critically for its content, arguments and validity; • write a concise researched technical report that clearly addresses and analyses pertinent issues; • use appropriate language and style, demonstrating effective command of english including some complex usage; • read and understand the essential elements of a scientific or engineering article. figure 2: the course matrix used for designing and delivering the tdps course, showing the elements to be developed at each stage 2.2 methodology the methodology phase was concerned with planning the course’s delivery methods according to the requirements of the preparation phase. as mentioned by zhang et al. (2014), students cannot simply acquire team-working skills via impromptu project articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 experience. rather, these are skills that should be taught, practised and assessed, just like other academic skills. research by the american society for engineering education (asee) (jamieson and lohmann, 2012) confirms that innovative teaching practices are necessary in order for students to acquire these skills. we therefore developed a specific module that aimed to achieve this. to start, we prepared lecture slides on best practices in maintaining a laboratory notebook, as well as guidance on managing a project using deliverables, milestones and gantt charts. students were also introduced to the essentials of task distribution and team leadership. the team-based activity involved splitting students into groups of eight. according to the literature, there are three main approaches for the formation of student teams: self-selection, random assignment and teacher assignment (bacon et al., 1999). for our course, we chose the teacher assignment method to ensure a fair representation of gender and academic ability in each team. all teams worked on the same problem and reported their decisions simultaneously. this format therefore required teams to articulate their thinking and gave them an opportunity to evaluate their own reasoning. 2.3 assessment the assessment phase involved finalising the assessment mechanisms, using the information from the preparation and methodology phases. the team project involved designing and developing, within a given budget, a smart rover that would execute certain tasks along required routes. a similar exercise had previously been used to promote teamwork in a third-year undergraduate electronic engineering programme in australia (price et al., 2010). we therefore aimed to investigate the impact of a similar exercise on chinese engineering students. moreover, there was no mention of any preparatory or readiness assurance phases of tbl in price’s article. consequently, given the benefits of multiple choice questions (mcqs) described in o’dwyer (2007), baig et al. (2014), williams (2006) and moeen-uz-zafar khan (2011), we prepared ten mcqs to test student understanding of the key concepts and ilos of the course2. these questions were attempted first by individuals and then by teams. in our case, mcqs were used to ensure that students had grasped the necessary guided-learning materials. finally, the culmination of the group work was to be a contest, in which student robots competed against each other to complete a number of tasks along two routes. in general, students had to design rovers that would accomplish various tasks, including colour detection, line tracing, going over a ramp and through an arch, carrying an item, releasing an item and communicating messages. a complete list of the tasks and their descriptions are provided in the course handbook (ghannam, 2019). these tasks were distributed in different locations within the university of electronic science and technology in china (uestc) campus. for example, a schematic diagram showing the three tasks to be completed in one 2 according to the aforementioned references, mcqs are an effective summative assessment technique for testing guided or surface learning materials. the 3 main advantages of mcqs are: 1) mcqs have the potential to cover the whole of the syllabus. 2) they are especially suitable for “knowledge-based” subjects that are well defined, do not change rapidly with time and have unambiguous answers. 3) mcqs provide an easier method to analyse student performance. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 of uestc’s outdoor patios is shown in figure 3 and images of the tasks distributed around the uestc campus are shown in figure 4. a summary of the main tasks are as follows: task 1 this involved instructing the rover to follow the meandering coloured path shown in the figure 4a. the rover should start somewhere near the arrow indicated in figure 4b and should stop somewhere within the blue line indicated in figure 4a. the rover should therefore detect edges, colours and lines. task 2 this involved finding the bridge and crossing it. the location of the bridge is shown in figure 4c. as shown in figure 4d, the bridge consisted of wire mesh and was approximately 0.45 of a metre in width and 2.2 metres in length – which included the dimensions of the ramps that would be used for the rover to roll up and off the bridge. task 3 once the rover had crossed the bridge, it should find the arch, go through it and stop. task 4 in this task, the rover should demonstrate that it could carry and release fish food into the lake. the fish food should be released through the patio’s railings, shown in figure 5. figure 3: schematic diagram of the robot’s path. task 5 – finally, the rover should stop and transmit a message to a laptop. the transmitted message should be a radio signal at 433 mhz. moreover, the message must include the team number, team member names and the time of day (24-hour clock). the main rules of the competition are summarised as follows: 1. the maximum cost of the project is 1000 rmb. 2. each team will have a maximum of fifteen minutes to complete all the tasks. 3. a team that fails to begin within the first five minutes will be given a score of zero marks. 4. rovers must run using a program previously downloaded to a microcontroller. instructions cannot be transmitted in real time to the rover. 5. a total of two beacons can be used by the rover to assist it with navigation. teams can propose any beacon design. the cost of the beacons should be included in the budget and bill of materials. beacons should be carefully positioned before the start of the competition and cannot be moved afterwards. 6. each task will be scored out of ten marks. marks will be deducted for each external interference with the rovers. 7. each team is expected to design a motor driver circuit and the pcb on which this circuit is constructed. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 the competition’s objective was for students to complete the tracks with the least amount of interference from their teams. the rovers had to travel unaided around corners, along straight lines, over a bridge and through an arch. furthermore, rovers had to be able to recognise colours, release an item and communicate three messages back to their teams. teams with the least numbers of errors and interferences would score the highest marks and win the competition. 2.4 evaluation finally, the evaluation phase involved gaining student feedback. following the successful completion of this course, students were asked to take part in a survey. a questionnaire was divided into a number of sections, which aimed to probe student feedback regarding their teamwork learning experience. to appreciate the cultural differences and backgrounds of our students, we compared our findings with a similar tbl survey completed by 106 students from a uk university (bentley and warwick, 2013). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 8 figure 4: image of the path that the rovers had to travel. to score full marks, the rovers had to turn at points 1, 2, 3 and 4 shown. they should then stop somewhere within the blue region. the rovers’ starting position is shown in (b). the location of the bridge is shown in (c). the dimensions of the ramp and the texture of the bridge are shown in (d). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 9 figure 5: schematic diagram of the patio railings that rovers needed to reach in order to release the fish food into the lake. 3. results and discussions sample images of the student rovers are shown in figure 6. results of the student questionnaires are shown in figures 7, 8 and 9. figure 6: sample images of the rovers that were developed by the students. first, when asked whether students preferred team projects in comparison to individual group assignment, eighty-two per cent of students preferred team projects, as shown in figure 7a below. this was very different from the responses in the uk, where there was an almost even split in the preference of group and individual project work. this result may not seem surprising, considering that chinese cultural values and philosophies are deeply rooted in confucianism. these values are the basis of chinese collectivism and solidarity (hofstede et al., 2005; wang et al., 2012), in contrast to western individualism (earley, 1993). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 10 figure 7: comparison of uk and chinese student responses when asked the following questions: (a) ‘what do you prefer, individual or team projects?’; (b) ‘what do you prefer when working on a team project?’; (c) ‘how do you feel about assignments that require you to work together, but submit individual work?’; (d) ‘do you feel that you can learn more by working in a team?’ in terms of workload strategy, there was, as shown in figure 7b, an almost even preference towards either ‘splitting the work’ or ‘working together’ for both chinese and british students. moreover, when asked about how they felt towards group assignments requiring groups or teams to submit individual work, there was again almost similar agreement between chinese and british students. on a scale of 0 to 5, 36% of chinese students mentioned that they ‘loved it’, which is very close to the same response of 33% of british students who were surveyed, as shown in figure 7c. a slightly larger percentage of british students strongly disliked the idea of working on a group project (28%) that required the submission of an individual assignment, in comparison to only 17% of chinese students. consequently, in the case of our tdps course, we asked students to submit both a group report and an individual articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 11 reflection report at the end of the course. furthermore, 93% of chinese students were convinced that they were able to learn more by working in a team, fairly close in agreement with british students (78%), as shown in figure 7d. regarding contributing more work than their fair share, there were again some contrasting responses between british and chinese students, as shown in figure 8. the majority of british and chinese students ‘would do it to improve the work and the grade’ (27% of chinese 30% of british students). surprisingly, few chinese students (only 6%) felt inclined to contribute more in order to help other group members. this was very different from british students, where 20% were prepared to do more work in order to help their team members. on the other hand, chinese students felt obliged to contribute more work, if that was necessary (41%), in comparison to only 10% of british students. again, this is in perfect agreement with the nature of chinese cultural values, which emphasises social affinity over personal interest (chen and lee, 2008). figure 8: comparison of uk and chinese students when asked how they felt towards contributing more than their share. moreover, when chinese students were asked about the tools that were used for communications purposes, almost 93% of students used social media tools, in comparison to almost 66% in the uk. only 4% of chinese students used tools that were provided by the university, such as blackboard, moodle and the university’s email system. as for the strategies that would be used to ensure a fair contribution from the group members, students were allowed to select multiple answers. these results are shown in figure 9. both british and chinese students favoured sharing ideas and information (47% in comparison to 13% uk students) as well as setting deadlines (27.8%) and sharing the workload (25.2% of chinese students, in comparison to 39% uk students). in comparison, uk students felt that only by setting deadlines could they split the work (7%). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 12 figure 9: comparison of uk and chinese students when asked about their approach to assigning group work. interestingly, when asked about the biggest benefits of working in a team, the chinese cohort of students provided a mixture of answers, such as: ‘we can overcome obstacles together’, ‘increased creativity’, ‘ability to work more efficiently’, ‘solidarity’, ‘increased motivation’, ‘higher energy’, ‘less pressure on each individual’, ‘can easily approach team members when a problem arises’, ‘ability to make new connections’ and ‘joy of sharing success with others’, in addition to more conventional answers such as ‘more learning’, ‘sharing ideas’ and ‘sharing workload’. similarly, uk respondent answers can be summarised as follows: ‘share information’, ‘share ideas’, ‘less workload’, ‘more input and ideas’, ‘more resources’, ‘help each other’, ‘more adaptable’, ‘more confident’, ‘can communicate with people of different culture’, ‘can exchange ideas’, ‘opportunity to understand and learn from others’, ‘become more knowledgeable’ and ‘build up relationship and make new friends’. finally, students were asked about the biggest drawbacks of working in a team. in some cases, british and chinese students had similar responses, such as ‘uneven contribution from team members’, ‘members rely on others’ and ‘poor time management’. our chinese students also provided variety of responses that included: ‘conflicts between members’, ‘difficulties in finding a good leader’, ‘narrow specialisation in a certain area’, ‘difficulties in arranging meetings’ and ‘wasting too much time listening to the views of everyone’. 4. conclusions the literature claims that the use and implementation of active learning techniques can improve student interest in engineering degrees. we believe that this is particularly important in western countries, where there has been a sustained decline in stem applicants. meanwhile, china produces over eight million stem graduates each year, the majority of whom lack the necessary team-working skills required by the global job market. consequently, we designed a new course for a transnational education programme that articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 13 aimed to develop these skills. at the end of the course, students took part in a competition, which was well received by uestc’s senior management. our new third-year course was designed to encourage team-working skills. we strongly recommend that our approach to curriculum development is implemented in other programmes to improve student performance and to attract more students into pursuing an engineering degree. we also believe that tbl is particularly beneficial for teaching large cohorts, since it enables multiple teams to be facilitated by a single instructor, rather than multiple instructors. according to feedback received from our students, ninety-three per cent were convinced that they were able to learn more by working in a team than by individual study. consequently, students were able to transform their teams into more effective learning environments. moreover, eighty-three per cent preferred team-based projects to individual ones. our findings therefore prove that tbl is particularly suited to the culture and background of our transnational chinese students. we therefore recommend the implementation of tbl in more engineering degrees. by the end of the course, students designed and developed rovers using their discipline-specific engineering skills as well as their team-working skills. as a result, students were able to learn from each other and run their own projects without undue reliance on the instructor. reference list ahmad, w., ghannam, r. and imran, m. 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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/01421590903548521?journalcode=imte20 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7044077 engagement in online learning: a case study on mba students case studies engagement in online learning: a case study on mba students undertaking professional internships hanna yakavenka and riccardo de vita university of greenwich, business school introduction this study is a critical evaluation of the online interactions of learners registered on a professional development course which will contribute to the general academic debate and assist in the design of a specific course. from a theoretical point of view, existing studies reported that one of the major obstacles to successful online learning is the isolation of learners (mcdonald et al., 2005). a detailed visualization and analysis of online engagement and communication is discussed through the use of appropriate methodologies. the course under investigation was recently reviewed and stronger emphasis was put on online activities to leverage the properties of moodle. an analysis of students’ engagement and performance is deemed extremely relevant for the course and the improvement of the overall learning experience of its participants. course settings the course under investigation is a 60 credit postgraduate (pg) level module titled professional practice. a year long course was introduced in 2009 to provide a learning platform, tutor support and assessments for mba international business students while undertaking management level internships (often abroad). until last year, when the university migrated to moodle, the course was operating on webct and managed by one member of the academic staff. with limited learning materials on vle and three assignments clustered at the end of the year, there was insufficient intermediate evidence that students were engaged in learning. it was also observed that most of the students avoided any sort of interaction with peers and/ or tutors and tended not to raise questions even if something was unclear. because the students were working, there was no formal face-to-face (f2f) teaching on the course and assessment consisted of three summative assignments, two of which could be submitted midcourse for formative feedback where students were asked to report purely on their internship activities. the core element of the summative assessment was a report at the end of the year where students were asked to reflect on their learning and professional development through the internship, while taking into consideration their previous learning on the taught element of the programme. in the main, students did not seek feedback on draft submissions, resulting in the majority of them finding the summative assessment challenging, resulting in rather low overall results. 5 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 course participants the majority of students did not come with a social sciences background, with their educational systems having less emphasis on research, critical thinking and reflective enquiry in their curricula compared to the uk higher education sector. most of the students had different cultural backgrounds and the academic team observed the tendency of students to network with people of the same ethnicity, with less frequent communication with learners from different countries. investigating the reproduction of a similar behaviour online is one of the key objectives of this paper. table 1 provides basic information about the cohorts of students analysed in this study. cohort one (september 2010 starters) interacted on webct. when, in 2011, the business school moved to moodle, january 2011 starters (cohort two) used both webct and the new vle. cohort three (september 2011 starters) is undertaking the course fully on moodle. group (start of internship) n. gender age average on professional practice) average on taught elements of the programme f m 21-25 26-32 1 (09/10) 27 5 22 16 11 52.8 60.0 2 (01/11) 32 6 26 19 13 56.3 59.3 3 (09/11) 25 12 13 18 7 na 56.9 total 84 12 61 53 31 54.7 58.8 source: authors’ elaboration description of online interactive activities in the course to address the challenges faced by students when completing the assessment tasks, the following two on-going online activities have been put in place: ●● learning logs (open between a learner and a tutor only) expects learners to map (via regular moodle entries) their learning experiences during placement while trying to critically analyse and synthesise developments of practice locally, nationally or internationally as well as report on their continuing professional development. logs are only visible to learners and tutors and serve as a tool to get individual support and clarifications when required. ●● weekly reflective blogs (open to all peers) expect learners to reflect on their individual learning and experience at a placement. this experience is designed to provide an opportunity to promote reflection and interaction among peers who go through similar experiences. being an open space any learner can choose what to contribute and who to respond to when there are similar learning experiences taking place. tutors can opt to engage in the discussion, but would not respond on an individual basis; instead they would try to provide general comments applicable to all the learners. both activities take place on the course moodle platform enabling students’ engagement into the learning process in a more individual and flexible manner as well as providing a channel of communication with 6 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 peers and tutors. the benefits of peer or interdependent learning arise from the sharing of ideas, experiences and knowledge among learners (boud et al., 2001). such experience provides individuals with a feeling of belonging, while being flexible, when the whole group benefits from the knowledge sharing intensifying learning opportunities. being a pg course, it is expected that the responsibilities for learning, teaching and feedback are reciprocal between learners and tutors. the students are encouraged to provoke discussion through their posts, to make others want to read, question and debate, resulting in the development of critical reflection skills and maximising the learning experience overall. within this framework, the tutors adopt the role of professional advisors, reacting when required by the learning process. evaluation of online engagement given the focus of this study on online interaction and communication exchanges, an appropriate methodological approach was required. a research methodology particularly suitable to detect and address the challenge of exclusion of some learners while communicating online is social network analysis sna (reffay and chanier, 2003). to fruitfully apply sna in this context, ‘relational’ data describing collaborative learning practice was required. both webct and moodle allow students to generate personal posts visible online to the whole community of learners. it was therefore possible to map online interaction between learners: specifically learner i is conceived to be connected with learner j when i was commenting on the post of j. analysing all the posts and comments received it was possible to generate the overall communication network depicted in figure 1. figure 1 bar-chart showing technologies to which students were directed to their lecturers source: authors’ elaboration • the network depicts only those students who successfully completed the course or are still registered. instructors, who were marginally involved in specific moments of the course, are also not displayed. some messages, not relevant for the purpose of this study (invitations to connect on a specific social network), were not considered. 7 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 the network clearly shows that online engagement is an ‘issue’ for the course under investigation. not all the students are active online in terms of receiving or sending comments to peers. to detect the tendency toward the creation of culturally homophilous groups, learners in figure 1 are coloured according to their ethnicity (black is indian, grey is african while other ethnicities are represented in white), while the shapes identify the three different cohorts. by conducting qualitative analysis of the posts it was clear that students tended to communicate more with peers of the same ethnicity and cohort. while this result is unsurprising (students from the same cohort would have shared the online learning platform for longer, thus naturally increasing the likelihood of communication between them), it confirms the importance of an offline interaction as a prerequisite for successful online communication. furthermore this visualization highlights the tendency toward clustering based on ethnicity and confirmed by the teaching staff observing in-class interactions. further investigation of network relationships allowed exploration of the associations between network position and performance on the course. while one could expect the amount of communication with peers to be associated with performance, it was not possible to confirm a similar hypothesis. the amount of comments received, for example, was not found to be statistically significant predictors of a learner’s performance in the course. the only factors being associated with improved performance in the course were online engagement (e.g. reading blogs, posting messages) and performance in the taught components of the programme. figure 2. the nature of online messages (608 messages analysed) source: authors’ elaboration figure 2 clearly shows that the majority of communication taking place online was of a descriptive nature. moreover, only a limited number of messages had explicit references to other sources of knowledge (e.g. books, online materials, a peer’s comment), illustrating the lack of integration of the online communication with the past learning experience of the learners. it is therefore possible to assume that it is the actual quality of the interaction that explains the absence of a positive influence between peer learning and performance on the course. • the network depicts only those students who successfully completed the course or are still registered. instructors, who were marginally involved in specific moments of the course, are also not displayed. some messages, not relevant for the purpose of this study (invitations to connect on a specific social network), were not considered. 8 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 9 an in depth understanding of these results called for further analysis, with 608 messages exchanged online being qualitatively coded and preliminary analysis done based on descriptive, reflective or critical content (figure 2) which can take different nuances (e.g. browne and freeman, 2000; barnett, 1997), but similar classifications are important and relevant learning opportunities need to be in place if students are to be effectively engaged in learning and appropriate teaching practices developed (rowland, 2001). enhancing learners’ experience on a practice oriented course lessons learned when students are spread around geographically conventional f2f course delivery has severe limitations which technology can overcome by engaging learners and enabling them to share their experiences more effectively. setting this up is complex and a considerable amount of up-front work is required from web based course designers, but students do seem to prefer the convenience and flexibility of studying on line. as noted by alley and jansak (2001, p. 3) “making a class ‘happen’ in a web-based environment is so new and different that neither broad principles nor narrowly prescriptive practices are helpful when we sit at a computer and try to reinvent our teaching in this new environment”. the moodle platform allows the peer learning experience to occur independently of the ‘distances’ between learners, attracting and connecting them based on the similarity of work experience, internship problems, interest of their research, and learning preferences. ideas are best when they are tested during discussions with others who are going through a similar process (boud et al., 2001). working with others can also facilitate reflection, an individual’s learning, and the ability to recognize opportunities (moon, 1999). knowledge is constructed by all participants in the process and education is only effective if contributors take responsibility for their own learning. this study did highlight that collaboration and effective knowledge sharing online is far from straightforward, with learners at risk of being isolated. this illustrates the vital importance of having appropriate systems in place that promote the engagement and improve the quality of online interactions. proposed actions in order to provide a more effective learning experience on the course under investigation and increase the engagement of students, it is proposed to leverage the potentiality of other moodle tools (e.g. group wikis) combined with a stronger involvement of the academic team via asynchronous dialogue with tutors and peers. to help students progressively familiarize themselves with online tasks and to support them in becoming more critical, self-reflective and provide feedback, the proposition is to encourage students to organise themselves into working groups (supervised by a dedicated tutor) either based on the characteristics of their internships, industry sectors or job positions. group wikis will be created and students will be expected to contribute to them regularly. in order to have a more focused and subject related discussion, tutors could initiate a discussion on a specific topic and then take an observer’s role allowing the learners to develop it. existing moodle features will be maintained: blogs being visible to the rest of the cohort, enabling comments and suggestions from students in other groups, reducing the risk of some students feeling isolated while being ‘locked’ in a sub-group. this should motivate learners not to simply share their ideas, based on readings and/or experiences, but also to constructively criticise the ‘posts’ of their peers using thematic contributions to wikis. the intention is to generate an academically grounded communication exchange with learners’ posts supported by real life experiences and/or literature. tutors would monitor progress of the groups by encouraging a knowledge-based dialogue via formative feedback. 9 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 in order to further link the activities with the assessment it is proposed that students would regularly complete smaller tasks for feedback and discussion, which would eventually contribute to a final summative task – individual reflective report. these smaller tasks could be incorporated into existing on line activities and newly proposed wikis in such a way that learners would be able to test their ideas by discussing them with their peers before presenting them more formally to the tutors. such an approach has positive implications for any practice-led course where the emphasis is on solving real problems and developing solutions in application to real scenarios – in this case individual professional practice experiences. within these learning communities it is expected that students will be providing feedback to each other via synchronous / asynchronous communication channels and contributing to an on-going group professional developmental process. references alley, l. r., & jansak, k. e. (2001). the ten keys to quality assurance and assessment in online learning. journal of interactive instructional development, 13(3), 3-18. barnett, r. (1997). higher education: a critical business. buckingham: srhe and open university press. boud, d., cohen, r., & sampson, j. (2001). peer learning in higher education: learning from each other. london: kogan page inc. browne, m., & freeman, k. (2000). distinguishing features of critical thinking classrooms. teaching in higher education, 5(3), 301–310. mcdonald, b., noakes, n., stuckey, b., & nyrop, s. (2005). breaking down learner isolation: how social network analysis informs design and facilitation for online learning. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association, montreal, quebec, canada. [online]. available at http://cpsquare.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/stuckey-etal-aera-sna.pdf. [accessed may 1st 2012]. moon, j. a. (1999). reflection in learning and professional development: theory and practice. london: kogan page inc. reffay, c., & chanier, t. (2003). how social network analysis can help to measure cohesion in collaborative distance-learning. computer supported collaborative learning. bergen: kluwer academic publishers. [online]. available at http://edutice.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/00/19/14/pdf/reffay_chanier. pdf. [accessed may 1st 2012]. rowland, s. (2001). surface learning about teaching in higher education: the need for more critical conversations. international journal for academic development, 6(2), 162-167. author biographies dr hanna yakavenka is a principal lecturer and mba/ma international business programme director at the university of greenwich business school. her recent research has been in the field of learning and professional development, where she has particularly focusing on peer learning and its effects on academic performance. dr riccardo de vita is a senior lecturer and ba hons international business programme leader at the university of greenwich business school. his recent research has focused on the application of social network analysis to online communities 10 http://cpsquare.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/stuckey-etal-aera-sna.pdf http://edutice.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/00/19/14/pdf/reffay_chanier 10 case studies hanna yakavenka and riccardo de vita course settings course participants description of online interactive activities in the course evaluation of online engagement enhancing learners’ experience on a practice oriented course lessons learned proposed actions references author biographies case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 low-stakes, vle intensive, formative approach to maths teaching as a pedagogic strategy for improving assessment outcomes susan force, mark goss-sampson, sarah harris school of science, university of greenwich, united kingdom abstract functional numeracy skills in the uk workforce have been an issue for at least 20 years and are of mounting concern due to the increasing use of technology in the workplace and the need for mathematical problem solving skills. surveys reveal anxiety related to maths (ma) has a negative impact on higher education (he) subject choices and subsequent career options. this at a time when science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) subjects, requiring maths and data handling skills, are in high demand globally. this case study relates the journey from discovering the need for maths support in science students to the use of low-stakes, vle intensive, formative maths support as a means of overcoming ma and improving student outcomes. 1. introduction numeracy skills in the united kingdom (uk) workforce have been an issue of concern for at least twenty years, following reports that numeracy levels are not adequate for economic survival and that employers are finding it difficult to recruit appropriately numerate employees (williams et al., 2003; department for business innovation and skills, 2012; grayson, 2013). in more recent years, the exponential imposition of technology and digitisation across all economic sectors requires the workforce to master a wide portfolio of competencies, including numeracy and information technology (it) skills. lower-skilled employees may now be expected to operate digitised equipment and identify and solve problems by interpreting changes manifesting themselves as deviations from the norm, in often continuous and complex data streams. the national numeracy charity (nnc) (2022a) defines numeracy skills as: “the ability to understand and use maths in daily life, at home, work or school. numeracy doesn't mean complex skills, like algebra, it means being confident enough to use basic maths in real-life situations. numeracy is as important as literacy it's sometimes called ‘mathematical literacy’ and we need both to get on in life.” in 2019, the national numeracy day survey presented 2007 respondents, aged from sixteen to seventy-five years, with questions requiring ‘everyday’ maths skills and questions relating to their feelings about maths. the results indicated that: • 50% of working age adults lack good numeracy skills • 20% respondents scored 80-100%, equivalent to gcse grade 4/c (a standard pass) and similar to the 2011 skills for life survey findings case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 • 31% claimed not to be a ‘numbers person’ (more women) • 25% would not apply for a job involving numbers and data • 36% would like to improve their maths and numeracy skills • many overrated their level of numeracy (national numeracy, ipsos mori and kcl, 2019) these observations are of concern, given the need for functional maths skills in the workforce. maths anxiety (ma) has been identified as a factor that attenuates numeracy and the development of more advanced mathematics skills. a 2018 survey commissioned by the maths anxiety trust (mat) indicates that approximately 36% of fifteento twenty-four-yearolds and 20% of adults in great britain felt anxious about maths with varying degrees of severity (maths anxiety trust and ipsos mori, 2018). mat (2022a) defines maths anxiety as follows: “a negative emotional reaction to mathematics, leading to varying degrees of helplessness, panic and mental disorganisation that arise among some people when faced with a mathematical problem, either in ordinary life or in an academic situation.” ma is characterised by physiological symptoms, such as sweating and raised blood pressure, when someone is confronted with numerical problems. psychological symptoms include feelings of permanency (it will never improve), isolation (everyone is better than me), nervousness and lack of confidence. causal factors may relate to poor learning and teaching, lack of consolidation in the classroom, time pressures in tests, fear of exposure and embarrassment and the negative attitude of teachers or parents who may be projecting their own ma (department for business innovation and skills, 2012; maths anxiety trust, 2022a). according to sue johnston-wilder of the mat, maths anxiety is an acquired problem, which makes it preventable and treatable (maths anxiety trust, 2022b). another aspect of maths capability is that of ‘maths self-efficacy’. this is the extent to which students believe in their own ability to solve specific mathematics tasks. it tends to be lower in those who suffer from ma or who score lower marks in maths assessments (rozgonjuk et al., 2020). as might be expected, higher self-efficacy is associated with better performance in maths. whilst self-efficacy is associated with less ma and higher levels of maths capability, there are also reports that students overestimate their numeracy skills. this in turn suggests an underestimation or misunderstanding of essential maths skills (oecd, 2013). because maths capability can be masked by anxiety, the resulting avoidance of education or employment involving maths has far-reaching, long-term implications for education, employment and progression opportunities. for higher education (he) this can manifest itself as lack of new student registrations and poor retention in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) subjects, which all require maths skills – this at a time when stem graduates are needed more than ever in the global workplace (rozgonjuk et al., 2020). the jobted website indicates that the demand for chemists, biologists and life science experts is set to rise to deal with rapidly rising global environmental and population issues. the same website lists skills required in applicants for the science industry and these include: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 “1. data analysis skills: ‘speak the language of science’ (or, in other words, mathematics). the majority of decisions in twenty-first century life are based on data collection, analysis and interpretation. today’s scientists need to be numerically and statistically literate. 2. the ability to use scientific instruments: such instruments vary enormously in their levels of complexity but they all measure something and collect data. most are computerised and data collection is managed by specialist software. scientists need a full working knowledge of the equipment hardware as well as the skills required to use the software followed by the analysis and interpretation of data and its implications.” (jobted, 2021) note the reference to mathematics as the language of science and the reliance on data collection and analysis skills. the university of greenwich faculty of engineering and science (fes) offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in (stem) subjects. the fes life science programmes attract approximately 200-300 first-year students per annum. entry requirements stipulate, as a minimum, level 4 gcse (old grade c) in maths, which is rated as a ‘standard’ pass and presumed to prepare students for an undergraduate programme in life sciences. however, the 2011 skills for life survey suggested that almost one in four students may have numeracy abilities that are below entry level 3, as defined below (department for business innovation and skills, 2012; national numeracy charity, 2022b). “entry level 3 understanding information given by numbers, symbols, diagrams and charts for different purposes expressed in graphic, numerical and written forms in different ways. this includes: • dividing two digits by one digit and understanding remainders • comparing weights using standard units for example adults with skills below entry level 3 may not be able to understand price labels or pay household bills.” the 2011 survey is now twelve years old and there have been no direct comparisons since; however, the implication is that level 4 gcse may not confer students with the functional maths skills necessary for engaging with the sciences. the head of maths at a kent academy recently (autumn 2021) advised me that university programmes where maths skills are essential should be looking at maths gcse level 5 and above. like other universities, greenwich offers maths and statistics help (mash) to all students in the form of drop-in tuition, variously publicised – for example, by the library support services website, the student portal and individual tutors engaged in teaching. despite this, my own observations and conversations with students indicate reluctance to use the service, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 4 sometimes illustrated by professions of ignorance of its existence. some students do admit to feeling intimidated by the thought of explaining their needs to ‘an expert’. 2. method in 2016, i assumed leadership of an undergraduate study skills module for second-year fes life science students. a survey of teaching colleagues revealed that confidence with basic descriptive and inferential statistics was considered the most important study skill that these students should acquire in this module. these sentiments were (and still are) echoed during exam board sessions by external examiners who request “more meaty statistics” and “evidence of statistical interpretation” in final-year projects. initial attempts to teach descriptive statistics in 2016 revealed that many of these second years lacked confidence about such basic maths concepts as decimals, significant figures, percentages and probability, despite having attained their entry-level requirements of gcse grade c/level 4 maths. neither were many able to solve science-related problem-solving scenarios requiring mathematical reasoning. further questioning revealed a need for additional numeracy support in the first year. informal conversations with these would-be scientists frequently exposed degrees of ma and accompanying lack of confidence arising from their fear of anything to do with numbers. agreement having been gained from programme leaders, maths teaching and learning were incorporated into the first-year curriculum, with an associated weighted assessment. a teaching schedule – including decimals, units, maths operator rules, molarity and descriptive statistics – was developed, using pedagogic approaches suggested by the organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd) to overcome ma; it included: • assume nothing concerning previous teaching and learning • avoid exposure of errors / lack of ability • provide plenty of low-stakes formative activities (oecd publishing, 2016) low-stakes testing in this context refers to a method of assessment allowing students the opportunity to try repeatedly, make mistakes and potentially fail and to learn from those mistakes with minimal academic penalty (top hat, 2022). deliberate emphasis was placed on the value of numeracy skills with respect to academic success and employment, thus relating these skills to long-term projections (zacharopoulos, sella and kadosh, 2021). since 2017, first-year students have been instructed to take – in the first two weeks of their first term and in a location of their choice – a two-hour, diagnostic online quiz consisting of sixteen questions. they were assured that marks did not count, encouraged just to ‘do their best’ and told that overall results would be used to guide maths teaching content to prepare them for their degree programmes. after the diagnostic, students were advised that the summative assessment at the end of term one would be based on similar questions and advised of a mid-term formative opportunity using the same questions. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 5 the diagnostic (start-of-term), formative (mid-term) and summative (end-of-term) quizzes were all the same and composed entirely of wild-card questions (moodle simple question type, figure 1). these progressed from the use of simple mathematical operators to more complex problem-solving scenarios relevant to their degree programmes (figure 1). questions were separated into categories, such as decimals and significant figures, percentages, the rules of mathematical operators and molarity. you are asked to prepare [a] ml of a [b] m (molar) solution of sodium chloride (nacl). calculate the cost of the nacl reagent you will need to use in £ to 2 dp, no units. molecular wt nacl = 58.44g price of nacl = £[c] where: [a] = any value between 50 and 950 (0 dp) [b] = any value between 0.2 5.0 (2 dp) [c] = any value between 0.05 and 0.20 (2 dp) formula: [𝑎] 1000 × [𝑏] × 58.44 × [𝑐] figure 1. moodle 'simple question' type construction. example scenario requiring functional maths skills. note the detailed instructions about decimal places and units figure 2 shows an example question, answer fields and ‘check’ and ‘try again’ options as presented by moodle to students in the formative version. the question requires the student to process two stages outlined in the first ‘hint’ (figure 2.d). the second hint would be a more detailed description of the stages of calculation. this simple question type can be used to render multiple iterations, depending on the variables, numbering in the 10s to 100s (figure 3). the formative (revision) quiz settings used the low-stakes approach. this included a generous time allowance, the “interactive with multiple tries” setting and full review options, thus permitting multiple attempts at any question within each attempt at the quiz and access to interim hints for additional support. the multiple iterations prevent students ‘learning’ the answer because each new attempt involves a different set of numbers. students were reminded throughout the term that their summative assessment would be constructed using the same questions, thus encouraging engagement with the formative quiz (and additional teaching quizzes) and negating the fear of any ‘nasty surprises’ during the summative assessment. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 6 a: presentation to the student b: student enters answer c: after selection of ‘check’ button, a tick appears with the offer to try another similar question case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 7 d: if an incorrect answer is entered and the ‘check’ button selected, a hint is shown and the ‘try again’ button appears. figure 2. moodle 'simple question' example end-user (student) screens figure 3. moodle 'simple question' type construction showing example of three iterations from a maximum of thirty. there were no mandatory teaching sessions, in recognition of the broad range of capabilities amongst the cohort. free-access teaching quizzes for each question category were also provided for additional support. the first question in these quizzes provided teaching materials (e.g. links to videos, web pages and my own screen casts) followed by wild-card questions of increasing difficulty. the same low-stake settings described earlier were applied, with the inclusion of unlimited attempts. students were instructed to examine their diagnostic test result and make use of these additional teaching resources to improve their outcomes for question categories in which they had achieved only lower scores. three non-mandatory face-to-face sessions were used to deal with more challenging concepts, such as algebra and molarity. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 8 the summative assessment at the close of term 1 had a less generous time limit, only a single possible attempt and deferred review options without ‘multiple tries’ settings applied. the provision of multiple iterations made collaboration more difficult, something particularly appropriate during covid, when assessments were managed off-campus. ethics approval secured in 2019 permitted the statistical analyses of student maths quiz scores (fes-frec-18-6.04.11) on the basis that all would be anonymised. out of 158 students, ninety-seven completed the consent form and agreed to the use of their diagnostic, formative and summative data (scores). the data were analysed in jasp (v0.16.1). jasp (in recognition of bayesian pioneer sir harold jeffreys), stands for jeffreys's amazing statistics program and is an open-source project, supported by the university of amsterdam and designed for students. its user interface could be considered as an introduction to statistical package for social sciences (spss, ibm) 3. results student diagnostic and assessment data was shown not to violate the assumptions of normality or variance. a two-way mixed factor anova was carried out, the 'within subjects' main factor being the type of assessment (diagnostic and summative) and the 'between subjects’ main factor being completion of the formative quiz (figure 4). figure 4. comparison of student (n=97) mean(±ci) diagnostic and summative maths quiz scores (%) categorised by their engagement (l yes) or lack of engagement (¡, no) with a formative quiz. diagnostic, formative and summative quizzes were exactly the same and consisted of wild-card questions, thus providing multiple iterations of the same quiz questions. there was a significant main effect of assessment type (f(1) = 74.9, p < 0.001. holm-corrected post hoc testing showed that there was a significant (p < 0.001) increase in performance in the summative assessment (74, sd +/24%) compared to the diagnostic assessment scores (52, sd +/21%). there was also a significant main effect for completion of the formative quiz (f(1) = 28.7, p < 0.001). a significant test *formative quiz interaction was also found (f(1)=18.6, p <0.001). simple main effects showed a small but significant increase in summative scores in those students who did not attempt the formative quiz (f(1) = 6.9, p=.1); however, a significantly greater increase in summative scores was seen in those students who did complete the formative quiz (f(1)=131.5, p< 0.001). https://jasp-stats.org/pronamic_faq_category/about-jasp/#:~:text=in%20recognition%20of%20bayesian%20pioneer,for%20jeffreys's%20amazing%20statistics%20program. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 9 4. discussion the statistical outcomes imply that student maths summative assessment scores were more improved in those who engaged with the formative opportunity than those who did not engage. the mean score of the thirty-one ‘non-engagers’ (m = 44.1%, sd = 18.7%) was significantly lower (t (95) = 2.5, p = 0.02) than that of the sixty-six ‘engagers’ (m = 55.3%, sd = 21.8%) indicating that lower-scoring students did not engage with the formative opportunity despite their apparent need for learning support. whilst the outcomes of this approach to maths teaching and learning look encouraging, there are confounding factors to consider. lack of weighting to avoid anxiety in fresher students might have discouraged serious engagement with the diagnostic quiz and so reduced scores, whereas the twenty-five per cent weighting of the summative quiz might have provoked more engagement and thus increased scores. also, since students would have been registered for a whole term before the summative, any ‘freshers’ anxiety’ might have diminished. the quiz design also needs consideration. it included five simple operator questions and eleven more complex questions, but were there enough questions of sufficiently high complexity to differentiate between student ability at the upper end of scores, particularly in the assessment quiz? it is also clear that students with lower scores in the diagnostic test might need proactive and formalised support. this could be achieved by enforcing engagement with the formative quiz and/or by delivering mandatory teaching sessions. alternatively, the formative quiz scores could contribute a small portion to the overall score, thus encouraging engagement with formative support. the implication of using low-stakes assessments to improve maths learning for stem students looks promising and could help improve retention and outcomes for registrants. however, the wider implication for non-stem university of greenwich students needs consideration for the reasons stated above re the need for functional numeracy in the workplace. mash is offered to all students who need help with their assessments, but should we be offering an accredited course for students (and staff?) who can see the value of improving their functional numeracy skills in terms of their personal and work lives? the use of vle quizzing tools for formative support could be applied to other subjects. as explained previously, external examiners have been suggesting that final-year projects would benefit from more robust processing and interpretation of data. the study skills component for greenwich second years includes statistics, to prepare students for their final-year project. however, feedback surveys indicate that students are intimidated by statistics and have appreciated the provision of the very basic formative support quizzes offered to date. future research will address a more comprehensive formative provision. the recent addition of new vle (moodle) tools means that we can use a similar approach for the delivery of basic chemistry to life science students. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 10 reference list department for business innovation and skills (2012) ‘the 2011 skills for life survey: a survey of literacy, numeracy and ict levels in england.’ bis, research paper 81. london. available at: www.bis.gov.uk (accessed: 21 january 2022). grayson, r. (2013) research summary – a brief review of employers’ views on numeracy. cambridge. available at: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/images/131381research-summary-a-brief-review-of-employers-views-on-numeracy.pdf (accessed: 23r january 2022). jobted (2021) ‘the science industry: jobs, skills and job outlook.’ jobted. available at: https://uk.jobted.com/browse/scientific (accessed: 10 december 2021). maths anxiety trust (2022a) ‘maths anxiety definition.’ available at: http://mathsanxietytrust.com/ (accessed: 21 february 2022). maths anxiety trust (2022b) ‘sue johnston wilder.’ available at: http://mathsanxietytrust.com/johnston-wilder.html (accessed: 21 february 2022). maths anxiety trust and ipsos mori (2018) ‘what is maths anxiety?’ available at: http://mathsanxietytrust.com/maths-anxiety.html (accessed: 21 february 2022). national numeracy charity (2022a) ‘what is numeracy?’ available at: https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-numeracy (accessed: 26 january 2022). national numeracy charity (2022b) ‘what is the issue?’ available at: https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-numeracy/what-issue (accessed: 21 february 2022). national numeracy, ipsos mori and kcl (2019) ‘numerate nation? what the uk thinks about numbers.’ available at: https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/news/national-numeracyday-2019-thousands-take-first-step-towards-better-number-skills (accessed: 22 february 2022). http://www.bis.gov.uk/ https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/images/131381-research-summary-a-brief-review-of-employers-views-on-numeracy.pdf https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/images/131381-research-summary-a-brief-review-of-employers-views-on-numeracy.pdf https://uk.jobted.com/browse/scientific http://mathsanxietytrust.com/ http://mathsanxietytrust.com/johnston-wilder.html http://mathsanxietytrust.com/maths-anxiety.html https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-numeracy https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-numeracy/what-issue https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/news/national-numeracy-day-2019-thousands-take-first-step-towards-better-number-skills https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/news/national-numeracy-day-2019-thousands-take-first-step-towards-better-number-skills case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 11 oecd (2013) pisa 2012 results: ready to learn: students’ engagement, drive and selfbeliefs (volume iii) pisa. available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2012results-ready-to-learn-volume-iii/students-drive-and-motivation_9789264201170-7-en (accessed: 22 february 2022). oecd publishing (2016) equations and inequalities making mathematics accessible to all. paris. available at: https://www.oecdilibrary.org/education/equations-and-inequalities_9789264258495-en (accessed: 18 february 2022). rozgonjuk, d., kraav, t., mikkor, k., orav-puurand, k. and täht, k. (2020) ‘mathematics anxiety among stem and social sciences students: the roles of mathematics self-efficacy, and deep and surface approach to learning.’ international journal of stem education, 7(1), 1-11. available at: https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594020-00246-z (accessed: 16 february 2022). top hat (2022) ‘low-stakes testing definition and meaning.’ available at: https://tophat.com/glossary/l/low-stakes-testing (accessed: 16 february 2022). williams, j. (2003) ‘the skills for life survey: a national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ict skills.’ literacy. london. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2011-skills-for-life-survey (accessed: 13 december 2021). zacharopoulos, g., sella, f. and kadosh, r.c. (2021) ‘the impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment.’ proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 118(24). available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2013155118. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2012-results-ready-to-learn-volume-iii/students-drive-and-motivation_9789264201170-7-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2012-results-ready-to-learn-volume-iii/students-drive-and-motivation_9789264201170-7-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/equations-and-inequalities_9789264258495-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/equations-and-inequalities_9789264258495-en https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-020-00246-z https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-020-00246-z https://tophat.com/glossary/l/low-stakes-testing/ https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2013155118 managed learning environments in universities: are they achievable? managed learning environments in universities: are they achievable? ray stoneham university of greenwich, school of computing & mathematical sciences introduction jisc’s “mles for lifelong learning” project (jisc, 2006) defines a virtual learning environment (vle) as the components of an online information system in which learners and tutors participate in interactions of various kinds including online learning, and a managed learning environment (mle) is defined as embracing the whole range of information systems and processes (including the vle) that contribute directly or indirectly to learning and learning management. a mle therefore includes student record systems, register and library systems, with a clear emphasis on integration, processes and quality assurance (qa). mles in universities have been recognised as providing many benefits (jisc, 2006), but few universities would claim to have successfully introduced one throughout the institution. the enormity of the task is daunting, and the attractiveness of competing open social web 2.0 resources such as facebook and twitter has made it hard to stay focused on corporate solutions when new user-centred “cool” tools are becoming available that are outside the firewall. weller (2007) has used the term vle 2.0 to describe a vle with added web 2.0 functionality, and points out that a single integrated system will always lag behind state-of-the-art social web 2.0 offerings. however, security, confidentiality, intellectual copyright and data protection are just some of the reasons a university may decide that a mle is preferable to a collection of cloud-based open web 2.0 systems. smaller institutions such as fe colleges and faculties or schools within universities have often been more successful in implementing mles (jisc, 2005). the school of computing & mathematical sciences (cms) at the university of greenwich has developed a very successful mle over the past ten years. the school is of average size (6000 students, 200 academic staff) with its own small dedicated it technician and administration teams and a lecturer (the author) who has worked with all the stakeholders, and with the support of the dean and other managers, to develop a mature system that meets many of the needs of the school. local partner college staff and students have restricted access to the cms vle, and international cms collaborations staff and students have a separate mle to reflect the different business processes currently involved. the case study this case study identifies the main aspects of the cms mle, and gives details of the benefits it provides. the cms mle has ad hoc links to a range of corporate it systems to ensure current student and course data is used, and provides much added value to school managers, administrators, lecturers and students. it is a key component of the school’s qa systems. it could be seen as a prototype, parts of which could be scaled up and fully integrated into corporate systems to provide an mle solution for a university. preliminary discussions have taken place with central services for the university of greenwich to take this forward and a prototype core system is currently being developed. the cms mle has evolved organically, and many parts of it are in need of re-engineering. the interface lacks consistency, the styling is old fashioned and the information architecture needs revising. however, for an mle it is the functionality that is key to its success, and this has been the priority. there are plans for a redesign of the system when resources permit, particularly for mobile access. the cms mle incorporates a custom-made virtual learning environment that provides many of the benefits of other vles and is therefore not discussed here. in any case, the current vle will be phased out as the university consolidates to a moodle vle for the next academic year. moodle has a user-centred constructivist learning focus (moodle, 2012) and is therefore not a good candidate for a mle which needs an institutional focus. moodle can, however, be an important component of a mle. key implementation issues key issues for a successful mle as identified in this case study are as follows. these supplement those identified by jisc (2006), but are more implementation specific to show what has worked in practice for cms. 1. keep it simple systems need to be as simple as possible. the cms register system, for example, does not allow editing of class registers after they have been completed, thereby encouraging staff to fill them in correctly first time. resources need to be focused on functionality with a simple interface. the cms mle is a basic text based web system that meets accessibility criteria and has good usability. 2. ensure data is accurate and only stored in one place accurate data is essential, and this needs to be maintained centrally (eg corporate student and course data), locally (eg course coordinators and moderators) and individually by staff (eg own research interests) and students (eg an mp3 recording of the pronunciation of their name). 3. ensure data can be accessed easily data needs to be stored transparently, and the system needs to be personalised. students need to see what is stored about them, staff should see what they need to know and managers need to have an overview of the status of systems, with the facility to drill down for more detail. information about students is best not stored in staff e-mail inboxes, or on laptops or in network areas where it is inaccessible by other staff. 4. create clear qa roles and procedures qa roles need to be clearly defined and used in a role-based security system to provide functionality on a “need to know” basis. in the cms mle in most cases the initiator of a process is the course coordinator, and the qa is provided by the relevant moderator, with an administrator overseeing the process, and managers having access to relevant reports. 46 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 5. keep it secure and legal legal issues of data protection and accessibility need to be taken into account, and confidentiality must be maintained where appropriate. 6. establish the best workflow for each system the complete lifecycle of objects in the system (eg coursework, projects, examination papers) needs to be considered “from the cradle to the grave” and the most efficient and simple workflow between the people based on their roles should be implemented. this is not an easy task, and may involve significant consolidation or changes to working practices. 7. listen to the users feedback from users needs to be responded to quickly to fix bugs and provide new functionality as needs change. 8. keep audit information managers investigating complaints need to know when something was done, who did it, and what they did. most of the cms mle systems store this audit information, and once data is committed to the system it cannot normally be deleted. 9. use e-mail as a notification system educate staff and students to use the online systems, and make e-mail merely a notification system and not a way of transferring the data itself. 10. show the benefits success is achieved if existing staff cannot imagine how they managed without the mle, and new staff use it intuitively with minimal training. the technology the technology to develop a mle must be appropriate to the context. in the case of the cms mle, for historical reasons this is an intranet built using classic asp and microsoft access. current integration with corporate systems has involved odbc connections with lookups to data in some cases, and downloads of corporate data overnight to synchronise with the cms register and coursework systems. new systems are, however, being developed using microsoft asp.net, sql server and sharepoint to facilitate future integration with corporate systems. the systems some of the systems that have been most successful include: 1. the registers system 2. an attendance register is managed and recorded by the course coordinator and tutors. registers are printed and used as a “turn around” document leading to data input using a web form. the list of students is synchronised overnight with the corporate student records system. students can notify reasons for absence. this is a key resource to measure student engagement, and is vital for meeting the demands of the uk border agency. 3. the student profile figure 1 example student profile the profile includes as much relevant information in one place as possible. this includes the student’s programme of study, their photograph and how to pronounce their name, any extenuating circumstances or assessment offences, the log of their use of the vle, their coursework submissions and feedback from tutors, any enquiries they have made and the response, and their class attendance records and grades. a student can access their own profile in full. staff, depending on their role, can access a subset of the information for a subset of students. 48 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 49 4. the course profile figure 2 example course profile this includes all things relevant to the course, including the course specification, book lists, teaching material, assessment details, registers, assessment offences and extensions. some of this information is restricted to staff, and some is further restricted to the relevant course coordinator, administrator or manager. 5. the examination moderation system figure 3 coordinator view of examination moderation system for over 200 exam papers per year coordinators upload papers, moderators comment on them and approve them once they are satisfied with their quality and appropriateness, managers then review these and administrators format and print them, and send them to the external examiners for approval. this system is the most secure system in the cms mle. past papers are easily made available to students at the end of the examination period. 6. the coursework moderation system for over 400 courseworks per year, leading to over 30,000 uploads by students, coordinators upload specifications, moderators approve them, which automatically makes the specification available to students via the vle. students upload their work by the due date, coursework is automatically printed if requested or marked online, and marks are input by the tutors, moderated as appropriate and transferred to the corporate student records system by administrators. tutors can give feedback in a variety of forms (text, annotated documents, sound or video recordings). 50 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 7. the esupervision system for projects for over 800 projects per year, project students are allocated a supervisor and interact with their supervisor via a dedicated messaging system. records of meeting are recorded, and staged uploads and student blogs are encouraged. this system is particularly useful in allowing other staff to support students over the summer or when supervisors are away on business. a range of reports allows progress of a cohort of students to be monitored and corrective action taken if necessary. 8. the enquiries system over 1400 students per year use a simple enquiry system to communicate with staff rather than send e-mails. this avoids students asking the same question of lots of staff in the hope that one of them will give them the answer they want. 9. the assessment offences system figure 4 form to submit details of a suspected assessment offence a simple system is used by tutors to upload coursework to turnitin and to report any assessment offences, thereby enabling these to be dealt with fairly and consistently. 10. the extenuating circumstances system students submit claims and upload evidence in the form of scanned documents or other images. decisions are made promptly and the student is notified by e-mail. 51 11. the student survey system figure 5 main staff menu for the student survey over 1300 students per year complete a series of questions (similar to the nss) about their experience of their programme of study, and about each of their courses. they are encouraged to complete the survey every time they login to the vle until they do complete it. after the survey is closed, coordinators and tutors see the feedback from their courses, and managers see all the feedback. a range of key performance indicators are published. the survey is completely anonymous. the benefits apart from the benefits of the embedded vle to students and lecturers, the cms mle has had most direct impact on the work of managers and administrators. all users have benefited in some way. 1. managers and qa officers access to a range of high level reports and key performance indicators (including lists of students with poor attendance, courses where exam papers have yet to be written, or coursework has not yet been marked, analysis of student surveys and access to student feedback) enable systems to be monitored and corrective action taken if necessary. the dean of the school has publicly commented that without the cms mle, she could not envisage how the school could be managed. 2. administrators processing enquiries, dealing with extenuating circumstances claims, and getting exam papers written by deadlines are just some of the benefits. the school office staff have found the student profile to be of particular value when dealing with issues relating to individual students. 52 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 3. lecturers the student profile is of great value to all tutors, and the course profile is particularly useful for course coordinators. proposals to use the data about students to calculate an “at risk of failure” index for all students are being considered that could be used by personal tutors to identify and help students in need of support. 4. students easy access to all data relevant to them, particularly feedback and an electronic portfolio of their work, means they have a comprehensive record of their university experience. online systems have meant quicker turnaround times, and access by mobile phones is particularly useful. in a recent survey on the student intranet 96% of students agreed with the statement that “the student intranet [mle] provided support for my learning”. one student commented: “the intranet is as good as any intranet can be in my eyes”, and another “nothing can be improved at the moment. seems to have everything we need.” 5. external examiners access to reports and student work before, during and after visits, enables external examiners to get a better picture of the work of the course teams, and to give more useful feedback. the electronic submission and record keeping system has been praised by several external examiners in their reports to the university. 6. the environment we all benefit from a (mostly) paperless office. printing of student courseworks is done double sided on a fast efficient central printer, and many staff use the online systems for marking and feedback. it all helps to support the university’s sustainability agenda. conclusion in conclusion, the cms mle should be seen as a prototype of how a comprehensive mle might be achieved in a university. many of the benefits from the integration and availability of data in a usable format have been identified and demonstrated on a smaller scale. it is recommended that institutions avoid the temptation to “outsource” systems to a plethora of social web 2.0 systems which offer short term gains but may give long term pain if they lose control of much valuable data that can enable them to provide a better service to students and their funders. a good mle can allow lecturers and managers to focus on the purpose of higher education rather than getting overwhelmed by administrative tasks that they perceive to be a hindrance to their vocation. however, whatever system is developed must fit with the business processes of the individual university, so there is no easy “off the shelf” solution. 53 references jisc (2005). case studies of managed learning environments in further education. [online]. available at: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/resources/external-resources/mle-in-fe-case-studies [accessed on 1 may 2012]. jisc (2006). mles for lifelong learning project briefing pack. [online]. available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ whatwedo/programmes/buildmlehefe/lifelonglearning/mlebriefingpack.aspx [accessed on 30 april 2012]. moodle (2012). philosophy. [online]. available at: http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/philosophy [accessed on 30 april 2012]. weller, m. (2007). virtual learning environments: using, choosing and developing your vle. london: taylor & francis. author biography dr ray stoneham is a principal lecturer at the university of greenwich and a specialist in data-driven web sites, with a particular interest in intranets and e-learning. he developed and manages several school intranets and the website used by external examiners of the university. 54 http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/resources/external-resources/mle-in-fe-case-studies http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/philosophy compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 55 ray stoneham the case study key implementation issues the technology the systems the benefits conclusion references author biography compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 towards a culture of learning: a european policy perspective edwin webb school of education & training preliminary note two of the most important education and training policies developed (and still being developed) by the european commission (ec) are those of the validation of non-formal and informal learning and a learning outcomes approach to the specification of learning. both of these policies are intended to contribute to the achievement of a lifelong learning culture within the community. this short article is based upon a half-day training session delivered to officers of the ec (brussels, october, 2008) and the follow-up summary paper. introduction the essential context for this seminar, and the themes explored, were provided by the ec communication, making a european area of lifelong learning (november, 2001). achieving the objectives of a lifelong learning policy requires the creation of ‘a culture of learning’ in which all forms of learning are valued: ‘creating a culture of learning requires that the question of how to value learning in formal, non-formal and informal settings, must be addressed in a coherent way. enabling citizens to combine and build on learning from school, university, training bodies, work, leisure time and family activities presupposes that all forms of learning can be identified, assessed and recognised.’ the same ec document defines the three forms of learning in the following terms: ■ formal learning is typically provided by education or training institutions, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and leading to certification. formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective. ■ non-formal learning is not provided by an education or training institution and typically it does not lead to certification. however, it is structured, in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support. non-formal learning is intentional from the learner’s point of view. ■ informal learning results from daily activities related to work, family or leisure. it is not structured in terms of learning objectives, learning time and/or learning support. informal learning may be intentional but in most cases, it is non-intentional (or incidental/random). informal learning may be more familiar to some as ‘experiential learning’ – learning through and from experience. the ec definitions, though, rest upon discrimination between the ‘settings’ within which learning takes place, and in given instances such distinctions are arguably nominal rather than absolute. nonetheless, the ec recognition of non-formal/informal learning, in addition to traditional formal towards a culture of learning: a european policy perspective 2 statements of learning attainments, represented a significant policy shift in the potential value of all forms of learning. this value was further strengthened with the european council draft conclusions on non-formal and informal learning (may, 2004) which set out common european principles ‘to encourage and guide the development of high quality, trustworthy approaches and systems for the identification and validation of non-formal and informal learning.’ in brief, the attempt to develop a culture of learning is seen as incomplete without the acknowledgement of the value of learning derived from other than formal processes of traditional education and training. emerging as the principal means of identifying and recognising such learning is the development of a learning outcomes approach. here, the recent shift of language (and conception) from ‘learning objectives’ to ‘learning outcomes’ is significant. an objective indicates the point to which learning is directed; an outcome details the result of a learning process – whether or not defined in advance. the development of a learning outcomes approach to the recognition and assessment) of learning has become seen as the answer to ‘the question of how to value learning in formal, non-formal and informal settings... in a coherent way’ (ec, 2001). the recognition of non-formal/informal learning via a learning outcomes approach, if applied in practice, has considerable potential to change national approaches to education and training. both policies take further the principled statements relating to the entitlement of the individual to engage in lifelong learning in order to pursue the objectives of ‘active citizenship, personal fulfilment and social inclusion as well as employment-related aspects’ (ec, 2001). the notion of life-wide learning (ec, 2001) proposes that learning, in general terms and in vocationally-relevant ways, may result from all forms of learning (formal, non-formal, informal) – including learning embedded in social, personal, and vocational experience. the promotion of life-wide learning forms an essential drive within the practical development of lifelong learning. the recognition (which may include certification) of non-formal and informal learning is a critical process towards the implementation of life-wide learning policies. the latest council of the european union and commission joint progress report (brussels, january 2008, annex 1) shows that the uk, whilst in the process of ‘developing’ such systems, does not yet have in place strategies, frameworks, validation systems or national targets for the validation of non-formal and informal learning. non-formal/informal learning the recognition of non-formal/informal learning can serve a variety of purposes, including: ■ to provide a `second-chance’ to achieve qualifications via an alternative route ■ to supply a means of addressing skills shortages ■ to update vocational/professional needs ■ to provide qualifications in their own right or as units towards or exemptions from recognised qualifications ■ to promote lifelong/life-wide learning ■ to address social factors (disadvantaged/excluded, unemployed, older citizens...). towards a culture of learning: a european policy perspective 3 validation of non-formal/informal learning whilst nomenclature varies across national systems and, indeed different meanings can attach to the use of the same term, validation is best and most simply understood as the inclusive term for these three processes: ■ identification of learning (‘what has been learned’) ■ assessment and/or testing of learning ■ recognition (or results) of various kinds. identification makes visible and records the individual’s learning outcomes or achievements. a range of methods may be used to identify learning which is often tacit. such methods include structured interviews, direct observation of the individual’s competences, the mapping of personal learning needs. emerging as one of the most widespread practices is the creation, by the individual, of a portfolio or dossier of various materials targeted at demonstrating specified knowledge, skills, and competences. assessment of non-formal/informal learning is essential if recognition is to take the form of certification. it is also a key means by which comparability with similar national awards gained through formal learning can be established. recognition, following that assessment, can take various forms, including, among others: certification/part-certification, exemption from part or parts of an educational or vocational qualification, appointment or promotion to a given post. some points for discussion 1. the ec document (2001) ‘presupposes that all forms of learning can be identified, assessed and recognised.’ it also states that ‘a comprehensive new approach to valuing learning is needed to build bridges between different learning contexts and learning forms ...’ what measures have to be put in place, within systems, in pursuit of these principles? 2. how do you counter the argument that validation of non-formal/informal learning does not lead to ‘proper’ qualifications? – that is, certificates of the same value as those gained exclusively through formal learning. and in the particular case where the same awards can be gained either through formal or non-formal/informal means, how do you achieve parity of esteem between these routes? 3. the ec document also states that ‘a comprehensive approach to valuing learning is needed to facilitate individual pathways of learning’ (ec, 2001). what changes are required, and what are the difficulties posed, in order to enable learners to develop and pursue such individual approaches to learning – especially in the case of awards currently available only through formal patterns of learning? learning outcomes the development of a learning outcomes approach to education and training is not new; it has existed in some national systems for some years. but the potential of a learning outcomes approach, towards a culture of learning: a european policy perspective 4 in relation to developing lifelong/life-wide learning and providing a surer basis for the validation of non-formal/informal learning, is generally of more recent recognition. questions of definition at its simplest, a learning outcome is a definition or description of learning either achieved or to be achieved, stated variously in terms of knowledge, understanding, skills, and competences – or in combinations of these. again, there is variation from system to system: what, for example, is taken to be a competence in one system may be regarded as a skill (or set of skills) in another. connected with learning outcomes are related matters of levels (of achievement) and standards (e.g. vocational competence to practice). the essential value of a learning outcome, however, is that it provides an explicit and external statement of learning. in so doing it provides a reference point to which all learning (formal, non-formal/informal) can be directed. applications of learning outcomes learning outcomes can be applied at any level as descriptors of learning. they can be used: ■ to define, in general terms, a framework for the overall learning achievements for national qualifications (certificates, diplomas, degrees, vocational/professional awards) ■ to define the learning to be achieved in a formal programme (or course or unit) of study or training ■ to provide statements of knowledge/understanding/skills/competences against which non formal/informal learning can be assessed ■ to make transparent, to both learner and teacher/trainer/assessor, what is to be tested ■ to provide means of creating assessment activities derived from statements of learning outcomes for the purposes of testing and/or assessing – so that methods of testing can be seen as both relevant and appropriate. additionally, the adoption of learning outcomes can be used to structure each teaching/training session as statements of the learning to be achieved within or by the end of each session (known as specific learning outcomes). a paradigm shift? the adoption of a learning outcomes approach, depending on the point of view generated from within a given european national system, may be simply evolutionary or radically revolutionary. for some, the adoption provides opportunities to apply its principles more widely across all forms of learning; to others it inverts the traditional (didactic) view of teaching and learning, substituting a different, and more profound, model. in all cases, however, the adoption of a learning outcomes approach: ■ shifts attention to the individual learner ■ makes specific the learning requirements to the learner ■ can make learning visible and allow for a broader range of learning to be recognised ■ facilitates access/transfer to further study/training ■ can create more open and more active learning towards a culture of learning: a european policy perspective 5 ■ challenges teachers/trainers to review methods of teaching ■ poses questions about how learning is assessed ■ may require traditional programmes/courses of study/training to become more flexible. in larger terms, learning outcomes can assist in the development of a european credit transfer system for vocational education and training (vet); can provide the basis for developing national qualifications frameworks; and form the basis for the european qualifications framework as a `neutral’ reference system. points for discussion ■ will the adoption of a learning outcomes approach actually lead to the valuing of learning? or will it simply lead to the adoption of a `new’ language? ■ will learning outcomes really make any difference to the ways in which teachers and trainers teach and train? ■ by specifying learning in explicit terms, will the adoption of learning outcomes result in more testing to see if the prescribed learning has been achieved? could there be more and more testing but less and less active learning? ■ could the adoption of a learning outcomes approach actually stop experimentation and innovation in teaching/training practices, because the learning outcomes themselves are designed, policed, and statutorily enforced by regional/national agencies and governments? summary in a very real sense, the validation of non-formal/informal learning and the adoption of a learning outcomes approach are two policy developments which serve each other. in the context of lifelong learning (pursued through the recognition of life-wide learning opportunities), they are interdependent. the recognition of non-formal/informal learning is, to a large extent, made a practical possibility and achievement through statements of learning outcomes. learning outcomes identify the learning to be made visible and to be assessed. the adoption of a learning outcomes approach, by focusing on learning itself (achieved or to be achieved), accommodates all forms of learning without discriminating among its different forms. some of the points for discussion present challenges to the uncritical application of these policies – because there are dangers. yet there is also genuine potential offered in both developments. interplay between these two developments could promote genuine opportunities for both personal and vocational/professional growth and help considerably to realise in practice the principles of lifelong and life-wide learning. in the specific context of vocational education and training (vet), there is the possibility, for example, of developing a portfolio of awards that could encourage the professional progression of vocational teachers and trainers, given that within the uk, there is no established policy for such professional and career development of those teachers and trainers. selected readings bjornavold, j. (2008) the shift to learning outcomes. cedefop panorama series. luxembourg: office for official publications of the european communities. towards a culture of learning: a european policy perspective 6 bjornavold, j. (2008) validation of non-formal and informal learning in europe. luxembourg: office for official publications of the european communities. council of the european union (2004) draft conclusions of the council and of the representatives of the governments of the member states meeting within the council on common european principles for the identification and validation of non-formal and informal learning. brussels: council of the european union. council of the european union (2008) draft joint progress report of the council and the commission on the implementation of the `education and training 2010’ work programme “delivering lifelong learning for knowledge, creativity and innovation” – adoption. brussels: council of the european union, 31 january 2008. european commission (2001) making a european area of lifelong learning a reality: communication from the commission. brussels: european commission. webb, e. (2007) recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning for vet teachers and trainers in the eu member states. cedefop panorama series. luxembourg: office for official publications of the european communities. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 engaging students affectively to stimulate social presence in online learning xiaowen gao university of greenwich, uk abstract there is challenge in designing online teaching that motivates students and encourages them to engage fully with learning activities. this conference reflection considers how affective engagement may be supported and why addressing it should be a priority when designing and delivering effective online teaching. keywords: affective engagement, online delivery, pedagogical design the rapid move from classroom-based to online teaching in 2020 has presented new challenges for educators seeking to engage students effectively in a virtual environment. compared with classroom-based teaching, where educators can use a wide range of delivery strategies – verbal and non-verbal communication, group activities and classroom layouts to facilitate students’ active learning (christophel, 1990) – it can be more difficult to do this when delivering online, when students are more likely to take a passive role or even fail to engage at all. possible explanations are: lack of confidence about using the technology and, in some cases, inadequate access to it; a feeling of being disconnected from others; lower levels of motivation and interest, which can be associated with a sense of isolation (smith and smith, 2014; ward and newlands,1998; bullen, 1998). to address these challenges, various ideas were presented at the university of greenwich business faculty’s teaching and learning festival in july 2020. it was the first time that the festival was held virtually, but, as in previous years, there was energetic discussion between colleagues eager to participate and share their experiences. they voiced concerns that students may not have access to the high speed of internet connection needed for video or audio interactions. in addition to such technological limitations, it was recognised that creating a sense of belonging is even more challenging in an online environment. for example, it is relatively easy to give personal attention to each student in a classroom, but much more difficult to do so in an online class. among the diverse contributions made at the festival, i was particularly interested in presentations focusing on methods for stimulating active learning online. these included using a wiki page for collaborative asynchronous learning and applying a jigsaw classroom method to online tutorials. inspired by these presentations, i reflected on the methods that my colleagues and i have deployed in our online modules. in this brief piece, i consider why and how we could do more to support students’ affective engagement, so as to motivate their participation in online learning in addition to engaging them with activities aimed at supporting cognitive engagement and progress in subject knowledge. undoubtedly, text-based asynchronous online collaborative learning activities, such as contributing to a wiki page or discussion forum, have their strengths. they create conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 opportunities for students to articulate and share their understanding of academic content and can be seen as student-centred, in that students can participate at their convenience. however, because there is no immediate response or feedback, it can be argued that they do little to address the problem of learner isolation (moore et al., 2005). synchronous online learning, on the other hand, allows interactions in real time or live sessions (moore et al., 2011), but, on the recurrent evidence of my own teaching and that of others who presented at the festival, students did not turn their webcams on to show their faces or were not keen to participate in live tutorials. these teaching sessions consequently proved less than successful in cultivating a sense of belonging and may not have served to motivate students or stimulate their interest in learning and lead them to value it. at the festival, i presented to the audience my design and execution of an online delivery to a group of third-year students in china. according to the community of inquiry (coi) model proposed by garrison and arbaugh (2007), to create an online learning experience in which deep and meaningful learning is supported, three interdependent elements must be developed: social, cognitive and teaching presence. my focus now, in reflecting on the festival, is on the way that i approached the development of social presence. in the coi model, this refers to the ability, in an online environment, to perceive others as ‘real’ and to project oneself as real, too. this involves affective expressions, open communications and group cohesion (garrison and arbaugh, 2007). social presence is supported by increased interactivity among participants (melrose and bergeron, 2006). for my module, i designed opportunities to support affective engagement by using activities that would help develop a sense of belonging to the group. i implemented this approach in several ways. in the first few sessions of the module, word-cloud questions on mentimeter enabled tutor and students to interact with each other, providing them with opportunities to share information about themselves and learn about the other members of the group. the questions sought responses about participants’ hobbies, the role models they valued and the reasons for their interest – or lack of it – in the subject learning. shared interests and themes became apparent and triggered further interactions. during each live session, i organised small group discussions and ensured that i asked questions of students individually and directly, by using their names. this helped to build familiarity between members of the group. when i allocated students to small groups to take part in learning activities, i created the groups randomly each time, in order to maximise the opportunities for students to connect with others in the group and to prevent the formation of cliques. a group presentation video recording, used in the assessment of the module, also provided a collaborative learning experience. i asked students to discuss and decide on a name for their group, so as to enhance group rapport. at the festival, so as to make improvements to my future practice, i sought feedback from participants; they were both positive and complimentary about my presentation. some regarded my approach as useful and said they would consider applying it to their own online delivery design. others shared their own suggestions for helping students to establish social connections. in reflecting on these discussions, i would argue that a key priority in online teaching is to engage students affectively and develop social presence. there may be many ways to approach this, but, however it is done, it is a necessary part of online learning. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 my reflections on this festival conference have led me to conclude that, although social presence cannot on its own produce learning outcomes for students, achieving effective online learning without it is extremely difficult. reference list bullen, m. (1998) ‘participation and critical thinking in online university distance education.’ journal of distance education,13(2),1-32. available at: http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/download/140/394?inline=1 (accessed: 28 may 2021). christophel, d. (1990) ‘the relationships among teacher immediacy behaviors, student motivation, and learning.’ communication education, 39, 323-340. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03634529009378813 (accessed: 27 may 2021). garrison, d.r. and arbaugh, j.b. (2007) ‘researching the community of inquiry framework: review, issues, and future directions.’ the internet and higher education, 10(3), 157-172. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1096751607000358 11 moore, j.l. and marra, r.m. (2005) ‘a comparative analysis of online discussion participation protocols.’ journal of research on technology in education, 38(2), 191-212. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15391523.2005.10782456 (accessed: 28 may 2021). moore, j.l., dickson-deane, c. and galyen, k. (2011) ‘e-learning, online learning, and distance learning environments: are they the same?’ the internet and higher education, 14(2), 129-135. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1096751610000886 (accessed: 28 may 2021). smith, d. and smith, k. (2014) ‘the case for 'passive' learning – the 'silent' community of online learners.’ european journal of open, distance and e-learning, 17(2), 85-98. available at: https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/eurodl/17/2/articlep86.xml?product=sciendo (accessed: 10 august 2020). melrose, s. and bergeron, k. (2006) ‘online graduate study health care learners’ perceptions of instructional immediacy.’ the international review of research in open and distributed learning, 7(1). available at: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/255 (accessed: 30 may 2021). ward, m. and newlands, d. (1998) ‘use of the web in undergraduate teaching.’ computers and education, 31(2), 171-184. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s0360131598000244?via%3dihub (accessed: 24 may 2021). http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/download/140/394?inline=1 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03634529009378813 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1096751607000358 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15391523.2005.10782456 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s1096751610000886 https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/eurodl/17/2/article-p86.xml?product=sciendo https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/eurodl/17/2/article-p86.xml?product=sciendo http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/255 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/s0360131598000244?via%3dihub 1 case study communication and presentation skills – a little help goes a long way verna rhodes access & widening participation unit one of the responsibilities of the access & widening participation unit (awpu) team at the university of greenwich is to help students to make a successful progression into higher education. whilst working with local schools, sixth form centres and colleges, we deliver a wide range of projects in order to support the development and delivery of general and subject specific activities. amidst the rising demand for young people to demonstrate a higher standard of communication skills, one of the most popular requests for sixth form support includes help with presentations, not least because part of the extended project qualification (epq) includes an assessed presentation. epq is a free-standing qualification and a compulsory part of the diploma. epq is awarded for an extended piece of work at level 3 of the national qualifications framework. at the negus sixth form centre (plumstead manor school), a target group of 23 students, from a widening participation cohort, joined a presentation project in order to receive academic support for their extended project. the aim was to deliver a one-hour workshop to all of the students in order to prepare them for the assessed presentation. materials were used from the speakersbank organisation, such as the top 10 tips for speaking in public and how to overcome nerves (speakersbank). all students were required to deliver a 10 to 15 minute presentation on their chosen topic (for which they had already written an essay). last january andrew sinclair, study skills lecturer, held a workshop on presentation skills and, as expected, we were met with 23 ‘presentation phobic’ students. however, all of the students were eager to find out how to give a presentation but not necessarily keen on the idea of practising for it, especially in front of their peers. nevertheless, the task was set and each student was required to speak for two minutes on a topic of their choice. unsurprisingly, each student’s presentation varied considerably with almost all of them suffering from severe nerves and a lack of confidence. we decided therefore to offer one-to-one tutorial support the following week in order to provide the students with more presentation techniques and thus increase their confidence. a total of twelve one-to-one tutorials were undertaken. each student came with their prepared, or partly prepared, powerpoint presentation and eagerly listened to advice and guidance on structure, layout, focus, content and timing. the deadline was looming for the assessed presentations at the end of the month and i readily agreed to assist with the assessment programme. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 2 all of the students delivered a satisfactory presentation, many of them delivered a very good presentation and some of them were absolutely excellent. one student deserved commendation for a presentation on the broad topic of the u.s. health system versus the nhs; she had managed to deliver a carefully structured presentation with clear and easy to follow focus points within the time constraints. however, another student gave an unexpected and simply staggering performance; having stood up in the initial workshop unable to deliver a full sentence because of rising panic and a severe lack of confidence, he gave a 15 minute presentation with all of the required methodology alongside a good dose of passion. without doubt, the progress of this student had been outstanding – in just a few weeks he had managed to deliver a superb presentation of which he could be very proud. practising was not the only factor involved. as anderson et al. remark, “becoming a more effective communicator is not simply a matter of practicing the spoken language; practice certainly helps, but the real improvements come from planning how to approach a speaking task and evaluating how well you spoke.” (anderson et al. 2004). with the ease of access to communication via the internet (tools such as email, msn, facebook and twitter) it is not difficult to demonstrate the decreasing forum for face-to-face communication. practising is not the only remedy to overcome the problem; planning should certainly provide a starting point to encourage young and adult learners, with evaluation as part of the process of reflection to plan better next time. references anderson, k., maclean, j., and lynch, t. (2004). study speaking. second edition, cambridge: cambridge university press. speakersbank. (2010). [online]. available at: www.speakersbank.co.uk. http://www.speakersbank.co.uk/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol1 (2009) 1 when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis heather brunskell-evans school of education & training introduction in the past 15 years in the uk, the state has acquired powers, which mark a qualitative shift in its relationship to higher education. since the introduction and implementation of the further and higher education act 1992, the teaching and higher education act 1998 and the higher education act 2004, a whole raft of changes have occurred which include the following: widening participation; the development of interdisciplinary, experiential and workplace-based learning focused on a theory practice dialogue; quality assurance; and new funding models which encompass public and private partnerships. the transformation of higher education can be placed in the context of new labour’s overall strategies for overarching reform of public services, as set out in the prime minister’s strategy unit’s discussion paper the uk government’s approach to public service reform (2006). an optimistic view of changes to higher education is that they simultaneously obey democratic and economic imperatives. there is an avowed commitment through the widening participation agenda to social inclusion and citizenship, and to providing the changing skills base necessary for the global economy. a more cynical view is that, when put under critical scrutiny, as well as being emancipatory, in some senses these changes can be seen to mobilise regulatory and disciplinary practices. this paper reflects on what kinds of teaching and learning are promoted by the new relationship between the state and the university. it argues that, whilst governmental directives for innovations and transformations in teaching and learning allegedly empower students and put their interests at the centre, reforms can also be seen to consist of supervisory and controlling mechanisms with regard both to our own practices as teachers and the knowledge/ learning we provide for the students. higher education as the object of government control the further and higher education act 1992 marked a qualitative shift in the state’s relationship with higher education. writing in the immediate aftermath of the act, salter and tapper (1994) point out that the accumulated powers of the state did not arrive ‘out of the blue’ in 1992, but emerged after the second world war out of the ideological struggles between the economic view of higher education and the traditional, liberal ideal of the university as academically autonomous and as a site for critical thought. this conflict over the purpose and function of the university was played out over two political periods: that of the welfare state up to the 1970s and that of the thatcher era. whereas the university had previously been understood as relatively autonomous, since 1992 it has been tied to the state across a whole range of issues, which ultimately involve its accountability to the needs of the economy. as such, unlike any other historical period, the state has effected change when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis 2 on a vast scale and in a manner that determines the everyday practices of the academy, including teaching and learning. in describing the powers of the state, salter and tapper (1994) problematise simplistic conceptions of the state and argue that it does not designate a single identity, but numerous and complex organisations and institutions that make up the state apparatus. the state does not have ‘a single, homogenous identity in terms of either organisation or values’ (1994, p. 19). the unifying ideology of the purpose of higher education is mobilised by numerous components of the state apparatus according to the ‘ability of the dominant bureaucracy… to orchestrate the actions of its different parts’ (1994, p. 19). olssen, codd and o’neill (2004) extend analysis of the powers of the state to include the last decade of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, a period that witnessed the formulation and implementation of the teaching and higher education act 1998 and the higher education act 2004. these theorists characterise the new labour government as neo-liberal, and as such, rather than constituting a radical shift from the previous governmental administration, the current government extends the political project of the new right. olssen et al. (2004) take up the theoretical premise elaborated above, that the state exercises an unprecedented control over the contemporary university. however, they shift the debate onto a discussion that involves political motivation for control of the university beyond the requirements of the economic and onto the governmental need for social control per se. they analyse this phenomenon through the conceptual tools made available by the philosopher/ social theorist michel foucault (1927–1984), in particular foucault’s concept of ‘governmentality’. this, they argue, provides a powerful tool for understanding how higher education is tied to both politics and economics in western liberal democratic societies, and how this is accomplished through the production of self-governing subjects who tailor their educational and life aspirations and desires to the requirements of the state. foucault and governmentality: the liberal democratic state foucault (1991) developed the neologism ‘governmentality’ to describe the structures of power in liberal democracies by which the conduct of individuals is orchestrated through mobilising their selforganising capacities so that individual subjects align their needs, aspirations, and hopes to the needs of the state. his aim was not to ascertain the legitimacy or illegitimacy of state power, but to understand the nature of governmental power in modern liberal democracies since the 19 th century as specific forms of state ‘reason’, linked to technologies that exercise collective power over individuals as ‘free’ subjects. in earlier work foucault argued social control in liberal democracy takes effect through the production of individual, subjective identity around an axis of normal/abnormalcy. to be governed in a liberal democracy is to be subjected, i.e. to be turned by the apparatuses of state (and the power and knowledge relations deployed) into a particular form of subject, who imagines her/himself to be free. foucault’s argument is that we are extremely normatively disciplined in every area of existence, including our thoughts, passions and desires. this condition of normalcy is reproduced through institutions such as schools, prisons and hospitals and feels to individual subjects as natural and inevitable. in foucault’s view, subjects are never ‘free’ in the sense in which we understand freedom in liberal democracy, namely that as subjects we exist as autonomous individuals prior to or anterior to when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis 3 the power which is exercised over us. the subject is brought into being through power relations, and the knowledges (psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics) that are attached to them. the later development of the concept of governmentality allowed foucault to shift analysis from the micro-practices of education, the prison system and the health services that produce us as specific subjects, to the collective dimensions of governmental power as manifested by the modern, liberal, democratic state. as such, he provides a form of analysis that demonstrates the exercise of power within liberal democracies and allows us to see that educational and economic practices mutually condition and adapt to each other in ways that regularise and normalise individuals. this analysis is fruitful because it does not represent such processes, as in marxist discourses, as the outcome of a necessary determination by the economic base, or describe the ‘fit’ between state power and the individual subject solely in terms of her/his oppression by a power imposed from ‘above’. foucault argues that governmentality, since the growth of nascent, liberal democracies in the late 18th and 19th centuries, has involved the complex calculations, programmes, strategies, reflections and tactics by which government attempts to ‘conduct the conduct’ of individuals and groups of individuals in order to achieve certain ends. increasingly, those ends are ‘not just to control, subdue, discipline, normalise, or reform them, but also to make them more intelligent, wise, happy, virtuous, productive, docile, enterprising, fulfilled, self-esteeming, empowered or whatever’ (rose, 1988, p. 12). governmentality is not simply about control in its negative sense, but in its positive sense, in its contribution to the security and well-being of the population. foucault poses the question of the how of liberal government – ‘how to govern oneself, how to be governed, how to govern others, by whom the people will accept being governed’. governmentality is not one homogenous or blanket mode of liberal democratic government, although it has the central, component elements described above, since it shifts according to historical and political circumstances. olssen et al. (2004), argue that neo-liberalism is a reason of state that emerged in the 1980s out of an ideological and economic reaction to the welfare state and its perceived deficiencies. as such it traverses the new right and new labour. in the neo-liberal view, the welfare state played too great a role in relation to economic management, restricting the operations of the market and creating unnecessary inefficiencies as a result of a ‘top-heavy’ and cumbersome bureaucracies. it also produced individuals who were difficult to govern, ranging from those who did not take individual responsibility and were welfare dependent, through to those who were rebellious and transgressive, such as students and academics. the state has developed a new approach to managing the economy and to the ordering of population, through the following strategies: reformation of public administration and reduction of the size and operations of the state; governing ‘from a distance’ through concepts of choice, freedom, empowerment, and autonomy; inducing individuals to take responsibility for themselves at the sites of the family, education, health provision, pensions and so on. this mode of governing can be exemplified by new labour’s approach to public service reform: ‘since 1997 the government has substantially increased investment in public services... but increased spending is not enough on its own to ensure improvements. reform is needed to improve efficiency, quality of service and the fairness of provision. the uk government’s current approach to public service reform combines pressure from government (top down and voice), competitive provision; and measures to build the capability and capacity of civil and public servants and central and local government.’ (prime minister’s strategy unit, 2006, p. 3). when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis 4 from a foucauldian view, the ‘empowerment’ of citizens does not make individuals free from power, but induces individuals to turn themselves into the kinds of subjects necessary for government. thus, rather than represent a withdrawal of state power, neo-liberal strategies of government deploy a power which is increasingly pervasive since it functions to simultaneously centralise and individualise. i explore below the inherent dangers of higher education being harnessed to the interests of neoliberal reason through the state’s re-configuration of learners, the learning environment and teachers in higher education. higher education: the politics of new modes of learning and the de-professionalisation of academics widening participation is popularly understood as greater participation in, access to and equity in the liberal democratic political framework. the distinction made between education and training in european universities (in contrast to universities in the united states of america) is now beginning to disappear. a new model of higher education knowledge is emerging: employability skills-based training; new qualification frameworks with ‘flexible pathways’ and credit transfer which provide a ‘seamlessness’ between work and education; and a push for on-going improvement of outcomes as measured by student access, participation and retention, etc. as a result of this new configuration of the university, knowledge is increasingly evaluated for its pragmatic, utilitarian value rather than as an end in itself. competency-based approaches to curriculum delivery and learning are driven by strong, externally defined standards that treat learning as a set of discrete outcomes which are not multi-dimensional. changes to knowledge are driven, in part, by the needs of trans-national companies and related knowledge-based industries: partnerships between universities and industries are being formed and carefully nurtured; the boundaries between the academy, government and business have been loosened and re-formulated; and corporate interests play a more powerful role in determining the purpose of higher education. greater co-ordination and co-operation between public and private institutions has resulted in new funding models for higher education and, although it is still largely dependent on state funding, the university is expected to meet the requirements of the private sector economy. there are multiple linkages between the university and the different stakeholders in the economy and since universities are framed as a source of labour market training they are being increasingly encouraged to work with industry and commerce to generate knowledge, wealth and regional and national economies. olssen et al. (2004) agree and point out that in higher education, as in the workforce more generally, neo-liberal reason involves new forms of managing students and staff. with regard to students, notions such as ‘flexibility’ are integral to neo-liberal work and management relations, and require malleable individuals who continually train and re-train to meet the continuing changes of the economic process. the notion of ‘‘flexibility’ redesigns skills and human capital as the personal responsibility of the individual worker, enabling the structures of both the economy and state maximum ability to accommodate change’ (2004, p. 189). power ‘is concentrated, focused and implemented while not appearing to be centralised. in foucauldian terms, flexibility represents a micro-technology of power that sustains relations of governmentality’ (ibid). when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis 5 with regard to staff, neo-liberal governmental technologies comprise a new form of power which systematically undoes and reconstructs the practices of professionalism in higher education. academic identity is no longer linked to one’s academic discipline, but to league-table scores, quality assurance and managerialism. the irony is that whilst academics are increasingly expected to operate managerially (re-professionalisation), they are also expected to consent to being led (de-professionalisation). there are two salient features to de-professionalisation: the beginnings of removal of discretionary power with regard to pedagogy; constraints imposed on teaching practice by having to meet bureaucratic criteria imposed by quality assurance agencies such as the qaa. whist the rationale for externality is that it enhances quality and professionalism, the fact remains that quality assurance is the authoritative construction of norms, with limited opportunities for individuals to question their legitimacy and move beyond conventionally justified beliefs and values. academics no longer legislate for what is correct knowledge, ‘they are more likely to be interpreters of the workplace or consultants to knowledge workers such as teachers, etc’ (morely, 2003, p. 92). conclusion my own view is that in the uk, there is a culture of compliance to the policy discourses of higher education, which means that i am required, like countless colleagues, to perform within regulatory frameworks. the contractual basis upon which academics are employed is premised on a need for compliance, monitoring and accountability, organised through a new form of managerialism and established through measurable outputs. does this broaden or narrow education? without coming to a conclusion about this, i want to shift the terms of the debate. one can see that, within the university, there is an inter-locking of the ‘tutor-subject’ and ‘student-subject’ as a local enacting of policy discourse which shifts the purpose of learning onto a different terrain than that of critical thought, which was the dominant discourse of adult education throughout most of the 20th century. critical thinking is usually characterised as ‘the process of unearthing and then researching, the assumptions one is operating under, primarily by taking different perspectives on familiar, taken-forgranted beliefs and behaviours’ (brookfield, 2005: vii–viii). critical thinking is thus an inherently political process, one that is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain in higher education, both in oneself and in one’s students. true freedom, in the foucauldian view, can never exist outside of power but exists in our ability as subjects to comprehend how we have been ‘put together’ by discursive practices, namely systems of thought to which practices are attached, so that we can resist and challenge them. the real task of scholarly critique is thus to examine those aspects of educational institutions that appear to be both neutral and independent, and to do so in such a manner that the powers that are exercised obscurely are unmasked so that we are in a position to resist them if we so choose. the freedom to resist, unlike a traditional marxist position, does not involve globalising visions of overthrowing power, since this would be impossible, but the analysis of the micro-politics of power and how these induce us to become particular kinds of tutor-subjects and student-subjects. as a teacher of the theory and practice of education (within schools, and further and higher education), i am placed within the governmental changes to higher education which i have to operate and mobilise. however, i also attempt to maintain a critical distance to ensure that i am not incorporated into practices and ideologies that are in fundamental opposition to my own beliefs about the nature of scholarship and of best practice. in other words, in my when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis 6 teaching and in my research i take the ‘new’ modes of teaching and learning as an object of enquiry rather than an internalised modus operandi 1 references barry, a. osborne, t. and rose, n. (eds.) (1996) foucault and political reason. london: ucl press. brookfield, s.d. (2005) the power of critical theory for adult learning and teaching. berkshire: oup. burchell, g. gordon, c. and miller, p. (eds.) (1991) the foucault effect: studies in governmentality. london: harvester wheatsheaf. fejes, a., and nicoll, k. (eds.) (2008) foucault and lifelong learning: governing the subject. london and new york: routledge. foucault, m. (1991) ‘governmentality’. in burchell, g. gordon, c. and miller, p. (eds.) the foucault effect: studies in governmentality. usa: university of chicago press. morley, l. (2003) quality and power in higher education. berkshire: srhe and oup. olssen, m. codd, j. and o’neill, a. m. (2004) education policy: globalisation, citizenship and democracy. london: sage. prime minister’s strategy unit (2006) the uk government’s approach to public service reform. online. available at www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/public_service_reform.aspx rose, n. (1998) inventing our selves: psychology, power and personhood. cambridge: cambridge university press. rose, n. (1999) powers of freedom: reframing political thought. cambridge: cambridge university press. salter, b. and tapper, t. (1994) the state and higher education. essex: the woburn press. 1 i am indebted to louise morley for drawing out similar distinctions between her own need as an academic manager and scholar for compliance with discourses of quality assurance and to take them as the object of her own, feminist theoretical enquiry. she describes her position in academia as one of ‘hybridity’ (2003: x). http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/public_service_reform.aspx case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 humanoid robots: useful or useless? dr r c seals department of electrical, electronic & computer engineering, university of greenwich abstract the potential usefulness of a humanoid robot (robothespian) was investigated by a group of six msc students, who chose to use this system for one of their oral assignments. a variety of methodologies was used by the students, ranging from treating the robothespian mostly as a machine to engaging with it in an apparently fully-interactive live conversation. the humanoid robot investigation proved to be an interesting and stimulating approach, but one which did have problems: there was only one user interface (touch-screen display) available and it was quite slow to use. introduction at the end of the 2013/14 academic year, the faculty of engineering and science invested in a humanoid robot called robothespian (engineering arts ltd., 2015); see figure 1. this system had been promoted as a mechanism for interacting with human audiences and increasing publicity for the operating organisation. it had many other additional uses, particularly in the area of human-machine interfacing (technopia dictionary, 2010); it also seemed to offer some intriguing possibilities in the educational environment: since humans led or directed the majority of education, if a human-like machine existed (adams et al, 2000), what might be its potential in an educational context? figure 1: the university of greenwich robothespian the experimental conditions during the first term of 2014/15, a decision was made to explore some of the capabilities of the robothespian in the education environment, to see how effective, or possibly ineffective, it might be. if the robothespian were to be used in a university education context, then it would be interacting with human students, and so the obvious first step was to consider how it might (easily) be incorporated into a real, live, student-based activity. it was also decided that such an investigation should be for a real assessment through which students would case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 collect marks towards a course grade. as, therefore, marks were to be involved, the seriousness of using the robothespian became apparent. so, rather than requiring all of a cohort of twenty-five msc students to use the robothespian, the tutor offered the students the choice between the humanoid and a powerpoint for their delivery of an audio-visual presentation for a course called multiple technology integration, part of a suite of msc programmes within the department of electrical, electronic & computer engineering in the faculty of engineering and science. the purpose of the assessment was to provide the students with the experience of creating a self-timed, audio-visual presentation on a technical matter. the students were not to give a live presentation, but incorporate their words into visual media. previously, such approaches as powerpoint and youtube videos had been the proffered options, for drawing out the best responses (wilson, 2010) and minimising opportunities for plagiarism. the robothespian, the latest technology to be investigated, would be a novel choice. many of those studying on the masters programmes within engineering are from overseas and represent wide variation in practical and laboratory experience and skill level. multiple technology integration is designed to provide them with guided experience in using electronic laboratory equipment, in designing, implementing and testing electronic products and in reflecting on their designs and reporting on their achievements in various oral and written formats. the powerpoint option guides them through the process of creating a selfcontained, ten-minute audio-visual presentation containing animated text and graphics; audio commentary is recorded to the slides and the whole thing then saved to a dvd or cd for submission. the aim of this particular assessment is two-fold: first, it introduces the student to the capabilities of powerpoint; second, it provides them with a format that they can edit and change. most students gain from it a satisfactory grasp of the capabilities of powerpoint, but few seem to understand that they can change, re-work and edit the presentation (khan, 2009). students typically do the audio recording in a single take and submit all their hesitations, stumbles, errors and poor oral presentation techniques. many do not recognise that they can listen to the presentation themselves and reflect on how it will appear to the assessor and the public in general. powerpoint thus deployed does serve as a less stressful introduction to live presentations and does require an understanding of how to interact with a live audience and the usefulness of a kinaesthetic approach. the robothespian, on the other hand, seemed to offer a potentially better technique for getting students to reflect on the kinaesthetic elements of an oral presentation, as they would have to identify explicitly the face and body movements required and the specific points at which they should occur in the oral sequence. it offered the hope that students would be able to transfer from the robot to themselves their understanding of when and how to animate face and body when giving an oral presentation. a possible interesting and novel addition to the main aim was the robothespian’s extra communication channel: a controllable colour display to the face and body, a dimension not readily available to humans during oral presentations! those students who chose to use powerpoint were required to create a ten-minute, selftimed, audio-visual presentation on the design of a printed circuit board (pcb) that had to be saved to a cd-rom or dvd. those who chose to use the robothespian had to create a case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 youtube video using the robothespian in some way as part of an oral presentation on the design and implementation of a pcb. six students (gazir 2014, shariff 2014, rodange 2014, azeez 2014, nasir 2014, vitor 2014) from the cohort of twenty-five chose to use the robothespian: a sufficiently large part of the cohort to provide some useful feedback. the entire cohort had prior experience of the creation of a self-timed, audio-visual powerpoint, but none had previously come across the use of a humanoid like the robothespian. all of them were therefore introduced to it, shown how it was programmed and then left to make a free choice of whether and how they would use it. using the robothespian although the programming interface for the robothespian was fairly simple and intuitive, it was also quite slow to use, via a touch screen provided with the robot. it had a text-tospeech converter for creating effective and understandable narration. additionally, there were pre-programmed finger, hand, arm, head and upper body movement sequences (the bottom half of robothespian was just cosmetic and not programmable), as well as body colour changes and eye variations. the combination of spoken word, movements and colour were sequenced as in a music score, with each type of movement on a separate stave. although this provided flexibility and was not too difficult when creating a presentation for the robothespian, it did make editing a previously-entered score laborious and time-consuming. other more efficient interfaces for programming the robot were available, but there was insufficient time to train the students in how to use them. the result was that, although the spoken word was relatively easy to create, the association of finger-, hand-, arm-, body-, headand eye-movements with precise parts of the narration tended to be fairly random. no constraints or directions were imposed on the six students, who were left to decide themselves, individually, how they would use the robot and how long their presentations would be. the grading of the assessments was to be based on the interest generated and the audio-visual interaction; since the volunteers had all been assured that they would not be penalised for using the robothespian, they did trust the tutor on this point. unfortunately for this activity, the robothespian had been scheduled to take part in a regional tv local news programme (fes engineering, 2014), which meant that, part way through the week available for the students, the robot was moved from its usual location and then afterwards hastily re-assembled in a noisy machine workshop area so that the students could complete their presentations. for those students who completed the presentation immediately, this was not an issue, but an allowance for background noise had to be made for the two students who left it a little late. outcomes as the students had only the relatively short period of one week for this activity, it was not surprising that all the robothespian presentations were short, ranging between one and two minutes. much more interesting was the wide range of approaches taken by this small group of students in using this novel technology, as summarised in table 1. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 table 1: summary of robothespian presentations student length (s) robot treated as ‘living’. robot interaction with the student youtube views special features [gazir 2014] 118 yes the student is not visible. the robot speaks as if alive and a friend. 43 a normal presentation. [shariff 2014] 59 partly. the student is shown starting the robot. initially, the student speaks to camera, introduces the robot and then moves out of view. 61 all movement stops after 39 seconds and, at 60 seconds, everything stops. [rodange 2014] 130 yes. robot dressed with scarf to become more lifelike. the student holds a conversation with the robot. some questions are also asked that are answered by the student. 69 presentation scripted, with the student providing the flexible timing needed to make it appear lifelike. [azeez 2014] 78 partly. the student is shown starting the robot. initially, the student speaks to camera, introduces the robot and then moves out of view. 61 thanks given in english and another language at the end. [nasir 2014] 92 partly. the student is shown starting the robot. initially, the student talks to camera and then introduces the robot. good, but then stops suddenly and says goodbye. 217 the robot demonstrates some of its capability, such as clucking like a chicken. says goodbye in several languages. [vitor 2014] 119 yes student and robot interact and hold a conversation. 49 the robot attempts a joke. note: all students were requested to avoid including any personal or identifying details within their youtube videos. conclusion although this was a small sample and only a single isolated activity, it did seem that the use of a humanoid robot did have some potential in an educational environment. all the students treated the robothespian at least in part as lifelike, with some taking care to achieve an enhanced impression of ‘life’. it was also apparent by the shortness of the presentations that the touch screen user interface was not an effective method for deploying this system. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 additionally, that there was only one robothespian did restrict its use to small cohorts of students. however, as a promotional system, it was excellent and created significant interest wherever it was used. reference list adams, b., breazeal, c. l., brooks, r. and scassellati, b. (2000) ‘humanoid robots: a new kind of tool.’ ieee intelligent systems and their applications, 15 (4), 25-31. issn 10947167 azeez, j. (2014) robothespian (video). available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9gz7rlviqw (accessed: 28 april 2015). engineering arts ltd. (2015) robothespian. available at: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/12829/human-machine-interface-hmi (accessed: 22 august 2015). fes engineering (2014) university of greenwich, faculty of engineering and science engineering facebook page (video: see 13 november 2015 robothespian bbc south east today). available at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/engineering-at-the-university-ofgreenwich-medway/1561205207431648?fref=nf (accessed: 22 august 2015). gazir, l. (2014) robothespian (presentation video). available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5edko3dwje (accessed: 28 april 2015). khan, m. (2009) blog: reflection on presentation. available at: https://michaelkhan.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/reflection-on-presentation/ (accessed: 24 august 2015). nasir, y. (2014) robothespian (video). available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4pfn6ejncy (accessed: 28 april 2015). rodange, a. (2014) robothespian (presentation video). available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp6bsqn2sdw (accessed: 28 april 2015). shariff, h. (2014) robothespian (presentation video). available at: http://youtu.be/hrwewxsaug> [accessed: 28 april 2015). technopia dictionary (2010) available at: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/12829/human-machine-interface-hmi (accessed: 22 august 2015). vitor, j. (2014) robothespian (video). available at: http://youtu.be/i9p-2s8nuzc (accessed: 28 april 2015). https://owa.gre.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?surl=p5qn_fxglftpqn6zeuhqbwi2wlzt5pnqkoz-o-uochib9pxsjubscggadab0ahaacwa6ac8alwb3ahcadwauahkabwb1ahqadqbiagualgbjag8abqavahcayqb0agmaaaa_ahyapqbsadkarwbaadcacgbsafyasqbxahca&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dr9gz7rlviqw http://www.techopedia.com/definition/12829/human-machine-interface-hmi https://www.facebook.com/pages/engineering-at-the-university-of-greenwich-medway/1561205207431648?fref=nf https://www.facebook.com/pages/engineering-at-the-university-of-greenwich-medway/1561205207431648?fref=nf https://owa.gre.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?surl=mbmta9rrkd13lieo5pxcvjx2u4oat_d-bowab8ftymwnm0tcjebscggadab0ahaacwa6ac8alwb3ahcadwauahkabwb1ahqadqbiagualgbjag8abqavahcayqb0agmaaaa_ahyapqbraduazqbeagsatwazaeqavwbkaeua&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dk5edko3dwje https://michaelkhan.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/reflection-on-presentation/ https://owa.gre.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?surl=elrujghehllelqjim26elhbtzhpcfhm90ucmdu_zaiebdbihjkbscggadab0ahaacwa6ac8alwb3ahcadwauahkabwb1ahqadqbiagualgbjag8abqavahcayqb0agmaaaa_ahyapqb5adqauabmag4angblaeoabgbjafka&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dy4pfn6ejncy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp6bsqn2sdw https://owa.gre.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?surl=if3crxf0uqbyfv2lptdlf5v2fs4sqttsq306qoxdqtfvpweqjubscggadab0ahaaogavac8aeqbvahuadab1ac4aygblac8asabyahcarqatahcaeabzageadqbnaa..&url=http%3a%2f%2fyoutu.be%2fhrwe-wxsaug https://owa.gre.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?surl=if3crxf0uqbyfv2lptdlf5v2fs4sqttsq306qoxdqtfvpweqjubscggadab0ahaaogavac8aeqbvahuadab1ac4aygblac8asabyahcarqatahcaeabzageadqbnaa..&url=http%3a%2f%2fyoutu.be%2fhrwe-wxsaug http://www.techopedia.com/definition/12829/human-machine-interface-hmi https://owa.gre.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?surl=z-j2zhcb4rc_kdgaijho1o6a6wwnazrgrh2kr-t1w4i-mtoijkbscggadab0ahaaogavac8aeqbvahuadab1ac4aygblac8asqa5ahaalqayahmaoaboafuawgbjaa..&url=http%3a%2f%2fyoutu.be%2fi9p-2s8nuzc case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 wilson, j.a.j. (2010) ‘getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation: multiculturalism in a “british” university business classroom setting.’ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, 2009 1 (1), 53-63. issn 20440081. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 teaching the sociology of employability: the opportunities and challenges craig morris, department of history, politics and social sciences, university of greenwich abstract this discussion piece addresses the opportunities and challenges that producing and delivering an employability-related course poses, when that course is taught on a programme situated within a critical discipline (sociology). it addresses the conflict between neoliberal discourses on employability and critical responses to this within sociological approaches to the issue. it does this by using a bourdieusian (1979, 1986, 1990) framework. this article addresses issues that are more theoretical than practice-orientated, but i conclude the paper by reflecting upon how both the two seemingly intractable positions of neoliberal discourses on employability and critical responses can be drawn upon by students and the institution. the start of my journey working in sociology my journey into employability was an outcome of two main requirements. i was asked to be the employability officer for my department (hpss in fach) and i was given the responsibility of developing and delivering a core course for second-year sociology undergraduates which addressed employability. the course that i developed and then delivered for the first time in january 2013 is called working in sociology. it is a 15-credit (one-term) core course on the sociology ba (hons) and first named ‘sociology combination programmes’. the course embeds the development and assessment of key transferable employability-related skills and proficiencies, including cv writing, job application statement writing, preparation for interview and interview skills. the course also includes talks by visiting speakers currently working in careers that the students may aspire to or that we should like them to aspire to, followed by q & a sessions. since many of these speakers are former students, current undergraduates strongly identify with them. aspirations can be raised with a 'if she/he can do it, so can i' approach. during the course, students are given the opportunity to discuss the careers that they want to enter and are made aware of the opportunities that a sociology degree might offer them. often, our students already have some of the skills, experience and understanding that graduatelevel employers are looking for and, once this has been pointed out to them, their confidence starts to grow. students are encouraged to find job advertisements in their chosen careers, to identify the essential and desirable skills, experience and understanding that they will need to obtain such jobs. having acquired a sense of what they already have, what they need and how to market themselves via a strong cv, linkedin account and so on, they are in a position to form a plan for the rest of their time at greenwich. in the latter part of the course, students produce a literature-based piece of research structured as a report, which addresses the question ‘what factors increase the employability of sociology graduates?’ as well as developing and practising research skills and report-writing skills, this assignment again focuses students on what they need to do to improve their employability over the remainder of their time with us. one of many positive outcomes from this course has been that this year, for the first time, more final-year sociology students than in the past chose to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 do a placement rather than a dissertation. the experience of a graduate-level work placement and being able to include it in their cvs will be of great benefit to these students in the future. in bourdieu's terms, the course provides students with a "feel for the game" (1990) understanding, orientation and direction, in relation to the graduate employment market. so far, this is all straightforward and positive. however, the sociological literature on employability, which provides the academic material within which the development of skills and understanding is embedded, tends to critically address the 'employability agenda', situating it as part of a broader growth of neoliberalism within britain and, more broadly, a growth of neoliberalism globally. over the span of the course, many of the issues and practices that we address can be positioned within one of two broad discourses. these may be referred to as ‘individualising’ discourses (that tend to see/construct employability as a ‘problem’ of the individual and tend to benefit neoliberalism) and more ‘social/critical’ discourses (that tend to emphasise that the ‘problem’ of employability is, in essence, related to social factors such as social inequality and tends to be critical of neoliberalism). ‘individualising’ discourses in employability and the growth of neoliberalism changes in the relationship between government, higher education and the employment market, the expansion of higher education and the impact of neoliberalism show clearly how employability has come to be understood predominantly in terms of the individual, abstracted from social context. from the early twentieth century until roughly the 1980s, the haldane principle and its prevailing arrangements meant that higher education policy (including policy to do with graduate employment) was primarily decided upon by academics themselves, not by the government (boden and nedeva, 2010). since the advent of thatcher’s conservative government in 1979, neoliberal policies have greatly altered how government, higher education and the employment market have interacted. the state, by way of funding streams, performance management regimes and other strategies, has increased its hold over the higher education sector (boden and nedeva, 2010). the relative self-governance of higher education policy no longer exists. inevitably, since higher education has become increasingly subject to market forces and increased competition for resources, individualised ways of understanding the issue of employability have become the dominant discourse. the monitoring of performance and a ‘league-table culture' increase the generation of statistical data which purport to measure the performance of universities – and the unit of analysis is usually the individual student. so, not only is this unit of analysis at the centre of this collective set of discourses and practices, but, in turn, these discourses and practices reproduce the idea that it is at the level of the individual student that the ‘problem’ is located and is to be ‘resolved’. the socially-abstracted ‘individual’ and, in turn, the myth of a meritocratic society and dominant notions of employability produce, reproduce and reinforce one another. they are produced as ‘objects’ of which we may speak (think and write) by these technologies of market forces or, as foucault (1974) referred to them, discourse and networks of discursive practice. it is the contention of this piece that this ‘individualising’ discourse, which is part and parcel of the neoliberal colonisation of higher education, is now the dominant one in the ‘conversation’ (gee, 1999) about employability. (gee uses the term ‘conversation’ to refer to everything that is written and said, wherever and by whomever, on a given topic.) this does not mean, however, that this dominance is uncontested. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 critical approaches to neoliberal discourses on employability the other discourse frequently encountered, more so in the academic literature than elsewhere, is that which may be labelled as the ‘social/critical’ discourse. a significant body of academic work within sociology and related disciplines has been concerned with issues such as how students from different social groups, with different types and amounts of capital (bourdieu, 1986) at their disposal, with different advantages/disadvantages and often attending different types of universities, fare in higher education. it considers this in relation to issues like attainment, engaging with employability-related teaching, services, advice, what opportunities they might be able to capitalise on, or not, and importantly why? this critical reflection is often absent from other discussions of employability and, in the absence of critical reflection, the dominant ‘individualising’ discourse underpins much thinking, writing and practice. in essence, it has become the default position. simple recourse to some of the main ideas of bourdieu (1979) helps us to understand how this has happened. if we think about higher education and employability as being positioned within a field of relations of power a specific part of overall society we can recognise that particular relations of power exist within the field of higher education in the uk. universities themselves (though this is not uniformly so) are no longer as dominant within this field of relations as they once were. government has usurped this position and now exercises dominance through the ‘mechanisms’ or market technologies outlined above. by way of these, the neoliberal discourse of employability as a ‘problem’ of the abstracted individual has become the dominant one or, as bourdieu refers to it, the ‘orthodox discourse’. however, it is always subject to challenge by alternative perspectives (bourdieu, 1992). the prominence of this ‘individualising’ and its accompanying assertions within such neoliberal discourses is of great concern within much that has been published on the topic of employability within the academic realm – and with good reason. one issue of relevance to this discussion is that companies have been moving away from their social obligations to society and employees in order to maximise profitability. in doing so, the employability and, thereby, ‘success’ of an individual, has been shifted on to the individual heror himself, with government mirroring this corporate agenda (brown et al, 2003) and better-trained, betterequipped-to-learn graduates frequently having to take up what were previously nongraduate-level jobs. in essence, such employers get a better-educated employee, with lower training costs accruing to themselves, whilst university fees have accrued to the individual (boden and nedeva, 2010). for a broader critical discussion of the changing relationship between young people, education and employment, see ainley and allen (2010). what is the way forward? on the face of it, an entrenched neoliberal political system and its dominance over higher education and a fierce body of critical theory leave us stuck between the proverbial ‘rock and a hard place’. practitioners of higher education nevertheless have a commitment to their students and, at this difficult time, our employability as academics is bound up within this struggle too. most academic staff have little, if any, influence over the terrain upon which this 'game' must be 'played'. the neoliberal agenda would prefer less critical voices of dissent and the social sciences and humanities are not always favoured in prevailing funding arrangements. however, two obvious questions arise from this discussion. firstly, what has been the outcome of these two seemingly intractable positions within my course working in sociology? secondly, what are the broader implications for our university? articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 many of my students, by the end of the course, have gravitated towards a critical stance, but this is tempered by the realities of life. they may be critical in their understanding of society, power, the labour market and so on, but they know they still have to 'play the game'. for some, the myth of meritocracy has been almost a comforting one. false ideologies often are (this being part of how they win acceptance). others do not believe in it anyway, especially many of those from socially-excluded groups, whose day-to-day experience has long since given them an inherent understanding of inequality. nearly all of them will have to work and the more thoroughly they can understand this field of power relations, the more success they will have. however, success may be measured in many ways. sociology students often gravitate towards careers that, in a range of ways, are concerned with addressing the needs of society. in such times of growing social inequality and exclusion, they are needed now more than ever. having participated in this course, they will be better equipped, in many ways, to do this. at an institutional level, we can do much of what we are already doing. at university, faculty, department and programme levels, so much good work is already being done. whilst many of our students may lack the connections of more privileged students and the benefits accruing from social privilege in terms of what they know (cultural capital) and whom they know (social capital) (bourdieu, 1986), the university, as a network of individuals, has a wealth of such capital. pooling and using this collective capital is surely the way to think about how best to do what needs to be done. shortly before i submitted this article, the paper thematic element student employability was circulated. this paper neatly summarises our employment outcomes strategy and the stage we have currently reached with it. as it says, the university of greenwich has the highest proportion of working-class students in the sector and is among the highest for bme students. the disadvantages when such students attempt to enter the graduate employment market are clear, with the 2012 dlhe survey showing 83.1% of greenwich graduates from six months earlier being in employment or further study, as opposed to a sector median of 90%. yet the university’s five-themed strategy (academic attainment, employability skills, job finding skills, work experience and transition to work) is clearly working – with 85.9% of greenwich graduates surveyed in the 2014 dlhe survey being in employment or further study (up from 83.1% just two years earlier). our university has great aspiration and we wish to develop the same within our students. brown et al (2003) argue that elite universities use their institutional reputations to place their graduates in enviable jobs. our university has aspirations to climb the league tables and, as it does so, can utilise growing social capital and reputation for our good and for that of our students. we must continue to pursue employability goals with vigour, but we must do it with the critical, questioning faculty that befits us as academics and our students as learners. postscript i envisage this article as the first in a series. in later publications, i should like to consider further the staff and student experiences of employability. to this end, i should be interested in your reflections on my thoughts as detailed here and on your experiences of embedding employability into the curriculum. please email me at c.m.morris@gre.ac.uk . mailto:c.m.morris@gre.ac.uk articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 reference list ainley, p. and allen m. (2010) lost generation? new strategies for youth and education. london: continuum. boden, r. and nedeva, m. (2010) ‘employing discourse: universities and graduate ‘employability’, journal of education policy, 25 (1) 37-54. bourdieu, p. (1979) outline of a theory of practice, cambridge: cambridge university press. bourdieu, p. (1986) ‘the forms of capital.’ in: j. richardson (ed.) handbook of theory and research in education. westport ct: greenwood. bourdieu, p. (1990) the logic of practice, p.66. cambridge: polity press. bourdieu, p. (1992) language and symbolic power. cambridge: polity press. brown, p., hesketh, a. and williams, s. (2003) ‘employability in a knowledge-driven economy.’ journal of education and work, 16, (2), 107-126. foucault, m. (1974) the archaeology of knowledge. london: tavistock. gee, j. p. (1999) an introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method. london: routledge. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 supporting students with resits to build self-efficacy cath farrant, raluca marinciu, dawn reilly, liz warren university of greenwich, uk abstract this project explores the experiences of second-year students on business school programmes regarding the support available to them in relation to resits in year one. the project involves students as partners in their learning, with data collected via interviews and student discussion forums. findings are that students who are preparing for resit exams like to use question practice in the resit period to provide mastery experiences which build self-efficacy. we find that students may undervalue feedback on an original submission as a source of guidance towards a resit coursework. the fieldwork was completed before the 2020 campus closure necessitated by the covid-19 pandemic. however, based on our findings, we suggest recommendations for practice which can be applied for both on-campus and online delivery of our programmes. keywords: business education, exams, inclusivity, mastery experiences, resits, self-efficacy introduction the aim of this project was to explore the experiences of students in relation to the support which they receive as they prepare for resits. we used the knowledge gained in the project to review our practice in order to improve how we support students. the project involved involving students as partners in their learning, with data collected via student discussion forums and individual interviews with students. the project team was made up of three academic staff from two business school departments – accounting and finance (a&f), and human resources and organisational behaviour (hrob) – and a professional services colleague. a point to note is that a&f includes a substantial amount of professional accreditation across its programmes, necessitating a relatively high exam content in the assessment structure when compared to year one of other programmes. on the other hand, hrob students have more essays, a form of assessment which lizzio and wilson (2013) state can be challenging for first-year students as they learn what is required in an essay at university level. the project used bandura’s (1999) social cognitive theory as its theoretical lens. bandura argues that self-efficacious people – those who have a higher level of confidence in their own ability – are more likely to succeed in a particular task. the sources of this type of confidence include practising similar tasks (bandura calls these ‘mastery experiences’), being in a good emotional state and being persuaded by others that one can succeed. we used an inductive approach and these self-efficacy themes arose during our analysis of forum and interview data. resits provide “a second chance” for students (ricketts, 2010, p.351). it is essential that we support our students to make the most of that chance as part of an inclusive approach to teaching and learning. having failed the original assessments, students with resits may lack academic confidence. however, social cognitive theory draws attention to the importance of selfbelief in an individual’s learning and development (bandura, 1999). this positions students as articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 potentially powerful agents who can see an improvement in their academic performance because of their own self-reflection and confidence to act. learning is therefore not dictated only by the external environment because change can be affected through self-belief: “there is evidence (bandura, 1997) that self-efficacious students participate more readily, work harder, persist longer, and have fewer adverse emotional reactions when they encounter difficulties than do those who doubt their capabilities” (zimmerman, 2000, p.86) self-efficacy would therefore be a valuable asset for a re-sitting student to develop. in order to meet the overall aim of the project which was to explore the experiences of students in relation to the support which they received for resit preparation, this paper addresses the following research questions (rqs): rq1: how do we currently support students with resits to improve their self-efficacy? rq2: how can we improve that support in the future? literature review schmidt et al. (2021) suggest that some students put a low amount of effort into the original assessment because they know there will be a resit opportunity. they then put increased effort into passing the resit. pell et al. (2009) suggest other reasons which might explain why a student who has failed an original assessment goes on to pass a resit: the experience gained through the original assessment helps a student to pass the resit; there can be ‘space’ to focus on a single assessment in the resit period; additional tuition can be received before the resit; and a student’s emotional response to a resit (for example, fear of failure) can motivate increased effort to pass. an additional opportunity to practise an assessment under exam conditions may be particularly appropriate for, and helpful to, first-year students with an entry qualification less dependent on exam assessment than ‘advanced’ (a-) levels – such as a business and technology education council (btec) diploma in the united kingdom – because they are less used to exams than their peers who followed the more traditional a-level entry route (hurrell et al., 2019). resits may, however, pose challenges for some students, such as one who may have missed the original exam rather than failing and therefore cannot benefit from previous experience. another may have a lot of resits and have to deal with concurrent resit coursework submission deadlines as well. the exam resit period may also be short, pressurising those students who need to take more than one (proud, 2015). it’s true that students may be offered extra tuition in the period leading to the resit, but, for some of them, accessing this type of support face to face may be problematic: around the resit period, they may have competing demands on their time, such as their part-time jobs (vital to them), or be back at home. therefore, for the most part, this extra tuition would need to be delivered online and through selfstudy. the importance of a student’s emotional state in passing a resit resonates with bandura (1997) who identifies an individual’s positive emotional state as a source of self-efficacy. therefore, if students with resits feel anxious, this can have a negative impact on their academic confidence. at that point they may delay starting their revision and subsequently perform poorly in the resit. they might even give up, thinking there is too much for them to retrieve, and decide not to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 engage in the resit opportunity. bandura (op.cit.) understands how debilitating a poor emotional state can be and argues that a good one is crucial to self-efficacy, but, for him, the best source of efficacy is a ‘mastery experience’. previous success in a situation encourages someone to feel confident about handling similar situations in the future; without that kind of mastery experience, students who have failed an original assessment lack confidence about the resit, believing that they do not have what it takes to pass. the other sources of self-efficacy identified by bandura reflect the social nature of learning. a student’s academic self-confidence may be built up by positive, affirming comments received from others, such as a lecturer, another student or someone from outside university: family, friends and colleagues. zimmerman (2000) questions the strength of this source, as that will depend on who is trying to persuade an individual that she or he can succeed and whether the individual believes the persuader. some students may well benefit from peer encouragement in the run-up to the resits, but others may not want to talk to anyone or admit that they have to resit. self-efficacy can also arise vicariously: seeing your peers succeed may lead to a growth in confidence that you can do it too, though zimmerman (op.cit.) again doubts whether this works for all. he suggests that a re-sitting student might discount the relevance of other students’ positive assessment achievements if s/he perceives them as more able. klassen et al. (2008) suggest that self-efficacious students are less likely to indulge in ‘academic procrastination’ – a delay in starting to study, with a consequent adverse effect on performance. this is linked to the moderating effect of the amount of time spent on task noted by honicke and broadbent (2016) and is very relevant in the case of a student with resits. a delay in starting to study, whether in order to complete a piece of resit coursework or to revise for a resit exam, results in a reduction of time spent on that activity and, consequently, less likelihood of success. honicke and broadbent (op.cit.) also identify the mediating factor of goal-setting. this partially explains the relationship between self-efficacy and performance because a confident student is more likely to set study goals and then work hard to achieve those goals, so improving performance. as argued by proud (2015, p. 696): “… a resit alone would not necessarily lead to any improvement in outcomes. … we need to ensure that the incentives are there for students to put in an appropriate level of work for their resit examination.” methodology we used semi-structured individual interviews and group discussion forums to explore students’ views on the resit support which we currently provide and to consider their suggestions for the future. this project took place in the 2019-20 academic year. it should be noted that the discussion forums and interviews were carried out in the period november 2019 to february 2020, before the campus closure necessitated by covid-19. our fieldwork was therefore not affected by the pandemic. furthermore, the data collected from students related to their experience of resit support in the previous academic year. the interviews and forums were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using nvivo software. the research was inductive; social cognitive theory emerged as providing a suitable theoretical lens for the project during the analysis phase as self-efficacy themes emerged from the interview and forum data. approval for the project was received from the university’s research ethics committee before fieldwork began. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 we used interviews in order to explore students’ experiences and collect in-depth information. participants had experienced resits on their programmes and, for some students, the fact that they had been required to re-sit might have been a sensitive issue which they would not want to talk about in front of other students. the interviews were therefore one-to-one, like those of scott and graal (2007), who used individual interviews with thirteen students who had failed modules in the first year of their programmes. in our study, fifteen students participated in a one-to-one interview to speak about their experiences of resit support on their programmes. because the project team included colleagues from two departments, we offered each student the choice of talking either to someone who had taught on their programme or someone who had not. all participants chose the former which provided a consistent approach. mcgrath et al. (2019) highlight the possible effect of students’ perception of the lecturer-student power dynamic, which may lead them to give answers they think their lecturers wish to hear. to reduce this risk, interviewers reassured participants that they should feel free to answer honestly and that their comments would be anonymised. specifically, participants were reassured that their comments would not be communicated to other lecturers. the interviews were semi-structured to enable interviewers to explore the points which arose. the initial questions are shown in figure 1. thirty-two students participated in six discussion forums. because a motivation for the project was to gain insight into the existing resit support system for year one, the students in the forums were second years, so allowing us to investigate their knowledge of the resit support which we provide for students in the first year. because the number of students who had been required to re-sit was a relatively small proportion of the cohort and because some of those might feel the stigma of having had to do so, we thought it inappropriate to advertise for forum participants by singling out re-sitters. therefore, we opened the forums to the whole year group. the design of the discussion forums drew on colucci (2007) and included activities intended to encourage discussion among students. the activities did not require participants to disclose if they had taken resits in year one. activity 1 was a free listing, with each group asked: “what support is available for students with coursework or exam resits?” we provided students with sticky notes and asked them to write down on those the different sources of support they were aware of and to stick the notes on to a large sheet of paper. as the students wrote their suggestions, the facilitator encouraged them to discuss these in their group. starting the discussion in this way ensured that students were able to give their views without being restricted or directed by any preconceived ideas of the project team. activity 2 was a ranking exercise, with students given eight pre-identified sources of support and asked to rank those in figure 1: questions for semi-structured interviews with students please tell me about your experience of resits while you have been at the university. how did you prepare for the (exam x) resit? how did you prepare for the (coursework y) resit? what was different in the resits which meant that you passed? which sources of resit support did you use? if you could suggest one additional thing either the university or your lecturers could do to support students with resits, what would that be? articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 order of usefulness from 1 (most useful) to 8 (least useful). these eight sources of support are shown in table 1. students were also allowed to include any other sources which they had identified in the initial free listing activity, but no group chose to do that. in the process of negotiating the order of the ranking, students discussed their views on the different sources of support available. their having done that, we asked the students as their final (third) activity to discuss their answers to this question: “is there one additional thing we could do to support students with coursework resits or exam resits?” results at the beginning of the discussion forums, in activity 1, each group was asked to list the sources of resit support available to them. in addition to the eight sources already identified before the forums (table 1), students noted support from the university’s central wellbeing team, email correspondence with lecturers and teaching material from throughout the year (lecture slides, textbooks or module handbooks). only two groups mentioned feedback on an original assignment as a source of resit support. none of the groups took the opportunity to bring any of these extra items into the ranking exercise comprising activity 2. the rankings for activity 2 for the six groups, together with an average overall ranking, are shown in table 1. the overall result was that revision material on the university’s virtual learning environment (vle) was perceived as the most useful, followed by the closely related item of past exam papers, which are also available on the vle. support from personal tutors was identified as the least useful source in the ranking exercise. however, this may have been because personal tutors often signpost other sources of support in their conversations with students (for example, the wellbeing team for counselling services, the academic skills team for study skills, or module leaders for technical content) and students might have overlooked or undervalued the importance of listening, understanding, and signposting to the appropriate support. in activity 3, students suggested that it would be useful to have access to more past exam questions and recordings to explain the solutions to those questions. in addition, one group suggested that re-sitting students would benefit from support with motivation and wellbeing. table 1. student forum (sf) rankings of sources of support 1 = most useful to 8 =least useful overall ranking mean sf1 sf2 sf3 sf4 sf5 sf6 revision material on the vle 1 2.58 1 2 4.5 1 4 3 past exam questions and solutions 2 2.75 3 1 4.5 2 5 1 face-to-face revision session in the summer 3 3 2 4 1 6 3 2 support from the module leader 4 4.5 5 3 6 5 1 7 short panopto recordings on key topics 5 5 7 7 2.5 3.5 6 4 panopto recordings of lectures 6= 5.67 8 8 2.5 3.5 7 5 support from the academic skills team in the library 6= 5.67 4 6 8 8 2 6 support from your personal tutor 8 6.83 6 5 7 7 8 8 comments made by students in the interviews (i) and student forums (sf) are set out in the remainder of this section. the comments are grouped under the themes which emerged during our analysis of the data collected. these themes include three sources of self-efficacy (mastery articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 experiences, emotional state and verbal persuasion) and particular reasons for academic procrastination which students identified as relevant in the resit period. mastery experiences for exam resits, students commented on how useful they found past papers for practice in order to pass a resit exam: “i just went through exam papers, looking at exam papers, thinking this might turn up, … and studying those topics thoroughly and then sitting the exam.” (i 1) “before the first exam, i didn’t check the past papers and then as soon as i did the exam, i went to past papers … i did the exam and then i went through three years, i think, of past papers…” (i 2) “i felt like i could just do continuous on past papers and, you know, do better in my exams.” (i 3) students explained what was different about their approach to the resits that meant that they passed: their increased efforts to achieve mastery experiences often cropped up. some were motivated by the knowledge that the resits were a final opportunity to pass the year, for both coursework and exams: “i had a sense of urgency so i knew what i had to do and feel like what i had to do. so for example on my first … course work i sort of left out a few things that i didn’t know but in the resit i went through it and i went through the slides and previous slides on what to do … i probably went through it [the material on the vle] more thoroughly during the resit time.” (i 4) “… i knew i had to pass the first time but this time i was like, okay i have to work harder. when i didn’t pass the first time, i actually thought i was going to have to retake the whole year… it was my only opportunity to actually go through to next year.” (i 5) “i would say there was a difference because with my resits, i knew that this was the only chance so i was more determined and more focused whereas the original ones as much as i was focused, i wasn’t. i would say that because i always knew i had got a second chance, i didn’t take it as seriously as i should have.” (i 3) emotional state the resit period can be a demotivating time for some students: “… people that don’t pass the first time, they automatically feel demotivated, it puts them down. people can take it two different ways. obviously, it would either motivate them or it would just demotivate them and it will either help them to work harder or they will just stop and not bother at all. so i feel like the majority of the people, they have that mentality, that okay i’ve failed, what’s the point?” (i 2) a lack of confidence also stopped students asking for help from their lecturers or attending faceto-face revision sessions: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 “well, the people i knew, they just thought, well we’ve failed anyway. they didn’t think that they had a chance… they just felt like they weren’t going to do it, so they didn’t want to bother.” (i 6) “i don’t want to do this embarrassment, i don’t want people to see me coming back at uni in july, i don’t want anyone asking me questions. people think like this and that was me, to be honest… i remember at the time definitely feeling overwhelmed… that feeling of being overwhelmed then actually prevents me from seeking help, which was obviously the complete opposite and the worst thing to do when there are people out there trying to reach out to you to support you. unfortunately, i did the opposite at the time and just that feeling of i am not good enough to do this at the time.” (i 7) “… when you are at uni, you are sort of in a structure and format so you know it is organised up to the exam… when you do the resits, i guess you don’t really have that formal structure. so i guess in my case i had to actually go and approach the people that are head of each course and ask for a bit of advice.” (i 8) during the resit period students would benefit from being proactive and confident about seeking help from their lecturers. however, for a first-year student, it can be particularly difficult to ask a lecturer for help; second years might be more confident about doing that. verbal persuasion in the forums, one group noted that the motivation to engage with resits can come from other students: “we need more people to encourage them because i think everyone loses hope. exams are not easy. i haven’t passed that one, how would i manage to pass the next one? … people like having revision so you can have a kind of group revision. you can cover it with the others and get a better explanation. that’s my opinion. you can never be 100% good in a topic or in a specific module so there’ll be a module or topic where you’ll be lacking and don’t have knowledge of it like in the other modules. so you can share that with the people who are having difficulty with it… i think when you do a resit, you go to the library and it’s not only you doing the resits so you literally get knowledge together other than what we got from the university.” (sf 4) academic procrastination for some, it is difficult to find the time or motivation to study in the resit period because of the timing; for example, when a resit is in july. first, the resit period is after teaching ends and there are holidays and events which can provide a distraction from studying: “i wasn’t actually in the country, so that was a little difficult. i had to go back to my country for a wedding and trying to put my family aside and doing the work for the resubmission, that was a little bit difficult.” (i 9) “actually when i started my preparation, i was in spain on the… summer school so after uni i had to go to our accommodation for about two hours, practise… where i went wrong and how to improve with it. and then when i come back to london that is when i actually articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 8 came to uni and started to do the coursework and actually do the work and submit them.” (i 4) the summer is when some students need to work more hours in their part-time jobs to help to fund their studies, making it more difficult to study with their peers in the resit period: “… during the whole break, i was working two jobs, for a few months.” (i 10) “i was doing work on my own because i was working as well…” (i 6) having analysed the results of the interviews and discussion forums, using themes provided by the literature on self-efficacy, we now discuss the findings. discussion that the students who agreed to participate in an interview had passed their resits could be deemed self-selection bias, because we did not interview any students who had failed their resits. however, the majority of re-sitting students pass and therefore participants represent a significant group. this group might also be assumed to include those students who were motivated to try to pass their resits and eager to use the support available. therefore, their experiences provide insight into students’ views on the resit support we provide. there were incidences where students had felt despondent about their resits but, for the most part, students talked about what they had done differently in the resits in order to succeed, especially for exam assessments. in accordance with arnold (2017), a few students indicated that they worked harder for the resits. this was because they had limited the effort they expended on the original assessments, being aware that there would be a resit opportunity if needed. revision material and past exam papers were noted by students as important sources of resit support for exam assessments. these enabled the mastery experiences which bandura (1997) argues are the most important source of self-efficacy. if students were to focus only on selected questions from past papers, taking a strategic approach to practising exam technique, the result would be surface learning. however, in interviews and discussion forums, students indicated that, along with past papers, they use revision material and other materials provided through the year, this suggesting that a deeper level of learning is going on in many cases. it is interesting to note that students put personalised support from academic skills advisers and personal tutors lowest in the forum rankings. students value online resources that are accessible and digestible. we should, of course, continue to offer personalised support during the resit period but we also need to focus on providing appropriate online resources that students can go back to. this project uses a broad definition of resit support which includes all teaching materials, academic relationships, guidance and feedback that are intended to help a re-sitting student to engage and succeed in a resit assessment. for resit coursework, only two forums identified feedback on the original submission as a source of resit support. the literature documents that not all students read or learn from their feedback (o’donovan et al., 2016; carless et al., 2011). students may read their original feedback when it is first received, looking for justification for a fail grade (winstone et al., 2017) but they can then disregard it and overlook its usefulness to their preparation for a resit assignment. however, as this feedback should be a useful resource for a re-sitting student to improve her/his work, it can be considered part of the resit support which we provide, especially if a lecturer initiates a review and explanation of this feedback in the resit period. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 9 a good emotional state is a source of self-efficacy. it is therefore important to help students to deal with any negative feelings about resits. this can be difficult when a resit period is during the holidays after teaching has ended. another point to note in relation to coursework is that although the resit period is in the summer, some students start to worry about a future resit as soon as they receive the original mark – so there is an opportunity to speak to students to try to help them while they are on campus. negative emotions can stop students interacting with their peers and lecturers, who can be useful sources of self-efficacy if they provide encouragement that a student can succeed. an important source of verbal persuasion on a student’s programme of study is peer support, including that available from informal study groups of friends. however, the other members of a friendship group might not have resits and therefore would not be available for informal group study sessions in the summer. in the resit period, there is limited interaction between lecturers and students and yet this is when re-sitting students need encouragement to believe in themselves because, as zimmerman (2000, p.89) concludes, “students’ self-beliefs about academic capabilities do play an essential role in their motivation to achieve”. in the resit period, most students are not on campus. they can also be on holiday or working extra hours in their part-time jobs while there are no classes. this presents a problem for students with resits who might procrastinate academically, especially when they lack confidence about passing the resits. the delay in starting resit exam revision or working on resit coursework increases the probability that they will not perform well. conclusion this study has identified sources of self-efficacy for students with resits. since re-sitting students might not go into the resit period feeling confident, it is important to identify effective sources of self-efficacy to consider how we can encourage future students who have resits and support them to succeed. for students with resit exams, it is relatively straight forward for them to engage in mastery experiences using teaching material, revision exercises and past papers on the vle. however, during the resit period, it can be challenging for students to find emotional support if they are feeling nervous or anxious about their assessments when they are at home. there can also be misunderstandings regarding the support which is available from module leaders and personal tutors during the holiday period. this problem is amplified because, over the summer, students are less likely to check their university email accounts, either through forgetfulness, the busyness of life with summer jobs or perhaps not wanting to face reality regarding their academic performance. our investigation has found many examples of good practice in support for re-sitting students in both departments. our fieldwork was carried out in the period before the 2020 campus closure when there was a clear distinction between on-campus teaching towards the original assessments and the resit period. however, we shall attempt to look forward and present five recommendations for practice which can be applied in both on-campus and blended delivery modes. the first recommendation from the project concerns communication. we suggest that our communication about resits should start during term time when students are more engaged with their university emails, even though this is before a student’s resits are confirmed. institutions should review their messages and communications to students about the process of resits and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 10 the structure of support provided, because this can be used to de-stigmatise resits. however, designing this type of message is not straightforward because it should be balanced with the need not to be seen as promoting resits as ‘plan a’, especially where the resit grades will be capped. a second recommendation is the need for academics to reach out to individual students with resits, perhaps more than once, to try to make contact and offer support over the holiday period. specifically, where a student has a coursework resit, a tutor should contact the student in the resit period to remind the student about the feedback on an original assignment and offer to explain it. a third recommendation is to be mindful of the importance of revision material and past papers to students. they can use these to gain mastery experiences ahead of a resit exam. therefore, we need to ensure we provide enough material of this type. fourth, the student forums showed that there was a slight preference for short videos over live recordings of whole lectures as revision material. if we extrapolate this finding to our increased provision of recordings as part of a blended or online delivery, this suggests that some students prefer a lecture to be broken down into smaller parts to aid learning. a final recommendation is the need to define what is meant by ‘resit support’ so that we can identify the range of support materials, feedback and encouragement available, and promote that to students. this project has offered a broad and inclusive definition of resit support which includes all the teaching materials, academic relationships, guidance and feedback intended to help a student to engage and succeed in a resit assessment. a limitation of this project is that it was set in one context and included only a small number of students. future research in different settings and with larger numbers of participants would be useful for exploring the issue in more depth. this could include comparing the views of students on different programmes and listening to the voices of students who failed their resits. the support provided to re-sitting students is an under-researched area, but it is extremely important because there are students who need an extra helping hand to guide them through their resits. our hope is that this paper encourages further research which will build our knowledge of this important aspect of inclusive teaching and learning to benefit future cohorts of students. acknowledgment the investigation received internal funding as a 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stoneham university of greenwich most people, if not all, believe that a large number of monkeys randomly pressing the keys on a typewriter will not, in the life of the universe, produce the works of william shakespeare, or even one of his sonnets, and experiments continue to be undertaken to prove this "infinite monkey theorem" (anderson, 2011; watson, 1995). when accused of plagiarism, however, many students argue that the match between what they present for assessment and the corresponding content of websites or books, as evidenced by turnitin reports or google searches, is pure chance and that their work is original. other students argue that putting a list of references at the end without indicating what came from where is evidence of research and that, in any case, they could not have explained it better. these defences show that many students have a poor understanding of originality, referencing (stoneham, 2013) and plagiarism. this goes some way towards explaining why many students find avoiding plagiarism difficult, but there are other contributing factors: students may be under severe pressure to gain good qualifications to get jobs or to justify the investment of their family; others may have heard about students who have ‘got away with it’ and decide to plagiarise to allow themselves opportunity to prioritise other aspects of their lives; some may just have run out of time and, as the deadline approaches and they realise the implications of failure, are tempted to appropriate others’ work. whatever the reason, however, it is not fair to those who do not plagiarise if universities do not make every effort to help students avoid plagiarism. this case study evaluates a range of techniques used over the past ten years and in a variety of contexts to attempt to address this issue in what was formerly school of computing and mathematical sciences (cms) now part of the faculty of architecture, computing and humanities, at the university of greenwich and in the department of computing and information systems (cis). before looking at the detail of the case study, it is important to consider why the prevention of plagiarism is important in higher education. the internet now provides access to a vast amount of knowledge and learning materials better, in many cases, than resources on offer in universities. haggard (2013) has even suggested that the rapid rise of moocs threatens the very existence of universities. what universities can offer, however, is authenticity of assessment. a key part of this is that the assessment must be appropriate to the level of study and have an appropriate academic content, often expressed in learning outcomes. yet, unless the assessor can be certain that s/he is marking the student's unaided work, there is no way of giving a fair assessment and, without that, any attempt at quality assurance is meaningless. since employers and others want to have confidence in the grades awarded by universities, it is essential that plagiarism is not rewarded. if students are educated to understand the implications of plagiarism and believe that their attempts at plagiarism will be found out, if they learn the importance of the use of correct research tools, if the wording of assessments emphasises originality and minimises opportunities for case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 plagiarism and if universities have the systems to manage plagiarism cases fairly, then the degree the student receives will indeed be worth more that the paper on which it is written. a: use the right tools: advantages and limitations of turnitin the cis department, like the rest of the university of greenwich, uses turnitin for detection of plagiarism, although, as explained later in this case study, it does so in a different way from the rest of the university. turnitin has many advantages and limitations (arnott, 2009), including legal issues (hyatt and lim, 2010), and there are alternative plagiarism-checking services (petronzio, 2012), some of which are freely available for students to use. it is essential that judgement is used when deciding whether the similarity score for a piece of work (i.e. the match to other work) is an indicator of plagiarism. low scores may still show plagiarism if what is plagiarised is the conclusion, or the main argument, or if there are plagiarised diagrams or code. on the other hand, a high score may be acceptable if it measures a detailed check list or reference material included in an appendix, acknowledged and properly referenced. scrutiny of document creation dates or of other metadata (e.g. the author's name as recorded in a word document), identification of a variety of writing styles or fonts in a document and a check for appropriate referencing are just some of the alternative sources of evidence that can be used to suggest plagiarism has taken place. b: educate students: the cis msc induction course all msc students in cis have to pass an induction course early in their studies. part of this involves demonstrating good referencing skills, including explaining the purpose of referencing. another part of the course requires students to write in their own words what they hope to gain from completing the msc and to upload this into turnitin for an authenticity report that they include when submitting their coursework. this makes it clear that, if they do write in their own words, the match is usually zero percent, unless a famous quotation they may have used triggers a match. students are also shown that copying text from a web source such as wikipedia and editing it a bit, or even a lot, does not disguise it sufficiently to hide it from turnitin. the tutor uploads to turnitin all students’ final coursework submissions and, should any evidence of plagiarism be revealed, deals appropriately (and usually informally) with the student concerned and requires that the work is done again without misappropriation of material. similar approaches are adopted for undergraduate students in cis as part of induction and personal tutoring. c. make the rules clear some students who come to university have clearly been following the advice of colton (1824) that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". it is essential to ensure that students realise that, even if their previous educational establishment apparently countenanced or ignored such imitation, university rules will never permit it. special lectures on plagiarism given to all students early in their degree, and later on as part of the preparation for their project work, emphasise this point. in addition, in the cis intranet, this clear message this is an individual coursework: the work submitted must therefore be your own work case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 appears on all coursework specifications (except those where group assessment is required and different rules are stated), together with links to relevant regulations and guidance. at the point of submission, students must confirm categorically that the work they are about to submit is their own unaided work, that it has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere and that they have not paid anyone to do it for them. the system also warns them that their work will be submitted for an electronic plagiarism check (see figure 1). figure 1: confirmation screen for students at the point of upload to help students to understand the process and implications of a turnitin plagiarism check, there is other guidance, such as: do not include the coursework specification in your own upload; use an appropriate referencing system; do not include a literature review that has already been submitted for assessment and do not quote large amounts of text from other sources, even if they are put within quotation marks. students receive the clear message that the work required is their own and not that of others, that poor academic practice when found will be penalised and that plagiarism will be dealt with as a serious offence with profound implications for their academic progress. d: personalise assessment: the it project and quality management course the move from 50% examination to 100% coursework assessment for a mature university of greenwich course delivered in forty countries for over 1000 students created the challenge of providing appropriate wording for coursework tasks, so that the opportunity for plagiarism would be minimised. wording such as "give examples from your own experience of risk avoidance." clearly required a personalised response and "explain the importance of the following cost management term: weighted scoring model." had an additional statement, that no marks were to be awarded for the definition; only the explanation of its importance would yield marks. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 a third type of question required students to "categorise yourself in terms of the myers-briggs type indicator model, giving clear justification to support your choice." personalised assessment proved very effective in reducing opportunities for plagiarism in the course, as well as providing tasks appropriate to its learning outcomes. as a consequence, assessment tasks based upon such unique events as a recent news item or a technological advance have now been incorporated into other courses, too. e: make it difficult to get away with it: screencasting, demonstrations and vivas by assessing the process as well as the product, it is much easier to detect plagiarism. all cis coursework with a product, such as a piece of software, is assessed on both a written report and a student demonstration to the tutor, and all projects require students to present their work to their supervisor and the second marker in a viva. (a variation on this is to get students to record a screencast demonstration of their product with a voice commentary, responding to a clear set of points that they need to demonstrate. this is particularly useful if the demonstration is done at one of the collaboration centres around the world, thus enabling lecturers at greenwich, as part of its quality assurance process, to view the screencasts.) reflective statements within a project report, or in portfolios, can also be effective in discouraging plagiarism, although it is known that even these have been plagiarised in some cases. f: make tools available to students: use of turnitin originality reports all cis students can submit any documents to turnitin through moodle to get an authenticity report. this compares their work to text on websites, books, journals etc. in the turnitin database, but not to the work of other students as recorded in the turnitin repository of student work. this is made clear to them on the upload page (see figure 2). figure 2: advice to students on their use of turnitin the settings in turnitin that are used for these uploads by students are shown in figure 3. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 figure 3: turnitin settings to prevent storage in the student papers repository uploads by staff as part of the assessment process have different settings, as shown in figure 4. figure 4: different turnitin settings when staff submit students can be surprised that the reassuringly small originality score they receive is much lower than the match score their tutor sees when s/he uploads all the student work and compares it to all the coursework in the repository from current and previous students at greenwich and other institutions using turnitin. this higher figure can be the result of matches with the work of a friend, with that of another student who bought the same essay from an essay mill or with the lecturer's own unpublished notes used by more than one student. ultimately, only students themselves really know whether they have copied someone else's work. furthermore, if they need a tool to double check whether they have referenced properly, then they probably have not. however, proper use of turnitin can help students to reference their work more appropriately (graham-matheson and starr, 2013) and some students may, as a result, even learn to write in their own words without using turnitin (samakovitis, 2014). to encourage students to do these "turnitin selfies" of their own work, the settings cis uses are such that tutors cannot see what students have submitted for originality reports. there is the risk that students will continue to edit and submit until they get a low match, but the settings are such that they can submit only one document every twenty-four hours. in any case, it requires a lot of effort to rewrite something to lose the match with the original and experience shows that the type of student who plagiarises is usually not the type to complete work well in advance of deadlines. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 g: ensure fairness and minimise risk: the cis assessment offences reporting system the cms school developed an online plagiarism case reporting system in 2004, along with a customised database linked to the university’s email system to manage the processing of the cases. this enables consistency of treatment to be ensured and repeat offenders to be identified. a cms school assessment offences officer (now the cis student conduct officer), who is a senior academic, has been proactive in educating staff and students on the issues of plagiarism and in conducting, with the support of other academic and administrative staff, the necessary investigations and interviews. the results of all cases are made available to appropriate staff using the cis staff intranet, so the profile of a student is maintained, including her/his grades, attendance, extenuating circumstances claims etc., which is very useful when assessing student progress as part of the managed learning environment (stoneham, 2012). statistics of plagiarism cases by course, centre and academic year are monitored to identify issues that are then addressed. an additional advantage of a robust reporting system and consistent investigation procedure is as a defence to legal challenges made by students to plagiarism accusations. there are solicitors who advertise widely on the internet, offering to challenge on behalf of a client any allegation of plagiarism. proven plagiarism cases for students on legal and other professional courses can have serious implications for those students, even if they gain the qualification (ames, 2013). hyatt and lim (2010) have highlighted the legal risks, for educational institutions, that are posed by plagiarism detection tools and emphasised that the use of turnitin to check for plagiarism must be part of a wider approach to combating cheating, as was the case in the cms school and remains so in the cis department. conclusion the above examples show that plagiarism in higher education is a complex matter, but these examples barely scratch the surface. essay mills (ariely, 2012), custom software development sites such as rentacoder (clarke and lancaster, 2006), techniques involving automated language translation services (bailey, 2011) and personalised help from friends as sources of plagiarism are particularly difficult to identify. moral and ethical arguments can be effective. one previous student in cms requested his degree be revoked after it had been awarded, because of guilt over how he had plagiarised to achieve his grades. honour codes of conduct may help in certain environments, but are unlikely to be effective with all students (schemo, 2001). students must develop computer literacy to meet assessment in such diverse skills as re-tweeting, curating, re-mixing and other collaborative and sharing activities; they need clear guidance, in order to know when referencing a source may not be so important, although understanding of copyright and appropriateness of expression are matters that then should be considered (carey, 2013). there is a lot of pressure to ignore plagiarism: lecturers report that thorough searching for plagiarism is rarely given sufficient time in any workload allocation (baity, 2006); managers perceive high levels of found plagiarism to be bad publicity for their department, faculty or university. statistics for plagiarism across the university sector are extremely difficult to compare. there are many variables (including the "desire to find plagiarism, and to call it that") that case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 can change significantly, both over time and between staff, even in the same institution. a survey by the telegraph (barret, 2011) reported that "greenwich university had the largest number of incidents overall, with 916, compared with 540 in 2005-06, but this may indicate the south-east london institution is more successful at detecting cheating than other universities." these disproportionately high figures for greenwich occurred because the cms school’s rigorous policies and procedures identified students in breach of plagiarism rules. the london evening standard (widdup, 2011) reported this as "london university tops cheats' league table", which was obviously perceived as bad publicity for the university. there is a counter argument, as suggested by the telegraph: surely it is better to have a degree from a university that has made every effort to ensure that assessment is authentic than from one where plagiarism is rife, but undetected. however, it is hard to convince everyone of this in today’s market-driven higher education environment. in summary, the cost of authenticity of assessment is eternal vigilance. a combination of education and guidance, appropriately-designed assessment, good assessment practices, the use of turnitin and a fit-for-purpose recording system has helped to ensure the authenticity of a degree from the university of greenwich cms school and the cis department. finally, this article has itself been submitted to turnitin (stoneham, 2014) and received a similarity index of 12%. the author followed his own advice by starting with a blank screen and adding his own words. the only matches are to his coursework questions, some of the references and all of the quotes, including this from a song by the academic and satirist lehrer (1953): "i am never forget the day i first meet the great lobachevsky. in one word he told me secret of success in mathematics: plagiarize! plagiarize, let no one else's work evade your eyes, remember why the good lord made your eyes, so don't shade your eyes, but plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize only be sure always to call it please 'research'." reference list ames, j. (2013) ‘web fuels rise in plagiarism lawsuits.’ available at: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/law/article3701149.ece (accessed: 20 february 2014). anderson, j. (2011) a few million monkeys randomly recreate shakespeare. available at: http://www.jesse-anderson.com/2011/09/a-few-million-monkeys-randomly-recreateshakespeare/ (accessed: 20 february 2014). ariely, d. (2012) plagiarism and essay mills. available at: http://danariely.com/2012/07/17/plagiarism-and-essay-mills/ (accessed: 1 june 2013). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 arnott, l. (2009) the advantages and disadvantages of turnitin.com. available at: https://suite101.com/a/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-turnitincom-a113699 (accessed: 21 feb 2013). bailey, j. (2011) the problem with detecting translated plagiarism. available at: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/02/24/the-problem-with-detecting-translatedplagiarism/ (accessed: 1 may 2012). baity, p. (2006) ‘staff ignore cheating.’ times higher education, 23 june. available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/staff-ignore-cheating/203883.article (accessed: 20 june 2007). barrett, d. (2011) ‘the cheating epidemic at britain's universities.’ the telegraph, 5 march. available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8363345/the-cheatingepidemic-at-britains-universities.html (accessed: 5 march 2011). carey, j. (2013) ‘plagiarism vs. collaboration on education’s digital frontier.’ powerful learning practice blog, 16 december 2013. available at: http://plpnetwork.com/2013/12/16/plagiarism-vs-collaboration-educations-digital-frontier/ (accessed: 20 february 2014). clarke, r. and lancaster. t. (2006) eliminating the successor to plagiarism? identifying the usage of contract cheating sites. available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.120.5440 (accessed: 20 february 2014). colton, c. c. (1824) lacon, or, many things in a few words: addressed to those who think (8 ed.), new york: s. marks. #217, p. 114. available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6aclaaaamaaj&pg=pa114 (accessed: 20 february 2014) graham-matheson, l. and s. starr (2013) ‘is it cheating or learning the craft of writing? using turnitin to help students avoid plagiarism’, research in learning technology, 21: 17218. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.17218 (accessed: 12 june 2013). haggard, s. (2013) ‘the maturing of the mooc: literature review of massive open online courses and other forms of online distance learning.’ bis research paper number 130. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/240193/131173-maturing-of-the-mooc.pdf (accessed: 20 february 2014). hyatt, j. and p.h. lim (2010) ‘plagiarism and copyright in tertiary education: risks posed by plagiarism detection tools for both students and educational institutions.’ international journal of law & education, 15 (1), 7–21. available at: http://www.anzela.edu.au/assets/ijle_vol_15.1_-_2_hyatt_and_lim.pdf (accessed: 20 february 2014). lehrer, t. (1953) lobachevsky, lehrer records. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 petronzio, m. (2012) use these 10 sites to detect plagiarism. available at: http://mashable.com/2012/08/29/plagiarism-online-services/ (accessed: 21 february 2013). samakovitis, g. (2014). private communication, 1 november 2014. schemo, d. j. (2001) ‘university of virginia hit by scandal over cheating.’ new york times, 10 may 2010. available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/10/us/u-of-virginia-hit-byscandal-over-cheating.html (accessed: 1 february 2014). stoneham, r. (2012) ‘managed learning environments in universities: are they achievable?’ compass 6, 45-54. available at: http://cms1.gre.ac.uk/sr65/publications/cms_mle_v2.docx (accessed: 20 february 2014). stoneham, r. (2013) ‘in praise of yellow pages: what is the point of referencing, and why do students find it so difficult?’ compass 8. available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/75/145 (accessed: 20 february 2014). stoneham, r. (2014) ‘turnitin report for “on being original”, version 1’. available at: http://cms1.gre.ac.uk/sr65/publications/turnitin%20for%20original.pdf (accessed: 20 february 2013). watson, the famous brett (1995) the mathematics of monkeys and shakespeare: monkey claims copyright on hamlet. available at: http://www.nutters.org/docs/monkeys (accessed: 14 feb 2014). widdup, e. (2011) ‘london university tops cheats' league table.’ london evening standard, 7 march. available at: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london-university-tops-cheatsleague-table-6574454.html (accessed: 7 march 2011). why i love twitter opinion pieces why i love twitter carol randall, university of greenwich, school of education i have always been interested in the idea of social networking as a means of keeping up to date with my profession. i began by joining mailing lists, then made a brief foray into facebook, linkedin and pinterest, but didn’t really become comfortable with using any of them professionally. facebook is, for me, a way of keeping up to date with what my extended family are doing. i do not have any non-family “facebook friends”, and i protect my privacy fiercely. pinterest is a good way of collecting information together, and i have recently begun to use it again as a “virtual scrapbook” – but have not as yet engaged in communication with other pinterest users. i do have a linkedin account, but have not yet worked out how to use it, so cannot really gauge how useful linkedin might be. i tried blogging for a while (and still do this sporadically), but it was only when i discovered twitter that i really started to develop an online personal learning network. one of the reasons i prefer twitter is the limit of 140 characters per post, which means i don’t have to think about conventions for writing, but can express ideas and ask questions quickly. “by encouraging shorter posts, it lowers users’ requirement of time and thought investment for content generation”. (java et al., 2007). like many people, i chose a twitter name, or “handle” (@caro_lann) and started by following a few friends. then i found a few maths and science “celebrities”, then a few authors, and gradually built up to the 300 or so people i follow now. i found some educators on twitter, and realised that i could learn from them. i found a twitter chat (#ukedchat), and found more educators by following that hashtag for a while. one hashtag led to another, and soon i was contributing to #ukedchat, #edchat (the international version) and #mathchat, where i found mathematicians, maths teachers and maths teacher-educators. i use twitter to keep up to date with policy related to my profession – i follow the twitter feed from government departments (bis and the dfe); and also follow some newsreaders, who give a personal slant on news and politics. i still get a little kick from receiving personal replies from jon snow or riz lateef when i have tweeted them a question. i have just checked my “followers” list, and realise that as of today, i have 462 followers – that is 462 people who have chosen to see my tweets in their timeline. i have not made a conscious effort to build up a following – i don’t tweet very regularly – not even every day, but knowing that these people are reading what i say makes me select what i tweet quite carefully. i occasionally make a reference to the weather, or comment on a news item or tv programme, but most often i post links to interesting things i have seen elsewhere on the internet, which relate to teaching in one way or another. some people curate lists of like-minded “tweeps”; and i am now listed by twenty different people, under various headings – maths, science, he, fe, education etc. lists are useful. if i want to ask a question related to further education policy for example, i can send a tweet directly to the people on my “fe policy” list, maximising the chance of getting a reply. 1 2 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 there are disadvantages to twitter: it can, if allowed, become a “time-sponge”; the strict character limit for a tweet sometimes means that an idea will be underdeveloped, and links to content can be affected when tweets are re-tweeted if this is not done carefully. a twitter timeline is ephemeral – tweets can easily become lost among a stream of updates from hundreds of people, and important or useful ideas need to be saved in some way – i usually e-mail tweets to myself if i want to refer to them again. if you would like to see what my twitter account looks like without signing up, you can find me at twitter. com/caro¬¬_lann , or if you already tweet, my “handle” is @caro_lann. i really feel that i am part of a community. i have met some of the people i follow (and who follow me) face-to-face, but most i only know from twitter. we share ideas and resources, links to interesting articles and blog posts, and occasionally, (but not too often), share glimpses of our lives outside of education. mollett, a. et al., (2011) have produced a useful guide for academics who wish to start using twitter, which provides much more information than i can in this short reflection on my own practice twitter is not only about sharing what we have for breakfast. it can be a very useful professional network. give it a try. references java, a. et al., (2007) why we twitter: understanding microblogging usage and communities proceedings of the joint 9th webkdd and 1st sna-kdd workshop 2007 university of maryland.[online]. available at http://ebiquity.umbc.edu/paper/html/id/367/why-we-twitterunderstanding-microblogging-usage-andcommunities [accessed august 2012]. mollett, a. et al., (2011) using twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities lse public policy group. [online]. available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter_ guide/ [accessed august 2012]. author biography carol randall is a senior lecturer in lifelong learning teacher education in the school of education at the university of greenwich. she started her career teaching mathematics to engineering students in a further education college before moving into in-house professional development and later joining the university as a teacher educator. a “hashtag” is a search term, e.g. #greenwich would find all recent tweets which also had #greenwich in them. 2 http://ebiquity.umbc.edu/paper/html/id/367/why-we-twitter-understanding-microblogging-usage-andhttp://ebiquity.umbc.edu/paper/html/id/367/why-we-twitter-understanding-microblogging-usage-andhttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter_ why i love twitter carol randall, author biography tf_template_word_windows_2013 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 an investigation into digital tools for lecture engagement: a feasibility study michael detyna1, eleanor j. dommett2 1(corresponding author), centre for technology enhanced learning, king’s college london, uk. 2dept of psychology, addison house guy’s campus, king’s college london, uk abstract evidence suggests that lectures are of most value in higher education when they are interactive and support active learning (freeman et al., 2014). using novel approaches within lectures can help go beyond the traditional university experience. educational technologies offer several options for supporting this, including audience response systems, backchannel communication, mirroring and use of video. however, given the range available and the cost of implementation, it is important to ensure that the right technologies are adopted. the aims of this study were 1) to investigate the feasibility of small group sessions to evaluate the use of specific technologies for lectures and 2) to understand better the potential uses of different technologies for lectures. staff and students participated in a novel approach with hands-on interactive demonstration sessions before taking part in a focus group to give their views on a variety of technologies. the current study found that these small-scale interactive demonstrations were an effective way to evaluate technologies and that several of the technologies presented could be used either 1) to enhance current lecture practice or 2) to support new practice, provided they did not overwhelm or distract students. however, they must also be simple for staff and students to use. keywords: learning technology, lectures, pedagogy, audience response systems, backchannel communication, mirroring, video. introduction the covid-19 outbreak has affected the whole world (saxena, 2020) and led to a move away from face-to-face teaching and towards online teaching (sun et al., 2020). however, once the pandemic is brought under control, lectures will continue to be – as they were before it – the dominant mode of instruction for university teaching. the research detailed here was conducted prior to the pandemic and aimed primarily at investigating digital tools available for those physically in lectures, although the work also has implications for blended learning and other approaches. further, the three knowledge domains of pedagogy, content and technology should not be seen in isolation, but as part of a framework described eloquently by mishra et al. (2009). lectures provide the most economical approach to teaching large classes and are ingrained in the culture of academia. research shows that students value lectures highly, reporting that they feel involved in the learning process and can engage in independent thinking and problem solving during lectures (covill, 2011). problem-based learning is a strategy that can be used effectively, although it is not without its challenges as huijser, h. et al. (2016) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 discuss. furthermore, studies have found that lectures can result in effective learning in interactive classrooms (van dijk, van der berg and van keulen, 2001), provide an appropriate forum for modelling how experts approach tasks (feldon, 2010), support time management and enable the development of affective learning (titsworth, 2001). however, there is also research showing lectures to be unhelpful, resulting in higher failure rates, reduced engagement and increased boredom when compared with other teaching methods (kelly et al., 2005; mann and robinson, 2009; schmidt et al., 2015). in recent years, such research has, in part, resulted in the stigmatisation of lectures (dipiro, 2009; gross-loh, 2016). despite this stigmatisation, increasing student numbers and limited classroom space in many universities mean it is likely that lectures are here to stay. it is therefore important to optimise the lecture by maximising student engagement and supporting active learning wherever possible (freeman et al., 2014). an interactive lecture which provides opportunities for active learning could be a very powerful learning tool, allowing students to engage directly with material and build new knowledge into their existing frameworks (bain, 2011; mallin, 2017; stacy, 2009). one way to support interactivity is by using educational technologies, the most prominent of which, used in lectures, is undoubtedly ‘student response systems’ (srss). research into early srss has revealed positive attitudes towards them (gaddis et al., 2006; lin, liu and chu, 2011), beliefs that they support engagement and active learning (kaleta and joosten, 2007) and, consequently, improved performance (hall et al., 2005; king and joshi, 2006; lyubartseva, 2013). there is less research into the web-based srss such as ‘poll everywhere’, which allows voting via text or online, but early evidence suggests similarly positive attitudes (shon and smith, 2011) and increased engagement (gehlen-baum et al., 2014; kappers and cutler, 2015). more gamified srss have also been found to have a positive effect on student engagement (wang, 2015) and classroom dynamics (licorish et al. 2018) in specific circumstances. compton and allen (2018) have provided a comprehensive review of different technlogies for srss. current srss make use of the students’ personal mobile devices (smartphones, laptops) to engage with lecture-related activities, something which is thought to offset the potential distraction that they can create in a lecture (fried, 2008; kirschner and karpinski, 2010). however, srss are not the only technology that can utilise these devices. amongst many other uses, mobile devices can also be used for wireless mirroring and recording of a broadcast computer screen, so that students can view the lecturer’s computer screen on their own devices. additionally, interactivity can be achieved with backchannel communication, which can use technologies and skills that, as students report, they frequently use (fiester and green, 2016). tools available for backchannel communication include padlet, a free online technology – which acts like a bulletin board and can be integrated into the virtual learning environment (vle) – and skype, both of which show potential for application in other types of learning environment but have received little attention in the lecture setting to date (dunbar, 2017; gill et al., 2014). of the various technologies that students report that they use to support their learning, the most frequent is youtube (gill et al., 2014). research also suggests that students value the inclusion of video clips in lectures (eick and king jr, 2012; mitra et al., 2010). whilst youtube does contain a range of resources, there are other services which may be of use, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 including an on-demand television broadcast video service, such as ‘box of broadcast’, which can show clips in lectures. though it is quite common for videos to be deployed within lectures, there has been little formal evaluation of their impact. such videos are clearly popular, but the technology has advanced significantly and there is now the possibility of using immersive video, augmented or virtual reality in lectures, (stojšić et al. 2018, detyna et al. 2019). from this brief review of the literature concerning educational technologies in lectures, it is apparent that they offer great potential for optimising interactivity in that context. however, the potentially high cost – both of implementation of these technologies and the training required to use them – makes it important to establish whether key stakeholders in the lecture consider them to be of any value before their application is rolled out more widely. the aims of this study were 1) to investigate the feasibility of small-scale demonstration sessions to evaluate the use of specific technologies for lectures and 2) to understand better what might be possible in deploying different technologies within lectures. for the latter, we were specifically interested in 3) how they could support teaching and learning and 4) any pros and cons of each technology. materials and methods ethical approval ethical approval was obtained from the institutional ethics committee (mr/16/17-744). all participants were then given printed study information and they provided written consent to participate. participants participants (n=33), of whom seventy per cent were staff, were recruited via advertisements on posters and also the institutional vle, where they could voluntarily sign up to attend a session – staff and student sessions being held separately. here we report data only on technologies reviewed by both staff and students to allow comparison between them. aware that the larger the group size we had, the less each individual participant would be involved in discussion, we aimed for smaller groups of between three and six to allow richer feedback; again, staff and student sessions were separate. research design and procedure as it was anticipated that most of the participants would not be familiar with the technologies being examined, they were provided with a session intended to ensure that – just as students would – they would see and interact with available tools in an appropriate learning environment; the chosen context was an introductory lecture on the science of the stars, where learning about the physics and chemistry of stars and their elements could add an educational background to the session. the topic of this content (known as stellar nucleosynthesis) helps answer the questions ‘how did the stars form?’, and ‘where do the elements come from?’ and would be new to most participants. following the session, collection of qualitative data ensued, by means of small focus groups that allowed everyone the chance to speak. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 participants attended a two-hour session, divided into three parts: 1. lecture demonstration, using five different technologies to provide direct experience of the technology in context (twenty minutes). 2. interactive opportunity, during which participants were invited to interact with the individual technologies, including attempting to set them up (sixty minutes). 3. feedback period, in which the participants evaluated each tool with answers to the question ‘this tool could be useful for teaching’ on a likert scale ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ (1) ‘to strongly agree’ (5). they then took part in a focus group discussion, which revolved around the potential value of the tools, so as to understand 1) the learning goals that different technologies could support; 2) how they could be used in a teaching environment and 3) the perceived pros and cons of each technology. discussion of each area was prompted by a question – e.g. (for area 1) ‘what learning goals could this tool help you achieve?’. follow-up questions for each area concerned staff and student perceptions or asked participants to review more deeply their rationale – e.g. ‘why do you think this?’ or ‘how might this work in your discipline?’. the focus group discussion was audio-recorded for later analysis. different technologies were demonstrated to both staff and students over a series of sessions, so that no one participant was exposed to all. these technologies were selected to include 1) srs (poll everywhere and kahoot!) 2) backchannel communication technologies (padlet, skype) 3) mirroring technologies (mirroring 360) and 4) video technologies, including immersive video (box of broadcast, 360-degree video). a summary of the functionality of these technologies is provided in table 1. table 1: a description of the technologies evaluated by both staff and students technology system description audience response system poll everywhere enables staff to engage with a class via real-time online feedback. students respond in real time to questions via mobile device. kahoot! a game-based learning platform where students are able to answer – in real time – a quiz, poll or survey. backchannel communication padlet an application designed to create online bulletin boards that allow students to share, via mobile device, a variety of content, including questions, discussion comments and multimedia. skype video chat platform. the case for proposed use here is video chat to enhance lectures, through dialogue, in a visual and interactive manner. mirroring mirroring 360 software that allows wireless mirroring and recording of a broadcast computer screen so that participants may view the lecturer’s computer screen on their own devices. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 video 360-degree video 360 videos take a series of video images from all angles. this creates an immersive video experience which can be seen from all angles. box of broadcasts a web-based, on-demand television broadcast video service which can show clips at desktop or in lectures. some other tools, considered by staff only, include augmented and virtual reality; these will be considered in a separate paper. data analysis data from the likert scale rating on usefulness was collated by technology and checked for normality using the kolmogorov–smirnov test, as well as a measure of skewness and kurtosis. where a normal distribution was found, we compared individual technologies’ ratings between staff and students, using independent sample t-tests. for technologies where ratings were not normally distributed, comparisons were made using the mann witney u non-parametric test. in both cases, mean and standard deviation data are displayed to allow comparison across all technologies. the recordings of the focus groups were transcribed and analysed using a thematic analysis (braun and clarke, 2006) with a six-stage process (clarke and braun, 2013): familiarisation, coding, theme extraction, review, naming and narrative analysis. quotes are provided as validity of evidence (mays and pope, 1995). punctuation was added to unambiguous quotes, spelling mistakes were corrected and, where necessary, words were added in square brackets for clarification. multiple quotes from one person were treated as a single comment to avoid over-representation of an individual. initial coding was completed by one researcher and then reviewed by the second. following the thematic analysis to understand staff and student perceptions of the tools and what considerations are important in selecting tools, transcripts were also reviewed to identify specific examples of use cases. results usefulness ratings table 2: combined staff and student ratings for the usefulness of the different technologies on a scale of 1-5, where 5 indicates strong agreement that the technology would be useful in teaching and 1 indicates strong disagreement. technology rating (mean ± sem) poll everywhere 4.71 ± 0.18 skype 4.22 ± 0.15 box of broadcast 4.00 ± 0.00 padlet 3.91 ± 0.29 mirroring 360 3.78 ± 0.22 kahoot! 3.5 ± 0.261 360-degree video 3.22 ± 0.43 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 figure 1: staff and student responses to the question ‘this technology could be useful for teaching’ on a likert scale. thematic analysis three different themes emerged from the dataset: theme 1: pedagogic benefit, which could further be divided into a) optimising existing practice and b) supporting new approaches; theme 2: ease of use for both the staff and students; theme 3: avoiding overload and distraction. theme 1: pedagogic benefit pedagogic benefit was identified as key by both staff and students. one way in which this benefit could be realised was in optimising current practice. both staff and students identified several ways by which this could arise. firstly, it was suggested that the technology could increase participation: ‘there is more participation in the class – everyone gets a chance to participate, it’s not just one person at a time.” [student, padlet] “it would be good for students who are nervous about talking up. i think it would be good for non-fact-based learning.” [staff, padlet] “i see it as enhancing engagement rather than delivering learning goals, but certainly could be used to reinforce key learning goals especially by high quality productions.” [staff, box of broadcasts] articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 secondly, it was suggested that some of the different technologies could allow students to visualise key concepts: “it gives students the ability to access related material to the lecture – could ask students to watch things after a lecture to learn more (e.g. a performance, video etc.)” [staff, box of broadcasts] “i would use it to visualise a difficult concept – used sparingly students would better recall the concept by taking a link to a high quality [broadcast] production” [staff, box of broadcasts] ‘sometimes it can be difficult to talk about something in a simple and engaging way, and having it with short clips when you take a clip from a documentary with a high quality production team with text that has been well thought through would be useful. so long as it’s not overused.” [staff, box of broadcasts] “it can help visualize things more, and can help see another part of the world, and back up your points.” [student, box of broadcasts] “it could be useful having students click and move around and experience an area.” [staff, 360-degree video] “content could be uploaded to [our vle] and [students] asked to explore or answer relevant questions.” [staff, 360-degree video] thirdly, it was thought that a benefit to current practice could arise from using the tools to identify any misconceptions by testing the general level of understanding during the lecture: “one of the most helpful parts is for understanding common misconceptions that the students have regarding key topics. the way i use it in a lecture is to focus on the closest correct answer to the question and explain why this is incorrect.” [staff, poll everywhere] “i would use it for a recalibration of the room, to see ‘what did we all learn today?’, and it allows the instructor to check what we all learned today without guided learning. to see what some of the issues are if there are issues, if there are any misguided thoughts" [staff, padlet] “[it would be] useful if there was a diagram and there could be a check if we were paying attention” [student, poll everywhere] finally, it was raised that the technologies could overcome some physical barriers to learning. “i think it would be good for visibility in the lecture room, if there was a pillar in the way, or if people are unable to see it clearly” [staff, mirroring360] articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 as well as its providing pedagogic benefit by optimising current practice, several participants suggested ways in which the technology could support a new practice. one example of this was through working and learning as a peer group using padlet and mirroring 360: “i like that you could add and build on what other people have said, so it’s like peer to peer feedback, and it’s all instantaneous” [student, padlet] ‘several groups could have separate discussions, and could add and expand on what people have said” [student, padlet] ‘seeing the variety of responses allows opportunities for peer learning and self-assessment because students have immediate access to a wide spectrum of responses from classmates rather than a few responses from the vocal ones.” [staff, padlet] “i like it for this reason it could be used for situations where you get students to present.” [staff, mirroring360] “i thought it would be good for group work…ok we’ve sat there and written down, rather than on paper onto a computer and then it can go up onto the main screen at the end and share it with the rest of the room…it depends, if you are in a lecture theatre with 400 students you do not end up with lots of discussion time and therefore that opportunity [for group work where you would want to share your thoughts]” [student, mirroring360] a second example that emerged from the data was the use of backchannel communication technologies to bring in expertise, for example, that of guest speakers. staff comment as follows: “i definitely see a use case using it for bringing in an expert” [staff, skype] “i like the idea of guest speakers. because we have industry speakers come in to talk to our students.” [staff, skype] “[an expert] can skype in from their offices and they are calling from a tablet or a phone they can give you a tour of their office, and show you what say google is like from the inside”. [staff, skype] “it’s the idea of having an external speaker that doesn’t have the time to come in house, but could give a short presentation with you and your students, would be useful and value added.” [student, skype] “asking an expert” or “real life” on site reporting/interview could bring a topic to life.” [student, skype] articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 theme 2: ease of use both staff and students commented on the ease of use of technologies, with several perceived positively because they were simple to use: ‘simple and effective” [student, poll everywhere] “it was very quick as soon as you logged in to the website it was just on, which i think was very good.” [staff, mirroring360] by contrast, there were concerns where a technology was more complex to set up: ‘there are a lot of steps to getting ready compared to say poll everywhere, so i’d be reluctant to do this if students are already used to poll everywhere.” [staff, padlet] ‘the only issue is the amount of preparation in advance. but i really like the idea of people putting ideas and putting more information up there.” [staff, padlet] “i think i’d [worry i’d] be standing there for half an hour pressing buttons. i don’t think i could use it quickly.” [staff, general] ‘i struggle to see the practicalities of using it., i can’t see how it would slot in easily’ [student, general] “easy to use, when in a teaching environment you need to just get on.” [staff, general] related to this, staff also felt that having the same technology available to them in every teaching space made things easier for them: “having everything set up in a way that you’re used to makes it easier to start the lecture” [staff] theme 3: avoiding overload and distraction it became apparent that both staff and students were concerned about potentially overloading students or increasing distraction with technology: “not sure what it offers over poll everywhere and worry about student overload” [staff, kahoot] “as long as it’s short and to the point it then it makes sense to use it.” [student, box of broadcasts] “i don’t think it’s actually it is that useful. i struggle to see the practicalities of using it. stuff like this, i can’t see how it would slot in easily […] and it could seem disjointed” [student, 360-degree video] articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 10 “i don’t see that it adds a lot and it tends to break focus…the quality [of learning] can then drop because you are taking in so much information.” [student, 360-degree video] although, to counter this, the use of mobile devices for learning was seen as a way to reduce the distraction they might normally cause: “i felt that it was a good idea to embrace the fact that many students have smartphones and tend to look at them relatively often. i thought that using this system would also be a way where students could use their phones constructively" and take part in the lecture.” [staff, poll everywhere] sample use cases following on from discussions with staff and students, several possible use cases were extracted from the transcripts (table 3). note that this was only possible for technologies where comments were specific to the tool in question. in each case, an example use is supported by a quote from either staff or students. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 11 table 3: example use cases for several technologies based on common suggestions from staff or students. technology use cases poll everywhere & padlet collaboration: both tools allow students to share ideas e.g. through a word cloud in poll everywhere or through sharing more extensive text and images in padlet. this can be an open share or directed by a resource or idea put up by staff: “i really like the idea of people putting ideas, and putting more information up there.” [staff] checking understanding and gaining feedback: both tools can be used to ask students questions and elicit their questions in a non-threatening way: ‘some [students] like the ability to give opinions without necessarily having to stick their heads above the parapet.” [staff] “i would use it for a recalibration of the room, to see ‘what did we all learn today?’” [staff] skype increasing expertise: this tool can be used for guest lecturers but also for smaller segments such as panel discussions after a lecture: “it’s the idea of having an external speaker that doesn’t have the time to come in house, but could give a short presentation with you and your students, would be useful and value added.” [student] virtual field trips: skype could be used to have a tour of a space by an expert e.g. a researcher doing a lab tour: “[an expert] can skype in from their offices and they are calling from a tablet or a phone they can give you a tour of their office, and show you what say [a company such as] google is like from the inside” [staff] collaboration & communication: small groups of students can work together on projects using skype: “i know some people at another university that teach collaboratively, and students can be on that module, and they teach that via skype. students have projects which are created collaboratively via skype”. [staff] box of broadcasts flipped learning: staff can select appropriate material for students to watch ahead of the face-to-face learning experience, during which more active discursive learning can then occur: ‘students could […] be asked to see a particular shakespeare performance and consider specific aspects of that performance whether it was costume or the way a scene was performed. then in class we can review small chunks as a group after we have ruminated on it, and that can be really useful.” [student] supporting visualisation: staff identify short video clip for use in lecture. ‘sometimes it can be difficult to talk about something in a simple and engaging way, and having ... short clips when you take a clip from a documentary with a high-quality production team with text that have been well thought through would be useful.” [staff] students find own material: staff choose appropriate topic and learning goals. students search tool for relevant material. students select relevant clips. students share clips via institutional virtual learning environment (vle) or in small group teaching. “it gives students the ability to access related material to the lecture – could ask students to watch and find out things after a lecture to learn more (e.g. a performance, video etc.)” [staff] articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 12 discussion there were two distinct aims to this study. firstly, we wanted to test the feasibility of a single session, in which staff and students are given demonstrations of technology and the opportunity to interact with it, as a means of gaining insight into staff and student views about new technologies. secondly, we wanted to understand better the potential uses of different technologies for lectures. as stated earlier, the three knowledge domains of pedagogy, content and technology should not be seen in isolation, but as part of a framework described eloquently by mishra et al. (2009). this research attempted to consider digital technological tools in a specific pedagogical setting, with a similar level of content knowledge (relating to stars and stellar nucleosynthesis) that would provide a roughly equal benchmark for participants and draw together the three knowledge domains. we’ll begin by discussing the second aim, which will then contribute to our discussion of the first. the feedback on the different technologies was to some extent consistent with previous research. for example, poll everywhere was commented on generally positively by both staff and students (gaddis et al., 2006; lin et al., 2011; pollock, 2005) and gained the highest ratings overall. staff identified that this technology could be a way of putting mobile phones to good use rather than having them serve as a distraction (fried, 2008; kirschner and karpinski, 2010). the second srs, kahoot!, was less well-received, seemingly suffering from comparison to poll everywhere because it was more complex to set up. backchannel communication technologies were also well-received, with several different suggestions being made for their use. interestingly, padlet seemed to be grouped more closely with poll everywhere in terms of suggested uses and, although it was generally seen as positive, in line with previous literature (dunbar, 2017), staff did raise concerns about the complex setup required. this was also the only technology for which staff and student usefulness ratings significantly differed, with students rating it more positively. based on the focus group remarks, it seems likely that this was because they were not concerned with setting it up, but only responding to it. skype was seen as offering a way to engage with individuals outside the university, e.g. guest lecturers. previous studies from a range of disciplines indicates the value of guest lecturers (rowe, 2004; van hoek, godsell and harrison, 2011). the current study suggests that, where timing is appropriate, skype can offer an appropriate means for guest lecturers to deliver material. it should be noted that, while the term ‘backchannel communication’ is used in the literature to describe skype, the feedback and use cases derived from the current study suggest that it would not primarily be used for this type of communication. interestingly, staff also raised the possibility of the expert joining the session via skype and giving a tour of her/his own environment. this would be perfectly possible with 360-degree video, but this tool was less positively received. one possible explanation for this is the simplicity of the technology. unlike skype, padlet divided staff and students slightly, with the latter viewing it more positively, which echoes the finding of betts and garnham (2018) – that it can help engagement. the mirroring technology evaluated in the current study, mirroring-360, has not previously been the focus of research in higher education and the current study shows that both staff and students could see a value in it. both groups reported that it could be helpful for when students needed to feed back or engage with the whole room in some way. it was also articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 13 deemed relatively simple to use. given this feedback, it would be pertinent to conduct more in-depth research into the potential uses in lectures of this technology, but also in small group work, which was identified as a possible use. the final two technologies evaluated were video technologies – and the two received quite different reviews. box of broadcasts was generally well received – perhaps not surprising given that the technology is centred on videos which are already known to be popular in teaching and learning, including lectures (eick and king jr, 2012; gill et al., 2014; mitra et al., 2010). interestingly, both staff and students commented on the length of the video clip used and this is in line with previous research, with recognition that clips should be cut to show only appropriate material (mitra et al., 2010). despite the positive reviews of box of broadcasts, feedback was less positive about the 360-degree video, in terms of ratings and qualitative remarks, with concern expressed that it could be overwhelming. as indicated in the discussion above, staff and students recognised the significant pedagogic benefits that some technologies could offer and comments were balanced, suggesting that there is not a constant drive for new technology irrespective of its value. critically, there was also a significant emphasis on the need to keep the technology easy to use. this need for simplicity suggests that one key focus in rolling out the use of any new technologies will be to ensure that adequate training, where appropriate, is made available for staff and students and that the simplest system possible is put in place. it is also apparent that any technologies must offer a clear pedagogic benefit. this can come through both optimising existing approaches in lectures and offering new opportunities, such as peer/group work. overall, for most of the technologies examined, staff and students could see a pedagogic benefit to their use. however, it was also apparent that the tools needed to be straightforward to use. furthermore, while students already possess a degree of digital literacy, as fitzgerald et al. (2015) comment, it is important to build in mechanisms to increase their digital literacy to equip them for them for the future. we return now to the feasibility of this approach to eliciting stakeholder views. the single sessions ran effectively and participants reported finding them useful. as demonstrated, a substantial amount of data was obtained from the feedback part of the session, indicating that this approach could be helpful in gaining insight about staff and student views of technology. with the technological landscape constantly shifting, and what is appropriate in one year being less appropriate in another, it is necessary to engage in a regular dialogue about different technologies with those who will use them. this study intended to start with a wide range of prior experience, from novices to those more confident, and then ensure a more standard benchmark by providing a recent experience of tools/approach through direct interaction in a relevant session. in the two-hour session, sixty minutes were allocated for direct experience, which gave participants, on average, fifteen to twenty minutes’ direct experience of each tool, although in practice this varied as they spent time mainly on those they felt were of most value. while this experience per tool may not seem like a large amount of time, it should be seen in the broader context of the two hours they were spending looking at, discussing and considering all the tools. further reflection in subsequent studies could establish whether this time should be increased, although the general consensus from participants was that they had sufficient time to experience the technologies, reflect on them and offer considered opinions about them. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 14 the approach taken in the present study is a cost-effective way to gain useful insights on a relatively regular basis before investing significant resources into a particular technology. although the approach described worked well and yielded interesting data, some limitations of the study must be noted. firstly, the sessions were open to any staff and student at the university and, as is the case with open sessions, those attending were self-selecting and therefore, in this case, may have been particularly keen to learn about new technologies, with consequent slight bias to the results. however, the fact that both negative and positive comments were made suggests that, even with a self-selecting group, this approach can yield valuable information. secondly, the sample size was small. however, recent guidelines for thematic analysis (braun and clarke, 2006; fugard and potts, 2015) have suggested that studies using participant-generated text should include ten-fifty participants, indicating that this sample size is sufficient; furthermore, the total number of words generated from the transcribed text was well over 104. conclusion the present study has demonstrated a novel approach to showing that small group sessions allowing staff and students to receive a teaching demonstration together with the opportunity to explore and feed back on specific technologies can yield useful insights into the value of that technology for teaching. data indicate that simple srs and basic video tools such as box of broadcasts are well received. backchannel communication technologies are also well-received (despite their suggested use not actually being for this kind of communication). irrespective of the individual technologies, the evidence presented suggests that any technology implemented should have a clear pedagogic benefit, for example through increased engagement, the ability to test understanding or inclusion of peer interaction and guest lectures. for the future, a productive area of research could be evaluation of technologies which may be better suited for use in non-lecture teaching where the requirements may be slightly different. at present however, it is possible to conclude that specific technologies, when simple to use, are of benefit to large-scale teaching. this present study demonstrates that there are specific digital tools, particularly those most straightforward to use, that can increase engagement and are seen by both staff and students to have the potential to enhance learning. acknowledgments we’d like to acknowledge james toner, phil blake, vaishnavi gogu, andre crawford and jerome di pietro and dave busson for support on this project. declaration of interest statement no potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 15 reference list bain, k. 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2014 identifying factors that influence the uptake and use of moodle by academics in three arts departments at roehampton university karen shackleford-cesare university of roehampton abstract this paper explores factors influencing both the take-up of moodle at roehampton university and the ways it has been used by academics to support learning and teaching. it builds upon the work of others who have sought to explore and explain why the introduction of various technologies in higher education has not transformed teaching practice as expected. this study also seeks to inform policy and practice in the provision of support for academics in their use of learning technologies. a descriptive survey, using a web-based questionnaire and face-to-face, standardised, semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions, was employed to capture relevant data. of the more important influencing factors identified, respondents’ intrinsic technological savoir-faire made them more likely than those without it to use moodle and, having done so, more of its features and tools. this limited study suggests that male academics are less likely than their female colleagues to change their teaching practice with the introduction of a learning management system (lms) and that the most significant barrier to use of moodle is perceived as time. however, the majority of respondents in fact found evidence of moodle’s capacity to save them time to be motivating, as were, significantly, pressure from students to use it and take-up by peers. the most striking de-motivator for roehampton academics was the prospect of including moodle usage in the appraisal process. moderate barriers include a skill or knowledge deficit either on the part of academics or students, along with concerns about the reliability of tools used and students’ expectation that the academic will be able to address any technical problems. overview the paper outlines the challenges faced by the support staff responsible for encouraging and supporting academics’ use of learning technologies and identifies what could help them in this endeavour. the research topic is presented, together with the ‘lines of questioning’ and the benefits the researcher hoped to derive from its investigation. the paper then mentions the national drivers that thrust e-learning to centre stage in he in the last decade and points out that expectations of e-learning have not yet been realised and that e-learning has been expected to ‘disrupt’ teaching practice. it then discusses alternative views of the transformational impact of learning technologies on teaching. it presents the author’s findings in relation to the up-take of moodle by academics and suggests reasons for these, exploring barriers and motivational aspects. a summary and suggestions for e-learning support policy and further research conclude the paper. challenges to be addressed academics are often proactive when requesting access to library resources for research or teaching, but there has been no comparable groundswell of broad-based demand for elearning technologies since their inception (jenkins et al, 2001; smith, 2005). nevertheless, campus-wide learning management systems were established by 2005 in 95% of universities (including roehampton university) surveyed across the united kingdom articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 (browne et al, 2006). once an lms was installed in roehampton, lecturers were strongly urged to use it, though no clear-cut technology enhanced learning (tel) strategy with associated institutional key performance indicators (kpi) existed to make it mandatory; only vague references to the use of technology to support learning and teaching were included in the university’s teaching, learning and assessment strategy. in this context, the challenges faced by e-learning advisors (elas) including the author who had been primarily employed to facilitate academics’ use of the lms (currently moodle at roehampton) included persuading them to:  use the technology;  use a variety of tools, especially those that might encourage more student-led learning;  adapt their pedagogical approaches to include the technologies to enhance learning;  identify and apply best practice in their use of learning technologies. consequently, the research project on which this paper reports was undertaken to investigate factors that influenced both the take-up of moodle and its use by academics to support learning and teaching. it builds on work by others exploring why, within the context of lms usage by academics specifically, the introduction of various technologies in higher education has not transformed teaching practice as anticipated (bush and mott, 2009,; blin and munro, 2008; zemsky and massy, 2004). it also serves to help elas to address the above challenges by identifying:  intrinsic and extrinsic factors that motivate academics to use moodle, or use it more effectively;  any subsets of the sample population with common attributes, enabling targeted, customised support;  barriers to moodle use. the survey instrument developed for this project gathered demographic data and respondents’ thoughts about their use or non-use of computer-based technologies generally, including moodle. questions were organised into 5 sections:  demographic data (age, gender, years spent teaching, teaching qualification and discipline)  personal approach to the use of computer technologies in general and moodle in particular;  the suitability and ease of implementation of certain teaching practices using moodle;  obstacles to the use or further use of moodle;  factors that stimulate moodle usage. the context of the research in 2003, the british government published a white paper on ‘the future of higher education’ that chronicled changes universities were expected to make to realise the government’s agenda. this included widening access and participation, improving student retention (department for education and skills, 2003; hefce, 2001) and increasing choices for articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 flexible study underpinned, in part, by e-learning (department for education and skills, 2003; blin and munro, 2008). subsequently, the higher education funding council for england (hefce) was commissioned “to embed e-learning [in he] in a full and sustainable way within the next ten years” (department for education and skills, 2003; hefce et al, 2005). confidence in the prevailing assumption that ict and e-learning technologies would by default lead to a radical adaptation or ‘disruption’ of teaching practice was implicit in this drive (blin and munro, 2008; bush and mott, 2009; zemsky and massy, 2004). this conviction and the expectation of a broad-based, grass-roots up-take of e-learning technologies by academics (the two underlying assumptions that formed the backdrop to this study) were not, however, borne out by this author’s experience or that of other researchers in the literature explored here: lecturers seem to develop two distinct strategies of behaviourist conditioning that aim to encourage students to attend face-to-face sessions, namely the provision of incomplete lecture slides online and the development of discussions during face-to-face sessions that go beyond the content of online material (fry and love, 2011). changing notions of effective pedagogy have seen student-centred approaches advocated over traditional tutor-led ones and the rise of the view that the behaviourist paradigm has been overtaken by constructivist principles (brenton, 2009; laurilliard, 2010). this development has been paralleled by growth in the use of e-learning technologies, which have in turn brought to the fore more technology-reliant and student-focused learning theories such as connectivism (bell, 2011) and heutagology (hase and kenyon, 2001). some writers, witnessing this advance, have therefore presumed that learning technology use would support, if not actually bring about, this fundamental shift in teaching practice. it has been assumed that this might come about through the adoption of blended learning approaches, despite the absence of a definitive explanation or definition of what can be reasonably classified as ‘blended learning’ (oliver and trigwell, 2005). so, where some writers may have talked expansively of the transformative potential of e-learning, their viewpoint has lacked specificity. it has therefore been possible to argue either in support of or against their position. however, if, as this researcher asserts, e-learning technologies are seen as having the capacity to influence the ‘administrative’ or the ‘pedagogical’ aspect of teaching, a framework wherein these other authors’ positions can be upheld or refuted may be established. the ‘administrative’ versus the ‘pedagogical’ uses of learning technologies in this particular context, ‘teaching administration’ can be understood to include those activities and mechanisms by which teachers and/or learners disseminate course information and materials, and evaluate learners’ progress and performance through a programme of study. of all the e-learning technologies, perhaps the most persistent and ubiquitous one adopted is the lms 1 . it is therefore instructive to identify the support for ‘teaching administration’ built into lmss. this would include online tools for facilitating access to course materials, for grading, for processing and presenting grades and tutor feedback, for monitoring student engagement with online content and activities and for gathering and processing student feedback. the term ‘pedagogy’ in this context can be seen as relating to the ways in which e-learning technologies are implemented to support one or 1 browne et al (2006, p. 3–4) reported that lms usage at he institutions increased to 95% (of 85 respondents) in 2005 from 81% (of 75 respondents) in 2001. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 more of the learning theories that a teacher applies to his/her practice. the use made of some of a lms’s tools, such as a forum or a discussion board, may thus belie a teacher’s constructivist approach to his/her teaching practice. however, a forum or a discussion board can also be utilised in a fashion that reflects a teacher’s behaviourist bent. for instance, a forum may be set up to facilitate tutor-led, tutor-to-student and/or student-to-tutor exchanges rather than the social learning model of primarily fostering student-led peer-to-peer communication. somewhat ironically, turcan notes that a number of “tools and features that are present in lmss are very suitable for integration with current educational practices and do not require big changes to the current [ ‘traditional’] teaching style and educational practices” (turcan, 2010). she also cites weller (2006), who identifies these very characteristics as having contributed to the relative popularity of lmss. figure 1: a representation of blended learning, displaying its component parts from the author’s perspective – the weighting of each component may vary this highlights a difficulty for researchers investigating the transformational promise of elearning: teachers’ use (or non-use) of particular tools (or types thereof) will not alone provide sufficient evidence to categorise the theoretical nature of their personal dominant teaching practice, or to determine whether it is effective. in the context of blended learning course delivery modes, for example, students may have modern humanist, heutagogical or constructivist learning experiences in the more dominant face-to-face component of their course, but the online element may have more in common with a behaviourist approach. heaton-shrestha et al (2005) found that many staff participants in their study tended not to use their lms (blackboard©) to encourage collaborative work among students because they preferred ‘live’ dialogue, seeing it as an opportunity to observe their students. nevertheless, the literature on lmss abounds with empirical research identifying the “need to encourage academic staff to shift emphasis away from content dissemination towards facilitating more blended learning face-2-face engagement pedagogy transmissive learning active learning admin/ housekeeping virtual engagement pedagogy transmissive learning active learning admin/ housekeeping active learning may transpire in a social, student-led or a tutor-led learning context as espoused in heutagogy, constructivism & connectivism or cognitivism & behaviourism respectively transmissive learning suggests formal, didactic, tutor-centred instruction to essentially “passive” learners, which may be associated with behaviourism articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 independent and activity-based learning” (department for continuing education, university of oxford 2010). however, as the above example indicates, such research may not adequately distinguish between teachers who typically adopt a traditional teaching practice in all settings, (including their use of lmss), and those who only exhibit a traditional approach to teaching in the way they use a lms. the application of different theoretical perspectives it may not be desirable, necessary or even helpful for teachers to have a more humanist approach in every setting and context. in fact, research in the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience in relation to how the mind learns demonstrates the benefits of using a variety of approaches. daniel willingham (2002) makes a distinction between “rote” knowledge and what he regards as being far more common, namely, “inflexible knowledge” 2 , which he sees as “a normal product of learning” and “the unavoidable foundation of expertise [that includes the ability] to solve novel problems by applying existing knowledge to new situations sometimes known popularly as ‘problem-solving’ skills.” indeed, such skills are normally a highly-prized product of education. willingham goes on to explain that knowledge becomes increasingly ”flexible” as stores of facts and examples accumulate over time, facilitating an understanding of “the deep structure of a large domain” (a plausible definition for ‘expertise’), which in turn is an important goal of education. willingham argues that it is therefore important to “build students’ factual knowledge base… [as] knowing more facts makes many cognitive functions (e.g., comprehension [and] problem-solving) operate more efficiently.” even in a student survey, most respondents agreed that “not every area of study needed, or was compatible with, e-learning, and so to assume it would grant blanket advantages was not accurate” (national union of students, 2010). it therefore seems reasonable to conclude that effective and efficient learning may require that the teacher apply of a range of pedagogical or theoretical perspectives in his/her practice. that certain e-learning technologies such as lmss have been used effectively to aid teaching administration does suggest that they have brought about significant and positive change to teaching practice, regardless of the teacher’s pedagogical and theoretical persuasion. substantial reduction in teacher use of photocopiers and student requests for hard-copy information has certainly saved time and frustration for all in higher education. perhaps, therefore, the key e-learning issues to be addressed are to determine whether the theoretical basis of teachers’ academic practice is in keeping with current evidence of best practice in their circumstances and then to explore how the administrative aspect of elearning can provide a means to support suitable social learning or humanist approaches to teaching, thereby making it easier or more advantageous to introduce, continue or extend these practices where appropriate. cath ellis (2011), in her presentation on using turnitin©’s grademark© tool for effective assessment management, emphasises the need to address academics’ workload concerns and to find a way to “take work off them” in order to win them over to a new product or way of working. in addition, she demonstrates how an e-learning tool can deliver far-reaching benefits for both students and teachers in the arena of “teaching administration”. one such benefit is grademark’s facility for easily aggregating and charting marking concerns or performance against specific rubrics that can be presented in class for 2 “inflexible knowledge” is probably best explained by describing “flexible knowledge”: “knowledge is flexible when it can be accessed out of the context in which it was learned and applied in new contexts” (willingham 2002). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 greater effect and class discussion. through the use of such tools, a lecturer can gain additional benefits from swapping manual for online marking. this study did not set out to explore fully the impact of e-learning at roehampton, nor, indeed, how it affected the ‘administrative’ and ‘pedagogical’ aspects of teaching, as previously described by this researcher. it did not, for example, directly investigate the theoretical basis of the sample population’s face-to-face teaching practice or the influence of this in its application of learning technologies such as the lms. however, it does attempt to gauge what kinds of practice, typically associated with a constructivist ethos, academics struggle to implement using lms tools. the findings of similar studies on which this study builds janet hanson (2003) investigated factors “affecting the adoption of online learning by lecturers at bournemouth university and their motivation to change their teaching methods.” this study, in surveying roehampton’s academics in 2011, seeks (specifically in relation to support) to corroborate her findings. hanson’s study identified three key motivators: “the need to see the university’s overall strategy for online learning, having the time and resources to engage with it and feeling supported in their attempts to use it.” the support that appealed to her respondents combined technical expertise with the “ability to design curriculum support materials” and provided guidance regarding the best ways to use online learning to achieve set goals (hanson, 2003). in the decade since hanson conducted her research, learning technologies have become more wide-spread, accessible and userfriendly (schneckenberg et al, 2010), and more academics may now, therefore, be assumed to use them. thus, the impact of various demographic variables on usage, together with the training and support required by some academics, may also have changed. the author’s study also parallels turcan’s by looking at the impact of age, gender, years spent in teaching and the academic’s department or discipline, as well as whether or not s/he holds a teaching qualification (tq) in lms usage. turcan (2010) also cites an article by skelly (2009), who refers to various age groups in terms of their being ‘tech savvy’. although skelly did not define this phrase, this researcher devised a rudimentary measure of technical savoir-faire (discussed in the next section), possession of which capability appeared to be an intrinsic motivator for the uptake and use of moodle. this researcher, however, also aimed to explore at roehampton the nature and extent of the disconnect hanson identified between academics’ knowing how to use the technology and their being able to incorporate it into a sound pedagogical framework to promote learning (hanson 2003), as information about this could inform roehampton’s e-learning training and support schemes. to this end, the survey methods used were informed by ellis et al (2006), who explored the meanings lecturers attach to the phrase ‘blended learning’ in the context of both learning and teaching and, in consequence, their radically different approaches to course delivery. this work also highlights the need properly to integrate technology into teaching and learning processes. heaton-shrestha et al (2005) researched “the specific ways in which practice has been transformed by the lms” and how existing practice has been shaped by its use. like this researcher, they also explored factors that have encouraged or discouraged lms use. they articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 identified areas in which kingston university’s lms (blackboard©) had had ‘little’, ‘modest’ or ‘significant’ impact on teachers’ practice. within its modest compass, this research explored elements that motivate roehampton‘s academics to use the lms and those which discourage them from exploiting it. it considers some possible intrinsic and extrinsic influences and, like turcan, explores the intrinsic factor of being “tech-savvy”. in line with heaton-shrestha et al and hanson, it looks into extrinsic factors such as the availability of time and other resources as well as the nature of needed support. in addition, it (like turcan’s) considers the relevance of various demographic factors on the uptake of technologies like the lms. methodology this research was broadly quantitative with qualitative aspects. it employed one type of minger’s multi-method design that he labelled “sequential”, in which “methods were employed in sequence, with results from one feeding into the later one” (minger, 2001). although in this study the data from one research method was not combined for statistical analysis with that of the other, data from the first method was used to devise questions for the second. given the descriptive nature of the study, the most appropriate and primary data collection tool was an anonymous web-based survey questionnaire (glatthorn, 1998) that comprised mainly closed, scaled questions with some short-answer open-ended questions. each set of related closed questions was followed by an open question inviting respondents to comment on issues they inspired. open questions therefore captured data that closed questions failed to elicit. respondents were asked to participate in a 1-to-1 standardised interview or focus group. interview questions were formulated from responses to the online survey’s open-ended questions. the survey population comprised the non-probability sample of all 74 academics employed in three arts departments and the response rate was 59.5%. despite the relatively high response rate, the actual number of respondents was insufficient to apply certain statistical tests that require larger data sets (denscombe, 2007). to give credence to the simple statistical tests that would be viable, given the relatively small data set, it was necessary to narrow the range of responses to a number of questions. for example, in question 1, there were six age groups from twenties to seventies. however, as only one respondent was in his/her twenties and none was over sixty-nine, for the purposes of sound statistical analysis, the data was divided into two subsets, those ‘20 to 49’ (20 respondents) and those ’50 to 69’ years old (24 respondents), (see figure 2). 1 7 16 12 8 0 0 5 10 15 20 20's 30's 40's 50's 60's 70's # o f re sp o n d e n ts age groups q: 1. i am in my... figure 2: distribution of respondent’s ages articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 the methodology was problematic in that the sample size, coupled with the subjective nature of the data captured, doubtless affected the conclusions’ validity; in addition, the need to simplify the response or likert scales for the purpose of statistical analysis could arguably have reduced the sensitivity of the findings. there were practical difficulties with the web-based questionnaire: some academics may not have participated because it was online, potentially skewing the results; the online survey tool prevented respondents from returning to previous screens, which may partly explain missing responses; some questions allowed multiple options to be selected, which could have caused a respondent to provide conflicting data. findings charts were generated in excel, with data captured via the online instrument. spss was used to identify statistically-significant associations between pairs of variables by applying fisher’s exact test (fet). interpreting the charts in figures 2-9 the title of each chart comprises both the number of the online question and the question itself. the numbered statements or options found along one axis are the options that respondents were asked to select from. the numbers or percentages on the other axis represent the number, or the proportion, of respondents who selected each option. personal approach to the use of computer technologies in general and of moodle in particular – the ‘tech-savvy’ variable. the researcher hypothesised that those respondents more au fait with a range of technologies that can aid learning would be more inclined to engage with moodle than those who weren’t, especially if use of these technologies was optional. respondents were therefore described as being ‘tech-savvy‘ if they used over fifteen of thirty non-essential technologies. (see figures 3 and 4 for a breakdown of the technologies listed in online questions 6 and 8 and the contexts in which they were used.) fifteen items was designated as the break point because this number allowed for a combination of more common technologies and a few less-familiar ones. the technologies in question were selected either because personal ownership/use was found to be quite commonplace or the elearning team or other university support teams encouraged their use and/or made them available to staff and/or students for teaching and learning purposes. equipment furnished by the university included the hardware items listed in question 6 and shown in figure 3, excluding only 6a, b and k, which were found from informal checks with library staff to be relatively common household items. the software/online items listed in question 8 and shown in figure 4 were selected because the e-learning team, the library or it services supported their use. in fact, the researcher’s hypothesis was supported by the positive correlation found between the ‘tech-savvy’ variable and respondents’ self-assessment of their willingness to engage with technology as expressed by agreement with statements 10a, b and d in figure 5. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 table 1: general computer technology use versus moodle usage or support general technology usage relative to moodle usage/support no. of respondents uses over 15 of 30 technologies listed and is a relatively keen moodle user and supporter 16 (36%) uses over 15 technologies but is not a keen user or supporter of moodle 3 (1%) uses less than 15 technologies but is a relatively keen user and supporter of moodle 11 (25%) uses less than 15 technologies and is not a keen user or supporter of moodle 14 (32%) total_ 44 surprisingly, a relatively high proportion of supposedly non tech-savvy respondents were keen ‘moodlers’. this could attest to the relative user-friendliness of moodle vis-à-vis blackboard/webct, as highlighted by turcan (2010) and indicated by open-ended question responses, such as: q: 11.3: “i find moodle much easier to use than studyzone [blackboard/webct] – which i did find daunting.” q: 11.4: “…i have to say i found webct very difficult to use.” given the researcher’s hypothesis, the fact that three respondents were ‘tech-savvy’ but resistant to moodle was an anomaly: examination of the data did not reveal any reason for this. however, each of these three respondents did share one or two of the views held by ‘non tech-savvy’, moodle-averse respondents; they included a lack of skill and confidence in the use of moodle, a lack of knowledge about what it can offer their discipline and doubts about the suitability of moodle in the context of their teaching practice. even so, despite issues concerning the extent to which academics’ teaching practices have been radically “disrupted” (blin and munro, 2008), their overall willingness to use moodle was encapsulated by one response to an open question: 20.4 “this time last year i was sceptical of moodle and of online marking. i am now insistent on both!” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 3: q-6. digital hardware technology used by respondents for personal use &/ for research &/ for teaching 44 21 3 15 2 0 6 32 17 10 26 0 44 11 2 6 0 0 4 20 12 13 7 0 41 9 2 5 0 0 5 15 14 12 5 7 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 6.a. home computer with internet access 6.b. smart phone (iphone, blackberry, htc, etc.) 6.c. ipad or equivalent tablet computer 6.d. ipod (tick if you use your iphone as an ipod) 6.e. video game consoles (e.g. x-box, wii, etc.) 6.f. handheld video game devices (e.g. nintendo ds, gameboy, sony psp, etc.) 6.g. digital reader or ereader (e.g. kindle, sony reader, bebook) 6.h. digital camera 6.i. digital video recorder 6.j. digital voice/audio recorder 6.k. digital tv (freeview or subscription) 6.l. smartboard # of respondents d ig it a l h a rd w a re t e ch n o lo g ie s 6. which digital hardware technology do you use personally and/or for research and/or for teaching? teaching research personal articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 4: q-8. online technologies used by respondents for personal use &/ for research &/ for teaching 38 2 32 7 3 35 39 11 10 13 1 3 15 4 5 9 11 1 24 3 24 10 3 38 7 17 6 11 1 9 17 5 4 12 12 1 5 1 28 28 16 22 3 17 19 10 4 8 28 19 4 10 40 0 0 20 40 60 8.a. powerpoint 8.b. prezi 8.c. online video (e.g. youtube, vimeo, teachertube, box of broadcasts (bob)) 8.d. skype or other audio/video over ip (e.g. eluminate, flashmeeting, bluebutton, dimdim,… 8.e. instant messaging or chat services 8.f. electronic texts, (e.g. ebooks, ejournals, digitised text) 8.g. virtual learning environments (e.g. studyzone, studyzone:moodle) 8.h. blogs (e.g. blogger, wordpress, edublogs) 8.i. social media (e.g. facebook, linkedin, twitter) 8.j. wikis (e.g. wikis in pb works) 8.k. social bookmarking (e.g. delicious) 8.l. rss feed readers (e.g. netvibes, pageflakes, google reader) 8.m. online audio/podcasting (listening to...) 8.n. online photo sharing (e.g. photos on flickr, picasa) 8.o. podcasting (e.g. creating and then distributing audio files on podomatic) 8.p. collaboration tools (e.g. google documents, dropbox) 8.q. itunes or bbc iplayer 8.r. e-portfolio (e.g. mahara, pebblepad) # of respondents using technology in a given sphere of activity o n li n e t e ch n o lo g ie s 8. which online technologies do you use personally and/or for research and/or for teaching? personal research teaching articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 5: q-10. respondents’ approach to computer technology and moodle use 14% 32% 5% 20% 18% 36% 39% 14% 2% 25% 14% 9% 18% 14% 11% 23% 16% 18% 11% 18% 68% 59% 75% 66% 66% 36% 43% 66% 84% 57% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 10.a. i am eager to learn and experiment with unfamiliar, but potentially useful software applications. 10.b. i don't tend to stick with what i know regarding my use of computer based technologies and i'm inclined to experiment. 10.c. i believe the time and effort i need to invest to use moodle is time well spent. 10.d. i am very keen to use features and/or tools in moodle that i haven't used before. 10.e. i am using moodle to support my students' learning in most of my modules. 10.f. the way i teach one or more of my modules has changed significantly as a consequence of using moodle or studyzone. 10.g. i've found learning the many different of tools and features in moodle to be daunting. 10.h. i think moodle is conducive to teaching my subject and/or how i teach some of my modules. 10.i. i believe using moodle can enhance learning in one or more of my modules. 10.j. i have confidence in my ability to use moodle effectively. % of respondents 10. approach to computer technology and moodle use agree neutral disagree a p p ro a ch e s to t e ch n o lo g y a n d m o o d le u se ( 1 0 b , h a n d i h a v e b e e n r e -w o rd e d t o b e p o si ti v e a s in d ic a te d b y t h e u se o f c a p s ) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 identifying characteristics by which academics may be grouped: analysis of demographic data and users’ “approach to computer technology and moodle use” unfortunately, the study did not reveal any simple demographic or small set of attributes that would enable the researcher to classify academics into groups with common training needs. statistical analysis was carried out in search of an association between each of the demographic variables and technical savoir-faire along with five other variables (see figure 5, questions 10a, b, f, i and j) that collectively relate to the respondents’ general interest in exploring what technology has to offer and their confidence in using moodle, as well as the extent to which it has affected their teaching practice. age did not appear to be a significant factor in academics’ uptake of technology generally. however, the picture changes in relation to the ‘transformational’ impact of lms use, in that 50% of those 50+ years old felt their teaching practice had changed significantly, as opposed to only 27% of under-50s who held that view. also, those under 50 tended to be more confident in their ability to use moodle. gender was not a significant factor in relation to these variables, but the impression given within the context of this limited data set is that male academic moodle users are least likely to change their teaching practice. neither the ‘years an academic has spent teaching’ (yst) nor having a ‘teaching qualification’ (tq) was a significant factor in relation to these variables. the same is true for an academic’s department. there is nevertheless an association between being ‘tech-savvy’ and teaching a specific discipline. 64% (7/11) of dance respondents and 67% (8/12) of drama respondents were ‘tech-savvy’ as defined in this study but only 19% (4/21) of english and creative writing respondents were classed as ‘tech-savvy’. the suitability and ease of implementation of certain teaching practices using moodle an online questionnaire design consideration was that it should not be perceived as a mechanism for ‘checking up’ on what academics were doing, but rather as a means of exploring their attitudes, interests, support needs and motivations regarding learning technologies. so, online question 12 (“with moodle, how easy or unproblematic (in terms of your time, or ability, or access to resources) is it to” do any of the following, labelled 12a-m) did not set out to determine whether respondents were using a particular tool, or using it in a certain way, or using it for a particular purpose. (see figure 6 for the responses to online question 12.) instead, it attempted to gauge academics’ awareness about the role a given technology can play in supporting learning as well as their confidence in their ability to incorporate it into their teaching. this ‘ability’ could signify having the necessary technical know-how to use the tool(s) and/or having the “pedagogical” vision to see how its use could enhance learning within the specific context of their module(s). the researcher therefore assumed that respondents who thought it was either ‘unnecessary’ or ‘undesirable’ to use certain tools for a suggested purpose lacked one or both ‘abilities’, and felt that their learning objectives could be achieved without them. respondents who reported finding a given suggestion ‘easy’ to implement may not actually have been doing it, but the researcher articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 assumed that they felt confident in their ‘ability’ to do so both technically and pedagogically. on the other hand, those who said they found it problematic or challenging were assumed to lack confidence in their technical and/or pedagogical ability. unsurprisingly, on average, 70% of respondents found tasks (like 12a, b and f in figure 6) related to housekeeping and content storage ‘easy’, whilst, on average, only 20% of respondents found tasks that support active learning (e.g. 12d, i, j, k and m) ‘easy’ to implement. additional support for the interpretation of figure 6 can be found in the findings compiled in figure 7. this chart displays respondents’ awareness of what the various tools and features in moodle can facilitate. again, the majority of respondents were ‘aware’ of moodle’s ‘document repository’ and ‘housekeeping’ facilities, as well as facilities for assessment submission and feedback. a larger proportion of respondents reported being only ‘vaguely aware’ of tools that can facilitate more social learning activities and polling. in addition, equal proportions of respondents said they were ‘vaguely aware’ (39%) and ‘unaware’ (39%) of facilities in moodle that facilitate the co-creation of content in moodle. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 6: q-12. with moodle how unproblematic (in terms of one's time, or ability, or access to resources) is it to do the above 75% 77% 32% 27% 30% 59% 36% 57% 25% 14% 20% 36% 14% 7% 9% 32% 27% 23% 32% 20% 32% 36% 41% 39% 23% 48% 14% 7% 27% 30% 39% 2% 34% 0% 27% 32% 30% 23% 25% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 12.a. give your students' access to class content before or after the class. 12.b. provide additional reading or resources and set expectations for their use. 12.c. assess learning through formative assessment online. 12.d. evaluate teaching by gathering student feedback. 12.e. actually use moodle in the classroom and refer to it during classes. 12.f. let your students know how you expect them to use moodle and what they can expect from you with regards to moodle usage. 12.g. use built-in reports to monitor student use of moodle. 12.h. keep content on moodle module sites fresh and up-to-date. 12.i. participate in online activities with my students. 12.j. encourage students to participate in online activities with one another. 12.k. use social media tools (e.g. flickr, youtube, facebook, delicious, pb works, twitter, etc.) to compliment what you do in moodle. 12.l. encourage active engagement with material by posing related questions. 12.m. encourage reflective learning and peer review through use of any of these: forums, blogs, wikis and the mahara e-portfolio tool. % of respondents 12. with moodle how easy or unproblematic (in terms of your time, or ability, or access to resources) is it to: undesirable/ unecessary challenging/ difficult easy t e a ch in g p ra ct ic e s th a t ca n b e s u p p o rt e d b y m o o d le ) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 7: q-14. respondents awareness of what various tools and features in moodle can facilitate 77% 80% 36% 41% 68% 16% 20% 18% 23% 18% 14% 41% 45% 23% 55% 52% 39% 39% 0% 0% 18% 9% 5% 25% 23% 39% 32% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 14.a. make and send class announcements (e.g. the message, quickmail and news forum tools). 14.b. disseminate information from you to your students (e.g. by creating links in moodle to files and web pages). 14.c. enable students to share information with you and among themselves (e.g. with blogs, forums, e-portfolios like mahara, wikis, etc.) 14.d. assess your students' learning and gauge their understanding (e.g. quizzes, branched quizzes moodle's "lessons", glossaries, assignment submission areas, choice and feedback tools, etc.) 14.e. deliver tutor feedback to students (e.g. audio feedback, online marking, turnitin uk, forum responses). 14.f. facilitate peer-to-peer feedback among students by enabling students to comment on their peers' input (e.g. forums, glossaries, wikis, etc.) 14.g. facilitate communication and interaction between and among you and your students (e.g. asynchronous forums, synchronous tools like chat, video/web conferencing and second life, etc.) 14.h. enable you and students to collaborate and cocreate content together (e.g. wikis, moodle's database and glossary tools, etc.) 14.i. obtain feedback from students about the module (e.g. moodle's feedback tool). % o f re sp o n d e n ts moodle features and tools 14. respondents' awareness of what various tools/features in moodle can facilitate unaware vaguely aware aware articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 barriers and motivators to moodle usage figures 8 and 9 render the responses to online questions 16 (on ‘barriers’) and 18 (on ‘motivators’) respectively, and the researcher used these charts to derive two lists, one of potential ‘barriers’ found to deter moodle use and the other of possible ‘motivators’ that encourage it. these lists were derived by selecting the response option that the majority of respondents selected in relation to each ‘barrier’ stated in questions 16a-l and to each ‘motivator’ posed in questions 18a-i. table 2 highlights the factors that the majority of respondents thought were a ‘significant barrier/motivator’ or a ‘moderate barrier/motivator’ or an ‘insignificant barrier/motivator’. the factor most respondents (61%) thought was a ‘significant barrier’ to moodle use was lack of time, whilst the majority of respondents (75%) thought the exclusion of moodle use from the appraisal process was an ‘insignificant barrier’. table 2: summary of motivator & demotivators to vle use adapted level barriers level motivators significant barrier  lack of time* significant motivator  time saving capacity*  student pressure*  its use by peers*  better learning outcomes  positive feedback  customised subjectcentred support  better functionality moderate barrier  skills/knowledge shortfall o staff o students  unreliability of tools  ascribed unwarranted ‘fix-it’ role by students moderate motivator  inclusion in the appraisal process insignificant barrier  lack of suitable tools  lack of autonomy  unsuitable for subject  training deficit  exclusion from appraisal process insignificant motivator  inclusion in the appraisal process *factors in common with those identified by heaton-shrestha et al. in the open-ended question responses, the following comments echoed these findings and introduce a concern not included in the closed questions regarding substituting teachers with technology: 17.1 “i would gladly spend hours researching how to use moodle and implementing the use of its many tools if i wasn't having to juggle this task alongside 100s of other teaching /research /income generation tasks whose deadlines all tend to come at once. i find i use the basic and most obvious tools as i don't have time to test its capabilities.” 17.2. “there has not been adequate time to really develop my familiarity on moodle outside of basic use.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 17.5. “…i've worked in two situations where use of online technologies was used to get rid of a whole swathe of teaching staff. thus whilst i am enthusiastic about moodle, i am also slightly fearful that it will be used in this way in my current employment as a cost-cutting device, or, alternatively, as a kind of shibboleth, where, if staff can't use it, it's a black mark against them.” 19.2. “i'd be very annoyed (and unmotivated) if moodle used was made an appraisal objective without my requesting that it be so.” 19.4. “re [18]i. it's more likely to switch people off and increase the climate of fear if this became a part of appraisal.” 19.6. “why would i want moodle usage to be a priority in the context of my appraisal objectives if, as this survey shows, i can't and don't use it, or seem to have the time to learn to use it?” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 8: q-16. possible barriers to using moodle 61% 20% 7% 9% 5% 20% 20% 27% 18% 7% 11% 2% 34% 48% 23% 27% 34% 55% 52% 43% 41% 36% 27% 20% 0% 30% 66% 59% 55% 23% 25% 27% 36% 55% 59% 75% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 16.a. the amount of time i have available for developing my moodle module sites. 16.b. i'm not confident in the reliability of some of the tools or features of moodle that i might use. 16.c. moodle as implemented doesn't have the tools i need. 16.d. my lack of autonomy in moodle. 16.e. moodle is unconducive to learning in my subject. 16.f. my lack of skill and/or confidence in using moodle. 16.g. not knowing what tools moodle has and how they can be used to support my teaching. 16.h. concern regarding my students' ability to use moodle or particular tools. 16.i. concern that my students' may expect me to 'fix' any problems they might have using tools that i've incorporated. 16.j. insufficient or unsuitable training in relation to my needs. 16.k. an innate reluctance to request the assistance or support i need 16.l. the use, or further use of moodle isn't specifically set as an appraisal objective in relation to my teaching practice. # o f re sp o n d e n ts statements 16. "what are the most significant barriers to using moodle, or using more of its tools and features?" significant barrier moderate barrier insignificant barrier articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 figure 9: q-18. possible motivators for moodle use 75% 82% 50% 86% 75% 80% 80% 57% 14% 11% 14% 36% 7% 14% 14% 14% 18% 34% 9% 0% 9% 2% 5% 2% 5% 14% 34% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 18.a. evidence that using moodle could save me time. 18.b. requests from my students to use moodle or certain tools. 18.c. seeing more of my colleagues using moodle or using more of its tools. 18.d. confidence or evidence that using moodle, or using it more, would result in better learning outcomes or experiences for my students. 18.e. hearing positive feedback from colleagues regarding their use of moodle. 18.f. customised support to design and develop my module sites so they most effectively support learning in my subject. 18.g. being shown simple things i could do in moodle that would make my sites more effective. 18.h. the provision of additional or better functionality in moodle. 18.i. making moodle usage a priority in the context of my appraisal objectives. # o f re sp o n d e n ts statements 18. ''what would motivate you to use moodle, or use it more?'' significant motivator moderate motivator insignificant motivator articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 conclusion the more important factors identified influencing the take-up and use of moodle included academics’ intrinsic technological savoir-faire, where those with this characteristic were more likely to use moodle and more of its tools. nevertheless, even among those who were not classified as ‘tech-savvy’ within the context of this study, almost half were overwhelmingly in favour of moodle and expressed confidence in its ability to support and enhance student learning in one or more of their modules. other significant extrinsic motivators identified were student pressure to use moodle and its use by peers. the things most respondents found ‘easy’ to do were to use moodle as a document repository and for general class housekeeping. most respondents found it challenging or difficult to facilitate online reflection, peer-to-peer learning, student-led activities and formative assessment. in addition, the majority of respondents thought it was unnecessary to take moodle into the classroom and to conduct student evaluations. findings such as these support heaton-shrestha et al’s observation that “staff tend to simply model traditional teaching practices onto an e-delivery mode” (heatonshrestha et al, 2005). the impression given in this limited study is that male academics are even less likely than women to change their teaching practice with the introduction of a lms. the most significant barrier to moodle use was seen as time. most respondents were motivated by evidence that moodle could save time. this motivator, along with student and peer pressure, was also identified in research undertaken by heaton-shrestha et al (2005). turcan (2010 expressed the view: “seeing what motivates faculty is important because it provides valuable information to [those] who decide what [lms] to use and what resources to allocate.” (turcan, 2010:120) also found that time saving and meeting students’ needs were prime motivators (2010:133). the most significant de-motivator was the possible inclusion of moodle usage in the appraisal process. the fact that the university did not have a fully-fledged tel strategy underpinning institutional kpis may have been a factor behind this. moderate barriers include a skill/knowledge deficit on either the academics’ or their students’ part, along with concerns about tool reliability and students’ expectation that academics can fix technical problems. suggestions for further research and e-learning support policy despite limits on the statistical significance of these findings, going forward, they support practical interventions and avenues for further research, including: • the importance of an over-arching university tel strategy that clarifies institutional expectations on embedding learning technologies into the wider learning, teaching, assessment and quality strategy and practice. • the acquisition of learning technologies highly rated for ease of use and potential for saving time (given that even non ‘tech-savvy’ academics overwhelmingly favoured moodle and felt it supported and enhanced student learning); furthermore, as willingness-to-use is greater when a technology is projected to have long ‘shelf-life’, this should be an important consideration. • because student pressure was found to be a motivating factor, moodle inductions should introduce un-used tools, which students can ask their tutors to use. similarly, organising staff articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 forums and establishing communities of practice where academics share their moodle experience can boost usage. • although further investigation might reveal why academics may refrain from even using familiar technologies in their teaching, it is prudent to bolster efforts to promote internal services that provide and/or support the use of learning technologies on campus, as this could increase academics’ willingness to try something new with learning technologies. • further research on the impact of teaching qualifications on academics’ use of learning technologies is needed, which could also pinpoint the skills required to make activities they find ‘difficult’, much easier. • most respondents found it challenging to facilitate online reflection, peer-to-peer learning, student-led activities and formative assessment. it would be instructive to determine if these forms of active learning are taking place offline and face-to-face and, if so, whether there are any advantages from either replacing or supplementing them with online versions. if so, the findings from this study and comments by respondents/participants highlight the need to offer training and support that imparts both technical know-how and strategies for tackling pedagogical concerns specific to the discipline being taught. • demonstrating how the use of moodle may have time-saving benefits may also increase academics’ interest and commitment to moodle. it would also be constructive to work with academics to understand their pedagogical approach to teaching and thus ensure that any technology introduced actually enhances their students’ learning experience and/or their own teaching experience. • policy makers should seek to strengthen relationships and encourage collaboration between those in roles focused specifically on promoting learning technologies and those working to develop and improve academic practice, with a view to ensuring that both teams embed appropriate and effective technology use in the teaching and learning support they deliver to academics. • tactfully approaching academics with relatively low confidence in their moodle competencies and offering customised support can improve the uptake. encouraging reflection on the best use of moodle to support learning objectives and outcomes can improve its effectiveness. references bell, f. 2011. 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'vle 2.0 and future directions in learning environments.' in: a. voerman & j. dalziel, eds. proceedings of the first international lamsconference 2006: designing the future of learning. lams conference 2006: designing the future of learning. sydney, australia: lams foundation, 99–106. available at: http://lamsfoundation.org/lams2006/pdfs/weller_lams06.pdf (accessed: 17 august 2011). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 willingham, d. 2002. 'ask the cognitive scientist inflexible knowledge: the first step to expertise.' american federation of teachers (aft) american educator. available at: http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/winter2002/willingham.cfm (accessed: 30 august 2010). zellweger moser, f. 2007. 'faculty adoption of educational technology: educational technology support plays a critical role in helping faculty add technology to their teaching.' educause quarterly, (1), 66–69. zemsky, r. and massy, f. 2004. thwarted innovation what happened to e-learning and why, pennsylvania, usa: the learning alliance at the university of pennsylvania. available at: http://www.irhe.upenn.edu/docs/jun2004/thwartedinnovation.pdf (accessed: 29 july 2011). 1 opinion what if we taught teachers to think more like poets? jane speare school of education in 2007 new professional standards were introduced for teachers, trainers and tutors working in the lifelong learning sector. these defined key purposes and standards of teacher education, listing the values, skills and ultimately content that drives training programmes in england and wales. these are important prescriptions influencing profoundly the way we introduce our profession to the next generation of teachers, yet so often i, my colleagues and our trainees groan at the ‘dead-hand language’ in which our professionalism is couched. we are urged to think about ‘delivery’ of learning, to use ‘instruments of assessment’ to employ the ‘tools’ of feedback and of course ‘produce’ information which verifies these activities are checked within ‘quality cycles and processes’. i’m not arguing here against the need for standards in training, but when i read this kind of stuff i am hard pushed not to visualise some kind of virtual, grey warehouse churning out teachers inured to the alien language of standards and resigned to the idea that learning and teaching have become ‘the love that dare not speak its name’. in my experience the ambitions of trainees start elsewhere. many wannabe teachers at interview tell me they want to teach imaginatively; to make a difference to the lives of jaded teenagers and to enthuse their learners with ideas and skills from their subject area. so here’s a ‘transferable skill challenge’ to chew on: what if we taught our trainee teachers to think less like factory supervisors and more like poets? what could a beginner teacher of brick-laying or physics possibly learn from the dark arts of the sonnet, the haiku or the joys of blank verse? the importance of sound as teacher trainers we rightly tell our trainees to learn to shut up a bit. to focus on learners, curb the urge to tell people things and start to organise learning so learners find out for themselves. like it or not though, nearly every teacher spends some time speaking to groups and a conscious use of tone, rhythm and emphasis can make the difference between switched on and switched off students. from jamaican dub poets like linton kwesi-johnson to the wry essex tones of luke wright, performance poets know how to use the music inherent in language to keep people interested in and focused on the bigger picture. the internet offers many examples we could use as inspiration for our teachers to consider: try the oxfam poetry readings available through youtube as a starter. imagery it’s a truism to say we live in a culture dominated by images and many proponents of the theories of socalled ‘learning styles’ argue that a majority of students in colleges and schools prefer learning through visual means. poetry tends to be a visual art form and this is certainly the case for ‘page 2 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 poets’ whose work is best appreciated read on the page. poets are a fastidious lot and pay serious attention to layout, font size and line breaks as these features signal and reinforce meaning in their work. beginner teachers making their first worksheets or powerpoint presentations might find it helpful to reflect how different poets use page and space to gain and hold a reader’s attention. the most precise example of this is perhaps the ‘concrete’ poets from the 1950s in whose work the arrangement of words is as important as the words themselves in conveying meaning. plenty of images of these are freely available on the net. the use of figurative language describing something by comparing it with another is a necessity in teaching. we do it all the time, for example to build on what our learners know, reinforce ideas or provide ‘memory hooks’ for future learning. teachers also instinctively appreciate that to become absorbed students usually need some kind of emotional engagement with what they are learning. poetry specialises in this. through the use of metaphor, simile and hyperbole poets work hard to arouse the senses and fuse feeling with thought. there are many famous examples of this: who doesn’t remember burn’s rendering of love as like “a red red rose/that’s newly sprung in june”? (see by way of contrast the present laureate carol ann duffy’s image in the poem valentine where she envisages love as a many layered onion). it matters that we encourage our trainees to be adventurous and thoughtful about the words they use because if we don’t there is a risk they will default to the current dominant language of instruction: ‘here are the outcomes i will deliver and here are the competencies students will produce …. zzzzz’. playful leaps poetry, (particularly the ‘deep image’ poetry of people like robert bly) is notorious for going ‘off message’ and making fanciful leaps of imagination. perhaps this feature is one of those things that lead to poetry’s reputation as difficult or inaccessible, but i would argue this is also one of its most distinctive features which we might appreciate in relation to teaching. poems simply don’t have to follow logic in the same way that journalism, text books or essays do – and neither do humans. this isn’t to undermine the importance of rigorous logic and careful use of evidence. these are obviously vital aspects of our intellectual lives but they don’t come near the sum total of our human capabilities. as graham swift puts it in his 1983 novel waterland “humans are the story telling animals …” and for me that means we thrive on more than a unidirectional narrative. all teachers – whether beginners or experienced – need the confidence to go beyond tamely following plans, to take risks and follow the initiative of students as they make sense of what they are learning. learning programmes may be presented in unit form but that doesn’t mean we learn that way and poetry can be a reminder of this. concision in poems people say as much as they can through use of the fewest, most well chosen words. verbosity is not a quality to develop in teachers. enough said. d4324-10 november 10 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 an examination of co-teaching in an online environment anusha pappu, alistair bogaars school of business, operations & strategy, university of greenwich, united kingdom abstract co-teaching, employed as a pedagogical tool, is a teaching method commonly used to improve students’ collaborative learning. it can be defined as two or more professionals delivering substantive instruction to a diverse group of students in a single physical space or as blended delivery. team teaching is an approach to co-teaching, a business education method since the 1990s. this case study examines tutor experience and observations of coteaching on a level 4 specialist transport and logistics module delivered online in 2020-2021. we are the teaching team for the module at the university of greenwich and worked as two co-tutors. using a mixed methods approach, we have compared, across a range of parameters, student outcomes for a) co-teaching and b) teaching by a single person. the quantitative measures included attendance, marks awarded and student satisfaction (evasys scores) and the black, asian and minority ethnic (bame)/white module gap; the qualitative measures consisted of tutor observations. across the quantitative measures, the results are consistent with the suggestion that students may have benefited from being co-taught. similarly, the qualitative measures indicate greater student engagement with co-teaching than with teaching by one person. we feel that the initial findings from our analysis demonstrate that there is potential for further exploration of the benefits that might be gained from a wider application of team teaching across the business faculty. keywords: co-teaching, team teaching, online environment, assessment, engagement. 1. introduction the importance of student engagement has increased in the higher education (he) sector, owing to its role in student achievement. in the united kingdom (uk), he institutions (heis) are subject to evaluation through the ipsos mori national student survey (nss), which may be viewed as a ‘consumer’ satisfaction score, with students as the consumers (robinson and sykes, 2014). this is the terrain in which heis operate, where programmes are marketed to increasing numbers of international students and resulting competition between heis to recruit students (robinson and sykes, op.cit.). this means that educators should design their modules to take advantage of current technologies to engage students in ways that best meet their educational needs (ertmer and newby, 2013). axelson and flick (2010, p.38) define ‘student engagement’ in terms of the level of involvement or interest that students appear to have with respect to their learning, their connection to their classes/educational institutions and their classmates. the teaching and learning design of the co-taught module that is the subject of this case study followed a constructivist pedagogy and prioritised activities that could facilitate collaborative working within the classroom (bada and olusegun, 2015). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 the sudden move to online teaching and learning in 2020 as a response to the covid-19 pandemic meant that tutors found it challenging to engage students in online environments (namboodiri, 2022). online teaching formats include virtual, synchronous, asynchronous, blended and hybrid lessons (groccia, 2018). participation and learning require students to be comfortable with the material and to take an active role in analysing it (khan et al., 2017). it has been observed that activities designed to promote student participation in physical classrooms do not necessarily work as well in an online environment. khan et al. (op.cit.) reported that resistance to online instructional techniques may be frustrating for tutors and students. students attending classes online have often been observed by tutors to turn their cameras off and remain on mute throughout the session. this behaviour creates a gap between students and tutors and may reduce student engagement during the sessions. the online co-teaching approach that we (the authors – two tutors in the university of greenwich business school) adopted was an attempt to address the gap between students and tutors that had been observed in online tutorials. joining the weekly online tutorial session from september 2020 to march 2021, we co-taught a level 4 transport and logistics module to eighteen students. the tutorial followed a lecture which had been pre-recorded and provided to students via panopto. we enjoyed the collaboration, which led to the development of this case study. the aim of our project was to compare student outcomes and tutor observations on the module that we co-taught with the outcomes on two modules, taught by individuals, that were also based in the greenwich business school. several different outcome measures were explored: student attendance, results and satisfaction. our intention was to highlight potential quantitative and qualitative benefits of co-teaching. in this paper, we discuss the literature on co-teaching and explain our methods of delivery and measures of success. 2. literature review there are several definitions of co-teaching, but we will use the two most relevant examples. co-teaching can be defined as “two or more professionals delivering substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space” (cook and friend, 1995, p.1). co-teaching can also be defined as “two or more individuals who come together in a collaborative relationship for the purpose of shared work…for the outcome of achieving what none could have done alone” (wenzlaff et al., 2002, p.14). the key aspects of these definitions are the involvement of more than one educator and the importance of working collaboratively. the literature on co-teaching within business schools tends to use the term ‘team teaching’. helms, alvis and willis (2005) point out that team teaching is a popular trend in business education. minett-smith and davis (2020) spoke about the “necessity of team-teaching” in their case study at the university of bedfordshire business school, which, like the university of greenwich, is a modern university with a widening participation agenda and a diverse student body. historically, co-teaching has long been used in nursing programmes, which has been examined in studies dating back over forty years (lock et al., 2018). dumas and de montigny (1999) have considered the advantages and disadvantages of co-teaching in nursing education from the perspective of both teachers and learners. these strengths and potential case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 limitations are set out in the tables below (see tables 1 and 2). they are an important consideration for tutors considering co-teaching. advantages for teachers disadvantages for teachers mutual support time-consuming constructive criticism energy-consuming intellectual stimulation constant communication required value of confrontation needs to be coordinated between teachers information-sharing precision of thoughts and actions sharing of decisions constant flexibility between teachers table 1. advantages and disadvantages of co-teaching for teachers (adapted from dumas and de montigny, 1991) the key challenges for tutors fall under the themes of time (scheduling teaching between tutors), energy (more needed to plan and prepare) and communication (more meetings and emails) (dumas and de montigny, op.cit.). lock et al. (2018) point out that continuing and open communication between the tutors is necessary to develop their relationship and teaching practice. advantages for learners disadvantages for learners different points of view team efficiency enlarged knowledge base insecurity different role models need for more energy teamwork ambivalence more objective evaluation stress table 2: advantages and disadvantages of co-teaching for learners (adapted from dumas and de montigny (op.cit.)) students’ perception of the effectiveness of the teaching team (see table 2) is an essential aspect of co-teaching to consider (floyd, 1975). dumas and de montigny (op.cit) state that when preparation and planning by the teaching team are clearly visible to students, they can more readily adapt to co-teaching. the conditions needed for effective co-teaching are that the members of the teaching team communicate well with each other and understand each other’s strengths, demonstrate mutual respect and commitment, maintain a focus on student outcomes and, importantly, welcome feedback, according to lock et al. (op.cit) and kelly (2018). bacharach, heck and dahlberg (2008) investigated the impact of a co-teaching initiative at a mid-western university in the united states. they utilised ‘co-teaching strategies’ developed by cook and friend (1995), which included “one teach, one drift” and “team teaching”. we will explore these strategies and describe in more detail within this paper how we applied them. 3. method 3.1 sample our co-teaching case study is based on our experience of teaching a specialist thirty-credit level 4 transport and logistics module in the university of greenwich business school. we – case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 4 experienced tutors – co-taught the group of eighteen students in an online environment (ms teams) over two teaching terms (twenty-four weeks). our cohort included mature students (some with work experience in the transport and logistics sector), students with disabilities, home and overseas students and students from a diverse range of backgrounds. there were individuals in our cohort who, based on our observations and interactions with them, appeared to have differing levels of motivation and engagement, which matches the experiences of minett-smith and davis (2020). 3.2 co-teaching approach in 2020-21, the university of greenwich adopted a blended approach to teaching in term 1 (alternating between on-campus and online tutorials) and an online-only approach (all tutorials online, taught in a synchronous way) in term 2, in line with government guidelines. we adopted a collaborative approach to the planning, preparation and delivery of our cotaught sessions. we alternated between ‘one teach, one drift’ (one teacher has primary responsibility to teach and the other assists the students) and ‘team teaching’ (both tutors actively involved in the lesson, with no division of authority) (bacharach, heck and dahlberg, 2008). we met after each co-taught session to reflect jointly on the class. in these reflections, we drew on brookfield (1995) and focused on the four lenses ‘students’ eyes’, ‘colleagues’ perspective’, ‘personal experience’ and ‘theory’. we have adapted the four lenses framework in figure 1 to reflect our action planning, which informed our reflections and helped us to develop and improve our co-taught delivery. figure 1. framework followed by teaching pair for reflection (adapted from brookfield,1995) evaluation & action plan students' eyes colleagues' perspective personal experience theory case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 5 3.3 analytical approach we adopted a mixed methods design (gray, 2013). we first explored quantitative indicators to make our comparison between co-taught and modules taught by a single person. for comparison, we used two thirty-credit level 4 modules (taught by a single person) which had similar numbers of students registered on them. we used the following comparative indicators: student attendance (based on student attendance records made by tutors on greweb, following the university of greenwich policy for taught modules), assessment results and student satisfaction (based on responses to the end-of-module survey `evasys’. additional qualitative data was obtained via tutor observation and verbal feedback from students on the co-taught module. 4. results 4.1 attendance the first criterion that we used for comparison between the co-taught modules and those taught by a single person was attendance. in figure 2, we compare the mean percentage of sessions attended by students on the co-taught transport and logistics module with attendance on two other thirty-credit modules at level 4 that were taught by a single person. the average attendance on co-taught module was almost 25% higher than the two modules taught by a single person, which had similar attendance levels. we suggest that our co-teaching had a positive impact on attendance. figure 2: average attendance on modules receiving co-teaching and single-person (lone) teaching 4.2 assessment results the second criterion that we examined was the mean marks obtained for the co-taught modules in comparison to the modules taught by a single person, as can be seen in figure 3. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% co-teaching lone-teaching 1 lone-teaching 2 average attendance average attendance case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 6 figure 3. marks obtained in modules receiving co-teaching and single-person (lone) teaching we observed that both the means (see figure 3) and standard deviations (co-taught sd=21.89; single-person-taught 1 sd=19.37; single-person-taught 2 sd=19.59) were very similar across the three modules, with a very slight advantage for the mean mark achieved being observed on the co-taught module. however, the third criterion that we considered was the distribution of module results across the marking bands (fail (0-39); 40-49; 50-59. 60-69 and 70+). this distribution was also compared across the co-taught module and the two single-person-taught modules (see figure 4). we have observed that greater numbers of students achieved marks in the 60-69 category for the co-taught module than both the single-person-taught modules. on the co-taught module, fewer marks fell into the lower pass categories compared with the single-persontaught modules. again, this is consistent with our co-teaching having had a positive impact on the results achieved by students. figure 4. marks breakdown for students in modules receiving co-teaching and single-person (lone) teaching 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 number of students 0-39 number of students 40-49 number of students 50-59 number of students 60-69 number of students 70-79 marks breakdown 2020/21 co-teaching lone-teaching 1 lone-teaching 2 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 7 4.3 evasys survey score the fourth criterion that we considered was the end of module survey responses, obtained from the evasys online survey software (www.evasys.co.uk) used by the university of greenwich. ratings of satisfaction on evasys can range from 0 to 5 and scores above 4.0 are considered ‘good’ satisfaction scores (solomon, 2021). we have presented the scores for the co-taught module and modules taught by a single person in terms 1 and 2 (2020/21) in figure 5. we found that the mean overall satisfaction score for the co-taught module was 4.5 in term 1 and 4.3 in term 2 (40% response rate). while the numbers are too small to allow for a statistical comparison, a small advantage was observed for the co-taught module compared to the single-person-taught modules. figure 5. evasys scores for modules receiving co-teaching and single-person (lone) teaching 4.4 bame module gap the bame/white module gap data indicates the difference between the mean scores awarded to students from bame groups compared to those awarded to white students. scores closer to 1 reflect a smaller gap between the marks awarded to the students in the two groups. we observed that the awarding gap for the co-taught module was reduced from -26.45 in 2019 2020 to -0.63 in 2020-21 (see figure 6). one factor that likely contributed to this change was the ‘no detriment’ policy, which was in place for 2020-21. this policy used a comparison of the ‘mean marks’ achieved by students to provide a safety net to mitigate the impact of the covid pandemic on their attainment (university of greenwich, 2021). however, we believe that this improvement can also in part be attributed to our co-teaching approach. co-teaching can facilitate a constructive work 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 term 1 term 2 evasys scores 2020/21 co-teaching lone teaching 1 lone teaching 2 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 8 environment and makes teaching more inclusive, as it caters to the diverse groups of students and varying class sizes (walker, 1974, in cook and friend, 1995). bame/white module gap module level module 2019/20 2020/21 level 4 co-taught module average score (bame) 36.55 average score (bame) 54.00 average score (white) 63.00 average score (white) 54.63 gap -26.45 gap -0.63 figure 6. bame/white module gap for the co-taught module 4.5 tutor observations we have incorporated our tutor observations as part of our qualitative data collection. our observations included in-class student engagement using a range of parameters, including the use of the ‘chat’ function on ms teams, unmuting and speaking to the class, which may or may not involve turning on cameras. we have also monitored engagement in breakout rooms and responses to mentimeter activities. throughout both terms, we found that students tended to be quite active in the chat, but less confident about speaking to the class, as only one or two students would actively participate in this way. on the occasions when mentimeter was used, we observed that the levels of student engagement were good; their feedback was also broadly positive. 5. discussion we set out to explore our experience of co-teaching a thirty-credit level 4 specialist transport and logistics module online during the covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2021. we aimed to begin an exploration of the effectiveness of the co-teaching approach by comparing the outcomes of the students who were co-taught by us with the outcomes of students on two modules taught by a single person. our findings suggest some potential benefits for student outcomes that require further and more systematic exploration with larger sample sizes. there are indications that students who were co-taught may have improved outcomes over a range of parameters, including attendance, results and satisfaction and that co-teaching may contribute to a reduction in the bame/white module gap. these results are consistent with tutor observations. in addition to improving outcomes for students, we propose that co-teaching may offer benefits for inducting new staff to the business faculty, with the potential for a more active approach to mentoring offered by “one teach, one observe” and “one teach, one drift” (bacharach, heck and dahlberg, 2008). minett-smith and davis (2020) have observed that team teaching provides a stimulating challenge for teaching staff and offers them the chance to feed off the energy that they jointly create in the classroom. however, at this stage we present the findings with caution. this study has considered only the attendance during the pandemic, as pre-pandemic attendance was on-campus only. future research should compare attendance in different modes and between cohorts. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 9 we are also open to the possibility that the students performed better on the co-taught transport and logistics module for reasons related to the contents of the module; for example, it may have been more closely connected to their chosen specialism than the core business modules we used in our comparison. our planned research will include interviews and focus groups with the co-taught students, the better to understand their experience. this research should give us more clarity on different student perceptions of teaching on specialist and core business modules, allowing us to explore the effects of co-teaching in greater detail. the relationship between the tutors (dumas and de montigny, 1999) is as important to success as the relationship between the tutors and the students. the tutors need to work well together and support each other; both need to engage with the students. it is important to acknowledge that co-teaching worked well for us, as we have been able to develop a good working relationship with each other. again, this issue will be explored in more depth in our next project: to look in more detail at what co-teaching consisted of and how it worked in the online context. we acknowledge that this case study has presented a rudimentary approach to co-teaching, which is a complex topic. we feel that it is not possible to claim that the results are generalisable to the whole of the greenwich business school. co-teaching appears to be applicable to different cohorts and, so far, we have focused only on the online environment. however, we see this as the first part of a wider study into the potential impact of co-teaching on teaching in business education. we have ethical approval from the university of greenwich to proceed with this research. we intend to focus on the students who were co-taught in 20202021 and find out more about their experiences in the greenwich business school. we intend to conduct interviews with a wide range of teaching staff, looking at their experiences of team teaching (minett-smith and davis, 2020). 6. conclusion we had a positive experience of co-teaching the specialist transport and logistics module in 2020-21, by working together and using a team-teaching approach. we feel that the initial findings from our analysis demonstrate that there is potential for a wider application of team teaching across the business faculty and that this is worthy of further exploration. from a pedagogical perspective, we feel that co-teaching offers opportunities for improved engagement with students, which is a continuing challenge as we transition back to face-toface teaching on campus. if the active involvement of two or more tutors can encourage students to engage more fully in their classes, then it certainly requires more detailed consideration. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 10 reference list axelson, r.d. and flick, a. 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(2014) ‘listening to students’ views on nss data for quality enhancement.’ health and social care education, routledge, 3(1), 35-40. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.11120/hsce.2013.00035 (accessed: 18 april 2022). university of greenwich (2021) ‘no detriment policy january 2021.’ university of greenwich. available at: https://docs.gre.ac.uk/rep/communications-and-recruitment/nodetriment-policy-january-2021 (accessed: 10 july 2022). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 12 walker, v. (1974) ‘the efficacy of the resource room for educating retarded children.’ exceptional children, 40, 288-289. in: cook, l. and friend, m. (1995) ‘co-teaching: guidelines for creating effective practices.’ focus on exceptional children, 28(3), 1-17. available at: https://journals.ku.edu/focusxchild/article/view/6852/6204 (accessed: 05 march 2022). wenzlaff, t., berak, l. wieseman, k., monroe-baillargeon, a. bacharach, n. and bradfieldkreider, p. 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(11-24) isbn:978-0-7872-8901-0 editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 2 spring 2023 editorial a warm welcome to volume 16, issue 1, of compass, journal of learning and teaching! we are pleased to present the spring 2023 edition of compass, which looks at a range of current issues in learning, teaching and the student experience in higher education, through a mix of opinion pieces, case studies and articles. topics include employability, transition to he, inter-disciplinary learning, connectivism, delivery of asynchronous teaching and internationalisation of the curriculum, two papers look at wellbeing – one focuses on an online space for staff to connect and the other explore the experience of post-graduate research students. a further paper investigates the use of freehand drawing as a teaching method, while another explores the use of drawings, combined with written responses, as an approach to understanding students’ lived experiences. here we provide a brief digest of each paper. a study by steve connolly of anglia ruskin university and karen wicks of the university of bedfordshire, explores staff and student perceptions of the engagement of non-traditional and distance-learning students with a virtual learning environment (vle) drawing on connectivist concepts to analyse students’ handling of technology and their relationship with it. the students concerned were part-time education undergraduates, already working as teaching assistants. the data gathered are informative, but the broad thrust of this research became the acquisition of knowledge and understanding by means of a more complex interrelationship between various ‘nodes’ (specialised information sources), whether face-to-face teaching, massive open online courses, vles, communities of learning or social media. if any one of these has limitations or presents barriers, then learners may choose alternatives to meet their own needs, so there are powerful reasons to look critically at how a vle may be enhanced. the authors conclude that a more explicit pedagogical explanation to students of connectivist principles and also improvements to vles may lead to a more effective relationship between technology and learning. it is more usually the case – and understandable – that student welfare is the focus of compass authors’ articles. however, this case study, by renu bhandari of the open university, researched the value of creative arts activities for the wellbeing of associate lecturers – and particularly those teaching and supporting students on the open university’s ‘access’ programme – whose work situation often leaves them feeling isolated. the author discusses the creation of the ‘hues’ galleries, a safe and inclusive online space for access lecturers to share with their peers examples of their personal creations in such activities as art, photography, poetry, prose and craftwork. findings strongly suggest that resulting positive peer comments and emojis increased their sense of connectedness, of being away from work, editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 3 of happiness and enjoyment and of openness to new experiences and ideas, all thus contributing to their wellbeing and sense of belonging to this online community. the article ends with some experienced-based recommendations to make such ventures succeed. all in all, it is a tribute to a very worthwhile effort that places proper value on the psychological welfare and health of those professionals in higher education who are exposed to significant stresses in their support of students. employability is something that higher education institutions have acknowledged and increasingly embraced in preparing their students for the realities of the working world. professional practices are constantly evolving and graduates must accordingly be resilient and adaptable. this thoughtful study by laurence pattacini and hannah beard of the university of sheffield reports on findings from two research exercises – involving both current students and alumni from the same five-year course in the field of design that incorporates a year (the fourth) in practice – to test student understanding of transferable skills and capabilities and their application in the workplace, with the aim of increasing proficiency in learning to learn through promotion of graduate attributes, such as strong communication, independence, autonomy, creativity and adaptability. the literature identifies reskilling and upskilling as essential in a working environment responding to such influences as climate change and the need for sustainability. the relevance to this research of the practical experience of alumni is clear. participants’ voice is a strong feature here and reveals: perhaps understandable lack of awareness of the relationship between study and practice; significant differences in the culture of british and overseas workplaces; and the challenge of the often hierarchical nature of businesses. there is much food for thought in this paper. “from our own experience, peer support improves motivation better than anything else.” if you’re a student embarking upon a doctor of philosophy (phd) programme, this excellent, lucid and very personal opinion piece, authored by bethan jones and stephanie brady at the university of wolverhampton, about the realities of the first year of phd may well alert you to the challenges and tribulations to be expected. however, it is the higher education institutions (heis) which should take careful note of the key recommendations made here. the authors recognise that the literature on this particular transition is scanty and suggest that heis may make assumptions about the ability of doctoral students to function well – practically, academically and emotionally – in independent research, when their previous training has been highly structured. at stake is their mental wellbeing, which these authors see as fundamental to managing their work, with all its unfamiliarity, alongside the responsibilities of their personal lives. academic networking, establishment of peer group interaction/support and involvement in activities are all vital and heis are here recommended to be open about editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 4 their awareness of these students’ needs and explicit about what they provide to counter isolation and mental challenges. above all, they must actively promote a sense of community and encourage phd students to realise it’s normal to seek help. though the initial transition to university has been well researched, recent awareness that induction is not just for the first few weeks but a whole-year endeavour has sharpened up strategies for skilling students for the longer term. this case study, from the university of greenwich school of accounting and finance, authored by lili yan and dawn reilly, shows how helpful it is to build, from the start, friendship groups, collaborative activities and access to and understanding of the library and its resources, as well as to introduce new students both to institution-wide services and academic and non-academic staff and to develop knowledge of campus geography. the authors describe clearly the nature of a particular activity designed to exploit students’ existing knowledge and skills and also to give them the experience of working in new ways and to undergraduate standards in a subjectrelated topic area, viz. research into how large companies undertake corporate social responsibility. the students complete various tasks in different locations and can call for guidance from staff in person or by email and ultimately give group presentations. the reader is left with the impression that this particular school fully understands what was recommended by the doctoral students above, that establishing networks and a working community of peers best supports a sense of belonging. like all change, adapting the curriculum to prepare students for the global workplace through internationalisation faces challenge in a variety of forms. this interesting study by mazia yassim of the university of greenwich, of an attempt to internationalise a postgraduate marketing programme in a united kingdom business school makes it clear that no single model will suit all contexts, but the author (the programme’s leader) recommends as fundamental “a multi-level and […] holistic approach with clearly defined learning outcomes.” three consecutive steps are outlined in this instance, each in turn having informed the next, so that the final one in this case proved to be the most successful. since higher education institutions have an obligation to prepare their students adequately, they must equip them with a better understanding of the world and its issues and help them to be inter-culturally aware. the message here is that ‘internationalisation at home’ better supports widening participation than do unsustainable and expensive international exchanges, especially as technology now permits students from different nations to engage and collaborate with each other digitally and so acquire relevant inter-cultural knowledge and skills without having to spend time abroad. perhaps even more crucial is the author’s powerful emphasis on institutions’ development of their faculty’s own international knowledge, skills and attitudes, so that changes to teaching editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 5 styles, learning and assessment may be achieved, for token gestures and lip service to the concept of internationalism won’t do. adequate resourcing is a must. ana cabral and stephanie fuller of queen mary academy, university of london explore what makes an effective asynchronous professional learning experience. since the participants in this study, are already higher education teachers, but new to academic teaching – and therefore pursuing the postgraduate certificate in academic practice – the value of this piece extends beyond what it clearly offers to course designers, as these practitioners can develop similar strategies for their own students. the authors were systematic in their incorporation into the module’s design of the factors deemed by existing research as most likely to encourage successful asynchronous learning. to answer their research question – does an asynchronous teaching and learning approach facilitate effective professional learning? – they were equally rigorous, with a mixed-methods online questionnaire, in gauging participants’ perceptions of the teaching and learning involved. in general, responses delivered a largely positive answer to the research question, with tutor feedback and the asynchronous approach much appreciated as supportive of deeper reflection and learning, while peer feedback, tutor facilitation and improved building of learning community relationships remain, to these self-critical tutors, areas for further development. from oliver harrison and martin monahan of nottingham trent university, in the discipline of social and political thought and international relations, comes a study of how freehand drawing may help students to interpret and understand complex primary text, in the context of a political theory module. the intention of the exercise, which aimed to teach “the basics of sigmund freud’s early topographical model of the human psyche”, was both to explore just how effective freehand drawing might be as teaching and learning activity and how students’ perceptions of the usefulness of the drawing might relate to their own learning preferences. qualitative data were derived from focus group discussion, following contrasting teaching methods for the text (viz. “verbal explanation accompanied by two static diagrams and verbal explanation accompanied by a freehand drawing”, making use of whiteboard software from microsoft teams). clearly, depending on students’ learning preferences, which did not necessarily fall into simple categories but were a mixture of those, and on their prior knowledge of the material, the benefits perceived of either method did vary. perhaps, however, the most surprising aspect of what the students noticed (from unintended variation in the delivery of each method) was a relationship between the lecturer’s learning preference and choice of pedagogy. perhaps, therefore, lecturers’ awareness of their own learning preferences might enable them to achieve more positive outcomes with their teaching. finally, the authors counsel, as with other visual aids, carefully selective use of freehand drawing. editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 6 the author of a further opinion piece argues, with three workable examples, that introductory economics may be an appropriate context for introducing undergraduates to interdisciplinary learning and thinking. such an approach may draw on the frameworks and methods of other disciplines to explore a concept or problem and may improve the ability to “synthesise and integrate information, think critically and holistically as well as develop self-confidence and a passion for learning.” acknowledging that there are some barriers to the adoption of interdisciplinary teaching, the author, nabeel iqbal, of north south university, bangladesh, uses the specific gains to be made in economics because students of this subject typically bring with them a knowledge of mathematical and scientific concepts and so teachers may harness that familiarity, as in the case of applying input-process-output diagrams – well-known to computer science students – to the economics model for the transformation of factors of production into goods and services. the author now intends to evaluate the benefits of this strategy and determine what may enhance it in the future. another interesting case study, authored by poppy gibson of anglia ruskin university, looks at the application of ‘interpretative phenomenological analysis’ of a combination of semistructured interviews and line drawings, the better to understand students’ lived experiences of university and thus to address barriers to their learning by means of appropriate support. the author encourages reader participation in this analysis by offering both spoken and visual data for consideration and giving practical guidance for the steps to be followed; she then identifies the most significant factors – both internal and external – which influence a student’s engagement: personal motivation, always stronger when a clear goal or pathway to, say, a future career, is envisaged; emotional investment by approachable, available and empathetic staff. qualitative research into aspects of higher education is always powerful in the hands of someone with genuine commitment to the psychological welfare of students; this particular study is exploratory, placing a real regard for individual feelings and experiences at the heart of strategies to influence outcomes. in this case, the author’s powerful motivation comes strongly across. we hope readers will find these papers informative and enjoyable. with best wishes to all compass readers, authors and reviewers, the compass team at the university of greenwich 1 article credit where credit is due. innovative teaching within the applied professional studies suite of programmes andy gould, dai hall and mike nicholls partnership division introduction this paper will discuss teaching and learning in the programme applied professional studies (aps). while there is nothing particularly new about the pedagogic principles discussed, it is rare that such market-led, student-centric and flexible approaches have been incorporated into one programme. this paper sheds light on aps, how it is structured, run and assessed with a special emphasis on the use of flexibility through learning contracts and student designed learning outcomes and the use of apel, that together gives credit to students to know their own learning needs, to devise their own programme and to be given credit for what they know already. the need applied professional studies was instituted in response to a number of factors which bear on the higher education curriculum. central among these was the leitch (2006) review which targeted 45% of the population to be qualified to higher education level by 2020 with changes in funding that demanded that all growth be linked to work with employers (leitch 2006). although none of this is new at the university of greenwich (humphries et al. were exploring these issues in relation to healthcare education in 1994), it is fairly safe to say that very few institutions are offering programmes built upon these principles and with the flexibility and autonomy offered to students that aps offers. in a ‘post-grand narrative’ age of uncertainty, the aim of aps is to help produce members of society capable of reflecting on their lives and connections, making well informed decisions concerning their needs and human development, and having an effect on the processes that shape them as individuals and society in general. this respect for the individual learner’s autonomy in aps engenders independence in that learner. central to all the learning undertaken on the programme is the harnessing of the mature student’s often already developed reflective skills. reflective processes are built into all of the aps programme courses/modules and the process of reflection and development gives a rationale for assessment and progression (quinn 1994). the aim is to produce ‘critically’ reflective practitioners. the aps compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 2 record shows that it is able, over time, to produce effective independent, critically reflective problem solvers, who are able to research, find and evaluate information for application in their working environment and even to develop their role, and to help shape general practices and policy. flexibility therefore the first ‘innovative’ step by aps was to fully and centrally engage the employer and student in devising their programmes of learning. aps is part-time to enable it to be fully work-based, and delivered at times (through tutorials) that suit the student and employer together. the learning to be undertaken is also to be negotiated between the student and the university (usually with the help of the employer). this flexibility is further enhanced by allowing credit accumulation through short modules, the accreditation of prior experiential and credited learning and the progression to future awards. aps is offered at foundation degree level, with a ‘top-up’ progression to ba/bsc. it also offers a master’s degree. all levels feature the ability for the student to design their own degree through a learning contract negotiated with the university and their employer (if the latter is involved in paying the fee). thus ‘credit’ is given to the student (with guidance) to be able to ascertain and argue for the skills and knowledge that they need to be assessed in and which are often uniquely suited to their role, and career and personal aspirations. learning contracts central to this level of flexibility is the use of learning plans or contracts, incorporating student/tutor/ employer negotiated learning objectives, both at the programme level and the individual course/ module level. though learning contracts are by no means a new thing, the use of them to this extent is not general practice. traditional degrees (with a vocational focus), to a large extent, still use the ‘empty vessel’ approach. this is where flexibility at the most might mean the student’s ability to choose some courses as options or electives on top of a core of ‘essential’ courses but where the content and the learning is researched, devised and prescribed by the ‘teacher’. what is innovative here is the centrality of the student and the employer in deciding what needs to be learned, how it is to be learned and how proof of learning is to be presented. at the programme level, the learning plan is the only compulsory aspect of aps at foundation and master’s levels. at each level, the student is expected to set out their overall aims for the programme and their learning objectives for the level. the role of the tutor at this stage is to guide the student and employer and to help them to express their learning objectives in a language that can demonstrate the learning and its level and how it fits in to their overall aims and to ensure it meets the academic requisites of the institution. it is also to ensure that they can provide a rationale for the methods that will be employed to achieve them, such as undertaking work-based projects, making apel claims, undergoing ‘taught’ courses/modules or even undertaking a course/module elsewhere. an example of such a plan might be the level 1 student who is a teaching assistant and wishes to acquire a degree so that later they might become a qualified teacher. their plan will set out to build on their existing qualifications and experience (including that in the classroom); accumulate new subject expertise (through taking modules elsewhere in the university or through independent research) and the development of a set of appropriate higher education skills such as research and/or communications. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 3 aps offers a number of options, or ‘building blocks’, that can be used to construct each level of the programme. students can accumulate their credits by: ● undertaking projects or similar work-based courses. projects are devised through negotiating a ‘project level’ learning contract (proposal) that clearly states an aim and learning outcomes ● producing a claim for the accreditation of prior experiential learning (apel) which demonstrates appropriate learning at a graduate level (also employing learning outcomes means of enabling assessment) ● undertaking a taught course offered elsewhere in the university (or other institution). as with all programme design, the student must demonstrate ‘alignment’, in that the aims and objectives for the programme are in line with their and their employer’s requirements, and that the learning proposed is appropriate to their stated aims and objectives for the programme. likewise, the aims and objectives for individual projects and other courses should be in line with one or some of the programme outcomes. the role of the tutor is to guide the student in this task of ‘mapping’ out their programme through their learning outcomes; something that on a more traditional programme would be carried out by the programme team. using learning outcomes for assessing learning and progression an integral part of the design of the programme learning contract, and the learning contracts for work-based projects and other aps courses/modules, are the learning outcomes or objectives. students are coached through this by means of tutorials. they are encouraged to look at the level descriptors for aps and then to construct (with help) their learning outcomes using appropriate terms for that level. this means that the necessary level achievement is articulated and these outcomes can then be used (alongside level orientated marking criteria) to assess the work on completion. learning outcomes are set out within the concept of what hall (1994) calls ‘general’ as opposed to ‘specific’ credit. specific credit is orientated around the subject or profession-specific notions of what constitutes learning. general credit is based on learning descriptors which set out to embrace the whole of higher education; in effect to define ‘graduateness’ and what it is made up of. once these general level definitions are agreed then learners are free to reflect on, and to develop, their own learning outcomes within them. as hall (1991: 24) says, “credit can be given for any learning that falls within the definitions.” the achievement of these outcomes in the project can be graded through the use of the level orientated marking criteria. the criteria aid the graded assessment of the work’s focus (on its learning objectives), through its use of academic language, to its integration of theory and practice. in other words, it provides a framework for judging how well the learning outcomes are academically achieved. this process is important to the overall ethos of aps, as the object and context of the learning remain the property of the student while it can also be graded and assessed with academic rigour. a project which utilises these principles might be the level 3 student who is a pastoral worker in a secondary school which does not have an anti-bullying strategy. the project might consist of undertaking research into the nature and causes of bullying, the identification of a number of compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 4 possible strategies which have been used in other institutions and the production of a specific proposal for the student’s own institution. the student should be able to set out in advance what learning will be achieved through this activity. the tutor is able to judge in advance whether these will meet the institution’s level criteria and, at the end of the project, assess whether these have been achieved and at what grade. accreditation of prior experiential learning the accreditation of prior experiential learning (aipel) is another central feature of aps. aps recognises that, unlike many students entering higher education from secondary schools, mature students in professional work have gained a lot of graduate level skills and therefore seeks to give credit for this. the ethos is one of ‘not re-inventing the wheel’. if students, with some tutorage, can express their learning in an academic way, then it can be given university credit. this is usually done through a commentary, supported by relevant ‘theoretical perspectives’, on a portfolio of experiential evidence (quinn 1994: 25) which demonstrates the achievement of learning outcomes. an example might be the master’s level student who is a senior manager in a charity and who had introduced a new health and safety policy. the student should be able to describe the activity and articulate what they learned from so doing. such learning is likely to embrace such fields as management (achievement of change, meeting legislative needs and organisational theory), social science (achieving cultural change, the psychology of health and safety) and project management (planning, sequencing and monitoring). the tutor is able to judge the extent to which such learning is proven and meets the institution’s level criteria. referral to experts for marking one other aspect of maintaining academic rigour in the assessment of aps students is the facility to refer students’ work to subject specialists. occasionally this need may arise if the tutor responsible for marking a student’s work feels that it is too far outside their area of expertise to be confident in marking it alone. to this extent, aps has on its staff, or associated with the programme, academics from a range of backgrounds who still practice in their original field. this, along with the external examining system, serves to instil an academic parity of standards. conclusion higher education is changing – the old model of the lecturer as the ‘keeper of knowledge’ is in decline while the demand for customised education grows. aps embodies a growing acceptance in crediting employers and learners with the ability to know their own learning requirements and aims to help them in expressing their needs and objectives and in designing their own tailored programme. it also recognises that credit can be given for experience and expertise that a mature professional accumulates and for ‘graduateness’. the innovative use of programme level and module level learning contracts and marking criteria means that credit can be given with confidence for learning at higher education level for learning directly related to the student’s needs and ambitions. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 5 references hall, d. (1991). credit where it’s due’. the national association for staff development journal. 25 (7) 40-30. hall, d. (1994). a strategy for awarding students credit for prior experiential learning whilst protecting academic standards. journal of further and higher education. 19(1) 21-39. humphreys, j., and quinn f. (eds) (1994). health care education: the challenge of the market. london: chapman and hall. leitch, s. (2006). prosperity for all in the global economy world class skills: final report. [online]. available at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/leitch_finalreport051206.pdf (accessed 19 march 2009). quinn, f. (1994). the demise of curriculum. in humphreys, j., and quinn, f.m. (eds). (1994). health care education: the challenge of the market. london: chapman and hall. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/leitch_finalreport051206.pdf introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 welcome to our ninth issue of compass. in the ten rich case studies and articles published, a number of themes emerge that reflect ways in which innovative teachers are finding solutions to the many challenges they face. this issue also provides a platform for presenters at the academic practice and technology (apt) 2013 conference to further develop their ideas through reflection and scholarship. it is no surprise, therefore, that the digital features strongly. our learning and teaching landscape continues to transform from one in which students are primarily harvesters of information to one where students employ diverse social networks and media to create content and knowledge. some of the authors featured in this issue explore the efficacy of using technologies and methods such as blogs, flipped classroom, personal learning spaces, games and learning videos. as practitioners they are identifying those important gaps in our knowledge and research, so that readers who search for evidence and logic for changing their practice might be convinced and inspired. researchers working in the field of learning technology may also benefit as these studies provide evidence for theoretical underpinning. the composition of this issue is significantly different from earlier volumes – here case studies make up the majority of submissions. while some authors focus on the technology that can bring about changes in practice, others respond to policy directives and the wider issues of how best to manage students. their main concern is how to best teach and design a curriculum that addresses student expectations of an excellent student experience, and how to maximise employment outcomes. ray stoneham and aliyah essop look at how the management of projects and dissertations can be better supported through the use and integration of a bespoke e-tutorial, supervision tracking and an online enquiry system. they argue that this simple but effective customer relationship management system not only enhances both the student and staff experience, but ultimately, could integrate these analytics with other data to produce a ‘big picture’ of student engagement, with the aim of improving student retention and achievement. in their case study of employability within the fashion curriculum, lesley peacock and elaine mcneill report on their use of live projects, placements, guest lectures and cv support in a module to transform professional development in the fashion industry. tatiana simmonds, darrenlloyd gent, and ray stoneham consider the effective use of screencasting that is increasingly employed in alternative delivery methods such as the inverted classroom. their case study examines the trade-off between effective use of staff time and student satisfaction, and how some of the technological and cost obstacles may be overcome. sancha de burca’s survey of design students who use blogging is further evidence of how learners today are using the convenience of technology to record their learning journey and contribute to the development of professional identities. introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 geoff rebbeck’s case study describes how he retrospectively transformed the content of his degree using an e-portfolio. his aim was to show how this form and way of working can capture a greater richness than is possible in more traditional summative assessment. he argues that the technology is widely available , and can support the growth of an individual through their learning journey, adding value to skills development in digital management and reputation. the case study by gabriela daniels aimed to evaluate instructional videos. in her paper, she identifies contexts for their use and ways in which this information helps the design process. mary kiernan, cagin kazimoglu, liz bacon and lachlan mackinnon outline how educational games can be used for teaching computer science programming on first-year introductory programming courses, and how some basic concepts can be generalized across disciplines . a narrative approach to considering the role of the lecturer in developing autonomy in final year undergraduates is adopted by jesmond lewis. her writing is informed by a literary style that is unusual in an academic journal, but the reader is rewarded by an open and honest account of some of the dilemmas experienced by academics on a regular basis. ken fee reflects, five years later, on the key design considerations and lessons learned from developing and delivering a master of professional practice in computer games development. he identifies the features of the successful pedagogical model that has produced highly employable graduates fit for immediate employment. karen shackleford-cesare’s article considers the reasons why academics use, or don’t use a virtual learning environment, in this study, specifically moodle. she critically identifies the factors that influence uptake, and her conclusions about the role of technology to enhance learning should make happy reading for all those whose job it is to persuade staff to use such virtual learning institutional platforms. these articles show how practitioners from a wide range of disciplines are trying out new ideas, innovating and reflecting upon their practice. they provide some valuable insights into ways of meeting the many challenges confronting teachers in higher and further education today, and hopefully, encourage others to undertake further research, or develop the ideas presented in this issue. there is much to be learned from one another. simon walker head of educational development case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 development of modular and accessible teaching labs, incorporating modelling and practical experimentation dr yehdego habtay faculty of engineering and science, university of greenwich abstract practical laboratory experimentation has always been a crucial part of engineering education and its effectiveness in facilitating learning is universally acknowledged. huge advances in computer science, coupled with significant increases in the cost of ever more complex and sophisticated laboratory set-ups, have led to engineering schools’ adopting computer models and simulation software. although simulation-based laboratory work does enhance the learning experience, it plays a more effective role alongside practical experimentation rather than as a replacement. this case study presents the results and experience gained from an enquiry-based learning of power-converter development laboratory work to support a power electronic converter module at the university of greenwich. the approach taken allows students to learn the basics of the module through a combination of modelling, simulation and practical experimentation. the modular and portable nature of the laboratory set-ups afforded the students more time and opportunity to explore the subject matter and integrate the laboratory experience with the concepts covered in the lectures. the feedback from students, which was gathered from the students through the university’s evasys system, strongly indicated that the approach led to a sustained improvement in students’ learning experience and satisfaction with the module. keywords: enquiry-based learning, power electronics, modular introduction given that the main goal of engineering education is to enable students to become practising engineers, instructional laboratories have always been an essential part of engineering programmes in higher education institutions (heis). in each laboratory activity that learners engage with, they explore the relationship between mathematical models and the natural phenomena that these models represent. this process in turn allows them to study the limitations of the models while developing the skills necessary to deal with real-world problems and gain hands-on expertise (feisel et al., 2005). before engineering became part of the mainstream education system, the subject was taught practically – broadly based on the british apprenticeship model, where learners had to design, build, test and analyse their own products. although a tension between practice and theory evolved as the subject was delivered more formally at heis, engineering learning still occurs in the laboratory as much as it does in formal lectures (grayson, 2003). while there is a broad consensus about the value to learning of practical laboratory experimentation in engineering subjects (chen, 2010; schweingruber, 2006), it is also clear that the high cost associated with complex equipment, space and maintenance (technician case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 time) as well as safety concerns have forced institutions to look for cheaper and simpler alternatives (gomes and bogosyan, 2009). the huge advances in technology that have made it possible to measure and manipulate complex parameters have also resulted in complex systems requiring highly trained technicians who are difficult to hire and command high salaries (feisel, 2005). this has led to a decline in the provision of practical laboratories and a consequent significant development in software-based modelling and simulation packages. a recent addition to this endeavour is the concept (and some application) of virtual laboratories that attempt to leverage the huge advances in it technology in order to bring to learners the traditional practical laboratory experience (gustavsson et al., 2006). power electronics, which is largely application driven, is a complex subject, drawing concepts from electronics, embedded systems, electrical power, instrumentation, digital/analogue control theory and thermodynamics. power electronics-based applications are also wide-ranging and include power supply for electronic devices, vehicular propulsion systems, industrial motor drives, electromechanical motion control, and grid integration of renewable energy resources (emadi et al., 2008). the subject area of power electronics is multi-disciplinary and spans a variety of subjects, including circuits, signal analysis, electronics, digital control systems and semiconductor switching applications. consequently, the subject is perceived as been difficult to tackle, owing to the variety of concepts involved (emadi et al., 2008; torrey, 1994). as grasping these disparate concepts is challenging for students, laboratory experimentation plays a huge role in assisting students to deal with the complexity involved (balog, 2015). experimental laboratory activities, an important element of active learning, are widely used to support the theoretical concepts of power electronics and other complex topics in the field. unfortunately, the usual lab equipment used in this field tends to be quite specialist in nature and consequently very expensive. not only is its availability limited, but it is also mainly subject to input/output measurements (‘black box’-type testing imposed by safety concerns) and this does limit the range of experiences the students can gain. the trend has increasingly been to adopt electronic simulations in place of physical experiments. unfortunately, laboratory provision for power electronics modules has also been affected by the persistent trend of rising cost that is prevalent in the wider engineering discipline. while many institutions still provide some practical experiments, the trend has been a move more towards software simulation packages (matlab/simulink, spice etc.), web-based instructional tools such as java applets, and virtual labs (sometimes referred to as remote labs). although there is a broad consensus that traditional lectures/tutorials supported by some laboratory experimentation (regardless of whether this is practical, simulated or virtual/remote) leads to improved learning, conducting controlled studies to determine whether practical or simulation-based laboratory leads to better learning experiences is problematic. some studies have focused on educational objectives while others have prioritised different objectives and reached different conclusions (ma et al., 2006; finkelstein et al., 2005; corter et al., 2007). a study conducted by steger et al. (2020), which claims to have conducted controlled tests, reached the conclusion that practical laboratories resulted in statistically significant improvement in outcomes compared to simulation-based laboratories, though admittedly with some inevitable limitations. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 even when practical laboratories are used in power electronics education, there is a tendency – either on account of safety concerns or to deal with the complexity involved – to adopt a black-box approach, in which students put together pre-built modules to make a system. the weakness of this approach is that this limits students’ understanding of what is involved in making these modules and systems (balog and chapman, 2012). a ‘blue-box’ approach, where the boxes are transparent, is sometimes used to enable students get some appreciation of the inner workings of the modules (drofenik and kolar, 2002). more recently, project-based learning (pbl) has been shown to be very effective, especially for multi-disciplinary subjects such as power electronics (medeiros et al., 2019). although this approach seems to be used in advanced modules that follow other modules with similar content (as may be the case in integrated masters programmes), aspects of pbl may be mixed with instructional labs to enhance the experience of students undertaking traditional one-year msc programmes. pbl, when implemented well, is particularly suited for enhancing students’ creativity and engaging them in deep learning (dym, 2005). thus, in this case study, i consider an approach that leverages the intrinsic advantages of a simplified and modular practical laboratory experimentation while maximising the advantages of modelling and simulation that use industrial-level embedded systems. this case study presents the development of power electronics laboratory for an msc module. the main objectives of the laboratory work were to: (i) support students’ understanding of fundamental concepts relevant to the subject by using experimental work to link theory to applications; (ii) engage students in practical design of power-electronic circuits and thereby provide students with active learning experience; (iii) familiarise students with industry-standard simulation and design software that seamlessly link with practical testing through embedded electronics; (iv) make the laboratory kits more portable and give students, with progressive independence, more opportunities to use the kits to go through the process of design, implementation and testing. the module and participants ‘power electronic converters’ is a fifteen-credit level 7 module. in this case study, the participants were mainly international students from different undergraduate programmes and with limited practical laboratory work experience. when the module was initially developed, the laboratory work consisted mainly of simulations using matlab/simulink and spice and of a couple of practical labs using two set-ups that used the black-box approach. the feedback from the students clearly indicated that they would have very much appreciated having more hands-on laboratory work in the module. about twenty-five students were taking the module (a number which has recently increased significantly). implementation the module was delivered over a twelve-week term in the winter/spring. delivery was based on a two-hour lecture followed by two-hour laboratory/tutorial sessions on a weekly basis. for the purposes of the laboratory work, students were provided with a box of components case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 needed to build the circuits, along with the list of names of the components. four instruction sheets were also placed in the module shell in moodle. students were provided with access to two software packages: matlab/simulink, used for modelling/simulation studies, and proteus, used for simulation and also to design electronic boards. each lab activity had two stages. the first stage was to model the circuits using the matlab/simulink platform. once the students were happy with the analysis of the simulated results, they then proceeded to the next stage to design and test the circuits in proteus, using manufacturer-specific products as provided in the instruction sheets and arduino code. the proteus files were then sent to the technicians, who produced the printed circuit boards (pcbs); the students populated these with components and completed the required soldering. finally, practical testing was conducted using the arduino micro controller and the populated pcb and circuit performance were demonstrated in front of instructors. the designs were deliberately kept low power to deal with low voltages, so that the lab activities could be implemented by students independently as take-home kits. as the module was designed for msc students, who came from different nations with varying levels of prior exposure to practical laboratory work, the tutorial/lab sessions in the first three weeks were used to train students in how to use basic laboratory tools safely and how to build models and simulate circuits using the available software. in the fourth week, they started engaging with the lab instruction sheets. in the first lab, the students tested (in simulation) different pulse width modulation (pwm) techniques in the proteus software environment to switch the power semi-conductor devices. afterwards, they directly generated the executable codes and loaded them on to the arduino micro-controller. the students then, in week five, generated results and performed relevant analysis using digital oscilloscopes. as the students were given a mixture of power-electronic components in addition to the arduino platform, they got involved in the detailed process of design and implementation, using appropriate component selection and analysis of various power electronic converters. this was very different and much more engaging for the students than the traditional black-box-based lab activities where the students passively observed input/output values. this was also the most likely scenario that the students would face in industry. the module was delivered in such a way that the theoretical coverage was reinforced by corresponding modelling/simulation and practical lab activities. that the students were given pre-lab work through the instruction sheets and tutorial sessions helped them prepare for the lab as well as make the link between theory and lab activities. the following design/modelling/simulation work, based on matlab/simulink and proteus, the students performed in their own time, with support from the instructor. once they had completed these tasks, they proceeded to build and test the converters by making appropriate selection of components. students’ practical work was then demonstrated in formal lab sessions in weeks five, seven, nine and eleven. these weeks coincided with the completion of each lab sheet (used to give students feedback on their work). although the students were encouraged to document their work and reflect regularly upon both it and the feedback from instructors, week twelve was also used to finalise their write-up and submit their logbooks. as such, the general pedagogical objectives of the module were laid out to follow an inquirybased learning process that supported different learning styles (venkataramanan, 2004), such as those proposed by kolb (1984). this was reinforced by the fact that the outcome of case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 5 the activities in the labs fed into the next topic’s lesson plan. for instance, one of the earlier activities was to programme the micro-controller to generate pulse width modulation (pwm) signal which controls a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (mosfet). the pwm signal and the mosfet were then used to drive a buck converter, which was the topic of the following lesson plan. evaluation and analysis student feedback about this new arrangement was very positive: they commented favourably on the opportunities they were getting – enabling them to do more with the takehome kits they were being given – as well as on the visual representation of some of the concepts, which they said was enhancing their understanding of the subject. however, they also said that making the licence for the design software available would have helped them to explore more aspects of the topics. this was taken on board and a student version of the licence was made available to the next cohort for them to instal in their machines. the educational approach adopted in designing these laboratory activities provides additional hands-on experiences to motivate students and help contextualise the module material, while creating opportunities to explore the topics in greater depth. this pedagogical aspect, in conjunction with the visualisation capabilities of the laboratory tools, motivates student-oriented learning and provides significant opportunities for active learning of power electronics. since the students received copies of relevant software and required components at the beginning of term, they had much more time to work on the lab activities; this facilitated deeper learning to take place while giving them the flexibility to fit the activities around other responsibilities. this in turn led to much better student engagement, both in terms of students’ completing tasks, usually ahead of schedule, and also of their being much more proactive in making suggestions about what else they might be able to do with the kits they had. another signature aspect of the laboratory set-up is that the skills students gain from engaging in the various tasks are very relevant to other modules, such as electrical machines and drives, helping students retain knowledge across multiple modules. in this study, many students also were motivated by the positive experience they had with the module and went on to generate project proposals for their individual research project. although the students provided positive feedback informally, the data collected by evasys was used to gauge students’ perception of the module following the changes in the laboratory activities over several years. figure 1, which shows the evasys average score for available data, clearly shows that there was sustained improvement in students’ satisfaction with the module. the slight dip this year may have been caused by the prevailing pandemic, especially as many of the students were not in the united kingdom (uk) and did not have the benefit of being able to engage with the practical labs. the labs were not also delivered in the normal way as a significant part of the term passed before we returned to campus-based mode of delivery. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 6 figure 1. students’ response to the evasys survey although students do not generally seem very keen to write feedback in the evasys system, there were some positive comments in relation to the way the module was organised – including the labs. here are a few comments taken from the evasys reports: • “[my tutor] is a strict but fair lecturer. he provided us with all the necessary support and materials. this course's moodle page was well organized.” • “it's good to have new experience in learning. there are labs with lectures to support learning.” • “well organized module as expected, learnt more things about converters compare to my bachelor studies.” limitations and conclusions the work for this case study was motivated by feedback from students who took the module in previous years. the students felt that there were not enough laboratory opportunities for them to experience the impact of what they were learning in real-world applications or in a way that explicitly demonstrated what components or systems were involved in the circuits. the laboratory activities were redesigned and expanded so that students could take a design from first principles to circuit-testing, using discrete components while avoiding the black-box approach. the labs were integrated with the lectures and tutorial sessions in a way that facilitated an inquiry-based pedagogic process to occur. this approach seemed to have resulted in positive experiences and improved outcomes, as evidenced from informal feedback from students and from the feedback gathered through the university’s formal evasys system. although the fact that the labs were designed so that students could take the equipment and software away and work independently (which was very popular with the students), this approach is only feasible in situations where the labs could be made portable and conducted safely by the students. another limitation might also arise from the fact that the evasys 3.4 3.9 4.4 4.1 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 2015/16 2016/17 2019/20 2020/21 a ve ra ge s co re academic year evasys data for power electronic converters (elee1165) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 7 system was designed to capture students’ feedback on their overall experience of the module rather than just the laboratory side of the operation. that aside, there were comments from students within the evasys feedback that alluded to how learning/understanding was enhanced by the way the lab exercises were conducted, as evidenced in some of the student comment samples highlighted above. with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been much better and more instructive if separate and targeted feedback had been sought from the students as part of the study. in conclusion, the study demonstrates how the benefits of project-based approach could be used to make traditional instruction-based laboratory activities more effective while making the whole set-up much more accessible to students. many engineering disciplines and other areas that rely on expensive or bulky laboratory equipment for instructional lab exercises could benefit from adopting aspects of this study. reference list balog, r.s. (2005) ‘modern laboratory-based education for power electronics and electric machines.’ ieee transactions on power systems, 20(2). available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1425543 (accessed: 16 february 2022). chen, s. (2010) ‘the view of scientific inquiry conveyed by simulation-based virtual laboratories.’ computers and education. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131510001417 (accessed: 16 february 2022). corter, j.e., nicherson, j., esche, s.e., chassapis, c., im, s. and ma, j. (2007) ‘constructing reality: a study of remote, hands-on, and simulated laboratories.’ acm transactions on computer-human interaction, 14(2), 7. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220286297_constructing_reality_a_study_of_rem ote_hands-on_and_simulated_laboratories (accessed: 16 february 2022). drofenik, u. and kolar, j.w. (2002) ‘survey of modern approaches of education in power electronics.’ in: proceedings of the ieee applied power electronics conference, 2, 749-755. available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/989329 (accessed: 16 february 2022). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 8 dym, c.l., agorino, a.m., eris, o. and frey, d.d. (2005) ‘engineering design thinking, teaching and learning.’ journal of engineering education, 94(1), 103-120. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00832.x?saml_referrer (accessed: 16 february 2022). emadi, a., lee, y.j. and rajashekara, k. (2008) ‘power electronics and motor drives in electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.’ ieee trans. ind. electron, 55(6), 2237-2245, 2008 available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4493430 (accessed: 16 february 2022). feisel, l. (2005) ‘the role of the laboratory in undergraduate engineering education.’ journal of engineering education, 00(1), 121-130. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00833.x (accessed: 16 february 2022). finkelstein, l.n.d., adams, w.k., keller, c.j., kohl, p.b., perkins, k.k., podolefsky, n.s., and reid, s. (2005) ‘when learning about the real world is better done virtually: a study of substituting computer simulations for laboratory equipment.’ physical review special topics -. education reseach, 1(1) available at: https://journals.aps.org/prper/pdf/10.1103/physrevstper.1.010103 (accessed: 16 february 2022). gomes, l. and bogosyan, s. (2009) ‘current trends in remote laboratories.’ ieee transactions on industrial electronics, 56(12), 2009 available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5280206 (accessed: 16 february 2022). grayson, l.p. (1993) the making of an engineer. new york, ny: john wiley and sons. isbn: 0471597996 gustavsson, i., zackrisson, j., bartunek, j.s., åkesson, h., håkansson, l. and lagö, t. (2006) ‘an instructional electronics laboratory opened for remote operation and control.’ 9th international conference on engineering education. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253165829_an_instructional_electronics_laborato ry_opened_for_remote_operation_and_control (accessed: 16 february 2022). kolb, d.a. (1984) experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. isbn: 0133892409 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 9 ma, l.j. and nickerson, j.v. (2006) ‘hands-on, simulated, and remote laboratories: a comparative literature review.’ acm computing surveys, 38(3), 7. available at: https://web.stevens.edu/jnickerson/acmcomputingsurveys2006manickerson.pdf (accessed: 16 february 2022). torrey, d.a. (1993) ‘a project-oriented power electronics laboratory.’ proceedings of ieee power electronics specialist conference.’, 972-978. available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/472038/authors#authors (accessed: 16 february 2022). venkataramanan, g. (2004) ‘a pedagogically effective structured introduction to electrical energy systems with coupled laboratory experiences.’ ieee transactions on power systems, 19(1). available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1266560 (accessed: 16 february 2022). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 1 case study: using a codesign process as an opportunity and to increase assessment literacy professor debbie bartlett faculty of engineering and science, university of greenwich, london, uk abstract this is a case study, based on experience of working with level 5 bsc environmental science and geography students taking the environmental management module to demonstrate the value of involving them directly in curriculum and assessment design. the students chose to use the sustainable development goals (sdgs) as the focus for the module content and as the basis for the assessment tasks, a group presentation and an individual report. the benefits of co-design for student engagement and assessment literacy are evaluated with reference to the literature and the impact of the co-design process on student confidence and understanding of the role of assessment in their learning. the approach was successful with this small class, with students providing positive feedback, although it is unlikely to be practical with very large cohorts. the appendix – summarising the importance of the sdgs to learning and teaching and emphasising the relevance of sdg 4 quality education to all seventeen sdgs across subject areas – provides the context for this case study. keywords: sustainable development goals; co-design; assessment literacy; feedback; student engagement the rationale for using a co-design approach for several years, i have been interested in how we use assessment and, particularly, in how to increase students’ engagement with feedback, by helping them to understand that this latter is for reflection and learning. too often, the focus is on summative assessment and feedback may be received only after the module has finished. in the case of exams, little or no feedback is given other than the final mark. is this the best we can do to support learning? the literature certainly suggests we could – and should – do better. mueller (2005) raised the need for ‘authentic assessment’ to measure the knowledge and skills students’ have acquired during the learning process. fook and sidhu (2010, p.153) have argued that, while the purpose of assessment is to evaluate students’ performance, “institutions of higher education have to revisit their purpose of assessment if they hope to equip their learners with skills and competencies needed to succeed in today’s workplace”. feedback should increase and develop learning (not simply measure it), stimulating reflection and improvement (carless and boud, 2018). winstone et al. (2017) systematically reviewed learner engagement and concluded that formative feedback is required to achieve transformative learning and is closer to the ‘real world’, where work goes to a superior and is returned for reworking. it is not just the nature of the feedback but the way in which it is given that makes it effective (o’donovan et al., 2019). it is a two-way process, with students case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 2 responding to feedback and appreciating it as an opportunity for reflection and improvement, but only if they are ‘assessment literate’ – recognising the purpose of the assessment and how it supports their learning process (qaa, 2018, guiding principle 6). a recent times higher education feature entitled ‘does university assessment still pass muster?’ suggested that, for both employability and student satisfaction, exams and essays should be replaced with real-world tasks (mckie, 2019). this is the context in which i have been developing authentic assessment strategies for the msc environmental conservation students at the university of greenwich, explaining in detail the purpose of each assignment and its relationship to professional competency and ensuring that students see formative submissions as a learning opportunity rather than additional work. these msc students are focused on a specific career and so are not so hard to engage but taking this approach with undergraduates is more challenging. my research (usually focusing on finding solutions to some kind of environmental ‘problem’) has indicated that to adopt a participatory approach which involves stakeholders in any decisionmaking process is fundamental for success (bartlett, 2020). i therefore wondered if in order to increase undergraduates’ engagement, it might be effective to ask them to design their own module content (obviously keeping within the scope of the topic) and assessments. there is, as highlighted by brooman et al. (2015), little literature on application in higher education (he), but co-design has been used with good results for both staff and students (bovill, 2014). the case study two years ago, i inherited a fifteen-credit level 5 module with the title ‘environmental management’. the descriptors and the learning outcomes (los), although expressed in appropriate academic language, are vague. the students were a mixed cohort from the bsc environmental science and bsc geography programmes. i have found that students at this level tend not to submit formative assignments but focus on the summative, being more interested in the mark than the feedback and thereby missing the opportunity for transformative learning and future improvement. as the number of assignments per module has decreased, this has become a real concern. this module is typically a small cohort, rarely reaching double figures, and so manageable for research into co-design, where the curriculum and assessment are negotiated between staff and students. co-design has been found beneficial for increasing engagement – for example, the ‘design2learn’ project, which found that giving students control increased their reflection, so enabling them to become more aware of the process of their learning and to see themselves directly involved as ‘learning co-designers’ (garcia et al., 2018). in accordance with this basic strategy, i began by introducing the scope of and common themes encountered in environmental management (see figure 1) before asking the students what they were interested in and what they hoped to achieve during the module. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 3 figure 1: what is environmental management? the 2018-19 cohort was small and all the students, after perusing job advertisements and comparing the wages offered by the range of environmental employment options, wanted to focus on corporate social responsibility and the skills required for the role of environmental – or sustainability – manager in a company. the focus was therefore on standard systems, with students undertaking auditor training and gaining real experience by contributing to the university’s iso14001 submission – a definite win-win! they were simply delighted to have completed audit reports as evidence of their experience, which helped one get a paid summer placement and which was the topic of her final-year research project. the 2019-20 group was more diverse, with eight students, but they worked together to produce the list of topics that they wanted to cover (figure 2). figure 2: the students’ list of environmental management topics the sustainable development goals (sdgs) had been promoted across the campus, with posters illustrating how research and teaching were contributing to achieving specific goals so that students were well aware of these as an international policy framework (box 1; more information on the sdgs is provided as an appendix). it did not take long for the students to make the connection between the issues they had identified as priorities and the sdgs, and they decided these would provide the basis for the module content. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 4 box 1: the universities at medway sustainable development goals pilot at the start of the 2019-20 academic year a collaboration was set up between the university of kent, university of greenwich and canterbury christchurch university, all based on the medway campus, to raise awareness of the sdgs and promote their incorporation into teaching and research. the objectives were to: • make the sdgs relevant to learning, research and day-to-day behaviours • ensure that the scope of sustainability was understood to include social and economic issues as well as environmental ones • highlight the way, in terms of the sdgs, staff and students are delivering • develop partnership to enable interdisciplinary and interagency collaborations this was promoted via social media, staff and student posters, exhibitions and talks and engaged with all faculties, directorates, and contractors. this was a pilot with the intention of rolling implementation out to the avery hill and greenwich campuses (london) as well as the canterbury campuses of university of kent and canterbury christ church university. the university of greenwich aim was to increase integration of the sdgs in teaching, to sign up to the sdg accord (eauc the alliance for sustainability leadership in education https://www.eauc.org.uk/the_sdg_accord) and to submit evidence to the times higher education sdg dashboard. the next step was to consider the two assessment tasks. the first was a group presentation. this was discussed, separating out the transferable skills (research, communication, teamwork) from the technical ones (content) and increasing understanding of the rationale for the task. we looked back at the list of topics, reminded ourselves about the sdgs and agreed that the students should all bring their thoughts the following week. they concluded unanimously that the biggest challenge with the sdgs is that they are interdependent, making it difficult to consider any of them in isolation. for me, this was interesting evidence of inquiry-based learning and showed that they really had reflected, both individually and in collaboration, between classes. students were organised into small groups and the selected topics (figure 2) randomly allocated between them, the brief being to research the environmental management topic and which specific sdgs were related to it. in all cases, complex interactions were revealed, with multiple links between sdgs so that management action on any of the topics would (or could) contribute to achieving several simultaneously. these were presented in class as formative assignments, receiving peer and teacher comments. examples of summary slides from the final, summative, presentations are included as figure 3. figure 3. example summary slides showing graphic representation of the links https://www.eauc.org.uk/the_sdg_accord case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 5 the second assignment was an individual report. options were discussed and it was decided to stick with the sdg theme and to focus on environmental management activities taking place on the campus, identifying how these contributed to achieving sdgs and – importantly – suggesting how this could be improved. the formative assignment submissions provided further opportunity for discussion, bringing in national, regional and university-level policies and direct observation, with the practicality of recommendations evaluated (‘options appraisal’). sharing these in a supportive context is important for learning as well as building students’ confidence in their own work (carless and boud, 2018). it is particularly important for this to be built into the formative feedback process, as there is no mechanism for peer review of and dialogue about each other’s final assignments, particularly when hand-in is at the end of the module. evaluation getting feedback on modules seems increasingly challenging, with the online system often failing to attract enough engagement to produce an output, let alone anything that can be used as the basis for reflection on teaching and lead to improvement. the 2019-2020 students were asked if they would like to be involved in a presentation at the shift conference, january 2020. they greeted this suggestion enthusiastically as an addition to their curricula vitae (cv), despite its not being credit bearing. with very little guidance, they worked together in class and independently, planning slides and narrative, and this became the focus for reflecting on the benefits and disadvantages of the approach. the consensus was positive about the following aspects: • being involved in the process • feeling more engaged • having the chance to reflect on and develop personal interests • gaining professional development as well as achieving academically • appreciating reduced pressure • being exposed to others’ interests – leading to changes in their views • benefiting from wider perspectives • realising how everything is connected the second assignment, the individual report on environmental management in the context of the campus, evaluating the contribution to the sdgs and suggesting enhancements, was recognised as something which an environmental consultant might well be commissioned to do with students and which therefore had potential for their cv; for me, it was authentic assessment, with students demonstrating assessment literacy and active engagement. although reduced pressure was considered a benefit of co-design, a different kind of pressure was highlighted: having more responsibility. this was very different from the predictability they were used to, with a handbook outlining what would be covered and with reading material specified, thus reducing the need for them to be proactive in personal research and to decide for themselves what background reading would be appropriate. one student was initially very uncomfortable about the lack of certainty. he was one of two in the cohort who had contacted me in the summer, asking for a module reading list. my response was that i preferred not to provide this in advance, citing the breadth of the topic area and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 6 suggesting that any reading on environmental issues would be useful. he was ultimately supportive of the process and felt he had developed as a result of taking part. only three of the students were able to attend and present at shift (figure 4). the timing, in the school holidays, was a difficulty for students with childcare responsibilities; one returned home to kazakhstan for the md-winter break and two were unwell. this led to a last-minute rearrangement of presenters for each slide, but it was made clear that the views expressed were those of the whole class and, despite nerves, those who did attend enjoyed the experience of presenting at a large event. figure 4: sabana khanom presenting the students view at the shift conference limitations and conclusions from my perspective, this co-design approach has successfully increased student assessment literacy and engagement with feedback and, in the 2019-20 cohort, had the additional benefit of successfully integrating the sdgs into learning and teaching. the effectiveness of co-design is clearly demonstrated by the student-led evaluation (figure 4) but capturing quantifiable data was impossible as the students did not engage with the online end-of-module evaluation. it would be interesting to investigate whether this positive effect on engagement carried over into learning in subsequent modules. however, this would be difficult to evidence, particularly as formative assignments with detailed feedback are not universally used. in both years, it has been challenging to gain approval for this approach from the programme leader; this resonates with the finding of bovill (2014), that staff involved in co-design found it “risky and nerve-wracking”. concerns have been raised that by giving students choice and an element of control they could become polarised and that trying to please all could lead to satisfaction for none. while i can see the logic behind this, i can provide the reassurance that the gradual introduction to the co-design process taken with each of these two cohorts would have enabled backtracking to a more traditional approach had that been necessary. each group of students is different and, although this has worked well for this module for two years, it would be significantly more challenging with large cohorts and/or with a more specific curriculum – and also if the module were a pre-requisite for another. i have found that it requires constant adaptation and an active response to the students all the way through the process. i would recommend it for modules on wide-ranging topics and without prescriptive learning outcomes it requires more thought than rolling out than rolling out the same material year after year, but it is far more interesting! i enjoy the challenge of adapting case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 7 my teaching in response to student interests and career ambitions. the idea of repeatedly delivering the same material fills me with dread – fortunately, as my subject is highly dynamic, even modules with specific content requirements require significant and continuous updating. reference list bartlett, d. (2020) ‘landscape character assessment: a method to include community perspectives and ecosystem services.’ chapter 5. in: dhyani, s., gupta, a.k. and karki, m. (eds.) landuse planning in nature based solutions: science, innovations and strategies in south asia. (volume 1 in the nature series disaster resilience and green growth). springer open. isbn:978-981-15-4711-9. bovill, c. (2014) ‘an investigation of co-created curricula within higher education in the uk, ireland and the usa.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 51(1), 15-25. available at: url https://doi: 10.1080/14703297.2013.770264 (accessed: 24/6/2020 ). brooman, s., darwent, s. and pimor, a. (2015) ‘the student voice in higher education curriculum design: is there value in listening?’ innovations in education and teaching international, 52(6), 663-674. available at: url https://doi: 10.1080/14703297.2014.910128 (accessed: 24/6/2020). carless, d. and boud, d. (2018) ‘the development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education. 43(8), 1315-1325. available at: url https:// doi: 10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354 (accessed: 24/6/2020). fook, c.y. and sidhu, g.k. (2010) ‘authentic assessment and pedagogical strategies.’ higher education journal of social sciences 6(2), 153-161. available at: url https:// https://doi.org/10.3844/jssp.2010.153.161 (accessed: 24/6/2020). garcia, i., noguera, i. and cortada-pujol, m. (2018) ‘students’ perspective on participation in a co-design process of learning scenarios.’ journal of educational innovation, partnership and change, 4(1). available at: https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/760 (accessed: 24/6/2020). mckie, a. (2019) ‘does university assessment still pass muster?’ available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/does-university-assessment-still-passmuster (accessed: 24/6/2020). mueller, j, (2005) ‘the authentic assessment toolbox: enhancing student learning through online faculty development.’ journal of online learning and teaching, 1. 1-7. available at: https://jolt.merlot.org/documents/vol1_no1_mueller_001.pdf (accessed: 21/11/2020). o’donovan, b.m., den outer, b., price, m. and lloyd, a. (2019) ‘what makes good feedback good?’ studies in higher education. doi: 10.1080/03075079.2019.1630812. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.770264 https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2014.910128 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354 https://doi.org/10.3844/jssp.2010.153.161 https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/760 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/does-university-assessment-still-pass-muster https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/does-university-assessment-still-pass-muster https://jolt.merlot.org/documents/vol1_no1_mueller_001.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1630812 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 8 qaa (2018) ‘uk quality code for higher education advice and guidance assessment.’ available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/quality-code/advice-and-guidanceassessment.pdf?sfvrsn=ca29c181_4 (accessed: 24/6/2020). winstone, n.e., nash, r.a., parker, m. and rowntree, j. (2017) ‘supporting learners’ agentic engagement with feedback: a systematic review and a taxonomy of recipience processes.’ educational psychologist 52(1), 17-37. available at: url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538 (accessed: 21/11/2020). https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/quality-code/advice-and-guidance-assessment.pdf?sfvrsn=ca29c181_4 https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/quality-code/advice-and-guidance-assessment.pdf?sfvrsn=ca29c181_4 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 9 appendix the sustainable development goals and education for sustainability the seventeen interconnected sustainable development goals (sdgs) were set by united nations (un) general assembly in 2015 and have been adopted by 193 countries. each goal has set of targets (169 in total) and measured indicators (232 in total) and the aim is that these will be delivered by 2030. sdg 4, quality education, explicitly recognises education for sustainable development (esd) in target 4.7, but this is of integral importance for all the other sixteen sdgs as well (see box 2). box 2 sdg 4 quality education target 4.7: by 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development 4.7.1 extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg4) while environmental education – focused on developing knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours to encourage people to care for their environment – has long been recognised as a discipline, esd came to the fore at the un world summit in johannesburg in 2002. the reorientation of the then education system to the promotion of the knowledge, skills, understanding, values, actions and behaviours necessary to create a sustainable world succeeded in ensuring protection of the environmental, social equity and economic sustainability. the un decade of education for sustainable development (desd), 20052014, was adopted by the un general assembly and the un educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco) was the lead organisation to promote the vision ‘of a world where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from quality education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation’ (www.unesco.org/education/desd). the themes in esd include poverty alleviation, citizenship, peace, ethics, responsibility in local and global contexts, democracy and governance, justice, human rights, gender equality, corporate responsibility, natural resource management and biological diversity (nevin, 2008). there is a clear need for esd to be embedded in the higher education curriculum in a holistic, interdisciplinary way and in policy and strategies across the whole institution; the sdgs have become a mechanism to achieve this. this concept has been led by students organising for sustainability-uk, a subsection of the national union of students (nus) (https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/) and part of an international alliance involving over 100 student-led groups in forty countries working on sustainability. in late 2017, nus/sos launched the 'sdg teach in', aiming to put the global goals for sustainable development https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg4 http://www.unesco.org/education/desd https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 1, 2021 10 at the heart of further and higher education (https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/sdgteachin), promoting existing examples. the author was asked to submit a photo and poster statement in the run-up to the first ‘teach in’ event, 19-23 february 2018. this has since been repeated annually, with higher education institutions (heis) asked to pledge and leader boards posted online. ‘teach sdgs’, the official un resource for all levels, has the same aim, using an apple logo set within the circular arrangement of the sdgs and providing a free sdgs in action app (http://www.teachsdgs.org/). the times higher education university impact rankings currently measure the societal impact of heis based on achievement of sdgs, the first set of performance metrics having been developed in 2019, with the university of auckland ranked highest on the basis of it social and economic impact; in 2020, the university of greenwich maintained its position at 101, out of a total of over 800, and based on contribution to all seventeen sdgs. this is focusing the minds of those in the upper levels of management and currently driving initiatives to promote the sdgs. nevin e (2008) education for sustainable development issue 6 policy & practice: a development education review. https://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue/issue-6/education-and-sustainabledevelopment accessed 21/4/20 https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/sdgteachin http://www.teachsdgs.org/ https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/were-including-all-17-sdgs-2020-university-impact-rankings https://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue/issue-6/education-and-sustainable-development%20accessed%2021/4/20 https://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue/issue-6/education-and-sustainable-development%20accessed%2021/4/20 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 1, 2009-10 editors’ introduction we are pleased to present the first edition of compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich. it intends to champion ideas and practices about learning and teaching within the university and its partner colleges and, through sharing, to promote debate. like other higher education institutions in the uk, staff at greenwich have to deal with incompatible demands on their time, teaching and administration, developing scholarly communities, engagement in consultation, research and publication. furthermore, the combination of national and local funding policy in the context of the credit crunch, the anticipated research excellence framework, the widespread use of new social networking software like facebook and twitter, to name but a few factors, now permeate our teaching and learning environments. our learning and teaching strategy is informed by a pedagogical philosophy that embodies a particular conception of the academic and professional development of students. our vision for developing ‘the greenwich graduate’ is to design curricula and pedagogies through which students are able to feel they are participants in a scholarly community of enquiry, supported by staff working together in a community of practice. the development of such curricula and pedagogies will support the drive towards greater student engagement and afford the possibility of moving towards the cocreation of knowledge with students. fostering students’ excitement about, and commitment to, scholarship, provides an integrated means of developing the necessary academic literacy (including information literacy) and communication skills and all of the associated skills of research and critical enquiry. our long-term aim is to build the confidence of students in their growing capabilities as emergent professionals, who can go on to secure employment or move comfortably into further study and research. the tension between our perceptions of the university as an environment to support learning, on the one hand, and as a place for research on the other, is felt, and resolved by academics and academic support staff every day. as a ‘research-informed’ university, which derives 90 per cent of its income from teaching, we hope that compass will help to inform our thinking about, and build more integrated relationships between research and scholarship, teaching and learning. the mixture of short thought-provoking pieces, longer academic articles, case studies and, in subsequent editions, letters, represent viewpoints about many of these relationships from different schools and university services. there are significant differences in the pedagogic stances adopted by different disciplines, but, as a learning organisation, we can learn much from one another. we hope this first edition provides a forum for debate by staff and students to encourage reflection upon their practice and to stimulate innovation and new ideas. simon walker, patrick ainley, ian mcnay, wendy cealey harrison university of greenwich articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 growing separation between teaching/ learning and research – anticipating the impacts from ref 2014 ana paula cabral university of greenwich isabel huet university of kingston abstract most quality assessment systems are based on an explicit separation of teaching/learning and research; however, in spite of their having enhanced both the organisation and quality improvement of each of these fields, they have also been contributing to a widening of the gap between the two and to the devaluation of teaching. the present study, developed in the uk, intends to provide some insights into the perceptions of former panel members, managers and academics, as they anticipate the impacts from ref 2014. increasing pressure to achieve high-quality research has been leading institutions to hire the most prestigious researchers. were there to be equivalent effort to achieve parity in the quality of teaching, this situation might be less worrying, for teaching does not currently enjoy the same investment; rather, its very inferiority is considered to have an even more negative impact on the development of new practices, as well as on student learning and support. keywords: research; teaching; ref; learning; quality; assessment. introduction at present, higher education institutions (hei.s) are constantly being challenged to rethink their roles, priorities and mission. moreover, in a setting currently dominated by the notions of ‘impact’, ‘funding’ and ‘marketisation’, many distinct influences and forces have been contributing to significant changes in how both research and teaching are conceptualised, theorised about and practised. research into the roles of teaching/learning and of research in higher education has addressed these issues, using very distinct approaches and perspectives: the perspective of academics (locke, 2014; wells, 2013; brown, 2011; deem and lucas, 2007), disciplines (jenkins et al, 2007; jenkins, 2005), departments (durning and jenkins, 2005), institutions (watermeyer, 2014; hattie and marsh, 2004; locke, 2004; zamorski, 2002), national systems (murphy and sage, 2014; harley, 2002) and the perspective of the students (willets, 2013; lindsay et al, 2002). overall, this debate has produced substantial but inconclusive literature about the connection between research and teaching quality, whilst the politics behind their assessment have caused pressures and created an imbalance between the values put on teaching/learning and on research. these quality assessment systems, although important articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 tools of management and resource allocation, are, in fact, allowing the state to control universities and universities to control their academics. we believe that, in the construction of knowledge and student learning, there is a lack of discussion about these impacts; considering the increasing demand for academics’ involvement in high-quality research, it is a sensitive topic. we argue that uk research assessment mechanisms, such as the research excellence framework (ref), are creating a more competitive environment for research funding and leading to the danger of individual academics’ prioritising research, with consequent decrement in teaching. this argument is not new (jenkins et al, 2003), but it is now a major concern among the academic community in the uk, especially in post-92 universities, where the pressure for research outputs is also growing. the culture of ‘publish or perish’ is here to stay and may send good teachers into the shadows or even compromise their careers if they do not accommodate institutional demands for research. this paper explores some of these challenges and sheds light on how teaching and research came to be divided, rather than coming together to improve the quality of students’ learning. on the basis of interviews conducted with the three key roles in the assessment process: panel members, research managers and researchers, we aim to contribute to a wider discussion about the growing teaching-research divide, perceived as one of the (un)intended impacts of the uk research assessment mechanisms. research quality assessment in the uk in the last forty years, higher education in the uk has undergone profound change and experienced an impressive growth in the number both of universities and of students. the mechanisms for support, despite a trend of decline in public funding, have demanded a very significant increase in regulation and accountability. research funding is now based on a dual support system, whereby hei.s can access funds through research councils or through periodic research assessment mechanisms that inform the distribution of government funding. since its inception in 1986, the research assessment exercise (rae) has been greatly transformed and, since its last exercise in 2008, it has been replaced by the 2014 research excellence framework (ref), with a stronger emphasis on bibliometrics and research impact, with the submission of case studies. the incorporation of ‘impact’ as a performance indicator within the ref was established at 20% of the total value available to each submission, with outputs (65%) and environment (15%) comprising the other generic criteria. research is judged on its contribution to economic, social and cultural development and its impacts on public policy and improvement in the quality of life. the assessment mechanism also constitutes a source of relevant accountability data for public investment and the development of ‘benchmarking information’ and ‘reputational yardsticks’ (hefce, 2012). additionally, with the introduction of tools (including journal impact factors) to measure the quality of research articles (four pieces of published work over six years), we find a clear call for evidence of the assessment of individual contribution and of hiring, promotion and funding decisions. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 this one-movement shift from assessment to excellence and emphasis on economic impact have raised questions about what is really being left behind and the possible effects of discarding research that does not translate into immediate measurable impact for public policy or industry in the uk. furthermore, funding focuses on the internationally excellent or the world-leading, whilst institutions and managers deliberate over which academics to submit to the government's funding system. these procedures, with their focus on performance, are putting academics under huge pressure… and there is no mention of the link between research and teaching. ref challenges for teaching and learning as already stated, the assessments in the uk of the quality of teaching and of the quality of research are explicitly separated, with neither of the processes informing the other. in this context, research/teaching connections are questioned by funding regimes which are attempting to separate the two activities, even though the topic of their linkage is subject to debate at various levels and across disciplines and includes such variables as departmental cultures and institutional missions. in the assessment process, the starting point is the unit of output (publication, patent…) produced by ‘research-active’ individuals within ‘units of assessment’ and usually aligned with academic departments (organised to deliver both teaching and research). however, research is often done in teams that cross those structural boundaries and, very often, interdisciplinary teams have to disaggregate to their parent disciplines and are then judged outside the context in which they perform research. at the same time, the way teaching and research are organised within departments and institutions is also an important factor in determining the focus which is set on the organisation of disciplines for teaching and for research. these variations are shaped by the conceptions of the nature of knowledge, the different forms of pedagogy and curricula, and the impact of professional bodies and student interests on the content and practices of the disciplines. moreover, questions have been raised about the mission and the way research is perceived and supported by institutions, especially when national policies and funding priorities are based on their separation (jenkins, 2005; hattie and marsh, 2004). one result is that “institutions have never been so divided as they are now between the worlds of teaching and research” (macfarlane, 2011: 128) and this bifurcation has lowered the status of teaching and learning. at this level, in the uk, young (2006) portrays an “out of balance” situation, referring to the differential value and rewards in relation to teaching and research based on lecturers’ perceptions, and suggests that the impact of new developments to enhance teaching and learning are undermined by the persistent low status accorded to teaching. more recently, locke (2014) presented the evolution of teaching and research in english universities between 1992 and 2007 and concluded that, in spite of variation in the mission and ethos of different universities (oriented either to research or to teaching) a university’s success and prestige is still largely associated with research. this divide is also evident in a report commissioned by the higher education academy (2013), which has found out that more than two-thirds of university staff in the uk have never been recognised or rewarded for their teaching (just 28.4 per cent of academics have articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 been rewarded for their commitment to teaching or student support) and concludes that promotion in the sector is too heavily based on research excellence. at present, with the outcome of the last ref results, many institutions are even being relegated to teaching-only (or even training) status, while research is being concentrated on the golden triangle of london and oxbridge (even to the detriment of northern russell universities). at the same time, direct impact orientations have also revealed the clear danger that the distribution of research income concentrates even more on stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and math), threatening such entire subject areas as social sciences, humanities and education, where impact or ‘significance’ is seen as a long-term, not-taken-for-granted achievement. in fact, many departments have also been closed or integrated in wider span approaches in order to ‘meet the standards’. although there have been national moves towards recognition of teaching (most institutions and some universities have schemes to include teaching excellence as a criterion among many others for promotion and rewards), the actual impact of these initiatives is generally thought to be fairly limited and parity in esteem and financial reward a distant (or impossible) reality. moreover, the attachment of funding to the assessment of research activities and not to the assessment of teaching (through teaching quality assessment) has been a crucial factor. this situation has made it difficult in practice for the staff dedicated to improving teaching to move their achievements from the private to the public domain, gain recognition for their work and acquire the credibility and status derived from research and publishing. at the same time, the problems of finding tangible and quantifiable evidence of excellence in the outcomes of teaching have simply served to consolidate the tendency to reward research activities. since the last rae 2008 results, promotion procedures have been selecting the most competent members of staff and ‘downgrading’ the others to teaching associate or teaching fellow status, consigning them to teaching-only contracts or setting them aside for redundancy. overall, this has understandably been leading members of staff to feel deterred from the academic teaching world and to question the real purpose of their role in the academy and in their daily work with students. more recently, on the basis of the depositions of senior academic managers from a range of social science research centres, watermeyer (2014) highlighted the emergence of an impact agenda and its incorporation as a feature of the academic contract in uk universities, although stressing the potential of ‘impact capture’ as an obligation that enriches the perceptual horizons of research and the critical reflexivity of academics as knowledge workers. this trend was also stressed by murphy and sage (2014: 604), when suggesting that there is a very real sense amongst academics that the ref is adversely shaping the nature of research itself. in this context, reporting on the ref signals heightened pressures to publish and a developing culture of disregard for certain types of research in favour of short-term ‘ref-able’ work. this concern has also been expressed by david willetts (former minister for universities and science) who took a wide look at the uk higher education over the fifty years after the launch of lord robbins’ seminal work (1963) about the nature and quality of higher education. according to willetts (2013: 43), universities need a “cultural change back towards teaching” because the system has become “so lopsided away from teaching” (willetts, 2013: 47) that universities need to rethink their role and priorities. willetts argues that robbins' vision was one in which research and teaching complemented each other, but articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 that this idea has been lost. this argument has, in fact, supported the introduction of incomecontingent loans for students (a direct call for universities’ attention to the need to take teaching more seriously). in the same document, (willetts, 2013: 42) takes into consideration the impact reported by students in the teaching and learning daily context. by comparing the situation of students between 1963 and 2012 (quoting data collected in a study developed with uk undergraduates, promoted by the higher education policy institute, hepi, and commissioned by the consumer group which? in 2013), the author argues that there had been a reduction in the amount of contact time students had with lecturers and in the quality of feedback provided about their work. methodology the empirical study was organised and based on the collection of points of view, perceptions and experiences of the participants in the rae system according to their profiles and roles. the sources of the data were semi-directed interviews (n=6) conducted with two panel members from rae 2008 (cases a and b), two research managers (one from a worldleading research-led teaching approach institution and the other from a teaching-led /research-informed institution (cases c and d) and two senior (education) researchers (cases e and f). participants were invited to present their perceptions about the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the research quality assessment system, bearing in mind their own perceptions of and experience with rae 2008 and anticipating ref 2014. the choice of participants accorded to their profiles, with the aim of including different types of roles in the assessment system and different types of institutions with different research drive approaches and research performances. the stated membership in panels, the direct discourse of representatives involved in institutional responses to assessment exercises and the publication of relevant and referenced work on the subject of the study fulfilled the established criteria for participants’ selection. the invitation was made by means of email and informal contacts, using contact people involved in the project’s supervision and research networks. a whole set of validity and reliability procedures was developed, in order to ensure the trustworthiness of the data collected and its credibility (lincoln and guba, 1985), as well as the interpretation rigour (through the use of quotations to illustrate the concepts). results the interviews provided a wide range of views and opinions to assess and draw conclusions from. a thematic analysis allowed the identification of the key ideas emerging from the data and codes were developed through the breakdown of data generated. the analysis and data presentation structure emerged naturally from the content of the interviews, based on their common underlying themes which covered three general areas: addressing the teaching-research divide, unveiling the (un)intended consequences and closing the divide by calling for a wider conception of research. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 addressing the teaching-research divide an idea which emerged as a common theme was that the “focus of academics is set on research writing rather than teaching or service” (case a). this concern is a clear reference to the perceived influence of the research assessment mechanisms in the development of effective teaching and to the pressures associated with the management and organisation of the academic work: research takes all the time and effort of the academics and, therefore, becomes their main goal (murphy and sage, 2014). respondents generally agreed that the uk’s research assessment system reinforced: “a negative impact on the concern for teaching” (case f), emphasising what is regarded as a “cultural prejudice concerning teaching because it doesn’t give power and prestige” (case f), where the “judgment of research is done in isolation and even from teaching” (case e). it is relevant to see how these statements reflect a true hierarchy of esteem that rates research over teaching because, in practice, the teaching and research expectations of academic staff are often narrowly defined and considered as separate entities. overall, we believe that this growing separation is deeply rooted in the notion of reward: it is easier to base reward systems on research because its outputs can be clearly measured, while funding for teaching is generally formula-driven (i.e. numbers of students). in fact, “research success is generally the basis for promotion for academics, despite efforts to encourage and reward good teaching and an increased emphasis on student evaluation data in promotion systems” (smith and smith, 2012: 457). this situation is evident in the study conducted by young (2006), where academics were consensual in feeling that the institution in which they worked didn’t reward the effort put into teaching and time spent on developments to improve teaching. it is, somehow, implied that the system itself has impacted significantly on the performance of institutions and academics and on the way they face their financial and reputational success, associated with a shared alignment of interests and rewards. unveiling the (un)intended consequences the dependency on funding and the pressure felt by researchers and institutions has been clearly highlighted by two of the respondents, who stated that “the name of the game is to publish and to do so quickly” (case c) and called for special attention and intervention to “prevent departments playing games to boost performance” (case a). these concerns were already part of lucas’ work back in 2006, when arguing that, in the uk, academics were significantly engaged in playing an explicit ‘research game’, which, according to deem (2010: 37), “goes well beyond academics’ traditional concern to try to defeat their scientific competitors in their own field and is directly related to selective funding and research audit processes”. today, we consider that this publish or perish demand is clearly becoming a dilemma for academics: putting all the effort into publishing as many papers as possible in top-rated journals (regardless of the topic or approach ) or investing in developing relevant research to support their professional enrichment and the quality of their teaching. this is explained by one of the respondents as being a clear “mitigation against some forms of research to publish quickly and preferably in top journals” (case c). these concerns are then presented as “threats to those who do not publish orthodox research or outlets” in a context where “researchers may be deterred from entering their work departments “(case c) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 combined with a “restriction on the open pursuit of 'blue skies' research” (case c). these comments evidence the areas affected by game playing, with implications in many of academics’ research activities: academic capital (academic and scientific power, expertise and know-how), networks of academic contacts, their own area of discipline-based research expertise, work for academic journals, research grants, research outputs (including publications) and office-holding in learned societies (deem, 2010). we believe that this contributes, as one of the participants stressed, to a general “loss in terms of numbers of active researchers and of research capacity,” caused by a policy that aims to concentrate funding on a small number of centres, “removing any expectation of significant research from many universities and individual academics” (mcnay, 2007: 211). as a result, academics have tended to be designated as ‘mainly teachers’ or as ‘researchactive’, whilst postgraduate students and part-time teachers are taken on in order to free fulltime academics for research and young academics are offered “teaching-only” temporary posts (mclean and barker, 2004). in australia, such performance expectations of academic staff have led many to cope with these demands by using discretionary funds to buy themselves out of teaching activities in order to create the time for research and publication (smith and smith, 2012). in the uk, this idea of academics being designated as “mainly” teachers or researchers has been an intense area of discussion since the introduction of the first research assessment exercises when such concepts as ‘research-active teaching’ or ‘research-led’ teaching started being used in policy documents to determine the level of influence of research in teaching. one of the participants considers that, when the quality assessment system is sharply focused on subjects and aims to link quality of provision to funding, improve quality and provide public information on quality to users (students and employers), some “unintended consequences” can lead to “damage to teaching and learning,” especially when “the assessment system has no reference to the impact on students and no measurement of the key impact of the graduate/ postgraduate student learning” (case f). these remarks highlight the “lack of support to graduate and postgraduate students by their teachers” as a “result of the assessment needs and demands” (case f) and suggest that students tend to experience some disadvantages from staff involvement in research particularly staff availability. in fact, it is not rare for academics to avoid engaging with students (some even consider it beneath them to teach at all, especially if those students are in the first year). this negative impact was reported by lindsay et al, (2002), distinguishing undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, with a more balanced score sheet in the latter. moreover, studies conducted with british (jenkins et al, 1998) and australian (neumann, 1994) undergraduates suggest that students from a range of disciplines perceive clear benefits from staff research, such as staff enthusiasm and the credibility of staff and of the institution. these benefits are also associated with the process of enriching teaching practice by including aspects of an academic’s current research, or that of colleagues, in order to support student learning and one’s teaching practice. moreover, as stated by mclean and barker (2004), students are, increasingly, becoming less able to gain from their teachers' research activity. like willetts (2013: 43), we believe we need to “revisit robbins”, call for “a cultural change back towards teaching” and realise that, above all, all academics involved in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 teaching are ‘expert learners’ helping ‘novice learners’ (brew and lucas, 2009; brew, 1999: 297). closing the divide: calling for a wider conception of research in the terms presented by one of the participants, there needs to be “established a wider conception of research” (case f). at the same time, an idea to be worked out, according to another participant, is the notion that “research work can be done at low cost and closely related to daily occupations” (case e), in an environment where “research is set in context and linked to purpose” (case e) and where the “research agenda is informed by professional experience and for research findings to feed back in to practice”(case e). calling out for a discussion about the fact that research assessments have been shaping the nature of research itself and that the creation of knowledge has been leaving no space for the specific contexts of the different areas of knowledge, one of the respondents stressed that we must acknowledge the dangers and damages of “using the same criteria for very different departments and different types of research” (case c). furthermore, one of the participants said that those who “work related to daily occupations may have an impression of low intensity with no rigour or originality“ (case e) referring to those developing research at the level of learning-teaching interfaces. this comment addresses a very relevant issue suggested by the feedback from panels: a call for more large-scale, quantitative, longitudinal studies. this situation can hardly be considered to be improving the quality of practice or informing teaching, the major objectives of much work in social sciences, as argued by mcnay (2003), who also stresses the way academic autonomy is, therefore, conditioned by the degree of dependency on funding. another topic emerging from the participants’ contributions is the negative impact of the exaggerated relevance attributed to specific types of publication outputs, as referred to in the “lack of value attributed to some sorts of publication that are relevant in the education research field (for example textbooks, e-learning materials…)” (case f). in fact, despite general assessment guidelines, which allow the incorporation of publications relating to teaching and learning, evidence collected from teaching and through the wider networks of the subject centres is usually left aside or undervalued. moreover, publishers are finding that academics are reluctant to write textbooks as those do not seem to be valued by assessment. additionally, participants mentioned a clear “preference for pure research and the dismission of applied and 'near market' research” (case e), a situation explained by what is considered a “detachment from reality/ teaching caused by integration (of academics) in research centres” (case e). some points are also raised about how the research assessment systems can include data about teaching and students’ learning through research and how the link between research and learning can be developed at a departmental level with the support of institutional leadership, planning and culture by “having assessment procedures and measures to value teaching” (case f), “to value research on teaching and learning in the disciplines” (case f) and “articulate the impact of research on learning” (case e). brew and boud (1995: 268) articulated this specific relationship between research and learning by referring to learning as the “vital link between research and teaching”, the “shared process in these two enterprises”. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 as pointed out by one of the respondents, we believe the way forward should be based on the “recognition/ reward to the scholarship of teaching and pedagogy research” (case f), the research context where academics from various disciplines do research about their own teaching and/or that of others, or focus on the way students learn usually not considered ‘proper’ research and, therefore, not good for the purposes of research assessment (macfarlane, 2011). although controversial, this concept relates the two core activities through the concept of scholarship (boyer, 1990) in a common effort to overcome some of the constraints limiting inter-disciplinary and applied work, and to reach a shared balance in terms of research autonomy. concluding remarks this paper considers some aspects of the debate about the ‘impact’ that research assessment systems may have on teaching and student learning. these have been illustrated using data from the uk’s experience in a setting where research and teaching quality are assessed separately. the data helped us explore how, from the academics’ point of view, such a separation can be damaging and have unintended consequences in the quality of both teaching and learning in higher education. we have noted how the participants were very critical of this separation, highlighting the difficulties and threats it introduces. there was a clear sense that this ‘impact-driven’ system will make some academics more equal than others in terms of status and reward. where research-led teaching was formerly the key to high-quality undergraduate and graduate programmes, managers are now playing the game of maximising staff numbers and research outputs by declaring some staff as teaching-only. research-active staff, by buying-out of their teaching, are entitled to funding, career enhancement, promotion and merit. a vicious circle, with teaching left to the research inactive, is the result. we propose resisting the separation of teaching and research and propose its re-articulation, because there are conditions for a “positive link” (elton, 2001). however, owing to policies made by government to assessment procedures and to reforms in the academic profession, the danger remains that students may be less able to gain from their teachers’ research activity and academics may find themselves without the conditions, motivation or capacity to be excellent in both teaching and research. in order to preserve and enhance the motivation of staff involved in teaching and committed to learning, institutions should deal with the issue of parity of esteem for teaching. additionally, institutions need to close the divide and work with motivated academics who invest not only in research but also in the development of high-quality teaching. moreover, effective research in education needs to be tested through teaching and university teaching needs to be driven by research. a significant proportion of the income of higher education institutions comes from teaching and this should be properly recognised and rewarded. after all, the quality of teaching and the reputation of the programmes are what attract students. we argue for the enhancement of teaching, with its potential to connect with and inspire students, rather than having a single focus on the impact of research. indeed, as a consequence of the europe 2020 strategy, and of the modernisation agenda for higher articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 education put forward in 2011, a set of recommendations for improving the quality of teaching and learning in european higher education institutions emerged in a june 2013 report delivered to the european commission. these recommendations put the emphasis on teaching, with the clear message that institutions should prioritise it: “teaching is a core mission and therefore a core responsibility. quality teaching is a sine qua non of a quality learning culture. that teaching mission should appear as a resounding priority throughout every institution involved in the delivery of higher education – a daily lived priority and not just worthy words in a mission statement” (european commission 2013: 13). are the recommendations proposed in this ec report an attempt to minimise the ‘side-effect’ of the pressure for research quality in european institutions? we are now curious to follow up the implications of these international guidelines in institutional/departmental practices and to monitor the success of such recommendations, as we envisage the 2020 horizon, on which a new ref 2020 is due to appear. this research was developed as part of a post-doctoral grant (sfrh/bpd/69489/2010) from fundação para a ciência e a tecnologia fct –portugal, funded by poph – qren (4.1) and supported by the european social fund and national funding (mec, portugal). reference list boyer, e. l. (1990) scholarship reconsidered: priorities of the professoriate. princeton: carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching. brew, a. (1999) ‘research and teaching: changing relationship in a changing context.’ studies in higher education 24, 291-301. brew, a. and boud, d. (1995) ‘teaching and research: establishing the vital link with learning.’ higher education, 29(3), 261-273. brew, a. and lucas, l. (2009) academic research and researchers. society for research in higher education & open university press. brown, c. (2011) ‘exploring the concepts of knowledge adoption and conceptual impact: implications for educational research submissions to the research excellence framework (2014).’ education, knowledge and economy, 5(3), 137-154. deem, r. (2010) ‘herding the academic cats.’ perspectives: policy and practice in higher education, 14(2), 37-43. deem, r. and lucas, l. (2007) ‘research and teaching cultures in two contrasting uk policy contexts: academic life in education departments in five english and scottish universities.’ higher education, 54, 115-133. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 durning, b. and jenkins, a. (2005) ‘teaching-research relations in departments: the perspectives of built environment academics.’ studies in higher education, 30(4), 407-426. elton, l. (2001) ‘research and teaching: conditions for a positive link.’ teaching in higher education 6(1), 43-56. european commission (2013) report to the european commission on improving the quality of teaching and learning in europe’s higher education institutions. luxembourg: publications of the european union. harley, s. (2002) ‘the impact of research selectivity on academic work and identity in uk universities.’ studies in higher education, 27(2), 187-205. hattie, j. and marsh, h. (2004) ‘one journey to unravel the relationship between research and teaching.’ research and teaching: closing the divide? an international colloquium, winchester, march 18-19. higher education academy (2013) measuring the impact of the uk professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning. seda commissioned by the higher education academy. higher education funding council for england (hefce) (2012) ref 2014: assessment framework and guidance on submission (updated to include addendum published in january 2012). higher education policy institute (hepi) and “which?” (2013) the student academic experience survey. available at: http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/02/1.higher_educational_report.pdf [accessed: 02-03-2015]. jenkins, a. (2005) guide to the research evidence on teaching–research relations. york: higher education academy. jenkins, a., blackman, t., lindsay r. and patonsaltzberg, r. (1998) ‘teaching and research: student perspectives and policy implications.’ studies in higher education, 23(2),127-141. jenkins, a., healey m. and zeller, r. (2007) linking teaching and research in disciplines and departments. higher education academy. lincoln, y. and guba, e. (1985) naturalistic inquiry. newbury park, ca: sage publications. lindsay, r., breen, r. and jenkins. a. (2002) ‘academic research and teaching quality: the views of undergraduate and postgraduate students.’ studies in higher education, 27(3), 309-327. locke, w. (2014) ‘teaching and research in english higher education: the fragmentation, diversification and reorganisation of academic work, 1992-2007.’ in: j. shin, a. arimoto, w.,cummings, and u. teichler, (eds.), teaching and research in contemporary higher education, 319–334. london: springer. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 locke, w. (2004) ‘integrating research and teaching strategies: implications for institutional management and leadership in the united kingdom.’ higher education management and policy, 16(1), 101-120. lucas, l. (2006) the research game in academic life. maidenhead: srhe/open university press. macfarlane, b. (2011) ‘prizes, pedagogic research and teaching professors: lowering the status of teaching and learning through bifurcation.’ teaching in higher education, 16(1), 127-130. mclean, m. and barker, h. (2004) ‘students making progress and the research‐teaching nexus debate.’ teaching in higher education, 9(4), 407-419. mcnay, i. (2007) ‘research assessment; researcher autonomy.’ in: kayrooz, c, akerlind, g. and tight, m. autonomy in social science research, 183-216. oxford: elsevier. mcnay, i. (2003) ‘assessing the assessment: an analysis of the uk rae 2001 and its outcomes.’ science and public policy, 30(1), 47-54. murphy, t. and sage, d. (2014) ‘perceptions of the uk’s research excellence framework 2014: a media analysis.’ journal of higher education policy and management, 36(6), 603615. neumann, r. (1994) ‘the teaching–research nexus: applying a framework to university students’ learning experiences.’ european journal of education, 29(3), 323-338. smith, e. and smith, a. (2012) ‘buying-out teaching for research: the views of academics and their managers.’ higher education, 63, 455-472. watermeyer, r. (2014) ‘issues in the articulation of impact: the responses of uk academics to impact as a new measure of research assessment.’ studies in higher education, 39(2), 359-377. wells, p. (2013, january 23). ‘the ref will strangle our vibrant academic community: it will alter morale, academic valuation of our work and the way in which we do it.’ impact of social sciences [blog]. available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/01/23/refwill-strangle-academia/ [accessed: 02-03-2015]. willetts, d. (2013) robbins revisited. bigger and better higher education. london: social market foundation. young, p. (2006) ‘out of balance: lecturers’ perceptions of differential status and rewards in relation to teaching and research.’ teaching in higher education, 11(2), 191-202. zamorski, b. (2002) ‘research-led teaching and learning in higher education, a case.’ teaching in higher education, 7(4), 411-427. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 flipping the debate – a reflection on whether flipped learning is a challenge, an opportunity or a necessity katie stripe imperial college london apt2015 ‘flipping the institution: higher education in the post digital age’ focused on exploring the challenges and opportunities created by the rapid changes in technology and their potential effects in higher education. ‘is flipped learning a challenge, an opportunity or a necessity?’ (stripe and carrier, 2015) presented the idea that flipped learning is anything that challenges the traditional teacher led model of classroom teaching, especially by introducing technology (flip learning, 2016). the idea was, to use a flipped learning format (i.e. one that transcends the traditional), to present information and collect thoughts from the audience, primarily teachers of higher education, about the future of flipped learning. the session, a mix of information delivery and discussion, involved the use of mentimeter (mentimeter, 2016) – an online tool that allows, via smart phones, voting and commenting during a presentation. the intention was to highlight the challenges and opportunities of flipped classrooms by using some of the techniques for flipping learning mentioned in the presentation, to collect opinions from the audience. i would like to look into some of those responses and reflect on what they mean for post-digital education. in addition, the interactions that came from the use of the technology also interested me, as they highlighted a disparity between verbal and online communication; this disparity i think needs to be considered as we move further into the technological realm. data collection and classroom dynamics one aim was to gauge audience opinion about flipped learning and the future of technology in higher education. using mentimeter provided a good, if unintended, view of how verbal and online communications coexist. figure 1 shows that flipped learning was considered a fad by five audience members; however, further discussion highlighted that this was not, in every case, owing to a feeling that learning technology is going to die out, but rather that terminology is likely to change and evolve with the technology. adding an online component into the discussion highlighted the way group dynamics change, or don’t, in relation to the type of communication. there was a noticeable time lag between the start of small group discussions and the moment when digital comments began appearing on the board suggesting participant nervousness about being first to contribute publicly via an instant feedback system, much as you may expect with a classroom discussion. however, once the initial barrier was overcome, there was a constant stream of comments. this combination of online and verbal methods, a cornerstone of flipped learning, figure 1: data collected in answer to: 'is flipped learning fab or a fad' opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 does seem to demonstrate a distinction between participants’ preferred modes of communication: some communicate more comfortably in verbal discussion; others prefer to embrace technology to express themselves. both semantics and dynamics highlight one of the major, and perhaps less obvious, challenges in developing flipped learning. the language we use to describe technology and the communication techniques we use to ‘flip’ classrooms need careful consideration. failure to do so may exacerbate challenges (johnson et al, 2015) and insecurities that already exist when technology is deployed as an educational tool. with hindsight, i should have asked the initial questions that started the session again at the end of the session to capture any changes of opinion brought about in light of the information presented and the resulting discussions. however, noting a change in opinion as a number on a graph would not have given the information gained from the discussion. one respondent who initially answered ‘fab’ changed their mind after hearing statistics about current usage of technology and its evolution in education during the presentation. i am not sure i agree that flipped learning is a fad. the statistics are based upon available technologies which, as with the vocabulary, will evolve or die out, but the concept of flipped learning will continue to develop. the technology may change and we may call our flipped classrooms by different names but i think the challenges to the status quo of accepted pedagogical styles from new technology will continue to cause change and development in education. this is the ‘necessity’ of flipped learning: as society becomes more dependent on technology than ever before, education must follow suit. however, the interactions described here show that without the combination of both online and verbal communication something important can be lost so when introducing an online aspect to education a balance must be struck between the two. online tools can be used to collect massive amounts of data but one sentence can also have an impact. for example, "we could do that on flip chart paper" or "that looks cool but i don't know how to do it". to me, these comments from the audience are opposite sides of the same coin: one attitude why use tech? the other i can't use tech! addressing this requires taking a step away from the language and techniques surrounding flipped learning and taking a step towards supporting it. i should like to see that done by demonstration and the sharing of good practice across institutions to move flipped learning from a hypothetical concept to something which is being done to a high standard and actively supported. words in the cloud supporting and encouraging development of technology enhanced learning requires discussion between educators, managers and learning technologists. the second part of the presentation attempted to start such a discussion and collect comments from small groups and use them to stimulate and encourage conversation across the whole audience. the process had a hesitant start, but some good comments were made. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 figure 2: answers to “what opportunities does flipped learning offer to students and educators?” the audience responses in figure 2 suggest opportunities that may be outside the accepted pedagogical benefits of flipped learning (flip learning, 2016). changing the status quo causes inevitable changes to people’s roles in learning scenarios, but i had never really thought of existing roles as barriers, considering them to be just a normal feature of the education system of which i have always been a part. however, in changing those roles, students and educators need to evaluate their own knowledge base and how they share and absorb that knowledge, much in the same way as the language and communication evolves. it follows that ownership of learning will be a beneficial by-product of these role reevaluations. by challenging roles, students become more aware of their own learning and i hope that this process will make learners more engaged, more active and ultimately more successful. figure 3: responses to: "what are the biggest challenges for developing flipped learning in the future?" opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 responses to the question in figure 3 may be split into two distinct areas; challenges personal to the educators and wider institutional challenges. it is my general belief that those personal challenges of “educator resistance” and “having enough time” could be addressed by working on some of the institutional challenges. flipped learning will develop through the imagination of the engaged few, but to make it widespread and ‘normal’ i think that there needs to be much more institutional involvement. the comments i should like to draw on are “consistency across an institution in terms of policy” and “the proliferation of bad practices”. i hope a sensible implementation of the first, with good pedagogical and technological support, combined with well-structured communication strategies, would much reduce bad practice. professional educators are exactly that: professional. however, institutions cannot expect them to imagine, implement and manage new concepts alone and for the results to be of a consistently high quality (visualistan, 2016). nevertheless, i don’t believe that a top-down management approach to learning technologies is the best way to go, or that there is a simple solution. this is a process that is going to take time to evolve and requires cooperation between grass-roots educators and their institutions. management support for classroom-level innovation and encouragement of shared good practice should encourage more educators to take up the challenge and establish a set of policies that take into account the needs of students and educators by a dynamic process of experimentation and negotiation with policy makers. figure 4: answers to: “what needs to change in order for flipped learning to become the norm?" the final question raised many good comments, most of which fed directly from the previous discussion on institutional change, but the two comments in figure 4 are the ones i should like to finish on. to the first comment, i should like to give my own personal answer: yes! i want my vision of flipped learning to become the norm (of course, that is what every megalomaniac wants!), but i should like to quantify that by responding to the second point, which, despite the obvious contradiction, i also agree with. i believe things need to change (and, to some extent, that change will be forced upon higher education), but i don’t see that change as a simple shift from one paradigm to another. as we introduce technology into our classrooms and lecture halls, we shall see changes in communication and language and in the way we interact with other people; these all need to become part of a constantly-evolving pedagogical mindset that is adaptable enough to accept the new technologies and evolve with them. when i was a university student ten years ago, i did not have my own computer, much less an internet-enabled device that went everywhere with me. the rate of change in technology has gone up exponentially and higher education can’t just watch: it needs to find a way of opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 reacting to that change and evolving with it. the title of the presentation was ‘is flipped learning an opportunity, challenge or necessity?’ it was, and still is, my belief that flipped learning is all three. reference list flip learning (2016) ‘what is flipped learning?’ available at: http://flippedlearning.org/domain/46 (accessed: 27 june 2015). flip learning (2016) ‘improve student learning and teacher satisfaction in one flip of the classroom.’ available at: http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/va01923112/centricity/domain/41/classroomwindo winfographic7-12.pdf (accessed: 27 june 2015). johnson, l., adams becker, s., estrada, v. and freeman, a. (2015) nmc horizon report: 2015 higher education edition, pp.20-32. austin: the new media consortium. mentimeter (2016) ‘voting with smartphones during presentations.’ available at: https://www.mentimeter.com/ (accessed: 27 june 2015). stripe, k. and carrier, l. (2015) ‘is flipped learning, a challenge and opportunity or a necessity? presented to academic practice in technology conference 2015‘flipping the institution: higher education in the post digital age.’ 07.07.2015 (access 07.07.2015) https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2015/paper/viewpaper/783 visualistan (2016) ‘growth in flipped learning #infographic.’ available at: http://www.visualistan.com/2014/05/growth-in-flipped-learning-infographic.html (accessed: 27 june 2015). http://flippedlearning.org/domain/46 http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/va01923112/centricity/domain/41/classroomwindowinfographic7-12.pdf http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/va01923112/centricity/domain/41/classroomwindowinfographic7-12.pdf https://www.mentimeter.com/ https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2015/paper/viewpaper/783 http://www.visualistan.com/2014/05/growth-in-flipped-learning-infographic.html introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 it is our great pleasure to welcome you to the tenth issue of compass, the university of greenwich learning and teaching journal. two major changes have been introduced since the last publication – the change of the managing editor following karen smith’s departure from the university, and the introduction of the limited print run. the composition of the tenth edition offers a good balance of opinion pieces, case studies and articles with an addition of a technology review. all of the submissions fall under the broad theme of a range of approaches to enhancing student engagement and university teaching. some authors address this through references to technology such as google glass, intranets, moocs or flipped classroom approach, others tackle the aspects of feedback or consider general place of teaching in he. the discussion of the theme of student engagement commences with three opinion pieces. duncan mckenna reports on the student involvement in the testa@greenwich research project, which seeks to harness the creativity and imagination of students in those aspects of their university experience which most concern them, namely assessment and feedback. genuine student engagement, achieved through the deployment of five ‘students as change agents’, is one of the project’s aim: by the opening of channels of communication between staff and students, the latter may be empowered not only to learn, but also to influence and construct the ways they are taught. diana bath challenges advice offered in feedback to students in the early part of their course which counsels them not to express opinion, as that may lead them into making unfounded claims and digressing from the focus of their task; she explores the ways by which students may review their fixed and narrow interpretation of that advice and gain the confidence to build into their final assessed pieces relevant, informed personal opinion substantiated by reflection upon objective evidence. in the final opinion piece mary kiernan reflects on her research into how well collaborative online learning works and her unsatisfactory personal experience of a mooc (massive open online course). she argues that innovative use of cyber-technologies to enhance learning can pose challenges for educators in providing support to students engaging with them; and advocates constructive online community socialisation measures to ensure that participants do function fully in whatever structured learning materials and activities may be on offer. mark betteney opens the case study section where he questions the truth of the commonlyheld belief that grades for undergraduate students generally improve from the second to the third year (the so-called ‘exit velocity’) of their course. he analyses grade data from the four years 2010-2014 on the greenwich ba primary education professional programme and comes up with some interesting patterns. jane challinor in her case study examines the potential advantages and challenges of a ‘flipped classroom’ to develop academic, research and digital skills in first-year students on nottingham trent’s undergraduate health and social care course. she draws on personal experience of offering collaborative learning opportunities to a large (103 students) group in a technology-rich environment and considers how the design of both the curriculum and the learning space might be adjusted to maximise student engagement and learning benefits. introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 the case study section concludes with ray stoneham’s exploration of plagiarism in higher education. he examines the various methods by which computing at greenwich university has, with considerable success, not only identified when students have plagiarised but also educated them to understand why it is not permissible or acceptable to appropriate the work of others, but rather to take responsibility for the authenticity of their own submissions in their pursuit of a final grade. in his second submission, this time an article, ray stoneham discusses the achievement of the greenwich school of computing and mathematical sciences in developing an intranet to produce, in the complex context of connected learning in an open world, a single, summative, achievement-reflective grade for each student that will stand rigorous external scrutiny and provide appropriate information for higher education league tables. the second and final article by ana paula cabral and isabel huet is sharp scrutiny of a higher education sector-wide concern, with a study of the current imbalance between and segregation of research and teaching/learning. both authors examine the possible impacts of the 2014 research excellence framework and argues that the much higher status enjoyed by research and the focus of research funding on a charmed few institutions and individual staff within them are having a deleterious effect on the rest of the sector and on the many academics who are relegated to teaching-only roles with limited rewards. finally after an absence from compass we welcome back a technology review. bradley elliott and artun sukan seek to demonstrate how the wearable technology ‘google glass’ may be used by both students and academic staff to exploit its potential in a variety of teaching and learning situations from the laboratory to the lecture hall, the author takes account also of various disadvantages of this hands-free technology and the barriers to its successful deployment. as these overviews show the papers published in the tenth issue show a wealth of interesting work that captures the landscape and the challenges of the higher education sector. we hope that you will find something of interest here and share your research and practice with the wider reader base by submitting to the next issue. monika pazio educational development unit university of greenwich compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7 no 11, 2015 first published in 2015 by: educational development unit university of greenwich greenwich campus old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor monika pazio, educational development unit sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health wendy cealey harrison, academic quality unit ian mcnay, faculty of education & health simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, faculty of engineering & science sarah crofts, information and library services paul dennison, educational development unit edward phillips, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities lynne jump, faculty of education & health ed de quincey, keele university malcolm ryan, independent critical friend nola stair, faculty of business james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 57 a postgraduate marketing programme’s journey towards internationalisation dr mazia yassim university of greenwich, uk abstract internationalisation has been a significant focus of educational institutions for some time now and yet many institutions are still grappling with the most effective way to achieve it. this case study provides a critical review of steps taken within a marketing postgraduate programme towards internationalisation. three key steps are outlined here, with a view to sharing lessons learnt at each step: module-level approach, optional virtual exchange and programme-level approach. the paper concludes that internationalisation at home is a more inclusive way forward and that faculty development, use of technology and clearly defined learning outcomes are critical elements in securing effective internationalisation. keywords: internationalisation, virtual exchange, internationalisation at home 1. introduction internationalisation in its broadest sense is defined as the relationship between two or more nations for the purposes of trade, political alliances and treaties. (bernardo and mercher, 2019). from an employability perspective, the ability to understand, adapt to and work with different nations and cultures has emerged as a key skill over the years (bhagra and sharma, 2018). this has meant that ‘internationalisation’ has been a buzzword within business educational settings for some time now (loveland et al., 1987). individual schools and programmes within the business disciplines have been, along with all other disciplines, trying to find effective ways by which internationalisation can be achieved not just by themselves, but holistically by their institutions, some of which have embraced it as a key strategic target; it is now quite widely identified in and across institutions as a key graduate attribute and learning outcome. despite this, effective internationalisation has been a somewhat elusive concept, largely because disciplines and their subject specialisms individually adopt their own strategies to achieve it. higher education institutions (heis) have recently been criticised for making unfounded claims about their internationalisation. for example, for claiming to produce global citizens, often on the basis only of a marketing dimension (baker and fang, 2021); for using case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 58 internationalisation as a means of increasing revenues by a focus on developing trans-national education partners and recruiting more international students (stein et al., 2019). programmes and institution-wide internationalisation therefore need to become more holistic and effective. this paper provides a critical review of the steps taken to internationalise a postgraduate-level marketing programme based within a united kingdom (uk) business school. the perspective provided here is that of the programme leader, who designed and implemented these approaches over two academic years. i outline and critically examine each stage, with the intention of learning lessons from the experience. 2. background internationalisation is a result of the increasing globalisation of our world (killick, 2015). student experiences at heis accordingly need to change to reflect this, whether viewed from either a practical or a moral perspective. practically, all graduates must be able to compete in an increasingly global workplace (haigh, 2002) and, morally, business graduates must be better equipped to address social justice agendas (sebastianelli et al., 2021). a sharper understanding of the world and its issues, of inter-cultural awareness and acceptance can help to address social justice agendas and promote tolerance and inclusion. both practical and moral perspectives clearly demonstrate that heis, including business schools, have an obligation to equip all graduates for the global workplace. such widely varying terms for internationalisation as ‘global competence’, ‘cultural intelligence’, ‘global citizenship education’ and ‘cultural competence’ illustrate well a general lack of consensus about what it is. ceo-difrancesco et al. (2019) account for this as the inevitable result of widely varying terminology across disciplines. however, there is agreement about the value of viewing the world through different lenses and from different perspectives (deardorff, 2006), for to do so encompasses both the practical and moral aspects of internationalisation. thus the postgraduate programme under discussion here adopted deardorff’s (2006) definition of internationalisation for its approach. business schools and programmes, with the aim of achieving effective internationalisation, incorporate – into the learning outcomes, content, teaching methods and assessments (leask, 2015) of their curriculum – international, inter-cultural and global dimensions. as simm and marvell (2017) aver, there is little doubt of the need to internationalise the curriculum, but it is vital to consider the nature of its implementation. an added dimension to consider is the impact of internationalisation on sustainability. global student mobility is not always the most sustainable way by which to internationalise the curriculum (sierra et al., 2022). given the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 59 complex nature of international skills, to incorporate considerable flexibility into provision of opportunities and methods would prove more effective (fernhaber and hines, 2021). by and large, internationalisation within business schools has relied on student and staff mobility exchanges to educational institutions based in different countries, as facilitated very considerably by the bologna agreement and erasmus funding (now replaced in the uk by the turing scheme). these physical exchanges have their own challenges, rendering them unsuitable for all programmes, contexts and students. i explore these challenges below within the context of the postgraduate marketing programme under discussion here. 2.1 internationalisation challenges for the postgraduate marketing programme like many postgraduate business programmes in the uk, this marketing programme lasts twelve months and has a very diverse international student cohort. although internationalisation is an established key graduate attribute of the business school and of the wider institution within which the business school is based, there was very little previous active effort within the postgraduate marketing programme to internationalise the curriculum. some degree of complacency caused it to be taken for granted that the international student and faculty body would provide sufficient levels of internationalisation and, in consequence, little had been done to use co-creation strategies in order to exploit effectively the cultural capital of students within the cohorts. physical student exchanges were never part of this programme, largely because of its relatively short duration. first, funding for student exchanges such as erasmus was traditionally provided for students spending a term/semester in another country; this has never been feasible within a twelve-month programme and now, additionally, students’ caring commitments limit time away from their home base. second, shorter visits to educational institutions or practitioner bases in different countries usually need to be self-funded by students, so excluding those who cannot afford to take part in these learning experiences. such hindrances as both of these to the widening of participation within this programme exclude students from certain backgrounds or responsibilities. accordingly, this postgraduate marketing programme has had to find a way to internationalise the curriculum and student experience without the need to travel, viz. ‘internationalisation at home’ (wachter, 2003; harrison, 2015). this is the approach whereby the curriculum is internationalised through the use of case studies, global perspectives, interactions with international students and faculty (within the institution) and virtual exchanges with faculty and students from different countries. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 60 2.2 steps towards internationalisation at home in its efforts to internationalise at home, the marketing postgraduate programme undertook three steps, for each of which, once implemented, student and faculty feedback was sought to assess that step’s effectiveness in order to develop and implement the following step. step 1: module level internationalisation step 2: optional virtual exchange step 3: programme level internationalisation 3. method of evaluation a qualitative approach to feedback and evaluation was used in this case study. at each stage, student feedback was sought via a focus group. fifteen students in all took part in the feedback sessions, with four or five students providing feedback after each stage. staff provided their feedback during focus group discussions held during programme committee meetings. both students and staff shared and discussed their opinions of what worked well, what the limitations were and how things could be enhanced. below, i provide discussion and critical review of each stage. 3.1 step 1: module level internationalisation this was the initial stage of internationalisation of the programme, intended to ensure that each module’s content was international so that students would gain different perspectives of the subject and see how practices differed in different cultures and contexts. there were two stages within this step. first, all module teams were asked to review their recommended reading and ensure that it included sources from different countries – not a new request, in as far as this was the institution’s guidance, provided in line with its strategies and with graduate attributes. however, as is the case with any strategy or plan, if not measured, it is unlikely to be made a priority. this lack of monitoring and evaluation meant that the internationalisation of the content and resources used in modules was very sporadic and ineffective. even in cases where sources from different countries and contexts were included, the specific learning from these, in terms of developing competencies of international knowledge, were not actively explored. consequently, students did not notice any specific internationalisation in their modules. faculty feedback indicated some challenges, to do with attitude and knowledge. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 61 some faculty felt that they used the sources considered best for their specific subjects and hence they did not see why there was a need to seek out content from international sources. others felt that they did not have sufficient knowledge or resources to investigate international content and sources “and, anyway, isn’t it easier in some subjects than in others to find international sources and content?” second, and as a result of the above feedback, the concept of ‘international week’ was introduced as a way to consolidate the international content and experience students received in each of their modules. one week per term, usually in the middle, was designated as international week. each module ensured that the teaching and learning activities taking place would have an international focus during that week: for example, discussing a case from an international context during the seminar, inviting an international guest speaker and setting students tasks encouraging co-creation and sharing of international experiences. after two terms of trialling, this approach received similar responses to the previous one. as previously, this one largely relied on the motivation and ability of the module’s teaching team to make it effective: whereas some modules had international practitioners as guest speakers (something well received by students), others simply used one or two examples from international contexts during their delivery of content. students’ feedback showed that they were disappointed with the international week. they expected to have found more emphasis on internationalisation with a variety of interesting activities and discussions. however, they failed to notice any difference between a normal teaching week and the international week. one of the key lessons from this approach was that it was what grossman (2017) refers to as a ‘fuzzy’ application of rhetoric when it comes to internationalisation. this approached internationalisation with a narrow vision and expected that just adding some international names of authors and companies would suffice to achieve the aim. specific internationalisation-related learning outcomes were not developed at module levels and so neither the faculty nor the students were clear about what they were expected to achieve. added to this, the issues of faculty training and resources were not taken into account. it was assumed that all faculty members were equipped with international perspectives and skills themselves and were well versed in developing this in their students. the time and effort required by faculty to research and embed international elements into their modules were also underestimated. 3.2 step 2: optional virtual exchange recognition from step 1 that a more active and focused approach was needed led to this step’s intention to enhance the internationalisation experience of students by providing them case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 62 with an opportunity to engage in a virtual exchange with students from an international institution. ‘virtual exchange’ refers to the use of online formats whereby students engage with peers from other educational institutions to achieve a common learning outcome or purpose (sierra et al., 2022; ceo-difrancesco et al., 2019). virtual exchanges are increasingly proving popular as an inclusive curriculum model for internationalising the curriculum (o'dowd and lewis, 2016). thanks to their interactive nature, virtual exchanges help to address the challenges of internationalisation discussed previously in terms of widening participation. the virtual exchange for this postgraduate marketing programme involved students working with students of an hei based in spain. this was an inter-disciplinary exchange involving students from different levels of study. students from spain were undertaking studies in public policy and were in the final year of their undergraduate programmes. the project required the postgraduate marketing students to take on the role of communications consultants who would enable the ‘clients’ to launch a public policy communications campaign. from the perspective of the postgraduate students, the project provided them with the experience of liaising with a client to understand the brief and requirements, apply communications theories in practice, share their communications and marketing knowledge with others outside the discipline and also explore how the application of theories needs to be adapted to fit different cultural contexts. as with any study exchange project, learning was not limited to the formal elements outlined above. working informally with students from a different cultural context allowed them all to learn about each other’s ways of doing things within both educational institutions and another country more generally. students’ feedback on the virtual exchange was very positive: they found the sharing of both discipline-related and cultural knowledge to be very insightful. from the perspective of the programme teams, there were two key challenges and lessons learnt from this approach. first, as semesters and assessment periods work differently at different institutions, aligning the optimum time of exchange proved difficult. second, this was a stand-alone exchange that did not directly relate to any of the taught modules within the postgraduate marketing programme. students were asked to opt for this exchange if they wished to expand their global skills. although one third of the programme cohort opted to take part, there were dropouts and lack of engagement during the project. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 63 3.3 step 3: programme level internationalisation as a result of the first two steps outlined above, a programme-level approach to internationalisation was designed, combining elements from both steps. a dedicated programme-level international week was organised, with all timetabled learning and teaching activities suspended. instead of their regular timetabled activities, all students took part in a range of activities and sessions specifically designed to enhance their international skills and perspectives. the international week activities consisted of guest speakers from different countries, an international-themed quiz, discussion and review of movie clips from different parts of the world and a student exchange project which lasted two days. an hei from finland took part in this international week, its postgraduate marketing students attending the workshops, seminars and also taking part in the joint student project to rebrand post-brexit uk as a desirable destination for a chosen segment. the joint student project was held as a competition, with the three winning teams receiving recognition for their successful project plans. feedback from students and faculty on this was very positive. in contrast to step 1, students felt that there was a clear focus to this international week and they were pleased with the range of activities and choices available. this combination of passive (guest speaker sessions) and active (discussions and student projects) sessions enabled them to widen their perspectives. also, in contrast to step 2, students’ engagement was higher, on account of the shorter timeframes involved and of their having had their time freed up by the suspension of regular timetabled activities. faculty feedback was also very positive in that they did not have the same pressures as when doing this at individual module levels; they were able to work together as a supportive team to develop the international week activities. 4. discussion and recommendations the three steps outlined above set out some of the benefits and challenges of the various internationalisation approaches within the postgraduate marketing programme. it was clear to see that a programme-level approach was much better received by both students and faculty. it could be argued that internationalisation cannot be achieved to any great extent with only one week of dedicated activities. however, what this can provide is both a focused time for students to engage with and reflect on their global skills and a clearer sense of the need for continuous improvement of their international skills and perspectives. within a very timelimited postgraduate programme of twelve months, one week of dedicated time is feasible. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 64 without this time limitation, in a three-year undergraduate programme for instance, this can easily be expanded to one week per level of study or year, with each year’s international week focusing on a specific theme. the key to achieving effective implementation is to ensure that, in addition to overarching strategic aims, specific learning outcomes for each aspect of internationalisation are set in an effective way. one-week of focused internationalisation, for instance, may not be able to deliver every aspect of internationalisation. rather, it will enable the achievement of specific and focused international learning outcomes. starting with clear learning outcomes will also ensure that student expectations are managed and communicated clearly, leading to student satisfaction. models such as the global citizenship (reysen and katzarska-miller, 2013), which offers outcomes of global citizenship, provide a good starting point to help educators with identifying and setting learning outcomes for internationalisation approaches. despite the benefits of the programme-level approach, effective internationalisation needs a variety of approaches, planned and executed holistically. just one week of international focus, while the remainder of learning and teaching activities do not reinforce or make efforts to embed international skills and perspectives, will not be an immersive international experience for students. as simm and marvell (2017) argue, internationalisation of the curriculum is not solely about content but also needs changes to styles of teaching, learning and assessments. to enable this properly, it is crucial for institutions to focus on developing the skills, attitudes and knowledge of their faculty with regard to internationalisation. as schuerholz-lehr et al. (2007) maintain, effective internationalisation is very much dependent on faculty’s understanding of its scope and benefits as well as their willingness for, and capacity to implement, curriculum change. so, as part of the process of internationalisation of any institution, there must be sufficient resources to develop and support faculty internationalisation. although student mobility programmes have played a huge role in providing students with international experiences, the number of students who have engaged in study abroad programmes remains relatively low (o’dowd, 2017). the reasons for this can be linked to widening participation remits, discussed previously as being part of the challenges of the programme. additionally, the increasing importance of the sustainability agenda of heis may also conflict with the reliance on large-scale travel to internationalise students. both internationalisation and sustainability agendas need to go hand in hand to ensure that heis meet both these highly important agendas (dvorak et al., 2011). internationalisation at home, and virtual exchanges in particular, can aid in this. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 65 given that the first examples of online collaborative projects started within a few years of the emergence of the internet (tella, 1991), virtual exchanges have not developed at any significant pace over the years. o'dowd (2018) cites the general lack of awareness of its educational value as being one of the main barriers. the coronavirus pandemic, which forced learning and teaching to be online, has meant that most heis are more willing to engage with virtual learning initiatives. research and academic practice within various disciplines has shown the effectiveness of virtual exchanges in developing global skills and inter-cultural knowledge (orsini-jones, 2018; lenkaitis and loranc-paszylk, 2021; bowen et al., 2021). the use of technology, such as virtual reality, can further enhance virtual exchanges in particular and virtual international learning experiences in general, by providing students with real-life experiences of contexts and cultures (bowen et al., 2021) without the need for physical travel. 5. conclusion internationalisation is an integral part of hei strategies. this case study provided an outline and critical discussion of the approaches undertaken by a postgraduate marketing programme in its quest for effective internationalisation. this is not presented as a suggested approach. the experience of and the lessons learnt by this programme may help others in exploring different approaches to internationalisation, which must go beyond mobility and strongly emphasise teaching and learning in a culturally diverse setting (wachter 2003). to enable this, heis need to focus on faculty development. the advance of technology has provided a more inclusive way to develop global skills in students as demonstrated by steps 2 and 3 outlined above. in addition to this, there are many differing ways by which internationalisation can also be achieved. as o’dowd (2017) concluded, no one model can exclusively claim to be the only way to engage in intercultural exchanges. a multi-level and more holistic approach, with clearly defined learning outcomes, is fundamental. reference list baker, w. and fang, f. 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(1991) ‘introducing international communications networks and electronic mail into foreign language classrooms: a case study in finnish senior secondary schools.’ available at: http://www.helsinki.fi/~tella/95.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2021). wachter, b. (2003) ‘an introduction: internationalisation at home in context.’ journal of studies in international education, 7(1), 5-11. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1028315302250176 (accessed: 30 december 2020). http://www.helsinki.fi/~tella/95.pdf an evaluation of the use of a new virtual learning environment for a postgraduate hospital pharmacist programme case studies an evaluation of the use of a new virtual learning environment for a postgraduate hospital pharmacist programme isobel bailey universities of greenwich and kent at medway, medway school of pharmacy introduction virtual learning environments (vles) are now available in most higher education institutions (heis). originally most implementation was done at a local level but as the possibilities of technology have become more apparent more is being asked from vle provision (weller 2007). there are a small number of documented examples of vles being used to support work-based learning. gray (2001) described the development of a vle to support employees working for the british airports authority (baa) who were undertaking a master of business administration (mba) course delivered and accredited by the university of surrey. clarke et al., (2005) discussed the setting-up of a vle as part of a bespoke managed learning environment (mle) for the workforce of a healthcare organisation. they concluded that the mle offered enhanced learning opportunities and assisted healthcare providers in training their dispersed workforces. they also felt that blended learning strategies were the most successful. the postgraduate diploma in general pharmacy practice (dipgpp) is a work-based postgraduate programme for newly qualified hospital pharmacists near the start of their careers, which aims to ‘equip practitioners with the core skills and competencies they require to provide pharmaceutical care in a practice setting’ (joint programmes board). the students enrolled on this programme work in national health service (nhs) hospitals throughout kent, surrey and sussex and are responsible for delivering direct patient care. the development of a portfolio based on experience in the work-place using the general level framework (codeg 2010), a validated competency framework for pharmacists, is central to the programme. this learning is underpinned by an academic element which consists of face-to face study days or learning sets and the use of workbooks and case studies. most formative assessment takes place in the workplace so each student has a work based nhs tutor as well as an academic tutor. the dipgpp programme is available under the auspices of the joint programmes board (jpb), a consortia compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 of heis working in collaboration with nhs specialist pharmacy services. in recognition of this partnership, students graduate from the programme with both an academic postgraduate diploma and an nhs statement of completion of general pharmacist training. it is a two and a half year course in total. the first eighteen months leads to a certificate and then a final year has to be completed for the full diploma. although the programme has been running at the medway school of pharmacy since october 2006, it was revised for the cohort of students who joined in september 2011. this new programme is commissioned by kent, surrey and sussex deanery (kssd), an nhs organisation which leads on the development of the pharmacy workforce across nhs south east coast. delivery of the academic element is now through a formalised partnership between the medway school of pharmacy and the university of brighton, school of pharmacy. three part-time, teacher-practitioners have been appointed as academic tutors, one each in kent, sussex and surrey. their role is to deliver the learning sets and also run the academic assessments jointly with the programme leader at each university. the delivery of each learning set is repeated three times and is staggered across the counties to provide flexibility for employers and students, so if the local one is missed there is an opportunity to attend elsewhere. there are 39 students registered in the cohort which started in september 2011. as part of the collaboration with the university of brighton a new vle has been developed. this case study describes what was required of the vle and how it has been developed and used to date. ●● requirements that the new vle needed to address included: ●● students based externally being able to access course materials. ●● students on the same course being registered at two universities. ●● academic staff based at two universities being able to share teaching materials. ●● work-based tutors working across twelve hospital nhs trusts being able to access course materials. development of the new vle. the vle was developed over summer 2011 using the university of kent’s external moodle. after logging in, a user is directed to five modules containing comprehensive information about the dipgpp. these are: 1. introduction contains general information about the programme and how it is delivered, including the dates of all the learning sets & useful links to for example, the jpb website. there are also contact details for the three teacher-practitioners and two programme leaders and maps and travel information for the venues. this module also contains some working pages for the hei teams which are hidden from view from the students and work-based tutors. these are very useful for the academic team as we are based at different sites. for example, we have a joint spreadsheet containing all the learning set feedback from the students which we can add to after delivering a learning set. we have also set up a joint repository using microsoft word to make sharing and updating course materials between us each year much easier. 2. tutor information 56 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 this module mainly contains information for the nhs work-based tutors. there is information about their role and also a tutor’s handbook as a pdf available for download. there is also a section on tutor support, training and education. it also describes the role of the university based teacher-practitioners. 3. diploma in general pharmacy practice will contain information once the current students start this part of the programme in march 2013. 4. certificate in general pharmacy practice contains workbooks and clinical case studies in pdf format for the student to download and work through prior to each learning set. there is also some recommended reading available for download as well as signposting to useful websites. the teacher-practitioners and programme leaders share the writing of the teaching materials and upload them onto moodle about a month before each learning set. we are able to share the teaching materials including the answers amongst ourselves but hide them from the students and work-place tutors. there is also information on the academic assessments and guidance on working at masters’ level for the students in this module. academic assessments for this course include a multi-choice question (mcq) examination paper and writing a 1500 word critical review. 5. portfolio management this contains the portfolio management guide which describes all the information that should be included in the student’s portfolio. all the proformas needed in the portfolio are available for download. this section also includes a series of dvd clips (produced by the jpb) showing how to carry out the work-based formative assessments required by the programme. this is a very useful tool for both students and work based tutors which helps to ensure the same learning experience across many different training sites. how the new vle has been used to date all students were sent instructions on how to register on external moodle and enrol on each of the five modules before their induction day in september 2011. they were also given the opportunity to ask any questions about it during their induction. work-based tutors were also sent instructions and they are encouraged to use external moodle as well because it is the quickest way of accessing up-to-date programme information. the teacher-practitioners and programme leaders attended a short training session in august 2011 to learn how to upload and delete files and to use some of the other features available on the vle. 94 people have registered as participants since september 2011. student feedback about external moodle the 39 students enrolled on to the dipgpp are the most frequent users of external moodle so in order to try and evaluate how useful they find it they were sent a short questionnaire. nineteen students replied and their answers are shown in table 1. 57 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 table 1 results of the questionnaire about the use of external moodle by dipgpp students strongly agree agree neither agree or disagree disagree strongly disagree the instructions for accessing external moodle sent out before the course induction day were sufficient for me to be able to register successfully. 9 8 1 1-was helped at the induction day using the instructions i found it straightforward to enrol onto each of the modules. 7 10 1 1 i find external moodle to be well laid out and easy to navigate. 2 9 5 2 i find the information contained in the introduction section to be useful 3 14 2 i find the information contained in the portfolio management section to be useful 4 12 3 i find the information i require about individual learning sets in the certificate in general pharmacy practice section easy to find 5 13 1 i do not have any problems using external moodle to download my pre-learning set study tasks 9 6 2 2 the students were also asked on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is i do not like at all & 10 is i like very much) to rate how they like using external moodle. sixteen students rated external moodle at 5 or above with four at 8 and four at 9. only one student gave moodle a 2. any additional comments made were generally positive. as this is a work-based programme with some but not all hospitals giving their employees some study-time during their working week we were interested to find out where the students accessed external moodle. fifteen replied that they used it at both home and work and one from work only with only three students stating that they had to access it from home. the students were also asked if there was anything else that they would like to see added to the vle in the future to help with the dipgpp. comments included ●● weekly or fortnightly mcq quizzes perhaps related to the upcoming clinical topic or evidence-based medicine. ●● quizzes, sample mcqs, sample case studies. ●● use of the calendar function to programme in ls & assessment dates. ●● videos, podcasts, lectures, extracurricular learning activities such as seminars, challenges such as on site tasks(in workplace) that can be undertaken independently of learning sets. ●● use of the social forum for discussions. ●● answers. 58 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 reflection it is encouraging that so many of the replies we received were very positive. the students attend the learning sets with either a laptop or else the work-books and case studies downloaded and completed (in most cases). the hei team jointly agreed at the beginning of the programme that we would not put the answers to the case studies and workbooks on to moodle. this is a self-directed programme and we want to encourage the students to find out the answers for themselves so that they are able to participate fully during the learning set activities and then use their increasing knowledge and skills in a clinical setting to improve patient care. we also felt that there was a danger that the answers could get passed on to future cohorts as students will be working together in the same hospital pharmacy departments. all three teacher-practitioners and both programme leaders find external moodle easy to navigate and use. as this is a new programme all the teaching materials have had to be written for this cohort which has been very time consuming but in response to the suggestions we received from the students we have recently written our first two quizzes containing practice mcqs using the new updated version of external moodle (see below). in the future we hope to be able to produce more. jointly with kss deanery we are hoping to produce our first podcast later this year. putting all the learning set and assessment dates on to the calendar is a straightforward task and would be useful for all participants. we will do this for the next cohort. post case study note external moodle was upgraded on 1st may 2012 to offer a more contemporary look and feel. new features include the facility to navigate more easily between modules and to use moodle on mobile devices. a new look quiz provides a user-friendly means of undertaking quizzes with options for taking the questions in any order & flagging questions to come back to. for staff, there are new question types available, with additional mathematical symbols in the html. acknowledgement i would like to thank dr shivaun gammie, medway school of pharmacy, for all her hard work setting up the vle for the dipgpp and to kaye bachelard, university of kent for her help with the additional features available on the new moodle. references clark, a.; lewis, d.; cole, i.; ringrose, l. (2005). a strategic approach to developing e-learning capability for healthcare, health information and libraries journal, 22, 33-41. competancy development and evaluation group (codeg) (2010). general level framework: a framework for pharmacist development in general pharmacy practice. [online]. available at: http://www.codeg.org/ fileadmin/codeg/pdf/glf/glf_sept_2010.pdf [accessed 10/09/12]. 59 http://www.codeg.org/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 gray, d. (2001). work-based learning, action learning and the virtual paradigm, journal of further and higher education, 25(3), 315-324. joint programmes board. [online]. available at: http://www.jpbsoutheast.org/about-the-diploma/ [accessed 27/04/2012]. kent, surrey & sussex pharmacist foundation programme (jpb). [online]. available at: http://www. ksspharmacy.nhs.uk/foundation-programme-jpb [accessed 27/04/12]. weller, m. (2007) virtual learning environments: using, choosing and developing your vle, london: routledge. author biography isobel bailey has worked as a hospital pharmacist for most of her career. she has specialised in delivering training for all grades of pharmacy staff. in 2011 she was appointed as a teacher-practitioner for the post graduate dipgpp. 61 http://www.jpbsoutheast.org/about-the-diploma/ http://www/ case studies isobel bailey development of the new vle. how the new vle has been used to date student feedback about external moodle reflection post case study note acknowledgement references author biography 1 case study from prison to lecture theatre: open book drop-in sessions at the university of greenwich janice larkin access & widening participation unit fiona taylor open book project, goldsmiths college, university of london “it’s not about rehab; it’s about becoming the people we always should have been. we’re not victims, we’re survivors. victims don’t have the power to change things. we have.” this is the strongly held belief of joe baden, the co-ordinator of the open book project, who inspired the drop-in sessions at the university of greenwich. joe also says, “to build self-esteem you must do esteemable things.” the drop-in sessions are helping to give people the tools to make those changes and to do esteemable things. the open book drop-in sessions were originally funded by a university of greenwich dragons’ den bid, based on the television series of the same name. we had five minutes to pitch an idea to a panel of five people including the pro vice-chancellor, at least two heads of school and an external industry representative. applications had to be innovative, bidding for a maximum of £3,000. following the pitch, the panel asked questions and a decision was given immediately. this was a nerve-wracking process but nowhere near as frightening as first setting foot on campus can be for some of our students. in ‘been there, done that’ (hoare 2004), an open book student explains why peer support is so important. “i’m doing a ba … but the academic stuff is almost the easy bit. what’s tough is making friends, as there are so few people here who have experienced the kind of life i have. and it’s not much easier at home, as i’ve had to drop many of the old friends i used to hang around with.” this student from a very dysfunctional family, was suspended from primary school for theft, quickly found support and friendship within a gang and moved on through asbos, to a young offenders’ institute and finally to prison. fortunately, on leaving prison he decided the time had come to change his life and do those esteemable things. breaking with his old life was very difficult and he may not have succeeded without the peer support offered by open book. the university of greenwich open book drop-in sessions offer support to students from non traditional backgrounds, including ex-addicts, ex-offenders and those with mental health problems. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 2 the sessions are open access once a week throughout the year and at first ran for two hours but now extend to four. the sessions are staffed by an open book study skills tutor and experienced student ambassadors. they offer: a conduit to pre-existing support, a comfortable place to talk, help in interpreting the bureaucracy, study skills and a safe non-judgemental space. the defining ethos is that they are run by staff and students who come from similar backgrounds and are therefore able to offer real peer support. within the same session someone may be both a tutor and a student; there is no hierarchy. peer support, albeit in the area of mental health, is defined by gartner and reissman (1982) as “social emotional support …. that is mutually offered or provided by persons having a mental health condition to others sharing a similar mental health condition to bring about a desired social or personal change”. if we expand this definition beyond mental health, it is an accurate description of the function and purpose of the sessions. the desired change being successful completion of a higher education programme. we are also able to show that there are other benefits to those who attend the drop-in sessions. ● student a almost had to quit because of financial difficulties but is now teaching in an further education college. ● student b almost gave up several times due to loss of confidence and self-doubt but is still attending, doing very well and has been offered a master’s programme at a leading london institution. ● 35 students have attended, approximately 33% regularly and none have so far left university. ● two close to suicide but still here and getting help. all of these students are more likely to stay at university but the benefits stretch far beyond the campus walls – they will become people who contribute to society rather than taking from it. we believe that the sessions have been successful because they offer an informal relaxed and safe atmosphere where students can find their own route to finding solutions to problems. the final word is left to a student, “it works because it is halfway between everyday and academic, and so general conversation leads to disclosure.” references gartner, a., and riessman, f. (1982). self-help and mental health. hospital and community psychiatry, 33: 631–635. hoare, s. (2004). been there, done that. the guardian, 29 june. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 1 gather.town: an opportunity for self-paced learning in a synchronous, distancelearning environment colin d mcclure*, paul n williams queen’s university belfast, belfast, northern ireland * corresponding author keywords: self-paced learning, distance-learning, covid-19, video-conferencing, synchronous video-conferencing abstract the covid-19 pandemic has forced higher education to adopt distance-learning approaches in traditionally face-to-face and practical-based fields such as the health and life sciences. such an abrupt change to distance-learning contexts brings a variety of challenges to student learning communities and makes it all the more important to ensure that key skills are effectively transferred. that students have only limited opportunities at the time of their learning to discuss their individual needs with their educators and peers is a particular cause for concern. proximity-based video-conferencing platforms such as ‘gather’ (gather.town) can offer a unique opportunity for learners to interact, at their own pace, with educators, peers and pre-developed materials, to tailor the teaching experience and develop these relationships in a distance-learning context. in this case study, the concepts and practice of statistical analysis using the software ‘r’ are introduced to thirty-eight university students via gather.town. by means of private spaces, pre-recorded videos and demonstrators, students are trained in both the concepts and practical skills to undertake data analysis at a pace they themselves determine. both students and demonstrators provide their opinions on the effectiveness of the platform and identify its benefits, preferring it to alternative online systems such as ms teams for their educational sessions. background higher education institutions (heis) must constantly adapt to environmental and economic changes to ensure they meet their responsibilities to both their students and wider society. at a time when the global financial situation for higher education (he) favours a low-cost, highfee model and when the number of versatile digital learning platforms has significantly grown, universities have increasingly adopted distance-learning (dl) to create a more sustainable economic system (harry and perraton, 1999). such motivation has led to a steady rise in the number of american universities offering online degree courses, from 70% in 2012 to 76% by 2016 (xu and xu, 2017). within the united kingdom (uk), between 2011 and 2015, the numbers of overseas students studying online degrees increased – by 26% from the usa, 41% from canada, 125% from australia and 135% from south africa (vickers, 2017), so demonstrating a growing global demand for universities to meet. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 2 in such an economic landscape, the covid-19 pandemic has forced universities to adopt dl approaches (dhawan, 2020). since the initial national lockdown in march 2020, practically all teaching within uk heis has adapted to a dl-based approach, bringing many challenges, particularly for traditionally practical-based subjects such as the health and life sciences (dost, 2020). dl is defined as “providing education to students who are separated by distance (i.e., who are not physically present in the same space) and in which the pedagogical material is planned and prepared by an educational institution” (kaplan and haenlein, 2016, p.443), often taking a blended approach with both synchronous – i.e., learners engaged at the same time, usually via synchronous video-conferencing (svc) (themeli, 2016) – and asynchronous sessions to support students’ learning. although students generally show a greater preference for synchronous settings over asynchronous (kemp and grieve, 2014), the latter provide autonomy for students in the progression of their work, enabling self-paced learning for the individual (azizan, 2010). this is particularly true for dl scenarios, as synchronous sessions – now often delivered via static, svc software such as microsoft (ms) teams – offer little opportunity for individual educator-student contact, tailored-learning or peer-to-peer interactions (themeli, 2016), although effective examples may be achieved using such features as breakout rooms to facilitate small-group interaction and instruction (al-samarraie, 2019). fostering and encouraging meaningful formal (but also, particularly, informal) peer interactions is an important element, enabling students to develop and manage their own selfregulated learning (srl) strategies (zimmerman, 1989), something especially challenging within blended dl approaches, where student-student contact has been shown to influence srl and enhance academic achievement (lim et al., 2020). gather.town (gt), from gather, is an intuitive, online, proximity-based video-conferencing software which offers participants the ability to move freely within a 2-d, pre-designed space where users can access private ‘rooms’, interact with shared documents and files (including pre-recorded videos), co-create using a wide variety of available ‘objects’ and connect with one another. currently, the platform offers full design features and access for up to twentyfive participants in any space for free, with no limit on the number of spaces a user can create. although used predominantly for conferences with much success (samiei et al., 2020; fischer et al., 2021), there is, to date, very limited literature on its use as a learning tool. despite this, gt offers educators the ability to pre-design learning spaces specific to their audience, to communicate effortlessly between entire spaces and small groups and to provide tailored support to students and/or student groups as they progress through the activities in a dl synchronous environment. in this manner, it is proposed that gt could present an opportunity for students to derive the benefits of synchronous sessions, which provide opportunities for peer-peer communication and development of a sense of identity within their learning community (themeli, 2016), as well as offer the flexibility and tailored nature of self-paced learning to enable students to develop their srl strategies (tullis and benjamin, 2011). this case study aims to investigate the practical usefulness of gt in the context of a researchintensive uk university and is focused on a student cohort traditionally considered ‘technologically challenged’. it also aims to determine the perceptions of both students and educators as to its effectiveness as a learning tool for teaching a practical skill. these students were specifically selected, as the majority are active farmers based in remote locations in rural ireland/northern ireland and generally demonstrate unfamiliarity with technology (identified https://gather.town/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 3 from previous interaction), thus enabling assessment of the platform in relation to a less capable and physically distant audience. from the clear but limited results obtained, we propose gt as a useful novel resource, enjoyed by both students and educators, which can be used to supplement face-to-face synchronous sessions in order to support learning communities at a distance and provide tailored, self-paced learning with the benefits of svc, particularly in relation to teaching practical-based skills. implementation and evaluation to determine the effectiveness of gt as a platform for practical skills education, dr mcclure and a team of demonstrators delivered a series of five, weekly, one-hour data analysis sessions via the site to a cohort of thirty-eight final-year (fourth-year) students within the ‘research project’ module of the bsc agricultural technology course at queen’s university belfast (qub). the cohort was separated into two groups (of nineteen students each) – to avoid the need for a service fee – ensuring that no more than twenty-five individuals were accessing the space at any one time. dr mcclure and two demonstrators taught the sessions – delivered back to back to each of the cohorts each focusing on an element of the data analysis process. although each session was open to students via a unique link, passwords could have been created and altered weekly to ensure restricted access to the course content. each week, drs mcclure and williams (hereafter referred to as “we”) arranged the online teaching environment with the appropriate materials for the students to engage with. the specifically designed space consisted of three private ‘rooms’, each containing information and materials related to a specific task, each attended by an educator and each labelled appropriately within the site to direct the students (see figure 1). interactive materials consisted of pdf. guides to the task, instructional videos (accessible only to the students) and links to websites and anonymous quizzes via ms forms. a video guide for map-building, as well as embedding ‘objects’ – such as posters, videos, surveys etc. to which participants can interact – within the environment and a general introduction to gt, can be found on the official youtube channel. prior to the five-week programme, we introduced students to the gt platform via the university’s virtual learning environment (vle), ‘canvas’, with an online guide (see appendix i). we also described the sessions’ format and overall learning outcomes, via canvas, in advance of the sessions. for the overall assignment, students were to complete five individual – but related – tasks, and each week the three ‘rooms’ were dedicated to the tasks appropriate to the students’ overall progression (as monitored by weekly anonymous polling). throughout each week, we made interactive resources available to the students, so that they could access them asynchronously, and encouraged them to compile questions and determine limitations prior to the gt sessions, where they could address these, either with peers in groups or with the educators directly. at the beginning of each session, dr mcclure provided a brief introduction to the particular task of the week via a ‘podium’ (a gt object), which enabled the educator to broadcast to all individuals within the space, regardless of whether or not participants were in a private space. following this, students had the freedom to interact with the available resources, the educators and/or their peers in their own manner (example engagement can be seen in figure 1). this https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucd4uhlois5n9k6fruvwscua https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucd4uhlois5n9k6fruvwscua case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 4 format 1) enabled students to choose, and engage specifically with, the material most relevant to their individual progress and 2) provided more of an opportunity for one-to-one assistance and peer support than would have been possible through other svc formats. educators had the facility to message each other privately during the session, to assist necessary real-time adaptations to the educational environment to better suit students, as well as to provide ‘global’ announcements in order to support the structure of the sessions. following each session, dr mcclure provided a written summary on canvas, in addition to any recorded material from the session’s introduction and task overview for the students to access. figure 1: the gt environment designed for the data analysis sessions. an anonymised snapshot of a live gt session in action – with three educators and fourteen students – demonstrating the various functionalities of the platform and enabling students to access materials appropriate for, and relevant to, their individual stage. the highlighted tiles surrounding the user (dr colin mcclure) indicate a private space the user is presenting to. to evaluate the perception of gt, we delivered a short, anonymous survey via ms forms to the students and to the educators involved, to capture their impression of the platform as an educational resource. both surveys were distributed between the second and fourth sessions of the programme (i.e., 2 february to 15 february 2021) and are available in appendices ii and iii. we asked respondents to provide their perspectives of gt in comparison to other dl software and of face-to-face sessions, as well as to rank in order of importance six features of the gt software: i) ability to discuss with educator; ii) ability to discuss with peers; iii) placement of interactive resources; iv) ability to go where you want; v) ability to access private spaces; vi) aesthetics of the programme. students did not complete the assignment by the time this manuscript was submitted for publication, and the ability of the students was not directly assessed. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 5 results students who engaged in gt sessions indicated that they enjoyed using the platform, giving the platform an overall rating of 3.57 / 5 stars overall (n=7), while educators rated it 4/5 stars on average (n=5). 86% of student respondents stated that the software was the same or better (i.e., ‘same’, ‘somewhat better’, or ‘much better’) than alternative distance-learning software (figure 2a), while only 29% indicated that they preferred the gt sessions to face-to-face sessions (figure 2b). figure 2: student and educator perceptions of the gt platform in relation to a) other commonly used distance-learning software (e.g., ms teams), and b) face-to-face sessions. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 6 these opinions were supported by the free-text comments students submitted to explain their selection; one respondent stated: “… can speak to lectures [sic] about our issues / problems more freely than in front of the whole class on ms teams however still more difficult than face to face” – student 3 students particularly identified the benefits of using gt for learning practical skills, which require more structured, self-directed learning with continuous, individualised feedback (vogel and harendza, 2016); another student stated: “much the same as ms teams but think it better for practical work. its [sic] harder than face to face but is probably the best alternative due to covid-19” – student 2 overall, the impression of gt was positive within this student cohort, as 71% of respondents indicated they would like to have more educational sessions in their course delivered via the platform. preference for the platform was also shared by educators where 100% of respondents stated that more education sessions should make use of the system. however, in contrast to the students, 100% of educators felt that gt was not an equally effective alternative for face-toface sessions, while all respondents indicated a preference for the system over more static svc learning platforms (figures 2b and 2a respectively). these opinions were furthered by the comments of the individual educators, who identified the novelty of the platform and its ability to increase engagement between both students and educators: “the software allows a good virtual interaction between participants in a session and it makes learning more fun than the other distance learning software” – educator 2 “i found that gather.town allowed for much more engagement than teams (used for both for the same purpose)” – educator 3 another educator went further to identity particular aspects of the gt platform they felt supported the learning experience for the students: “having separate rooms with demonstrators, the option to watch videos and see other content, was in my opinion very helpful and it provided more options to the students to both learn on their own, but also to interact better with demonstrators, as they could directly speak to them if they had specific questions” – educator 4 to explore this further, both students and educators were also asked (optional) to rank the importance of various elements which gt enabled for the users. these elements included those relating to communicating with others (both educators and student peers), the use of interactive materials, the ability to move within the space and the aesthetics of the platform (figure 3, a-c). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 7 figure 3. top three gt features as ranked by both educators and students and the proportion of respondents who ranked each element ‘highly’ (i.e., within their top three of six positions). statements shown are those presented in student-directed surveys and were altered accordingly for educators (see appendices ii and iii for details). full rankings for all features can be found in appendix iv. the ability to discuss with educators was ranked by both groups as the most important element offered by gt and the ability to interact with pre-prepared materials was agreed as the second most important aspect of the platform (figure 3a and b). both groups thought ability to discuss between peers was a close third (figure 3c), but, while educators thought the ability to move around would be the least important element of gt, students were in agreement that the aesthetics were not important (see appendix iv). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 8 it was clear that, although not ranked as the most significant element, interaction between peers was an important feature of the gt experience, particularly within this context of practical skill learning; one student stated: “i enjoy gather town as their is [sic] more options to talk and interact with peers however i do miss the classroom experiences however that cannot be helped in this pandemic” – student 1 this comment highlights the importance of how peers can interact in gt, either in private video-calls – as individuals or groups – or within the instant message function, which enables students to learn from each other, to collaborate to complete tasks or to share self-paced and srl strategies. this aspect was also recognised by the educators, who appreciate the importance of personal and individualised conversation in the formation and strength of learning communities: “i think gt is better than (ms) teams because the interaction experience is more realistic as it facilitates more dynamic person-person engagement” – educator 1 outlooks and limitations the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the current economic landscape of he within the uk and beyond, has forced heis to evolve and deliver distance-learning (dl) programmes and modules in place of traditional face-to-face sessions (ali, 2020). this adjustment brings a variety of challenges, particularly within the teaching of practical-heavy subjects, when relying on synchronous video-conferencing (svc) for much of live learning (dost et al., 2020). this case study demonstrates gt, when compared to a common svc software (ms teams), to be a learning resource preferred by both students and educators when teaching a practical-based skill in a uk research-intensive university (figure 2). the responses obtained from both students and educators from this study indicate that the primary advantages of gt are its ability to support tailored and self-paced learning, enabling students to interact with educators on a more informal basis, and the opportunity to use the designed resources in an individualised manner. additionally, both groups emphasised that an important element of the platform was its ability to offer peer-discussion opportunities and facilitate engagement between participants (figure 3). peer-to-peer learning has been demonstrated to support deeper learning (hildson, 2014), inform students’ srl strategies and support the development and strength of learning communities, which can be difficult to foster in a dl environment (themeli, 2016; lim et al., 2020). this case study therefore demonstrates how gt could be used as a means of supporting learning communities and of providing opportunities for tailored learning alongside other synchronous and asynchronous sessions. it is important to consider, however, that these elements may be encouraged to some extent through a range of other technologies; for example, the use of student-led breakout rooms in ms teams (al-samarraie, 2019; saltz and heckman, 2020), although it is the authors’ opinion that gt offers the most effective opportunities for informal communication – important for students to self-pace their learning (rhode, 2009). while acknowledging this, it is important to understand the practical limitations of using this platform for education sessions in place of other svc systems. first is to note case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 9 the various minor audio and video glitches which occur when using gt (as detailed by samiei et al., 2020), but these can usually be resolved by exiting and re-entering the session, simply by refreshing the web page or pasting the session’s url into the web browser. another concern, as with all svcs, are the bandwidth demands to run the platform. this, of course, will depend on the variety and quantity of resources educators provide for their sessions (please note: poster objects require high-bandwidth), but, from personal experience, dr mcclure was able to join and interact with a session with a 2-3 mbps connection, which is comparable to the ms teams requirement – i.e., 1mbps (microsoft, 2020). despite these low requirements, an educator did experience connectivity issues, stating: “you will need good internet connectivity for the full experience otherwise the software freezes often” – educator 2 this, however, may be on account of the specific context of the study, as both students and educators are often in rural locations within northern ireland, which exhibit slower connectivity in general (ofcom, 2018). it is important to note here, however, that access to the gt platform, to the authors’ knowledge, is not restricted when using foreign vpns, enabling students to engage with the platform from any location. arguably, the most significant limitation of gt currently is the number of participants who can use the software at any time, a concern raised by one educator: “but it is limited (unless using premium version) by the number of people who can access it simultaneously” – educator 3 owing to the exploratory approach of this evaluation, the case study was completed without cost to the education team, enabling up to twenty-five users to access the learning space at any one time. however, this can be increased on a per-user basis (see https://gather.town/pricing for details). furthermore, it is important to recognise accessibility concerns when incorporating gt for students with visual impairments, who will find it difficult to navigate the 2-d space unassisted, or neurodiverse students who may find the novel environment and the number of objects and/or moving avatars in the environment overwhelming (kent, 2015). additionally, current access to the complete suite of facilities offered by gt can only be achieved when using the laptop/desktop version of the platform rather than that for a mobile phone. this is of concern, considering the increasing desire of he students to use smartphones as their preferred learning devices (ahmad, 2020). given these accessibility issues, educators, prior to deploying this tool, should give careful consideration to whether to implement it in a programme and, if they do decide to use it, to plan appropriately to overcome potential difficulties. with these limitations in mind, it is important to consider what gt can offer to the educational landscape of he during and beyond the pandemic. what is clear to the authors as well as the participants, is that gt is not a direct replacement for face-to-face synchronous learning; nor is it to be used as a sole teaching tool. as the data here represent, gt can be used as a resource complementary to other asynchronous and synchronous dl – and even face-to-face – educational approaches, allowing students to maintain a connection with their cohort of learners and to take advantage of more tailored and self-paced learning. such a blended teaching approach has many benefits, for both educators and for students, and seems to be https://gather.town/pricing case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 10 the clear and preferred direction of he following the covid-19 pandemic, where gt is sure to be a useful feature in all educators’ toolkits (amir et al., 2020; paudel, 2021), as enthusiastically stated by one of the educators in this study: “gt is a great idea and delivers an exciting alternative 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(1989) ‘a social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning.’ journal of educational psychology, 81(3), 329-339. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/barry-zimmerman2/publication/232534584_a_social_cognitive_view_of_selfregulated_academic_learning/links/549483c40cf20f487d2c12a4/a-social-cognitive-viewof-self-regulated-academic-learning.pdf (accessed: 07 february 2021). https://universitybusiness.co.uk/article/international-students-studying-online-courses-on-the-rise/ https://universitybusiness.co.uk/article/international-students-studying-online-courses-on-the-rise/ https://tacc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2019-03/the-promises-and-limits-of-online-higher-education.pdf https://tacc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2019-03/the-promises-and-limits-of-online-higher-education.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 13 appendix i what you need: a desktop/laptop with a mic and camera. a web browser (chrome or firefox recommended). we strongly recommend using headphones to help prevent feedback. that’s it! there’s nothing to install, no software to download. how it works: gather is a video chat platform that has avatars move around a map. as you get close to other avatars, your videos will pop up and you will be able to chat. move around the space using the arrow keys. by moving your avatar around you can have spontaneous conversations with those around you. these can be either one-on-one or small groups, depending on how many people are around your avatar. when your avatar moves closer to an interactable object, there will be a notification that shows up saying ‘press x to interact with -object-’. this can range from informational flyers, playable arcade games, integrated zoom meetings and more! case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 14 not-so-obvious features: here are some things you might find useful but aren't immediately obvious. there is a messaging feature that allows you to message people in four ways: 1. individually by clicking on their name in the participant panel, 2. locally to the people you are video-chatting with, 3. room chat (must be requested) with all the people in the current room you are in, 4. globally to all the people in your map. there is a locate feature to find others by clicking their name in the participant panel. interaction distance is also sometimes altered by designated private spaces. this allows conversations to include only people inside that space. want to full screen someone else’s video? just click on their video. talking to a group of people? click the down arrows centred below the videos to shift into grid view. privacy features: we have three ways for you to control who has access to your map: you can add a password via the mod setting for a room. if you want to allow only certain people, you can create an email whitelist here. domain whitelists allow the moderator to allow entry into the space for all those who share the same email domain (e.g., something@gather.town). for managing people who are already in the space, we have the following options: any moderator has the ability to ban individuals during the event technical difficulties: refreshing the page will fix most things! if that doesn’t work, try muting and unmuting your mic and camera in gather. check if your browser permitted camera and mic access additional troubleshooting at https://gather.town/video-issues available from http://gather.town https://drive.google.com/file/d/12wsx9sesevbfpqkxt3jg1edb2jolqfu8/view https://gather.town/video-issues http://gather.town/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 15 appendix ii gather.town class survey – student thanks for attending the online session on gather.town (http://gather.town). please complete the short anonymous survey online to provide your perspectives on the platform for teaching. your participation in this questionnaire is completely voluntary and you may opt not to submit your responses at any time prior to clicking the ‘submit’ button following your completion of the final question. should you wish to do so, simply close this window. by completing this survey, you are consenting to participate in this study and for the data to be used in presentations or publications resulting from this work. any information that you do submit will be stored within a password-protected folder on an encrypted qub file server, in compliance with data protection legislation. * required 1. how would rate gather.town (http://gather.town) as an educational platform from your experience? * 2. how would you rate gather.town (http://gather.town) as an educational platform in comparison to... * 3. please comment on the reasons for your selections above: _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 4. please rank the following elements of the gather.town (http://gather.town) session in the order you found them most useful: top = most useful; bottom = least * i. placement of interactive resources ii. ability to discuss with peers iii. ability to discuss with lecturer / demonstrator iv. ability to access private spaces case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 16 v. the aesthetics of the platform vi. ability to go where you want 5. would you like to see more sessions delivered via gather.town in your course? * • yes • no • not sure 6. if you have any final comments on gather.town as an educational system, please write them below: _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 17 appendix iii gather.town class survey – educator thanks for demonstrating for the online session on gather.town (http://gather.town). please complete the short anonymous survey online to provide your perspectives on the platform for teaching. your participation in this questionnaire is completely voluntary and you may opt not to submit your responses at any time prior to clicking the ‘submit’ button following your completion of the final question. should you wish to do so, simply close this window. by completing this survey, you are consenting to participate in this study and for the data to be used in presentations or publications resulting from this work. any information that you do submit will be stored within a password-protected folder on an encrypted qub file server, in compliance with data protection legislation. * required 1. how would rate gather.town (http://gather.town) as an educational platform from your experience? * 2. how would you rate gather.town (http://gather.town) as an educational platform in comparison to... * 3. please comment on the reasons for your selections above: _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 4. please rank the following elements of the gather.town (http://gather.town) session in the order you found them to be most useful for your students: top = most useful; bottom = least * i. placement of interactive resources ii. ability to discuss with peers iii. ability to discuss with lecturer / demonstrator case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 18 iv. ability to access private spaces v. the aesthetics of the platform vi. ability to go where you want 5. state how you agree with the statement that gather.town (http://gather.town) is a more effective platform to deliver the following educational practices over standard videoconferencing software... * 6. do you think more educational sessions should be delivered via gather.town? * • yes • no • not sure 7. if you have any final comments on gather.town as an educational system, please write them below: _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 14, no 2, 2021 19 appendix iv figure a1. proportion of respondents ranking of various elements of the gt system (a – f) out of a total of six. statements shown are those presented in student-directed surveys and were altered accordingly for educators (see appendices ii and iii for details). a learner’s experience of a massive online open course (mooc) opinion pieces a learner’s experience of a massive online open course (mooc) antony valsamidis, university of greenwich, school of computing & mathematical sciences during this academic year, several free courses have started being offered online by stanford university, mit and others. most notable, perhaps, was the autumn quarter artificial intelligence class at stanford, ai-class, taught by peter norvig and sebastian thrun. both are google fellows, norvig being the co author of the standard contemporary textbook on ai, and thrun now leading the google self-driving car project, having won the $2 million darpa grand challenge prize for stanford with a car called stanley. thrun reports that he offered his stanford course free to students anywhere in the world. it recruited 160,000 students, of whom 23,000 completed the course. this compares with the 200 who enrolled for it at stanford, where the annual tuition fees are now about $40,000. thrun also reports that most of the stanford students preferred the online offering: only about 40 of the original 200 continued to attend the conventional course. he also mentions that the best grades were achieved by students outside stanford. thrun has decided, after this experience, to concentrate his teaching efforts on udacity, a forprofit educational start-up he has co-founded. he has also left his tenured chair at stanford – though denies that this has to do with the udacity venture. udacity’s work has been widely reported in newspapers and other news media, and this publicity has obviously helped its recruitment. in fact, enrolment was kept open after an article about udacity was published in the new york times and the assessment on the course adjusted to allow for late enrolments. of course, open educational resources (oers) are not a new phenomenon. mit has been offering open courseware for some years and other universities followed suit. but what is being offered here is different: something with a novel business model that appears to compete head-on with conventional courses. i have personally been interested in the practical uses of ai since i did my masters, specialising in natural language processing. i also became interested in e-learning and in a peripheral way, i have also been following the recent successes in robotics. that is why i accidentally came across a video of thrun’s announcement at the digital life design conference about the foundation of udacity and decided to take its first two courses in the february-april ‘hexamester’: a first level introductory programming course in building a search engine taught by david evans of virginia tech , and a third level course in programming a robotic car taught by sebastian thrun himself . the first level course had no prerequisites. each hexamester lasts seven weeks, with one unit each week. each unit, except the last, had homework, for which the deadline was the tuesday of the week following the beginning of the unit. the last week was for the final exam. i offer in this paper an account of my experience of taking these courses. enrolment was incredibly easy, only requiring my name, e-mail address, agreement of terms, and a choice of passwords. it probably took less than a minute in total. after enrolment, i was able to access the course material. this consisted of short video presentations interspersed with interactive quizzes, for which the solutions were immediately available. the quizzes were multiple choice, or short programming exercises, 3 4 which were automatically marked after submission. these quizzes could be attempted as many times as needed, but did not count for the overall grading of the course. the videos had optional subtitles, and these became available in a large number of different languages as the course progressed. the transcripts of the videos were also made available. i personally found that i could scan the transcripts more quickly than watching the videos, but can see why that might not suit everyone. at an early stage in the course, it was announced that these materials were being made available under a creative commons licence (which means the material can be used, shared and repurposed). there was a separate section of the website that provided announcements, and there was also a discussion forum available where students could discuss course content and make other contributions. these contributions were numerous and often very helpful, and they included items from the course instructor and from the teaching assistant on the course. another section reported on the progress the student had made in each of the units of the course – recording the number of exercises correctly attempted and videos viewed, and giving the results for the homework attempted, after the automatic grading was completed (usually very rapidly after the deadline.) during the week, the homework for a particular unit was published and students were able to submit it online for assessment at any time before the deadline. unlike the unit quizzes, the answers for these were not immediately available, but only became available after the deadline. to begin with the exams and homework were given equal weighting, but this was altered when late enrolments were allowed. students who scored better in the exam than in the homework kept the exam mark as the overall grade. the lowest homework mark was also not counted in the grading. in the introductory programming course homework, some parts were more challenging than others – these were given up to three stars, depending on how challenging they were. a similar scheme was used in the final exam, and performance at these tasks was used to determine the level of certification offered for the course. needless to say, discussion of the homework and the final exam was monitored on the discussion forums. discussion was allowed and encouraged on the forums, but no solutions could be published. this was stricter in the case of the final exam. an honour code system was in force, and seemed to work remarkably well. the standard of the course materials was very good – some very complicated concepts were introduced in manageable chunks, with students being encouraged at every opportunity. powerpoint was not used – all the notes were handwritten with what looked like a transparent hand and electronic pens in different colours – some more legibly than others, but all understandable. some errors were made, but these were often corrected very rapidly. overall, the experience was very positive, and though i wasn’t able to devote a great deal of time to the courses, i did manage to get my two certificates of completion, of which i am very proud! author biography tony valsamidis works in the school of computing & mathematical sciences at the university of greenwich, specialising in information systems and databases. prior to this he was employed in the information science department in the school of informatics at city university where he lectured on database management systems and data representation and management. tony’s interests lie in parallel computer architectures, computational and corpus linguistics, information retrieval and information systems. a learner’s experience of a massive online open course (mooc) antony valsamidis, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 angels in the architecture and devils in the detail: how the learning space impacts on teaching and learning jane challinor nottingham trent university abstract an innovative classroom design, pioneered in the us and aiming to facilitate greater student engagement, has been piloted in a uk university. this case study reflects on some of the advantages and the challenges of this technology-rich learning space and considers its impact on curriculum design in a module which aims to develop academic, research and digital skills in first-year students on an undergraduate health and social care course. introduction the ‘scale up’ (see: http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/ ) approach to large-group, enquiry-based teaching was developed in north carolina state university by professor robert beichner, to improve student engagement and attainment. according to beichner (2008), the original meaning of the acronym was ‘student centred activities for large enrolment undergraduate physics’; it now signifies ‘student centred active learning environment with upside-down pedagogies’. ‘upside-down pedagogies’ refers to a ‘flipped classroom’ approach (originally termed ‘the inverted classroom’ by lage, platt and treglia, 2000), with classes typically consisting of group activities and investigations to aid understanding of theory. scale up was envisaged as the solution to the ‘problem’ of the changing nature of higher education and what was expected of it. students, according to beichner (2014), were not enjoying learning and employers required different skills from graduates. the traditional lecture was no longer seen as appropriate for the teaching of stem subjects in particular. mann and robinson (2009) found that uk students in higher education also tended to view lectures as boring, resulting in poor attendance and lower grade averages, whilst beetham (2014) has pointed out that the use of technologies in higher education can enable students to make the transition to academic ways of thinking, especially if they meet these in a relatively familiar space. the idea of active learning derives from a more student-centred learning paradigm which has been developing in education over many years – a paradigm which has at its heart ideas about innovative teaching, working in teams and problem-based learning (attard, 2010). as davidson (2011) points out, traditional classroom environments were designed during the industrial age to produce factory hands; in the age of the internet, a different pedagogy and a different learning space are required. since its introduction in the us, scale up has been adopted in a number of countries around the world, including australia, the uk, the united arab emirates and denmark, and in disciplines as diverse as humanities, sports education, law and social work (nottingham trent university, 2014). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 this case study reports on the author’s personal experience of being one of thirty module leaders piloting the scale up approach at nottingham trent university (ntu) during 2013/14. the physical and pedagogical underpinnings of scale up technology the scale up classroom environment is physically different from that normally used for large groups of students. in the us, scale up classrooms are on one level and typically accommodate around 100 students, seated in groups of nine at large round tables. the environment is technology-rich, with laptops, multiple wall-mounted screens, apple tv and wi-fi connection to the internet. the layout of the classroom and the shape of the tables not only support, but perhaps actually dictate, a very different style of teaching and learning, as the students are mostly facing away from the tutor and towards one another. group collaboration is therefore facilitated by this design, whilst traditional ‘lecturing’ is actively discouraged. beichner (2006) has said that, arguably, the most important technology in the scale up room is the table. group work in professor beichner’s ‘classic’ scale up model, tables are sub-divided into three groups of three students each. by means of regular testing, these groups are pre-selected with a mix of higher-, middleand lower-ability students; the aim is that the higher-ability students assist those with lower-level skills to achieve better grades. group members are given specific tasks – for example, one records activities and findings, one carries out the experiment or task and the third questions assumptions and challenges findings to arrive at a more rigorously-tested answer (beichner, 2008). support for staff adapting to a different teaching style and to scale up’s physical environment, managing large numbers of students and coping with both high noise levels and the challenges that are an inevitable part of working with technology all make huge demands on teaching staff. in one adaptation of scale up in the us, the tile model at the university of iowa, academic staff are required to undergo a three-day intensive training known as the tile institute. they are also provided with continuing support, both in converting conventional classes to student-centred, active ones and in using instructional technologies and specific software (gaffney, horne, jesse and murniaiti, 2012). implementation of scale up in a first-year study skills module physical environment this case study is based on a first-year study skills module involving 103 undergraduate health and social care students. in many ways, the problems faced in the module were similar to those outlined by professor beichner. the aim of the module had originally been to teach basic research skills and academic conventions, but poor attendance indicated that case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 students did not find it engaging. additionally, the course team felt that the content was not addressing the twenty-first century skills (blinkley et al, 2011) demanded by employers. over the previous three years, the introduction of selected web 2.0 tools (such as social bookmarking) and an increasing emphasis on group work had shifted the focus of the module towards the development of these new skills (in particular, collaborative problemsolving and digital skills), but resources to support this approach were limited: to familiarise students with specific web-based tools, staff were obliged to use a small, twenty-seat it suite with fixed pcs set out in rows, one machine per student, and this meant repeating the session five times to deal with the entire cohort; a traditional seminar room was similarly restrictive, as they had to manage group work by re-arranging tables to enable students to face each other. the scale up classroom model appeared to offer the ideal solution. participation in the pilot made it possible to integrate a range of digital tools seamlessly into every session, whilst offering the physical environment needed for effective group interaction within a large class setting. however, there were some challenges. in the ‘pure’ form of scale up, the teacher’s station is in the centre of the room and tables are seven feet in diameter. gaffney, horne, jesse and murniaiti (2012) highlight that a smaller table makes students feel cramped, whilst a larger one is detrimental to group discussions. in the pilot at ntu, there were twelve tables which were six feet three inches in diameter and students did indeed complain about feeling cramped; likewise, since the room provided was also rather smaller than those in some us models, the tutor found it difficult to move around to support the groups. group work beichner (2008) advocates carefully-structured groups of mixed abilities in order to facilitate ‘cooperative learning’. as defined by johnson (1991, page 5): “cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximise their own and each other's learning.” working in cooperative groups is the norm in the majority of modules on the health and social care course – a deliberate course-design decision which helps prepare students for team-working in their future employment. in the study skills module, however, the usual practice is not to engineer mixed-ability groups, but to allow students to form groups of their own choosing. this practice has tended to overcome any initial resistance to group work, particularly if groups are formed after ice-breaking activities for students to get to know one another. one disadvantage of self-selection, however, is that students who may be rather disengaged or on the periphery of the cohort may not easily find a group where they fit and so become demotivated or further disengaged. groups also tend to be homogenous – lower-ability students may stick together and do worse in assessments, as they do not have the benefit of learning from the more able students (collins and goyder, 2008). groups may also form from similarities in culture, race and age (arkoudis et al, 2010). in the study skills module, for example, one group which came together because of strong case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 friendship ties was formed entirely of students with english as an additional or second language. they attended well and appeared always to be on task, rarely asking for support. however, they achieved the lowest marks of any group in the final project because (as became apparent during a feedback discussion with the tutor) they had understood neither the task nor the assessment criteria. given the diverse cultural backgrounds of the module cohort as a whole and especially the large proportion of mature students some deliberate strategy to structure groups may well be advisable in future, although as boud, cohen and sampson (1999) note, there are still considerable difficulties in trying to manage groups composed of individuals of different ages, life experiences and cultures who are not used to working together in this way. students going ‘off task’ is another often-reported problem of the scale up type of learning space (brooks, 2012), owing mainly to unsupervised access to the internet during group activities. in the study skills module, the most frequent distractions observed involved answering emails, checking facebook, viewing websites on non-educational topics and completing work for other modules. to have established at the outset a clearly-defined purpose might well have produced greater group cohesion, focus and commitment, since, in term two, students were noticeably less distracted once formed into fixed project groups with a research task to complete for the module’s summative assessment. evaluation student satisfaction and digital skills despite some problems, as outlined above, group work was rated positively by the majority and was specifically mentioned by many as a valuable feature of the module. in an online survey conducted in december 2013 (at the end of term one) about their experience of the module so far, 56% of students who responded (total responses = 53) reported enjoying the group-based activities. other positive features of the evaluation included 60% reporting that they had learned new ict skills and 74% confirming good levels of tutor support in class. students were, however, generally not satisfied with the delivery of the seminars in the scale up environment. for example, 58% felt that the classes were not well-organised and 96% thought the class size too big. student feedback also referred to a sense of overcrowding in the room, slow response by teachers when support was required, high noise levels and a lack of familiarity with the technology (all issues highlighted by the university of minnesota, 2011, in its guidance for instructors in the use of ‘active learning classrooms’). a formal course evaluation of the module was carried out through the normal module evaluation questionnaire method towards the end of term two (march 2014). this time, 75% of students responding (total responses = 48) said that the module was well-organised and 70% felt they understood how it linked with the rest of their course. this might suggest that, unlike their initial experience, their now greater familiarity with the module’s approach enabled them to see it as purposeful and relevant to their learning. however, overall levels of satisfaction and attendance on the module did not show any significant improvement on previous years. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 a sample of typical written comments from students is given below: what aspects of the module have you enjoyed overall? "learning how to carry out research" "each task is relevant to health and social care and often learn new skills for the future e.g referencing." "its amazing what we can find for ourselves with a pc or a laptop" "group work activities; using the computers; referencing" "it's very different from the other modules, gives you a chance to expand on researching skills" what could be improved (about the module overall)? "it is good but the layout of the room makes it difficult to hear everything" "more time for the tasks" "classes too big, too vague, i don't feel like i am coming away having learnt anything" "hard to ask questions as it's a big group" in the december survey, students were also asked about their digital skills, enabling a comparison to be made between these responses and those given in response to the same survey sent out to students in a pre-induction activity. the responses reveal that students' familiarity with certain online tools had increased – notably, google scholar, evernote and linkedin. they also reported that their levels of confidence in searching for, referencing and storing information had increased – for example, through the use of library databases and mobile bookmarking tools. based on the author’s experience and the students’ evaluation of the pilot, improvements to the structure of the module have subsequently been implemented: longer (two-hour) workshops with fewer students (achieved by splitting the cohort into two) have been timetabled and a portfolio-based assessment has been introduced, encouraging students to work collaboratively on a range of innovative digital projects during the weekly seminars. these measures appear to be having a positive impact on attendance and engagement. impact on curriculum design using the samr (substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition) model of technology adoption in curriculum design (puentedura, 2014), it is possible to analyse the extent to which the technology involved in the scale up pilot, together with the room design and table layout, impacted on teaching and learning activities. in the majority of cases, the learning activities used were the same as, or similar to, those of previous years, but the scale up classroom encouraged innovation: for ‘substitution’, students created a shared word document or powerpoint slide, instead of a paper-based worksheet, to report group discussions. for ‘augmentation’, in which the technology adds functional improvement (in this instance on a whiteboard or flipchart), they used padlet (www.padlet.com a virtual ‘wall’ on which students can post comments) and were overwhelmingly positive about it, noting in particular that it enabled less confident students to make contributions to idea-sharing activities; the padlet wall also permitted students to share videos, images and weblinks and served as a permanent revision resource for the class. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 ‘modification’ involved a literature search task, for which, in 2011/2012, prior to scale up, students had been given an it suite demonstration of how to use the library databases, before they conducted an online search for journal articles using key words which they saved in a word document or email; however, in the peer-topeer, resource-sharing, live-document-editing environment of the 2013/2014 scale up classroom, they collaborated in groups of three to search for journal articles, before copying links to their found sources into a shared google drive document for everyone to use in a range of course assignments and their comments certainly do testify to their appreciation of the opportunity to complete tasks in groups! ‘redefinition’ may be exemplified by the 2013/2014 live collaboration of over 100 students, simultaneously creating and editing a slideshow on google drive as a way of developing familiarity with both online collaboration methods and cloud storage tools; whilst this might have been technically possible outside scale up, such challenges as lack of laptops and of spaces suitable for group work on such a scale meant that it had never previously been considered the new space effectively shaped ideas about new ways of delivering the curriculum. final considerations in the many us-based evaluations of the scale up approach, mostly positive outcomes have been noted – especially improved attendance and grade averages. there are, however, some issues highlighted as potential drawbacks: using a space such as the scale up classroom with traditional teacher-centred delivery methods (lecturing) seems, according to lasry et al, 2013, to produce worse than usual results. this may be because the round tables, the very design element which facilitates group work and collaborative learning, cause many students to be facing away from the lecturer. for this reason, the ntu timetable for the scale up classroom gives priority to those modules employing a collaborative, student-centred approach rather than to those based on traditional pedagogies. plans are in place to extend the number of scale up classrooms available at ntu as demand for the existing space has outstripped capacity. to support this, staff development initiatives that include both classroom training sessions and a vle-based community (featuring videos of pilot leaders sharing their experiences) have been introduced. another evaluation from massachusetts institute of technology (mit) warned that students may respond less positively to the scale up approach if the rest of their modules are delivered in a more traditional manner (dory and belcher, 2005). this may explain students’ negative responses to the module during the pilot. as more modules have been delivered in this space, the task of overcoming student resistance has diminished. evidence of this is apparent in the second iteration of scale up at ntu, with students who experienced the pilot manifestly more comfortable with the technology and the learning space from the outset of the academic year and attendance showing a marked improvement. what this pilot indicates is that the basic concept of scale up has the potential genuinely to redefine approaches to teaching and learning. if rows of desks facing the blackboard case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 shaped educational practices in the past (davidson 2011), a range of innovative learning spaces a new learning architecture will need to continue to be explored in order to support the development of skills for the twenty-first century. when it comes to supporting students and educators to embrace these new spaces, getting the details right could make all the difference. reference list arkoudis, s., yu, x., baik, c., borland, h., chang,s., lang,i., lang,j., pearce, a., watty,k. (2010) ‘finding common ground: enhancing interaction between domestic and international students.’ in: report of project supported by the australian learning and teaching council ltd, an initiative of the australian government department of education, employment and workplace relations. available at: http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/research/projectsites/enhancing_interact.html (accessed: 27 july 2014). attard, a. (ed) (2010) ‘student centered learning: an insight into theory and practice.’ european students union. available at: http://www.esuonline.org/pageassets/projects/projectarchive/2010-t4scl-stakeholders-forum-leuven-aninsight-into-theory-and-practice.pdf (accessed: 1 february 2015). beetham, h., (2014) ‘editorial.’ journal of learning development in higher education special edition: digital technologies, november 2014,1-8. beichner, r.j. (2006) ‘north carolina state university: scale up’. in: oblinger, d.g.(ed) learning spaces, educause. available at: http://www.educause.edu/research-andpublications/books/learning-spaces/chapter-29-north-carolina-state-university-scale (accessed: 6 september 2014). beichner, r. j (2008) ‘the scale-up project: a student-centered, active learning environment for undergraduate programs.’ national academy of sciences white paper. available at: www.nationalacademies.org/bose/beichner_commissionedpaper.pdf (accessed: 26 july 2014). beichner, r.j.(2014) ‘history and evolution of active learning spaces.’ new directions for teaching and learning volume 2014, issue 137 spring 2014, 9-16. available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tl.2014.2014.issue-137/issuetoc. (accessed: 5 september 2014). binkley, m., erstad, o., herman,j., raizen,s., ripley, m., miller-ricci, m., rumble, m. (2011) ‘defining twenty-first century skills.’ in: griffin,p., mccaw, b. and care,e. (eds.) teaching and assessing 21 st century skills. springer, melbourne. boud, d.; cohen,r.;sampson, j. (1999) ‘peer learning and assessment.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 24 (4), 413-426 available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.203.1370&rep=rep1&type=pdf (accessed: 4 september 2104). brooks, d.c. (2012) ‘space and consequences: the impact of different formal learning spaces on instructor and student behavior.’ journal of learning spaces, 1 (2), university of minnesota. available at: http://libjournal.uncg.edu/index.php/jls/article/view/285/275 (accessed: 6 september 2014). http://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/books/learning-spaces/chapter-29-north-carolina-state-university-scale http://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/books/learning-spaces/chapter-29-north-carolina-state-university-scale case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 collins, n., goyder, j. (2008) ‘speed dating: a process of forming undergraduate student groups.’ in: eculture vol.1 available at: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=eculture (accessed: 6 september 2014). davidson, c.n., (2011) now you see it: how technology and brain science will transform schools and business for the 21st century. new york: penguin. dori,y.j. and belcher,j. (2005) ‘how does technology-enabled active learning affect undergraduate students’ understanding of electromagnetism concepts?’ the journal of the learning sciences 14 (2), 243–279. available at: http://web.mit.edu/edtech/casestudies/pdf/teal1.pdf (accessed: 1 february 2015). johnson, david w. (1991) ‘cooperative learning: increasing college faculty instructional productivity.’ in: ashe-eric higher education report no. 4. available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed343465.pdf (accessed: 5 september 2014). lage, m. j., platt, g. j., treglia, m.(2000) ‘inverting the classroom: a gateway to creating an inclusive learning environment.’ the journal of economic education, 31 (1) (winter, 2000), 30-43. lasry, n., charles, e., whittaker, c., dedic, h., rosenfield, s. (2013) ‘changing classroom designs: easy; changing instructors’ pedagogies: not so easy…’ in: aip conference proceedings; jan 2013, 1513 (1), 238 available at: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/85040222/changing-classroom-designs-easychanging-instructors-pedagogies-not-so-easy (accessed: 1 february 2015). mann,s., robinson,a.,(2009) ‘boredom in the lecture theatre: an investigation into the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university students.’ british educational research journal, 35 (2), 243-258. nottingham trent university (2014) ‘scale-up.’ available at: http://www.ntu.ac.uk/adq/teaching/scale_up/index.html (accessed: 31 january 2015). puentedura, r.r. (2014) ‘samr and curriculum design.’ in: ruben r. puentedura's weblog (blog) august 29 2014. available at: http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/08/30/samrandcurriculumredesign.pdf (accessed: 6 september 2014). university of minnesota (2011) ‘room issues in active learning classrooms.’ available at: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/alc/challenges/roomissues/index.html (accessed: 6 september 2014). van horne,s., murniati,c., gaffney,j.d.h., jesse,m. (2012) ‘promoting active learning in technology-infused tile classrooms at the university of iowa.’ journal of learning spaces 1 (2). available at: http://libjournal.uncg.edu/index.php/jls/article/view/344/286 (accessed: 26 july 2014). 1 editors’ introduction this second issue of compass appears as the higher education sector responds to the browne review and the government’s proposals for meeting the shortfall of £1.3 billion funding through an increase in student fees. pa consulting group’s uk survey, (2010) reported that the 43 university vice-chancellors who responded, expect funding cuts and competitive pressures not only to lead to substantial reductions in the range and scale of teaching and research, but also to precipitate institutional mergers and even some failures. although the vice-chancellors surveyed thought that their own institution would not disappear, it being well governed, led and managed, they doubted the competence and commitment of their staff to respond to this new situation. in light of this apparently precarious climate, it is a sign of confidence in our own university community that we can openly discuss the challenges confronting us. furthermore the confidence of our community of students, teachers and researchers is shown, not only by the capital projects to which we are committed and which the financial reserves the university has accumulated through previous effort allow it to afford, but by the pedagogical changes the university is prepared to undertake. this year the university introduced the concept of the ‘greenwich graduate’ which characterises the intended distinctiveness of our students. our greenwich graduate initiative commits the university to reviewing its programmes and courses over the next five years thereby making a distinctive difference to the experience of its undergraduate students. the new hefce mandate requires all universities to produce and publish an ‘employability statement’– a short summary of what they offer to students to support their employability and their transition to employment and beyond –, the greenwich graduate initiative asks programme teams, and the professional services staff who support them, to work with their students, to build upon existing good practice and develop new approaches to develop attributes in addition to the subject knowledge that will help them to find employment even in recession. universities face an uncertain future. how can we, at greenwich, prepare to meet the global threats and challenges to which we are all exposed through meaningful engagement in our local, national and international communities whilst maintaining the traditions of a past, represented by the magnificence of maritime and our other campuses? how should we use emerging technologies together with new thinking and research to prepare our graduates for a sustainable future? these are questions which are universally shared and for which a university should be a focus. compass provides a forum for such discussion and reflection on our purpose. in this issue we see staff confronting such questions to share their experiences and invite response. jane speare reflects on employer demand, in her case for trained further education teachers. the language of competence in which these demands are framed is very different, she points out, from the language of poetry which opens up rather than closes down possibilities. her contribution shows that imagination continues to flourish at the university of greenwich. melanie thorley supports students in the university through mentoring. in a brief article she indicates some of its benefits. these are similar to those described by janice larkin and fiona taylor in their article on the open book drop-in sessions at the university. as well as informing readers about another facility that exists to support students, fiona and janice, like melanie, raise questions not only about teaching but about learning that learners may pass on to others as teachers themselves. sarah crofts approaches the question of the validity of sources of information in the welter of opinions mingled with facts and figures presented from a variety of perspectives that now seemingly overwhelm us by their virtual reality. “where is the knowledge to be found amongst this information?”, as t.s. eliot asked. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 2 sarah asks the same of law students who are used to ‘googling’ answers to the questions they are asked and ask themselves. they may be amongst the generations that have grown up with such self-reflexive facilities at their finger tips but the new databases are transforming the nature of case law in ways which we and they are only beginning to comprehend. there are also practical and theoretical questions to consider that students may not have thought about, as sarah makes clear. as she says, “our students may appear to be confident and sophisticated in their use of the web, but their searching is often limited to a small range of free resources.” her article suggests ways that library and other staff can help students go beyond this in a contribution that is relevant across disciplines and practices. following these short descriptive ‘thought-pieces’, a case study by verna rhodes describes how students are encouraged to develop the ‘presentational skills’ that seem in universal demand for employment but which many of us – even seasoned lecturers – find so hard to perfect. perhaps, verna suggests, this is not due to innate inability but because of lack of planning and evaluation. so these are the activities that need to be practised by ‘presentation-phobic’ applicants to university and jobs. rita headington and alison hales examine learning through the lens of social constructivism so as to ‘practise what we preach’. through their critique and subsequence course redesign they discover the rewards of creating a community of learners by reconceptualising feedback and assessment and restructuring the learning journey. andy gould, dai hall and mike nicholls teach on a very different programme of applied professional studies (aps) that takes the learners’ own experience as the foundation of its design. while conforming to the ‘student-centric’, ‘market-led’ and ‘flexible’ mantras of the day, aps offers a radical approach that allows students to negotiate their own learning through learning contracts with their tutors to decide ‘what needs to be learned, how it is to be learned and how proof of learning is to be presented’. it would not be possible to implement such an approach on all courses on all programmes in higher education but elements of the method of independent study can be incorporated at all levels of learning. the article provides examples that invite others to consider how this might be done. maggie gravelle outlines a development project on which she has been engaged in teacher training in the very different situation in cambodia, which shows the range and variety of work on which greenwich staff are engaged, internationally as well as locally. lastly, patrick ainley proposes a way to induct students into the nature of knowledge, as constituted by their discipline or professional practice, by a process of dissertations ‘scaffolding’ earlier on in year 1 or 2. that there are so many contributions in this issue from the school of education is perhaps inevitable given its focus on pedagogy but future issues should privilege contributions from other schools and departments that apply pedagogic reflection to their own areas of expertise. indeed establishing a pedagogical research cluster in the school of science is a courageous example of how research into teaching in this most research-driven subject discipline is valued. sharing our disparate and common experiences can contribute to debate across disciplines in their shared commitment to higher education and inform the greenwich graduate initiative so as to set a standard for quality that may be maintained in whatever circumstances the university finds itself in the future. simon walker, wendy cealey harrison, patrick ainley and ian mcnay university of greenwich references pa consulting. (2010). a passing storm or permanent climate change? vice-chancellors’ views on the outlook for universities. [online]. available at: www.paconsulting.com (accessed 18 august 2010). http://www.paconsulting.com/ compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 1 first published in march 2023 by: university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor rachel george, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistants peter brown, university of greenwich reviewers angeliki voskou dawn reilly emma kennedy eve rapley james wisdom kendall jarrett lorraine smith rachel george stuart sims case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 34 supporting the wellbeing of associate lecturers at the open university through a creative arts intervention dr renu bhandari the open university center for access, uk abstract this case study discusses an online space created for associate lecturers (als) working at the open university, with the intention of supporting wellbeing through sharing – and responding to – each other’s examples of creative arts activities. this paper reflects on engagement with and outcomes from this intervention. four key themes emerged in participant responses to the intervention: 1) increased connectedness; 2) a feeling of being away from work; 3) happiness, enjoyment and positive feelings; and 4) openness to new places, ideas and shares. the results were analysed in line with available studies on sense of belonging, connectedness and well-being. this project highlights the potential for shared online creative activities to support connectedness and wellbeing in educators and students who are working in the online environment. key words: creative arts, higher education, wellbeing, online spaces, inclusive, connectedness 1. introduction 1.1 creative arts and their impact creative arts offer a medium of self-expression and have the potential to build participation, inclusion and connectedness in people and their communities and to contribute to wellbeing (keyes, 2002). a review of research on the benefits of creative arts found substantial evidence of a link between creative arts and positive mental health. in many of the studies, creative arts – including photography, visual arts, crafts, writing and performing arts – were used as interventions (leckey, 2011). when participants engage in creative arts projects, reported benefits can include relaxation, reduced blood pressure, reduced levels of stress and a boost to the immune systems (mcniff, 1992; ulrich, 1992; leckey, 2011). additional reported benefits include increased self-esteem, confidence, enjoyment and motivation. according to case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 35 ulrich (1992), creative arts can also be an effective way of celebrating individual differences and improving mutual understanding among their participants. though theses studies show the benefits of interventions, there is a gap in research on the use of creative arts in the workplace and, in particular, in universities. according to hacking et. al. (2006), while healthcare settings and specialist art settings have been the contexts most researched for creative art projects and interventions, social services and education have been the least explored. however, they constitute an area where interventions are could be valuable, given that higher education (he) can be a stressful environment for employees (gearhart, blavdes and mccarthy 2022; iancu et al. 2017; crute, 2007). a study by kolmitro et al. (2020) highlights that factors such as stress, burnout and excessive workload for employees in he can impact affect their wellbeing. 1.2 wellbeing as a concept the concept of wellbeing is increasingly seen as a priority in many organisations (chen and cooper, 2014). historically, both eastern and western philosophies have debated this term, for cultural differences influence how it is understood and interpreted. one consensus in historical views of wellbeing is that it is more complex than the concept of ‘happiness’ (fattore et al., 2016). with changing social and global factors, the definition of wellbeing has evolved. wellbeing overlaps with the concepts of health, welfare, and quality of life and, in its broadest sense, incorporates both physical and mental elements. seligman (2011) identified five key dimensions of mental wellbeing: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement. the department of health defines wellbeing as “a positive state of mind and body, feeling safe and able to cope, with a sense of connection with people, communities and the wider environment” (department of health, 2011, p.90). the connection between communities, people and the environment stands out clearly in this definition. similarly, the closely related concept of mental health is defined by the world health organisation (who, 2022) as “… a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well, and work well, and contribute to their community”. 1.3 online spaces and wellbeing although digital engagement and interaction had become quite well established prior to covid-19, it was this pandemic that forced an immediate shift online for many people and prompted consideration of the potential value of digital interpersonal spaces, where users would find it easier to connect and build relationships with peers, boost self-esteem and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 36 capture new perspectives (kostenius et al., 2017; toufaily et al., 2018). however, it remains unclear whose responsibility it is to create online social spaces – the organisation, the individual or both? wellbeing at work has been described as having four dimensions: work satisfaction, organisational respect, employer care and work/life integration (hyett and parker, 2015). providing safe spaces for interaction through creative arts is one illustration of the duty of care required of organisations for their employees. many organisations identify wellbeing as a key factor in their success as well as an opportunity for learning (trolian and jach, 2021). however, there is little evidence so far of the use of creative expression to support wellbeing by building a sense of connectedness – most studies have focused on using creative media an intervention for mental health issues. 2. institutional context at the open university in the united kingdom (uk), he is delivered via distance-learning programmes. from the perspective of the associate lecturers (als) who are responsible for the delivery of these, one potential problem is that this experience can encourage a sense of isolation. during covid, the emphasis on student wellbeing focused on quick adaptations on part of als to support students. many als were juggling their work, dealing with conflicting commitments on modules and making quick adaptations to their teaching strategies. in my experience, the wellbeing of als quickly became a key issue: mulled over in cafés, during online coffee hours and within peer-led support groups. the ‘access programme’ is a key element of the ‘access, open and cross-curricular innovation’ (aocci) remit of the open university. due to the nature of the programme, there tends to be a greater need for support for students’ study skills as well as for more guidance about academic content. many access students are lacking in confidence about their academic skills and may experience barriers to their learning, including – but not limited to – the greater likelihood of mental health issues. this situation can make the role of the access al particularly challenging. access als offer wrap-around support to their learners, something often time-consuming and intensive; they also tend to teach across access and other faculties. on account of various pressures, therefore, these als may well find it difficult to bond as a team or to prioritise their own self-care. in response to this situation, and informed by the literature discussed above, an online space called ‘hues’ was set up to encourage all als to engage in a non-academic, relaxing and creative expression, to build their sense of belonging and connectedness and, ultimately, to underpin their sense of wellbeing. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 37 3. project aims and design the aims of this small-scale, exploratory project were to: 1. enhance wellbeing and reduce isolation of access als by providing an opportunity for online creative expression. 2. evaluate the intervention to explore levels of engagement and perceived benefits from the perspective of users. 4. participants the participants were all involved in teaching and supporting students on the level 0 access programme at the open university, uk. three access als contributed to the design of the intervention. the intervention included seven als and four other staff from the access programme. nine of these completed the survey evaluating the effectiveness of this intervention. 5. procedure the project gained ethical approval through the human research ethics committee (hrec) and staff survey project plan application (sspp) approvals at the open university. in preparation for the intervention, an online portal – the ‘hues art gallery’ – was developed. it would be inclusive, easy to use and accessible to all als. the open studio portal was set up on the open university website, intended to provide participants with opportunities to share their creations and, using words and emojis, to respond to creative expressions, thoughts and experiences. following this, advertisements were released in the access newsletter and forums, inviting als to take part. those als who volunteered were asked to confirm their consent. details of the study were provided, covering its purpose, the right to withdraw from it, matters of confidentiality and information for participants about the anonymised survey that would take place after the intervention. at the end of 2021, hues gallery opened online for view, comments and display; it had four virtual rooms. each room was open for two to three months during a nine-month period from november 2021 to august 2022. participants were encouraged 1) to share artistic creations such as paintings, drawings, craft, sculpture or photography or creative written pieces such as poetry and short stories that they had produced while engaging in their hobbies over the previous few months and 2) to provide feedback about the creations that other members of the group uploaded. in mid-july, with the opening of the last gallery, 4, the als were give a short online self-devised questionnaire to evaluate their experience of the intervention. the questionnaire covered case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 38 topics such as the importance of this intervention, the gains for participants and the things that could be improved further. all questionnaires were anonymised and evaluated for their themes and the value hues had added to wellbeing of als. 6. results and discussion the first issue considered was participants’ engagement with the intervention. examples of uploads from the first and final gallery rooms are provided in figures 1 and 2. figure 1. examples of uploads in gallery 1 figure 2. examples of uploads in gallery 4 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 39 as shown in table 1, below, there was a gradual increase in the number of uploads and verbal responses from galleries 1 to 3 and then a small decrease in the final gallery. frequency of emoji responses was consistent. table 1. uploads and responses for each gallery room surveys were returned by nine participants and the responses were incorporated into the evaluation and findings. all comments on the four galleries, together with survey responses, were read. using thematic analysis (braun and clarke, 2022) four key themes were identified: 1. connectedness; 2. away-from-work feeling; 3. happiness, enjoyment and positive feelings; 4. opening to new places, ideas, and shares. these themes are illustrated with examples below. in addition, the questionnaire indicated that most participants got to know about hues through emails, newsletter and advertisements on the forums at the rollout of hues. the responses from the staff indicated that a reminder about posting on the new galleries would be a useful way of developing this project further. the staff who engaged with hues encouraged others to participate on the open studio too. 6.1 connectedness the theme of connectedness emerged in many survey answers and the comments on the hues galleries. “having hues was a real bonus for me as i could post up my progress as i work now in almost isolation” gallery number number of uploads number of verbal responses number of emoji responses 1 7 38 72 2 18 65 70 3 37 85 82 4 23 39 25 total 85 227 249 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 40 “it was really nice to connect with other colleagues on something non work related. i think it is a really good way of seeing how talented and varied colleagues’ interests are.” “seeing interesting photos and pictures. it is a bit of light relief from the everyday academic aspect and nice to see creative things that people have been doing” “it creates a sense of connectedness. i hadn’t thought about it in terms of well-being before, but yes, connectedness does enhance this” “the visuals, the creative interaction with colleagues and sense of community.” “…. there was a very supportive vibe to the site with likes, favourites, emojis being used. i felt i was getting to know colleagues, many of whom i’d not met, and some whose names were new to me.” the above results aligned with research that indicates the value of online spaces in building a sense of connectedness (kostenius et al.,2017; toufaily et.al., 2018). with more and more use of online space for teaching, it is effective to apply online resources to building a sense of community for distantly placed lecturers. slagter van tryon and bishop (2009) propose that the special talents, specific knowledge and even the way the participants view the world around them become evident in the online interactions and spaces. in some studies, like that of carpenter et al. (2015, p.122), criteria for connectedness indicate that “people with high connectedness know many people and are those that are known to many”. interaction on hues galleries was able to achieve this for many participants, as demonstrated by the comments above. 6.2 away-from-work feeling though hues was on the open university website, this safe space created a feeling of being away from work, doing the academic tasks of marking assessments and supporting students. studies recognise teaching as a stressful job (gearhart, blavdes and mccarthy, 2022; iancu et al., 2017; crute, 2007). the qualitative analysis of the comments indicated that the als were able to gain some respite from their academic duties through their engagement on hues. “it is a bit of light relief from the everyday academic aspect and nice to see creative things that people have been doing.” case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 41 “yes, although we ‘speak’ in the various tutor fora it was good to share something outside of the everyday ou work.” “it was nice to have a task to take me away from marking for a bit to give myself a mental break.” “i liked the opportunity to share some things in a way i might not normally as it felt appropriate within the setting. this provided a reinforcement that there are other things in life other than work.” 6.3 happiness, enjoyment and positive feelings the survey responses and comments on hues indicate the positive expressions of happiness, self-worth and valuing each other. all galleries had an extensive use of emojis and exclamations. 249 emojis were used on the posts in each of the galleries, mostly depicting inspiration, hearts and smiley faces, but also used were strawberries, bikes, fairies, animals, sun, shrubs and plants. various galleries included such accolades as follow: “wow i never cease to be impressed by crafts people’s work. this kind of thing is beautiful!” “beautiful and how architecture can be made a feature in its own right.” “it is just mesmerizingly beautiful! ” “wow d…!!! i can imagine the joy and you riding that bike! ” “this is really intriguing i like the colours.” “it makes me feel like i'm at a party. i really like it and i would never have guessed where it was taken.” “love this random beauty!” the above comments highlight a range of positive emotions and a sense of inter-relational positivity on hues. some studies highlight that happiness has a strong relationship not only with who we are but also what our relationship with the environment is (morris, 2009, rahm and heise, 2019). the development of the hues galleries enabled the participants to make a small change in their routine, by enabling them to create new relationships within the online environment with other people engaging with the galleries. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 42 6.4 opening to new places, ideas and shares all participants recognised and appreciated interests, hobbies and places that were different from their own. the gallery provided an effective way of presenting a range of interests and ideas that included everyone and made them explore some things that they probably would not engage in individually. recurring themes in most of the comments and survey were: a sense of peer networking, a sense of belonging and appreciative comments about the opportunity to be exposed to different skills and ideas. these findings are consistent with those of keller-schneider (2014) and show clearly that identifying new insights can enable people to build skills that can help them cope with the future demands. “in my family, i am not such a good photographer! ” “what talent in your neck of the woods, r” “as soon as i saw the preview pic i thought ‘b52s’ (and i saw them play way back when one of my favourite bands) love the concept and fab picture. groovy!” “i am particularly intrigued by the hare towards the top that looks very realistic, but i can't work out if it is metal or somehow embroidered?” “i was looking at the dying back leaves and wondering if i just let them totally die down or not? (haven't ever done snowdrops before)” 7. conclusions based on the findings of this small scale, exploratory study, some key recommendations are: 1. there is value in providing safe, inclusive, online creative spaces for teachers and lecturers, as well as students, to build, restore and encourage their wellbeing. 2. a range of mediums of expression should be allowed on these online spaces to include diverse creative activities including artwork, photography, sculpture and creative writing. 3. the ground rules for the online spaces should be set up before their launch. 4. the online space should be co-designed by the intended users. 5. moderators should be in place to facilitate engagement in these online spaces. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 43 further study is needed to understand fully the potential of this type of initiative, including tracking of engagement at critical points in the academic year. future studies could also investigate and compare different online spaces, such as open studio and jam board, for their suitability from the user perspective. references braun, v. and clarke, v. 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(2015) ‘a multidisciplinary framework for measuring and improving wellbeing.’ international journal of sciences: basic application research, 21(2), 97. available at: https://www.gssrr.org/index.php/journalofbasicandapplied/article/view/3760 (accessed:19 august 2022). western, m. and tomaszewski, w. (2016) ‘subjective wellbeing, objective wellbeing and inequality in australia.’ plos one, 11(10), e0163345–e0163345. available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163345 (accessed: 10 august 2021). white, s.c., gaines, s.o. and jha, s. (2014) ‘inner wellbeing: concept and validation of a new approach to subjective perceptions of wellbeing – india.’ social indicators research, 119(2), 723-746. available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0504-7 (accessed: 19 august 2022). https://www.gssrr.org/index.php/journalofbasicandapplied/article/view/3760 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163345 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0504-7 opinion 1 the institutional benefits of mentoring melanie thorley *accessability project co-ordinator, access & widening participation unit the concept of mentoring is by no means a modern idea. homer’s odysseus entrusted his friend, mentor, to nurture and educate his son whilst he was fighting trojans over 3,000 years ago. traditionally, mentoring within an educational environment has been used as a tool to address the inequity faced by many under-represented, as noted by de janasz et al. (2008). today, mentoring can have a positive impact on mentors, mentees and the institution involved. recent research by barnett (2008) has suggested the following: “benefits to institutions potentially include more satisfied faculty and students with lower rates of attrition ... greater scholarly productivity ... enhanced prestige for the institution, more committed alumni, and the likelihood of having more mentors in the future.” the university of greenwich has provided various mentoring services for a number of years in different faculties and departments, especially within the access & widening participation unit (awpu) and the office for student affairs. successful, positive mentoring programmes can also enable different departments to work together. for example, aspire (se london aimhigher), awpu and the diversity office are currently working together to provide a mentoring scheme for care leavers, a cohort which continues to be very under-represented within higher education. mentoring can improve networking skills which in turn can benefit the institution. de janasz et al. (o.c.), note that mentees who are involved in an effective mentoring relationship can often increase their academic performance, which can also impact on the number of higher class degrees awarded within a particular higher education institution. the mentoring and befriending foundation (mbf) suggests that trust, confidentiality and mutual involvement are key components to successful mentoring. the philosophy of peer mentoring at the university of greenwich echoes the sentiments of the mbf, with emphasis on enthusiasm, motivation and support (bartoli 2008). gormley (2008) identifies the impact that mentoring can have on retention providing psychosocial support for mentees means that students are less likely to drop out of university. my own experience also shows that student mentors are less likely to abandon their studies as they are in a position of responsibility, yet another reason to embrace successful mentoring projects. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 2 references barnett, j. (2008). mentoring, boundaries and multiple relationships: opportunities and challenges. mentoring & tutoring: partnership in learning, vol. 16, no 1. bartoli, m. (2008). peer mentoring training. university of greenwich. de janasz, s.c., ensher, e. a., and heun, c. (2008). virtual relationships and real benefits: using e-mentoring to connect business students with practicing managers. mentoring & tutoring: partnership in learning, vol. 16, no 4. gormley, b. (2008). an application of attachment theory: mentoring relationship dynamics and ethical concerns. mentoring & tutoring: partnership in learning, vol. 16, no 1. mentoring and befriending foundation. what is mentoring and befriending. [online]. available at: http://mandbf.org.uk (accessed 8 june 2009). d4324-10 november 10 http://mandbf.org.uk/ editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 1 a warm welcome to volume 15, issue 1, of compass: journal of learning and teaching! this winter issue of compass includes a mix of opinion pieces, research articles and case studies. several papers discuss aspects of online teaching including developing students’ online presentation skills to support their employability, using gamification to enhance interprofessional relationships, building a community of practice through the delivery of a he teaching programme via distancing learning and the challenges and benefits of online teaching in the context of applied disciplines, namely engineering and surveying. another theme is around dialogue with students and incorporating the student voice, in relation to feedback methods, decolonization of the science curriculum and seminar delivery. finally, papers on personal tutoring and building student resilience bring attention to the important and current topic of student wellbeing. we hope you enjoy the brief summaries below: in a powerful opinion piece about the often overlooked but still essential work of personal tutors, eve rapley and michael talbot of the university of greenwich argue that such tutoring, advising and mentoring are not sufficiently recognised or properly rewarded. considering the emphasis in contemporary higher education on the student experience and well-being, supporting students’ sense of belonging, progression, retention and achievement, the authors express concern that the personal tutor role still operates “in the shadows”. the complex range of skills and knowledge needed to carry out the role, they argue, demand the same degree of development as and parity of esteem with teaching and research. the pandemic has served to show even more clearly why the tutor-tutee relationship is so important; it can be transformational and is intrinsically linked to student success. therefore, there is a need for formal training for the role along with discussion and development of the personal tutor skillset and mindset and, finally, institutional systems which “encompass the needs and outcomes of personal tutoring”, for it is “about people and about building and developing relationships.” in our second opinion piece for this issue, ramla alzadjali, university of exeter, reflects on his experience of using different approaches to providing feedback on students’ work, in his role teaching english to he students on oman. the author argues that student engagement with feedback is likely to be greater and lead to deeper learning when feedback is focused on specific aspects of their work and contextualized by discussion of and support with those target areas. in contrast when feedback is comprehensive, in other words, it addresses all aspects of the students’ work submission, and is not contextualized, students can find this overwhelming, leading to more limited or surface level engagement. the author then raises key questions about the purpose of and best practice for providing feedback when teaching in other subject areas, emphasizing the need for dialogue around the feedback process so that students understand what it is for and how to use it. an interesting exploration of how distance learning higher education teacher development programmes can build effective communities of practice finds synchronous delivery to be more successful than asynchronous, but, whatever the mode, peer feedback, peer learning and collaboration appear to be crucial to the building of productive communities. stephanie fuller, at queen mary university of london, conducted a survey of a dispersed group of participants in the institution’s pgcert in academic practice to gauge to what extent they felt a community editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 2 had been established, from which it became clear that some key elements for relationshipbuilding were being commonly expressed, such as break-out rooms in webinars, opportunities for both hearing and seeing peers (the ‘chat’ function on its own seemed inadequate), interactive activity with peers and reciprocal feedback; all of these were bound up with finding out and learning from each other’s practice, experiences, ideas and approaches. drawing on the findings, the paper lists ideas for enhancing community development, including suggestions for developing personal relationships and a common identity: use of online social groups, more synchronous spaces for informal chat and discussion and activities geared to helping group members to get to know each other better. there are many helpful recommendations for practice here. a kingston university exploration of science students’ understanding of ‘decolonisation of the curriculum’ and their views on how that might be achieved in this subject area found that many were supportive of measures to achieve it; black african/caribbean students were particularly so, especially in terms of the content of the science taught. neil williams and audrey benjamin conclude that the results support the call for decolonising the science curriculum to reflect the diversity of the student population. though the findings indicate a low degree of understanding of the term ‘decolonisation of the curriculum’, they have already affected how science is being taught in this institution. for example, there is now a more balanced representation of the global south; more active learning is taking place; staff are able to undertake workshops to discuss how best to approach decolonisation. this paper sets out clearly the logic of taking steps to ensure that students from all backgrounds feel that the curriculum does indeed reflect them and their experience: an inclusive curriculum is fundamental to the interest and engagement of all learners. a comprehensive literature review on the subject of building resilience in higher education students reveals a wide range of institutional and pedagogical practices designed to support students to counter such debilitating challenges to their progress and success as anxiety, depression and stress. adrian buttazzoni of the university of waterloo, ontario, has synthesized findings from thirty-five articles into five analytical themes – all of which have considerable import for educators in the sector, especially when considering individual and interpersonal approaches – guided by the research question “what are the methods, strategies and defining (essential) characteristics of teaching approaches, course curricula or other course-based approaches used in he to support psychological resilience among students?” an array of strategies to enhance resilience emerges from this meticulous review, central to which is a powerful focus upon “resilience-awareness and conceptualization, individual skill development and interpersonal strategies.” the review does much to direct educators to possible ways of helping students to develop the skills needed to establish personal mental well-being and, consequently, ensure retention and academic achievement. a university of greenwich student-centred approach to learning that involved joint decisionmaking, to overcome a perceived lack of engagement, is the focus of a case study that explores how involving students in the design and the delivery of their module by means of partnership and constructive dialogue can produce a marked improvement in both participation and outcomes. giuseppina madonia reflects carefully upon the limitations of this particular context and is conscious of constraints that might limit transferability, but the qualitative data provided voluntarily by students to support this study speaks clearly: students who had previously been disaffected, express their enthusiasm for ‘healthy’ group dialogue editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 3 and ‘power’ over the learning and ‘fun’ during it. of significance are their references to the productive partnership relationship with the author as their lecturer, but whose role, thanks to a willingness to give students a voice, became that of facilitator. this case study illustrates the value of including students in decisions about design and content. inter-professional education (ipe) in the context of the full range of health professions is very likely to make significant improvement to patient care. first-year ipe students at falmouth university participate in facilitated multi-professional groups, the institution’s medicine, health sciences and natural sciences faculties’ having “the aim of enhancing their team-working skills, increasing their grasp of roles and interactions in healthcare and developing knowledge of the principles of ethical and compassionate care.” a case study on using gamification as one means of achieving this intention describes two relevant activities: a team challenge in the form of a ‘pub quiz’ and a scenario-based group board game; both centred on small-group learning as the medium for collaborative exploration and creation of knowledge. russell crawford provides reflection upon the feedback gleaned from participants’ likert responses and from ipe facilitators’ observations, concluding that there was a broad consensus that this approach helped awareness, knowledge and understanding of the roles of other healthcare professionals and that it increased a sense of inclusion. the authors conclude that a gamified approach encourages discussion, enables students to contribute to the group experience, enhances shared knowledge and imparts “lived experience of inter-professional practice.” the important concept of ‘employability’ underpins a case study from the university of greenwich, where the business school, by means of module which provided experience of working in virtual teams, set about preparing second-year accounting students for their futures in a digitally driven workplace. dawn reilly and katherine leopold emphasize that to develop appropriate digital skillsets is becoming vital to gaining employment. the involvement, in the module activities, of an employability specialist aimed to keep students focused upon contemporary professional expectations and practice. formal assessment of the technical skills needed to achieve success in virtual collaborative tasks ensured that students saw relevance and value in what they were doing. while many students may be familiar with the online environment, they do not necessarily have the confidence to, for example, work with others in a virtual space to create and deliver presentations, which requires proficiency in a range of technical skills. this case study shows that students enjoyed what they were asked to do, developed confidence and expertise and have now a much clearer sense of how they must prepare themselves for both recruitment and the work they will undertake once appointed. another case study that considers employability, this time in the case of surveying students at the anglia ruskin university, chooses to explore the perceptions of those students of the learning they experienced because of covid-imposed lockdown; staff were concerned that the loss of invaluable face-to-face delivery of courses – replaced either entirely by online education or by a mixture of the two modes – might cause students’ preparation for the professional workplace to suffer. certainly, vocational degree courses demand a practicefocused pedagogy to promote relevant deep learning. this study values highly the course participants’ views of the pandemic-enforced strategies, especially so that any positive elements that would enhance post-lockdown learning could be retained. barbara vohmann and andrew thompson found that considerable positivity emerged in the responses to the survey, with evident appreciation for tutors’ responses to the circumstances, such as provision editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 1, 2022 4 of learning materials and recordings that could be replayed (e.g., building surveys with voiceover), which allowed class time to be devoted to tutor-student communication, something of significant importance to the students. they very much liked the flipped approach, which, together with the simulations, enabled tutors to go some way to replicating real-world contexts. other interesting by-products of the survey include the exposure of inequalities of home learning environments, expression of fears and remarkable student awareness of personal responsibility for learning. engineering education has always, crucially, depended on practical laboratory experimentation, but the sheer cost (complex equipment and specialist technicians) of achieving it and ensuring student safety have led higher education institutions to balance it with now very sophisticated computer modelling and simulation software. one case study, from the university of greenwich, demonstrates that this blending of approaches is capable of encouraging the acquisition of basic skills, affording more time and opportunity to explore the subject matter and integrating laboratory experimentation with concepts covered in lectures, with resultant sustained improvement in learning and student satisfaction. the study explores project-based learning in power electronics, with an inquiry-based emphasis, taking students through the module via a combination of modelling, simulation and practical application in the lab. yehdego habtay carefully outlines the adopted approach, demonstrating that students benefited from more hands-on experience and more time to learn from relevant software and fit the activities around other responsibilities, with beneficial effect upon personal deeper learning and, consequently, engagement. we hope these papers will make enjoyable and informative reading. with best wishes to all compass readers, contributors and reviewers, rachel and the compass team at the university of greenwich 1 article “practising what we preach”: social constructivism and course design rita headington and alison hales school of education when we teach students, do we always practise what we preach? do we use what we know about our students, and our discipline, to structure courses and engage and support our learners? in primary initial teacher education (ite) we have identified a contradiction between what we say and what we do. we teach our students about teaching, learning and assessment in the primary school and emphasise the importance of building on children’s previous learning and using collaborative techniques in their classrooms. we tell them to engage children in learning through activity and discussion. in other words we teach them to use a ‘social constructivist’ approach. and yet our course design has used traditional lectures and seminars, where students have been required to work independently and show their learning through summative assessments. this is not social constructivism in action. we have not been using what we know about effective teaching and learning. we have not practised what we preached. our students: what we know and how they learn we expect student teachers to know about the children they teach and their learning needs. but how much do we know about our students and their learning needs? we know it is not unusual for students now to enter higher education with a diverse range of prior experiences and academic qualifications (yorke and longden 2007). student employment often runs in parallel, and sometimes competes, with academic studies. students use a range of technologies to study individually and communicate with peers and tutors. they draw upon the escalating global resources available at the click of a mouse. building upon the diversity of individual experience, a social constructivist approach seeks to develop prior understanding. it engages students in deep learning (biggs 2003) by providing clear links with previous learning and giving opportunities for study and research. interaction is essential to this. through interaction with ‘able others’, such as tutors and fellow learners, students are supported in moving beyond the learning they can achieve as individuals to reaching their potential through the ‘zone of proximal development’ (vygotsky 1978) (see figure 1). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 2 actual development the learning that can be achieved without support ‘the zone of proximal development’ the zone between actual and potential development potential development the learning that can be achieved with the support of an ‘able other’ figure 1: the zone of proximal development (vygotsky 1978) we know that learners gain motivation and encouragement through involvement with decision making processes and that frequent and constructive feedback on learning enables their formative development (hea 2009a; nicol, 2008). ‘assessment for learning’, where assessment is used formatively, as a vehicle for learning, rather than solely as a summative end goal, is based on social constructivist principles. this has been evidenced in schools (qca 2009) and in higher education through projects and centres of excellence including, reap, aske and escalate (hea 2009a). the approach promotes greater use of feedback and feed-forward (brown 2007) by tutors, and through student peerand self-assessment. however, the national student survey has highlighted problems with the quality of assessment in higher education, such as the clarity of assessment criteria, promptness of feedback and whether the quality of feedback is supporting learning (unistats 2009). tutors’ written comments, their language, clarity, presentation and relationship with the criteria are increasingly under scrutiny from students who question its usefulness (weaver 2006; university of greenwich 2009). we know that technology is now embedded in the lives of students who recognise the importance of discrimination to sift and review electronic materials (jisc 2006; seel 2008). while prensky’s (2001) digital divide between tutors and students may be narrowing, wesch (2007) and drexler (2008) have demonstrated that web 2.0 technology can be used more effectively in higher education by exploiting the wealth of available materials and opportunities for interaction. the increased availability of web 2.0 technology, and its ease of use, can offer direct synchronous and asynchronous student-tutor interaction to suit the working patterns of both parties and support the dialogue fundamental to the social constructivist approach to learning. similarly the effective use of technology has the potential to enhance aspects of feedback and assessment, through virtual compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 3 learning environments, online submission and marking, audio-feedback and personal response systems (nicol 2007; university of greenwich 2009). alongside these developments, race (2006) tells us that students are becoming more strategic in their approach to completing higher education qualifications and it is evident that, where conflicts between studies and demands of personal life prevail, a goal-orientated approach drives students’ approach to assessment (boud 2000). the criticality that barnett (1997) identifies as essential to degree studies can give way to superficiality. is higher education adding to this by relying on traditional approaches to learning and assessment without acknowledging the diversity of learners’ needs and experiences and the potential of technology in learning? the revalidation of an undergraduate initial teacher education (ite) programme (university of greenwich 2008) gave us the opportunity to address this question. we wanted to critique course a to develop teaching and assessment methods that would provide the new course b with academic rigor, building upon what our students know and supporting how they learn. a critique of course a course a was taken by all first year undergraduates during 2007–2008. its assessment was wholly summative and this occurred after the taught element, formed of a traditional model of lectures, followed by seminars and self-study (see figure 2). lecture slides available and key texts identified on online campus (olc) virtual learning environment (vle) up to a week before lecture* lecture input (with printed articles) tutor-led seminar student self-study and maintenance of file course a assessment: ● peer and tutor assessment of file (mid term 3) ● timed examination (late term 3) * students were not required to print lecture slides but most chose to do so and commented unfavourably if this facility was late or not provided. figure 2: course a model 2007–2008 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 4 the course required student attendance one day per fortnight and focused on 10 different topics within primary education theory and practice. slides, and details of key texts, were made available via a virtual learning environment, the ‘online campus’ (olc), a week before the lecture, for students to download and read. handouts of articles were provided at the beginning of each lecture, for reference in the seminar and/or as follow-up material. ten whole-cohort lectures, of approximately 120 students, gave introductions to the topics of study and, in seminar groups of 30, students reviewed each lecture’s key points, with a tutor leading discussion and the students drawing upon their limited experience of theory and practice. the timetabling of a one-hour lecture at 9am and a two-hour seminar later in the day, impacted on students’ engagement with the course. half the cohort moved immediately from lecture to seminar, without time to read the literature provided. the other half had a three-hour break between the two sessions but were not always motivated to use this time to acquaint themselves with the handouts. students who did not attend the lecture were likely to find the slides and the seminar of limited use without undertaking further reading. learning within the course relied upon progressive engagement with the 10 separate but linked topics, through attendance and personal study. students were required to demonstrate their engagement by maintaining a file of notes from lectures, seminars and readings. the file was presented as an assessment item for course a towards the end of the course. during 2006–2007 the item was deemed a pass if the content of all sections was complete. it was evident that students who had missed sessions photocopied notes from their peers to ensure their files were complete, often with little indication of engagement with the notes. previous tutors’ evaluations had identified that the assessment of the file, with its pass/fail outcome, had led some students to work at a surface level and consequently a peer assessment component was introduced during 2007–2008. this required students, mid-way through the year, to share their files and work together to identify ‘success criteria’, that is, specific evidence of achievement that exemplified the file’s assessment criteria (headington 2010a). from this a sample of student work was tutor-marked to provide generic feedback for the cohort. towards the end of the year students worked in pairs to identify the content of each other’s files and give written feedback on their quality. tutors became responsible for moderating a sample of work and any items in dispute, and awarding a pass/fail judgement on the basis of the evidence provided. this was well received by most students. the completed marking proformas demonstrated that the majority of students offered honest, constructive and developmental feedback to their peers and, by working in pairs, a high level of discussion had occurred about each file. a minority of students were dissatisfied with the procedures and one student urged changes to enable students to give anonymous feedback to peers in groups other than their own. interestingly, this request came from the seminar group that had involved the largest proportion of tutor moderation due to disputes between those giving and receiving feedback. the same group had found difficulties in working together during seminars through the year. there seemed to be a lack of trust which had become increasingly problematic when students were given a perceived position of power over another’s assessed work (bloxham and west 2004; boud and falchikov 2006). course a had, for several years, culminated in a two-hour written examination (100% of the course grade). it comprised one seen question, given to students a few weeks beforehand, and one unseen question from a choice of four to five topics. students were encouraged to discuss the seen question and revise together for the examination. a lecture provided examination-specific guidance compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 5 and a seminar exemplified revision methods and expectations. students were also directed towards the university’s study skills support services. for some, this was the first examination taken for a number of years. student evaluations of course a identified their overall satisfaction with its content and progression through topics. however, weaknesses in the content and quality of end of year examination scripts provoked discussion amongst tutors who questioned students’ depth of study, level of engagement with session content and the literature. tutors remarked that students chose to abandon rather than confront demanding texts and the summative model of assessment left no opportunity to redevelop provision to benefit the cohort concerned. a review of the students’ and tutors’ evaluations of course a, alongside the literature of effective teaching, learning and assessment, showed us that we were not practising what we preached. this provided sufficient argument for the reframing of a new course (course b) within the revalidated degree. how course b was developed to meet students’ learning needs we wanted the course to provide our ite students with a pedagogical model that could be analysed, used and applied to the primary classroom. course b was therefore conceived with the view that it should enable students, new to higher education, to engage with its content by building upon personal experience, encouraging research and promoting interaction with and feedback from ‘able others’ (vygotsky 1978). it aimed to achieve what biggs (2003) called “constructive alignment” where learning activities and assessment tasks complement the course’s learning outcomes. we intended, “students to take responsibility for their own learning ... establishing trust between student and teacher” (hea 2009a), by providing authentic learning experiences that would reflect their professional contexts and enable students to work with one another towards a common goal. reflecting practice in the professional environment, there would be an explicit use of ‘assessment for learning’ (qca 2009), where the students’ progress as learners was fundamental. in essence, course b aimed to ‘practise what we preached’, a social constructivist approach to learning. it was vital to build a supportive and open learning community which acknowledged and built upon the strengths of its individuals (boud 2000) who came from a wide range of experiences and starting points. we felt this approach would be both appropriate and productive to embed within a level 4 course, providing a foundation for future years. course a had been a 15 credit level 4 course, but the revalidated programme facilitated the birth of course b, a 30 credit level 4 course. the consequent increase in study hours in this area, formed by decreasing the number of level 4 courses, provided an opportunity to extend or deepen the content of the previous course. staff consensus was to opt for depth of understanding to provide a firm foundation to the students’ degree studies and school-based experiences. this enabled a substantial redevelopment of the course’s structure (see figure 3). course b, described by the head of department as the ‘trunk and branches’ of the undergraduate ite programme, provides a framework for studying curriculum areas, undertaking school-based placements and exploring key pedagogical issues. it offers a place where education theory can be explored independently of subject demands. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 6 in contrast to the more traditional model of course a, course b was developed to engage students with their learning through activity and interaction, within and between taught sessions. it was formed of 10 units delivered using a ‘blended learning’ approach, where each unit comprised an introductory lecture, readings, online workshops and directed activities, formative submissions and a seminar in which students presented and discussed their research and studies. introductory lecture with slides, readings and workshop activities available to view/download beforehand group presentation: research and preparation, including group tutorial reading group activities online workshop, readings and activities, including written submissions by groups/individuals reading logs, reflections on school-based tasks) tutors’ written feedback to groups and individuals on online submissions seminar: usually two weeks after introductory lecture group presentation tutor-led activities and discussion course b assessment: ● joint report on school-based observations/learning theory (early term 2) ● peer assessment of portfolio/reflective commentary (late term 2) ● timed examination (late term 3) figure 3: course b model 2008–2009 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 7 assessment methods were critical to the course’s constructive alignment, and the doubling its credit rating gave us the chance to develop this aspect of the course’s design. at revalidation, the programme team had determined that a summative, end-point examination would remain a course requirement. however, the ‘high stakes’ nature of an examination, which tends to favour learners who can express themselves clearly and concisely within its parameters, was complemented by two, more creative, summative assessment items at intervals during the course and ongoing formative assessment. this would provide an opportunity for different learning styles, enable ‘catch up’ for those who missed sessions and identify students with difficulties at points where errors and misconceptions could be addressed. the first item, a joint report (worth 25% of the course grade), was designed to provide an authentic learning and assessment experience; pairs of students were required to describe, compare and contrast specific aspects of their school placements in relation to their academic studies. the second item, a portfolio of evidence (worth 25%), mirrored the peer-assessment pilot of the previous year but was enhanced to ensure that no student was disadvantaged by subjective peer comments. the submission required students to take part in the peer assessment activity and to complete an evaluation of the experience of giving and receiving peer feedback. the final examination (worth 50%) would remain as previous years with one seen and one unseen question. to further support students’ learning, formative assessment items, which focused on readings, presentations and directed activities, were woven through the course to build an environment where feedback from tutors, peers and self were regular and accepted features that would help to construct and shape the learning community. during the first seminar, students were asked to form ‘reading groups’ (of two to three students) and ‘presentation groups’ (of four to six students). these were not necessarily related. the reading group members were required to work together after each lecture to tackle the readings provided, by completing a ‘reflective log’, which included a full harvard reference, summary statement and main points learned. samples of these were submitted to tutors for formative feedback via the olc submission centre as part of the students’ directed activities. this provided the students with immediate peer group support and the tutors were able to diagnose difficulties, provide small group feedback to students and use issues arising to inform generic feedback and further teaching. for example, we were able to address students’ difficulty with harvard referencing before students were penalised for errors in formal submissions. this area had consistently caused problems in previous cohorts. the presentation groups required students to work together to lead a 15–20 minute presentation on an area of choice from the topic of study within the unit to the rest of their seminar group, who became the audience. the students needed to work together to research, design and present and were entitled to a tutorial with the seminar tutor to guide their work. when presentation groups were formed, students discussed areas for feedback and comments that they would value from their peers. ideas from across the cohort were collated to form a ‘presentation group feedback’ proforma; success criteria identified by peers. this was distributed to the audience, completed and returned to presenters at the end of their presentations. this peer-assessment provided initial experiences of giving and receiving feedback against criteria in a supportive group situation. it aimed to alleviate anxiety and build trust between students in advance of the peer assessment of the portfolio of evidence in which students would need to comment on the work of others in their seminar group. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 8 the olc submission centre provided individual students and groups with the opportunity to gain direct feedback from tutors on their writing and reflection. the directed activities, built into most of the online workshops, included a submission of approximately 300 words. the submissions, based on readings or links between theory and practice, enabled students to identify level 4 expectations and be guided by on-going constructive criticism from their tutor. as formatively assessed items, the submissions were chosen to cover key issues within the course and overtly build towards students’ summative assessments, for example, requiring students to read and summarise key texts or comment on the design of classroom environments. the submissions enabled tutors to gain an early insight into students’ needs (yorke 2006), both in the structuring of their writing and their understanding of the course content, and to address concerns at an individual, group or cohort level. students in need of individual support were identified and directed to the university’s study skills centre. are we now practising what we preach? a mid-year review of progress, via an online survey of students in february 2009, captured qualitative and quantitative responses. the results verified tutors’ anecdotal evidence that students had responded positively to the course b model of teaching, learning and assessment. there were 65 respondents (54.6% of the cohort) of which the majority felt ‘comfortable’ (63.1%) or ‘excited’ (10.8%) that course b used a blended learning approach saying: “i really liked working through lectures, seminars and online, it kept the work varied and interesting.” “it was very well structured, good levels of feedback of work, relevant topics, helpful and challenging session leaders.” most respondents felt the design of course b had, ‘to some extent’ (56.9%) or ‘a great deal’ 29.2%), helped them to become part of a community of learners, an essential feature of an assessment for learning approach that builds on formative feedback from tutors, peers and the self (boud 2000). the presentation groups were instrumental in this as they enabled students to work collaboratively, develop their presentation skills, give and receive feedback from peers and gain in confidence: “the presentation groups really boost your confidence.” “it’s much easier to give encouraging, positive feedback to your peers about their presentations. i think confidence building is important in the first year.” however, the reading groups appeared less successful in developing a community of learners after the initial submissions: “to be honest, after the first reading group submission the group stopped meeting to discuss, and we read separately.” “the reading groups whilst, an excellent idea just haven’t been practical to carry out to any useful degree due to pressure of work and different levels of commitment etc!” “with regards to the reading groups: sometimes it’s easier to get on and do it yourself.” compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 9 we had initially planned to use the reading group submissions as a means of ensuring peer support and discussion when students tackled demanding readings. as the course progressed, professional activities were used as submissions and this may have impacted on the students’ perception of the value of the reading groups. it may be advantageous for us to form presentation groups by merging two reading groups; building on the success of the former and emphasising the importance of the latter. the olc discussion boards were less overt in bringing a sense of community to such a large cohort, tending to operate as notice boards rather than ‘discussion’ areas. tutors led by providing questions and personal anecdotes to encourage students to share, reflect upon and analyse their experiences as primary school learners. despite tutors’ concerns that layout and accessibility within the discussion boards hampered opportunities for effective dialogue, students commented that: “as a novice in this area of online learning etc, i surprisingly enjoyed contributing to the discussions and reading fellow students’ responses.” “it is helpful to share a range of perspectives on experiences.” this suggests that they had used them to learn more about the experiences of individuals within the community. several students suggested that the discussion board comments might have been used more productively by tutors in seminars, providing starting point for the interaction essential to learning. one tutor, for whom this was a first experience with blended learning, responded to these observations by saying, “fair point! it didn’t occur to me to use the discussion points made in seminars! this may have been due to my lack of experience with the model – i saw this as a bit of a bolt-on and wasn’t sure of the purpose other than a type of notice board. had it been used in seminars it would have given a purpose to the students and so encouraged greater use and discussion.” the olc ‘coffee bar’, a student-only social area was used very little but as one student noted, “everybody seems to be on facebook”, echoing findings from the lex study (jisc 2006) that different levels of student engagement operate online. students moved easily between the face-to-face and online elements of course b and this helped individuals to feel supported by tutors and peers: “having the online elements, i felt like i had support with course b 24/7.” only a handful of students contacted tutors for technical support with online elements when the course began and most rated these as ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to use (e.g. workshop directed activities, 50.8% and 41.5%; submission centre, 50% and 40.6%). this was not surprising as recent studies have identified students’ growing confidence in and access to technology (e.g. jisc 2006). students’ concerns appeared to centre on issues related to the first year of operation. for example some slippage occurred as tutors developed the content of the online workshops; some technical difficulties arose with the students’ use of the submission centre; and there were some disparities between university and home computer software. whilst none of these problems was major, they were annoying and problematic for those who were less confident in using a blended approach, echoing findings of the seel project (2008). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 10 however, this did not discourage use of the olc as spot checks throughout the year showed students were using it daily between 7am and 1am. as one student put it: “i love the structure that the online element brings and the accessibility.” the online medium enabled direct access to appropriate web-based materials and appeared to engage students in directed activities, though not always positively. for example while one commented that, “the use of video is more accessible to all types of learners”, another suggested that some of the online readings used were “quite heavy going … and long”. the latter was recognised by tutors as an area in need of immediate review as the original intention had been to provide ‘bite-size’ information to students via well-selected websites, building on the studies of drexler (2008) and wesch (2007). there was a widely held view by students that: “having all the information online proved really helpful. i always printed off the different units and this helped to me organise my work through the tasks.” although one student felt it, “takes up our time in reading and writing. it comes across as complicated, confusing and frustrating and feels like a burden.” the area of feedback and assessment raised several issues. the course’s online formative feedback from tutors was seen as ‘somewhat’ (31.3%) or ‘very’ (40.6%) beneficial when it operated successfully and students felt it was ‘somewhat’ (29.7%) or ‘very’ (54.7%) useful to receive written group feedback from the tutor. however, tutors did not always provide timely feedback and this raised criticism as students recognised it moved away from the pedagogical model advocated, and impacted on their learning experience. “i was very disappointed and concerned with the continuous lateness of feedback, after all students would not be allowed to hand in work late at all. most importantly, if feedback were given on time, it could have further improved my learning throughout the course.” tutors commented that they found it difficult to keep up-to-date with giving feedback in the submission process adopted, where students submitted work when they were ready to do so. the most successful approach was achieved by a tutor who checked and responded to submissions on the same day each week. however, this was not common practice. one tutor felt that students should submit by a given date so tutors could respond at a set point: “the haphazard nature of the submissions – not easy to keep checking ‘just in case’ something was submitted after the last time you looked.” it is questionable whether tutors’ difficulties rested solely with the lack of structure as the formative nature of this feedback seemed to lower its status in relation to other ‘more pressing’ diary commitments. the principles of formative feedback need to be acknowledged and its practice valued in order to develop tutors’ approaches (nicol 2008). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 11 students were initially concerned about the paired assessment tasks with fewer feeling ‘comfortable’ (50%) or ‘excited’ (9.4%). this may have been due to the summative implications of the product, as one student noted, “i was concerned that our grade relied so heavily on the other person making an effort.” a full analysis of the joint report has been reported separately (headington 2010b). it is based on student evaluations, completed following the assignment’s submission, the majority of which suggested the process had been beneficial. joint submissions appeared to be new ground for the students and initial apprehensions did not inevitably follow through. a positive attitude and approach reaped dividends: “it was good to have someone to work with as it wasn’t so bad when getting to grips with the more harder or longer readings (for the assignment).” “i thought the joint report would be difficult but on the first meeting we agreed a ‘to do’ list and met regularly where we gave each other feedback and ideas. we would follow these up and ended with a report we were both happy with.” overall, the mid-year online survey results suggested that course b had provided students with a social constructivist model of learning that built upon previous experiences and was appropriately facilitated through peer and tutor interaction. the course’s structure provided progression, from one unit to the next, that was not apparent in course a, and this appeared to contribute to the students’ construction of learning. tutors felt that blended learning provided an effective model of practice for the students. the units enabled face-to-face tutor input, via lectures and seminars and online tutor support through formative feedback and participation in discussions. students were encouraged to seek and give support to peers via face-to-face and online activities. in terms of outcomes, the joint reports and portfolios showed a high level of engagement and analysis, with very few failures. tutors identified examples of deep learning in students’ discussions and assessments: “i was surprised at the level and depth of engagement with year 1 students so early on in the course. they really got into the core issues and were critically analysing them.” the end of year examination results testified to a depth of engagement with course content, with results that surpassed those of the previous year (see figure 4). whether this was due to the improved student understanding, the ability of the cohort or the depth of study offered by a 30 credit course is more difficult to ascertain. the course was not without its difficulties and the need for staff commitment and motivation cannot be denied. it necessitated frequent staff meetings to discuss pedagogical approaches, review students’ learning, devise new units and provide mutual support. tutors reported that without direct experience of learning through a blended approach, it was difficult to identify with the students’ learning experience. some course b tutors extended their knowledge of course content, others their skills in using the technology. although advantageous to the individuals concerned, and critical to the strength of the provision, the development of the course took longer than initially anticipated. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 12 tutors needed to focus on the development of course units, possibly to the detriment of regular formative feedback to students, creating a dilemma in respect of course expectation. this should ease in the future for course b as units are reviewed rather than created; but, unless checked, the same issue could move with the cohort into their second and third years where similar course models are now being developed following the success of course b. we have nonetheless, been gratified that the students’ and tutors’ engagement in this full-scale pilot has enabled the approach to become embedded within the programme’s provision and has impacted on the quality of students’ learning experiences. we have, it seems, found a way to practise what we preach. figure 4: examination results by% in course a (2008) and course b (2009) compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 13 acknowledgement we wish to thank ian mcnay, emeritus professor of education, university of greenwich, who provided us with encouragement, guidance and critical feedback on drafts of the paper. references barnett, r. (1997). higher education: a critical business. buckingham: srhe and oup. biggs, j. (2003). teaching for quality learning at university. second edition. bloxham, s., and west, a. (2004). understanding the rules of the game: marking peer assessment as a medium for developing students’ conception of assessment. assessment and evaluation, higher education, 29(6): 721–733. boud, d. (2000). sustainable assessment; rethinking assessment for the learning society. studies, continuing education, 22(2): 151–167. boud, d., and falchikov, n. (2006). aligning assessment with long-term learning. assessment and evaluation, higher education, 31(4): 399–413. brown, s. (2007). feedback and feed-forward. centre for bioscience bulletin, 22:1. drexler, w. (2008). the networked student. [online]. available at: http://teachweb2.blogspot. com/2008/11/cck08-connectivism-networked-studentthe.html (accessed 30 march 2009). hea. (2009a). feedback. 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(2008). ba qts in primary education validation document. london: university of greenwich. university of greenwich. (2009). feedback and assessment project: final report. london: university of greenwich. vygotsky, l. (1978). mind in society. cambridge ma: harvard university press. weaver, m. (2006). do students value feedback? student perceptions of tutors’ written responses. assessment and evaluation in higher education, 31(3): 379–394. wesch, m. (2007). vision of students today. [online]. available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgcj46vyr9o (accessed 30 march 2009) yorke, m. (2006). formative assessment and employability: some implications for higher education practices. mcnay, i. (ed.). beyond mass higher education: building on experience. maidenhead: open university press. yorke, m., and longden, b. (2007). the first-year experience in higher education in the uk. [online]. available at: www.heacademy.ac.uk/fyesurvey.htm (accessed 17 may 2007). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgcj46vyr9o http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/fyesurvey.htm case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 e-teaching as companion to e-learning; supporting digital pedagogies and practice in higher education sue watling university of hull abstract the literature of education technology suggests that greater attention has been paid to the student experience of e-learning than the development of academics as e-teachers. technology has been widely promoted as an ‘enhancer’ of student learning and there is an expectation that academics will make use of virtual learning environments (vles). indeed, the adoption of digital tools is an essential component of current interest in flipped and flexible approaches to higher education. however, the majority of vle usage may more nearly resemble a digital document dump than the interactive and collaborative pedagogies predicted by the early promises of e-learning transformation (ncihe, 1997). this paper seeks to shed light on the hitherto under-researched area of the relationships academics have with their vles, in particular with regard to reluctance or resistance to move from faceto-face to online practice. whilst the sector has invested into inquiry into the aspirations and motivations of the digital student (jisc, 2009), the day-to-day digital interactions of staff who teach and support learning and, in particular, those without technology expertise or natural digital inclinations, have gone largely unrecorded. this paper offers some preliminary findings of a three-year action research project investigating attitudes towards virtual learning though a teacher-education lens rather than a traditional technology-training one. findings have been converted into advice for academics looking to make the shift from faceto-face to e-teaching and blended practices. this guidance for staff may be usefully positioned alongside what is already known about the student experience of e-learning. introduction in contrast to the transformative promise of technology enhanced learning (tel), there were early indications that all was not well with both the adoption rate of new technologies and the rationale for moving to virtual design and delivery, whilst critical reviews have been explicit about the failure of vles (liseweski, 2004; bell and bell, 2005; conole, 2004; clegg et al, 2003; freisen, 2008; saljo, 2009; selwyn, 2013). research into the value of technology has been accused of lacking rigour (bennett and oliver, 2011; gunn and steele, 2012) so that it becomes ‘…extremely difficult to trace the impact of educational research to anything that really matters’ (reeves et al, 2012:57). more recently, oer, mooc, social media and mobile devices have revived early promises of transformation (anderson, 2007; jisc, 2009; conole, 2010), but enthusiasm contrasts with reports of low appetite for change (heirdsfield et al, 2011; sheward and hamilton, 2012; watling, 2009) and numerous reports cite deficits of time, support and appropriate resources to support academics to make the digital shift (beetham et al, 2009; walker et al, 2012; ucisa, 2012, 2014). negative views like these have contributed to the gloomy conclusion put forward by feenburg: ‘…the promise of virtual learning in the 1990s has come to nothing and elearning within the university has failed.’ (feenburg, 2011:2) in the increasingly digital environment of higher education, individual reluctance to engage is often rendered invisible. whilst like attracts like and technology enthusiasts work well case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 together, those who might label themselves as ‘digitally-shy’ risk exclusion: less likely to read the tel literature, attend tel conferences or apply for tel funding, the digitally shy or resistant are also less likely to get involved with institutional technology events or sign up for technology-training opportunities. however, the need for academics to come out from their analogue shadows has been recently highlighted. lack of staff engagement was identified as a barrier to technology adoption (ucisa, 2010, 2012, 2014) whilst increasing digital engagement is explicit in the hea’s flexible pedagogies reports (gordon, 2014). further raised awareness of the experiences of academic staff, for example ecclesfield et al (2014), has fed into the work jisc has carried out around addressing the digital capabilities of staff who teach and support learning. this builds on earlier work by jisc (beetham et al, 2009) which underpins the recent development of a digital capabilities framework (jisc, 2013, 2015) and partnership work with students (healey et al, 2014; killen and chatterton, 2015). raising awareness of the experiences of academic staff with technology has provided a useful first step, which is ideally followed by the identification of authentic ways to ensure that future digital engagement is encouraged, maintained and rewarded. methodology traditionally, vle support has been located within the realm of technology training, whilst effective pedagogy has sat within teacher-education programmes. this paper addresses an attempt to bring the practical and pedagogical together through an accredited teacher education course, teaching and learning in a digital age (teleda), which was delivered and assessed entirely online. based on the principles of experiential learning, staff were enrolled as students on the institutional vle (blackboard), where they engaged with digital tools and were asked to reflect critically on both transferring the experience to their own teaching and the effectiveness of the course as a means of digital cpd and teacher education. the aim of teleda was to enhance the e-learning experience of students by prioritising time and space for accredited e-teaching development. 1 developing teleda through an action research methodology reinforced the participatory nature of the course and maximised the unique position of participants as both learners and teachers. the teleda pedagogy aimed to expand knowledge production rather than reiterating traditional transmission and consumption models. there were no lectures on teleda. the learning was interactive and collaborative, grouped around individual subject blocks which covered online design, introducing oer, social media and digital resources. content was provided through text, images, audio and video, but focused primarily on discovery and discussion. participants were asked to search for relevant content, which might be papers or multimedia resources, which was collected and shared using social bookmarking tools. twitter was used for synchronous and asynchronous tweet chats, providing opportunities for engagement in supportive collegial groups. course design utilised the five step model of e-moderating (salmon, 2000) with collaborative activities built around the conversational framework (laurillard, 2001). constructivist scaffolding from the tutor supported the early stages of participant engagement with virtual ways of working, with this 1 the teleda course emerged from a twelve-month, hea-funded project, embedding oer practice (watling, 2011), which bought together academics with a primary interest in educational development rather than technology, but who developed digital capabilities as the project progressed. this became the catalyst for the development of teleda, which aimed to support academic confidence with digital pedagogies and practice. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 gradually being withdrawn as levels of digital confidence increased. throughout the course, participants were expected to interact with content and colleagues, while all the time traversing the iterative rounds of the experiential learning cycle. data analysis the key outcomes from teleda have been synthesised into three areas of advice for aspiring e-teachers and staff in departments supporting cpd and teacher education. these three areas include suggestions for mitigating any potentially negative consequences from tel engagement and turning them into positive outcomes. 1. avoid the ‘myths of digital confidence’ “i have made assumptions previously about the skills of students i am working. i presumed they would find learning in an online environment ‘easy’ as this was something that they had chosen. i was wrong.” (watling, 2015) making over-ambitious assumptions about digital ways of working risks lack of engagement in tel opportunities, low enthusiasm for digital activities and poor retention rates. myths of digital confidence are prevalent amongst those who support and mandate technology and fail to empathise with digital fear or diversity. while some academics might be openly frank about their perceived lack of digital aptitude, others may appear digitally confident but lack experience with vles for academic purposes. digital working styles are as unique as individual handwriting or fingerprints. everyone operates online in different ways, which makes it problematic to apply a ‘one-size-fits-all’ digital competencies’ checklist or framework. advice for avoiding the myths of digital competence includes managing learner expectations and building in time for digital practice students take cues from tutors and, if the tutor is negative about the vle or provides poorlystructured online resources, then they will be less likely to engage (masterman, 2010). addressing e-teaching is an opportunity to improve the e-learning experience. time to practise communicating online (for example, an introductory forum which includes tasks like attaching a file or uploading a photograph) offers safe space to experiment. a ‘hopes and fears’ activity, which encourages sharing previous digital experiences, might reveal unexpected gaps in knowledge and indicate where appropriate support and guidance is needed. discussion forums and activities using wikis, blogs or journals do need to be nurtured. “i realise now how naïve i was in the past to simply open the discussion board with a question and expect the students to participate. as a tutor i have to make it possible for my students to participate through the design of my tasks.” (watling, 2015) some participants may feel nervous about going first or making a mistake, whilst confident others can dominate any fledgling conversations. sensitive approaches are required. since the absence of face-to-face clues can cause online messages to be misinterpreted, ‘netiquette’ advice, either pre-formed or developed by the group, is useful. guidance might include avoiding capital letters (which can be perceived as shouting) and to use emoticons to convey intended emotions like humour or fear. this might all seem unnecessary in these case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 days of email and social media, but professional communication is a valuable attribute and the ability to manage this appropriately in a range of digital media should not be assumed (salmon 2011, 2013). 2. coping with identity blur “i now realise the transition from being an effective classroom practitioner to an effective online practitioner is complex and challenging.” (watling, 2015) the term ‘e-lecturer’ is rarely seen. the literature includes labels like facilitator, instructor, moderator and trainer whilst goodyear et al (2004) listed eight different roles an effective eteacher needs to perform. the emotional impact of the shift from ‘sage on the stage’ to ‘guide on the side’ should not be underestimated. reliance on digital media contrasts with the traditional social and personal nature of education, whilst teaching online involves coming to terms with varying degrees of invisibility. establishing an identity and rapport has to be worked at and teleda invited students to post photographs and short introductory video. using blogs or wikis for asking questions and setting specific times for responses can establish vle visit routines. though the lack of instant face-to-face cues and feedback often appears challenging, this is always balanced by the beneficial capacity of vles to cross traditional barriers of time and distance, to encourage student-centred, independent learning and to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate. advice for coping with identity blur includes ensuring interactive and experiential approaches within online learning designs “it seems obvious now that the lack of student engagement with my online resources was due to inappropriate design. i placed too much emphasis on text based, selfdirected learning and didn’t recognise the important role of interaction between students and probably most importantly, investing time in building solid foundations and helping students develop skills for online learning.” (watling, 2015) since digital resources have to work hard to sustain audience interest, the adoption of activity-based content (abc) is more likely to prevent enthusiasm lapse than passive transmission methodology. activities should include tasks, problems and choices with opportunities for students work in pairs, threes or larger groups. allocating roles (such as task scribe, collector of content or reporter for sharing the group experience to peers) can maintain momentum. traditional face-to-face content such as that transmitted in lectures rarely translates well to online environments. a fifty-minute recording, complete with coughs, sneezes and a blank wall when the lecturer has moved away from the camera, can be made more effective if edited into smaller blocks, with summary information or formative assessment questions slotted between sections. a narration over a set of presentation slides has all the advantages of an online resource; it can be revisited, stopped, started and accessed at a time and place of the student’s choice. however, the potential for a more meaningful approach to digital learning will always be enhanced if multiple media are deployed to present content via more stimulating, interactive peer activities. the literature on digital education offers different approaches and ideas (salmon, 2011, 2013; laurillard, 2001; garrison, 2014), but the most valuable cpd activity is an experiential or immersion approach, which can be achieved through taking part in a mooc. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 “the experience of being isolated and lacking human connection also supported my feeling about the importance of the social in the learning experience. there are lots of ways to connect i didn’t know about.” (watling, 2015) massive open online courses (moocs) offer free opportunities to experience the emotions involved in learning online. these can include fear, frustration and time constraints, the effect of which on attainment should not be underestimated. moocs show how other institutions are exploring virtual learning. they give access to ideas for both the design and delivery of content as well collaborative activities. some large courses have fixed start and end dates, involve synchronous or asynchronous discussions and peer review, but can still be joined at any time or dropped in and out of. moocs can also comprise smaller chunks of learning which are each more like an open educational resource (oer) and can be undertaken individually. courses offered by futurelearn2, the partnership between the ou and a consortium of uk universities, are worth exploring, whilst the khan academy3, coursera4 and udacity5 have a range of short and long moocs. the value of any mooc experience is the view of vle from the e-learner perspective. this offers aspiring e-teachers insight which can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the design and delivery of their own online resources. 3. preparing for a ‘pedagogy of uncertainty’ “being an online learner is confusing and disorientating. there is no tutor to check what you are doing ‘is right’…. as a tutor in the classroom you can be on hand to make connections for students or clarify activity instructions, this is less easy online, you have to almost pre-empt questions.” (watling, 2015) vles offer a blend of benefits and barriers but all usage involves a sense of uncertainty deriving from lack of face-to-face contact. it can be difficult to see if e-learners have arrived online and accessed resources or to know if they will engage in activities. though this is true of all educational opportunities, it can be harder to assess when students cannot be immediately seen or heard. vle monitoring features are useful indicators of presence, whether actively engaged with resources or not, but less helpful with regard to the quality of individual engagement. however, uncertainty must not be perceived as wholly negative. it can also involve surprise and delight, such as when end-of-block or end-of-course feedback shows students had engaging and productive experiences which they valued and appreciated. the advantages of vles to cross barriers of time and distance, and ensure equal participation in activities, will always offer a positive balance to what can feel like negative trials and tribulations of e-teaching. “as a novice online tutor i instinctively reverted back to what many novice classroom practitioners do and focused on transmitting content, although this was something i would always try and avoid in a classroom setting.…i recognise now that online learning is all about the activity of the student and what you get them to ‘do’.” (watling, 2015) 2 https://www.futurelearn.com/ 3 https://www.khanacademy.org/ 4 https://www.coursera.org/ 5 https://www.udacity.com/ https://www.futurelearn.com/ https://www.khanacademy.org/ https://www.coursera.org/ https://www.udacity.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 advice for coping with a pedagogy of uncertainty includes the use of signposts and acknowledging the complexity of vle pedagogy and practice. e-teachers can help e-learners by providing appropriate signposting to manage expectations, indicate timescales, give key dates (such as assessment deadlines) and make clear the order and sequencing of activities. sources of technical support, contact details for staff and guidance on participation in activities like online group work all need to be clearly signposted. it is useful to ask a critical friend who is unfamiliar with the learning environment to navigate around it and give feedback. the prevalence of social media creates a tendency to take for granted that e-learners can instinctively use vle tools and have appropriate knowledge about what learning online involves. however, using a vle for educational purposes often requires a more formal approach than the social habits encouraged by sites like facebook and instagram. clear signposting to information on effective online learning, together with incentives to interact (like shared quizzes or treasure hunts) can help settle a new group and add a relaxed element which doesn’t detract from formal learning but encourages the habit of logging on and checking for new content. “preparation is not just about being technically competent, it is about ensuring learners are able to deal with the social and emotional challenges of learning online too.” (watling, 2015) summary this paper has shown how the teleda teacher education programme aimed to support academics to develop their digital pedagogy and practice and become more effective eteachers. the teleda course offered insight into the influences on the attitudes to their vles and on the practice of staff who teach and support learning. a number of findings emerged, including how deeply entrenched was the conception of a vle as a place to put information: the prevalent primary focus was on transmitting content rather than approaching the vle as a place to develop interactive learning opportunities. for many participants, the concept of e-teaching as the development and facilitation of online collaboration was a new approach. though it could be argued that e-teaching is implicit within e-learning, the teleda experience suggests that, unless e-teaching is made explicit and unless teachers have the prerequisite technical and pedagogical knowledge to create effective online learning environments, there is a real risk that those mandating and promoting digital technology will continue to make unrealistic assumptions about baselines and starting points. teleda does give participants a realistic experience of e-learning: as a consequence of their participation, they reported increased empathy with the online experiences of their own students; their reflective journals and assessed eportfolios indicated how the experiential nature of the course design increased the likelihood of their going on to adopt digital ways of working in their own teaching practice. conclusion in order to promote vle engagement and develop teachers’ potential for enhancing the student experience, there is a need to be realistic about where digital baselines and starting points are positioned. achieving this requires conversations and partnerships between academics and education developers, as well as between departments responsible for technology training and those who lead on cpd and teacher education. teleda reinforced the value of experiential learning. participants were immersed in real-world collaborations case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 with colleagues and were supported in the adoption of new identities as e-teachers. sharing thoughts and ideas about attitudes to vles and practices within them is now being incorporated into future digital development initiatives. this research shows how investing in 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(2015) doctoral research: unpublished research data. http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_128_ed%20devs%2013.1%20v4%20final.pdf http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_128_ed%20devs%2013.1%20v4%20final.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 1 supporting inclusive teaching practice within a uk further and higher education context kevin johnson, tema george ravensbourne university london, uk abstract the proportion of students with disabilities in further and higher education has increased by 60% in recent years (oxford brookes university, 2014) with the highest rates in creative institutions (richards and finnigan, 2015, university of leeds, 2015). students with a disability are less likely to get a good degree (2:1 or above), more likely to perceive their courses as low quality, and have a lower rate of employability than people without disabilities (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). the current research project aims to respond to such findings by supporting teaching staff to cultivate a culture of inclusive practice. this will be achieved by conducting a literature review, internal and external staff interviews, a student survey, and sharing comprehensive findings and recommendations. keywords: disability, inclusive, adjustments, evidence, recommendations introduction inclusive educational environments have been shown to impact positively on student satisfaction and grades (oxford brookes university, 2014), attendance (babb & ross, 2009) and can remove barriers to learning (equality challenge unit, 2013). they also benefit all students not just those with diagnoses such as autism, dyslexia and adhd (bhagat & o’neill, 2011). this is, in part, because the increased choice provides all student with opportunities to connect to learning in a way that is relevant to them (oxford brookes university, 2014). an inclusive approach can also save time for teaching staff as it reduces the need for individualised plans (equality challenge unit, 2013). these perspectives can be valuable in gaining the endorsement of teaching staff and senior leadership which is crucial in developing a positive culture of inclusivity (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). the movement towards an inclusive culture in further and higher education is supported by uk law which protects people with disabilities and promotes the use of reasonable adjustments (equality act, 2010). the higher education sector is also supported by government funding that enables people with additional needs to access education. this is called the disabled students’ allowance (dsa) and it offers a range of options including specialist one-to-one support and assistive technology for people with a disability (gov uk, 2018). this support has however been reviewed and there was a decision to remove funding for certain dsa support, including note-takers for students with dyslexia, and a cap was placed on annual spending (gov uk, 2014). there are views that these changes in funding provide an opportunity to further embed reasonable adjustments into teaching practice (bhagat and o’neil, 2011) which can lead to less dependency on dsa support and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 2 increased student autonomy (warwick university, 2016). the organisation responsible for delivering dsa echoed this sentiment when it stated the fund should only be used as a top layer of support with reasonable adjustments and institutional support underpinning it (student loans company, 2016). there is a high proportion of the student body with learning support needs that can benefit from reasonable adjustments (the higher education academy, 2013). some of the most common reasons for additional learning needs are neurodiversity’s such as dyslexia, adhd, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and autism (healey, 2010). the proportion of the student population with a neurodiversity can be as high as 28% (the national union of students, 2016) and there is particularly high prevalence in creative institutions (richards and finnigan, 2015, university of leeds, 2015). this can present challenges to creative institutions such as ravensbourne university london as there are higher demands on resources to support students (the national union of students, 2016). one of the other prevalent areas of support needs in education is students who experience problems in their mental health (the national union of students, 2016). the percentage of students at ravensbourne university london, who reported mental health problems was 3% (ravensbourne, 2017a), which is relatively low compared to estimates for further and higher education overall, which range from 27% (aronin and smith, 2016) to 78% (de pury, 2016) with demand for support services at an all-time high (weale and perraudin, 2016). ravensbourne university london’s figure of 9% for students with neurodiversity’s (ravensbourne, 2017a) also appears lower than that of some other creative institutions (richards and finnigan, 2015, university of leeds, 2015). it is, however, common for university statistics to underestimate the prevalence of mental health problems because students may fear discrimination in the application process and choose not to declare their support needs at this stage (waters et al., 2012). ravensbourne university london has a total rate of 16% of the student population with declared disabilities including long-standing illnesses (2%), autism (1%), and other disability (1%) (ravensbourne, 2017a). the outcomes for students with a declared disability are generally positive, with a higher proportion achieving a good degree (1st or 2:1) than people who identify as not disabled (ravensbourne, 2015). this compares well to outcomes for students with disabilities in the sector, who, typically, achieve lower grades (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). ravensbourne university london has also committed to improving their offer by setting an objective of staff training in disability which is aimed at improving student experience, retention, and success (ravensbourne, 2017b). there are challenges to providing an inclusive environment within a creative educational context. there are up to 50% more disabled students in creative education environments compared to traditionally none creative education environments (richards and finnigan, 2015) which can have a great bearing on resources (the national union of students, 2016). many creative courses have large group sizes and have physical demands including the use of cumbersome, unadaptable equipment (richards and finnigan, 2015). there are, however, opportunities in creative institutions, for example with assessment briefs, as students can be given a licence to use their identity and personal preferences more than in a more typically prescriptive environment (richards and finnigan, 2015). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 3 a diverse range of teaching strategies are said to enable an inclusive learning environment (corbett, 2001) and there are a variety of recommendations in the literature. for example, delivery of written course information such as handouts can be adjusted to address accessibility for students with neurodiversity’s (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). documents can be written clearly and succinctly which can be very helpful for people with autism who may find ambiguous written materials very challenging (the university of edinburgh, 2016). students with neurodiversity’s often have difficulties with working memory which can impact on the processing of information (bhagat and o’neil, 2011) but can often have a strong visual memory (grant, 2010). handouts can therefore be made dyslexia sensitive by following certain formatting principles (british dyslexia association, 2017) and utilise visuals to structure information such as mind maps (bacon & bennett, 2013) which can assist recall of information (university of sheffield, 2017). materials can be delivered to students ahead of sessions to encourage preparation (university of strathclyde, 2000) and can actually increase attendance at lectures in spite of fears of teaching staff that students would not attend if materials are sent early (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). handouts can link to key learning objectives rather than providing all information (oxford brookes, 2017) which can reduce the chance of overwhelming students with neurodiversity’s with too much information (grant, 2010). these approaches have been shown to improve attendance and participation in course materials (babb & ross, 2009) and can be useful to all students not just those with neurodiversity’s (bhagat and o’neill, 2011). audio recordings have been used innovatively, for example by offering an interpretation of briefs or delivering personalised feedback (leeds university, 2014). podcasting has been used to create formative assessments linked to course material that can be listened to repeatedly (morris, 2010). students can also be encouraged to audio record sessions to allow the opportunity to listen again (plymouth university, 2016). such adjustments have been shown to increase engagement (leeds university, 2014) and performance for all students (morris, 2010) particularly for those with neurodiversity’s (plymouth university, 2016). there is a high prevalence of mental health distress in the education sector as discussed previously (aronin & smith, 2016, de pury, 2016). close liaison with student services and signposting to the support available is a key aspect for all teams to consider (oxford brookes, 2014). there are, however, other areas that can be supportive to students in the curriculum which can promote good mental health too. group working and presentations can be a particularly challenging area, especially for people with anxiety (plymouth university, 2016) and those on the autistic spectrum (autism.org.uk, 2017). these areas can however provide opportunities for growth in confidence and resilience when delivered appropriately (the higher education academy, 2013). in terms of presenting work, courses can offer a graded approach to presentations which allows the student to build confidence and resilience over time (bhagat and o’neill, 2011). students can also thrive by working on their strengths and collaborating with others to improve work, refine talent, and enhance resilience (schreiner, 2010). methods of selfappraisal can help students cope with critical feedback and understand their areas of development (the higher education academy, 2013). this proactive approach can help to build self-awareness of ability and encourage positive collaboration to maximise the quality of work produced (schreiner, 2010). the promotion of collaborative working can therefore be articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 4 positive for individual mental health, group cohesion, and talent development (schreiner, 2010). it can also promote emotional resilience which is argued to be a valuable factor in maintaining a healthy state of wellbeing and progressing academically (walker, gleaves and grey, 2006). in carrying out a research project on additional needs of students and, subsequently, moving towards a more inclusive educational environment, previous work has recommended the direct involvement of staff and students, particularly those with disabilities (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). projects can be carried out using interviews (karousou, 2017) and surveys (fuller et al., 2008). the approaches to capturing data will be explored more fully in the methods section but we acknowledge the importance of the views of stakeholders in any change process. once data has been captured and implications drawn, it has been encouraged that any process of change has the buy in of senior management and includes training staff (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). this is a process that ravensbourne university london are committed to as one of their strategic objectives (ravensbourne, 2017b). the current study was designed to gain the perspectives of staff and students using evidence-based questionnaires (fuller et al., 2008, karousou, 2017), based on the literature search above, and to create and offer key recommendations for teaching staff and senior management that could support further change in future (coertjens et al., 2012). method design this research used a mixed-methods design, incorporating staff and student questionnaires that included a combination of closed and open-ended questions on prominent areas of inclusive teaching for people with learning support needs. participants the staff respondents were internal (n=12) and external (n=3) teaching staff. the student questionnaire was sent to all students in ravensbourne university london (n=2032) except for those in their final undergraduate year because they were close to deadlines for final submissions. materials the questionnaire for staff (appendix 1) and student survey (appendix 2) were developed using existing literature to identify appropriate methods and content. both questionnaires were approved through ravensbourne university london ethics committee prior to use. tema george (research partner and senior study skills tutor) (hereby referred to as george) and we agreed a standardised process to approach interviews with staff. the student survey (appendix 2) was created in online surveys and included an initial preamble consisting of information about data protection and the purpose of the study. the e-mail message specified the survey was for students and included the link to the questionnaire. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 5 the questionnaires included closed and open-ended questions on key topics including the use of audio (leeds university, 2014) (morris, 2010), formatting of written documents (bacon & bennett, 2013) (british dyslexia association, 2017), reflection on general inclusive practice, collaboration (schreiner, 2010) (the higher education academy, 2013), and preferences for what they would like to see happen if findings were presented in a workshop for colleagues internally. the student survey (appendix 2) followed previous research into inclusive education by including a variety of question types. this included one binary question (yes/no) identifying if there is a learning support need (karousou, 2017), one open question about any feedback about inclusive practice preferences (salmon et al., 2015), and five likert scale questions to rate students’ understanding of briefs, how briefs are explored in class, collaborating with fellow students, and awareness of support available through student services. a likert scale was chosen as it has been used in researching inclusive practice with students before and favoured when surveying a large sample size as a more precise statistical measure can be achieved (fuller et al., 2008). this measure could then be repeated annually, longitudinal studies using likert scales can produce insightful findings and represent a change over time (coertjens et al., 2012). a large initial sample of invited participants can also be advantageous especially given the commonality of low response rates in student surveys (gibson, 2012, thompson, 2012). dictaphones were used to record the interviews. procedure the questionnaires were emailed to staff and student in may 2018. the online survey system was utilised to design, distribute, and analyse findings of the student survey. both student and staff data were analysed, the staff questionnaires were thematically analysed with the aim of identifying themes pertinent to the study. the student questionnaires were thematically analysed for the open questions and statistically analysed for the likert scale responses. similarities and differences were identified in the student data set with findings linked to the study and subsequent workshop. thematic analysis has been described as a ‘process of identifying patterns or themes within qualitative data’ (maguire and delahunt, 2017, p. 3352). we themed responses to questionnaires, represented themes visually in graphs, and summarised the salience of these themes. this is explored in the results and discussion sections. results in this section, we used descriptive statistics to show how student views varied to learning support needs and its associated support. we then conducted thematic analysis to explore both students and staff views on what supports could be offered student questionnaire quantitative analysis the below comprises of the analysis of the quantitative responses by students in the student survey (appendix 2). out of the 104 students who responded to the survey, 40 of them (38%) report that they need learning support, whereas 64 of them (62%) stated that they don't articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 6 q3 – do students think project briefs clearly written and understandable? out of the 104 student responses, more than half of them (57%) agree or strongly agree that project briefs are clearly written and understandable which is illustrated in figure 1. less than one-fifth of responses (19%) are negative (“disagree” / “strongly disagree”). this indicates that briefs are generally clearly written and understandable. figure 1: do students think project briefs are clearly written and understandable? more students with a declared learning support need answer this question positively compared to students with no learning support need (63% vs. 53%), as shown in figure 2 there is no significant difference between the groups, but it highlights a positive response to how teaching staff create and disseminate the brief. student learning support need breakdown neurodiversity (43%) mental health (35%) neurodiversity and mental health (8%) mentoring (5%) physical condition (5%) not stated (5%) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 7 figure 2: breakdown between those with a learning support need and those without a learning support need on whether project briefs clearly written and understandable q5 – do students think their projects and abilities benefit from working collaboratively with your fellow students? out of the 104 student responses, most common response (60%) is positive (“agree” or “strongly agree”) illustrated in the right skew of the graph below (figure 3). one fifth (20%) of the responses are negative (“disagree” / “strongly disagree”). most people generally appreciate the benefits of working collaboratively. figure 3: do students think their projects and abilities benefit from working collaboratively with their fellow students? whereas comparing students with a declared learning support needs with students with no learning support needs in figure 4, students without a support need were significantly more likely to “agree” or “strongly agree” that projects benefit from working collaboratively (68%) compared to students with a declared learning support need (48%). this means that students with a learning support need are more likely to feel their work does not benefit from working with other students. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 8 figure 4: breakdown between those with a learning support need and those without a learning support need about whether students think their projects and abilities benefit from working collaboratively with fellow students [1] welch’s t-test (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301292970_welch's_t_test) q7 – are students aware of the support available through student services? out of the 104 student responses, most common response is “yes,” illustrated in the right skew of the graph below (figure 5). approximately two-third of responses (69%) are positive (“yes”), one-third (31%) negative (“no”). figure 5: are students aware of the support available through student services? more students with a declared learning support need answer this question positively compared to students with no learning support need (73% vs. 67%) but there is no significant difference between them (see figure 6). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 9 figure 6: breakdown between those with a learning support need and those without a learning support need about whether students are aware of the support available through student services [1] welch’s t-test (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301292970_welch's_t_test) student questionnaire qualitative analysis the questionnaire had one mandatory open question (question 8). see thematic analysis below (maguire and delahunt, 2017) (figure 7). question 8 please offer any recommendations you feel would help the course become more inclusive so you can access it more easily, with consideration of your learning support need. figure 7: please offer any recommendations you feel would help the course become more inclusive so you can access it more easily, with consideration of your learning support need. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 10 there were 10 responses from students without learning needs compared to 4 with learning needs on ‘support promotion’. students requested more promotion of services including finance, study skills, and mental health support. regarding ‘course delivery’, there was a consistency of responses requesting more time with teaching staff across both groups. the ‘technology’ theme included 5 responses from students without a learning need and 3 response from those with a learning need. there was a desire for broader access to course materials from both groups. in terms of ‘collaboration’, there was some overlap between the groups on this area however students with a learning support need were more likely to want less or no group work altogether. students without a learning support need who spoke about ‘communication’ students in both groups wanted more ways of using technology to contact their tutor and also wanted a friendly atmosphere in their groups. there were 4 comments by students with a learning need on ‘assessments’ compared to 3 comments from those students without learning needs. remarks mainly focused on the accessibility of written briefs for both groups. suggestions included writing briefs in clearer language and reducing word count. students with a learning need requested more time with staff too and more time in sessions to ask questions about assessment briefs. one student with learning support needs commented on a different component of assessment by asking for less group presentations. comments on ‘planning’ were made by 3 students without a learning need and 1 with a learning need. students without learning need asked to be notified to bring more than their laptop to engage more fully in sessions, reduce last minute changes to timetable, and the student with a learning need asked staff to upload resources more dependably on the virtual learning environment. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 11 staff questionnaire qualitative analysis the staff questionnaire (appendix 1) was administered during may to september 2017 and included 9 internal and 3 external interviewees. the responses were analysed thematically (maguire and delahunt, 2017) and themes entered into bar charts to give a visual representation of the information. the two groups (internal and external interviewees) will be represented in the bar charts together as one group. this is because it was a small sample size and both internal and external teaching staff presented similar themes in their responses. q1: in which areas could it be most valuable to use audio recordings in your course? figure 8: in which areas could it be most valuable to use audio recordings in your course? comments around assessment preparation included using audio to prepare ahead of brief sessions, creating demos of how to do certain techniques, and to record briefing sessions so all students can listen back. drawbacks included fear of breaking confidentiality of discussion if uploaded, problems of student understanding accent of teaching staff on recording, worries that students will not read brief if they have audio, difficulty of creating audio in loud environments, and considering alternatives for deaf students. it was common for staff to experience audio saving them time, being useful for delivering feedback, embedding audio in lecture slides, and aiding some distance learning. one concern was about audio providing too much information, especially for students with a learning support need. one member of staff recommended maximum 4-minute audio files for use in teaching. overall comments were mostly positive about the use of audio and some concerns provide useful feedback for final recommendations. for example, how can audio articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 12 be used to enhance the information in a brief without creating a situation where students do not read it? it was suggested that a disclaimer in the recording could help, explaining the audio helps but must be supplemented by reading the brief as well. q2: please give some examples of adjustments regarding written materials (e.g. handouts, crib sheets, briefs) that you have utilised or created that are accessible? figure 9: please give some examples of adjustments regarding written materials (e.g. handouts, crib sheets, briefs) that you have utilised or created that are accessible? internal and external staff considered some similar themes, when it came to the adjustment of written materials for teaching. most comments about the use of colour remarked on the use of non-white backgrounds for handouts and all written materials (including powerpoint). one of the internal staff used colour coding in briefs which received positive feedback from students. this mainly consisted of each brief having a colour tone that corresponded to the strand of the course being taught in class to help understanding. some staff highlighted the importance of documents being delivered ahead of time, having an opportunity to discuss as a group, and one staff member recommended students collaborating to create materials more by using the technologies available such as google sheets and nearpod. overall staff appear to conduct inclusive practices and perhaps some of these ideas can be shared more widely. question 3) please list some examples of where educational delivery (inside or outside of ravensbourne) has been adjusted to be more inclusive to students (e.g. with mental health, physical health or neurodiversity’s) within the following areas: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 13 a) teaching figure 10: where has delivery been adjusted regarding teaching? there were similar responses to this question by the internal and external teachers. technology featured as the main theme about adjustment to teaching methods. adjustments can include using technology to open debates to wider audiences, to check in with student progress via weekly online questionnaires and using voting tools to get a sense of opinion in a group and open discussions. generating more of a 1:1 ethos is viewed as important even if it is challenging from a time perspective. one teacher who has a large group suggested just getting to know the students by name makes a positive difference. encouraging useful collaboration among peers on the course and cross-institutionally was viewed as useful. taking regular breaks to support greater understanding and processing, formatting documents with minimal wording, and considering individual differences where possible were also highlighted in this question. this question seemed to bring various responses that consider the learning process of all students and recognises the importance of thinking about individual personalities and differences. essentially making the student feel valued and considered. question 3) please list some examples of where educational delivery (inside or outside of ravensbourne) has been adjusted to be more inclusive to students (e.g. with mental health, physical health or neurodiversity’s) within the following areas: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 14 b) assessment figure 10: where has delivery been adjusted regarding assessment? assessment produced a consistency in responses between internal and external staff. both groups of staff discussed the possibility of doing alternative forms of assessment. for example, an option to do a visual dissertation, the choice of submitting audio or video for written assignments as an alternative to written and stopping written exams. clear communication, whether written or verbal, was championed, this included having online message boards, checking understanding, and students sitting near the front of the group if they would benefit. collaboration was viewed as helpful to embed knowledge of the course, to provide presenters with feedback from their peers in real time, and helpful to students with neurodiversity to make links in their understanding. staff can also use audio to pull out key points of written documents to give a synopsis of information. one staff member mentioned using graded presentation in assessments to help students gain confidence rather than going straight into challenging scenarios. for example, allowing students to present using technology such as audio, then present to a small group etc. question 4) please give an example of a situation in which you have seen students’ reflecting on their strengths, limitations, and collaborating to enhance their work and resilience? articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 15 figure 12: please give an example of a situation in which you have seen students’ reflecting on their strengths, limitations, and collaborating to enhance their work and resilience? on the question of useful collaboration, staff noted students can offset strengths against weaknesses and work together in a complementary way and self-reflection has been expressed as central to connecting appropriately with others. the benefits of peer review were highlighted as a method for improving work and group cohesion and to promote a culture of offering feedback and learning from feedback. connecting with students on other courses was viewed as important to some with the view of creating collaborative and therefore industry related projects. mentoring from more experienced students can help the quality of student work and give them a sense of how their work could progress. one staff member highlighted the fear of some students that they will take too much of the responsibility in group work and it would be unfair. another member of staff talked of the importance of finding a more open space where collaborations can occur more readily. ultimately, collaborative working was mostly viewed as an opportunity to develop cohesion and the quality of work. there does however remain the reality that some students will do more than others in a group work setting and this can be considered. this could be discussed more in student groups and mitigated against where possible with clear communication and creating an ethos of working together. question 5) please list any suggestions in relation to inclusive pedagogy that could be addressed in a workshop for staff articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 16 figure 13: please list any suggestions in relation to inclusive pedagogy that could be addressed in a workshop for staff staff had a variety of feedback for me to consider in what they would be looking for from a workshop. most of the comments were about getting practical recommendations that can be easily and effectively implemented. it was encouraged that any workshop should model inclusive delivery and be a place where attendees can see inclusive delivery in motion. some comments were requesting more training on mental health and neurodiversity’s such as autism, dyslexia and adhd (armstrong, 2010). it was viewed by some as important to tackle how you make materials accessible while not losing the quality or oversimplifying of the message. discuss the benefits of working collaboratively, make the link clear, and give examples of how to make the most use of this approach. finally, staff requested some feedback about any progress made with senior management on making the building more accessible. for example, how staff can print more easily on none-white paper. discussion most students felt written documents such as briefs were clearly written and understandable however a minority requested a reduced word count and wanted staff to be clearer about what briefs are asking. the accessibility of briefs will be further improved by appropriate formatting (british dyslexia association, 2017) and clear unambiguous language (the university of edinburgh, 2016). students pointed out that staff are sometimes inconsistent with uploading documents which limits accessibility to materials at times. teaching staff appeared to take this seriously, talking about the importance of delivering briefs ahead of sessions including time for group discussion to ensure clarity of understanding. staff also talked about innovations such as offering none-white backgrounds for handouts and colour coding briefs to aide differentiation. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 17 there was some hesitation from staff to use audio alongside a brief, in case students did not then read the brief document. it was suggested in staff interviews that staff could include a disclaimer telling students they have to read the brief as well to fully understand the project. staff reflected on audio being quick to create and students reflected on audio being useful for understanding the meaning of feedback as it includes tone of voice. the literature suggests audio used appropriately can improve performance (morris, 2010), particularly for those with neurodiversity’s (plymouth university, 2016). a staff member also suggested allowing students to submit assignments in audio or video formats rather than traditional written approach. staff talked about using technology that includes more students in the room in a variety of ways. examples include the use of weekly questionnaires to check in with understanding and using polls to gain insight and open discussion. teaching staff suggested offering further support by using the virtual learning environment to create message boards and using audio to convey key points for briefs or in feedback. this mirrors the students request for clearer access to communicating with staff. teaching staff also suggested using technology such as google documents or nearpod to check understanding en masse and promote more digital collaboration. nearpod allows staff to create interactive polls and collaborative discussions digitally using mobile, tablet, or desktop devices (nearpod, 2019). the system can offer more ways to engage in course content which has been shown to have a positive impact on student experience (oxford brookes university, 2014) staff see value in collaborative working, but students have a slightly differing view. teaching staff discussed collaborative working as helpful for students to check their understanding with peers in real time and to mirror industry practice. students with learning support needs were significantly more likely to disagree that projects and abilities benefit from working collaboratively. some of this group commented that they would prefer to work alone and have less group work. there may be ways of supporting students in their habituation to group working such as clarifying the value of collaboration (schreiner, 2010), assigning students to groups in the first instance (scottishautism.org, 2016), and grading exposure to experiences such as presentations to help individuals gain confidence (bhagat and o’neill, 2011). some students and staff highlighted a desire for more cross-college collaboration between departments and schools. this was mirrored by some teaching staff who suggested this mirrors industry practice. this approach was viewed as a way to develop cohesiveness and the quality of work. collaborating has been suggested to improve work, refine talent, and enhance resilience (schreiner, 2010). staff want training on learning support needs such as mental health and neurodiversity’s such as autism, adhd, and dyslexia (armstrong, 2010). staff also expressed a desire for practical recommendations that can support in their practice with students. this mirrors the internal initiatives for ravensbourne university london (ravensbourne, 2017b). this article will now respond to this request by condensing the practical recommendations from this research into a list. there is also a related lesson plan (appendix 3) and adjoining teaching resource which forms part of a staff training workshop. the resource (appendix 4) is an evidence-based document that recognises possible identifying features of anxiety, dyslexia, autism, and adhd, why they might occur, and what adjustments might be suitable. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 18 overall, there seems to be some overlap in the views of students and practice of staff within the institution. one challenge is to share good practice amongst staff as some of this is happening in isolation. this research will end with recommendations found from the literature search, staff interviews, and student survey and conclude with future considerations. recommendations materials (written, audio, visual) ● formatting briefs using dyslexia sensitive method including non-white background (or checking preferred background shade), 12-14 font at least, sans font such as ariel, and 1.5 line spacing (british dyslexia association, 2017). ● the use of unambiguous language (the university of edinburgh, 2016). ● audio supplementing key information in written documents such as briefs (morris, 2010). ● audio to create formative assessments linked to course material that can be listened to repeatedly (morris, 2010). ● audio to offer personalised feedback (leeds university, 2014) (staff feedback). ● utilise visuals to structure information such as mind maps (bacon & bennett, 2013). ● materials that link to session material delivered ahead of sessions to encourage preparation (university of strathclyde, 2000) (oxford brookes, 2017). ● giving students licence to use personal preferences and identity within projects, especially in a creative context (richards and finnigan, 2015). ● more consistency from staff in regularity of uploading documents on virtual learning environment to assist preparation (student feedback). ● using technology such as google documents or nearpod to check understanding and promote digital collaboration (staff feedback). teaching adjustments ● assigning students to groups in the early phases (scottishautism.org, 2016). ● students can record key parts of session (plymouth university, 2016). ● make the benefits of collaborative working clear and set ethos of working together (staff feedback). ● workshops focused on student strengths and the value of collaborating with others to improve work, refine talent, and enhance resilience (schreiner, 2010). ● more practical time such as workshops (student feedback). ● developing student self-appraisal to build self-awareness and preparedness for critical feedback (the higher education academy, 2013). ● graded approach to presentations which allows the student to build confidence and resilience over time (e.g. starting with audio, video, then small group etc) (bhagat and o’neill, 2011) (staff feedback). ● more time with students wherever possible including time to fully understand briefs (student feedback). ● more ways to contact teaching staff using technology including through apps (such as aula vle) (student feedback). ● more reliably uploading course documentation to the vle (student feedback). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 19 ● using technology such as message boards to be efficient in responding to questions en masse (staff feedback). ● using technology (e.g. nearpod) to open discussions to a wider audience inside and outside of the classroom (staff feedback). ● taking breaks to help students process sessions (staff feedback). ● more cross-college discipline (student and staff feedback) (schreiner, 2010). ● peer review as a way to improve work and group cohesion and to promote a culture of offering feedback and learning from feedback (staff feedback). ● mentoring from more experienced students (staff feedback). institutional-wide implementations ● buy in of senior management and includes training staff (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). ● staff training on mental health and neurodiversity’s and sharing inclusive adjustments (staff feedback) (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017) (ravensbourne, 2017b). ● communicate with staff and students about institutional changes towards inclusivity, particularly those with disabilities (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017) ● collaboration across courses useful in creating industry focused projects (staff feedback). ● developing links between students, staff, and student support (oxford brookes, 2014). ● continued promotion of student support (student feedback). ● make the building more accessible (e.g. easier access to printing on none-white paper) (staff feedback). ● technology to support student wellbeing such as cbt psychoeducation (student qualitative feedback). ● allowing students to submit assignments in audio or video instead of written (staff feedback). ● extending or stopping written exams as policy (staff feedback). conclusion this project has completed a literature review, designed and administered staff and student questionnaires, conducted thematic and statistical analysis, discussed results, and compiled key recommendations. the study also shared findings by running an evidence-based workshop for teaching staff which responds to internal objectives for staff training on disability (ravensbourne, 2017b). this research is valuable because there has been an increase in the prevalence of disability in further and higher education (oxford brookes university, 2014) and it is important the sector removes barriers to learning (equality challenge unit, 2013). this is underlined by uk legislation (equality act, 2010) and changes to dsa funding (gov uk, 2014) which emphasise the importance of embedding inclusive practice (bhagat and o’neil, 2011). these adjustments could be viewed with greater urgency in creative institutions as there is up to 50% more students with disabilities in a creative setting (richards & finnigan, 2015). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 20 this produces a greater demand on resources (the national union of students, 2016) but the development of an inclusive environment creates benefits including reducing the need for time-consuming individualised plans (equality challenge unit, 2013). the project offers a range of recommendations (above) that can inform practice and embed reasonable adjustment within teaching (corbett, 2001). adjustments like these have been shown to increase attendance (babb & ross, 2009), engagement (leeds university, 2014), performance (morris, 2010) and satisfaction (oxford brookes university, 2014) for all students including those with neurodiversity’s (plymouth university, 2016) and mental health difficulties (the national union of students, 2016). the sector can share these benefits alongside the recommendations in staff training (ravensbourne, 2017b) and work towards an environment which closes the gap in perceived quality of experience, achieving good degrees (2:1 or above), and rates of graduate employability for disabled students (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017). institutions can take these recommendations and put them to use in their own way either through staff development (ravensbourne, 2017b) or by influencing institutional policy change (disabled students sector leadership group, 2017).there is also scope for this research to develop by conducting further student surveys periodically to measure inclusivity of the environment over time (coertjens et al., 2012). the study could also conduct more staff interviews and student surveys with external universities to understand and share best practice more broadly. 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(1994) transforming qualitative data. california: sage publications. http://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/academic-regulations/student-regulations/course-assessment-regulations/ http://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/academic-regulations/student-regulations/course-assessment-regulations/ http://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/electionbriefing7-inclusive-pedagogy-15-05-16.pdf http://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/electionbriefing7-inclusive-pedagogy-15-05-16.pdf http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/23654/1/hefce2015_spld.pdf http://www.mash.dept.shef.ac.uk/beinginclusive/7.%20eleanor%20machin%20-%20visual%20strengths%20mindmapping.pdf http://www.mash.dept.shef.ac.uk/beinginclusive/7.%20eleanor%20machin%20-%20visual%20strengths%20mindmapping.pdf http://www.teachability.strath.ac.uk/ https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/tutors/disability/allowances/dsachanges/ http://www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/external/evidencing-equality-increasing-disclosure-dsa.doc http://www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/external/evidencing-equality-increasing-disclosure-dsa.doc https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/23/university-mental-health-services-face-strain-as-demand-rises-50 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/23/university-mental-health-services-face-strain-as-demand-rises-50 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 25 appendix 1. questionnaire for ravensbourne staff: an inclusive pedagogical approach within ravensbourne inclusive pedagogy seeks to accommodate all students in learning (corbett, 2001) and this study aims to identify best practice and present recommendations to teaching staff. kevin johnson and tema george from student services are conducting the interviews and data from questionnaires will be made anonymous with measures taken to remove identifiable information. findings from the questionnaire will be used to develop recommendations and an internal staff workshop, a written research paper, and may contribute to additional pedagogic projects in ravensbourne. inclusive pedagogy has been defined as an approach that targets a culture that accommodates all and ensures practice is based on the use of diverse teaching strategies (corbett, 2001). the study aims to work alongside academic staff to create a piece of pedagogic research that is useful and for ravensbourne to become an exemplary higher education (he) inclusive learning environment. evidence has shown inclusive teaching can impact positively on satisfaction and grades (oxford brookes university, 2014), attendance (babb & ross, 2009), remove barriers to learning (equality challenge unit, 2013) and can benefit all students not just those with diagnoses such as autism, dyslexia and adhd (bhagat & o’neill, 2011). the approach can also save time for teaching staff as an inclusive environment reduces the need for individualised plans (equality challenge unit, 2013). there are other areas that highlight the value of this project such as changes to government funding including the removal of in-class scribes (warwick university, 2016). there is more emphasis on higher education institutions to embed reasonable adjustments into routine practice (equality act, 2010) and the institution has targeted staff training in the area with the aim of improving the student experience, feedback and retention (ravensbourne, 2017). findings may also contribute to other pedagogical projects in ravensbourne as part of the portfolio review. for example, themes and best practice in talent development which has been shown to develop self-awareness (schreiner, 2010) and contribute to resilience of students (the higher education academy, 2013). responses from this questionnaire will be anonymous and any potentially identifying information will be removed such as staff and course names to maintain confidentiality. all participants will be sent the notes from their interview and will have the opportunity to review before being used in research. questionnaires will be stored in the internal server and password protected. audio recordings will be transferred to be stored and files deleted from recording device. data will be stored in anonymised form and follow data protection act (1998) guidance. the study aims to have a workshop ready for february 2018. feedback will be incorporated into our continued review to inform and improve the workshop on a continuing basis. my name is kevin johnson and i am running the research into inclusive pedagogy with collaboration from tema george. we intend to interview staff internally and externally and survey students from ravensbourne to create recommendations and an evidence-based workshop. i am the health and wellbeing support co-ordinator working in student services articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 26 with a background as a qualified talking therapies practitioner, experience supporting adults with autism and post graduate psychology research experience and training. tema george is senior study skills tutor within student services and has experience of teaching, curriculum development and completed a master’s proposal for research in inclusive teaching. dr gary pritchard is advising the project and is the dean of the school of media with over fifteen years’ experience of leadership and research-based roles. questions staff questions: ● 1) students with neurodiversity’s including dyslexia often have difficulties with working memory which can impact on the processing of information (bhagat et al, 2011). audio recordings have been used innovatively for example by offering an interpretation of briefs or delivering personalised feedback (leeds university, 2014). podcasting has been used to create formative assessments linked to course material that can be listened to repeatedly (morris, 2010). such adjustments have been shown to increase engagement (leeds university, 2014) and performance for all students not just those with neurodiversity’s (morris, 2010). in which areas could it be most valuable to use audio recordings in your course? ● 2) the delivery of written course information such as handouts has been adjusted in some institutions to address accessibility for students with neurodiversity’s. materials are sometimes delivered to students ahead of sessions (university of strathclyde, 2000) and link to key learning objectives rather than provide all information (oxford brookes, 2017). handouts can be made dyslexia sensitive by following certain formatting principles (british dyslexia association, 2017) and utilise visuals to structure information such as mind maps (bacon & bennett, 2013) which assist recall of information (university of sheffield, 2017). these approaches have been shown to improve attendance and participation in course material (babb & ross, 2009). please give some examples of adjustments regarding written materials (e.g. handouts, crib sheets) that you have utilised or created that are accessible? ● 3) please list some examples of where educational delivery (inside or outside of ravensbourne) has been adjusted to be more inclusive to students (e.g. with mental health, physical health or neurodiversity’s) within the following three areas: a) teaching b) assessment c) field trips ● 4) research suggests students can thrive academically by working on their strengths and collaborating with others to improve work, refine talent, and enhance resilience (schreiner, 2010). methods of self-appraisal can help students cope with critical feedback and understand their areas of development (the higher education academy, 2013). this proactive approach helps build self-awareness of ability and encourage positive collaboration to maximise the quality of work produced (schreiner, 2010). please give an example of a situation in which you have seen students’ reflecting on their strengths, limitations, and collaborating to enhance their work and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 27 resilience? ● 5) please list any suggestions in relation to inclusive pedagogy that could be addressed in the workshop student survey questions: ● 1) please list some examples of where delivery (inside or outside of ravensbourne) has been adjusted to be more inclusive to students (e.g. with mental health, physical health or neurodiversity’s such as dyslexia or autism) within a) teaching, b) assessment, c) field trips? ● 2) please list some examples of where delivery (inside or outside of ravensbourne) could be adjusted to be more inclusive to students (e.g. with mental health, physical health or neurodiversity’s such as dyslexia or autism) within a) teaching, b) assessment, c) field trips? ● 3) mental health is cited as the main reason students leave ravensbourne in their first year (ravensbourne, 2016). how could ravensbourne better support or prepare students for their time in the institution? ● 4) student services aim to create a workshop for teaching staff which is full of evidencebased recommendations for making reasonable adjustments for students with diagnoses such as dyslexia, autism, and mental health. list any area of inclusivity you would like to have teaching staff trained on. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 28 appendix 2. supporting inclusive practice student survey thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this survey. this questionnaire aims to help courses and services in ravensbourne become more accessible for students with learning support needs (e.g. a neurodiversity such as dyslexia, mental health experience such as anxiety or depression, or physical condition such as epilepsy). your responses will contribute to the development of key recommendations for the sector and an evidence-based workshop for teaching staff in ravensbourne. the study also aims to publish findings to develop practice in the education sector. the information provided by you in this questionnaire will be used for research purposes. data from this questionnaire will be made anonymous with measures taken to remove identifiable information. the data will be stored and deleted in accordance with general data protection regulation. 1) do you have a learning support need within your health and wellbeing (e.g. a neurodiversity such as dyslexia, mental health experience such as anxiety or depression, or physical condition such as epilepsy)? (karousou, 2017) yes or no if you answered yes to question 1, please describe your learning support need: 2) are project briefs clearly written and understandable? 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree any feedback about this: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 29 3) does your course give you the opportunity to understand each project brief through the use of additional support? for example, through: group discussion: 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree the use of audio: 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree the use of video: 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree other: 4) do your projects and abilities benefit from working collaboratively with your fellow students? 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree any feedback about this: 5) are you aware of the support available through student services? yes or no 6) how easy is it to access the support through student services? 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree any feedback about this: 7) please offer any recommendations you feel would help the course become more inclusive so you can access it more easily, with consideration of your learning support need (karousou, 2017) (salmon et al., 2015): thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. your thoughts and feelings are very useful and will help in the development of our workshop, resources and written research. to read more about the research behind this questionnaire, please see below. references fuller, mary et al (2008). enhancing the quality and outcomes of disabled students' learning in higher education: full research report esrc end of award report, res-13925-0135. swindon: esrc. karousou, r. (2017). using the student voice to question the practice of inclusivity. the journal of inclusive practice in higher education, (8), pp.1-67. salmon, n., garcía iriarte, e. and burns, e. (2015). research active programme: a pilot inclusive research curriculum in higher education. international journal of research & method in education, 40(2), pp.181-200. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 30 appendix 3 workshop lesson plan time activity name activity who does what? resource required 0-2 mins prequestionnaire and register with name and email address handout and ask people to complete pre session questionnaire kevin and tema questionnaires printed on nonewhite paper 2-5 mins intro introduce ourselves, the session; research (staff, students, literature = workshop) objectives of session kevin and tema none 5-25 activity 25-35 flip chart 35-45 feedback 45-50 matrix handout group activity introduce the research findings showed some staff wanting to know more about diagnoses. others felt more comfortable opportunity to share knowledge and understanding get the names of three key diagnoses and cards with symptoms of said diagnoses link to second activity and prevalence kevin and tema main cards articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 31 50-60 get set up on nearpod (show nearpod slide) and 5 min break 60-75 mins nearpod quiz conduct a short quiz on nearpod, positioning the prevalence of different diagnoses within the classroom environment. make sure to take people through the log in: nearpod.com/stud ent code name (favourite colour and month of birth e.g. blue2) kevin nearpod, everyone can log in using their phones, 75-85 mins presentation develop the learn x slides start with evidence for answers from quiz go through research process and some findings tricolour (emails) take home adjustments kevin nearpod or google slides 85-90 questions? 90-105 mins activity 2 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 32 105-110 mins post session questionnaire administer the questionnaire kevin and tema formatted and non-white printed questionnaires 110-115 direct to resources create a folder in g drive with presentation, dyslexia formatted doc, and piece of audio summarising the session kevin create the folder and start to add resources to it 115-120 question and details slide end articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 33 appendix 4 inclusive adjustment (matrix) black = feature of learning support need orange = possible cause blue = possible solution in teaching/support anxiety dyslexia adhd autism panic (mind, 2017) amygdala overwhelm, fight or flight, unable to think clearly in this state heart palpitations, sweaty palms, dizzy encouraging support through student services (e.g. counselling, or cbt through gp) panic (autism.org, 2016) c amygdala overwhelm, fight or flight, unable to think clearly in this state heart palpitations, sweaty palms, dizzy encouraging support through student services (e.g. counselling, or cbt through gp) unable to stay calm/still (mind, 2017) due to panic recommending meditation weekly weds (contact student services), or quiet space unable to stay calm/still (grant, 2017) hyperactivity/difficulty with sustained attention recommending meditation weekly weds (contact student services), or quiet space unable to stay calm/still (autism.org, 2016) c at times, due to overwhelm recommending meditation weekly weds (contact student services), or quiet space working memory (grant, 2017) capacity to remember verbal information for a short time difficulty taking notes difficulty organising written work (beginning, middle, end), spelling, punctuation, working memory (grant, 2017) capacity to remember verbal information for a short time difficulty taking notes difficulty organising written work (beginning, middle, end), spelling, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 34 retaining this all “in mind” difficult difficulty prioritising (feature of executive function) student audio record key part of sessions/briefs (cogi app) opportunities to ask questions short summary documents refreshing key points (e.g. before sessions of for briefs) access to study skills team to assist with creating written work punctuation, retaining this all “in mind” difficult student audio record key part of sessions/briefs (cogi app) opportunities to ask questions short summary documents refreshing key points (e.g. before sessions of for briefs) access to study skills team to assist with creating written work disorganisation cognitive overload clear timetable, access to study skills for support with organisation/time management disorganisation (grant, 2017) cognitive overload difficulty prioritising (feature of executive function) clear timetable, access to study skills for support with organisation/time management disorganisation (grant, 2017) cognitive overload difficulty prioritising (feature of executive function) clear timetable, access to study skills for support with organisation/time management (autism.org, 2016) d often very routined/find disorganisation difficult can greatly benefit from clear timetable/routine ritualistic behaviour (nhs, 2016) b feature of ocd ritualistic behaviour (autism.org, 2016) b sensory input e.g. tapping, deep pressure difficulty public speaking (socialanxietyinstitute.org, 2018) panic/social anxiety graded exposure for difficulty public speaking (grant, 2017) difficulty reading out loud, especially without chance to prepare difficulty public speaking (grant, 2017) organisation of thoughts graded exposure for presentations with clear difficulty public speaking panic/social anxiety graded exposure for presentations (e.g. starting with audio, then video, then articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 35 presentations with clear instructions (e.g. starting with audio, then video, then skype, then small group) graded exposure for presentations with clear instructions (e.g. starting with audio, then video, then skype, then small group) instructions (e.g. starting with audio, then video, then skype, then small group) skype, then small group) overwhelm (mind, 2017) worry clear routine/timetable handouts ahead of sessions (link to key objectives) overwhelm (grant, 2017) structuring ideas clear routine/timetable handouts ahead of sessions (link to key objectives) overwhelm (grant, 2017) inability to focus clear routine/timetable handouts ahead of sessions (link to key objectives) time to “cool down” in session or after (quiet space) overwhelm (autism.org, 2016) c sensory overload clear routine/timetable handouts ahead of sessions (link to key objectives) time to “cool down” in session or after (quiet space) social anxiety (socialanxietyinstitute.org, 2018) grade approach to presentations social anxiety (autism.org, 2016) b grade approach to presentations social imagination (autism.org, 2016) b (e.g. such as metaphor) clear, unambiguous language where possible reading (grant, 2017) breaking down written words/comprehension use of audio to help explain documents (e.g. synopsis of briefs). use of assistive technology like text help for text to speech function. format documents as per dyslexia format here. reading (grant, 2017) focus/inattention use of audio to help explain documents (e.g. synopsis of briefs). use of assistive technology like text help for text to speech function. format documents as per dyslexia format here. http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/common/ckeditor/filemanager/userfiles/about_us/policies/dyslexia_style_guide.pdf http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/common/ckeditor/filemanager/userfiles/about_us/policies/dyslexia_style_guide.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 36 spelling (grant, 2017) use of assistive technology like text help. speech to text functionality. use of grammar (free) spelling (grant, 2017) use of assistive technology like text help. speech to text functionality. use of grammar (free) processing written language (grant, 2017) comprehension of complex written words breaking down the word clear, unambiguous written documents where possible. opportunity to discuss written documents in group. processing written language (grant, 2017) ability to focus clear, unambiguous written documents where possible. opportunity to discuss written documents in group. processing written language (autism.org, 2016) b if it is vague, metaphorical etc clear, unambiguous written documents where possible. opportunity to discuss written documents in group. social communication (autism.org, 2016) b (e.g. such as subtle body language, subtext) clear unambiguous spoken language. social understanding (autism.org, 2016) b (e.g. how the other person feels. not to be confused with a lack of desire to know how that person feels i.e. not caring) clear unambiguous spoken language. area of special interest (ambitious about autism, 2017) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 37 possibly in response to overwhelm and looking for something comforting sensory sensitivity (grant, 2017) e.g. hypersensitive to noise encouraging calming techniques, allowing breaks if overwhelmed, sound blocking headphones sensory sensitivity (autism.org, 2016) a high or low sight, touch, sound encouraging calming techniques, allowing breaks if overwhelmed, sound blocking headphones visual stress (grant, 2017) visual distortion when looking at the page. “can look like ants”. 50% have visual stress non-white background (as per handout) coloured overlays screen overlays (e.g. on text help) speed of reading can improve dramatically visual stress (grant, 2017) visual distortion when looking at the page. “can look like ants”. 50% have visual stress non-white background (as per handout) coloured overlays screen overlays (e.g. on text help) speed of reading can improve dramatically visual stress (autism.org, 2016) a sensory component student may wear eyewear with overlay lenses difficult to concentrate (hallion, steinman and kusmierski, 2018) overload/stress/hyperarousal in amygdala links to emotional support to reduce distress, study skills team, self-help (meditation etc) difficult to concentrate (grant, 2017) working memory overloaded by “thousands of thoughts”, brain defaults to mind wandering state varied activity, access to emotional support strong visual learner (grant, 2017) strong visual learner (grant, 2017) strong visual learner (grandin, 2009) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 38 often have strong visual learning ability (visual memory) encourage use of visual stimuli e.g. mind mapping through learning use visuals in the development of documents such as briefs (synopsis) to help understanding often have strong visual learning ability (visual memory) encourage use of visual stimuli e.g. mind mapping through learning use visuals in the development of documents such as briefs (synopsis) to help understanding e.g. have a mind map at the front of a document can think in images and possibly find long text documents overwhelming encourage use of visual stimuli e.g. mind mapping through learning use visuals in the development of documents such as briefs (synopsis) to help understanding e.g. have a mind map at the front of a document processing speed (grant, 2017) reading, comprehension, often re-reading lines 80% have “double deficit” of working memory and slow processing speed materials in different formats, pause/rewind function e.g. videos, text help (text to speech) allowing time to respond processing speed (grant, 2017) reading, comprehension, often re-reading lines 80% have “double deficit” of working memory and slow processing speed materials in different formats, pause/rewind function e.g. videos, text help (text to speech) allowing time to respond processing speed (oliveras-rentas et al., 2011) sensory overload, processing social context allowing time to respond good verbal reasoning (vocabulary) (grant, 2017) difficulty in writing but strong vocabulary encourage use of speech to text software good verbal reasoning (vocabulary) (grant, 2017) difficulty in writing but strong vocabulary encourage use of speech to text software procrastination (socialanxietyinstitute.org, 2018) can be due to perfectionism (“it has to be 100% or i am a failure, too high an expectation procrastination (grant, 2017) tremendous challenge to focus, create a concise plan, foresee the whole project in terms of every articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 39 on self”) emotional support, cognitive behavioural therapy through the gp, placing focus on creative expression than on high grades breaking down the task, offering opportunity to clarify through tutorials step needed breaking down the task, offering opportunity to clarify through tutorials use of tools such as mind mapping etc to get overview. stress/distress (mind, 2017) strong self-criticism, catastrophising stress management, drop in (12-1 mon to fri 315), mood boost etc. resilience building by work such as reflecting on strengths and weaknesses. demonstrate we all have them, opportunity to work with others to complement their weaknesses and develop skills/confidence collaboratively. stress/distress (grant, 2017) lower prevalence than adhd stress management, drop in (12-1 mon to fri 315), mood boost etc. resilience building by work such as reflecting on strengths and weaknesses. demonstrate we all have them, opportunity to work with others to complement their weaknesses and develop skills/confidence collaboratively. stress/distress (grant, 2017) 40% of people with adhd experience mental health distress strong self-criticism stress management, drop in (12-1 mon to fri 315), mood boost etc. resilience building by work such as reflecting on strengths and weaknesses. demonstrate we all have them, opportunity to work with others to complement their weaknesses and develop skills/confidence collaboratively. stress/distress (autism.org, 2018) can become highly stressed. stress management, drop in (12-1 mon to fri 315), mood boost etc. resilience building by work such as reflecting on strengths and weaknesses. demonstrate we all have them, opportunity to work with others to complement their weaknesses and develop skills/confidence collaboratively. medication (pittman, 2017) help manage worries and stress can prescribe serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (snri’s) medication (healtline, 2016) boost focus can prescribe serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (snri’s) seek out newness (grant, 2017) can find newness difficult articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 40 more women diagnosed (nhs, 2016) b twice as many diagnosed however, males more likely to end their lives. males less likely to seek support than females. possible impact on statistics. more males diagnosed (grant, 2017) it is suggested this is balanced at 50/50 in reality. women are missed in part due to cultural and social expectations. e.g. what the teacher in primary school see’s behaviour as. more males diagnosed (grant, 2017) it is suggested this is balanced at 50/50 in reality. women are missed in part due to cultural and social expectations. e.g. what the teacher in primary school see’s behaviour as. more males diagnosed (autism.org, 2018) it is suggested this is balanced at 50/50 in reality. women are missed in part due to cultural and social expectations. e.g. what the teacher in primary school see’s behaviour as. difficulty sleeping (mind, 2017) worried thoughts referral for cbt through gp or student services. sleep hygiene support. difficulty sleeping (grant, 2017) coping with activity of thoughts and possible coexisting anxiety referral for cbt through gp or student services. sleep hygiene support. reference list ambitious about autism. (2017). obsessions and special interests. [online] available at: https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/understanding-autism/behaviour/obsessions-andspecial-interests [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. autism.org (2018). gender and autism nas. [online] available at: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/gender.aspx [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. autism.org. (2016) a. sensory differences nas. [online] available at: http://www.autism.org.uk/sensory##senses [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. autism.org. (2016) b. autism nas. [online] available at: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/asd.aspx [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. autism.org.uk. (2016) c. meltdowns in autistic people nas. [online] available at: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/meltdowns.aspx [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 2, 2020 41 autism.org.uk. (2016) d. obsessions, repetition, routines nas. [online] available at: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/obsessions-repetitive-routines.aspx [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. grandin, t. (2009). visual abilities and sensory differences in a person with autism. biological psychiatry, 65(1), pp.15-16. grant, d. (2017). that’s the way i think. 3rd ed. oxon: routledge. hallion, l., steinman, s. and kusmierski, s. (2018). difficulty concentrating in generalized anxiety disorder: an evaluation of incremental utility and relationship to worry. journal of anxiety disorders, 53(1), pp.39-45. healthline. (2016). strattera vs. vyvanse: comparing two adhd drugs. [online] available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/strattera-vs-vyvanse [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. nhs.uk (2016) a. women are more likely to suffer from anxiety than men. [online] available at: https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/women-are-more-likely-to-suffer-from-anxietythan-men/ [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. nhs.uk. (2016) b. obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd). [online] available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/ [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. mind. (2017). anxiety symptoms | mind, the mental health charity help for mental health problems. [online] available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mentalhealth-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/anxiety-symptoms/#.wmicmahl82w [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. oliveras-rentas, r., kenworthy, l., roberson, r., martin, a. and wallace, g. (2011). wisciv profile in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: impaired processing speed is associated with increased autism communication symptoms and decreased adaptive communication abilities. journal of autism and developmental disorders, 42(5), pp.655664. pittman, c. h. (2017). serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (snri) for anxiety. [online] anxiety.org. available at: https://www.anxiety.org/serotonin-norepinephrinereuptake-inhibitor-snri [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. socialanxietyinstitute.org. (2018). procrastination: wasting our time and increasing our anxiety | social anxiety institute. [online] available at: https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/procrastination-wasting-our-time-and-increasing-our-anxiety [accessed 19 jan. 2018]. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 rocket science in a virtual world barry spencer bromley college rationale as a partner college of the university of greenwich, bromley college runs foundation degrees in software development and network computing. as part the programme, students complete a major software development project in years 1 and 2. the project theme for the academic year 2014-15 was rocket science, where students were required to produce a desktop program capable of modelling the flight of a single-stage rocket. in education, virtual worlds provide unique learning opportunities for accurate/real contexts and activities for experiential learning, simulation, modelling of complex scenarios and social interaction that may not be experienced in other learning modalities (atkinson, 2009). as students’ understanding of the mathematics, physics and technology relevant to rocketry may not be assumed from their prior compulsory education or experience, i decided that the affordances of a virtual world such as opensimpulator/secondlife would be able to counter any deficit via an immersive learning experience. the benefits to students have been twofold: first, in using the medium, they acquired the knowledge, understanding and competence to complete the task; second, they experienced the advantages of collaborative, virtual, social, synchronous communication afforded by the visual learning styles of the 3d environment. a sense of historic realism was injected into the project by the inclusion of rocket models based on actual uk designs. the virtual learning aspect for the project took place over a two-week period. target audience the cohort was comprised of 26 post 18 students, within which group there were two students with statements for learning needs, one for dyslexia and the other for pervasive learning disorder. resources given the particular nature of the exercise, the students were provided with resources additional to the standard desktop setup, including the virtual world itself, running in open simulator v-0.8, and a suitable virtual word viewer. learning and assessment in completing the virtual world project, the students gained a working appreciation of the fundamentals of rocket technology and were able to calculate the flight profile of a singlestage model rocket, supported by the results of in-world formative assessment using chat logs and notecards, and by notecards only for summative assessment. (please refer to the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 evaluation section for outcomes.) these tools are, i feel, consistent with items identified within the six sources of evidence and supporting documentation required by yin (2003). learning space design virtual learning would be presented as a signposted, linear, walk-through workflow series of activities, from orientation to simulation, as shown below in figure 1. figure 1: ‘ only rocket science’ learning flow tutor’s role the project began with a tutor-guided walk-through, after which students were able to plan and manage their own learning. throughout the session, text chat logs, notecard feedback, reflection and questions using im were reviewed. potential hazards for the project technically, there might have been problems related to the availability to the students of suitable hardware, including broadband connection and graphics card compatibility. however, as the project was run during term time, students were able to make full use of college facilities. ‘only rocket science’, entry point at entry, the students were invited to accept a notecard explaining the learning sequence; then, as they moved on to subsequent stages, notecard dispenser boards prompted them to accept further notecards explaining the requirements of that particular stage. see figure 2. figure 2: entry point case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 ‘only rocket science’, stage 1 orientation the learning aims for the stage are outlined in the notecard: you should become familiar with the following components and their use: nose cone, body, fins, parachute, shock cord, wadding, engine assembly the formula f=ma understand engine coding, i.e. a8-3 a the total impulse (power measured in newton-seconds). the class a engine value is 2.5 8 the average thrust of the rocket engine during its burn time, also in newton seconds 3 eject delay the number of seconds following engine burnout until the parachute ejection charge fires you should also be familiar with the idea of initial engine weight and fuel weight, as we shall be using these values to determine average engine weight ‘only rocket science’, stage 2 this stage is made up of three tasks that cover boost, coast and recovery phases of the rocket’s flight. the stages are presented as a signposted, linear, walk-through series of activities, carried out using similar workflows that are presented as: introduction notecard boards, exercise boards, calculator boards and a drop box. see figure 3. figure 3: boost, coast and recovery phases case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 example: stage 2, task 1 (the boost phase) 1: the notecard board (on the left in the figure 4 image below) introduces the task, dispensing a notecard for the students to work through (using the in-world online calculator) the example calculations shown on the adjoining exercise board and to record their results. figure 4: boost phase notecard dispenser as this is a formative exercise, the students simply worked through the example shown on the board, reproducing results on their own notecard. 2: upon completion, the notecard was named, saved to inventory and dragged to the dropbox. 3: the exercise board prompted students to take another notecard containing a new, unworked, problem. 4: upon completion, that notecard was named, saved to inventory and dragged to a dropbox for summative assessment. each notecard requests students to reflect on the learning experience. see figure 5. was the task made clear? did the rocket orientation exercise prepare you enough, or would you like to revisit? the quality of the images on the display board was satisfactory. did you complete the task alone or with other students? was carrying out the actual exercise beneficial to your overall understanding? how would you describe working with other avatars? what did you like most? what least? how would you improve the learning stage? figure 5: completed notecard case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 example: stage 3 (the simulation) the final simulation stage draws the together the work of the previous stages. it presented the students with a full set of flight-profile calculations, dispensed once again from the notecard board. upon completion, the notecard was saved and a copy dragged to the dropbox. students could then check their results by launching a rocket: touching the green button at the centre of the launch console table produces a series of drop-down options prompting for input parameters, after which a soundscape introduces the countdown and launches the rocket. see figure 6. figure 6: rocket simulation eventually, the rocket descends on a parachute return, shortly after which the calculated flight profile is displayed for comparison. theoretical underpinning (the learning space) since students inevitably experience a range of emotions during any elearning session, comfort is considered important in leveraging affordances and capabilities. findings from saleeb and dafoulas (2010) suggest that irritation and subsequent boredom become the most undesirable emotions and that colour plays an important role, with white and light-blue evoking the highest number of positive emotions, specifically comfort and consequent attentiveness. structural architecture and landscaping in the design were constrained to fall in line with the results from various research projects investigating the impact of a learning environment on learning itself (saleeb and dafoulas, 2010; dickey, 2004). as a result, the build features large open areas to facilitate flying, the inclusion of water and greenery, landmarks, simple modern buildings with no over-decoration or imaginative enhancement, wide corridors to aid avatar movement and the arrangement of learning subspaces consistent with expected use. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 where buildings are used to accommodate an activity, the ratio of wall to window falls within the recommended 50:50 ratio recommended by minocha and reeves (2009). in general, avatar movement is significantly improved by using dynamic textures and rhythmicallyrepeated elements in paths (bridges and charitos, 2001) and avatar rotation is avoided, in order to improve ease of orientation and navigation in the space (charitos, 1999). an apparent strong preference for good lighting led to open-topped buildings, without the imposition of ceilings; as circular buildings were also favoured, they have been deployed in two of the three sub-spaces. theoretical underpinning (pedagogy) the learning space has been designed to support social constructivism as the driver in what is a highly-interactive and participatory environment. students are able to test their ideas and understanding as they actively engage in real-time simulations and feedback, with tasks that encourage problem-solving and critical thinking (roussou, 2015). the first task of stage 2 promotes the construction of knowledge from prior experience of physics at key stage 3 or equivalent, drawing upon the individual’s unique world experience consistent with the three general principles outlined by dalgarno (2001) and supported and mediated by the open simulator virtual world. as students are encouraged to collaborate and plan their own learning, i feel the review of the text chat session will reveal evidence of cognitive, teaching and social presence in the emergence of a community of enquiry (garrison et al, 2000) and that the shared, collaborative, goal-directed nature of the activity in turn induces embodied social presence, drawing the participants into a higher level of cognitive engagement (mennecket and triplett, 2011). the immersive components of fidelity and adoption of design best practice in a collaborative social space are intended to leverage some or all of five dimensions of presence and co-presence that could lead to a flow, enjoyment, focus and concentration that combine to increase a positive attitude to learning (choi et al, 2007). instructional design constraints from a study of the affordances of traditional instruction design models, it appears that they in general do not offer precise guidance for the process of designing instruction in virtual world environments (chen, 2010) and, further, that they tend to be process-oriented, static and linear, do not meet user expectations in a virtual world (hodge and collins, 2010; chen et al, 2004) and are viewed by many as based upon outdated approaches to teaching and learning (soto, 2013). throughout soto’s (2013) study, which reviewed twenty-eight instructional design models, the addie model, with its five phases of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation, was found to be the most common instructional design process (75.4%) for virtual worlds. specifics to learning in a virtual world need to be introduced into any current instruction design model if it is to be of real use, something which appears to be addressed by the study’s conclusion which states: “addie process presents the necessary methods for guiding the design of elements needed for instruction in virtual world environments” (soto, 2013, p.369). these may be summarised as: 1. experience learning by solving a problem that may be encountered in a real-world situation. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 2. build on what students already know by adapting, modifying, and transforming the virtual world to construct new knowledge as well as to apply existing knowledge to new contexts/situations. 3. interact in an immersive environment where knowledge is presented in an authentic context. 4. transfer and apply the in-world learning to everyday life situations. 5. work collaboratively to undertake tasks, exploring and negotiating with one another to complete the activities and reflecting on their learning along the way. the second most popular instructional design (at 29.5%) proposes a more refined ten-stage system that i considered to be too detailed for my purposes (dick et al, 2009). instruction strategy the analysis component of the addie model identifies the need for an instructional strategy and for this i selected merrill’s first principles of instruction. from research, there is convincing evidence that using first principles of instruction in education improves both student learning and satisfaction (frick et al, 2007) by offering explicit guidance for assisting students in both their learning and development (reigeluth, 1999). i felt that the provision of such guidance would readily accommodate outcome requirements and would fall very much within the scope of my own learning space design for social constructivism. in reviewing the first principles, i also felt that using laws of motion applied to real-world rocket vehicles and with real-time feedback, in a staged workflow process building to a complete solution (and drawing upon ks3 experience or equivalent combined with reflection and assessment from notecards) would work well with the task/problem-centred strategy components of activation, demonstration, application and integration. evaluation the virtual world work represented a maximum of 15% of the final assignment grade, giving a final average of 56.46%. during their sessions in the virtual world, students made 171 unique visits and logged 421 lines of conversational chat. resource activity was logged using a mysql database which recorded 1302 hits. in appendix 1, i have included the results of a short post-project survey of students’ impressions of using the virtual world for their learning activity. conclusion this was an extremely worthwhile project which students enjoyed and from which they benefited as appendix 1 demonstrates the affordances of a 3d virtual world proved to play an important part in the delivery of a specialist topic to a group of students from diverse backgrounds. i intend to develop my ideas for deploying this, a valuable emerging technology that has clearly encouraged and enhanced engagement, enthusiasm and collaboration in an educational setting. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 appendix 1 using the virtual world was fun and exciting response average total neither agree or disagree 7% 1 agree partially 47% 7 agree completely 47% 7 total 100% 15/15 i would avoid classes using a virtual world in the future response average total disagree completely 67% 10 disagree partially 20% 3 neither agree or disagree 13% 2 total 100% 15/15 working in a virtual world is an enriching experience response average total disagree partially 7% 1 neither agree or disagree 7% 1 agree partially 47% 7 agree completely 40% 6 total 100% 15/15 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 i experienced very few problems in using the virtual world response average total disagree partially 7% 1 neither agree or disagree 13% 2 agree partially 33% 5 agree completely 47% 7 total 100% 15/15 i often used the virtual world from home during my project response average total disagree partially 7% 1 neither agree or disagree 20% 3 agree partially 27% 4 agree completely 47% 7 total 100% 15/15 my classmates and i cooperated in completing assignment work in the virtual world response average total disagree partially 7% 1 neither agree or disagree 27% 4 agree partially 13% 2 agree completely 53% 8 total 100% 15/15 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 the virtual world was beneficial to my learning response average total neither agree or disagree 7% 1 agree partially 40% 6 agree completely 53% 8 total 100% 15/15 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 reference list atkinson, t. 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(2003) case study research: design and methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. submission reference issn: 2044-0081 http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/collaborative-efforts-teaching-and-learning-virtual-worlds http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/collaborative-efforts-teaching-and-learning-virtual-worlds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/first_principles_of_instruction http://ispr.info/about-presence-2/about-presence/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 1 you did what at the weekend? a workshop to develop the digital awareness and understanding of digital footprints amongst primary education studies undergraduates john parkin school of education and social care, anglia ruskin university peterborough, united kingdom abstract digital footprints, the records left online through the use of social media such as twitter and instagram, are a growing concern for the future employability of undergraduates. this case study explores research into the co-creation – with undergraduates on a primary education studies degree in an english university – of a workshop about digital footprints to protect professional identities. the workshop included a range of activities to help undergraduates to learn about the importance of digital footprints and how to check their own, to explore steps to protect their digital identities on different social networks and to discover how to curate a positive digital identity. it is argued here that students need more opportunities to learn about digital footprints. keywords: digital footprint, digital literacy, employability 1. introduction a digital footprint is “what you leave behind when you go online” (osborne and connelly, 2015, p.23). dennen (2015) elaborates on this further, by explaining how a digital footprint is “the collection of information about a person that exists online. digital footprints, like physical ones, are unique to their owners” (2015, p.47). a digital footprint is information recorded through deliberate actions – for example, sharing photographs on social media platforms, such as twitter – or data collected passively – for example, by tracking cookies used on some websites (thatcher, 2014). research on digital footprints has focused on individuals’ perception and creation of them. this case study proposes to extend this research by reporting on a collaboration – with primary education studies undergraduates – intended to 1) elicit participants’ views on the nature and importance of digital footprints and 2) to co-create with them a workshop about managing such footprints to support future employability. digital footprints often begin to develop in childhood and persist as young people enter adulthood: on social media sites, united kingdom (uk) parents share, on average, seventyone photographs and twenty-nine videos every year of children under the age of thirteen (children’s commissioner, 2018). as children grow older, they demonstrate more agency over their digital footprints as they communicate with friends using social media. boyd (2014) argues that teenagers view online participation as a means of communicating with their intended audience of friends and not university admission tutors or potential employers. furthermore, owing to the persistent, visible, spreadable and searchable nature of social case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 2 media, online data is frequently available to an audience for whom social media posts were not intended (ibid.). gardner, davis and gardner (2013) also agree that teenagers have a focus on how they appear to peers and “present a socially desirable, polished self online’ (2013, p.63 [emphasis as in the original]). osborne and connelly (2015) investigated university student attitudes to digital footprints and suggested strategies to help students learn about online safety. similarly, gadekar and pant (2015) surveyed 199 university students about privacy awareness when using facebook. they found that most students were aware of privacy settings, but only forty-five per cent applied them, indicating an area to be developed among students. explaining this low percentage, boyd (2014) observes that “interactions are public by default, private through effort” (2014, p.12). furthermore, students’ personal data can be collected and analysed by universities to enable learning analytics to support student learning. cerratto pargman and mcgrath (2021) undertook a literature review of learning analytics ethics and found a key theme to be the importance of universities’ recognising transparency, privacy and informed consent. the jisc digital capabilities framework provides an approach to digital identity management and to “develop and project a positive digital identity or identities” (joint information systems committee, 2019, p.8) for university students and staff, as well as considering the reputational risks and benefits associated with an online presence. linked to this concept of reputational risks, digital footprints can affect future employability, since many employers screen the social media history of potential employees. in the us, seventy per cent of employers check the digital profiles of potential recruits and fifty-seven per cent of employers who carried out such checks had refused to employ some job applicants because of their digital footprint (career builder, 2018). however, jeske and shultz (2016) pointed out that not all potential applicants will have a visible online identity and highlighted the ethical and legal implications of screening applicants in this way. a “digital divide” exists between many individuals and groups in society, on the basis of: access to technology and the internet; technological skills; and outcomes based on technology use (van deursen and helsper, 2015; van deursen and van dijk, 2010). robinson et al. (2015) link this digital divide to a “digital footprint gap”, whereby those with lower access to the internet have fewer opportunities than those with ready access to it. furthermore, micheli, lutz and büchi (2018) argue that many internet-based services, such as online shopping, utilise data through the digital footprints of potential users and that a digital inequality in terms of digital footprints exists between different socio-economic groups. the authors draw on research from the us, that those from lower income households are less likely to apply privacy settings online (madden et al., 2017), thereby increasing the risk of having personal data harvested. some researchers have explored curation of a digital footprint to create a positive impression of an individual, in order to help develop a professional reputation supporting employability and career progression. similarly, jeske and shultz (2016) point out that some individuals may aim to portray a positive digital identity. likewise, mihailidis (2016) argues that it is essential to understand how to curate a digital identity and digital footprint. furthermore, buchanan et al. (2017) explored and evaluated a programme to develop digital footprint awareness amongst primary-school-aged children in australia to equip children with the skills to manage this aspect of digital literacy. they found students identified only the negative case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 3 effects of digital footprints and recommended that teaching young people about curating a positive digital footprint should be included in the curriculum. linked to curating a digital footprint is the development of a ‘professional learning network’ (pln) which trust (2012) defines as a ‘system of interpersonal connections and resources that support informal learning’ (2012, p.133). plns are created by using social media networks such as linkedin and twitter to build connections with other professionals. limited research into the professional impact of digital footprints when using social media has been undertaken. forbes (2017), for example, worked with education undergraduates to set up professional twitter accounts to establish relationships with other educators and create positive digital footprints. drawing on medical research, kim et al. (2018) found that patients who looked for information online about their prospective neurosurgeons could not readily access all relevant information, as reviews about these practitioners appeared on unsignposted and discrete websites. graduates, therefore, who have their digital footprints checked by employers, colleagues or clients, should manage their digital identities proactively, to ensure that searches find intended information. this case study therefore asks: how effective is a co-created digital footprint training session at improving understanding and awareness of this issue and how successful is it at enabling primary education studies undergraduates to achieve what they need to do? 2. method 2.1 participants the project was completed during the 2019/20 academic year, with undergraduates studying for a ba primary education studies degree in a post-1992 university with a focus on vocational degrees and recruiting students from a broad range of backgrounds. the participating students were completing a level 5 module about teaching primary-aged children about science and technology. as part of the co-construction approach, a focus group of six students was formed from a cohort of twenty-eight students, to explore their understanding of digital footprints and to identify areas to be developed for the planned workshop. however, one week before the workshop was scheduled, the university moved to ‘emergency remote teaching’ in response to the covid-19 pandemic (hodges et al., 2020) and its consequent lockdowns. lecturers rapidly adapted face-to-face teaching to online delivery. as a result, the adapted workshop was delivered during the following trimester to a different cohort of students who were also enrolled on a primary education studies degree. in this cohort, there were thirteen students, all of whom attended the workshop. of these, five students participated in the subsequent focus group. 2.2 ethics ethical approval was obtained prior to the start of the study from the researcher’s university ethics panel. second-year undergraduates received an email about the project and were invited to participate in a focus group at the start of the project to help co-create the workshop by sharing their understanding of digital footprints, measures they take to protect their online identities and areas they would like to learn more about. those who replied were emailed and provided with a consent form and an information sheet, which concerned anonymity and confidentiality and explained that they could withdraw their data if they wished at any time up case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 4 to two weeks after the interview had taken place. participants’ informed consent was also confirmed before the start of the interview. interviewees received a £20 amazon gift card to acknowledge the time committed. following the workshop, attendees were invited to attend an evaluative focus group. potential participants were again provided with an information sheet and a consent form which they completed before the start of the interview. as before, participants received a gift card. 2.3 procedure the co-creation, development and implementation of the digital footprint workshop followed the steps outlined in table 1 below and each stage will be further explained. phase action 1 ethical approval acquired by university ethics committee 2 initial focus group to explore undergraduate understanding of digital footprints and topics to include in the workshop 3 analysis of focus group transcript and identifying topics to develop further 4 creation of digital footprint workshop 5 delivery of digital footprint workshop 6 evaluative focus group to discuss the workshop 7 analysis of evaluative focus-group data table 1. the stages of co-creating, developing, and implementing the digital footprint workshop the researcher wanted to co-create and work with “students as partners” to reject “traditional hierarchies and assumptions about expertise and responsibility” (cook-sather et al., 2018, p.1). to co-create the workshop on digital awareness and digital footprints, level 5 undergraduates were invited to participate in a focus group to explore their understanding of digital footprints and what they would like to do in the workshop. five participants joined the face-to-face focus group, which was audio-recorded and transcribed. participants had a range of understanding of digital footprints, as shown by one participant who thought a digital footprint was “a passcode” while another participant explained it was “the trail of information you leave behind on the internet”. these responses supported the suggestion by robinson et al. (2015) that a “digital footprint gap” exists, with a variety of digital footprint awareness. the focus group attendees talked about how digital footprints could broadly affect careers, but they were unsure about how it could specifically affect their teaching careers. one interviewee wanted, in a workshop, to learn “not only about the problems, but the benefits of digital footprints and social media”, thereby demonstrating awareness of curating a digital identity (mihailidis, 2016). the feedback from the focus group was then used to plan the workshop that was delivered online using the videoconferencing software zoom. a summary of the workshop activities is shown in table 2. for the first activity, students were asked to type their own definitions of a digital footprint in the zoom chat box. following this, the digital footprint definitions discussed in this case study’s literature review were shared and discussed with the group. the second activity involved sharing newspaper articles, including one about a uk supermarket employee who lost his job for sharing a racist facebook post (mahmood, 2019) and a report about an english deputy headteacher banned from the profession by the teaching regulation agency for posting antisemitic messages online (barrow, 2018). this led to the group’s reviewing of case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 5 england’s professional educator guidelines – the teachers’ standards (dfe, 2012) – to evaluate why the teacher had been barred. for the third activity, participants used google to search for themselves online and identify their digital footprints (osbourne, 2015), during which they searched for their names and where they had lived. before starting, in case they discovered sensitive material, participants were told that they did not need to share their findings. for activity 4, attendees devised a checklist of steps to protect digital footprints. participants used a bank of social media advice sheets which, although produced for teachers by the southwest grid for learning (2020), were relevant to all users. next, the group briefly considered how to curate a positive digital footprint through linkedin and twitter to create a professional image and how a pln can be created to support teacher employment. examples of teachers’ creating plns on twitter and instagram to acquire ideas for lessons were discussed. finally, participants had time to reflect on their next steps. activity 1 undergraduates share their definitions of digital footprints and then consider definitions of digital footprints activity 2 evaluating newspaper articles about when negative digital footprints have affected employability, including teachers activity 3 using a search engine to explore individual digital footprints activity 4 group activity to protect digital footprints on different social media networks activity 5 curating a positive digital footprint and developing a professional learning network activity 6 plenary exploring how attendees can apply learning from the workshop to their own social media use table 2. a summary of activities used in the digital footprint workshop following the workshop, attendees were invited to join an online semi-structured focus group to discuss the impact of the session. the focus group – with six participants – was audiorecorded and transcribed. 3. outcomes the qualitative data generated by the focus group were input into nvivo 11 and analysed thematically, using the process identified by braun and clarke (2006). the researcher became familiar with the data through reading the transcript several times. a combination of deductive and inductive approaches to the coding was used with the data. the themes identified were: definitions of digital footprints; the impact of a negative digital footprint on future employability; actions to take to enhance digital footprints. the students in the focus group were from a generation z age group, had “grown up immersed in technology and [had] never known life without the internet” (chunta, shellenbarger and chicca, 2020, p.88). nevertheless, responses suggested that the workshop led to a change in students’ online behaviour, thanks to a now greater awareness about privacy settings and understanding how to change them on social media sites. for example, one participant said: “well, i've changed my privacy settings. that was after the session we had.” this illustrates the point made by boyd (2014), that additional thought and effort needs to be applied to make social media posts private. another focus group participant, though acknowledging having changed privacy settings, explained that their digital awareness had developed through consideration of how others case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 6 might perceive their posts, so demonstrating another of boyd’s (2014) observations that young people may have an intended audience which is different from their actual audience. the student explained: “because obviously, if when i looked at my accounts, and i could see everything on mine, i wouldn't want someone from the school i volunteer at to do that and see all my posts, so i've made my facebook more private, like they can't actually see much.” when asked about how the workshop could be improved, one participant raised the issue of the timing of this intervention: “i think to improve it, i think i would have wanted to know a bit more about it beforehand… but it would have been really interesting to look at it when we like first started uni because then i could have changed a lot more things before actually volunteering at schools and then only realising that my settings are more out there for the public.” this indicates that participants did recognise the value of the workshop, consistent with the approach of jisc (2019) that students can be supported to manage digital identities more effectively. however, participants tended to focus on the potential negatives of a digital footprint and did not identify how they would curate their digital footprints (mihailidis, 2016) and develop a pln to support informal professional learning (trust, 2012). additional areas for future exploration in workshops could include undergraduate understanding of data mining through digital footprints and material shared online. furthermore, this case study did not consider the implications of the digital divide on curating a positive digital footprint, which could be a priority for further interventions. 4. conclusion this case study describes the co-creation, with education undergraduates, of a workshop to develop digital footprint understanding and the impact of such footprints on employability. this case study has shown that participants valued the workshop, responded positively to the session and identified changes in their online behaviour. using a co-construction approach ensured that the session was relevant to the needs and interests of education students. this is particularly important when considering internet use, leading to students’ using the internet in rapidly evolving ways. notwithstanding the relatively small sample size, this case study offers valuable insights into how undergraduates can be supported to develop their awareness of digital footprints. although this case study involved working with primary education studies undergraduates, digital footprint awareness can support the future employability of all graduates. while the workshop was included as part of science and technology education module, the session could be included in personal tutor sessions. as for future developments, a subsequent workshop will be planned for students develop a pln, using social media platforms such as twitter and linkedin to curate a digital footprint and collaborate with professionals in the field. additionally, there could be further research into the impact of digital inequalities, into curating a digital footprint and into participating in plns. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 15, no 2, 2022 7 5. funding this project was kindly funded by a learning and teaching project award from anglia ruskin university. reference list barrow, g. 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(2016) ‘digital curation and digital literacy: evaluating the role of curation in developing critical literacies for participation in digital culture.’ e-learning and digital media, 12, 443-458. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753016631868 (accessed: 27 september 2021). robinson, l., cotten, s.r., ono, h., quan-haase, a., mesch, g., chen, w., schulz, j., hale, t.m. and stern, m.j. (2015) ‘digital inequalities and why they matter.’ information, communication & society, 18(5), 569-582. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2015.1012532 (accessed: 27 september 2021). south west grid for learning (2020) social media checklists. available at: https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/checklists/ (accessed: 15 march 2022). thatcher, j. (2014) ‘living on fumes: digital footprints, data fumes, and the limitations of spatial big data.’ international journal of communication, 8, 1765-1783. available at: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2174 (accessed: 26 september 2021). trust, t. (2012) ‘professional learning networks designed for teacher learning.’ journal of digital learning in teacher education, 28(4), 133-138. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2012.10784693 (accessed: 27 september 2021). van deursen, a.j.a.m., and helsper, e.j. (2015) ‘the third-level digital divide: who benefits most from being online?’ communication and information technologies annual: digital distinctions and inequalities. studies in media and communications, 10, 29-53. available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/s2050-206020150000010002 (accessed: 27 september 2021). van deursen, a.j.a.m. and van dijk, j. (2010) ‘internet skills and the digital divide.’ new media & society, 13(6), 893-911. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810386774 (accessed: 27 september 2021). https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753016631868 https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2015.1012532 https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/checklists/ https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2174 https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2012.10784693 https://doi.org/10.1108/s2050-206020150000010002 https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810386774 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 panopto with moodle: enabling videos and screencasts to be effective assessment tools for all ray stoneham university of greenwich abstract the widespread availability in universities of modern video recording and management systems integrated into virtual learning environments, such as panopto with moodle, now enables all students to create their own recordings easily and submit them for assessment; the platform makes management of the marking and feedback simple and effective. it is time that lecturers embraced this development, so that assessment remains effective and relevant. the ability to create a screencast or video for assessment should be an essential digital literacy skill for all university students. there have been some attempts at universities to assess students on the basis of screencasts made by them to demonstrate their work: for example, by shafer (2010), for mathematics, and university of reading (2015), for digital design. however, until quite recently, the facility for students to record their own presentations or demonstrations of their work has been limited to those with the necessary technical skills to set up microphones and cameras and to access and use appropriate software (e.g. camtasia). making these recordings available to staff for assessment has often been hampered by large file sizes, a variety of file formats and the lack of a suitable management framework. hosting files on such external services as youtube, vimeo and jing has made this rather easier, but issues of security and data protection may lead to difficulties, whilst the management of the whole process is time-consuming and fraught with problems. there can also be issues with maximum file size or video-duration limits. modern video recording and management systems integrated into virtual learning environments, such as panopto with moodle, now make it feasible for lecturers to expect their students to create and submit their own recordings for assessment, whilst the platform makes management of marking and feedback simple and effective. students can normally see only what they have uploaded and can upload multiple times. there are no practical limits on file size. all recordings are date-stamped and identified by the user’s authenticated id. lecturers can easily view all the recordings for the course and give feedback viewable only by the student. depending on settings, students can extend the visibility of recordings to other users for peer assessment or group access. similarly, lecturers can extend the visibility of individual recordings to other lecturers for moderation and to external examiners and others for quality assurance. as these platforms become commonplace, there are many advantages to the institution: such systems are already widely used by staff for recording lectures, providing screencast feedback and implementing flipped classrooms. however, their use by students for recording is more limited. students now have the tools for easily creating screencasts to record a demonstration of a system they have built, to produce a critical evaluation of a website or to present their ideas or the results of their research. video recording, using panopto on mobile opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 devices, of presentations, interviews or performances is also possible. adding video to a screencast may help ensure the authenticity of assessment, particularly if all students have previously recorded a short personal introduction (as part of induction to the institution) that may provide comparison. assessment can be either formative or summative, with easy facilities for lecturers to give context-specific feedback. these platforms give many advantages to students over alternative assessment methods. the skills they gain enable them to produce video cvs or online demonstrations for prospective employers. viewing their own recordings is an excellent opportunity to reflect on their own skills and to try out new ideas. the process of recording is simple and uploading can be automated. there are no issues with file sizes and students can manage their own uploads by renaming or deleting them or making them available to others for review or sharing. they can even download recordings as mp4 files for indefinite local storage. one of the authors has used panopto with moodle for several years as an assessment tool for both final-year undergraduate students and masters students. end-of-course feedback showed that students had little difficulty in making the recordings and all met the deadline for uploading. they used their own laptops or personal computers (windows or mac) and found the recording and uploading process easy. most did just one unedited recording, a few made several attempts before they were satisfied with the result and some even edited and annotated their recording for effect. the other authors of this article were masters students on one of these courses. panopto screencasts having proved very effective, they subsequently recorded screencasts themselves to support their own individual final project reports. they also experimented with video recording, finding it a useful preparation for video interviews and a confidence-builder for their presentation skills. in conclusion, we recommend that the ability to create a screencast or video for assessment should be an essential digital literacy skill for all university students. from september 2016, all masters students in the cis department will be introduced to panopto at the start of their studies and will be required to record a short video to illustrate how to pronounce their name (both formal and informal) and to introduce themselves. this will replace an existing tenyear-old departmental system requiring all masters students to upload a sound recording of the pronunciation of their name – of great value to lecturers as most masters students at greenwich are from overseas and many have unfamiliar names. experience has shown that engagement with students is significantly enhanced when lecturers know how to pronounce student names and also when they know how students wish to be addressed. panopto (2016) case studies show a variety of ways in which panopto can be used for student assessment – lecturers may well be encouraged to explore their own ideas as well. reference list panopto (2016) “student recording: allow your students to present their assignments in a way that’s both interactive and imaginative.” available at: www.panopto.com/uses/studentrecording/ (accessed: 13 march 2016). http://www.panopto.com/uses/student-recording/ http://www.panopto.com/uses/student-recording/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 shafer, k. g. (2010) “the proof is in the screencast.” contemporary issues in technology and teacher education, 10(4). available at: http://www.citejournal.org/volume-10/issue-410/mathematics/the-proof-is-in-the-screencast (accessed: 2 april 2016). university of reading (2015) “experimenting with screencasts as an assessment tool.” available at: https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/grass/blog/2015/06/04/experimenting-withscreencasts-as-an-assessment-tool/ (accessed: 2 april 2016). http://www.citejournal.org/volume-10/issue-4-10/mathematics/the-proof-is-in-the-screencast http://www.citejournal.org/volume-10/issue-4-10/mathematics/the-proof-is-in-the-screencast 1 do they use anything other than google? sarah crofts information & library services one of my teaching sessions for the first year law course, legal method, covers finding resources for law on the internet. to make the seminar more interactive, i ask the students about the way they search the internet and search engines they use. in 2009–10 around 115 students attended the seminars and, of this number, few students said that they used any search engine other than google. yahoo and ask jeeves were the other choices. as with any subject, it is important to use reputable sources for legal research. there is evidence that it is not only students who rely on google for their research; research by the law society’s gazette found that all levels of solicitors were using sources such as wikipedia in preference to specialist law resources (rayner 2008). this scenario is not just confined to students at the university of greenwich. the existence of the so called ‘google effect’ on ‘the google’ or ‘net generation’ impacts upon almost all learners brought up with the world wide web (downes 2007). one student said that she always went to google first with any new topic. another said that at first she did not understand why she could not access lexis with her university login when she found their website on google, not realising that she needed to log in to the portal in order to access information in all the subscription databases via single sign-on authentication. although they are keen users of google, few of the students were aware of other tools provided by google such as advanced search, google scholar, news search, search uk pages only. everyone knew about enclosing phrases in quote marks to find the words in that exact order, for example, ‘assisted suicide’ but most were not aware of other basic search tools such as the or connector to find any of the words in a search, for example ‘assisted suicide’ or euthanasia or ‘mercy killing’, outlined in the google web search help pages: www.google.com/support/websearch. it became apparent that many had used google scholar even if they did not recognise the name. this can be a very useful way of finding articles quickly, but there are key disadvantages, such as the need to be on campus or logged in to the portal to see full text articles, as well as the distinct possibility that articles could be missed by not searching individual databases. i also asked the students how they chose their search terms when using google. most said that they entered one or two keywords or a case name, although one student said that she always entered her entire essay title and was always very happy with the results. i suggested that there might be disadvantages with this approach, for example she might miss other items which have different keywords not in the title, or items in databases not indexed with many keywords which would ensure http://www.google.com/support/websearch compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 2 that they appear at the top of the search. all students agreed that they would not look beyond the first page of results of a google search. some acknowledged that searches for case names in the style “r v smith” rarely produced good results because of the multitude of similar results, often citations in articles or books, teachers’ slides or notes. an understanding of the way google carries out searches may help explain to searchers why they do not retrieve the required results. much information is buried in the ‘invisible web’ such as the content of databases or deep websites and other information which may not be found easily because of their format. devine and egger-sider (2009) have analysed the reasoning behind this. database content may not be found because database records are dynamically created and results are not stored with a permanent url. web crawlers generally do not find this information. deep websites, such as government websites, have many levels of information beyond the reach of web crawlers. other formats such as images and audio or video files may require specialist search engines. our students may appear to be confident and sophisticated in their use of the web, but their searching is often limited to a small range of free resources. the influential ciber report recognised that users are “increasingly looking for `the answer’” and that the search engine “becomes the primary brand that they associate with the internet” (2008: 8, 12). they often prefer to use these free sources rather than the library databases which do not have the familiarity of google. if these do not provide the expected results, they often give up early on. an independent committee of inquiry into the changing learner experience (clex 2009: para 39) came to similar conclusions noting that, “students tend to go no further than the first page or so of a website and, if they don’t find what they’re looking for there, they move on to another.” what do we do about this? do we: ● continue with our digital/information literacy work with students as part of their academic work? the independent committee of inquiry into the changing learner experience suggest that higher education institutions “treat information literacies as a priority area and support all students so that they are able, amongst other things, to identify, search, locate, retrieve and, especially, critically evaluate information from the range of appropriate sources – web-based and other – and organise and use it effectively, attributed as necessary, in an appropriate medium” (clex 2009: section 7). ● make search simpler – convert library catalogues and databases to a simple, single search google style interface? academic libraries and database providers are increasingly looking at ways of providing additional, simpler ways of searching by means of federated search and discovery tools. my view is that we should pursue both options; what do others think? 3 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 references ciber. (2008). information behaviour of the researcher of the future. university college london. [online]. available at: www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/downloads/ggexecutive.pdf (accessed 26 may 2010). committee of inquiry into the changing learner experience. (2009). higher education in a web 2.0 world. jisc. [online]. available at: www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/generalpublications/2009/ heweb2.aspx (accessed 26 may 2010). devine, j., and egger-sider, f. (2009). going beyond google: the invisible web in learning and teaching. london: facet publishing. downes, s. (2007). places to go: google’s search results for “net generation”. innovate, 3 (4). [online]. available at: www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=455 (accessed 24 april 2008). rayner, j. (2008). net-surfing lawyers warned of compliance risk. law society’s gazette, 12 june. [online]. available at: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/net-surfing-lawyers-warned-compliance-risk (accessed 15 march 2010). http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/downloads/ggexecutive.pdf http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/generalpublications/2009/ http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&amp;id=455 http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/net-surfing-lawyers-warned-compliance-risk case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 more than one way to flip a class: learning analytic for mixed models of learning alan dix university of birmingham and talis abstract this case study presents personal experiences in the reuse of materials, originally prepared for a small-scale mooc, in face-to-face flipped-classroom and blended learning teaching. while some of the literature on the flipped classroom suggests a quite uniform pedagogic style for each class, albeit differing between advocates, the experience of the author was far more pedagogically diverse, depending on the type of material and workload of the students. fine-grain learning analytics were also critical; these both allowed targeted feedback (enhancing student learning) and gave a sense of control (enhancing academic motivation and well-being). keywords: learning analytics, flipped classroom, video, mooc, learning-resource reuse introduction the flipped classroom is at the confluence of multiple digital technologies. these include technologies for: (i) the creation and sharing of reusable and, possibly, open educational resources; (ii) the delivery and consumption of those resources on multiple platforms, possibly adapted for or augmented by learners; (iii) the monitoring and analysis of usage, progress and achievement. however, unlike online learning, the flipped classroom is set within a matrix of face-to-face contact and personal engagement. there is a level of continuity and discontinuity in these technologies. those who have been involved in education for some years will be aware of research including intelligent teaching systems almost as old as computers; lecture augmentation and video capture in classroom2000/eclass since the early 1990s (abowd, 1999) and mlearning almost as far back. crucially, the ubiquity and low cost of web delivery led to a high-level institutional push towards digital delivery from the midto late-1990s, sadly driven less by pedagogic goals than by financial considerations – though the latter were usually misguided. so, while the term ‘flipped classroom’ is new, both the underlying idea and much of the supporting technology are very familiar. however, there clearly is a difference in the last few years, both in terms of fully-online learning, notably the mooc revolution, and flipped-classroom practice. this is due in part to the speed and availability of video editing and web delivery (the youtube effect), in part to the ubiquity of devices able to deliver online resources and in part to the changing expectations and skills of students being brought up with social media (ucl, 2008). in order to study these changing styles of learning, the author delivered a small mooc in 2013 and then reused the video materials as part of flipped teaching at his university in late 2014 and early 2015. the latter also enabled him to try for himself a new universal media case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 player developed by talis, which enables a more consistent user experience and provides detailed usage analytics ‘micro level’ in buckingham shum’s (2012) terms. the next section outlines some of the background to this work and, in particular, some details of the mooc materials. it then looks at the outcomes, particularly the diversity of styles of use of the material in flipped-class (and related) styles of teaching and the importance of fine-grained learning analytics in supporting pedagogy and offering a sense of academic control. context: from textbook to mooc to flipped class the author was involved in the management of one of the early post-graduate courses in technology-enhanced learning (msc in technology for learning, staffordshire university, 1996). he is also an author of one of the main international textbooks in human computer interaction (dix et al, 2004). this textbook provides substantial additional online and tutor materials, including powerpoint slides, mini-case studies, exercises with sample answers and multiple-choice questions; that is material primarily for reuse by other tutors. however, despite this theoretical knowledge and practical experience in provision of materials for wide-spread learning, he had not, until recently, been personally involved in the actual delivery of distance learning, rich blended learning, nor, critically, flipped-classroom teaching. in 2013, a small-scale mooc was prepared and delivered, which covered partly material in the hci textbook and partly new material. one of the reasons for doing this was to gain experience with the pedagogic and technical challenges of mooc production and, in particular, the creation of video material that could potentially be reused by others in their own teaching. the mooc material was dominated by video nearly thirty hours, corresponding roughly to the amount of lecture time in a typical one-semester course. this was broken into ten units, each equivalent to about one week of a face-to-face course. however, only the first six out of the ten units were actually used in the mooc, as it became rapidly evident that there was far too much material. in fact, the majority of the students focused on the first two units only, but kept revisiting them for the entire nominal length of the course. the first of these was simply the course introduction and motivation, so effectively the students focused primarily on what corresponded to one week's worth of the material. in retrospect, it would have been better to have made these three to four hours of video material the entire course, as this was clearly sufficient to fill the intended course duration. this corresponds closely to the volume of material described in the production of futurelearn moocs. glasgow university's detailed report covers the production and delivery of their first two futurelearn moocs (kerr et al, 2015); the total video time was only about two to three hours in each of these moocs, albeit split into many small twoto three-minute segments. this highlights a real tension in the delivery of distance material. older distance-learning models, notably the open university television programmes produced in the 1970s, were of substantial length; however, the most successful recent moocs use not only much shorter segments, but far less total time. of course, the glasgow university futurelearn material case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 described above included extensive textual materials, but then so also did the 1970s ou courses; and, of course, face-to-face students are expected to read textbooks as well as attend lectures. it is important to challenge the common myth of lecture as 'content delivery', which ignores other aspects of the face-to-face experience such as motivation, mutual support and feedback. however, this does not mean that content is not important and a traditional lecture typically reinforces verbally and in slightly different ways the same material that is found in text. clearly, the purposes and contexts of students joining a mooc are not the same as students on more traditional courses, but the massive difference in content quantity raises questions as one moves towards flipped-classroom models. why flip? research and development and pedagogic drivers teachers are driven to adopt the flipped classroom for many different reasons, some individual, some institutional. rather like the mooc experience above, the author's first steps in the flipped classroom were as much a research and development (r&d) agenda about understanding the issues around flipping, as they were pedagogic. there were two sides to the r&d agenda. the first goal was to leverage the availability of the materials produced for the mooc, described above. as noted, one of the aims in producing the mooc material was to create reusable resources. indeed, the material has already been reused to create several courses on the interaction design foundation open education platform (idf, 2015); it has also been taken up by other educators. by using the materials for his own teaching at university of birmingham, the author hoped to understand better the advantages and limitations. potential advantages are clear. material created for moocs is intended to be read or watched online in a relatively unsupervised distance mode; this has obvious potential for student access prior to face-to-face learning in flipped mode. also the costs of mooc production are high, with estimates ranging from fifty thousand dollars to over a quarter of a million dollars per course (hollands and tirthali, 2014; dejong, 2013) with video production between $2,500 and $10,000 per minute (hollands and tirthali, 2014b; fox, 2010); reuse in face-to-face learning could help amortize this cost and increase the sustainability of moocs (dix, 2015b). another r&d goal was to get experience of using a universal content player being piloted as part of a talis project, 'lighthouse'. talis develops teaching and learning software primarily targeted at higher education. currently, the talis reading list and digital content management software are used by eighty-six institutions worldwide, including over half of uk universities. the lighthouse player allows video, audio, pdfs, slides and other text and graphic materials to be viewed with, as far as is possible, a uniform user experience (see figure 1). in addition, the mobile app versions of the player allow students, while connected to a wifi network, to download videos which can then be viewed offline. finally, the player includes detailed logging, allowing fine-grained learning analytics. the author is a researcher at talis case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 as well as an academic and the flipped-classroom teaching offered an opportunity to pilot these new features in a real setting. figure 1: talis lighthouse pilot – web and mobile players there are, of course, many pedagogic reasons for choosing to use flipped-classroom teaching, including better use of face-to-face time, greater student autonomy and more flexible learning see reviews by estes et al (2014) and hamdan et al (2013). however, there are also drawbacks. academic time is always scarce and, whilst most academics are used to standing up and delivering a lecture, pre-preparing material takes considerably more time. in particular, while delivering a face-to-face lecture, the teacher can see whether students are understanding and either re-iterate points or adapt pace accordingly. in contrast, when preparing materials for online use, the teacher has to pre-empt perceived potential problems, but may, in the process, risk labouring points that students actually grasp quickly. this was certainly very evident in preparation of the mooc videos. while these were very simple, lecture-like head and shoulders over slides, the level of preparation before videoing was considerable. when these were reused for the flipped class, navigating the vle to add all the materials proved to be time-consuming. the vle in question, canvas, was, if anything, easier than other vles the author has used at different institutions, but still tedious when adding large volumes of material. there are also problems of student access. at the apt 2015 conference, where this work was first presented, a group of drama students prepared a series of sketches, based on interviews with other students, concerning issues of flipped-class and blended learning. while the advantages of flipping were presented, nearly every sketch included access case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 issues, such as: (i) lack of access to internet when off campus; (ii) insufficiently powerful student computers and (iii) domestic problems (as viewing videos on a phone was not perceived by other family members as real studying). given that adequate access to the internet in some areas of the country is still only around 50%, delivering materials online instantly excludes, to some extent, many socially-, geographicallyor physicallymarginalised groups. the above students were from the university of greenwich, which has a high level of participation of 'under-represented' groups, according to the uk higher education statistics agency (hesa, 2015). in contrast, university of birmingham scores disappointingly low in indices of widening participation (82% compared to greenwich's 94%) and so these access issues were less likely to affect the students in this case study. finally, the idea of flipped-class teaching can be little short of terrifying for the academic. whenever students are asked to study outside class there is a loss of control – will they actually read or watch the suggested material? delivery: many modes of flipping the mooc material was used as part of a module (‘advanced human computer interaction’) which included a combination of final-year undergraduate students and masters students. we did not teach the entire course using this method, partly because it was new and partly because the overlap in topics between the mooc and face-to-face module was limited. one of the main lessons was about diversity (hence this case study's title). some of the literature on the flipped classroom (e.g. schell, 2012) suggests a quite uniform pedagogic style for each class, albeit differing between advocates. however, the experience of the author was far more mixed, depending on the type of material and the workload of the students. in fact, each use had its own unique character, but they seemed to fall into three main classes:  basics + integration – although this was an advanced human computer interaction (hci) course, the fact that the student group was mixed meant that the participants differed considerably in their level of 'basic' hci. preparatory videos were thus used for more basic material and students were told to watch the overview video and then to use their discretion regarding the others. the ensuing lecture then focused more upon integrative concepts. effectively this constitutes use of the preparatory material as remedial instruction.  fully flipped – some classes followed a more standard flipped mode, with video and textual materials before class preceding more discursive in-class material. in one class comprising purely masters students, group discussions seemed far more productive, probably because of both class size and student maturity.  reinforcement – in some sessions, all material was available on video, but it repeated the in-class teaching. this, in some ways, resembled lecture capture, except that, thanks to the knowledge that everything was available on video, the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 otherwise traditional lecture could be more easily paced and interactive, since the students would be able, from the online material, to fill in gaps. in the last of these, there was, perhaps unsurprisingly, noticeable attendance fall-off, particularly from the 'back of the class', when students were told in advance that videos covered the same material as in the lecture. crucially, there was no corresponding hike in the watching of the videos that corresponded to the in-class teaching until the exam period. it appears that weaker or less-motivated students decided that they need not attend the lecture as they could always catch up online later, but did not do so until exam panic set in. this is precisely the reason why some academics have resisted giving to students notes or lecture-capture technology. this last point emphasises the potential anxiety experience of many academics when considering variations of the flipped classroom. although, in principle, there are potential pedagogic advantages in offering more student autonomy, this significantly reduces the academic's sense of control over learning. this comes at a time when academics are often facing increased accountability. in the uk, the raising of student fees has paradoxically led to the adoption, by a minority of students, of a more passive, "i've paid, so teach me", attitude to learning (the guardian, 2015), whilst, at the same time, the uk government is proposing a 'teaching excellence framework', to assess more closely university-level teaching (uk government, 2015). as well as other educational benefits, learning analytics offer one way of retaining some element of control during flipped-class teaching. analytics: managing panic and developing pedagogy learning analytics are often associated with more high-level management of institutions, where multiple data sources, including test scores, attendance and even library usage, can be collated. however, recent years have seen an additional focus on the use of learning analytics to aid the individual learner and teacher. the purdue traffic lights system is perhaps the most well-known of these, using a variety of raw data sources to provide students with a simple student dashboard, allowing them to see how well they are doing and suggesting remedial action if they are falling behind (arnold, 2010). indeed, long and siemens (2011) distinguish between the two kinds of analytics, calling the institutional level 'academic analytics' and reserving 'learning analytics' for department-level or course interventions. often the finest level of analytics provided by vles are click-through counts, providing the information that a student has viewed a page, opened a video, or downloaded a pdf. however, finer-level information can reveal more: for example, hibbert (2014) describes how the 'play-through rate' (the average proportion of a video that has been watched) provided by kaltura can be used to assess whether videos are sufficiently compelling. currently, few platforms offer this level of detailed analytics: youtube and vimeo offer very rich analytics, but all at the level of the whole video; panopto does allow drilling through to video-frame analytics, but like kaltura, only for video material. the talis lighthouse player provides fine analytics for each type of media, showing not just what has been viewed, but the parts that have been viewed, and this is available for videos, audio or paged content such as pdfs or slides. the most common pattern is a drop-off where students stop watching or reading at a certain point, but it is instructive to know case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 whether a 50% level of viewing corresponds to everyone watching half, or half watching it all and the rest dropping off after the first minute or so. however, it is also possible to see, for example, where a portion of video has been watched multiple times, or where long dwell time on a certain page of a document suggests that there is some difficulty. the analytics are immediately available to the tutor when viewing the resource on the player. this can be seen in figure 2; this is the tutor's view and the basic analytics are visible on the left-hand side of the page. this availability proved to be remarkably effective, even for simple click-through statistics. while vles do provide this kind of information, the author had never previously taken the effort to find it; the 'in your face' nature of the analytics (either visible or with a single button), meant that they were viewed and proved surprisingly compelling to watch. elsewhere, the author has discussed more broadly the way different analytics should fit within different timescales of academic activity and, in particular, the way detection or notification that action is necessary should synchronise with the availability of resources and time for action to occur (dix and leavesley, 2015). these analytics had direct pedagogic benefit, sometimes allowing the author gently to cajole the students ("i know that only half of you have looked at this"), but also to offer more direct guidance. in one case, it was clear that the students were reading only the beginning of a long research paper (see figure 2); the author was able to advise them that even if they skipped most of the paper, the last section was particularly valuable as it showed the theoretical techniques being applied in practice. figure 2: analytics on pdf document. the 'heat map' at the top left shows which portions of the document have been read. however, perhaps the most powerful use of the analytics was simply to give the academic a sense of control. as noted, one of the problems of any sort of recommended out-of-class activity is a loss of control for the academic. this is an inevitable consequence of increased student autonomy; however, as previously discussed, this is also coupled with ever-growing external and internal quality regimes and metrics (not least institutional-level analytics) that case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 put increased responsibility on the academic to ensure student performance. this combination of increased responsibility and reduced control is a recipe for stress. while the fine-grained analytics do not allow the academic to force students to engage with resources, there is a quite surprising sense of control from being at least able to monitor that engagement. conclusions this is only a small-scale case study, but does reveal that, even in a single course, there is a wide diversity of possible ways to use materials in variations of flipped-classroom or blended learning. the author’s lack of experience in using flipped-classroom methods may account for this, but it feels self-evident that the balance of use of pre-class, in-class and post-class materials will vary, depending on the type of material and workload of the students. the fine-grain learning analytics, which were available from talis player, were critical, allowing targeted feedback and offering a sense of control. while the former is of clear pedagogic value. it is perhaps the latter, control, which is most significant in terms of academic motivation and well-being, a pre-condition to technology adoption and sustainability. as noted, few platforms currently offer this level of analytics and, to the author's knowledge, no others across different media, but it seems likely that given the clear benefits, this will become an essential feature in the near future. acknowledgements this work was first presented at apt 2015 (dix, 2015) and has benefited from feedback there, from other talks based on the material and from insightful compass reviews. thanks also to colleagues at university of birmingham and talis and to my students at birmingham who suffered my early attempts at flipping. reference list abowd, g. 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(2015) fulfilling our potential: teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice. department of business, innovation and skills, consultation document, hmso. november 2015. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/highereducation-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice (accessed: 10 february 2016). http://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/socialsciences/staff/learningandteaching/mooc/ http://blog.peerinstruction.net/2012/07/03/choreography-of-a-flipped-classroom.html http://blog.peerinstruction.net/2012/07/03/choreography-of-a-flipped-classroom.html http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/dec/18/my-students-have-paid-9000-and-now-they-think-they-own-me?cmp=share_androidapp_gmail http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/dec/18/my-students-have-paid-9000-and-now-they-think-they-own-me?cmp=share_androidapp_gmail http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice enhancing online interactivity enhancing online interactivity & engagement: impacting student learning nola stair university of greenwich, business school case studies introduction over the past 10 years, the university of greenwich business school has been integrating the use of technology into the teaching and learning process with various tools (e.g., digital images, podcasts, simulations, software applications, video cameras and whiteboards). electronic communication between administrators, academics and students has been enhanced beyond e-mail to regularly include blogs, online discussion boards, videoconferencing and wikis. today, many of these technology tools are components housed within a virtual learning environment (vle). therefore, the recent 2011 campus wide selection of a new vle (i.e, moodle) had significant implications for the business school’s continued development of e-learning practice and pedagogy. at a minimum, all business school courses provide online access to instructional materials, q & a discussion boards, and coursework submission. however, some courses have moved to the next level by expanding the use of the vle’s capabilities to enhance interactivity and engagement with students. this integration of traditional face-to-face (f2f) instruction and vle tools is commonly known as blended learning. it has been suggested by educational research that the design and development of effective and engaging interactive learning experiences has a direct impact on student learning. (moore, 1993). in a fully online (or blended) environment, interaction can take place synchronously or asynchronously depending on the technology tool used (e.g., chat rooms, discussion boards, wikis, blogs). this case study examines asynchronous interaction and engagement with business school undergraduate and graduate students over a three year period; few other studies have investigated online engagement over an extended length of time. it illustrates an overall course redesign process in response to learning experiences that attempts to: ●● increase student interaction with course materials independently of tutorials and lectures, ●● encourage more reflective practice on essay writing capabilities (from both the tutor and student perspective), and ●● allow more productive use of face-to-face instructional time. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 online interaction key aspects of online interaction have emerged from computer-mediated communication (cmc) research, which involves exchanging information over a network. as technology has changed, different types of cmc delivery platforms have also developed; however, the main underlying concepts of interactivity and active learning are useful methods to manage and structure course design. this case study focuses on the use of vle discussion boards, which, as noted by west and graham (2007) are often under-utilized as many academics struggle to adapt them effectively as an effective method that can maximize student learning. another common area of misunderstanding centres around the belief that the management of discussion board activities is too time-consuming. as part of the new vle selection process, an analysis of vle tool usage among the schools within the university of greenwich was conducted by the web services office in 2010 and the following extract focuses on discussion board activity: table 1 discussion board usage in schools architecture & construction business education & training english # of active vle courses 124 603 59 304 # of courses using discussion boards 5 439 27 21 % of courses using discussion boards 4% 73% 16% 7% while q & a discussion boards are available in all business school courses; posting of messages by students is minimal. to minimize the struggle and misunderstanding surrounding discussion boards, as well as maximize usage without being too time consuming, it is helpful to understand the ways in which online discussions can be integrated into a traditional face-to-face course. jung (1995 cited by paulson 2002) identified four types of communication: one-alone, one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many interaction, while moore (1993) focused on the specific instructional distinctions: ●● learner–content, ●● learner–teacher and ●● learner–learner interaction the learner-content approach involves the student interacting with instructional materials to gain knowledge with little or no feedback from others. with learner-teacher engagement, this provides opportunities for discussion and feedback about students’ learning experiences, which closely mirrors the traditional classroom experience. learner-learner extends the learner-teacher approach to include peers in a socially-mediated collaborative approach. it is important for educational developers to consider this continuum of online interaction in order to develop appropriate pedagogical strategies that take advantage of a technology tool’s functionality and fit for purpose. otherwise, as casey and wilson (2005) noted the concept of ‘social constructivism’ during the teaching and learning process, (i.e., creating meaning through interactions with others) is “often an 12 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 ambition, rather than reality” (p 8). too often, online interaction focuses on learner-content, rather than learnerteacher or learner-learner in which the latter two focus on designing, facilitating and managing the constructivist activities of the students. after identifying the pedagogical considerations in terms of the course curriculum, interaction continuum and technology tools, this case study will provide insight into how discussion boards can enhance learner– teacher and learner–learner interaction to provide ongoing feedback, without becoming overwhelmed in the process. course design approach three courses from ba hons business studies and mba programmes in the systems management and strategy department were re-conceptualized to incorporate online learner–teacher and learner–learner interaction, as presented in table 2 below: case level and course goal of online interaction required online interaction (% of assessment) 1 undergraduate 1st year personal and professional development increase student interaction with course materials independently of tutorials and lectures 10% 2 undergraduate final year thematic independent studies encourage formative self reflective practice of research and writing skills 0 3 graduate (mba) foundations of scholarship & research methods encourage formative self reflective practice of research and writing skills 5% a brief overview, assessment structure, and analysis of online interactivity in terms of learner–content, learner– teacher and learner–learner interaction is presented for each case. 13 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 case 1 personal & professional development i (ppd1) is taught in a f2f environment with approximately 120 students split into 8 tutorials. as united kingdom (uk) higher education guidelines, this course assists students with their own personal, educational, and career development. they complete various assignments and tasks both individually and in groups before submitting their final coursework. there are four elements of assessment – a reflective report, two portfolios and participation. however, participation was re-conceptualized into two elements f2f attendance/contribution in tutorials and “virtual” contribution to online discussions. for online discussions, students were asked to participate in structured personal development activities in which they interact with each other, the course content and/ or one-on-one with their personal tutor (see table 3). their virtual participation was automatically tracked by the virtual learning environment and equaled 50% of their f2f attendance requirement. table 3 analysis of online discussion board activities/tasks and online interaction online discussion activities/tasks learner– content learner– teacher learner– learner 1 introductions - x x 2 – technology checklist x x - 3 – youtube videos about presentations x - x 4 – cv and cover letter x x x 5 – personal development plan x x - figure 1 shows the structure of one tutorial’s discussion boards with 12 students. as part of establishing a constructivist community for 1st year undergraduate students, the online activities supported the development of their final coursework and were not formally graded. by carefully integrating the online activities to correlate with their submitted graded coursework: ●● face-to-face discussions were extended beyond the limited tutorial time through the online discussion with personal tutors, ●● private feedback was provided by tutors regarding their students’ cvs and personal development plans, and ●● additional online resources were available for reflection and discussion to enhance their own upcoming group presentations. 14 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 15 figure 1 case 1: design of online discussion board activities/tasks case 2 thematic independent studies (tis) is one of two capstone courses which final year students can select and is taught in a f2f environment with approximately 180-200 students split into 11 bi-weekly tutorials. in tis, students write two extended essays (i.e., literature review and critical analysis), which draw on relevant academic literature and secondary data. according to healy and jenkins (2009), there are four main ways of engaging undergraduate students with research and inquiry: ●● research-led: learning about current research ●● research-oriented: developing research skills and techniques ●● research-based: undertaking research and inquiry ●● research-tutored: engaging in research discussions however, while many dissertation courses focus on research-led and research-oriented methods of delivery, tis also provided both f2f and online opportunities to engage students in research-based and research-tutored activities. instead of public online discussion boards, private ones were configured as “personal journals” which were only viewable between each student and his/her personal tutor. through their personal journals (see table 4), students uploaded work-in-progress for ongoing formative feedback: table 4 analysis of online personal journals and online interaction continuum online personal journal learner– content learner– teacher learner– learner feedback: • mind map x x - • essay outlines x x - • essay drafts x x - 15 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 figure 2 below shows the structure of one tutorial’s discussion boards with approximately 15-20 students. in one centralized area, the tutor was able to establish key checkpoints in the following ways: ●● gauge student progression (e.g., development of mind maps, formulation of research questions, use of logs recording online database searches) and ●● provide ongoing feedback during the development of student essays (e.g., outlining themes found in literature, suggesting additional resources for further investigation, reviewing writing and summarizing skills). figure 2 case 2: design of online discussion board activities/tasks case 3 foundations of scholarship & research methods (fsrm) is an introductory 10 week course that is designed to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of academic practice and research. it is taught in a f2f environment with approximately 45-50 students. the problem-based teaching approach centres on the submission of formative portfolio tasks and a research proposal. many of the tasks require interaction between students. while the benefits of peer review have been widely published (knight and steinbach 2011), the use of technology can help facilitate the process as there are specialized software programs available for purchase or use over the internet. however, a simple and easy solution was found by using the vle’s discussion board (see table 5) that incorporated all levels of the interaction continuum as students progressed through tasks 1, 5 and 6: ●● task 1 students drafted short essays defining ‘critical thinking’ for posting ●● task 5 each student selected one draft and provided online peer feedback. ●● task 6 each student reflected upon how it will be used to improve their draft 16 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 table 5 analysis of discussion board and online interaction continuum online discussion board learner– content learner– teacher learner– learner portfolio: • task 1 – essay draft x x x • task 2 online referencing quiz x -- • task 3 – plagiarism reflection --x • task 4 – journal article review x -- • task 5 – peer feedback x x x • task 6 – reflection on peer -x - • task 7 – time management simulation x -x figure 3 below shows the structure of one tutorial’s discussion boards with approximate 45-50 students. instead of passing around hard copies of student drafts during f2f seminars in order to complete tasks 1, 5 and 6, the online discussion board provided an efficient delivery mechanism in which students could interact with each other. with one centralized area, the tutor was also able to review all drafts and then post messages summarizing or highlighting good areas of practice in which all students can benefit. figure 3 case 3: design of online discussion board activities/tasks 17 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 18 results and discussion the integration of technology tools (i.e., discussion boards, private journals) has introduced new methods of teaching and opportunities for learning. it has also highlighted online communication and interaction challenges which need further investigation. quantitative data was downloaded from the vle to analyse discussion board usage in case 1, qualitative data was summarized from student feedback in case 2 and both quantitative data/qualitative in case 3 highlights the use of peer feedback. case 1 prior to the integration of online discussion boards, many ppd1 tutors commented that students arrived unprepared for tutorials having not engaged with course materials independently or were passively involved during tutorials. table 6 below provides triangulation of student f2f vs virtual participation data from 2010-2011. over the past 3 years, there had been a steady increase in both f2f attendance and online engagement with ppd1 tutors; however, it is evident that some students still make little or no use of the discussion boards to engage with their ppd1 tutors. table 6. vle (webct) user statistics 2010-2011 tutorial # of students average f2f attendance % average virtual attendance % combined f2f+virtual attendance % a 14 76 61 69 b 17 74 66 70 c 13 58 58 58 d 19 70 37 53 e 14 82 50 66 f 13 79 49 64 g 13 62 14 38 h 13 60 46 53 total 120 70 48 59 18 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 table 7 below provides 2011-2012 data from the new vle (moodle). although there was an increase in tutorials (along with fewer students), one tutorial had significantly less f2f and virtual attendance. again, several tutorials contained students who made little or no use of the discussion boards. table 7 vle (moodle) user statistics 2011-2012 tutorial # of students average f2f attendance % average virtual attendance % combined f2f+virtual attendance % a 12 78 43 62 b 12 78 45 61 c 14 68 68 68 d 10 68 33 49 e 9 74 28 51 f 8 52 47 49 g 12 37 42 39 h 12 54 35 45 i 10 80 55 67 j 15 64 41 53 total 114 58 43 49 this reversal in both f2f and virtual attendance could result from several factors: ●● positioning of discussion board areas in moodle’s weekly content design; instead of one centralized area containing all discussion boards (as with webct) ●● limited demonstration of moodle’s features by ppd1 tutors during tutorial time ●● limited discussion of online activities during 1on1 sessions with students ●● limited personal tutor training of new ppd1 tutors. however, the data will be used for reflection during team meetings and to pinpoint areas of staff development needed to ensure that ppd1 tutors are aware of their role in engaging students – both f2f and online – as the discussion board activities were designed not to be time-consuming, but as a helpful resource to support their students with fulfilling coursework. 19 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 20 case 2 since tis meets bi-weekly, students are expected to progressively develop their essays; however, many wait until the week before submission to begin writing their essays. however, by providing ongoing feedback during the development of their essays, nicol and macfarlane-dick (2006) argue that this type of empowerment of students will give them practice in managing and evaluating aspects of their own learning. as shown previously in table 2, students were not required to participate in the private online discussion boards (i.e, private journals) and at first, very few students took advantage of this tool. however, it was noticed that students, who were initially reluctant to engage with their tutors online about their essays, gained more confidence with using the private discussion board as a means of obtaining feedback for their work-in-progress after listening to the positive experiences and feedback tips provided to other students during the f2f tutorial. since tutorials met bi-weekly, the online private discussions extended opportunities to review and offer suggestions about mind maps, outlines and journal article database searches. this allowed more productive use of f2f instructional time to be spent on specific problems, which are also shared and reflected upon with their peers. several students commented in their reflective reports about how helpful the online communication enabled them to progress with their coursework throughout both terms: ●● “the tutorial was another important place of learning as students were well delighted in sharing views regarding any essay topic of their interest and feedback was given immediately.” ●● “i found the discussion board to be another useful process as it has proven beneficial to me when i am in need of help during struggling times. i used it to contact my tutor, seeking help and she responded promptly with clear advice and direction which helped me a great detail.” students, who did not post any messages throughout the terms, reflected that they realized they should have taken advantage of the discussion boards to ask questions, share draft ideas or concerns as they felt it would have resulted in better marks on their essays: ●● “i should have been more willing to discuss my topic with my tutor on the discussion board as it could have prevented my first essay from suffering.” ●● “i could have done with a bit more advice and help from my tutor.” overall, for several tis tutorials, the availability of the online personal journal engaged students in brainstorming, outlining and drafting their essays much earlier in the process – knowing that ongoing feedback would be provided to guide their work. also, student feedback specifically indicated a preference for private communication during the early stages of their budding research ideas. then, after online reflection and discussion with their tutor in which students examined their work and determined which areas of their draft work needed improvement, they felt more confident and comfortable with sharing select aspects of their draft work with peers in the f2f tutorials. (note: unfortunately, at the time of publication, the basic installation of the university of greenwich’s new vle (moodle) does not provide automatically-configured private discussion boards, blogs, journals, or wikis. however, requests have been made to the moodle implementation team so that the free open source plug-in developed by the open university can be incorporated into moodle’s current functionality). 20 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 case studies case 3 for the fsrm portfolio tasks, the use of the online discussion boards for the peer review process provided an efficient organizational method of providing multiple instances of the “same task” to allow for reflection and evaluation among students. the peer review process also empowered students to practice managing and evaluating not only their work but the work of others. as nicol and macfarlane-dick (2006) also suggest, this type of redesign creates more student interaction with the assessment criteria before the task is actually submitted. this was seen as students read as many drafts as they liked, instead of just the one draft they selected to provide feedback. in figure 4, a snapshot of engagement patterns showed that students read numerous drafts and comments posted by other classmates beyond the minimum requirement (see column “total messages read”) but did not necessarily respond. this is known as “lurking” – a virtual interaction that would be hard to replicate in a traditional f2f environment. figure 4 vle (webct) user statistics 2008-2009 (messages–read, posted, replied) overall, feedback from mba graduate students indicated that they had more flexibility and convenience completing the task online, felt comfortable with the online peer dialogues, expressed gratitude for the amount of feedback, and most importantly, would like to have peer feedback opportunities for coursework throughout their mba programme. these results will be shared with the mba programme leader and teaching team, as knight and steinbach (2011) note that few courses in which writing is not the primary activity being reviewed, peer review is seldom used. this case demonstrated that technology can help increase student engagement with coursework with little instructor involvement in managing the entire process. 21 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 conclusion this case study has explored the learner–content, learner–teacher and learner–learner interaction continuum within three courses to analyse and reflect upon the level of interaction occurring (depending on the course’s goals/objectives), as well as to explore the types of learning activities and feedback opportunities that can be linked with online discussions. the interaction continuum was used as a starting point to analyse potential formative online activities and tasks to support students as they progress with their coursework. as course leader for all three courses, as well as one of the business school’s learning technologists, it was important to be cognizant of incorporating too much online interaction for ppd1 tutors who were not comfortable or familiar with using the tools. therefore, the tutors had the flexibility of responding to students online or simply using the discussion board as a submission area for formative tasks to be reviewed during 1on1 meetings with students. the entire team of tis tutors had the option of incorporating discussion boards but felt more comfortable offering feedback in person but began to realize the potential of the discussion board for future use. as the only tutor for fsrm, other mba tutors have begun asking about the use of peer feedback in their courses as a developmental tool. past research in cmc has shown that online discussions will not automatically engage students and improve interaction without careful course and discussion design. however it is important to note that while active participation in online discussions may be influential for some students’ learning, it may be difficult for other students due to a variety of reasons cultural, educational, language and social background (gulati, 2004). as seen in case 1, this is an area of further investigation of and reflection among the ppd1 course leader and tutors. some suggestions for integrating the use of discussion boards, blogs, or wikis, while avoiding a significant amount of time managing online activity: ●● keep it simple – think about one specific course objective and how students might benefit from formative online feedback. ●● set realistic expectations about when/what you will be able to read and how many postings you will respond to each week. be sure to inform students. ●● set specific deadlines for posting drafts if students would like formative feedback. remind students that no feedback will be given within a certain time period before the final submission. ●● refer to virtual discussions in class, as students appreciate that someone has read and responded to their ideas. use these postings as “teachable moments” if student permission has been granted ahead of time. ●● regularly browse the discussion boards 2-3 times each week depending on the task students are completing. this will spread out time spent online into manageable segments. inform students if you did (or didn’t) see any postings. it is quite possible that you will notice: ●● decreased amount of time spent on marking final submissions since formative feedback has guided students with clear targets for improvement and specific next steps. ●● better tracking of previous feedback to students when using private online journals as a centralized area for communicating with students. 22 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 ●● higher levels of engagement from students during f2f tutorials as background work or developmental activities have been completed. as a result of this three year preliminary evaluation, it has provided a broader basis to understand how students can take more interest and ownership in their learning by increasing online engagement opportunities with their coursework. the preliminary findings reinforce the concept that common vle tools (e.g., discussion boards, private journals), combined with re-conceptualized flexible learning experiences, provide additional opportunities for students to contact tutors personally, discuss real-life content-related tasks asynchronously with their peers and/or tutors, and learn from their reflective experiences in online private journals or public discussion boards. table 8 highlights of the re-design journey and shows the progression of interactivity design: table 8. evolution of course redesign case 1 undergraduate 1st year personal and professional development case 2 undergraduate final year thematic independent studies case 1 mba foundations of scholarship and research methods 2007 f2f • document repository • coursework submission • generic q&a forums f2f • document repository • coursework submission • generic q&a forums f2f • document repository • coursework submission • generic q&a forums 2008 f2f • document repository • coursework submission • variety of online activities and resources blended • document repository • coursework submission • use of public/private discussion boards • additional links and resources f2f and online • document repository • coursework submission • similar interactive activities • additional links and resources 2009 blended • document repository • coursework submission • variety of online activities and resources • discussion board activities = part of attendance mark blended and online • document repository • coursework submission • use of public/private discussion boards with interactive tasks • audio podcasts • links and resources blended and online • document repository • coursework submission • incorporation of best online interactivity into f2f course • links and resources 2010 blended • document repository • coursework submission • variety of online activities and resources • discussion board activities = part of attendance mark • student vodcasts (video) blended • document repository • coursework submission, use of public/private discussion boards with interactive tasks • incorporated lecture capture system • student vodcasts (video) blended and online • document repository • coursework submission • incorporation of best online interactivity into f2f course • links and resources incorporated lecture capture system • student vodcasts (video) 23 references casey, j. & wilson, p. (2005). a practical guide to providing flexible learning in further and higher education. quality assurance agency for higher education scotland, glasgow. [online]. available at: http// www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/documents/flexibledelivery/fd_flexible_learning_jcaseyfinalweb.pdf. [accessed 15 november 2010]. gulati, s. (2004, april). constructivism and emerging online learning pedagogy: a discussion for formal to acknowledge and promote the informal. paper presented at the annual conference of the universities association for continuing education regional futures: formal and informal learning perspectives, centre for lifelong learning, university of glamorgan, 5–7 april, 2004. jisc (2004). effective practice with e-learning. hefce: london. jung, i., choi, s., lim, c., and leem, j. (2002). effects of different types of interaction on learning achievement, satisfaction and participation in web-based instruction, innovations in education and teaching international, 39, 2 pp. 153-162. knight, l. and steinbach, t. (2011). adapting peer review to an online course: an exploratory case study, journal of information technology education, 10, pp 1-20 moore, m. g. (1993). three types of interaction. in harry, k., john, m. and keegan, d. (eds) distance education: new perspectives. routledge: london. moore, m. g. and kearsley, g. (1996). distance education. wadsworth publishing company: belmont. nicol, d. & macfarlane-dick, d. (2006). formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice. studies in higher education, 31, 2 pp.199-218. nicol, d. j. & milligan, c. (2006). rethinking technology-supported assessment in terms of the seven principles of good feedback practice. in c. bryan and k. clegg (eds), innovative assessment in higher education. taylor and francis group ltd: london. west, r. e., waddoups, g., & graham, c. r. (2007). understanding the experiences of instructors as they adopt a course management system. educational technology research and development, 55, 1, 1-26. author biography nola stair is a principal lecturer in international collaborations and learning technology in the business school’s department of systems management & strategy. she has published in the areas of e-learning/ instructional design technology and presented at various international conferences. 24 http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/documents/flexibledelivery/fd_flexible_learning_jcaseyfinalweb.pdf enhancing online interactivity nola stair course design approach case 1 case 2 case 3 results and discussion case 1 case 2 case studies conclusion references author biography articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 117 key factors for designing and delivering an effective asynchronous professional learning experience ana cabral and stephanie fuller queen mary academy, queen mary university of london, uk abstract in this paper, we explore the key factors for designing and delivering an effective asynchronous professional learning experience. this research study was developed with 107 participants in a module of a postgraduate certificate in academic practice (pgcap) a qualification which is offered to new academics at a united kingdom (uk) russell group university, in line with practice at many other uk higher education institutions (heis). the module design was led by a range of factors which the relevant literature deems important for ensuring successful asynchronous online learning design. a questionnaire was created to measure participants’ overall perceptions regarding efficiency (learning context, facilitation, tutor feedback, peer feedback) and gains (presence, participation, persistence, connectedness, sense of community, learning experience). participants were also invited to refer to the extent to which peer collaboration contributed to learning, to how far they felt part of a community on the module and to whether the asynchronous learning approach facilitated learning. our results both confirmed and contradicted the positive findings of the literature: respectively, our participants did indeed find that many of the asynchronous design factors led, for them, to successful learning; they also identified some of the factors (e.g., peer feedback) as more challenging. we discuss the results of our study in terms of the effectiveness of this range of factors, considering the specific context of our module; we raise relevant questions about the issues and dilemmas involved in designing and delivering asynchronous learning courses when participants have a dual role as both learners and teachers. keywords: asynchronous, professional learning, course design, student experience articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 118 1. introduction this paper focuses on asynchronous professional learning within a qualification, the postgraduate certificate in academic practice (pgcap), which is offered to new academics at a united kingdom (uk) russell group university, in line with practice at many other uk higher education institutions (heis). the pgcap is offered to new academic staff who may have limited experience of teaching and supporting learning or for whom the programme may be a condition of probation. it is also open to any other staff who teach at the level of module convener and are engaged in curriculum design. the programme comprises four fifteen-credit modules (level 7) which participants take over the course of two years. this research study was developed with participants from the final module of the pgcap programme: action (practitioner) research (fifteen credits). this module gives participants the chance to explore ways in which they can use action research to investigate an aspect of their practice. participants choose a topic and design an action research proposal. the module has been designed to be taught asynchronously because we wanted to introduce participants to this type of delivery and because it is appropriate to the module content. the module was introduced in january 2020 and, at the time of the designing of the module in 2019, the motivation was to introduce participants to a type of delivery that they might not be familiar with and that we thought had very interesting potential for the future. since then, the asynchronous delivery mode has become even more pertinent, following the changes in ways of working brought about by the covid-19 pandemic. in this article, we first present a literature review exploring the most vital factors for successful asynchronous teaching and learning and then offer the results of our study, together with our discussion of the effectiveness of these approaches. 2. literature review 2.1 professional learning in asynchronous contexts during the last ten years, the context of postgraduate teaching development programmes (ptdps) has been the subject of research into the motivations and experiences of participants, gains at personal level and impact in terms of the quality of teaching and enhancement of the students’ learning experience. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 119 baughan, lindsay and parker (2015) identified common themes and missing pieces in terms of evaluating the educational value of ptdps and concluded that this type of programme tends to offer genuine educational value. chalmers and gardiner (2015) confirmed the broad consensus that these programmes have a positive impact on both teachers and students and created the ‘academic professional development effectiveness framework’ to investigate the extent and longevity of their effects on the teachers and the teaching and learning culture of the institutions. since then, many studies have addressed this topic and some have concentrated specifically on participants. daumiller et al. (2021) focused on academics’ motivations and their effect in terms of their own learning engagement and learning gains. self-efficacy beliefs and conceptions about teaching methodology have been explored by noben et al. (2021), who concluded that participants tend to move from a teacher-centred to a more student-centred conception. fabriz et al. (2021) reported an identifiable change in participants’ self-conception and subjective knowledge about teaching and learning. more recently, muammar and alkathiri (2022) identified seven factors that may have an influence on the satisfaction of faculty who attend higher education (he) professional development programmes in teaching: achievement of the programme objectives, appropriateness of the programme topics, appropriateness of the programme activities, duration of the programme, academic developers’ teaching skills, appropriateness of the programme objectives and academic developers’ skills in discussion management. the specific context of professional learning in online asynchronous settings is underpinned not only by pedagogy, reflection and agency, but also by technology (timperley et al., 2007; moon, 1999). it has enormous potential for meaningful professional development because technologies can bring together motivated and experienced academics and provide opportunities for collaborative learning, reflection, peer feedback and development of communities. in our study, adopting this asynchronous delivery mode has provided academics from different fields with the opportunity to learn together online, share practices, address concerns and develop research strategies, all in order to improve their performance through reflection and feedback from tutors and peers. this asynchronous approach was new to many. the main challenge was posed by the fact that participants did not have to be together in the same room at the same time and could reflect on the materials and post their work on their own schedule, regardless of when their tutor and peers shared theirs. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 120 below, we discuss literature relating to the key factors that we identified as relevant to successful asynchronous professional learning and how these elements were deployed in the development and delivery of our module. 2.2 learning context, presence and facilitation in the context of our programme, we have promoted the development of structured interactive asynchronous learning, during which participants are required not just to access course materials, but also to respond to other participants. this type of learning context, combined with an online platform, is seen to nurture communities, where social dynamics, interaction and collaboration support joint knowledge construction and where inquiry occurs through intellectual academic interaction (garrison, anderson and archer, 2009). interactive asynchronous professional development is defined by means et al. (2010) as an online activity with a time lag between the presentation of instructional stimuli and participant responses involving interaction between participants, between facilitator and participants and between participants and course content. this approach has been regarded as leading to deeper levels of engagement than face-to-face or online synchronous learning (northey, bucic, chylinski and govind, 2015). according to garrison, anderson and archer (2000), the most meaningful online educational experiences take place through interactions among members of a community of inquiry comprising tutors and participants. this assumption led to the design of their ‘community of inquiry’ (coi) framework that has contributed to the definition of approaches that support learning in an online setting. the coi framework identifies three forms of ‘presence’ which are underpinned by the notions of building relationships and scaffolding learning, which together create a meaningful, collaborative and constructivist discourse necessary for high-level learning (akyol and garrison, 2011; garrison and arbaugh, 2007). these are: social presence (sp), characterised by a supportive collegial online environment; teaching presence (tp), defined by instructional organisation appropriate to the online environments; and cognitive presence (cp), which is the degree to which learners can construct knowledge through critical thinking and reflection. according to garrison (2006, p.26) it “is at the intersection of these three elements that a community of inquiry is created and a collaborative constructivist learning experience is achieved”. research has indicated that the coi framework is valid for analysing the different elements of an online course (arbaugh et al. 2008) and some studies also link the framework with student outcomes and/or satisfaction (akyol and garrison, op.cit.; shea, 2006; shea, li and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 121 pickett, 2006). however, there is a strong emphasis on the social presence within the framework and other studies have stressed the importance of individuals’ attributes and their experience of teaching processes to foster learning (annand, 2011). researchers have also contended that the role of individual reflection and engagement by participants is more influential in achieving deep and meaningful learning (rourke and kanuka, 2009) or higher levels of learning (means et al., 2010). peacock and cowan (2016) have pointed out that the contributions to the coi literature do not discuss in detail how the presences function in unison (and with what impact) and have presented an adapted version of the coi framework which was later used to frame specific suggestions for action in accredited courses (peacock and cowan, 2019). this revision of the well-known framework focuses on the overlapping intersections of the three presences, which are also known as ‘influences’: trusting, meaning-making and deepening understandings. according to the authors, “each influence in learner-directed learning depends significantly on the exercise of the tutor’s facilitative role; and each contributes to the development of sense of belonging” (op.cit., p.71). figure 1. community of inquiry model indicating presences and influences (adapted from peacock and cowan, 2016, p.272) the three presences, and particularly the three influences, are relevant in the context of our module because they highlight the professional learning dimensions we intend to develop. as a coi about practice, our participants are invited not only to learn about using action research as a tool for investigating their practice but also to experience a different mode of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 122 teaching and learning. at the same time, they are invited to reflect on their experience as tutors when adopting an asynchronous mode of delivery for their own teaching. this dimension was particularly relevant to our participants in this study, who had to move teaching online owing to covid restrictions. 2.3 tutor feedback and peer feedback we designed our module to include various activities, such as the opportunity to interact with peers on weekly forums about each of the steps of the proposal (weeks 1-5) and, later, to work with a ‘critical friend’ to provide and receive peer feedback on the proposal (weeks 611). the provision of feedback (both by tutors and peers) is deeply connected to all the areas of presence (and influence). in our study, discussions played a key role and provided a venue for participants to communicate openly and build shared understanding; and for instructors to facilitate the process skilfully. denoyelles, zydney and chen (2014, pp.161-162) argued that educators need to encourage productive, efficient and meaningful discussions that integrate all three presences (garrison, anderson and archer, 2000) and proposed a set of strategies to guide teachers as they design and facilitate online discussions in order to build and support an online community: modelling social presence; using social cues (being more personal or maintaining social norms); selecting discussion prompts that encourage structured interaction and critical thinking while also supporting the specific learning objectives; providing prompt but modest feedback (not only offering expert observation but also encouraging students to take ownership of the discussion, by which student-to-student social interactions may flourish); facilitating purposefully (questioning and assuming a challenging stance to stimulate critical thinking and basing the facilitation on the purpose of the discussion); providing feedback through multimedia – using richer forms of media besides traditional text (for example: audio and video), in order to enhance multiple presences (ice et al., 2019) – and encouraging peers to facilitate (so stimulating discussion among the group and freeing up the instructor to focus on sharing expert knowledge). in our module, digital discussion boards (‘forums’) are particularly relevant. in an online course, these collaborative tools may enhance student learning because they stimulate development of higher-order cognitive processing and critical-thinking skills. in asynchronous contexts, text-based discussion boards may hold the added advantage of a time-lag between postings, with potential for greater reflection and enriched discussion, as is much less likely in face-to-face settings. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 123 clarke and bartholomew (2014) created an analytical tool (based on the coi framework) to categorise the types of comments made by instructors and identified more complex profiles of instructor interaction; these can help us to understand what instructors say in discussions and to investigate the relationships between comments and student participation. the authors raise relevant questions about instructors’ falling short on cognitive comments (especially challenging, probing, and elaborating) and argue for the use of tools (such as the coi) to help investigate how instructors are negotiating the balance between providing encouragement and probing to levels of deeper learning – both in theory and in practice. as instructors, we have tried to address this need by adding questions to our feedback comments, so as to probe deeper learning and stimulate critical awareness. according to bliss and lawrence (2019), instructors ought to support cognition through peer dialogue and increased learner-content interactions, while also building social presence and encouraging learner-learner interactions in order to enhance the learning experience. we sought to draw on these strategies in facilitating our asynchronous course and to remain aware of the importance of facilitation in an effective learning experience (muammar and alkathiri, 2022). in our module, discussion boards constitute the main context for peer feedback opportunity: participants are invited to act as critical friends and offer supportive observations – in relation to the assessment criteria – about their peers’ action research projects, thus helping to promote reflection, deeper learning, and the development of critical thinking skills (boud, 2001; nicol, thomson and breslin, 2014; sadler, 2010). as a result of this intervention, we have noted improvement in time spent on task, enhanced engagement with the course content, as well as faster responses and more personal responses in the forums. furthermore, this sharing of responsibilities helps to compensate for the fact that the instructor cannot reach everyone at once. participants may, by such activity, develop a greater sense of accountability, autonomy and self-regulation, which in turn can enhance participation and engagement and increase social presence (ertmer et al., 2007; liu and carless, 2006; mcconlogue, 2015). finally, in the context of professional development, participants can share their professional experiences and learn from each other in a collegial way. the role of the tutor is paramount as a catalyst and moderator and trust amongst peers plays a significant role in promoting opportunities for effective peer feedback (lynch, mcnamara and seery, 2012; topping et al., 2000). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 124 2.4 participation and persistence we have discussed above the dimensions of presence which relate to the coi framework and their relevance in establishing an effective professional learning context. however, participant presence is also a vital element of a successful asynchronous professional learning experience in relation to the levels of participation and persistence of course participants. while the factors discussed above are predominantly external to participants, there are also important internal factors which govern the success of the learning experience. these are, of course, much more difficult to influence through curriculum design and teaching strategy, but having – and making explicit to participants – an awareness of the issues can be a useful approach. differences in engagement of participants has been noted as a key challenge in professional education (miers et al., 2007). waterston (2011) investigated how diverse levels of participation in an asynchronous online professional course affected those involved, finding that those who took a greater part in online forums had a more positive attitude to collaboration before the start of the course. greater engagement during online discussion also led to more involvement and interaction with course tutors (evans et al., 2014; waterston, 2011). studies looking at he more broadly have also demonstrated a positive relationship between participation levels and student achievement in asynchronous courses (song and mcnary, 2011; zhu, 2006). the measure of participation in these studies is often the number of forum posts made, the number of logins or the number of posts read. however, other studies have found no such relationship (song and mcnary, op.cit.; picciano, 2002). kent et al. (2016, p.118) argue that differences in ‘instructional and pedagogical designs’ and moderators’ approaches may be the explanation. in our study, it is relevant to acknowledge the fact that participants are familiar with the virtual learning environment we use (moodle) because they use it for their own teaching and learning activities. this debate within the literature highlights the close interconnection of the different factors at play in the effectiveness of asynchronous learning experiences. however, it is clear that course participants’ levels of participation and presence in the online environment, influenced by their pre-existing personal attitudes towards online collaboration, also have a bearing on the learning experience. for the purposes of this study, we will focus on participants’ perceptions of how much they gained from taking part in the various course activities and how important they found this participation. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 125 level of participation is also closely related to the issue of persistence. carr (2000) found that levels of persistence are much lower across he distance-learning courses compared to faceto-face provision, with between ten and twenty per cent higher dropout rates. rovai (2002a) argues that building a strong sense of community in distance learning is a key means of addressing the lower levels of persistence, but also of enhancing commitment, cooperation and collaboration (op.cit., pp.320-321). these findings for distance-learning education are relevant here as the asynchronous teaching and learning course under review takes place online and with participants at a distance. 2.5 connectedness, sense of community and learning experience the notions of connectedness and sense of community are also crucial considerations within the context of asynchronous learning. they imply the existence of a group with common interests or goals underpinned by feelings of belonging, duty and shared learning experience. in the context of professional learning, the phrase ‘community of practice’ (as defined by lave and wenger, 1991) has come to represent the notion that the collective subject becomes the source of agency and knowledge and that the process of learning is therefore at once social and cognitive. lave and wenger postulate a close relationship between knowledge, the technology of practice and the culture of that practice. as they say: ‘a community of practice is an intrinsic condition for the existence of knowledge, not least because it provides the interpretive support necessary for making sense of its heritage’ (lave and wenger, op.cit., p.98). in the case of an asynchronous learning experience, a group shares knowledge and inquiry in order to pursue cognitive and practical interests. as pointed out by rovai (2002a), community is what people do together and share, but not how or where they do it, so emphasising the role of mutual interactions and collective behaviour directed toward a common goal, i.e., a shared learning experience (dale, 2017). establishing mutually reinforcing relationships is essential to cultivating participants’ sense of community. moore and kearsley (1996) argue that the quality of interactions among participants and the instructor relates less to geographical separation and more to the degree of flexibility in the structure of a course, the degree of dialogue and interactions that take place within it (participant to participant, participant to content, and participant to tutor), and the degree of learner autonomy. similarly, the coi framework discussed above views the learning experience as arising from the interaction of the three presences (swan, garrison and richardson, 2009) with the interactions between all actors playing an essential role articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 126 throughout the entire process. however, fuller (2022), who studied the same context in which our study took place, argued that the sense of community can be established more successfully within synchronous delivery modules with webinars than in asynchronous modules. by being part of a supportive community, participants can engage in dialogue and reflection and develop their sense of connectedness. learning communities enable knowledge to be co-constructed rather than merely acquired (shea, 2006; shea, li and pickett, 2006). in an effective learning community, participants: take responsibility for not only their own learning but also that of their peers; nurture and trust one another; and experience a more active learning experience (rovai, 2002b). moreover, the development of this sense of community is proven to benefit perceived learning, course satisfaction, engagement and persistence (rovai, 2002a). as will be discussed below, these key themes and literature have informed both the design and delivery of our module and the data collection tool we developed for this study. 3. methodology this study intends to answer the following research question: does an asynchronous teaching and learning approach facilitate effective professional learning? our study deployed an online questionnaire administered through the microsoft forms platform to ensure the security and anonymity of data (no identifying information was collected). we used a mixedmethods approach with both quantitative (questionnaire with answers using likert scales of efficiency and gain) and qualitative data (open-ended questions about personal experiences and perceptions). we followed a convergent parallel approach (creswell, 2014), which proved to be beneficial, considering the limited time available for data collection and the fact that both quantitative and qualitative data are valuable in understanding the issue. data were collected at the same time, analysed separately and then compared in the analysis and interpretation of results. the questionnaire measured participants’ overall perceptions regarding: efficiency: • learning context • facilitation • tutor feedback • peer feedback gains: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 127 • presence • participation • persistence • connectedness • sense of community • learning experience. the design of our questionnaire was inspired by the factors identified in the literature review above, as well as the model for creating quality online learning environments developed by shea et al. (2005a). when designing the sections about learning context and learning experience, we considered the learner roles, knowledge-building, assessment, community and the various forms of ‘presence.’ the sections of our questionnaire in which we articulated the concepts of presence, participation, persistence, connectedness and sense of community were designed with the factors that influenced the development of a sense of community among distance learners identified by rovai (2000). in our case, the factors involving student-instructor ratio, social presence and instructor immediacy, collaborative learning, group facilitation and self-directed learning were particularly relevant. drawing on the subsequent body of research and scales designed by rovai (2002, a,b,c) we also identified a set of items that could help us explore the role of perceived cognitive learning, connectedness and persistence. in terms of teaching presence, the design of the ‘facilitation’ section of our questionnaire considered the six indicators identified by garrison and anderson (2003) as well as the items from the ‘teaching presence scale’ developed by shea, li and pickett (2006). the use of five-point likert scales facilitated participants’ reflection in terms of efficiency and gain and allowed the identification of mean values and the comparison of perceptions. participants were also invited to answer three open-text questions about the extent to which (1) peer collaboration and learning contributed to learning, (2) they felt part of a community and (3) the asynchronous learning approach facilitated learning. approval was obtained from the institutional research ethics committee to conduct the study and informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 128 3.1 participants the study was open to all 107 academics who participated in the programme (january 2020 january 2021 – three cohorts), thus representing the target population. this was a convenience sample based on the lists of participants available. the invitation to participate was sent by email and an information sheet was attached. the email to faculty introduced the research topic and provided information about the purpose and significance of the study. the link to the online survey and open-ended questions was contained in the email. submission of responses indicated consent to participate. a total of thirty-five academics (32.7%) returned the questionnaires, of which 74% were from qmul, 20% from other heis or the nhs (6%).1 the majority of the respondents were from the faculty of science and engineering (43%) and had between two and five years of experience teaching in he (51%). 3.2 data analysis in line with mixed-methods convergent parallel research design, statistical analysis of quantitative data was performed separately from qualitative thematic content analysis. the quantitative data was analysed using spss through descriptive statistical analyses. the open-text responses were analysed, with the themes emerging and identified in the first instance by each member of the team and then compared, discussed and refined by the research team. this iterative process allowed the identification of themes to address the issues embedded in the research question (lincoln and guba, 1985, corbin and strauss, 2008, creswell, 2012). the themes that emerged from coded data were used to create this case study. 1course participants include clinicians who are employed by the national health service but who teach on medical or dental degree courses. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 129 institution qmul 26 (74%) other external institution – 7 (20%) nhs – 2 (6%) disciplinary area science and engineering – 15 (43%) medicine and dentistry – 13 (37%) humanities & social sciences – 7 (20%) years of experience (teaching in he) less than 2 years – 6 (17%) 2-5 years – 18 (51%) 6-10 years – 6 (17%) 11-20 years – 5 (14%) figure 2. breakdown of respondents’ institution, disciplinary areas and years’ experience of teaching in he. 4. results and discussion following the separate analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from our questionnaire, results were then merged, but respecting both analyses and the categories and themes identified. average responses to the likert scale questions were calculated (n= 35). figure 3 shows the order of highest to lowest score on the likert scale of 1-5 (strongly disagree / disagree / neutral / agree / strongly agree) of the key factors in effective online learning which we are considering. results indicated that the most successful elements of participants’ experience were tutor feedback (4.65), learning context (4.32) and sense of community (4.28). the most challenging aspects for our respondents were facilitation (3.98), peer feedback (3.94) and connectedness (3.90). relevant areas mean values tutor feedback (tutor’s comments in forums and assignments): immediacy and timeliness of the feedback, feedback received (clear and constructive comments) and feedforward received (clear guidance on how to use the feedback provided) 4.65 learning context: materials and resources; announcements and check-in communications; activities, group size; student-instructor ratio 4.32 sense of community: learning collaboratively; sharing common interests and values; receiving peer feedback and providing peer feedback 4.28 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 130 presence, participation and persistence: participating in course activities; participating in forums; replying to posts; keeping up-to-date and meeting deadlines 4.26 learning experience: developing your sense of purpose in order to meet your needs; enhancing self-directed learning; promoting knowledge-building and creating opportunities to apply learning in practice 4.21 facilitation: defining the tasks or activities; setting deadlines; encouraging, acknowledging, or reinforcing student contributions; setting climate for learning; drawing in participants and prompting discussion; seeking to reach consensus or understanding and assessing the efficacy of the process 3.98 peer feedback: feedback received from other participants 3.94 connectedness: trusting the group; depending on the group; feeling confident; receiving support; providing support 3.90 figure 3. mean values for the factors considered to evaluate the experience of participants. 4.1 tutor feedback (and facilitation) feedback from the tutor was regarded as the most successful aspect of the course and, when referring to the role of the tutor, participants mentioned that tutors were “always timely with feedback, positive and constructive” and “the feedback provided by the tutor was very helpful.” these findings should be regarded as particularly relevant if we revisit the work of peacock and cowan (2019), who stressed the need to promote collegially supportive and facilitative tutor-learner relationships. in some cases, however, the predominance of the role of the tutor was mentioned, with many participants relying on these interactions (“most of interaction, however, was between tutor-student”) and not so much on the peer feedback opportunities. this may be explained by the fact that the ‘official’ peer collaboration activities were completed only in weeks 6 to 11 and until then most of the interaction was conducted in the forum, with weekly replies from the tutor to the posts. in this earlier phase, peer collaboration was encouraged but was not a formal course activity. in terms of facilitation, one important point to consider was the time involved in creating, engaging, monitoring and providing individual tutor feedback on a weekly basis, especially for a larger group. designing and maintaining ‘teaching presence’ (garrison, 2006) and structuring and leading all the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 131 activities in a constructive, collaborative and sustained manner involves what garrison, anderson and archer (2000, p.5) called an effort to achieve the “purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes”. in this context, it is relevant to see that ‘facilitation’ represented one of the most challenging elements. this element is deeply connected to the asynchronous mode of delivery. the approach to facilitation is particularly different from synchronous contexts and participants seem to appreciate the opportunity to interact directly with the tutor. in our case, emails were used to respond to queries, answer any questions about the activities or simply to catch up on participants’ progress. however, we feel that much more can be done in this context and have identified this as an area for improvement. as peacock and cowan (2019, p.78) say, in their recommendations for action in accredited courses (based on the revision of the original coi framework), in order to promote trusting, meaning-making and deepening understandings (referred to as influences), “tutors should converse enthusiastically with learners, as with individuals, about what they are doing, and in doing so, they will emerge as people with whom learners can identify and trust and in whose programs they can feel a powerful sense of belonging”. moreover, as found by muammar and alkathiri (2022), tutors’ skills in discussion management is seen as one of greatest influences on the satisfaction of faculty members who attend he professional development programmes in teaching. when referring to the links between asynchronous delivery and their learning, some respondents suggested “introducing perhaps one or two synchronous learning activities to promote a stronger sense of community.” peer feedback was also seen by participants as one of the more challenging elements of the course and, when reflecting on the connections between peer feedback, collaboration and learning, many participants mentioned that they relied on relationships they had already developed with peers in previous modules or from the same faculty. overall, participants appreciated the contribution of peer collaboration in their own learning, finding it “provided useful guidance to improve [my] teaching practice and plans.” others mentioned that they “really liked commenting on other people's work and getting feedback from peers on [mine].” these opportunities to interact with their peers and share views and concerns with their critical friend were regarded as a very positive feature of the module: “really liked the use of having a ‘buddy’. using the forums to read about how my colleagues were approaching their ar project was very useful. also liked when we had to comment on another colleague's work who wasn't our critical friend.’ some participants found these opportunities for peer collaboration led to “deeper learning” and allowed them to “develop articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 132 higher-level of thinking, oral communication, self-management, leadership skills and increased [-] responsibility.” these reflections align with findings in the literature relating to the use of peer feedback and promotion of reflection, critical thinking and deep learning (boud, 2001; nicol, thomson and breslin, 2014; sadler, 2010) significant impacts in terms of engagement were also mentioned (“it did help me engage with some assignments better”) and one participant even came up with the notion of “re-enforcement” (“having to explain to someone else's your view point or a concept re-enforced the concept. made the process more fun too. the learning wasn't dry as a result, but anchored in day-to-day activities”). again, this is in line with existing literature which found a connection between peer feedback and engagement, including such connection within a professional learning context (ertmer et al., 2007; liu and carless, 2006; mcconlogue, 2015). in some cases, however, participants did not find peer collaboration to be useful because they were able to complete assignments independently; their topic was distinct from many of the key themes their peers were worked on and the comments they received were, for the most part, general. when providing peer feedback, participants mentioned that pressure and the lack of discussion and reflection did not make their contributions particularly useful to their peers. it is these aspects of peer feedback and collaboration which seem to have resulted in the lower overall rating for this area. this more challenging dimension of peer feedback is less explored within existing literature but, in our case, these reflections can be interpreted as evidence of the gains associated with participating and engaging in the programme. indeed, studies exploring the effectiveness of this type of programme have pointed out gains in terms of the development not only of self-efficacy beliefs (daumiller et al., 2021) but also of self-concept and subjective knowledge about teaching and learning (fabriz et al., 2021). 4.2 learning context: adopting an asynchronous approach the learning context was regarded as the second most successful element in terms of the participants’ experience. when asked about the impacts of studying asynchronously, respondents noted that the flexibility offered by this mode of delivery was a facilitator of learning. our participants are busy professionals, and the asynchronous delivery meant they could complete the tasks at their own pace or when they had more time. one participant even reported having used this experience in this module in personal teaching practice: “the asynchronous learning approach set up by this module is a role model for my teaching practice in the year 2020-2021. due to covid-19 pandemic, all content has to be online. i adopted the asynchronous learning approach of this module in my modules for science and engineering students.” in this context, noben et al. (2021) have, in fact, concluded that articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 133 participation in professional development training contributes to academics’ moving from a teacher-centred to a more student-centred conception. other participants mentioned the level of commitment and discipline this approach required: “i kept up to date (more or less!) during the semester week by week in order to be prepared for each session. the asynchronous nature required more commitment and discipline to keep on top of work.” the interconnection of these factors and their impacts in terms of participation and persistence play a key role in the effectiveness of asynchronous learning experiences. as found by rovai (2002), in order to address lower levels of persistence and enhance commitment, cooperation and collaboration, there should be a clear investment in building a strong sense of community. indeed, the sense of community, collaboration and support have also been identified by respondents as highly relevant to the learning context, with one participant mentioning social interactions as a “luxury” and another one referring to a “trade off between the asynchronous nature of the course which allows us to study in our on time […]and the synchronous and more community based approach.” as pointed out by moore and kearsley (1996), the quality of the interactions among participants and the instructor needs to be considered when planning the degree of flexibility in the structure of a course, the degree of dialogue and interactions that take place within it and the degree of learner autonomy. 4.3 sense of community (and sense of connectedness) the sense of community was regarded as the third highest gain (4.28) (higher than that of connectedness with 3.90 lowest scoring element). while personal connectedness is a key element of a community of practice (lave and wenger, op.cit.), it seems that in this situation participants distinguished between 1) the professional exchanges and community which was established through asynchronous interactions and 2) the personal relationships and connections which fall under ‘connectedness’. a dichotomy between these two dimensions is clear in the way participants responded to our open-text question about feeling part of a community. most participants who responded to this question did not seem to feel part of a community (“although it’s reassuring to know others are going through the same process, i didn’t feel as though i am part of a community”). some attributed this to the low level of interaction and the lack of opportunities to work together, while others just felt that it was not their ‘thing.’ a number of participants mentioned interactions with colleagues they knew from previous modules on the programme, something that seems to have promoted the development of a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 134 certain sense of trust – an important aspect of ‘connectedness,’ although not a sense of community per se. in fact, some participants said that they relied on existing relationships and connections with peers that sometimes led to feeling responsible for the community (“i knew some of my peers from before so i could check their post for guidance”; “we had a good group with key members who were able to encourage and support others. i did not get to meet all the group via the forums but the ones we were in regular contact with became close and supportive of each other”). when participants responded that they did feel part of a community, they referred to the role played by collaboration and peer feedback (“the collaboration within the group was efficient and i felt to be encouraged and supported in the learning process”) and to enjoyment, encouragement and support (“i liked the group. it made it very interesting that we were from different schools, experience, and disciplines”). these results are consistent with a previous study developed by fuller (2022) in the same context who concluded that peer feedback, peer learning and collaborative activities within the learning design were crucial for effective development of a community of practice. some suggestions to promote the development of the sense of community included the creation of a whatsapp group or other informal option to communicate. 5. conclusions the results of our research will feed directly into future delivery of our asynchronous provision, to asynchronous elements of our mixed-mode online delivery and to training and development of new instructors. however, we hope that they are also of wider use to the academic practice and professional development community. given our participants’ dual role as both learners and teachers, we believe the findings are particularly interesting. overall, in answer to our central research question, we conclude that an asynchronous teaching and learning approach does facilitate effective professional learning. however, this is dependent on a range of factors related to course design and delivery, as well as on factors relating to participants and their attitudes and approaches. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 135 reference list akyol, z. and garrison, d.r. 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(2006) ‘interaction and cognitive engagement: an analysis of four asynchronous online discussions.’ instructional science, 34(6), 451-480. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11251-006-0004-0 (accessed: 12 october 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11251-006-0004-0 editor’s introduction welcome to our eleventh issue of compass, journal of learning and teaching. this issue contains a balance of opinion pieces, case studies and articles tackling a variety of issues related to teaching and learning in higher education. two of the papers, one by jennifer field and one by ray stoneham were presented at the university of greenwich annual shift conference entitled sparking ideas: sharing educational innovation. the conference offered colleagues from the university of greenwich an opportunity to discuss learning and teaching issues, and we see compass as a means of taking those debates forward and opening them to a wider audience. jennifer field opens the ‘opinion pieces’ section of the journal with her reflection on the contrasts between english and chinese pedagogy in mathematics. she suggests that the chinese nationally-consistent emphasis on mastery of conceptual understanding, rather than the english preoccupation with differentiation and accelerated learning, might well serve to meet the british government’s aim to improve maths capability from primary school to he, making graduates more employable and the nation better able to compete globally. she considers the huge value placed by china upon the training and continuing development of teachers to provide specialist maths tuition for all children from primary school onwards and upon daily provision of sufficient time outside class to enable staff to support individual pupils to meet whole-class expectations. she advocates english selection only of those features of chinese practice which fit the uk cultural context, avoiding excessive pressure on children. in the second opinion piece, patrick ainley depicts the growth of what he regards as a new model of higher education, and analyses the ways in which business schools have become multi-faceted, creating what he terms ‘the business studies university’, embracing a plethora of disciplines and courses (‘collections of study’) loosely linked by the title ‘business’. students within this have choice, the ‘central guiding activity’ of the bsu, by which they may acquire mastery not of all business knowledge, but what will equip them well for future employment. he considers the possible negative effects of a student choice-led environment governed by contemporary market forces, including the possible creation of a two-tier he education system, but concludes that positive results might be the reconstituting of an academic community and development of the various specialist interests and expertise of staff. ray stoneham sets out to consider the value to universities of productive application of big data and learning analytics, not only in predicting outcomes for students but also in making appropriate interventions to support their learning. the author emphasises the importance of tailoring the system and interpreting the data to suit the context and the individual student; he also underlines the need for transparency and institutional agreement on ethical issues to minimise risk and maximise benefits. the section concludes with dorothea fadipe’s opinion piece; a cheerfully cynical view of the measurement of the quantifiable by means of summative assessment – which is given more and more emphasis by demands for institutional accountability in a market-driven world, and by the expectations of students who see themselves as paying customers nevertheless celebrates the challenge to reductionism by a perception of the recent growth in risk-based curriculum design, significant student contribution to the conversation of education and verification of achievement by a more phenomenological consideration of student learning. the author of this opinion piece believes that a balance struck between summative assessment and phenomenological aspects might just be achievable. editor’s introduction the two case studies deal with the use of technology for teaching and learning. greenwich university’s faculty of engineering and science investment in a humanoid robot led to experimentation with student-robot interaction during an assessment activity. in order to make a self-timed, audio-visual presentation on a technical matter, msc students could choose between the now more traditional powerpoint/video productions and the novelty of filming their engagement with the robot. richard seals hoped that their having to program the robot with a combination of voice and movements would lead them to consider the impact of kinaesthetic elements in their own delivery upon an audience and therefore make adjustments to their personal approach, an editing process rarely evident in the work of those using powerpoint and video. seals concludes that, though there were some challenges in terms of time and accessibility to the robot and though its touch-screen user interface proved to be a laborious way of programming it, fascinating contrasts between the approaches of each of the students who used it were evident in the outcomes and indicate its future applicability. the second case study by barry spencer describes the use of a 3d virtual world to meet the needs of years 1 and 2 students studying for foundation degrees in software development and network computing at bromley college. such use of technology seems to have generated interest, enthusiasm and collaboration as the students produced a desktop program modelling rocket flight. the author chose this visual, guided and interactive medium to ensure that students with no prior understanding of the maths, physics and technology of rocketry would acquire the knowledge and skills to meet the project requirements. college facilities provided appropriate hardware for the task. spencer outlines the theoretical foundation of the exercise and provides student feedback information confirming considerable user satisfaction and enjoyment. finally, the article section contains two articles. the first one is by craig morris, responsible for the development and delivery of a core employability course for year 2 university of greenwich sociology undergraduates, considers the tricky implications of such a course within the context of a critical discipline. the author explores the conflict between neoliberal discourses on employability and critical responses within sociological approaches to it, concluding that a pragmatic attitude adopted by many sociology students at the end of their course reflects both their critical stance and yet also their awareness and understanding of the realities of inequality in the employability game that they play; with the support of an institution which itself is aspirational and already vigorously pursuing employability goals whilst sustaining a critical view, they will increasingly be able to take advantage of greenwich’s growing social capital in their quest for desirable jobs. the final article and the final piece in this edition is by patrick baughan, sian lindsay and pam parker. with the aim of enhancing higher education teaching development, city university london tdp team members report on their review of ten years of published research into programmes for continuing development of staff. they identify welldocumented themes, such as the evaluation of programme impact, and areas as yet barely researched: the inter-professional nature of tdps, participants’ motivations for undertaking them and their experiences of them. the authors recognise the relevance of their review, not only to their own further research towards improving the quality of the city university editor’s introduction london tdp, but also, more widely, to those in other he institutions who wish to develop teaching staff to meet challenge and change and to better the learning of their students. all of the opinion pieces, case studies and articles presented in this issue offer interesting insight into current practice within he across a variety of disciplines. we hope that you enjoy reading the accounts and look forward to receiving your responses and your publications. monika pazio editor educational development unit, university of greenwich articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 93 learning to learn: pathway to practice laurence pattacini, hannah beard university of sheffield, uk abstract university students need to adapt to the changing demand of professional practices. this concern has informed the development of graduate attributes and pedagogical concepts – such as longterm learning – which inform the curriculum. this paper draws on two research exercises conducted in collaboration with both students and alumni in the field of design, to provide a better understanding of the students' awareness of the transferable skills embedded in their university courses and to determine how relevant these skills might be in professional practice. the students’ and alumni’s voice is key to this research project and exemplified through specific quotes. critically reflecting on the students’ and alumni’s comments about their journey from student to practitioner enables us to discuss the key skills and capabilities identified, in order to nurture resilience to changes in the workplace and proficiency in ‘learning to learn’: practical knowledge, collaboration, communication and adaptability. keywords: students experience; employability; transferable skills; practice 1. introduction higher education (he) is only one step in the lifelong learning journey and students need to be prepared to respond effectively to new professional practices. we must therefore put more emphasis on ‘learning to learn’ (hea, 2015). there is also a related agenda, driven by professional bodies, to put more emphasis on transferable skills (washer, 2007; andrews and higson, 2008). this is formalised in the university context with the development of the ‘graduate attributes’ (barrie, 2007; hager and holland 2007). transferable skills are complex in nature and imply a long-term iterative process of practising and perfecting them. university education can contribute to this process by promoting independence and autonomy in learning, encouraging creativity and adaptability (davidson, 2017). however, concerns related to discrepancies between graduates’ abilities and skills and the requirements of the work environment have been raised in previous publications (tomlinson, 2012; andrews and higson, 2008). we must equip our graduates to demonstrate their capabilities to employers. this research provides evidence articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 94 through consultations with students and alumni in professional practice, of the process, perception, and demand for key transferable skills to prepare students to be more resilient in the professional world. meaningful student involvement merits further exploration and this research provides an insight in their understanding of the link between their studies and employability (fletcher,2017). this paper draws on a review of relevant literature related to transferable skills and learning to learn, as well as on two ethically approved qualitative research exercises, consisting of consultations through focus groups and structured interviews. the students’ voice is key to the research process and exemplified through specific quotes. the context of this study is a professionally accredited course in a design-related field which consists of three years of study, one year in practice and a final fifth year of study before graduation. in this context, it is imperative that the curriculum content ensures that students are well equipped to become effective practitioners and that it has employability at its heart. employability is also a key strategy of the he sector and has informed the development of pedagogical concepts, such as “long-term learning” (baillie, bowden and meyer, 2013; hea, 2015) and “active, engaged, student-centred learning”, as it is better adapted to our contemporary, unpredictable, and changeable working conditions (davidson, 2017). a professionally accredited vocational course is therefore an ideal context in which to consult students and alumni, to gain better understanding of the perception, experience and application of transferable skills in professional practice and the effectiveness of these skills in responding to changes in working environments. this qualitative research, in the form of consultations with students, provides insight into their needs, so as to inform strategies and innovation in he. 2. literature review current theoretical pedagogical frameworks, such as the ‘capability theory’ and ‘threshold concept’ – later merged into the ‘threshold capability integrated theoretical framework (tcitf) – explore effective approaches to equipping students with the skills required to respond to professional demands and changes inherent to the working environment (meyer, land and baillie, 2010; baillie, bowden and meyer, 2013). the tcitf aims to inform the design of curricula that will enable them “to deal with previously unseen situations” (baillie, bowden and meyer, 2013, p.227) and it is underpinned by the three types of knowledge introduced in aristotle’s nicomachean ethics. the first knowledge, the epistem, is the scientific knowledge referring to theory and principles, or knowing why. the second is techne: the craft knowledge, a practical application, production and practice linked to the ability to know how to do things. the third is articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 95 phronesis or intelligence: the deliberation and decision-making required to facilitate and justify action (aristotle, 1985; baillie, bowden and meyer, 2013). these distinctions are relevant to the journey of becoming a professional designer. the venn diagram below (figure 1) considers the three types of knowledge mentioned above and lists the specific skills required to become a designer, encompassing theory, technique and craft. more generally, the working environment is changing rapidly because of technological developments, new communication and working practices. to remain employable, therefore, reskilling and upskilling are now essential (sivalingam and mansori, 2020). in the design field, issues related to climate change and the sustainability agenda imply new approaches. facilitating and promoting more creative and original attitudes to decision-making are vital (joynes, rossignoli and amonoo-kuofi, 2019). figure 1. the three types of knowledge interpreted in the design context; the text in white refers to the three types of knowledge and associated skills introduced in aristotle’s ‘nicomachean ethics’ (artistotle, 1985); in black, are skills more specific to the design field and, in capital letters, are the roles linked to these skills (figure by author) 2.1 learning to learn contemporary he strategies informing university education stress that students should be well equipped to learn new skills (hea, 2015). the principles behind the graduate attributes imply that programmes should consider learning as a formative experience throughout the length of their articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 96 degree course. the students’ journey is then mapped and recorded to capture the qualities and skills that they develop, independently of subject-specific knowledge. (deeley, 2014; ruge and mccormack, 2017). the benefits of this approach are well illustrated by various models linked to the concept of employability and lists of key graduate attributes referenced in the literature, as summarised in table 1. however, more evidence related to the visibility and comprehension of students’ longitudinal development of skills and abilities – which barnett and coate (2005) summarise with their framework: “knowing, acting, being” – ought to be provided. concepts dots model watts (1977) as discussed in watts (2006, pp.9-10) decision learning (decision-making skills.) opportunity awareness (knowing what work opportunities exist and what their requirements are.) transition learning (including job-search and selfpresentation skills.) self-awareness (in terms of interests, abilities, values etc.) usem model knight and york (2002, p.264) understanding skills (subject-specific and generic) efficacy, beliefs (self-theories) metacognition (reflection) career edge pool and sewell (2007, p.284) experience (work and life) degree subject knowledge, understanding and skills generic skills emotional intelligence ‘graduate identity’ hinchliffe and joly (2011, p.53) values intellect performance engagement competencies, capabilities, attributes barnett (1997, p.2) independent thinking communication motivation flexibilities articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 97 fallow and steven (2000, pp.8-9) communication skills information management skills. (retrieve, evaluate, analyse and utilise information) it skills people skills (group working, ethics and recognition of diversity) personal skills (time management and recognition of personal responsibilities) lees (2002, p.13) knowledge and understanding of the subject that has been chosen to study developing skills, both subject specific and generic self-efficacy beliefs strategic thinking or reflection moon (2004. p.2) willingness to learn self-motivation self-evaluation self-management barnett and coate (2005, p.41) adaptability flexibility self-reliance learning how to learn pool and sewell (2007, pp.284286) emotional intelligence reflection and evaluation self-efficacy/self-confidence/self-esteem wolff and booth (2017, p.51) people skills (collaboration, teamwork, and cross-cultural competence) problem-solving abilities (critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability) professional strengths (communication, work ethic, and the habits of lifelong learning) table 1. concepts, models and attributes relating to employability within the referenced literature. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 98 in the context of design-related vocational courses, a programme-level approach is usually applied as a default, with particular emphasis on ‘acting’ (barnett and coat, 2005). this is reflected in a ‘signature pedagogy’, viz. reflective learning, implying self-reflection and critique (shulman, 2005; moon, 2004). our learning and teaching approach to spatial design projects follows a cycle which has similarities with kolb’s seminal experiential learning cycle, developing initial site survey analysis through to strategic planning and design proposals (kolb and kolb, 2018; demirbas and demirkan, 2007). figure 2 illustrates the links between kolb’s generic principles and the more specific activities related to training designers. our students are also assessed through projects in real-life contexts, relating to existing physical sites and community groups, as well as drawing lessons from case studies (kreber, 2001). reviews, which then form part of the assessment process, relate to ‘reflection in action’ in the form of constructive discussions (yanow and tsoukas, 2009). this approach to the curriculum aims to reflect the dimensions of professional practice; “the intellectual, the technical and the moral” (shulman, 2005, p.58) figure 2. kolb’s experiential learning cycle – text in white – interpreted in the design field context – text in black (figure by author) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 99 3. methodology 3.1 overview the qualitative research consisted of two consultation exercises designed 1) to develop better understanding of the students' awareness of the transferable skills embedded in our professionally accredited course and 2) to determine how relevant these skills might be to professional practice. as the aim was to draw a more informed picture of the students’ progress from university to professional practice, the perspectives both of fifth-year students with a year's experience as interns within professional practice and of alumni who were practising professionals were sought. all the participants, therefore, were being or had been trained on the same professionally accredited course, ensuring that direct links and references could be made between studies and professional practice requirements. the two research exercises were designed as qualitative inquiries directed towards informing learning and teaching practices; they consisted of focus groups and follow-up interviews structured by prompts that the research team agreed, tested and refined prior to the data collection (bryman, 2004; rakow, 2011; erickson, 2011). both the focus groups and follow-up interviews were audio-recorded and then critically reviewed to identify relevant quotes and recurrent themes, which have been used to structure the presentation and discussion part of this paper (braun and clarke, 2006). the method used to analyse the qualitative data draws on the principles related to interpretivism and critical review, with thematic analysis to identify recurring mentions of specific transferable skills acquired during the studies and applied in practice (braun and clarke, 2006; cohen et al., 2018). both research exercises were ethically approved and benefited from small learning and teaching grants at departmental and faculty level; these enabled the employment of students to facilitate the consultation process. such an approach to the data collection, with students interviewing other students and alumni, enhanced the validity and credibility of the research by avoiding the inherent risk of bias on account of power dynamics (råheim et al., 2016). training and mentoring by the lead academic of the students involved included testing their skills prior to the focus groups and interviews. the sample of students and alumni was limited, but it was proportionally representative of the overall student cohort joining the course at undergraduate level. further details on both research exercises are provided below and in table 2. similar to a longitudinal cohort study, the research does not rely on quantitative data, but on qualitative information consisting of students' testimonies at different stages of their learning experience (ruspini, 2002). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 100 3.2 research exercise 1 (see details in table 2) the first research exercise focused on acquiring a better understanding of the students’ insight into long-term learning within the curriculum. the entire fifth-year student cohort was emailed, in order to recruit volunteers. the participants of the two focus groups (seven or eight participants per group, approximately two thirds of that year’s cohort) were prompted to reflect, in relation to their year out in practice, on useful skills which they had learnt during their undergraduate studies. from the focus groups, a smaller number of students was invited for a half-hour, one-to-one, follow-up interview (eight students: more details in table 2). the participants were carefully selected to create a representative cohort, ensuring all genders and different cultural backgrounds were represented. all participants were fifth-year students, who had experience of working in professional practices for one year, prior to returning to university to complete their final year. both the focus groups and the interviews were facilitated by a fifth-year student, marking the start of the authors’ staff-student collaboration. using qualitative studies practice, the recorded data were critically reviewed and analysed through the identification of quotes (eldh, arestedt and berterö, 2020). the quotes provide evidence of the students’ perspective of the relationship between university studies and professional practice, following their own experiences in the workplace. these preliminary findings provided adequate evidence to enable a faculty-wide research grant to be applied for, as part of an initiative encouraging ‘staff and students projects in learning and teaching’ (sspilt). 3.3 research exercise 2 (see details in table 2) the second research exercise responded to the outcome of exercise 1, which highlighted the students’ lack of awareness of skills required for professional practice. consequently, the second research exercise consisted of focus-group discussions which were prompted in order to aid reflection on useful skills learnt during the university studies in relation to participants’ experience as professional designers. five different professional practices were approached, in relation to existing contacts with alumni of the university-accredited course (more details in table 2). this research exercise extended the staff-student collaboration to include two additional final-year students, who joined the authors to facilitate the data collection. three directors of the practices involved in the focus groups, who were also alumni from our design course, agreed to be interviewed to reflect on what they considered the most valuable skills. the recorded discussions were analysed, using thematic analysis, to explore further the pertinence and relevance of our articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 101 design-related vocational curriculum in relation to transferable and employability skills (guest, macqueen and namey, 2012). research exercise 1 research exercise 2 funding departmental initiative to support scholarly activities in learning and teaching faculty grant: sspilt (staff-andstudents project in learning and teaching). research team co-authors: one teacher one fifth-year student with two years’ professional experience co -authors: one teacher one alumnus / young professional two fifth-year students with one year’s professional experience participants fifth-year students with one year’s or two years’ professional experience. fifteen students in two focus groups, representing half of an average cohort of our fifth-year students. eight students from the focus group participated in follow-up interviews; chosen to ensure diversity in gender and culture. alumni / young professionals: five professional practices visited to facilitate focus groups with four to six participants. alumni / employers: three directors were interviewed. a range of different types of professional practices were consulted, including multi-disciplinary firms and small-tomedium landscape architecture practices. aims engage in a dialogue to collect information related to students’ perception of the skills they acquired during their undergraduate studies and how they applied these while in practice. explore and gather evidence to complement the discussion with the fifthyear students by consulting alumni / professionals on key transferable skills in relation to employability and long-term learning. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 102 objectives capture students’ insight of longterm learning in relation to their undergraduate and professional experiences. use students’ voice to inform present and future research. use students’ voice to inform present and future research. capture alumni’s / professionals’ insight into long-term learning in relation to their studies. use testimonies to identify key skills and improve the chances of employability. method two focus groups and eight followup interviews, audio-recorded and analysed to establish awareness or not and identify themes (braun and clarke, 2006) focus group prompt: ‘reflect on useful skills which you learn during undergrad, in relation to your experience in practice’ prompt questions for interviews: discuss in more detail about how skills acquired during undergrad influenced your year in practice (using specific examples) identification of quotes to provide evidence of students’ awareness of long-term learning. five focus groups, audio-recorded and analysed (four to seven participants). focus group prompt: ‘share your personal experience and exemplify how relevant the skills acquired during your studies were to informing your practice’ three interviews with alumni / employers interview prompt: ‘as an employer, what are the transferable skills you value the most?’ identification of key themes drawing from the literature, including the capability theoretical framework (baillie et al., 2013) identify quotes to illustrate these themes. outcomes identification of quotes to provide evidence of students’ awareness of long-term learning. justification for grant application to undertake further collaborative research. identification of quotes to illustrate alumni’s / professionals’ insights on key skills required on the pathway to practice. long-term outcome: an innovative informative resource for students, listing articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 103 key transferable skills and their relevance to the profession. table 2. summary of research exercises method and process 4. what did we learn? 4.1 students’ awareness of the link between study and practice the first focus groups with final-year students highlighted a lack of awareness of the relationship between study and work in practice. this compartmentalisation seems to relate to context and perception. for example, many students mentioned the lack of creativity in professional practice, with their tasks consisting of gathering information, writing reports and/or generating visuals on computers. many references with negative connotations were also made to the repetitiveness of tasks. reliance on template and precedent projects also received negative criticism, when compared to tasks with originality and uniqueness that are encouraged within the design-based approach promoted at university. however, most participants also considered that work in professional practice was often simpler, and therefore less stressful, than work at university, as they did not have to juggle different tasks/projects with different supervisors. “in practice it is not as stressful as uni, we are more in control […] focused on one task; we have more responsibilities as a student.” in the follow-up, one-to-one interview with students, reference was made to skills which were acquired at university and utilised in professional practice, such as critical thinking, communication and the ability to adapt to different situations. interestingly, these skills acknowledged refer to all three types of knowledge: theory, craft, and wisdom (aristotle, 1985; barnett and coat, 2005). one of the interviewees concluded with the statement “we have been well trained”, highlighting an understanding of the different types of skills acquired at university and an ability to deploy them effectively within a professional setting. nonetheless, there were clear differences between students who worked in an international context (mainly in china) and the ones who worked in british practices, with those working in british practices most able to transfer and utilise directly the skillsets cultivated at university. these differing cultural experiences emphasise the difficulties in effectively equipping students with a working environment which is diverse and changeable (gribble, 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 104 a general conclusion of the consultation with students was that our curriculum must include more direct references to employability skills. greater collaboration with careers services is required to better equip our students to map out their employability skills and competencies throughout their studies and encourage them to develop further their self-evaluation skill (moon, 2004). 4.2 key transferable skills identified through the thematic analysis 4.2.1 practical knowledge when questioned, both alumni and fifth-year students after their year in practice felt that they were well prepared in relation to practical knowledge (techne and craft). participants also felt that they had a basic knowledge in many subject areas, which enabled them to “get [their] foot in the door”, but this needed to be complemented by the acquisition of confidence in decision-making (phronesis). they felt well-equipped to engage with the design process, with an international fifthyear student mentioning having “practised [this] throughout [his] time at university’. the theme of practical knowledge can be associated with ‘concrete experience’ in kolb’s experiential learning and is translated in the design field to the use of live projects and real context as well as active experimentation through original ideas (figure 2). some students felt they had “good insight in real projects”, but the majority of the participants – and the employers in particular – felt that real-world experience belongs to practice and stressed the importance of involving professionals in university education. “visiting professionals bring in somebody who has a real-world experience is so valuable and it does help bring that perspective in to what is a research environment.” 4.2.2 collaboration in addition to practical knowledge, collaboration was put forward as one of the most important skills required in the workplace, something in which students felt well-practised through numerous group-work exercises and assignments during their studies. however, regardless of students’ group-work experience, many felt inadequately prepared for dealing with hierarchical relationships within a professional team. this illustrates that professional work environments are not always as friendly as ones within the university, with participants referring to professional hierarchical and divisive dynamics attributed to dominating 'bosses'. in this scenario, students felt ill-equipped to contribute effectively to discussions and to argue their ideas confidently. the expressed lack of confidence highlights the need to nurture students, so they become capable of dealing with unexpected or different circumstances (baillie, bowden and meyer, 2013; davidson, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 105 2017). a student who worked abroad in an international office highlighted the benefit of group work in developing collaborative skills, but she stressed that she became aware of this only in her fifth year at master level. “the idea at the end is not one person idea’ . [...] knowing how to have a discussion and come up with a common idea.” the importance of collaboration in practice was also highlighted by the professionals / alumni interviewed, emphasising the importance of teamwork, which relates to the ‘people skills’ mentioned in the literature (fallow and steven, 2000; wolff and booth 2017) “[...] presenting, discussing your ideas and working in a team. that is an important part of the job.” 4.2.3 communication communication was also a recurrent theme in the focus groups and interview discussions and is considered fundamental to professional success (ellis, 2009). most students felt they had been well trained to communicate their ideas with their co-workers and explained that they had had to do this so often during their studies that it “did not bother” them. one student more specifically referred to “the clarity of presenting ideas” as a “useful skill for life”, stressing how being assessed through oral presentation while at university provided the skills required to “tell a coherent story”. another student, while working in practice, had weekly presentation sessions with the lead designer of the company and mentioned that this experience shared similarities with our tutorial sessions. however, the participants acknowledged a difference in timescales and referred to having in professional practice to produce graphics much faster for use as a communication tool, to convince their co-workers of the validity of their ideas. “[in practice, there is] limited time to be convincing” “[there is a] need to give a pitch and sell your ideas [to clients]” one of the identified major differences – in relation to communication – between studies and professional practice was the conception that clients are not ‘tutors’, as they are mostly unfamiliar and do not have the same professional background. communicating with clients therefore requires a focus on what is essential and the use of language which is “easy to understand”. live projects within the course, where students had to present their ideas to real, existing community articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 106 groups, were mentioned as a good and useful practice in this respect. a professional/alumnus highlighted the usefulness of review sessions, which are key to the design field in developing communication skills. “critique sessions and presenting are really useful. one of the things we do a lot on the job is convincing clients and other professionals of your ideas and vision.” a fifth-year student also stated that the diversity of university projects which required liaison with several tutors with different approaches, opinions and knowledge also proved an asset in practice, when having to communicate with a variety of colleagues and a wide range of clients. “tutors have different opinions […] similar situation when you go in practice where you have a couple of clients or different disciplines, they all have different opinions. when i go in practice, i am glad i have done that”. the same student added that the “different focus every time (different modules) makes you adaptable”. interestingly, the diversity of opinions and perceived “contradictory comments” received by students from their tutors is a common negative theme in student feedback. as teachers and practitioners, we understand that this challenging scrutiny is an important learning process; however, it is difficult to convince students of this before they have had first-hand experience with a range of clients and colleagues in practice (weaver, 2006; weinstein, 2019). 4.2.4 adaptability participants’ reflections on the long-term learning benefits of their experience at the university fit well with the key attributes put forward in he in relation to employability (barrie 2007, hea 2015). for example, most of the fifth-year students felt well equipped to cope with stress and multitasking, as they had to juggle different demands from different modules and tutors, which was similar to life in practice. some students also congratulated themselves on their efficiency and time management, even though others considered this a problematic issue during their university studies (adams and blair, 2019). “i was well equipped for short deadline.” “i was aware of how long it would take me because of the studies.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 107 adaptability and resilience are often referred to in the literature in relation to employability skills and attributes (see table 1). this is often linked to creativity, which might explain why, in a designrelated field of study, students feel well prepared to adapt to varied work conditions. innovation and originality are key attributes of being a designer, but they are now also considered to be key to professional and personal success (joynes, rossignoli, amonoo-kuofi, 2019). one of the alumni referred to the value of being actively experimental: “getting people used to getting it wrong, changing and learning.” another, meanwhile, stressed the importance of learning to learn, which can be associated with continuous professional development in practice in order to become a successful professional. moon (2004, p.2) associates willingness to learn with self-motivation, self-evaluation and selfmanagement, which are also the qualities of an independent learner – a concept mentioned by one of our professionals/alumni as a description of a good practitioner: “it’s all about being an independent learner and having the motivation to carry on.” 5. limitations as mentioned in the method section, owing to the nature of the university course size, the sample of students consulted, though representative, is small. it would therefore be useful to validate further and update the longitudinal cohort study to undertake a similar study over time, especially in the post-covid context. furthermore, all the alumni /employers who participated in this study are working in uk firms. as several of our students go on to work internationally, it would also be useful to broaden the field to involve alumni who are practising in firms outside the uk, especially within china, where the majority of our international students originate. 6. conclusions and way forward the consultations with the students highlighted the need to provide more evidence of the longterm benefits of university study and the potential of their student experience to contribute to their professional development. employability is now a key consideration in he (hea, 2015) and the long list of concepts and models referring to employability attributes listed in table 1 illustrates its importance in informing education. there is an awareness of the importance of employability, but we need to demonstrate and illustrate more effectively the graduate attributes and transferable skills to raise awareness of the long-term benefits of studying at university. the various conversations with students, alumni/professionals and employers illustrate the transition from articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 108 student to professional and contribute evidence to the discussion in pedagogical literature focusing on promoting and valuing transferable skills in the learning and teaching experience in he (burke, jones and doherty, 2005; andrews and higson, 2008). the context of this research is specific to a vocational course in the design field, but it transpires from the conversations that the qualities and skills mentioned as important to becoming competent professionals go beyond the ‘practical knowledge’ specific to a profession. the ‘people skills’ referred to in the literature are summarised under the themes: collaboration and communication take a prominent place in being a good professional. one of the professionals referred to being “practical, pragmatic and flexible” as the most successful skill in practice, which is a good summary both of some aspects mentioned in the discussions and also qualities and competencies referred to in the literature (table 1). the pathway to practice illustrated through the experience of the students and alumni/professionals highlights the importance of developing skills which go beyond the first two of aristotle’s types of learning: epistem / theory and techne/craft (1987). the themes/transferable skills listed as findings in this paper fit well with the concept of developing ‘deeper’ learning experiences, a concept referred to in this paper as ‘learning to learn’ (meyer et al., 2010). our professional participants highlighted the importance of the ability and confidence to think creatively and imaginatively about options and solutions corresponding to aristotle’s third type of knowledge: phronesis/decision-making (1985). this is compatible with arguments developed in the literature, for example when mc dowell notes that “whilst knowledge is important, students need the cognitive abilities to solve problems, evaluate, criticise and create; they also need to act independently, be self-motivating and cope flexibly with new situations” (mcdowell in gibson, 2002, p.466). to learn throughout a career and to respond to changes – referring to qualities under the theme identified as ‘adaptability’ – are key to professional success independently from the profession(s) the students will engage with. this research can be used to help students understand long-term benefits of their studies as well as being better equipped to sell transferable competencies to raise their employability value. the insight, knowledge and experience shared by the alumni who have become professionals can provide tangible evidence of the usefulness of certain activities in the curriculum: for example, the relevance of group work to develop professional skills for successful collaborations or the value of presenting university work to develop higher communication skills. more pertinent informative resources should be developed so that students may relate to the reasoning behind graduate attributes, transferable skills and other employability-driven initiatives during their studies. the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 109 outcome of this research may therefore contribute to the development of resources, which provide a more seamless transition from studies to practice. reference list aristotle (1985) nicomachean ethics. translated by terence irwin. cambridge: hackett publishing company. isbn: 915145650 adams, r.v. and blair, e. 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(2009) ‘what is reflection-in-action? a phenomenological account.’ journal of management studies, 46(8), 1339-1364. available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00859.x (accessed 03 february 2023). file:///c:/users/rachel/appdata/local/microsoft/windows/inetcache/content.outlook/2mepwwkn/ https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930500353061 https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2017.1399040 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00859.x opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 can we learn anything from china about education in mathematics? jenny field department of primary education, university of greenwich we cannot deny that some areas of south east asia do better than the uk in international mathematics tests. tests, including timss (trends in international mathematics and science study) and pisa (programme for international student assessment) demonstrate that shanghai and singapore continue to hold top ranking positions, while children in england appear to be falling behind. the financial costs to society of an innumerate population are considerable, ‘with one quarter of national gdp resulting from the mathematics-based financial services sector’ (williams, 2008). indeed, those of us teaching in higher and further education settings may also be aware of a decline in our students’ mathematical abilities, with evidence to suggest that some universities are both ‘marginalising the mathematical content’ on degree courses, owing to students’ lack of basic mathematics, and understating the level of mathematics needed to study a particular subject through fear of decreasing the number of applications (norris, 2012). the knock-on effect of this could be to make our graduates less employable and our nation less able to keep pace and compete globally. the confederation of british industry reports that only 30% of employers are very satisfied with numeracy skills (cbi, 2009). so, with such high stakes, it is important to examine what areas of south east asia are doing to reap such outstanding results. what could we learn? and what part does culture play in influencing success? our government is presently keen to explore practices in shanghai which could raise standards in the uk. in 2013, the department for education, co-ordinated by the national centre for excellence in the teaching of mathematics (ncetm), funded the creation of thirty-four national maths hubs charged with leading improvement in their local schools. these hubs bring together professionals in collaborative national networks, locally led by an outstanding school or college. in 2014/15, a key focus has been on a ‘national shanghai exchange programme’, with representatives from each hub visiting shanghai and shanghai teachers subsequently coming to teach in the uk. in spring 2015, i observed two such teachers from shanghai and did note that their practice differed in some ways from that to be found here. indeed, my observations dispelled many of my own pre-conceived ideas. i witnessed an approach unlike our often-used pedagogical structure of ‘first the teacher will explain and then the children will do’. instead, what came to mind was the chuckle brothers’ phrase ‘to me to you’: the teacher did not let go of the children for longer than ten minutes and the learning went back and forth, with regular interactive assessment of what had been learned before progressing forward again. this led me to reflect that, when our children are left to work independently for forty minutes or more during a lesson, whole-class assessment of learning is more likely to be summative than formative, whereas the shanghai approach was a continuous focus on engaging children in high-quality explanatory and exploratory talk; a common phrase used by these teachers is ‘the answer is only the beginning’ (schleppenbach et al, 2007). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 a key aspect of their pedagogical approach, which will be controversial in the uk, is the lack of differentiation. their pedagogical practice focuses on keeping the class together through a ‘mastery curriculum’ where depth of understanding replaces accelerated learning. the phrase ‘mastery learning’ was coined by benjamin bloom in the 1970s to describe the mastering of a concept before moving on; this involves deeper understanding, flexibility, application and synthesis and aims to reduce the achievement gaps often seen between students (stevenson et al, 1992). progressive examples are carefully chosen by mathematics experts at a national level, to enable students to reason and generalise. professor david reynolds (2014) suggests that in the uk our more random approach to examples, particularly in text books, often demonstrates just one way of thinking, with numerous examples that lack progression, reasoning and conceptual understanding. in shanghai, there is consistent focus on conceptual understanding, with clear models and images. an example of this is their approach to equality signs… not a ‘hungry crocodile’ to be seen! figure 1: equality signs other chinese representations include ‘the bar model’ (hoven et al, 2007). children become familiar with nationally-consistent representation, on which the concepts themselves get progressively more difficult each year. approaches to modelling in the uk tend to be more ad hoc and less progressive and cohesive across the whole school. figure 2: ratio using the bar model shanghai approach approach often used in england opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 perhaps at this point we should consider that, in the 1960s, china was not doing at all well in the teaching of mathematics. there followed a national comprehensive review of the curriculum, focusing on the work of educational theorists including bruner, skemp, vygotski and dienes. so it appears that much of the knowledge that we ourselves value in education is actually integrated within their curriculum – we by contrast have had a more random approach to embedding this theory into our own practice. so, should we just import their practices wholesale? before we consider this, we need to reflect on some key differences between teacher training in the uk and that in china and between each country’s expectations and organisation of the teaching of mathematics. chinese teacher training is completely government-controlled and children are taught by maths specialists in primary schools, a huge contrast to general uk policy. crucially, this allows teachers to develop their subject knowledge beyond that of generalist primary teachers in the uk, giving all children a consistently strong early start (merttens, 2015). their teacher training takes up to five years, whilst we appear to be moving towards an era of devaluing the profession, with the introduction of more unqualified teachers the nut reports that, in 2013, 13% of teachers in free schools were unqualified. teachers in china are also required to undertake regular high-quality cpd, including sabbaticals. they generally teach only two or three lessons each day – crucially allowing them to mark children’s work quickly and, in the same afternoon, pick up on those children who have not fully understood before moving on the next day; differentiation is therefore not such an issue. there has also been curriculum stability in china over many decades – content is honed at a national level by mathematics specialists, with an eye to perfecting what exists rather than making wholesale change – an approach much longed for by the teaching profession in england. the chinese school day is much longer and is regularly followed by home tutoring. many children have tuition before they begin formal school at 7 and so the wide gap we experience in foundation stage is not present. in terms of student well-being, there is evidence that educational pressures could be part of the reason for high suicide rates among the young in china (chelala 2014; the guardian, 2015). the two countries also have different attitudes to the philosophy behind the teaching of mathematics: china favours uniformity, whilst the uk prefers to develop individuality and creativity. it is clearly important that our government does not select just those parts of shanghai practice that will bring excessive pressure on our teachers and children, or those that merely seem to involve less expenditure, but, instead, that it makes real investment in changes that will apply relevant and beneficial aspects of the chinese approach; with intelligent interpretation and application at a national level, we could be at the cusp of a very significant improvement to uk mathematics pedagogy. with the government’s financial support, more stability, a national programme of continuing cpd and some reductions in content in our national curriculum to allow for deeper learning, we could adapt the best of chinese practices and combine them with the best of ours to create a more effective and dynamic curriculum. over time, we might then also see an improvement in the mathematical ability of opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 our young adults entering higher and further education, with increased opportunities for success in a 21 st century global economy. reference list bloom, b. s. (1971) ‘mastery learning.’ in: j. h. block (ed.), mastery learning: theory and practice. new york: holt, rinehart & winston, 47-63. cbi confederation of british industry (2009) ‘future fit: preparing graduates for the world of work.’ available at: http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/1121435/cbi_uuk_future_fit.pdf (accessed: 13 july 2015). chelala, c. (2014) ‘will china be able to curb adolescent suicide?’ the globalist, 20 july 2014. available at: http://www.theglobalist.com/will-china-be-able-to-curb-adolescentsuicide/ (accessed: 09 may 2015). hoven, j. and garelick, b. (2007) ‘singapore math: simple or complex? using the bar model approach.’ educational leadership 65, 3 (november 2007). merttens, r. (2015) ‘why are we blindly following the chinese approach to teaching maths?’ guardian, 10 february 2015. available at: http://www.theguardian.com/teachernetwork/2015/feb/10/chinese-teaching-primary-maths (accessed: 10 may 2015). norris, e. (2012) solving the maths problem: international perspectives on mathematics education. rsa the royal society for encouragement of arts, manufactures and commerce, 11. available at: https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/reports/rsa_maths_report_10_2_12.pdf (accessed: 13 july 2015). national centre for excellence in the teaching of mathematics (ncetm). available at: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/ (accessed: 01 may 2015). national union of teachers (nut). available at: https://www.teachers.org.uk/edufacts/freeschools (accessed: 13 july 2015). reynolds, d. (2014) ‘what’s the evidence on shanghai maths, expert reaction...’ education media centre. available at: http://educationmediacentre.org/newsreactions/whats-theevidence-on-shanghai-maths-expert-reaction/ (accessed: 01 may 2015). schleppenbach, m. and perry, m. (2007) ‘the answer is only the beginning: extended discourse in chinese and u.s. mathematics classrooms.’ journal of educational psychology: american psychological association 99, 2, 380–396. stevenson, h. w., and stigler, j. w. (1992) the learning gap. new york: summit. williams, p. (2008) independent review of mathematics teaching in early years settings and primary schools london: dcsf publications. http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/1121435/cbi_uuk_future_fit.pdf http://www.theglobalist.com/will-china-be-able-to-curb-adolescent-suicide/ http://www.theglobalist.com/will-china-be-able-to-curb-adolescent-suicide/ http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/feb/10/chinese-teaching-primary-maths http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/feb/10/chinese-teaching-primary-maths https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/reports/rsa_maths_report_10_2_12.pdf https://www.ncetm.org.uk/ https://www.teachers.org.uk/edufacts/free-schools https://www.teachers.org.uk/edufacts/free-schools http://educationmediacentre.org/newsreactions/whats-the-evidence-on-shanghai-maths-expert-reaction/ http://educationmediacentre.org/newsreactions/whats-the-evidence-on-shanghai-maths-expert-reaction/ implementing an electronic notebook in science implementing an electronic notebook in science mark edwards university of greenwich, school of science case studies introduction professor john ziman spent time considering science and its relationship with society, in terms of what it is, how it works, what it means, how reliable it might be, what should be taught, who should teach it and to whom (ziman, 1968, 1991, 2002, 2008). i do not intend to further such an esteemed body of work, because, if i can paraphrase one of ziman’s statements (ziman, 1991), science is such a complex activity, so much part of our civilization, so rapidly changing in form and content that it cannot be presented in a few simple sentences. i want to take just one material and technological mode of science (another descriptive phrase of ziman’s, see later) and discuss how important one tool is within this mode, as a foundation to high quality manufacturing in the global and highly competitive world of the pharmaceutical industry. the tool i wish to introduce and then elaborate on is the laboratory hard-backed, notebook and later, in its more modern form, the electronic laboratory notebook or elnb. when discussing reliability, ziman was careful to point out that the vast majority of knowledge gained during the operation of the material and technological mode of science is reliable (ziman, 1991). this bold statement needs some explanation to the uninitiated. in order to guarantee high quality manufacturing, it is necessary to understand the science that underpins a process. put simply, this means that the scientific facts, which support manufacturing, must be known, must be robust to inadvertent change and must be controlled. these facts will be assembled from the repetition of many different experiments. the large number of experiments will provide considerable statistical confidence in the validity of the facts derived. the experiments performed will cover a wide range of aspects such as the raw materials put in, the machines employed, the methods used as well as the instruments and the measurements taken during the manufacturing process. the reliability of the scientific rationale upon which these facts are based is founded upon a phrase, coined by ziman, that believable and trustworthy science is “public knowledge” (ziman, 1968). experiments cannot be conducted in manufacturing because of safety and then cost. scientific facts must be gained during the research and development (r&d) phase of manufacturing. r&d work is small scale and is performed in a strictly controlled laboratory environment where risks are minimised, by qualified, scientific personnel. reliable documentation of all of this work and its results used to be recorded in hard-backed laboratory notebooks. the laboratory notebook, one tool of the scientific method, and the documentation therein becomes the source of the manufacturing process, the raw material specifications, the quality control methods and the final specifications of the product. r&d is costly and because of its multi-disciplinary nature takes many years, many people and many laboratory notebook records to complete. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 there comes a point in any business at which knowledge acquisition has to be stopped so that manufacturing can commence. manufacture is the point at which investment can be returned through product sales. however, past tragedies with drugs means that drug manufacture is unique in that it requires approval of the manufacturing process and premises by regulatory agencies before any medicinal product can be made and sold to the public. during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s it became self-evident that the pharmaceutical industry needed to improve its internal communications if medicinal products were to be brought to market faster than the 12 to 15 years it was taking many international companies at the time. other reasons for this change were: ●● increased regulatory agency oversight within international markets, as signified by the birth in 1990 of the international conference on harmonisation of technical requirements for the registration of pharmaceuticals for human use. ●● the realisation that total quality management was essential in ensuring effective development and production of medicines (martinez-lorente et al., 1998). ●● the increased awareness of the need to manage knowledge across a variety of scientific and technological disciplines if a company’s competitive edge was to be maintained as the number of international competitors with specific market knowledge grew (sveiby, 2001). ●● improvements in personal computing enabled the paradigm shift toward better (product) knowledge management. the role of the laboratory notebook to industry was clear. not only was it the source of manufacturing methodology with supporting scientific data, the notebook and its contents were key evidence when claims of intellectual property rights or patient safety issues came to court for judicial evaluation and legal settlement. unfortunately the role of a laboratory notebook with respect to the importance of its content, the uniformity of layout as a valuable database in the acquisition and development of modern manufacturing processes and knowledge, as well as a potential legal safety-net does not always seem to be a fully integrated part of formal science education (nickla and boehm, 2011). context i have noticed over the years as a teacher that we should practise the art of enquiry more frequently with our students in order to increase their confidence in their use of the scientific method. students often need assistance in what to look for in experiments and how to record these observations in their laboratory notebooks. when all the data is assembled, the process of enquiry needs to be encouraged through assistance with the review and self-questioning of their results collected in the laboratory environment. what is not always clear is that the term data in the preceding sentence includes the date and time of the experiment and its location, a complete list of all raw materials used with their amounts, corresponding manufacturer’s name and manufacturing lot number recorded. the data will also include a description of the equipment used with maker’s name, model number and serial number identification. the data will also include a step-wise account of the experiment against a time-line, concentrating on the use and duration of action verbs such as add, heat, stir, cool, filter, distil, wash, dry and any observations/ measurements associated with these “actions”. any instrumental data would need to be cross-referenced to the procedure and if possible an authorised copy of the instrumental output attached with the salient 72 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 points highlighted and the conclusions appropriately tabulated. this list of data may not be complete. when an experiment is performed for the first time, nobody knows precisely which parameters and/or actions are important to control the results obtained in the experiment. only when complete mastery of the process of scientific investigation is achieved will a solid foundation exist from which reliable learning (public knowledge) be gained. only then does the experimental scientist possess a secure launch-pad for future tests either by further experimentation or comparison with literature data as confirmation or denial of the original hypothesis. experimental science combines a variety of learning styles. experimental science is undertaken because the scientific community believes that you learn by doing. what is often forgotten with this tenet, because it involves communication, is that you must then record what you do, what you see and what you measure, finally reviewing these records when all the data has been collected and communicating these findings to the rest of the scientific community so that your data may become “public knowledge” (ziman, 1968). getting students to follow a set procedure, in order to write a laboratory notebook, is hard. making pronouncements or providing written handouts to students, which state there are certain rules that must be followed when writing a laboratory notebook, only goes so far. in industry writing a notebook is part of good laboratory practice (glp) and a regulatory authority requirement. glp must be followed by r&d employees in the pharmaceutical industry. glp is so important that if you fail to follow it routinely and consistently, you are likely to lose your job. this result is clearly not a viable option for higher education. in addition, because the notebook requirements of scientific disciplines vary, there is not necessarily a set notebook format to follow. each notebook format will be dictated by the specific discipline being followed or, in our case, being taught by subject experts. nevertheless, a consistent layout should provide a framework, for students and staff alike, to populate in a manner that is effective for each specialist subject in an appropriate laboratory environment. industry has recognised what an elnb can provide, in order to fulfil this customisable commonality. global pharmaceutical companies such as astrazeneca, genzyme, glaxosmithkline, merck and organon are already using elnbs in their r & d environments (tormey, 2006). project initiation: it is in this context that, in 2007, i applied for and was awarded funding from the university of greenwich “dragon’s den” initiative for an elnb pilot programme in order to: ●● improve student employability, as industry was already using elnb formats. ●● reduce turnaround times for experimental laboratory work assessment and feedback. ●● enhance adherence to good laboratory practice, glp, through the use of time stamps for data entry and any changes made to these entries. ●● create a paperless environment using university wi-fi connections. ●● improve academic supervision of student experimental write-up output by real time, yet external, on-line supervision of individual student elnb’s through the use of “virtual post-it notes” and added written commentary. ●● integrate a wide variety of scientific instrumental digital data output into student notebook write-ups through file import without the need for photocopying data or using glue-sticks. ●● enable “cut and paste” transfer of laboratory information into alternative coursework assignments, such as written technical reports, using intrinsic elnb software compatibility with common microsoft packages like excel or word. 73 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 software selection and project start-up approval: i sourced software that had a prolonged product lifetime, a track-record of successful usage, a wide audience of users and an ability to interface directly with existing microsoft packages without compatibility issues. i also had to consider the university-wide constraints of cost and it system compatibility. suitable software was found that met all the above criteria except that it was not free. the company chosen, cambridgesoft, was american-based and has recently been acquired by another large american, scientific instrument manufacturer of long-standing, perkinelmer, waltham ma, usa. cambridgesoft’s original chemdraw software has been used since the start of the 1990’s for chemical structure drawing for article submission to prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals. this start expanded into the provision of a wide range of other compatible software packages. this range of software is suitable for the chemical and bio-sciences and includes a completely user-configurable elnb compatible with the american drug regulatory authority’s legislation the us food and drug administration codes of the federal register for computer system validation, 21cfr part 11. furthermore, cambridgesoft had worked hard, from the original development of their software for apple macintosh computers, to ensure complete compatibility with microsoft software architecture. project start-up approval, like any new proposal, proved much more difficult. it was not until 2010/2011 that my school accepted the importance of laboratory work within a framework of the concept of “learning by doing” that had been suggested within the school of chemical and biological sciences in the 1990’s if not before my time at the university (dewey, 1938). today, the learning by doing approach is seen as a marketing advantage, which could raise our position within the current uk hei science listings. furthermore, learning by doing can be used as a key performance indicator for early career research staff. here the target would be to more fully utilise the available undergraduate and postgraduate resources in the school of science to create higher levels of research output. combining project work over time from these resources could also provide proof of concept or, better define the scope of future research grant proposals. moreover, from my perspective, the laboratory is the ultimate in terms of a blended learning environment (bonk et al., 2005). laboratory work includes group and individual work, face to face teaching, it work via the internet, instrument use and data export to pc or other mobile device such as a tablet, laptop or smartphone, manipulative handling of materials, health and safety, auditory, visual and olfactory styles of learning all in one place. preparing for project start-up a) documentation laboratory manuals for the practical classes associated with course obio1017 were collated from a variety of office and teaching staff sources. the obio1017 practical classes for chemistry students can be divided into two sets of four weeks with a total of eight individual experiments per set. the second set of practical classes was chosen for the pilot. the second set of experiments from the practical class manual was personally edited into a consistent word format that could be readily configured by the cambridgesoft engineers into the pilot elnb page layout for each individual experiment. the editorial process was lengthy and because of the limited time for implementation was fraught with converting prose into procedural bullet-points suitable for easy transfer to an electronic format ensuring relevant health and safety information was included. in addition, calculations had to be deconstructed into steps and reformatted as excel spreadsheets so that students could more readily understand the calculations 74 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 requested and visualise the structure of the mathematical functions used in the experiments. this “sign posting” of calculation methods often helps students see how to structure future calculations in a manner similar to more formal example calculations used in physical sciences textbooks and in publisher’s on-line e-resources. the built-in, sign-posted approach to calculations was suggested by cambridgesoft during the editing period and was successfully completed prior to final elnb configuration by the software team. b) software and hardware installation many university-wide it developments were on-going during academic session 2010/2011. it was decided jointly by cambridgesoft personnel and the university it team that cambridgesoft should use an elnb enterprise cloud-computing solution for the software implementation to minimize any risks associated with in-house it system compatibility issues. a cloud-computing solution would entail loading elementary software on to the laptops purchased by the school and prepared by the it team at medway for the students. it would then be possible to use the wi-fi capability available in the link laboratory situated between the anson and grenville buildings on the medway campus. c) training and student selection staff training to enable configuration of the elnb was agreed with cambridgesoft on a longer timetable than was foreseen for the elnb pilot. such decisions would depend on the success or failure of the pilot and an evaluation of the risk-benefit ratio for the university in terms of cost, achievement of greenwich graduate attributes and impact upon the student experience and student employability. a complete cohort of students was selected for the pilot. the cohort chosen was level 4 students all of whom bar one were enrolled on the bsc hons chemistry. the exception was one student enrolled on the mchem chemistry. the students were introduced to me by the programme leader and given an introductory talk about the pilot its aims, its content and its assessment at the start of term 2 of academic session 2010/2011. the talk was followed by a q&a session to discuss any student concerns. half of the term 2 practical element of course obio1017 was chosen so that a comparison could be made between more traditional methods of practical class delivery and assessment and that associated with the elnb pilot. elnb software usage training of these students was completed on-site at the medway campus by two cambridgesoft personnel over a period of two hours. preliminary reflections on the elnb pilot presentation of the results of the evaluation of the pilot and its comparison with more traditional methods of practical class delivery and assessment will require more space than is available here. nevertheless, it is pertinent to provide some of the highlights and low lights experienced. a) lowlights there is a cost associated with a pilot of this kind. very simply, the cost of materials and software came to just over £9k for 18 students. this figure is easily translated into just over £500 for a laptop and access via cloud-computing to cambridgesoft’s elnb software database for each student. installation of the cambridgesoft elnb software in-house would be expected to cost more than this on an individual student basis. the exact figure would be negotiable. wi-fi throughput capacity must be taken into account if a large class tries to log-in to software, which is available via a cloud computing solution. simultaneous log-ins can result in severe log jams in data transfer and potentially lead to system crashes. students were advised to log-in as they arrived to reduce these 75 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 risks. although difficulty with data transfer was experienced, no system crash occurred during the pilot. cloud-computing does slow down student data transfer. thus delays were experienced with student elnb record updating. this meant that sometimes i, as external supervisor, was unable to see remotely what the student was writing or had written in their elnb. the it team had warned that this situation could occur. the it team would have preferred a local area network for the pilot rather than wi-fi. nevertheless, one of the major advantages of an enterprise cloud-computing solution meant that the students were able to log-in to their work from any pc, anywhere in the uk or the world for that matter, with a unique authorisation code provided to each of them by cambridgesoft. early on in the trial, one student successfully deleted all of their half-day’s experimental work during the data saving process. this loss was fortunately restored by cambridgesoft engineers and the functionality, which was the root cause for the deletion, was removed from all student software applications. although the problem did not re-occur, it proved difficult to restore the single student’s faith in technology. the student openly complained that a laboratory hard-backed notebook would be their preferred medium for practical class write-ups. surprisingly student familiarity with microsoft software packages such as excel was not uniform across the class. clearly greater emphasis on familiarisation with microsoft software should be encouraged earlier in the level 4 academic year if an elnb is to be used in future. b) highlights interestingly the shortfall mentioned above spontaneously generated an excel graphical display self-help group, which shared knowledge with the rest of the cohort and gradually overcame many of the difficulties associated with “charting” results using excel. the spontaneous formation of a self-help group is a fine example of student-centred learning and is another good example of the blended learning available in a practical class. interestingly, many students used the webcam in their laptops to take pictures at various stages of their experiments. titration end-point determination was chosen by many to photograph and often showed that students had looked for large changes of colour of the end-point indicator rather than the very subtle and often difficult to see delicate changes exhibited at the actual titration end-point. the ability to comment on this point in standard laboratory hard-backed notebook circumstances would not be possible, unless supervision was performed on a one-to-one basis. this style of supervision would be an unrealistic aim to achieve for large classes, yet it was possible to access the digital photos remotely and comment directly on the extent of over-titration in real time using the cambridgesoft elnb. despite the apparent lack of microsoft software familiarity shown by some students in the pilot, all of them seemed much happier with the process of importing instrumental digital data either as *.pdf or photographs as *.jpeg files from other sources. the reader may be puzzled as i cannot show a screen-print of the elnb as an example of this apparent ease. this obvious shortfall is because the elnb pilot is over and all notebook and experimental data was converted from cambridgesoft’s cloud-server elnb database format to microsoft word *.doc files at the completion of the pilot trial. although word documents do not portray the overall “feel” of the elnb to the reader, i will attempt to describe this “feel” and hopefully the ease with which such data transfers can be made may become evident. 76 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 imagine a computer screen window divided into a number of sections. on the left-hand side of the screen is a long, vertical narrow section with the list of 8 experiments assigned to the student. on the right of this narrow section there is a bigger section which fills the screen window from below the menu bar to the bottom of the screen. at the top of this middle section are various tabs labelled health and safety, procedure, calculations, q&a, and conclusions. the middle section can be best visualized as a card-index file. each tab enables the student to access material associated with each tab heading. on the right hand side of the middle section is the final section used by the student to write-up their experimental details and to have each entry automatically time-stamped by the elnb software. the way this works in practice is that the student can read the health and safety tab and sign that they have both read and understood the risks associated with the experiment and that they will abide by the necessary safety precautions outlined in this section. the student can then open the procedure tab, which has the experimental procedure written out as numbered points. the student can then annotate the right hand write-up section matching the same numbers as in the procedure tab with automatic time-stamps for the individual entries, any observations made, any measurements requested or any alterations made post hoc. the recorded measurements can then be copied into the various calculation steps in the excel spreadsheet(s) under the tab labelled calculations. any data that arises from other sources outside of the elnb software programme can be imported using an import function on the software menu bar. the data can then be inserted directly as an additional “tab” into the middle window of the elnb along with a suitable title such as “end-point jpeg” to describe the contents of the new tab. this file import process is considerably less time-consuming than scanning instrument print-outs and then transferring scanned images. moreover, this transfer is more professional in quality when compared to photocopy reduction of instrument non-standard paper output and then gluing the photocopy into a hard-backed notebook. the elnb offers the ability to transfer instrument data output indirectly with a usb flash drive or directly via a universityor school-networked instrument. the ability to interact directly with the written output of a student, to provide encouragement where brevity is being used correctly and to guide where appropriate description is evading the student is highly prized from my perspective. the organisational layout of this elnb made assessment much easier through consistency of layout and improved legibility helped considerably. the ease with which a large amount of elnb data can be accessed from any pc, makes marking a more pleasurable experience. there is no need to occupy student affairs coursework collection rooms, interact synchronously with coursework collection personnel or involve facilities management and porterage of weighty, hard-backed notebooks around the campus. my overall impression of the pilot can be summarised by one student comment: “this is the best lab book i’ve ever written.” preliminary conclusions: the pilot ran over four weeks in march 2011. the trial shows that cambridgesoft elnb software works in higher education. the pilot demonstrates that an elnb can be introduced into the school of science and that, in the most part, it is received well by level 4 chemistry students in the laboratory environment. 77 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 the pilot also demonstrates that the elnb software chosen for this pilot is customizable for chemical sciences and available off the shelf (crosbie 1998). thus, cambridgesoft software configuration would not be expected to be an issue as technology, working methods, science knowledge and teaching change. it has been shown that current teaching materials can be converted into an elnb format and that other software packages and scientific instrument digital data output can be successfully integrated into the student experience of experimental science. most students found the elnb layout eased the process of annotating laboratory work. it improved their compliance with and assessment of glp requirements because the process of enquiry and thus data retrieval could be prompted by inserting questions into the elnb text at points of teacher-expected change during the experiment. photographic evidence was easy for students to add in order to support their observational claims. in future, it can be envisaged that all student laboratory data would be held on a server and be accessible to course coordinators, programme leaders and external examiners, for assessment, moderation and auditing purposes. moreover, if elnb usage extended across the school, all students at all levels could contribute to organised project work. at the end of an academic session, the body of project work could be assembled and resultant data could be collated quickly and analysed to establish trends, assess experimental errors and amend plans for future project development. finally the pilot demonstrated that the cambridgesoft enterprise cloud-computing solution does work with the current university wi-fi facilities but that real-time data updating would need improvement. possible speed improvements with a local area network alternative would have to be proven. future work the conclusions above are based upon a preliminary analysis of the pilot experience. the pilot was monitored additionally using three student questionnaires to establish: ●● a baseline of student experiences of practical laboratory classes prior to university ●● a comparison of practical laboratory class experiences during term 2 at university ●● the student perception of the elnb pilot beyond analysis of the questionnaires, a statistical comparison followed by a discussion of the assessment marks obtained during the two sets of practical classes during term 2 will be presented at a later stage in order to establish if there is a significant difference in student achievement when using an electronic medium. if, following these analyses the outcomes are positive, all that would remain would be to assess the risk benefit ratio of elnb implementation across the school of science and to make the commitment to a modern, blended learning environment in which the elnb could play a significant role in improving the business efficiency and employability of our students. acknowledgements i should like to thank the tqef, via the dragons’ den initiative, for financially supporting this project. i want to thank all of the students, who participated in this pilot, for putting up with me and providing much written and vocal feedback. i should also like to thank the current school of science senior management 78 team for their support. i want to thank nicola coleman, marilyn croucher, andy mendham, marilyn talbot and andy tight, who prepared for and participated in the elnb pilot. in conclusion, i want to thank ed de quincey, karen smith and simon walker for their guidance. their help was invaluable. references bonk, c. j., graham, c. r., cross, j. and moore, m. g. (2005). the handbook of blended learning: global perspectives, local designs. 1st edn, san francisco, pfeiffer in partnership with john wiley. crosbie, j. (1998). [online]. available at: http://ame-learning.com/revolution/e-learning-services/off-the shelf/ [accessed 30th march 2012]. dewey, j. (1938). ‘experience and education’, 1st edn, new york, kappa delta pi publications, new york: macmillan. martínez-lorente, a. r., dewhurst, f. and dale, b. g. (1998). ‘total quality management: origins and evolution of the term’, the tqm magazine, vol. 10(5), pp.378–386. nickla, j.t. and boehm, m.b., (2011), ‘proper laboratory notebook practices: protecting your intellectual property’, journal of neuroimmune pharmacology, vol. 6(1), pp4-9. sveiby, k-e, (2001). [online]. available at: http://www.providersedge.com/docs/km_articles/km_-_ lessons_from_the_pioneers.pdf [accessed 30th march 2012]. tormey, p (2006). ‘cambridgesoft global account program’, enterprise solutions, cambridgesoft.com, chembionews, vol. 16(3), 25. ziman, j. m. (1968). ‘public knowledge: an essay concerning the social dimension of science’, cambridge: cambridge university press. ziman, j. m. (1991). ‘reliable knowledge: an exploration of the grounds for belief in science’, canto original series (1978), cambridge: cambridge university press. ziman, j. m., (2002). real science: what it is and what it means, cambridge: cambridge university press. ziman, j. m., (2008). teaching and learning about science and society, cambridge: cambridge university press. author biography mark edwards is a principal lecturer in pharmaceutical sciences. mark joined greenwich in 1994 and the ilthe in 2000. his programmes met the european directive academic requirements for qp and an overseas demand for industry-focussed teaching. he co-authored the medway school of pharmacy curriculum for the rpsgb in 2003. http://ame-learning.com/revolution/e-learning-services/off-thehttp://www.providersedge.com/docs/km_articles/km_-_ implementing an electronic notebook in science mark edwards project initiation: software selection and project start-up approval: preparing for project start-up preliminary reflections on the elnb pilot preliminary conclusions: future work acknowledgements references author biography articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 1 freehand drawing – a learning and teaching perspective oliver harrison and martin monahan nottingham trent university abstract freehand drawings are used frequently for ‘visual’ disciplines and have a range of benefits. typically, for the social sciences, their utility is framed exclusively for enhancing active learning, but not necessarily as a teaching aid. emphasising learning and teaching as a dialectical process between student and lecturer, a small-scale qualitative study explored the potential of a freehand drawing to help teach a complex primary text and assist students’ subsequent understanding. students were taught the text in two ways – (1) verbal explanation accompanied by two static diagrams and (2) verbal explanation accompanied by a freehand drawing. students discussed their experiences in a focus group. despite mixed learning preferences, with interesting qualifications, students found the dynamic nature of the freehand drawing essential to understanding. unintended variation in the delivery of each session produced insightful comment, as did the relationship between the lecturer’s learning preference and their choice of pedagogy. key words: freehand drawing, visual learning, learning styles, teaching social and political theory 1. introduction one of the key legacies of covid-19 is the amplification of tendencies that were already present prior to its arrival. the changes forced upon educational institutions worldwide when adjusting to ‘blended’ or fully online delivery were dramatic and unprecedented, but to some extent were already on the horizon (lumsden, byrne-davis and scott, 2019). indeed, while the turn to zoom or microsoft teams might have caught both lecturers and students off guard, there was already a wide range of uses of technology to support online teaching and learning, including interactive lectures, online quizzes, discussion forums and blogs. for students of our own discipline – social and political thought, and international relations (sptpir) – the use of technology chimes well with the dynamic nature of the subject and, though it brings inevitable challenges, it does have a range of benefits when well used (pleschová, 2015; kohen, 2013; rackawat, 2013; lightfoot, 2013; thornton, 2012). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 2 while most university curricula apart from ‘visual’ disciplines such as fine art, photography and film studies (kedra, 2018) remain text based (elkins, 2007; stiles 2004), in our discipline, creative attempts have been made to reflect and emphasise the increasingly visual nature of social and political life (glover and tagliarina, 2013, p.66). examples include conners’ (2013) use of political cartoons and worcester’s (2013) of graphic novels, as well as the use of film, to explore complex moral questions related to social and political theory (shaw, 2012; fraser, 2018). despite these innovations, it would appear easy to fall back on well-worn methods. in his nationwide survey of how and what political theorists teach (in north america), for example, moore (2011) found that the pedagogic methods remained heavily textual, with most courses opting for the study of either primary texts or textbooks or both. in what follows, we discuss a teaching method that combined an old-fashioned, ‘chalk-andtalk’ technique with new technology. this method was used in a political theory class to help teach the basics of sigmund freud’s (2001) early topographical model of the human psyche. we explored the potential of ‘freehand drawing’, defined as a spontaneous, creative, “efficient way of recording and communicating a flow of ideas” (gadelshina, cornwell and spoors, 2019, p.143) which was delivered online via the whiteboard software available from microsoft teams. gadelshina et al. have emphasised the benefits to learners of freehand drawings, which, they argue, allow students to develop collaborative autonomy. they also identify benefits from a teaching perspective, though not as a teaching aid, but rather for educators’ analysis of their students’ understanding of complex phenomena (ibid., p.149). lane (2013) notes that the deployment of diagrams as teaching aids has not been extensively researched; nor, we suggest, has the application of freehand drawings. in our study (in contrast to that of gadelshina et al. (op.cit.), the veracity of whose findings re benefits to students is subject to debate), we took up a suggestion by carney and levin (2002) and explored student perceptions of the usefulness of whiteboard drawing activity, investigating whether what students thought about this was related to their self-reported learning style. the aims were thus twofold: 1) to examine the potential of freehand drawings as both a teaching and learning activity; 2) to explore any links between the perceived usefulness of the drawing and students’ individual learning preferences. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 3 2. diagrams, ‘freehand drawing’ and learning preferences as a form of ‘visual learning’ (eilam, 2012), the literature on the use of diagrams for teaching and learning sptpir makes some interesting initial observations. brady (2011) argues that the relationship between ‘spatial diagrams’ and the teaching of political science (specifically, “ideological constraint, cross-pressures, framing, agenda-setting, political competition, voting systems [and] party systems”) could – and should – become as “iconic for political science in much the same way as supply-and-demand curves are in economics” (op.cit., p.312). reflecting on their use for teaching sociology, toth (1980, p.410) avers that “[p]lanned, drawnout diagrams can productively accompany the audible words of explanation much as music accompanies a song”. yet in contrast to brady (op.cit.) above, and central to what we explore below, there is something about the process through which the image is created that marks the practice as distinctive. toth (op.cit.) thus continues, “a diagram actively presented…emerges in front of the students, before their very eyes”, and concludes that both understanding and insight can be enhanced (ibid., pp.411 and 423, our emphasis added). conceptually, a range of typologies gets us closer to articulating the form above. reflecting on the use of diagrams for teaching (and learning) systems diagramming, lane (op.cit., p.322) makes distinctions between analogue, schematic, symbolic and conceptual “representations”. the latter – understood as diagrams which “try to describe inter-relationships between ideas or processes that cannot be readily observed or depicted” – are the closest to what we have in mind for this study. alternatively, building on levin’s (1981) earlier work, carney and levin (2002, p.7) make distinctions between “decorational”, “representational”, “organisational”, “interpretational”, and “transformational” “pictures”. emphasising their use as specific “text adjuncts”, the representational – i.e., “pictures [which] depict or overlap (part or all of) the text content” (ibid., p.11) – and interpretational – i.e., “pictures as clarifiers of difficult to understand material” (ibid., p.13) – are of the most immediate relevance to our study. another option lies in “visual/spatial displays”, defined by vekiri (2002, p.262) as “displays that represent objects, concepts, and their relations using symbols and their spatial arrangement”. the benefits of using such visual forms are well known, although to some extent this can depend on their ultimate purpose. mayer and gallini’s (1990, p.725) study, which considered a range of factors, found that, when it was combined with instructional text, there was clear potential in “visually based instruction as a medium for promoting students’ understanding” and interpretation. a study (2007, p.369) by mccrudden et al. made similar observations, this time emphasising the significance of “causal diagrams” – i.e., “a visual display that uses arrows to depict causeand-effect relationships among spatially arranged events” – to “facilitate comprehension of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 4 causal relationships” from text. carney and levin’s (2002, p.7) review concludes that, when contextually relevant and used well, pictures continue to “improve the reading-to-learn process”. alongside the generic benefits of visual learning (kędra and žakevičiūtė, 2019), then, there seems to be consensus as to the potential of the various forms discussed above. notable though, is the variation in terminology throughout – i.e., ‘diagrams’, ‘representations’, ‘pictures’, ‘maps’, etc., none of which, we claim, quite grasps the significance of the process or moment out of which those forms are both constructed and practised. for this reason, we prefer to articulate the specificity of the visual form in this study as ‘freehand drawing’, incorporating as this term does both verbal and substantive implications. defining freehand drawing is usually bound by its artistic form (afflerbach, 2014; richards, 2013), but, in accordance with the definition provided earlier, such drawing symbolises a fairly spontaneous means of expressing ideas. the literature on potential benefits of freehand drawing reveals obvious similarities identified above, but here the benefits are framed predominantly as a student-driven activity for the purposes of active learning – i.e., encouraging the development of learner-generated images (gadelshina, cornwell and spoors, 2019, p.150). though emphasising the potential of freehand drawing in a ‘holistic’ sense (i.e., to redraw, for both lecturer and student, the boundaries of the learning environment), donnelly and hogan (2013) focus predominantly on how student-generated freehand drawings created a critical, open and collaborative space for exploring perspectives on irish politics. later studies took a similar line and made related conclusions (feeney and hogan, 2019; feeney, hogan and donnelly, 2015; gadelshina, cornwell and spoors, 2019; bobek and tversky, 2016). though there is evidence to suggest that lecturers’ use of visual forms has a positive impact on student learning, there is a lack of literature on whether freehand drawing, specifically, does the same. similarly, there is little attention to how its use may contribute to a more dialectical understanding of ‘teaching’ (i.e., how freehand drawings can help the teaching of certain material) and ‘learning’ (i.e., how freehand drawing can help an understanding of that material). one preliminary step is to explore the possibility of links between the benefits of visual learning, including freehand drawing, and individual learning style preference. in their list of “ten practical suggestions” for educators who are considering, for example, textaccompanying illustrations – and with such cited relevant studies as riding and douglas (1993) and levin et al. (1974) – carney and levin (2002, p.21) advise the ascertaining of students’ preferences beforehand, particularly when considering how effective these sorts of visual techniques might be for aiding student understanding. we take up this suggestion below. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 5 the literature on individual approaches to learning is extensive and when researching this topic it is important to specify exactly which concepts (e.g. learning style, learning preference, cognitive style, learning strategy) are being explored and how they are defined and measured (cassidy, 2004; pritchard, 2013). for the current study, we used the ‘visual, audio, read/write, kinesthetic’ (vark) model developed by fleming and mills (1992), with an associated questionnaire available free, online1. emphasising the importance of “sensory modality” (i.e., how information is initially assimilated/processed), fleming and mills identified four “preferences” of learning – “visual” (through, for example, graphs, charts and diagrams), “aural/auditory” (e.g., through speech/listening), “read/write” (i.e. an emphasis on the written word) and “kinesthetic” (i.e., any of the above, but with an emphasis on putting it into practice). when individuals do not have a clearly identifiable overall preference, they are defined as “multimodal”. given the nature of freehand drawing, one might easily associate it with a ‘visual’ preference, particularly when considering its initial definition by fleming and mills (1992, p.140) as “diagrammatic material often used by teachers to symbolise information”. in this sense, a preference for visual learning emphasises precisely the kind of dynamism alluded to earlier – fleming (2019) is clear that it goes beyond the simple incorporation of pictures or even the use of, for example, microsoft powerpoint. put differently, there are two kinds of visual learners – those who tend to prefer symbolic diagrams and those who tend to prefer words (fleming and mills, ibid.). logically, one might also assume an association between a preference for visual learning and relative success in specifically ‘visual’ disciplines, but here again the picture is actually quite mixed (boatman, courtney and lee 2008; leung et al., 2014). despite continuing debate as to the very “concept and existence” of learning styles – and, in relation to that, continuing doubt as to the veracity of the vark model (husmann and o’loughlin, 2019, p.6) – research nevertheless demonstrates its wide-ranging applicability to a range of disciplines, including dentistry (shenoy, sheoy and ratnakar, 2013), nursing (james, d’amore and thomas, 2011) and english as a foreign language (efl) education (moayyeri, 2015). in the social sciences, much attention has centred on its (positive) relationship to teaching economics. in their recent review of the literature, for example, sabiston and leung (2020, p.1504) conclude that, with respect to the use of visual aids for teaching and visual preferences for learning, the vark model tends to provide the most “consistent findings”. their conclusions regarding the links between teacher and learner 1 https://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/. https://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 6 preferences are important and we shall return to them later. another study by wright and stokes (2015) made a wider series of observations. reflecting on the importance of allowing students to gain insight into their preferred learning style, they argued that, when integrated into a variety of appropriate teaching and learning strategies, such awareness not only enhanced students’ interest in the subject matter, but in consequence also led to enhanced rates of student satisfaction (op.cit., pp.76-77). other research also suggests that it can help improve academic performance (dutsinma and temdee, 2020, p.2875). in summary, existing research indicates clear perceptions of the usefulness of freehand drawings, most significantly when students are asked to collaborate and draw their own. the emphasis throughout is on the use of freehand drawings as a learning activity and not as a teaching and learning activity. in addition, whilst arguably being a specifically ‘visual’ pedagogy, none of the existing studies has sought to align the perceived usefulness of such drawings with individual student learning preferences. the aims of this study are thus 1) to emphasise the potential of freehand drawings as both a teaching and a learning activity and 2) to explore any potential linkages between the usefulness of the drawing and students’ individual learning preferences. 3. method to achieve these aims, a small-scale qualitative study was conducted with ten united kingdom (uk) undergraduate students who had just finished the first year of their degree. the project adhered to the ethical guidelines of the social research association and was cleared by nottingham trent university’s school of social sciences’ research ethics committee. after completing a vark questionnaire (v. 8.01) to ascertain their preferred learning style, collectively via microsoft teams, students were taught two versions of freud’s theory: 1) auditory-read/write (speech accompanied by two static images on microsoft powerpoint); 2) auditory-visual (speech accompanied by a freehand drawing). owing to the then continuing social distancing measures (uk, june 2021), the freehand drawing was delivered via the ‘whiteboard’ function on microsoft teams. after the class, for about thirty minutes, students in a focus group discussed their experiences. the vark framework developed by fleming and mills (op.cit.) was used to guide discussion and map-related insights. the results of the study are discussed in the next section, which, in keeping with our particular interest in the interplay between teaching and learning, begins with some class lecturer reflections. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 7 4. analysis freehand drawing had been used for a few years for a now defunct undergraduate year two module, which, through a range of thinkers, explored a variety of social, psychological and political notions of identity. the module was heavily textual: as in a reading group, students were given extracts from primary texts, with related questions to help guide them as they prepared for class discussion. they then discussed the readings collectively, debating key issues as they arose, while, throughout, the lecturer highlighted with the in-class visualiser key passages within the texts. though repetitive, the method proved to be influential in ensuring students’ understanding of a series of demanding texts, a critical appraisal of which they were expected to complete as part of their assessment. although drawings were used in other modules for other thinkers (ten in all), in this module they were used for two thinker-related topics only: hegel’s theory of mutual recognition and freud’s topographical model of the human psyche. interestingly, each drawing served slightly different purposes. the hegel session was the first of the module and the more difficult; yet ultimately – in terms of the themes established at that point – it was the more profound. given the heavily textual (and thus visually written) nature of the module, the well-known complexity of hegel’s prose presented immediate problems (to be frank, for those unaccustomed to it, it proved to be unintelligible). thus the aim of the hegel freehand drawing was twofold: 1) to help the lecturer explain his ideas and 2) to help students understand them. in this sense, the role of the hegel drawing was precisely as elkins (2007, p.5) puts it: to assist lecturers to “discuss what they are not able to explain orally or what the students may not be able to comprehend from textual sources” (p.5). the use of the freud sketch, which forms the basis of our discussion below, was different. one of the downsides of the module was its relatively repetitive nature: though there was slight variation, the same pedagogy was employed throughout. the freud session was delivered during the first week after christmas and, unlike the hegel material (at least from the lecturer’s point of view), wasn’t particularly difficult to explain. in consequence, the rationale for the freud sketch differed. most significantly – and kędra and žakevičiūtė (2019, p.2) saw this as a key characteristic of visual learning – it broke the routine of how the session would conventionally have begun. before covid-19, in a face-to-face teaching context, if the lecturer started the class by drawing a shoddy outline of (what was meant to be) freud’s head, there would often be a detectable wry smile from students, perhaps out of amusement… or bemusement! this method seemed to intrigue and engage them from the outset. though, year by year, the drawing inevitably became less spontaneous, its underlying freehand nature meant that each drawing was never entirely the same, preserving its “immediacy and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 8 freshness” as well as its “pure and unadulterated form” (afflerbach, 2014, p.9; richards, 2013, p.6). the second purpose for the freud freehand drawing was more conventional: i.e., as an explanatory aid, or ‘text adjunct’, to help articulate something not necessarily complicated, but – on account of freud’s emphasis on the dynamic nature of the human psyche – to help visualise a process which isn’t easily or suitably expressed through words alone or even static diagrams. in this sense, the freud drawing clearly represented the kind of causal diagram discussed by mccrudden et al. (op.cit.). the results of the focus group were interesting. overall, in terms of students’ different learning styles (because they all identified with some form of ‘multi-modal’ preference), exploration of the utility of freehand drawings and their relationship to – specifically – ‘visual’ learning preferences proved inconclusive. however, students made some insightful comments about the lecturer’s own learning preference and their propensity for using such visual pedagogies as freehand drawings in the first place. we discuss this insight later. what the study did successfully demonstrate were the differences between using a static diagram (figure 1) incorporated into the powerpoint presentation and the freehand drawing (figure 2) for the purposes of helping understanding of freud’s theory. we start by discussing this insight below. figure 1. (static) diagram of freud’s model used in powerpoint presentation articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 9 figure 2. picture of freehand drawing developed in class using microsoft whiteboard. six students – four ‘multimodal’ and two ‘mild kinesthetic’ – stated a clear preference for the freehand drawing over the powerpoint presentation, although for slightly different reasons. for five, their preference was clearly related to the dynamism which freehand drawing permits. as one student commented, when comparing the static diagram used in the powerpoint presentation and the freehand drawing: “…it wasn’t the same as when you started drawing, using different colours and arrows…” (s1) in slightly more detail, another student said: “…when i’m just listening to it being described it is all just hypothetical, i struggle to see how that can actually happen, but obviously, when the diagram is in front of me and you are showing the arrows and the positioning of the different bits…it makes it more realistic because then i can actually see and understand…it does happen” (s2) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 10 another student made similar comments, although this time mentioning the use of the drawing as a complement (as opposed to an alternative) to the powerpoint presentation. thus: “…the next stage [i.e., the freehand drawing], that really helped me more…using those arrows and stuff, and how the various functions take place” (s3) both insights above reiterate the very essence of how mccrudden et al. (op.cit., p.369) define a causal diagram, particularly how it “illustrates the individual steps in a causal sequence, as well as the holistic causal interconnections among components, by explicitly displaying causal relationships that are implicit in a text”. the remaining students – three multimodal and one mild kinesthetic – seemed indifferent as to their preference, saying that while the freehand drawing was useful, the information (both written and auditory) provided by the powerpoint slides was perhaps more important, particularly in the first instance. putting aside their slightly different rationale, the insights from those who did prefer the freehand drawing thus chimed with the previously mentioned use of drawing for the purposes of teaching – i.e., that its main benefit lay in the dynamism it afforded in helping to explain complex ideas. in this sense, as a ‘causal diagram’, its benefits clearly reiterated the results of previous works such as mayer and gallini (1990) and mccrudden et al. (2007). when students were asked about their preference either for a static diagram or for a freehand drawing articulating freud’s model, it was found that four students – all multimodal – had a strong preference for the freehand drawing; again, on the basis of the insights raised earlier, although in one instance not only for the purposes of understanding, but also for recollection. with only a static diagram, one student commented: “i definitely wouldn’t understand without explanation…i wouldn’t understand a thing…but when explained step by step, with connections, i would pay more attention and memorise what you had said” (s4) another put this slightly differently: “…[when] looking at the picture without knowing what is going on…[it]…wouldn’t really help…[with]…the movement, i begin to make sense out of the whole process” (s1) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 11 perhaps the more novel insight at this point was that, for at least four students – three multimodal and one mild kinesthetic – the benefit of the freehand drawing depended on whether they had existing knowledge of the material covered. if they were new to the material their preference lay with the static diagram, primarily because all the information was available at once, “there on the screen” and thus, understanding wasn’t dependent on the dynamism and/or movement found initially as a benefit of the freehand drawing. two final student observations were unexpected but relate well to some of themes discussed earlier. first, one student noted the fact that, during the powerpoint version of the class (which included only text and a static diagram), the lecturer, who had identified as a visual learner, tended to mimic the dynamic elements of freud’s theory through hand gestures. hence, whilst the vark questionnaire did not identify student preferences that were associated with perceived utility of the freehand drawing, there was some evidence to suggest a relationship between learning style and pedagogic style. second, when comparing the two versions of the class, students identified another interesting difference. this related to discussion about additional concepts in freud’s theory – e.g., freud’s notion of the ‘ego’ and its employment of various ‘defence mechanisms’ – which were not included in the static diagram in the powerpoint presentation, but which were layered into the freehand drawing. on reflection, this suggests that in some cases, rather than a drawing being a mere accompaniment to text or speech, the latter can in fact become an accompaniment to the drawing. ultimately, and in keeping with the findings of fleming (2019) and carney and levin (2002), the insights above provide some support for the view that it might be just as useful for lecturers to have awareness of their own preferred learning style as it might be for students (leithner 2011, p.430). 5. broader reflection while technological innovations in pedagogy should be welcomed, this does raise the question as to whether some traditional and still effective forms of teaching risk being left behind. when understanding technology instrumentally, we see that at times its pedagogic potential is limited. from a student perspective, knowledge slickly packaged can feel inauthentic: the teacher can simply recite from a screen, stifling any desire to change pace and direction midway through the class. such knowledge is not mutually creative with the student but rather arrives pre-packaged and ready-made, simply spoon-fed to the students. sophistication of the technological form gives a pseudo-sophistication to the content: knowledge is presented as finished; ideas and their visualisation as neat; the presenter as elevated, sleek and professional, all of which undermines challenge to and engagement with academic knowledge. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 12 this is particularly ironic in the case of social and political theory, where such engagement is its lifeblood. susceptible to “surface-atomistic” learning (ramsden, 1992), students are presented with new and complicated concepts and ideas; the teacher can pronounce ex cathedra the dogma of the new language and students learn in a passive way. freehand drawing, however, can help students’ learning, particularly with abstract material (i.e., where verbal communication alone can often be dense and static pre-created computer diagrams overbearingly authoritative). as has been shown in the analysis section of this paper, freehand drawings, either on a real or simulated whiteboard or on a piece of paper as students watch from across a desk, seek to improve student understanding through complementing verbal communication and images. as the freehand drawing is not pre-prepared, but grows in stages, the lecturer can check understanding as it develops. students can contribute to the drawing by asking questions as it is drawn, reflecting how they understand it or how they might change or reproduce it. freehand drawing allows for layering, complexity and messiness, which reflects the nature of the ideas being represented, whereas static diagrams often suffer from needing to be easily interpretable. yet this act of verbal and visual communication contains much more than subject knowledge. freehand drawings are spontaneous; their dynamic mix of doodle, stick-figure, scribbles, underlinings, arrows and back-of-the-envelope diagramming contain a colloquial and rough-hewn quality. they are quick diagrams and might appear uninterruptible to anyone who was not in the class when they were made; and they are potentially different each time they are made. the act of drawing creates ephemeral pedagogical moments: in this conception a diagram is not pre-created, static and (by implication) ontologically settled. rather, the act of creation coincides with the act of teaching: the diagram is rough-and-ready, develops in real time with student interaction and, as a result, is unique to that interaction – to be disposed of (as gift or garbage) at the end of the teaching session. to throw teaching materials away – whether by deleting an online white board or dropping a screwed-up doodle in the bin – is a minor moment of profundity, the teacher committing to the passing of the moment and to the belief that that moment can be re-created next time. this gives a specificity and spectacle to its creation. if given as a gift to students, say after an office-hour chat, then this too has its small meaning: so much more than emailing a link to an online resource or handing over a photocopied image from a textbook. the idea of making gifts and gift reciprocity is a foundation of all societies (mauss, 2011) and the same ideas of connection and obligation could be transferred to pedagogy. the very crudeness of the gift decentres the authority of the teacher and orientates students in a co-creative relationship. the distance between students and the teacher is narrowed and so too is the distance between students articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 13 and the ideas they are studying: the inept freehand drawing lessens the intimidation of these ideas and perhaps removes the notion that these ideas are excessively esoteric or elite. 6. conclusion because the sample employed in our study was limited, there are therefore obvious limits to any generalisable conclusions. however, we should like to make two key observations. first, though we broadly accept the increasing emphasis on technological developments in teaching and learning – it would not have been possible to conduct the empirical research for this project (e.g., by using microsoft whiteboard) without those – we concur with gadelshina, cornwell and spoors (2019, p.150) that this shouldn’t necessarily overshadow the potential of more well-versed and perhaps ‘old fashioned’ techniques. in addition, the study shows that the use of freehand drawings is unlikely to suit everyone and so, like other visual aids, such drawings need to be used judiciously. indeed, this was a point that students raised in terms of the potential of freehand drawings when considering existing knowledge about the material at hand. thus, as carney and levin (2002) attest, in the case of more conventional (textbook) diagrams, the extent to which they prove useful (or not) can depend on a range of contingent factors. our first conclusion, then, is that the selective use of freehand drawings remains an important tool for both teaching and learning purposes. furthermore, while the freehand drawing used throughout this study was perhaps rather esoteric, we see no intrinsic reason why freehand drawings may not be used for any other academic discipline. as we have said, one important proviso for those intending to explore this possibility is to focus on freehand drawings’ potential for explaining dynamic phenomena. perhaps, then, the use of freehand drawings is tied not so much to any specific academic discipline but rather to instances which require (dynamic) elucidation. second, though there wasn’t a straightforward match between the utility of the freehand drawing and specifically ‘visual’ learning preferences, insight suggested that developing an awareness as to their own learning preference/s might prove useful for helping lecturers examine their respective styles of teaching (fleming 2019, chapter 2). this isn’t about ‘pigeonholing’ any particular ‘style’ or ‘preference’ to teaching and learning; rather, it is about being open to the possibility that there might in fact be interesting and/or potentially significant differences. on this basis, aside from (perhaps unintentionally) privileging specific pedagogic techniques – e.g., in the case of political theory (moore, op.cit.), focusing on exclusively reading-based activities – this could prove useful for understanding students’ success (or not) on their particular modules and/or courses (sabiston and leung, 2020). according to leithner (2011, p.430), “if lecturers [as opposed to students] have different learning styles, does it not articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 14 stand to reason that their preferred method of reproducing that knowledge also differs?’ in fact, even when retaining leithner’s original emphasis on ‘students’ the matter remains significant, for if we accept that students learn differently – something essential for fostering an inclusive approach to learning and teaching (valiente 2008, p.73; liftig, 2021) – then this might also require re-thinking assessment strategy (fry, ketteridge and marshall 2009). thus, even if the debate over the veracity of learning styles remains contentious, at school or university, linking pedagogy and assessment to differential forms clearly relates also to wider sector initiatives, such as emphasising equality, diversity and inclusion, or maximising student attainment, satisfaction and progression (wright and stokes 2015, p.77). 7. acknowledgements we should like to thank the trent institute for learning and teaching (tilt) for a small grant to help complete the project. we should also like to thank the students who agreed to take part in the study, as too, the anonymous reviewers in this journal for their insightful and considered feedback. 8. funding details this work was awarded a small grant from the trent institution for learning and teaching (tilt). reference list afflerbach, f. 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(2015) ‘the application of vark learning styles in introductory level economics units.’ issues in educational research, 21(1), 62-79. available at: https://www.iier.org.au/iier25/wright.pdf (accessed: 20 october 2022). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc3782931/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/1316973 https://www.iier.org.au/iier25/wright.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 23 valiente, c. (2008) ‘are students using the ‘wrong style of learning?’ active learning in higher education, 9(1), 73-91. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469787407086746 (accessed: 20 october 2022). vekiri, i. (2002) ‘what is the value of graphical displays in learning?’ educational psychology review, 14(3), 261-312. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30845217_what_is_the_value_of_graphical_displ ays_in_learning (accessed: 20 october 2022). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469787407086746 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30845217_what_is_the_value_of_graphical_displays_in_learning https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30845217_what_is_the_value_of_graphical_displays_in_learning opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 failing students need big data and learning analytics: hype or reality? dr ray stoneham department of computing and information systems, university of greenwich big data and learning analytics, like moocs, have suffered from hype and inflated expectations, as depicted in the gartner hype cycle for education (maguire, 2014). it is time to evaluate the promise of big data and learning analytics before they reach their peak of expectation and prior to the trough of disillusionment, with the hope of assisting them up the slope of enlightenment to the plateau of productivity. this opinion piece attempts to do this. ‘big data’ is difficult to define. for some, it means ‘high-volume, high-velocity and highvariety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making’ (gartner, 2014), whilst for others it is ‘[a] new attitude by businesses, non-profits, government agencies, and individuals that combining data from multiple sources could lead to better decisions” (bechtold 2014). there seems to be more common agreement about the definition of learning analytics as ‘the interpretation of a wide range of data produced by and gathered on behalf of students in order to assess academic progress, predict future performance, and spot potential issues’ (johnson et al, 2011). whatever the definitions, however, it is important to differentiate between hype and reality. universities collect vast amounts of data about their students and store and analyse this for a variety of purposes; many are using, or proposing to use, the techniques of big data and learning analytics to do more. this data includes explicit factual information obtained as part of the application and registration process, such as gender, ethnicity, ucas points score, home postcode and prior educational achievements, and explicit ongoing data accumulations, such as attendance, assessment results and even students’ use of counselling services (parr 2013). universities also collect the implicit digital data trails of students’ online activity, such as their use of the vle, intranet and online library systems, and perhaps also their use of email and the internet. many universities are now planning to make better use of this mass of small and big data. one of the driving forces behind this is to predict the success, or otherwise, of individual students with the hope that analysis of this data early in the academic year will allow corrective action to be taken before it is too late (de quincey and stoneham, 2014; dimopoulos et al, 2013; dyckhoff et al, 2012). but, as in ‘the minority report’ (dick, 1956), where prediction of homicidal actions is used in an attempt to prevent murders, there are dangers posed by these automated predictive methods (dowland, 2014). analysis of explicit and implicit student data of students in the department of computing and information systems at the university of greenwich has been used for several years to help improve retention of students and some moderate success has been achieved that could be attributed to this approach. a student dashboard presents a range of data about each student, including attendance, intranet usage, network usage, uploads, feedback, grades, personal tutorial records, assessment offences (if any) and enquiries. administrators, managers and tutors make use of this when making decisions and providing support. no attempt has been made to generate a single ‘student engagement percentage’ for each student and there are no automatically-generated emails when thresholds are met. instead, opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 the system provides the data in a format that helps staff to identify problems and take appropriate action, including recording any actions taken for others to see. other universities have implemented different systems. nottingham trent university (foster and gascoigne, 2014), for example, has a system that allocates a single ‘student engagement’ percentage for all students, but, as details of how it is calculated are not publicly available, it is impossible to evaluate. some other systems are described in a jisc report (sclater, 2014), but evaluative testing of all systems is currently quite limited. it is important that the algorithm used has different adjustable weightings of the components and that the requirements of different universities, faculties and departments are taken into account. the one-size-fits-all approach does not, for example, allow for the probability that the use of the library by students of english or history is much more significant to their progress than its use by digital media or architecture students. similarly, to make a single student engagement percentage act as a trigger for automated emails needs careful consideration: emails sent to students with poor engagement and with known extenuating circumstances could have unfortunate consequences. the data gathered also needs to be interpreted with care, to avoid potential bias and oversimplification. stephen fry’s comment (fry, 2010), that "education is the sum of what students teach each other between lectures and seminars", illustrates the fact that students learn in different ways (garcia et al, 2007). automated pattern recognition and data mining can hold students prisoner to their past choices and performance by assuming that they cannot change their behaviour and that their personal circumstances have not changed. ineffective and misdirected interventions resulting from faulty learning diagnoses might result in resentment and broken trust. there is also the problem of students attempting to ‘game’ the system (bollier, 2010). students have been known to sign in for absent students to boost their attendance figures and they could manipulate the data in other ways, for example, by borrowing books for no purpose or by clicking on intranet pages to boost the number of their hits. in an increasingly high-stakes litigious university environment, such student outcries as "why did you not help me when you knew i was struggling?" or "how dare you interfere with my learning!" might become common. meanwhile, data about staff are also recorded in the system and there are questions about how these will be used by the institution. in conclusion, it is clear that students learn in different ways and that one size certainly does not fit all. failing students can be identified and helped by the use of big data and learning analytics, but identification of ‘failing students’ is difficult and the use of automated response systems problematic. ethical issues need to be discussed and agreed at institutional level before any systems are implemented, access to the data and systems should be carefully controlled and the systems must be understood and transparent. using big data and learning analytics does entail risk, but it is to be hoped that progress up the slope of enlightenment to the plateau of productivity will bring benefits for all students and institutions. reference list bechtold, d. (2014) what is big data? available at: http://www.oldcolony.us/wpcontent/uploads/2014/11/whatisbigdata-dkb-v2.pdf (accessed: 6 june 2014). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 bollier, d. (2010) the promise and peril of big data. available at: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/the_promise_and_peril_o f_big_data.pdf (accessed: 1 july 2015). de quincey, e. and stoneham, r. (2014) ‘student engagement: an evaluation of the effectiveness of explicit and implicit learning analytics.’ presentation at epic 2014 12th international eportfolio & identity conference, greenwich, uk. dick, philip k. (1956) the minority report. first published in fantastic universe, january 1956, and reprinted in: the variable man and other stories, 1957. new york: ace books. dimopoulos, i., petropoulou, o., boloudakis, m. and retalis, s. (2103) ‘using learning analytics in moodle for assessing students’ performance.’ 2nd moodle research conference, sousse, tunisia. available at: http://research.moodle.net/mod/data/view.php?d=1&rid=152 (accessed: 21 october 2014). dowland, p. (2014) collecting data on students: is it useful to know which books they've read? available at: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-educationnetwork/blog/2014/apr/29/universities-collect-data-on-students-learning (accessed: 29 april 2014). dyckhoff, a. l., zielke, d., bültmann, m., chatti, m. a. and schroeder, u. (2012) ‘design and implementation of a learning analytics toolkit for teachers.’ educational technology & society, 15 (3), 58–76. foster, e. and gascoigne, g. (2014) ntu student dashboard: learning analytics to improve retention. available at: http://www.ntu.ac.uk/webevents/news_events/document_uploads/efye_manual/7_1_foster_g ascoigne.pptx (accessed: 2 june 2014). fry, s. (2010) the fry chronicles. london: michael joseph. garcia, p., amandi, a., schiaffino, s. and campo, m. (2007) ‘evaluating bayesian networks’ precision for detecting students’ learning styles.’ computers & education, 49, (3) 794–808. available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0360131505001788 (accessed: 30 june 2015). gartner it glossary (2015) big data. available at: http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/bigdata (accessed: 30 june 2015). johnson, l., smith, r., willis, h., levine, a. and haywood, k. (2011) the 2011 horizon report. austin, texas: the new media consortium maguire, d. (2014) the 'hype cycle’ of moocs and other big ideas. available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/opinion-the-hype-cycle-of-moocsand-other-big-ideas/2010206.article (accessed: 10 january, 2014). parr, c. (2013) universities mine institutional data in search of gold. available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/universities-mine-institutional-data-in-searchof-gold/2002053.article (accessed: 1 march 2013). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 sclater, n. (2014) learning analytics: the current state of play in uk higher and further education. available at: http://repository.jisc.ac.uk/5657/1/learning_analytics_report.pdf (accessed: 30 june 2015). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 editors simon walker, head of the educational development unit patrick ainley, school of education ian mcnay, school of education wendy cealey harrison, head of the learning & quality unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering paul dennison, educational development unit rita headington, school of education/educational development unit lynne jump, school of health & social care lucie pollard, school of science professor freda tallantyre, higher education academy case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 student-generated podcasting for learning and assessment in undergraduate history dr angela byrne university of greenwich abstract this case study reflects on the implementation and outcomes of the first use of podcasting in learning and assessment on an undergraduate history course in the department of history, politics and social sciences at the university of greenwich. it describes how the podcast formed part of a holistic series of summative and formative assessments intended to foster independent learning and transferable research and presentation skills, and to diversify the range of assessments required by students within the department. it goes on to reflect on the implementation, outcomes, advantages and limitations of using podcasting as a means of assessment for undergraduate history. introduction in 2014-15, podcasting was adopted as a means of learning and assessment on the course ‘global exploration from columbus to scott’s antarctic’, offered to second-year undergraduate students in the department of history, politics and social sciences (hpss) at the university of greenwich. this course was offered for the first time in 2014-15, presenting an opportunity to experiment with diversifying the range of assessments required of hpss students. the podcast was selected as an alternative to traditional in-class presentations, with the objective of providing students with enhanced opportunities to produce assessed podcasts based on their own original, historical research on a topic of their choice. the podcasts received both formative peer feedback and summative lecturer feedback. this case study reflects on student and lecturer experiences of the initiative, following the delivery of the course and after the completion of internal and external marking procedures. pedagogical and disciplinary concerns as a discipline, history has, in recent years, increasingly come to emphasise the wider application of research and the communication of research findings, via technology and social media, to the public and to non-academic audiences (grove, 2009). the subject area also retains its strong emphasis on the importance and utility of public lectures (outreach) and presentations. the podcasting project and assessment enhance the student employability skillset in various ways: through production of a portable artefact and applied skills; by improving student digital literacy (introducing them to technological skills and software which most of them have not previously used); by assisting the development of their presentation and communication skills (preparation, scripting, timing, delivery); by cultivating engagement through diversity of assessment. at all educational levels, the creation of podcasts is recognised as helping students “to do research, to communicate in print, to speak effectively and grab attention with sound” (selingo, 2006). the assessment map of this course attempted to integrate two learning activities that are considered meaningful and dynamic – the creation of a summative podcast and a related, formative, peer review exercise (see table 1). podcasting has been specifically highlighted case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 as a means ‘to get students involved in activities that are meaningful, integrative, valuebased, challenging, and active’ (tinker et al, 2007, p.19). similarly, peer assessment is considered conducive to ‘meaningful learning’ (keppell et al, 2006, p.453) and to fostering ownership, autonomy, transferable skills, and deep learning (vickerman, 2009, p.222). the student-generated content was envisaged as being usable in peer-instruction. rachtham and zhang (2006) demonstrate that the most profound pedagogical value of podcasting lies in the collaborative opportunities it offers to learners. downward et al (2008) also find that ‘the production of the podcast is incremental, revisionist and is developed in multiple learning spaces’ (p.66). the podcast peer review gives students the opportunity to reflect on their own practice and that of their peers – an essential part of the process of experiential learning (fry et al, 2009, pp.15-16). finally, the peer review aspect of the exercise speaks to the essential role of the audience in the preparation and delivery of any podcast, with the added benefit of providing an alternative to the individual-centric nature of written assessments (boud et al, 1999, p. 413). experiential learning is a key factor in the delivery of the ‘global exploration’ course, which includes a number of relevant fieldtrips and museum visits. these learning opportunities complement the podcast assessment and fits kolb’s model of the experiential learning cycle (1984). students are first given the opportunity to become freely involved in new experiences (through designing a podcast on a topic of their own choosing); they are then given an opportunity to reflect, through the podcast peer-review process detailed below; finally, they develop their initial ideas into a 4000-word research essay that presents the possibility for independent research and the development of new understanding (table 1). context in 2014-15, forty-seven second-year hpss students enrolled on the 30-credit course ‘global exploration from columbus to scott’s antarctic.’ the majority were single-honours history students, with a minority taking combinations of history with english, sociology, or politics. the course requires students to produce a ten-minute podcast as one of four assessments, one of which is formative and three of which are summative (see table 1). the podcast topic should relate to the topic of the student’s end-of-year research essay and is worth 20% of the student’s overall grade for the course. method of assessment book review podcast podcast review research essay word length 1500 na 350 4000 proportion of overall grade 20% 20% na: formative 60% outline details a critical review of a published book on the history of exploration. a ten-minute podcast related to research essay topic, uploaded to the moodle site. peer-review of another student’s podcast; review to be shared on moodle. a research essay on a topic relevant to the history of exploration, pre-approved by seminar leader. table 1: assessment map for ‘global exploration from columbus to scott’s antarctic.’ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 task structure and process students were offered two ninety-minute group tutorials on how to produce a podcast, in advance of which they were requested to plan their podcast using a proforma distributed via moodle. the tutorials demonstrated the use of open-source audacity software on university pcs and students were provided with a step-by-step guide to planning, recording, editing and uploading their podcasts and transcripts. most students chose to use university facilities to produce their submissions; the others elected to use their personal laptops or smartphones. students were instructed to save their podcasts in a compatible file format and upload them to the course virtual learning environment, in this case a moodle ‘workshop’ drop-box set up by the lecturer. they were also required to submit a referenced transcript through turnitin. the podcast submissions were paired, using moodle’s automated pairing facility, and the students were given two weeks to peer-review their partner’s submission, in 350 words and within a set rubric, addressing the following areas: 1. clarity of voice and quality of recording; 2. how well the content held their interest for the full ten minutes; 3. accuracy of information and quality of analysis; 4. how well the podcast explained the topic; 5. overall comments. grades were awarded to the individual podcasts according to a previously-distributed rubric, with equal weighting given to structure, research, communication and planning. the standard of podcasts submitted for assessment was very high, demonstrating excellent engagement with a means of assessment that was new to most of the students. those achieving grades in the first and upper-second ranges went to considerable effort with sound effects (for example, demonstrated high production values sound quality and clarity), combined with creative use of primary source material (for example, created mock interviews with celebrated explorers) and concision in delivery of key points and information. the distribution of class marks across the cohort was as follows: grade band number of students first class 11 upper second 20 lower second 9 third 3 fail 3 non-submission 1 total 47 table 2: distribution of class marks for podcast assignment. this compares favourably with the other two summative assessments the course requires (book review and research essay), with more students achieving first-class marks (see table 3). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 grade band number of students book review research essay first class 1 6 upper second 26 21 lower second 17 12 third 3 4 fail 2 non-submission 2 totals 47 47 table 3: distribution of class marks for book review and research essay. finally, the individual peer reviews were awarded marks out of ten in moodle, along with brief comments on each review’s usefulness. this was intended to emphasise the level of responsibility attached to peer review (dochy et al, 1999, p.338) and the importance of constructive feedback. outcomes students unfamiliar with audio recording equipment and software initially expressed concerns about their technical abilities, but most of the students’ fears in this regard were allayed by the provision two ninety-minute group tutorials in the university computer lab, a detailed handout of instructions and some follow-up one-to-one tutorials. the audacity software is especially straightforward to use and many students reported in conversation that, in the end, planning and scripting their podcast presented a bigger challenge than the unfamiliarity of the software. this concurs with the experiences described by historical geography students in kemp et al’s study (2013, p.6). a technical challenge emerged in the course of the peer-review exercise and grading – a small number of students had failed to save their podcasts in the required compatible format. the issue was soon resolved by some lecturer mediation between student pairs, mostly conducted by email. this technical issue was crucial, as the ‘workshop’ facility in moodle functions on the premise that all participants progress to the next stage of the exercise before a predetermined date and time. after this point, no new uploads can be accepted, so any delay in uploading podcasts or providing the peer-review can be detrimental to the student experience and to their gaining, and giving, peer feedback. evaluation 1. student feedback at the outset it should be noted that a switch to an electronic system saw low feedback rates in this academic year. of a cohort of forty-seven students, only seventeen provided feedback. on the whole, however, student feedback about being presented with a new, unfamiliar means of assessment was positive. end-of-year course feedback indicated that students valued the opportunity to learn a new skill that could have a practical application in other courses or during their final year: “interesting new methods of assessment. independent research tasks are always good to learn skills relevant for dissertation.” case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 students themselves expressed some surprise at how much they enjoyed the process of planning and producing a podcast – something they had not initially expected. they valued the originality of the podcast as a means of assessment: “i really enjoyed making the podcast[.] i think the whole idea of using different technologies to engage people is a really good idea.” “i feel the course is exceptionally well taught and very entertaining to learn. i feel pushed beyond the areas i [sic] would usually study and the unique assignments such as the podcast was interesting and ensured the course did not feel repetitive.” it should be noted that a minority of the student feedback forms communicated an instrumentalist attitude that tends to favour familiar forms of assessment, with two of the seventeen respondents commenting: “not too keen on the podcast would rather do another essay or presentation.” “although i [sic] enjoyed the inclusion of the podcast in the course i [sic] feel that many other students were unhappy with it. i feel they felt that the podcast was unnecessary.” on balance, the majority view appears to have been that the podcast was valuable simply because it was an unusual form of assessment. this may indicate a lack of appreciation of the full value of this transferable skill. it cannot be said whether this is the effect of a disciplinary ‘blinker’ or of another factor. 2. benefits to students there are arguments for the value of technology in higher education and for the autonomy and independent learning it encourages (powell and robson, 2014, p.327). furthermore, dale and hassanien have suggested that podcasting “can be effective in enhancing student engagement and reflection [...] a shared learning experience where conceptual thoughts and ideas can be created spontaneously [...] lead[ing] to a more progressive and reflective learning experience.” (2008, p.47). the peer feedback element as opposed to peer assessment or simple grading plays an important role in student development of “an active role in the management of their own learning”, as a form of “self-regulated learning” and as a means by which to improve their own self-assessment (liu and carless, 2006, pp.280-1). the peer feedback was, on the whole, overwhelmingly positive and constructive. many of the peer reviews emphasised how much students enjoyed having the opportunity to hear each other’s podcasts: “clever and engaging”; “exceptionally interesting [...] good enough to pass as a [sic] academic podcast”; “refreshing and intriguing”. the overwhelming positivity of the feedback may have been owing in part to the small size of the cohort – a reluctance to criticise a classmate. some constructive comments were made on presentational factors, like audibility and clarity of voice. 3. benefits to lecturer as pointed out by kemp et al (2013, p.4), one practical advantage to the lecturer is the ability to listen back to the podcast as often as necessary or desired – impossible with a traditional in-class presentation – and a reduction in student nervousness. another clear advantage was the salvaging of valuable classroom time that would otherwise have been devoted to inclass presentations. these benefits outweighed the extra time spent assisting a small number of students with technical difficulties. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 conclusion this use of podcasting as a means of assessment on a second-year core history course resulted in a range of outcomes. the student skillset is broadened (through exposure to new software, techniques and requirements) and student learning and engagement with the subject matter are enhanced (through independent learning and exposure to others’ ideas). as the podcast was to relate to the same topic as the end-of-year 4000-word research essay, students were encouraged to begin planning their research in good time (eight weeks before the essay deadline). finally, the high level of student engagement was evident in the excellent marks achieved in the podcast assessment across the cohort (see table 2). this item of assessment has been retained, but some changes and improvements are under consideration. the peer review element may be improved with double rather than single reviews, to balance student tendencies to be over-positive or over-negative (vickerman, p.224). anonymous peer review was problematic in this instance, as, in a relatively small cohort, the podcast creator is easily identifiable. consideration may also be given to removing the first item of assessment (book review), and replacing it with a podcast plan for peer review, to allow students an opportunity to improve their work and grade. switching the podcast from an individual to a group exercise may also be considered, although kemp et al (2013, p.4) note some student reservations in relation to the dynamics of group work. considerations for future implementation also include student expectations of the technological requirements of the course, as well as a minority instrumentalist attitude that tends to favour familiar forms of assessment. as noted above, one student feedback form stated that they would prefer to be assigned an essay or presentation. diversifying the range of assessments across departments may have positive impacts in this regard. finally, the restriction of this sample of students to one department (hpss) may limit the transferability of results to other departments or faculties, particularly those with a stronger technological focus. reference list boud, d., cohen, r. and sampson, j. (1999) ‘peer learning and assessment.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 24(4), 413-26. dale, c. and hassanien, a. (2008) ‘podcasting in tourism education.’ journal of teaching in travel tourism, 7(3), 43-60. dochy, f., segers, m. and sluijsmans, d. (1999) ‘the use of self-, peerand coassessment in higher education: a review.’ studies in higher education, 24(3), 331-50. downward, s., livingstone, d., lynch k. and mount, n. (2008) ‘podcasts and locations.’ in: salmon, g. and edirisingha, p. (eds.) podcasting for learning in universities. maidenhead: mcgraw-hill education, 57-69. fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (eds.) (2009) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice, 3rd edition. abingdon: routledge. grove, t. (2009) ‘new media and the challenges for public history.’ perspectives on history: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 the news magazine of the american historical association, 47(5). available at: www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may 2009/intersections-history-and-new-media/new-media-and-the-challenges-for-public-history (accessed: 19 august 2015). kemp, j., kotter, r., mellor, a., oosthoek, j.w. and white, c. (2013) ‘diversifying assessment across the ‘two cultures’: student-produced podcasts in geography.’ planet, 27(1), 2-7. keppell, m., au, e., ma, a. and chan, c. (2006) ‘peer learning and learning-oriented assessment in technology-enhanced environments.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 31(4), 453-64. kolb, d. a. (1984) experiential learning: experience as a source of learning and development. new jersey: prentice hall. liu, n.-f., and carless, d. (2006) ‘peer feedback: the learning element of peer assessment.’ teaching in higher education, 11(3), 279-90. rachtham, p. and zhang, x. (2006) ‘podcasting in academia – a new knowledge management paradigm within academic settings.’ sigmis–cpr’06, april 13-15. selingo, j. (2006) ‘students and teachers, from k to 12, hit the podcasts.’ new york times. available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/technology/techspecial2/25podcast.html (accessed: 19 august 2015). tinker, r., horwitz, p., bannasch, s., staudt, c. and vincent, t. (2007) ‘teacher uses of highly mobile technologies: probes and podcasts.’ educational technology, 47(3), 16-20. vickerman, p. (2009) ‘student perspectives on formative peer assessment: an attempt to deepen learning?’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 34(2), 221-30. http://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may2009/intersections-history-and-new-media/new-media-and-the-challenges-for-public-history http://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may2009/intersections-history-and-new-media/new-media-and-the-challenges-for-public-history http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/technology/techspecial2/25podcast.html articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 the bcs appathon challenge at greenwich yasmine arafa, cornelia boldyreff, asif malik, andy wicks, gillian windall, university of greenwich abstract the bcs appathon set out to engage during one hour as many people as possible in the uk in programming an app for their mobile phones. it took place on the 9th june 2015, between 10.30 and 11.30, at a number of uk venues, one of which was the university of greenwich. many people now rely on their mobile phones and, daily, use a variety of apps on them, but few have any knowledge of how an app has been developed. the appathon aimed not merely to give participants an understanding of app development its ambitious aim was to get participants to create their own simple app during a one-hour, highly-interactive workshop. the workshop then continued on into the afternoon, allowing appathon attendees to work individually or in small groups, developing apps of their own design. in the concluding session, participants had the opportunity to present their apps in a recorded show-and-tell activity. the apps developed ranged from simple games to such novel applications as an app to count the number of revolutions completed by a figure skater. the success of the appathon has encouraged staff in the department of computing and information sciences at greenwich to consider how it could be deployed to first-year students, who, although they may well be active smart phone users, may also find programming difficult and lack confidence when starting to learn how to do it. we are also investigating how the appathon can be used to engage students in schools and develop their interest in studying computer and information sciences. by putting first-year students through the appathon experience, we hope to create a large pool of student ambassadors who can work with us in taking the appathon to local schools and using it as a taster event at our open days. introduction and background the bcs, the chartered institute for it, has the goal of making it good for society. the royal charter of the bcs defines one of its objectives: “to promote the study and practice of computing and to advance knowledge and education therein for the benefit of the public” (bcs royal charter, 1984). within the remit, bcswomen, the specialist group for women members of the bcs, decided to hold workshops throughout the uk to give the public an insight into how the apps on their smart phones had been developed and to get them programming a simple app. thus the bcs appathon was conceived by members of bcswomen. it grew from planning a workshop as a simple family fun day of programming to an effort to run, throughout the uk, simultaneous workshops, called appathons, and to attempt to establish a guinness world record for “most number of people simultaneously learning to code across multiple sites” [world record attempt: ref. no. bcswomen 150227123013mnop ]. all of the learning materials used at the appathon workshop were developed to get people with little or no programming experience developing mobile phone apps. the first bcswomen mobile programming workshop was developed by dr hannah dee and dr http://www.bcs.org/category/6038 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 karen petrie. dr dee later refined and developed the workshop’s resources and has made them available on the web. as all her materials have been released under a creative commons license, they are freely available (dee, 2015a). in addition, in preparation for the bcs appathon, she also prepared a number of associated ‘train the trainer’ videos and exercises for people leading the workshops at each appathon site (dee, 2015b). on the 9th june 2015, over thirty sites took part in the bcs appathon and the university of greenwich was one of the largest, with over fifty people participating there. a video of the one-hour long lesson which started off the appathon at greenwich is available (video record, 2015); this was a requirement as evidence for the world record attempt. the appathon lesson plan and its delivery: the big meow the delivery of the official record attempt part was guided by a single lesson plan as well as a slide deck and an official bcswomen appinventor workshop handout (dee, 2015c). all participants were given a usb containing the resources needed for the workshop. during the lesson, everyone had access to a laptop, tablet or smart phone, on which they could run the necessary software from a web browser to develop their app. the software used was mit app inventor (mit app inventor ‘about us’, 2015). the development of app inventor was coled by professor hal abelson of mit and mark friedman of google in 2009. other early women engineers from google contributing to its development were sharon perl, liz looney and ellen spertus. app inventor is easily accessible as a web service from mit’s center for mobile learning. an ancestor of app inventor is scratch, which also uses a simple visual drag-and-drop approach to build up programs (scratch). app inventor’s authors claim that its “simple graphical interface grants even an inexperienced novice the ability to create a basic, fully functional app within an hour or less”. certainly there is ample evidence for this claim, provided by number of people who took part successfully in the bcs appathon. at the heart of the app inventor project is a constructivist approach to education, as it seeks to help people move from being mere consumers of technology to be becoming creators of technology. the official lesson plan covered the first hour and introduced people to the android system and app inventor by taking them through a simple exercise to develop an app. using app inventor and working individually or in pairs, participants designed the visual frontend of their app, by placing a button on the screen of the app and uploading a picture of cat to the button. they then attached a sound to the screen and associated a cat sound to it. (figure 1 below illustrates a screen developed and shows the appinventor designer mode.) at this point, the appearance of the app was complete and all that remained was for the underlying code to be developed. in conventional software development, the interface to the user and the program’s underlying logic are coded together in the same high-level language. by separating these two aspects of development, appinventor supports a separation of concerns between what the users see and what goes on behind the screens, making it easier for novice programmers to develop applications. in appinventor, an app may have several interconnected screens and each screen will have blocks of code associated with it. the next step was to code the app using the simple visual programming blocks. the instructor took participants through this process step by step. the simple program was event-driven and consisted of the block illustrated in the screen shot in figure 2 below, taken articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 from app inventor in the blocks mode. together, these two figures give a complete picture of the app that was developed during the lesson. figure 1: cat button screen in designer figure 2: code block in blocks articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 finally, participants were in a position to build and download their apps to their phones or tablets and test them. the lesson covered how to do this and, for those without an android device, an android phone simulator was made available. at this point, as apps were successfully downloaded, the classroom began to fill with the sound of cats meowing. more adventurous students quickly began to adapt their programs, using different animal images and sounds provided on the usb appathon resource sticks that all participants had received. at the university of greenwich, comprising the just over fifty people who took part were students, staff, families and members of the general public. the age of the participants ranged from six to the late sixties. the appathon was open to all. the principal organisers and helpers were all members of university staff from the department of computer and information sciences. there were also independent witnesses and monitors present as the appathon at greenwich was part of the wider initiative to set a guinness world record. throughout the uk during the appathon, the same lesson plan and slides were employed to deliver the workshop. at each site, an official video recording of the proceedings was made and official photographs were taken. as the lesson at greenwich took place in a classroom with students seated in rows of desks, there was plenty of opportunity for participants to work together in pairs or small groups. parents and children sitting together were able to learn together. many children and adults were observed coding together throughout the lesson and workshop sessions that followed. it could be argued that the mixed ages of participants was a positive advantage, allowing them to learn from each other as well as from the instructor and official helpers. the lesson concluded with a massive meow-athon as the final whistle was blown, signalling the end of official lesson and its recording for the world record attempt. this can be heard on the video. what came next: apps developed on the day at greenwich the workshop continued until late afternoon. there was a lunch break, although some participants had brought food with them and, such was their enthusiasm once they got started, they continued working throughout lunch on their own app developments. helpers were available throughout the workshop to assist participants with any problems and help them with their developments. the apps developed during the later workshop sessions were quite varied. the workshop ended with a show-and-tell session, during which people presented the apps that they had been producing. the photographs below in figure 3 illustrate the range of apps created on the day: drawing apps, a phone-to-phone messaging app, a thimble game and an app to count revolutions for figure skaters. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 figure 3: apps developed at greenwich the success of the event at greenwich was evident from both the formal and informal responses we got on the day and after the event; for example, the participant who developed the app for skaters remarked in an email after the event: “i was very impressed by the range of different apps people came up with – it shows how much you can do (and how far we’ve come since the days of punch cards! ;-) ). “i’ve noticed the database facility in app inventor, which will be handy when i come to calculating average/max no of spins and spinning speeds  i’m going skating tonight so i’ll do a test of my app.” (quoted with permission from the respondent). nationwide, over 1000 people took part in the appathon, so we at greenwich were happy to have our fifty participants included in the count towards the official world record (computer weekly, june 2015). future plans to take the appathon to schools with student support the success of the appathon has encouraged staff in the department to think of how it could be deployed to first-year students, who, although they may well be active smart phone users, may also find programming difficult and lack confidence when starting to learn how to do it. we are also investigating how the appathon can be used to engage students in schools and develop their interest in studying computer and information sciences. by putting first-year students through the appathon experience, we hope to create a large pool of student ambassadors who can work with us in taking the appathon to local schools and using it as a taster event at our open days. although many students have done some programming prior to joining the computer and information systems (cis) department, few claim to be confident programmers; in a survey of all first-year students at the start of the academic year 2015-16, malik and wicks found that although 74.9% had done programming before coming to university, only 3.4% claimed to be confident programmers (unpublished data). all students on the department’s degree programmes study programming in their first year; it is a challenge that many first years find very difficult and, in cis, one member of staff has produced a very popular series of videos for students entitled: why is programming hard? (wicks, 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 in our recently-started project, working with greenwichconnect (greenwich connect blog), we plan to investigate whether we can kickstart students’ enthusiasm for programming by using the one-day appathon material, suitably adapted. we envisage that, following the appathon experience, the student teams formed to develop apps will not only build individual members’ confidence to tackle the programming module in the first year, but also provide a cohort of supportive peers. to encourage student teams beyond the first workshop, we intend to support them to submit their apps to the app store and, at the end of first year, we shall offer prizes, based on user feedback and numbers of downloads recorded online, for the most popular apps. this competition will be linked to our formation of the greenwich university student chapter of the bcs, which all students will be encouraged to join in their first year. membership of a professional society will contribute to students’ employability, giving them entry into the leading chartered institute for it professionals in the uk (bcs student chapters). to support students, andy wick’s videos will be adapted by the project team and additional material on team working in app development will be introduced. experience and evidence of working in teams is a positive factor when students seek employment, as many of our students do during their studies; relevant programming experience enables students to take on technical work related to their studies. with the assistance from a greenwich connect learning technologist, we shall be developing online support for our student teams to work collaboratively throughout the year in an activity which will be essentially extra-curricular; nevertheless, we hope it will enable them individually to pass their first-year programming module, to gain experience of working in teams (something required by course work in other modules) and prepare them for their professional work in the future. we are also investigating how the appathon can be used to engage students in schools and develop their interest in studying computer and information sciences. by putting first-year students through the appathon experience, we hope to create a large pool of student ambassadors who can work with us in taking the appathon to local schools and using it as a taster event at our open days. conclusions the success of the bcs appathon at greenwich has inspired us to aim at giving all our firstyear students a chance to experience the challenge of the appathon and the thrill of creating their own apps. of course, the dream of many computer and information sciences students, once they become app developers, is to create a killer app and make their fortune. though that may not be possible for every student learning to create an app with app inventor, it is the case that, through the appathon experience, many more people have gained a better understanding of apps and of the digital technology that is shaping our world today. our students will have the potential to be in vanguard of the digital revolution. reference list bateman, k. (2015) ‘bcswomen hosts guinness world record attempt with marathon appbuilding event.’ computer weekly, 16th june 2015. available at: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 http://www.computerweekly.com/news/4500248183/bcswomen-hosts-guinness-worldrecord-attempt-with-marathon-app-building-event (accessed: 22 april 2016). bcs royal charter (1984) available at: http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/royalcharter.pdf (accessed: 22 april 2016). bcs student chapters webpage. available at: http://www.bcs.org/category/18176 (accessed: 22 april 2016). dee, h. (2015a) ‘bcswomen appinentor family fun day workshop.’ available at: http://www.hannahdee.eu/appinventor/ (accessed: 22 april 2016). dee, h.( 2015b) ‘train the trainers.’ [exercises and videos] available at: http://users.aber.ac.uk/hmd1/appinventor/ttt.html (accessed: 22 april 2016). dee, h. (2015c) ‘android programming “family fun day” using appinventor.’ available at: http://www.hannahdee.eu/appinventor/appinventor_handout2.0.pdf (accessed: 22 april 2016). greenwich connect blog. available at: http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greenwichconnect/ (accessed: 22 april 2016) mit app inventor “about us” webpage. (2012-2015) available at: http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/about-us.html (accessed: 22 april 2016). scratch webpage. [scratch is a project of the lifelong kindergarten group at the mit media lab.] available at: https://scratch.mit.edu/ (accessed: 22 april 2016). video record of the bcswomen appathon at the university of greenwich on 13 june 2015 (2015) recorded by taylor, conrad. available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajgjofarxc&feature=youtu.be (accessed: 22 april 2016). wicks, a. (2014) why is programming hard? [series of videos on youtube.] part 1 available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brabwicaqlq (accessed: 22 april 2016). http://www.computerweekly.com/news/4500248183/bcswomen-hosts-guinness-world-record-attempt-with-marathon-app-building-event http://www.computerweekly.com/news/4500248183/bcswomen-hosts-guinness-world-record-attempt-with-marathon-app-building-event http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/royalcharter.pdf http://www.bcs.org/category/18176 http://www.hannahdee.eu/appinventor/ http://users.aber.ac.uk/hmd1/appinventor/ttt.html http://www.hannahdee.eu/appinventor/appinventor_handout2.0.pdf http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greenwichconnect/ http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/about-us.html https://scratch.mit.edu/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajgj-ofarxc&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajgj-ofarxc&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brabwicaqlq compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 5, no 9, 2014 first published in 2014 by: educational development unit university of greenwich greenwich campus old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom managing editor karen smith, educational development unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health wendy cealey harrison, academic quality unit ian mcnay, faculty of education & health simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, faculty of engineering & science sarah crofts, information and library services paul dennison, educational development unit edward phillips, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities lynne jump, school of health & social care ed de quincey, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities malcolm ryan, independent critical friend nola stair, faculty of business james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 first published in 2016 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich malcolm ryan, independent critical friend james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series lynne jump, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich sarah crofts, independent critical friend paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, school of law, university of greenwich catriona mcallister, university of reading mark dawson, brunel university london gillian lazar, middlesex university london reviewers martin compton, university of greenwich duncan mckenna, university of greenwich monika pazio, imperial college london ed de quincey, keele university ray stoneham, university of greenwich case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 20 combining words and drawings, the better to understand students’ lived experiences dr poppy gibson faculty of health, education, medicine and social care, anglia ruskin university, uk abstract this case study presents and interprets two data sets – interviews and line drawings – about barriers to learning in the he context, as seen from the student perspective. eleven undergraduate students participated in this exploratory study, which took place at a united kingdom higher education (he) institution. the findings help reveal to the reader the lived experiences of students and present opportunities to consider intervention practices that can be used to support student transition from further education (fe) into he. this case study also discusses how to collect and use this mixed data set and highlights how employing this method promotes student voice. researchers may find that the approach may be applicable to their own project design. 1. introduction findings from studies about the wellbeing of first-year students (dos santos boni et al., 2018) show that, when students are academically and emotionally supported, we can see improved “performance, motivation, optimism, and empathy” (dos santos boni et al., op.cit., p.85). it is essential that he institutions consider support strategies to engage students in active participation in and successful completion of their degree programmes. students, owing to self-doubt, may suffer from ‘impostor syndrome’ and educators must recognise that this feeling may be present if they are to help dissolve it. this case study will outline four potential interventions and strategies to be considered for deployment on other cross-faculty accelerated programmes (gibson et al. 2019, p.1). being a ‘university student’ becomes another facet of one’s identity and our behaviour adjusts itself within each of the various groups of which we are members. our identities are thus defined by the groups to which we belong, our positions within them and the ways in which we play these roles (o'neil, 2006). multiple roles, in turn, allow us to possess multiple identities. it is suggested, therefore, that the nature of interactions, including dialogue, signal the ‘position’ and identity of members of a community. in recent years, identity has become an issue, because rapid social changes have led to identity “dis-ease” (lawler, 2014, p.1). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 21 bauman (2004) argues that, with the collapse of apparently fixed and stable identities around constructions such as gender and nation, there is more social fluidity – and insecurity – around identity (lawler, op.cit., p.3). this insecurity relates to the development of online identities, where the screen of a device provides a mask of anonymity that users can choose to adopt, concealing (or revealing) parts of themselves that they might not be able to hide in the nonvirtual, real world. here is a parallel to goffman’s view of the stage: the idea that we can choose to present aspects of ourselves depending on how we wish the audience to perceive us (goffman, 1959). this fluidity can, in turn, present opportunities for multiple identities to be adopted in multiple realms and it is through the harmony or conflict of these different identities (brook et al., 2008) that our security or insecurity may be established. while various uses of the term ‘identity’ exist, it is used here to refer to the parts of a self, composed of the meanings that individuals attach to the multiple roles they typically play in highly differentiated contemporary societies (stryker and burke, 2000). interpretative phenomenological analysis (ipa) is a qualitative research method that aims to provide detailed examinations of the lived experience of participants. it produces an account of lived experience in its own terms rather than one prescribed by pre-existing theoretical preconceptions. ipa depends on idiography, meaning that the researcher is concerned with the specific lived experience of the individual rather than the universal understanding of a phenomenon (smith, harré and van langenhove, 1995). as such, it is recognised that the process is an interpretative endeavour, as humans are sense-making organisms. ipa is a particularly useful method for examining topics which are complex, ambiguous and emotionally laden (smith and osborn, 2015). drawings can also provide a rich data set to add to our understanding of the participants’ perspective. “pictures indeed tell of the drawer's existence, thoughts, and inner self’ (farokhi and hashemi, 2011, p.2219). this case study encourages the reader to consider how combining spoken words and visual pictures produced by the participants may offer valuable insights into students’ lived experiences. this study offers the reader a rare opportunity to see students’ thoughts and feelings presented through sketches as well as interview responses. the findings may help educators to understand better what students perceive as barriers to success in higher education (he) and may perhaps inspire discussion about what kinds of support he institutions might provide to help; the findings of this original study suggest four key intervention practices for educators case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 22 to do that. as the researcher and author in this case, i plan to repeat this study with future cohorts and set up a longitudinal system that enables students to reflect on how barriers may have been lowered, completely removed or, perhaps, even rebuilt during their degree. appropriate support at he level, especially as we emerge from the covid pandemic, will promote better mental health, improve student retention and facilitate enhanced student outcomes. 2. method 2.1 design this qualitative study employed two research methods: 1) one-to-one semi-structured interviews with the eleven students and 2) a drawing task in which participants were asked to create quick and simple line pictures (‘doodles’) that would present their current feelings about their university experience. the steps involved in the data collection and analysis are shown in figure 1 below: figure 1. data collection steps and analysis 2.2 participants eleven students were recruited from one he institution in england. three second-year students and eight first-year students took part in this project, which took place in the autumn term of the 2021-22 academic year. that participants chose their own pseudonym for the study ensured confidentiality and anonymity and allowed them to identify their own data easily. participants were reassured they could withdraw at any time and have their data removed. this did not happen. 2.3 materials a dictaphone was used to record the semistructured interviews before they were later transcribed. for the drawing task, the participant had access to paper and drawing materials. interview 1 (verbal questions and answers) interview 2 (line drawing of experience, with some spoken verbal prompt questions) ipa exploration of themes from interviews and images case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 23 2.4 procedure once the university ethical clearance had been granted, students were offered information of the study via email. to avoid the unethical practice of power dynamics, those students who were invited to take part were not currently being taught by the researcher. students could then choose to opt into the study and complete a participant information form, upon receipt of which, interview days and times were organised between the participant and myself. the participants each attended two interviews. the first interview was solely a verbal semistructured interview, whilst the second interview involved the creation of the line drawing to represent their feelings about their he experience and included some further light questioning. 3. results in this section, the line drawing and a key quote from each interview is presented for each of the eleven participants. these are only brief, as the purpose of this case study is more to inspire the reader with this combination of spoken and visual data. as you view and read each, i invite you to reflect upon the barrier or barriers that you consider the participant is presenting. within the brackets for each participant, you can also see if s/he is a firstor second-year student and consider how this plays a part in her/his academic journey and how emotions, confidence and purpose may change depending on the stage in the degree. participant 1: rachel (first-year student) “uni is like alphabet soup… hot water…things are in the mix…we all share similar stories and experiences. maybe i don’t fit just yet… but i’m still part of that.” – rachel case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 24 participant 2: eloise (first-year student) “i’ve always wanted to show ‘i can do this!’” – eloise participant 3: maggie (first-year student) “if you’ve been given everything, it’s up to you if you want it or not” – maggie participant 4: callum (first-year student) “am i good enough? if they can do it, i can do it!” – callum case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 25 participant 5: rosa valentine (second-year student) “learning for me is an ongoing process. it’s always a joy for me to learn!” – rosa valentine participant 6: rachel (first-year student) “we’re all the same, we’re all here for one reason: we all want a first!” – olivia participant 7: ed (first-year student) “welcome to adult life!” – ed case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 26 participant 8: chanel (second-year student) “uni makes you more appreciative of others’ ideas…makes you open your thinking” – chanel participant 9: mia (first-year student) “this degree is to showcase what i already know…to showcase my level of qualification…and to grow” – mia case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 27 participant 10: ariana (first-year student) “the workload is more intense. the hardest thing is trying to adapt to the different level of work” – ariana participant 11: levi (second-year student) “maybe more of a spotlight can be put onto that transition from college: how to study, how to learn” – levi case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 28 4. analysis once the two data sets had been collected, the data were coded to identify superordinate and subordinate themes. the ipa process is three-fold when using two data sets, as shown in figure 2 below. figure 2. process of coding data with two separate data sets the interview transcript and recordings were read and listened to multiple times. this immersion gives the researcher opportunity to gauge the atmosphere of the interview and increases the likelihood of identifying insight. exploratory comments on the content, gestures and pauses were noted. once the transcripts were annotated with researcher comments, the researcher identified emerging themes in the notes and then grouped these together into themes (pietkiewicz and smith, 2012) that included large superordinate themes and then the subordinate minor themes. it is essential that when coding interview transcripts the researcher acknowledges the themes drawn out from the data are the researcher’s own interpretation; essentially the findings are the researcher’s views of the participant’s self-reported views. pictures were analysed in a systematic way by identifying five features and then five key feelings, emotions and issues portrayed in it. this meant that, in this case, each image had a list of ten words associated with it and i could begin to cluster together themes from each image in this logical and systematic way. to help illustrate this method, a sample of the key words and images are shown in table 1 below, linked to two of the images presented above. looking for superordinate and subordinate themes in the interview transcripts looking for patterns in the visual line drawings any recurring themes or elements looking across the two data sets to consider the overall themes case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 29 participant 5 things that are seen in the image 5 feelings/issues/emotions participant 5: rosa valentine (second-year student) • smiling face • clear trajectory • clear goal of ba degree • start and end • progress along the path • determination • commitment • clear vision to reaching a goal • purpose • motivation participant 9: mia (first-year student) • smiling face • support network from friends and family • end goal of working in school • a journey • progress along the pathway • support from external network • clear vision to reaching a goal • purpose • motivation • satisfaction table 1. ipa of line drawingsan example of two participants’ images case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 30 5. discussion from analysis of the full interview scripts alongside the line-drawings, four key barriers were identified from the data. these are presented in table 2 below, along with suggested interventions to help reduce and remove these barriers where possible. barrier suggested intervention several other roles to play, alongside being a student, such as parent/carer/worker personal one-to-one introduction meeting between students and their personal tutor during induction fortnight, to build emotional attachments and allow personal tutors to be more aware of each individual’s situation. struggling with the transition from college/previous study to working at level 4 to promote to students the use of the university’s study skills workshops and online courses and to look to build these into personal tutor group sessions with first-year students to aid transition. lack of clear future pathway post-graduation to run ambition/inspiration coaching sessions during induction fortnight, or throughout the academic year, so that students can consider pathways and goals from the very start of the degree, in order to drive engagement and help keep students focused. to ensure sessions are provided by the university careers team. student impostor syndrome: not feeling ‘worthy’ of their place on a programme/amongst peers consideration of more formative feedback opportunities, from both tutors and peers, to build confidence and self-efficacy, as well as peer bonds. table 2. key barriers and suggested support strategies and interventions in he 6. conclusion the conclusion to be drawn from this initial analysis of both the narrative and the line-drawings is that the biggest internal and external factors influencing engagement come respectively from 1) the intrinsic motivation of students themselves, which is stronger when a clear goal or pathway, such as training to be a teacher, is realised and 2) – externally – the emotional investment from tutors and staff to help support students with the transition from college, study case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 31 or employment, which is developed through being emotionally available and approachable. through deeper ipa analysis of these eleven narratives over the coming months, greater insight into the barriers undergraduate students feel will perhaps be achieved and possibilities for reducing learning barriers will, hopefully, be revealed. regarding next steps, as themes are drawn from the data, plans are already being finalised for the second phase to this project, which will plan to initiate the suggested interventions that have been drawn up in response to the barriers to success originating from the students’ narratives. i plan to repeat this study with future cohorts and aim to set up a longitudinal system that also allows for students to reflect on how barriers may have been reduced, removed or perhaps rebuilt during their degree. appropriate support at he level, especially as we emerge further through the covid pandemic, will promote better mental health, improve retention and facilitate enhanced student outcomes. this case study has presented the argument for combining interviews with drawings; i hope that the glimpse into this study may inspire readers to adopt the same method. references bauman, z. (2004) identity: conversations with benedetto vecchi. cambridge: polity press. isbn: 0745633099 dos santos boni, r.a., paiva, c.e., de oliveira, m.a., lucchetti, g., fregnani, j.h.t.g. and paiva, b.s.r. (2018) ‘burnout among medical students during the first years of undergraduate school: prevalence and associated factors.’ plos one, 13(3), p.e0191746. available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29513668/ (accessed: 27 october 2022). farokhi, m. and hashemi, m. (2011) ‘the analysis of children's drawings: social, emotional, physical, and psychological aspects.’ procedia social and behavioral sciences. 30, 2219-2224. available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29513668/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 32 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1877042811022580 (accessed: 27 october 2022). gibson, p., perera, s., morgan, r. and kerr, b. (2019) ‘creating conditions for student success on a two-year accelerated degree.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 12(1). available at: https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v12i1.944 (accessed: 10 september 2022). goffman, e. (1959) the presentation of self in everyday life. ny: the overlook press. isbn: 0385094027 lawler, s. (2014) identity. london: polity press. isbn: 0745654169 o’neil, d. (2006) ‘human culture: what is culture?’ available at: https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/culture/culture_1.htm (accessed: 27 october 2022). pietkiewicz, i. and smith, j.a. (2012) ‘a practical guide to using interpretative phenomenological analysis in qualitative research psychology: praktyczny przewodnik interpretacyjnej analizy fenomenologicznej w badaniach jakościowych w psychologii. czasopismo psychologiczne, 18(2), 361-369. available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a-practical-guide-to-using-interpretative-analysispietkiewicz-smith/0b9fd62471e437af0cc41b91202509148b443641 (accessed: 27 october 2022). smith, j.a., harré, r. and van langenhove, l. (1995) ‘idiography.’ in: smith, j.a., harré r. and van langenhove, l. rethinking psychology. london: sage. (pp. 56-69). isbn: 9780803977334 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1877042811022580 https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v12i1.944 https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/culture/culture_1.htm https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a-practical-guide-to-using-interpretative-analysis-pietkiewicz-smith/0b9fd62471e437af0cc41b91202509148b443641 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a-practical-guide-to-using-interpretative-analysis-pietkiewicz-smith/0b9fd62471e437af0cc41b91202509148b443641 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 33 smith, j.a., and osborn, m. (2015) ‘interpretative phenomenological analysis as a useful methodology for research on the lived experience of pain.’ british journal of pain, 9(1), 4142. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc4616994/ (accessed: 27 october 2022). stryker, s. and burke, p.j. (2000) ‘the past, present, and future of an identity theory.’ psychology quarterly 63, 284-297. available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-10002001 (accessed: 27 october 2022). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc4616994/ https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-10002-001 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-10002-001 compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 first published in 2015 by: educational development unit university of greenwich greenwich campus old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor monika pazio, educational development unit sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health wendy cealey harrison, academic quality unit ian mcnay, faculty of education & health simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, faculty of engineering & science sarah crofts, information and library services paul dennison, educational development unit edward phillips, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities lynne jump, faculty of education & health ed de quincey, keele university malcolm ryan, independent critical friend nola stair, faculty of business james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the emperor has no clothes! chris rust abstract this piece argues that an opportunity has been wasted and the proposed metrics and methodology for the tef will not validly assess teaching excellence. some years ago now, mid-afternoon in a workshop i was running for new academic staff in a research-intensive university, a reluctant participant said to me, “well i can see why this would be important if you wanted to improve your teaching.” he, however, was one of many recently appointed for his research, hopefully to improve the institution’s rae (research assessment exercise) scores. he resented the fact that his contract required him to teach, let alone attend a whole-day workshop. many of us who have worked in universities around the world, trying to improve the quality of teaching and learning, are all too familiar with the complaint from faculty that, despite the rhetoric of vice-chancellors, it’s research that’s important – not teaching. research gets the promotions and the kudos: there is no parity of esteem. and this has been reinforced by the way the two have been treated. for research, there has been the carrot, with rewards (largely financial) for success; for teaching, there has been the stick – no money for doing well and negative publicity for doing badly. so, when the tef was first mooted, whilst having no delusions about the potential difficulties, i was enthusiastic about engaging with the idea and seeing how it might work and i urged others to do the same. fulfilment of the intention to create a similar, parallel framework to the ref, publicly to recognise centres of excellence, to encourage the pursuit of teaching excellence and to give teaching parity of esteem with research is long overdue. however, what is now being implemented will do none of those things. the white paper (department for business, innovation and skills, 2016) actually includes quite an enlightened definition of teaching excellence: we take a broad view of teaching excellence, including the teaching itself, the learning environments in which it takes place, and the outcomes it delivers. we expect higher education to deliver well designed courses, robust standards, support for students, tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 career readiness and an environment that develops the ‘soft skills’ that employers consistently say they need. these include capacity for critical thinking, analysis and teamwork, along with the vital development of a student’s ability to learn. (para 6, p. 43) so how can anybody involved in writing that paragraph, or subscribing to what it says, end up with a framework fundamentally based on the three metrics of retention, employment (after six months) and student satisfaction. let’s consider the problems with these three in turn. whilst retention may well be improved by excellent teaching, if students are already highachieving and motivated, they will almost certainly not drop out, even if the teaching is mediocre, and especially not, if attending an institution deemed to be prestigious. repeated studies, such as yorke and langden (2004), have identified that the most common reason for dropping out is not, in fact, the teaching, but the course not having been what the student expected, and therefore considered as ‘not right for me’. there are similar problems with employment as a measure. though excellent teaching may well contribute to a student’s employment chances, there are numerous other factors which probably have even more influence (blasko et al, 2002) – the student’s cultural capital, the reputation of the particular university attended, the subject studied, the unemployment rate in the geographical location of the university (as many students like to stay in the area where they have studied) and the state of the general labour market at the time. additionally, the rather bizarre six-month time limit takes no account of such situations as entry to accountancy and law, for which students have to engage in further professional/vocational courses. we should also note that not all students have the same ambitions and that some have aspirations other than finding traditional, so-called ‘graduate jobs’. out of the three metrics, the nss has probably the greatest claim to a link to the quality of teaching. there have been many criticisms of its focus on ‘satisfaction’ with, as a consequence, some very sensible recent moves to take ‘student engagement’ as a better indicator, but, in my experience, where a course has had a low nss score, there has always been an issue that needed addressing – but not always the teaching and sometimes something beyond the course itself, a wider institutional problem. however, by far the greatest flaw in what is being proposed is that it is going to operate at the level of the institution and, even though a move to assessments at subject/discipline level is tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 intended, these will still be aggregated for the whole institution. this makes absolutely no sense at all. we know that, with nss scores, there is a wider range of difference between different courses in the same institution than there is across different institutions (surridge, 2009). so even if the metrics to be used were much better than those proposed and could claim to be able to assess validly the excellence of teaching, aggregating them for the whole institution would render them meaningless. then, to reduce that to the designations of gold, silver or bronze is just crude and crass. given the arguments above, the claim in the white paper to be applying “sector-wide rigour to the assessment of teaching excellence” (para. 10, p. 44) can surely not be taken seriously? we should certainly benefit from a system that rigorously assessed teaching excellence – but this is not it! the emperor has no clothes and the stark reality must be made clear: the sector must have the courage to stand up, voice its concerns and demand a re-think, before more time and money is wasted. at the moment, the proposal is both embarrassing and foolish. reference list blasko, z., brennan, john., little, b. and shah, t. (2002) access to what: analysis of factors determining graduate employability. london: hefce. department for business, innovation and skills (2016) success as a knowledge economy: teaching excellence, social mobility & student choice. london: hmso. surridge, p. (2009) the national student survey three years on: what have we learned? york: higher education academy. yorke, m. and langden, b. (2004) retention and student success in higher education. maidenhead: srhe/oup. http://www.voced.edu.au/search/site/all_creators%3a%22brennan%2c%20john%22 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 southampton feedback champions: students and staff improving feedback together, university of southampton laurence georgin, kristina stuart, rebecca wainwright, rameesha anwar and abisola tina hammed university of southampton introduction this case study is about a project undertaken in 2014-2015 at the university of southampton by laurence georgin (senior academic coordinator and manager of the project) and twentyseven student ‘champions’, who took part in the project and who were selected from all eight university faculties. the southampton feedback champions project originated from a previous european project, speaq (sharing practice in enhancing and assuring quality https://speaqproject.wordpress.com/), which aimed to develop initiatives that improve quality, practice and culture within higher education institutions. each institution involved in speaq had to identify an in-house issue and work with its staff and students to resolve it, using a bottom-up approach. southampton staff and students identified feedback as a key issue, reflecting national and even international students’ dissatisfaction with feedback (evans, 2013). as part of speaq, the website (http://blog.soton.ac.uk/gmoof/) which was created aimed to gather useful resources to help staff and students improve feedback. these resources included interviews with key staff who had been recognised (through the students’ union excellence in teaching award for feedback or the national teaching award for most innovative teacher of the year) for delivering high-quality feedback. the project was supported by the university’s pro vice-chancellor for education. the initial project received positive feedback from the european commission, but it was clear that the topic needed more attention a bigger project would enable the team to gather further resources. a bid was successfully put forward to the university of southampton education enhancement and the new ‘southampton feedback champions’ was born. this project followed the successful model of the i-champions (harvey, 2015) and involved students working as agents of change (“students as agents of change,” jisc, 2011). indeed, with “higher student fees […] changing the relationship between institutions and students”, institutions need to pay more attention to students’ expectations and respond to them in creative ways (“students as agents of change,” jisc, 2011), entering into a partnership with students therefore seems a productive way to involve students in the delivery of their education so that it remains as relevant as possible to their needs as future graduates looking for jobs in an ever-more-challenging jobs market. methodology the new project built on speaq and aimed to explore the creation, collection and application of feedback in a full range of contexts and through a variety of tools and mechanisms with the potential to enhance good feedback practices. students were employed as southampton feedback champions (sfc) to collect and develop further examples of good feedback practice as identified by southampton students and staff. sfcs https://speaqproject.wordpress.com/ http://blog.soton.ac.uk/gmoof/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 were at the heart of the project and took on roles as researchers, project managers, communications officers and conference organisers and speakers. they worked in collaboration with laurence georgin and two senior advisers, who shared (via group training, one-to-one training and mentoring) their expertise in leadership, project management, professional development and resources design. these skills are particularly important for students to develop, as they are not always covered within the curriculum. the intended outcomes of the project were: • a better understanding of the feedback-related issues; • identification of a range of solutions related to these issues; • collection of best practices from all disciplines; • additional feedback-related resources available to staff and students; • increased collaboration between students and staff on learning and teaching issues. during the activities that took place, project participants: • carried out qualitative research with over 100 staff and students; • produced a report, based on the research outcomes, which identifies the causes of feedback-related issues and offers a variety of solutions for students and staff; • collected exemplars of good practice, as identified by academics and students, including practical examples of tools and technologies which can be used to support more effective feedback practices; • developed a website showcasing the project’s findings, resources and the sfcs’ reflective blog; • developed an interactive tool to educate students about what feedback is, what their role in it is and why they should care about it; • established a twitter account and a facebook page promoting the project outcomes; • organised a student-led conference on sharing good feedback practice. research: collecting examples of good practice the sfc research was conducted using an interpretative approach to data collection and analysis. such a method was chosen because project goals required a less rigid approach to interpreting meaning and understanding. data was collected through semi-structured interviews and used a non-probability sampling. to ensure representativeness, each faculty was represented by a team made up of: • one postgraduate (pg) student who played a supervisory role; • two undergraduate (ug) research investigators who conducted the interviews. this composition of teams allowed the research-experienced pg students to introduce research practice to the ugs and mentor them in the best practices of qualitative interviewing. faculty field teams were responsible for a minimum of twelve interviews, with each ug research investigator responsible for interviewing: • two members of the teaching staff; • two pg students; • two ug students. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 the respondent population was reached largely through convenience and random sampling. in an effort to encourage participation, incentives were given to students. pgs ensured the representativeness by making certain that the ugs identified people from different academic disciplines, so that varied perspectives were captured for analysis (flick, 2009). in preparing students for the field, laurence georgin organised two workshops: a leadership workshop for pg students and a data collection/ethics workshop for ug students. two semistructured interview guides (staff and students) of five essential questions were designed by students and llas staff and used by student researchers in the field (flick, 2009). the open-ended construction of these questions was designed to elicit rich data on respondent opinion concerning matters of feedback procedure and delivery (silverman, 2001). moreover, this open-ended construction in most cases led to follow-up questions which captured a wealth of data. interviews were tape-recorded with respondents’ permission and subsequently transcribed (flick, 2009). the raw data was uploaded to a spreadsheet, with separate worksheets for student and staff data. spreadsheet® allowed for easy manipulation of the raw data and thematic analysis was then done in three phases: 1. by respondent group: student or staff; 2. by faculty; 3. per individual question. in the first phase of analysis, the data was analysed by drawing out codes related to each faculty in an effort not to lose any nuanced information from an initial general analysis. for example, students within the medical faculties had required different delivery of feedback from that required by social scientists. following the identification of codes by faculty and question, the data analysis team analysed the results for manifest themes which painted a picture of the efficacy of existing policies or highlighted the disconnect between student and staff need (braun and clarke, 2006). secondly, using the identification of the themes, the analysis team compared faculty-specific staff and student responses for nuanced information on faculty feedback practice and policy. thirdly, staff and student themes generally were analysed separately to monitor trends across campus and all results reported (flick, 2009). 1 list the different ways in which you give feedback 2 what do you think characterises good feedback? and why? 3 what do you expect students to do with the feedback you give them? 4 do you have an example of a good feedback technique you would like to share? (either your own or others’) 5 do you have any suggestions on how feedback practice can be improved? staff questions 1 list the different ways in which you receive feedback 2 what do you think characterises good feedback? and why? 3 what do you do with the feedback? 4 do you have an example of a good feedback technique you came across? and who used it? 5 do you have any suggestions on how feedback practice can be improved? student questions case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 the analysis was carried out by a small group of students (pgs and ugs) and was translated into an initial report, which highlighted the following points:  need for more timely feedback: feedback on one assignment needs to be delivered before submission of the next. once the module has been ‘passed’, students perceive feedback comments as worthless for other modules, which might explain why they do not always collect their transcripts.  fear of engaging with feedback: lack of staff training on how to provide feedback, together with a jaded attitude, often translates into students’ not feeling encouraged to seek feedback, not feeling at ease to discuss it and fearing humiliation.  lack of feedback ‘education’ for students: students are often unaware of the different ways in which feedback is delivered to them, viewing it as merely the written comments on their cover sheet. they also rarely view feedback as a two-way process in which they have a role to play.  lack of staff training: it is felt that there is a lack of training for staff, especially new staff, phd students acting as markers and staff coming from industry. this may result in non-effective feedback being delivered to students and potentially a lack of consistency in marking.  lack of consistency in the delivery of feedback: feedback delivery is very facultyspecific, with some faculties having specified formal practices based on students’ needs and module construction. there is a need for a university-wide feedback culture, which shares good practice and promotes consistency in feedback delivery. the report, supported by references in the field of feedback and assessment (gibbs, 2015; price et al., 2008; sambell, 2011), was then used as a basis for the project’s conclusions and recommendations. these findings may be accessed at http://blog.soton.ac.uk/feedbackchampions/what-is-it/ and are summarised below: fostering a supportive feedback culture the project bel i eves that i n order to i mprove feedback at the uni vers i ty of southampton, we need to fos ter a s upporti ve feedback cul ture, i n whi ch s taff and s tudents recogni s e what effecti ve feedback i s , they feel s afe and comfortabl e to di s cus s i t and they engage equal l y i n the proces s i n order to maxi mi s e thei r potenti al . thi s cul ture i s bas ed on three mai n pri nci pl es : 1. education for all educate s tudents and s taff about effecti ve feedback, the di fferent ways i n whi ch they recei ve i t and thei r rol e wi thi n i t 2. safe communication promote a s afe and comfortabl e envi ronment whi ch nurtures s tudents ’ agency and encourages them to engage wi th s taff i nto a feedback di al ogue 3. active engagement encourage s tudents to take control of thei r l earni ng and s taff to enabl e them to do s o, s o that both can engage i n the feedback proces s and make i t more effecti ve encouraging assessment for learning (afl) as wel l as recommendi ng to fos ter a s upporti ve feedback cul ture to i mprove feedback at uni vers i ty, the project encourages the uni vers i ty to adopt an as s es s ment approach bas ed on as s es s ment for learni ng, where feedback i s key and whi ch vi ews as s es s ment as a way to ‘hel p s tudents i mprove thei r l earni ng’ and enabl e them to become i ndependent l earners for l i fe, and not jus t as a meas uri ng tool whi ch was often referred to i n a negati ve way i n the i ntervi ews carri ed out as part of the project. ongoing evaluation fi nal l y, for thi s feedback cul ture to remai n acti ve and adapted to the needs of i ts members , i t needs to be revi ewed and eval uated regul arl y. thi s can be done vi a mi d-term or end-of-term eval uati on forms , s tudent-s taff commi ttees or the nati onal student survey (nss), whi ch are al l ways to refl ect on teachi ng practi ces and engage s tudents i n the proces s . staff and s tudents al i ke are not maki ng the mos t of thes e opportuni ti es and s houl d be encouraged to do s o. http://blog.soton.ac.uk/feedbackchampions/what-is-it/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 dissemination: translating the report into different messages for different audiences in order to disseminate the project’s findings, the sfcs engaged in a wide range of activities in which the project’s key messages were adapted to the various audiences it addressed. these are described below. website and social media the website (http://blog.soton.ac.uk/feedbackchampions/) was created by a student intern as a tool to share good feedback practice across the university and promote a holistic view of feedback as a continuous dialogue between all members of the university community. it was complemented by a social media presence on youtube, facebook and twitter. including as it does a wide range of best feedback practice, tools and resources for staff and students, it constitutes a central place for all teaching staff, students and professional services to engage with feedback, share good practice and keep the feedback dialogue open. as it proved challenging to find a suitable format for both staff and students, the website underwent various transitions. staff and student events the susu stall the stall allowed for a line of direct conversation with students, as sfcs asked them for their opinion on what makes for excellent feedback and how they could pledge to improve their role in the feedback process. students were almost all shy initially, but the champions’ coaxing, with examples of poor or useful feedback they themselves had received, soon produced many strong opinions about exactly what constitutes fair feedback. the biological sciences drop-in lunch event sfcs also helped to co-host staff events within departments, such as the biological sciences drop-in lunch event, which attracted twenty-one members of staff. the faculty was presented with the project findings: since the event was both stimulating and illustrative, points of discussion were raised by many. some senior lecturers were greatly interested by the project’s findings. the national student survey feedback scores for biological sciences had been somewhat disappointing in the previous years, leading to an overall decline in the department’s national placing, despite the excellent facilities and teaching quality it offers. with the tweaking of the feedback process over the years and the sfcs’ suggestions on potential ways to improve current methods, there ensued a lively debate about the future direction the department should take in improving feedback methods. as direct result, the director of programmes congratulated the members of the project team for the success of the event and informed them of a reinforced feedback policy within the biological sciences department. additionally, lecturers within the department later said that the event had been highly stimulating and popular amongst staff, with the final number in attendance at the event being much higher than average. http://blog.soton.ac.uk/feedbackchampions/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 conference the conference was well attended, with around seventy participants, including staff and students, even though there had been a worry that students would not be interested in spending a day talking about feedback. keynote speakers included key names in the field of assessment and feedback, such as tansy jessops from the university of winchester, as well as senior education managers at the university and, of course, the feedback champions, who planned the day, delivered a talk and managed the afternoon group discussions with all the delegates. as students attending the conference, sfcs were pleasantly surprised and quite impressed. furthermore, as part of the organising team, they were really proud to be there because it had been laid out in a professional manner and many staff members were present; it was pleasantly reassuring to see that the staff cared about improving feedback practices, despite what students might sometimes think. sfcs were also very proud to have been members of the team that made the conference happen. in the afternoon group discussions, five teams of two feedback champions worked with groups of staff and students on each table and talked honestly about feedback. it might have been the first time that many staff members really understood what sometimes infuriates students about feedback. for students, it was definitely the first time they realised that staff too had problems with feedback. the staff seemed interested and openly pursued ideas about finding new and more interactive ways of communicating with students. it was enlightening and it gave a great platform for honest communication between the two bodies. as a result, the conference was a success. one student participant commented: “the conference was amazing. i’m a student and it actually helped me get more insight of what to expect from my feedback!” video to further publicise the sfcs’ project, a video was compiled by three of the student champions. it was created in collaboration with the university’s institute for learning innovation and development (iliad). the aim was to create a vibrant visual resource to increase awareness of the project amongst university staff and students, as well as amongst a wider audience. before making the video, the three students worked together to come up with an effective script that would, within the set time limit, portray the numerous aspects of the project; they brainstormed ideas on keeping the video dynamic to sustain viewers’ interest. this proved to be a challenge, as all three had limited experience in script-writing or video-making, but, with a little guidance from media staff in iliad, the task was soon accomplished. after introducing the project and providing a brief background to the southampton feedback champions initiative, the team focused on defining what good feedback is and highlighted the key findings from the data collection process, in the hope of making a positive change to feedback exchange within the university. they also included future events and outlined resources available for both staff and students to enrich their educational experience. the video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwln6alkbje. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwln6alkbje case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 for sfcs, working on this video project, being able to voice students’ reflections on the feedback process and communicating those to members of staff, the very people responsible for providing the feedback, was an invaluable experience. it enabled them to work as change agents (dunne et al, 2011; healey, 2012), allowing them to voice opinions and views, not only their own, but those too of fellow students, in the hope of bringing about a constructive change in the feedback-giving and -receiving culture within the university. interactive tool for students using articulate storyline over the summer, and again in collaboration with a multimedia developer from iliad, a southampton excel placement intern produced the final project resource. this new interactive tool is designed for students to get to grips with feedback at university and is called ‘feedback for success – everything you need to know about feedback’. the tool is available at http://www.edshare.soton.ac.uk/14842/1/story.html and includes the following sections: • why students should bother about feedback • the different types of feedback • understanding difficult feedback • using feedback to improve your grades • academic appeals explained • using peer feedback • further resources the tool is intended to inform students about feedback in an easily accessible format and in one place, giving them the ability to improve their learning experience. the future: the challenge of embedding good practice to conclude, the outcomes stated at the beginning of this paper have been achieved. the project has produced a better understanding of the reasons why feedback was not always working for our students and we have gathered many examples of good practice aiming to resolve the issue. however, embedding good practice across the whole institution will be challenging. the bottom-up approach, on which the project was based, was a fantastic way to identify good practice across the institution, but it has its limitations and needs to receive an institutional push to support the culture change it suggests if it is to go beyond being merely a repository of university-wide good practice initiated by passionate educators. thankfully, the pro vice-chancellor for education has tasked a group of senior people to start a reflection on assessment, in order to identify ways to transform assessment and, particularly, its frequency, as a means of improving feedback as a result. additionally, a new professor specialising in assessment and feedback was recently appointed to the school of education. they are carrying on the conversation left open by the sfc project and are organising a series of discussions about feedback and assessment, one of which will showcase a small-scale trial carried out as a result of the sfc project. the trial was done in collaboration with a lecturer and aimed at implementing peer feedback and self-assessment as part of an existing module. the theme was chosen specifically as it had been highlighted and recommended as good practice by the sfc project. it was a success with students who took part and they gave such extremely positive feedback as: http://www.edshare.soton.ac.uk/14842/1/story.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 “peer feedback was really useful! i wish we did it more in other modules.” “having to comment on other students’ work made us really integrate the assessment criteria which was useful for our own work.” “we received guidance on how to give feedback to peers so it was not as daunting as it could have been.” “self-assessment (appraisal-type marking) was useful as you know what you’re going to be marked on so you know what to focus on. of course it helps to have a look at the criteria in advance because if you comment on them at the last minute, you realise everything you haven’t done but by that time it’s too late.” these comments show that the project has started having a direct impact on teaching practice and student satisfaction and that things are beginning to change, with concrete actions being taken in order to improve feedback across the university, even if the process may be slow. however, as trowler et al (2003) suggest, ‘cultural change takes time’ and, although the sfc project has not achieved a complete cultural change, it has moved in the right direction and sent ripples across the institution, which might in time result in the culture change which was hoped for at the start of the initiative. nonetheless, the project gave a fantastic opportunity to many students to be involved in institutional change and to have a direct impact on their university’s practices. for many of them, it was the first time that they could go beyond voicing their opinion and become agents of change, while simultaneously discovering what happens ‘behind the scenes’ of educational practices. through their experience as champions, many of them felt more empowered. they also recognised that the experience had contributed to making them more employable, something which, in today’s increasingly competitive jobs market, is undeniably an advantage for students. finally, the project was recently highlighted by the pro vicechancellor for education in the times higher education (havergal, 2015), as an example of good practice within the university. this is very encouraging, as it shows that the work carried out by the sfcs has been valued at the highest level of their institution. reference list braun, v. and clarke, v. (2006) ‘using thematic analysis in psychology.’ qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. dunne, e., zandstra, r., brown, t. and nurser, t. (2011) students as change agents: new ways of engaging with learning and teaching in higher education. available at: http://escalate.ac.uk/downloads/8242.pdf (accessed: 22 april 2016). evans, c. (2013) ‘making sense of assessment feedback in higher education.’ review of educational research, 83, 70-120. flick, u. (2009) an introduction to qualitative research. los angeles, ca: sage publications. http://escalate.ac.uk/downloads/8242.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 gibbs, g. (2015) making feedback on assignments effective: principles and guidance for tutors. available at: http://www.testa.ac.uk/index.php/resources/best-practiceguides/category/7-best-practice-guides# (accessed: 22 april 2016). harvey, f. (2015) ichamps at the university of southampton. available at: https://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2015/02/ds38-ichamps-at-the-university-ofsouthampton.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2015). havergal, c. (2015) ‘should students be partners in curriculum design?’ times higher education (the), 17 december 2015. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/should-students-be-partners-in-curriculumdesign. (accessed: 7 february 2016). healey, m. (2012) ‘students as change agents.’ in: international society for the scholarship of teaching and learning conference. available at: http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/students-as-change-agents-handout.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2015). jisc. (2011) students as agents of change. available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/students-as-agents-of-change-29-jun-2011 (accessed: 30 october 2015). price, m., o’donovan, b., rust, c. and carroll, j. (2008) ‘assessment standards: a manifesto for change.’ brookes ejournal of learning and teaching. available at: http://bejlt.brookes.ac.uk/paper/assessment_standards_a_manifesto_for_change-2/ (accessed: 16 july 2015). sambell, k. (2011) rethinking feedback in higher education: an assessment for learning perspective. bristol: hea subject centre for education, university of bristol. trowler, p., saunders, m. and knight, p. (2003) ‘change thinking, change practices: a guide to change for heads of department, programme leaders and other change agents in higher education.’ available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/id262_change_thinking_change_practices.p df (accessed: 9 february 2016). http://www.testa.ac.uk/index.php/resources/best-practice-guides/category/7-best-practice-guides http://www.testa.ac.uk/index.php/resources/best-practice-guides/category/7-best-practice-guides https://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2015/02/ds38-ichamps-at-the-university-of-southampton.pdf https://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2015/02/ds38-ichamps-at-the-university-of-southampton.pdf https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/should-students-be-partners-in-curriculum-design https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/should-students-be-partners-in-curriculum-design http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/students-as-change-agents-handout.pdf http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/students-as-change-agents-handout.pdf https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/students-as-agents-of-change-29-jun-2011 http://bejlt.brookes.ac.uk/paper/assessment_standards_a_manifesto_for_change-2/ https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/id262_change_thinking_change_practices.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/id262_change_thinking_change_practices.pdf editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 welcome to our twelfth issue of compass: journal of learning and teaching . this issue of compass reflects key current issues affecting higher education: observation of teaching, e -learning (with particular reference to flipped classrooms) and methodology designed to develop broad student skillsets to enhance employability. the issue also focuses upon ways of meeting the needs of ‘nontraditional’ students, explores a student champion approach to improving staff -to-student feedback and celebrates an occasion devoted to the creation of mobile phone apps. in the context of the teaching excellence framework, martin compton’s opinion piece about the use of observation of teaching in higher education weighs up both adverse and favourable methods, drawing on the further education experience. the linkage between observation as a part of appraisal and government determination to eliminate poor teaching is not, in his opinion, likely to produce pedagogical improvement, marginalising as it does peer and developmental observation practices. far from adopting a confrontational stance, however, he explores various studies of observation approaches that are not about grading performance but instead focus upon delivery and impact rather than the person, or involve more than just two participants. the potential benefits to both observed and observers are clear; within a non-judgemental and properly-resourced framework, developmental observation has much to offer he institutions keen to improve the quality of teaching and learning. a closely-related paper by zeynep kacmaz about the peer observation of teaching, specificall y in the less-researched area of e-learning, presents some of the challenges faced in monitoring practice and ensuring high standards in the delivery of online teaching and learning, its virtual nature and the fact that many staff are often home-based and ‘associate’ both militating against effective observation methods. the thorough examination of a cross-section of uk universities and interviews with academics reveals an inconsistent application of peer observation of e-teaching/learning, at a time when online learning is becoming ever more sophisticated (virtual learning environments are now ubiquitous in higher education) and teachers are needing to adapt to very different environments and roles in the context of blended, distance and open learning optio ns. having painted a fascinating picture of the current situation, the paper concludes that much research still needs to be done and suggests a range of potential macroand micro-level studies to address the reprofessionalisation of teachers in this area, to achieve promotion of best practice and to improve the quality of teaching. several contributors to this issue of compass have found themselves much exercised by the realities of institutional virtual learning environments and provide their take on experiences of e -learning and flipped practices: adele atkinson’s case study of the application of a flipped classroom to a six -week healthcare professionals’ module finds that there are some real benefits to collaborative, enquirybased/problem-based learning sessions when all participants have, in their own time, adequately explored the available online resources and activities. the case study makes clear the importance both of students’ digital skills and of the quality of the materials they are accessing; additionally, the tutors’ roles as facilitators and questioners are key to successful face -to-face sessions. participants’ previous passive learning experiences may be a barrier to this much more active approach; in future, she intends to provide students with a preliminary rationale to overcome that and also to develop colleagues’ questioning skills to improve the problem-based learning in module sessions. another exploration of flipped-classroom methods by alan dix involved the reuse of mooc video materials and the fine-grain analytics provided by a new universal media player. his account of his first steps in flipping the classroom points to the necessity of very diverse ways of using materials to editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 meet student needs and to the advantages, thanks to the analytics, both of targeted feedback to students and (for the academic, very much accountable) a comforting sense of control over learning. the mooc materials, intended to be read or watched unsupervised online, proved to be very suitable for student access prior to face -to-face activities, though he does refer to students’ own concerns about off-campus internet availability and insufficiently powerful personal computers. a third piece about flipped learning by katie stripe considers the responses garnered from an audience at the university of greenwich apt2015 conference to the question ‘is flipped learning a challenge, an opportunity or a necessity?’ she suggests that digital and oral expression, as evident in mentimeter and verbal responses to specific questions, reflects a contrast in individuals’ preferences for either technological or person-to-person communication in the learning/teaching context; this is emblematic of the institutional gulf between those teachers who resist and those who readily embrace digital technology. institutions must, she says, have consistency of policy and provide good pedagogical and technological support. the sharing of good practice is fundamental to achieving both general acceptance of, and high standards in, flipped learning. a fourth paper on this theme by sue watling presents some preliminary findings from a three-year action research project into that very matter of staff reluctance to move from face -to-face to eand blended-learning practices. the project led to the establishment of teleda (teaching and learning in a digital age) course for aspiring e-teachers, itself entirely interactive and collaborative. she argues that e-teaching must be made explicit and that teachers must have the necessary technical and pedagogical knowledge to create effective (i.e. activity-based) online learning environments. putting teleda participants into an experiential course design context resulted in their increased empathy with their own students and increased the likelihood of their consistent adoption of digital practices. fundamentally, the shift needs to be from a technology-training to a teacher-education model. two papers consider the power of particular approaches to learning, both of them at the university of greenwich: in the faculty of education and health, jim gritton, jill stewart, charlotte jeavons, nevin mehmet, and vincent la placa explore how using film to stimulate discussion amongst public health, wellbeing and leadership students has proved efficacious in developing their sensitivity, understanding and powers of empathy, to enhance their future work as prof essional practitioners. outlining the approach provides a substantial amount of academic evidence to support the educational and stimulation value of viewing film from health and leadership perspectives and describes the authors’ workshop to offer best practice methodology to teaching colleagues. close focus on the possibilities of one specific film, erin brockovich, demonstrates how teachers might apply the approach to their own disciplines and offers some clear insights into the issues involved. angela byrne’s case study focuses on the introduction of podcasting on an undergraduate history course as a means of learning and assessment. it intended to foster a range of student skills as well as diversifying assessment methods, with both formative peer and summative lecturer feedback. the podcast not only presented students’ original research; it enhanced their digital and communication expertise, highly relevant to employability. student feedback was largely positive. she describes refinements to be incorporated to enhance it for the future. helping students (especially those from non-traditional backgrounds and those who are the first in their families to undertake higher education) to access education and find their way into employment presents considerable challenge. editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 one case study by noel-ann bradshaw describes how the greenwich graduate work experience scheme (gwes) enabled a graduate i ntern with film experience to help combat student apprehensions about the graduate job application process; she selected students, trained them in film-making and got them to use their own ideas in several videos which they created on cv s, extracurricular activities, mentoring and placements. the case study includes student comments about the skills and confidence acquired during the project and demonstrates how film and film -making represent a decidedly effective way of allowing real insight into the stages of preparing for, seeking and acquiring a relevant graduate post. another paper by melanie thorley and clifton kandler reviews and explores the effectiveness of lecture capturing at the university of greenwich, specifically its own cross-faculty application of the panopto system as a means of supporting disabled and non -traditional students who may not be able to access education equally with their peers. the trial threw up significant benefits, as the system operates on personal electronic equipment, al lowing for live-streaming, replaying and searching of recorded lectures/presentations and adjustment of fonts and colours. thus the approach can meet the needs of students with diverse abilities, but there are implications for institutions, which may need to address such matters as staff skills/awareness and legal and policy issues. the paper considers also the system’s potential at a time of cuts to student disability allowances for a reduction in the need for in-class notetakers. all in all, the advantage s win the day. cornelia boldyreff, yasmine arafa, asif malik, andrew wicks, and gillian windall cover the bcs appathon events at the university of greenwich, one of several uk locations collectively aiming to engage in one hour as many people as possible i n producing a mobile phone app. the authors describe the method, the software and the outcomes. very much the brainchild of bcswomen and with creation rather than consumption at its heart, the day not only drew a wide age range of people, but also triggered the idea of exposing first-year students of computer and information sciences to the appathon experience; as ambassadors, these students might then go out to schools to generate programming interest there. twenty-seven student ‘champions’ at the university of southampton acted as change agents in a project designed to improve the quality, practice and culture of feedback from staff to students. a thorough portrayal of the multi-faceted, cross-discipline project is provided in a case study by laurence georgin, kristina stewart, rebecca wainwright, rameesha anwar and abisola tina hammed shows how a much better understanding of why feedback didn’t work well for students was achieved. the paper contains references to some useful transferable resources, such as a video and interactive tool, and clearly describes the various means by which the project’s findings were disseminated. though the case study suggests that embedding good practice will be challenging and will need institutional resolve, there are encouraging signs that, at southampton, things are moving in the right direction. we hope that you enjoy reading these thought provoking accounts, discussing the ideas raised with colleagues, and help continue to extend the conversations concerning teaching and learning by submitting to our future issues. danielle tran editor educational development unit, university of greenwich compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation – multiculturalism in a ‘british’ university business classroom setting jon a. wilson business school introduction the following is a conceptual paper, reflecting on the author’s own experiences whilst lecturing in marketing at london universities and, as a marketing professional. in addition, it provides current, supporting academic literature with the aim of stimulating further thinking and discussion. finally, the paper offers suggestions for future activities that could be implemented in order to further address some of the issues raised. there is an assertion that whilst multiculturalism has been embraced by british academic institutions and is actively encouraged, many of the day-to-day practices leave room for improvement. within both education and industry, there appears to be a gap, whereby a potentially passive and sporadic transmission of multicultural values to the respective parties exists. this has lead to a sub optimisation of various learning experiences which have, in some instances, contributed towards a breakdown in communication; or, at their worst, resulted in a loss of confidence. it appears that this gap is more prevalent when interacting with individuals across cultures or in culturally diverse settings. the position held is that an appreciation and active encouragement towards embracing multiculturalism, by both students and lecturers, is critical to the future long-term success of business education. the suggestion therefore is that lecturers should increase their efforts towards championing multiculturalism and embedding it within the formative aspects of their roles. a useful analogy would be one of a lecturer being like a conductor of an orchestra. to this end, it is hoped that this paper will be useful in its contribution towards a platform for both future empirical research and educational activities. culture appears to play a formative role in the educational process. however, the way in which culture impacts on a classroom setting, across nationalities, appears to differ. in support of this, charlesworth (2008) asserts the following: ‘if one accepts that culture is “a certain commonality of meaning, customs and rules (not a homogeneous entity) shared by a certain group of people and setting a complex framework for learning and development” (trommsdorf and dasen, 2001, p. 3004) then one cannot deny the connection between culture and learning…furthermore systematic differences found in the way in getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 2 which classrooms function in different parts of the world can be largely linked to cultural differences’ (crahay, 1996). having established this, there appear inherent differences and difficulties encountered when individuals from more than one culture enter the same educational setting. this paper attempts to reflect on these perceived gaps by reviewing existing literature and drawing from the author’s own, personal experiences. background before writing this article, i sat down and collated a list of the various student nationalities that i could remember teaching last year. normally at the start of a new course, as part of an ice breaker, i ask students to tell one another something about themselves. the reason offered being, that getting to know each other better, will benefit the whole class. after their name, the next piece of information usually provided is nationality or cultural ethnicity. culture within the classroom is perceived by students as being: ■ appropriate to disclose ■ relevant to the course ■ a significant defining factor of their own identity ■ something which would be of interest to the rest of the class. upon reviewing my notes, i was amazed by the fact that i had managed to reach a grand total of eighty separate or combined nationalities. it also became apparent that i could easily expect to encounter up to thirty different nationalities in any one class. in addition, within each country there are regional differences, mixed parentage family units, a host of different religious denominations and many other significant differentiating factors. these cultural phenomena are further compounded by the fact that we, as individuals, are increasingly complex in defining our own cultural identities as a result of our various interactions. reflecting on these facts, my initial feelings were those of pride, quickly followed by a flood of questions: ■ how did we all get along? ■ were the students as impressed by this fact as me? ■ did cultural ethnicity have any effect on the way in which we all interacted – and was it seen as a valuable experience by all, or a hindrance? ■ how have we as lecturers changed, if at all, how we handle these situations? ■ what could i do in the future to take advantage of these opportunities, both academically and commercially to the benefit the university? ■ is this cultural diversity so complex that it would be better to ignore it altogether in the classroom? corporate culture and multiculturalism within business taking my cue from industry, my feeling is that cultural diversity has to be both examined and actively used for competitive advantages no matter how difficult this is. the adage often quoted in business in connection with globalisation is, ‘ignore it at your peril’. this caveat seems to suggest that managing culture, at the very least, could point towards it being a ‘hygiene’ factor – in that an getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 3 improvement would remove dissatisfaction, but would not elicit positive motivation in itself (hertzberg et al., 1959). before moving into education, my career had been in advertising. this grounding was one which seemed to revolve around the following mantras: ■ confidence is key and is built on good preparation and sound knowledge ■ if you don’t believe it, they won’t! ■ communicate as often as you can, in as many ways as possible; but make sure you let them speak! ■ find a way to gather as much information as you can. no fact is too trivial! ■ build rapport and build up goodwill ■ handle objections and manage expectations at the earliest opportunity ■ do the simple things well, and then deliver the added value. ■ not everything that you hear is what they think ■ even a complaint can be converted into a buying signal and a happy customer ■ everything that you do has to have a gain, which is clear to all involved ■ make notes on everything! within this context, culture was generally restricted in its definition to being a management component, which both assumed and encouraged participants to create a universally, tenable, working environment. this being the case, cultural ethnicity seemed only to become of significance either if problems arose or if it presented a commercial gain. from this perspective, it could be argued that any explicitly derived knowledge and understanding may tend towards being superficial, sporadic, or at its worst exploitative. as a result, there tended to be individuals who championed cultural ethnicity and those who did not. in accepting this, it appeared to present uncoordinated or short-term benefits to only select parties. these thoughts brought my attention back to the starting point of this discussion. namely, culture seems to be increasingly more significant and what can be done to address this issue? further to this, the most incisive and meaningful components of culture appear to be rooted in largely implicit drivers which can lead to complications. the utilisation of these truly valuable cultural traits, also hinges on the successful acquisition of tacit knowledge. therefore a critical success actor rests in managing the transfer of this knowledge. nonaka (1991), when looking at how tacit knowledge can be converted into the explicit, suggested that it is a process of ‘finding a way to express the inexpressible’, concluding that: ‘unfortunately, one of the most powerful management tools for doing so is frequently overlooked: the store of figurative language and symbolism that managers can draw from to articulate their intuitions and insight. at japanese companies, this evocative and sometimes extremely poetic language figures especially prominently in product development.’ multiculturalism within business education getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 4 as education draws upon both language and symbolism, it is felt that these sentiments can be carried through and applied to great effect. in addition, this would appear to be especially worthwhile when trying to decipher and cater for a diverse group of stakeholders in the interests of unification. as a result of his analysis of egyptian and uk senior managers in education, humphreys (1996) suggested that systems from the western world ‘may need to be modified and adapted in order to fit the value, culture, expectations and practices of other, particularly developing countries.’ as he said, ‘it is perhaps a reflection of the possible complexity of such a task that produces the pragmatic but erroneous view that management principles are universal and therefore directly transferable to overseas projects.’ whilst most students within university are not senior managers, they can be seen to have comparable traits. they have to undertake decision making and critical thinking as both individuals and in groups, which carry with them accountability and a formal assessment of their achievements. it would be reasonable therefore to assume that a significant proportion of students coming to the uk are likely to be unable to: ■ completely adapt, or suppress their preference for an educational environment similar to their host culture’s, at least in part ■ fully take advantage of a british learning style without both willingness on their part and continual explicit support. i have tried to draw from these collective experiences in my approach to education, in an attempt to formulate a unique selling point and measurable critical success factor. cultural acclimatisation and orientation at university whilst cultural diversity is reflected within student cohorts and academic material, a gap, or at the very least a difference of opinion, seems to exist in how affairs should be conducted within the classroom. a strong culture appears to prevail that, a british institution should pride itself on delivering a ‘british’ approach to education, providing a unique selling point. in addition, one could argue that we are in britain and that is what students expect and desire (or at least should do?). following this, a lecturer may find himself asking: ■ how does this experience map to the consumer, in our case, the student? ■ can we do anything better? ■ what needs to happen in the future? i have had discussions and encountered points of view which have suggested that in countries like italy, china and saudi arabia, amongst others, their styles tend towards ‘rote learning’ and compliance from students. this then begs the question, how do you guide someone through an alternative process, which rewards constructive debate, difference of opinion and honest, documented reflection in a manner that has been termed as being distinctly british? and following this, once someone from another cultural frame of reference has become involved in this process, do they still feel at ease with, or even wish for, this type of environment? getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 5 on paper, all students have successfully satisfied the entrance requirements for a course and so, in theory, should be well equipped to succeed equally. however, in practice, research, personal experiences and conversations with colleagues would suggest that there still appear to be noticeable differences, often sweepingly attributed to ‘cultural differences’. what are the practical implications of all of this? after all, it seems that the wider public is engrossed in trying to answer the same underlying principles when looking to forge increased community cohesion. following the same train of thought as stated by nonaka (1991) previously, which points towards british culture, like any other, usually relying upon the implicit, tacit and inductive transition of the most valuable aspects of its cultural norms: ■ what cultural aspects are significant in an educational setting? ■ which should be of significance? ■ how does their implicit transmission occur? ■ what remains tacit and who is party to this? ■ can these processes be improved and enjoyed by more? ■ can they be converted into more explicit methods? these challenges seem to be compounded by the fact that at university, we trust that students have already acquired many of the softer skills associated with these processes. in addition, with such limited contact time, there are limitations on how much time can be devoted to these aspects. therefore the onus lies on students to undertake much of this evaluation themselves. this requires self-regulation on their part, embarking on a journey of self-diagnosis, with taking the initiative to seek help when needed. the challenge of a 360° appraisal of university culture within business, companies are able to evaluate culture through audits. they attempt to draw from a mixture of hard and soft factors, which range from: a demonstration of associated financial gains, or cost saving, investors in people status, compliance with equality and diversity legislation, and stakeholder satisfaction, amongst others. however when it comes to evaluating the student experience, in connection with culture and ethnicity in education, there appear to be added challenges. there is not always a clear method by which its importance can be picked up, positioned or assessed. this could be due to the following factors: ■ human resources and marketing functions are largely involved in this process ■ human resources only cater for employees. therefore, as students are not employees, they fall outside of their remit ■ marketing has little contact with students, once they have enrolled ■ it becomes difficult to position students within this existing framework. whilst students are perceived as being customers, their duty of care mainly transfers to lecturers; who are not involved in any formal cultural audit processes. ■ the championing of cultural diversity is perhaps seen as being self-evident, in the reflection of the diverse backgrounds the students present. one might also ask how is it possible to evaluate, not to mention reward, participants’ championing of culture. after all, the same objectives could be met, without addressing these issues. namely, the same course material is transmitted and students endeavour to attain the grades on offer. the initial getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 6 terms of engagement focus on a university provide a degree course and a student meeting its various, academic requirements. ownership of cultural ethnicity seems to remain the property of the individual and is secondary to subject content. the arguments posed in response to this are that cultural appreciation is: ■ a ‘hygiene factor’ at the very least ■ or, more than a ‘hygiene factor’ and therefore able to enrich the classroom environment ■ beneficial in having long term strategic gains ■ potentially able to reduce future problems; which may become a drain on university resources. therefore, this field necessitates a collective investment of time and effort, for what could be seen as a largely, but not exclusively, delayed gratification in spite of any difficulties faced. diversity and equality for all? a further point of concern resides in the issues highlighted within a 54 page report compiled by the equality challenge unit (2009), comprising a review of current literature and empirical data. it paints a less favourable picture, resulting from the views held by black and minority ethnic (bme) professionals in higher education, in which a significant proportion of them state that they have experienced racism and/or racial discrimination. mirroring this, the experiences of students seem to suggest that there is a ‘growing gap in attainment between white, black and asian students’ (shepherd, 2009). furthermore, there also appears to be a ‘disturbing racial divide among universities’ (curtis, 2006), with macleod (2009) reporting that in 2009, ‘just five students of black caribbean origin started at oxford this year; at cambridge there are eight’. these comments suggest that the pull to address issues surrounding multiculturalism and the allocation of resources may not be comparable across institutions. following this, with such scrutiny and media attention surrounding these issues, this subject is likely to generate added suspicion and perhaps a vote of no-confidence amongst some bme students and professionals which can only be overcome through persistent efforts and increased resources over a longer timeframe. culture, but at what cost? crossley and watson (2003, p35) highlight that educational institutions have become increasingly motivated primarily by financial objectives, when looking to research culture in connection with learning. whilst this is a necessary activity, if it is at the expense of a more classical interpretation of the role of education, which has little to do with the pursuit of profits, it may pose serious long-term problems to an education institution by: ■ potentially prejudicing academic thinking ■ hampering the encouragement of free thought ■ failing to unearth meaningful insight into culture and learning, if they appear not to be financially profitable ■ going against the academic principle of understanding culture in connection with learning. in that it is a necessary part of ensuring the preservation of a pure transmission of knowledge. getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 7 culture within the classroom holden (2002) reviewed existing cross-cultural management and anthropological frameworks to suggest that managing across cultures is: ‘the art of combining varieties of common knowledge through interactive translation. in order to develop this modified concept of cross-cultural management, it will be necessary to come to an understanding of translation both as a process and as an analogy’ (p. 227). within this he appraised the role of language, concluding that it can be seen metaphorically with ‘its symbolic powers serving to unite people with a sense of common purpose. seen in this way, language is a very potent expression of company wisdom, lore and vision’ (p. 236). sulkowski and deakin (2009) assert that, ‘historically, education has taken the premise that all students are equally capable of learning regardless of ethnic background, social class or cultural origin’. however, their findings suggest that ‘the question of why non-native students in the uk still seem to be underperforming becomes somewhat inconvenient’. they conclude that a solution to this problem is dependent on lecturers making students aware of their intellectual abilities and then developing them. asmar (2005) supports this view by claiming that greater cultural understanding and sensitivity to differences are necessary pursuits for uk lecturers. however, asmar goes on to state that this is hampered by some, due to perception that these students are a problem. day-to-day practical experiences and approaches a cornerstone of my approach has been to champion cultural ethnicity within my subject material and classroom. taking the lead from my experiences and training in advertising, i have reframed a student as oscillating somewhere between a key accounts client and a management trainee. attempts to find out the backgrounds of my students and then match class material to their significant cultural frames of reference appear to have been well received. an essential part of this is being able to distil and crystallise both the similarities and differences between cultures and then map them to the subject wherever possible. our endeavours are eased by the fact that education in the uk is transmitted through one language, namely english. however, this should not be a premise for putting the onus on multi-lingual and culturally diverse students to conform completely to the norms of the english speaking lecturer. there should still be a continuous, collective appraisal of the more symbolic and metaphoric elements of language. in order to assist in the process, business thinking has borrowed from other disciplines such as psychotherapy and nlp (neuro linguistic programming), e.g. bandler and grinder (1975). i have also tried to address some of these issues by breaking down potential barriers and opposition, by selling the benefits of diversity and demonstrating as much in my behaviour. within the classroom, i aim to make great efforts to pronounce peoples’ names as they wish them to be pronounced, share anecdotes of my encounters with different cultures and have even tried to learn the odd phrase in different languages. this has had the effect of creating an environment of cultural curiosity, which i have then used to highlight and transmit the essentials and peculiarities of british getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 8 academic culture, to hopefully fill gaps and impart significant elements that would assist students in their studies. this approach draws strongly from methodologies present in social sciences and relationship marketing and services literature, suggesting that if benevolence is implicitly signalled with ‘a caring attitude and personal commitment’, the customer will reciprocate ‘seeking repeated interactions and disclose information… if this seems natural’ hansen (2003). students are increasingly being viewed as a customer of sorts, baker (2008), sellgren (2009). whilst this remains contentious – especially from the perspective of a lecturer, as quality of delivery and service does not necessarily guarantee student satisfaction, it appears that students are becoming more and more comfortable with defining themselves as such. the delivery of this customer orientation has posed challenges when orchestrating assessed group work activities. a common dilemma lies when addressing the question of whether it is more fruitful for students to work with people from the same cultural backgrounds, or whether to attempt to encourage them to work with people from different backgrounds. from both an academic and a long-term professional perspective the answer would have to be the latter. however, in the short term, with the pressures of students wanting to achieve good grades in as painless a way as possible, they may more often than not, opt for the former. as a result, i have often put this question to students, presenting the merits of both sides. by empowering students to make an informed decision in this process, the aim has been to expose them to another facet of business whilst presenting a democratic and transparent process. this is designed to tie them into a psychological contract, which is also part of a process on my part to manage both their expectations and accountability through inclusion. with more international students in the classroom, lecturing and providing business case examples, which all parties are able to understand and interpret to the same degree and in a comparable fashion, can present a challenge. this is especially problematic when setting more practical marketing assessments, which rely upon accessing current market data. for example; the nuances associated with broadsheet versus tabloid newspapers and their reliability; or the difference between commercial broadcasters and the bbc, in terms of carrying paid for advertising and product placement. this has necessitated my spending additional time introducing students to these marketing channels and at times, almost giving them a crash course on popular culture. this includes explanations surrounding slang and the fact that words like ‘wicked’ and ‘sick’ may have very different meanings, depending on the context. by contrast, within formal, academic writing there remains one acceptable interpretation. these facts are crucial, as in advertising, language is often reflective of its target audience. however, it is not always apparent to some students that this does not render such syntax and definitions acceptable for general academic usage. the secondary effect from all of these collaborative activities is that through students’ contributions, it is felt that their own cultural norms should permeate processes (figure 1). the idea being that collaborative acculturation should set the agenda in harnessing diversity and preserving knowledge transfer. without such appreciation and pro-activity, it is possible that the diversity of cultures would stagnate learning plunging it into being passive shallow recall-based understanding. the long-term implications are that all parties involved, from the lecturer to the student, experience a hampered knowledge transfer and leave with less intellectual capital than could have been attained. getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 9 figure 1: collaborative acculturation – leading the agenda in harnessing diversity and preserving knowledge transfer. conclusions rowley (1996) states that ‘most staff gain gratification from working with students and witnessing the achievement and development of those students. this is associated with having a professional pride in their work.’ in addition, the view as stated in this paper asserts that lecturers should not overlook their own development and learning. the conclusions therefore are as follows: ■ lecturers should initiate, facilitate and control knowledge in the classroom ■ collectively, an environment should be created, in which two-way knowledge transfer can occur ■ cultural understanding is cited as being an active and essential component, when looking to appraise the successful execution of strategic objectives ■ culture has to play a role in the educational process and its normalisation and understanding can only occur when it is actively addressed and continually reviewed by all parties ■ culture, if competently and sincerely harnessed, has the potential with its associated trappings, to deliver academic and commercial gains ■ increased long-term gratification, attained from achievement and development, can be experienced by both students and lecturers through further developing meaningful relationships in which culture plays a part. future agenda setting and suggestions getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 10 following the identification and acceptance of this approach, a more inclusive curriculum design could be achieved by a further allocation of resources. workshops, discussions and empirical research should be conducted, in order to formalise a basis for action. in addition, involvement and knowledge transfer to the wider community is necessary in order to achieve a broad base of collective co-operation and normalisation. in this process, universities should attempt to liaise more closely with schools and industry, across geographic boundaries using the pursuit of an education in english, as a unifying factor. many societies and those in the education and industry sector have signed up to this philosophy, though perhaps at times passively. however, what remains paramount is the continual pursuit of trying to address these issues by filling in any gaps practically. these require at their inception sound, value-based judgements and a conducive environment. lecturers should see themselves as being central in this role, as they are both academics and the educators of future business people. a useful analogy is one of a lecturer being like a conductor of an orchestra. this is especially crucial as english is the lingua franca of business and an increasingly diverse audience of students arrives on british shores in their pursuit of excellence. as a side point, universities in the united states and australia have attempted to address some of these challenges, through offering a range of arts courses in non-connected disciplines. in addition, these courses have counted towards a student’s final degree mark. it is not uncommon for business students to take courses in art appreciation, comparative religion or classical music, for example. this approach could be investigated and piloted initially, through offering non-assessed additional short courses. in order to encourage student attendance and participation these courses could be linked with: ■ opportunities to engage with industry ■ relevant internships ■ personal skills courses ■ career development workshops. ultimately, the fruits of these initiatives are our students. in what can be described increasingly as a commercial service-based industry, students are our customers, our ambassadors and our future academics. the focus therefore should be to manage this process in a manner which reflects their needs and those of industry. references asmar, c. (2005) culture and pedagogy – international comparisons in primary education. oxford: blackwell. baker, m. (2008) students: customers or learners?. bbc news online, education section, saturday 21 june 2008. available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7466279.stm, (accessed 3 november 2009). bandler, r. and grinder, j. (1975) the structure of magic i: a book about language and therapy. palo alto, usa: syntony publishing. charlesworth, z. m. (2008) learning styles across cultures: suggestions for educators. education + training, 50(2): 115–127. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7466279.stm getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation 11 crahay, m. (1996) l’art et la science de l’enseignement. bruxelles: editions labor. crossley, m. and watson, k. (2003) comparative and international research in education – globalisation, context and difference. london: routledge falmer. curtis, p. (2006) segregation, 2006 style. guardian.co.uk, tuesday 3 january. online. available at www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/jan/03/raceineducation.highereducation, (accessed 3 november 2009). equality challenge unit (2009) the experience of black and minority ethnic staff working in higher education. online. available at www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/experience-of-bme-staff-in-he, (accessed 3 november 2009). hansen, h. (2003) antecedents to consumers’ disclosing intimacy with service employees. journal of services marketing, 17(6). hertzberg, f. mausner, b. and snyderman, b.b. (1959) the motivation to work. new york: wiley. holden, n. j. (2002) cross-cultural management – a knowledge management perspective. harlow, essex: pearson education ltd. humphreys, m. (1996) cultural difference and its effect on the management of technical education. leadership & organization development journal, 17(2): 34–41. macleod, d. (2009) oxbridge universities fail to enrol ethnic minority students.guardian.co.uk, thursday 12 march. online. available at www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/12/oxford ethnic-minority, (accessed 3 november 2009). nonaka, i. (1991) the knowledge creating company. harvard business review, managing for the long term, july–aug 2007. rowley, j. (1996) motivation and academic staff in higher education. quality assurance in education, 4(3): 11–16. sellgren, k. (2009) mandelson backs consumer students. bbc news online, tuesday 20 october. online. available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8316658.stm, (accessed 3 november 2009). shepherd, j. (2009) white students do better than their asian and black peers, study finds. guardian.co.uk, tuesday 27 october. online. available at www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/ oct/27/white-students-black-asian-gap, (accessed 3 november 2009). sulkowski, n. b. and deakin, m. k. (2009) does understanding culture help enhance students’ learning experience?, international journal of contemporary hospitality management, 21 (2): 154–166. trommsdorf, g. and dasen, p.r. (2001) ‘cross-cultural study of education’, in smelser, n. and bates, p., (eds.) international encyclopedia of the social and behavioural sciences, pp. 3003–7, amsterdam: elsevier. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/jan/03/raceineducation.highereducation http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/experience-of-bme-staff-in-he http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/12/oxford-ethnic-63 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/12/oxford-ethnic-63 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8316658.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/ 1 teaching ‘dry’ subjects without tears sandra clarke university of greenwich, school of humanities & social sciences every discipline has some subjects which are not readily accessible to students, or which seem at first glance to have limited relevance to their lives. unfortunately, these subjects are often essential to a true understanding of the discipline, so must be tackled. how can we make dry, technical subjects interesting? can anyone teach dry subjects without tears? the author, with her colleague sarah greer, has been teaching land law, a notoriously difficult and technical subject, to second year law students for a number of years. over that time, we have adopted a number of techniques that have made the subject more approachable and that have improved student success on the course. we believe that these techniques may be applicable to other subjects. what do we mean by ‘dry’ subjects? we have in mind a number of features which make a subject appear uninteresting or unapproachable to the average student. primarily, they have a detailed and technical subject matter, making it easy to overload students before they have seen the bigger picture. in addition, unfamiliar concepts and vocabulary make such subjects inaccessible in the early stages. a lack of obvious relevance to the students’ experiences makes them seem irrelevant and obscure. land law notoriously suffers from excessive detail and unfamiliar vocabulary, and right from the start students must grapple with the 1925 property legislation, containing concepts and language dating back to 1066. what approaches can be used to guide students through these difficult landscapes without them losing heart? teaching strategies one temptation might be to side-step technical definitions and simply tell the students in modern terms what they need to know. we have deliberately avoided this approach. in every discipline, students must be guided to understand technical and specialized vocabulary and to grapple with primary materials rather than receive everything ‘pre-digested’ by the lecturer. it is impossible to achieve mastery of a subject without going through this process. instead, we approach the difficulties head-on, using a wide variety of techniques (see table 1). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 all of these are techniques familiar to any teacher. the trick is to combine them effectively to create an interesting, stimulating course which will engage students almost without them realising it. for example, send them off in groups after the fi rst lecture to take photographs of particular features of land and then email them to the lecturer for inclusion in the next lecture. there is an element of risk in allowing the students to have input early in the course, but we fi nd that the advantages outweigh that. it is essential to be constantly innovative; always looking for ways in which dry, dusty subjects can be irrigated. use table 1 teaching techniques technique fee explain technical vocabulary and concepts clearly set out definitions early in the course and repeat them frequently. use diagrams to show the relationships between different concepts. engage students early in the course set early activities which allow the students to take an active part in learning. for example, taking photographs which will be used in lectures. set an assessment early in the course which engages students and encourages peer collaboration and interaction with the teaching team. reward and share good work with students. relate the subject to students’ real life experiences use photographs, find examples of documentation relevant to the course, encourage students to look for examples in real life and share them in class and online. using varied methods of teaching and interacting with students use visual methods such as pictures and diagrams; auditory methods such as verbal explanations and podcasts; make use of virtual learning environments with self-tests, links to glossaries, up-to-date news stories and cases. interact on facebook or twitter if students wish (not all do). encourage collaboration and peer-to-peer teaching through group work and discussion boards. a news story there is nothing like a story about pirates taking over a pub to bring adverse possession to life. explain a complicated concept with a physical demonstration a chocolate bar and its wrapper memorably explain how a trust works! compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 assessment strategies it is vital to have a clear assessment strategy that is designed to support learning as well as to assess it in manageable steps, building skills throughout the course. we have created a ‘scaffolded approach’ to assessment, in which students receive more lecturer help with early assessments and less with later ones. all tasks are designed to test understanding rather than rote learning, and thus deep rather than surface learning. we set an early first assignment of an unfamiliar kind – in our case a web page – which encourages interaction with both peers and teaching staff. students are encouraged to help each other with technical difficulties and to use their creative talents, which is rare in law assessments. the unfamiliarity is initially unsettling but ultimately liberating. this is followed by more substantial assignments based on real life problems and documentation. the earlier one has considerable peer and lecturer support through discussion boards on the virtual learning environment (vle); the second is less lecturer-supported and has a higher independent research element, including an online research log. both of these develop skills which prepare students for the final unseen examination. students also keep a log of their attendance and learning in seminars. this is submitted at the end of the year, and is designed to ensure active reflection on learning as well as participation in the course. conclusion our experience shows that it is possible to teach difficult and technical subjects in an interesting and engaging way without loss of rigour. students not only engage with the course, they do well in it. it gains the highest average mark of all courses at level 5 on the llb programme, and has the highest numbers of first and upper second class grades. just as importantly, students report that they enjoy it. references chickering, a. and gamson, z. (1991) applying the seven principles of good feedback practice in undergraduate education. san francisco: jossey-bass. clarke, s. (2008) ‘learning from discussion’, learning from the learners’ experiences, elearning@greenwich post-conference reflections, http://web-devcsc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf62/docs/learning%20from%20the%20learners%20experience2008.pdf. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 gibbs, g. and simpson, c. (2004) ‘conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning’. learning and teaching in higher education, vol.1, pp.3–31. murtagh, l. and webster, m. (2010) ‘scaffolding teaching, learning and assessment in higher education’ teacher education advancement network journal, vol. 1, no. 2. phillips, e., clarke, s., crofts, s. and laycock, a. (2009) ‘ exceeding the boundaries of formulaic assessment: innovation and creativity in the law school’, the law teacher, vol. 44 no.3, 334–364. ramsden, p. (2003) learning to teach in higher education. london: routledge falmer. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 1, 2009 1 editors simon walker, head of educational development patrick ainley, school of education & training ian mcnay, school of education & training wendy cealey harrison, head of learning & quality unit contributing editor robert teed editorial assistant gillian keyms editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering paul dennison, business school samer el-daher, school of engineering rita headington, school of education & training lynne jump, school of health & social care professor freda tallantyre, higher education academy technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 technological review: mentimeter smartphone student response system chris little keele university mentimeter is a student response system (srs), much like turningpoint or ‘clickers’. webbased systems such as this, or socrative and poll everywhere, reduce the logistical burden on the instructor by letting students use their own mobile devices to participate in the activity via the device’s internet browser and a six-digit code sign-in to the quiz. this removes the process of handing out and collecting voting devices, thereby saving valuable time for teaching and learning. srs can encourage an immediate feedback loop on taught content, informing both student learning and staff teaching practices, which has been linked to increased examination scores (trees and jackson, 2007). heaslip et al (2014) also found that clicker devices can simultaneously improve engagement and offer an anonymity that class discussions do not. however, there is also some evidence to suggest that it is in fact the active presentation of questions, and not the srs themselves, that leads to increased engagement and attainment (morling et al, 2008). the positive effects frequently reported from srs use are often indicative of more engaging teaching, in which regular checks on student learning are conducted by the practitioner anyway (poirer and feldman, 2007). there remains, however, a significant body of evidence which reports srs to be a highly-effective manner of engaging learners, especially in large groups. features there are two types of instructor accounts available free and paid. ● the free version allows an unlimited number of participants, displays results live on screen and allows you to create a maximum of two questions per session. ● the paid version, with a discount available for educators, continues to allow an unlimited number of participants, but removes the limit on the number of questions you can ask and gives practitioners the option to export quiz results into a downloadable excel file. mentimeter has multiple choice questions, provided by almost all srs, and open-ended questions allowing the capture of qualitative data, a feature present in softwares such as socrative and poll everywhere. it is in the range of available question formats that mentimeter then begins to offer new options which could really energise a teaching activity: it can analyse results and produce word clouds based on the most common words used; you can create scales which move and adjust as each vote is cast; students can rate topics across a “2 by 2 matrix”; finally, practitioners could encourage students to distribute 100 points across a number of options, thus displaying group preferences and characteristics (mentimeter ab, 2016). combining these formats can create a dynamic and challenging survey, quiz or check of understanding in any taught session. you can further customise your activity with a number of different personalisation options. practitioners can select from a number of themes, opt to dictate the pace / allow learners to have control and choose whether or not to share the results with the audience immediately. finally, practitioners can embed mentimeter within powerpoint slides, via a plug-in, allowing a seamless blend of lecture slides and interactive voting activities. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 a number of the key issues surrounding mentimeter can be seen in the swot analysis found in table 1. table 1: swot analysis strengths ● multiple question formats. ● slick user interface. ● unlimited participant capacity. ● easy sign-in process no additional software/app download required. ● on the spot selection of question format. ● extremely easy-to-build quizzes. ● works on any web browser. weaknesses ● requires mobile device like all web 2.0-based srs. ● fluidity of display can be a little distracting. ● can be difficult to single out the impact of the technology. opportunities ● paid account offers unlimited number of questions. ● traditional use to quiz or check knowledge. ● use to direct and guide teaching freeform style. ● location services can speed up sign-in process for learners. threats ● free account offers only two free questions – useful, but limited. ● requires students to have devices, which may not always be the case. assessing the impact of any single factor upon student learning will always be complex and problematic. in this regard, mentimeter is no different. practitioners may use the software to gather feedback on the use of mentimeter, but assessing its impact upon metrics such as attainment would be a complex and contested task (morling et al, 2008; poirer and feldman, 2007). how can i use this in my practice? mentimeter can be used in a number of ways to enhance teaching and learning activities: ● quizzes this is the traditional use of srs technology to test taught content and highlight gaps in knowledge. ● surveys/evaluations software such as this could offer a method of in-session group completion of module evaluations, affording a rich data set with the varied question types. the word-cloud, 2 by 2 axis and 100-point distribution questions would be useful for performing in-house evaluations of assessments. ● student-led teaching while srs can be used as a method of ‘testing’ learnt content, there is significant potential in deploying them to create free-form teaching activities where the session is driven by the students’ answers to in-class questions. this would be particularly useful in the lead-up to assessments, for recapping content or for reflecting upon assessments that have been completed. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 conclusions benefits to staff and students for students, softwares such as this offer an opportunity to participate and engage without fear of making mistakes in front of peers, as well as giving an insight into the thoughts, feelings and knowledge of the rest of the group. a small sample of evaluative students comments, from an induction session delivered to international students in january 2016, demonstrates the potential of interactive voting software such as mentimeter: “the word quizzes helped me see how everyone else felt and it kept me focussed” “the interactive nature of it kept you engaged the entire time” “i liked using my phone for the questions” for staff, mentimeter offers highly-customisable activities which can facilitate an instant analysis of responses, provide downloadable data sets and create an interactive teaching and learning experience for groups of varying sizes. fellow practitioners should visit www.mentimeter.com if they wish to try this fantastic teaching tool. reference list anthis, k. (2011) ‘is it the clicker, or is it the question? untangling the effects of student response system use.’ teaching of psychology, 38(3), 189-193. heaslip, g., donovan, p. and cullen, j. g. (2014) ‘student response systems and learner engagement in large classes.’ active learning in higher education, 15(1), 11-24. mentimeter ab. (2016) mentimeter features. available at: https://www.mentimeter.com/features. (accessed: 6 april 2016). morling, b., mcauliffe, m., cohne, l. and di lorenzo, t. m. (2008) ‘efficacy of personal response systems (“clickers”) in large, introductory psychology classes.’ teaching of psychology, 35(1), 45-50. poirer, c. r. and feldman, r. s. (2007) ‘promoting active learning using individual response technology in large introductory psychology classes.’ teaching of psychology, 34(3), 194-196. trees, a. r. and jackson, m. h. (2007). ‘the learning environment in clicker classrooms: student processes of learning and involvement in large university-level courses using studentresponse systems.’ learning, media & technology, 32(1), 21-40. http://www.mentimeter.com/ https://www.mentimeter.com/features opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 choosing appropriate assessment methods: a reflection s. yerrabati sohar university abstract as an integral part of the learning process, assessment plays a crucial role in improving the quality of student learning. from my experience, on the one hand, an appropriate assessment not only provides students with an opportunity to learn, but also helps the tutor to assess learning outcomes and prepares learners to enter the workplace; in my view, on the other hand, inappropriate assessment is where students take a superficial approach to learning and as a result exit the university without developing the abilities and attributes that the employer or the university values in them. hence, use of appropriate assessments and also feedback are vital, not only for enhancing students’ learning experience but also for ensuring that they gain deeper conceptual understanding. this reflection focuses on my experience of working with students on a research methods course within a higher education institution based outside of the united kingdom. in order to assess the knowledge, ability, and skills which my students gained from the course, a range of conventional assessment methods such as exams and quizzes was used. in my view, whilst exams allow students to store large amounts of information in their heads and reinforce useful skills, i believe they are not suitable for all courses and age groups: such assessments may not necessarily challenge and motivate the students to demonstrate their intellectual process and may not add significant value to student learning. consequently, after becoming the course coordinator, i decided to change the assessment practice. as a first step towards devising the new assessment plan, i discussed with my colleagues the idea of reviewing and designing efficient assessment practice. as brown, bull and pendlebury (1997) suggest, this was an important exercise, as i wanted to design not only educationally successful assessment, but also assessment that would be efficient and workable for the students. moreover, from my experience, i have noted that students prioritise what to learn and how much time to spend learning in accordance with the type of the assessment. hence, as a fundamental step towards designing a new assessment, i took note of the type of the course, the level of learning, learning outcomes, important aspects, transferable skills and competencies that students are expected to gain from the course. once i had designed the new assessment, using appropriate language and terminology, i gave the students clear information about the aims and objectives of the course and how it would add value both to the courses they might choose for the next stage of the programme and to the programme itself; they were made fully aware of what they must demonstrate to achieve a successful pass, how the marks would be awarded and what they should be able to do upon completion. as rownstree (1987) points out, making the assessment transparent is important, as it helps students to assess their strengths and weaknesses, improves the chances of learning and consequently leads to much deeper levels of learning. in order to cover the course objectives and outcomes, to evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching and to identify areas for further improvement, i introduced two forms of summative assessment: students are expected to present a brief powerpoint outline of proposed opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 research and also a concise and coherent summary of the same in the form of a research proposal. the new assessments are in addition to such existing formative assessment methods as group discussions, debates and other learning tasks. my assessment design not only meets the diverse needs of assessment, such as conforming to university-wide standards, but also allows me to address student workload and time pressure. the shift in approach that i have directed has been towards learning outcomes and more proactive engagement by students with their learning (one of the boud seven propositions in assessment reform 2020). i had classroom conversations with students about the proposed assessment methodology to ensure their better understanding of its duration and structure, as well as of the value of each course component to the final assessment. furthermore, by means of the university’s generic assessment chart, i made clear to them how each part of the assessment would be evaluated. formative assessments not only provide constructive critical feedback to students on their performance, but also serve as a pointer to more effective tutor intervention in the future. despite the fact that research suggests that students view formative feedback as a guide to improving their work, rather than as an attempt to control them (duncan, 2007), the exact channels through which this influences their summative assessments have remained unclear to me. in the case of the first summative assessment, i.e. the oral presentation, i gave the students verbal, one-to-one, in-class feedback on such aspects as areas for development, strengths, engagement of the audience, delivery, communication and handling of questions, along with an opportunity for individual student self-reflection on her/his presentation. i also provided an opportunity for peer feedback and critical reflection. in line with the view of chamberlain, dison and button (1998), i noted that providing students with specific, meaningful and timely feedback had a positive impact on their achievement and enhanced their learning (ramsden, 1992). however, as it was clear that lack of experience in reflection limited their ability to look back and make sense of what they had learned, i took the timely opportunity to remind them of the need for reference to the assessment criteria to make the best use of feedback. for future cohorts, i have as a consequence decided to use reflective journals that demonstrate their critical thinking and analysis. in the case of the second summative assessment, i.e. the research proposal, i gave feedback in three stages: in the first, generic feedback to the whole class on various aspects of research objectives and questions, literature review, methodology and structure of the work; in the second, specific feedback to each student through the student learning management system; in the third, one-to-one discussion to develop a better understanding of the feedback given, as i discovered that some learners could misinterpret the feedback, however well-given and well-meaning, and consequently be demotivated and demoralised. over the years, i have seen that, while students have a thirst for feedback (hyland, 2005), they may not look at it (hounsell, 1987) and even when they do, they may not use it (gibbs and simpson, 2004). whilst the response to feedback is subject to the student’s personal characteristics, there was some evidence that regular and timely feedback given during formative assessments and presentations led to implementation in their research proposal. for instance, a few students who received consistent feedback on referencing got it right in their proposal. most of the students who were struggling with the literature review were able to revise substantially and reorganise it in their subsequent proposals. whilst i have given opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 guidance on how in the future to use feedback received during the course, i shall fully understand its effect on their subsequent work (dissertation) in the next term. in contrast to the view of gibbs, simpson and macdonald (2003), that change in assessment may demotivate students in their learning, my experience has been that fundamental assessment changes are worth the effort. both my formal and informal discussions with students indicate increased student satisfaction, greater quality and quantity of learning, deeper understanding of research philosophies, methods and techniques and wider background knowledge about research. what was evident from the new assessment was that students not only developed a keen understanding of the key course concepts (such as epistemology, ontology and research strategy) and learning outcomes, but were also able to apply the concepts to their research proposals. a new form of assessment has therefore helped to counter a superficial approach to learning (biggs and tang, 2007) and limited the likelihood of reproduction of material. nevertheless, a few students did struggle with assessments, in such different ways as defining specific research objectives and research questions, choosing appropriate data collection and analysis techniques, acknowledging and referencing the sources in the right manner. strategies such as the use of peer-assisted learning (topping and ehly, 1998) and demonstrating a sample of research proposals have helped me to address their concerns. overall, a new form of assessment has promoted students’ deeper learning. for future cohorts, i would like to develop my assessment practice in three ways: first, though i have used the university’s generic mark scheme, i believe the use of task-specific assessment rubrics for summative assessment practices would have been more effective (this, i believe, would not only ease my work by setting course-specific assessment criteria for anticipated levels of learner performance, but would also help students to take responsibility for their own learning.); second, i’d like to encourage students’ active participation in sharing and discussing feedback, by setting time aside for the purpose; third, in order to develop students’ capacity for looking back and making sense of what they have learned, i’d like to include a few opportunities for reflection. reference list biggs, j. and tang, c. (2007) teaching for quality learning at university: what the student does. 3rd edn. maidenhead, berkshire: open university press. brown, g., bull, j. and pendlebury, m. (1997) assessing student learning in higher education. london: routledge. chamberlain, c., dison, l. and button, a. (1998) ‘lecturer feedback – implications for developing writing skills: a south african perspective.’ new zealand: herdsa annual international conference. gibbs, g. and simpson, c. (2004) ‘conditions under which assessment supports students learning. learning and teaching in higher education, 1(1), 1-31. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 gibbs, g. simpson, c. and macdonald, r. (2003) ‘improving student learning through changing assessment – a conceptual and practical framework.’ padova, italy: european association for research in learning and instruction conference. hounsell, d. (1987) ‘essay writing and the quality of feedback.’ in: richardson, j., eysenck, m. and warren-piper, d. (eds.) student learning: research in education and cognitive psychology. open university press and society for research into higher education 109-19. hyland, p. (2005) ‘learning from feedback on assessment.’ in: the practice of university history teaching. manchester: manchester university press. 233-47. ramsden, p. (1992) learning to teach in higher education. london: routledge. rowntree, d. (1987) assessing students: how shall we know them? revised edn. location: london kogan page. topping, k. j. and ehly, s. w. (1998) peer-assisted learning. mahwah, nj: l. erlbaum associates. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 the business studies university patrick ainley department of education and community studies, university of greenwich based on talk to university of greenwich business studies political economy research centre meeting 5/6/15 one of my research interests in the changing interface between further and higher education is the ‘businessification’ of english universities that presents a new model of higher education, one which may be called ‘the business studies university’. the bsu already exists in many he institutions, in the way in which modular course choice is presented to students as the prime example of what the philosopher of education, basil bernstein, called ‘a collection code’ (bernstein, 1990). that is, it collects together a number of different areas of study or practice in relation to a central activity – in this case, business. however, business is so large and diffuse an activity that the sub-disciplines collected together do not focus on any one central practice and/or theoretical canon, as, for example, in the way that the discipline of education (or education studies) collects its constituent elements of philosophy, psychology and sociology in relation to learning and the art – or is it a science or craft? – of teaching (furlong, 2013). such collection can be typical for the more than 20% of english undergraduates following (one would no longer say ‘reading’ in relation to any undergraduate programme!) courses with ‘business’ in their titles. these are ranged in a hierarchy of cost from the most expensive mbas through postgraduate management schools to undergraduate business studies and business administration in fe. in addition to this suite of studies, there are also more or less optional additional modules in various aspects of what can be called business studies: marketing or business organisation, such as ‘entrepreneurialism’. (even the ubiquitous ‘employability’ might be counted amongst them.) these are available to students in traditional discipline studies, including stem subjects, especially when these are related to business – if not to business study: for example, in engineering, not only to build a bridge that will stand up, but also to sell it to a client; and, additionally, connected with abstract and theoretical areas, like so-called ‘practical’ or ‘applied’ philosophy. similar to these supplementary courses, the various modules/courses delivered in business studies programmes are typically taught by experts, who all have phds in their various areas of expertise, such as accountancy, marketing etc., but who also come from traditional disciplines like, especially, economics, that have often been agglomerated into a business school. the danger is, of course, that there is a constant tendency towards fissiparation of business schools into their constituent parts – with students doing degrees in economics within business schools that are ‘houses of many mansions’. another, perhaps more fundamental, liability is that this collection of equivalent-level more-or-less-introductory courses does not necessarily add up to a row of beans, as mark twain might have said. in this way, underand even postgraduate bs is characteristically more like a modularised gnvq than a non-modular a-level. whilst there has been a reaction towards more traditional approaches at all levels of learning as a sign of distinction (bourdieu, 1982) in what have become the competing opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 discourses that students may acquire through higher study, it is not inevitable, at least in the humanities and social sciences, that collection codes should collapse into unrelated option choices, such as are made in what has become of much english literary and cultural study. here, rather than start from the earliest writing that is identifiably ‘english’ to cover the whole disputed canon up to contemporary literature of various genres and nationalities, students of literature often choose quite arbitrarily from the range of modules available – from english feminist literature of the eighteenth century to marvel comics in 1950s usa. student ‘choice’ then depends mainly on what everybody else is doing, following fashions or trends and/or the reputation of the lecturer and subject (how ‘hard’ s/he and the subject assessment are rumoured to be). the same could be said for much of humanities and social sciences nowadays. choice does not have to be so random, however, but may, at least potentially in business study, have a vocational reference so that a student might be sent by an employer to university to acquire background theory and practice in a particular combination of the available options that would be valuable for effective performance in a particular post. similarly, a student who wanted to enter a particular line of employment (or selfemployment) might put together her/his own route through the range of courses on offer, perhaps guided by a tutor. in fact, this is what most students try to do, but ‘core’ or ‘foundation’ studies bunch them together and they can then only assert their individual interests by the addition of more specialised areas – some ‘progression’ being evident here at least. so it is ‘student choice’, in so far as it is available, that becomes the central guiding activity of students in such collections of study that the contemporary business university now brings together. this ‘key skill’ is, as aristotle said, ‘the knowledge necessary to rule’: to acquire knowledge not about everything (which even in sub-disciplines is overwhelming and no longer possible even for apparent polymaths) but just about what is needed to order the available information for mastery within a given community of practice constituting an academic discipline and/or professional (or at least semi-professional) occupation. this mastery is usually demonstrated either at masters level (as in the usa, when, after four undergraduate years, the ‘real he’ begins), or in england in an undergraduate project undertaken as a large part of final degree graduation to a profession (as above), usually entailing further (masters or above) levels of study, classically in law or medicine. this is also the nature of the academic vocation that has been lost to what is no longer (in so far as it ever was) ‘a community of scholars’. it may be recovered by giving students a sense of joining a continuing conversation that they can make their own contribution to as a sign of what lave and wenger (1994) called peripheral participation. this can then be legitimated by some sort of (final) examination or demonstration, like an end-of-degree art show or drama production. business schools afford the prime example of this organisation around the central student activity of choice, guided (more or less) by self or others. however, with students rather than subject knowledge at the heart of the system (dbis, 2011), the inherent tendencies are for this choice to be commodified by what official indicators of ‘outcomes’ signal are more or less valuable choices and for further prioritising of research over teaching (as an inferior activity) so that traditional disciplinary researchers combine their research with teaching only by contributing their specialised findings to undergraduates to whom they are largely opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 irrelevant; or, in an inversion of these priorities, relegating languages, for example, to a ‘service function’ that again may be taught by specialists in dante but whose undergraduate input is in conversational or ‘business’ italian preparatory to a placement abroad as part of a business with italian degree. in a competitive market, in which nearly all higher education institutions are competing to cram in as many students as possible in order to sustain their funding and in which students are trading up the system as universities poach from another, making it easier to get in to he without conventional qualifications, it is predictable that a new binary divide, already apparent within the sector, will become more marked as it is re-drawn higher up the system. what has been called the business studies university (whether in business studies or not) will then provide a model for mass he beneath a traditionally academic elite he to which research is increasingly confined. this development is not altogether to be deplored, since it offers some opportunities indicated above for reconstituting academic community within a context of informing student course choice and critical discrimination generally, as well as for developing the various specialist interests and expertise of its academic staff that the bsu brings together. however, the pressures towards a bums-on-seats university (see the website cynicalbastards.com) may prove so great as to overwhelm these positive possibilities. reference list bernstein, b. (1990) class, codes and control vol iv: the structuring of pedagogic discourse. london: routledge. bourdieu, p. (1982) la distinction. critique sociale du jugement. paris: editions de minuit. department for business, innovation and skills (2010) higher education: students at the heart of the system. london: dbis. furlong, j. (2013) education – an anatomy of the discipline. rescuing the university project. london: routledge. lave, j. and wenger, e. (1994) situated learning, legitimate peripheral participation. cambridge: cambridge university press. 1 video media as an assessment tool in psychology sandra rankin and rob willson university of greenwich, school of health & social care poster presentations have not changed much over time and have in many cases become a very static classroom activity. we decided to approach the topic in a different way, building on the technology currently available. by involving students in a new type of poster activity using video and youtube as part of their course assessment, we wanted to put the fun back into learning and make it more engaging for students. making short videos was introduced onto a generic skills and personal development course which encourages students to engage in a variety of activities to help them develop their skills and recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. approximately 125 first year undergraduate students were enrolled onto a psychology course, where students are predominately aged between 18–25 years and 80% female. psychology as a subject already demands a certain amount of computer literacy from students as it uses it and computers in a number of ways. therefore exposure to new experiences of ict and emerging technologies have been shown to be benefi cial to students, both in enhancing their own skills and helping to understand subject knowledge (clay, 2009; hefce, 2009). face-to-face time is very limited in classrooms (especially with large numbers) and current technologies allow students to engage with each other (and with tutors) outside of the classroom more than ever before. the flexibility offered by technology allows learning to be expanded in ways that can extend and open up the classroom to the world beyond it. students are no longer restricted to learning by the classroom clock and, equally important, tutors are no longer restricted by the same constraints. new learning technologies have meant that students, as well as staff, need to engage in new ways of teaching to stimulate learning. firstly, many students are more aware of technology and how to manipulate it. many students are able to manage several media streams and channels of electronic communication at the same time (whitehouse, 2009). students routinely engage in several forms of communication, including the virtual learning environment (vle), social networks, texting, webcams, vodcasts, private messaging compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 and mobile phones. for those that do not, the reasons are generally due to a lack of opportunity or exposure to a particular technology rather than an unwillingness to engage (attewell, 2005). we wanted an activity that provided students with the scope to be creative, as well as providing opportunities for new learning. producing video posters seemed to offer this possibility and also fitted in well with the general ethos of the course. students were advised that a selection of the best would be uploaded to the departmental youtube channel. we had a view that this would be something that students would subscribe to and that it would enhance discourse on other platforms, such as social network sites (e.g. facebook). the idea was to stimulate discussion about the work created. however, groundwork needed to be established prior to full implementation. pilot activity we identified several implications that needed to be considered when changing this activity from a simple paper and pencil task to a more elaborate video version of a poster. we attempted to introduce this activity into seminars just to see how receptive the students were to the idea of making a video instead of drawing a poster. students were allocated into groups within their seminars and were provided with a webct chat room for group discussions. a detailed task sheet with deadlines was provided, so that students had a time frame in which to work and a checklist of the various implementation stages they needed to achieve to successfully complete their videos (see appendix a). several challenges were immediately apparent at the start of the task. students were initially expected to work individually in class, engaging with different online reaction time studies. this provided some background information and first-hand experience of what the studies entailed. students found this enjoyable and engaged with the task. however, when the students were then asked to contact each other to begin collaboration on making a short video of their own, this was not so well received. comments such as ‘are we going to be assessed?’, ‘how much is it worth on the course?’ were the immediate responses. some students took the initiative and emailed others in their group to arrange meetings. however, if there was no response, students took no further action. it seemed students were unwilling to engage with other students whom they did not know personally, or alternatively they thought that the tutors should organise communication within groups. it would seem that we overestimated students’ willingness to engage in any activity that was perceived as time consuming, that required a degree of persistence, and possibly most importantly, that was not formally assessed. we did observe that a few groups managed to agree on what to film as the basis for a study but very few groups completed the activity through to the finish. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 reshaping the activity as a learning concept that engaged students in understanding the principles of investigating psychology and, equally important, developed the students’ own personal skills of communication, cooperation and time management, we thought the activity was worth pursuing with a few amendments for the following academic year. firstly, the activity became a graded assessment and therefore the whole process of engagement by the students was different. additionally, more guidelines were provided, which broke the task down into four parts, making the process more transparent. the sections of the task were individual activity, group engagement, video proposal submission and video production. further details about the students’ responsibilities (learning and management) and tutor responsibilities (teaching and management) were provided and two forms of formative quizzes were designed to further engage and develop the students’ understanding of the task requirements. a checklist and group chat rooms, with contact information, were set up so students could initiate contact with each other. introducing a proposal submission served two distinct purposes. first, students had to consider in advance how to design the study they were going to fi lm and consider practical as well as ethical issues about filming. second, the proposal provided an opportunity for the tutors to review the proposal and provide formative feedback. technical expertise no expertise was required from any student beyond having a mobile phone with a video facility. students were also allowed to use their own video cameras or camcorders. departmental equipment was made available on a first come, first served basis. students were encouraged to use mobile phones for convenience and to emphasise the simplicity of the video required. very little expertise was needed from tutors as much of the technology was low level. however, it could potentially become a resource issue as more grading is required by tutors. new marking criteria also needed to be developed to give summative feedback to students on the final video. at the time of writing, students have not yet fully completed the revised activity and until then we cannot gather quantitative or any qualitative data on the students’ perceptions of the activity. we have a task evaluation sheet that students will be asked to complete, which will rate the activity on a range of issues such as enjoyment, complexity, communication, perception of skills used and/or gained (time management, communication, teamwork, decision making/problem solving, etc). watch this space! compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 references attewell, j. (2005) mobile technologies and learning. the m-learning project. the learning and skills development agency. london. becta (2008) harnessing technology: next generation learning 2008-14. available at). http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101102103654/publications.becta.org.uk//display.cfm?r esid=37346. clay, j. (2009) the future of learning is mobile presentation. jisc online e-learning conference 2009. the higher education funding council, (2009) enhancing learning and teaching through the use of technology: a revised approach to hefce’s strategy for e-learning. available at: www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2009/09_12/09_12.pdf (accessed december, 2009). whitehouse, r. (2009) reluctant technologist. http://elearningstuff.wordpress.com. appendix a: video poster task checklist http://elearningstuff.wordpress.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 improving reading compliance with whole-class qualitative quiz questions arron phillips, martin compton university of greenwich abstract “have you done your reading?” if you are a teaching academic who always gets positive responses to this question, then you are in a very fortunate (or talented) minority. this small case study draws on existing research into why students do not read and evaluative research into strategies designed to combat this phenomenon. it reflects on an ad hoc trial of quiz questions randomly targeted at individuals in two seminar groups of first-year undergraduates within the business faculty. the trial spanned seven weeks and sought to improve previously poor levels of reading compliance. the study found that, within a short period, the technique employed significantly increased levels of reading compliance, when measured across the whole group through qualitative comprehension questions. introduction so-called ‘reading compliance’ is a broad umbrella term that refers to actual or claimed confirmations of suggested, recommended and essential reading by undergraduate and postgraduate students. the term itself, although apparently the most common for the phenomenon in the literature, connotes conformity, regulation and scrutiny, though the counter strategies to non-compliance are not always mandatory. the rates of noncompliance set out below and the breadth of strategies deployed to combat it suggest there are parallel phenomena of ‘reading relevance’ and ‘reading significance’ that need to be considered simultaneously. non-compliance, when it comes to set reading, is widely recognised amongst teaching staff (burchfield and sappington, 2000; starcher and proffitt, 2013; hatteberg and steffy, 2013) and lecturers’ perceptions of it appear to be reflected in the reality. hatteberg and steffy (ibid.), for example, cite multiple studies since the early 1970s that show that no more than 30% of students complete reading tasks for any purpose. it also seems to be an increasing trend (burchfield and sappington, op. cit.). indeed, lei et al (2010) describe it as an ‘epidemic’. our small case study within this urban, post ’92 university was one of both convenience and opportunity. the study aimed to address a first encounter with this common challenge, as experienced by one of the collaborators (a phd student with seminar-leading responsibilities, henceforth ‘the tutor’), and drew on the expertise of the other (a senior lecturer in learning, teaching and professional development with twenty-five years’ teaching experience, ten of those as a teacher educator). as we shall set out below, due consideration of a range of approaches culminated in a strategy ‘with a twist’ that, in this context, has had a remarkably satisfying impact on levels of compliance. our collaboration commenced after an impromptu conversation about difficulties faced when teaching a class in which the majority had not completed a required reading task. prior to this, the tutor had done some teaching as co-tutor within the faculty, on a course involving a lot of student presentations; engagement levels were high and preparation was impressive. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 previous positive experiences as a teaching assistant in smaller groups at another post ’92 institution, the co-tutoring role and the levels of engagement all served to emphasise the dissimilarity of the subsequent experience. some faculty members suggested that we should not expect students to prepare, as this was rare, and little could be done to motivate them. since this disappointing view ran counter to impressions of these same students in a different setting, we committed ourselves to the development of a strategy to change the behaviour and attitudes of the students. in a structured approach, we analysed contextual specifics and considered various strategies. awareness of the levels of non-compliance reported in the literature did lessen the shock of facing a large group of blank-faced first-year undergraduates and made us the more determined to challenge the problem. below, we set out a consideration of key literature on why students do not read and what can be done to overcome this reluctance, before detailing the specifics of our case study. why don’t they read? explanations for the phenomenon itself and its rise include a growing disinclination to read, or even respect, hard copy material in a digital era (jolliffe and harl, 2008). scepticism about the value and purpose of the assigned readings is also common. brost and bradley (2006), for example, ‘judged the lectures to be accessible to students whether or not the reading had been done’ (p.104). conversations with colleagues seem to suggest that in our faculties, when setting reading, we sometimes succumb to the assumptions that a) students will not do it and b) this disinclination is down to laziness. despite no empirical connection between the latter thought and reality, it is persistent and worrying. logically, we might next ask: if we do not expect them to do it and anticipate having to compensate in class for that, then why do we set reading at all? clump et al (2004), in a relatively large study amongst undergraduates within a single institution (n=423), found that reading compliance before coming to class leapt from 27.5%, when there was no incentive other than requested preparation, to just under 70% when the material was directly related to a quiz or test. they report, with evident disappointment, that nothing would appear to raise compliance to 100%; however, what seems more significant here is the connection between motivation and reading and the impact this has on assessments. self-reporting studies such as this may need to be viewed with a degree of scepticism: hoeft (2012) observed, for example, that of the 46% of students who reported that they had completed reading, only 55% were able to answer simple questions; sappington et al (2002) found similar results and connected this with academic dishonesty. in short, asking students whether they have done the reading is not likely to elicit a reliable response. once again, this range of inaccurate reporting roughly approximates to our own experiences within one first-year compulsory course. on appearance alone, it seemed that, although some had engaged with the texts, many had either skimmed or were assuming they would not be tested on their claims. we were consequently keen to embrace a strategy that measured comprehension rather than claims of compliance. in a fairly large study of business undergraduates (n=394) (starcher and proffitt, 2013), almost 50% of the students stated ‘lack of time’ as a reason for non-compliance with set reading; ‘boring’, ‘not meaningful’ and ‘professor rarely refers to the texts’ were the next most commonly offered reasons. these were from pre-defined categories, however. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 in a smaller, more qualitative study, brost and bradley (op. cit.) were concerned that emphases on student-focused solutions to non-compliance and assumptions about motivation were a potential distraction and might cause other factors to be ignored. instead, they focused on advanced level students studying for an elective module in which they were exposed to thirteen different lecturers. their student sample was small, but most interesting in their findings was the sense of the strategic amongst student decisions as to whether or not to read. time factors and content relevance / interest were cited, but, where students guessed, realised or assumed the material would be covered in class, the likelihood of indepth reading of the set texts was low. this also reflects pecorari et al.’s (2012) study, which showed that a significant majority of students valued attendance and lecture notes more highly than text book content and set reading. their apparent strategic reckoning was: “if the objective is to pass a course and attendance is sufficient to achieve that goal, the textbook is superfluous” (p.249). the inherent dangers here of limited vistas on content and the resultant reduction in opportunities to engage with deeper learning are made clear; we were keen to avert them. one of the most frequently-cited problems is a lack of adequate study skills or what brost and bradley (op. cit.) describe as ‘unpreparedness’, owing either to student mindset, to confidence issues (tuckman, 1991) or, increasingly, as a consequence of frailties in their pre-undergraduate education and consequent weaknesses in language and comprehension (lei et al, 2010). what can be done? hoeft (2012) notes that there have been few university-based studies on strategies to combat reading non-compliance. hatteberg and steffy (op. cit.) state that, despite the ubiquity of the issue, there is relatively little research on it and large-scale comparative studies are a notable gap. their evaluative study drew on student perceptions of the effectiveness of a range of methods to foster reading compliance (which they had, in turn, filtered from existing case studies) and this informed our specific choice of technique to implement first. of seven strategies, they found the students reported ‘announced reading quizzes’ as the most effective. in fact, all the open and inclusive strategies were more popular than the ‘surprise’ or exclusive strategies, such as unannounced quizzes and random questioning. hoeft (op. cit.) also reports ‘quizzes’ as the reading motivation students most frequently requested and, in a follow-up study, shows that quizzes had a significant impact on both compliance and comprehension. johnson and kiviniemi (2009) also connect frequent quizzes on reading to increased success in summative examinations, a finding replicated by sappington et al (op. cit.). uskul and eaton (2005) had similar results when students were given graded, long-answer questions to set reading. these three studies illustrate degrees of blurring of the distinction between formative and summative assessments, though do not advocate the use of quiz scores as part of summative grades. perhaps the biggest problem with this approach, however, is the additional workload it entails. in contrast, roberts and roberts (2008) argue that the quiz approach does not foster deep learning or understanding of content. this suggests to us that the types of questions asked need to be carefully considered. additionally, their argument assumes that the quiz is the principal method of developing knowledge, whereas other studies and our own approach regard the use of quizzes much more as a threshold to deeper understanding, emerging case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 later in the sessions. another suggested reason for non-use of mandatory motivators such as quizzes is that they might provoke resentment towards lecturers and result in poor evaluations (sappington et al., 2002). such cynical reasoning, based solely on supposition, adds little to our understanding of why students do not read. however, it is somewhat revealing about the stance lecturers take on this issue, and is perhaps indicative of more widespread perceptions of students by academic staff. sappington et al. (ibid.) state in their conclusion: “faculty who reject quizzing on the basis of students’ ill will may want to reconsider the practice of giving exams on the same rationale” (p.274). lei et al. (op. cit.) claim limited confidence as a key reading de-motivator, one that becomes more influential as readings are attempted but not understood. this suggests to us that quizzes offer the opportunity to tackle simultaneously the compliance and self-confidence issues, with a potentially wider impact on students’ studies. in interviews with business faculty colleagues, starcher and proffitt, (op. cit.) identified the reading quiz (in many forms, but usually multiple choice) as the most commonly cited inclass strategy used to encourage pre-reading of the material. other suggested strategies were: presentations to class and one exam question based only on reading. pre-class strategies suggested by their faculty colleagues included chapter summary tasks, online postings or quizzes and reading journals. in the paper, starcher and proffitt (op.cit.) criticised their faculty and colleagues for the inherent extrinsic motivation factors at play in the design of some strategies used. these may have embarrassment potential which, they argue, could have serious long-term consequences. however, this assumes that the quiz responses and results are necessarily open and visible to others. they seem to ignore alternative, less open ways of managing quizzes which can have an intrinsic potential. for example, students might be encouraged to consider their responses ipsatively, the lecturer could collect responses or the students might self-mark. such approaches would then draw on the inherent formative potential of questioning. having said that, we opted for a series of oral questions posed randomly to individuals in a group setting; though an individual would be asked a question and might be embarrassed if s/he did not know the answer, we nevertheless felt that this was legitimate in not exceeding the usual expectations of classroom interaction. praise for the whole class if they did well, or advice to read more and deeper if the class score was poor, would follow, encouraging a sense of group responsibility rather than creating discomfort at individual exposure. despite some reservations, the literature pertaining to studies of both students and lecturers suggests that quizzes have the potential to increase reading compliance. a multi-faceted approach, including both academics and students (starcher and proffitt, 2013) and strategies that enable both surface and deeper levels of comprehension (hatteberg and steffy, 2013), should always be part of the wider learning design. the impact of not reading material cannot be underestimated; it is, of course, only one strand of the varied notions of ‘student engagement’, but a significant one nonetheless. the evidence that such things as engagement with studies, levels of preparedness and time spent on studies out of class have a positive impact upon achievement is now unequivocal (quaye and harper, 2014). in addition, frequent ‘low stakes’ tests on reading improve not only reading compliance but also class attendance (schrank, 2016). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 for both mature students and school leavers, changing reading habits is often a significant challenge, but, given the continuation of established pedagogic frameworks or even the adaptation and implementation of new ways of teaching and learning, it remains both a behaviour and a skill that they need to develop quickly. if we enable non-compliance by reflecting our assumptions and attitudes or by (because we expect it) implementing in-class measures to compensate for it, we produce students who learn not to read. this makes addressing the issue in year 1 all the more important and can be part of the wider development of active and independent study habits in a non grade-dependent setting, which will help prepare the students for the following years (cottrell, 2013). the sample this study focused on two seminar groups taught by the same tutor. the two classes were on a first-year compulsory course within an undergraduate programme at the business faculty. group a had an average attendance of twenty students whilst group b had an average of eight students. group a students were a mix of mature students and school leavers, was ethnically diverse and comprised both uk born and international students. the latter seminar consisted entirely of school leavers, mostly uk born and with a more homogenous ethnic profile. gender is a factor that features in some studies, but, as this was a study of ‘opportunity and convenience’, no distinctions or contrasts were made. as a convenience sample, the two cohorts mirror a large proportion of other cohorts in a university which has a wide and celebrated ethnic diversity alongside a significant mature student population: a diversity noted in the recent qaa higher education review (qaa, 2015). context the programmes are taught in the conventional form of a lecture and seminar on a weekly basis across one term. the seminar material gives students the opportunity to explore the weekly topic in depth. the lecture, in this structure, comes after the seminar, which meant that students did not have the grounding knowledge that a lecture can provide. in terms of learning design, the lecture endeavours to provide students with an exploration and understanding of the fundamental underpinning principles of the course topics. whilst the seminars provide students with the opportunity to explore these principles in more detail, they also provide students with the context to, and reality of, these principles in the workplace. the course leader provided the teaching team with materials for the class, but left it open to the tutors as to how it was covered in the seminar. in this case, the tutor used small group discussions based on texts directly relevant to the weekly topics. this reflected the majority approach across the seminar team. as such, reading prior to the seminar was essential. in preparation for seminar, the reading involved one academic article or a case study and a short portion of the recommended text book, usually no more than ten pages. in the first three weeks of the seminar course, the majority of students appeared to have done little or no preparation. since the tutor had minimal responses to general questions and efforts to engage the students in discussion were to no avail, the first twenty minutes of the seminar had to be spent on remedial activity. the tutor either encouraged the students to read the case study or provided a short introduction to the topic, which, as the literature case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 reinforces above, had the potential to continue the cycle of non-compliance and legitimise the students’ tendency not to read. the quiz approach the following quiz-based approach was then adopted as a means of engaging students and getting them to undertake the reading. each week, the tutor came up with a series of questions based purely on the reading material. the questions were varied in terms of potential responses. some of the questions asked for surface level responses:  what four criteria did the author claim were needed?  who is the leading researcher in…?  which motivational theory does the theory in this text develop from?  name four of the eight types mentioned. other questions gave students the opportunity to explore their understanding, such as:  what did you understand the author to mean when s/he said…?  illustrate theory x by giving an example.  how does theory y correlate to theory z? the surface level questions gave the tutor an instant indication of whether the reading had been done superficially or not. the other questions, challenging roberts and roberts (op. cit.), were interpretative and could (and did, in latter stages) lead to vibrant discussions and deeper understanding. the questions were randomly targeted, risking, as suggested above, student discomfort, but the non-conformity rates were so high that it would soon be apparent that most would not be able to answer even the superficial questions. this was a deliberate and considered deviation from the approaches suggested in our reading, but one we were keen to trial, as it had the potential to kick-start discussion and get to the deeper levels of understanding more efficiently. this approach was unannounced in the first week, but announced thereafter. the students were informed at the end of each session of the reading required for the next session and reminded that a quiz would happen then. between weeks 9 and 10 of the teaching term, as the students had a break for easter, they were also reminded again by a further message via the virtual learning environment messaging service. in practical terms, the quiz worked as follows: as the register was completed, the students would be given a number. once all students had been allocated a number, the total would be placed in a random number generator on the projected computer screen. the free online software would then select a number and that student would be asked a question. should the student not answer the question, it would then be opened up to the class. use of a random number generator aimed to remove any bias from the selection process. the randomiser was a deliberate effort to show that there was no inclination to ask students who had not previously tended to prepare, nor to ask those who had, as the most likely to provide the correct answer. averting alienation was at the forefront of our thinking and we felt that case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 the time it would have taken to administer individualised questions could not be justified. the desire to make the questions qualitative and serve as prompts for later discussion was also an important consideration. what was learnt? data was collected informally, the tutor recording alongside the questions whether each question had been answered correctly by the group; thus there was no record of individual changes or developments. (this would be an interesting future project at a more systematic and formalised level, especially in this context.) fundamental here is that the record is of first responses, giving an indication of the breadth of increased compliance. eventual correct responses, even if initial answers were incorrect or flawed, were higher and, in weeks 8 and 9 with group b, were in fact 10/10. tutor observations of responses to the process and of the trends also form part of the findings set out below. in the final session, students were asked what they thought of quizzes. from a tutor perspective, it is clear that the continued use of the quiz approach has been successful with these cohorts of students. this can be seen from the improvements in class scores over the course duration (see fig 1.) session (by course weeks) group a score group b score week 4 (unannounced intervention) 2/10 3/10 week 6 (announced hereafter) 2/10 2/10 week 7 3/10 4/10 week 8 6/10 8/10 week 9 8/10 9/10 week 10 6/8 7/8 week 12 13/18 15/18 figure 1: number of correct responses by group weeks 1-3 of the course were where the problem was first identified, but where no action was taken, other than remedial strategies. weeks 5 and 11 were sessions for which no reading was required. as can be seen, first-time correct responses increased almost every week. the results’ dip in week 12 can be rationalised by the fact the quiz was a) much longer and b) was an exam revision session and so the questions referred to previous reading, including that set in the first three weeks, when no quizzes took place and preparatory reading had not been done. some improvement in preparation for weeks 6 and 7 was noted, but it was still insufficient to make a positive impact upon class discussion. during the first few weeks, as reading compliance across the group grew, it was not possible to perceive many clear patterns. the tutor allowed sufficient ‘thinking time’ for a student to answer the question and resisted efforts by other students to step in. some students would look down at their notes or there would be long silences in response to those questions. however, as the ‘pattern’ of the approach became embedded, so the students adapted their behaviours and clearly demonstrated a growing sense of engagement and even enjoyment. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 in the first three weeks the students who prepared were mostly non-uk, and, of those that had prepared, the majority went on to have near perfect attendance. the students who prepared from the outset responded in a positive manner and appeared to embrace the quizzes much earlier on in the process than other students. in terms of attendance by the groups during the study, there was no decline in group a though there was a small decline in group b (twelve in week 3 and eight on average thereafter) after a significant drop off in the weeks prior to the start of the quiz trial. further research would be needed to determine links between attendance and the quiz approach and so reasons for the slowing of the rate of non-attendance cannot be determined or claimed at this stage. towards the end of the trial, responses to questions were faster; the inability of any chosen student to answer continued, but to a much more limited extent and, significantly, the overall quality of engagement with the topics at hand improved. the sense of fluidity and general ‘success’ of the sessions was also tangible. as the term progressed, the students would, without asking, apologise for not having done the reading and ask to be excluded from the quiz. this unexpected honesty enabled the tutor to provide an alternative activity for those who had not prepared. the general tenor of the responses was that students found the quizzes helpful in getting them to read, though some clearly saw it as a necessary evil and were reluctant to engage with the texts. most of the students spoken to were positive, as indicated by this characteristic response: “i like the quizzes… they encourage me to do the reading which enables me to get more from the class activity.” (group a) one was blunt about disliking the method, but the ‘compliance despite…’ nature of this response is important to note: “i hate quizzes but they force me to do the reading for what is in my view a rather boring subject, so i s’pose it’s great”. (group b) it was good to hear that the effort with the randomiser was noted too, though, interestingly, this student saw it as a motivator in itself: “the fact we can see that you are not picking on us and it’s random definitely motivates me to get involved, to be better prepared”. (group a) formalised, deeper responses in the form of focus groups or interviews would no doubt offer richer insights. the slow start over the first few weeks could indicate that the students were waiting to see whether this was a one-off or was going to become a regular occurrence. by the fourth week of the trial, and in both the seminars, those students who were asked the questions were showing clear evidence of reading and this continued throughout the remainder of the seminars. a possible perceived drawback to doing a quiz on the reading material would be that the tutor must spend time preparing questions. however, it was found that, as the tutor needs to read the material prior to teaching it, the increase in preparation time is minimal. the quiz case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 itself took around ten minutes from the seminar, which was already limited in time. the tutor nevertheless felt that taking ten minutes to do this was beneficial, as it framed the subject matter and focused on the relevant theory, concept or study. in contrast, in the first few seminars twenty minutes or more was being spent remedially explaining things or waiting for students to read the document. thus the quiz in fact increased the time available for group discussions and more in-depth application and analysis. conclusions whilst this was a small sample, the results suggest that a quiz based on mandatory, relevant reading can be a suitable method of engaging students to prepare for the class. we were delighted with the result and the apparent ease with which the group culture was modifiable. one non-deliberate manifestation was the way in which the quizzes began to feel like a competitive ‘me against them challenge’. the anticipation of the number from the randomiser and the collegiality amongst the students will therefore form part of the way such quizzes will be set up and ‘sold’ in future. the tutor was at times frustrated that the benefits evident as a consequence of the trial were at the cost of a fuller reckoning of individual depth of understanding and patterns of compliance. given the same circumstances in future, a similar strategy would be implemented from week 1, though with perhaps an additional single question for each student to be answered on paper or via mobile devices and submitted before the whole-group random questions. one of the main benefits to this approach is that students become accustomed to reading prior to attending class. the quiz leads to positive learning behaviours that will be expected of them going into their second and third year of studies. sadly, it does not mean that they will like it more, but at least it indicates wider motivational factors. a study on reading content and engagement, perhaps linked to student choices at undergraduate level would be interesting follow-up work. the in-class benefit of minimising the ‘mini lectures’, allowing time to focus on clarifying issues, enables academics to have a greater sense of where to pitch the learning activities for that session. often, students’ responses to the more open questions would provide material for a more in-depth discussion when the class broke up into small groups. unexpected outcomes, such as when these activities actually improve the fluency and coherence of the session, bode well for the way we might manage the approach in future. the whole process leads us to wider conclusions that we have expressed as questions we feel all academics should consider before setting texts for reading preparation:  is the reading actually essential or even important? if so, what mechanism will you have in place to ensure its contents have been understood? if not, why are you setting it?  how closely tied is the set reading to the seminar or lecture content? have you made the nature of this connection clear?  what assumptions do you have about students’ ability to read, process and understand what they are reading and what support is in place both immediately and more widely within the faculty or institution? case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016  will your quick-witted and strategic students know (or feel) that the material will be covered in class even if they haven’t read it?  are your strategies for encouraging (or forcing) reading potentially shaming or embarrassing?  will the benefits of gauging comprehension at an individual level (e.g. through individual response mini papers) outweigh the whole class developmental and deeper discussion benefits of approaches similar to those used in this study?  how could you demonstrate that you are not ‘picking on’ likely non-compliers or, perhaps worse, choosing the ‘usual suspects’ of keen compliers?  do the strategies ‘preach to the converted’? i.e. do they benefit those who read anyway?  if we use in-class activities, how much can we tap into intrinsic motivational forces and what else can be done to make the reading something pleasurable rather than dutiful? above all, we found that this trial challenged assumptions about what students are willing and able to do. if extrinsic motivators like compliance-boosting quizzes are coupled with an assumption that students will do the reading and a clear connection between the material and seminar content is made, then it is not the number of students reading that is important but their starting points in the seminar and the individual progress that can then be made from there. reference list burchfield, c. m. and sappington, j. (2000) ‘compliance with required reading assignments.’ teaching of psychology, 27(1), 58-60. brost, b. d. and bradley, k. a. (2006) ‘student compliance with assigned reading: a case study.’ journal of scholarship of teaching and learning, 6(2), 101-111. clump, m. a., bauer, h. and breadley, c. (2004) ‘the extent to which psychology students read textbooks: a multiple class analysis of reading across the psychology curriculum.’ journal of instructional psychology, 31(3), 227-232. cottrell, s. (2013) the study skills handbook (4th edn.). hants: palgrave macmillan. hatteberg, s. j. and steffy, k. (2013) ‘increasing reading compliance of undergraduates: an evaluation of compliance methods.’ teaching sociology, 41(4), 346–52. hoeft, m. e. (2012) ‘why university students don't read: what professors can do to increase compliance.’ international journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning, 6(2), 12. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 jolliffe, d. a. and harl, a. (2008) ‘texts of our institutional lives: studying the ‘reading transition’ from high school to college: what are our students reading and why?’ college english, 70(6), 599-617. johnson, b. c. and kiviniemi, m. t. (2009) ‘the effect of online chapter quizzes on exam performance in an undergraduate social psychology course.’ teaching of psychology, 36(1), 33-37. lei, s. a., bartlett, k. a., gorney, s. e. and herschbach, t. r. (2010) ‘resistance to reading compliance among college students: instructors’ perspectives.’ college student journal, 44(2), 219. pecorari, d., shaw, p., irvine, a., malmström, h. and mežek, š. (2012) ‘reading in tertiary education: undergraduate student practices and attitudes.’ quality in higher education, 18(2), 235-256. quality assurance agency for higher education (2015) higher education review of university of greenwich. available at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/reviewsandreports/documents/university%20of%20greenwich/u niversity-of-greenwich-her-15.pdf (accessed: 26 april 2016). quaye, s. j. and harper, s. r. (2014) student engagement in higher education: theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations. london: routledge. roberts, j. and roberts, k. (2008) ‘deep reading, cost/benefit, and the construction of meaning.’ teaching sociology 36(2), 125-40. sappington, j., kinsey, k. and munsayac, k. (2002) ‘two studies of reading compliance among college students.’ teaching of psychology, 29(4), 272-274. schrank, z. (2016) ‘an assessment of student perceptions and responses to frequent low-stakes testing in introductory sociology classes.’ teaching sociology, 44(2), 118–127. starcher, k. and proffitt, d. (2011) ‘encouraging students to read: what professors are (and aren't) doing about it. international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 23(3), 396-407. tuckman, b. (1991) ‘motivating college students: a model based on empirical evidence.’ innovative higher education, 15(2), 167-176. uskul, a. k. and eaton, j. (2005) ‘using graded questions to increase timely reading of assigned material.’ teaching of psychology, 32(2), 116-118. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/reviewsandreports/documents/university%20of%20greenwich/university-of-greenwich-her-15.pdf http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/reviewsandreports/documents/university%20of%20greenwich/university-of-greenwich-her-15.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 when feedback holds us back diana bath university of greenwich what is the difference between being opinionated and having an informed opinion? this is the question i asked my level 5 students recently, during a session in which i was introducing their next assignment and advising them on how to improve on their previous one; it’s a question i habitually use at this point and, as always, it was met this time with blank faces. it is not that the students struggle to answer the question, although some undoubtedly do; it is rather that their feedback at levels 3 and 4 led them to believe that they weren’t allowed to express opinions in assignments. when i suggest to them that it is possible to become informed by analysing the evidence and then drawing one’s own interpretation of the research, the students express concerns about ‘going off track’ and not being able to find quotations to support what they want to say; similarly, when i explain that they can improve the quality of their academic writing through the use of reflection, the standard response is: “but i have been told to avoid opinions and how can i say what i think if i am not allowed to use ‘i’?” the problem with this kind of feedback is that students become both constrained by the rules that are introduced to help them and preoccupied with the mechanics of what they can and can’t do. instead, they should be finding confidence through the use of academic conventions which liberate independent thought and support the development of their critical faculties. it seems that, by level 5, many students have an imagined ‘internal template’ or ‘formula’ for essay writing which is tried and tested. as they progress towards level 6, students have more at stake and are arguably less likely to risk original thinking in an assessed piece. however, they may be enticed to discuss their views in class, provided they can see the benefit of it for their own learning. the risks posed by assessed reflection from student course evaluation feedback, i have become increasingly aware that, for many students, the fact that the reflective journal is an assessed piece leads them to perceive it as yet another assessment hoop to be jumped through, if they are to meet the assessment criteria. i wonder how authentic a student’s reflective voice can be, if students are assessed by pre-determined criteria? the trouble is that reflection is very subjective, and the marking of it doubly so. not only are there inconsistent definitions of reflection, but also a lack of standards to assess and determine adequate reflection (koole et al, 2011). educational philosophy continues to generate a variety of divergent ways of embracing selfreflection in order to emphasise ‘purposeful critical analysis of knowledge and experience so as to achieve deeper meaning and understanding’ (lew and schmidt, 2011:530). in my opinion, as an educator of early years teachers, the professional requirement to develop reflective practice is paramount in course design for a number of subject areas. however, it is something that is best developed during tutorials, where face-to-face dialogue can work towards meaningful co-reflections. this method of developing originality and depth of thought is likely to produce a more authentic presentation of a student’s voice. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 what’s in an opinion? those students who struggle with academic writing at level 5 and 6 may do so as a result of over-generalised feedback given at levels 3 and 4, where they are told to stick to the point and substantiate their opinions with a reference. it does indeed seem counterproductive to tell students in their first year not to give personal opinions in their writing, but then, in their final year when everything is at stake, to say: ‘tell me what you think.’ it is true that unwelcome sweeping statements often slip into students’ work, but not all opinions are problematic. opinions can also be seen as catalysts for debate, starting points for research questions and a very useful means of exploring ideas using critical analysis. opinions are a valuable resource for those working to improve graduate study skills, but i have found that even well-informed students often doubt the validity of their views. to help students make connections between things they read and to nurture their skills at developing argument, i have built discussion into class time by introducing the reflective journal (essentially, a reading journal using a template to remind students of the need to take down certain details from their sources, to summarise their reading and to respond to it in their own words). in these journals, students have been encouraged to write reflections about what they read on their course as ‘learning tools’ (lew and schmidt, 2011). subsequent tutorial discussion focuses on what critical reflection is and how critical argument may be used in academic writing to achieve originality. such occasions are also useful moments for looking together at the assessment criteria and discussing developmental action points in relation to previous assignments. the difference between being opinionated and holding an informed opinion rests on the ability to use evidence in the construction of knowledge. this is the fundamental process of learning and points to the need to attend to both the learning process and summative learning outcomes (bath, 2011). reference list bath, d. (2012) ‘let’s get personal: a call for personalised pedagogy.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching 2 (3) koole,s., dornan,t., aper,l., scherpbier,a., valcke,m., cohen-schotanus,j., derese,a., (2011) ‘factors confounding the assessment of reflection: a critical review.’ bmc medical education 11, 104. available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/11/104 (accessed: 10 april 2015). lew, m. and schmidt, h. (2011) ‘self-reflection and academic performance: is there a relationship?’ advances in health sciences education theory practice 16 (4), 529-545. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the teaching excellence framework (tef): yet more competition – and on the wrong things! phil race when the uk green paper which heralded the tef was released in 2015, it claimed that the aim was to introduce something much less burdensome than the research excellence framework (ref). working in higher education institutions (heis) as a consultant, i see that the ‘less burdensome’ intention is already clearly failing, with the energy of staff at all levels being sapped by numerous planning and strategy meetings as institutions gear themselves up for the inevitable competition and league-table fallout which will accompany the tef. participating as a national teaching fellow in the various consultations preceding the present higher education bill, it was clear that there were problems with the three words involved in tef. what are the best metrics to try to quantify ‘teaching’? in particular, what on earth might ‘excellence’ in teaching be, and how could this possibly be measured in a valid or reliable way? and even the word ‘framework’ implies a concept so complex that it could hardly be expected to be fair or productive. so how can we enhance the student experience of higher education? higher education institutions and practices tend to change very slowly. einstein is reputed to have said ‘it is sheer madness to keep doing the same thing, and to expect different results’. therefore, if we want different and better results, we need to be doing different things, not just continuing to put the same old ways of doing things under spotlights, focusing on a few selected dimensions. overburdened staff in heis are already burning themselves out, using traditional methods of assessment and feedback introduced long ago when student numbers were much smaller. indeed, assessment and feedback take up far more time and energy than ‘teaching’ per se and additional tef burdens may thus be a step too far. there are numerous ways to try to teach well. any attempt to highlight particular aspects of good teaching will exclude other equally worthy ways of giving students a good higher education experience. but perhaps the biggest problem is with the word ‘excellence’. rewarding excellence breeds competition and the losers, who will always be far more numerous than the winners, may well be disappointed and discouraged – and therefore less likely to try again to tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 excel. most of the benefits of collaboration may be lost when individuals, departments and institutions are made to compete. it would be much wiser to redirect the energy currently being expended on tef to reviewing the processes of assessment and feedback. successful educational outcomes, including the now oft-cited ‘longitudinal’ ones, depend very strongly on the quality of the assessment and of the consequent feedback that students experience, (e.g. hea, 2012). the higher education sector still over-uses some processes, including the much-criticised unseen written exams (which often continue to measure what is remembered rather than what is learned), and coursework essays (despite all the research which shows that we are poor as a sector at grading them fairly or reliably, and despite ever-increasing concerns about who actually wrote them). essays remain a good way to get formative feedback to students on their thinking and writing, but assessing them fairly is fraught with difficulty. even though the national student survey, which feeds in to the tef, has been adjusted for 2017 onwards and includes issues relating to the student experience of assessment and feedback, known as an aspect which students themselves find the least satisfactory, i would nevertheless argue that the tef would do better to focus more on assessment rather than teaching. so, in short, the tef seems set to measure the wrong things and to generate greater competition in a world which instead needs much more emphasis on collaboration. rather than vain attempts to continue to do the same old things better, processes are needed to recognise and reward outstanding assessment and feedback practice, which itself needs to be better monitored, developed and changed to keep up with the present and future needs of our students, and of the world beyond heis. reference list higher education academy (2012) a marked improvement: transforming assessment in higher education. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/marked-improvement-transforming-assessment-highereducation-assessment-review-tool (accessed: 03 april 2017). using virtual and augmented reality to create realistic training events using virtual and augmented reality to create realistic training events liz bacon and lachlan mackinnon university of greenwich, school of computing & mathematical sciences introduction the importance of realistic training cannot be overemphasised in certain areas of training, for example where quick decisions are required that may impact on life and death situations. research shows that learning under stress, for example studying for exams or meeting deadlines for the submission of coursework, can help focus the mind and can result in faster processing, storage and recall of information. while there is often a debate about the retention of that information and the knowledge thereby gained, there can be no doubt that this model is frequently purposely self-imposed by students. research also shows that the performance of individuals under stress can vary tremendously, with some performing worse and others performing better. it is therefore important to bear this in mind when developing training environments that are intended to be realistic and reflect the real-world situations that a crisis manager might encounter. in addition, because people respond to stress in different ways, it is important that the stress in a training environment is managed and controlled at an individual level, and appropriate checks and balances are provided to protect trainees from harm. strategic level gold commanders are trained to manage crisis situations. typical examples of crises they might have to deal with range from train or plane crash, floods, widespread fire, through to terrorist activities. they will typically always involve a multi-agency response. gold commanders are typically trained in one of two ways. the first is through the use of table-top exercises, this is where a group of trainees sit around a table, and are presented with a paper description of a scenario describing a crisis situation. the group of trainees, from each of the key crisis management agencies, e.g. police, fire, health authority, work together to propose a solution to the problem. the group are guided by a trainer, who has the challenge of making the crisis appear realistic and engaging, and enthusing the trainees to the extent that they suspend disbelief and engage at an emotional level in the crisis situation they are trying to solve. the second typical training mode is through the use of a live exercise designed to simulate a real life crisis situation. these are extremely effective in training and emotionally engaging for the participants in the scenario. they are however extremely time consuming and expensive to set up, and can only ever simulate a small part of a potential scenario leading to a limited number of possible outcomes. at the iscm symposium in athens (iscm 2011), a greek ship-owner made a plea to those developing training environments for crisis management to ensure that the trainees are made to experience the stress of a real crisis situation. he gave an example of one of his ships that had been lost, attributing this to failures in the crisis management of the situation. apparently, those responsible for the situation had abrogated responsibility, deferring decisions to insurers and politicians resulting in the breakup of a ship followed by an ecological disaster. the crisis managers, under the stress of the actual situation, had felt unable to take compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 responsibly and make decisions that could have averted a disaster. in recent years, the availability of computer-based multimedia systems, and computer games technologies, has led to a growth in the development of more interactive and media inclusive training environments for crisis management, as evidence by the wealth of projects presented at iscm 2012 (iscm 2012). some of these have begun to address the issue of realistic levels of stress for trainees (e.g. etc 2012), but to date there has been no systematic approach to the creation and management of stress within individual trainees engaged in strategic level crisis management training. in the rest of this paper we describe the pandora project, which is seeking to develop just such an approach. overview of the pandora project the eu fp7 project, pandora (bacon et al., 2011 and 2012, mackinnon and bacon 2012), has developed a rich multimedia training environment, and associated toolbox, which uses augmented reality to create an emotionally affective ambience, in order to impact decision-making and enhance learning. the application, developed to the level of a robust prototype, is designed to enhance and expand training exercises for gold commanders in crisis management. the role of a gold commander is to develop strategic plans, and, in the event of a crisis, their key objectives (from the civil contingencies act 2004) are as follows (these are not in any order as priorities will vary depending on the nature of the crisis): ●● relieve suffering ●● contain the emergency ●● save and protect life ●● protect property ●● maintain / restore critical services ●● protect the health and safety of staff ●● provide the public with information ●● safeguard the environment ●● maintain normal services ●● promote and facilitate self-help ●● facilitate the investigation / inquiry ●● facilitate community recovery ●● evaluate and identify lessons learned training events for gold commanders seek to address these key objectives, and are specifically designed to: ●● determine the strategic planning ability, decision-making capability, flexibility and capability under pressure of the trainees ●● develop the collaborative skills of the trainees in formulating strategic responses across a number of organisations ●● push trainees to move away from their pre-prepared plans and think of innovative and creative solutions to solve challenging problems ●● help the trainees to understand the impact and implications of their decisions on other services ●● develop the responsive skills of trainees in formulating alternative strategies and remediating actions in the event of the failure of a strategic response ●● help trainees to recognise and challenge their assumptions as these will inevitably be the focus of any post-crisis analysis, regardless of the outcome ●● to monitor the risk taking behaviour of the group, given research evidence suggests that risk taking behaviour increases in a group situation (clark 1974) ●● develop skills to deal with the media, which are inevitably required in the event of a crisis 62 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 as stated above, there are significant drawbacks with the current approaches to training crisis managers. when a crisis occurs, human behaviour and preparedness are critical to a successful outcome and therefore training events must be as realistic as possible. in order to simulate the pressure of a real crisis situation, a system must be able to simulate the information overload and related stress, together with the requirement for making decisions under pressure that have to be negotiated between the representatives of the different agencies, who may hold opposing views. pandora therefore aims to bridge the gap between the low cost, table-top exercises and expensive real world simulations by providing a training environment, utilising virtual and augmented reality components, in which the group and the trainer can participate. this environment provides realistic, dynamically changing, time sensitive, immersive crisis simulation exercises that allow trainees to practice their decision-making and negotiation skills within realistic, stress-controlled scenarios, in a safe environment. the pandora system must provide an environment that engages the trainees at an emotional level, with the aim that the trainees should experience emotions of a similar nature and intensity to those that they might experience when dealing with a real emergency. in order to deliver this requirement, the emotional state of each trainee needs to be monitored and manipulated during the training in a similar way to that which could occur during a real crisis. this aspect of pandora is based on research into models of emotion, decision-making and learning which are discussed in section 5 of this paper. serious games and rich multimedia technologies the popularity in the use of games technologies and gaming approaches for areas other than entertainment, typically referred to as “serious games”, has exploded in recent years (adobe 2007). there has been a proliferation of games in e-learning, egovernance, ehealth, process visualisation, industrial animation, complexity modelling, and almost any kind of professional training that can be imagined, including crisis management. the rationale for this rapid growth is linked to the perceived benefits of playing games such as their immersive and engaging environments which can result in the addiction of players, who will play games for hours, trying to solve problems, frequently failing and restarting, not noticing time passing, in order to progress through a game and reach their goal. if this enthusiasm and determination to succeed could be applied to games that support learning then considerable benefits could be realised. this has been documented in many reports, for example the federation of american scientists released a report in 2006 saying that students could learn some skills better from playing games than from conventional training. this included the ability to make fast decisions in critical, high-stress situations, and this view was reported from a number of other industries (chan 2007). two particular approaches are of relevance here, in reflecting on what might be used to create realistic training scenarios for strategic level crisis management: ●● creating a rich multimedia training environment, where games and multimedia technologies can be used to enhance existing physical training media and processes (ar: augmented reality) ●● creating a training game where the tasks are crisis management activities, including the planning and realisation phases, and the dynamic feedback and decision modelling (vr: virtual reality) in considering the vr approach, three key issues currently have impact on the design: ●● graven & mackinnon (2007) report on the importance of fully integrating the learning content with the game play in existing pre-authored games. overlaying learning content without fully embedding it as part of the game can destroy game play. the research showed that the development of games for a specific purpose is more effective, and that without effective game-play the benefits of immersion and engagement are lost. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 ●● flynn et al., (2011) report on the use of games technology to train social workers in scenarios they might not otherwise be able to encounter during their training. the system uses virtual reality immersion within a blended learning environment. the game presents an unfolding scenario to the player, periodically presenting them with decision points.. the game then continues according to the decision made by the student and provides a safe, virtual reality, immersive and engaging environment in which students can explore different outcomes through repeated plays of the game. ●● the age demographic of gold commanders is such that the majority of them will have had limited exposure to virtual reality environments and games technologies. feedback from users indicated that use of such environments may have a negative effect on their perceptions of the technology, and result in a reluctance to engage and immerse fully. it is very likely that over the next 10-20 years we will see a far greater use and acceptance of virtual technologies to train and prepare for actual physical situations, as the current “digital native” population move into more senior positions, and the technologies prove their worth. whilst there is a debate over how the younger generation learns with technology, it is acknowledged that those born with widespread technology do view it differently to those who weren’t (becker 2012). however for pandora it was decided that the use of virtual reality would not be appropriate as the main mode of delivery. so for pandora, it was felt that the best approach would be to focus on an augmented reality approach but include a virtual reality capability, with the expectation of greater take-up in the future. the advantages of the augmented reality approach are in its inherent flexibility to use variations of digital media etc. in combinations that best fit the profile and makeup of a particular trainee group, which lends itself to an adaptive blended learning approach. design of pandora in the pandora system, training takes place in a crisis training room which has two interfaces: a client that can be downloaded and installed, and a 3d virtual room delivered through a web browser in which trainees are represented by avatars (liu et al. 2011), see figure 1. both of these can be used to deliver training in the following ways: i) at a training site typically used for training gold commanders where the trainer and trainees are co located in the same room where trainees can work at their own computer using the pandora system to communicate, but meet when needed. several large screens may be used to display multimedia information to all the trainees such as sound/pictures/maps/animations/videos, to simulate receiving information about the crisis e.g. news broadcasts. ii) same as i) however delivered at a non-specialised site such as the offices of one of the gold commanders (portable mode). iii) the trainer and the trainees are geographically dispersed and communicate only through the pandora system (distributed mode). 64 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 figure 1 vr representation of crisis room, with slides, streaming video and map applications a crisis scenario is described in terms of a sequence of events that occur as the crisis unfolds, e.g. event 1 = plane crashes into dam, event 2 = flood in local town, event 3 = town loses electricity supply etc. all of these events are represented on a timeline within an event network, and can be delivered to the trainees through a variety of media, e.g. via text message, through a news broadcast, or through a multimedia clip. the crisis room is managed through the trainer support framework, which provides a number facilities to setup and configure the system both prior to a training session and during a training session. for example, scenario loading, interject new events into a scenario or dynamically, as the scenario is executing, rollback a scenario to a previous decision point, or jump forward to a future point, speed up or slow down the execution of the scenario whilst running. the trainer is also able to configure the scenario to set up non playing characters (npc), e.g. to role play an emergency service not represented within the group of trainees (some scenarios require that certain roles are filled e.g. chief of police, if no physical trainee is available to undertake that role); subject matter experts; higher control (hicon), such as government ministers; and lower control (locon) representing the lower levels of command within the crisis team. the system can be configured to play the roles automatically, but the trainer can also take over and simulate responses by these npcs at any time during the execution of the scenario if they so desire. a record of every event, trainee decision, action, e-mail, use of the chat facility etc. is logged and can be accessed at the end of the training session to support an objective post-training analysis, reflection and feedback by both the trainer and individual trainees. emotional modelling and use of augmented reality to create affect in order to impact the emotions of trainees and provide personalisation of a training plan, a decision was taken to assess various psychological traits that have been shown to impact decision making under stress. examples of these psychological traits are background experience (known as a static trait, as this cannot change) and stress and anxiety (which are dynamic traits, as they may vary during a training session). these traits are ascertained through a pre-training questionnaire, and are used in conjunction with goals set by the trainer for each individual trainee (e.g. trainee profile requires a confidence building exercise) to adapt the training as the scenario unfolds. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 during scenario execution, the system runs through a continuous cycle of planning, execution and re planning. throughout the training, the stress level of individual trainees is measured through a number of means such as self-reporting, physiological sensors, and trainer observation. if the trainer decides that one or more trainees appears too relaxed or too stressed and that their stress levels should change up or down, to better reflect a real world crisis. this can be done through a variety of manual interventions such as compressing timelines thus forcing decisions to be taken faster or by interjecting new events into the system. more importantly, it can be addressed in an automated mode by the pandora system. within the pandora training environment, the relationship between affective state and learning is key, and in order to optimise that the project has to have techniques to determine the affective state of the trainee and make appropriate changes to the environment and scenario to address that state. pandora uses a w3c standard on emotional modelling, to which the project has contributed and which is still under development, called emotionml (mackinnon et al., 2012, w3c 2011), to develop the pandora affective model and mark-up affective content. having determined the emotional and behavioural state of each trainee, the calculation of the desired state may be pre-defined within the training scenario, dynamically generated by the system, or as a result of direct trainer input. if the desired state differs from the existing state, the system has to plan suitable events to try and move a trainee towards the target state. the key argument for the use of affect in the pandora scenario is in the creation of affective ambience, by which we mean the use of multimedia assets and information management/manipulation to engender requisite levels of emotional impact on the trainees at decision making points. the key affective representation is associated with the creation of ambience or atmosphere. a number of techniques from film and tv production have been taken, combined with a number of known issues in information distribution and management, to create a set of rules by which multimedia mashups can be created and made available to the trainees. this provides the potential to induce stress in the trainees through the use of vocative inflections, video and image representations of crisis situations, and textual updates from those situations. an example of this might be to show a picture of a hospital that is flooded, and overlay an appropriate piece of audio either saying that the water is receding or that the water is rising and people are about to drown to increase or decrease stress. however, the system can also induce stress through the corruption of media channels, incomplete information, missing information, noisy channels, and a variety of other techniques to diminish the certainty of information available to trainees at those points in the scenario where they are required to make decisions. using this kind of induced stress, the system can impact on trainees in terms of their self efficacy, leadership capability, and existing personality traits, to determine their capability to make effective and appropriate decisions under stress. existing crisis management training using human media personnel as actors to achieve these effects has had considerable success (national crisis leadership centre 2012), and existing research in affective computing has shown this can be successfully achieved systemically (marsella et al., 2010). results of user trials a robust prototype of the pate was used in three days of trials at the emergency planning college in the uk. a total of 13 existing gold commanders (from novice to very experienced) were split into three groups, each receiving one day of training. the total number of trainees per group were 6 on day 1 (experienced gold commanders), 5 on day 2 (novice gold commanders) and 6 on day 3 (immediate experienced gold commanders). some individuals participated in more than one training exercise to ensure a sufficiently full 66 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 group and, for these trainees, their evaluation was captured after their first training experience. all trainees found pandora to be engaging and all of the groups were immersed in pandora for the entire time, trying to resolve the crisis situation they had been given, which was a severe weather scenario. at several points during each training session, the trainees were asked to fill out a questionnaire and graded their reaction on a scale from 0 to 6 (where 6 is high), in the following areas: 1. learning climate 2. self-perception of learning 3. security and privacy 4. technology acceptance 5. oral instructions 6. tutorial 7. user interface (overall reaction, system rate, screen features, terminology, learning) areas 1-4 received no scores below 3 and overall the vast majority of the scores were in the 3-6 range. with only 13 users considerable qualitative feedback was also obtained. comments focussed around the realism of the tool, the potential, how intuitive it was and how useful it was to be put under the stress of a real crisis situation. the focus of the criticisms were typically around the user interface and the request for enhanced features. however, without exception, the trainees described the training experience as far more realistic than any other training models they had experienced. some quotes from the trainees included: “real potential to understand your own ability and potential” “i like the flexibility of the system – it enables real decision making” “really good system overall, simple to use, i was very impressed, easy to manipulate and do what you want.” “it enables real decision making”, “really good, definitely as true to life as you can get in a training environment”, “overall very intuitive, encourages people to respond who might otherwise be less comfortable speaking out”, “emotional learning to put you under stress, is good, we assume people can do what they can do because they have the job but it’s not necessarily the case so really good.” similarly positive feedback was received from the trainers. particular areas highlighted were the learning experiences gained from letting people see the consequences of their mistakes and the importance of the chronological record of events for post-crisis training. some of the trainers had initially been slightly sceptical about the use of heart-rate sensors until the actual trials when they realised that provided invaluable insight into how each trainee was really feeling, given that several managed to hide any visible signs of stress and also noticing the wide reactions to the same event by different individuals as the scenario unfolded. some quotes from the trainers were: compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 “i can deliver training to senior directors across the country simultaneously using this system” “being able to let people see the consequences of their mistakes in advance is valuable experiential learning”. “easy to use” “flexible system – and truly dynamic” “total classroom control” “my executive level customers would enjoy and welcome the opportunity to train using this system” “when can we have it and how much will it cost?!” overall the user trials were extremely successful, they were however undertaken on a robust prototype and they were also limited to one day which did not provide trainees with the full training experience which would normally be considerably longer. whilst the training environment was slightly artificial as the trainees understood the context in which they were being trained, they did nevertheless engage with the training as if it was for real. the outcome of the evaluation validated the approach taken by the project in using immersive multimedia and augmented reality to create realistic training events, and offers considerable potential for future development and use of the approach. conclusions and future work the growth in the use of digital technologies, and in particular visualisation and simulation technologies, has already had an impact on the training of crisis personnel at operational and tactical levels. however, the provision of training for those involved in the development of high level tactical and strategy plans and responses has yet to take advantage, in any real sense, of these technologies. there are good reasons for this, both in the engagement of high level personnel with modern vr and games technology and, more pertinently, in the need to develop an appropriate, dedicated training environment that addresses their needs. the pandora project has taken the best of the existing models, in terms of the use of ar approaches, the benefits of table-top and physical simulation, and the impact of real world factors, representing by public media and emotional artefacts, to create just such a dedicated training environment. unlike existing systems, the pandora system has been developed both as an ar and a vr system with a view to offering both blended learning and a fully virtual experience, where this is appropriate and desired. in keeping with the needs of an expanding requirement to train more personnel in crisis management and to deal with ever more complex scenarios, the system has the potential to encompass crisis situations of all types and perspectives and to support strategic level training in all of them. the pandora box, being the set of tools and the methodological approach to configure the system and environment, have intentionally been developed to be generic, rather than specific. the next stage of development for the pandora system, which is currently in prototype and will be commercialised in 2012, is the development of a robust general-purpose scenario-authoring tool and the redeployment of the environment as a command and control centre. the pandora system has been developed as a generic event-based system which could be used for training people in a number of fields. the criteria for applicability would be where trainees need to engage with a scenario that has a series of unfolding events which they need to respond to, for example: 68 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 transport planning, military strategic planning, health service delivery planning, organisational strategic planning, local government service delivery planning and stock portfolio planning. the use of pandora in these contexts would require that the trainers develop the scenario and corresponding multimedia assets for the system to play out; however, a variety of scenario planning tools are available in the market to assist with this process. acknowledgement the authors wish to acknowledge the support of the european commission in funding this work under the ist & security call of the 7th framework fp7-ict-sec-2007-1, grant agreement no. 225387. we also wish to acknowledge and thank our partners in the pandora project for their contributions to this work. references adobe. 2007. serious games: online games for learning, available at: http://www.adobe.com/products/ director/pdfs/serious_games_wp_1107.pdf [accessed 28 october 2012]. bacon, l., windall, g., and mackinnon, l. 2011. the development of a rich multimedia training environment for crisis management: using emotional affect to enhance learning. proceedings of the 18th association for learning technology conference (alt-c 2011), september 6-8, at the university of leeds, uk. paper 0151. [online]. available at: 02/rlt.v19s1/7780.full proceedings at available at: http://repository. alt.ac.uk/id/eprint/2159. bacon, l., mackinnon, l. cesta, a. and cortellessa, g. 2012. developing a smart environment for crisis management training. journal of ambient intelligence and humanized computing, 3(2). becker, k., fleming, j., and keijsers, w. 2012. e-learning: ageing workforce versus technology-savvy generation, education + training, 54(5), pp.385 – 400. chan, w-h. 2007. serious games=serious training, published in fcw.com as a cover story may 7, 2007. clark russell d., iii. 1974 .risk taking in groups: a social psychological analysis, the journal of risk and insurance. 41(1), 75-92. ecentre research group, university of greenwich. [online]. available at: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/ centres/ecentre [accessed 14 may 2012]. etc simulation training systems. 2012. [online]. available at: http://www.trainingfordisastermanagement. com/about/etc-simulation/ flynn,r., mackinnon, l., bacon, e. and webb, j. 2011. maritime city: “using games technology to train social workers – some initial results”. proceedings of icec 2011, 10th international conference on entertainment computing, 5-8 october 2011 vancouver, canada. graven, o. and mackinnon, l. 2010. a summary of investigation into developing games for learning using different techniques. proceedings of the world conference on e-learning in corporate, government, healthcare and higher education (elearn), orlando, florida, october 2010, aace: editlib, pp. 1724-1731. http://www.adobe.com/products/ http://repository/ http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 iscm. 2011. international symposium on crisis management, vougliameni, athens, greece, june 2011. [online]. available at: http://www.iscm2011.eu/ [accessed 19 december 2012]. iscm 2012. second international symposium on crisis management, london, uk, march 2012. [online]. available at: http://www.pandoraproject.eu/. liu, h., arafa, y., boldyreff, c. and dastbaz, m. 2011. cost-effective virtual world development for serious games, igic 2011. proceedings of the 3rd ieee international games innovation, pp 48 – 51. mackinnon, l., bacon, e. and windall, g. 2010.tracking and influencing trainee emotions in a crisisplanning scenario. w3c workshop on emotion markup language. paris, 5-6 october 2010. mackinnon l. and bacon l. 2012. developing realistic crisis management training. proceedings of the 9th international conference on information systems for crisis response and management (iscram) 2225 april 2012, vancouver, canada. national crisis leadership centre – kent county council learning & development. [online]. available at: http://www.kent.gov.uk/business/council_business_services/kent_learning development/leadership management/leadership_development/national_crisis_leadership.aspx, [accessed 14 may 2012]. marsella, s., gratch, j. and petta. p., 2010 computational models of emotion. in scherer, k.r., bänziger, t., & roesch, e. (eds.) a blueprint for an affectively competent agent: cross-fertilization between emotion psychology, affective neuroscience, and affective computing. oxford: oxford university press. w3c. 2011. emotion markup language (emotionml) 1.0 working draft 7 april 2011. [online] available at: http://www.w3.org/tr/emotionml/ author biographies professor liz bacon phd, ceng, csci, fbcs, citp, fhea, is dean of the school of computing & mathematical sciences at the university of greenwich, chair of the bcs academy of computing and a bcs (chartered institute for it) vice president. she is co-director of the ecentre research group and is an experienced systems designer and developer. lachlan mackinnon is professor of computing science (strategic development), head of two departments in the school of cms, and co-director of the ecentre, at the university of greenwich, u.k. his research interests are in computing policy, information and knowledge engineering, smart systems, games and creative technologies, ehealth and e-learning, and computer security. 70 http://www.iscm2011.eu/ http://www.pandoraproject.eu/ http://www.kent.gov.uk/business/council_business_services/kent_learning http://www.w3.org/tr/emotionml/ liz bacon and lachlan mackinnon overview of the pandora project serious games and rich multimedia technologies design of pandora emotional modelling and use of augmented reality to create affect results of user trials conclusions and future work acknowledgement references author biographies opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 the management of business or the business of management? patrick ainley university of greenwich business is a large and diffuse activity and growing larger with the expansion of the new market-state, in which virtually all former-state services are contracted out to be run as businesses – if not yet directly for profit, then in heightened competition for customers. consequently, nearly all of the academic and more or less technical and specialised disciplines developing the various professional areas of expertise for which further and higher (tertiary) education previously prepared its students are being turned into business activities. this has long been the case with some subjects – architecture, for instance – but now students of health or engineering find that they too must not only practise their skills but also, competitively, sell them to clients, in order both to secure employment and to maximise customer satisfaction, so as to attract more business. it is not surprising, therefore, that applying for business is popular amongst school leavers seeking secure employment. it collects together various academic sub-disciplines to cover component areas of accounting, marketing, economics etc. in ‘skill sets’ that hopefully ‘bridge the skills gap’ to match available employment. these sub-disciplines collected together do not then have more than a vocational relevance, because they do not focus, as do traditional academic disciplines, on any one central practice and/or theoretical canon. for example, the discipline of education collects its constituent elements of philosophy, psychology and sociology in relation to the art – or is it a science or craft? – of teaching/pedagogy. however, management could possibly constitute itself as the general activity common to multifarious businesses, so that degrees in management would indicate more than a higher (and usually even more expensive) level in the hierarchy of management, business and administration. this, however, raises the question of whether generic management exists – as distinct from ‘leadership’, for instance. if providing a service in the new market-state depends upon satisfying customers, so as to grow the business, does not the effective management of such businesses depend upon meeting this bottom line: whether the service provides better and cheaper proverbial widgets (or more fancy ones in a niche market), more tasty beans or more satisfied students than the competition? in other words, a new profession – as suggested, for instance, by richard and daniel susskind in their prediction of a post-professional society – in which, as they conclude: ‘in the end, the traditional professions will be dismantled, leaving most (but not all) professionals to be replaced by less expert people and high performing systems… new roles will arise but… these too, in due course, may be taken on by machines.’ (2015, 303) managers of organisations would then be validated and prepared by various levels of the academic discipline of management, this constituting the unified and unifying discourse that opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 draws together the various elements of their art, craft or science – in the same way, as suggested above, that education does. it seems, however, that there is little demand for such degree level validation for a new management profession, although would-be managers pay through the nose for various mbas. again, this is because, like the businesses that managers manage, the activities are too diverse in themselves and all their various combinations. as a result, whilst managers, in whatever business they undertake, are typically pitted against workers to grow their business by growing the number of managers at the expense of an increasingly automated, outsourced and digitised workforce, they do not form a definite cadre – especially as managers themselves are subject to the same remorseless reduction to semiprofessionalism that the susskinds describe. as a result, as the market-state morphs into what wolfgang streeck (2016, chapter 4) calls a ‘consolidation state’, run directly in the interests of capital investors rather than indirectly through the mediation of the market (let alone any democratic pretensions); the real generic managers are the politicians. they, and their top civil servants and other consultants, hold briefs for different departments of government – health, employment, transport etc. – that they interchange. at the end of their tenure in office, they interchange again, passing through the notorious revolving doors that usher them into corporate directorships, the management of investment funds or the boardrooms of banks. peculiarly, most of this administrative caste are prepared academically – insofar as they are prepared at all – by what lloyd george (one of the few prime ministers who wasn’t so prepared) called ‘the staff colleges of the old universities’ (taylor, 1965: 70). paradoxically too, even at this level of governance in a consolidation state, the functions of this managerial elite become reduced towards an algorithm, seeking only profit maximisation at the expense of culture, the environment and humanity’s future. reference list streeck, w. (2016) how will capitalism end? essays on a failing system. london: verso. susskind, r. and d. (2015) the future of the professions, how technology will transform the work of human experts. oxford: oxford university press. taylor, a.j.p. (1965) english history 1914-1945. oxford: oxford university press. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 university, e-portfolio and students: perpetuating a sense of failure? helen bardy, lorraine loveland-armour, sarah parkes newman university birmingham abstract newman university embraces partnership work according to the principles of a pedagogy of partnership, evidenced through development of student academic partnership, student research partnership and student community partnership projects. driving enhancement of digital literacy in its graduates, the youth and community work programme embraced the open source e-portfolio platform mahara for use on study skills and placement modules. staff, however, became aware of the difficulties encountered by students using mahara and embarked on an initial ‘student academic partnership’ project to unmask these and inform teaching development. this was subsequently followed by a ‘student research partnership’ project that investigated specific difficulties for students with dyslexia. the projects found that students valued peer-to-peer support rather than online support resources, and uncovered a variety of navigational issues that reinforces a sense of failure (nosek, 1997), hindering progress and ultimately limiting opportunities for students creatively to express knowledge and understanding of a given subject. newman university and student formation newman university is a catholic university and, as noted in the 2016/17 access agreement (p. 1), continues to exceed benchmarks for recruiting students from under-represented groups. the university directs research towards a demonstrable impact on society, whilst making higher education accessible to members of minority groups customarily deprived of it, and aims to achieve this through promoting student formation, defined as: education for a reflective mind, for well-being and for human flourishing; o within a community of intellectual enquiry, which is o dedicated to the construction of the common good, the transformation of its members’ lives and of the world they serve and engage with. (newman university, 2014, p. 3). one of the ways in which student formation is embraced is through the notion of a pedagogy of partnership (newman university, 2016) that draws from catholic social teaching and emphasises paulo freire's idea of learning through critical co-investigation, where student and tutor are ‘jointly responsible for a process in which all grow’ (freire,1996 p. 61). newman’s philosophy therefore seeks to build on his idea that leaders or teachers should not seek to speak to or for people but with them; furthermore, it promotes democratic engagement and co-operative working. this philosophy has more recently found favour with case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 the national union of students (nus), as a critical response to the marketisation of higher education. its manifesto for partnership (nus, 2015) rejects both the market and apprenticeship models of higher education in favour of a model of partnership where students are neither customers of higher education nor passive recipients of it. instead, they are active partners in the life and learning of the university and partnership in this sense is the goal of student engagement. alongside the nus, the quality assurance agency (qaa) has embraced the concept of partnership in its element of the quality code on student engagement, stating that ‘partnership working is based on the values of: openness; trust and honesty; agreed shared goals and values; and regular communication between the partners’ (qaa, 2012, p. 5). influenced by freire, the nus and the qaa, newman university thus characterises the pedagogy of partnership as: • building from a shared hope [how can we improve our understanding and action?]; • establishing a dream of transformation [what is the best we can be?]; • promoting respectful dialogue [hearing under-represented voices] about our lived experience and espoused values; • involving co-investigation and shared reflection through problem-posing, curiosity, rational exploration and creativity; • seeking the co-construction of solutions aimed at a better way of being; • an ongoing, transformative and collaborative process of being and becoming. (newman, university, 2016) evidence of this philosophy can be seen in the development over the last three years of student academic partnership, student research partnership and student community partnership projects at the university. these wide-ranging projects have enabled staff to work with students to further their own understanding of student experience and thereby to enhance their teaching practice. promoting digital literacy in youth and community work for many years now, a fundamental element of all undergraduate degree programmes at newman university has been a compulsory accredited work placement, either integrated in blocks throughout each level of study or completed as a specific module at level five. historically, the traditional (and often lengthy) paper-based portfolio assessment was used; however, this was replaced on a select number of programmes with the open source eportfolio platform, mahara. there has more recently been an institutional drive towards utilising mahara on all work placement elements across the institution. this was seen as affording student flexibility and creativity through promoting use of a diverse range of media in assessment, rather than the traditional written form, potentially to bridge the ‘digital divide’ throughout the curriculum. with the aim of improving the varying levels of digital literacy of students, mahara was piloted in 2013/4 within the youth and community work programme and across study skills and work placement modules at levels four and five. here, students were asked to compile evidence from study skills development activities and their work placements across the year(s). one of the benefits of mahara is that a ‘secret url’ can be shared with others, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 allowing them to access student-selected and built resources contained within a specific page. this was envisaged as providing the opportunity for students to develop a digital cv in order to enhance their postgraduate employment prospects; it remains especially pertinent for youth and community work students who need to be ‘reflexive’ practitioners. part of all the modules utilising mahara requires students to reflect on themselves continuously as they develop over the programme and during placement experiences. they thus can provide evidence for supervisors and potential employers of how they have been able to both ‘reflect-inaction’, and ‘reflect-on-action’ (schön, 1983). this is achieved by including these reflections within a digital cv that utilises the ‘secret url’. as this was an accredited youth and community work programme, it was necessary to consider the needs of the accrediting body (national youth agency), by ensuring conformity to the benchmarks of both national occupational standards (nos) and quality assurance agency (qaa), as well as the needs of employers. research by davies and cranston (2008), funded by the nya (uk), found that, whilst youth work can play an important role in supporting young people to navigate the risks and exploit the opportunities available to them through social media and digital technologies, the professionals working with them might not have access to the technology themselves, nor the skills or knowledge base to perform this important informal educational role. ensuring that youth and community work graduates are digitally versatile therefore underpins the drive to make use of mahara within the programme. despite using mahara to increase flexibility and creativity, staff became more aware of the possible perpetuation of a digital divide caused by the digitisation of learning in higher education: the marginalisation of those with limited access to ict for linguistic, social, educational, economic or geographical reasons (selwyn and facer, 2007). indeed, following the first semester pilot in 2013/14, it was noted that students with dyslexia in particular, some 50% of the programme’s cohort, struggled to access and use mahara effectively. research maintains that students with dyslexia derive particular benefit from the use of assistive technology, because it can help with organisational difficulties, improve access to text and facilitate engagement with curriculum (mortimore and crozier, 2006, p. 246; phayer, 2010, p. 29; eide and eide, 2011, p.182; gregg and banerjee, 2009, p. 271). however, studies also argue that assistive technologies alone cannot overcome barriers to accessing, engaging with and organising information for higher education students with dyslexia, as such other barriers as expectations and training requirements may restrict levels of engagement (hanafin et al, 2007, p. 441). these difficulties may be exacerbated by a lack of confidence with new technologies or the requirement to engage with technology in a more integrative way, which can in turn have impact on academic performance and engagement (pino and mortari, 2014, p. 347). furthermore, despite their recognisable reasoning strengths, information overload for university students with dyslexia may present them with significant challenge in differentiating and prioritising the information they learn (bacon and handley, 2014, p. 341) as a consequence of difficulties within the cognitive domain of working memory (pickering, 2012, p.11; pickering, 2005, p.139; velluntino and fletcher, 2005, p. 367). thus, these underlying cognitive difficulties compound their ability to access and consistently engage with assessments based within an e-portfolio environment. however, hughes et al (2010, p. 59) argue that institutional use of mahara as an alternative assessment tool could be refined, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 through personalisation opportunities within the e-portfolio structure, as an addition to the more experiential and systematic interventions for university students accessing dyslexia support. thus, it became apparent that teaching and support staff needed to understand the specific barriers for such students at newman university, to enable their successful and continuing use of the technology. using critical pedagogical and andragogical approaches to learning the foundation of the teaching context within the youth and community work team is a critical pedagogical approach, placing transformative learning and education at the centre of the students’ experience (brookfield, 2003). this is in part owing to the educational role that they themselves will take as practitioners during and beyond their time within higher education. as the programme is practically applied, assessments also need to be practical and embedded in the students’ current and future work as youth and community workers. students draw on the notion of ‘engaged pedagogy’ which requires praxis: the integration of theory and practice (hooks, 1994; 2003). whilst there are various competency-based benchmarks as previously mentioned, national occupational standards (nos) and quality assurance agency (qaa) may, in part, provide some guidance on enabling students to develop into reflexive practitioners. threshold concepts (meyer and land, 2005; 2006) are used to help students navigate from a basic, compartmentalised understanding to one that is ‘foundational, coherent and integrative, ‘permeating the acquisition of new knowledge and ideas’ (meyer and land: 2006b). using mahara as an assessment tool supports students to be creative in how they demonstrate their theory and practice, so that they can align the professional competencies, threshold concepts and skills that richardson’s (2013) model of 'measuring the immeasurable' notes as harder to assess, yet more important for students in a networked world. despite prior educational barriers to learning, students opt in to dyslexia support at newman university. these decisions are typically informed by students’ relatively new identity of dyslexia and the desire to drive their learning forward. approaches to facilitate higher learning are predicated upon an andragogical stance, which assumes that the students’ impetus to pursue university studies is informed by:  the view that students have decided they need to know more about a self-selected topic of study;  the learner has established a concept of self; the ability to overcome prior educational experiences;  a readiness to learn;  a “life-centred” approach to progressing in response to educational engagement;  individual motivational factors;  recognition of individual strengths contributing to resilience and motivation. (knowles, 1990, pp.57-63; hunter-carsch and herrington, 2001) by recognising and developing known strengths, rather than reinforcing prior negative experiences, students with dyslexia at newman are able to engage in independent learning. they determine their own objectives and evaluate their academic development effectively within a support context in order to build additional strategies to complement or tweak case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 existing compensatory strategies (wilson and savery, 2012; eide and eide, 2012; burns, poikkeus and mikko, 2013; glazzard and dale, 2013). thus, the use of the student academic partnership and student research partnership initiative fits with the ethos of the approaches outlined above. students in partnership: implementation in semester two of 2013/14, a student academic partnership project within youth and community work commenced. this sought to investigate the barriers to using mahara, with the intention of using the findings to underpin future developments. subsequently, an institution-wide student research partnership project built on the original student academic partnership, but specifically focused on the barriers and needs of students with dyslexia. the first student academic partnership project focused on the generic experience of using mahara for all students on the youth and community work programme. students who had initially found mahara difficult to navigate and yet had come to value its use were approached to take part; one level five student was keenly interested and signed up to the partnership. they in turn recruited two further students, who created their own informal space in order to talk to other students and seek information about their concerns regarding use of mahara. initially, ‘whatsapp’ was used to communicate questions the youth and community students had identified as an issue, and many students voiced their concerns in this way. some students also took it upon themselves to provide one-to-one support to others who acknowledged that they would benefit from additional help. students reported that they were uncertain about where to access help when using mahara, the position of the ‘help page’ being considered unhelpful and not the first place they sought assistance. students also felt less confident in using support from the online forum and indicated a preference for peer-to-peer support. interestingly, the student partners themselves became informal mentors to other students through tacit learning support. this created an awareness of the benefits extra support for students would bring. what became clear from the discussions between students was that those with dyslexia were reporting greater difficulty in using mahara. in response to this initial project, the e-learning department at newman university minimised specific mahara features which students found problematic and streamlined the help section so that it was more user-friendly. in addition, the approach to teaching and supporting mahara use was adjusted to include more practice time in seminars and scheduled drop-in sessions, and student mentors were recruited to support students using mahara for the first time. following the initial student academic partnership, a student research partnership project emerged that sought to investigate the particular barriers to using mahara for students with dyslexia. this involved a variety of staff working together with a student with dyslexia. the student worked in partnership on a weekly basis with a specialist dyslexia support tutor to reflect on, evaluate and engage with mahara. this approach ensured consistency, space and time for reflection / evaluation and cooperative planning, by actively using mahara together in order to discuss and identify barriers: these revealed challenges not only with the technology, but also with following what were perceived as complicated sequences in order case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 to adapt the portfolio. indeed, recalling sequential information, organising and prioritising it in order to engage with it frequently constitute a challenge that characterises dyslexia (eide and eide, 2012; berninger, et al, 2006; bda, 2011; shah and miyake, 1996; cornoldi, de beni and pazzaglia, 1996). once key difficulties were identified, a concept map outlining how to navigate and create pages within mahara was created. the concept map acted as a visual aid to stimulate narratives within semi-structured interviews conducted with six university students with dyslexia. emerging themes themes emerging from the project suggest that a core barrier to using mahara effectively is rooted in the inconsistencies in sequential memory of participants identified with dyslexia, with significant impact on navigation. this can be identified across the different levels of study as seen below: …its overly complex and it doesn’t need to be! it’s got loads of different links on there …if you’re not sure of where you are looking… you looking in all the wrong places…. (female student, level four) …just dumb it down a bit better…it shouldn’t have to be that you have to upload more …it gets confusing…. (male student, level six) …it’s a bit confusing….where’ve your files actually gone? (female student, level five) this challenge further impacts significantly on critical engagement with the mahara tools, as each one requires the learner to engage with a series of additional steps. the benefits of assistive technology for students with dyslexia is well documented (mortimore and crozier, 2006; phayer, 2010; eide and eide, 2011; gregg and banerjee, 2009). however, in terms of mahara, the systems for adding new features are not consistently mapped against more familiar and more frequently used software, which causes significant accessibility issues for participants. this can be seen in the exchange between a participant and the student interviewer: participant: one of the additional reasons i haven’t used it…i don’t know how to use it fully for me to be able to see how my assignment is progressing. i need to do it in a word document…. interviewer: …something you’re already familiar with? participant: yes (female student, level six) the teaching staff initially perceived that mahara would enable students with dyslexia to make the most of their strengths by uploading visual and audio academic work. in addition, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 within dyslexia support, students have learnt to use dictaphones to record auditory reflections and other academic work. it was anticipated that this would be used as an alternative way of demonstrating knowledge. however, there was an additional challenge in this: …we’ve got a certain amount of storage and pictures work for me but [they] take up a lot of data space! and if you’re uploading visuals … into your memory and data space as dyslexic students, we could possibly do with more memory? (female student, level five) therefore, because students with dyslexia typically have strengths in visual processing, they welcome the opportunity to present their ideas in a visual way. indeed, overcoming the auditory working memory difficulty is also supported by the use of a dictaphone to record their thoughts as they have them, thus removing the barrier of having to type thoughts out. so it is that limitations of data storage and methods of mitigating these by compressing files add a further barrier to mahara use. as noted previously, university students with dyslexia can suffer information overload despite recognisable reasoning strengths. the quoted comment below reflects the initial confusion of students with dyslexia when using mahara and demonstrates the determination, reasoning strengths and resilience used as coping strategies to manage the barriers: …its very complicated. if you don’t know where you are going or what you’re doing! it was only through trial and error that i was actually able to achieve what i wanted to achieve from mahara. if i wasn’t as curious as i am then i probably wouldn’t have been able to produce what i did on mahara…. (female student, level four) these underlying cognitive difficulties compound the ability to access and consistently engage with assessments that are based within an e-portfolio environment. consequently, the features within the mahara menu, although many and varied in terms of allowing students to present their understanding through a variety of formats, require the recoding of icons and labels. this recoding proves to be highly inconsistent for students with dyslexia, contributing to self-doubt and disengagement with the e-portfolio. therefore, for them, the potential creative opportunities to demonstrate knowledge and understanding are superseded by incompatible labelling, the structural make-up of the pages and the twodimensional nature of the portfolio. navigation, navigation, navigation. each session within mahara means starting the navigation process afresh in order to find the pages and the items within the pages within individual e-portfolios. this seems to lead to replication and repetition of ideas in multiple pages, with significant ensuing impact on editing requirements. students often suggested that they should write out steps or create maps in order to navigate to previously-uploaded materials. furthermore, the additional time investment required to begin each page for each portfolio means that students have to reacquaint themselves with the previously imposed structure of pages before creating new case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 ones in order to remind themselves of their progress. whilst there are known benefits to overlearning for students with dyslexia (reid, 2016; price, 2013, p. 57), the learning opportunities in engaging with the portfolio in this manner are minimal as the starting point doesn’t build further knowledge, but does, for these students, reinforce a sense of failure (nosek, 1997) that hinders progress and limits opportunities to express creatively knowledge and understanding of a given subject. however, it must also be noted that through this process of using, discussing and reflecting on how to access and engage with mahara, students are finding that they are developing more strategies to manage navigation. dialogic talk supports students involved in this study to bypass some of the impact resulting from working memory inconsistencies and appears to be suggesting that resilience ultimately is driven by the struggle and the opportunity to discuss the nature of the struggle with a learning partner. moreover, a constructive, problem-solving approach to engagement with mahara has also, in the form of recommendations for colleagues across the institution, initiated suggestions for how to improve the portfolio structure in order to reduce barriers to learning. evaluation and limitations a potential limitation of this study is that students without dyslexia were not involved. as a result, it is impossible to know whether or not these user experiences are disparate from neurotypical students using mahara as an assessment tool. nonetheless, these initial findings are contrary to the easy fit with an e-portfolio as an assessment tool which also facilitated independent learning opportunities expressed in hughes et al, (2011, p. 59). a number of factors may contribute to this, particularly the approaches to dialogic engagement when using the e-portfolio through forums. furthermore, in line with williams et al, (2014, p. 622), despite the difficulties that students in this study encountered, e-portfolios as an assessment tool must not be discounted: they offer valuable means of alternative assessment for students with dyslexia because there is potential to embed a more inclusive, personalised and dialogic means of critical engagement with their subject areas. this notion is complementary to emerging themes, which suggest that there are staff development and andragogical considerations that need to be addressed in order to maximise the potential benefits of using mahara as an assessment tool for university students with dyslexia. recommendations and outputs following on from completion of the student research partnership project (15/16), developments at newman university have included: 1. construction of an institutional mahara working group to discuss the challenges, with a view to overcoming barriers to its use; 2. internal investigations by the e-learning team at newman into any adaptations to the software that can be made in-house; 3. dissemination of the findings and those adaptations that require external implementation shared with the software publisher as requested a response to the initial student academic partnership (13/14) project. 4. creation of two internal resources: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 a. a visual resource to support use of mahara is in production, with a view to adding this to the home page of mahara as a learning and teaching resource for both staff and students. b. a mahara collection of resources produced collaboratively during the course of the research project. in agreement with hughes, et al (2010), how newman university further develops its use of mahara as an alternative assessment tool may be potentially refined through personalisation opportunities within the e-portfolio structure, alongside more experiential and systematic interventions for university students accessing dyslexia support. reference list bacon, a.m. and handley, s.j. (2014) ‘reasoning and dyslexia: is visual memory a compensatory resource?’ dyslexia, 20(4), 330-345. bda (2011) dyslexia and spld in adults. bracknell: british dyslexia association brookfield. berninger, v.w., abbott, r.d., thomson, j., wagner, r., swanson, h.l., wijsman, e.m. and raskind, w. (2006) ‘modeling phonological core deficits within a working memory architecture in children and adults with developmental dyslexia.’ scientific studies of reading. 10 (2), 165-198. brookfield, s. (2003) ‘a critical theory perspective on accelerated learning’. new directions for adults and continuing education, 97, 73-82. available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ace.90/epdf (accessed: 19 november 2015). doi: 10.10.02/ace.90 burns, e., poikkeus, a-m. and mikko, a. (2013) ‘resilience strategies employed by teachers with dyslexia working at tertiary education.’ teaching & teacher education, 34, 77-85. cornold, c., de beni, r. and pazzaglia, f. (1996) ‘profiles of reading comprehension difficulties: an analysis of single cases.’ in: reading comprehension difficulties: processes and interventions. cornoldi, c. and oakhill, j. (eds.), 113-136. mahwah, nj: lea. davies, t. and cranston, p. (2008) youth work and social networking final research report: how can youth work best support young people to navigate the risks and make the most of the opportunities of online social networking? leicester: national youth agency. eide, b. l. and eide, f.f. (2011) the dyslexic advantage. london: hay house. freire, p. (1996) pedagogy of the oppressed, 2nd ed. london: penguin books. glazzard, j. and dale, k. (2013) ‘trainee teachers with dyslexia: personal narratives of resilience.’ journal of research in special educational needs, 13 (1), 26-37. gregg, n. and banerjee, m. (2009) ‘reading comprehension solutions for college students with dyslexia in an era of technology: an integrated approach.’ in: reid, g. (ed.), the routledge companion to dyslexia, 265-285. abingdon: routledge. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ace.90/epdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 hooks, b. (1994) teaching to transgress. education as the practice of freedom. london: routledge. hooks, b. (2003) teaching community. a pedagogy of hope. new york: routledge. hughes, j., herrington, m. mcdonald, t. and rhodes, a. (2010) ‘e-portfolios and personalized learning: research in practice with two dyslexic learners in uk higher education.’ dyslexia, 17, 48-64. available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dys.418/abstract (accessed: 12 december 2014). doi: 10.1002/dys.418. hunter-carsch, m. and herrington, m. (2001) dyslexia and effective learning in secondary and tertiary education, london: whurr publishers. knowles, m. (1990) the adult learner a neglected species, 4th edn. houston, tx: gulf publishing company. meyer, j.h.f. and land, r. (2005) ‘threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning.’ higher education, 49 (3), pp.373-388. meyer, j.h.f., land, r. and davies, p. (2006) ‘implications of threshold concepts for course design and evaluation.’ in: meyer, j.h.f. and land, r. (eds.), overcoming barriers to student understanding: threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. london: routledge. mortimore, t. and crozier, w.r. (2006) ‘dyslexia and difficulties with study skills in higher education.’ studies in higher education. 31(2), 235–251. newman university, (2014) strategic plan 2014-2020. available at: http://www.newman.ac.uk/files/w3/about-us/pdf/strategic%20plan%2020142020%20.pdf?q=277 (accessed: 17 march 2016). newman university (2016) pedagogy of partnership. available at: http://www.newman.ac.uk/about-us/3931/the-pedagogy-of-partnership (accessed: 08 april 2016). newman university (2016b) enhancing retention, progression and achievement through student partnership. [internal document] nosek, k. (1997) dyslexia in adults: taking charge of your life. lanham, md: taylor trade publishing. national union of students (2015) a manifesto for partnership. available at: http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/a-manifesto-for-partnership (accessed: 15 january 2016). pickering, s.j. (2012) ‘working memory in dyslexia.’ in: packiam, t. and gathercole, s.e. (eds.), working memory and neurodevelopmental disorders, 7-40. hove: psychology press. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dys.418/abstract http://www.newman.ac.uk/files/w3/about-us/pdf/strategic%20plan%202014-2020%20.pdf?q=277 http://www.newman.ac.uk/files/w3/about-us/pdf/strategic%20plan%202014-2020%20.pdf?q=277 http://www.newman.ac.uk/about-us/3931/the-pedagogy-of-partnership http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/a-manifesto-for-partnership case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 pickering, s.j. (2005) ‘verbal memory in the learning of literacy.’ in: turner, m. and rack, j. (eds.), the study of dyslexia, 131-156. dordrecht, netherlands: springer science + business media, inc. pino, m. and mortari, l. (2014) ‘the inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher education: a systematic review using narrative synthesis.’ dyslexia, 20, 346-369. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc4253321/ (accessed: 09 september 2015). doi: 10.1002/dys.1484. price, g. (2012) ‘why can’t i learn? metacognitive strategy instruction.’ in: brunswick, n. (ed.) supporting dyslexic adults in higher education and the workplace, 51-58. oxford: john, wiley & sons, ltd. quality assurance agency (2012) uk quality code for higher education chapter b5: student engagement. available at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-andguidance/uk-quality-code-for-higher-education-chapter-b5-student-engagement#.vym6vkrliu (accessed 20 february 2013). reid, g. (2016) dyslexia: a practitioner’s handbook. 5th edn. chichester: john wiley & sons ltd. richardson, w. (2012) ‘messy assessment.’ the “immeasurable” part 2, 3 august. available at: http://willrichardson.com/post/28626310240/the-immeasurable-part-2 (accessed: 04 april 2015). schön, d. (1983) the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. usa: basic books. selwyn, n. and facer, k. (2007) beyond the digital divide: rethinking digital inclusion for the 21st century. available at: http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/opening_education/digital_divide.pdf (accessed: 05 may 2009). shah, p. and miyake, a. (1996) ‘the separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and language processing: an individual differences approach.’ journal of experimental psychology: general, 125, 4-27. velluntino, f. and fletcher, j.m. (2005) ‘developmental dyslexia.’ in: snowling, m.j. and hulme, c. (eds.), the science of reading: a handbook, 362-378. oxford: blackwell publishing. williams, p., wray, j., farrall, h. and aspland, j. (2014) ‘fit for purpose: traditional assessment is failing undergraduates with learning difficulties. might e-assessment help?’ international journal of inclusive education, 18 (6), 614-625. wilson, m. and savery, n. (2012) ‘stories of resilience: learning from adult students' experiences of studying with dyslexia in tertiary education.’ journal of adult learning, aotearoa new zealand, 40 (1), 110-126. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc4253321/ http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/uk-quality-code-for-higher-education-chapter-b5-student-engagement http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/uk-quality-code-for-higher-education-chapter-b5-student-engagement http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/uk-quality-code-for-higher-education-chapter-b5-student-engagement http://willrichardson.com/post/28626310240/the-immeasurable-part-2 http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/opening_education/digital_divide.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 attacks on the traditional lecture: a case of academic chuunibyou? russell crawford keele university chuunibyou: a japanese slang term describing a tendency in people to look down on others, preferring minor trends in an effort to be ‘cool’. here, i propose this term as apt for a recent and unfair inclination by some with academic chuunibyou to view the traditional lecture as a poor pedagogic tool. my central belief here is that the lecture remains a useful, relevant, pedagogically-focused application of the professional teacher working her/his craft and can be viewed in essence as facilitating a powerful ‘pedagogy of gesture’ (church et al, 2004; crawford, 2014). whilst the craft of teaching is varied, diverse and often discipline-specific in nature, session delivery style typically focuses upon pre-set delivery modes such as the lecture, small-group tutorial, seminar, practical class and field work (eble, 1988). the list of session types is long, but what is understood in selecting any one of these delivery modes is that it creates an expectation in learners (dowling et al, 2003). as an experienced lecturer who enjoys giving lectures, i frequently find myself having to advocate this style of teaching to colleagues, in order to counter widespread criticism of it that seems to stem from both ‘popular’ opinion and what i consider ‘academic chuunibyou’. whilst there are various anti-lecture stances in the literature, two that seem prominent and that i frequently hear from colleagues are that the lecture is ‘teacher-centred teaching’ (used pejoratively) and that there are constraints when considering issues of inclusivity (turner, 2015). i would argue that these and other criticisms of the lecture are conditional on the quality of the teacher’s pedagogic session planning and should certainly not put practitioners off using what is an undeniably versatile teaching tool when well-designed. as part of what i view as ‘academic chuunibyou’, the lecture has, in recent years, come under particularly negative scrutiny as newer, alternative teaching modes are elevated by the undermining of an original staple of the system (oermann, 2005). other teaching modes, such as team teaching, small-group discussion and peer-to-peer learning, have not been as critically lambasted as the poor old lecture though, as one might expect, they themselves do not actually fare any better when subjected to the same degree of scrutiny (fischer et al, 2004; topping and ehly, 1998; shulman, 2000). the concept that the teacher is the one best placed to decide on the mode of delivery seems obvious to this author, but criticism of the lecture as ‘teacher-centred teaching’ essentially disempowers practitioners (especially new ones) from being able to decide this for themselves, almost shaming them into ‘innovating’ (read: not using a lecture format) for its own sake, thereby disposing of a pedagogic rationale and damaging the learning process by removing a useful weapon from the teachers arsenal (oblinger, 2005; hembrooke and gay, 2003). i would make the point that the teacher is the one best placed to make this decision, which should always be with a qualified eye on the learning outcomes rather than with ‘academic chuunibyou’. there is a tendency, in this author’s opinion, towards a reductive socratic view of the lecture as being transmissive in nature and, whilst this can be true, the skilled practitioner uses the lecture too effectively for it to be thus (turner, 2015). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 i have always designed my lectures on the premise that the pedagogic point is not to ‘impart knowledge’ but rather to present ideas, information and analysis, provoking learners to think about the subject, a process hardly ‘passive’ for them. the opposite, in fact, is the case: the audience may be sitting without talking (an oversimplification of ‘passive’), but is fully and actively engaged in synthesising the flow of the lecture, quite in accordance with the threshold concepts pedagogic philosophy (meyer and land, 2005). in this way, the lecture should be considered an ‘intellectual experience’, in which the content, design and, most critically, the performance all coalesce into a riveting and unique pedagogic product, offering a staunch defence against ‘academic chuunibyou’. reference list church, r.b., ayman-nolley, s. and mahootian, s. (2004) ‘the role of gesture in bilingual education: does gesture enhance learning?’ international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 7(4), 303-319. crawford, r.m. (2014) ‘a pedagogic trinity – exploring the art, craft and science of teaching.’ journal of pedagogic development 4(2), 77. dowling, c., godfrey, j.m. and gyles, n. (2003) ‘do hybrid flexible delivery teaching methods improve accounting students' learning outcomes?’ accounting education, 12(4), 373-391. eble, k.e. (1988) the craft of teaching (2nd edn.). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass publishers. fischer, r.l., jacobs, s.l. and herbert, w.n. (2004) ‘small-group discussion versus lecture format for third-year students in obstetrics and gynecology.’ obstetrics & gynecology, 104(2), 349-353. hembrooke, h. and gay, g. (2003) ‘the laptop and the lecture: the effects of multitasking in learning environments.’ journal of computing in higher education, 15(1), 46-64. meyer, j.h. and land, r. (2005) ‘threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning.’ higher education, 49(3), 373-388. oblinger, d. (2005) ‘leading the transition from classrooms to learning spaces.’ educause quarterly, 28(1), 14-18. oermann, m.h. (2005) ‘using active learning in lecture: best of "both worlds".’ international journal of nursing education scholarship, 1(1). shulman, l.s. (2000) ‘teacher development: roles of domain expertise and pedagogical knowledge.’ journal of applied developmental psychology, 21(1), 129-135. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 turner, y. (2015) ‘last orders for the lecture theatre? exploring blended learning approaches and accessibility for full-time international students.’ the international journal of management education, 13(2),163-169. topping, k. and ehly, s. (eds.) (1998) peer-assisted learning. new york, routledge. conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 movies in the classroom: lessons for curriculum design jim gritton, jill stewart, charlotte jeavons, nevin mehmet, vincent la placa university of greenwich trailer public health is considered to be both a science and an art (winslow, 1920; faculty of public health, 2010), in which we seek to protect, improve and promote human health and enhance quality of life. it is a wide-ranging discipline, encompassing a broad mix of practitioners who work across a variety of organisational settings, and draws from science, technology, social sciences and law. leadership, too, is often described as an art (depree, 1989; schein, 2005; hodges, 2015) and as a field of study “draws on both the arts and the sciences” (gill, 2006, p. 5). however, the word ‘art’ is frequently used indiscriminately and also ambiguously; it is a word that we often associate with the humanities, yet there has been relatively little discussion of how both public health and leadership, as subjects of study, are informed by the humanities. in what ways can the humanities, here largely defined as a collection of academic disciplines that include literature, drama and film, be used to enhance the learning of those practising, or seeking to practise, in the fields of public health and leadership? there is a burgeoning body of literature (johnson and jackson 2005; cornett, 2006; jensen and curtis, 2008; smith, 2009; edwards et al, 2015) which suggests that, by incorporating into our teaching the humanities, including film, we can enhance the learning experience of our students and help lay the foundations for greater sensitivity, understanding and empathy, as well as make the learning more ‘real’. in medicine, too, there has been growing interest in the use of the humanities to enhance medical training (cassell, 1984; sklar et al, 2002; shapiro and rucker, 2003; blasco et al, 2005), with much of the literature suggesting that exposure can help make those who practise medicine more empathetic, understanding and thoughtful in their work. why not, then, explore how this might be incorporated into the teaching of public health and leadership? in this short paper, we reflect briefly on an initiative, developed in the faculty of education and health at the university of greenwich, in which cinema is used to supplement teaching and augment the learning of public health, wellbeing and leadership students. we look at one film in particular to demonstrate how it enhances traditional classroom-based teaching. pitching the screenplay why cinema in particular? we live in an age in which film, television and other visual media predominate. visual images take centre stage in the news, advertising, entertainment and even education. students spend a significant amount of their time in front of the small or big screen and are therefore more responsive, it is argued, to audio-visual stimuli than traditional, written forms of communication (spielberger and lieberman, 1985). this poses a challenge in higher education, where most learning materials are still in written form. how then can we, as educators, make our teaching more meaningful and relevant, whilst developing students’ critical thinking skills? one possible strategy is to use carefully-selected feature films as part of the teaching and learning curriculum. conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 over the last twenty or so years, educators across a wide range of disciplines psychology, counselling, leadership, nursing, science, fine arts have recognised the pedagogic value of films in teaching and learning (tipton and tiemann, 1993; bluestone, 2000; kuzma and haney, 2001; masters, 2005; marcus and stoddard, 2007; capar, 2012; gallagher, wilson and jaine, 2014). they are an excellent vehicle for illustrating course content and making sense of abstract theories and concepts (hannay and venne, 2012), whilst promoting critical thinking, stimulating the senses and engaging emotions. according to champoux (1999), feature films have an audio-visual impact that gives them a distinct advantage over the printed or spoken word and “cinema's ability to create a unique experience gives it unbeatable power as a teaching tool” (p. 207). roll camera … action! at a learning, teaching and assessment conference held at the university of greenwich in january 2015, the authors conducted a short workshop in which they shared with participants two approaches to using film to supplement teaching and enhance learning:  the first involves use of an extra-curricular film club for bsc public health and bsc health and wellbeing students to introduce a range of contemporary public health and wellbeing issues in an entertaining way, as an adjunct to traditional teaching and learning. although a voluntary activity, this club is well attended by students who value the opportunity to explore, in discussion after the film has been shown, themes relevant to public health and wellbeing. films are usually selected by members of the course team, but suggestions from students are also encouraged.  the second involves use of an eclectic mix of feature films to bring leadership theory to life as part of the mandatory taught element of two post-experience leadership courses. students are asked to select a movie from a box of dvds and watch it as homework in between lectures. however, the real task is to view the film through the lens of a number of different leadership theories and then to discuss the findings in class the following week. examples of some of the films used by the authors in their teaching were shown in two short video montages created for the workshop (see table 1). both videos have been uploaded to youtube and can be accessed at the addresses shown below the table. table 1 public health and wellbeing films1 leadership films2 erin brockovich (environmental contamination) erin brockovich (situational leadership) contagion (epidemiology, communicable disease) invictus (leadership vision) dreams of a life (ageing, loneliness, social capital) spartacus (followership) precious (abuse, social & structural determinants) alien (female leadership) desert flower (fgm, emancipation) gladiator (leadership traits) still alice (alzheimer's disease, aging, identity) chicken run (who can be a leader?) 1. https://youtu.be/qq0nsce_szi 2. https://youtu.be/eatluscgnwq conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 during the workshop, participants were encouraged to reflect on their own teaching practice and identify films that might be used to support their own teaching and/or discipline. the authors shared best practice tips for both extraand intra-curricular activity and introduced a simple framework (repurposed below as a list of questions) to guide the use of film in curriculum design: a. why this film? are other films more appropriate? b. what is your main objective in using this film? c. how does the film illustrate course content? d. what contemporary issue does the film highlight? e. what abstract ideas or theory will the film illuminate? f. how will the film be used to foster critical thinking? g. how does the film encourage empathy or greater sensitivity? h. in what way(s) will the film stimulate senses or engage emotions? i. how will you deal with sensitive issues raised by the film? j. how will you use the film? e.g. in full, clips, trailer, on youtube, pause and discuss? k. will the film be incorporated in the curriculum or made extra-curricular? l. how will the film be advertised? what assumptions will the students make? m. have you checked and addressed any copyright issues? n. will the film help make learning fun? if so, how? plot summary space precludes a detailed examination of each of the films listed above, but let us focus on one to demonstrate its usefulness as a teaching aid and to address questions a to f above. erin brockovich is chosen as it works particularly well across both public health and leadership. the film is based on a true-life event, namely contamination of a water supply and inadvertent poisoning of local residents by a power company that had been dumping toxic, carcinogenic waste illegally. the film addresses how the problem arose and, indirectly, the crucial role of epidemiology in public health. in addition to dealing with matters such as environmental health policy and risks to community health, the film addresses issues of social justice, community action and ethics in public and environmental health. in fact, many of the courses on the bsc public health and bsc health and wellbeing programmes are represented in this film, making it an ideal, integrative vehicle for teaching and learning. a similar claim can also be made for leadership teaching. the film raises important issues of unethical leadership and the failure of corporate governance when shareholders’ interests take precedence over those of other stakeholders. the film also poses the question: who can be a leader? erin brockovitch is not a leader at the beginning of the film, yet she becomes one. she is not just a lowly legal clerk who assumes the mantle of leadership – she is a female legal clerk and the fact she is an unemployed, single mother struggling to support her family challenges the stereotype that only men in positions of power can be leaders. the film can be viewed through the lens of many different theories, for example situational and contingency theories of leadership. the film is also about leadership style and the skills and behaviours required of effective leaders, such as how to influence others, how to deal with conflict, how to build trust and so on. as an adjunct to face-to-face tuition, this conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 film of two hours eleven minutes, watched by students in their own time, bolsters eight hours of classroom teaching. denouement the process of delivering the workshop and reflection on participants’ feedback reinforced the authors’ belief that in order to enhance the learning of public health, wellbeing or leadership students, we need to develop in them, as future practitioners, their critical awareness and sensitivities. the goal is to create more thoughtful practitioners who will be able not only to perform more successfully academically, but also to operate across a broad range of contexts and organisational settings. whether assuming the role of leader or working in the fields of public health and wellbeing, students will find themselves facing, across a variety of disciplines after graduation, complex or even “wicked” challenges (rittel and webber, 1973) for which there are no obvious solutions, responses or easy answers. we need practitioners who can see problems from multiple perspectives and distinguish between the particular and the general; we need practitioners who can get under the skin of complex problems and develop their own creative response to them. both film and the humanities in general can help our students’ understanding of and responses to the world around them, fostering greater critical acuity and thereby producing more rounded, holistic practitioners. overall, our experience of the workshop, together with the literature that we had reviewed, reaffirmed our conviction that films are an excellent vehicle for illustrating course content, focusing attention on a contemporary issue, stimulating senses, engaging emotion, fostering empathy, making sense of abstract ideas, promoting critical thinking and, above all, making learning fun! many of us in higher education are already using film, literature and drama in lectures, seminars and extra-curricular activities, and referring students to wider learning opportunities that include cinema, novels, autobiographies and art exhibitions outside formal study. however, we need to continue to find new, imaginative ways to help stimulate and encourage increasingly flexible, ethical, authentic, creative and appropriate learning options for our students. in conclusion, use of film both as part of and alongside an already busy curriculum brings with it synergy that may be difficult to realise through traditional modes of teaching. more importantly, it is about what works well in learning and teaching and why what we do matters. we argue that use of movies in the classroom has multiple pedagogic benefits and offers students a broader and more multifaceted range of opportunities to enhance their learning and development. we seek to encourage further debate about how we can enrich students’ learning, firm in the belief that film can and should be a vital part of the lecturer’s toolbox. out-take for those readers who wish to use film as part of their teaching, “the performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work before an audience consisting of teachers and pupils at an educational establishment and other persons directly connected with the activities of the establishment … is not a public performance for the purposes of infringement of copyright” (copyright, designs and patents act, 1988). conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 reference list blasco, p.g., moreto, g. and levites, m.r. (2005) ‘teaching humanities through opera: leading medical students to reflective attitudes.’ family medicine, 37(1), 18-20. bluestone, c. (2000) ‘feature films as a teaching tool.’ college teaching, 48(4), 141-147. capar, m. (2012) ‘the views of the prospective teacher of visual arts on using the films about artists to teach art criticism, aesthetics, art history and art production.’ social and behavioral sciences, 51, 204-208. cassell, e. j. (1984) the place of the humanities in medicine. new york: hastings. champoux, j. (1999) ‘film as a teaching resource.’ journal of management inquiry, 8(2), 206-217. copyright, designs and patents act 1988, pt1, section 34. available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/34 (accessed: 30 march 2016). cornett, c. e. (2006) creating meaning through literature and the arts: an integrated resource for classroom teachers. 3rd edn. upper saddle river, nj: prentice hall. depree, m. (1989) leadership is an art. new york: bantam doubleday dell publishing group. edwards, g., schedlitzki, d., ward, j. and wood, m. (2015) ‘exploring critical perspectives of toxic and bad leadership through film.’ advances in developing human resources, 17(3), 363-375. faculty of public health (2010) what is public health? available at: http://www.fph.org.uk/what_is_public_health (accessed: 25 october 2015). gallagher, p., wilson, n. and jaine, r. (2014) ‘the efficient use of movies in a crowded curriculum.’ the clinical teacher, 11, 88–93. gill, r. (2006) theory of practice and leadership. london: sage. hannay, m. and venne, r. (2012) ‘it's showtime: using movies to teach leadership in online courses.’ journal of online learning and teaching, 8(3), 238-247. hodges, d. (2015) ‘good leadership is an art.’ recruiting & retaining adult learners, 17(8), 9. jensen, a. and curtis, m. (2008) ‘a descriptive qualitative study of student learning in a psychosocial nursing class infused with art, literature, music, and film.’ international journal of nursing education scholarship, 5(1), 1-9. johnson, a. and jackson, d. (2005) ‘using the arts and humanities to support learning about loss, suffering and death.’ international journal of palliative nursing, 11(8), 438-443. conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 kuzma, l. and haney, p. (2001) ‘and . . . action! using film to learn about foreign policy.’ international studies perspectives, 2, 33-50. marcus, a. and stoddard, j. (2007) ‘tinsel town as teacher: hollywood film in the high school classroom.’ the history teacher, 40(3), 303-330. masters, j. (2005) ‘hollywood in the classroom.’ nurse educator, 30(3), 113–116. rittel, h. and webber, m. (1973) ‘dilemmas in a general theory of planning.’ policy sciences, 4(2), 155-169. schein, e. h. (2005) ‘from brainwashing to organizational therapy: a conceptual and empirical journey in search of “systemic” health and a general model of change dynamics. a drama in five acts.’ organization studies, 27(2), 287–301. shapiro, j. and rucker, l. (2003) ‘can poetry make better doctors? teaching the humanities and arts to medical students and residents at the university of california, irvine, college of medicine.’ academic medicine, 78(10), 953-957. sklar, d., doezema, d., mclaughlin, s. and helitzer, d. (2002) ‘teaching communications and professionalism through writing and humanities: reflections of ten years of experience.’ academic emergency medicine, 9(11), 1360-1364. smith, g. w. (2009) ‘using feature films as the primary instructional medium to teach organizational behavior.’ journal of management education, 33(4), 462-489. spielberger, j. and lieberman, l. (1985) ‘film as a springboard for writing. in: spielberger, j. and slaughter, v. (eds.) images and words: using film to teach writing: a special issue of resource. new york: city university of new york, office of academic affairs, 4-6. tipton, d. and tiemann, k. (1993) ‘using the feature film to facilitate sociological thinking.’ teaching sociology, 21(2), 187-191. winslow, c. e. (1920) ‘the untilled fields of public health.’ science, 51(1306), 23-33. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 testa@greenwich engaging students in feedback and assessment duncan mckenna university of greenwich testa@greenwich is a research project which investigates assessment and feedback at the programme level. the methodology uses data both quantitative (a tailored questionnaire and an audit of programme feedback & assessment f&a structures) and qualitative (student focus groups); this is then collated into a holistic case study of f&a on individual programmes, to be fed into the periodic review process. data are collected by students and come directly from students and staff, creating a powerful and insightful picture of feedback and assessment structures from stakeholders on both sides of the learning journey. “students ought to be engaged with their learning experience.” it is a sentence we have all heard in some educational context. in fact, the word ‘engagement’ has become a by-word for so many things surrounding the student experience, that it is sometimes difficult to know which field of student life it refers to; this is a troublesome predicament, given that student engagement is key to so many he agendas and, indeed, to the whole concept of a satisfactory learning experience. students ought to be engaged with the material they are being asked to learn, so that they go beyond a surface approach and begin to absorb a holistic understanding of their discipline, and further, with the skills which that discipline imparts, in order to aid their graduate life (fletcher, 2012). they ought to be engaged with their peers and members of academic staff, so that they build the relevant social/professional skills and networks for later life. learning therefore becomes a partnership: a pro-active, shared experience where ideas are the key commodity (coates, 2007). students ought to be engaged with the way they are taught and assessed, not only the better to understand their learning outcomes, but also to help to shape an enhanced education for future cohorts (hefce, 2008). testa@greenwich is concerned with all of the above, as it engages students in research, both as participants and researchers. however, most crucially, we believe that students must be involved in shaping the way that they are taught, assessed and given feedback, so that they may take advantage of the goldmine of critical thinking and innovative suggestions for improvement that come from their direct experience. students are full of bright ideas – it is their job to think. the wealth of resources presented every year at jisc’s ‘summer of student innovation’ testifies to that on a national scale, and university of greenwich students, have a lot to offer in terms of innovative design, not merely technologically, but pedagogically too, as evidenced at our focus groups: a new approach to the submission system for pieces of work; using a two-stage deadline to incorporate peer feedback into the standard submission process; and ideas on how to provide lecturers with the chance to see the capabilities of their students in self-assessment and improvement. creativity and functionality are clearly evident, yet there is a disjunction between this level of creative thinking/engagement, and the number of opportunities students are given to exhibit them. we should open our ears, even more than we do now, to take advantage of this level of imagination. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 testa@greenwich looks primarily into feedback and assessment, which is what the students are most concerned about and what student satisfaction surveys constantly highlight as in need of improvement. our initial analysis of findings from focus group interviews and questionnaires from eight programmes undergoing testa mirrored the worries students expressed in the nss and highlighted aspects especially problematic for greenwich. it revealed that students: are generally unhappy with the way their learning goals have been communicated to them; do not see value in exams as a learning tool; experience difficulties with comprehending the language of the feedback they receive; often approach assessments without fully understanding what they are learning. while the initial results vary across the programmes, the fact that many of these concerns had some positive mirrors from the same cohorts may imply that communication, and not just practice, is also at stake. creating a narrative and a dialogue with students about their assessment and feedback diet is absolutely key. speaking to students and having them speak to us, creating an open and continuous free flow of ideas, is an ideal that testa@greenwich strives for and what we hope our research will achieve. what’s more, we believe that working directly with students in a partnership is vital to the success of any process of student engagement and therefore to the success of any modern university. as dunne states: “there is a subtle, but extremely important, difference between an institution that ‘listens’ to students and responds accordingly, and an institution that gives students the opportunity to explore areas that they believe to be significant, to recommend solutions and to bring about the required changes.” (dunne, in foreword to dunne and zandstra, 2011) testa delves deeper than student satisfaction surveys, penetrating the layer of student engagement. drawing on theoretical thinking behind the concept of student involvement (neary, 2012; bovill, 2011; healy, 2009), testa is working with five students (four of them on a scholarship), harnessing their skills as ‘student as change agents’. their role is to create a bridge between us, the staff, and the student body; by operating outside the conventional channels of staff/student communication and by using their first-hand knowledge of what concerns students, they will, we hope, enable us to draw both sides closer to each other and to begin building a sustainable structure for student engagement, with students closely involved in assessment and feedback innovation, as both means and end. we also hope that testa will provide sufficient data for the student change agents to act as a representation of the student voice, successfully to communicate concerns to staff and to suggest innovative and pragmatic solutions to those problems. empowering students to engage with the way they are taught (and especially with assessment and feedback), teaching them to learn as well as what to learn and giving them ownership of, and the ability to construct, their own educational experience: all these are what we aspire to achieve through testa. students are full of bright ideas – and we want to listen. for more information visit: www.testa.ac.uk blogs.gre.ac.uk/testa opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 6, no 10, 2015 reference list bovill, c, cook-sather, a, and felten, p. (2011) ‘students as co-creators of teaching approaches, course design, and curricula: implications for academic developers.’ international journal for academic development, 16(2), 133-145. coates, h. (2007) ‘a model of online and general campus-based student engagement.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 32 (2), 121–141. dunne, e and zandstra, r. (2011) students as change agents new ways of engaging with learning and teaching in higher education. foreword, p.4. bristol: a joint university of exeter/escalate/higher education academy publication. available at: http://escalate.ac.uk/8064 (accessed: 5 march 2014). fetcher, a. (2012) ‘convenient or inconvenient student voice?’ connect vol. 2012:194. healy, m. (2009) ‘developing the student as a researcher through the curriculum.’ in: rust, c. (ed.) improving student learning through the curriculum, oxford centre for staff and learning development, oxford brookes university, oxford: ocsld hefce (2008) tender for a study into student engagement. bristol: higher education funding council for england. neary, m. (2012) ‘student as producer: an institution of the common? [or, how to recover communist/revolutionary science].’ enhancing learning in the social sciences, higher education academy, york. available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/disciplines/socialsciences/eliss0403a_guest_paper.pdf (accessed: 5 march 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 71 part-time higher education students’ interactions with a virtual learning environment as an exploration of theories of connectivism dr steve connolly, dr karen wicks anglia ruskin university, uk, university of bedfordshire, uk abstract this article uses data from an action research project (arp) conducted with part-time higher education (he) students as a means of exploring the recent thinking about learning characterised by theories of connectivism. both quantitative and qualitative data are presented to assess the extent to which connectivist theory might explain – and indeed develop – the use of a virtual learning environment (vle) on a part-time education degree in the united kingdom (uk), particularly for students from non-traditional backgrounds. the article concludes by discussing what both the data themselves and connectivist perspectives on those data might have to say about vle use in an age in which such learning platforms are but one means of accessing learning. keywords: connectivism, virtual learning environment, non-traditional students, higher education 1. introduction george siemens’ (2005 and 2008) work on the theory of connectivism poses important questions for educators and academics who are interested in the way that learning is transformed by technology. in this paper, we present data collected from an action research project (arp) that examined the use of a virtual learning environment (vle) by non-traditional, part-time students on an undergraduate education degree. informed by these data, we explore siemens’ and downes’ (2019) ideas about connectivism and how they challenge traditional ideas about learning. consequently, this paper has three distinct aims: first, to present the data from the arp to help us consider how siemens’ principles of connectivism (2005) are illuminated or problematised; second, to explore how the ideas of siemens and downes might be used to develop interaction with vles for non-traditional students; and, finally, to consider why the principles of connectivism may currently be under-utilised in pedagogic practice in the context of uk higher education and how this might be addressed. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 72 1.1 literature review though much of the extensive literature on he vles concerns their positive potential (burgess, 2008; higgs, 2012; busher et al., 2015) especially for non-traditional students, graham and halverson (2019) have argued that further research into the relationship between usage/usability and the benefits is essential to gain a proper understanding of how vles influence learning. this study looks at student engagement with the vle to explore siemens’ ideas about connectivism and considering how vle usability and take-up might be improved. as such, it is helpful to consider the literature in three broad areas: data analytics as an indicator of vle useability; the use of vles in he settings, particularly for distance learners and non-traditional students; and explanations of vle use in terms of theories of learning that pre-dated connectivist theories. studies which have used data analytics to examine how much time students spend using a vle largely suggest that there is no definable correspondence between individual students’ vle activity and their ability to achieve a particular outcome on a course. some years ago, malikowski et al. (2007) proposed a way of thinking about categories of vle activity which might be recorded and analysed, a model that this study considers as a means of identifying the potential benefits. the categories include: transmitting course content; evaluating students; evaluating courses and instructors; creating class discussions; and creating computer-based instruction (op.cit., p.156). to assess the level of engagement with the vle, subsequent studies in this area have used data analytics relating to, for example, login frequency, number of interactions with other students and staff and types and frequency of materials accessed. notable among these are agudo-peregrina et al., (2014) and chaka and nhobo (2019), who attempt to examine the correlation between data analytics and student outcomes. similarly, beer (2010) and caruso (2006) bring together the analytics from across institutions to measure both performance and engagement. though there is some evidence for the correlation between analytics (login data) and student engagement, this cannot be taken as a predictor of success (henrie et al., 2018) and so more qualitative analysis is required, as much analytics research confirms. consequently, wider qualitative analysis of the use of vles in he, particularly by distance and non-traditional learners, can be useful here. though some of the literature deals with both these groups separately, they have many issues in common, these often characterised as ‘barriers to learning’ imposed by circumstance (distance, financial difficulties) and background (no prior or current university attendance by any family member; personal family commitments precluding fulltime, face-to-face study). mcgivney (1993) describes these in terms of the personal, situational articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 73 or dispositional; so, a dispositional barrier might be an individual’s self-perception as being ‘too old to learn’, while a situational barrier might be insufficient money to undertake a course of study. these descriptions match the concerns of many students on the course being undertaken in this study. burton, golding lloyd and griffiths (2011) suggest that such barriers can be overcome through both early and sustained contact with the students and flexible course design, of which vles form a part. with this in mind, and for reasons of space, both types of learners mentioned above are treated here as a single group. several studies indicate that vles and online learning more generally can have benefits for nontraditional and distance learners. higgs (2012) explains how non-traditional students on a social work course found the online sphere to be particularly helpful for discussing ethical problems because, in that context, they felt more confident in coming forward to help others and to be helped. similar positive effects are also reported in other subjects (burgess, 2008) with teachers noting that students can become more autonomous and successful (martzoukou and kemp, 2016). however, it has also been argued that vles can present problems for these learners. these include: the difficulty of supporting students with the development of necessary information communication technology (ict) skills (safford and stinton, 2016); a lack of pedagogical expertise or clear role for the teacher (allan et al., 2012); and a recognition that to deploy such technologies does not solve the wider educational or circumstantial issues that impact on students’ learning (holley and oliver, 2009). in the light of this, we wanted to explore whether looking at vle use through the lens of connectivism might suggest how best to ensure that nontraditional students will benefit from the advantages of the vle while also addressing the challenges. 1.2 theoretical framework george siemens proposes eight “principles of connectivism” which are presented below. (nb: the ‘cn’ numbers in brackets here are our own addition and refer to the coding system that we use to identify the way the data gathered relate to each principle.) • learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions; (cn1) • learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources; (cn2) • learning may reside in non-human appliances; (cn3) • capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known; (cn4) • nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning; (cn5) • ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill; (cn6) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 74 • currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities; (cn7) • decision-making is itself a learning process. choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. while there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision. (cn8) (siemens, 2005) these principles have been reinforced by an epistemological framework employed by downes (2008) to outline a theory of distributed knowledge in which connectivist knowledge involves knowing both the connection and the information provided by the connection. despite criticisms of this view (kerr, 2006), we argue that connectivism provides an ideal way of thinking about the data generated by the current project, because in addition to asking how students learn to handle the technology, it also asks about their relationship with that technology. through a connectivist lens, we seek to examine how students engage with vles and how vles might be used more effectively, particularly for non-traditional students. we accept that there is some scepticism about connectivism as a learning theory (kop and hill, 2008; verhagen, 2006) and that any conclusions drawn from this kind of investigation need to be tempered by the observation that connectivism has not yet been fully established within undergraduate education courses. it is important to note that much of siemens’ and downes’ work on connectivism arises out of their development of massive open online courses (moocs). a mooc is an online learning platform which presents learning materials that anybody can use and take part in. moocs are usually free and are designed to accommodate very large numbers of people. while moocs and vles have some similarities, their differences (not least the question of what is or isn’t being paid for) raise some important questions about the ability of connectivism as a learning theory to encompass all aspects of educational processes in he; for example, the role of pedagogy in the learning process and the nature of knowledge or perhaps the skills and competencies required of the student. with this in mind, it is perhaps wise to see the discussion of data that follows later in the paper not only as a critique of these students’ use of the vle viewed through a connectivist lens, but also as an implicit critique of connectivism itself, given that siemens and downes developed the theory from a specific type of learning environment. finally, as bridge to the theoretical framework of connectivism, it is worth pausing to consider literature that has sought to explore vle use by relating that activity to other theories of learning. perhaps unsurprisingly, given the collaborative and collective way that vles are utilised by articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 75 educators, there have been attempts to characterise them in terms of wenger’s notion of a “community of practice” (ellaway, dewhurst and mcleod, 2004). the authors explain how vles might be used to support pre-existing communities of practice, taking wenger’s “learning architecture framework” and using this theoretical idea to evaluate how effective such online communities are. keller (2005) on the other hand, draws on implementation research to examine how different learning theories, including compeau et al. (1999), explain how cognitive aspects of learning to use a vle can helpfully influence instructional design and subsequent pedagogy. exploration of this connection is a well-trodden path in educational research (sweller, 2016) and perhaps provides a more empiricist view of vle use than many, which tend to be influenced by more constructivist and constructionist approaches (barker, 2012). it is therefore useful to site connectivist theory in relation to these other theories of learning that articulate siemens’ belief that it sits outside more established cognitivist, constructivist and behaviourist theories of learning. though not all thinkers about technology and learning see themselves as connectivists (kop and hill, 2008), there is a broad view that twenty-first century technology does require us to think differently and more innovatively about learning and it is this that we attempt to engage with here. with these issues raised by the literature in mind, we devised four initial research questions: 1. how do these students use and engage with the vle? 2. how do students perceive the vle and the way that it is meant to be used as a part of their studies? 3. how does the teaching team perceive student use of vle across the course? 4. what improvements can we make, as a teaching team, to the way that we use vle to deliver the course these students are on? 2. method 2.1 project context the project was originally designed as an arp, intended to develop ways of improving students’ interaction with a vle in the context of a four-year, part-time, undergraduate education degree, designed for people already working in schools in england. students complete their degree through a weekly four-hour taught face-to-face session and use of the vle for a range of tasks and for accessing a variety of learning materials. 2.2 participants staff and students from the programme formed a purposive sample (figure 1). students tended to be mature, many were employed as teaching assistants and had often experienced what articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 76 mcgivney (1993) describes as personal, situational or dispositional barriers to learning, discussed earlier. staff who deliver this course are experienced at working with this type of student, having had at least five years of so doing. 1. student questionnaire: level 6 class of 16 students. questionnaire response 16/16. 2. staff questionnaire: 5 core staff team members. at the time there were 7 core team members, but two were the researchers. questionnaire response 5/5. 3. unit grades for first level 6 30 credit unit from cohort of 82 students across four campuses and vle interaction data (hours online). figure 1: data collection methods 2.3 materials and procedure two questionnaires were administered – one to students and one to staff. the staff questionnaire was delivered via an online survey, which remained open to participants for four weeks, and asked nine questions in a combination of open, closed and scaled formats. staff were asked to rate the usefulness of various functions of the vle (such as making announcements, assessment and feedback or guided learning) on a scale of one to five, while open questions asked them to identify positives and negatives of students’ working with the vle. the mean average completion time for the staff questionnaire was eleven minutes and eighteen seconds. the student questionnaire was administered on paper in the students’ weekly teaching session. again, this consisted of nine questions in a combination of open, closed and scaled formats. here, closed questions asked students to identify specific times of the day when they accessed the vle and how often they did so, while again, to parallel the staff questionnaire, they answered a scaled question about usefulness. open questions asked students about their access to the vle and whether they had used any materials from it in their classroom practice. average completion times for this questionnaire were not recorded, but the researchers felt that nine questions would be as many as could be completed easily in a small part of a teaching session. the questionnaire data, combined with unit grades for the first level 6 thirty-credit unit from a cohort of eighty-two students across four campuses and vle interaction data (i.e. hours online) formed the basis for the analytical discussion. there were some ethical risks to the project, most notably in relation to respondents’ feeling coerced into answering questions in a research project being run by two people who were either their colleagues or their lecturers. this risk was mitigated through a combination of informed articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 77 consent and anonymity; no participants were identifiable at any point in the study and all were offered the right to withdraw from it. ethical approval for project was given by the ethics panel of the institute for research in education at the university of bedfordshire. though the project began as an arp which was attempting to develop students’ use of the vle, it did not stay in this form entirely. after the data had been collected, we began to think that there were some issues at play bigger than just the students’ use (or non-use) of the vle in their studies. the questionnaire responses suggested issues around the relationship between technology and learning that we had not really considered at the start of the project. as such, the project became more of a critical action research (kemmis, mctaggart and nixon, 2015) endeavour as it went on. 3. results 3.1 quantitative data to examine data analytics from the vle, student grades for the first level 6 unit were banded in the a to f category (a, a-, b+ …. f), spanning the range of grades achieved for the unit. time spent on the vle was categorised in two-hour bands from the least time online (less than two hours – twenty-two students) to the most (thirty-plus hours – one student). we compared these two measures, using spearman’s rho correlation coefficient. a weak positive correlation between time and final grade outcome was identified (figure 2). this data provided us with limited information related to the students’ use of the vle, other than confirming outcomes similar to those found by malikowski (2007), agudo-peregrina et al., (2014) and chaka and nhobo (2019), who also found weak correlations between the amount of time spent logged on to a vle and final grade outcomes. in terms of how much time was spent on the vle over the course of a thirty-credit, 300-hour unit, over half of the students spent less than six hours on the vle site (figure 3), but, as we were not able to identify exactly what the students were doing when online, they could have been logged on without any interaction. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 78 correlations grade time on vle spearman’s rho grade correlation coefficient 1.000 .218* sig. (2-tailed) . .049 n 82 82 time on vle correlation coefficient .218* 1.000 sig. (2-tailed) .049 . n 82 82 *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). figure 2. correlation between time spent on the vle and final grade outcome time spent on vle frequency percentage cumulative percentage 0 ≥ 6 hours 48 58.5 58.5 6 ≥ 12 hours 17 20.7 79.3 12 ≥ 24 hours 10 12.2 91.5 more than 24 hours 7 8.5 100.0 totals 82 100 figure 3. breakdown of time spent on the vle during one thirty-credit teaching unit articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 79 the student questionnaires were helpful in providing greater insight into what they did when logged on to the vle. figure 4 shows both students’ use – and staff perceptions of student use – of different elements of the vle. students went online mainly to gain information, whether in connection to the teaching sessions and/or assignments or to access literature and did not really see it as a medium for interacting with tutors. staff perceptions of student use mirrored these findings. students and staff were asked to rank the different elements of the vle in order of most to least useful (1 being most and 7 being least useful). both staff and students identified the informationrelated sections as most useful and those related to interaction as least useful (figure 5). this highlights that the organisation of the vle (designated by the institution at the time) provided a useful structure for information-related sections, illustrating siemens’ (2005) connectivist principles of learning as connecting specialist nodes or information sources (cn2) and currency (cn7). however, as we suggest below, in many ways the connections at work here seem incomplete, as the students used the vle infrequently for pedagogic interactions. there are clearly other influencing factors at work here, relating to how students use the platform, which will need to be explored in further research. burton, golding lloyd and griffiths (2011) identify that barriers for non-traditional learners can be overcome through flexible course design – and the vle has the potential to form a part of that. flexibility of access meant that the students identified that they accessed the vle at times to suit them – in this case during evening hours (12/16 students) and at weekends (13/16 students) being the most common periods of time for access. this leads us to consider links between the quantitative and qualitative data. for example, measures of interaction tallied with the staff views of student access to the vle, perhaps unsurprising as many of the students work full time; however, it is the qualitative data explored in the next section which allows a deeper exploration of these links between the staff and student views. to summarise the findings of the quantitative data, it is apparent that the students used the vle for gaining information related to their course and accessed it at a time convenient to them. if we reconsider the categories of use identified by malowski et al. (2007), for these students the vle appears to sit primarily within the ‘transmission of course content’ category. however, it is the qualitative data that really helps to give us a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 80 deeper insight how the vle was mainly used (or not) and some of the reasons behind this. yes no sometimes students staff students staff students staff to download information related to teaching sessions 11 2 2 0 2 3 to access the unit handbook 4 1 7 0 4 4 to access information about assignments 14 3 1 0 0 2 to interact with the electronic reading list 13 4 0 1 3 0 to access literature 14 4 1 1 1 0 to interact with the tutor 2 0 6 1 5 3 to interact with other students 0 0 10 4 2 0 to upload assignments 16 5 0 0 0 0 figure 4. student and staff perceptions of the main uses of the vle articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 81 vle section content student ranking staff ranking announcements information (continuing) 5 4 unit information information (unit overview) 3 4 guided learning information (session content) 2 2 assessment and feedback information (assessment, submission and feedback) 1 1 reading list information (electronic access to the reading list) 3 3 the teaching team information (tutors teaching the unit) 6 7 discussion boards interaction (between students/tutors/both) 7 6 figure 5. staff and students ‘usefulness’ ranking 3.2 qualitative data as we set out to explore the role of a vle from a constructivist perspective, we considered the qualitative findings using the principles of connectivism (siemens, 2005), coded earlier. this led to the identification of some key themes related to the use of the vle and helped us to explore the following: • which connectivist principles are highlighted by students using the vle to support their learning? • which connectivist principles are not evident in the students’ use of the vle and could the development of these support students to make even better use of it? 3.2.1 theme 1: why use a vle? students’ reasons for using the vle mirrored those in the quantitative questions. of the comments provided, all identified that they accessed the library resources, such as reading lists, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 82 and information relating to assignments. gaining information related to the teaching sessions and the running of the unit was the third element in this strand, identified by three quarters of the students (11/16). all but one student identified gaining more than one strand of information through their interactions with the vle; for example, this student response: to access: books via the library catalogue; to use discover to find journals; slides from sessions; submit assignments; my results for assignments; download feedback on assignments; reading list for assignments. staff also identified the vle as a place where students could access information. they themselves used it for contacting the students via online announcements or providing them with the resources needed for the unit. they felt that the platform enabled students to access relevant information within one place. downes’ (2008) suggestion that knowledge involves knowing both the connection (the vle platform) and information provided by the connection (the content on the vle) appears evident here. alongside this, if we compare these findings to the principles of connectivism (siemens, 2005), there is clear evidence of the students’ accessing their learning via non-human appliances (cn3). the multi-modal use of the different aspects of the vle also suggests that the students may also be seeing connections between difference fields (cn6), identifying links between elements such as reading lists and assessments. as the vle provided access to weekly session information, we could consider that the students and staff have also identified the need for currency in relation to their learning (cn7). students’ reasons for not using the vle were limited, but, of the four students who chose to comment, all their responses related to the inaccessibility of aspects of the environment. for example: i find it overcomplicated and it takes too much time; it is not hugely accessible on a mobile phone; i do not have a great understanding of its potential. staff mirrored these views in that they felt the students perceived the vle as overcomplicated and hard to locate information. for these students, there may be a limitation in being able to see connections between different specialised nodes and information sources (cn2) as well as having difficulty in seeing connections between difference fields, ideas and concepts (cn6). we would argue that in many ways, the vle constitutes just one such specialised node and, at the time of the data collection, there was, for example, no integrated, parallel phone app for the desktop version of the vle. further research might be necessary to see if the integration of these two articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 83 different nodes (desktop and app versions of the vle) would support the ‘connection-making’ process between different fields and ideas. 3.2.2 theme 2: exploring opinions siemens’ (2005) first principle identifies that learning and knowledge is related to a range of opinions (cn1) and it was evident from the discussion in theme 1 that students were accessing the vle to explore reading lists and library materials, suggesting that they were accessing a range of opinions. this mirrored the quantitative data, where accessing reading lists was identified by both staff and students as the third most popular use of the vle (figure 4). however, if we accept that learning and knowledge is related to a range of opinions, consideration also needs to be given to how these opinions might be shared between and accessed by students and tutors and whether the vle is a platform that could enable this. according to the data, none used the vle for interaction; when the students wanted to communicate with each other, all of them identified a public platform (whatsapp messenger) as their mode of interaction with others. students’ use of this platform fell into three categories: • support for each other, such asking each other questions about the assignment and clarifying their understanding, or as a community for friendship and advice; • speed of response, in that social media was much faster than using the vle; • access to social media was easier than to the vle. staff mirrored these views, in that students saw the use of social media as enabling a community environment, providing mutual support. staff also said that their discussions were private and not visible on the university forum; however, one member of staff expressed concern that one student turned off notifications, feeling they were having a detrimental effect. a point to note here is that tutors do not use public social media forums as this is not a recognised sanctioned university tool for communication between tutors and students. as much of siemens’ work with connectivism is based on his experience with moocs, a more open structure that probably integrates well with social media platforms, this may explain why there is more infrequent consideration of connectivist perspectives in the research into technology use in uk he, particularly as vle learning environments are more restrictive, only open to students on a particular course. on initial examination of the data, although it appears that these students recognised that their development included the opinion of others (cn1), it is apparent that the vle was not perhaps providing a mode of interaction that they saw as relevant to them, for they chose a public form of social media to interact with each other. however, as university tutors are not able to engage articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 84 within the social media platform, students are potentially missing out on accessing a key person who might be able to guide and support and help them maintain connections between different aspects of knowledge (cn6). although there is a discussion board forum available within the vle, students identified that it might be better used if it were possible to use it anonymously. 3.2.3 theme 3: accessibility there were elements related to the vle that were identified for improvement: • useability: students and staff alike commented that the platform was not always userfriendly, in that at times it was over-complicated and daunting and could be difficult to navigate, with pages ‘timing out’; • connectivity: though the vle was seen as a forum to provide links to other areas such as reading lists, the library and e-mail, often these connections were very slow or did not work; • knowledge: though students saw that the vle provided links to a range of areas, they did not always know what to do when they reached them. for example, one student considered discover (a search engine for literature) a hard tool for finding relevant journals and a member of staff suggested that it could be daunting for students to understand the platform and ‘know what to do’. returning to siemens’ (2005) work, perhaps this highlights the need for developing a smoother transition between information sources (cn2). if the idea of connectivism is to support the development of connections, the nurturing and maintenance of connections (cn4) is perhaps a key consideration. what is fascinating is that students do maintain such connections virtually (as well as in the face-to-face environment of the classroom) but not via the vle itself. instead, they choose social media to trade knowledge and information, nurturing an ‘unofficial’ set of connections rather than an official one. 4. analysis and implications perhaps one way of thinking about the implications of these themes in the data is to consider what isn’t happening for these students in connectivist terms. for example, some of the complaints about both useability and connectivity point towards the idea that students have less agency and autonomy than suggested by siemens’ original work (kop, 2011). for victor pando (2018), such a lack of agency could lead to connectivism’s becoming a kind of digital behaviourism, in which students are conditioned into learning in certain ways because technology either does or does not work for them. in some senses, though the ability to access learning materials at a time and place of the students’ choosing seems to offer a good deal of autonomy, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 85 this decision-making is hampered by a vle which does not behave in way that supports such autonomy. similarly, we might question the extent to which the students see a connection between the learning that they do in a face-to-face class and the learning that happens within the vle. students who found discover – the vle tool for conducting literature searches – difficult to use might not be drawing a parallel between using such a tool and sitting in the library looking for books or journals. this connection-making, or perhaps lack of it, might be a pedagogical issue, highlighting the need to make analogies between face-to-face and online learning activities to establish and reinforce this learning connection. this tension suggests, then, that there is a need to teach explicitly about the connections between these different learning activities before the student necessarily makes the connection personally. perhaps this is one of the missing pieces in the connectivist puzzle; for downes, (2019) the mooc has been the optimal expression of connectivist pedagogy. however, perhaps there is also some role here for old-fashioned pedagogical explanation for connectivist principles to achieve their fullest realisation. indeed, this uncertainty about where the teacher sits in the connectivist account of learning may offer some explanation for the absence of research or theorisation about such thinking in uk he currently. the ideas of siemens and downes are in some ways, incompatible with traditional ways of thinking about he; the view expressed by siemens in 2005 (p.1), that “[i]nformal learning is a significant aspect of our learning experience. formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning.” if one accepts this view, then he, which has traditionally seen formal teaching and learning as its substantive purpose, may need to consider its modes of delivery. while the data collected in this study was collected prior to the covid-19 pandemic, it is worth considering the importance of connectivist ideas in the arena of post-pandemic he. the mass move to online teaching and learning means that, to some extent, educators in universities across the world will need to consider the extent they are nurturing and maintaining such connections. 5. conclusions when considering the original questions that the arp set out to answer, the questions about perception were reasonably easy to answer given the discussions above. questions about use are much harder to grasp: while connectivist theory gives us a way of thinking about the relationship between student and vle, there is limited evidence here to suggest that the vle has improved learning in and of itself. however, there is some suggestion of the challenges faced by non-traditional learners in their use of the vle and, in trying to address these challenges, a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 86 connectivist lens can help us to see more clearly both the positives and negatives of learning online. these students do need a vle in order to access the online aspects of their course and the materials associated with it, evident in the quantitative data collected regarding what they used the vle for. however, there is also the sense that the qualitative data echoes the finding of allan et al. (2012), that this use will still, to some extent, rely upon very clear direction by the lecturer leading the class. similarly, the less-than-user-friendly nature of the interface may become another barrier for a group of students who might already have many barriers in their way. in connectivist terms, these problems mean that connections are not being nurtured, specialised nodes cannot be linked together and decision-making is hampered. there is the potential for really good vle platforms, with intuitive interfaces and multi-device compatibility to give non-traditional students a powerful sense of agency. however, this agency will still need to be facilitated by a teacher or lecturer who can help make the connections between the vle and learning explicitly clear. connectivism provides us, both as researchers and teachers, with a useful theoretical set of principles through which we might reflect on the way that we use and develop pedagogies around vles. like any theory of learning, it will not tell us how to teach using a vle or what we should be teaching. however, it does have the potential to make us think about these things in innovative ways. for example, if the vle is primarily a set of connections by which students access information and it performs this function well, perhaps the focus of its future development should be to consolidate this role, rather than thinking about how it might transform pedagogy. if on the other hand, its aim is to develop more frequent and better interaction between student, teacher and knowledge, then connectivism might require us to rethink our relationship with knowledge. this is because, in the account given by siemens and downes, knowledge is no longer a fixed phenomenon that can be parcelled up and presented in traditional pedagogical ways. rather, it is more like a place to be navigated with the teacher as guide. from the data in this study, we can conclude that connectivist principles lead us to think about what students’ – in this case, non-traditional students’ – learning interactions with the vle are really like. we suggest that this thinking can lead in the future to both better vle design and better pedagogic use by he teachers and, indeed, in some instances, making use of the technology that students already use (such as social media platforms) and building pedagogies around this. however, we also feel that there are number of clear ‘next steps’ for us, both as researchers and teachers. the first of these is to disseminate the findings of this research to our students and colleagues so that we can start an honest conversation about the potential of the vle. this articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 87 conversation will involve discussing where, in teaching these kinds of student, the vle both is and is not the most appropriate tool for aiding learning. the applicability of some connectivist principles to the data from this project highlights both the strengths and limitations of the vle and further research, using connectivist thinking as a theoretical framework, might support both consolidation of strengths and also solutions to limitations. reference list agudo-peregrina, á.f., iglesias-pradas, s., conde-gonzález, m.á. and hernández-garcía, á. 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(2011) ‘the challenges to connectivist learning on open online networks: learning experiences during a massive open online course.’ the international review of research in open and distributed learning, 12(3),19-38. available at: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/882 (accessed: 21 july 2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2012.654496 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.08.035 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439880500250527 https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473921290 http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2006/12/challenge-to-connectivism.html about:blank articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 91 kop, r. and hill, a. (2008) ’connectivism: learning theory of the future or vestige of the past?’ international review of research in open and distance learning, 9(3),1-13. available at: https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v9i3.523 (accessed: 27 january 2023). malikowski, s., thompson, e. and theis, j. 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(2005) ‘connectivism: a learning theory for a digital age.’ international journal of instructional technology and distance learning, 2(1). available at: http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm (accessed: 27 january 2023). siemens, g. (2008) ‘learning and knowing in networks: changing roles for educators and designers.’ available at: https://www.academia.edu/2857165/learning_and_knowing_in_networks_changing_roles_for_ educators_and_designers (accessed: 27th january 2023). verhagen, p. (2006) ‘connectivism; a new theory.’ available at: https://jorivas.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/connectivismnewtheory.pdf (accessed: 27 january 2023). http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm https://www.academia.edu/2857165/learning_and_knowing_in_networks_changing_roles_for_educators_and_designers https://www.academia.edu/2857165/learning_and_knowing_in_networks_changing_roles_for_educators_and_designers https://jorivas.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/connectivismnewtheory.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 7 completing a ph.d. – does it have to be a lonely existence? bethan jones, stephanie brady the university of wolverhampton abstract the co-authors of this paper are current doctor of philosophy (ph.d.) students with the university of wolverhampton. we embarked on writing this opinion piece to share our experience of the first year of our ph.d. and suggest how higher education institutions (heis) can enhance the academic development of doctoral researchers and minimise the detrimental experiences which studies have shown to affect this group of students. keywords: pedagogy, higher education, ph.d., well-being 1. the problem during their ph.d. training – and over and above the inevitable academic demands of their research – students face numerous barriers and challenges, such as threats to their wellbeing, a lack of social support or a sense of loss of control. while the literature on student transition to undergraduate study is extensive, that covering the shift to a postgraduate research degree is scant, perhaps because it is assumed that postgraduate students are already higher education (he) ‘experts’ who find such steps ‘natural’ (mcpherson et al., 2017). this lack of research on doctoral-level study may seem surprising, considering recent trends and changes here: in the united kingdom (uk), the proportion of doctoral students who successfully complete a ph.d. is decreasing yearly (hesa, 2022) and, since 2009, the sector has been adapting to the establishment of the ‘researcher development framework’ (rdf), a major shift in the design and evaluation of doctoral programmes. while the covid-19 pandemic is likely to have contributed to lower completion rates, many other factors are also at play, so warranting further investigation. mcpherson et al.’s study (op.cit.) showed that students on postgraduate taught degree programmes found the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study to be challenging, not only academically but also emotionally. for example, participants reported difficulties in fully understanding what the expectations of the course were and cited limited opportunities to connect with others and to gain a sense of belonging. we would argue that these findings are likely to also apply to doctoral students – and, perhaps, to an even greater extent. the implication is that success in navigating prior transitions does not guarantee that support will be unnecessary in subsequent ones. in our own lived experience, we agree with the conclusions of this research that there are substantial challenges in moving from previously regimented and structured studying at an opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 8 undergraduate level to conducting independent research. having to cope with such contrasting approaches to learning is at least disconcerting and may in fact cause much more deleterious effects: on personal academic development, on confidence and on self-belief. moving on to a ph.d. can feel like a ‘factory reset’! there is a danger that the confidence gained can quickly be lost again and the dreaded ‘impostor syndrome’ can set in. 2. what can universities do to help? in our experience at wolverhampton the ph.d. starts with workshops provided as part of the doctoral programme. although not mandatory, these workshops provide many opportunities for students to grow as researchers, to acquire knowledge and gain new transferable skills as detailed in the rdf. in our university, over eighty-five workshops take place over the academic year, covering such topics as career planning, critical analysis of research and writing for scholarly publication. participation in these sessions, alongside working on the thesis, not only enhances students’ research skills and knowledge but is an excellent opportunity to meet fellow research students. we would urge phd programme leaders and supervisors to encourage students to prioritise these opportunities. the literature has clearly identified that, for doctoral students, deterioration of mental wellbeing is a cause for concern. surprisingly, most ph.d. students recognise poor mental health as the ‘norm’ (hazell et al., 2021). busy phd students may neglect their physical health and sleep needs, when both of these are important for well-being (rizzolo et al., 2016). this is worrying, because good mental health is “a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises their abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (who, 2021). socialising with the academic community has been identified as one of the most significant influences on success during ph.d. training. it can also contribute to good mental health, but finding the time to create networks and foundations within a community can be difficult when conducting an independent study (janta et al., 2014). from our own experience, peer support improves motivation better than anything else. we discovered that peer support really helps to ground thinking and provides some stability in mental well-being. it is good to know that you are not alone! mantai et al. (2019) found that students see social support as very helpful to research identity development and to achieving a sense of belonging and community. to this same end, we would urge universities to provide networking opportunities for their research students; such an important resource needs to be visible and promoted widely. furthermore, institutions should not lose sight of the fact that students may not be able to access this peer support or may have barriers to accessing it; they should accordingly make explicit their awareness that individuals who embark on a phd often have other commitments, like work and caring responsibilities, and demonstrate their flexibility, by offering students a range of choice as to how and when they might access opportunities. by doing so, they are more likely to encourage engagement and prevent anyone from ‘falling through the cracks’. the emphasis must be on clear communication of information about why involvement in activities is important and how access to them may be achieved. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 9 in addition, we feel it would be advantageous for heis to acknowledge ph.d. students’ mental health and well-being by 1) providing specific mental health workshops and 2) embedding mental health awareness in key ph.d. processes, such as induction and annual reviews. to do these things will help ensure that students have access to appropriate support when needed. additionally, ‘mental health check-ins' by trained individuals and a mentoring/buddy system are also worth further discussion. it is important that institutions make it clear to students from the start that they understand that to pursue a ph.d. will involve highs and lows, days of achievement and days when nothing is going right. they must emphasise that, at times, it is normal, appropriate and beneficial to reach out for support. 3. conclusion we argue that there is scope for greater recognition of the need both to support students through the transition to doctoral research and to acknowledge the challenges that the work entails. opportunities to connect with the peer group should be prioritised. mental health should be openly discussed and support provided. research students have in common the desire to become experts in their chosen fields, but greater openness is needed about the barriers they will need to overcome and the bumps in the road that will unsettle them; universities must help them to navigate a way through the obstacles and demonstrate to them that they are not alone in their endeavour. reference list hesa (2022) ‘higher education student statistics uk, 2020/21 student numbers and characteristics.’ available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/25-01-2022/sb262-highereducation-student-statistics/numbers (accessed: 12 july 2022). hazell, c.m., niven, j.e., chapman, l., roberts, p.e., cartwright-hatton, s., valeix, s. and berry, c. (2021) ‘nationwide assessment of the mental health of uk doctoral researchers.’ humanities & social sciences communications, 8(1), 1-9. available at: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/101679/3/udoc%20survey%20paper%201%20r2%2010.9.21.pdfurl (accessed: 01 september 2022). janta, h., lugosi, p. and brown, l. (2014) ‘coping with loneliness: a netnograpahic study of doctoral students.’ journal of further and higher education, 38(4), 553-571. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0309877x.2012.726972 (accessed: 01 september 2022). https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/25-01-2022/sb262-higher-education-student-statistics/numbers https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/25-01-2022/sb262-higher-education-student-statistics/numbers http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/101679/3/u-doc%20survey%20paper%201%20r2%2010.9.21.pdfurl http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/101679/3/u-doc%20survey%20paper%201%20r2%2010.9.21.pdfurl https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0309877x.2012.726972 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 16, no 1, 2023 10 mantai, l. (2019) ‘a source of sanity: the role of social support for doctoral candidates’ belonging and becoming.’ international journal of doctoral studies, 14, 367-382. available at: http://ijds.org/volume14/ijdsv14p367-382mantai5276.pdf (accessed: 13 august 2022). mcpherson, c., punch, s. and graham, e. (2017) ‘transitions from undergraduate to taught postgraduate study: emotion, integration and belonging.’ journal of perspectives in applied academic practice, 5(2), 1-21. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317353145_transitions_from_undergraduate_to_ taught_postgraduate_study_emotion_integration_and_belonging (accessed: 02 september 2022). rizzolo, s., deforest, a.r., decine, d.a., strear, m. and landram, s. (2016) ‘graduate student perceptions and experiences of professional development activities.’ journal of career development, 43(3), 195-210. available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0894845315587967 (accessed: 7 august 2022). woolston, c. (2021) ‘depression and anxiety “the norm” for uk phd students.’ nature. available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03761-3 (accessed: 12 september 2022). world health organisation (2021) ‘health promotion glossary of terms 2021.’ available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240038349 (accessed: 02 january 2023). http://ijds.org/volume14/ijdsv14p367-382mantai5276.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317353145_transitions_from_undergraduate_to_taught_postgraduate_study_emotion_integration_and_belonging https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317353145_transitions_from_undergraduate_to_taught_postgraduate_study_emotion_integration_and_belonging https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0894845315587967 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03761-3 https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240038349 1 ‘inspiring learners’ – inspiring colleagues james derounian university of gloucestershire i very much enjoyed learning, listening and contributing to the inspiring learners teaching and learning conference in july 2010. although most participants were from the university of greenwich, the day had a welcoming and collegial ‘feel’, reinforced by the spectacular campus and buildings from the time of the restoration. the views across the thames, to the o2 arena, the ‘gherkin’ (30 st mary axe) and canary wharf were striking. the deputy vice-chancellor (academic development) simon jarvis, emphasised three key graduate skills: communication, critical thinking and problem-solving. he went on to pose the question: ‘what makes an individual university unique and attractive?’ and pinned ‘his colours to the mast’ by asserting that ‘the learners will inherit the earth’. this emphasis on belonging and pride in place of education was developed by david robinson, the co-founder of community links and an adviser to the last labour government. he gave a ‘barnstorming’ performance and threw down gauntlet after gauntlet; for example, citing nelson mandela: “vision without action is daydreaming; action without vision is merely passing the time!” in other words, analysis is crucial in order to plot a path towards realising an overriding vision. the danger is that enthusiasts with such vision dive in without serious thought for the consequences. david robinson presented four attributes that graduates should exit from university with: ● restlessness – for knowledge ● ambition – a willingness to embark on graded/graduated challenges ● resilience – to learn from mistakes ● confidence – an expectation of achievement and success. sarah sunderland, from the university of greenwich, put forward a powerful case for volunteering as a route to such talents. a survey in 2009–10 of some 1,500 london university students recorded 83% claiming greater self-confidence plus an interest in trying new things. she went on to highlight that ‘volunteering whilst studying at university provides opportunities for learning a wide range of different skills, which in turn are useful for students’ future employability, regardless of age or degree type.’ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 david robinson bluntly asserted that without risk there can be no progress and that (inevitable) ‘failures’ fall into two camps – ‘good’ failures where you learn through your mistakes and ‘bad’ ones which demotivate, destroy and result from incompetence. professor james wisdom – an academic consultant – rounded off the day with a sobering and wry tour of ‘the planet higher education’. he noted state investment of £34,300 per student for their university education and that government and society, in the words of the secretary of state (vince cable, 15 july 2010) “need to rethink how we fund them, and what we expect them to deliver for the public support they receive.” learners investing £50,000 plus – in the form of student debt accumulated by the end of their degree – should expect inspirational teaching and learning as payback for their investment of time, money and energy. editors simon walker, head of the educational development unit patrick ainley, school of education ian mcnay, school of education wendy cealey harrison, head of the learning & quality unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering paul dennison, educational development unit ed de quincey, school of computing & mathematical sciences mark ingham, school of architecture, design & construction lucie pollard, school of science lynne jump, school of health & social care malcolm ryan, school of education james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 1 from the editors it is our great pleasure to welcome you to the fourth edition of compass, the university of greenwich’s learning and teaching journal. this edition is published prior to what will be a period of great change within the uk higher education sector. the reduction of the teaching grant, as outlined in the 2011 white paper (bis, 2011: p. 8), combined with the move to a graduate contribution model of higher education funding in 2012, is likely to have a significant impact on universities and how they operate in the future. two papers in this edition consider the nature of higher education post-2012. ● patrick ainley argues that the planned changes to funding, and the removal of the education maintenance allowance (ema), will bring to an end the progressive reform of society through education (that started with the comprehensive education system back in 1965) ● chris birch imagines what might lie ahead in an era of increased fees, an emphasis on customer (learner) satisfaction, and the desire to offset the cost of higher education against potential future earnings. considering the impact of an aging population, space management, value for money and efficiency, and pedagogy, chris suggests that is time for universities to go back to basics and reconsider their roles within this changing environment. innovative universities, he argues, should be playing a key role in shaping and developing the future, not fearing what it may bring. the employability agenda has been a key sector-wide strategic initiative over recent years. the focus during this time has moved away from the development of transferrable skills for employment towards the development of ‘broader attributes’ that a graduate should have developed during their time at university. the university of greenwich has taken the graduate attribute agenda seriously and a year after the launch of the greenwich graduate initiative, karen smith interviewed professor simon jarvis, deputy vice-chancellor (academic development), to discuss the origins of the initiative, its importance to the university and its students, and its future development and integration into university policies and practices. sally alsford also focuses on the greenwich graduate but from the student point of view. in her paper, sally examines the results of a workshop that was held to stimulate discussion about what being a greenwich graduate means. her findings indicate that students’ views largely reflect those of staff and suggest a number of instrumental and transformative ways of achieving this. two case studies describe projects where the development of graduate attributes lay at the heart of the activity. emma abson’s case study on the impact of group projects in a final year undergraduate course highlights the benefits of group work at level 6, such as demonstrating learning across the degree and learning how to work with others. emma also outlines some of the challenges of project work and shares ideas about how to enhance group projects and avoid some potential issues. noel-ann bradshaw shares her experience of hosting a conference for undergraduate mathematics students at the university of greenwich. the conference attracted undergraduate students from across the uk, giving them the opportunity to present their work to peers. noelann’s experience was very positive and she could see that the greenwich students involved were, following the conference, much more confident in presenting their work, more aware of the diversity of mathematics research, and more able to identify a topic for their final year projects. in addition, noel-ann argues that the inclusion of the conference presentation on their cv would strengthen applications for employment and give them something unique and interesting to discuss at job interviews. vi a further feature of the white paper is the professionalisation of higher education teaching (bis, 2011: p.9). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 2 this follows on from already-established requirements in the school, further education and lifelong learning sectors, and proposals in the dearing report that led to information learning technology and, later, the higher education academy. in her article, charmaine browne argues that the competency-based teaching approach to the professionalisation of teaching in the lifelong learning sector has had a detrimental effect on teachers. the increased administrative burden of compliance has actually led to a de-skilling of teachers rather than skills enhancement. it is these kinds of stories that the higher education sector should be listening to as it develops its own approaches to professionalisation. in his opinion piece, paul dennison questions reflective practice – one of the key tenets of professionalism. paul argues that there are difficulties in evidencing reflection and warns against coaching students to reflect in order to meet assessment requirements. he suggests that the term ‘narratives of professionalism’ might be a better way to describe the kinds of activity often used as a means of facilitating professional development. how to retain and progress students through their university journey is an issue that all universities face (jones, 2008). in her case study, nola stair describes a project to design learning objects to help facilitate transition at different stages of a university degree. video clips where students outline strategies for coping with the particular challenges of transition were one output from the focus group discussions with students. the clips are stored within the student portal and are easily accessible to university of greenwich students (both inside and outside the uk). finally, heather brunskell-evans provides insight into the work of theorist michel foucault. she describes her own personal journey with foucault and his impact on her work, career and intellectual development. in an open and honest account, heather admits that the road with foucault was not always a smooth one. through this article, she helps to ‘demystify’ often seemingly impenetrable theory. there is, as always, a wide range of opinion pieces, case studies and papers that reflect current issues within higher education represented in this edition of compass. we hope that you will find something of interest here. we would also like to draw your attention to the open lectures in learning and teaching series. at the end of this edition you will find details of the final two lectures of this academic year. both resonate with work included here. on 22 february 2012, dr anna jones from glasgow caledonian university will continue the debate about graduate attributes, posing the question: ‘graduate attributes – spin or education?’. on 21 march 2012, dr james atherton from university of bedfordshire will develop arguments about reflective practice and its appropriateness for higher education teaching and learning in his lecture: ‘reflective practice: an idea whose time is past’. we hope to see many of you there and look forward to receiving your contributions to future editions of this journal, and comments on anything in this one. karen smith, simon walker, patrick ainley and ian mcnay university of greenwich references bis (2011) higher education: students at the heart of the system. london: department for business, innovation and skills. jones, r. (2008) student retention and success: a synthesis of research. york: higher education academy. available online at: <www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/ourwork/inclusion/wprs/wprs_retention_ synthesis>. [accessed 29 september 2011]. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/ourwork/inclusion/wprs/wprs_retention_synthesis http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/ourwork/inclusion/wprs/wprs_retention_synthesis developing the feedback process: promoting teacher and student dialogue via the use of screen capture and audio case studies developing the feedback process: promoting teacher and student dialogue via the use of screen capture and audio louise carr and howard lee hadlow college introduction hadlow college is part of the mixed economy group (meg): approximately 40 colleges, which are seeking to provide effective support to higher education (he) students within further education (fe) institutions. as part of this commitment we have been studying how to improve the quality of our he formative feedback for written assignments and posters. we are conscious of existing research within higher education institutions (heis) to overhaul formative assessment and feedback practices: e.g. the re-engineering assessment practices (reap) project at the universities of glasgow and glasgow caledonian (see nicol and macfarlane dick, 2006). in that research seven principles of good feedback practice had been identified: (i) clarify what good performance is; (ii) facilitate self-assessment; (iii) deliver high quality feedback information; (iv) encourage teacher and peer dialogue; (v) encourage positive motivation and self-esteem; (vi) provide opportunities to close the gap, and; (vii) use feedback to improve teaching. we wanted to find a tool that would allow the use of screen capture and audio to increase feedback options for he students at hadlow college. chiang (2010) has reported, by comparing feedback methods, that audio-only is least popular whilst screen capture with audio commentary is preferred for written assignments. we therefore decided to investigate the potential of camtasia software, which has been reported positively as a screen capture/audio feedback tool by other researchers (silva, 2012). we are reporting here on the results of a pilot study we undertook in cooperation with four expert lead lecturers across faculties at hadlow college. methods hadlow college was the education centre for this study – a grade 1 and beacon (ofsted, 2012) college teaching 1,159 further education (aged 16-18) and 831 higher education (degree) students in the 2011 12 academic year. these students were studying from level 1 (land based studies) to levels 4, 5, 6 (bsc honours) and across a wide range of curriculum areas including floristry, countryside management, agriculture, horticulture, animal management, equine, fisheries and sports studies. the main purpose of the project was to investigate the creation of short videos comprising screen capture/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 audio as an additional feedback option for he students. the intentions were to: ●● increase accessibility; ●● develop screen/audio based delivery/feedback into a more dynamic two way process, and; ●● consider possible future developments. six members of staff who taught across the he range at hadlow college were asked to use camtasia as a means of formative assessment, each for a chosen cohort of students. staff were specifically asked not to include a grade in their camtasia responses, with the intention of encouraging students to give greater attention to the details of this feedback. staff were supported in the development of skills needed to suc cessfully run camtasia and, after completion, asked to give feedback on their experiences. the process in volved students e-submitting a range of formats: essay drafts, final essay presentations, posters, and text as part of a 1:1 support dialogue; and receiving individual, screen capture and combined audio responses as a short (approximately three minute) video. the recipient students were likewise asked to provide re sponses to this form of e-feedback. the recipient student groups were studying: bsc honours international agriculture (level 6); bsc honours animal management (level 6), postgraduate certificate in education, access to he (land based studies) and additional learning support for he. we then investigated the experience of this process for both staff and students, via a questionnaire supported by ‘survey monkey’ (survey monkey, 2012). different questionnaires were used for staff and students and are shown in tables 1 and 2, respectively. staff made additional text comments, which are also summarised below. this project is ongoing, so results shown here are preliminary. additionally, semi structured interview methods are being used to help understand the experiences of staff/students and will be reported soon. results staff feedback for paper-based assignments normally comprises: (i) comments written directly onto a hard copy of the assignment, with additional supportive points on a front sheet; or (ii) comments written or typed on separate attached feedback sheets, e.g. for posters, when it is not appropriate to write directly on the submission. staff that were developing camtasia feedback in this study were all able to: (i) display each assignment or poster electronically on screen; (ii) highlight specific parts of the text or figures/ tables as the cursor scrolled downwards; (iii) simultaneously give matching audio comments focussing on the point(s) as they were covered by the cursor, and; (iv) indicate how the student might achieve improvements to secure a higher future assessment grade. in essence each student was able to download a short but dynamic video-format which emphasised: (i) any factual and/or typographical errors; (ii) any advice about how to present data more effectively; (iii) potential improvements in the critical analysis of key issues; and (iii) how external relevant scientific literature could best be used. the questionnaires sought responses from staff: the experience of developing the camtasia videos; and students: how their personal feedback video had affected their learning environment. participating staff were in the faculties of access to higher education, agriculture, animal management and additional learning support and all had prepared personal camtasia videos for 1:1 feedback. three staff had prepared feedback for student written assignments and one for a poster. in terms of facility of 38 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 use, two staff had found the process quite easy, one had struggled but succeeded and one had found the process too difficult to complete. the duration of camtasia videos had varied from about 5 to 7 minutes for all staff. student responses received by staff had so far been limited by the early stage of this project. some staff were especially concerned that camtasia might increase the turnaround time for assignments; e.g.: “i discussed the option of having feedback in this format with my students; generally the common issue was with having to wait for feedback.” staff experiences when using the software were rather mixed but there were some helpful text comments: “the windows software was far too slow to use to capture feedback, the video was stutter ing to use and then playback was equally slow.” “the mac software version was very smooth and quick to use.” such technical challenges are currently being investigated – especially the need to increase response times for windows. however, the greatest issue for staff was the pedagogic challenge. text comments included: “screen capture and audio combined was a learning curve i had to think carefully about what i was hoping to achieve in terms of student support.” “a lot of preparation compared to normal written method, as i had to think about exactly what i was going to say before recording. this is different to how i might have given verbal feedback in a normal feedback situatione.g. there would be interaction and i might explore reasons for making particular statements.” comments about further applications of camtasia and detailed staff text responses included the use of camtasia to assist in distance/blended learning. several comments also covered the adoption of camtasia to help with ‘how to’ procedures for new students: “i intend to use the software for induction in 2012/13 to show use of the greenwich portal and moodle. i find that this may be a more appropriate use of the software. i also intend to use camtasia to verbally explain assignments and then upload to moodle.” “possibly used to demonstrate a particular it function e.g. contents pages in word or how to insert references.” compared with those from staff, student responses via the questionnaire were generally more positive: students clearly felt more engaged in the assessment process. they also thought that camtasia feedback had been relatively more helpful for their personal study skills development and a likely greater contributor to more positive performances in subsequent assignments. they were relatively comfortable with the on screen/audio format and most found that viewing the video once or twice was usually sufficient to obtain all the guidance they needed. no additional text comments were provided by students. 39 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 discussion feedback is now well established as key to effective student learning: e.g. see good reviews by (clynes and raftery, 2008) and (hoban and hastings, 2006). video feedback has been investigated since 2000, when (embregts, 2000) considered its use for self-management by special needs learners but more recently in the same context by (van vonderen, didden and beeking, 2012). a study of video feedback for he students at the university of reading (crook et al., 2012) found that 80% liked this mode and found it easier to understand, so tended to pay better attention to comments. likewise, staff in the same study felt that video feedback helped them emphasise the most important aspects for student improvement: comments which tended to get lost in the detail of written responses. video feedback has been favourably reviewed by many other studies such as (baartman et al., 2007) (nicol and macfarlane-dick, 2006) (schartel, 2012) and (tillema, leenknecht and segers, 2011). the study reported at hadlow college received similarly positive responses from students, though for staff it is still too early in the project to report more than the cognitive challenges of adapting to this format. the key experiences that we can relate are: ●● technical challenges: like any software package, camtasia requires tuition and support until staff are confident. we found that there were difficulties in using computer suites for training, since all computers needed prior uploads of camtasia due to licensing issues: so, improving the flexibility of staff access would be helpful. there are also specific technical requirements to be addressed – e.g. explorer 8 is needed to allow camtasia files to be opened and downloaded. headphones are vital, as is access to quietness for recording. finally, there is the need to manage quite large files once the feedback has been recorded, and to ensure they can easily be accessed by students. ●● other research using camtasia has identified some technical issues, with successful downloading being seen as critical: some students can have initial problems with downloading and may need information and computer technology (ict) support (silva, 2012), however many quickly become familiar with downloading camtasia feedback onto a range of mobile devices for viewing when convenient (reuter, 2007). the former study examined student use of camtasia feedback and established that most viewed it within three days and enjoyed the more personable support given: ●● “students perceived that the video commentary modality afforded a degree of clarity and representation that was not evident or as effective in written modalities. (silva, 2012) (p.10); ●● allow more time than planned: the development of personalised tuition via screen capture/audio is initially time consuming. the additional issue to then consider is the extra time that such feedback might require from lecturers and how this can be managed effectively. other research on video feedback (but not specifically camtasia) has highlighted, from staff feedback, the need for time management if this mode is to be successful (crook et al., 2012); ●● privacy: it is not appropriate to post camtasia feedback files on moodle, since there is open access within student cohorts: guaranteeing privacy between the tutor and student is vital. the process of ensuring that each student has access to only their feedback is quite complex, involving a series of steps and involving ict support, and needs to be simplified. privacy can also be seen as an advantage in terms of video feedback for the recipient student and this has been noted by others (schartel, 2012) (clynes and raftery, 2008); 40 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 41 ●● creating a suitable protocol for the internal verification and second marking requirements of assessment that has been screen capture/audio marked; ●● cooperation: this was felt to be the most critical for success. teaching staff are always very busy and we were fortunate to get their willingness to invest time and effort to make the process work. the support of ict staff was also an essential component. however this is only part of the need for a much more dynamic learning partnership between the teacher and student. improved cognition should be the start, as silva reports for comments by mayer: “the synchronicity of the audio and visual output establishes temporal contiguity, reduces the effect of cognitive overload, and increases the opportunity for essential and generative processing.” (mayer reported in silva, 2012, p.11). thus, this form of feedback is much more personalised (o’day, 2008), and encourages self-regulated learning and self-assessment (kostons, van gog and paas, 2012), all of which are concluded to reinforce learning. we therefore argue that camtasia has potential to allow the learner to take greater control of their studies via self-assessment, reflection and future-planning, as part of a more dynamic staff/student approach, which is also supported by similar conclusions from a survey of medical students (rogers et al., 2012). specifically we are impressed by the seven principles listed by (nicol and macfarlane-dick, 2006) – see introduction of this paper. we are focussing especially on principles 1, 2 and 3. principle 1 (clarify what good performance is) is a key part of our assessment procedures, with students requested to self-assess before marking by the tutor. our feedback is then designed to help the student understand how any misconceptions on their part about performance can be positively forward-cast into future work. principle 2 (facilitate self-assessment) we believe to be improved by camtasia, and we are currently studying this. principle 3 (deliver high quality feedback information) is also a priority for us: camtasia is seen as an additional tool to assist in positive, personalised and supportive feedback for the learner. overall, our conclusions are that camtasia has clear potential as a powerful feedback tool that can support student development. more effective, individualised feedback to each student means clearer learning and study goals and thus better opportunities for achievement. however, there are clear challenges: ●● roll out to tutors needs to be thought-through, and timed within academic year/programmes of study; ●● we need to build this initiative into staff training and allocate sufficient training time; ●● it will be vital to work with students on the best ways to maximise the benefits including how they become active users of their feedback. further innovative development will come from staff taking ownership of the software and feeling comfortable with the technology (possibly through professional training). students need to be shown how to become active participants in the feedback process but teachers need to give them the information in a way they can access it. 41 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 what of the future? for us the camtasia investigations are ongoing but we are also interested in helping staff develop their plans to use camtasia for instructional, ‘how-to’ videos, as reported in our staff feedback. this has been positively reviewed elsewhere (henrickson, 2008): camtasia is recommended for the generation of ‘video demos,’ to help students quickly learn various computer tools. we are also interested in using camtasia as a bridge for research into other ways of supporting teaching and learning – e.g. facilitating the development of personalised study programmes, especially for new blended deliveries; helping students with specific learning issues (such as autism) where face-to-face feedback is less effective; and exploring how staff can provide electronic feedback as part of a re-structured and more efficient time management regime. references baartman, l.k., bastiaens, t.j., kirschner, p.a. and van der vleuten, c.p. (2007). ‘evaluating assessment quality in competence-based education’, educational research review, vol. 2, pp. 114-129. chiang, i.c. (2010). ‘evaluation of three feedback methods’, proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications, chesapeake:canada. clynes, m.p. and raftery, s.e. (2008). ‘feedback: an essential element of student learning in clinical practice’, nurse education in practice, vol. 8, pp. 405-411. crook, a., mauchline, a., maw, s., lawson, c., drinkwater, r., lundqvist, k., orsmond, p., gomez, s. and park, j. (2012). ‘the use of video technology for providing feedback to students: can it enhance the feedback experience for staff and students?’, computers & education, vol. 58, pp. 386-396. embregts, p.j. (2000). ‘effectiveness of video feedback and self-management on inappropriate social behavior of youth with mild mental retardation’, research in developmental disabilities, vol. 21, pp. 409-423. henrickson, k. (2008). ‘multimedia presentations: camtasia studio 5.1’, the american biology teacher, vol. 70, no. 8, pp. 506-506. hoban, g. and hastings, g. (2006). ‘developing different forms of student feedback to promote teacher reflection: a 10-year collaboration’, teaching and teacher education, vol. 22, pp. 1006-1019. kostons, d., van gog, t. and paas, f. (2012). ‘training self-assessment and task-selection skills: a cognitive approach to improving self-regulated learning’, learning and instruction, vol. 22, pp. 121-132. nicol, d.j. and macfarlane-dick, d. (2006). ‘formative assessment and selfregulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice’, studies in higher education, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 199-218. o’day, d. (2008). ‘using animations to teach biology: past & future research on the attributes that underlie pedagogically sound animations’, the american biology teacher, vol. 70, no. 5, pp. 274-278. ofsted (2012). [online]. available at: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/. [accessed 12 may 2012]. 42 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 reuter, j. (2007). ‘av and software reviews. creating and publishing custom-made multimedia screen presentations: camtasia studio 4.0 ‘, classroom technology reviews, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 117-118. rogers, d.a., boehler, m.l., schwind, c.j., meier, a.h., wall, j.c. and brenner, m.j. (2012). ‘engaging medical students in the feedback process’, the american journal of surgery, vol. 203, pp. 21-25. schartel, s.a. (2012). ‘giving feedback – an integral part of education’, best practice & research clinical anaesthesiology, vol. 26, pp. 77-87. silva, m.l. (2012). ‘camtasia in the classroom: student attitudes and preferences for video commentary or microsoft word comments during the revision process’, computers and composition, vol. 29, pp. 1-22. survey monkey (2012). [online]. available at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/lp/ examplesurveys/?utm_network=g&utm_term=survey+monkey&utm_campaign=e&gclid=clka_ i6m968cfwwntaodjzwiea&pmt=e&utm_source=adwords&mkwid=s5s2lcwrs&utm_medium=ppc&sour ce=searchnetwork&cmpid=brand&pcrid=21555879716&kw=survey+mon [accessed 18 may 2012]. tillema, h., leenknecht, m. and segers, m. (2011). ‘assessing assessment quality: criteria for quality assurance in design of (peer) assessment for learning a review of research studies’, studies in educational evaluation, vol. 37, pp. 25-34. van vonderen, a., didden, r. and beeking, f. (2012). ‘effectiveness of instruction and video feedback on staff’s trainer behavior during one-to-one training with children with severe intellectual disability’, research in developmental disabilities, vol. 33, pp. 283-290. author biographies howard lee is trained in plant ecology (msc, phd), and experienced in agroecology (senior lectureship at wye college, university of london 1990–2002); he was director of sustainable agriculture & rural development at forum for the future 2002–3. he is currently lecturer and sustainability champion at hadlow college and in addition the regional sustainability adviser (south east) for the learning & skills improvement service. howard is on the editorial board and also the reviews editor for the international journal of agricultural sustainability. he has published several book chapters in recent years. louise carr is the advanced practitioner for he and an esol and study skills specialist at hadlow college in kent, an affiliate college to the university of greenwich. she works closely with staff and students to develop opportunities in the application of e-learning and technology with a particular interest in collaborative learning. 43 http://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/lp/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 98 case studies louise carr and howard lee methods results discussion references author biographies 1 article icle dilemmas in development raised by a teacher training project in cambodia maggie gravelle school of education introduction the cambodian basic education and teacher training project (bett) funded by the belgian technical cooperation (btc) programme and jointly implemented by btc and the cambodian ministry of education, youth and sport (moeys) includes an early literacy programme (elp). being involved, as a consultant, in this development project has raised a number of issues, many of which are common to all such projects and some of which are specific to teacher training. the unique history of cambodia contributes to the complexity of the situation (chandler 2007). in outline, the kingdom of cambodia sought to become a french protectorate in 1863 following centuries of “bloody struggles among the rulers, civil wars, disasters and territorial loss” (tan 2008). prior to this, education, for boys only, was largely in the control of the buddhist temples (wats) and under the french was mainly confined to educating an elite who would become administrators (see sopheak and clayton 2007; dy and ninomiya 2003). in 1953 the monarchy returned, to be overthrown in 1970 and in 1975 the notorious khmer rouge led by pol pot took control. under this regime schooling virtually ceased. many thousands of cambodians were dispersed to the countryside and more, often including the most highly educated, were massacred. it has been estimated that “two million out of a population of seven million were killed or died during this period” (dy and ninomiya 2003). although pol pot was defeated in 1979 the first democratic elections were not held until 1993. cambodia is among the poorest nations in the world, the united nations development programme 2008 puts cambodia 136/179 in terms of poverty, with the highest infant and under-five mortality rates in the region (unicef 2008). adult illiteracy is 26.4% (undp 2008). in 1993 the constitution of cambodia provided for free and universal primary education, but this is yet to be fully realised. the need for aid and development is very clear. dilemmas any development project must face issues of implementation and sustainability. aid agencies, governments and ngos are often interested in short term results, particularly where projects are time limited. there is always a danger that when funding and personnel leave an area the activities leave with them. education programmes in particular, also face issues of cultural perspectives and priorities, embodied in different views of teaching and learning. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 2 a) implementation duggan (1996) describes the recent history of education policy and aid to cambodia. he suggests that investment in education has been directed to the retraining of unqualified teachers rather than providing resources for schools. he also suggests that impact is limited as most aid is concentrated in phnom penh, rather than the less accessible rural areas. king (2009) reviews progress following the world conference on education for all in 1990 and the dakar world forum on education in 2000 which set a number of millennium development goals. he discusses the lack of infrastructure and the competing demands of basic education and technical and vocational skills development, as some of the reasons why programmes are not fully implemented. to address some of these concerns the early literacy aspect of the bett programme is deliberately targeted at remote and rural areas. it trains teachers of grade 1 and 2 classes in basic literacy. there is also a substantial portion of the budget for the development of reading books which have been designed and written in collaboration with cambodian educators. it is also helpful to consider some of the micro-factors that inhibit implementation. mohammed and harlech-jones (2008) describe an in-service training programme in pakistan. they suggest that teachers often feel that teacher education programmes fail to understand the contexts within which they are working. teachers in many developing countries are underpaid and operate with limited resources. certainly we found this to be true in cambodia. most schools work a split-shift system, with children attending either in the morning or the afternoon. classes are large, often as many as 60 pupils with one teacher, and poorly resourced. many teachers told us that they engage in ‘supplementary tutoring’. “thus when the official school day ends, the unofficial school day begins with the same teachers and the same pupils occupying the same desks in the same classrooms” (bray and bunly 2005). the authors add that official “salaries are so low that on their own they are inadequate to maintain teachers and their families at levels above the poverty line”. in the schools we visited many teachers relied on private tutoring to supplement their income. partly because salaries, particularly in the primary sector, are so low many teachers are poorly qualified and under-trained, “those who know little teach those who know nothing” (gottesman, cited in sopheak and clayton 2007). indeed, as maskell (1998) points out, “cambodian teachers often have only one or two years more education than the students they teach” and some of the teachers on our training courses found reading and writing laborious. a study of school attendance in cambodia and yemen found a correlation between teacher quality and school attendance. “the higher the share of teachers with substantial experience, the lower is the probability that a child is working (by this they mean economic activity)…. and the higher is school attendance” (guarcello and rosati 2007). moeys give teacher training a high priority and there were ministry representatives on all our courses. mohammed and harlech-jones (2008) found that lack of intellectual stimulus and independence led to teachers, already restricted by rules and regulations, being more inclined to follow familiar compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 3 practices and rules than to introduce new ideas. linked to this return to traditional practices is the lack of ongoing support in schools. teachers who return after a period of training need encouragement and interest from colleagues and particularly from school directors in order to change their ways of working. for these reasons the bett project set up a system of information, advice and support for teachers and directors through the trainers who were themselves regularly visited and guided by the central project team. b) sustainability as well as enabling teachers to implement new practices, development partners want to ensure that following the end of a project responsibility for its continuation can be transferred. this requires that approaches and strategies are well understood and that decision-making structures are in place. courtney (2007) points out that in cambodia between 1994 and 1999 over 50% of the education budget came from outside sources. this creates a problem when time limited projects are completed and, in the case of cambodia has often led to ‘policy fragmentation’ (courtney 2007). much is made of collaboration and partnership, but in reality this is complex and hard to achieve. a culture of dependency can be set up in developing countries whereby donors are relied upon to provide resources with limited responsibility given to local personnel. to reduce this effect, in the bett project the cambodian central project team has been closely involved in all decisions and increasing capacity has been a key concern from the outset. courtney (2007) suggests that teachers need to feel that the programme is effective before they are willing to accept responsibility and change. her analysis suggests the complexity of the collaborative/partnership arrangement and reflects suggestions by king (2009) and mason (2009). king is critical of the lack of attention that has been paid to issues of sustainability, suggesting that it has been assumed that through education and training, awareness will be raised which will ensure continuation. he argues, drawing on complexity theory that more attention needs to be paid to the environment necessary to sustain projects. one difficulty with the contribution that complexity theory can make to the debate, at least at present is that, as mason (2009) suggests, “it makes no claim to predict what is essential and what can be marginalized”. he quotes nordtveit who argues, using the example of literacy programmes, that there are too many factors, mostly associated with poverty, to identify success. but, on an individual project level, courtney (2007) is able to identify key players; in this case school directors, whose ‘understanding, motivation and commitment’ was crucial to the sustainability of the project. while not underestimating its complexity, the bett project has identified and involved key partners in the planning and delivery from its inception. some of the issues surrounding sustainability are structural. maskell (1998) describes the sometimes tense relationship between ngos and the ministry in cambodia. power and patronage can influence interactions between ngo staff, teachers and moeys, leaving projects cancelled or seriously altered. he suggests that such ‘dissonance’ can lead to teachers returning to traditional practices when they get back to their communities and projects being unsustained. the exit strategies for the bett project include fully reporting outcomes to moeys and meeting donors and ngos in an attempt to ensure some form of continuity. cambodian trainers have a key role in maintaining links between the central project team and the teachers, and their expertise has already been recognised by districts and provinces beyond the original area. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 4 c) cultural relevance central to the bett project is the role of western consultants who are charged with training teachers to ‘improve the teaching and learning of literacy skills’. implicit in this is an assumption that western methods can be successful and relevant in a cambodian context. education traditions in many parts of asia differ greatly from western europe. this has been characterised by suzuki (2008) as “permissive progressivism or oppressive essentialism”. the development of education in much of asia, founded on buddhist precepts which value conformity and respect for authority make it difficult for teachers brought up in this tradition to change their paradigm to one which is meritocratic, questioning and learner-focused (suzuki 2008; tan 2008). indeed attempts to introduce ‘child centred’ education in cambodia have sometimes resulted in irrelevant, and therefore unsustained, practices (see courtney 2008). as mohammad and harlech-jones (2008) remark, “the bigger the problem, the greater the urgency with which it is regarded, and therefore the faster the pace of implementation.” and yet the changes in understanding and behaviour that are required suggest the need for time and depth – a possible conflict between quantity and quality. the curriculum in cambodia was introduced as a matter of national urgency in order to define and reinforce the nation state and to, “develop the pedagogic, cognitive, mental and physical abilities of learners” (moeys 1999) following the devastation of pol pot. as a consequence it is a centralised system in which, due to the speed of its introduction, concepts are not always clearly articulated or understood. this appears to lead to the classic dilemma in which the demands of globalisation and technical and economic innovation conflict with social and cultural conservation (bates 2008; suzuki 2008). in cambodia, as elsewhere, economic development is sometimes at odds with cultural maintenance. this is reflected in a curriculum which values correctness, precision and respect over risk-taking and creativity. education projects often claim to value the views and experiences of teachers and pupils while in practice imposing their own perspectives. they may be based on principles of openness, discovery and flexibility but in reality can rapidly become authoritarian and directive (see mohammed and harlech-jones 2008). the early literacy programme trains teachers to introduce activities and practices which sit alongside, rather than replace, the existing curriculum. it asserts the importance of speaking and listening in a classroom context which is traditionally dominated by didactic teaching. the training provides teachers with an instruction manual and gives them opportunities to practise and discuss activities. in this way the value of talk is exemplified in the training process. although it may be argued that cambodian teachers lack the tradition or experience of discussing such concepts, being accustomed to a transmission model of teaching, we have found that they engage enthusiastically and are keen to talk about their understanding in order to extend it. traditionally in cambodia, reading is prioritised over speaking and listening but trainers on the elp have embraced the place of speaking and listening within the development of literacy. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 5 conclusions aid agencies and others generally become involved in development projects for benign reasons. they wish to improve conditions. education projects have a special appeal in that they can confer long-term and far reaching benefits. but the reality is that many projects have limited impact and fail to provide enduring improvement. the reasons for this are complex and vary from project to project. three dilemmas, implementation, sustainability and cultural relevance, have been highlighted. funding for the bett programme will come to an end in 2010 but there are already signs that implementation may continue. a number of ngos have bought into the materials and training, and the books and training manuals will have a use beyond the end of the project. from the outset a key concern has been to provide sustainability by training and giving responsibility to the cambodian project team and to a group of teachers who worked in local schools. their increased confidence and expertise will ensure that in this, or similar projects, skills continue to develop. the support of school directors and of those district and provincial officers who have been involved in the project will add to the likelihood of continuation. the history of cambodia is part of the cultural context within which change occurs. this has led to a highly centralised and conservative system in which innovation is sometimes viewed with suspicion. the enthusiasm of teachers and pupils for the materials and the pedagogy gives some cause for hope, but ultimately the government must endorse the programme and find donors to fund it. in the bett early literacy programme we have attempted to anticipate questions of implementation, sustainability and cultural relevance from the start and to involve partners from the early stages. in this way the project ceases to be donor-driven and becomes recipient-led. the recipients will therefore decide on the future of the programme. bibliography bates, r. (2008). teacher education in a global context: towards a defensible theory of teacher education. journal of education for teaching, vol 34, no 4. bray, m., and bunly, s. (2005). balancing the books: household financing of basic education in cambodia. washington, world bank. chandler, d. (2007). the tragedy of cambodian history. pacific affairs, vol 52, no 3. courtney, j. (2007). does partnership and sustainability really happen? international journal of educational development, vol 27, no 6. courtney, j. (2008). do monitoring and evaluation tools, designed to measure the improvement in the quality of primary education, constrain or enhance educational development? international journal of educational development, vol 28, no 5. duggan, s. (1996). education, teacher training and prospects for economic recovery in cambodia. comparative education, vol 32, no 3. dy, s., and ninomiya, a. (2003). basic education in cambodia: the impact of unesco on policies in the 1990s. education policy analysis archives, vol 11, no 48. guarcello, l., and rosati, f. (2007). does school quality matter for working children? understanding children’s work, working papers series. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2012 6 king, k. (2009). education, skills, sustainability and growth: complex relations. international journal of educational development, vol 29, no 2. maskell, j. (1998). pedagogy as international aid: australian ngos in cambodia, paper presented to aare conference, adelaide, 30 november 1998. mason, m. (2009). making educational development and change sustainable: insights from complexity theory. international journal of educational development, vol 29, no 2. moeys. (1999). education in cambodia. ministry of education, youth and sport, phnom penh. mohammad, r., and harlech-jones, b. (2008). working as partners for classroom reform. international journal of educational development, vol 28, no 5. sopheak, k., and clayton, t. (2007). schooling in cambodia, in postiglioni and tan (eds). going to school in east asia. connecticut: greenwood press. suzuki, s. (2008). introduction. journal of education for teaching, vol 34, no 4. tan, c. (2007). two views of education: promoting civic and moral values in cambodia schools. international journal of educational development, vol 28, no 5. united nations development programme. (2008). human development report. [online]. available at: www.hdr.undp.org/statistics (accessed 2 april 2009). unicef. (2008). cambodia. [online]. available at: www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia.html, (accessed 24 october 2008). http://www.hdr.undp.org/statistics http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia.html 1 improving the blend on a herbal medicine programme rose heaney university of east london introduction students studying the blended learning bsc hons herbal medicine course at the university of east london (uel) are a geographically dispersed group of mature learners, many of whom are already graduates in other disciplines. most of their non-clinical study time, during which they have to develop an in-depth knowledge of the plant and medical sciences as well as of traditional herbal medicine practices, is spent off campus in self-directed learning. for several reasons, not least the fact that many of the teaching staff are remotely based part-timers, the distance learning aspects have tended to rely on printbased study guides with only ad hoc use of the virtual learning environment (vle) and other technologies. given the obvious inadequacies of this approach but also acknowledging the lack of staff resources to remedy it in the short term, internally funded initiatives ran from 2008–2010 to kick-start the systematic use of learning technologies on the programme. key interventions and the associated evaluations are described below. the interventions e-assessments (anatomy) the introduction of formative e-assessment to two anatomy modules was one of the first interventions. the raw material was already available in the form of hundreds of unlabelled diagrams, delivered via powerpoint, covering the various areas of general and systemic anatomy. students would label the diagrams over a period of weeks and wait for the answers to be released on a set date. the disadvantages of this approach were quite apparent not least in the fi xed timing of answer release. these diagram labelling exercises were converted to blackboard matching pairs questions, organised into topic based quizzes and made available to students at the outset of the module to be taken repeatedly at any time and in any order. the conversion process was not insubstantial but was essentially mechanical in that the questions and diagrams were all in existence already in the powerpoint fi les. quizzes consisting of multiple choice questions (mcqs) were also devised by the module leader to cover material of a more general nature on one of the modules. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 multimedia – basic clinical and dispensing skills set piece videos to demonstrate the correct way of carrying out various clinical and dispensing procedures were produced with an easy to use video camera with high capacity hard drive. all video material has been provided on the blackboard vle in a range of formats both for online viewing and downloading. figure 1 second life (sl) virtual patient second life virtual patient a herbal medicine outpatient facility (figure 1) was developed within a multidisciplinary polyclinic on health and bioscience’s second life (sl) island, uel habitat. the clinic consists of five separate bays, allowing students to work alongside each other on different cases. the object of the exercise is to establish a working diagnosis for a given patient using evidence gleaned by dialogue with the patient, who responds to pre-programmed triggers and from a range of diagnostic tools and test results implemented as interactive objects. having assembled as much information as possible about the patient, the student takes a quiz to confi rm the validity or otherwise of their working diagnosis. conversation with the patients and information returned by the objects is displayed in the sl text chat area, a transcript of which can be saved by the student for reference later. the quiz is web based and submissions are accessible by staff independently of sl. (for a fuller description of the virtual patient see heaney 2010). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 summary of evaluation e-assessments kruskal-wallis and mann-whitney tests were used to correlate fi nal exam results with online assessment (mcq and diagram matching questions) usage by two cohorts on one of the anatomy modules. statistical limitations notwithstanding, the evaluation showed that breadth of use of the online assessments related to improved exam performance. initially it was found that scores for the 08/09 cohort in the short question section of the exam were positively and significantly correlated to mcq use online. use of the diagram matching questions did not seem to have a significant impact on the diagram section of the exam, although the trend was positive. when the 09/10 cohort was added, the diagram section of the exam seemed to be the one that was improved by use of the matching questions. the overall exam scores were also improved when online tools were used, but not significantly so. online mcqs did not seem to have much of an effect on exam results, but they were not used as extensively as the diagrams. the most supportive finding was that, overall, increased use of the online tools by the 08/09 and 09/10 cohorts correlated significantly with their scores on the diagram section of the exam and also with their total exam scores. the material on the videos was explained clearly and concisely. the content of the videos complemented what had already learned in clinic. the material on the videos was organised effectively. the procedures on the videos were demonstrated very well. i really enjoyed watching the videos. the videos were boring. 0 1 2 3 4 5 figure 2 sample of online survey qualitative data obtained via surveys, interviews and focus groups reveal that most students like quizzes as revision tools and would like to see them in other subject areas. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 multimedia the clinical and dispensing videos were not module specific so the type of analysis used for e-assessment was not applicable. we devised a 24 question survey using likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) with some free response questions and also ran several focus groups. there were 14 responses to the online survey of which figure 2 is one section and typical of the other section responses. survey and focus group results point to an overall positive reception of videos with quite a few suggestions for improvements. the majority agreed that the videos were useful as a learning tool, although only as a revision tool and not as a substitute for real practice, which was never their intended use. another significant point made by some students was that the videos were particularly useful as a guide to the exact protocol required of them in clinical examinations, something which could not be assumed when viewing similar resources such as youtube or similar sites. second life (sl) the use of the sl virtual patient is in its early stages but preliminary data from focus groups and surveys of the pilot group indicate that it has been a qualifi ed success. virtual worlds such as sl present barriers as well as benefi ts to both staff and students (warburton, 2009) so an overwhelmingly positive response at this early stage would be unlikely, particularly with this programme’s demographic of mature and technologically conservative students. the herbal medicine students were the fi rst to use the sl virtual patient so their feedback was very useful in informing the next iteration which is now being used by physiotherapy students. heaney et al. (2010) provide a more detailed evaluation of the prototype virtual patient. reflections the development of e-assessments of the type described here may well be frontloaded, particularly if the questions need to be designed from scratch, but any such investment will reap benefits in the future – the anatomy quizzes, which are now in their third year of use, have required very few adjustments to remain as relevant and useful as before. a perennial complaint of students on this programme is that they do not receive enough feedback, but on closer investigation we have established that rather than formal feedback from teaching staff, what they are really requesting is a means of self-assessment on an ongoing basis. hence our anatomy quizzes, one form of which gives question by question feedback, have been well received and are illustrative of the benefits widely acknowledged (e.g. ross, jordan and butcher, 2006) on use of e-assessment to provide feedback to remote learners. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 5 over the two year period since the multimedia development commenced, easy to use, cheap devices such as flip cameras and mp3 recorders have become available, making it possible for staff to generate more resources themselves, without requiring the expert help and expensive equipment which had hitherto been the case. we are therefore optimistic that the production of this type of resource will become more integral to normal practice. development of the sl polyclinic with its virtual patients has been a very resource intensive exercise and only possible because other subject areas were involved. it is worth highlighting the benefit that programmes such as herbal medicine with small student numbers can gain by joining forces with colleagues in related subject areas. one other point of note is that virtual patient simulations, whether in sl or other platforms, are a very valuable addition to any clinical programme where student access to real patients and diverse conditions is of necessity limited. conclusions the generally positive experience of the interventions to date provides a basis for further developments across the programme. however in the current economic climate the focus needs to be on those that are manageable by academic staff without high levels of specialist support. a recent example of selfsufficiency is of a member of staff based at a remote location who managed to produce a series of quizzes in a format easily importable to the vle and some multimedia resources, having been sent a flip camera and mp3 recorder and some simple e-mail instructions. we need to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and new resources using a mixed methods approach where possible though mindful of the fact that small cohorts, as are typical of this programme, make quantitative analyses of the sort we attempted with the e-assessments quite difficult. another key aspect of any future development is to continue to support students well in the implementation of new initiatives. in the case of the e-assessments and multimedia, we provided vle discussion areas where students could report faults and help their peers solve issues related to usage, e.g. downloading videos. we offered all students face-to-face induction in the use of sl virtual patients, without which most of them would have struggled. finally, opportunities need to be actively sought to ensure staff on the programme are aware of what colleagues are doing, so good practice can be disseminated and shared. this is a particular challenge on a programme where many of the staff are based remotely, rarely attend campus and are only employed for a limited number of hours per semester. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 6 references heaney, r. (2010) virtual patient developments. available at: http://blog.uelconnect.org.uk/hab/2010/06/17/virtual-patient-developments-june-2010/ (accessed: 10 january 2011) heaney, r., timmins v-s., booth, p. and dawes j. (2010) ‘student perceptions of a second life® virtual patient to complement more traditional forms of clinical education‘ ecel 2010: 9th european conference on e-learning. instituto superior de engenharia do porto, porto, portugal, 4–5 november 2010. reading: academic publishing ltd, pp 236–243. ross, s., jordan, s. and butcher, p. (2006) ‘online instantaneous and targeted feedback for remote learners.’ in: bryan, cordelia and clegg, karen eds. innovative assessment in higher education. routledge/taylor and francis, pp. 123–131. warburton, s. (2009) ‘sec ond life in higher education: assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching’, british journal of educational technology, vol 40, no.3, pp 414–426. 1 article icle to the dissertation and beyond: independent study in the new undergraduate c u r r i c u l u m patrick ainley school of education introduction over the past 30 years social changes have taken place which makes the dialogue of teachers with students as the essential preserve of the higher educational community difficult. this is not only the case for the new universities that have made the most efforts to widen participation. with the decline of industry and the expansion of services, a reformation of social class has re-designated many jobs in what has become the ‘working-middle’ of society as professional occupations requiring higher qualifications. partly in response to this pressure for certification, many young people are leaving school and college later with supposedly higher standards but often trained rather than educated, or “over schooled but undereducated” (a. ainley, and allen 2010). training to meet externally verified competences is also extending into higher education. paradoxically, considering the hopes invested in it, new information and communications technology has not necessarily helped. while ict allows access to a mass of information, it has also facilitated a culture of plagiarism and undermined existing expertise by multiplying the possibly verifiable criteria for new knowledge. on top of all this, academics have also often not helped themselves by designing courses which make a virtue of student choice from a range of options that may even deny the possibility of students constructing coherent conceptual totalities related to their fields of study. this article suggests that a way to recover the conversation that should constitute induction into subject disciplines or areas of practice in higher education is through a redesign of programmes so that they focus on and culminate in the final year undergraduate dissertation. a precedent for the contributions that original acts of artistic creation, scientific experiment, technical practice, scholarship, or social research which dissertations can make to and beyond their respective disciplines or cross-disciplines is suggested in programmes of independent study. induction to academe for students for whom, as gerald graff remarks, “the very words ‘education’ and ‘academic’ are opaque” (2003: 274) present induction is ineffective. they fail to absorb the typically ‘mixed messages’ that tell students simultaneously to ‘be yourself – but do it the way we do it’; ‘there are no right answers – but some answers are better than others’; ‘debate is open and ongoing – but you have to be an expert to enter the debate’; ‘we want to hear your ideas not what others have said – but unless you refer to those authorities your views won’t be taken seriously’; ‘challenge authority 2 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 – but you can’t challenge authority unless you know the rules of the game’. as graff concludes, “the further students are from mainstream literacy, the more likely it is that these paradoxes will come across as flat contradictions!” (30). so, many students do not see the point of argument from different perspectives, nor do they understand how to distinguish between them with reference to evidence or reason. they have not heard clint eastwood’s dismissal of opinions resembling a piece of anatomy common to men and women, “everyone’s got one!” often they lack the confidence to make warranted assertions and fall back upon faith in conspiracies or their own personal ‘feelings’ and prejudices. thus, like our former prime minister blair, they can only say ‘i know what i believe’, instead of, like the philosopher of science, michael polanyi (1956), believing in what they know. academics pander to such limitations by drawing upon students’ experiences for validity, contributing to ‘the autobiographical turn’ in student writing (chamberlayne et al. 2000). i have experimented with this myself but come to find it wanting in teaching sociology at greenwich (ainley 2008). too much group work confirms these tendencies and reinforces student timidity at publicly addressing audiences they do not know, at worst leading to ‘the blind leading the blind’. as graff says, “let’s not break up into small groups!” (179). however, it is hard for academics in the humanities and social sciences to present courses that are relevant to student concerns because their modularised offerings are usually disconnected from one another. they rarely cohere as cumulative programmes of study but make a virtue of choice between the very different styles and perspectives presented by their lecturers. students then attempt to work these out for each lecturer on each course. ‘carousel’ courses spreading through the humanities and social sciences may be delivered on a repetitive treadmill by experts in their area, like accountancy, marketing, economics etc., in business studies but they do not necessarily cohere into a body of knowledge in its own right. at least business has a vocational relevance but in the usa the english curriculum has “bloated until it includes soap operas, looney tunes, muscle magazines, bubble-gum cards and graffiti”, as frederick crews (2006) has the fictional n. mack hobbs proudly declaring. yet in u.s. universities, there is – as in scotland – a first year foundation. often, these are often given over to ‘teaching the conflicts courses’ of the type that crews satirises. however, they also attempt some intellectual socialisation into the on-going conversation of academic culture, unlike our own inductions which largely restrict themselves to study skills, time management and tours of the library/it facilities. the crisis of student (academic) literacy is combined with one of legitimacy as the widened student body desperately hopes their expensively purchased degrees will gain them more than ‘a sainsbury’s job’ on graduation. this is forcing academics to agree what is important in the subjects they teach as they seek to enable new generations of students to adapt tertiary level learning in the way comprehensive school teachers previously struggled to open secondary schooling to the mass of the population. that this is happening first in ‘the bad universities’ – as defined negatively by the times good university guide – contributes to the denigration of such efforts, seen by the old guard as abandoning ‘academic standards’. moreover, it is in these institutions that the pressure is on to reduce traditional programmes towards two-year degrees, either as foundation ‘degrees’ or as three-year courses delivered over two years to include the summer in order to utilise plant and staff more efficiently. or merely as preliminary 3 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 to postgraduate study when ‘real higher educations’ can begin. these are also the institutions where most students live locally and are in part-time if not full-time employment, as well as having the greatest needs and disabilities such as dyslexia. raised and differentiated fees will emphasise instead of concealing these differences. to overcome them, there should be an emphasis upon the contribution to knowledge that students can make in their chosen academic disciplines or fields of practice through independent research, scholarship, creation or application in the form of their final year dissertation. the dissertation in the undergraduate experience in many programmes of study a large part of the final degree mark is already constituted by the final year dissertation, inquiry project, investigation or ‘end of degree show’ in art and related subjects. the coherence that this original contribution imposes upon their programme of study as a whole should be made clear to students at induction and the first and second years of their programme should build towards it. thus students will be progressively introduced to the debates – if not ‘conflicts’ – that are integral to the on-going constitution of their chosen subject or area of application preparatory to making a contribution to it. they will also be introduced to the canon of texts and experiments as exemplars presenting the conceptual tools with which to order the field’s information base. they can then recognise that the truth claims they make in the wider world of public debate and professional practice accord with the accepted criteria of scientific and logical proof and so go beyond personal admissions of opinions, beliefs or prejudices. above all, educational community should be preserved in the humboldtian dialogue of teachers with students and this is where research and investigation, scholarship and experiment should find their place. as then minister for higher education, bill rammell, argued in a speech at the university of warwick in october 2006, “an understanding of the research process (asking the right questions in the right way: conducting experiments; and collating and evaluating information) must be a key part of any undergraduate curriculum.” the importance of correct spelling and grammar, punctuation and paragraphing in academic and other writing can also be stressed, along with some familiarity with statistics and including the reasons for correct citation (rather than the confused fetish different instructions often make of the harvard referencing system). there is a precedent in english higher education for this culmination to undergraduate degrees in the form of independent study as it was practised until recently across the river at the university of east london. the school for independent study was founded at what was then the polytechnic of east london in 1974. it began as a way of getting local people as teachers into local schools, offering initially a two-year diploma in higher education but later expanding to degree and then postgraduate level courses without any particular subject specialisation. in 1991 however, the school was closed due to a combination of circumstances and independent study was devolved to the other six schools of the soon to be re-designated university. so ended a radical higher education experiment that closed a period of pedagogic experimentation in child-centred primary, comprehensive secondary and expanded further and higher education in the 1960s and ’70s, that included the founding of the polytechnics themselves. independent study emphasised, through the part that students played in devising their own courses of study and in deciding how they would be assessed, a recognition of the need for students’ active participation in the construction of their own social institutions and environments. there 4 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 was therefore an essential democratic component to the work of the school. this was, moreover, not a final end state to be reached by students but a developing capacity which was acquired as it was exercised. education was thus recognised as an active process of self-directed enquiry in an essentially open-ended and dialogic process that was inherently unpredictable so that its results could not be anticipated by either teachers or taught. in principal, independent study is not restricted to higher education but could be incorporated into the learning programmes of all students beginning as early as possible by building upon the project work still sometimes undertaken in primary schools. instead of ‘cramming’ for tests that select a minority for entry to the next stage, the methods of learning and assessment originally associated with gcse course work before it was constricted by the national curriculum could be raised and made continuous from school through to further and higher education. in a complementary motion, the independent scholarship, research and creation of postgraduate learning should be brought down and integrated into all undergraduate dissertations. thus at all levels of learning individual programmes will include some element of independent study in the sense of original discovery, creation or research with forms of assessment and self-assessment based upon students’ work and negotiated with them. at what used to be ‘final degree’ level, this can be embodied in the final year dissertation or investigation, demonstration or show. this may have more or less vocational relevance to the occupations to which students aspire after graduation. during its lifespan from 1974–91 the sis at the pel steered a variable course between the twin poles of academicism and vocationalism (see robbins 1988 for a full history). initially it set out to broaden progressive ideals for the polytechnics, identified as the people’s universities by robinson in 1968 to replace the concept of the middle-class boarding school university with that of the working class urban university. in place of the traditional university alliance between liberal and academic education, the polytechnic ideal allied liberal humanism with vocational service to its students and the communities from which they came. there was therefore a notion of really useful knowledge which opposed the academic cultivation of knowledge supposedly for its own sake. independent study required its students to identify an original and practical interest which was personal to them and could be used as a vehicle for developing general level knowledge and higher cognitive skill up to and beyond their vocational application. skill and knowledge can also be developed in final year dissertations to make scientific research, scholarship and artistic creation an integral part of the independent study of all students, rather than separating teaching from research. this in essence is the answer to the vexed question of research in higher education: research must be generalised to as many teachers and students as possible. this does not preclude dedicated specialist research institutes such as already exist in this and other countries. in general however, teaching should be combined with research as a means of introducing students to an academic community that critically learns from the past to change behaviour in the future. the undergraduate dissertation can be developed to emphasize the contribution that students can make to that continuing conversation as the final degree demonstration of graduatenes. 5 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 2, 2010 post-script of course, such a rethinking of undergraduate provision is unnecessary if you share the view that announced and anticipated cuts to further and higher educaiton mean that universities will soon be able to pull up their drawbridges of traditional standards and return to ‘business as usual’. they will abandon widening participation as students and parents also become increasingly disillusioned with it as part of the ‘credibility crunch’ education as a whole faces in recession. however, this would be to abandon also future generations so that they really are ‘lost’. it won’t happen – if only because, despite promised ‘economic recovery’, there really is nothing else for them to do! references ainley, p. (ed). (2008). twenty years of schooling … student experiences of their learning journeys. london: society for research into higher education. ainley, p., and allen, m. (2010). lost generation? new strategies for youth and education. london: continuum. chamberlayne, p., bornat, j., and weyngraf, t. (2000). the turn to biographical methods in the social sciences. london: routledge. crews, f. (2006). postmodern pooh. evanston illinois: northwestern university press. graff, g. (2003). clueless in academe, how schooling obscures the life of the mind. new haven: yale up. polanyi, m. (1956). personal knowledge. chicago: university of chicago press. robbins, d. (1988). the rise of independent study, the politics and philosophy of an educational innovation, 1970-87. milton keynes: open university press. robinson, e. (1968). the new polytechnics, the people’s universities. harmondsworth: penguin. th i compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 first published in 2017 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series sarah crofts, independent critical friend paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, school of law, university of greenwich catriona mcallister, university of reading gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university reviewers nicky garsten, university of greenwich duncan mckenna, university of greenwich monika pazio, imperial college london malcolm ryan, independent critical friend monica fernandes, brunel university london mark dawson, brunel university london technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 panopto: the potential benefits for disabled students clifton kandler, melanie thorley university of greenwich this paper sets out to review the recent panopto (lecture capturing) trial undertaken at university of greenwich. we discuss the scope and findings of the trial. the universal design for learning (udl) concept is briefly addressed to demonstrate how universal design can (even though the emphasis is on disabled students 1) benefit a great many students, thus enabling the university to comply with the equality act 2010 aspect of anticipatory measures. in addition to the potential advantages and disadvantages for future disabled students who may not be in receipt of the disabled students’ allowances (dsa), we also suggest potential institutional benefits and how different cohorts of non-traditional students may benefit from the technology. why panopto? panopto was chosen for the trial following extensive research by teams within information and library services (ils) and the educational development unit (edu), taking into account previous knowledge and experience of echo 360. hardware-based systems such as echo 360 were quickly ruled out on the basis of cost and flexibility. panopto was therefore selected for the following reasons:  the ability to use the system on personal computers, laptops, macs, tablets and mobile phones;  the ability to search videos for key words spoken by the presenter or appearing on powerpoint slides;  the ability to integrate with the university’s virtual learning environment (vle);  the ability to live-stream presentations;  ease of use;  it is the most widely adopted lecture-capturing system within uk higher education;  its compatibility with a number of assistive software technologies. in addition, the system was developed from a project at carnegie mellon university and, at an early stage, eric burns, chief product officer, identified its importance for meeting the needs of disabled students: ”one of the original applications of our video platform was to bring carnegie mellon university lectures to physically disabled students who couldn't attend class.” (schaffhause, 2013). the trial: scope and findings the group designed the trial to take place in semester one of the 2014/15 academic year. over forty academics across all faculties initially volunteered to take part in the trial. those who volunteered to take part but who did not actually participate reported that this was largely because of the limited time available to plan for the inclusion of the system in teaching activities and doubts about the availability of the system in the long term. 1 ‘disabled students’ covers physical disabilities, the autistic and dyslexia spectrums, long-term health conditions and mental health difficulties. http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 feedback from those who took part in the trial was very positive. first-and final-year student committees in the department of computing and information systems requested all lectures to be made available via panopto. the student union also used the system and consulted with students; they reported that students would like all of their lectures recorded. however, the legal and policy aspects of the trial were areas identified as requiring further investigation and discussion at a senior level within the university. universal design for learning: potential benefits for disabled students the concept of udl is not a new one2 and yet many lecturers and students are unaware of how the seven principles can benefit the majority. whilst udl began life as an architectural and design concept, the principles can be applied to technology. this is exemplified in principle one equitable use: the design is useful for and marketable to people with diverse abilities3. as sheryl burgstahler from the wyoming institute for disabilities (wind) states, “when udl principles are applied, products and environments meet the needs of potential users with a wide variety of characteristics. disability is just one of many characteristics that an individual might possess4.” several authors (brogan, 2009; williams & fardon, 2005) have identified lecture capture as a means of implementing ud principles, the main ud benefit being flexibility of access. lecture capturing facilities may be one method by which the university can adhere to the equality act 2010 and thus avoid discrimination. the purpose of the duty is to ensure that disabled students can access their education on a par with their peers (slater et al, 2015). recorded lectures can provide valuable (and valued) revision materials for students, as well as being particularly useful for students who may find difficulty comprehending a lecture fully at the time of delivery (karnard 2013 5; owston et al, 20116). some disabled students require notetaking support for their lectures and seminars for example, deaf and hard-of-hearing students who cannot physically hear the lecture7 or physically-disabled students who cannot maintain notetaking at a sufficiently fast pace8 to keep up. whilst panopto is not a universal remedy, there have been suggestions from as far back as 2007 (hughes and robinson) that lecture-capturing may reduce the need for notetakers in lectures. a study from canada confirmed that 81% of students who had identified a need for ‘accommodations’ (reasonable adjustments in the uk) reported that lecture-capturing was helpful (vajoczki et al, 2010). a number of the disabled students in this study suggested that lecture-capturing might replace their need for notetakers. this is timely, owing to the imminent cuts to dsas which currently fund the majority of notetakers within uk higher 2 http://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/cud/about_ud/udprincipl estext.htm 3 http://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/cud/about_ud/udprincipl estext.htm 4 http://www.uwyo.edu/wind/_files/docs/resources/ud_revi ew. pdf 5 http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/1/karnad_student_use_recorded_2013_author.pdf 6http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1096751611000418 7 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed437777 notetaking for deaf and hard of hearing students 1997 8 http://cjo.sagepub.com/content/67/3/162.full.pdf+html accommodation needs and student environment fit in upper secondary schools for students with severe phy sical disabilities 2000 http://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/cud/about_ud/udprinciplestext.htm http://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/cud/about_ud/udprinciplestext.htm http://www.uwyo.edu/wind/_files/docs/resources/ud_review.pdf http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed437777 http://cjo.sagepub.com/content/67/3/162.full.pdf+html technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 education (willetts, 2014). the potential benefits for students with a disability and/or specific learning difficulty are numerous and are presented in the table below. a synopsis of the potential advantages and disadvantages of panopto for disabled students: potential advantages potential disadvantages 24-hour access cognitive overload/saturation illness or hospitalisation technical failure substantial bereavement may discourage students from attending lectures less reliance on in-class support staff unhelpful and/or technophobic teaching staff fonts, screen colours and audio can be altered non-engagement, owing to the technical knowledge and understanding required visual instruction for deaf and hard-ofhearing learners costly equipment may be required at home audio instruction for blind or visuallyimpaired students enhanced student experience can be used on mobile devices however, lecture capture is not a panacea, as accessing lecture content is just one aspect of a university education for a disabled student (gibson, 2015). potential institutional benefits:  recruitment – 65+ universities use panopto in the uk. prospective students’ choice of university may well depend on the availability of lecture-capturing services.  retention: flexible approaches to accessing lectures and/or seminars may enable students at risk of leaving their degree early to stay the course. two disabled students in the vajoczki et al study reported that, owing to deteriorating medical conditions, they would not have completed their degrees without such assistance.  the cuts in the disabled students’ allowances (dsas) will revoke much of the support which is currently available and lecture capture systems constitute one means by which universities may be able to fill this gap.  enables the university to practice reasonable and anticipatory adjustments.  lecture capturing may also assist other cohorts of non-traditional (widening participation) students, such as students who have english as an additional language; students who are the first in their family to go to university and may not have had access to the terminology/vocabulary used in higher education; students who are caring for a disabled relative; students with a low socioeconomic status, who may struggle with travel costs to and from the university. conclusion following the trial, the university has adopted panopto on an ‘opt-in’ basis, meaning that, whilst its use is encouraged, it is not compulsory for staff to provide recordings of lectures. the reception by both staff and students of the system continues to be very positive. the technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 team leading the system’s implementation is now focusing on raising academic staff awareness of its availability and potential; there is also particular focus on ensuring that the university’s disability team is aware of the system’s potential to support students with a wide range of disabilities. the *accessibility project will continue to inform disabled students in their outreach work of the benefits of lecture capture to the disabled students they work with. this review confirms in its exploration of lecture capturing that there are significant immediate and subsequent benefits to students, both disabled and, more widely, nontraditional, as well as to their higher education institutions. at a time when dsa.s are threatened, universities may well find it worthwhile to address such potential disadvantages as are identified here to capitalise upon the undeniable benefits of these systems. reference list brogan, p. (2009) echo360: lecture capture solutions for students with disabilities. available at: http://www.automaticsync.com/captionsync/wp-content/uploads/ accessiblelectures11.pdf (accessed: 09 january 2016). gibson, s. (2015) ‘when rights are not enough: what is? moving towards new pedagogy for inclusive education within uk universities.’ international journal of inclusive education, 19(8). hughes, g. and robinson, p. (2007) ‘photonote evaluation: aiding students with disabilities in a lecture environment.’ international acm conference, october 15-17, arizona. new york: acm press. karnard, a. (2013) ‘a report reviewing recent research into the use of lecture capture technology in higher education’. available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/1/karnad_student_use_recorded_2013_author.pdf (accessed: 10 january 2016). owston, h., lupshenyuk, d. and wideman, h. (2011) ‘lecture capture in large undergraduate classes: student perceptions and academic performance’. available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1096751611000418 (accessed: 10 january 2016). schaffhause, d. (2013) ‘panopto updates lecture capture suite with new accessibility tools, security enhancements.’ the journal. available at: https://thejournal.com/articles/2013/10/17/panopto-4.5-video-tools-enhance-accessibilityusability-security.aspx?=the21 (accessed: 12 october 2015). slater, r., pearson, v.k., warren, j.p. and forbes, t. (2015) ‘institutional change for improving accessibility in the design and delivery of distance learning – the role of faculty accessibility specialists at the open university.’ open learning: the journal of open, distance and e-learning, 30(1). vajoczki, s., watt, s., marquis, n. and holshausen, k. (2010) podcasts: are they an effective tool to enhance student learning? a case study from mcmaster university, hamilton canada, journal of educational multimedia and hypermedia, 19 (3) willetts, d. (2007) higher education: student support: changes to disabled students’ allowances (dsa). available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/higher-educationhttp://www.automaticsync.com/captionsync/wp-content/uploads/ http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/1/karnad_student_use_recorded_2013_author.pdf http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1096751611000418 https://thejournal.com/articles/2013/10/17/panopto-4.5-video-tools-enhance-accessibility-usability-security.aspx?=the21 https://thejournal.com/articles/2013/10/17/panopto-4.5-video-tools-enhance-accessibility-usability-security.aspx?=the21 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/higher-education-student-support-changes-to-disabled-students-allowances-dsa technology review compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 student-support-changes-to-disabled-students-allowances-dsa (accessed: 19 october 2015). williams, j. and fardon, m. (2005) ‘on-demand internet-transmitted lecture recordings: attempting to enhance and support the lecture experience.’ proceedings of the association for learning technology conference: exploring the frontiers of e-learning: borders, outposts and migration. 153–161. manchester, england. available at: http:// www.lectopia.com.au/misc/williamsfardon_alt-c_2005.pdf (accessed: 09 january 2016). https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/higher-education-student-support-changes-to-disabled-students-allowances-dsa http://www.lectopia.com.au/misc/williamsfardon_alt-c_2005.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 testing, testing, testing dorothea fadipe department of applied engineering and management, university of greenwich whilst reflecting on the marking, moderation, meetings and all the other processes associated with bringing each academic year to an end, i have often wondered whether the focus on the measurement of discernible outcomes (a hallmark of reductionism) will ever abate. in my opinion, one of the major drivers of reductionism in many undergraduate degrees is the high profile accorded to and the emphasis placed upon summative assessments. as a lecturer, i have recently felt exasperated enough to explain to a set of my students that the difference between a graduate and a non-graduate is not simply a list of completed assignments or at least it shouldn’t be and there was a somewhat bemused reaction to this! from my teaching experience, i construe that, increasingly, students view assessments as the prima facie reason for their study commitments, to the extent that they judge any work not being formally assessed as not worth doing. whilst this situation may be disillusioning (at least to many lecturers), it is not really surprising, given the emphasis on assessment and testing that is embedded in the school systems through which the students have travelled. what stimulates this focus on summative assessment? part of the answer could lie in the interpretation of the accountability to which educational establishments are being held; they believe that they are required to prove that they are functioning and performing entities, capable of producing outcomes that can be objectified and measured (department of education, 2014). summative assessment generates tick-box measurement, towards which end academic endeavours may be processed and directed. the situation is, possibly, a byproduct of the culture of ‘new managerialism’ now embedded in uk education. works by deem (2007), broadfoot (2009) and ainley and allen (2010) are amongst those that provide us with the landscapes and worldviews that help to explain how and why we have reached this point. students themselves have played their part. kemmis (2012) wrote about the objectification of education, in which students see themselves as “paying customers”. this view is corroborated by the 2012 study by peters and higbea, who found that students had "a fixation on maximizing grades within the allotted time for studies”, seeing a focus on summative assessments as being a more “effective use of their study time”. such student single-mindedness is perhaps understandable, given the competitiveness of the graduate job market and the cost of studying for a degree. market forces drive universities to focus on the proportions of first and second class honours degrees awarded, as this data is published in the external league tables used to attract potential ‘customers’. as achievement levels are seen as a barometer of an institution’s success, academics may find themselves obliged to concentrate on summative assessment and even to award high grades, despite the subjectivity inherent in most assessment schemes. in the current market context, it would be a brave university indeed that would risk a dent in student satisfaction levels and associated elements of its perceived ranking by moving its modus operandi away from an assessment-based paradigm. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 and how credible are these measurements anyway? sadler (2009) examines the entrenched usage of pre-set criteria and rubrics in university assessments and provides an interesting exploration of the anomalous patterns that may arise from the use of reductive techniques in assessing student work, irrespective of the complexity of and variation in the tasks’ objectives. student voice and an array of student satisfaction surveys have helped to address some of the contentious aspects of summative assessments, but concentration on the measurable may still side-line the important, non-measurable products of an education: some important facets of personal and intellectual growth are difficult to measure under the current summative assessment paradigm. for example, where do ipsative development (i.e. the student’s own, internally-generated drive to better previous performance), praxial development (in terms of the desire to apply learning to different environments and contexts) and the sheer enjoyment of learning fit in? however, it is not all doom and gloom. in fact, it is quite gratifying to see some of the progressive work that steers us towards the freirian paradigm, in which education is regarded as a conversation to which students can also make a major contribution. in realising such a world, true achievement is verified not through an overtly reductionist approach, but through a more phenomenological examination of students’ learning: their inputs into the education system their thoughts, capabilities, feelings, ideas and mind-sets should all play a much greater part in what we call ‘achievement’, whether these elements are quantifiable or not. the adoption of risk-based approaches to curriculum design and assessment has done much to mitigate the effects of reductionism, a good example of which was seen in the student enterprise and entrepreneurship initiatives at coventry university (ncee, 2013). the change agent network (can) also seeks to influence academic thinking and practice in this sphere. can’s recently-published papers on dialogic approaches (rochon and knight, 2015), on student-led fellowships (matheson and poole, 2015) and on the use of student teaching and learning consultants (jensen and bagnall, 2015) are amongst a range of endeavours that portray the freirian dialogue in action. my concluding opinion is that, in determining achievement levels, phenomenological aspects of learning and summative assessments should be seen as having equal weight. such a stance would go some way to combating the effects of reductionism that i have encountered in my teaching career. as many undergraduates live multi-faceted lives, i feel that there is a need for greater examination of, emphasis upon and reflection about the ways in which every subject/course/module studied is experienced within the context of the student’s own wider (vocational and non-vocational) life experiences. boud’s (2010) work on sustainable assessment has a bearing here. increased emphasis and reflection on ipsative development within each academic subject could also be embraced, as advocated by hughes and crawford (2009). e-portfolios, learning journals and diaries are suitable vehicles for the recording and sharing of such reflections, aspirations and ideas. so, overall, although the pressures towards reductionism in undergraduate studies might seem unrelenting at times, i think that, in measuring achievement, it is possible to strike a better balance between summative assessment and phenomenological aspects of learning and there do appear to be significant changes afoot. in the meantime, i must get back to my marking… opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 reference list ainley, p. and allen, m. (2010) lost generation? new strategies for youth and education. london: continuum. boud, d. (2000) ‘sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the learning society.’ studies in continuing education. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713695728 (accessed: 23 august 2015). broadfoot, p. (2009). ‘time for a scientific revolution? from comparative education to comparative learnology.’ in: cowen,r. and kazamias, a. (eds.) the international handbook of comparative education, part one, volume 22. springer science and business media b.v. deem, r., hillyard, s. and reed, m. (2007) knowledge, higher education, and the new managerialism: the changing management of uk universities. oxford: oxford university press. dunn, i. (2013) ‘a risk based approach to curriculum design.’ national centre for entrepreneurship in education (ncee). entrepreneurial university leaders programme 2013: the entrepreneurial university: from concept to action. pp 44-46. available at : http://ncee.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/from-concept-to-action.pdf ( accessed :14 september 2015). department for education (2014) ‘primary and 16 to 19 assessment and accountability – written statement to parliament.’ available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/primary-and-16-to-19-assessment-andaccountability (accessed: 18 december 2014). hughes, g. and crawford, m. (2009) ‘assessment futures: ipsative feedback and learner motivation.’ institute of education, university of london. proceedings of a learning and teaching conference, 14 january 2009. available at: http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/about_policies/proceedings_of_landt_conference_ 2009.pdf. (accessed: 23 august 2015). jensen, k. and bagnall, d. (2015) ‘student teaching and learning consultants: developing conversations about teaching and learning.’ journal of educational innovation, partnership and change, 1 (1). kemmis, s. (2012) ‘researching educational praxis; spectator and participant perspectives.’ british educational research journal 38 (6). december 2012, pp. 885-905. available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/01411926.2011.588316/epdf. (accessed 14 september 2015). matheson, r. and poole, n. (2015) ‘student-led fellowships: developing partnerships to identify best practice and promote change. ’ journal of educational innovation, partnership and change, 1 (1). peters, r. and higbea, r. (2012) ‘maximizing reflexivity and praxis by recognizing and counteracting the constraints imposed by stimulus-response learning.’ teaching public administration, 30 (2), 133-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713695728 http://ncee.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/from-concept-to-action.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/primary-and-16-to-19-assessment-and-accountability https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/primary-and-16-to-19-assessment-and-accountability http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/about_policies/proceedings_of_landt_conference_2009.pdf http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/about_policies/proceedings_of_landt_conference_2009.pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/01411926.2011.588316/epdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 rochon, r. and knight, j. (2015) ‘the view from the fence: a dual perspective on assignment briefs.’ journal of educational innovation, partnership and change, 1 (1). sadler, d. r. (2009) ‘indeterminacy in the use of pre-set criteria for assessment and grading in higher education.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 34, 159179. bibliography deem, r. (1998) 'new managerialism and higher education: the management of performances and cultures in universities in the united kingdom.’ international studies in sociology of education, 8 (1). available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0962021980020014 (accessed: 23 august 2015). mathews, d. (2015) ‘university managerialism can boost academic freedom.’ times higher education, august 21 2015. available at : https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/university-managerialism-%e2%80%98canboost-academic-freedom%e2%80%99 (accessed: 23 august 2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0962021980020014 https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/university-managerialism-%e2%80%98can-boost-academic-freedom%e2%80%99 https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/university-managerialism-%e2%80%98can-boost-academic-freedom%e2%80%99 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 embedding tel in an initial course in teaching & learning in he: a co-design approach francesca robinson royal holloway, university of london abstract this research project explored how best to embed the use of social web tools in an initial teacher education programme by involving participants in the design process. a mixedmethod approach was used to find out participants’ experience of participatory learning using social web tools and interest in learning more about their use in higher education as part of the course. it also sought out participants’ preferred ways of learning and levels of interest in giving and receiving peer support. results indicate that, overall, many participants have experience of using a range of social web tools as students, professionally or for personal use. the social web tools most participants selected to learn more about were cloud-based software for creating slides and topic curation tools; the least popular choices were video and podcast creation for courses or as assignments for students. although participants expressed interest in a range of ways of learning, using the technology as part of a session and reading a bi-monthly newsletter were the most popular means. following on from the findings, a proposal for introducing social web tools into the programme was drawn up and the activities have been reviewed and adapted as part of a continuous process. key words: teacher education, technology-enhanced-learning, social web tools, curriculum co-design visiting lecturers, graduate teaching assistants and technicians who are given teaching hours in universities are often required to complete a postgraduate course in teaching and learning in higher education. developing teaching skills has become even more important in the light of the new teaching excellence framework (tef), which aims to recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching (times higher education, 2016). if technologyenhanced learning is to be successfully embedded within this type of course, it is important to consider how best to encourage and empower participants to use a range of current learning technologies. it could also be argued that social web tools should be included within the course if it is the case that they can enable teachers to explore new pedagogic methods (tynan and barnes, 2011, p. 371), yet, as bennett (2012) points out, a postgraduate course in teaching and learning in higher education may focus primarily on principles of teaching and learning. if mentioned at all, the use of technology in teaching and learning might be a bolt-on session rather than being so embedded into the course that experimenting with the technology and discussion about pedagogy become interwoven. as a new tutor on such a programme, the author decided to carry out research to find out about participants’ experience of and interest in participatory learning using social web tools and their preferred learning methods, in order to involve them in designing this element of the course. i felt that involving participants could help foster and model more faithfully a partnership approach to course design. whilst there are prior studies on staff development in using technologies in higher education (see, for example, georgins and olson, 2008; ertmer case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 and ottenbreit-leftwich, 2008; lefoe et al, 2009), there didn’t seem to be any research on embedding technology in courses for tutors preparing to teach in higher education that focuses solely on social web technologies or includes students as co-designers of this element of the course. literature review the social web or web 2.0, (a term coined by o’reilly in 2005), is a wide-ranging concept that refers to an extensive range of social networking and mass authoring tools.the two features many of them have in common are a focus on participation and the fact that they are based on a social understanding of knowledge (eijkman, 2011, p.346). thus, the jisc report (2009, cited in conole, 2010, p.10) found that students had different opportunities for interaction, collaboration and expression in web 2.0 environments. while conole (2010, p.40) shows how different tools can be used, depending on the pedagogic approach, such as inquiry or community-based learning, the following examples of current popular (and mostly free) social web tools (mcloughlin and lee, 2011, p.45) are helpful in identifying their functionality as well as pedagogical possibilities:  enabling collaborative writing: wikis, google docs  for sharing ideas publicly: blogs, vlogs  social networking for idea sharing: facebook, twitter, yammer  media sharing applications: youtube, flickr, instagram  enabling different forms of feedback: podcasts, screencasts, audience response system  using multimedia in presentations: cloud-based presentation software  curation and visual storytelling: storify, scoop.it, info.gram why include social web tools in the curriculum? one of the reasons for including social web tools in the curriculum is that, within these participatory spaces, students have the opportunity to learn using a more self-directed approach, moving towards communicating and collaborating in a community of practice (see eijkman 2011, p.344 and conole, 2010, p.10). another is that students can develop their digital literacy skills as part of their course, which is important, given the emphasis on continuous professional development in the workplace. marjaryan and littlejohn (2008) point out that social web tools such as blogs and wikis are currently being used in organisations to share knowledge and for communication. they ask how well students are being prepared for the world of work if social media tools are not included as part of their studies. by thinking of students as producers, teachers can design activities that require higher-order thinking skills, as students create, analyse, synthesise and present knowledge to peers (sessoms, 2008, p.95). they are therefore given the opportunity to think critically, by creating their own view of the subject. as dron and anderson (2014) point out, research shows that the learning value of artefacts that learners create and share is of equal, if not greater, value than content offered by teachers. instead of being used solely as instructional media, learning technologies can thus be taken away from instructional designers (in this case, teachers) and given to students, so that they may construct their own knowledge, an case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 approach in line with a more student-centred curriculum (jonassen, 2004, p.228). students may be empowered by being given the autonomy to plan, make decisions and self-assess as part of the process. activities can be set up so that students can take full advantage of the distributed nature of digital spaces. as conole (2010, p.17) highlights, this includes access to the knowledge of others and communicating with a wider audience. rethinking curriculum design however, designing activities using social web software will demand a major rethink about what the role of the teacher is and the level of control the teacher has over the learning process. in addition, mcloughlin and lee (2011) suggest that tertiary educators in general may not be fully aware of the range and potential of social software tools to support teaching and assessment in a range of meaningful and authentic ways. similarly, vogel (2010, p.6) found that having the infrastructure and equipment in place doesn’t mean that technology is effectively integrated into the curriculum. there are also differences in the way institutional and social web technologies are viewed. marjaryan and littlejohn (2008) found that wellestablished tools such as the learning management system (lms) are perceived as the most up-to-date technologies, whilst some lecturers view social media tools as ‘fads’. similarly, an oecd study found that the use of social media in the higher education curriculum is, for the most part, experimental (oecd, 2009, cited in conole, 2010, p.21). as britland (2013) reminds us, staff cannot be expected to use new technology unless they are confident users or creators and can see how it will support and benefit teaching and learning. because of this, conole (2010, p.22) suggests that initial teacher education needs rethinking and thus discussion about new and emerging pedagogies should be considered a vital aspect. ertmer and ottenbreit-leftwich (2010, p.268) argue that new definitions of learning and effective teaching need to include using technology as tool, process or method as an integral component. this is important because, whilst there are several examples of individual teachers using a variety of online collaboration tools with their students, empirical evidence suggests there are not always sound pedagogical principles in place (huijser and sankey, 2011, p.272). essentially, a teacher’s experience of teacheror student-centred teaching, habitual ways of learning, her/his own personal use of technology and experience of using it as a student might come into play. angeli and valanides (2009, p.162) note that if, for example, the teacher has deep-rooted beliefs in teacher-centred learning, then without a chance for reflection, technology integration in teaching will most likely be teacher-directed rather than learner–directed. in addition to past experiences of teaching methods and technology use, a teacher’s perceived self-efficacy and such personal attributes as the willingness to try new things will also have a big influence (ertmer and ottenbreit-leftwich, 2010, p.263). therefore, once they are aware of the potential pedagogical uses of social web tools, teachers need to be given time to explore how to use them, take risks and have opportunities for practice. incorporating the use of social web tools into this type of course also provides:  an opportunity to explore and discuss the barriers to including them. for example, students might not have much experience of or interest in using them for learning. in their study of students’ ict preferences and behaviour, gros et al (2012, p.207) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 found ‘considerable variation in patterns of access, use and preference for a wide range of different technologies’.  a chance to discuss how third-party platforms use and monetise data so that teachers and students are aware of how to protect content and make informed decisions regarding their use. research methodology the social software and participatory learning framework of mcloughlin and lee (2007) was the theoretical lens that framed this study. this pedagogical approach posits that social web tools enable personalisation of the curriculum, enquiry as part of a community and joint knowledge creation. although this framework was conceived in relation to study in australia, it was considered to be a relevant model, as the approaches used are similar, even though in different cultural contexts. the framework is adapted from a dutch model (efimova, 2004) and the pedagogical activities afforded by the social web tools are also discussed within the uk literature (see, for example, conole, 2010 and marjaryan and littlejohn, 2008). the research questions explored were: 1. what are participants’ experiences of and interest in participatory learning using social web tools as students or teachers, with regard to:  producing learner-generated content?  open, peer-to-peer and multi-faceted communication?  consuming/producing media-rich resources?  support from teachers, peers and communities?  learning tasks chosen by themselves (personalised)? 2. what are participants’ levels of interest in learning more about the selected social web tools that encourage a more active role in the learning process? 3. how and to what degree are participants interested in learning about these social web tools as part of their course and/or teaching their peers or receiving support from them? for the first and second survey questions a range of current and free social web tools and their affordances were chosen, based on those previously mentioned (building on mcloughlin and lee, 2011). the following aspects were selected for the third survey question as they were recommendations for pre-service teacher education and professional development in using learning technologies in the work of ertmer and ottenbreit-leftwich (2010) and rogers (2000):  peer learning in communities of practice; both face-to-face and online;  active learning;  duration;  learning individually. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 participants eighty-three participants from the arts, science and social science faculties participated in the study. a mixed-method research approach was used; a paper survey was given on the course introductory day and a focus group discussion was held during each lunch break, with several participants chosen from different departments by means of stratified sampling. the focus groups involved semi-structured interviews which were loosely based on the questions in the survey. the participants were asked to comment on their interest in technology in general, their experience of any technologies used in teaching and learning and how they normally learn to use new technologies. discussion of results the key themes identified provided some useful insights which formed the basis of an initial proposal for embedding the use of social web tools within the ite programme. 1. what are participants’ experiences of and interest in participatory learning using social web tools as students or teachers? it became apparent from the survey responses that a considerable proportion of participants had experience, as students, teachers or professionals, of using several of the social web tools in the survey or knew how they were used. many participants were interested in how technology could enhance learning. some already had experience, either as students or teachers, of media-rich technology; others had experienced collaborative writing online. interestingly, over 50% of participants had experience of using facebook as a student, and several participants mentioned using facebook as an informal study group and how helpful it had been. for others, forums were popular. the drawbacks of using technology were also discussed, during which some criticisms were made about some lecturers’ use of such technologies as powerpoint and moodle. 2. what are participants’ levels of interest in learning more about participatory learning using social web tools? the most popular choices were learning to create slides using cloud-based software and topic curation, whilst learning about how student-created podcasts or videos, or how to give audio or audio-visual feedback, yielded the lowest number of responses. if participants had seen only powerpoint slides used by their lecturer, this might have influenced what they thought it was important to learn, as marjaryan and littlejohn (2008) and gros et al (2012) found. their choices might also have been limited because they had a minor teaching role. where a web tool was not selected in the survey, this could also have been, as loughlin and lee (2011) point out, because there was a lack of awareness of the potential of social web tools. furthermore, although the survey results revealed that most people had participated in or knew about a class facebook page, over half of participants did not want to know more about setting up an online class group; this could have been because they didn’t need help with it, but might also be related to the three main concerns that came up during the discussions: of technology potentially being a distraction; keeping social media for private use and online privacy. this accords with research findings that academics might not be willing to use technologies that students use in their daily life (mcloughlin and lee, 2011, and vogel, 2010), and shows that the benefits of using technology may be overlooked if participants are not made aware of them. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 at the same time, two focus group participants expressed an understanding of the fact that the younger generation might be more motivated by using technology in an educational context and felt that it was important to keep up-to-date with the latest technologies. this suggests that some participants might already be aware that student engagement can be a key reason for using technology (kirkwood and price, 2005, p.257). as a final point, those participants who did not select certain tools might already have been taking responsibility for their own learning. they might have been happy to experiment on their own and not have felt the need to learn with others. angeli and valanides (2009) suggest that new teachers need explicit training, but this would not necessarily have to be the case. if they are self-motivated, they can do their own research to gain a deeper understanding of an activity’s potential pedagogical benefits and shortcomings. 3. how and to what degree are participants interested in learning or teaching their peers about these social web tools as part of the programme; how far are they interested in giving and receiving support? experimenting with web tools in face-to-face sessions and accessing online materials seemed to be the most popular ways of learning; participating in a synchronous online session was an unpopular choice. a possible explanation for this might be that this was a new way of learning for many participants and they might be reluctant to deviate from the norm (shor, 1992, cited in bovill, cook‐sather and felten, 2011). however, they might simply have preferred having discussions in face-to-face settings. participating in their own time in an online course with short activities and reading a bimonthly newsletter were also selected as preferred ways of learning. again, this could indicate that students do already take ownership of their own learning process. however, it could also reflect a lack of time. as one participant commented in the survey: ‘just bear in mind that although we might be interested in many things, our participation…will be subject to time constraints with our phd and teaching activities’. several participants suggested that a combination of face-to-face meetings and follow-up tasks were useful. others mentioned watching online tutorials on channels such as youtube or requesting practical demonstrations from friends when they wanted to learn how to use a new technology. this is consistent with research on staff preferences for training in technology, where it was found that tutorials were popular, in addition to learning with peers (see warhurst, 2006 and cochrane & narayane, 2013). yet perhaps one drawback of participatory approaches is where the views of the students are uncritically accepted (bovill et al, 2011, p.7), as a teacher may be best-placed to advise on the most beneficial ways of learning. moreover, whilst participants may be making selections based on their current learning experiences or preferences, this is not necessarily an indicator of the best way to learn how to use technology. it could be argued that synchronous sessions are an essential element if potential activities are to be designed with pedagogy at the heart of them. the proposal an initial proposal for the academic year was set out in the following table based on the survey results and focus group discussions. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 findings proposal for the academic year 2013/14:  38% of participants would like to research and present a web tool as part of a session. arrange sessions in which participants can present a social web tool to the group of their own choosing.  77% experimenting with web tools as part of sessions;  40 participants are on twitter;  39.7% of participants would like to learn more about using a backchannel in lectures.  50.6% of participants would like to learn more about curation of a topic. use socrative during the sessions as a classroom assessment technique and for receiving session feedback. optional opportunity to use twitter can be set up during the ‘lecturing’ session. participants can pose questions/ comments, followed by a discussion on using a backchannel and the potential to open the class up to external participants. the topic can be curated using ‘storify’ and participants asked to consider if they would use it with their classes.  67.5% of participants were interested in a bi-monthly newsletter. a summary of activities and discussion in the sessions and links to literature and video clips to be added to a newsletter using padlet and posted on moodle. participants are to be invited to add their own links.  61.7% of participants were interested in watching video clips of tutors using web tools + discussion in a session. ask lecturers to be filmed using web tools in he settings or explaining how they use them for discussion in programme sessions.  56.7% of participants would share ideas through a twitter/facebook group;  70 participants are on facebook. set up a facebook group to:  share and discuss research and practical ideas for using social web tools;  reflect on and share experiences of using them in class. this could continue once they have finished their studies/left the college.  48% of participants would like a monthly hands-on drop-in session. timetable workshops based initially on the most popular choices: -creating slides using a range of current software (65%) -class wiki (46.9%) -creating podcasts (34.9%) -setting up a blog (38.5%)  62% would participate in an online course with short activities provided through moodle / a blog start to set up an online course, focusing on the most popular choice (creating slides using different software) and trial that element. within that year, the following changes were made:  an optional technology-enhanced learning (tel) session was offered, so that participants could get an overview of and a feel for some of the social web tools currently being used in course design in higher education and design an activity they could use on their courses. approximately a quarter of participants completing that year came to a workshop. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017  socrative was used at the end of any workshops by the author to ask for feedback. as a result of this and the quizzes in the tel session, several participants used it on their courses. small case studies, based on their experiences, were compiled to share with colleagues asking for advice on audience response systems.  in moodle, padlet links to resources were shared on all aspects of teaching and learning, including technology, and participants were invited to add their own links. these were updated regularly, instead of introducing a newsletter.  a yammer group was set up instead of facebook as this was already being used within the college, but there was no take-up.  participants were shown examples of student-created videos, podcasts and blogs within the tel workshop and were asked to get in touch if they needed any one-to-one support. it was also decided to make a wiki activity part of the assessment, so that they would gain firsthand experience of contributing to one. the following year (2014-15)  participants in the optional tel session were invited to present a social web tool or other technology they had used as part of the session.  socrative was used as a quiz on the introductory day as well as in the ‘small group teaching’ session to show different questions types and teaching methods. several participants used socrative on lectures/seminars and one participant asked for support in trying out their quiz on different devices.  padlet links to resources were again shared and participants were invited to add their own links. links were added to padlets on teaching and learning, but not the technology ones.  based on the lack of response in the yammer group and following a suggestion from a colleague, a moodle forum was set up (with optional subscription), where links to events, articles and webinars were posted. this also replaced the need for an online course. although nobody posted in the forum, some participants would say in passing that a resource/webinar was useful.  as part of the portfolio assessment, a semi-public group wiki (the public has read-only access) was introduced, using wikispaces. participants were asked to join and post a critical discussion on a topic of interest to them that was related to teaching and learning in higher education.  during the year, we began asking academics who had made teaching prize submissions to make short videos on their teaching practice for the new teaching and learning space web page. some of the case studies involved the use of different technologies in course design, so these were included in workshops to initiate discussion between teachers. 2015-16 (in addition to the above)  as part of the ‘how students learn’ session on the introductory day and the ‘lecturing’ session, we explored the use of answergarden as a means of sharing and discussing responses.  in the wiki assessment, participants in some cases linked to and built on posts in the previous year’s wiki. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 conclusion this aim of this study was to find out about participants’ experience of and interest in learning about a selection of current social web tools with their peers or in their own time. the key responses and themes identified were then picked out to form the basis of a proposal for embedding the use of the social web tools into the programme. the results provided some useful insights and enabled significant re-design of the programme sessions and assessment. there was a mixed response in terms of experience and interest in learning about social web tools as part of the programme. it is not surprising that a large group of participants will bring with them diverse motivations and experiences (bovill et al, 2011, p.3). as a result, one of the limitations of the study is that the findings are specific to this teacher education programme and it would therefore be difficult to generalise from them. however, when considering validity in qualitative research, narrowing the focus in relation to a specific setting or group can be more important to qualitative researchers than conducting a highly generalizable study (maxwell,1992, quoted in onwuegbuzie and johnson, 2006). even though these results might be useful only in relation to this particular group of participants, the methods used could be replicated in other, possibly longitudinal studies. another limitation, previously mentioned, is that it can be difficult to draw conclusions from the survey results as individual knowledge of the social web tools presented is so varied. it cannot be assumed that participants were not interested in learning more about specific tools that can encourage students to participate more in the learning process or to produce rather than consume knowledge. for a more reliable picture, it would therefore have been useful to present the participants with an overview of the tools and different ways of learning online before they completed the survey. moreover, while the participants might have liked to attend some of the face-to-face activities, as one participant commented, realistically this might not be possible due to time constraints. a perceived lack of interest in some methods of learning could, therefore, be an indication of external demands on participants’ time. future research implementing and evaluating the different aspects of the survey responses has taken a long time and it has been an interesting process. as bovill et al (2011, p.9) point out, curriculum evaluation and redesign are continuous and necessary if the same level of ownership for each group of course participants is to be achieved. as a result of this study, the author decided to research the use of a wiki as a collaborative digital space. following portfolio submission this year, participants were asked for feedback on their levels of interest in creating and sharing knowledge for the class digital space assessment and perceived usefulness of the task. they were also asked whether, as a result, they would introduce a similar kind of assessment in the courses they teach. final thoughts just as teachers are being encouraged to experiment with and evaluate the effectiveness of new technologies (marjaryan and littlejohn, 2011, p.439), it can be argued that educational developers should model good practice in this area. this could help to implement a culture in which experimentation is actively encouraged. moreover, inviting trainee teachers to coconstruct the curriculum not only challenges the roles of academic developer and participant but models a participatory learning approach. this is important because, as student voice research suggests, academic staff should explore how students can become co-designers of case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 teaching approaches, courses and curricula (bovill et al, 2011, p.133). working together with new teachers offers many opportunities to try out, discuss and reflect upon new pedagogies and influence practice, perhaps inspiring them to involve their own students in elements of curriculum design. a final point to consider is that the continuous updating of technologies makes it more difficult for any individual to be an expert; teachers cannot be expected to be up-to-date with all the latest tools and their potential uses (conole, 2011, p.405). therefore, the year-long course can be seen as a starting point and a range of relevant and engaging professional development options needs to be in place. reference list angeli, c. and valanides, n. 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(2010) engaging academics in professional development for technology-enhanced learning available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/engaging-academics-professional-developmenttechnology-enhanced-learning (accessed: 15 july 2013). warhurst, r. p. (2006) ‘we really felt part of something: participatory learning among peers within a university teaching‐development community of practice.’ international journal for academic development, 11(2), 111-122. available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13601440600924462#.udmnszs3va4 (accessed: 5 july 2013). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.172.7940&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://www.dlc-ubc.ca/wordpress_dlc_mu/educ500/files/2011/07/mcloughlin.pdf http://eprints.teachingandlearning.ie/3345/ http://carbon.videolectures.net/v005/e1/4gi2nosqk7a4u3rhmb6f4yl2huqff7a5.pdf http://www.editlib.org/p/8058 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/engaging-academics-professional-development-technology-enhanced-learning https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/engaging-academics-professional-development-technology-enhanced-learning http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13601440600924462#.udmnszs3va4 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 common themes and missing pieces: the educational value of postgraduate teaching development programmes patrick baughan, sian lindsay, pam parker city university london abstract the purpose of this article is to present and discuss the findings of a literature review undertaken by three city university london members of staff, who are also members of a programme team that runs a professional development programme for higher education teachers. the original purpose of the literature review was to provide a deeper and more research-informed mechanism for evaluating and developing this programme. whilst the review was focused in its intentions, its results suggest that the existing research terrain about such programmes might be characterised in terms of common themes (areas for which there is already a range of published research) and missing pieces (areas for which there appears to be a paucity of published material). the authors are now using these results to continue developing their own programme; they also see the results as a starting point for follow-up research. however, it is hoped that the review will be of relevance to a wider audience, encouraging others to undertake research to address the missing pieces and acting as a source for others to enhance their own teaching development programmes. key words: teacher development programmes; postgraduate certificate; motivation; participant experience, participant support. introduction the purpose of this article is to present and discuss the findings of a small-scale literature review undertaken by three staff at city university london, an established (pre-1992) uk university. we, the authors, are all members of a city programme team that runs a professional development programme for higher education teachers. (such programmes are also referred to as teaching development programmes, tdps). the original purpose of the literature review was to provide a more research-informed mechanism for evaluating and developing the programme, with focus upon areas that we have particular interests in. however, although it was undertaken within a number of parameters, it yielded some interesting broader findings, indicating that the existing research terrain about tdps can be characterised in terms of common themes (areas for which there is already a range of published research) and missing pieces (areas for which there appears to be a paucity of published material). consequently, following a more detailed discussion of the common themes and missing pieces, this paper argues that tdps offer genuine educational value, though more research is needed to address the missing pieces so that such programmes may be enhanced and their value for participants and institutions demonstrated. we are now using these results to continue developing our own programme and to stimulate follow-up research. the next section will provide a fuller rationale and discussion of the approach used for the literature review, followed by a brief contextual background about tdps and then a themed articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 discussion of the existing research, identifying examples of both common themes and missing pieces. finally, we pursue our argument that it is important to fill the missing pieces with new research, on the basis that the results of this research may serve to enhance such programmes and provide new impetus for their continued development. rationale for the review this review was originally motivated by plans to undertake an evaluative study of a teaching development programme (tdp) at our own institution. we work together as part of a programme team for a tdp that has been running for twelve years and undertook this literature review as a means of informing its continuing development. whilst conventional evaluations and reviews of the programme have taken place (for example, module feedback, annual programme evaluations, periodic review), it was felt that a project of this type would enable a deeper and more research-informed review to be undertaken. we had already identified some key issues of interest from the programme that have also been explored in the literature, such as learning content and curriculum and support provided for those undertaking programmes. there were, however, additional issues identified in feedback that were of interest to us, these being participants’ 1 motivations to undertake the programme in the first place, their experiences of the programme, and the inter-professional (and interdisciplinary) nature of the programme – issues which have not been addressed sufficiently in previous literature. we therefore undertook a literature review, drawing on the themes already mentioned to inform the search, and used a time span of ten years, that reflecting approximately the period during which research in this area has become most prevalent. the search yielded a range of material which we then reviewed for the key themes noted above, though we removed some articles and added others where appropriate. we do not claim to provide a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, but one which is indicative of the research terrain in this area, and we therefore recognise that our recommendations and conclusions may not be generally applicable. indeed, there are pieces which provide broader accounts about aspects of such programmes, such as knight (2006), cilliers and herman (2010) and the more recent review of research about tdps by parsons et al (2012). for our literature review, we took the view that it might be useful to share findings via a journal article as a means of encouraging additional research and discussion. some background about teaching development programmes teaching development programmes (tdps) are provided for new and experienced staff who have a lecturing or teaching role or another role which involves the facilitation of student learning. they tend to attract participants from a range of backgrounds (butcher and stoncel, 2012), and are focused on teaching in higher education (as opposed to, for example, secondary or further education). participants can gain different qualifications through undertaking a tdp, depending on how many modules they undertake and how many credits they earn. for example, qualifications may be awarded at the levels of postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and, at some institutions, ma. our own tdp 1 note that we use the term ‘participants’ to refer to staff, students or learners who undertake such programmes. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 is a modular programme which enables staff involved in learning and teaching to undertake individual modules for professional development or gain a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma or ma in academic practice. all phd students involved in teaching and all new staff with no teaching qualification are recommended to attend at least the first module. whilst these programmes are now located in institutions around the world (trigwell, rodriguez and han, 2012), many of those in the uk evolved following the dearing review (ncihe, 1997) and most are now accredited by the uk higher education academy (hea). questions might be raised as to what teacher development is, although day (1999) offers a useful definition as ‘…the process by which… teachers review, renew and extend their commitment as change agents to the moral purpose of teaching; and by which they acquire and develop critically the knowledge, skills, planning and practice… through each phase of their teaching lives’. it should be recognised that different studies have provided varying accounts concerning the educational value of tdps. knight (2006) concluded that they represent an ‘untested’ way to improve teaching quality in higher education. conversely, authors such as bamber (2002) believe that they have an important role to play and recommendations from the (uk) browne report (browne, 2010) suggest that such programmes have a future. having contextualised the issues, we move on to discuss some of the research undertaken about tdps, beginning with the common themes and, in the section after that, the missing pieces. common themes learning content and curriculum the learning content and curriculum of tdps are broadly similar across many institutions. tdps are typically modular in structure, are undertaken on a part-time basis and comprise summative assessments, usually leading to certification or accreditation. many are developed and delivered by academic staff working within a central university department (very few are localised to specific departments) and, in some institutions, teaching is undertaken by guest academic lecturers from other departments or external institutions (cilliers and herman 2010; bamber, 2008; donnelly, 2008; ginns et al, 2008; hanbury et al, 2008; quinn, 2003; gibbs and coffey, 2000). in terms of their learning outcomes, most tdps set out to develop and improve the teaching skills of their participants, often seeking to move them from a teacher-centric to a studentcentric approach, increasing confidence and encouraging reflection within and about practice to put ‘…teachers on a trajectory of continuing professional development’ (gibbs and coffey, 2000). some tdp developers adopt a ‘practice what you preach’ approach, deliberately deploying advocated teaching techniques both to introduce participants to these and to familiarise them with their use (cilliers and herman, 2010). as for tdp learning outcomes, since knight (2006) found them unclear for some participants, programme developers may well face challenge in conveying outcomes which are specific to each participant’s needs, these often depending on different levels of teaching experience, disciplinary backgrounds and working contexts. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 many tdps begin with an introductory or foundation module which tends to cover key concepts such as reflective practice, constructive alignment, student approaches to learning and scholarship of teaching. our own internet enquiries confirmed that this is the case at many uk and some overseas institutions. tdps also contain modules which focus on assessment design, feedback, curriculum design, and development and evaluation of teaching (cilliers and herman, 2010; kalbinder and peseta, 2009; ginns et al, 2008; stes et al, 2007; quinn, 2003). some address overarching higher education issues that impact on the teaching and learning context (cilliers and herman, 2010; quinn, 2003), in addition to addressing the use of technology in teaching (cilliers and herman, 2010). in terms of assessment, tdps typically require participants to develop some sort of reflective teaching portfolio or teaching plan to evidence the learning achieved over the duration of the programme (butcher and stoncel, 2012; ginns et al, 2008; stes et al, 2007). furthermore, in some cases, a participant cannot pass a tdp if s/he has failed to meet a minimum attendance requirement (stes et al, 2007). it has also been suggested that the teaching and learning content and approaches used in tdps are rarely subjector discipline-specific: they focus too heavily on generic skills and can sometimes be incompatible with teaching practice in participants’ own departments (smith, 2011; hanbury et al, 2008; lisewski, 2006; trowler and cooper, 2002). in responding to these criticisms, some tdp developers have designed their teaching and learning content so that participants are encouraged to engage actively with the teaching nuances characteristic of their differing discipline areas (quinn, 2003). yet some authors take the view that there is much to gain from the interdisciplinary exchanges and knowledgesharing that occurs when participants of varying disciplinary backgrounds undertake a tdp (see, for example, lisewski, 2006). this issue will be revisited in the missing pieces discussion, there being a need for more discipline-based studies, a view also advocated by amundsen and wilson (2012). departmental, faculty or institutional support for participants undertaking tdps the literature points to a mixture of experiences in terms of the support, encouragement and time that participants are given by their departments and institutions to undertake tdps. many studies indicate that participants find it challenging to manage their time and workload when studying for a tdp (smith, 2011; kalbinder and pesata, 2009; hanbury et al, 2008). consequently, when department heads and line managers help reduce workload, participants find this reduces pressure and enables them more fully to engage in and benefit from the programme (donnelly, 2008). such departmental support can, in some institutions, extend to encouraging those who have completed tdps to undertake further teachingrelated professional development activities (donnelly, 2008; ginns et al, 2008; gibbs and coffey, 2000). in addition, some institutions financially reward departments whose staff undertake a tdp (ginns et al, 2008). however, the literature also suggests that some participants of tdps find that their home departments don’t draw on or make use of their newly-acquired teaching skills and are less keen than they might be in their attempts to implement new teaching strategies (donnelly, 2008; stes et al, 2007). some participants find themselves alone in championing teaching and learning developments, this being difficult in departments where teaching is not promoted (hanbury et al, 2008; gibbs and coffey, 2000). gibbs and coffey (2004) have described tdps as offering, for some participants, ‘…a kind of “alternative culture” that counter-balanced the negative influences of the culture of teachers’ departments’ (gibbs and coffey, 2004, 98). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 application of theoretical frameworks this theme concerns the use of theoretical frameworks that have been used to inform research about tdps. a number of such studies have been theorised, with lave and wenger’s (1991) communities of practice theory providing a popular lens for researchers. for instance, trowler and knight (2000) examined experiences of new academic staff, finding that they gained substantial learning within communities of practice. viskovic (2006) researched teacher development in three institutions in new zealand and concluded that teachers gained considerable teaching knowledge informally and through their engagement with communities of practice. lisewski (2006) also considered tdps in relation to a communities of practice framework, and outlined a taxonomy whereby tdps can be considered in terms of four quadrants depending on their disciplinary / interdisciplinary contexts and whether they allow for centralised and de-situated or decentralised and situated practice. to elaborate, the horizontal part of the taxonomy distinguishes between centralised / de-situated practice and decentralised / situated practice and the vertical axis foregrounds disciplinary and interdisciplinary differences. studies of tdps have been theorised through other approaches as well. some have drawn on forms of learning and knowledge and, in particular, eraut’s (2000) distinction between formal and non-formal learning. eraut (2000, 2004) has written widely about non-formal learning, which, he explains, usually occurs through practices and routines that learners are not necessarily aware of. indeed, in research on the effects of postgraduate certificate courses in teaching and learning (based on eight institutions, and drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data), knight (2006) found that non-formal and social learning amongst participants took precedence over more formal provision. other authors have employed a disciplinary context for their analyses. neumann et al (2002, 406) offered a conceptual framework which ‘…set out to explore different aspects of the domain of teaching and learning, highlighting the contrasts between such aspects within… four disciplinary groupings’. neumann et al (2002) consider areas such as the curriculum, teaching approaches, assessment methods and feedback; they argue that approaches taken to such issues may reflect disciplinary differences. as a final example of theoretical application, trowler and cooper (2002) used the conceptual tool of teaching and learning regimes (tlrs) to explore why some university staff appear to benefit more from tdps than others, where a tlr is ‘…a constellation of rules, assumptions, practices and relationships related to teaching and learning issues in higher education’ (p. 224). approaches used to evaluate programmes we recently began an evaluation of our own tdp, so it was important to review the work of others to inform this evaluation. until the beginning of 2000, there was relatively limited published literature systematically evaluating tdps (bamber, 2008). bamber herself surveyed ninety-three institutions and found that any evidence of the impact of such programmes was mostly anecdotal (bamber, 2002). self-reporting 2 has been undertaken through questionnaires and interviews on completion of such programmes and has been a common method of gaining data for these studies (butcher and stoncel, 2012; smith, 2011; cilliers and herman, 2010; donnelly, 2008; ginns et al, 2008; stes et al, 2007; quinn, 2003). 2 i.e. individuals reflecting on their own experience and any impact on their practice articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 there continues to be value in the use of self-reporting tools, such as extracts from participants’ reflective writing and tools that measure a change in teaching approaches, such as those of bamber (2008), prosser et al (2006), coffey and gibbs (2001), gibbs and coffey (2000) and prosser and trigwell (1999). with the increasing financial constraints in higher education and possible reductions in staffing across universities, centres or departments that run tdps, it becomes more likely that programme teams may be asked to demonstrate impact of their programmes for their respective institutions. studies that have used a combination of evaluative approaches and tools which look at the impact beyond self-reporting may be seen as providing more credible evidence of the value of these programmes (hanbury et al, 2008; coffey and gibbs, 2001). gibbs and coffey (2004) included students’ views of their teaching and learning experiences through two tools that measured students’ perceptions of their teachers’ skills and their approach to learning (coffey and gibbs, 2001; ramsden,1991). hanbury et al (2008) also included data from programme leaders, departmental heads and pro-vice-chancellors so that any perceived impact on departmental and institutional teaching practices could be explored. trigwell et al (2012) added indicators of the scholarship of teaching via applications for teaching development grants and self-nomination for teaching awards (not previously used in the literature) to the questionnaires for student satisfaction and student course experience. their findings provided evidence of the impact of the tdps they studied (trigwell et al, 2012). for example, academic staff who successfully undertook a development programme (tdp) were more likely to receive a teaching grant or award from their institution than colleagues who did not complete such a programme. many studies have evaluated tdps using only one or two cohorts of participants, but there are also examples of longitudinal studies encompassing several cohorts – and which are therefore, arguably, of real value to the educational developer. these include studies over three years (donnelly, 2008; gibbs and coffey, 2004; quinn, 2003), five years (hanbury et al, 2008), eight years (bamber, 2008) and ten years (trigwell et al, 2012). there has been a range of large-scale studies which provide information about key issues such as how teachers learn from these programmes, whether they lead to changes in practice and what concepts are being taught (knight, 2006; prosser et al, 2006; gibbs and coffey, 2004). still, although such findings are useful, they are not able to take account of the individual institutional context in the same way as small-scale studies (bamber, 2008). this suggests that a combination of approaches is required. overall, it is clear from this review that planning a systematic and rigorous evaluation is a complex practice, but such planning must be appropriate if findings are to be meaningful and valuable. missing pieces as noted in the introduction, we undertook this literature review as a means of informing the continuing development of our own programme. having discussed some of the common themes identified as a result of the literature review, the section below identifies additional areas that appeared to be missing or less well-represented in the literature. the areas are: participant motivation to undertake programmes, participant experiences and the interprofessional nature of programmes. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 participant motivation most tdps are aimed at new academic staff who are teaching across a range of subject disciplines (cilliers and herman, 2010; bamber, 2008; donnelly, 2008; gibbs and coffey, 2000). some of these programmes are now compulsory or include a compulsory component, especially for new staff (butcher and stoncel, 2012; cilliers and herman, 2010; bamber, 2008; donnelly, 2008). however, some remain optional. consequently, where this is the case and where participants elect to undertake modules themselves, it would be interesting to know more about participants’ motivation to undertake modules or programmes of this type in the first place. those who undertake tdps have to commit to attending class and undertaking large amounts of independent study, usually in addition to their professional role, and so, in such cases, there is presumably some additional personal motivation for attending – or is there? very few studies have explored participant motivation in this context, although cilliers and herman (2010) found that 20% of the staff who had undertaken a programme believed that it had increased their chances of promotion. nonetheless, we have found (albeit anecdotally) that participants undertaking the tdp at our institution have several reasons for doing so. for example, some of them want to develop their teaching; others enrol following a recommendation by a colleague, whilst others still believe it is important to have a recognised qualification in higher education teaching. but, whilst these kinds of comments are useful, we are currently seeking to understand participant motivation for undertaking a tdp using a more rigorous research approach. participant experiences as a process of personal development the experiences of participants undertaking tdps represents another area in which there is some discussion in the literature but where further exploration is warranted. as mentioned in the previous section, there has already been some discussion of participant experiences. there is also discussion in the literature of how the programme may have had impact on participants’ teaching. for example, in some studies, participants reported that, as the programme had changed their views, they thought more critically about how they taught and assessed students and were more student-focused (cilliers and herman, 2010; donnelly, 2008; ginns et al, 2008; hanbury et al, 2008). participants also reported an increase both in knowledge of topics studied and in personal job satisfaction (cilliers and herman, 2010). yet there is limited discussion of participants’ experiences of taking the programme and whether this helped them develop personally. did undertaking a tdp provide them with an opportunity to review their role and how they undertook aspects of this role? how did they feel about engaging in assessment? reflection is an important component of many tdps and, in her study, quinn (2003) found that participants felt reflection was valuable as it contributed to their development. however, the impact of reflective activities promoted by tdps is not discussed in detail in the literature. we are therefore interested in both the impact the programme has on participants’ practice and their experiences of such programmes as a process of development. inter-professional nature of postgraduate teaching development programmes in an earlier section of this article, some discussion was provided about literature which referred to the benefits and drawbacks connected to the inter-professional nature of tdps. tdps are inter-professional in that, usually, participants have varied disciplinary backgrounds. however, aside from a brief observation of this, relatively little has been done articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 to assess the true merits of tdps’ enabling of inter-professional and inter-disciplinary learning, which is arguably important, as it works well in other fields such as health. anecdotally, we know from the participants on our own tdp that they value hearing about each other’s practice, getting to know staff from across the institution and realising that often they share similar challenges. however, we do not know if, or to what extent, this provides any value in terms of sharing good practice and implementing cross-disciplinary practices. it would be a useful area to explore in more detail. this issue of disciplinarity is taken up by amundsen and wilson (2012), whose review of educational development yielded a sixcluster framework for ‘understanding’ areas of educational development practice and for ‘investigating the effectiveness’ of educational development practice. these clusters, as identified by the authors, are: the skill focus cluster; the method focus cluster; the reflection focus cluster; the institutional focus cluster; the disciplinary focus cluster and the action research or inquiry-focused cluster. the authors conclude that five of these clusters ‘…have integrity as descriptors of educational development practice and underlying thinking’ (p. 111), the possible exception being the discipline focus cluster, for which they located just four articles within the parameters of their own review, again (we would argue) pointing to a need for more work with this focus. conclusion this article has its origins in the development of a teaching development programme at one uk-based university. in order to facilitate a fuller evaluation of that programme, we decided to conduct a literature review about research undertaken about different elements of such programmes per se, within a set of pre-determined parameters. the literature review was not intended to be comprehensive because it was initially being undertaken to underpin our own future study and we recognise that this represents a necessary limitation of our review. following completion of the review, we have presented the argument that the research terrain about such programmes may be characterised by common themes and missing pieces, examples of each of which have been identified above. of course, it could be argued that many other research areas could be interpreted in the same way; after all, there are areas in most disciplines or fields of study that warrant or need further investigation. however, we would also advocate that our identification of missing areas of research about tdps is important. there is a need, possibly an urgent need, for more research to be undertaken to address the missing pieces in order for such programmes to be enhanced and to provide a more complete understanding of their value and of their limitations. tdps do tend to be scrutinised and, at a time of change and challenge in the sector, it is important that those who provide them are equipped to ensure that they are beneficial to those who undertake them and, ultimately, to students whom the participants themselves teach. this is a task to which we, as a programme team and authors of this article, shall now seek to contribute. however, we hope that our literature review will also be of value to others in the sector, as they too may wish to help address or consider the missing pieces and use both this literature review and subsequent studies as a mechanism to enhance their own programmes. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 reference list amundsen, c. and wilson, m. 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(2008) ‘the differential impact of uk accredited teaching development programmes on academics' approaches to teaching.’ studies in higher education 33 (4), 469-483. knight, p. (2006) the effects of postgraduate certificates in teaching and learning in higher education: a report to the project sponsor and partners. the institute of educational technology, the open university. available at: http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/getfile.cfm?documentfileid=9827 (accessed: 3 september 2015). lave, l. and wenger, e. (1991) situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation (learning in doing: social, cognitive and computational perspectives). cambridge: cambridge university press. lisewski, l. 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(2006) formative evaluation of accredited programmes. york: the higher education academy. quinn, l. (2003) ‘a theoretical framework for professional development in a south african university.’ international journal for academic development, 8 (1-2), 61-75. ramsden, p. (1991) ‘a performance indicator of teaching quality in higher education: the course experience questionnaire.’ studies in higher education, 16 (2), 129-150. http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/getfile.cfm?documentfileid=9827 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7, no 11, 2015 smith, j. (2011) ‘beyond evaluative studies: perceptions of teaching qualifications from probationary lecturers in the uk.’ international journal for academic development, 16 (1), 71-81. stes, a., clement, m. and van petegem, p. (2007) ‘the effectiveness of a faculty training programme: long term and institutional impact.’ international journal for academic development, 12 (2), 99-109. trigwell, k., rodriguez, k. c. and han, f. (2012) ‘assessing the impact of a university teaching development programme.’ assessment & evaluation in higher education, 37 (4) 499-511. trowler, p. and cooper, a. (2002) ‘teaching and learning regimes: implicit theories and recurrent practices in the enhancement of teaching and learning through educational development programmes.’ higher education research and development, 21 (3), 221-240. trowler, p. and knight, p. (2000) ‘coming to know in higher education: theorising faculty entry to new work contexts.’ higher education research & development, 19 (1), 27-42. viskovic, a. (2006) ‘becoming a tertiary teacher: learning in communities of practice.’ higher education research & development, 25 (4), 323-339. d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf 1 e-transition learning objects nola stair the business school case studies background new and continuing students, from a variety of cultural, educational and social backgrounds, often need more support to help ensure a smoother transition into higher education, as documented in several recent university of greenwich induction reports (2008, 2009). many students are often overwhelmed by the volume of information provided during orientation. this results in a lack of understanding about academic content, confusion about course procedures, and loss of instructional time as the same information is then repeated by individual academic staff. intended outcomes the goal of this university of greenwich 2010 dragons’ den-funded project was to provide clarification of concepts, constructs and other processes at the course/programme delivery level for business school students by creating flexible e-transition learning objects (los) that are not restricted by time, content, logistics and/or delivery channels (collis & moonen, 2001). although the definition of los varies widely, as noted by smith (2004), the context in which the term is used in this case study focuses on the development of multimedia elements (i.e. ‘just in time’ audio mini lectures and video clips about relevant student-focussed topics) to enhance and support instruction. the university’s managed learning environment (mle, or portal) and virtual learning environment (vle) would be used as flexible delivery channels to distribute engaging, meaningful and relevant resources for the ongoing transitional needs of students. the challenge as one of five departments within the business school, the department of systems management & strategy (sms) is responsible for delivering the ba hons business studies programme locally and internationally. nola stair, eleni tzouramani and petros ieromanchou (in roles of sms year 1-2-3 personal & professional development (ppd) course leaders and year 1-2-3 induction co-ordinators) had already worked closely to analyse the needs of new (as well as continuing) students. their dragons’ den funding included the hiring of two students to support the project during july/august 2010. the student workers assisted with the development of questions for use with year 1-2-3 students during focus groups. the questions were aimed at new students’ hesitation, frustration and uncertainty about university life. after the focus groups were held, the team reflected upon common issues and a matrix was developed to organise the key areas. after analysing the matrix of issues, some of the focus group participants were invited to provide brief videotaped tips about these topics, after which the video compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 clips were exported to digital format using windows movie maker and minor edits, such as adding text captions, were carried out. finally, after review and testing, the clips were uploaded to a streaming media server so that their urls could be linked to the virtual learning environment and/or university portal. in addition, several course leaders used echo 360 (a lecture capture system) to develop audio mini lectures about their courses, highlighting key points raised by the student focus groups. although the echo 360 system was installed in several campus locations, the team made use of echo 360’s personal capture software, which can be installed on individual laptops or workstations. the user-friendly echo 360 interface enabled course leaders to self-create their learning objects with little or no training. following the sharing of experiences, listening to students through focus groups and discussing ideas for engaging and retaining students, a series of audio mini-lectures and video clips was designed and developed around topics, such as ‘personal journeys with learning disabilities’ and ‘being proactive during your 1st year’. examples of video clip topics and student presenters are shown in figure 1 below. being proactive during your first year avoiding extenuating circumstances experiences from study skills workshops in the library importance of presentation skills figure 1 video examples – student testimonials and/or advice compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 during late august/early september, links to the student video tips were added to several courses hosted in the university’s vle for piloting during weekly tutorial lessons. the next stage of development involved using information and instructional design concepts to create a channel within the university’s portal and organise the los into appropriate categories, as shown in figure 2. this additional delivery mechanism allowed students to access the los without having to log in to a specific course. the university’s web services department provided a short demonstration on this surprisingly easy-to-use tool. established practice at the beginning of the term, students have to choose between two year 3 capstone courses – consultancy and thematic independent studies. however, written information sent by the business school office often did not provide students with a ‘real sense’ of the actual course expectations and requirements. los, in the form of (1) audio-narrated presentations by both course leaders and (2) student video tips/advice about both courses, were made available and enabled students to make ‘more informed’ choices based on previous students’ real experiences. see the topic year 3 – which is right for me? shown in figure 2. in addition, other programme leaders were able to present the year 3 consultancy and thematic independent studies los during separate orientations for returning students and for direct entry students. this again allowed students to reflect upon previous student experiences before making their own final decisions. figure 2 e-transition portal channel course leaders were also able to direct late-arriving students to these same resources, which minimised ongoing repetition by embedding the links to these los in response to e-mailed requests for information. unexpected benefits while the initial focus was to support the transitional needs of ba hons business studies years 1-2-3, the year 3 e-transition los were also provided to the department of systems management & strategy’s international partners in hong kong, south africa, tanzania and zambia to alleviate confusion about these two courses. an unseen benefit was that many of the e-transition los have also been useful at the mba level, due to the sizeable international student population who require the same type of meaningful engagement opportunities to support their understanding of uk university expectations and procedures. in addition, unexpected los were created for other academic and administrative information that compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 needed to be better timed, and repeated or reinforced, throughout the year. this was also noted for year 3 direct entry students who often need the same type of learning experiences and personal engagement with tutors that year 1 students receive (university of greenwich, 2009). conclusions and recommendations this project has enabled a better understanding of the difficulties that new students encounter, as well as the needs of returning students. ongoing results are being categorised in three areas: academic ● reusability of e-transition los during open days and with international partner course delivery ● increased engagement and interest from academics not familiar with learning objects. administrative ● noticeable decrease in the number of ‘year 3 course change forms’ submitted by students ● noticeable decrease in questions from late-arriving students about year 3 course options. technology ● awareness of the channel development within the managed learning environment (mle) – the university’s portal – for distributing academic information on a wider scale. see figure 3 for the combined project results. figure 3 university of greenwich portal with e-transition portal channel compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 while the e-transition los continue to be piloted and integrated into specific learning activities for orientation, tutorials and individual lecturer/student use, the need remains to uncover additional aspects of student frustration and uncertainties about university life in order to continue developing more e-transition los. interest has been expressed by other academics regarding expansion into other content areas. as eleni tzouramani pointed out during the team’s dragons’ den pitch, research shows that an effective induction strategy can reduce withdrawal rates but also provide students with the confidence to achieve better results at university. the ‘re-usable learning objects’ that this project created will be valuable ‘available-on-demand’ sources of information that are given as alternative learning resources to account for differing learning styles. ongoing research and development will be important to analyse the instructional impact of e-transition los in helping to avoid the over-reliance on written and verbal information for students who have different learning styles and levels of english. results from the project were shared with the university of greenwich’s new arrivals group in february 2011 and discussions have begun with the business school’s new arrivals co-ordinator, regarding additional school funding for continuation. funding was used to pay the student workers and provide book vouchers for focus group/interview participants. no additional software or hardware was purchased for this project. the team used existing equipment and tools (i.e. video cameras, echo360 lecture capture system and windows movie maker) to develop the e-transition los. if you have access to the university of greenwich portal, please feel free to view the e-transition los channel by following the steps below: ● log into http://portal.gre.ac.uk ● select customise layout ● click new channel ● select academic as category ● select business school sms dept as the channel ● then click add channel references colis, b. and moonen, j. (2001) flexible learning in a digital world: experiences and expectations. london: kogan-page. smith, r. (2004) guidelines for authors of learning objects. available at: <http://archive2.nmc.org/ guidelines/nmc%20lo%20guidelines.pdf> [accessed 1 march 2011]. university of greenwich (2008) student induction: guidelines for academic staff. university of greenwich (2009) student induction: guidelines for academic staff. http://portal.gre.ac.uk/ http://archive2.nmc.org/guidelines/nmc%20lo%20guidelines.pdf http://archive2.nmc.org/guidelines/nmc%20lo%20guidelines.pdf opinion pieces the greenwich graduate – engaging with students sally alsford educational development unit the greenwich graduate initiative was launched in november 2010 with a series of presentations to and discussions with staff, led by professor simon jarvis, deputy vice-chancellor (academic development) (http://me-echo-1.gre.ac.uk:8080/ess/echo/presentation/49a7e0af-5e54-48af-b647-c519f379aed4). building on the experience of graduate attributes programmes in australia (bowden, 2000; campbell, 2008); the involvement of university and students’ unions’ staff in the change academy (www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/universitiesandcolleges/changeacademy) and in consultation with uk higher education institutions (heis) that have adopted this approach, attributes have been specified in our vision for greenwich graduates under the headings of scholarship and autonomy; creativity and enterprise; and cross-cultural and international awareness. under each of these headings, greenwich graduates’ attributes focus on three transferable skills: communication, critical thinking and problem solving (www.gre.ac.uk/emag/greenwichgraduate) greenwich graduate initiatives are also strongly linked with employability strategies, which heis are now required to publish for new and prospective students (www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/circlets/2010/cl12_10/). in february 2011, a greenwich graduate world café event was hosted by the educational development unit student forum, which was established in september 2010 to engage with students on learning, teaching, assessment, and student experience issues. students were invited to discuss their experiences and aspirations at this event and academic staff were also invited to engage with students to understand what being a greenwich graduate could – or should – mean. over 50 participants attended. they talked, sketched, and wrote comments for nearly two hours. figure 1 students and staff participate in the greenwich graduate world café, greenwich campus, 23 february 2011 in this report we seek to capture the discussions and views expressed at the event. it is based primarily on the comments and commentaries which were written down during the course of discussion, and aims to summarise rather than interpret. on arrival, students were invited to draw something that expressed their impression of a greenwich graduate, or what they thought being a greenwich graduate would do for them. this exercise was designed as a quick, http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/universitiesandcolleges/changeacademy http://www.gre.ac.uk/emag/greenwichgraduate http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/circlets/2010/cl12_10/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 2 enjoyable and maybe unexpected way for students to think about and express their aspirations. although there were alternative and more textual initial activities suggested, most chose this visual method of reflection. below are some examples of the students’ representations of their hopes and aspirations as greenwich graduates ‘in process’: figure 2 drawings by students at the greenwich graduate world café, greenwich campus, 23 february 2011. other examples can be seen on the edu student forum blog at http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/studentforum/2011/04/08/what-is-a-greenwich-graduate-like/. world café events aim to encourage informal conversation with food and music to create a relaxed atmosphere (brown & isaacs, 2005). participants spend time at a number of discussion tables, each with a different theme or question designed to prompt the sharing of experience and ideas, and to focus discussion. some of the discussion is captured by participants writing or drawing on paper tablecloths. the main discussions at the world café event focused on questions presented at five discussion tables, each of which was labelled with a statement based on the greenwich graduate attributes. the five statements: a greenwich graduate should: 1. be able to think independently and analytically about their subject or professional practice and beyond. 2. be fluent and articulate in oral and written communication. 3. be able to recognise and respond effectively to unfamiliar situations, demonstrating resourcefulness and good judgement. 4. be able to operate effectively across a range of different cultural and social contexts. 5. appreciate the importance of behaving sustainably and ethically in a global context. participants discussed the statement on their table and were asked to consider: february%202011.%20other%20examples%20can%20be%20seen%20on%20the%20edu%20student%20forum%20blog%20at%20http:/blogs.gre.ac.uk/studentforum/2011/04/08/what-is-a-greenwich-graduate-like/ february%202011.%20other%20examples%20can%20be%20seen%20on%20the%20edu%20student%20forum%20blog%20at%20http:/blogs.gre.ac.uk/studentforum/2011/04/08/what-is-a-greenwich-graduate-like/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 3 ● whether they agreed with it ● what it meant to them in their own words ● the key moments or experiences that helped (or didn’t help) ● examples of how the university could help – or has helped – in development of these skills? the word cloud below captures key words from the discussions which developed around each of the five statements. it was generated from a transcript of the notes written on the tables. the relative sizes of the words in these graphic representations indicate how frequently they appeared in the comments, with the largest words being those most used (www.wordle.net). statement 1: a greenwich graduate should be able to think independently and analytically about their subject or professional practice and beyond. discussion of the first statement included the strong endorsement: “this is the minimum that you would expect from a graduate, they shouldn’t have a degree if they can’t.” working on case studies, projects, group work and presentations were identified as ways of acquiring this attribute and students asked for more opportunities for placements, work experience and input from professionals. “encourage students to seek apprenticeships/work experience, under their own steam – placements really `push’ students, and help gain knowledge and prepare you.” there was a clear emphasis on the need for social involvement and networking with students, staff and professionals; for events; for support to prepare students; to foster community and enthusiasm; and to develop skills. the responsibility of students to be motivated was also noted as “fundamental”. http://www.wordle.net/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 4 statement 2: a greenwich graduate should be fluent and articulate in oral and written communication. discussion of the second statement focused on interactivity between students and tutors, and between students and their peers, with an emphasis on the need for networking. there was a strong emphasis on the importance and value of seminars, group work, and assessed presentations. the development of communication skills and a desire for interactive lectures was clearly expressed: one second year student described the latter as “essential”. there was a balance in the comments made between the need for more tutorials, more seminars, feedback from tutors and one-to-one work –“smaller classes and tutor involvement can mean the difference between a 1st or a 2.1 or even a !!! eeek” – and the need for students to be self-motivated and develop independence as learners. another student commented on the need to be “able to… not always follow structures.” compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 5 statement 3: a greenwich graduate should be able to recognise and respond effectively to unfamiliar situations, demonstrating resourcefulness and good judgement. participants discussing statement 3 suggested that while students find this challenging, they do see the need to develop such attributes: “not easy at the beginning. should at least be prepared through being given challenging tasks to build my confidence.” suggestions for how to achieve this included strong emphasis on work placements, volunteering, ‘real-life’ experiences, learning from professionals and case studies: “maybe real life situations would be a good challenge, for example, work placements that are compulsory.” “this statement means to me that students should be able to cope with any situation even if unexpected….intelligent problem solving is a great skill.” group work, projects and presentations were mentioned frequently as ways to help students develop such skills. independence and confidence – “stepping outside your comfort zone” – and the desire for support in the form of tutorials, mentoring, workshops and one-to-one sessions were also expressed. interactivity was identified as important, with a number of suggestions that interaction with different disciplines could help to achieve this goal. statement 4: a greenwich graduate should be able to operate effectively across a range of different cultural and social contexts. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 6 participants agreed that the attribute expressed in statement 4 was very important: it could “open you up, expand your thinking, in the context of opportunities” with the need to be “careful this does not decline”. networking, communication, student exchanges and societies were identified ways to create opportunities for interaction across the diverse range of students at greenwich, and: “how about inter-university exchange programmes?” discussion at this table emphasised the value of mentoring, particularly mentoring by professionals, and of creating links across and between schools. statement 5: a greenwich graduate should appreciate the importance of behaving sustainably and ethically in a global context. statement 5 prompted a lively discussion with some disagreement expressed: this attribute was seen as not going far enough. students felt that “a greenwich graduate should not only appreciate the importance of behaving sustainably and ethically but act sustainably and ethically”. students were confident that most were environmentally aware, and would welcome more opportunities to translate awareness into action. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 7 the written comments captured ideas for how the university could develop these attributes, including the importance of working collaboratively, supporting interactivity and networking to raise awareness (e.g. through events, societies and mentoring). specific suggestions were made including: free long-life water bottles; electronic course materials, coursework submission and feedback; double-sided printing; thermostats in student accommodation; switching off computers at night; a greenwich greenpeace society; more recycling bins; and drinking water more widely available on campus. a number of key themes emerged from discussions around all five of the statements. the themes are listed below in no particular order): ● students expressed a need for one-to-one discussion with tutors, more tutorials and more feedback to help them understand what is wanted and how to improve their work ● students have responsibility for their self-motivation and willingness to learn and need to develop as independent learners ● students want more interactive and smaller classes, and more group work, seminars, project work and discussion groups, including students leading some of these activities ● more formative work and more feedback are needed – including electronic feedback ● there is a strong demand for a more social environment and more support for and advertising of social opportunities, including events, networking, societies, cross-school links and cultural activities ● language support is necessary (for esl students), as is support for writing skills for all/any student – all students should have to do presentations – work placements and volunteering are extremely important and need to be encouraged and supported – interaction with other disciplines could have significant positive outcomes in relation to graduate attributes – mentoring – both peer mentoring and mentoring by professionals – is extremely valuable – more interactivity, in the way the university communicates with students, is needed. the greenwich graduate world café event was publicised through the edu student forum, by e-mail and portal announcements, and with flyers to student volunteers. however, the majority of students came because they were invited by their tutors. this reinforces previous experience of focus group events which suggests that tutorial encouragement is one of the strongest motivators for students. one aspect that featured strongly in students’ positive evaluation of the event was the open and equal discussion between staff and students: “tutors being at the same level as students”, “staff and students are sharing ideas”. as the greenwich graduate iinitiative is new to staff as well as to students, it is hoped that the process and the content of the event provided a valuable stimulant and catalyst for future reflection and development, which others may wish to adopt. most, though not all, of the students involved were based at the greenwich campus and thus represented its three schools: business; computing & mathematical sciences; and humanities & social sciences. staff and students from all three schools and levels participated. future iterations of this model might be usefully based not only on other campuses but also perhaps within schools, departments and/or programmes. further feedback and comment was recorded in posts and comments on the edu student forum blog (http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/studentforum). some of the student volunteers who worked with us on this event also became part of the team that organised the university’s annual conferences. student participation in this event might therefore be seen as an opportunity to further develop greenwich graduate attributes at an individual level. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 4, 2012 8 the university plans to maintain and extend this dialogue and partnership as we articulate what we are already doing well, and what needs to change, within the framework of the greenwich graduate initiative. the world café event was a positive step forward and will be followed by more work with students over the coming academic year. references bowden, j. et al. (2000) generic capabilities of atn universities’ graduates. teaching & learning committee, australian technology network. brown, j., and isaacs, d. (2005) the world café: shaping our futures through conversations that matter. berrett-koehler. available at: <www.theworldcafe.com> [accessed 8 april 2011] www.palgrave-journals.com/ejis/journal/v1/n6/pdf/ejis199217a.html www.wordle.net campbell, a. (2008) developing graduate attributes. vdm verlag dr. muller aktiengesellschaft & co. kg. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 quality teaching through openness and collaboration – an alternative to the tef? chrissi nerantzi abstract in this opinion piece, i offer an alternative vision to the tef that positions universities at the heart of communities and society through greater collaboration among higher education institutions and involving the wider public. i argue that this approach is a rewarding way for academic staff to innovate and develop their teaching capabilities, so as to improve the student experience and outcomes at universities. this contrasts with a tef model of measurement of indicators as proxies for teaching quality. boundary-crossing professional development learning and development should be lifelong, lifewide and lifedeep (bell, 2012) and universities and their people play a key role in modelling such ways of being and becoming (barnett, 2007). we academic staff have a passion for experimenting, creating, debating and sharing ideas and knowledge that helps others, the community, and society more widely. it’s vital that, now and in the future, we find imaginative ways to inspire staff and students to teach and learn within and across subject boundaries; perhaps only this inter-disciplinary collaboration will lead to those novel connections of ideas and people that generate discovery and drive innovation. the uk he system is already ahead of many other countries in recognising the importance of quality teaching: we have dedicated in-house teaching qualifications, nationally-recognised professional standards and institutional provision for initial and continuous professional development. to support these activities, most uk universities have an academic development unit. even so, academic developers are often criticised for being slow both to embrace new pedagogies and technologies and to encourage in staff a willingness to share ideas, reflect, act upon insights and innovate (education technology action group, 2015). in this context, there is now greater pressure to raise the quality of teaching and achieve excellence, in the shape of formulae linked to financial incentives – something guaranteed to increase competition among heis (bis, 2016a; 2016b). the tef is a uk government initiative that aims to achieve teaching excellence through published benchmarking of hei with the added incentive of linking results to the opportunity to increase student fees. this has the potential for yet greater competition between universities. just what will be the impact of such pressures upon students and staff in tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 these institutions? and upon the he sector as a whole? other voices need to be heard and alternative practices need to be considered. my research is in the area of academic development through open, cross-institutional collaboration; as such, it constitutes an alternative voice. in a recent phenomenographic study, i explored the lived collaborative open-learner experience in openly-licensed cross-institutional and practitioner-driven academic development courses (nerantzi, work-in-progress). these were the flexible, distance and online learning (fdol132) and creativity for learning in he (#creativehe) courses; teachers in he, students and members of the public from a range of backgrounds and cultures came together to discuss, debate and develop, both formally and informally within such cross-boundary communities, and both online and offline. these open courses have the characteristics of what weller (2011) calls ‘little’ open educational resources and utilise freely-available social media. whilst the study had a focus on the uk, its open and collaborative nature meant that it extended beyond geographical, cultural and political borders. collaboration and openness were explored as a means of breaking free from institutional walls and silos and of bringing individuals from different backgrounds and cultures together to develop he teaching within diverse cross-boundary communities. this developmental vehicle provided clear evidence of individual and collective growth; it strengthened relationships, brought together fresh ideas and perspectives that were valued by participants, kept them engaged and created a sense of belonging to a diverse learning community. this mixing of individuals makes a real difference to engagement in this type of academic professional development, as it is proactive and interest-driven; it brings together diverse perspectives, ideas and people who feel empowered to take risks and make innovative changes to their teaching practice. for example, academic staff found it particularly valuable to learn with individuals from outside he, as they brought new perspectives and ideas; students developed confidence while working with academic staff and felt that they had contributed to coshaping university teaching. at the same time as the uk government is rolling out the tef, which seeks to categorise, rank and compare universities (with, inevitably, increased competition), there is a call for more openness and collaboration among heis, as it is recognised that such approaches enrich the student and staff experience (european commission, 2013; european commission, 2015; hefce, 2011); my own study also confirms this. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 food for thought i am unconvinced that competitiveness is the way to achieve sector-wide teaching excellence or even that teaching excellence is the dream we should chase. my study shows that open, collaborative and cross-boundary approaches bring staff, students and the public together. through these, we grow and spread innovative teaching practices underpinned by continuous professional development; we inspire staff and students as well as position universities at the heart of local and distributed communities and society. how, without further competitiveness, could we remodel the tef to measure the quality of teaching and incorporate openness, crossinstitutional collaboration, teacher development and innovation? acknowledgements i would like to thank simon walker, viv vladimirschi and dr stephen powell for reading the first drafts of this article as well as the reviewers for their valuable suggestions. reference list barnett, r. (2007) a will to learn. being a student in an age of uncertainty, maidenhead: open university press. bell, p. (2012) ‘life-long, life-wide, and life-deep learning.’ in: j. a. banks (ed.), encyclopedia of diversity in education, 4, 1395-1396. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications ltd. bis (2013b) ‘participation rates in higher education: academic years 2006/2007 – 2011/2012.’ (provisional) department for business, innovation & skills. london: bis. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306138/13-p140heipr_publication_2011-12_2_.pdf (accessed: 6 january 2017). bis (2016a) ‘success as a knowledge economy: teaching excellence, social mobility & student choice.’ department for business, innovation & skills. london: bis. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523396/bis-16265-success-as-a-knowledge-economy.pdf (accessed: 6 january 2017). tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 education technology action group. (2015) our reflections, alt. available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0b_4fnlyl2bfvmjbovfy4znhrvta/view (accessed: 6 january 2017). european commission (2013) high level group on the modernisation of higher education. report to the european commission on improving the quality of teaching and learning in europe’s higher education institutions. european union. available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/doc/modernisation_en.pdf (accessed: 6 january 2017). european commission (2015) draft 2015 joint report of the council and the commission on the implementation of the strategic framework for european cooperation in education and training (et2020). new priorities for european cooperation in education and training, brussels: european commission. available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/documents/et-2020-draftjoint-report-408-2015_en.pdf (accessed: 6 january 2017). hefce (2011) collaborate to compete – seizing the opportunity of online learning for uk higher education. available at: http://bit.ly/gziobb (accessed: 6 january 2017). nerantzi, c. (work in progress) towards establishing a cross-boundary collaborative open learning framework for cross-institutional academic development. (phd thesis), edinburgh: edinburgh napier university. weller, m. (2011) the digital scholar. how technology is transforming scholarly practice. london: bloomsbury academic. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 the academic question of vocationalism patrick ainley university of greenwich ‘academic’ in english education is associated with the brain and ‘vocational’ with the hand. institutionally, this is reflected in traditional class terms, with academic ‘higher’ education for the professions endorsed by universities superior to non-academic ‘further’ education trade training for manual crafts in colleges. like the us, most of the rest of the world makes no such distinction, but talks about ‘tertiary education’, whether at college or university, following a general or pre-vocational secondary schooling to eighteen, the age of maturity and citizenship. now that england has adopted an americanised mass tertiary system alongside a persisting elite he and fe has been ‘decanted’ as alison wolf says into he (wolf, 2015), the traditional divisions have been eroded. this doesn’t mean, however, that undergraduate participation at tertiary level guarantees employment security. as new information and communications technology has led formerly securely-employed professionals to work across the previous divisions of labour and knowledge, specialised professions are reduced to para-professions, with multi-skilled, flexible working, and their more or less academic vocational education reduced to pre-vocational training. at the same time, quantitative assessment of behavioural competence and information replaces qualitative judgement of previously-acquired knowledge and skill, eg. ofsted-supervised school teacher training (sic). consequently, ‘academic’ tends to be seen as abstruse and irrelevant. this tendency has been exacerbated by the ‘gobbetised’ grammar-schooling inflicted upon state schools by the academic national curriculum, in order to ‘raise standards’ (through cramming for largely literary tests) to 18+. those who fail this selective mechanism are relegated to second-best ‘vocational’ options, like so-called ‘apprenticeships’ and this will happen even earlier if government reintroduces secondary moderns, dividing all children into two routes from an earlier age. yet it is often pointed out that all he was originally vocational – literally a ‘calling’ to the ‘priesthood’. indeed, the most vocational subjects of medicine and law still retain this high prestige. science, however, is widely misperceived only as a method, not a vocation. the humanities, by contrast, are accepted as academic but general – fit only for teaching, while those ‘who can, do’, applying their ‘skills’ in ubiquitous business. business studies, which occupies 20% and more of english undergraduates, is considered the prime vocational area, especially as, with privatization, every occupation turns into a business. but bs doesn’t make you an employer and, like other students, most bs graduates seek secure, well-paid and at least semi-professional employment. if they are lucky, their business study is preparatory to that employment, so it is also pre-vocational, ‘multi-skilling’ in ‘transferable skills’, applicable across the widening range of business activities. however, even for technical jobs, most employers prefer graduates to apprentices, so the subprime degree bubble may hold up for a few more years, although already the cake is scarcely worth the candle as nus estimates an average £53k debt for three-year residential opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 undergraduates since maintenance grants were abolished. meanwhile, the professional occupations to which degrees used to lead are continually being whittled away. this includes the academic profession, increasingly preparing its students in the business study university (ainley, 2016) for general pre-vocational ‘employability’. so, save for a few trades turned into crafts for which a genuine apprenticeship is needed – lasting years not months – the supposedly ‘vocational’ has become general and prevocational. only traditionally academic courses at elite universities remain genuinely vocational, sustaining, and sustained there by research communities of academic practice that students may develop the expertise to join. elsewhere, research is often separated from overloaded undergraduate teaching. so, all academics need to recover their academic community and collegiality, welcoming students into a community of developing knowledge and skills that, even if it cannot guarantee them access to careers in a professional community of practice, at least awakens them to higher levels of learning, ie. reveals to them that everything is not necessarily as it seems, which is the essence of the much vaunted ‘criticality’ we are always demanding of our students! government, meanwhile, persists in seeking to reduce student numbers by raising fees and cutting grants, whilst encouraging differentiation through institutional competition, undercut by the limited offerings of state-subsidised he. undergraduate numbers may indeed fall as technological change enables a variety of occupations to be undertaken throughout an individual’s working life, obviating the need for specialised vocational preparation, but using the market is not the best way to achieve a reduction in student numbers. reference list ainley, p. (2016) ‘the business studies university.’ london review of education, 14(1), 105-15. wolf, a. (2015) heading for the precipice: can further and higher education funding policies be sustained? london: policy institute, king’s college london. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 evidence does not support the rationale of the tef graham gibbs abstract the teaching excellence framework (tef) has evolved since it was first announced, and hefce guidance to institutions on its implementation reveals a number of significant concessions to evidence, common sense and fairness. institutions may well implement useful teaching improvement mechanisms in response, as they have always done, regardless of the nature of external quality assurance demands. however, the rationale of the tef remains – and it is deeply flawed. it is the rationale that this paper focuses on. it is argued here that its interpretation of evidence about educational quality, employability and value for money ratings, used to justify a tef, are irrational and are not supported by evidence. making fine judgements about institutional rankings (and hence fee levels) on the basis of metrics is likely to be thwarted by the very small differences in scores between institutions. some of its proposed metrics are invalid. its belief in the ability of a small panel of experts to make sound quality judgments is not well founded, given the poor record of past attempts to make such judgements about teaching quality in higher education. the higher education market is very complex and perhaps only a minority of institutions will be able to benefit in the way the tef intends. the tef seems unlikely to be perceived, by most, as rewarding. the teaching excellence framework’s underlying assumptions however unfit for purpose past teaching quality regimes have been, they have often resulted in institutions’ putting more effort into improving teaching than previously, because the risks of not doing so have been perceived to be significant. most institutions have markedly improved their national student survey (nss) scores since the nss and metric-based league tables were introduced, under a regime that has focused on quality assurance rather than on quality and under which fees have not been linked to quality. institutions seem likely to take the tef extremely seriously, whatever they think of it. the tef is built on a number of explicit assumptions stated in the green and then white papers. it is argued here that these assumptions are unfounded. if teaching quality does improve, and it might, it will not be because government policy is soundly based. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 current teaching metrics do not indicate that there is a substantial teaching quality problem that needs an urgent solution the government argues that the tef is necessary because teaching quality is unacceptably low. however, the nss, that provides one of the only ways currently to monitor quality over time, reveals a completely different picture. levels of satisfaction and judgements about teaching are high and have gone up every year but one since it was introduced. those scores that were initially lower (such as for assessment and feedback) have shown the largest improvements. the rate of improvement shows little sign of slowing even though there is a ceiling effect – the scores are often so high there is little room for further improvement. it is true that a few institutions (especially elite research universities such as imperial college and the lse) have performed less well recently. it is also true that students are very generous judges of teaching: about three quarters of all teachers are usually considered ‘above average’. the picture the nss provides is probably too rosy. however, the overall trend is inescapable. a more credible interpretation of the available quality data is that existing teaching metrics, however flawed, have been surprisingly successful in levering institutional efforts to improve teaching quality, particularly outside the research elite, even in the absence of variable fees. it might be the case that collating the data differently (for example, not bundling together the top two ratings on rating scales, which tends to exaggerate how good things are) or adding new and more valid quality data (such as concerning students’ level of engagement) would provide even more effective leverage to institutional efforts to improve. but there is nothing in the existing evidence that points to the pressing need for varied fees as a lever on the grounds that otherwise institutions will do nothing to improve. poor ‘value for money’ is not caused by poor quality it is argued that alarmingly low ‘value for money’ ratings justify a strong emphasis on improving teaching quality. but satisfaction and teaching quality ratings are very much higher than value for money ratings! low value for money ratings are to do with high cost, not low quality. whatever the level of quality, the cost of higher education is perceived as too high because the much cited ‘graduate premium’ (the additional income graduates can expect simply as a result of being a graduate) is unrealistic. it is based on historical data when there were fewer graduates, the economy was expanding and wages were higher in real terms. it is not at all clear that the current economy needs the current number of graduates each year and this is reflected in the proportion of graduates who, at least initially, undertake non-graduate-level jobs tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 with low wages. the cause of perceived low value for money is that students, quite realistically, are worried that they may not be able to recover their very substantial investment. the experience of the usa, with many graduates never repaying debts caused by ever-higher college tuition fees, provides a perfect example of how it can all go wrong. higher fees reflect higher reputations, but, in the usa, reputation predicts almost nothing about teaching quality or student learning gains or the extent of use of educational practices known to improve student learning gains. high fees have become a proxy for high quality – but they are a thoroughly misleading proxy. if ‘value for money’ is low, it makes no sense to put fees up faced with ample evidence of perceived poor value for money, the rational thing to do (if you are incapable of improving the economy and the employment market) is to lower the investment students need to make – to reduce fees. instead the government say they will improve value for money by increasing fees, at least for most. this is alice in wonderland logic. the higher education market does not work perfectly or uniformly the tef naïvely assumes a perfect and uniform market. it assumes that all institutions would seek to raise fees, and would raise them if they were allowed to, and that they would automatically benefit as a result; by doing so, they would increase both their attractiveness to consumers and their income. this ignores the reality that many institutions operate in local or not very flexible markets, in which prospective students may have little choice about where to study or much flexibility over how much they can afford to pay. there are already examples of institutions which have increased fees, to take advantage of excellent nss scores, only to find that they cannot fill their places and have had to put their fees down again. some institutions, even with comparatively low fee levels and/or perfectly respectable teaching quality metrics, are currently not filling their places. those institutions that recruit nationally and internationally may benefit from an increase in perceived reputation that comes with higher fees and be able to exploit their market; many others cannot do so, however good they are at teaching. there are assumptions about the market that make some sense for the elite but not for others. increased income from raised fees may have little impact on teaching quality there is an assumption that increased income from increased fees would be spent on further improving teaching. the overall evidence about the relationship between income and teaching quality suggests that the link is weak, at best. in the usa, tuition costs have doubled, and tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 doubled again, with no improvement in class sizes or other valid teaching quality indicators, and current tuition costs are unconnected with educational quality. in the uk, the comparatively richer russell group universities actually have larger cohorts and larger classes than do poorer ‘teaching-intensive’ universities. russell group students experience a smaller proportion of academic-led small group teaching, because graduate teaching assistants are so often used to save academics’ time for research activities. cohort size, class size and the proportion of teaching undertaken by people other than academics are all good negative predictors of student learning. the research elite do not, in the main, spend their money on teaching students if they can help it and there seems little prospect of a change in their policy, wherever the money may come from. distinguishing appropriate fee levels for institutions is unreliable, and in the homogeneous middle range, impossible there is an assumption that it is possible, safely and fairly, to make fine-grained distinctions between institutions, so that a range of fees can be fixed in precise relationship to a range of teaching quality. three significant problems prevent this assumption from being remotely reasonable, the first two being associated with the two forms of evidence that will determine decisions: qualitative judgements by panels and quantitative metrics. in the tef’s first stage, there are due to be qualitative judgements (basically a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’), made by some kind of expert (or inexpert) panel, about whether institutions deserve to be allowed to put their fees up. those who are as long in the tooth as i am will remember teaching quality assessment. every subject in every institution in england was allocated a score out of 24 as a result of qualitative judgements made by a large panel of ‘subject experts’. the process involved visits, observation of teaching and meetings, often with teachers and students, and the collation and examination of truly vast piles of documentation. it took six years to implement. despite the enormous cost in time and effort, the extensive evidence base, the visits, the training of assessors and so on, the outcomes were highly unreliable. some subjects allocated much higher average scores than others, with no discernible justification. later scores were higher than early scores. most scores were so high as to be indistinguishable for the vast majority of institutions. but, more worryingly, there were substantial systematic biases. there was a strong positive correlation between research strengths and tqa scores, despite its being known that research strengths do not predict teaching quality. what is more, larger departments and institutions gained higher scores than did small ones, despite the fact that size was known tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 to be a negative predictor of educational quality. it seems that assessment panels were dazzled by reputation and were incapable of making reliable judgements about teaching. the tef’s qualitative judgements are intended to be made extraordinarily quickly, by small panels without the benefit of visits, observation, meetings or even detailed evidence about educational quality. instead, they will largely be looking at a very short text prepared by institutions themselves. the chance of their making sound and precise judgements seems negligible; the chance of their being dazzled by reputation seems somewhat higher. the second problem facing the tef relates to attempts to make distinctions between institutions about what level of fees they will be allowed to charge, on the basis of teaching metrics. i can still visualise the graphs i was shown twenty-five years ago, when the course experience questionnaire (ceq) was first used in australia to provide public comparative quality data about every subject in every university. the ceq is (or at least was, until the australian government turned it into a ‘happiness’ questionnaire) a valid instrument for judging educational quality. it produces scores on a range of credible variables and is adequately reliable and valid. the graphs i saw took one scale on the questionnaire at a time (such as ‘deep approach’ – the extent to which students attempted to make sense of subject matter rather than only to memorise it) and ranked every department in the country in a particular subject. what was immediately clear was that a couple of departments were measurably worse than the rest at the bottom and a couple were measurably better at the top; everyone else was pretty much indistinguishable in the middle. this was true for every scale on the questionnaire, for every subject. statistically, this is an inevitable consequence of the variable being measured being more or less normally distributed and with a small standard deviation a phenomenon apparent for virtually every variable about quality one can think of when comparing institutions. with nss scores, the same is true. if you look at national rankings for ‘satisfaction’, you find the vast majority of institutions in an indistinguishable middle, with adjacent institutions having almost identical scores, and even blocks of ten institutions not differing significantly from adjacent blocks of ten. no less than forty-three institutions shared nss satisfaction scores of 85-87% in 2016. you can tell an institution ranked 120 from an institution ranked 20, but not one ranked 50 from one ranked 60. the differences are so small and so volatile from one year to the next, that overall rankings can change markedly, year on year, without any change in the underlying phenomenon. such variations are picked up by ‘the times’ and trumpeted in such emotive headlines as “university x crashes down quality league”, when in fact the change in score has been random and statistically insignificant. it is rarely possible to distinguish one institution from tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the next in a reliable and safe way using such metrics because the differences are, in most cases, simply too small. yet that is exactly what the tef has to do – say that one institution deserves to charge higher fees whilst the next one down the rankings does not, even though they are statistically utterly indistinguishable. adding scores together from a bunch of varied, and often invalid, metrics actually makes this problem worse and produces a grey muddle. the hece guidelines now suggest that no more than 20% of institutions might be indentified at the top and bottom of rankings and distinguished from the middle-ranked institutions. but even that is bound to create unfairness for the institutions just below the boundaries that will be, in any statistical sense, indistinguishable from those just above the boundaries. institutional average scores on teaching metrics usually hide wide departmental differences the third problem facing the tef in making the required fine-grained distinctions is that it intends to rank and distinguish institutions. institutions are made up of departments (or subjects) that very often differ widely from each other in terms of a whole range of metrics. these internal differences can be so large that an institution may have the top-ranked department in the country in one subject and the bottom-ranked department in a different subject. these departmental scores are then averaged and the institution as a whole might end up looking average (as most in fact do). this averaging of varied departments helps to produce the problem of lack of distinction between institutions highlighted above. students need to know about the subject they are interested in and to be able to compare that subject across institutions. the current tef mechanism will not allow them to do this it could even trick them into paying a higher fee to study in a lower quality department. if students are interested in their likely employability, the problem is even more acute, as national differences between subjects are gross, and institutional employability averages are, at least in part, a consequence of their subject mix. if an institution taught just nursing and cultural studies, then it might look average for employability, but comparatively bad for a student wishing to study nursing and surprisingly good for a student wishing to study cultural studies. this problem would be partly solved if the tef operated at the level of subjects (or departments) rather than institutions, which is a development being considered for the future. but even then, there would be significant difficulties in identifying what a ‘subject’ is. i once helped a sports science department collect a good deal of data about students’ experience of assessment, using the assessment experience questionnaire (aeq). there were seven degree tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 programmes within ‘sports science’ and, in terms of students’ experience, they differed from one another to a considerable extent, ranging from rather good to pretty awful. as there were no nss categories to differentiate between these degree programmes, for nss data collection and reporting purposes the seven were simply aggregated into a single undifferentiated muddle. standard nss subject categories might work for traditional academic departments with one degree programme and large cohort sizes, but they may be less than helpful as a means of distinguishing the more unconventional and varied subject groupings usually found in modern teaching institutions. again, this suits traditional research universities best. employability has little to do with teaching quality there is a misinformed and confused conflation of employability with quality. quality, according to the tef, is apparently all about employability. students don’t think so. those responding to a hepi survey asking them what best indicated the quality of a course had some perhaps surprisingly conventional ideas about teachers and teaching; employability came nearly bottom in their reckoning in terms of telling them anything useful about quality. if the government had bothered to look at national rankings of universities’ teaching and employability performance, it would have discovered that its assumption is complete nonsense. the table below ranks institutions according to 2016 nss scores. table 1: institutional teaching and employability rankings rank nss 2016 graduate employability times, 2016 nss rank 2016 1 buckingham cambridge 20 2 university of law oxford 20 3 st marys college belfast lse 155 4 courtauld institute of art manchester 87 5 keele imperial college 116 6 st andrews kings college 129 7 bishop grossteste edinburgh 145 8 harper adams university college 102 9 liverpool hope london business school 155 10 aberystwyth bristol 76 it will be noticed that most of the top ten institutions are neither prestigious nor research giants. the second set of rankings is from ‘the times’ 2016 data collection about graduate employability. there is no overlap at all with the top ten for nss satisfaction. the right-hand tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 column lists the nss rankings for the top ten institutions for employability. with the exception of oxford and cambridge, they are considered by students to be amongst the worst in the country. imperial college led the clamour for higher fees; it is currently ranked 116th for student satisfaction and dropping like a stone, but its reputation guarantees effortlessly-high graduate employability metrics. it took about ten minutes to compile this table from data easily available on the internet. employability is largely a product of reputation which follows research performance, overall income and visibility. graduate employability has almost nothing to do with teaching quality and most institutions are not in a position to do much about the employability of their students, which is largely determined by employers’ notions about reputation and the employment market often the local employment market. the government could do something about that, but not universities. it is also the case that size helps visibility and reputation, and hence employability, but hinders teaching quality. it is rare in research literature about good teaching departments to discover one that is even medium-sized, let alone large. top research universities are mainly large and tend to keep students’ choice of courses down, so creating large cohorts and large classes in order to reduce teaching loads. the consequences are there for all to see. the tef’s proposed teaching metrics have limited validity the tef rests on teaching metrics’ being valid. if they are not, in the sense that they do not predict student learning, then orienting institutions to improving them may distract institutions from actual efforts to improve student learning. the government is fully aware of the contents of ‘dimensions of quality’ (gibbs, 2010) and its identification of which metrics are valid and which are not, and so the proposals in the original green paper about the metrics the tef would use were guaranteed to dismay. by the time details of the implementation of the tef were made public, the situation had improved. nevertheless, ‘satisfaction’ is not a valid measure of learning gains or of teaching quality. outcome measures (including retention and employability) are significantly determined by student selectivity, and so indicate reputation rather than teaching quality, and reputation does not predict learning gains or the extent of use of pedagogic practices that lead to learning gains. the introduction of benchmarks that take the nature of student intake into account will help here, and ‘the times’ modelling of institutional rankings based on benchmarked tef metrics, using 2015 data, produced somewhat inverted rankings tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 compared with the newspaper rankings we are used to seeing (that have been created by using almost entirely invalid metrics). this cannot have been what was originally intended. it is possible that the tef’s benchmarked metrics, even if some of them are invalid, will create quite a shock to the system. increasing the role played by valid measures, such as of student engagement, will help in the future and it is to be hoped that there will continue to be pragmatic changes in implementation in the pursuit of validity and fairness. the first attempt to produce rankings and associated varied fee levels is unlikely to get it right and decisions about institutions’ futures based on the current form of implementation are likely to be dangerously unsound. it would be prudent to wait until some of the problems identified above have been tackled more satisfactorily and to treat the rankings of the first year or two as a wake-up call. it is not as if students are impatiently pushing the government hard to increase fees. the tef is unlikely to be perceived by most as a reward the government argues that, just as strong research performance is rewarded by the ref, strong teaching performance should be rewarded by the tef. but the majority of institutions have seen their research income decline dramatically over several rounds of research selectivity. the ref and its predecessors were designed explicitly to allocate research funding to fewer institutions (and fewer researchers) and to take funding away altogether from most. careers, working lives and institutional reputations have been blighted by the ref. for most, it has been experienced as a punishment. similarly, the tef is likely to be perceived as offering brickbats and an uncertain future to perhaps thirty institutions, and as damning by faint praise perhaps 100 more. only those institutions that are allowed to charge top whack, and the sub-set of these for whom this is actually useful and welcome, are likely to feel rewarded: big sticks and small carrots, again. conclusion a national policy with this degree of leverage over institutional behaviour risks causing damage if the assumptions on which is built are wrong and the measures it uses are invalid. institutions may feel obliged to play the system and try to improve their metrics even if they do not believe in them and even if this has no useful impact on student learning. but perhaps institutions will become more sophisticated about using appropriate metrics in sensible ways. the demands of the tef for evidence of ‘impact’ are already stimulating fresh thinking. if that prompts new evidence-based approaches to enhancement, then the tef might even improve students’ tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 learning gains despite its rationale and design. as students will be paying even more for their education, let us hope so. reference list gibbs, g. (2010) dimensions of quality. york: higher education academy. available at: file:///c:/users/home/desktop/general/hea%20quality/dimensions%20of%20quality%20final %20report.pdf. (accessed: 19 january 2017). untitled compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 5, 2012 1 editor’s introduction welcome to the fifth edition of the university of greenwich’s learning and teaching journal, compass. this conference edition brings together articles from across the three conferences that the university hosted in july 2011. the conferences were an opportunity for colleagues and their students within and outside the university of greenwich to meet, discuss, debate and to be inspired. while the conferences addressed distinct themes, they all shared a commitment to the enhancement of student achievement. the first conference on 4 july focused specifically on black and minority ethnic (bme) students. entitled promoting inclusive change: addressing equality and success for bme students in higher education, it was co-sponsored by the higher education academy (hea) and the equality challenge unit (ecu). the conference sought to promote dialogue around the differential attainment of students of different ethnicities. while it is recognised that the situation is improving for bme students within uk higher education, there is more that can still be done to promote equity and success for all. three papers in this edition come from this conference. ● sue jones, david timmins, david wood, po li tan and sian howells, kings college london, ask the question: ‘multiculturalism in higher education: fact or fiction?’ fuelled by the belief that their pharmacy students lacked an understanding of the broader concepts of culture, the team devised a pedagogical strategy to support discussions around culture. they argue that it is only through the sharing of cultural similarities and differences that the goal of multiculturalism can be pursued. ● chantal davies and matthew garrett, university of chester, report on a small-scale study exploring bme student experiences within a northern england university. following their analysis of focus group and interview data, the authors drew together findings around the themes of: belonging and segregation; academic and social experiences; differential treatment and equal opportunities; and early education and employability. their work provides clear indications for institutional development in the areas of student engagement and enhancement. ● ronke shoderu and suzanne kane, london metropolitan university, deborah husbands, university of westminster and debbie holley, anglia ruskin university, focus on students’ sense of belonging within uk higher education. the article presents interim findings for a study involving three different universities. drawing on the biographical, narrative, interpretive method (bnim), the authors paint rich pictures of three students and contrasted these students’ experiences of transition, cultural integration, and of their expectations and aspirations. the fourth annual learning and teaching conference took place on 5 july. with a focus on the student experience, curriculum regeneration and changing relationships within higher education, the conference, redefining the student experience: directions for learning, teaching and assessment, offered a platform to celebrate the successes and achievements of higher education practitioners and their students. the conference hosted twenty-nine presentations, three of which have been selected for this edition. ● noel-ann bradshaw and steve lakin, university of greenwich, describe the greenwich maths arcade initiative, piloted in the school of computing & mathematical sciences. drop-in sessions were offered to enable maths students to receive support from staff on tutorial questions and also to play a range of strategy games and attempt mathematical puzzles. the drop-in sessions proved a popular way for struggling students to access help and for students to socialise, and to interact with each other and with the teaching staff. the initiative also positively impacted on student retention, progression and attainment. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich issue 5, 2012 ● edward phillips, department of law & criminology, university of greenwich, makes the case for the use of role play and simulation in the teaching of legal application and practice. he argues that the use of simulation-based teaching is particularly beneficial due to its inherent student focus. the approach also offers an effective means of developing ‘soft skills’ through its emphasis on collaboration, communication and experimentation. as such, it provides a bridge from university into the world of professional education and ultimately the workplace. ● rita headington, hetty baron, michael smith and duncan callnon, school of education, university of greenwich, provide a case study exploring students’ perceptions of feedback and assessment. the project team used a world café approach to support large discussion and analysed the resulting data. the findings provided concrete recommendations that led to the redevelopment of feedback sheets and student workshops dedicated to understanding and working with feedback. the final conference on 6 july was the ninth annual e-learning conference. the conference, entitled enhanced and transformed: tales from the digital age, invited participants to tell their personal and institutional stories of how technology has enhanced and transformed learning and teaching practices. this edition of compass carries four papers from this conference. ● will stewart, university of bradford, describes the pedagogical model that was successfully deployed in the transformation of a face-to-face postgraduate certificate into modules for online delivery. the model, which focuses on both collaborative and individual participation, encourages peer-to-peer support, while recognising individual expertise and experience. it also draws together teaching, social and cognitive elements into a supportive, authentic and active learning environment. ● shivaun gammie, medway school of pharmacy, university of greenwich, university of kent, also describes the importance of collaborative online learning in her evaluation of web-based learning sets, designed to support workplace learning for community pharmacists. while the project was beset with some technical issues, the students seemed to appreciate the learning sets, which could be fitted into the busy schedules of practising pharmacists. ● christine davies, university of glamorgan, reports on a student experience survey that had questions specifically relating to students’ use of technology for learning. the findings from the survey indicate how students use technology, but also raise questions about the generalisability of previous technology usage research and the design of survey instruments. ● nigel ecclesfield, learning and skills improvement service, geoff rebbeck, institute for learning and fred garnett, london knowledge lab present the findings from a study exploring the changing attitudes of further education staff to e-learning and technology in action. their research suggest that college staff have a new professional confidence in using technology that stems from their own curiosity as to how technology could be used to enhance student learning. as these overviews show, there is a wealth of interesting work here that captures of feel of the 2011 university of greenwich conferences. we hope that you will enjoy reading it in more detail and that we will see you at our forthcoming conferences: 3 july 2012, inspiring teachers: learning and leading in academic practice and 4 july 2012, employer engagement in a digital age. karen smith managing editor, university of greenwich 1 let’s get personal: a call for personalised pedagogy diana bath university of greenwich, school of education abstract this paper seeks to open a dialogue around the process of inspiring life-wide learning. it aims to share a dialogue that began within one of the inspiring learners conference workshops, so as to generate discussion between colleagues in the fi eld of education. it argues that the process of becoming inspired is essentially an affective or emotional engagement that happens within the learner’s embodied experience. it explains why the impact of such learning may be life-wide. paradoxically, this paper also suggests that our life-wide experiences may act as a barrier to our learning process. introduction the focus of this discussion falls around what educators need to understand about the learning process. the notion of inspired learning is framed around an affective engagement in a personal learning process. it suggests that cognitive development should not be considered in isolation from emotional, physical and social aspects of the learning process. the discussion centres around embodied-learning encounters, drawing on experiential learning and transformational learning theories (mezirow, 2009). my motivation to do so is to develop a more personalised teaching pedagogy that moves beyond notions of knowledge transfer to incorporate personal transformations. the purpose of this paper is to serve as an extended ‘thought piece’. it highlights the need for further investigation into the learner’s experience to form qualitative research narratives in support of improved practice. personal context this piece reflects aspects of my current thinking based upon my own life-wide learning. the paper draws on my master’s degree research surrounding dance movement psychotherapy (dmp) and its application compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 within educational settings. as a newly qualified dance movement psychotherapist, i would describe my approach as one which incorporates a mindfulness of the body in what it senses and communicates nonverbally. in a therapeutic context this allows people to explore and understand the experiences that make them who they are. in many ways this is reminiscent of a self-learning process leading to increased personal and social awareness. it creates opportunity for increased personal integration and individuation. the following discussion uses the concept of ‘embodiment’ as borrowed from educational and dance movement psychotherapy discourse to draw attention to the felt and lived experience of the learner. this paper will not be discussing dmp but will draw on reading that has influenced me over the course of my studies. having integrated my learning as a trainee dance movement psychotherapist into my personal development, i fi nd that the way i think about teaching and learning has been affected by my experiences. i am immediately struck by the parallels that exist between my learning and professional development and that of my students. i have become aware of my own creative process as i personalise my teaching pedagogy. whilst i maintain the view that therapy and education are distinct disciplines that should not be confused, i continually ask myself how i can apply notions of personal development in therapeutic contexts to transformational learning in educational contexts. starting with the conference as the workshop began, participants arrived to the sound of music playing. when asked what effect the music had as they entered, some spoke about having formed expectations about myself and my session. one group member said she interpreted the music as a sign that i was well prepared and that i was someone who tried to make learning fun. there was a clear correlation drawn between having fun and learning. however, our later discussions challenged this view. when asked to recall a key learning experience, it soon came to light that the lived experience of learning included the whole range of affects and emotions, many of which were far from fun and sometimes overwhelming. we started to see that in many of our life stories our expectations of how learning ought to be led to disappointments in reality. often success required overcoming fears and failings. my conviction is that the emotional aspect of learning is often disregarded and yet it may be the most common barrier that learners face. it is necessary to explore the physiological basis of the emotions in order to understand that they provide useful sources of information and are the key to our embodied learning transformations. if emotional responses to learning are not integrated then the learning process may not be complete. the learner may fi nd their learning unsustainable and may look for ways to leave or disengage. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 affective learning educational discourse tends to marginalise the emotions to discussions around emotional and behavioural disorders and emotional literacy. this raises a number of concerns. firstly, that the emotions are relegated to those who have/work with special education needs. secondly, there is a tacit suggestion that everyone should learn to be happy and that diffi cult emotions are unwelcome. this leads to a more worrying assumption that by teaching emotional literacy, a child may learn to disassociate from their true feelings in order to conform to a prescribed emotional ‘grammar’. whilst these discourses provide a valuable understanding for specifi c learning contexts, there is a danger that the emotions might also be reduced to the ingredients of a positive or negative classroom climate. teachers may be forgiven for trying to eliminate negative emotions from the classroom whilst focussing on creating feelings of motivation and excitement. certainly a happy or excited group of learners presents a positive impression to teachers and inspectors, but does this allow for learning to be fully internalised so that learning may be life-wide? the dominant discourse in education frames learning as something that is largely disembodied from physical experience. if this were not the case then our learning spaces might look and function differently. there could be more attention drawn to the relationship between physical activity and mental activity and there could be a greater capacity for integrating the two. this paper suggests a focus of this nature might support a more permanent development in a person’s abilities. this model therefore challenges the notion that learners are taught and replaces it with a more complex learning relationship. in this case notions of embodied learning contribute to a more affective learning process. embodied experience as the foundation of learning to be embodied one needs to have an awareness of being in the body. an embodied learning experience might be seen as an experience that goes beyond the use of a kinaesthetic learning activity. instead, the learner may use their ‘felt sensations’ to bring awareness to their body, mind and emotional states as they become engaged and transformed by learning. in recognising that experience comprises a complex web of these three physiological, mental and affective states, which are of course variable over time, a question arises as to how these three levels of experience become integrated? how does the learner make sense of their cognitive development in the presence of their felt-sensations and perceptions? how is learning made to be transformational on a personal and therefore life-wide level? key concepts within this view are embodied or somatic knowledge, and the experiential nature of learning. these may be related to developmental models of learning. learning is largely perceived as an intellectual activity located in specifi c and localised areas in the brain. neuroscience now offers a more complex compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 picture of how the mind and the systems within the body interact. embodied or ‘somatic’ learning is a process that uses the senses and perception in mind/body action and exists within an existential whole; integrating current learning with the learner’s experiential life history. embodied learning stands on the shoulders of merleau-ponty’s (1962) phenomenological philosophy which sees the learner as being situated within both external and internal lived (singular and collective) experience, which through the body’s mediation, shapes behaviours and ways of relating with others, artefacts and organisations (kupers 2008). it would seem an obvious observation to make that the human way of experiencing the world is fundamentally dependent on the unique sensory perceptions of the human body and the brain. it would make no sense then to imagine that learning is in any way disembodied, and yet educated society seems to behave as if it were. bodily action is often seen by educators as a distraction from dispassionate logical thought. prevailing philosophies that honour the ‘mind’ over the ‘fl esh’ and the ‘intellect’ over ‘subjective feelings and emotion’, echo aspects of 17th century cartesian philosophy. western culture is perhaps dominated by a perceived split between cognitive knowledge and embodied knowledge which can often be denigrated as something that needs to be tamed or controlled. however, through developments in mind/body research and advances in postmodern feminist discourse, the concept of embodied learning has surfaced in the fi eld of adult education, highlighting some critical issues. firstly, the recognition of the body as a source of knowledge enables the use of increased bodily awareness to challenge dominant discourse. also, the use of embodiment may be used to develop empathy and respect diversity which promotes new and more complex knowledge and understanding. whilst bodily knowing is only one of the many dimensions of human knowing, which also includes dimensions such as cultural, psychological, and linguistic dimensions, it incorporates and extends beyond that of kinaesthetic intelligence. it also goes beyond what has become known as the ‘tactile’ or kinaesthetic learning style. it is also interesting to note that in trying to make sense of our experience we refer to metaphors, based in our familiar embodied experience. for example, we might feel like we are the ‘slow coach’ or the ‘rising star’ as we grapple with our learning objective. it would seem relevant to comment on the variety of ways we perceive ourselves, and our relationships with others, within the context of a ‘system’ of learning. the implication is that if personal relationships, such as the teacher/learner dyad, or relationship with self, provide the critical structures in forming a learning experience, then one must look at how we come to know if our relationships are working for us or against us. this is where refl ection on the role of the emotions may become a useful indicator. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 5 experiential learning as part of a life-wide process kolb roots his experiential learning theory in john dewey’s philosophy of education. however, elkajaer (2009) points out that kolb’s use of the term experience strays some distance from dewey’s use of the term. for example, kolb and his followers perceive experience as knowledge and as isolated events oriented in the past. traditional concepts of experience thus follow kolb’s notions of experience as beingactive and subjective (elkjaer, 2009). dewey, on the other hand, saw knowledge as just one subset of experience which he thought of in terms of the potential for future experiences. he also recognised that experience, like knowledge, can be both subjective and objective. rather than seeing experience as a series of isolated experiences, dewey focused on united experiences that went beyond actions to encompass concepts as a foundation for knowledge (elkajaer, 2009). the latter view of experience lends itself to a fresh look at learning experience within the context of lifelong learning. jarvis (2009) agrees that ‘learning is both existential and experiential.’ jarvis describes a recent shift in his thinking to accommodate a philosophical belief that whilst a learner is learning new knowledge and skills they are also learning to be and learning to become their full self. whilst the notion of becoming is not new to lifelong learning, this shift is eloquently explained in the elaboration of learning as “the transformation of experience into knowledge, skills and attitudes” into “human learning is the combination of processes throughout a lifetime whereby the whole person – body (genetic, physical and biological) and mind (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, emotions, beliefs and senses) – experiences social situations, the perceived content of which is then transformed cognitively, emotively or practically (or through any combination) and integrated into the individual person’s biography resulting in a continually changing (or more experienced) person” (jarvis 2009). it is seen that the impact of learning on a person’s biographical story is significant. at the same time the person’s biographical experience and past learning impacts on the current learning experience. personal process and paradox the term ‘learning process,’ is used both as verb and noun. this suggests that it is conceptually variable. we are simultaneously the agents and recipients of our learning experience. there is a similar dichotomy in the way we experience ourselves within the learning process. do we view ourselves as a work in progress or do we measure ourselves by our perceived performance? is it possible to think of ourselves in both ways at the same time? in jungian psychology there is an opportunity to expose these kinds of issues as “conglomerates of contradictory elements” (singer harris, 1996). jung suggested that life is full of paradox; compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 6 that every individual is conflicted by contradictory experiences such as conscious thoughts versus unconscious attitudes. as a teacher i ask myself how the unconscious aspects of my own attitudes and projections contribute to the learning situation. i use my ‘felt sense’ to consciously interpret the non-verbal communications of my students; to attune to their affective state so that i may provide a more containing environment for them to take the risk of failure as they embark on their learning. for many of us the jungian ‘shadow’ may have already broken through into our consciousness. we know about our ambivalence; the fact that we want to learn but we do not want to learn. in such instances illeris (2009) suggests that a transformative learning experience may be just what is needed. however, he warns that in most cases transformation only comes when a person reaches a personal crisis point. ambivalence and resistance as barriers it is useful to remember that in all cases of learning a person’s lived experience may collude with situational learning barriers resulting in unhappy learners who are difficult to retain. illeris (2009) suggests that in some cases of extreme resistance to learning one cause may be an identity defence. this happens when a learner faces a dramatic and unwelcome shift in his or her circumstances. another form of defence is ambivalence, where one is both wanting and not wanting to learn. in addition, there is a kind of mental resistance that does not happily accept the ‘right’ answers being given. illeris explains that in order to prevent information overload people create a semi-automatic sorting system that involves measuring new information to pre-conceived understanding. often where there is no comfortable fit information is either distorted or rejected. through this means learners decide what learning is relevant to them and what is within their reach (illeris 2009). in this instance one may refer to mezirow’s notion transformational learning which involves a change in one’s meaning perspectives or habits of mind. such an internal frame of reference may include a predisposition to categorise people, events beliefs and experiences in a certain way (mezirow 2009). it may be plausible to suggest that in some cases, a person’s frame of reference may itself become a barrier to learning, if the nature of that learning is so different to the past. to overcome this predisposition illeris suggests that the learner needs to engage in some critical self-reflection and corresponding action. “our experiences of persons, things and events become realities as we typify them. this process has much to do with how we come to associate them with our personal need for justification, validity and a convincing, real sense of self” (mezirow, 2009). it may be concluded that a learner’s expectations and meaning perspectives can powerfully influence the way they construe experience, despite the fact that this mostly happens outside of their conscious awareness. this is also true of learning experience. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 7 a call for personalisation across the education system in the uk we have seen persistent drives to promote individualised learning. from the early years foundation stage (dcsf, 2008) based on the principle of a unique learner, to the previous government’s 2020 vision report of the teaching and learning review group (dfes, 2006) it has been widely accepted that standardisation of teaching does not result in equity for learners. however, it might be considered that individualised learning is rather a policy-driven, institutionalised concept and may not go far enough. although the terms individualised and personalised learning are used interchangeably, my point is that the focus is almost exclusively on the learner’s learning outcomes. the way the learner is viewed is therefore shaped by a curricular or programme design. this idea may be somewhat reductive and rather imposed upon them. there is limited recognition of a teacher’s right to personalisation, and the joys and challenges of being together in a learning process. for me the notion of personalised pedagogy goes further in recognising both the learning partnership and the whole person; not reducing the learning context to a set of learning needs and strategies. personalised learning calls for personalised pedagogies. this challenges the traditional power dynamic of the teacher-learner relationship by reframing them as partners in their learning narratives. a redistribution of power in the teacher and learner relationship may however pose some challenges. whilst many educators are willing to support learners in making decisions about what style and scope of learning may be relevant to them, for some educators there may be a diminished sense of professional judgement and status. indeed, revisions to what is deemed valuable learning experience may not be easily reconciled with current models of quality assurance. personalised pedagogy does not sit comfortably with a ‘one size fi ts all’ approach to inspection, as has been endorsed in some ways by successive governments. conclusion this paper presents an embodied approach to teaching and learning. embodiment is presented as a means to judge and understand a learner’s affective engagement within their personal learning journey. the discussion suggests that educators may benefi t from an increased awareness of the emotional aspects to learning, in particular transformative learning. this may empower teachers and learners in their parallel processes of building new understandings of how they can improve. this is important if educators are to inspire their learners and unlock their life-wide potential. a failure to do so may have an impact on learner engagement, achievement and overall student satisfaction. in post-compulsory settings, increased awareness may also strengthen recruitment and retention. perhaps a more personal touch is the way forward. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 8 references elkjaer, b. (2009) ‘pragmatism: a learning theory for the future.’ in: illeris, k. (ed) contemporary theories of learning. oxford: routledge. illeris, k. (2009) ‘a comprehensive understanding of human learning’. in: illeris, k. (ed) contemporary theories of learning. oxford: routledge. jarvis, p. (2009) ‘learning to be a person in society.’ in: illeris, k. (ed) contemporary theories of learning. oxford: routledge. kupers, w. (2008) ‘embodied “inter-learning”an integral phenomenology of learning in and by organisations.’ the learning organisation. 15 (5), 388–408. merleau-ponty, m. (1962) phenomenology of perception, trans. smith, colin. london: routledge and kegan paul. mezirow, j. (2009) ‘an overview of transformative learning’ in: illeris, k. (ed) contemporary theories of learning. new york & abingdon: routledge. singer harris, a. (1996) living in paradox. an introduction to jungian psychology. london: int. thomson. tef special edition – editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 editors’ letter the government is introducing the teaching excellence framework (tef) with the aim to recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching (department for education, 2016). while much has been published to help outline the aims and processes of the tef, many questions and concerns remain and thus continue to be critically debated in the sector. some of these concerns focus around examining the viability of the tef, specifically the suitability of criteria that will be used to measure teaching excellence the national student survey (nss), non-continuation (hesa) and destinations of leavers from higher education (dlhe). another point of tension is the unresolved dilemma surrounding the funding of higher education and how this is linked to tuition fees. the government will shortly publish the outcomes of the tef, which will inevitably focus institutions on responding to their gold, silver or bronze rating. this special issue of compass gives us the opportunity to look, in some depth, at the different angles and nuances of the teaching excellence framework before discussion turns to concentrating on improving or maintaining the rating awarded. we present a range of voices expressing their perspectives on the tef. as might be expected in a collection of articles of this kind, and at this moment of transition, there is some overlap of views. this very fact, however, gives credence to the attitudes held about the tef and indicates the strength of feeling across higher education. reading these scholarly opinions confirms that academic practitioners are themselves already putting into place relevant self-critical measures to enhance learning and teaching, and that principles of collaboration, communities of practice and student/staff empowerment underpin their strategies. the metrics are examined, as is the tef’s very rationale, but the authors also seek positives, and show their genuine desire to raise the game of the entire sector in the uk. nick hillman’s reflection on the teaching excellence framework, based on a lecture at the university of greenwich in november 2016, begins by considering the ‘progenitors’ of the tef. hillman voices his concerns regarding the tef including the possible link to fees. he also points to papers published by the higher education policy institute, by way of highlighting the efforts made to critically examine the tef. however, hillman notes that although the metrics used to measure excellence have caused much debate, it makes sense to start with existing metrics tef special edition – editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 than wait for more suitable ones to arrive. continuing this balanced reflection, hillman praises the government’s effort to focus on enhancing teaching and learning in he. in contrast, j m moore takes issue with the metrics of student satisfaction, retention and graduate employment as true measures of the quality of learning and teaching in higher education. pointing out that these re-emphasise existing social inequalities between students, militate against those who pose a risk of failure and favour institutions which recruit the most privileged, moore makes the suggestions that universities should not be compared and that widening participation is what gives students real choice; further recommendations include the promotion of a critical pedagogy in the light of better awareness of the needs of students and a more courageous challenge by university leaders to flawed government policy. the tef, which will happen, moore says, will best be modified by the development of truly participatory learning communities based on social justice values. similarly targeting the metrics of retention, employment and student satisfaction, chris rust offers a rather different perspective of each. as for retention, rust remarks that high-achieving, motivated students and those attending prestigious establishments tend not to drop out, even if the teaching quality is not first rate; additionally, there is plenty of research to support his view that students who do drop out do so because they see the course as not for them, rather than because of perceived shortcomings in the teaching. excellent tuition may support employment prospects, but many other factors come into play; furthermore, rust says, not all graduates share the same aspiration to hold ‘graduate jobs’. commenting on the use of nss scores, he not only reminds us of the criticisms already levelled at those, but also adds that, if they are low, sometimes there are reasons other than teaching for that. the paper’s final and main criticism of the tef is that it is ultimately going to operate at institutional level. a specific alternative to the tef is offered in an opinion piece by chrissi nerantzi who is unconvinced that greater competitiveness generated between higher education institutions will produce improved quality of teaching and learning. personal study and a body of supportive literature persuades nerantzi that what will really help to achieve excellence in he is crossboundary collaboration in a diverse learning community, bringing together people from different cultures and backgrounds. by this means, best innovative practice, sector-wide, may be grown and disseminated and be underpinned by continuous professional development. partnership between students and staff, and between academics and professionals outside he, will place tef special edition – editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 universities, nerantzi says, ‘at the heart of local and distributed communities and society’; the tef, meanwhile, merely seeks ‘to categorise, rank and compare’. a very lively analysis of the tef highlights the intrinsic potential flaws of this chosen method of measuring excellence. whilst james derounian welcomes parity of scrutiny of both teaching excellence and research excellence, he has reservations about the uncertainties lurking beneath the framework. a single award for an entire institution requires that, somehow, assessors will be able to make sense of, say, variable performance across subjects and disciplines – not easy! derounian asks how prospective students will be able to deduce from the blunt instrument of the awarded institutional standard whether a particular course is the best choice, though does accept that a planned subsequent move to subject-level awards will be a positive step. however, derounian sees the ‘student outcomes’ measure as very problematical, as many variables influence whether students do in fact get appropriate jobs; furthermore, a census at six months post-graduation may not fairly offer enough time for students to find employment. there may well be also some difficulty in squaring the gold standard of ‘consistently outstanding outcomes for students from all backgrounds’ with the reality of the very worthy and considerable ‘distance travelled’ by some students who do not make it to further study or graduate employment. as for student wellbeing, and universities’ role in the growth of ‘decent, compassionate, giving human beings’, the tef seems not to have a view. it is perhaps inevitable that criticism will be levelled at the tef on the grounds of its rationale, which graham gibbs sees as deeply flawed; not only does he regard the proposed metrics as invalid, but is sceptical that fine judgements about institutional rankings on the basis of metrics will be achievable, as the very small differences in scores between institutions will defy discrimination. ironically, gibbs suggests, universities will renew their efforts to improve teaching and learning because they see a risk in not doing so, but any rise in quality won’t be because government policy is sound; evidence indicates no substantial problem in teaching quality anyway and low value for money ratings reflect perceived high cost, not poor teaching. the only hope is that positive new thinking will spring from a sense of the tef’s inadequacies. since the 1997 dearing report into higher education, much time and effort has been expended, by first the institute for learning and teaching in higher education and, latterly, the higher education academy, on establishing a system for recognising and rewarding outstanding university teachers: the national teaching fellowship scheme (ntfs). sally brown, brings the weight of her ntf experience to bear upon the proxy metrics of the tef. brown’s preferred tef special edition – editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 metrics focus on numbers of preferments, on the basis of teaching, to reader or professor, or on the proportions of staff achieving external recognition for their teaching, or on the evidence of successful staff completion of continuing professional development activities: or, in a nutshell, on authenticated measures of the true value added by institutions to the student learning experience. in a paper striking for its contrast to all the others in this issue, a powerful challenge to the tef comes in the form of the carefully-structured argument that success as a knowledge economy and the tef will constitute ‘a set of mechanisms of perpetual pedagogical control’ instead of supporting practitioner improvement of teaching and learning or empowering both teachers and students. placing relevant aspects of gilles deleuze’s postscript on the societies of control in the context of gary hall’s ‘postwelfare capitalism’, conor heaney and hollie mackenzie explain how the logic of the tef will lead inexorably to the regulation of pedagogy by market forces, with the blessing and, indeed, the active encouragement of the government. finally, heaney and mackenzie call upon their peers in the uk tertiary sector to question whether this process is one they really want and whether it should be resisted by means of alternative strategies. it’s not surprising that the weight of academic experience in the higher education sector and in previous interventions into its provision would be brought to bear in addressing the perceived shortcomings of the tef. indeed, the research excellence framework alone, from the point of view of ian mcnay, serves very well to model government intentions and failings. mcnay uses the department for education’s own strategy regarding the tef ‘to trial and pilot changes’ – as evidence of yet another ‘trial-and-error’ approach: first, confusion and then greater and greater control, driving for compliance and conformity in a marketised environment, he sees as a process hardly likely to encourage development and diversity in learning and teaching, especially as power shifts from academic professionals to managers. like other authors in this issue, mcnay systematically criticises bad metrics, which will inevitably, he suggests, be gamed. mcnay’s parting shot is that, in spite of his having used history to identify what is to be expected, academics might as well be ready, too, for the unexpected! one succinct riposte to the tef comes in the form of a higher education consultant’s focus on the green paper’s stated desire for the new framework to be less burdensome. as a national teaching fellow with the opportunity for objective observation of the impact on institutions and their people of gearing up for the tef, phil race is able to confirm huge expenditure of academic staff effort and energy. race’s focus is clear and direct: the commitment would be tef special edition – editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 much better devoted, not to doing much the same thing as previously in the vain hope of different results, but to improving the central elements of assessment methods and academic feedback to students. these are clearly in need of an overhaul, race says, and whilst methods of monitoring them properly should be developed, the tef ‘seems set to measure the wrong things’, generating unnecessary and unhelpful competition instead of collaboration. the notion of students as co-producers rather than consumers is taken up by sam grogan in an opinion piece which articulates the deleterious impact of the terms ‘consumer’ or ‘customer’ when applied to higher education students. these terms, grogan argues, diminish what he says should be ‘a genuinely humbling and transformative personal experience from which one emerges with horizons stretched’ to a merely transactional arrangement. a clever and convincing analogy between students and members of a gym supports his view that if the context is right, students are ‘consumer-producers’ at least and may succeed in becoming coproducers, creating outcomes in a real partnership with the institution. as one might expect, there is considerable critical reflection on the tef expressed in these articles. these might amount to a case for the prosecution, but is there a case for the defence? the quest for teaching excellence and improving social mobility for students from disadvantaged backgrounds or with protected characteristics are laudable goals. the tef is essentially about innovation and positioning uk he within a global context. it focuses attention on teaching in higher education that is in step with the imperative to address societal needs. there is real value in developing a national quality benchmark that protects the reputation and brand of higher education uk plc by recognising the importance of excellent teaching and the value of professionalism. the tef is a valiant attempt to reinvigorate higher education, breathe new life into programmes and link up teaching with research. in preparing for the tef, institutions have already started to reconsider their priorities and resources, and have begun to look beyond teaching to the broader aspects of the learning environment to improve students’ outcomes. one way in which this has been done is by engaging our students more deeply and dynamically as partners and change agents. the tef ratings will be published imminently, and we are expecting that more universities will be awarded bronze than gold (bagshaw and morris, 2016). however, there remain many unknowns and we are unsure yet what the consequences and implications will be for higher education providers. for example, will tef move to subject level, will increases in fees be pegged to ratings, and how might the outcome of upcoming general election affect the higher tef special edition – editors’ introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 education and research bill? once tef ratings are published there is likely to be a shift in the debate at institutional and sector level, but it’s unclear what that shift will be. we hope that you enjoy this issue and continue this debate concerning the teaching excellence framework. we welcome letters which carry on the discussion about teaching excellence practice and policy further, and encourage our readers to comment or respond to the arguments raised in this special issue. simon walker and danielle tran reference list department for education (2016) teaching excellence framework. london. bagshaw, a & morris, d (2016) "fun with flags: how metrics will work in tef outcomes", wonkhe, higher education: policy, people and politics. available at: http://wonkhe.com/blogs/policy-watch-fun-with-flags-the-role-of-metrics-in-tef-outcomes/ (accessed: 14 april 2017). untitled 4 case studies the greenwich maths arcade: a tool for nurturing the inquiring mind noel-ann bradshaw and steve lakin university of greenwich, school of computing & mathematical sciences abstract the greenwich maths arcade, which provides support and enrichment for mathematics students and opportunities for students to interact with members of staff, was introduced in 2010 and has been expanded in 2011–12. it has been well received by students and statistics show improved retention and student achievement. following the authors’ presentation at the university’s learning and teaching conference and papers at national conferences, similar initiatives are being introduced in the university of greenwich’s business school and by a number of maths departments in other universities. introduction the greenwich maths arcade (formerly known as the maths café) began in september 2010 with a grant from the university’s dragons’ den fund. the idea was to run a weekly drop-in session that would enable struggling students to obtain help from staff on tutorial questions whilst at the same time provide a range of puzzles and activities that would stretch the more able students (bradshaw, 2011, 26). the motivation stemmed from reading the proceedings of a conference on mathematical support and in particular the keynote address by celia hoyles (hoyles, 2010, 4). hoyles acknowledges the varying backgrounds and confidence of students entering university to read quantitative subjects but insists that it is the university’s responsibility to provide the necessary support. at the other end of the spectrum, john mason et al’s., well-known book thinking mathematically (mason, 2010) which one of the authors reviewed for msor connections (bradshaw, 2010, 49), suggested that there was much more we could be providing to stretch and motivate our exceptionally able students. we were aware of maths cafés in other universities – particularly portsmouth (pevy, 2008) but these exist primarily to provide mathematics support for other disciplines rather than for mathematics undergraduates. we had neither the personnel nor the space to make this a viable option. attendance one of the concerns of the dragons’ den panel was whether students would participate. our view at the time was that there was no guarantee that students would attend but we thought it worth a try. the panel, though slightly sceptical, agreed; influenced perhaps by the enthusiasm and dramatic skills of the two student co-presenters of the bid. however, last year attendance was never a problem. timetabling was carefully arranged to be convenient for all mathematics undergraduates. the sessions were linked at the start to the mentoring scheme so mentors arranged to meet the new students at the maths arcade. considering that we did not have much space, the compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 average of 25–30 students a week (20% of the first year cohort) seemed a suitable number and it was often hard to find adequate space to set up a game. as we had hoped, some attended every week whilst others came sporadically. tutorial support some of the students who attended regularly came purely to work on the week’s tutorial questions and to ask for help when necessary. they did not usually want to join in with the games but were grateful that staff were on hand to help and explain things when they were stuck. it was obvious from the start that we were getting students coming to this who would not have wished to identify themselves as needing help by going to a tutor’s office but who were happy to turn up, start work and then casually ask questions without it looking as if they were struggling. other students would migrate to the help sessions after having played some of the games, or would come to listen when they realised a mathematical topic was being discussed. strategy games others were motivated primarily by the games. they either tried different ones each week or played the same one again and again, examining the different possibilities and strategies. for example what difference does it make who starts, is it better to play defensively or to attack; when should one play safe and when is it desirable to take risks? unlike chess clubs which tend to be competitive, the students were keen to discuss strategies and tactics, which has undoubtedly helped them improve their mathematical thinking. what was particularly pleasing was the diversity of the students who attended. other events put on either by the department or the university’s maths society have tended to attract students from a certain sort of background. this however attracted students of different ages, abilities, social groups and mathematical background. it was a very successful way of encouraging the students to get to know each other across a whole year group and boosted the group spirit and morale of the cohort. it can be particularly hard for maths students, who are often shy, to start conversations and make friends but over a game (or any focussed activity) this becomes much easier. staff would begin playing games with a small group of students and then move on to another group, leaving the students to continue playing and get to know each other better. this appeared to work, and during the year friendship groups emerged around the games. the students also liked the fact that lecturers joined in and more importantly that they could beat them at various games. one of the most memorable sessions was when a member of staff played ‘quoridor’ with three students. rather than everyone trying to outwit the other three opponents it became obvious that the students were working in collaboration so that the lecturer would not win. it was great fun, the students did not seem to realise that the lecturer did not come out too badly as it took three of them to beat her! which games? there are a number of quite unusual board games on the market which have mathematical interest. games were chosen on the strategic thinking involved. one of the students’ favourites so far is ‘quarto’ which contains playing pieces with four different attributes: ● size – tall and short ● colour – light and dark ● fill – hollow and solid ● shape – round and square compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 the aim is to be the player to complete a row of four containing the same attribute, for example four tall pieces regardless of colour, shape etc. it is natural to think of this game in terms of the mathematical idea of binary representation. what makes this game harder is that you do not choose which piece to play but your opponent chooses your piece for you. so a winning strategy might be to try to engineer a situation where your opponent is only left with pieces that give you a win. this is easier said than done as it is hard to keep track of all the different possibilities that might produce a win. no two games are the same and there are numerous ways that the students can investigate attacking and defensive strategies. student and staff feedback as part of students’ personal development planning, first year students were asked to write about a maths event in which they had participated. about two thirds of the cohort chose to write about the maths arcade. the only negative comments received were that one hour was not enough and that the timing might be better for some if it occurred after lectures had finished for the day. these have both been acted on for this year. positive comments included: “i like to go to the maths arcade because all of my tutors attend it.” “the people who were once strangers to me when i first started (attending the maths arcade) are now some of my closest friends.” “i felt somewhat dubious about the word ‘enjoyable’ being used but i’m glad to say i was quickly proved wrong.” “(it is) a really good way to meet people and get to know the lecturers in a more informal environment.” “attending maths arcade has been a major help for me this year and a huge factor in me having such successful and enjoyable studies.” initially we had focussed on the benefits to students and had not thought of the benefits to tutors. however the staff attending have found these sessions particularly valuable as they have enabled us to get to know the students in an informal setting. this was something that the students appreciated too. indeed a recent report by the hea (trowler and trowler, 2010, 8) says that, “interacting with staff has been shown to have a powerful impact on learning, especially when it takes place outside of the classroom and responds to individual student needs.” evaluation the most rewarding aspect of the maths arcade has been seeing our retention, attainment and progression rates, though always good, increase noticeably last year. the pass rate in two first year courses increased from just over 70% in 2009–10 to nearly 90% and the drop-out rate was reduced by almost three-quarters. this is something that was appreciated by department and university senior management. of course there are many other contributing factors but it is believed that the maths arcade played a substantial part in this increase. national he stem programme support partway through last year the maths arcade obtained support from the national he stem programme to extend and increase the provision. this has allowed us to run staff training sessions, purchase more games and extend our opening times to three hours per week instead of one. this support has also enabled us to share our positive experiences with the university’s school of engineering. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 impact in may 2011 the concept of a maths arcade was presented at the higher education academy (hea) mathematics subject centres ideas exchange in birmingham (hea maths, stats & or network, 2010) and at a seminar organised by the south west spoke of national he stem programme (he stem, 2011). as a result of these presentations he stem funding has been provided to enable other universities to set up their own maths arcades to further this good practice. currently these are situated in leicester, keele, salford, bath, manchester and sheffield-hallam with another similar venture based on our idea in nottingham. training sessions and follow-up support for these arcades will be provided by us, also funded by the he stem programme. another impact was as a result of the presentation at the 2011 university of greenwich learning and teaching conference. a number of staff from across the university came to the presentation and subsequently two similar sessions have been set up in different departments in the business school by bernadette ryan and julia mundy. conclusions this idea came about because of a perceived need to simultaneously stretch and support maths students. it involved trying something new and untested which some colleagues felt was risky. over the last twelve months we have adapted our provision in regard to student feedback and have had to make changes due to university and other constraints. this project has succeeded in ways that had not been foreseen and appears to have made a real difference to student engagement, retention and achievement, which demonstrates the value of trying speculative ideas. we would encourage others to try similar experiments. the outcome may not be what was originally expected but surprising benefits may ensue. references bradshaw, n. (2010) thinking mathematically (book review). msor connections, 10 (3), p. 49. bradshaw, n. (2011) the university of greenwich maths arcade. msor connections, 11 (3), p. 26. he stem. 2011. transition & induction experiences of wp students. [online]. available at: www.hestem-sw. org.uk/widening-participation/wp-projects/?p=9&pp=1064 [accessed 30 october 2011]. hea msor network. 2010. ideas exchange: he mathematics curriculum innovation. [online]. available at: <mathstore.ac.uk/node/1746> [accessed 30 october 2011]. hewson, p. (2011) preliminary analysis of the national student survey. msor connections, 11 (1), pp. 25– 28. hoyles, c. 2010. mathematics and the transition from school to university. responding to the mathematics problem: the implementation of institutional support mechanisms, p. 4. [online]. available at: www. mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mathssupportvolumefinal.pdf [accessed 30 october 2011]. mason, j. et al. (2010) thinking mathematically. 2nd ed. london: pearson education. http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mathssupportvolumefinal.pdf http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mathssupportvolumefinal.pdf pevy, l. 2008. the portsmouth university maths café – making a virtue of necessity. [online]. available at: www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/maths/mathscafe/information/filetodownload,97161,en.pdf [accessed 30 october 2011]. trowler, v., and trowler, p. (2010) student engagement evidence summary. york: higher education academy http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/maths/mathscafe/information/filetodownload case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 creating videos to assist students’ understanding of the graduate recruitment process noel-ann bradshaw university of greenwich abstract this case study describes how a greenwich seed fund project, using a kit comprising several video cameras, has helped to combat student apprehensions regarding many aspects of the graduate job application process. introduction the use of video within he teaching is well-known and well-documented. advocates say that videos increase student motivation and aid the development of learner autonomy (wilmot et al, 2012). the trend towards flipping the classroom in recent years has resulted in greater use of video and, consequently, it is a medium that students are familiar with. there is evidence to suggest that there is a connection between memory retrieval and visual cues (shepard and cooper, 1982; mayer and gallini, 1990). for students who need to learn a new process or technique, video allows them to learn actively by pausing, rewinding and replaying parts of the recording (galbraith, 2004), so that they can understand the material at their own pace. in cases where students are actively involved in creating the videos, this further helps the material to stick in their minds, as well as providing them with transferable skills such as research, team working, problem solving and technological and organisational skills (hakkarainen, 2009). many universities have supplemented their careers provision with online videos that students, and indeed staff, can watch when they want to (greenbank, 2012). this enables the advisory capacity of the careers service to be accessible twenty-four hours per day. another example is from leeds metropolitan university, where staff have used video case studies of entrepreneurial role models within a curriculum-based module (robertson, 2003). given that students of this generation have been brought up with instant answers through internet-available media such as youtube and facebook, it is no wonder that some companies are also using video to communicate with them. shaw (2008) describes how macdonald’s uses videos in its staff development programmes to underpin the key aspects of its graduate training. motivation many students at the university of greenwich are first generation participants in he (barnes, 2012). parents and relatives of students from these backgrounds often have clerical rather than managerial positions and, as a result, the students to do not have the support and professional networks that graduates from other backgrounds take for granted (roberts and holton, 2015). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 coupled with this is the fact that, within the topic of employability, students are apt to be passive rather than active learners. they like to be told what to do and how to behave, but do not always realise that they have not fully understood the significance of what has been said. for example, it is hard to describe a graduate job interview or a networking event in a way that enables these students to visualise it, understand how to prepare for it or appreciate the importance of a practice session in advance of it. these students are also less able to articulate their concerns. bradshaw et al (2015) describe organising mock interviews run for students by a recruitment company in the financial sector, when some students failed to attend because of their fears about what to expect. as a result, it was felt that showing students first-hand what an interview entails would help alleviate their worries and help them to realise why they needed to prepare. project greenwich connect is the name given to the university of greenwich’s vision for learning innovation (university of greenwich, 2014). endorsed in 2013, the strategy is designed to recognise and promote a variety of technology-enhanced curriculum innovations. these support all aspects of learning and teaching, with an emphasis on social interaction (in and out of the classroom), digital literacy and collaborative learning. in order to help staff to experiment with some of these new technologies, a seed fund was set up to enable the borrowing of digital equipment that departments could not themselves afford to buy, for use in teaching and learning environments. various kits are available, such as ipads, video cameras and podcasting equipment. a successful application for a greenwich connect seed fund kit enabled several video cameras to be borrowed. however, though the initial idea was to ask students to create videos on employability topics that they considered interesting, very few of them suggested project ideas and lack of time militated against staff motivation strategies. fortunately, the greenwich graduate work experience scheme (gwes) in 2015 made it possible for the project to take on a graduate intern with film experience to lead this work. she contacted several students, took up their ideas and trained them to take a role in the actual filming. she was also invited to some employability workshops, run by staff and graduates, which led to the creation of a number of short, stand-alone videos on topics such as cvs, extra-curricular activities, mentoring and placements. these videos were augmented by others featuring staff demonstrations of good, and not so good, ways to answer competency-based interview questions and to deliver presentations. there were filmed by a member of the greenwich connect team. some of these have been made available on youtube, whereas others may be accessed only by students, via the university vle. student feedback several students were involved in the actual filming of the videos. they were from various disciplines, including architecture and film. the architecture students benefited from having something totally different to add to their cvs and the film students found the project useful for their intended careers. comments include: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 “i am interested in camerawork but before the project, i did not have experience with filming interviews. i agreed thinking that it would be good opportunity for me to develop new skills and test working in a different domain. the project also attracted me because it was a professional environment.” “the project was a valuable experience as i faced new situations. for example i had to work at a fast pace and find good angles for the shots in various new locations, while interacting with the interviewees. overall, it helped improve my skills and gave me more confidence.” students who took part in the videos found the experience helpful as well; those who had come up with the initial ideas for the videos were particularly gratified to see their suggestions take shape on film. comments from them include: “i improved my communication skills, especially as i had never answered questions while being recorded, so it did make me a bit nervous. however, due to the experience gained from taking part in this short film, i am now happy to be involved in any future activities that are similar, so i can say that taking part in this project has also improved my confidence. furthermore, i also gained the satisfaction of knowing that i tried to share my knowledge with others.” one student who agreed to be filmed about his placement has since gone on to write a guide on how best to obtain a place on a graduate scheme; his increased confidence has also enabled him to give a talk at the lse on the reasons for studying mathematics and economics at university. students who have watched the videos have commented that they offer both enjoyable viewing and serious points and said that, as many of them previously had no idea about what a graduate job interview is like, they found the videos of interviews very helpful: “seeing a mock job-interview gave me an idea of what a real interview would be like.” the placements video has had the most views, seeming to have been motivational in generating student interest in applying for placements. additionally, student take-up of other opportunities, such as a business simulation activity and mock assessment centres, has increased from last year. further work access to good video cameras would be essential to any replication of this project though stoneham (2016) describes encouraging students to create videos with the use of panopto (lecture-capture software). the use of these and similar technologies do provide students with the ability to create numerous short videos on various aspects of their learning. as a result of this work, staff have seen the benefit to students of videos covering numerous aspects of employability. a company called abintegro runs a career portal containing many activities and a vast quantity of useful videos, many of which feature employers and recent graduates talking about their roles and how they obtained them. this resource is now available for all students at the university of greenwich under the name ‘my career builder’. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 conclusion using these videos to augment sessions on aspects of employability provision has helped students to understand that they need to practise skills relating to the stages of applying for and securing a job. this project experience also suggests that other departments and faculties might be interested in creating similar videos to help their students. reference list abintegro (2016) the career centre. available at: http://www.abintegro.com/public/universities (accessed: 26 february 2016). barnes, t. (2012) enhancing employment outcomes at the university of greenwich. london: the university of greenwich. bradshaw, n., mann, t. and ramesh, n. (2015) working with employers. in: proceedings of the cetl-msor conference 2015. sigma. greenbank, p. (2012) resources on employability. edge hill university available at: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/clt/files/2012/02/resources-on-employability.pdf (accessed: 26 february 2016). hakkarainen, p. (2009) ‘why should university students produce videos about their subject matter?’ in: proceedings of the iadis international conference on cognition & exploratory learning in digital age, pp. 491-493. abingdon: taylor and francis. mayer, r. and gallini, j. (1990) ‘when is an illustration worth ten thousand words?’ journal of educational psychology, 82(6), 715-726. roberts, s. and holton, v. (2015) social mobility: experience, expertise and innovation in uk business. london: elba. robertson, m. and collins, a. (2003) ‘the video role model as an enterprise teaching aid.’ education + training, 45(6), 331-340. shaw, s. and fairhurst, d. (2008) ‘engaging a new generation of graduates.’ education + training, 50(5) 366-378. shepard, r. and cooper, l. (1982) mental images and their transformations. cambridge, ma: mit press/bradford books. stoneham, r., nyaga, c. and sadykova, e. (2016) ‘panopto as an effective assessment tool.’ in: shift 2016: annual festival of learning and teaching, university of greenwich. 8 january 2016 available at: https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/edu/shift2016/paper/viewpaper/852 (accessed: 3 february 2016). university of greenwich (2014) strategic implementation plan for greenwich connect available at: http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greenwichconnect/files/2014/08/greenwich-connectstrategic-implementation-plan-final.pdf (accessed: 27 february 2016). http://www.abintegro.com/public/universities https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/clt/files/2012/02/resources-on-employability.pdf https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/edu/shift2016/paper/viewpaper/852 http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greenwichconnect/files/2014/08/greenwich-connect-strategic-implementation-plan-final.pdf http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greenwichconnect/files/2014/08/greenwich-connect-strategic-implementation-plan-final.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 wilmot, p., bramhall, m. and radley, k. (2012) using digital video reporting to inspire and engage students. available at: http://www.raeng.org.uk/education/hestem/heip/pdf/using_digital_video_reporting.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2015). http://www.raeng.org.uk/education/hestem/heip/pdf/using_digital_video_reporting.pdf case studies the greenwich graduate initiative – an interview with professor simon jarvis karen smith educational development unit introduction and overview the greenwich graduate initiative was launched in november 2010 by professor simon jarvis, deputy vicechancellor for academic development (jarvis, 2010). the initiative, which forms part of the university’s plans for transformation, seeks to recognise that while disciplinary knowledge is important, graduates of the university will also leave with specific attributes, values, and skills that will help equip them for life outside higher education. the initiative makes explicit the attributes that a greenwich graduate can expect to develop over their time at the university by clearer communication through programme design. a year since the launch, i caught up with simon to talk about the greenwich graduate initiative, its development and its future implementation. i interviewed simon in october and asked questions developed by the compass editorial board. simon’s interview was transcribed and his verbatim quotes are the basis of this article. simon’s quotes are presented in (unattributed) speech marks for shorter quotes and (unattributed), indented quotes with speech marks for longer extracts. the origins of the greenwich graduate initiative the greenwich graduate initiative originated from a bid submitted to the higher education academy’s (hea) change academy in 2009. the change academy programme was devised by the hea to enable cross-institutional teams to come together to think creatively about, and develop, a major change initiative and to provide a year’s support to successful teams. the university of greenwich put forward a bid entitled ‘developing an institutional model for embedding academic and transferable skills’, which sought to find: the most effective relationship between academic curricula and skills development in contexts which are dissimilar, with an increasingly diverse student population, distributed provision, and necessarily divergent academic and professional cultures (university of greenwich, 2009). it was during the residential week in september 2009 that the focus of the bid changed: the emphasis slightly changed to thinking beyond the kind of element of transferrable skills per se to the broader picture of values, attributes, and skills that you may want to develop in graduates. from that we came to the greenwich graduate initiative. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 this change of focus reflected shifts that were happening in higher education, where there were movements away from the development of transferrable skills for employment towards the development of broader graduate attributes (barrie 2007; qaa enhancement themes). the rationale is that “universities should explicitly set out to equip their graduates with a specific set of skills and qualities that sit alongside their disciplinary knowledge” (educational development unit, 2011). this is something that simon recognises: compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 “i think for me it was also an element of trying to understand what are we trying to achieve for our students once they leave the institution. employers were saying that yes, there is an important role for this subject discipline’, but many of the things that they were looking for were around: what is the mindset to go into work, what is the ability to problem solve, to critically think, to communicate; what are the things that applicants may bring from other parts of their life or extracurricular activities that actually feed into developing what might be considered an old fashioned phrase, that is the all-rounded person.” what is the ‘greenwich’ in the greenwich graduate initiative? given higher education’s growing interest in the development of graduate attributes, a number of institutions have introduced their own graduate attribute initiatives (for example: queen mary, university of london; university of hertfordshire; university of west of scotland; university of sydney). i asked simon what was uniquely ‘greenwich’ about the greenwich graduate initiative. simon drew attention to the three core elements of the initiative: scholarship and autonomy; creativity and enterprise; and cross-cultural and international awareness. these core elements were selected to reflect the university of greenwich: “we’ve tried to look and see where the institution is at, what we believe is best suited for us and that we also have confidence in being able to deliver. we want to ensure that at the end of this, the greenwich graduate would be someone who would feel they could breathe and live those elements of attributes that we’ve tried to develop, and that they could explain those to their mates in the pub or to their grandmother or at interview, rather than it being theoretical.” simon went on to outline the three core elements individually, starting with cross-cultural and international awareness: “global awareness, the diversity issues, reflects one the strengths of the institution. we are a very diverse community of learners and there are elements there that we could naturally learn from each other. it also reflects that, going forward, more and more of our graduates will be working in a global environment and working for companies that might well be sending staff to work in other parts of the world, and also takes account of where future growth is going to be in the next five years or so, which is most likely to be in countries such as india and china. there’s also the diversity, maximising what we have within the classroom in terms of our student body.” the creative and entrepreneurial aspects of the initiative were described in the following way: “many of our graduates are not necessarily going to go and work for big corporates. we know that many of them go and work in small industries or are going to set up their own industry and be self-employed. so the enterprise and creativity part of the agenda was really to try and see 14 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 how we can reinforce that within our course and programme structure to give students greater confidence to go out and do some of those activities.” scholarship and autonomy were seen to underpin curriculum design and development. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 “i think you have to go back to basics about ‘what is a university for’. a university education is about transforming lives and also generating new knowledge, or understanding new ways of using existing knowledge. it’s absolutely critical that we have members of staff who are undertaking scholarship activities, thinking of new ways to deliver their material, taking risks or are engaging in enterprise work, engaging with industry and businesses or developing new research and new knowledge. they can propagate that out to the students in terms of their enthusiasm and what that means in terms of their discipline – understanding that things don’t stand still. there is a strong connection between research, scholarship, and the development of teaching and learning.” there is also a need to: “try and think how one works across the disciplines in particular so that one doesn’t become too narrow within a specialised area and understanding; that there are many other things that impinge upon the world of work. in particular, for our graduates to understand that they will be working with other disciplines or other team members who will come with different ways of thinking.” given that the greenwich graduate initiative was designed to reflect the flavour of the university of greenwich, i asked simon whether he felt that the initiative could be used to brand the university: “i think the challenge is to try and see what are the elements that would make the university stand out and would also make it clear to your potential applicants what they might expect in the broadest sense of coming to the university, not just that, for example, they would study for a degree in nursing, get a job in nursing at the end of it but what else they may get. so, in that sense, i think it does have a role in branding or making it clear to people what we hope to deliver upon.” the greenwich graduate initiative and the post-2012 environment from 2012, the university will charge undergraduates studying for a bachelor’s degree £8,300 per year. simon noted that it was difficult to predict what impact fees would have on the higher education sector, though in the short-term he felt there was likely to be “a decline in the number of applicants coming into higher education” but that when things settled down “it may not be as fearful as we think”. simon did, however, feel that the sector had not clearly communicated the repayment options for students: “we have failed as a sector to put across that the tuition fees are not fees that you pay on day one. these fees are subject to a repayment scheme. in many cases you may never have to repay the whole loan, depending on your salary and your circumstances. so in a sense it is a form of taxation. we have not really explained it to individuals that well because the whole media debate has been about the fee that has been set while actually, unlike most products that you would buy, you don’t actually pay the fee on day one; you’re actually paying for it much further along the road, although that might obviously bring with it a higher price in terms of interest plus the original loan.” 15 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 it is likely that students, who feel that they are paying more for their higher education, will be more expectant, something that simon welcomes. “students will become more demanding and i’m not sure that i see that as a bad thing”. in this kind of environment the greenwich graduate initiative is a means of making it clear to potential applicants what the university has to offer: “we are trying to make it clear to individuals and to their parents and their guardians and their supporters or to employers who might be paying for future students to come to the university, that we’re here to offer you a programme around some academic discipline, but in addition to that we believe and hope that we can deliver on these attributes and values and how we might develop those in all of the students whether they are within the classroom or outside of the classroom. i think we should also recognise that many of these attributes can equally well be developed in an extra-curricula environment, whether that’s doing some part-time work, or whether that’s being involved in some student societies or being involved in sporting activities.” the greenwich graduate initiative and the higher education achievement record (hear) the articulation of the attributes developed during a higher education programme is all the more important in a competitive graduate job market. simon outlined why: “we need to be able to ensure that our students can go and portray either on an application form, or at an interview, what is unique about them or their experience to date that would allow them to be offered a job as opposed to another graduate. i am conscious that what potential employers or would-be supervisors for those students going onto further study are potentially looking for is not just the degree classification per se or your knowledge and ability in that subject area [...] particularly important, i think, for employers and for future study are those intangible elements and the right mindset. i think part of our role as a university is to try and ensure that opportunities to develop transferrable skills and attributes are available in our course structures for all students, without losing sight of the academic rigour that must always underpin all of that.” simon noted that employers are going to be looking not just at the degree classification that students achieve, but also the attributes that they develop during their time at university. in a review of undergraduate degree classifications, bob burgess (burgess, 2007) suggested that degree classifications were no longer sufficient and that from 2012 all students would be expected to produce a higher education achievement record (hear). i asked simon his view on this and whether the hear is compatible with the greenwich graduate initiative. “it’s very compatible with that. it allows those statements in the hear document to be made clearly and explicitly, and to be made in quite a simplified manner across our courses and across our programmes. i’m not sure that one can totally do away with degree classifications because they provide a measure of achievement at one level. if you are an employer looking at 100 applicants, you need some quick measure for doing the first cut. however, what hear does provide is a more indepth record of what the student has achieved, so i think they have a role to play perhaps in the second cut.” 16 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 implementation of the greenwich graduate initiative the greenwich graduate initiative was launched in 2010. in order to roll out the initiative, meetings have been held with the senior management teams in the schools; focus groups have been held with staff and students; and simon has presented each of the three campuses. the aim of this awareness raising has been to try and alleviate fears that staff and students might have about the initiative. in addition, simon feels that actively communicating with staff and students is essential to the development of an academic community, where students feel part of something greater than just their programme: “actually much of what is in the greenwich graduate initiative is not new and i think that’s the important element. it is a more focussed way of expressing many of the things we do at the moment which we do without really flagging them up and actually shouting about. it is ensuring that all of our constituents – staff, students and employers – explicitly know what we are about and ensuring that we deliver.” one of the more guided means of implementation has been through the greenwich graduate initiative’s inclusion in the review and approval procedures for programmes. it is therefore embedded in programme design: “greenwich graduates need to be at the forefront of people’s thinking. they are not an afterthought”. in order to do that, the review and approval approaches now require specific mention of the greenwich graduate initiative (university of greenwich, 2011). there have to be “certain things that have to be achieved in order to get your programme through at the next approval event and that has to be real and meaningful. it’s not just a piece of paper that you are ticking”. this kind of approach is necessary in order to assure that the university can develop in areas where there is particular need. simon highlighted the example of employment statistics for the university of greenwich, “our achilles heel”, he said. the greenwich graduate initiative is a way of embedding into a programme on day one what employers are looking for rather than “being a knee jerk reaction to, ‘oh employability’s not very good in our programme at the moment’ what can we add on top’.” a key factor in successful implementation is buy-in from staff and students. for staff this comes through clear and focused priorities that will improve the university where it needs to be improved. for students, this involves “making it very clear to the students what you are trying to achieve, and you indicate to them that, ‘yes, you understand some of their fears’ and this may be a challenge to them in the first instance”. a less-guided means of implementing the initiative was highlighted in a recent survey of university teaching fellows. this showed that staff were undertaking a range of different learning and teaching innovations and experiments in order to introduce the greenwich graduate initiative to their students. simon recognised that the institution needs to be “recognising and valuing more explicitly the innovation that goes on the institution with regards to learning and teaching”. i asked simon how he envisaged such innovation being built on across the university to enhance the student experience, rather than remaining small isolated pockets of interesting practice. he suggested that this was a quality enhancement issue that all universities faced when trying to initiate change. he suggested using teaching fellow and associate teaching fellow networks; giving staff time and confidence to experiment and take risks; rewarding and recognising staff effort; and developing ways for staff from compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 6 different disciplines to creatively work together. simon also highlighted the educational development unit’s role as a critical friend to the schools as a means of supporting change. simon emphasised the 17 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 18 need for staff to have time to think about what they were doing and noted what the freeing up of time might mean in practice: “that probably means that we have to be more confident in stopping doing some things and taking away some of the busyness in order to free up time to think and to look at a new development, and to see how a new development that has been implemented somewhere else could actually be imparted to us.” concluding remarks the greenwich graduate initiative, with its particular greenwich flavour, is part of the university’s commitment to enhancing the student experience. it articulates the values, skills and attributes that, along with disciplinary knowledge, the university is committed to developing within the student body. the implementation of the initiative, through the redesign of review and approval processes that focus on the development of graduate attributes, combined with quality enhancement processes through the educational development unit’s ‘critical friend’ role, will result in more explicit articulation of what a student can expect to develop through a university of greenwich degree programme. such clear articulation is important for potential students, who will receive a better understanding of the opportunities and potential of a university of greenwich education before they arrive. focussed programme design, which foregrounds the development of the attributes across a programme, will ensure that graduates can competently and confidently articulate the impact of their university study. simon, who is a firm believer in the transformative potential of education, sees the greenwich graduate initiative as a means of ensuring that all students achieve to the best of their ability and potential. references barrie, s. (2007) a conceptual framework for the teaching and learning of generic graduate attributes. studies in higher education, 32(4), pp. 439–58. burgess, b. 2007. beyond the honours degree classification – burgess group final report. available at: <www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/publications/documents/burgess_final.pdf> educational development unit, 2010. greenwich graduate, edu briefing paper, 2. available at: <http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/ed/files/2011/10/greenwichgraduateleaflet_final_may20111.pdf> jarvis, s. 2010. greenwich graduate initiative – equipping the next generation of graduates. presentation given to launch the greenwich graduate initiative. available at: <http://bit.ly/gglaunch> qaa enhancement themes. no date. research-teaching linkages – enhancing graduate attributes. available at: <www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-themes/completed-enhancementthemes/researchteaching-linkages> university of greenwich, 2009. university of greenwich – developing an institutional model for embedding academic and transferable skills: overview of higher education academy change academy project. available at: <www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/detail/changeacademy/change_academy_ greenwich_2009> http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/publications/documents/burgess_final.pdf http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/ed/files/2011/10/greenwichgraduateleaflet_final_may20111.pdf http://bit.ly/gglaunch http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-themes/completed-enhancement-themes/research-teaching-linkages http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-themes/completed-enhancement-themes/research-teaching-linkages http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-themes/completed-enhancement-themes/research-teaching-linkages http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/detail/changeacademy/change_academy_greenwich_2009 http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/detail/changeacademy/change_academy_greenwich_2009 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 7 university of greenwich, 2011. university of greenwich qa handbook. unpublished document, university of greenwich. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 tef tiresomely extraneous & flawed? james derounian the teaching excellence framework (tef) is incoming. national teaching fellow, jd, reads the runes. as the times higher education (2016) put it, the “teaching excellence framework will see the government monitoring and assessing the quality of teaching in england’s universities.” good. it is high time that teaching excellence and research excellence were given parity of scrutiny, importance and reward. as i argued in 2015: “let’s start with the bottom line – the money. what is it that contributes in the main to university coffers? the impact of universities on the uk economy, from universities uk, elevates teaching income 2011–12 over that from research: with tuition fees, education grants and contracts accounting for 35% of university income, whilst research generated just 16%” (derounian, 2015). and the uk government’s 2016 tef factsheet asserts, at the start: “teaching excellence matters – not only for students and taxpayers, but also for social mobility – helping to address inequality by allowing students to fulfil their aspirations and progress onto their chosen careers.” well said. and quite right that higher education providers should be accountable, to paying students and taxpayers. quite right too, that qualifications should be available and attainable for individuals regardless of background; and lead them towards fulfilling lives and work. but what lies beneath? and what we discover is a mass of uncertainties. this is even more concerning given that, apparently, the latest version of the tef “reflects the decisions made by the government in response to the technical consultation” (dfe, 2016: 5). what it all boils down to is that he institutions will be initially rated rather like the olympics bronze, silver and gold. tef assessors will be “either experts in teaching and learning in a higher education setting, or students. their role is to assess tef applications and agree provisional outcomes” (ibid, 2016: 52). it’s then down to a panel – similarly made up of teaching and learning experts, students and employers to agree the final tef ratings. english universities “achieving a rating of bronze, silver and gold will receive the full inflationary uplift”: so, they will be able to charge tuition fees of £9,250 per head (ibid, 2016: 6). but how, with any certainty, can you rate an entire university – administration, admissions, student support, different departments and tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 disciplines – and reduce it to a single word – gold, frankincense, silver or, heaven forfend, bronze? pity (all) universities with fantastic teaching departments (let's say medicine, earth science), but also some middling ones (hypothetically, english and sports development) and bad bits (e.g. biology and economics) ... what does an overall medal for a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place signify? yet government sets down that assessors “will be looking for evidence of how far a provider demonstrates teaching and learning excellence across its entire provision.” (ibid, 2016: 36; my underlining). and how – in the first phase – will this blunt assessment “provide better information for students to support them in making informed choices”? given an overall 'medal', how exactly will this help prospective students to choose where to study their particular preferred course? there are positives, however, in terms of government’s recognising that a subsequent “move to subject level will be informed by a series of pilots in year three to test the assessment framework and process at subject level.” (ibid, 2016: 6). as with undergraduate dissertations, so with high policy: smaller-scale piloting and experimentation, accompanied by evaluation, potentially offers safer passage for whatever evolves. the tef begins with undergraduate provision but will, from year four, take in postgraduate assessment as well. and (ibid, 2016: 37) – all to the good – “providers are encouraged to show how they have involved students in preparing the submission.” so, although i personally don’t relish the prospect that “tef awards given in year two will be valid for three years (subject to a provider continuing to meet eligibility requirements)”, this seems fair enough in terms of accountability, currency and enabling students to make better informed choices about universities, departments, and the quality of their provision. and i look forward with relish to he sector institutional culture that “facilitates, recognises and rewards excellent teaching” (ibid, 2016: 21). on the downside, the framework links wonderful teaching to students’ securing professional jobs. student outcomes is one of the measures set down in the tef and, in particular, employment/further study data plus the more focused graduation into highly-skilled employment/further study (from dlhe, destinations of leavers from higher education, returns). but what planet is government on, when the dlhe first destination job census takes place just six months post graduation? a year on would, surely, give graduates at least a fighting chance of moving into (meaningful) jobs? furthermore, what has terrific teaching got to do with job attainment? we lecturers can give our students employability skills – priming them with quality teaching experiences, real-world learning, internships – but we cannot guarantee them decent jobs; there are too many other variables (such as individual personality, commitment, tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 enthusiasm, aptitude) that will persuade an employer to employ a graduate… or not. and what about the general state of the (global) economy? if there is a recession, or jobs are scarce and government is reducing state funding, then, with the best will in the world, university teachers cannot conjure up “highly skilled employment” for graduates (ibid, 2016: 22). gold, for example, requires that “the provider achieves consistently outstanding outcomes for its students from all backgrounds, in particular with regards to retention and progression to highly skilled employment and further study.” (ibid, 2016: 46). so, how does that square with the distance travelled by an individual? that is another tef criterion. for example, an hnd may be a tremendous outcome for a student and demonstrate impressive development and progress, but yet not lead to further study or professional employment. what then? is that deemed a success, or a sub-degree failure? it’s hard to see how achievement of professional jobs (as one criterion) squares with another measure, namely learning “gain and distance-travelled by all students including those entering higher education part-way through their professional lives” (ibid, 2016: 39). it is also uncertain whether the institutional medal awards will run in parallel with subject medals, or whether the whole-university judgement will be superseded by course-level gongs. interestingly, the “devolved administrations have confirmed they are content for providers in wales, northern ireland and scotland to take part in year two, should they wish to do so” (ibid, 2016: 18). what if they don’t “wish to do so”? furthermore, how exactly does “a commitment to widening access and participation” link to teaching excellence (ibid, 2016: 12)? and, taking a broader view, dr. joshua forstenzer at the university of sheffield rightly points out that the “tef ought to reflect higher education’s full range of social purposes”. it’s not just about the economy, or material gain. michael oakeshott, (1950: 30) discussing the idea of a university, specifically warns that “a university needs to beware of the patronage of this world, or it will find that it has sold its birthright for a mess of potage”. oakeshott continues, a “university will have ceased to exist when its learning has degenerated….and when those who came to be taught come, not in search of their intellectual fortune but….desire only a qualification for earning a living or a certificate to let them in on the exploitation of the world.” where are student wellbeing and the idea of universities’ contributing to the growth of decent, compassionate, giving human beings? so what lies beneath? brexit, for example, represents something of an iceberg – large and still hidden in swirling mist, yet potentially damaging to uk student teaching and learning: departing the eu jeopardises a range of collaborations and research projects including the european tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 union’s horizon 2020 programme and the erasmus student exchange scheme. universities, unsurprisingly, are worried. (the conversation, 2016 online). patrick mcghee, assistant vice chancellor at the university of bolton, brings this down to impacts on individual students and believes that “we can surely do better than finding the best teaching, and then increasing the prospective debt of the young people who might benefit most from that teaching.” reference list adams, r. (2016) ‘english universities to be ranked gold, silver and bronze.’ guardian. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/29/english-universities-rankedgold-silver-and-bronze (accessed: 7 october 2016). coman, j. (2016) ‘value for money can’t be the only measure of university.’ observer, 21 august 2016, p. 37. derounian, j. (2015) ‘why does the devil have all the good tunes? how researchers continue to put one over teachers in the he promotion stakes.’ british educational research association, 5 may. available at: https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/why-does-the-devil-have-all-the-good-tunes-howresearchers-continue-to-put-one-over-teachers-in-the-he-promotion-stakes (accessed: 7 october 2016). forstenzer, j. (undated) the teaching excellence framework: what’s the purpose? available at: http://www.crickcentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/tef-whats-the-purpose-bookletjosh-forstenzer.pdf (accessed: 7 october 2016). hm government, department for education (2016) policy paper: tef factsheet. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/550232/teaching -excellence-framework-factsheet.pdf (accessed 7 october 2016). hm government, department for education (2016) teaching excellence framework: year two specification. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/556355/tef_yea r_2_specification.pdf (accessed: 25 november 2016). tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 house of commons, business, innovation and skills committee (2016) the teaching excellence framework: assessing quality in higher education. available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmbis/572/572.pdf (accessed: 7 october 2016). mcghee, p. (2016) ‘will the teaching excellence framework be a licence for universities to raise fees?’ independent, 22 august 2016. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/aug/22/teaching-excellence-frameworkuniversities-tuition-fees-tef (accessed: 10 october 2016). oakeshott, m. (1950) ‘the idea of a university.’ listener, 23-30. available at: https://www.msudenver.edu/media/content/facultyevaltaskforce/sources/oakeshotttheideaofauni versity.pdf (accessed: 8 october 2016). the conversation (2016) ‘insularity is not the way forward’: three university vice-chancellors on brexit; available at: https://theconversation.com/insularity-is-not-the-way-forward-threeuniversity-vice-chancellors-on-brexit-60660 (accessed: 7 october 2016). times higher education (2016) teaching excellence framework (tef): everything you need to know. 4 august 2015. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/teachingexcellence-framework-tef-everything-you-need-to-know (accessed: 7 october 2016). universities uk (2014) the impact of universities on the uk economy. available at: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/documents/2014/theimpactofuniversitiesont heukeconomy (accessed: 7 october 2016). williams, k. (1989) ‘the gift of an interval: michael oakeshott’s idea of a university education.’ british journal of education studies, xxxvii(4), 384-397, november. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3121347?seq=1#fndtn-page_scan_tab_contents (accessed: 7 october 2016). d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf 1 article friend or foe! the professionalisation agenda: teacher educators in the lifelong learning sector (lls) charmaine brown school of education introduction as a teacher educator i am affected by the professionalisation agenda which governs the reforms in initial teacher training (itt) in the lifelong learning sector (lls). the increased number of tasks i am now required to perform has increased significantly from 1990, when i first started training teachers on a range of post-compulsory teaching and professional training programmes. i am now required to meet a set of professional competencies and specific pedagogical skills (generic and specialist) that comply with national standards for teachers and trainers in the sector. this includes recording evidence of professional formation as part of continuous professional development (cpd) to gain qualified teacher learning and skills (qtls) status (institute for learning, 2007). institutions that deliver itt programmes are now instrumental in ensuring that all teacher educators are equipped to train teachers to the required standards governed by the policy initiatives. this paper discusses the paradox that, despite the discussions about professionalisation, many lecturers and teacher trainers interviewed as part of my small scale research in 2009 have experienced a significant deterioration in working conditions. they see the increase in administration as negative not positive and feel that they are being de-skilled. lack of job security is also a major concern, as 90% of the research sample work part-time or on short-term or fixed term contracts. all interviewees concluded that the changes to the sector since incorporation (1992) have ‘proletariarised’ rather than professionaliaed their work status as teachers strive to meet externally set targets. the next section gives an overview of a selection of policies relevant to the professionalisation agenda. equipping our teachers for the future (2004); prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills (2006); the independent review of higher education funding and student finance (2009); and the wolf review (2011) are used as references for issues raised throughout this paper. policy initiatives and their relevance to itt equipping our teachers for the future (2004) has been instrumental in reforming professional standards in itt for lls. the introduction of a new funding regime and the sector skills council, lifelong learning uk (lluk), from april 2007 enabled the review of existing standards and the introduction of additional new national standards initiated by the further education and national training organisation compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 (fento) since 1999. from september 2007, trainee and in-service teachers could apply to gain qualified teacher in learning and skills (qtls) status endorsed by the institute for learning (ifl). the ifl was set up as an independent monitoring body to endorse the professional standards in teachers/ trainers in lls gained through a process of recording evidence for professional formation. qtls aims to ensure that all students in further education (fe) are taught by teachers and trainers who are both experienced in their subject(s) and skilled at teaching. prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills (2006) was introduced by lord leitch as a response to the need to examine the uk’s long-term skills needs. it set out ambitious goals for 2020 which, if achieved, would supposedly make the uk a world leader in skills. the rt hon. dr vince cable mp, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, developed and extended the prerequisites needed to achieve this agenda in the recent review of the sector outlined in skills for sustainable growth (2010). the implications for itt are to ensure that all students in fe are taught by teachers and trainers who are both experienced in their subject and skilled at teaching. the standards verification uk (svuk) endorsement of the pgce at levels 5–7, and the introduction of the master’s in teaching award, is also intended to signal the need to update the required level of national teaching qualifications (pgce) previously endorsed at level 4 by fento (1999). the independent review of higher education funding and student finance (2009) was launched by lord browne. as readers will be familiar, the review was tasked with making recommendations to the government on the future of fees policy and financial support for fulland part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students. the proposals which affect itt state: ● all new academics with teaching responsibilities should undertake a teaching qualification ● new providers will be allowed to offer higher education teaching ● the independent review models an 80% cut in the teaching grant to universities, showing a slight drop in their overall income if all universities charged fees of £6,000pa, and a slight rise if they all charged £7,000pa. the wolf review (2011) was commissioned by the rt hon. michael gove mp, secretary of state for education, to carry out an independent review of vocational education in the uk. wolf’s recommendations on the need for “brilliant vocational teaching” have been warmly received by the ifl as representative of the sector. further recommendations for fe teachers with qtls status to teach in schools would bring the vision of equipping our teachers (dfes, 2004, 5) one step closer to achieving its notion of fe teachers enjoying parity of esteem with school teachers. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 professional identity and the role of the fe teacher in the lls reviews of literature in the field of itt show that recent government initiatives and reports contain the words ‘new professionalism’ and ‘managerialism’ (or variations of them) as themes central to the modernisation of itt in the lls. for instance, robson (1998) describes the complexities of ‘dual professionalism’ as the double layer of skills which fe teachers often possess: the teacher as a specialist in one or more vocational/technical specialist areas combined with another identity of professional teacher. it is therefore possible to identify the notion of the ‘technical /vocational teacher’, who is often very experienced and has built a career in industry, business or commerce in one or more specialist areas, such as art, fashion, administration, built environment, etc. the ifl (2011, 8) has adapted the notion of dual professionalism but presents a continuing professional development (cpd) model which identifies three distinct areas of professional learning: ● vocational and subject-specific knowledge and expertise ● approaches to effective teaching and training ● knowledge of how changes in policy and the local context affect teaching and training. although points 1 and 2 are in line with the trends identified in the reforms, point 3 is an additional requirement influenced by the 2004 reforms implemented from 2007. fento has been instrumental in shaping the initial phase of the professionalisation agenda with regards to standardising the qualifications and training in the sector. since 2001 legislation has required a centralised approach to quality assurance with the endorsement of fento, its successors, lifelong learning uk (lluk) and currently, standards verification uk (svuk). the role of the ifl as an ‘independent’ professional body is compromised due to its remit to support the reforms. the notion of independence is further problematic when the ifl functions as a (government) ‘monitor’ and ‘mediator’ between teaching professionals and central government. a contract culture emerges when relationships between government agencies, institutions and students are tied into funding requirements. contracts are drawn up with the relevant parties who have multiple functions. examples include teacher educators as ‘triple professionals’ who have contracts with training providers to train teachers as part of their institution’s contract with the funders. teachers are also in contractual relationships with their institution, their students and the ifl (through membership). students have contracts with their teachers as representatives of the institution, and also with examination boards etc. the funders have contracts with all parties as justified in the funding methodology. the ifl therefore acts as a ‘broker’ between central government contracts (for goods and services) and itt providers. they in turn contract out their courses to teachers who, in turn, contract out their skills to students to facilitate learning. all participants are required to meet targets that ensure continuity of processes at all levels. diagram 1 presents a model of the interdependent relationships that characterise the contract culture arising from the reforms. it therefore provides a visual illustration of market-led education. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 contract in i f l contract out diagram 1 – 2011 diagram 1 professionalisation v proletarianisation – the teaching workforce in lls the professionalisation agenda embodied in equipping our teachers for the future (2004) is not new. part 1, chapter 1 of the further and higher education act (1992) outlines the introduction of national unitary funding councils such as the higher education funding council (hefc) and the further education funding council (fefc) to centralise the funding of provision in he and fe respectively. the decentralisation of the previous funding mechanisms has increased central government control of the sector. the types of curricula on offer have been radically overhauled with the level of administration required by teachers to comply with the new regulations. the itt curriculum in fe is less focussed on teaching pedagogy and theory about how people learn. moreso, it focuses on complying with the administrative requirements of ofsted and funding bodies. the shift in priority areas of the itt curriculum has concentrated on modules such as classroom management and mentoring teaching strategies rather than teaching pedagogy, theory and self-reflection. funding constraints have also made the itt curriculum more prescriptive. disgruntled teacher educators often complain about the lack of autonomy in contrast to the ifl which has promoted professional autonomy. the critical perspective expounded by bathmaker and avis (2005) draws on a marxist analysis of the government’s position of power in which the teacher is both oppressed and powerless. the inability of successive government ‘think tanks’ to include teacher educators as co-investigators in dialogue with policymakers only makes the notion of consultation with pressure groups such as the university and colleges union (ucu) and association of colleges (aoc) tokenistic. the absence of critical dialogue with policy makers would indicate that teacher educators have been powerless to influence the reforms. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 further evidence of the powerlessness of teacher educators can be linked to the notion of ‘triple professionalism’ discussed in the previous section. it provides an accurate description of the ‘new professional’ teacher caught up in the contract culture of target setting (diagram 1). in order to critically examine this approach the reader needs to focus on the competencies required for successful completion of the pgce. topics such as psychology of learning and teaching, making effective teaching resources and developing specialist teaching areas are subsidiary to the core units. i would argue that the omission of a solid practitioner skills-based training means teachers are ‘less equipped’ to meet learners’ needs. subjects such as pedagogy, being a reflective practitioner, theory and teaching your specialism, belong to an era which preceded the reforms. lacking pedagogy, teacher educators have become teacher trainers focused on training to meet funding requirements. similarly, trainees have less time to engage critically with their own teaching. the professional development record (pdr) records practical elements of teaching and includes target setting to improve practice. the pdr does not contain a section for teacher educators to document models of good practice in practical teaching. it also imposes a maximum of 250 words for trainees to record reflections on teaching practice observations. conclusion – the way forward despite my optimism regarding aspects of the professionalisation agenda, the emphasis on competencybased teacher training has been detrimental to the sector. in this article, i have identified some of the relevant policies that have shaped the reforms, presented arguments to demystify the professionalisation agenda fully operational since 2007, and critically analysed the adverse effects of the reforms. although the ifl claims to be an independent professional body, it provides a unifying function between the government and colleges as illustrated in diagram 1. the ifl has a monitoring role as a ‘broker’ between institutions and teacher trainers who deliver itt. the paper concludes that the changes to the sector since incorporation (1992) have ‘proletariarised’ rather than professionalised teacher educators’ work status. references bathmaker, a-m., and avis, j. (2005) becoming a lecturer in further education in england: the construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice. journal of education for teaching, 31(1), pp. 47–62. browne, x. (2009) the independent review of higher education funding and student finance. department for business, innovation & skills. department for business, innovation & skills (2010) skills for sustainable growth. department for business, innovation & skills. department for education and skills (2004) equipping our teachers for the future: reforming initial teacher training for the learning and skills sector. dfes. leitch (2006) leitch review: prosperity for all in the global economy – world class skills. hmso. robson, j. (1998) a profession in crisis: status, culture and identity in the further education college. journal of vocational education and training 50(4), pp. 585–607. wolfe (2011) review of vocational education –the wolf report. department for business innovation & skill compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 6 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 the 12 apps of christmas: an innovative and effective online student and educator support frances boylan dublin institute of technology abstract the 12 apps of christmas course is a free open online course that has run at the dublin institute of technology, dublin, ireland, in both 2014 and 2015. the 2014 version of this course was aimed specifically at instructors and went on to win the mobile learning division of the international e-learning award (iela) and come joint third-place at the elearning excellence awards run as part of the 14th european conference on elearning. the 2015 iteration was aimed primarily at students of all ages undertaking further education, third-level education and/or postgraduate study, but also included additional supporting information for educators. this case study sets out our experiences of designing and delivering the 2015 iteration of this innovative and effective student and educator support. introduction mobile learning has been defined by the mobile learning network (http://www.molenet.org.uk/) as “the exploitation of ubiquitous handheld technologies, together with wireless and mobile phone networks, to facilitate, support, enhance and extend the reach of teaching and learning.” this definition certainly implies very strongly the potential that mobile technologies, and the mobile learning approach, hold for teaching and learning. however, as chen and denoyelles (2013) discovered when they undertook a study exploring student mobile learning practices at their university, there is a gap between the number of students who own mobile devices and those who use them for academic purposes, and those who do use them for academic purposes do so mostly outside the classroom, with limited guidance from their educators. dahlstrom and bichsel (2014) disagree slightly with this, as they found that “many students use smartphones or tablets for academic purposes”, but agree that “in-class use is still uncommon”, adding that “students are more likely to apply mobile devices to academics when instructors encourage their use in class” (dahlstrom and bichsel, 2014). even though students and educators alike use mobile devices regularly, chen and denoyelles (2013) concluded their study by suggesting that both groups need technical, logistical and pedagogical support in adopting mobile learning, if its effectiveness as an approach to teaching and learning is to improve. with regard to student usage, luckin (2015) concurs with this sentiment, noting that “although students arrive at university comfortable with technology, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it effectively for learning purposes”. since 2013, staff of the learning, teaching and technology centre (lttc)1 at the dublin institute of technology (dit), dublin, ireland, have been supporting educators in one way or another as they explore different mobile technologies and strive to integrate them into their 1 www.dit.ie/lttc http://www.molenet.org.uk/ http://www.dit.ie/lttc case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 teaching, learning and assessment practices. in december 2014, and again in december 20152, they ran a short, free and open online course called the 12 apps of christmas3. the course was advertised both nationally and internationally in an effort to help interested educators and students alike to expand their personal learning networks and to expose them to as many ideas as possible. material was offered to the participants in daily bite-sized chunks, to help them to fit it into their busy schedules. so, ‘twelve apps, over twelve days, for twelve minutes a day’ was how the course was advertised. this case study begins by explaining the challenges faced and the decisions made in designing the course and delivering it, and then uses the participants’ feedback to evaluate it. the study concludes with some final thoughts about measuring the impact of this free online open course. course design and delivery the 12 apps of christmas course 2015 ran each weekday for twelve consecutive weekdays from december 1st. a free website builder called zoho sites was used to build it (accessible now at: http://www.dit.ie/the12appsofchristmasarchive/) and it was licensed under the creative commons license cc by-nc-sa 2.0. a hybrid app, called ‘12appsdit’, was built also and made available for free download from both google play and the ios app store. twitter was used as the main channel of communication during the course, via the dedicated hashtag #12appsdit, but a comments feature was enabled on the website also for those who preferred to engage in that way. following an intensive social media advertising campaign and publicity via national and international learning and teaching networks, 1,967 participants signed up to follow the course from twenty-five different countries. whilst the course was aimed primarily at students and their educators, the registration sheet shows that just over 40% of the participants were students, while 59% noted that they were educators. the remaining 11% was made up of a mix of instructional designers, educational technologists, librarians, assistive technology advisers and parents. over the duration of the course, the participants were introduced to twelve different mobile apps, including onenote, office lens, trello, pocket, if & do, mindmeister, refme, studyblue, cogi, maths apps, flipboard, and piccollage. as so many apps useful for personalising learning are available, it was very difficult to select just twelve to showcase. the course team started by using personal experience of mobile apps to choose those worth sharing; colleagues recommended others; finally, an extensive online search of relevant blogs and newsletters to see what educational technologists, educators and students worldwide were recommending added a few more. various alternatives to the selected daily apps were listed each day too, which provided participants with additional choice. in an effort to be as inclusive as possible, a conscious decision was made to showcase only apps available for both android and ios 2 the 2015 iteration was run in collaboration with dit assistive technology officer trevor boland 3 this course was based on a similar programme devised by chris rowell of regent’s university in london http://www.dit.ie/the12appsofchristmasarchive/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 devices. if the daily app was also available in the windows apps store, or if a showcased app was available via a browser, then the team highlighted these details. it was difficult to know: how much content to include without overwhelming the participants; how to make it relevant to them; how to keep them motivated for twelve whole days. as we had done during the development of the first, 2014, version of the course, we turned yet again to the tpack framework (technological, pedagogical and content knowledge). in order to integrate technology effectively, the framework proposes that there must be an understanding of the relationship between technology, pedagogy and content (see www.tpack.org). directed by this framework, the team made a number of design decisions: 1. to drip-feed content daily: each morning, a new page to be released on the website and on our own app, and participants each to receive a short email, alerting them to the fact that the daily app was now available for review. 2. to deliver via the daily pages a bite-sized piece of information about that day’s mobile app and to design those pages to take no more than twelve minutes a day of each participant’s time to read the information. 3. to provide links to additional information and also short demo videos for those who might want to delve a little deeper. 4. to provide a short additional optional task, so that participants might use the app in a purposeful and structured way and in, some cases, share with the other course participants, via twitter, what they had created. 5. in order to keep the participants motivated and engaged, to gamify a number of the optional tasks and to raffle prizes. the 12 apps of christmas course was designed in the context of social constructivist learning theory and, where possible, opportunities were embedded into the course to facilitate communication in the form of collaboration, resource-sharing and discussion. the daily email reached out to the participants to make them feel included and encouraged them to engage on twitter. for those who did not have, nor wanted to have, a twitter account, the twitter feed was embedded into the website, so that they could follow the discussions there and not miss out. each time there was a competition, entry tweets were archived, using storify, and a link to the ‘story’ was disseminated. as mentioned previously, comments were enabled on the website too, so that participants could be involved there. an evident lack of student engagement with twitter however, apart from when a competition was being run, might be explained by the fact that they were quite busy at that time of the year; or, perhaps, as some of the student twitter accounts appeared to have been only recently set up, with few tweets other than those with #12appsdit, twitter might not have been an application they were either interested in or familiar with. should students be invited to participate in another iteration of this course, such alternative methods of communication and engagement as facebook or snapchat would have to be explored. however, of the 102 educators, librarians and learning technologists etc. who supplied feedback on the course, 36% said that they tweeted to #12appsdit during the course and 43% said that, whether they did or did not post comments or tweets themselves, they learned from reading what others had posted and/or tweeted. http://www.tpack.org/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 to quote olsen (2011), “we need to develop learners who are skilled at personalising their learning, as the changing nature of knowledge means this is a fundamental skill for today’s workforce”. a personalised approach to learning is taken when students and their educators work together to tailor pedagogy, curriculum and the learning environment to cater for each students’ learning needs, and the benefits to this approach include increased engagement, retention and success. the 12 apps of christmas 2015 set out to demonstrate to students how they themselves could harness the power of mobile apps to help them begin to personalise their learning. it also attempted to highlight some small changes that educators could make to their day-to-day teaching and learning practices to begin to create a learning environment that would encourage their students to harness mobile apps in this way. to this end, included on the website was a page written specifically for students, explaining that, when they learn in a way that suits them, they are much more likely to understand and retain new knowledge, and reminding them that, regardless of our preferred learning styles, we all benefit from learning with others, sharing and creating knowledge. that page also set out the following four steps that they would need to follow to start the process of personalising their learning: 1. discover how you learn best, by taking a short inventory that tells you whether you are a visual, auditory, read/write or kinaesthetic learner (vark) and read up on what the result means for you. a link to an online inventory was provided (http://bit.ly/1retoy2; juskeviciene and kurilovas, 2014). 2. take the time to categorise this information under the headings: a. how do you like to access and process information? b. how do you like to engage with that information? c. how do you prefer to express your knowledge and understanding of that information? 3. decide what your immediate and long-term learning goals are, so as to start to take control of your learning. 4. choose tools and technologies that will help you to achieve your learning goals while playing to the strengths of your preferred learning style. this is where the 12 apps of christmas course comes in. furthermore, a page for educators was included on the site, which gave examples of small changes that they could make to their teaching and learning practices to help create a learning environment within which their students could harness the opportunities mobile apps present for personalising learning. each day, the app of the day was evaluated for the participants under each of the vark styles, and within each of those sections the featured app was discussed in terms of how it could support those students to access information, engage with it and express their understanding of it. this information for the auditory learners was provided daily as an audio clip. ways in which that app could facilitate communication and collaboration were also shared. as part of the 12 apps course, professor john traxler, professor of mobile learning at the university of wolverhampton, kindly ran a webinar entitled ‘spoilt for choice’ for all of the participants, during which he shared his insights on mobile technology and its possibilities for http://bit.ly/1retoy2 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 education. a recording of that webinar has been made available, with professor traxler’s permission, as a resource on the course website. evaluating the course with the participants’ permission, a wide range of anonymous data was collected about all aspects of the 12 apps of christmas course. this data was collected via: open and closed questions on the registration form; the comments on the website; website analytics; analytics from our bespoke app; tweets sent that included ‘#12appsdit’; two different post-course feedback surveys, one of which was sent to those who had identified themselves as students, and the other to everyone else who had registered to participate. for the month of december 2015, the month during which the course ran, website analytics show that there was a total of 39,178 page views. the first two days of the course were the busiest, with over 4,500 page views each day. the statistics fluctuated for the remaining ten days, from the lowest, 2,149 views, to a high of 3,778. the site has continued to be accessed into 2016, with january and february having proved to be the busiest months, showing a combined total of 5,342 page views. so far in 2016, there has been a total of 12,876 page views, so the site is living on as a useful resource for all. feedback surveys were sent out to all participants in early march 2016. because the course had run at a very busy time, with many students undertaking exams both before and after christmas at the end of semester one, we chose to delay sending out the two post-course feedback surveys. we wanted to give the students a chance to have started using some of the apps for personalising their learning, and the educators an opportunity to think about how they might encourage their students to start using mobile apps in this way and possibly even integrate some of the apps into their teaching and assessment practices. as a result, however, the response rate was disappointingly low, with responses from just 102 educators and only 38 students. nevertheless, the feedback given was quite insightful. 41% (n=42) of the educators who provided feedback said that they followed the course for the whole twelve days, with a further 50% (n=51) saying that they followed it for some of the days. the main reason given for not following the course every day was workload. 40% (n=41) noted that they had returned to the different pages a number of times during the course and 30% (n=30) that they had returned to the site since the course had ended. 41% (n=42) had gone on to recommend the site as a resource to a colleague, friend or student since the course had ended. interestingly, 28% (n=29) of the educators said that they had already gone on, as a direct result of the course, to make changes to their teaching and/or assessment practices in the three months since the course had run, whilst a further 42% (n=43) said that, though they hadn’t made any changes yet, they planned on doing so in the next academic year. it was also interesting to see that the course had motivated them to start exploring alternative apps; as one participant said, the course “encouraged me to try out similar apps to those presented during the 12 days and compare them. it helped me select which ones were relevant and practical for me and also show a wider range of options to students/faculty”. the participants were also positive about the course as a whole and what it had set out to achieve; one said, “the info on how the apps supported different learning styles was useful. it added an extra dimension for me. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 if asked by a student why they might want to use an app i would feel i could respond with more confidence.” poor wifi was mentioned in 17% (n=18) of the responses given concerning barriers to mobile learning, the integration of mobile apps for learning and the personalisation of learning; a lack of awareness, confidence, time and training were also emphasised. of the thirty-eight students who responded to the question in their survey which asked if the course had been worthwhile, 89.5% said that it had. 70% said that, having followed the 12 apps of christmas course, they would now consider using mobile apps for educational purposes, and 59% had gone on to make some changes to how they approached their study, having read about personalised learning during the course. like their educators, time constraints were mentioned as one of the main reasons for not following all of the course. final thoughts given the free, open and optional nature of this kind of short course that is run online via social media, it is quite difficult to measure, in any accurate way, either the initial or continuing impact it might have had on its participants and beyond. the responses in the feedback surveys did provide some valuable insights, but, as the response rate was very low in this instance, trustworthy inferences as to the overall impact of the course cannot be made. however, some of the participants made contact to share with us how they were using the course and this gave us a glimpse of the kind of extended reach it was having, which, as it turned out, was well beyond our expectations. to give some examples:  a teacher in spain got all of his students to sign up and follow the 12 apps of christmas course as an integral part of their own course effectively, our course was being used as a live, open educational resource (oer) that supplemented their own content, and that was fantastic;  a college in the united kingdom also contacted us to say that it was running a whole mobile learning event around the 12 apps of christmas course a committee had been established, which set up around the college three decorated booths (with, in each, laptops which displayed that day’s app page) and its members actively encouraged the students to take part in the course and engage with the content;  four months after the course finished, a language lecturer in the usa tweeted to #12appsdit to share their institution’s ‘apps at a glance’ project on mobile apps for language learning and attributed the project idea to the structure and content of the 12 apps of christmas course. these examples, along with the survey feedback, do show that the course was of value. it certainly raised awareness amongst educators, students, educational technologists, librarians and parents alike of the potential mobile apps hold for personalising learning; in addition, not only did it offer technical, logistical and pedagogical support to its own participants, it also inspired others to do the same elsewhere. another iteration of this course is planned for december 2016; it will be aimed at educators and educational technologies specifically, rather than at students. nevertheless, the apps that will be case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 showcased may well be of interest to students and other groups, too. a link to the 2016 course will be made available on http://www.dit.ie/the12appsofchristmasarchive/ in november 2016. lessons learned regarding methods of communication and the timing of the feedback survey will be considered during the planning stages. acknowledgement the author would like to acknowledge the work of trevor boland, an assistive technology officer at dit, on the 12 apps of christmas course 2015. reference list chen, b. and denoyelles a. (2013) ‘exploring students' mobile learning practices in higher education.’ available at: http://bit.ly/2avvicc (accessed: 10 august 2016). dahlstrom, e. and bichsel, j. (2014) ecar study of undergraduate students, 2014, 17. available at: https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ss14/ers1406.pdf (accessed: 10 august 2016). juskeviciene, a. and kurilovas, e. (2014) ‘on recommending web 2.0 tools to personalise learning.’ informatics in education, 13(1), 17–31. luckin, r. (2015) jisc-sponsored supplement from times higher education, 29 october 2015. available at: http://digital.timeshighereducation.co.uk/jiscsupplement2015/html5/index.html?page=1 (accessed: 25 july 2016). olsen, r and ideaslab (2011) ‘understanding pedagogies for contemporary teaching & learning: an ideaslab white paper.’ available at: http://bit.ly/1wn2pdu (accessed: 10 august 2016). http://www.dit.ie/the12appsofchristmasarchive/ http://bit.ly/2avvicc https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ss14/ers1406.pdf https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ss14/ers1406.pdf http://digital.timeshighereducation.co.uk/jiscsupplement2015/html5/index.html?page=1 http://bit.ly/1wn2pdu opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 academic writing: is there such a thing as ‘university-level’ punctuation? mark betteney university of greenwich abstract this opinion piece makes connections between common strategies currently being deployed in primary schools and a growing perception amongst lecturers that a significant minority of undergraduate students have difficulty with punctuation, a difficulty which can render their written submissions very hard to read. this piece offers possible explanation, citing the ‘punctuation pyramid’ and considering the long-term effects of a primary education policy that encourages primary-aged children to ‘up-level’ their writing, a practice which many students bring to their undergraduate studies. keywords: punctuation, up-levelling, adult literacy, primary education policy introduction while marking written submissions at a range of levels, all lecturers, tutors and supervisors across higher education will at some point, i am sure, have experienced a tension. the content of the work being marked is sound (insightful, even), but the sentence construction is very weak and thus, in the mind of the marker, arises the inevitable question: ‘can this submission attract a pass grade?’ often, the source of the problem is either a lack of punctuation or – more commonly – the misuse of punctuation. this article argues that a factor contributing to this malaise is the direct, if unintended, long-term consequence of a particular aspect of primary education practice: the ‘punctuation pyramid’. despite a long and diligent search, i have found no person or body claiming copyright over this pyramid, but it is a prominent addition to any primary school classroom: many versions of it are available, each visually different, but all identical in content. the pyramid presents a cumulative hierarchy of punctuation, which children are encouraged to master. it functions like wilson’s (2009) criterion scale, which was a method of assessing children’s writing in accordance with criteria-referenced levels, though wilson’s original scale included much broader aspects of writing than punctuation alone. in primary schools today, children are encouraged to refer to the punctuation pyramid, both to see the progress they are making in their punctuation journey and, by choosing to insert into their completed first draft alternative or additional punctuation from higher up the pyramid, to ‘up-level’ their work. in visual form, the punctuation pyramid compellingly announces that (for example) a hyphen is two levels 'better' than a comma; that brackets are more advanced than speech marks. the ambitious writer will therefore be inclined to replace one with the other, often unaware of the effect that that might have on meaning. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 various pyramids dealing with different aspects of writing are available to primary school children. mcdonald (2016) critiques the current policy, openly applied in many primary schools which requires children, after they have written a sentence or paragraph, to up-level their writing, perhaps by using words deemed to be more powerful than the ones they originally selected. pyramids are often provided to help children (triangles populated with words or examples, very simple at the top, moving to examples of greater complexity and ambition further down), with the intention of raising writing scores (barrett, 2014). mcdonald argues that this policy leads directly to "a reductionist approach to language whereby the actual meaning of the sentence is secondary to the technical feature being used" (mcdonald, 2016: 19). mcdonald gives the example of the sentence ‘the cat sat on the mat.’, which, up-levelled, might become: ‘the cat slept quietly on the mat.’, a sentence which has had its meaning changed in the interests of more powerful, yet contextually inappropriate, vocabulary. mcdonald (2016) thus makes the point that children are taught to use powerful or premiership vocabulary almost arbitrarily in order to 'improve' their writing. this opinion piece argues that the same kind of teaching approach, applied to punctuation, can lead directly to indiscriminate use of ‘premiere’ punctuation, for effect. punctuation and meaning the misuse or non-use of punctuation may well serve to change intended meaning. for example, rosen (1995:40) famously showed how ‘the butler stood at the door and called the guests’ names.’ contrasts sharply with ‘the butler stood at the door and called the guests names.’ similarly, the omission of the comma in the question ‘shall we eat, grandma?’ gives us a most alarming suggestion. as for the importance of the full stop, ‘i am sorry you cannot come with us.’ conveys a very different message from ‘i am sorry. you cannot come with us.’ punctuation use is not an exercise in technical mastery of high and low levels, yet, to a child, the pyramid’s message is apparently clear and unambiguous: ‘brackets are more advanced than speech marks’. however, it is patently absurd to suggest to a child that written dialogue will be superior if the lower-level inverted commas are replaced with higher-level brackets! the pyramid gives the impression that a high-level writer will need to demonstrate high-level punctuation. by the time that writer goes to university, it stands to reason that s/he will need a very high level of punctuation indeed. ironically, books on academic literacy at university level usually have very little to say about punctuation, leaving the student who wishes to self-improve rather bereft of help and information. of five regularly-borrowed books from the libraries of the university of greenwich (bailey, 2015; solomon, 2013; brandt, 2009; gillett et al, 2009; levin, 2004), only two (bailey and gillett et al) make overt reference to punctuation – and these two together dedicate only three pages to the subject. given that these five books have a combined output of over 1,150 pages focused upon academic writing, the compelling assumption must be that, amongst writers of books on academic literacy, correct punctuation by students is taken for granted. we who mark the essays know differently. education policy the drive to use impressive vocabulary and punctuation is symptomatic of the tendency of successive governments to elevate knowledge over skills when formulating education opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 policy. for example, morgan (2015) stated the following when presenting education policy after the publication of a new national curriculum (dfe, 2014). "at the heart of our reforms has been a determination to place knowledge back at the core of what pupils learn in school. for too long our education system prized the development of skills above core knowledge" (rt. hon. nicky morgan, secretary of state for education, 27th january 2015). most primary school teachers would agree that education philosophies at either end of the pedagogical 'skills versus knowledge' spectrum do not lead to a balanced education for children. carr (2009) observes that, although the drivers of educational policy may hold binary views as to the ‘best’ form of education of educational philosophy, teachers tend not to advocate skills over knowledge, or vice versa. children need both. the long-term effects of ‘up-levelling’ punctuation the following responses were taken from individual developmental tutorials i conducted after a recent formative essay submission during an induction week, where weak or eccentric punctuation in each student's work was discussed. the responses demonstrate how each of these students had the ‘know-of’’ about punctuation, but did know have the ‘know-how’ to go with it. kate: i was terrified when i handed that essay in. i wanted it to be good enough for university. i wanted to impress, so i used grown-up punctuation. femi: i really, really did not want to fail my very first essay. i wanted to write at a proper standard. i’ve never used colons before. i thought it might help. andrea: i’d read other students' essays. there’s four of us who are friends. we showed each other what we had done, and they’d all used posh words and lots of punctuation, so i did too. the strategy adopted by kate, femi and andrea – to use punctuation to impress – demonstrates that, though they may know of various forms of punctuation, they lack the skill to punctuate appropriately. such liberal application of punctuation marks, without understanding of how each works, is an error common to a significant minority of our undergraduate students. our current undergraduate students are, in part, the product of their primary education and, although they know about the hierarchy of punctuation, they do not necessarily know what to do with that information. they have been taught that a hierarchy of punctuation exists, but a proportion of them, in pursuit of 'better' writing, uses that hierarchy indiscriminately. conclusion the most meaningful outcome of my tutorials with kate, femi and andrea was that they all left my office unencumbered by their previously strongly-held, but errant, notion that now that they were at university they were required to be impressive in their use of punctuation and vocabulary. i am of the view that we would, during induction, do our students a great service were we to teach and assure them that an essay is an exercise in clarity, not in literary gymnastics. the implication of the punctuation pyramid is that ‘complex is best’, but if opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 students arrive at university still labouring under this misconception, they may well find that their experiences, progress and grades will suffer accordingly. mcdonald (2016) concludes by saying: "introducing children to new words which they did not know before is ... powerful [but] this needs to be done in a context" (p.20). the same is true of punctuation. in all aspects of writing, primary-aged children and university students alike would do well to value, master and utilise the humble and the appropriate, rather than misapply the seemingly impressive. that strong yet simply-punctuated sentences are preferable to unnecessarily complex ones is advice that needs to be voiced during induction; it will be received with relief by most students. reference list bailey, s. (2015) academic writing: a handbook for international students. abingdon, uk: routledge. barrett, s. (2014) ‘empowering young writers.’ in: bower, v. (ed.) developing literacy 0-8 from theory to practice. london uk: sage. brandt, c. (2009) read, research, write: academic skills for esl students in higher education. london uk: sage. carr, w. (2009) adopting an educational policy. the occasional address to participants in the faculty of education graduation ceremony. wagga wagga, australia: charles sturt university. department for education (2014) the national curriculum in england. framework document london: crown copyright gillet, a., hammond, h. and martala, m. (2009) successful academic writing. harlow, uk: pearson education. mcdonald r. (2016) ‘making effective language choices.’ english 4-11, 58. ukla. morgan, n, (2015) the importance of a knowledge-based curriculum, and a vision for education. winter address at the carlton club, london, january 2015. rosen m. (1995) walking the bridge of your nose. london: kingfisher. solomon, g. (2013) just write it! how to develop top-class university writing skills. maidenhead, uk: open university press. wilson r. (2009) the criterion scale. (andrell education ltd, accredited by edge hill university.) available at: http://satspapers.org/resources/levellingwriting/criterion%20scale.pdf (accessed: 06th april 2017) http://satspapers.org/resources/levellingwriting/criterion%20scale.pdf technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 kahoot! – game-based student response system gemma m boden, lindsay hart university of greenwich abstract some 76% of adults own a personal smartphone (ofcom, 2017) and, whilst such hardware was initially viewed as a nuisance in the classroom, many universities are now promoting the use of mobile technology as a teaching and learning aid. substituting the traditional test paper with interactive mobile quizzing can be seen as a twenty-first century advance in pedagogical methods, both engaging the learner and enhancing the student experience. within this paper, the authors examine the use of a popular mobile gaming application – kahoot! – and discuss the merits of implementing its use in higher education. introduction kahoot! is a game-based student response system (gbsrs), the application of which transforms the classroom into the format of a game show. via a laptop or pc, the teacher presents questions on the classroom screen and students answer them by means of their mobile devices. in comparison to paper quizzes and traditional, simple student response systems (srs), the use of gbsrs, it has been suggested, produces greater student engagement and more enjoyment, concentration and motivation (wang, zhu and satere 2016). similarly, results from the five-year study by salaz-morera, arauzo-azofra and garcia-hernández (2011) revealed that such interactive quizzes as kahoot! had a positive impact on student learning and that students particularly valued the inclusion of such activities in their programme. kahoot! uses bright colours and a combination of graphics and music to build anticipation. wang (2015) says that a primary focus of kahoot! is the emphasis on ‘learning through playing’. this design approach encompasses the ideology of the creators, who wish to make learning more enjoyable. certainly, results from the study by wang (2015) revealed that many students became more involved and could better refocus their attention when their lectures included a fun element. features and applications comprehensive help and guidance is available on the kahoot! website to aid the novice user. however, the simplicity of kahoot! means that creating quizzes is fairly selfexplanatory. indeed, its ease of use was commended in the recent study by ismail and mohammad (2017). there is no payment option or upgrade, as one version is available to all. joining is incredibly simple: within teacher mode, a sign-in from a recognised email account is required, whilst the student simply enters a unique pin on her/his personal mobile device. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 each quiz can be designed and created to assess, in a flexible way, the knowledge of students in a group. by deploying the quiz at the beginning of the classroom session, the teacher can introduce a topic and assess prior knowledge, so determining where the focus of the session should be directed (fotaris et al., 2016). conversely, using kahoot! at the end of a session gives scope for reviewing key lecture points and also assessing how much the students have learned (wang, 2015). at login, there are four choices for the user: teacher, student, workplace and social, each with a discrete set of features appropriate to the respective user. when ‘teacher’ is selected, the user assumes control of the game and activates the quiz, generating a unique pin which in turn opens the quiz for the participants. for the duration of the quiz, the teacher has control of the pace, facilitating breaks for further discussion, explanation or debate. a teacher or teaching team can create the quiz at any time, since specific topics and a range of pre-prepared options have been made available by the kahoot! community. with multiple-choice answers displayed on her/his mobile device’s screen, all the student has to do is touch a selection to log it. the teacher uses a pre-set timer to stipulate response time. consequently, from the number of responses displayed on the teacher’s view, it’s possible to check that all students have answered. the leaderboard, listing the top five competitors after each question, encourages engagement and promotes an atmosphere of healthy competition. an additional attractive feature for the student is the option to compete under a pseudonym, allowing anonymity for the modest or the shy. how can this quiz be used in practice? the features and functions of kahoot! can enhance the teaching and learning experience in a positive manner:  conclusions drawn by bester and brand (2013) from their research into the use of technology in the classroom indicate that such methodology is now essential and teachers should be less reluctant to embrace it. creating and applying kahoot! quizzes is so easy that teachers who are less experienced with technology or are apprehensive about using it may find encouragement in adopting this straightforward means of engaging students.  results from a kahoot! session can be downloaded to a spreadsheet for the teacher to highlight problematic questions and identify students who may be struggling.  a function called ‘ghost mode’ allows students to play against their last attempt and aim to beat their previous score.  quizzes can be shared between colleagues across different sites.  kahoot! has been used successfully in real-time sessions, with students submitting relevant topic-based questions for the entire class to undertake. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 identified strengths and weaknesses of kahoot! the table below exhibits the internal strengths and weaknesses of kahoot!, as well as the external opportunities and threats. table 1: swot analysis strengths  attractive, colourful interface  encourages active participation  completely free  multiple question styles  easy-to-create quizzes  allows the shy student to answer questions without embarrassment  shapes are used to accommodate any student with colour vision impairment weaknesses  aware of an expectation for quick response, students may guess or answer questions without thorough consideration  noise generated when large groups of students become excited  students without a device are not monitored  being ranked on performance does not appeal to all students opportunities  can be used on most browsers; app available but not essential  enables social interaction and discussions between class members  tagging kahoot! quizzes can further discussion and sharing via social media sites  a bank of quizzes is available for adaptation threats  limits on characters allowed per question: ninety per question; sixty per answer  if connection is lost, user will lose track of progress  cannot be embedded within slides without use of third party provider student views other quizzing platforms exist, such as socrative and quizdom. however, informal student feedback gathered from undergraduate students on our programme indicated a preference for kahoot!, based on user experience and enjoyment. this is certainly consistent with our personal observation: during the course of a game involving these students, energy and enthusiasm within the room were almost tangible, competitive personalities were revealed and social interaction increased – and even involved the quieter and more reserved students. conclusions in times of financial constraints, the fact that kahoot! is a free resource makes it an appealing prospect for incorporation into all levels of teaching. the bright interface and lively music engage and motivate students: our personal impression, from observing groups of up to fifty-seven undergraduates engaged in kahoot! activities, is of an instant surge of energy technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 in the room, avid participation, light-hearted banter and competition. consequently, one thing to bear in mind when using kahoot! is to be prepared for increased classroom noise! reference list bester, g. and brand, l. (2013) ‘the effect of technology on learner attention and achievement in the classroom.’ south african journal of education, 33(2). fontaris, p., mastoras, t., leinfellner, r. and rosunally, r. (2016) ‘climbing up the leaderboard: an empirical study of applying gamification techniques to a computer programming class.’ electronic journal of e-learning. 14(2), 107. ismail, muhd. a-a. and mohammad, j. a-m. (2017) ‘kahoot: a promising tool for formative assessment in medical education.’ education in medicine journal, 9(2). available at: http://eduimed.usm.my/index.php/eimj/article/view/521 (accessed: 7 august 2017) kahoot! (2017) platform website. available at: https://kahoot.com/ (accessed: 6 august 2017). ofcom (2017) research and data. available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/aboutofcom/latest/media/facts (accessed: 24 january 2018). salas-morera, l., arauzo-azofra, a. and garcía-hernández, l. (2012) ‘analysis of online quizzes as a teaching and assessment tool.’ journal of technology and science education (jotse), 2(1). wang, a. (2015) ‘the wear out effect of a game-based student response system.’ computers and education, 82. wang, a., zhu, m. and saetre, r. (2016) ‘the effect of digitizing and gamifying quizzing in classrooms.’ available at: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=23&sid=ba51a26f-6467-44ffac77-a9dda4fafa01%40sessionmgr4006 (accessed: 7 august 2017). http://eduimed.usm.my/index.php/eimj/article/view/521 https://kahoot.com/ https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/facts https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/facts http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=23&sid=ba51a26f-6467-44ff-ac77-a9dda4fafa01%40sessionmgr4006 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=23&sid=ba51a26f-6467-44ff-ac77-a9dda4fafa01%40sessionmgr4006 compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 7 no 11, 2015 first published in 2016 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich malcolm ryan, independent critical friend james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series lynne jump, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich sarah crofts, independent critical friend paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich reviewers monika pazio, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities, university of greenwich ed de quincey, keele university ray stoneham, faculty of architecture, computing & humanities, university of greenwich compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 managing editor karen smith, educational development unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit advisory board patrick ainley, school of education ian mcnay, school of education simon walker, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering paul dennison, educational development unit mark ingham, school of architecture, design & construction lucie pollard, school of science lynne jump, school of health & social care ed de quincey, school of computing & mathematical sciences malcolm ryan, school of education james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 editors simon walker, educational development unit patrick ainley, school of education ian mcnay, school of education karen smith, educational development unit editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit editorial board alec coutroubis, school of engineering paul dennison, educational development unit ed de quincey, school of computing & mathematical sciences mark ingham, school of architecture, design & construction lucie pollard, school of science lynne jump, school of health & social care malcolm ryan, school of education james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series untitled 1 food for thought: exploring students’ perspectives of assessment and feedback case studies rita headington, hetty barron, michael smith and duncan callnon university of greenwich, school of education introduction this article reports on a case study exploring the students’ perspective of assessment and feedback. the staff-student project discussed took place in 2010 and has since led to developments within the ba primary education (qualified teacher status) at the university of greenwich. the background the national student survey (nss) has repeatedly shown student dissatisfaction with ‘assessment and feedback’ (hefce, 2011) across the higher education (he) sector. despite criticism of the nss as a means of providing useful information (cheng and marsh, 2010), its place in key information sets documentation has raised the status of the nss for he providers. five nss questions explore students’ views of assessment criteria, the fairness of assessment arrangements and marking, the promptness and detail of feedback received and whether feedback has helped to clarify their understanding. in their address at the university of greenwich, nicol and owen (2008) commented on the importance of improving the quality of assessment and feedback practice overall rather than focusing on the improvement of nss statistics. with others (e.g. rust et al., 2005), they advocated a social constructivist approach to he assessment practices; moving from an emphasis on summative assessment for the purpose of certification alone (assessment of learning), to giving greater prominence to formative assessment, feedback and self-regulation (assessment for learning) (sadler, 1989; black and wiliam, 1998; hattie and timperley, 2007). as boud (2010) remarked, universities have focused on ‘what students have achieved, rather than what they can achieve’. the problem within this scenario, tutors in the department of primary education developed practices to enhance the quality of provision in this area based on their working knowledge of assessment for learning in the schools’ sector (department for education (dfe), 2011). they shared learning outcomes and discussed assessment criteria with students. tutors also recognised that problems existed within the programme. assignments were not always returned in time for students to use feedback for their next submission and some assignments were due for submission on the same day. however external examiners regularly praised the quality of written assignment feedback and the systems in place to provide consistency of practice between markers. tutors’ and students’ evaluations seemed to indicate a mis-match between the views each group compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 held of assessment and feedback practices. nss scores in this area remained consistently disappointing for the programme. what we did to investigate the perceived mis-match, a collaborative tutor-student ‘dragons’ den’ project was run by and for undergraduate students in 2010 to explore students’ perspectives of the assessment and feedback they experienced within the programme. the project was developed and run by a team comprising three members of staff (project leader, staff/student liaison and researcher) and five student ambassadors. a world café (2011) approach, which aids the facilitation of large-group discussion, was chosen as a means of learning more about students’ perspectives through ‘conversations that matter’ (brown and isaacs, 2005), as it involves and values participants and gives them an opportunity to influence future developments (sheldon and burke, 2010). this approach has been used in the university to explore key themes in an informal atmosphere but is not without its problems. appropriately timed events, a relaxed atmosphere and the availability of participants is fundamental, but outcomes rest on the clarity of the questions asked, the skills of those leading the discussions and the experiences and the points raised by those who choose to attend. the world café offers insight rather than a definitive response. the world café events four statements/questions were designed by the project team to provoke discussion. they were derived from the nss assessment and feedback statements and based on local need: “i prefer to be assessed by…” “i like to get feedback from…” “how do you feel about, or use, success criteria1?” “feedback is most useful to me when...” three world café events were organised to coincide with students’ availability before or after whole cohort lectures. the student ambassadors took responsibility for these events and prepared by grouping tables, placing paper tablecloths with pens and one of the above statements/questions on each table and organising refreshments for participants. when students arrived the ambassadors explained the discussion activity, the use of the tablecloths as note pads and the need for participants to circulate between tables and discussion themes. ambassadors took the role of group moderators, staying at tables to provoke or summarise discussion. staff organised rooms and refreshments and advertised the events but did not attend them as their presence may have inhibited discussion. sixty students attended the world café events, from a population of some 340. the annotated tablecloths were passed onto the project’s researcher who transcribed the comments and analysed them by identify emerging themes. findings were discussed with the ambassadors who provided additional insight into the context of discussions and the meaning of students’ written comments. from this a draft report was written, agreed with ambassadors and presented to the project team. 1 success criteria: statements used to help identify when learning has been successful. these are a feature of assessment for learning in primary education, see dfe (2011). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 what we found the main findings were in the four areas of timeliness of feedback, clarity in feedback, personalised feedback and assessment strategies. firstly, students wanted feedback to occur during the learning process when ideas were fresh in their minds, enabling the connections between feedback and learning through formative dialogue (hattie and timperley, 2007; nicol, 2010). students commented that this level of feedback occurred regularly during school-based placements, through contextualised discussions with their school-based mentors and university-based link tutors, but that this practice did not translate easily into the assignment submission process. marking and quality assurance requirements appeared to create distance between submission and feedback. the timing of assignments was also considered problematic. bringing into focus black and wiliam’s (1989) findings in this area, students said they wanted sufficient time between feedback from one assignment and submission of the next to enable them to reflect on the feedback received and consider how to use it in later assignments. secondly, to support their development students said they wanted greater clarity in their feedback, suggesting it should be closely linked to success criteria, with clear targets for improvement and the specification of ‘next steps’. this has resonance with sadler (1989) who stated that, “feedback needs to provide information specifically relating to the task or process of learning that fills a gap between what is understood and what is aimed to be understood”. students perceived such detailed and targeted feedback to be more evident within school-based placements than in the academic element of their studies. thirdly, it was apparent that students valued the one-to-one nature of the feedback they received on school based placement. they recognised the difficulties of replicating such personalised feedback within the university context but felt that tutors should be available to discuss their feedback when work is handed back. lastly, students wanted assessment strategies to move beyond written coursework to encapsulate activities they considered to be more authentic to the teaching profession, such as presentations, oral assessments and practical teaching activities. one particular comment stated that the strategies should assess students ‘ability to teach rather than just abstract theory’. this remark encapsulated the main finding that emerged from analysis of the world café discussions; that students were separating their school-based placement and academic studies rather than seeing direct inter-relationship between them, with the latter providing a theoretical underpinning for their work as teaching professionals. food for thought the project team’s findings and emerging themes were disseminated to tutors at the july 2010 departmental development day. to supplement this, the student ambassadors shared the annotated tablecloths with tutors and expanded on issues identified by the world café participants. the students’ perspectives gave tutors particular food for thought about the interplay between the academic and school-based elements of the programme. although tutors had recognised some assignments were poorly timed they had not fully acknowledged the detrimental impact this had on the students’ learning experiences, especially where formal opportunities to gain formative feedback did not exist in a course. this did not apply in school-based placements where formative assessment features regularly, building to a summative end-point assessment. similarly, although the quality of academic written feedback met with the approval of examiners it did not always provide students with the opportunity to understand and apply it to future assignments across a compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 range of courses. conversely, students were able to make immediate use of the feedback they received in placements and, due to its nature as mainly oral, contextualised and developmental, they could see immediate relevance and application. how the findings were used tutors discussed the findings and determined that developments were needed in relation to assignment feedback and students’ professional development and two working groups were formed to develop practice in these areas. the first group redesigned the assignment feedback sheets and explored how assessment and feedback could be emphasised as a process, rather than a product, to aid understanding. the group determined to involve students in this process by asking them to identify areas where they would like specific feedback and making greater use of assessment criteria descriptors. it recommended that descriptor grids (showing expectations of each assessment criterion at each degree classification level) be developed and used in every course. these would not only form the basis for consistent marking between tutors but would be shared with students to increase levels of transparency and mirror similar practices within school-based placement assessment. through a range of activities, students would be given a greater understanding of, and involvement in, academic standards applied throughout the three levels of the degree. students would be able to examine the grids to determine how to improve the quality of their work; encouraging greater self regulation in their learning. the group also recommended overt reference to different types of feedback be used within courses and an analysis of assessment practices at programme level undertaken to avoid same day submissions and ensure students had sufficient time to use the feedback from one assignment to inform the next. the second group explored the role of a professional development course in helping students to use their feedback and make more effective use of tutor availability. the group recommended sessions, of two personal tutors and their 16-18 tutees, be timetabled in each year of the degree. the sessions would have a different focus each year whilst requiring students to critique their feedback from all academic assignments and school-based placements in respect of their academic progress and the ‘qualifying to teach’ standards (training and development agency for schools, 2011). it was felt this would encourage students to view their professional development as active and serve to emphasise the relationship between the theoretical and practical aspects of the programme. the course would require students to consider their progress as reflective practitioners who are able to appraise their work, determine actions and track their achievements, ultimately preparing them for the professional experience of teaching. the work-group’s recommendations were presented and agreed at department meetings to inform the 2010–11 academic year. to ‘close the loop’, and ensure that students recognised the value of their world café event contributions, the student ambassadors disseminated the project’s findings from the events and the department’s consequent actions to all student cohorts during autumn 2010. closing thoughts although the project has given insight into the students’ perspective of assessment and feedback and led to developments in practice, there is recognition that more work is necessary. the staff and students’ perspectives and the programme requirements will change. the developments identified are not faultless and will, in due course, need to be reviewed and revised. but the project has provided us with a cycle of activity that has enabled students’ perspectives to be identified and used to develop their experiences of assessment and feedback. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 5 acknowledgements we wish to acknowledge the university of greenwich’s innovation funding which provided funding for this project. references black, p., and wiliam, d. (1998) assessment and classroom learning. assessment in education: principles, policy & practice, 5 (1), pp.7–74. boud, d. 2010. the new assessment agenda: equipping students for the continuing challenges of learning and assessment. keynote address at, assessment and feedback conference. university of salford, 6 july 2010. [online]. available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1kcnsrz_rc [accessed 7 november 2011]. brown, j., and isaacs, d. (2005) the world café: shaping our futures through conversations that matter. san francisco: berrett-koehler. cheng, j.h.s., and marsh, h.w. (2010) national student survey: are differences between universities and courses reliable and meaningful? oxford review of education, 36 (6), pp. 693–712. dfe. 2011. assessment for learning. [online]. available at: webarchive.nationalarchives.gov. uk/20100612050234/nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/primary/primaryframework/ assessment/dafl/lt/d2da [accessed 7 november 2011]. hattie, j., and timperley, h. (2007) the power of feedback. review of educational research, 77, p. 81. hefce. 2011. national student survey. [online]. available at: www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/nss/ [accessed 7 november 2011]. nicol, d., and owen, c. 2008. transforming assessment and feedback: a blueprint for change. assessment and feedback project workshop. university of greenwich, london, 7 march 2008. nicol, d. (2010) from monologue to dialogue: improving written feedback in mass higher education. assessment and evaluation in higher education. 35 (5), pp. 501–517. rust, c., o’donovan, b., and price, m. (2005) a social constructivist assessment process model: how the research literature shows us this could be best practice. assessment and evaluation in higher education, 30 (3), pp.231–240. sheldon, k., and burke, c. (2010) encouraging workplace innovation using the ‘world cafe’ model. nursing management, 17 (7), pp. 14–19. sadler, r. (1989) formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. instructional science, 18, pp. 119–144. tda. 2011 qualifying to teach: professional standards for qualified teacher status. [online]. available at: www.tda.gov.uk/training-provider/itt/qts-standards-itt-requirements/guidance/qts-standards.aspx [accessed 7 november 2011]. world café. 2011. [online]. available at: www.theworldcafe.com/method.html [accessed 7 november 2011]. d6601-12 june 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1kcnsrz_rc http://www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/nss/ http://www.tda.gov.uk/training-provider/itt/qts-standards-itt-requirements/guidance/qts-standards.aspx http://www.theworldcafe.com/method.html editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 welcome to the thirteenth issue of compass: journal of learning and teaching! this issue of compass explores some potent themes including the philosophical and practical defence of some traditional features of higher education; issues of student and staff training and development in a sino-english university context; and measures (especially with technological assistance) to overcome student underperformance and drive achievement. the papers here emphasise a commitment, enthusiasm and determination to create higher education learning environments that enhance individual progress, help with the development of readily transferable skills to the working world, and contribute significantly to personal development. after a brief tour of the shift during recent years from higher education’s earlier discrete academic identity to its current amalgamation with further education, forming what is globally termed ‘tertiary education’, one opinion piece by patrick ainley considers the present undervaluing of ‘academic’ pursuits against the trend, especially in business-related study, towards provision of pre-vocational training for a working world without secure employment or identifiable professions. another opinion piece by russell crawford similarly defends the traditional, this time in the form of the lecture. the piece suggests that with skilled planning and delivery, the lecture provokes learners to engage mentally with ideas, information and analysis. crawford is concerned that staff new to the profession may, because of the prevailing dismissive attitude of those with ‘chuunibyou’, be led to ignore, or avoid trying, this very potent teaching tool. an investigation into the challenges and problems facing student representatives of the ‘learning community forum’ (lcf) at the university of nottingham ningbo china by claudia françois, filippo gilardi, dunant halim, thomas hirzel, and k cohen tan considers two internal case studies. since this university values student ‘voice’ very highly, the quality and relevance of feedback is crucial to achieving institutional and educational change; there are therefore implications for the training of student representatives. empowerment of the representatives was enhanced by means of the nottingham advantage award, which helped to overcome barriers to their involvement by recognising their contribution to teaching and learning and by providing training to develop such skills as leadership and communication, readily transferable to future employment. a further insight into sino-english institutions is provided in a case study by henk huijser, james wilson, dawn johnson, and jianmei xie. to put much more emphasis upon the enhancement of learning and teaching and to enable a more organic, bottom-up approach to continuous professional development (cpd), a communities of practice (cops) model has been introduced and monitored. having carefully clarified the rationale for this model, the paper considers such challenges as the scepticism of departmental heads and very varied staff perceptions of learning and teaching. the authors suggests that no two cops are ever the same and that therefore the model is ideal for adaptation to discrete contexts, though the essential aim of organisational and structural cpd may be common to all. the paper gives a fascinating account of the process followed at this university, with individual lead roles created in faculties (‘clusters’) to move each cop forward; when institutional management creates the conditions for editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 cops to flourish, they may thrive, and though progress to date has been variable here, the expectation is that remaining barriers will be overcome. the persistent failure of students to complete directed reading is the focus of a case study by arron phillips and martin compton, which reports on the seven-week trial of whole-class qualitative quiz questions to stimulate preparatory reading. the authors suggest that prevailing staff anticipation and acceptance of ‘non-compliance’ (with compensatory measures thus implemented in teaching sessions) as well as student undervaluation of set reading serve to compound the problem. the case study carefully surveys previous research and its findings, which provide a wealth of reasons for students’ avoidance of preparatory reading; it also indicates the potential of quizzes to stimulate a more positive response. the trial conducted produced sufficient evidence to support the latter and the authors helpfully provides some thought-provoking points for academics when setting preparatory reading for their students. chris little provides a balanced view of relevant research through a technological review of the student response system (srs) mentimeter. with its time-saving and convenient application via student mobile devices, the author’s personal experience of student engagement when mentimeter is deployed confirms reported evidence of srs value. provision of instant feedback about both learning and teaching, capacity for customisable features and versatile presentation of the data are mentimeter’s particular strengths, but the review includes an objective swot analysis to assess its weaknesses, too. little provides a summary of its possible uses in student sessions and concludes with a very positive endorsement of its potential. a second focus on technological development with assessment benefits is provided in an opinion piece by ray stoneham recommending such video recording and management systems, integrated with virtual learning environments, as panopto with moodle. stoneham regards the ability to create a screencast or video for assessment purposes as an essential digital literacy skill for all university students. the platform, they confirm, makes marking and feedback simple and effective; file size is no longer a barrier; recording is easy and uploading is automated. furthermore, though normally a student can see only her/his own recording and feedback, visibility can be extended for peer assessment or group access. usefully, students can also produce video cvs or online demonstrations for prospective employers to view. lecturers already familiar with such systems for their own practice will be readily able to provide context-specific feedback and make both formative and summative assessments. the technology theme continues in this issue with a case study by frances boylan on the ‘12 apps of christmas’ online course, now run twice at the dublin institute of technology, which aimed, via an app a day for twelve days, to encourage the use of students’ mobile devices in the classroom for personalised learning. research indicates that both teachers and learners need technical, logistical and pedagogical support to bring this about, even though all may be conversant with the technology elsewhere. the second of the courses attracted almost two thousand participants from around the globe, to take advantage of the twelve showcased apps by following links to information, watching video demonstrations and opting to do tasks encouraging personalised use of the apps. twitter provided the means of sharing what participants achieved. boylan outlines the course’s design and intention of getting students and editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 educators to understand the engagement benefits of personalised learning when they collaborate to tailor pedagogy, curriculum and the learning environment to cater for individual needs. all in all, the feedback confirms that the course has much to offer and so it will run again in december 2016. with the intention of enhancing student digital literacy, the open source e-portfolio platform, mahara, has been recently introduced into newman university’s ‘youth and community work’ programme: students are asked to compile evidence of their self-reflections from study skills development activities and their work placements; this they may share with prospective employers through a ‘secret url’. a case study by helen bardy, lorraine loveland-armour, and sarah parkes looks specifically at the barriers to success with mahara for newman students with dyslexia. the case study, with compelling detail, charts the quest of teachers and support staff to understand and to overcome these barriers by means of student partnership projects; it concludes with some very pertinent findings and a useful summary of interventions both made and to be carried out in newman university in the best interests of those students accessing dyslexia support. i hope that the kaleidoscope of topics raised and discussed in this issue will spur further critical discussion amongst colleagues working within higher education. with the he climate in continuous change, we look forward to publishing more of your views in our future issues and special tef edition of compass. danielle tran editor editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 this issue of compass is delightfully varied in content and tone, living up well to the journal’s title. one of its opinion pieces considers how accelerated degrees need to evolve in a marketised higher education context; another takes a cynical stance to that very context; a contrasting third identifies an aspect of primary education policy and practice as the source of a possibly chronic failure by some students to use punctuation properly in their written submissions. contrasting case studies demonstrate: the need for higher education institutions to understand better how to value those pursuing a doctorate and thus to engender in them identity and a true sense of belonging; the potency of play in transforming the way universities, their staff and their students interact, with correspondingly positive impact on teaching and learning, as well as on collaboration and morale. the implications for the expansion of accelerated degree courses in higher education are helpfully explored by iain kitchener in his opinion piece, ‘are accelerated degrees the future for higher education?’ reduced costs for students and quicker access to the graduate job market are significant drivers for this to happen, but the iain argues that a simple reduction of three years into two would be financially untenable in terms of staffing costs and, though accelerated, would not guarantee proportionate student learning gain. fundamentally, the success of accelerated learning in the uk context is, iain says, dependent upon adequate funding to support the well-researched creation of a relevant and appropriate pedagogy and thereby to ensure the development of academic skills, subject knowledge and effective learner transformation; furthermore, a compressed course must be achievable within the normal academic year and not impinge upon the summer period used by teachers for research and by students for earning money. to bring positive outcomes, a curriculum of this kind might well rely on such approaches as blended learning and transformative learning theory. in the market state, argues patrick ainley in ‘the management of business or the business of management?’, there is a gradual process of devaluation and deprofessionalising: traditional academic courses are being reduced to business-orientated activities; students choose business as the means of acquiring the skill sets to meet employment requirements, but eventually lose out to growing numbers of managers in an increasingly automated environment. patrick comments that management degrees ought to provide access to a higher level in the hierarchy of management, business and administration, but, in reality, managers are likewise reduced to semi-professional roles, being less expert in the context of high-performing technology. the market state resolves itself into a ‘consolidation state’, run in the interests of capital investors where the only real managers are the ex-politicians and senior civil servants who use their positions to secure elite boardroom roles, for which they are arguably the least qualified. the deployment of the ‘punctuation pyramid’ as a means of encouraging primary school language learners to raise the ‘level’ (in national curriculum terms) of their writing by choosing alternative punctuation marks from an artificial hierarchy of punctuation is regarded by mark betteney in as responsible over time for the subsequent inability of students in higher education to punctuate properly. in the opinion piece, ‘where have all the full stops gone? the dangers of striving for ‘university-level’ punctuation’, it is noted that instead of using the marks most appropriate to the conveying of their meaning in written submissions, many students still retain their early-acquired belief that one punctuation mark is somehow superior to another, regardless of its real purpose, with consequent deleterious impact upon editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 their work. mark’s piece draws on some examples of the attitudes of real students, who have been deluded by inappropriate primary education policy and practice into believing that the more complex the punctuation, the better the writing, despite their own intended meaning. mark, as a marker of otherwise sound and perhaps insightful student work, is at pains to debunk the punctuation pyramid policy and to challenge the assumption of writers of books on academic literacy that students reach higher education in perfect command of punctuation skills. how do phd ‘students’ see themselves? they are beyond taught undergraduate and postgraduate degrees but have yet (if this is indeed their aim) to take up a role as a full academic: is their self-perception one of ‘student’, ‘researcher’, ‘teacher’ or ‘member of staff’? a case study by martin compton and myself seeks, through the lens of self-identity, to discover how those in doctoral education – whether they be in unhelpful limbo or positive liminal space – really feel about their role/s and considers how an adequate understanding of their feelings about themselves can only help to improve institutional support for them and create greater consistency in the phd experiences they have. only then will their supervisors and their universities be able to ensure that they feel properly valued and have a true sense of belonging. martin and i asked registered postgraduate researchers on the postgraduate teaching, learning, and assessment course at the university of greenwich to create personal pie charts depicting the proportions of their roles as they saw them; the findings may have been raw impressions, but any reader will become absorbed in the messages they convey, which have serious implications for higher education institutions regarding identity and belonging amongst such colleagues. the university of winchester’s ‘play and creativity festival’ aimed to: celebrate and reenergise teaching and learning; find alternative ways of communicating complex ideas and important messages; generate fresh perspectives and new ideas; build connections and community. alison james, author of this lively, personal and absolutely compelling portrayal of the power of play to enthuse large numbers of disparate staff and students may feel that not everything worked perfectly, but the case study certainly confirms that the aims were more than fulfilled. ‘why play matters in a world of ref, tef and what the jeff’ is a heartwarming account of the process of planning for the event and of carrying out the various stages of preparation, giving insights into the astonishing range of activities eventually undertaken and providing some of the hugely positive reactions of participants. the interest generated beyond winchester and the fact that the festival is to run again, next time including the local community, are testament to how much play can transform professional practice, generate a sense of well-being (even at a very busy time of the academic year) and guarantee downright fun for all those involved. readers of this case study will no doubt wish to access the blog and film records of the festival. the coming together of such a wide range of opinions and topics covered in this issue of compass underlines how conversations concerning teaching and learning continue to surprise us, engage us, and provoke critical debate. i hope you enjoy reading through the opinion pieces and case studies as much as we have enjoyed putting this issue together. danielle tran editor d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf opinion pieces for a really open university patrick ainley school of education lord browne’s independent review of higher education funding and student finance, codified in the government’s white paper, higher education: students at the heart of the system, marks the end of efforts to reform society through education. if carried into legislation, it will close a programme of progressive reform that began with the official introduction of comprehensive schools in 1965. these reforms paved the way for the expansion of further and higher education, including the polytechnic experiment. unlike 11+ selection, which became a thing of the past in 80% of english secondary schools, reforming education at all levels was designed to change society by creating equal opportunities for all. the logic of reform carried forward to the inclusion of children with special needs, a common exam at 16 and a national curriculum sold to school teachers as a universal entitlement, as well as – more recently – widening participation in higher education to nearly half of 18–30 year olds. now, arts and humanities study will be the preserve of overseas students and others rich enough to pay for it at elite and surviving campus universities. for the rest, increasingly vocationalised courses contracted out to the private sector will mean that only science, technology, engineering and medicine programmes will be state-funded as many of the remaining universities and colleges collapse and merge into local e-learning hubs offering part-time and distance learning provision. we are therefore in danger of creating the social hierarchies witnessed in 1944–65, when social mobility only for a minority of ‘bright’ working class children was defined in narrowly academic terms. only there has been no real social mobility since the 1970s when the post-war period of full male employment ended. it had allowed limited upward social mobility into the expanded non-manual middle class from the formerly industrial manual working class. since then, there has only been apparent social mobility as widening participation presented itself as the professionalisation of the proletariat while disguising an actual proletarianisation of the professions, including particularly the academic and wider teaching profession. now the false prospectus of professionalisation through education is becoming widely apparent as he faces its own credibility crunch and many students are unlikely to mortgage their futures on raised fees for promised graduate premiums that cannot be redeemed. he therefore faces a future in common with schools and further education (fe). education can no longer be complicit in sustaining false hopes for future generations. we have to recognise that the old nostrums – ‘expand gdp and become better educated, trained and qualified’ – no longer apply and we cannot educate our way out of recession. a new education is therefore necessary in relation to a sustainable and no-growth economy in which schools, colleges and universities will play a new part in regeneration an compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 recreation of all sorts. this has been recognised by the more radical of the student resistance, informed not only with the tactics but the ideas of the climate camps and the alter-globalisation movement. the sixth form and fe students who joined the november 2010 demonstrations knew their hopes for the future were being taken from them. indeed, the strongest argument against raising fees, scrapping the education maintenance allowance (ema) and for returning to free post-compulsory education remains – what else are school leavers expected to do in “a youth labour market which has imploded”, as professor alison wolf says (three times!) in her march review of vocational qualifications? ‘gringos’ (graduates in non-graduate occupations) add a new tier of graduatised retailing to what is para-professional work at best, displacing non-graduates into even more part-time, precarious and deskilled jobs. in a democratic society, education at all levels, as the institutionalised means of critically reproducing culture down the generations, aims to learn from the past to apply its lessons in the future. this is the purpose that public education at all levels must recover before it is too late. all courses of (higher) education should therefore aim not only at induction of students into disciplinary or cross-disciplinary areas of practice and their associated fields of knowledge, but also for students to add to these bodies of knowledge and their practical applications by new acts of creation, experimentation, investigation or scholarship as the warrant of the quality of their graduation. a public university, free and open to all applicants as an entitlement, requires such a new model of research and teaching. issn 2044-0081 d6010-11 e january 2012 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 peer observation of teaching in e-learning environments in uk universities zeynep kacmaz ifs university college abstract peer observation of teaching (pot) is presented as a valuable mechanism allowing for the dissemination of ‘best practice’ within university teaching. with the rapid rise of online learning courses, it might be expected that pot would be extended to the online environment. in practice, however, it appears that this development is inconsistent. likewise, there has been little research into the experiences of those who deliver online teaching, with research focused more on the technological aspects than on teaching methodology. using a document analysis of a sample of uk universities and interviews with academics to assess a cross section of current institutional practice, this paper explores the intersection between pot and the online delivery of teaching and learning. the findings indicate that pot has not yet become a standard evaluative and/or developmental process in e-learning environments, although some universities do implement it within their cpd (continuous professional development) or teacher-training programmes. introduction peer observation of teaching (pot) in academic environments is a process undertaken for a variety of purposes, including staff development, quality monitoring, and staff promotion decisions (gosling, 2005:5). the pot literature generally views it as a process that can benefit the professional development of lecturers and tutors (mckinnon, 2001; gosling, 2002; hammersley-fletcher and orsmond, 2005). gosling (2005:13) identifies three broad models of pot:  an evaluation model based on a summative approach, aiming to assist managerial and personnel decisions or to comply with quality standards and to prepare for audits;  a developmental model based on a formative approach, helping academic staff to improve their teaching practice and to qualify for fellowship or membership of professional bodies;  a collaborative model based on a formative approach, aspiring to develop a community of practice for the improvement of teaching. it is reported that a majority of universities use a combination of models (gosling and o’connor, 2009), with pot often deployed, following the recruitment of new lecturers, as a tool for evaluation during their probationary period. many universities implement pot in cycles of one or two years for developmental purposes for all staff, using a collaborative model (gosling, 2005). others adopt a university-wide process, especially in the case of probationary lecturers, although others are organised on a departmental level. some concerns have been raised about the implementation of pot and the potential risks arising from the process. gosling and o’connor (2009:7) claim that “many staff are illequipped, without further training to evaluate and provide feedback on the effectiveness of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 others’ teaching”. shortland (2004) has suggested that staff often engage in pot in order to comply with institutional policies rather than through any real desire to improve their teaching practice. peel (2005) questions whether making pot compulsory would reduce its potential for supporting individuality and empowerment. this is supported by other studies which argue that pot works best as a voluntary practice (atkinson and bolt, 2010). the demands of delivering flexible online teaching to an international body of students has resulted in the recruitment of a workforce of largely hourly-paid ‘associate’ lecturers, who are willing and able to work from home, with unpredictable and often unsocial hours (fazackerley, 2013). this effective ‘outsourcing’ of teaching, with its geographicallydistributed and ‘virtual’ nature, means that both the monitoring of performance and ensuring of high standards of delivery are at the same time difficult to implement and easy to overlook. this author’s experience in teaching distance learning (dl) programmes has indicated that peer observation of teaching is not undertaken regularly for lecturers and tutors involved in e-learning environments. this research sought to investigate how peer observation of teaching is currently implemented in e-learning environments in uk universities, what criteria are appropriate to pot in such environments, whether digital/virtual environments constrain the pot process and what kind of guidelines or processes might be desirable and practicable for the implementation of pot in e-learning environments. as the research questions were focused upon the theories of understanding rather than explaining, and building rather than testing, an interpretative approach was adopted. although swenson and taylor (2014) affirm the teacher’s role in delivery, they also highlight the fact that teachers are moving away from their traditional role as the sole source of information. clearly, as online learning environments become more sophisticated over time, teachers need to adapt to new environments and to align their knowledge with the requisites of learning management systems (lms) (hinson and laprairie, 2006; connolly, jones and jones, 2007; swenson and taylor, 2014). e-learning environments in he (higher education) and pot according to a survey on virtual learning environment (vle) use by the universities and colleges information systems association (ucisa), 81% of universities in the uk used vle.s in 2001, increasing to 95% by 2005. since 2005, the increased variety of online technologies has been reflected in a broadening of the scope of the ucisa survey to include “any online facility or system that directly supports learning and teaching” (ucisa, 2014). this includes vle.s, elearning tools and web 2.0 tools. various definitions of e-learning have tended to focus on the use of the internet for teaching and learning practice, although broader definitions include audio-videotapes, satellite broadcast, interactive tv and cd-rom (mason and rennie, 2006). within this learning context, the following modes can be identified:  online learning, requiring that the teaching takes place via the internet.  blended learning, combining face-to-face teaching with online teaching and learning methods.  distance learning, where students are not required to attend some or all on-site teaching or learning activities. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016  open learning, where the learner defines independently what, when and how to study without formal and compulsory classroom participation. a 2013 paper from the changing the learning landscape (cll) partnership highlights major cultural issues that can act as barriers in the implementation of technology-enhanced learning (tel) strategies; it also points out that development of the digital literacy of stakeholders and institutional in-house collaboration are both important issues for a more uniform and consistent provision of e-learning tools (alt, 2013). the rapid integration of digital technologies into university teaching has created both debate about and research into the role of teachers in e-learning. goodyear et al (2001) define eight roles for teachers involved in online teaching, highlighting the role of ‘technologist’ as a new element. in addition, existing roles can be seen to change as a result of the online influence on the whole teaching environment. for example, the role of facilitator assumes a new dimension, with the internet producing an enormous amount of content and thus requiring the guidance of a teacher to enable learners to access the most relevant sources. baran et al (2011) reviewed eleven key articles published since 2000 and examined online teacher roles and competencies. this study also emphasises the role of technologist. rogers (2013:231) also highlights another significant development, the ‘reprofessionalization’ of teachers working in the e-learning environment. this remark is pertinent in terms of the continuous professional development (cpd) of university teachers, as the extensive use of technology requires them to upgrade themselves continuously through appropriate training (armellini and jones, 2008). in the context of the emergence of blended learning, gosling (2014:18) argues that “pot has to be radically reconsidered to accommodate this form of delivery”, suggesting a need to move to a model of peer review of teaching that is more flexible and more inclusive of the whole range of activities involved in designing, delivering and assessing teaching. however, in practice, the development of pot to accommodate the online environment appears to be patchy at best; for example, the quality assurance agency for higher education (qaa) has never required pot to be used in the context of e-learning (swinglehurst et al, 2008), which perhaps helps also to explain a relative lack of research in this area. mckenzie and parker (2011) highlight this, whilst noting that many subjects in universities in english-speaking countries are now delivered in blended mode or online environments. kraglund-gauthier et al (2010) also point out that there has been little research into the experiences of teachers as they shift from face-to-face to online teaching, more research having been done on the technologies, methods and tools used in the online environment than on the delivery of teaching. bennett and santy (2009:406) approach what they refer to as online peer observation (olpo), from an action learning approach, “aiming to exploit the flexibility of the internet and offer individuals a powerful source of support for their professional development.” they argue that “olpo can be a window across boundaries of discipline, e-learning environment and mode of delivery...in an interdisciplinary, cross-technology, multi-cultural and global context.” swinglehurst et al (2008:385) maintain that “the role of the e-tutor extends beyond that of a designer of learning tasks and that in fact much (although not all) of an online teacher’s behaviour is observable, although the limitations of such a focus stand.” they created a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 ‘peer-to-peer reflection on pedagogical practice’ (prop) model to implement in a webbased master’s degree programme, focused upon six main themes, some of which are also common to face-to-face pot: anxieties provoked by pot; teaching reviewed as ‘performance evaluation’ leading to little learning; tensions inherent in the practice of pot; defining ‘good’ online teaching; redefining pot as collective ‘sense-making’; the opportunity for innovation and collaboration. their research went on to argue that effective implementation of pot in the online environment required: ensuring clarity of purpose; ensuring that the process remains ‘true’ to its purpose; moving away from conceptualising teaching as performance; fostering a team culture valuing critical discourse about teaching; ensuring protected time; exploiting the unique features of the online environment (e.g. the permanency of the record, the opportunity to expand pot beyond what is observed within the classroom, the opportunity to reflect on new conceptualisations of learning); fostering a climate of trust, mutual support, and ownership (swinglehurst et al, 2008:390-91). bennett and barp (2008) have investigated the implementation of pot in the online learning environment, and argue that “many aspects of peer observation do not simply ‘translate’ directly online”, maintaining that “… the flexibility of the online medium raises questions and forces decisions that do not have to be faced when working face-to-face, such as challenges concerning what is observed online, how the observation process is managed and structured and how to help participants maximise the new opportunities as they adapt to a context in which many lack the perspective as online learners” (bennett and barp, 2008:568). bennett and barp (2008:568) note that one issue particular to the nature of online learning concerns the difficulty of selecting and isolating a ‘chunk’ of learning and teaching activity to be the focus of online peer observation. classroom-based peer observation typically involves an observer’s attending a distinct ‘lesson’, whereas online courses are not necessarily organised in terms of ‘lessons’ and structuring observation may not be as straightforward as suggested by tonkin and baker (2003), who talk of replacing a 45-60 minute classroom observation by logging into the vle a number of times over a week, on the basis that “one week in blackboard is equivalent to a week’s worth of face-to-face class time” (tonkin and baker, 2003:3). bennett and barp (2008:568) argue that the participants would work in an environment without the usual ‘natural time boundaries’ and this, in turn, would create a pressure on ‘staff time’. bennett and santy (2009:404) emphasise that “peer observation of the online learning/teaching process must not merely replicate the traditional use of peer observation of class-room teaching but capitalise on the additional opportunities it offers.” beckton and penney (2011:12) argue that the pot process could be an effective way for educational developers to reach more staff for development purposes. as bennett and barp (2008:559) point out, there is a wide range of issues that require further research in the context of online pot, such as teacher/learner rights within online observation, the role of the emerging e-pedagogy and patterns of student learning in the online context. indeed, they question the very appropriateness of peer observation as a tool for cpd within the online context. however, they conclude that “as the use of online and blended learning continues to expand and as, almost inevitably, online peer observation gains greater prominence within the he sector, it will be important to expand such investigation in order to explore the strategies which can be employed to overcome such articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 challenges and/or exploit new opportunities, to identify key aspects that influence the effectiveness of peer observation online and to complement good practice already established for classroom-based peer observation” bennett and barp (2008:568-9). methodology for the analysis of university documents in order to ascertain the extent and nature of pot implementation, with particular reference to the online environment, a review of documents and webpages of uk universities was undertaken. documents on pot were assessed against a number of criteria, including: whether they were available online, whether they referred to pot in e-learning environments and whether pot procedures had been developed by the university itself or adapted from other universities. via the higher education statistics agency (hesa) and universities uk websites, a total of 130 universities were identified. of these, 103 university websites were consulted in more detail, in two stages. in the first stage, three key phrases were used to identify relevant webpages and documents: 1. peer observation of teaching 2. academic development 3. learning and teaching strategy in the second stage, when pot-related documents were gathered, a search within the documents was made using the phrase ‘technology enhanced learning’, in order to gain more insight into the hei’s relevant strategies. it was decided to undertake further analysis on twenty per cent (twenty) of the universities, selected randomly, on the basis that this would constitute a significant sample of the whole. analysis of university documents the main objective of the analysis was to determine the extent to which pot was implemented within university environments, with subsidiary criteria aimed at identifying whether pot was included in the university’s teaching and learning strategy documents, how the e-learning environment was promoted at the university, and whether the online environment was included as part of the pot process. one criterion addressed whether the higher education academy (hea) fellowship was cited, on the basis that this would be an important measure in understanding how committed the university was to the uk professional standards framework (ukpsf). also, as postgraduate programmes in academic development, which aim for academic staff to obtain the hea fellowship, incorporate the process of pot in their syllabus, it was felt to be important to identify whether the postgraduate certificate in higher education programmes were voluntary or compulsory in these institutions as well. the analysis of the sample list of universities indicates that seventeen out of twenty had policies for pot that were available via their webpages. however, only half of the universities had the relevant pot forms available publicly on their website, with some explicitly indicating that they were limited to staff access on that institution’s intranet. teaching and learning or teaching, learning and assessment strategies were publicly available for eleven out of twenty universities. however, none of these documents, where articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 they were available, included pot explicitly, although some mentioned peer review or peer mentoring. for example, the university of wolverhampton noted its aim to “develop academic and professional communities of practice for example, through supportive and developmental peer review and reflection in order to increase the systematic dissemination and embedding of good practice in learning and teaching and related subject and pedagogical research” (university of wolverhampton, 2013). however, many such documents appeared to be aimed more at current and prospective students than staff. twelve out of twenty universities indicated a centralised department that oversaw the implementation of pot and seven of the universities in the sample claimed that they had recently (2010-2013) reviewed their pot processes. where stated, most universities (twelve out of fourteen) intended pot to cover all academic staff, whilst two focused on new staff or those in their probationary period. all of the universities that mentioned frequency of pot implementation (twelve out of twenty) implemented pot annually or bi-annually, therefore indicating that it was implemented as a cyclical, continuous procedure. most universities appeared to apply pot as a university-wide policy; however, at the same time, it was clear that in many cases schools and departments could adapt university-wide guidelines to their individual requirements. for example, the university of bedfordshire advised that “the peer support of teaching scheme…operates in all academic departments. the precise nature of its implementation will be determined by your department but it must consist of two instances of activity for full time staff and one instance of activity for part time staff” (university of bedfordshire, 2014). most universities generally cited the hea as a source of literature and further information on pot, with a couple referring to other uk or foreign universities. for example, the university of hull stated that “some of the forms used in this site are based on those produced by the universities of birmingham and st andrews and we wish to acknowledge their cooperation” (university of hull, 2014). the university of leicester directed staff to a link to ‘how to do peer review of teaching’, from the university of macquarie in australia, as well as to the teaching and learning portal at university college, london (university of leicester, 2014). only five universities out of twenty made direct reference to online activities as part of their pot process. two of these had pot forms specifically designed for e-learning/teaching, one had a dedicated page describing an e-tutoring scenario for peer review and the other two mentioned virtual learning environments in their pot guide. the university of bedfordshire guidelines noted that “for full time staff, one peer supported activity must involve a typical classroom-based session with consideration of associated breo unit site materials/activities. the second peer supported activity is negotiable and could emanate from a range of possibilities e.g. unit design, classroom or online learning activity, assessment design or activity” (university of bedfordshire, 2012). the university of leicester noted that its pot scheme “operates for all teaching staff (both on campus and distance learning)” and it included a separate e-learning form (university of leicester, 2014). four of the universities in the sample were seen to have adopted wider peer review/support schemes with the aim of covering a broader range of academic support and development issues, although the schemes varied in their focus and aims. for example, the university of bath’s peer review of teaching scheme “aims to enhance the student learning experience and enable lecturers to teach and facilitate learning even more effectively…peer review differs from teaching observations which are more narrowly focused on 'observable articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 teaching events'. instead, it aims to give feedback that: moves beyond teaching style and delivery, is more specific and meaningful, offers greater challenge or provides new insights, is less linked to evaluative observations of probationary staff” (exley, 2014). similarly, at the university of cardiff, “peer review of learning and teaching (prlt) is a pan-university activity for all staff whose role directly impacts on the student learning experience. it is an opportunity for staff to take part in an annual, scholarly, peer-assisted reflection on the breadth of their teaching/learning support practice. prlt considers both professional development and commitment to the enhancement of the student experience, and goes beyond classroom observation to cover all aspects of learning and teaching practice” (university of cardiff, 2013). all the universities that implemented pot confirmed that the procedure was part of their academic development/cpd, and were keen to emphasise the developmental nature of the process, with the school of oriental and african studies (soas) guidelines, for example, emphasising that “the introduction of pot at soas is not for judgemental or assessment purposes, but will follow a continuing professional development (cpd) approach whereby constructive mutual feedback from trusted colleagues supports the sharing of good practice” (soas, date unavailable). none of the universities in the sample had any technology enhanced learning strategy in their websites. however, several universities had dedicated e-learning/online learning pages. one, (the university of wolverhampton) had two guides referring to tel and blended e-learning. all but three universities endorsed hea fellowship on their website. all except one university cited a postgraduate certificate in higher education programme. most universities offered these certificate courses on voluntary basis to all staff, but seven made it mandatory for new lecturers or probationary lecturers. the analysis of university webpages and documents points to a number of tentative conclusions. firstly, the implementation of pot processes appears to be fairly ubiquitous in uk universities, with most institutions implementing it as a formal procedure on a universitywide basis. however, they tend to be at pains to emphasise that it is a developmental rather than a judgemental process and, where it is mandatory, this tends to be only for newer staff and those on probation. moreover, the actual implementation of pot tends to allow departments and individual academics a good deal of freedom to interpret the guidelines as they see fit, again avoiding claims of heavy-handedness, with flexibility around the frequency and nature of observation, and also the nature of the activities being observed. this flexibility tends to lead to vagueness in the guidelines concerning the nature of activities to be observed, with classroom observation seen as the key area for observation, but little clarity on what else does and does not count as a teaching/learning activity. some guidelines mention e-learning environments as areas that could be covered, but few go as far as the university of leicester in providing specific forms for the e-learning environment. the analysis shows that the postgraduate certificate in higher education has become the norm amongst uk universities, especially for new lecturers, and it is clear that this is a route through which participants are exposed to pot in various environments, including elearning. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 finally, in a few universities it can be seen that pot is becoming a part of wider peer review or support schemes. such schemes are keen to demonstrate that they are not about expanding central observation, but rather an extension of the developmental nature of peer assessment, and a further move away from the box ticking procedures of the past (shortland, 2004: 224). methodology for interviews in order to explore the approach and opinions of a variety of stakeholders involved in the pot process in uk universities, a selected group of academic staff was interviewed, using a semi-structured approach. in order to obtain participants for the interviews, an initial request was sent via an exploratory e-mail to individuals selected from the current staff and educational development association (seda) jisc mail list, to participants of a hea workshop which the researcher attended in 2013 and to colleagues from various institutions for which the researcher had carried out work. a total of fifty-nine individuals were sent invitations, which resulted in nine interviews conducted in total. the majority of the interviewees were working or had worked in academic development or related roles. all had teaching experience in the uk and only one of them had not been exposed fully to a vle environment as he had retired before vle became mainstream. however, this participant had worked for the distance learning programmes of a uk hei, so his input was considered to be relevant. analysis of interviews the questions were grouped in order to cater to different categories of academic staff; they were also focused on two core topics: continuous professional development (cpd) and peer observation of teaching (pot). this focus aimed to explore how pot fits into current cpd schemes available in universities. the interview process revealed that each participant had her/his own unique experience of the topic. however, there were some recurrent themes. one key theme emerging from the interviews was the use of technology and the rapid rise of e-learning environments. with regard to pot, subjects with considerable relevant experience (twenty years and over) mentioned the qaa subject review and the compulsory evaluative implementation of pot, whilst those with less than twenty years’ experience focused on the developmental pot model. almost all participants had experienced pot as observer or observee, indicating that it is a standard procedure in universities. the one participant who had never experienced pot noted that, as her job was largely administrative, it fell outside academic practice. all participants agreed that e-learning had developed rapidly and that it has now become mainstream; as one participant remarked, it is regarded as “the way forward” (prt1). the academic developers within the interview participants noted that e-learning serves to meet increased demand for higher education, but that the pressing challenge now is “mainstreaming the uses of technology into skills training” (prt3). regarding the incorporation of e-learning within cpd, participants generally noted that their institutions provide training on e-learning through postgraduate certificate programmes. one participant confirmed that they were designing a specific programme for distance and blended learning, as their institution’s share of distance learning programmes was growing rapidly (prt1). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 however, another participant revealed that their institution had wound up its first certificate programme in e-learning a few years previously (prt4). all the institutions mentioned by the participants provided some e-learning training within their cpd schemes, whether as postgraduate certificate programmes or specific training to implement new technologies, such as a new vle. one participant believed that institutional vision could encourage lecturers to be more innovative in the use of technology as part of the technology enhanced learning strategy (prt3). this consideration was also highlighted by the 2013 paper published as part of the cll partnership (alt, 2013). individual experience of pot the responses about peer observation of teaching revealed that almost all of the respondents (eight out of nine) had undertaken it, with all of those having participated both as observer and observee. one participant regarded himself as a “peer observation enthusiast”, asserting that he learned more by observing others than “from articles and research” (prt1), however, another respondent admitted to being "...not too keen on peer observation of teaching" (prt2). the one respondent with no exposure to pot managed a professional development programme for practitioners and believed that her “mentoring” of distance learning tutors amounted partially to a pot process (prt5). a common characteristic of respondents was that the pot schemes implemented were developmental in nature. however, a participant who had experienced pot first through the qaa subject review noted that it had created an environment of mistrust and partiality, owing to institutional, departmental or even political rivalries (prt2), as also confirmed in the literature by gosling and o’connor (2009), gosling, (2005), allen (2002) and cosh (1998). from the point of view of the observee, one of the participants claimed that the pot process allows teachers to become “less inhibited and freer to teach in their own personal style” (prt1). another emphasised the benefits from both pedagogical and practical points of view: “the benefits are that when we did the observations we would have somebody who'd be an academic but we'd also use somebody who would be an e-learning technologist…there's so many things that having peer assessment helps with both from an academic and a technology perspective so that's why we use the two” (prt9) an interesting common comment concerned the extent to which the observers themselves benefited from the process. respondent prt6 maintained that “the benefits are stronger for being observer”, and prt1 claimed that “watch[ing] the class interactions gives you a three dimensional view of educational experiences.” these comments accord with literature which emphasises the beneficial aspects of pot schemes (gosling, 2014; bell and cooper, 2013). in terms of the potential disadvantages of the pot experience, participants cited concerns for its use as an evaluative or hr tool: "i think as long as you don't get threatened by the process if it is not graded if again it is just discussion and then you can get a lot from it" (prt7). there was also a concern about feeling judged: “it becomes much more personal observation of personal style and personality so it becomes quite challenging and that and you know people can be quite defensive”. (prt5) one participant felt that the value of pot was limited: “the intention is quality control but…it is a formal procedure only. after certain years it does not benefit as one develops its own best teaching way…once the quality of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 lecturing or teaching reaches to an acceptable level the extra effort could be very marginal” (prt6). institutional pot environment whilst most participants confirmed that the objective of the pot processes that they had undertaken was developmental, one participant noted that, in the further education (fe) environment, it is still regarded as a managerial procedure and is compulsory. however, she also claimed that, in practice, “you pretend to do it”, therefore reducing pot to a box-ticking exercise (prt7), as affirmed by shortland (2004), asserting that staff take part in pot exercises at least in part to comply with institutional policies. four participants confirmed that pot was established on an institutional level in their workplace (prt3, prt8, prt7, prt5). two respondents stated that their institution had not adopted a formal pot procedure at the institutional level (prt4, prt1), so the experience of these participants was based on their own departmental frameworks or on the postgraduate programmes or teacher training programmes their institutions offered. one participant noted that in their institution there was “stiff resistance to pot”, owing both to a conservative staff approach and also to the fear that it might develop into an evaluative scheme (prt1). the second participant, however, did note that their university had recently adopted formal pot guidelines and that the academic development team was currently developing a new developmental scheme for various departments (prt4). the management of the pot process has been covered by hammersley-fletcher and orsmond (2004), lomas and kinchin (2006), and mcmahon et al (2007). these authors suggest that balancing anxieties and concerns while emphasising the importance of the process may actually reverse negative attitudes towards the pot process. in terms of the application of pot to the online environment, only two participants had any experience of this, and then rather in the context of the recording of live teaching than monitoring of online teaching as such, although one participant noted that some of their students would be delivering distance learning exclusively, so that observation would need to be undertaken on that basis (prt8). both of the academic developers who ran teachertraining programmes as distance learning courses had undertaken such monitoring with their international partner institutions for quality assurance purposes. their focus was on logistical and technical issues, and a concern to adopt a systematic approach to assessment in a range of circumstances, rather than any belief that pot in the online environment required a fundamentally different approach (prt8, prt4). however, one participant had recently attended a training session at edge hill university, where “they have developed a very interesting instrument for collecting pre-observation information, and they had a systematic model of peer observation of teaching. interestingly it was not very different from a general phenomenographic approach to peer observation so there was a lot of alignment with our practice but we have not put in a box for online use yet” (prt8). in terms of potential issues of online pot, one participant highlighted technical problems, such as lines being down, but felt that the fundamental problem with adoption was lack of internal support: “it is a nice model but it could well need a lot of support for doing that, that is why we did not go with it” (prt4). mckenzie and mccallie, in baker et al (2006), emphasise the need for such support. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 the implementation of pot in e-learning environments appears to be a very immature phenomenon, even for academic developers. one participant concluded that pot "should be a natural part of teaching…like reflective practice", but predicted that it would take “five to ten years” for pot become an embedded part of the academic world as a developmental process (prt1), a view shared by bennett and barp (2008). conclusions in terms of the application of pot as a general process, institutional policies and centralised frameworks/guidelines are prevalent and these are assumed to cover all learning environments, including e-learning. whilst there are guidelines and forms for e-learning modes in some cases, the pedagogical or the phenomenographic foundations tend to be assumed to be the same, as confirmed by interviewees. this directly contradicts the recommendations in the literature for example, bennett and barp (2008). the objective of implementing pot in general is mainly the evaluation of teaching and personal development, and this is also valid for applications in e-learning environments. however, as stated by the interviewees, the application of pot in e-learning environments is sometimes limited to teacher training or pg cert. programmes. non-implementation of pot in certain universities appears in some cases to stem from previous evaluative applications, which created a resistance to and mistrust in the process, or alternatively from the university’s focus on research rather than teaching, as mentioned. these negative aspects have been noted by various authors in the literature (allen, 2002; chism, 2007; gosling and o’connor, 2009; shortland, 2010). however, it would be difficult to apply these statements generally across the whole of the uk he sector. the application of pot in the e-learning environment can be seen to cover all kinds of online synchronous and asynchronous activities in distance learning, online learning and blended learning programmes. feedback on online pot, according to the analyses of university documents, tends to be given in written form, as there are institutional forms to fill in, but they also include an oral component, relating to either preor post-observation discussion. the existing limited literature on the subject seems to bear this out (gosling, 2014; swinglehurst, 2008). pot is generally considered in a positive light, according to both the relevant literature (bennett and barp, 2008; beckton and penney, 2011; harper and nicolson, 2012) and the interviews and analysis of university documents. pot in e-learning environments is also deemed to make a positive contribution. some of the more negative comments made by the interviewees have helped to address the secondary research question, which focused on the limiting effects of digital/virtual environments. technical problems were mentioned by the interviewees, as well as bureaucratic aspects. these barriers have been discussed by bennett and barp (2008) and also by tonkin and baker (2003). it was not possible to identify specific guidelines or processes for e-learning environments. however, the information obtained through these data sources strongly suggests that pot in general terms in the uk context is acceptable by staff only if applied for developmental purposes. moreover, as confirmed in the literature, (gosling, 2005; hammersley-fletcher and orsmond, 2005; allen, 2012), an institutional drive for implementation is required, together with institutional understanding that the process needs to avoid being a burden on staff, especially in the context of distance learning teaching undertaken by part-time or articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 atypical staff. additionally, in terms of requirements for quality control, there is a need for maintenance of evidence in the e-learning environments. overall, the study indicated that the application of pot in e-learning environments is not yet fully developed. whilst the sample cohort included in the study cannot be seen to be representative of the uk he sector as a whole, it does provide an insight into current practice. although implementation of pot in e-learning environments is developing slowly, academic developers and academic development centres in the universities tend to believe that the pedagogy underlying it should be the same as for classroom-based pot. however, they also acknowledge that implementation needs to accommodate the characteristics of the digital technologies employed in delivery. future research on this subject should examine various technologies and their impact on the pot process. e-learning environments currently create technical barriers and also make many academics nervous, as they constitute a novel vehicle for teaching. moreover, they are also a source of concern for administration, as maintenance of evidence is seen as problematic. in the light of the recently proposed teaching excellence framework (tef), qaa’s response to the green paper affirms that the coverage of such frameworks should go “beyond teaching and look into broader aspects of learning environment and assessment processes”, thus broadening the scope to include e-learning environments (qaa,2016:6). in this context, it is important to note that some academics view the pot as a snapshot in time rather than as a long-term evaluation tool, as one reader of derfel owen’s blog on the times higher education website remarked (owen, 2015). however, the vice-chancellor of the university of hertfordshire, quintin mckellar, supports “the class observation as the way for the academics who would seek promotion on the basis of their teaching” (grove and king, 2015). therefore the proposed tef seems to have started a fresh debate about pot in terms of measuring teaching quality and the skills offered by academics. further research is needed on this subject both at macro and micro level. at the macro level, a more comprehensive survey of policy and implementation in uk hei.s would be valuable. at the micro level, in-depth case studies of implementations of pot e-learning environments could be carried out at university level, or comparative studies undertaken of the application of pot in e-learning environments in selected uk universities. such studies could attempt to build up empirical evidence as to whether pot really can deliver better teaching in the online environment, and also assemble detailed guidelines for its implementation, taking into consideration the pedagogical implications of the differences between online and face-toface teaching, as suggested in the literature. finally, owing to the ‘reprofessionalization’ of teachers engaging in e-learning environments, as suggested by rogers (2013:231), it would also be worthwhile to research pot processes in terms of promoting ‘best practice’ among colleagues. this would also look into teaching quality, as the proposed tef seeks to embrace a wider learning environment than on-campus teaching. since existing literature does not focus on how pot contributes to the development of skills in virtual environments, it would be valuable to focus on, for example, communication skills or management of intercultural contexts in virtual environments, and on how pot can identify development opportunities in order to enhance the learning experience of a diverse and global student cohort. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 reference list allen, l. 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http://learning.cf.ac.uk/peerreview http://www2.hull.ac.uk/administration/leap/learning_teaching/pselt.aspx http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/academic-practice/learning-and-teaching/observation-of-teaching http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/academic-practice/learning-and-teaching/observation-of-teaching articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 university of wolverhampton (2013) learning, teaching and assessment sub-strategy (2012-2017). available at: http://www.wlv.ac.uk/staff/pdf/strategy-unit-learning-teachingand-assessment-strategy-210312.pdf (accessed: 10 july 2014). http://www.wlv.ac.uk/staff/pdf/strategy-unit-learning-teaching-and-assessment-strategy-210312.pdf http://www.wlv.ac.uk/staff/pdf/strategy-unit-learning-teaching-and-assessment-strategy-210312.pdf tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the teaching excellence framework: perpetual pedagogical control in postwelfare capitalism conor heaney, hollie mackenzie abstract in this paper, we argue that success as a knowledge economy and the teaching excellence framework will constitute a set of mechanisms of perpetual pedagogical control in which the market will become a regulator of pedagogical possibilities. rather than supporting pedagogical exploration or creating conditions for the empowerment of students and teachers, such policies support the precarisation and casualisation of both. we develop these claims through a reading of these policies alongside gilles deleuze’s postscript on the societies of control, and situating it in the context of what gary hall has termed postwelfare capitalism. we conclude by reaching out to others in the tertiary education sector and beyond to ask if this really is the direction we wish to take this sector in the uk. keywords: tef, deleuze, postwelfare capitalism, pedagogy, critical education policy studies introduction the teaching excellence framework (tef) and the accompanying uk government white paper, success as a knowledge economy: teaching excellence, social mobility, and student choice (department for business innovation and skills bis 2016b), pose a number of challenges to those working in the contemporary university. in this paper, we articulate some of these challenges through a reading of gilles deleuze’s postscript on the societies of control (1992) alongside this white paper. more specifically, our first claim, made through deleuze, is that the tef’s implementation and enforcement – as well as many of the other measures outlined in the white paper will constitute a set of mechanisms of perpetual pedagogical control through which the concrete everyday relations of university life will be further subjected to processes of neoliberalisation, management, control, supervision, metricisation, marketisation, casualisation and precarisation (to name only some potential effects). by ‘further’, we here situate this research alongside the work of others who have developed research, tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 criticism and resistance to the continuing neoliberalisation of the university in the uk and beyond (brunskell-evans, 2009, 2012; harney and morton, 2013; heaney, 2015, 2016; neary, 2015). the tef is itself ‘marketed’ as a necessary corollary to the research excellence framework (ref) and as a policy mechanism which will ‘drive up the standard of teaching’, providing students (in esse and in posse), employers and other education providers with ‘powerful signals’ about how ‘excellent’ teaching is being produced across the higher education sector (2016b: 13). against this, the second argument of this paper is that these incoming reforms of the uk’s tertiary education sector have little to do with improving teaching quality or enhancing student empowerment, but instead are indicative of the uk’s gradual move towards what gary hall (2016) has aptly termed postwelfare capitalism; these reforms, in other words, we situate as reforms which help enable a transition to a tertiary education sector befitting a postwelfare neoliberal state.1 success as a knowledge economy before making these arguments, however, we shall first devote our attention to the key claims we wish to focus on within the white paper (the provisions from which are to be found in the higher education and research bill, which, at the time of writing, has gone through its second reading in the house of lords and is awaiting its committee stage examination). the key claims on which we shall focus relate to (1) the white paper’s extensive policy of marketising the tertiary education sector further, a policy which, it is argued, requires (2) so-called regulatory ‘simplification’, and (3) extensive ‘information provision’ for the apparent aim of ‘empowering student choice’ (bis, 2016b: 10), to which the tef is, in part, a response. we shall explore each of these points in turn. i. (neoliberal) marketisation the first point we wish to highlight is the extent to which the white paper reifies, glorifies, and fetishises competition and marketisation. this, of course, is not in itself unique or surprising – the browne report (bis, 2010) explicitly did this too however, success as a knowledge economy’s ambitions on this are extensive and explicitly claim to ‘go further’ than previous moves towards the marketisation of the tertiary education sector. consider the following: 1 we would like to thank both anonymous peer reviewers and the copy-editor for both enriching and improving the clarity of this paper through their feedback. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 competition between providers in any market incentivises them to raise their game, offering consumers a greater choice of more innovative and better quality products and services at a lower cost. higher education is no exception […] but we have not made a decisive enough move to open the higher education market (bis, 2016b: 8-9, our emphasis). the ‘decisive move’ the report envisages is one in which ‘market entry and exit’ – that is, the ability for new degree or ‘service’ providers to enter the higher education ‘market’ and acquire ‘degree awarding powers’ (bis, 2016b: 10), and the potential ‘exit’ of these providers from the market if business proves unprofitable or slow is simplified through the reduction of ‘barriers to entry’ for new potential service providers. this ‘decisive move,’ the white paper claims, will combat the market privilege enjoyed by long-standing institutions (or ‘incumbents’) whose privilege acts as a blockage to the competition the report glorifies. indeed, easing ‘market entry and exit’ is envisaged almost as a silver bullet, as a mechanism which can simultaneously drive up teaching standards, economic growth and social mobility (bis, 2016b: 9). opening the future of the tertiary education sector to further marketisation through the reduction of barriers to entry and exit, it must be noted, in effect means that the ‘failure’ and therefore ‘market exit’ of education providers is envisaged as a ‘natural part of a healthy, competitive, well-functioning, market’ which ‘the government will not, as a matter of policy, seek to prevent […] from happening’ (bis, 2016b: 10). such an implicit and explicit affirmation of a neoliberal market allows the white paper to present the proposed reforms as inclusive of the notion that future ‘market exits’ indicate overall ‘market health.’ although an extensive discussion of this point is not possible within the confines of this paper, it is worth noting how recent, contingent and contestable the dominance of this neoliberal market-oriented language is in the context of tertiary education (barry, 2011; canaan, 2013; heaney, 2015). ii. regulation, control returning to the logic of success as a knowledge economy more closely, we move on to the second point from this document that we wish to highlight. in order to create the sort of competitive market environment envisaged, what is demanded, according to the white paper, is regulatory ‘simplification’ or an ‘updating of the regulatory architecture.’ that is, in order for there to be a ‘natural’ and ‘healthy’ market, what is required is a large amount of regulatory intervention. [the capitalist coupling of deregulatory rhetoric with actual interventionism a far cry from any putative claims of laissez-faire has already been conceptually developed and tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 empirically examined by, of course, karl polanyi (2001: 141-145) and michel foucault (2010: 145), amongst others.] through such intervention, the hope the white paper articulates is that more private firms will be able to enter the ‘higher education provision market’ more easily, offering ‘niche’ education provision to help plug ‘skills shortages’ (bis, 2016b: 8). the creation of a single market regulator, the office for students (ofs), is central to this, a regulator that will be designed to be ‘explicitly pro-competition and pro-student choice’ (bis, 2016b: 15), in part through adopting a ‘risk-based approach to regulation’ (bis, 2016b: 21). as bridget hutter notes (2005: 2-3), the history of risk-based regulation in the uk is closely associated with the emergence of deregulatory rhetoric and policy in the 1980s and 1990s and the attendant growing prominence of private-sector styles of management. hutter interestingly connects riskbased regulation with (1) reagan-era us ‘regulatory relief’ (which was one of the four cornerstones of reagan’s economic programme) (2005: 2; also, see mcgarity, 1986: 261) and (2) so-called ‘new public management’, a trend in public sector management focusing explicitly on performance indicators, hands-on management, continuous processes of ‘modernisation’ and ‘rationalisation’, amongst other things (hood, 1991: 4-5). the regulatory move towards ‘risk-based approaches’ entails, this is to say, a doublemovement: a decentring of the state away from provision and ownership (first movement) towards oversight and management (second movement); or, what hutter describes as ‘a move from public ownership and centralised control to privatised institutions and new forms of state regulation’ (2005: 3). this is a decentring in so far as the state moves away from its previous role as a (depending on the context) owner, provider or main funder of a service, towards an overseer, supervisor, or manager of the industry in question. in the white paper’s vision of the future uk tertiary education sector, the level and intensity of supervision and management proffered is connected to an institution’s performance in regular data monitoring mechanisms (as is already in place in, for example, the ref). for example, and to return briefly to the question of ‘market exit’ which we noted above, whilst the white paper does emphasise the need for ‘student protection’ in the event of ‘market exit’ (bis, 2016b: 22) and does claim that any ‘choice’ to close a particular institution will be in the hands of the institution itself (bis, 2016b: 38), it nonetheless does not explicitly exclude the possibility of the sector regulator’s pushing particular institutions towards ‘market exit.’ 2 instead of this, the white paper affirms that the regulator will attempt to ensure the efficiency and swiftness of any institution-closure process (bis, 2016b: 39) and, further, that institutions which give the regulator a ‘cause for 2 we thank one of the anonymous peer reviews for this astute point. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 concern’ (bis, 2016b: 34), for example, will be subject to more regular and intensive reviews, whereas ‘the highest quality providers will no longer be subject to controls’ (bis, 2016b: 27) although all institutions are subject to data monitoring, of course. as part of this, the white paper even envisages the creation of what is termed an ‘enter and inspect’ (bis: 2016b: 35) piece of legislation which would enable, under certain conditions, either the sector regulator or secretary of state to ‘enter and inspect’ a higher education provider. in short, the level and intensity of regulatory control of the sector will be explicitly connected to certain ‘key indicators’ (bis: 2016b: 33) – for example, national student survey (nss) scores, tef rankings, graduate employment – indicators which function as epistemological tools which justify and enable high levels of individual intervention into particular institutions whose ‘performance’ does not meet, or is not compliant with, market demand. we shall now focus a little more closely on these epistemological tools and on the question of the ‘information provision’ of these ‘key indicators’ which the white paper lauds for its potential for ‘empowering student choice’ (bis, 2016b: 10). our explicit focus here will be the tef. iii. information provision the logic of the claims of success as a knowledge economy, on the reading we are developing, is this: the tertiary education sector requires competition to flourish and grow; competition requires marketisation; marketisation requires reducing barriers to entry and a move to a risk-based regulatory framework; a move to risk-based regulatory framework requires oversight and management (i.e., further processes of intervention). oversight and management, then, become the problems to be solved and these are immediately problems of control and supervision. indeed, as céline baud and eve chiapello (2016) note, drawing on michel foucault (2010), and, as we have already suggested, the (decidedly neoliberal) move towards risk-based regulatory frameworks does not require ‘less’ intervention, but rather demands a multiplicity of new tactics of intervention, disciplinarisation and control, such as the building of new institutional incentive structures through epistemological and calculative technologies, bureaucratic expansion and so on. control and supervision are positioned as the explicit centre-point of both the ref and tef. the tef will provide information and ‘inform the competitive market’ (bis, 2016b: 13) about which institutions have been most compliant with the incentive structures the tef promotes (i.e., ‘teaching excellence’). the white paper notes that ofs ‘will be able to provide real-time analysis and information to the secretary of state’ (bis, 2016b: 66) of the higher education sector and individual institutions; tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 furthermore, bis’s ‘factsheet’ on the higher education and research bill even speaks of this as an ‘information revolution’ (2016a). more information provision, of course, means more intervention, supervision and control. the clearest mechanism of control and supervision, as well as one of the largest signals to the market and students, will be the establishment of tef league tables which will grade and rank institutions. noteworthy is the decidedly extensive nature of these mechanisms of measurement, justified by the, to say the least, difficult epistemological task of reducing a practice as broad as teaching to a single metric: measuring teaching quality is difficult. but it is not impossible. we define teaching broadly including the teaching itself, the learning environments in which it takes place, and the outcomes it delivers. such things can be measured: students assess their satisfaction with their courses, retention rates are a good proxy for student engagement, contact hours can be measured, employers choose to sponsor some courses, or work with some institutions, because of the industry-relevance of their offerings, and employment rates can be measured. some of these metrics are of course proxies – but they directly measure some of the most important outcomes that students and taxpayers expect excellent teaching to deliver. and we recognise that metrics alone cannot tell the whole story; they must be benchmarked and contextualised, and considered alongside the additional narrative that can establish a provider’s case for excellence. taken together, we can build a rounded picture of the teaching experience that we expect higher education to deliver to its stakeholders. (bis, 2016b: 46) the more extensive the epistemological task, the white paper argues, the more that aspects of the teacher-student relationship need to be measured, supervised and thereby controlled. once teaching practices are metricised and ranked, higher rankings will enable institutions to charge higher tuition fees which, along with the ref (and the many other prominent league tables), will further reproduce and centralise a competitive and hierarchical reputational economy between universities built around a putative commitment to ‘student choice’. this is an effect the white paper explicitly lauds (bis: 2016b: 46); indeed, the continual establishment of hierarchies and short-term reputational competition between institutions, students and teachers is one of the explicit purposes of the tef, rather than the sort of fundamental challenge to the privileged enjoyed by long-standing ‘incumbent’ institutions which we mentioned above. competitive reputational economies, and hierarchies between institutions, students, and teachers, this is to say, constitute one of the key aims of information provision, and thus of the tef. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 having outlined the components of the white paper pertinent to our arguments in this paper, we shall now pivot to these two arguments themselves. the tef as a mechanism of control deleuze’s arguments in his postscript on the societies of control will guide this section. what deleuze called societies of control, which he claimed were emerging at the time of the paper’s publication, are distinguishable by their gradual move away from tactics of normalisation and discipline in ‘enclosed’ institutions such as the school, hospital, prison, and so forth (the institutions so central to foucault’s disciplinary societies), and towards new modes of normalisation or modulation in ‘open’ environments. of course, for deleuze, enclosed institutions are not totally erased, and disciplinary power is not totally replaced, by the emergence of control societies. further, as bernard stiegler notes, control societies cannot be disassociated from the emergence of contemporary digital technologies (2015: 49). deleuze identifies some institutional shifts: from the hospital to more decentralised mechanisms of care (e.g. hospices and day care); from the factory (a key site of discipline) to the corporation (a key site of control). the factory/corporation distinction, here, is worth focusing on, as it is the emergence of the contemporary corporation which is vital in the emergence of new forms of educational institutions. the corporation operates in part, for deleuze, through practices of modulation (as, for example, in differential salary structures), which affect each actor in the institution and which ensure perpetual competition between them: if the most idiotic television game shows are so successful, it’s because they express the corporate situation with great precision […] the corporation constantly presents the brashest rivalry as a healthy form of emulation, an excellent motivational force that opposes individuals against one another and runs through each, dividing each within (deleuze, 1992: 4-5, our emphasis). crucial for our purposes are deleuze’s reflections on educational institutions, the future of which he sees as a general merging with the corporation. indeed, just as the corporation replaces the factory, perpetual training tends to replace the school, and continuous control to replace the examination. which is the surest way of delivering the school over to the corporation. (ibid, 5) whilst one ‘exits’ disciplinary institutions (usually to move on to another site of enclosure) – such as the exit of the ‘reformed criminal’ from prisons into factories – one, in effect, never exits tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 control. control is, for deleuze, perpetual, limitlessly postponed from completion (ibid, 5), inciting continuous short-term competition for short-term accumulation and turnover, but whose general operation is in principle ‘continuous and without limit’ (ibid, 6). a further aspect of control which is pertinent to this paper is that of how control demands supervision and oversight. continuous and constant supervision and oversight allows for incentive structures to be continuously changeable, for rewards and punishments to be always possible. this is the crux of deleuze’s claim that ‘controls are a modulation’ (ibid, 4): continuous and constant supervision – rendered possible by contemporary digital technologies – allows for the continuous differentiation or modulation of the incentive structures that individuals face, how they are rewarded, punished, and so forth. to sum the points we wish to extract from deleuze: the move towards societies of control as a move towards new modes of normalisation and modulation in ‘open’ environments is constituted through (1) modulation and incessant competition; which is in principle (2) open, continuous, constant, and without pre-defined limits; which, in order to operate, requires (3) continuous and constant supervision and oversight. we do not presuppose any priority to these three components, nor do these three points exhaust deleuze’s claims, but they will suffice for our purposes. returning to success as a knowledge economy and the tef, let us revisit the rationale for further marketisation in the tertiary education sector. the white paper, as we have already noted, reifies, glorifies, and fetishises competition and marketisation. the key condition for creating the institutional incentives for such behaviour (incessant competition and marketisation) is a vast set of epistemological mechanisms of supervision and control, mechanisms which perpetually modulate the behaviour of each individual actor insofar as the application of these epistemological mechanisms are, in principle, perpetual and unlimited and can be applied differentially; institutions which do not compliantly adapt to these incentive structures will face harsher and more radical interventions and, if necessary, the government will ‘assist’ their market exit. the open-ended reputational economy which the tef is presented as, for example, is an open mechanism of perpetual competition which is never completed. teachers under the tef, in this sense, will always be preparing for the next tef and the next process of monitoring and are incentivised to adjust their behaviour according to these mechanisms of control. institutions which do not compliantly adapt the behaviour incentivised by these incentives will not, the white paper hopes, last long, evidenced especially in the white paper’s emphasis on tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 and, indeed, support of, ‘market exit’ as an apparent sign of a healthy, competitive market (bis, 2016b: 43; 49; 53). transforming the regulatory and incentive structure of the tertiary education sector through lowering barriers to market entry and exit and the generation of hierarchical and reputational economies with financial ‘prizes’ attached (such as the potential ability to raise tuition fees when an institution achieves high tef rankings) is the white paper’s approach of industry modulation, that is, its method of creating a more thoroughly marketised sector and generating incessant competition. the tef is envisaged as an industry modulator, a regulatory tool comprising informational flows and signals through which to control the sector. in addition, it is important to note that, since ‘competition’ and ‘growth’ are the explicit goals of all the policies suggested in success as a knowledge economy, these goals are, of course, never achieved ‘once and for all’. they are, in principle, perpetual, as jo johnson notes in the white paper’s foreword: ‘if we are to continue to succeed as a knowledge economy, however, we cannot stand still, nor take for granted our universities’ enviable global reputation’ (bis, 2016: 5). the risk-based approach to regulation is perpetual, continuous, and without limit. the state’s role becomes, therefore, that of enabling informational flow and the manipulation of incentive structures through epistemological, calculative, and financial technologies; or, in other words, the state’s role becomes that of continuous and constant supervision of individual and institutional ‘performance’ and of the relations between students and teachers as such. insofar as such supervision and oversight, as far as the tef is concerned, is focused on teaching practices, but in a broad sense which encompasses teaching ‘environment’ and therefore the teacher/student relationship as such, our claim here is that the tef is explicitly a mechanism of perpetual pedagogical control. the university in postwelfare capitalism in the uberfication of the university, gary hall uses the term postwelfare capitalism as a broad indicator to denote the coalescence of two main socio-economic trends of recent years (here we are focusing specifically on the uk): (1) privatisation, deregulation, and austerity and (2) the growth of (profit-driven) so-called ‘sharing economies’, which rely on contemporary digital technologies and which are part of the growth of ‘platform capitalism’ (srnicek, 2017). by way of concluding this paper, this section will offer a reading on this context of postwelfare capitalism by intersecting our reading of success as a knowledge economy, alongside deleuze, with the political-libidinal economy of the present. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 uberfication, broadly speaking, denotes the recent growth of these so-called ‘sharing economies’, which commodify human-human relations through digital sharing platforms built upon maximising the sense of consumer choice and convenience, usually through extensive rating systems for ‘service providers’ and rapid, digitally-enabled, service. firms like (of course) uber and airbnb are treated as exemplars of this trend. an early point worth mentioning is that the majority of those who labour (and generate profit) for airbnb, for example, are not airbnb employees and thus do not have access to labour rights (hall, 2016: 8-9). (it remains to be seen what effects the employment tribunal’s decision, in october 2016, on uber’s losing the right to classify its drivers as self-employed in the uk will have). nick srnicek notes that such firms adopt a ‘hyper-outsourced model’ (2017: 76) and are thereby able to side-step the provision of any economic security to their workers. this is indicative of the type of casualisation of labour – or precarisation of labour (standing, 2011) prominent in the ‘sharing’ or ‘‘gig economy (but which, of course, is not reducible to it), especially insofar as digital platforms allow ‘gigs’ to be arranged on an ad-hoc basis for the consumer (and therefore on an insecure basis for the service provider). casualisation also denotes flexibilisation. in flexible markets, as hall notes, ‘employers want to be able to draw from a pool of part-time, hourly-paid, zero-hours and nocontract workers who are available ‘on tap’, often at extremely short notice’ (2016: 18). in their hiring practices, employers want to ensure further, we should add, that only the ‘most competitive’ employees are hired to satisfy ‘consumer demand’. access to the relevant information, coupled with a reputational economy, helps employers and regulatory agencies generate such flexibilised labour conditions and produce certain incentive structures. the example of uber is instructive here: both consumers and service-providers are subject to a ratings-based reputational economy. microsoft-owned linkedin, too, performs a similar function in providing employers and potential employees with instant access to a large database of ‘trusted’ (through their gated-access approach) potential ‘networking’ and employment opportunities. hall does not explicitly discuss the white paper, nor the teaching excellence framework. nonetheless, as he does note, levels of casualisation in the tertiary education sector are already considerable, noting university and college union (ucu) research which found that, when ‘the use of atypical academic staff is factored in, 54% of all academic staff and 49% of all academic teaching staff are on insecure contracts’, concentrated on those who have the largest teaching loads (ucu, 2016). the white paper’s measures of marketisation, including the function the tef could feasibly play in such new conditions, we here argue must be considered alongside tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 these tendencies towards precarisation in the tertiary education sector and, as such, within the uk economy more generally (srnicek, 2017: 79). these measures of marketisation look set to open this sector to accelerated further processes of casualisation and precarisation. under such increasingly precarious labour conditions, the reputational economy which the tef seeks to become (bis, 2016b: 49), the white paper hopes, will acquire central importance in enabling ‘service-providers’ (teachers) teaching ‘gigs’ in a new education market a shift which would be a continuation of processes of what charmaine brown (2013) has termed the ‘professionalisation agenda’ and which she has associated with a generalised deterioriation of working conditions. the tef’s reputational economy is argued for in terms of student choice and satisfaction wherein satisfaction is instrumentally connected with ‘good outcomes’ or ‘employment outcomes’ (bis, 2016b: 43) but also in terms of flexibility and a commitment to part-time study (ibid, 52). in effect, the labour market that the white paper envisages is explicitly precarious and insecure, which, the white paper conjectures, is a condition for ‘teaching excellence’: [w]e want a higher education system which is flexible enough to cope with change […] a competitive and dynamic higher education sector needs students who actively and regularly challenge universities to provide teaching excellence and value for money. it needs institutions with the right incentives to deliver for students, to innovate, and to grow. (ibid, 53, our emphasis) flexible labour markets, of course, require flexible and precarious workers, or quite simply, disposable workers. hall, in a related market (in his projection for the soon-to-be uberfied university sector), notes the following: increasing numbers of university workers […] will have little choice but to sell their cheap and easy-to-access courses to whoever is prepared to pay for them in the ‘alternative’ sharing economy education market created by platform capitalism […] and as such, they will experience all the problems of deprofessionalization, precarity (in the sense of being unable to control or even anticipate their own future), and continuous performance monitoring by networked surveillance technologies that such an economy brings. (hall, 2016: 21-22, our emphasis) in place of continuous, hall could, of course, have also used the term perpetual. recall the points we subtracted from deleuze in the previous section: the move towards societies of control was positioned as a move constituted through (1) modulation and incessant competition; tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 which is in principle (2) open, continuous, constant and without pre-defined limits; and which, in order to operate, requires (3) continuous and constant supervision and oversight. we treat deleuze’s claims here as instructive when considered in the light of our contemporary postwelfare capitalism and the proposed policies of the white paper. we do so for two main reasons, which we shall now outline before concluding this paper. first, it is of note how modulation and incessant competition is incentivised among individuals working in and between academic institutions through the pervasive rhetoric of excellence and the hierarchical and reputational economies generated through mechanisms of surveillance such as the ref (and soon, the tef). such incessant competition must be perpetual and openended, insofar as such open-endedness maintains an incentive structure by which academic staff ‘are motivated to continuously try to do better’ (hall, 2016: 27). achieving ‘better’ and producing ‘excellence’, in other words, become, in effect, about being controlled by short-term reputational metrics and targets ‘control is short-term and of rapid rates of turnover, but also continuous and without limit’ (deleuze, 1992: 6). similarly, as srnicek notes, the reputation systems of firms such as uber and airbnb tend to transmit and exacerbate gendered and racialised biases (2017: 77): metrics of control are, in this sense, metrics of exclusion. in the context of postwelfare capitalism, the intensification of precarisation and reputationalism which the white paper and the tef seek to produce – that is, its aim of perpetual pedagogical control – looks set to transform teaching into a ‘gig’ to be competed for in the university-to-come. such a transformation of the labour conditions in the tertiary education sector, coupled with a framework of control based upon a notion of ‘excellence’, is well suited to weakening the possibilities of solidarity, of collective organisation and therefore of key potential avenues through which such trends could be resisted and/or confronted in creative and dynamic ways. such solidaristic possibilities are attacked through incentive structures of incessant competition, the potential exacerbation of gendered and racialised privilege and accelerating processes of precarisation. the second point we wish to make on this context of postwelfare capitalism relates to the putative commitments to ‘student choice’, ‘student satisfaction’ and ‘teaching excellence’, through which success as a knowledge economy makes its claims. the white paper envisages an education market which is hyper-responsive to ‘student and employer demand’ and which (they conjecture) is ‘more satisfying’ or ‘more excellent’ the smoother the transition from tertiary education to employment is for students (bis, 2016b: 5, 8, 9, 13, 19, 46, 58). [it is also of note that tef review boards will include ‘employers’, though this is not commented on in tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 any detail (bis, 2016b: 19, 40).] under perpetual pedagogical control, pedagogical exploration becomes totally subordinated to the production of satisfied and employable customers, as well as the transmission of hollow and dogmatic pedagogies (mackenzie and mackenzie, 2014). as hall notes: faced by such a situation [where metrics dominate and govern] […] academics are likely to prefer to run courses in subjects that are perceived by student debtors-as-consumers as having the potential to help them gain a ‘good’ job with a decent salary. they will thus be involved mainly in producing the type of unthreatening, lower-level, vocational ‘workers’ that are needed by postwelfare capitalism (and which the current push on the part of many governments towards an ‘employability agenda’ for much of higher education seems determined to generate) rather than the kind of educated public citizens or creative critical thinkers who are capable of maintaining some control over their own work and futures (hall, 2016: 31-32). teachers (and, of course, potential students) who do not adapt to these conditions face, in other words, even further economic insecurity in a context of precarisation. following the white paper’s logic, we ought not to teach those subjects which do not satisfy consumer demand (which do not produce satisfaction and employability); nor ought, it follows, education providers (temporarily) employ those individual teachers who do not produce satisfied and employable graduates. the effects such incentive structures and mechanisms of control will have on what is pedagogically possible in the university-to-come cannot be fully predicted, of course. however, as daniel saunders notes, speaking here of the similar pervasiveness of ‘excellence’, competition and precarious labour conditions in the united states tertiary education sector, excellence frameworks (such as the tef and of course, the ref, which has been subject to similar criticism (cabral and huet, 2015)) are grounded on the reducibility, metrifiability and ranking of teaching practices and, as such: not only does this quantification necessarily challenge emancipatory educational practices that are built upon the recognition of students and faculty as nuanced, multidimensional people who are irreducible with one another (freire, 2000; illich, 1971), but it limits the potential for new, non-quantitatively based pedagogical practices and educational priorities. such measurement and its corresponding closing off of alternative approaches is a foundation of the neoliberalization of postsecondary education, as everything within a neoliberal world is commensurable with one another and subject to tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 quantitative measures (brown, 2015). as such, to embrace the commitment to excellence is to naturalize and universalize the quantification of postsecondary education […] once excellence is accepted as a primary educational goal, institutions must ensure that the goal is met. to do so requires building upon the quantification of all educationrelated activities and placing them within assessment regimes (saunders, 2015: 403). one of the threats which saunders gestures towards in his own context, and which we wish to emphasise by way of conclusion, is that the language of student choice and excellence functions in fact as a commitment to the ‘competitive market’ as the arbiter of excellence and, as such, the arbiter of what is not excellent, what is legitimate (profitable) to teach and what is not so. or, in short, a (dogmatic and uncritical) commitment to the ‘competitive market’ becoming the regulator of pedagogical possibilities, to the normalisation of incessant and perpetual pedagogical supervision and control, and to intensifying processes of casualisation and precarisation. it is, to say the least, difficult to identify processes – which others have with some optimism in recent years (birch, 2012) which support student empowerment, explorative and deep pedagogies through which students and teachers might be able to co-create empowering environments together, or the long-term economic security of either students or teachers. success as a knowledge economy and the tef, we claim, have little to do with improving teaching quality or enhancing student empowerment, but instead are significant steps towards a more thoroughly marketised tertiary education system: a tertiary education sector befitting a postwelfare neoliberal state. conclusion in this paper, we have argued that success as a knowledge economy and the teaching excellence framework will constitute a set of mechanisms of perpetual pedagogical control in which the market will become a regulator of pedagogical possibilities. rather than supporting pedagogical exploration and empowering students, such policies support precarisation and casualisation, and the subordination of pedagogy to market principles and truths. we here have not suggested a particular course of action to take, in part owing to the fact that we do not wish perpetuate mechanisms of control over the myriad of as-yet unexplored possibilities of creative confrontation. such a move would pre-emptively narrow what we cannot foresee. we understand that such confrontations could be actualised in a number of different ways and hope that the critique outlined in this paper will encourage or invite readers to carve out their own possible confrontations. our own response, however, has already started to tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 manifest itself in creative and experimental pedagogy: an avenue that we have been exploring through workplayshops (these explorations will be the subject of our following paper on these themes). creatively confronting the conditions we face becomes, we suggest, a pedagogical task to be participated in and explored for those interested in transforming them. this paper ends with an open narrative rather than a closed one and with more questions than answers. do we support conditions such as these in the tertiary sector? is it not our task to confront them? how may we mutually empower each other and support inclusive and open educational practices rather than submitting to the exclusionary logic of the market? reference list barry, j. (2011) ‘knowledge as power, knowledge as capital: a political economy critique of modern ‘academic capitalism’.’ irish review, 43, 14-25. baud, c. and chiapello, e. (2016) ‘understanding the disciplinary aspects of neoliberal regulations: the case of credit-risk regulation under the basel accords.’ critical perspectives on accounting. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2016.09.005 (accessed: 3 december 2016). birch, c. (2012) ‘the road ahead.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 3(4). brown, c. (2013) ‘friend or foe! the professionalisation agenda: teacher educators in the lifelong learning sector (lls).’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 3(4). brown, wendy (2015) undoing the demos: neoliberalism’s stealth revolution. new york: zone books. brunskell-evans, h. (2009) ‘when the shift hits the critical fan: a foucauldian analysis.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 1(1). brunskell-evans, h. 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(2010) the birth of biopolitics: lectures at the collège de france, 1978-79. michel senellart, ed., translated graham burchell. basingstoke: palgrave macmillan. freire, p. (2000) pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: bloomsbury. hall, g. (2016) the uberfication of the university. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. harney, s. and morton, f. (2013) the undercommons: fugitive planning and black study. brooklyn: autonomedia. heaney, c. (2015) 'what is the university today?' journal for critical education policy studies, 13(2), 287-314. heaney, c. (2016) 'the academic, ethics and power.' engaging foucault. adriana zaharijevic, a., cvejić i. and losoncz, m., eds.,belgrade: institute for philosophy and social theory, pp. 185-201. hood, c. (1991) ‘a public management for all seasons?’ public administration, 69(1), 3-19. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 hutter, b. m. (2005) ‘the attractions of risk-based regulations: accounting for the emergence of risk ideas in regulation.’ esrc centre for analysis of risk and regulation, london school of economics and political science, discussion paper 33. illich, i. (1971) deschooling society. new york: marion boyars. mackenzie, i. and mackenzie, h. (2014) ‘a labial art-politics.’ contention: the multidisciplinary journal of social protest, 2(1), 69-78. mcgarity, t. o. (1986) ‘regulatory reform in the reagan era.’ maryland law review, 45 (2), 253-273. neary, m. (2015) ‘educative power: the myth of dronic violence in a period of civil war.’ culture machine, 16, 1-28. polanyi, k. (2001) origins of our time: the great transformation. boston: beacon press saunders, d. b. (2015) ‘resisting excellence: challenging neoliberal ideology in postsecondary education.’ journal for critical education policy studies, 13(2), 391-411. srnicek, n. (2017) platform capitalism. cambridge: polity press. standing, g. (2011). the precariat: the new dangerous class. new york: bloomsbury academic. stiegler, b. (2015) symbolic misery volume 2: the katastrophē of the sensible, translated norman, b. cambridge: polity press. university and college union (2016) precarious work in higher education: a snapshot of insecure contracts and institutional attitudes. available at: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/7995/precarious-work-in-higher-education-a-snapshot-ofinsecure-contracts-and-institutional-attitudes-apr 16/pdf/ucu_precariouscontract_hereport_apr16.pdf (accessed: 6 december 2016). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 engaging and empowering student representatives as agents of change at the university of nottingham ningbo china claudia françois, filippo gilardi, dunant halim, thomas hirzel, k cohen tan university of reading, university of nottingham ningbo china abstract the learning community forum (lcf) is one of three student feedback mechanisms at the university of nottingham ningbo china (unnc). the other two – student evaluation of module (sem) and student evaluation of teaching (set) – are administered by the university, while the lcf is a student-led forum where views regarding the provision of teaching and learning in general are collected and voiced. whilst the lcf may potentially identify issues that are otherwise overlooked by university-sanctioned surveys, it is confronted with various challenges. this paper investigates the challenges and problems encountered by lcf student representatives by looking at two case studies: the lcfs of the language centre (lc) and of the department of mechanical, materials and manufacturing engineering (mmme) at unnc. the study aimed at identifying areas that worked well and those that needed improvement through interviews with student representatives to provide input for the design of a nottingham advantage award (naa) module. the naa, as an instrument to address those identified challenges and problems, provides the following: 1) formal recognition of student contribution to teaching and learning; 2) training and relevant skills to empower student representatives as agents of change; 3) increased future employability for students through encouraging active reflection on their experience. the learning community forum at the university of nottingham ningbo china function and relevance the learning community forum (lcf) at the university of nottingham ningbo china (unnc) is a student-led forum that takes place at school-level once every semester during term time, with, in attendance, at least an academic senior tutor or an lcf staff representative representing the school. unlike the other two university feedback mechanisms – student evaluation of module (sem) and student evaluation of teaching (set) – which take the form of structured questionnaire surveys for every registered module delivered by the school, we encourage students to chair the lcf meetings and minute them. if students do not feel comfortable doing so, an academic member of staff may chair the meeting and, in some schools, the minutes may be taken by an administrative member from the respective faculty offices. topics discussed within the lcf meetings typically involve wider systemic issues that could directly or indirectly influence students’ experience and learning process, as opposed to the relatively narrower focus of individual modules. those topics may include the provision of facilities, e.g. it and library services, or they may reflect concerns that are specific to each cohort: for example, final year students might be concerned about internships and career advice whilst year 2 students might wish for more articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 advice on student exchange abroad. because of this, there is considerable latitude in the scope of discussion within the lcf forum. the role of the senior tutor or the lcf staff representative is either to address those points within, where possible, the meeting itself or, where they require further deliberation, to raise them at subsequent school meetings to determine the appropriate response (whether this involves a change in existing practice or policy) before communicating the school’s response by reporting back to the student body. because of its nature as a student-led forum, rather than a top-down approach to collecting feedback, the success of the lcf in delivering change depends directly upon the quality and relevance of the feedback that is brought to the table by student representatives. and, unlike the generic questionnaire surveys that are uniformly administered throughout the university, the lcf has the potential to raise issues that might otherwise fall between the cracks – this is why the university takes lcf feedback very seriously. at the end of each academic year, a meeting between the vice provost for teaching and learning, the campus senior tutor and the faculty directors of teaching is held to review the year’s lcf minutes across all faculties, identifying key trends and issues in feedback/comments to report back to the campus teaching committee. challenges and the naa as an instrument to address them as mentioned above, there is considerable room for uncertainty and ambiguity, since the concerns raised within each school may differ widely; variation in student enrolment numbers within each school further compounds this. given that there is a total of eighteen lcfs at unnc, the major challenge here is to ensure that the lcf platform delivers equitable levels of student engagement and consistency in across-the-board feedback that may be actionable. three key factors make this difficult to achieve in practice: firstly, because the students’ union (su), which is in charge of training lcf representatives through its education network, is a student society at unnc and not a professional body (unlike the su in the uk), there is some limitation to the quality of training and recruitment services that could be provided for and expected by its members; secondly, student representatives may become demotivated and subsequently disengaged from the process if or when they do not see the university take immediate action in response to their feedback, as may be the case if issues raised at lcf within a given academic year are addressed and implemented only in the following year systemic issues raised usually involve a change in existing policies or they require formal approval by management board because they involve significant expenditure in funding; thirdly, cultural differences between uk he and our students from a confucianist background should not be discounted, particularly in terms of what a “collectivis[t] and democratic representation” (nus, 2012: 4) might mean within the chinese context. this has a direct, negative impact on “the participation of students in quality enhancement and quality assurance” (qaa, 2015: 4) that could otherwise improve their educational experience. the majority of students participating in the lcfs are chinese. after joining an lcf as lcf reps, they articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 sometimes find themselves confronted by unique challenges (e.g. a general reluctance to voice and identify problems) that are rooted in their cultural and educational background. compared to western students, it appears at first sight that chinese students in general are quieter and less engaged, yet our experience as lcf coordinators showed that these students do want to engage actively in the lcf, though some of them, and especially year 2 students, feel that they lack the means to do so. for example, some of these students might not only lack confidence to converse in english but might also struggle with writing feedback reports and meeting minutes. language issues, however, are only part of the problem. in contrast to western education, that in china places far less emphasis on developing students’ independent analytical and critical thinking. when given the task of analysing data and open comments in an lcf survey and then summarising results, chinese students, often struggling to identify the most relevant data and open-ended comments, ended up by paraphrasing the results in their own words and thus unintentionally preventing them from being actioned. for these reasons, we needed an instrument or means by which to empower our students’ union, by enabling it “to contribute to educational and institutional change” (nus, 2012: 5) and provide students with “an inclusive environment for learning” (qaa, 2015: 4). the nottingham advantage award (naa) scheme described below offered us the ideal solution for enhancing students’ engagement while maintaining the student-led nature of the lcf, as well as aligning it with the uk quality assurance agency indicators (qaa, 2015) by ensuring “that student representatives […] [had] access to training and ongoing support to equip them to fulfil their roles in educational enhancement and quality assurance” (qaa, 2015: 11). this in turn would serve to create an environment where “students and staff engage[d] in evidence-based discussion based on mutual sharing of information” (qaa, 2015: 12) and give “opportunities for all students to be heard” (qaa, 2015: 10). to meet these challenges, the naa scheme appeared to be the ideal solution because of its constructivist nature. according to otting and zwaal, “constructivist views of learning emphasize learning processes in which students actively construct knowledge for themselves in interaction with rich and authentic learning environments. therefore, pedagogical practices like project work, workplace learning, and action learning, which stress active and collaborative learning activities, might also fit in a constructivist framework.” (2007: 172). the naa scheme is a cross-campus award (uk, china and malaysia) that provides accreditation to students learning outside the formal curriculum. students involved in this scheme gain transferable skills through participation in extraand co-curricular activities that enhance leadership skills and boost the employability of students by providing them with skills that are not necessarily part of their usual academic learning outcomes (speight, lackovic and cooker, 2012). in addition to the qaa-related improvements described above, the added advantage of using this instrument to empower our students meant that lcf student representatives would see their contribution formally recognised and their employability improved. the aim of the naa is to help students – particularly chinese students – to develop effective articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 communication and report-writing skills in english by creating an environment in which they feel supported and encouraged. the naa as a framework further supports students to develop the ability to engage critically with data analysis and open-ended comments in the lcf survey. in this way, the naa module is committed to help students to exploit their potential in the best possible way. research design to ensure fitness of purpose as well as relevant student input towards the design of the lcf naa module that would run in academic year 2015-16, we conducted two case studies within the language centre (lc) and the department of mechanical, materials and manufacturing engineering (mmme) in the autumn semester of 2014-15, with the aim of identifying the areas within the lcf that were working well and those that needed improvement. these two units were chosen for the following reasons: the lc teaches five languages (french, german, spanish, mandarin and japanese) to students from such departments as international communications (ic), english studies (es), international business (ib), international economics and trade (iet) and international studies (is). in other words, the student mix taught by the lc made up two out of three faculties here at unnc and was therefore an efficient way to ensure diversity in terms of disciplines and backgrounds. meanwhile, the department of mmme (belonging to the third remaining faculty) followed a strict procedure that was clear and explicitly designed with data-collection in mind and was for this reason an ideal choice as a control group. the two units taken collectively represented an exhaustive crosssection of the student enrolment at all three faculties. for the interviews in both case studies, a questionnaire was set up. the questionnaire for the interviews was designed by the research group and consisted of three parts: 1. the questions in the first part inquired into the motivation and expectations of students before signing up for the lcf; 2. questions in the second part touched upon issues encountered during the lcf process, such as leadership and team work within the lcf, the support structure and opportunities to develop personal and professional skills, commensurability of workload, the relevance of the lcf and the quality of feedback; 3. questions in the final part addressed further issues, looking at how lcf reps benefited from their experience with respect to their future career, how the lcf could be made completely student-driven and how junior undergraduates could be encouraged to sign up for the lcf. this questionnaire was approved via the ethics review process at unnc. the two case studies are presented separately below with their findings, together with the organisation of existing lcf practices within each unit, problems identified within them and feedback collected through interviews from student representatives. a summary of common issues encountered will be discussed and, following this, the design process of the naa module will be described to address the issues that emerge from the two case studies. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 case study 1: language centre lcf at the beginning of the autumn semester, the su recruited student representatives for the language centre lcf on a voluntary basis, from different schools and studying one of the languages delivered by the lc. the lcf consisted of thirteen student representatives from year 2 to year 4, drawn from five different schools (ic, es, ib, is and iet), and a staff representative from the lc. as the lc is part of the school of international communications (ic), it is mandatory for ic students to study a language component with the lc. previous lcf discussions at the lc were unsatisfactory, as many of the issues raised had already been covered by existing sem and set surveys. apart from the replication of feedback, many of the issues were not specific enough and, at times, irrelevant to the majority of students. because of this, the remit of the lc-lcf was to develop a new questionnaire that was meaningful and relevant to the language learning process of these students (e.g. self-study, in-class activities, language labs, extra-curricular activities, workshops on specific skills) so that they might be addressed by language tutors as well as by the director of the language centre. it also provided the director of the language centre with the necessary figures and constructive comments to initiate such changes as rethinking the assessment method. the better to organise the lcf, the following roles were assigned by the staff coordinator, based on students’ interest and abilities: i. questionnaire representative: this student was responsible for setting up the questionnaire on the qualtrics software and making the survey accessible on moodle for all students studying at the lc. after the survey was completed, this student gathered the data from qualtrics and handed it over to the feedback collection representatives; ii. feedback collection representatives: after receiving the survey results from the questionnaire representative, the feedback collection representatives divided the data into nine categories, including survey results for ic students studying french, german, japanese, mandarin or spanish (divided by language specialisation), as well as for es, ib, iet and is students studying a language at the lc (divided by external schools). the results of these nine different groups of students were then sent to the representatives for these groups; iii. five ic representatives for french, german, japanese, mandarin and spanish: each of these ic language representatives was responsible for covering one of the five languages taught at the lc. these representatives summarised the survey results and comments and afterwards sent the summary back to the feedback collection reps; iv. four representatives for es, ib, iet and is: though these representatives had the same responsibilities as the five ic representatives above, they represented the students from the four schools above, regardless of the language modules they took at the lc. for example, this meant that the es student representative would cover feedback from all es students, even if they were studying different languages; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 v. one meeting minutes representative: this representative was responsible for taking the minutes of the lc-lcf meeting at the end of the semester. for this purpose, the representative did a voice recording of the lcf meeting, wrote down the minutes and sent them to the lcf staff coordinator. the questionnaire design was a team effort, to avoid any potential blind spots, as the lc-lcf team wanted to avoid replicating feedback covered by sem and set surveys as well as to limit the number of questions, in order to make the whole process more manageable. the lc-lcf team brainstormed relevant broad-based questions and divided them into seven categories consisting of thirty-eight questions in total. these included attendance policy, examinations, learning environment, availability of staff to students, communication and information, students abroad and on exchange, and other general questions. students were given the option to indicate their response, using a six-point likert scale (‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘neutral’, ‘disagree’, ‘strongly disagree’ and ‘non-applicable’) and they were also given space to provide further comments on each of the seven categories. in addition, the questionnaire also asked students to provide suggestions regarding other questions that might have been overlooked. the questionnaire was subsequently uploaded on qualtrics by the questionnaire representative and made accessible on moodle to all lc students; lc tutors were asked to give students fifteen minutes during class to complete the survey. after the survey was completed, the results were divided among the nine language representatives, each comprising between thirty-four and forty-five pages of raw data, including figures, graphs and text. these were subsequently summarised in three to four pages. to ensure consistency across the different summaries drafted by each representative, students were asked to work in groups for proofreading and data-checking, using standardised pro forma. the summary for each group was forwarded to the lcf staff coordinator for final checking. if more information or clarification were needed, the coordinator would send it back to the relevant student representatives and the final version would be then circulated amongst lc tutors, seeking their response. during the lc-lcf meeting at the end of the semester, the issues raised by students and the response of the tutors were summarised by the director of the language centre and discussed by students and tutors attending the meeting. at the end of this process, the language centre senior tutor approved the meeting minutes and response from the school and these were uploaded to moodle and workspace. case study 1: findings and interview although this was the first time the lcf had conducted an online survey, there were no substantial problems encountered in the process. the lcf received a total of 733 responses to the online survey, representing approximately 80% participation rate by the students. this fell short of the 100% participation rate that the team had hoped for. some of the initial summaries of the received data needed revision up to three times, as they contained various inaccuracies or were structurally unclear. the same was true of the meeting minutes. as these would be articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 published to the student body, it was crucial that both the feedback and the minutes were presented in a clear and professional manner. three student representatives were later interviewed on a one-to-one basis, to find out about their perception of the lcf in terms of its usefulness for the improvement of teaching and learning, as well as about the extent of its contribution to their own personal development. the students interviewed demonstrated an awareness of the importance of the lcf and saw their own involvement as agents of change, something shared by their tutors, in terms of how they planned or delivered teaching. the students also saw the lcf approach as being “democratic”, offering an opportunity for “students [to] decide for students”. in this regard, they felt empowered in the role they played as student representatives. students also observed improvements in their personal and professional skills (such as team work, interpersonal communication, written communication and time-management) and believed that participation in the lcf could be advantageous to their future employability. this is culturally significant in china, where there is an emphasis on extra-curricular activities and “good works” benefiting the community, in addition to academic achievement (hustinx et al, 2010). however, the student representatives also highlighted a number of issues that made their task more difficult, which were taken into consideration when designing the naa module for the lcf. the top priority for student representatives was to ensure that the naa structure was clear and did not impose further demands on their time, because, in addition to gathering student feedback and speaking to course peers, they were concerned that they would have to fulfil the module credits in order to receive the accreditation. indeed, some student representatives were forced to quit halfway through the academic year because they needed to focus on their studies. if the naa module were too time-consuming, it would make future recruitment more difficult. the student representatives also indicated that they would like both a clearer definition of roles and expectations, to ensure that everyone in the group knew what s/he was doing, and a progress chart with clearly-defined deadlines, to minimise confusion. they also expressed some frustration with the multiple revisions of their report and hoped that the naa module would include training in relevant skills such as report-writing, minute-taking and agenda-drafting. this would allow student representatives to carry out their tasks with greater confidence and professionalism. they also expressed a desire for team-building activities to foster better communication between team members, which might then have prevented some team members’ dropping out halfway through the year and some classes’ not being informed of the lcf questionnaire owing to a lapse in communication. case study 2: department of mechanical, materials and manufacturing engineering lcf during their first week of the academic semester, students were given a short fifteen-minute presentation about the lcf and its importance during class. this presentation was given by the staff lcf representatives and was intended to raise student awareness about the lcf and its process. after the presentation, the lecturer and lcf staff representatives left the room for about ten minutes to provide students with an opportunity to have free discussion with their articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 peers, following which they were asked to elect two student representatives. two student representatives were elected for each year of study from two courses, namely mechanical engineering and product design and manufacture. additional support was provided by the students’ union education network, by means of organised training for the student representatives, and all the representatives’ details were uploaded to the notice board outside the faculty office, to moodle and to workspace, so that students would be able to identify their lcf representatives. during the semester, the departmental lcf staff representative requested feedback from student representatives a few weeks in advance of their lcf meeting and student representatives then collected feedback from their fellow students using any method they wished – e.g. face-to-face meeting, paper questionnaire, wechat, and emails. they could also request time in class to do this with the lecturer absent. the student feedback was then sent to the departmental lcf administrator (a member of the faculty office) who combined the feedback from all the student representatives into one document and passed it on to the staff lcf representatives. the departmental lcf staff representatives addressed the feedback, approached colleagues where necessary and then met with the student representatives. the chair was normally the lcf staff representative and the departmental senior tutor was invited to the meeting. the lcf minutes were then drafted by faculty office staff, checked and finally agreed upon by all members of the lcf; they were finally disseminated in the department and uploaded to moodle/workspace for the information of students and staff. case study 2: findings and interviews four lcf student representatives from the department of mmme volunteered to be interviewed following the completion of the lcf meetings at the end of the year. among the motivating factors identified were: the opportunity to help fellow students; the ability to improve the student learning experience; the opportunity to interact with academic staff and other students in this lcf environment. it was observed that their motivation was not primarily influenced by the need to include their lcf experience in their student cv for postgraduate study or future employment, as these student representatives did not see the skills and experiences they obtained through participation in the lcf to be relevant and formalised enough to be included. nonetheless, the student representatives interviewed felt that transferable skills gained in the process, such as communication, leadership and data collection, were important and wanted to develop them in a more formal and structured setting. the four student representatives reported that their responsibilities did not take up too much of their time and felt that their workload was manageable, because, they affirmed, they had received adequate support from other student representatives on their team as well as from the lcf academic staff. this kept them motivated to continue their lcf responsibilities throughout the year. however, there were some issues that were felt to be less than satisfactory to the student representatives interviewed. chief among these was their perception that they were unable to create as much change as they had hoped. they felt that certain issues raised during the lcf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 meetings had not been adequately addressed by either the department or the university, and wanted the lcf platform to be given greater power to implement changes. this was, for some of the student representatives, a potentially de-motivating factor re continuing in their lcf roles. whilst the university is committed to placing students at the centre of the learning and teaching process, there are various constraints, in terms of infrastructural change and government policy, that cannot be decided by the university without further consultation. the staff coordinator felt that greater knowledge and understanding of the university and how it operates would have helped to defuse some of the frustration felt by the student representatives. common issues from the data collected during both case studies, we were able to identify some common issues arising from the existing lcf practice that should be addressed in the design of the lcf naa module. these include: 1. incommensurability of workload: this was most apparent in the feedback from both sets of interviews, as student representatives from the lc felt that participation in the lcf was time-consuming compared to the student representatives from the department of mmme. this was certainly owing to the number of students taking language modules within the lc, as well as to the fact that the lcf members in the lc comprised students from different departments and faculties. the mix of academic backgrounds presented an impediment to effective communication and organisation because of timetabling differences. in addition, membership of the lc lcf dropped from fifteen to eight members after christmas, and this had a workload impact on the rest of the team. this was not an issue in the second case study, as the student representatives were from the same department. however, this also highlighted a need for structure and clarity within the lcf framework; 2. quality assurance in terms of training and feedback: relevant skills and training should be provided in a formal setting to support student representatives to support student representatives and boost their confidence. this would help them carry out their responsibilities with an equal level of support. the transferable skills learnt could then also be listed in the student cv for either postgraduate study or future employability; 3. understanding how the university operates: this would help to manage the expectations of student representatives and to foster their greater professionalism, by increasing their exposure to university, academic faculty and department structures. the knowledge and understanding gained would allow them to identify more effectively areas of improvement to be implemented. it would also boost their level of engagement and enable them to work alongside academic staff to deliver change. research on this subject indicates a positive correlation between the level of student engagement and the quality of their learning: students who engage in such extra-curricular activities are also the most engaged in their studies, and the assumption here is that the converse is true. students who get involved in extra-curricular activities will eventually show more interest in their studies as a result (graham gibbs, 2016), especially if these activities bring a articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 sense of satisfaction, fulfilment and belonging to the students in question. this will eventually have impact on the institution’s image (trowler, 2010); 4. formal recognition of student contribution to teaching and learning: the accreditation offered by the naa award is consistent with the university’s commitment to placing students at the centre of our teaching and learning. it would also improve the future employability of student representatives and reward them for their time. more importantly, this would be a strong motivating factor in the recruitment and retention of lcf representatives, particularly for chinese students, who highly value extrinsic motivation (li, 2003). all student representatives interviewed, in fact, felt that the proposed lcf naa module was attractive to them. one student representative expressed an interest in continuing to serve in this role only if it were possible for her to take it as part of the naa. the retention of lcf student representatives is important as it would allow more experienced student representatives to take on mentoring and training roles within the lcf and the su education network in future, thereby increasing its autonomy over time. lcf nottingham advantage award (naa) module design following the findings from the two case studies, an lcf-naa working group was formed and tasked with designing the naa module for its pilot in autumn semester of 2015-16. the working group was composed of key stakeholders identified on the basis of the support they could provide, as well as on the direct and indirect effects on their work as a result of the naa scheme. the different stakeholders were then assessed on the basis of their attitude vis-à-vis the project, their interest in it and the support they would be able to provide if we were able to engage them (jisc, 2015). these stakeholders were:  senior tutor network (stn): a cross-faculty network of senior tutors from different schools. as students would take the module from different schools it was felt that a campus-wide network would maintain focus and relevance to the content and objectives of the naa module;  lcf staff representatives: the lcf staff representatives’ involvement was essential, as they were responsible for providing guidance to lcf student representatives and served as their first point of contact. their participation was crucial in designing the naa as well as guaranteeing workload equity across schools;  student representatives from the students’ union education network: it was felt by colleagues that, as it was a student-led forum, it would be beneficial for students to participate in the module design and approval so that it might more closely reflect their needs and demands. this was a significant move, as student representatives from the su education network would eventually lead the workshops to provide the necessary training for lcf student representatives, after being trained on the delivery of these sessions by a staff member. in this way, students would be involved at every stage of the naa design process, from the inception stage (via feedback from interviews), to the design and planning stage (via working group) and finally to the delivery and execution articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 stage (via leading workshops and recruiting lcf representatives in elections). this was in line with the developmental model of student engagement (dmse) that “locates students as partners in a learning community, and […] places greater emphasis on student growth and development and is primarily concerned with the quality of learning and the personal, mutual and social benefits that can be derived from engaging within a community of scholars” (trowler and trowler, 2010: 3);  teaching and learning enhancement office (tleo): in charge of advising the academic community regarding best practice and all quality assurance related work at unnc; supportive of the su education network members and all activities, procedures and policies related to teaching and learning;  career development office: in charge of the administration of the naa programme;  campus teaching committee (ctc): in charge of the university’s academic quality standard. it reviews and develops the university’s teaching and learning strategy. the naa module had three objectives and four components of assessment and could be taken either as a 10-credit module (100 hours in total for students on one semester exchange in year 3) or a 20-credit module (200 hours in total). the three objectives of the naa module were: 1) to ensure that students’ concerns about their courses of study were represented to academic staff throughout the academic year; 2) to ensure that the views of students were given proper weight in the processes of course and module review; 3) to provide an opportunity for students to develop a broad range of transferable skills and to work in partnership with other students and academic staff. in order to meet the above objectives, the method of assessment contained four components, in at least three of which students must attain a compulsory pass mark. the four components of the naa module were as follows: i. knowledge: three sets of ten multiple choice questions deployed as online quizzes on moodle. these questions covered knowledge of the university, including the university’s quality manual and the services provided to students. a 100% pass mark was required on each set of questions before student representatives were allowed to proceed to the next stage, although they were allowed to re-take the quiz as many times as necessary; ii. application: writing of meeting minutes. pass marks were awarded by the campus senior tutor during the lcf annual review or by the school’s lcf staff coordinator, based on the quality and value of the issues discussed at the lcf meeting; iii. team-work: a peer evaluation of each individual student representative would be conducted by the team to ensure commensurable levels of participation and effort. this would also reinforce team-building and engagement within each team; iv. reflection: each team would produce a ten-minute self-reflective video, based on their experience as lcf representatives and what they had learnt in the process. this would be awarded a pass/fail mark by representatives from the su education network, which was initially responsible for leading the workshops. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 it should be noted from components iii and iv that students had equal weight and say in terms of the assessment for the naa module. this decision was informed by the findings of the interviews as well as the lcf-naa working group, in order to devolve greater responsibility and autonomy to the lcf representatives. according to healey, flint and harrington, “engaging students as teachers and assessors in the learning process is a particularly effective form of partnership” (2014: 8). this would also be a motivating factor for student representatives and the purpose of the lcf-naa was to support rather than direct the lcf platform; the lcf would otherwise lose its unique characteristic as a student-led platform and become re-appropriated as yet another formal means of feedback. the components were to be awarded pass/fail marks rather than graded because they were intended to be formative/evaluative. the module was also extended to include postgraduate students so that it might help in their personal and professional development; it was piloted successfully in autumn 2015-16. based on the four modes of student engagement model proposed by dunne (2016), the lcf student representatives participated in student-led activities that were focused on both critical thinking (mode a) and design thinking (mode b). in mode a, student representatives proactively engaged with their peers to collect feedback, using a variety of data collection methods, and to perform an evaluation based on the critical analysis of the feedback data. in mode b, student representatives utilised the evaluation results to initiate ideas and action to promote changes in their department via the lcf process. the lcf-naa module, however, incorporated a more formalised teacher-led aspect to the whole process in order to improve student engagement in this mainly student-led activity. various aspects were contributed by teacher-led critical-thinking (mode c) and design-thinking (mode d) activities, in which teachers guided the students through more formative assessment for developing their skills in writing meeting minutes and data collection methods, as well as for encouraging them to engage with their peers via a peer evaluation and team self-reflective videos. in other words, when the students undertook the lcf-naa module, there was a gradual shift in focus and responsibility from teacher-led modes (c and d) to student-led modes (a and b). the aim was to leverage student engagement, first by guiding them through criticaland design-thinking elements and finally empowering them to take on effective leadership roles as agents of change through the lcf process. colleagues within the working group intended to gather more information and feedback on the lcf-naa pilot at the end of the year for further development of the module. reference list dunne, e. (2016) ‘design thinking: a framework for student engagement? a personal view.’ journal of educational innovation partnership and change, 2(1). available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.21100/jeipc.v2i1.317 (accessed: 30 august 2016). gibbs, g. (2016) ‘ ‘student engagement’ is a slippery concept. 53 powerful ideas all teachers should know about.’ seda. available at: http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_199_42%20'student%20engagement'%20is %20a%20slippery%20consept.pdf (accessed: 30 august 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.21100/jeipc.v2i1.317 http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_199_42%20'student%20engagement'%20is%20a%20slippery%20consept.pdf http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_199_42%20'student%20engagement'%20is%20a%20slippery%20consept.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 9, no 13, 2016 healey, m., flint, a. and harrington, k. (2014) engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. york: hea. available at: https://wwew.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.p df (accessed: 30 august 2016). hustinx, l., handy, f., cnaan, r. a., brudney, j. l., pessi, a. b., and yamauchi, n. (2010) ‘social and cultural origins of motivations to volunteer a comparison of university students in six countries.’ international sociology, 25(3), 349-382. available at: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1114161 (accessed: 30 august 2016). jisc (2015) stakeholder engagement. available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/changemanagement/stakeholder-engagement (accessed 30 august 2016). li, j. (2003) ‘u.s. and chinese cultural beliefs about learning.’ journal of education psychology, 95(2), 258-267. nus (2012) a manifesto for partnership. available at: http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/a-manifesto-for-partnership (accessed: 30 august 2016). otting, h. and zwaal, w. (2007) ‘the identification of constructivist pedagogy in different learning environments.’ in: mccuddy, m. k. (ed.) the challenges of educating people to lead in a challenging world. netherlands: springer, 171-196. available at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2f978-1-4020-5612-3_9#page-2 (accessed: 30 august 2016). qaa (2015) uk quality code for higher education. part b: assuring and enhancing academic quality. available at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-qualitycode/quality-code-part-b (accessed: 30 august 2016). speight, s., lackovic, n., and cooker, l. (2012) ‘stakeholder attitudes towards employability in a sino-british university.’ journal of teaching and learning for graduate employability, 3(1), 2640. available at: http://jtlge.curtin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/article/viewfile/109/28 (accessed: 30 august 2016). trowler, v. (2010) student engagement literature review. york: hea. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/studentengagementliteraturereview_1.pdf (accessed: 30 august 2016). trowler, v. and trowler, p. (2010) framework for action: enhancing student engagement at the institutional level. york: hea. available at: www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/studentengagement/frameworks_for_action_index (accessed: 30 august 2016). https://wwew.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf https://wwew.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1114161 https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/change-management/stakeholder-engagement https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/change-management/stakeholder-engagement http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/a-manifesto-for-partnership http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2f978-1-4020-5612-3_9#page-2 http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/quality-code-part-b http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/quality-code-part-b http://jtlge.curtin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/article/viewfile/109/28 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/studentengagementliteraturereview_1.pdf http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/studentengagement/frameworks_for_action_index physical and psychological factors inhibiting the use of technological devices in the development of collaborative feedback in the reflective practice amongst trainee teachers physical and psychological factors inhibiting the use of technological devices in the development of collaborative feedback in the reflective practice amongst trainee teachers gordon ade-ojo university of greenwich, school of education and academic associate of the university of south africa (unisa) nicola sowe university of greenwich, school of education background much importance has been attached to the promotion and development of a collaborative form of feedback in the context of reflective practice. two main conclusions from relevant studies are that collaborative feedback contributes to the development of reflective practice, and that the predominant structure of feedback practice has not engendered the development of collaborative feedback (copland 2008, copland, ma and mann 2009 and 2010, edge 2005, alexander 2005, ade-ojo and sowe, 2011). responses to these conclusions have varied. while some studies have explored the underpinning drivers of feedback in reflective practice (copland 2008, edge 2005), others have looked at the processes and physicality of the structures that can support the development of a collaborative approach to feedback (sowe and ade-ojo 2011, mula 2009, dyke, harding and lajeunesse, 2006). with the latter, one of the more common areas that has been explored is the use of technological devices such as video and digital recordings. there is some consensus that the introduction of these devices contribute to the evolution of effective and collaborative feedback in reflective practice development of trainees (research for teachers 2007) and that, video-based recording offers student teachers to undertake quality self reflection (robinson and kelly, 2007, dymond and bentz, 2006, sherin and van es, 2005, kong, shroff and hong, 2009:546). furthermore, some studies have sought to firmly link the use of these technological devices to feedback as an element of reflective practice. for example, dyke, harding and lajeunesse (2006) conclude that 81 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 synchronous digital video was favourable in the delivery of feedback just as sowe and ade-ojo (2011) confirmed that digital recording was highly useful in the development of non-didactic feedback. however, many studies have explored what they consider to be potential and real draw-backs of the use of these devices. for example, mula (2009) describes ‘the agony and the ecstasy’ of a digital teaching and learning environment, research for teachers (2007) highlights trainees feelings ‘of being exposed to risk’ (p.1),while halter (2004) draws our attention to the fact that ‘many questions about their {digital video} use and impact remain to be explored and answered’ while at the same time advocating the need to focus on both ‘the technical aspect of technology and digital video’ and ‘the human aspects of reflection and collaboration using digital media’ (p.2). in many of these studies, however, much attention appears to have been focused on the technical aspects with little attention paid to how technology contributes to and promotes collaborative feedback as a component of self-reflection. mula (2009) dwells extensively on the cognitive barriers to technology and ‘the hurdle of complexity’ arguing that, ‘you can have the best technology, the most advanced functionality possible, but if people don’t want itperhaps because they aren’t equipped to use itthen it is in danger of falling flat’, and that, ‘as technology continues to advance and universities look to take advantage of them to respond to the dynamic changing nature of learning and their learners’ desire to learn in their time and space, we need to find ways to overcome the hurdle of complexity’(p.21). the central message emanating from these studies suggests that the focus of exploration remains on processes and technicality and not on the actual practice and potential outcomes of practice. the result is that the crucial element of how trainees relate to the feedback component as an element of their own development is somehow hidden and perhaps lost. crucial questions like what emotional and psychological factors could inhibit trainees’ engagement with these devices in the course of developing their self reflection ability becomes inevitably forgotten in the desire to explore the obvious technical inhibitions. it is in response to the potential loss of this rather important factor that this study, which is a part of a larger study, sought to explore not only the physical but also the less obvious emotional and psychological inhibitions. the larger study was built around the exploration of the role and impact of the use of technological devices such as digital recording in facilitating a less-autocratic regime of evaluative post-observation feedback. the various elements of the research sought the views of both trainees and tutors on a teacher training programme. while one element of the research focused on the positive impact of using digital recordings, another sought the opinions of tutors on how it has helped them to develop a more collaborative regime of evaluative feedback. a third focus of the study was on generating a framework for providing what the researchers call co-productive feedback (ade-ojo and sowe 2012, in press). the final focus, which is what is reported in this paper focuses on potential physical and psychological inhibitions to the use of digital recordings from the view point of trainee teachers. in effect, the central research questions that this paper aimed to answer were as follows. first, what are the factors that might inhibit the achievement of a collaborative evaluative feedback when facilitated by the use of digital recording? second, do trainee teachers have a difference in perception between these potential problems in terms of whether they are psychological or physical in origin? ultimately, the goal for us is to set the scene for ameliorating the negative factors that might inhibit trainees and their trainers from taking advantage of the huge underlying strengths that the use of technological devices can provide. 82 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 a conceptual framework for the role of feedback in evaluation feedback as an element of teacher evaluation is often perceived from two functional perspectives: improvement and accountability (oecd 2009). while with the former, the goal is ‘to improve the teacher’s own practice by identifying strengths and weaknesses for further professional development, with the latter, the focus is to ‘hold teachers accountable for their performance, associating it to a range of consequences for their career’ (oecd, 2009: 8-9). given the varying focus of these two concepts of the role of evaluation and by implication, its components such as feedback, it becomes inevitable that there will be tension between the demands of these two. one consequence of this is that most evaluative models utilise what stronge and tucker (2003) present as a combination of models for many purposes and methodologies leading inevitably to some form of conflict as indicated in avalos and asaael (2006) cited in oecd (2009:9); ‘an emphasis on accountability may in some instances lead teachers to feel insecure or fearful and reduce their appreciation of their work. by contrast, teachers and their unions expect opportunities of social recognition of their work and opportunities for professional growth through the development of a formative system of teacher evaluation’. because of this tension, trainee teachers may naturally experience inhibitions which originate not only from the well documented physical sources but also from psychological sources. research implementation and data collection processes the implementation process was initiated with the negotiation of consent with the trainees with assurance of anonymity and confidentiality (crow and wiles 2008). consent was also gained from the trainees’ employers and learners. a template for an evaluative framework was offered that supported the trainee’s self evaluation. the final phase of the process which involved a focus group discussion was also negotiated and agreed. underpinning the entirety of the implementation process is the recognition of the relationship between researcher and the researched. given that the researchers were tutors of the participants, participation was strictly on a voluntary basis thus reducing researcher intimidation (hobbs and kubanyiova 2008). data collection and analysis the research was aligned to a mixed-method approach (cresswell 2003). data was collected through a number of methods including a questionnaire, a focus group and a tutor discussion/interview thus promoting triangulation (bell 2010, coghlan and brannick 2010). while the data collected through the use of a questionnaire offered the opportunity to present patterns of distribution and frequency of occurrences, the data collected through the use of the other two methods facilitated engagement with the individual and collective reasoning behind what was presented in the quantitative form. both open and closed questions were used with a thoughtful sequencing to provide a richness of data whilst easily allowing for comparative analysis. in analysing the quantitative data collected through the use of a questionnaire, the spss database spreadsheet was used to map out the frequency of occurrence and distributional patterns emerging from participants’ responses. central to this method of analysis was a process of recording, transcription and codification. the element of codification was facilitated through a simple system of semantic denotation and connotation. these codified responses enabled us to feed in responses to the spss spreadsheet leading to the exploration of a number of functions in order to capture information about distribution and 83 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 frequency of occurrence. the collection and analysis of the second set of data draws from the principle of linguistic ethnography (copland, 2010, creese, 2008, tusting and maybin, 2007) which is built on a framework that attempts to integrate the tools of ethnography with elements of linguistic data collection and analysis (rampton 2007). this promoted the foregrounding of ‘a reflexive approach’ (copland 2010:467). prior to the collection of the focus group interview data, an initial analysis of the questionnaire data was carried out. this provided the guidelines which served as prompts for the direction of some of the discussions. the goal of the focus group was to validate the questionnaire findings and to stimulate participants to make explicit their views, perceptions and motives (punch, 2003). the unstructured nature of the discussion allowed a conversation to explore personal experience and feelings in the context of a reflective dialogue. this structure offered participants the opportunity to reflect on their role in the post observation tutorial and fore-grounded the ethnographic element of the research, as it facilitated the promotion of researchers as participants in the process under investigation. the codification of recorded transcripts drew upon the concept of speech act semantics which highlights the illocutionary intentions of the contributors (austin 1962, searle 1969). this incorporated the linguistic element within the overall approach to data analysis. the semantic groupings then formed the basis from which the various themes presented in the discussion emerged. overall, this approach converges with our desire to employ a reflexive approach to data collection and analysis by ‘bringing together tools of ethno methodological and interactionist sociolinguistics with tools of ethnography’ (copland 2010: 179). as a result, we were able to accomplish what heller and martin-jones (2001:12) describe as the production of ‘detailed and nuanced descriptions of talk in the context in which it occurs’. participants the participants in this study comprised of fourteen trainee teachers on a part-time posgtraduate certificate in education programme into which the diploma in teaching in the lifelong sector award is incorporated (pgce: dtlls). this is a training programme leading to the award of the professional qualification which is a requirement for gaining the qualified teacher status (qtls) award for teachers in the post-compulsory education sector in the uk. there are a number of commonalities amongst participants; all are employed in various further education colleges and perceive their attendance as mandatory, have a minimum of five years experience and have been involved in evaluative feedback, and all have a minimum of a level three qualification in their subject area. this classifies them as training to become dual professionals (ifl, 2007) seeking to gain pedagogical professionalism in addition to their subject area professionalism. there are differences in terms of age and ethnicity although all were within the age range of forty to fifty years. in terms of ethnicity, only one of the participants was black and particular attention was paid to the views expressed by this minority participant to see if there was a pattern of race-induced difference. this was, however, done surreptitiously, as the researchers were concerned that undue pressure might be placed on this participant to represent the views of bme trainees. quantitative analysis of findings the entries made in table 1 below were developed following the codification of the various findings as reported in the questionnaire. as a result, the subheadings used; psychological, technical, time, data protection and liberty are used to represent various features as reported by the participants. for example, when some of the participants indicated that they saw the tension generated by the demand that 84 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 assessment places on the use of digital recording for reflective practice through feedback as a barrier, this was codified as a psychological issue. similarly, when some participants indicated that the fact that others might have access to something they considered personal, this was considered as a data protection and liberty issue. table 1 problems of digital recording frequency percent valid percent cumulative percent valid psychological 2 14.3 14.3 14.3 technical 4 28.6 28.6 42.9 time 4 28.6 28.6 71.4 data protection and liberty 1 7.1 7.1 78.6 all four 1 7.1 7.1 85.7 combination of 1, 2, and 3 2 14.3 14.3 100.0 total 14 100.0 100.00 as indicated in table 1, there were four distinct categories of responses. the four categories were psychological, technical, time and data protection. more importantly, however, there was a clear indication that for some of the participants, it was a combination of more than one of the categories. also, there was a clear indication that while a significant percentage, 28.6% identified technicality as a major problem, the remaining participants, 71.4% identified other factors. this lends credence to one of the rationales for this study; the need to explore emotional as well as physical problems associated with the use of digital recordings in the facilitation of collaborative feedback in the self reflection process. psychological 14.3% of the participants identified psychological factors as being a source of problem in their use of the digital recording device. central to the views of these participants were the issues of assessment requirements and the leaderled relationship that had existed between them and their tutors. these issues were explored further in the focus group discussion and constitute a line of investigation in the exploration of qualitative data in this study. technical a noticeable percentage of respondents indicated that the major problems they had were technical. 28.6% of participants held this view. the major issues indicated in their responses related to installing the digital recording and mastering how to use it. while this was an issue for a significant number of participants, it was also clear that this was something they saw as surmountable. it is therefore safe to argue that physical problems are more easily surmountable, than problems that are less physical. 85 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 time time was also reported as being a major issue for participants. the major issues were time for installation and mastery of digital recorders, time spent on reviewing the recordings, and time spent on revisiting the recordings with their tutors. a total of 28.6% of participants held this view. it could be argued that for participants who held this view, their erstwhile dependence on teacher-led forms of feedback which required little from trainees in the feedback process might be influential. while this obviously saves trainees substantial time, evidence from various sources suggest that such an approach does not facilitate the development of self reflection skills. data protection and liberty though representing a minority of opinion, there was evidence that data protection and liberty can be an issue. the data indicated that this factor constituted a problem for some participants in the use of digital recording. the learning point emerging from this is that it is important to explore trainees’ views regarding this issue before integrating the use of digital recordings into any training programme. combinations: a total of 3, representing 21.4% of participants indicated that a combination of these factors constituted problems for them in their engagement with the use of digital recordings. one participant indicated that a combination of all four factors identified above could be seen as constituting problems in the use of digital recordings while 2 participants, 14.3% felt that it was a combination of the first three factors. there are two potential points emerging from this. first, the use of technological devices is not a simple one dimensional process and therefore requires substantial thought before it is introduced. the second point is that participants’ views may be informed by more than one element spanning the entire process from gaining feedback to the engagement with reflection. hence, there were really no set of isolated factors but a combination of factors which in the end were focused on the entire process. the varying views, therefore, created the opportunity to explore the use of digital recordings as a component of the feedback process rather than as an independent element on its own. qualitative analysis of findings discussion within the focus group provided a general overview in addition to the identification of a number of emerging themes in relation to possible inhibitors. although participants’ views suggested that the experience proved invaluable (sowe and ade-ojo, 2011) as reflected in some participants’ comments that; “i could have done this every week” (r1), “think all teachers should do it”(r1), “amazing opportunity – very rarely do teachers get that opportunity (r4), there were responses that required further exploration in order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the factors inhibiting the tool’s use in the feedback process. these are presented and discussed thematically below. theme 1: conflation with assessment and judgement participants were concerned with the seeming conflation of feedback with assessment. in particular, participants highlighted the inherent contradiction of this conflation with the developmental nature of using this tool. the response below illustrates this position: “it has two purposes though; ‘one for self evaluation and one for judgement”(r7). 86 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 discussion this concern reiterates the tension presented in the framework for evaluative feedback between the improvement and accountability models of evaluative feedback. although assessment is not essentially an element of accountability from the view point of employer/employee relationship, it is possible that trainees may see assessment as an activity that requires them to give an account of their stewardship. this inevitable tension is, therefore, understandably a potential source of psychological inhibition and echoes copland, ma and mann (2009) who suggest that the incompatibility of the assessment and development role that exists in teaching practice observation and evaluative feedback can result in disquiet and tension. similarly, brandt (2008) and copland, ma and mann (2009) highlight the possible differing expectations of the trainer and trainee in regard to the assessment role of the trainer and the more evaluative role of the trainee. one position that has emerged from this is the fact that the reported tension is likely to remain regardless of whether the feedback is teacher-led in a conventional teaching practice observation or a post feedback discussion after use of a technological device. in the context of using the digital recording facility, therefore, it becomes evident that as long as the teaching practice observation remains a part of assessment, assessment is likely to remain significant as a barrier to using the tool. theme 2: replication of the ethos and culture of performativity a second theme to emerge from the focus group discussion is the potential for the tool to reinforce an ethos of performativity (ball, 2003, kelchtermans, 2007b). participants highlighted the fact that using digital recordings offers the opportunity for entrenching the the-daytoday climate of performativity in which professional teachers find themselves because of the element of permanence and continuity that it could potentially attract. the driver for this view is the opportunity for judgement which it readily provides. typifying this position is a comment from one participant: “is it possible to work against you?...”(r8). discussion participants’ allusion to the possibility of ‘judgement’ that goes with the viewing of their practice must be seen in the context of their powerful perception of the situation. a pertinent question arises here: could ‘judgement’ be an indication of the possible vulnerability trainees feel in this situation particularly when the data for judgement is held on record? this brings a complexity to the situation by linking potential tutor assessment and ‘judgement’ to that of another theme of data protection of the trainee in regards to production of information that is often linked to the monitoring systems of an organisation (ball, 2003). in our view, this segment of response brings to life the prevalent atmosphere and culture of performativity in the teaching profession (ball, 2007 and keltchermans, 2007). emerging from this is a salient question for teacher educators; is the environment of teacher education a total replication of the work environment? while we acknowledge the need to familiarise trainees with the environments that are similar to the one in which they are ultimately going to be employed, perhaps this needs to be tempered. what this research suggests is that the prevalent workplace culture appears to be so all-pervasive that even trainee teachers feel the impact. 87 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 theme 3: data protection and liberty although expressed by a minority, there is an indication that data protection and liberty can be an issue. comments by r8 that, “it’s on record, works against you for quality or not” highlights the issues of mistrust, access to personal data and the classical notion of liberty as very important for trainees in the context of the use of digital recordings. discusson halter (2004:9) reminds us that the use of technical devices such as digital recordings offers a permanent and accurate record. further discussions with participants suggest that the element of permanence might well be an issue. in the age of what can be perceived as the dominance and all-pervasiveness of performativity (ball, 2003, kelchtermans, 2007b), the element of mistrust becomes inevitable. although the recorded trend of performativity is often in relation to managers and the managed, the emergence of trust as an issue suggests that this phenomenon might be replicated in the context of trainees/tutors and trainers. the element of performativity would seem to be applied in this case to the data that the use of digital recording of trainees make available. for participants who expressed some form of apprehension in this context, there is a reasonable assumption that they might be judged in some way through the data made available and that they as trainees can be held accountable for it at a later date. based on the foregoing, it is logical to assume that there is a possibility for the emergence of a level of mistrust between tutors and trainees on the one hand, and trainees and recorded evidence on the other. furthering the discussion on accountability and trust, o’neill (2002) suggests that in a culture of accountability, trust is likely to be diminished. in this context, therefore, the use of technological devices, if not handled sensitively, may present a feeling of surveillance when located within the framework of a culture of accountability. in this situation, a trainee may feel an ‘object of surveillance’ (matthews, 2006) with increased vulnerability (kelchtermans, 2005, bullough, 2005) and intimidation (halter, 2004). the result, one can envisage, is a resultant reluctance to use such a device. as is the case with teachers, trainees’ feelings of vulnerability are likely to be sharpened. a potential result of this situation is the acceptance of kelchtermans’ (2005) argument that vulnerability has in effect become a structural characteristic of the profession. what this research suggests is that vulnerability might well have become a structural characteristic of training in much the same way. theme 4: psychological impact on trainees’ learners a particularly interesting theme to emerge from participants was the potential psychological impact that the use of digital recordings might have on trainees’ learners. this potential inhibition was echoed throughout the focus group discussions. indicative of this concern were additional comments such as; “students might not agree to the filming”, “students can feel uncomfortable being filmed”, “students can be distracted by camera”, “some students do not feel comfortable to being filmed every single lesson”. discussion when explored during the focus group discussion, there was a strong indication that the main driver for the emergence of this theme is the fact that just as trainee teachers have a sense of responsibility for their own ‘well being’, they have the same sense of responsibility for their own learners’ well being. this may come as no surprise, as it is arguably a reflection of professionalism on the part of these trainee teachers. 88 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 bearing in mind that the provision of a safe environment and promotion of the well being of those we teach is paramount as an aspect of teachers’ professional characteristics and a crucial element of the lifelong learning sector’s (lls) professional standards, it should not come as a surprise that these trainee teachers, all of whom are already experienced teachers, place such emphasis on the comfort of their learners. theme 5: indirect psychological factor another emergent theme can be classified as being indirectly related to the psychological, as it draws on both the physical and psychological. some participants suggested that some aspects of their perceived technical problems may also induce psychological barriers. this relates to comments on the limitations of the recording to capture all they do and, therefore, becoming off-putting for them. comments such as, “design of the classroom as small gap to capture just a few students and not the whole class”(r3), “somewhat flat on video’, you do not get the feel of the class”(r8), and “possible technical limitations with the camera not capturing all the action and interaction in the classroom” illustrate this position. the key issue here, in our view, is the fact that there might be layers to the sources and impact of significant factors in this context. it is, therefore, crucial that teacher educators do not take things at face value and that they draw on their reflective skills to drill down to the root in addressing some of these factors. discussion comments and opinions presented above may provide an insight into the importance that trainee teachers may place on ensuring that the viewer sees them for what they are. this need to be ‘seen’ which could possibly be accounted for in the context of the perception of the self could understandably metamorphose into a limitation of the device. this becomes significant because it has the potential to cause concern for trainees. in a way, it might again be seen as an expression of some form of residual apprehension which emanates from the notion of being judged and wanting to be represented in as best a light as possible. this position was further reiterated through responses such as, “i did not feel the observer was able to capture all aspects/elements of the lesson from viewing randomly selected snippets of the video of my lesson and therefore felt dissatisfied that they were commenting from a fully informed position”. although it might be argued that it was the trainee’s choice that not all the lesson was viewed, this comment does highlight the high level of dissatisfaction a trainee may have if the opportunity to view them ‘in total’ is compromised. trainee teachers’ sense of efficacy is often noted as very high on their priority list. the need for others to ‘see that’ is strong and may well relate to the issue of ‘judgement and assessment’ with trainees concerned that a judgement will be made without the full picture. in our view, this again echoes the conflicting conceptual realities of evaluative feedback as an instrument of accountability as against its conception as an instrument of development (oecd, 2009). in a similar iteration, this position underscores the observation that a negative public judgement may have a devastating effect (kelchtermans, 1996, 1999, 2005). more importantly, it exemplifies how inhibitions in this context might overlap in terms of their impact. 89 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 theme 6: further technical problems further technical problems were highlighted in relation to the quality of the recording in the post observation evaluation: “the audio was a bit of a problem at times, e.g. when working together you can’t pick out voices – just hearing mumbling and you can’t tell if talking about work” (r4), “basic camera set up not of a high enough quality for group work as much interaction can be missed’. discussion at the heart of this was an issue around the quality of the digital recording devices. this brings into the equation cost which is directly responsible for the quality of the devices to be used in such endeavours. it is important, therefore, that cost should be considered as a potential inhibitor and that even when sufficiently available, careful consideration should be taken with the purchase of the technological device , ensuring in particular that it remains ‘user friendly’ for teachers. this factor was again brought into focus through trainees’ comments in relation to the time commitment of the process and use of camera. some participants noted, “effective setting up of equipment is time consuming and requires specialist knowledge”, “setting up the video camera would require the teacher to spend some time with device and, therefore, teacher’s attention would shift from the class to the device”. while the latter comment reinforces the desire for the teacher to ensure greater efficacy, it also highlights the potential technical problems that using the device might contribute through a reduction in the desired self efficacy. theme 7: reiteration of findings from quantitative data one emergent theme that essentially reiterated the finding from quantitative data was the potential for inhibitions deriving from technicalities involved in the use of digital recordings. while the emergence of this inhibition might be understandable from the position that many trainees engaged with the installation and use of the digital device on their own and for the first, the time-related element of this problem may be surmountable and merely raises the importance of giving teacher trainees support in terms of training before they engage with the use of such devices. indeed, it might actually provide a rationale for the integration of elements of ict in the teacher training curriculum. related to the issue of technology was time. apart from its association with the technical requirements of using the digital recording device, participants gave an indication that time as a variable can become a source of inhibition in using the device. reflecting such concerns were comments like, “time consuming. find camera, get permission, watch it once done, watch it again with tutor etc. etc.” , “the self-reflective process after the lesson”, “the accompanying paperwork was too extensive, cumbersome and time consuming to complete…”. this suggests that although the experience is seen as positive and enhanced by the inclusion of an evaluation framework document (sowe and ade-ojo, 2011), the additional time required may inhibit its effective use, particularly in the backdrop of ‘the busy teacher’. conclusions this study sought to identify the crucial inhibitors to using a technological device as an instrument for promoting a more collaborative feedback process. the discussions around the findings of this project have highlighted the complexities of the situation. one interesting pattern that has emerged is the potential for one inhibitor to induce or relate to another consideration. for example, as demonstrated in the case of technical inhibitions, there was evidence that this might culminate in inducing a psychological inhibition. 90 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 also, there was evidence that psychologically grounded inhibitors might impact across different groups of stakeholders, as was the case with the psychological manifestation of the potential psychological aversion to being recorded which could cut across both trainee teachers and the students they teach. furthermore, the development of a sense of vulnerability by trainee teachers, induced by the feeling that there is a permanent record of the activity, is a real consideration. this appears to resonate with the arguments of ball (2005) on the prevalence of a climate of accountability and performativity in situations where data collection and monitoring is frequent. a viable conclusion from this is that there is a need for a form of cast-iron guarantee to trainees in terms of the use and security of recordings. in our view, this might imply that a form of senior management level involvement might be necessary in order to assuage the anxiety that trainees might potentially feel if the use of digital recording is to be integrated into teacher education programmes. this may go some way to diminish the feeling of vulnerability and in turn, increase the trust that trainees hold for its use. it appears from this study that this will more likely induce trainees to willingly become a part of a process of a more collaborative feedback and echoes the argument of mill (1992:19) that observations must take place “in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect, without feelings of criticism or threat”. this, in essence, will engender a perception of the use of technological devices as a communication and developmental tool rather than as a surveillance tool (dyke, harding, lajeunesse, 2006). another issue emerging from this study revolves around assessment in teacher education. whilst assessment remains an integral part of teaching observation in initial teacher training, the findings of this study suggest that it constitutes a limit to the extent to which trainees benefit from post-observation feedback and that the associated levels of anxieties for trainees will be difficult to allay. in our view, it may be necessary for teacher education providers to explore an alternative approach which will create a framework that separates post-observation feedback from the assessment strand of teacher education. put in another way, the conceptualised purpose of evaluative feedback must be clearly understood and must recognise the difference between the accountability and developmental models of using it. engagement with technology was also a clear area of concern. it was clear that this has to do with both the perception of self and the element of apprehension, which can also be linked to the role of assessment. while the discussion above appears to have engaged with the assessment-related issue, it is important that the purely technical aspect must not be overlooked and be given considerable thought. self-image and how one is perceived by others (kelchtermans, 2005) appears to be a critical aspect for consideration in the development of a framework. while we do not have a ready-made solution to this issue here, it is important that teacher educators have an awareness of the potential inhibition that this factor might cause. at the least, teacher educators need to be aware of the capabilities of the instrument they opt to use, as well as the technical capabilities of their trainees. time is perhaps the most crucial issue here as this may be the most intransigent of the problems identified in this study. the key may lie in the assurance that the process, though time consuming, is overwhelmingly useful to the trainee. the need for an evaluative framework is paramount (sowe and ade-ojo, 2011) although it is time consuming. this certainly calls on programme designers in teacher education to ensure that their evaluative frameworks is not unnecessarily time consuming. more importantly, it is essential that the benefit of using such a device is very evident to the trainee in terms of their professional development such that they might be considered as having benefits that outweigh their down-side. 91 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 finally, there is abundant evidence that a technology enhanced feedback process can be of tremendous use in the development of trainees. this, in our view, should not be limited to teacher-trainees/ trainers relationship alone. given that feedback is an integral part of reflective practice and professional development, there is no doubt that any instrument that enhances its delivery will be of benefit in any professional field (e.g. nursing, business or lecturer development). the challenge for those who might want to enhance the effectiveness of feedback in professional development in other professional fields is to de-conflate it from its role as an assessment, monitoring and surveillance tool. as shown in this research, the conflation of a digital recording-enhanced feedback as an instrument for professional development and its use as an element of assessment has tended to limit its effectiveness. in order to fully benefit from its enhanced use as an instrument for professional development, therefore, it is important that professionals de-conflate its use from assessment. references ade-ojo. g. 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(2009). going for 100% digital teaching and learning environment in accounting: the agony and the ectasy. in 2009 accounting and finance association of australia and new zealand conference (afaanz), 04-07, july 2009 adelaide, australia. oecd (2009a), oecd review on evaluation and assessment for improving school outcomes: design and implementation plan for the review, oecd, paris [olis document edu/edpc(2009)3/rev1]. oecd (2009b), creating effective teaching and learning environments: first results from talis, oecd, paris. oecd (2009c) teacher evaluation: a conceptual framework and examples of country practices oecd-mexico workshop towards a teacher evaluation framework in mexico: international practices, criteria and mechanisms, held in mexico city on 1-2 december 2009. o’neill, o. (2002). a question of trust. reith lectures 2002. [online]. available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2002/ [accessed 01/09/11]. punch, k. (2003). introduction to social research: quantitative and qualitative approaches. london: sage publications. rampton, b.(2007). ‘neo-hymesian linguistic ethnography in the uk’ journal of sociolinguistics, 11 (5), pp. 584-607. research for teachers (2007). using video as a tool for self-reflection. research for teachers. robinson, l. and kelley, b. (2007). developing reflective thoughts in preservice educators: utilizing role plays and digital video. journal of special education technology, 22(2), 31-43. searle, j. r. (1969). speech acts: an essay in the philosophy of language. cambridge: cambridge university press. sherin, m. g. and van es, e. a. (2003). a new lens on teaching: learning to notice. mathematics teaching in the middle school, 9(2), 92-95. stronge, j. and tucker, p. (2003). handbook on teacher evaluation: assessing and improving performance, eye on education publications. 94 http://www.txwescetl.com/services/teaching-observations/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2002/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 6, 2012 tusting, k. and maybin, j. (2007). linguistic ethnography and interdisciplinarity: opening discussion. journal of sociolinguistics, 11 (5), pp 575-583. author biographies gordon ade-ojo is a principal lecturer in the school of education and contributes to the lifelong learning teacher education and postgraduate programmes. gordon has authored books and published several articles in peer reviewed journals. gordon is an academic associate of unisa. nicola sowe is an education consultant and researcher and contributes to the llte programme of the university of greenwich. nicola is particularly interested in the areas of curriculum development and student learning. 95 physical and psychological factors inhibiting the use of technological devices in the development of collaborative feedback in the reflective practice amongst trainee teachers gordon ade-ojo a conceptual framework for the role of feedback in evaluation research implementation and data collection processes data collection and analysis participants quantitative analysis of findings psychological technical time data protection and liberty combinations: qualitative analysis of findings theme 1: conflation with assessment and judgement discussion theme 2: replication of the ethos and culture of performativity discussion theme 3: data protection and liberty discusson theme 4: psychological impact on trainees’ learners discussion theme 5: indirect psychological factor discussion theme 6: further technical problems discussion theme 7: reiteration of findings from quantitative data conclusions references author biographies technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the use of moodle for formative assessment in mathematics steve lakin university of greenwich abstract mathematics is not an easy subject to assess online. however, moodle has a useful quiz option which can randomly generate questions. in this article, we will investigate the use of multiple-choice quizzes for formative assessment, and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. introduction technology has become an increasingly large part of modern pedagogy. the journal of technology, pedagogy and education illustrates current research (bennett, 2017), while the paper summative and formative assessments in mathematics supporting the goals of the common core standards in the journal theory into practice (schoenfeld, 2015) is specific to mathematics. although this article focusses on mathematics and moodle, the ideas are transferable to other disciplines and platforms. mathematics as a subject does not always lend itself well to technology as much as is reliant on pen and paper approaches. however, opportunities are available to utilise technology to enhance the student experience. moodle is the preferred platform for many universities, including the university of greenwich. for some courses, it is used primarily as a storage resource, but it also contains powerful tools for online assessment. assessment falls into two broad spectrums – formative and summative. while formative assessment is based upon developing a student’s understanding, summative assessment is designed to give the student a grade based on the work s/he submits. this article will focus on the formative aspect – we shall look at how to help a student develop their understanding based upon a series of non-assessed online quizzes using the moodle platform that they are all familiar with. mathematics is difficult to assess online summatively.. small interpretative mistakes – inadvertent rather than of understanding – by the student can lead to a wrong answer and, often, such misrepresentative errors can be detected only by the assessor’s visual scrutiny. only a sophisticated and thorough mathematical engine underpinning the online assessment process could technologically achieve the same degree of precision – small mistakes can lead to the wrong answer and it is therefore often necessary to use the human eye to detect the mistakes, which is something that cannot be done online without a thorough mathematical engine underpinning the assessment. nevertheless, multiple choice quizzes can help to develop understanding in a formative sense. moodle provides the opportunity to do this, allowing for variations on questions. in this article we will discuss how to implement such assessments with variety and provide a critique of its suitability both in mathematics and for general subjects. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 moodle quizzes moodle has an option to create an online multiple-choice quiz. it was felt that this was most appropriate for formative assessment, as the work involved was prohibitive in scrutinising errors made. moodle allows for the creation of quizzes derived randomly, both in terms of the order of questions, and the questions themselves. as an example, running an online quiz twice gave two different questions testing the knowledge of the same concept: figure 1: alternative multiple-choice questions to test the same concept technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 to perform this randomisation, it is necessary to define variables that are then selected at random; by moodle. in this particular example, we used the question here, {f}, {g} and {h} represent variables that can be prescribed to be chosen randomly within a given range. this allows for multiple versions of the same question. the multiple choice options can then be specified, ensuring that one is the correct answer and the other three are variants, including common mistakes that students make – this can be specified in moodle, such as below: figure 2: input of variables to allow for variation of course, the precise nature of the question can be varied – this particular version was chosen for simplicity of explanation but can be used for a wide range of applications. this is undoubtedly a useful application, however it comes with limitations. moodle does not have many important mathematical functions built in, and it is often necessary to tweak a question to allow for any randomisation. it also does not allow for any graphical randomisation. it is therefore limited but useful. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 for further testing, tools such as wolfram alpha (wolfram alpha, 2017) are extremely useful. however, students use moodle on a regular basis and having this option available to them is a valuable resource in developing their formative understanding. other subjects although this article has focussed on mathematics, it is clear how this could be applied to subjects with a core mathematical background, such as engineering. hence this is not limited to mathematics. many subjects also involve some level of statistics, for which this could be a useful resource. a clear application would be in the life sciences where a modelling question could be created with the various parameters chosen randomly. feedback following a trial in a statistics course aimed at business and information technology students, the feedback was overwhelming positive. the primary use of the quizzes for students was that they were very helpful in examination revision, and they found them very useful. in particular, every respondent indicated that it was helpful to have different questions each time they attempted the quiz. there were over ten responses, a sample comment was “good – i can repeat and get different questions” the material was primarily used for exam revision with around 75% of respondents stating that this was their primary use. this was only a limited trial, but the feedback suggested it would be helpful to roll this out into other courses, which is now being done. it is clear from the student response that this is a useful technique for formative assessment. conclusion the moodle quiz system is far from perfect. the limited number of mathematical functions available makes writing suitable questions a challenge. nevertheless, it has proved to have been successful. it is also an interdisciplinary technique that can be applied to any subject, even though the variation of questions may not be suitable for some subjects. this is not in any way meant to be a substitute for more formal summative assessment. but as a formative concept, it is a useful tool that can be utilised to help the students gain more understanding, and build confidence as they repeat the tests and progressively obtain a higher score. reference list technology, pedagogy and teaching available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtpe20/current (accessed: 31 october 2017). technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 summative and formative assessments in mathematics supporting the goals of the common core standards available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00405841.2015.1044346 (accessed: 31 october 2017). wolfram alpha (website) (https://www.wolframalpha.com/, accessed 31st october 2017). 1 open spaces, mobile learning: findings from the iborrow project wayne barry canterbury christ church university introduction augustine house was one of the most important building programmes in canterbury christ church university’s history. the purpose was to create and develop a large state of the art library and student support centre that offered innovative, technology-rich facilities for staff and students to use. an important feature of augustine house was the creation of flexible recreational and learning spaces that would allow students to learn, work and relax in a manner and place of their choosing. the iborrow project was part of the second phase of the joint information systems committee’s institutional innovation programme. the aim of the project was to create a laptop loan service that was entirely self-service and that should be no more complicated than borrowing a book. radio-frequency identification (rfid) tags were placed inside iborrow notebooks in the anticipation that the geo-location tracking data overlaid with additional information would provide a better understanding on how students use the digital and electronic resources available to them as individuals or within groups. background during 2008–09, canterbury christ church university (cccu) undertook one of the most important building programmes in its history. the purpose was to create and develop a large “state of the art” library and student support centre that offered innovative, technology-rich facilities for staff and student to use. moreover, it needed to be able to support over 16,700 students and 1,800 staff from across five faculties (arts & humanities; business & management; education; health & social care; and social & applied sciences) with a portfolio of over 1,000 academic and professional undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. it was against a background of rapid expansion that the library on cccu’s main canterbury campus was struggling to meet student demand. furthermore, cccu’s library was an area that had been identified and subject to criticism in the national student survey (nss). the university knew that it needed to improve its library and information provision if it was able to meet the needs of its diverse student body at the beginning of the 21st century. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 the building – augustine house – opened on schedule for the start of term in september 2009. it covered over 12,000m2 of space including the library and student services centre. an important feature of augustine house was the creation of flexible recreational and learning spaces that would allow students to learn, work and relax in a manner and place of their choosing – these spaces included: enclosed study rooms, semi-enclosed group areas, open lounge areas, corridors, bridges, quiet reflective areas, cafes, indoor/outdoor terraces and a 500 seat flat floor space. as part of the design process, cccu was keen to provide as much mobile technology as possible in addition to its fixed desktop pc offering to facilitate these activities. easier than borrowing a book cccu wanted to develop a laptop loan service that was entirely self-service with little or no administrative and operational overheads. in other words, borrowing a laptop to use within augustine house should be no more complicated than borrowing a book. this meant that the laptops had to be well built and the system and software secure and reliable so that the devices would always work. the plan was to combine a thinclient laptop with microsoft’s application virtualization (app-v) technologies to create a robust, sustainable and flexible system. thus the iborrow project was born. this was one of thirty-nine projects that formed part of the second phase of the joint information systems committee’s (jisc) institutional innovation programme (iip). the project was funded by jisc and match-funded by cccu and involved the deployment of 200 asus 1000 thin-client (atom-based processor) notebooks for students and staff to borrow and use within augustine house. given the timing of the project (2008–09), windows 7 was not available to the project team, so a lean version of the windows xp operating system was installed (since august 2010, all 200 iborrow notebooks have been upgraded to windows 7). the notebooks made use of the eduroam wi-fi service that would allow them to connect to microsoft’s terminal services so that app-v could remotely deliver desktop software to the user. users of the iborrow notebooks had access to the microsoft office suite, internet and e-mail connectivity and library services, as well as being able to connect to their network profile – in short, students and staff had an ‘equivalent’ computer user experience to that of fixed desktop pc users. in addition to the software described above, the iborrow notebooks had radio-frequency identification (rfid) tags placed inside them. it became apparent during the design process of the project that there was little or no empirical data on how students use learning spaces and how these need to be configured. it was here that the project team felt that the use of the latest geo-location tracking technologies would enable them to collect significant amounts of data that could inform future learning space design and development. moreover, the use of geo-location tracking data overlaid with additional information could support a better compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 understanding on how students might use the digital and electronic resources available to them as individuals or within groups. the project also afforded the team with an opportunity to understand how students might use mobile against fixed computing devices within large-scale flexible learning spaces. more importantly for the he sector, the project provided an opportunity to demonstrate how an institution might go about implementing software and desktop virtualisation and deploying these across a wireless network. this touches upon the green ict and low carbon agendas for a number of reasons: ● the use of solid-state drives (ssd) instead of hard drives reduces power consumption, as there are no moving parts with ssds. ● with the iborrow notebooks connecting via a terminal server, all the computing power is carried out by the server rather than the notebook which sees a reduction in terms of energy costs and consumption. ● as the university has five campuses spread out across kent, application virtualisation enables applications to be dynamically delivered to desktop pcs and iborrow notebooks thus reducing the amount of time and travelling it staff would be required to do in order to maintain and upgrade computer software. benchmarking data the jisc evaluating learning spaces (jels) report highlighted that institutions needed ‘to develop baseline information to inform the design of future new space projects’ (jels 2009, 6). with this in mind, the researchers conducted a range of research activities relating to the old university library. these activities took place between april and july 2009. the research was opportunistic in so far as that the resources available to them were limited and so surveys and observations had to be carried out when human resources (members of staff and student volunteers) were available. the timing of research was largely dictated by the removal of some staff from the library building and the decommissioning of the old university library in april 2009, as part of a much wider redevelopment programme taking place on the main university campus. however, despite these challenges, the researchers were able to collect some benchmark data for comparison with the activities that would eventually be taking place within augustine house. the benchmark data was gathered through the following methods: ● observations of students using the old university library ● a student survey (n: 275) ● an online survey for academic staff (n: 80) ● interviews with key stakeholders who would be relocated and working within augustine house. (n: 14) a more detailed account of the research processes and findings can be found in dr lynne grahammatheson’s report (graham-matheson, 2009). it is interesting, however, to note that of the 275 students surveyed, 77% of them said that they would use an iborrow notebook if it were available at the time. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 post-occupancy data augustine house opened its doors to students and staff in late september 2009. the post-occupancy data was gathered through the following methods: ● observations of students using augustine house (pre-iborrow deployment) ● observations of students using augustine house (post-iborrow deployment) ● student interviews (n: 174) ● facebook ‘vox pop’ ● a follow-up online survey for academic staff ● geo-location tracking of iborrow notebooks. it was fortuitous that the iborrow notebooks were not available to use when augustine house was opened, as the researchers were able to carry out a week long observation study on how the students were engaging and reacting to augustine house and its facilities without the iborrow notebooks being present. the study wanted to look at students’ use of the building and that of fixed desktop pcs or their own laptops within the various flexible learning spaces. it was noted that there was peak activity within the building for a few hours around midday; much of this activity was dictated by the availability of fixed desktop pcs and it would seem that students favoured particular areas of the building, such as the enclosed study rooms and the quiet reflective areas. this activity provided the team with some crucial benchmarking information to compare against once the iborrow notebooks were available to use. in early november 2009, the iborrow notebooks were ready to use and the researchers repeated their week long observation study on how the students were using the full range of it facilities, or their own laptops, within the different spaces. again, it was noted that much of the peak activity centred on the few hours around midday. whilst it was clear from observations that students were still making use of the fixed desktop pcs, the iborrow notebooks were also in heavy use. more importantly, the students were making far greater use of the different recreational and learning spaces that were available to them. the flexibility and portability of the wireless notebook computers meant that they were able to occupy different spaces of students’ choosing in a range of working, studying and recreational configurations such as being on their own, with a group of friends or peers. the students who agreed to be interviewed (n: 174) represented a wide range of academic and professional programmes across the five faculties and were found to be spread out across all four floors within augustine house in a range of configurations – on their own, in pairs, in triads or in groups – and working in different locations, ranging from the enclosed study rooms to the open lounge areas. from the interviews, 58% of them commented on the iborrow notebooks being ‘good for group work’, whilst 98% compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 5 valued the iborrow notebooks ‘flexibility’. indeed, one music student in her third year commented that the ‘technological facilities are a real asset and a vast improvement’. the most common group configurations were either a combination of iborrow notebooks and students’ own laptops, or one or more students using the fixed desktop pcs, with friends opting to use an iborrow notebook so that they could sit together, rather than looking for another fixed desktop pc elsewhere in the building. however, it was made clear by the students that if they had to engage in tasks and activities that required some careful dexterity (e.g. manipulation of different media forms) or prolong periods of reading and writing materials on screen, then the fixed desktop pcs was preferred over the iborrow notebooks for more ‘serious work’. during these interviews, students were also canvassed on their use of the iborrow notebooks. the following activities represent how they chose to use the devices: ● 28% used microsoft word (for written assignments) ● 25% used the internet for research ● 14% accessed some form of social networking site (e.g. facebook) ● 13% checked their e-mail ● 9% used microsoft powerpoint (for presentations) ● 7% engaged in course-assigned work ● 2% logged into blackboard (cccu’s virtual learning environment (vle)) ● 2% wanted to send documents to the printer. whilst there is clearly some recreational use (i.e. social networking) of the iborrow notebooks amongst the student body – which, incidentally, was much lower than was originally anticipated – most of the iborrow usage is centred on working and studying. the students have enjoyed the portability that the iborrow notebooks offer in terms of sitting together in any available space whilst working on different aspects of a group assignment. they have been able to take the notebooks with them whilst looking for books, journals and other resources so that they can either make some rough notes using microsoft word or to doublecheck that they are using the appropriate resources by checking the course material that is available to them on the vle. meanwhile, others within the group can be working on the bare bones of a presentation that they will eventually give to their tutor and peers. finding the digital needle in a virtual haystack in addition to the more traditional research methodologies of observational studies and interviews, another aspect of the research project centred on the geo-location tracking of the iborrow notebooks and their relation to the space within augustine house. each of the 200 iborrow notebooks had rfid tags placed inside them, thus providing spatial and temporal information. once a student logged into the university compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 6 network via the iborrow notebook, additional information was also collected about them in terms of age, gender and course information. the various sources of information were aggregated, collated and then finally filtered so that the researchers only had access to completely anonymised data that was in accordance to the project’s ethical and legal obligations (e.g. data protection act). table 1 below represents the type of data that was being collected. the inclusion of the user session id is only valid for up to 24 hours and is bound to a particular user session; this came in response to an issue involved in the cumbersome nature of compiling the information from the data set. it meant that unique identifiers were now attached to a user profile without revealing the identity of the student. a consequence of the ephemeral nature of the user session id meant that the team would be unable to determine whether the same student logged in again during that particular day or in any subsequent days. staff and associates who used the iborrow notebooks were not tracked as their log in details were used to exclude them from the data set. students who used the wireless network for connecting up their own laptops or personal mobile devices within augustine house were not tracked and any information about them was not available to the researchers. table 1 a representation of the type of data collected variable name example of data user session id user201029090018 [user+year+month+day+4 digit counter] location zone w1b, e3c, etc. time stamp 29/9/2010 14:34 level of study undergraduate or postgraduate type of undergraduate degree single or combined subjects studied major and minor subjects year of undergraduate study 1, 2, 3, etc. age 22 disability yes or no, (but not details of disability) gender female or male mode of attendance full-time, part-time, etc. postcode of student residence ct1, me1, tn1, etc. (but only the first half of the postcode) campus where student is based broadstairs, canterbury, folkestone, medway or salomons geo-location tracking data was captured in fi ve minute intervals so that it was possible to record the students’ movements with the iborrow notebooks in fi ne detail. it was estimated that if all 200 iborrow notebooks were being used at the same time, it could potentially generate up to 57,600 records per day. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 7 the data that was being collected gave a rich picture of the iborrow demographic and it was clear that the students (from across the five faculties) were using the notebooks in different locations within augustine house. it would seem that the gender ratio within augustine house was similar to that of the university’s canterbury campus – with females being represented by 3:2. the ages of the iborrow users and the canterbury-based students were also similar in nature, with 18–24 year olds representing the dominant group. as confirmed by the second augustine house observation study (post-iborrow deployment), it was clear from the geo-location tracking data that the students preferred to work in the open lounge areas within the building. here, the furniture and space can be reconfigured and personalised to meet the students’ needs and the mobile dividers that are present can be used to provide some level of privacy. moreover, the open lounge areas are located at the front of the building, which overlooks the medieval city walls and historic gardens and park, providing an attractive backdrop for workers and visitors to augustine house. the learning landscape – now in 3d given the vast quantity of data that was being recorded by the geo-location tracking system, the researchers sought tools to help visualise and make sense of the data that was being collected. cccu went into partnership with the wecamp team, another jisc iip project based at the university of sheffield, who were developing a ‘web-based 3d interactive visualisation modelling platform called ucampus’ to assist with ‘collaborative planning and design of future learning spaces’. the wecamp team were given the architectural plans of augustine house so that they could build a 3d model of the building complete with furniture and other assets. figure 1 augustine house – exterior 3d view figure 2 augustine house – interior ground floor 3d view the wecamp team were also given a week’s worth of data, incorporating the x and y co-ordinates, on an excel spread sheet that would be overlaid onto the 3d model of augustine house so that the iborrow team could see how the space was being occupied over time. the 3d model would provide a rich and powerful means for visually representing very large and complex data sets. dr chengzhi peng provides a very compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 8 thorough account (peng, 2010) of the issues in bringing this project to life and the challenges in mapping the dataset onto the 3d model, as well as some examples of how the data is visually represented against criteria like age, gender and level of study. he concludes that this 3d mapping exercise “has shown a possible route to future work on the data fl ow and system integration that will deliver a very powerful platform for undertaking interdisciplinary empirical researches to large-scale learning and other types of spaces which were not possible before.” (peng ,2010). the learner’s footprint the other tool that was developed made use of a microsoft access database to generate a number of ‘views’ or ‘snapshots’ of the core dataset (which was held on a microsoft sql server). a series of algorithms were created to depict ‘popular day’, ‘popular time’, ‘popular location’ for a given week or month. the most ‘popular day’ for many of the students was a tuesday with 2pm being the most ‘popular time’. the most ‘popular location’ turned out to be the ground fl oor lounge area – which is not surprising as this was the only area within the building that was open to students after 9pm (until 2am) when the rest of the building was locked up; so in many ways this rather skewed the outcome of the location results. the researchers also used the tableau desktop software to enable them to visually analyse the kind of spaces that the students were particularly attracted to. from the visual data, it could be seen that the students tended to be drawn towards either the open lounge areas or the enclosed study rooms. a number of conclusions could be drawn from this: ● students like the informality of the open spaces and the ability to personalise a space just by rearranging the furniture. ● students appreciated the privacy and quietness that the enclosed study rooms offer them especially during group-related work and tasks. ● the popularity of the enclosed study rooms meant that other students had to make their own group areas within the open spaces. however, the database provided something much more compelling – the ‘learner’s footprint’. for a given day, the researchers were able to view the ‘learner’s footprint’ by looking at when a particular user session began and when it ended. this was calculated to give the length of time that the student had spent logged onto an iborrow notebook. the total number of locations that the ‘learner’ visited during that session was also recorded, thus providing a very quick snapshot of the length of stay by the students and their movements within the building. furthermore, the database enabled the researchers to drill down into some detail by selecting a particular student’s user session id and examining some demographic and course information about them (as exemplifi ed in figure 3) as well as their ‘footprint’ within the building during that period and how long they compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 9 had occupied a particular location. this begins to illustrate something of the learner’s behaviour within a large-scale flexible learning space and the kinds of resources and assets that they need to access in order to support their studies. it is interesting to note that there were examples of students (or rather their iborrow notebooks) spending up to three hours in just one location; others spending over five hours but figure 3 screenshot of the ‘learner footprint’ moving around with their notebooks within a wing of the building (such as going back and forth looking for books and journals on the shelves); other students were recorded as moving between wings on the same floor or even traversing between floors (perhaps to pick up a coffee or a bite to eat in between work and studying; or to find friends or peers). in some instances, there were a number of students who were working in spaces where the resources that you would expect them to use were located on completely different floors – this could suggest a number of things: ● the resources that they needed were available electronically ● they used the notebooks for non-learning tasks and activities ● they wanted to be closer to friends (as suggested in the student interviews) ● as this was a new building – it had just been opened for two months before the recording and collection of the tracking data – the students had yet to develop a ‘mental map’ of where they could locate the resources that they needed ● certain floors or spaces may be more comforting or reassuring, psychologically, than others. the tutor experience much of the iborrow project focused on the development and deployment of the technology and that of the student experience. whilst the researchers were keen to see how tutors responded to augustine house and the facilities that it had to offer, some academic staff were not able to engage with the building as much compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 10 as they would have liked. the building did not open until the start of the 2009–2010 academic year which meant staff did not get to ‘see and feel’ the building beforehand and consequently were not able to plan for its inclusion into their teaching activities well in advance. as the building is situated in the heart of the city of canterbury, some staff expressed a reluctance to make the 10-minute walk between the main canterbury campus and augustine house across a very busy and dense thoroughfare. however, for more confident, creative and enterprising tutors, augustine house presented an opportunity to explore and exploit the space and resources to develop different approaches to teaching practice. some would plan their teaching around visiting augustine house for a few hours; in some cases this would include lunch, and they would organise activities around research (both paper and digital), discussion groups, tutorials and facilitating group projects. a few examples of these have been taken from grahammatheson’s (2009) report by way of illustration: ● pgce students are directed to use the curriculum resources area for a task that has been set for them by their tutors. whilst working in augustine house, they take time to have lunch and to meet with their tutors to discuss their learning journals. ● students in parallel teaching groups are set a collaborative task to work within groups in augustine house. their tutors determine the groups so that students have the opportunity to work with fellow students they have not met before. ● students spend the day working in the building to prepare for a group presentation using the interactive whiteboards, video, etc. and then present their work and findings to the other groups within their course at the end of the day. conclusion the iborrow project presented cccu with an enormous undertaking and a challenging exercise to demonstrate the practicalities and benefits of deploying thin-client, wireless mobile devices within largescale flexible learning spaces in the higher education sector. the project was successfully able to illustrate the benefi ts to students and provide them with the opportunity to choose how, when and where to work and learn either individually or in ad-hoc groups. the pioneering nature of the project meant that it had to be managed carefully in terms of its ethical and legal obligations as well as its technical ambitions. the initial analysis of the geo-location data has provided proof-of-concept of the range of possibilities and opportunities for educationalists and learning professionals in developing new insights to explain learner behaviour using mobile technology within this kind of learning environment. given the project’s scale and scope, it was awarded the 2009 ucisa award for excellence in which the judges noted that ‘the project met a clear business need by providing access to laptop technology to a compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 11 university population where laptop ownership is not common’. the project was also short listed in the times higher education leadership and management 2010 awards in the category of ict initiative of the year. references graham-matheson, l. (2009). iborrow pedagogic research report. canterbury: cccu. available at: www.canterbury.ac.uk/projects/iborrow/documents/iborrow-pedagogic-research-report.pdf (accessed 27 september 2010). jels. (2009) a study of effective evaluation models and practices for technology supported physical learning spaces. bristol: jisc. available at: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/projects/learningspaces08.aspx (accessed 27 september 2010). peng, c. (2010) the augustine house experiment: final report. sheffield: university of sheffield. available at: www.wecamp.group.shef.ac.uk/ahe/jisc_ahe_final_report.pdf (accessed 7 january 2011). useful links augustine house: www.canterbury.ac.uk/augustine-house/ iborrow project: www.canterbury.ac.uk/iborrow/ wecamp project (augustine house experiment): www.wecamp.group.shef.ac.uk/ahe/ http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/projects/iborrow/documents/iborrow-pedagogic-research-report.pdf http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/projects/learningspaces08 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 a practical case study exploring how flipped learning affects the development of problem-solving skills in two different disciplines malgorzata iwaniec, tatiana simmonds, zoe swan university of greenwich, university of brighton abstract flipped learning involves ‘direct instruction moving from the group learning space to the individual learning space and the resulting group space being transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment, where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter’ flipped learning network (2014). this study explores how the flipped-learning pedagogy was introduced to two separate student groups within different disciplines law and computing and compares the findings that have begun to emerge in relation to the development of a range of skills, in particular the development of problem-solving skills. analytical and problem-solving skills are key skills, not only for both law students and computing students, but also for any graduate. the findings suggest that the flipped-classroom approach to teaching and learning can increase student participation and engagement; that it supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills; that it promotes deeper levels of learning; that it encourages the development of independent study skills and provides opportunities for students to develop and practise the core skills required of the students by their discipline. this paper also explores what both students and academics perceived as the challenges and what they regarded as the benefits of working with the flipped teaching and learning strategy during the academic year 2014/15. keywords: flipped classroom, higher education, problem-solving skills, law, computing 1. introduction with the recent consultations on the teaching excellence framework (tef) paper and removed student cap, universities are under more pressure than ever to be more responsive to the needs of employers. in the employer's eyes, graduates should be workor industry-ready before they leave university (pallis & ng, 2011; bernett et al, 2001). flipped learning is a contemporary yet fairly well-established pedagogical approach that, in an active learning environment and by extending the flipped-classroom approach, enhances students’ learning and significantly develops the skills that students need for potential employment (fulton, 2012; strayer, 2012; mazur, 2009). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 in recent years, the idea of the flipped classroom (fc) has sparked considerable discourse; as a method, it gained prominence following the early work of harvard’s professor mazur, who considered utilising text files and problem solving to allow learners to be in charge both of the content and the pace of the learning (mazur, 1991). subsequently, bergmann and sams adopted this approach as a way to ‘use class time for more student-centred and inquiry-based activities’ facilitated by educators (bergmann and sams, 2012). since then, sector-scanning reports have identified flipped classroom practices as important pedagogical developments (sharples et al, 2014; nmc 2014). more specifically, the literature review also shows recent publication evidence of case studies, in the context of uk higher education, which advocate the use of the flipped classroom to help students to develop problem-solving skills (o'flaherty & phillips, 2015; little, 2015; kong, 2014; james et al, 2014). 2. background research and theoretical framework in recent years, along with the expansion of technology-enhanced learning, the flipped classroom has become one of the most popular teaching approaches for fostering students’ active and centred learning (hamdam et al, 2013). in essence, the flipped classroom provides (often via online/video/audio resources) prior instructional content (traditionally delivered by lecturers in class), so that students may use the freed-up class time for active engagement with knowledge construction and application: interacting with each other and the lecturer, they take part in such wide-ranging tasks and activities as problem solving, analysis, discussions and debates (hamdam et al, 2013; halili and zainuddin 2015). this model of teaching, based on a revised bloom’s taxonomy pyramid, shifts lower-level thinking skills (understanding and remembering) outside the classroom (where students can spend as much time as they need on comprehending the content) and brings the higher-order thinking skills (from analysing and applying to evaluating and creating) into class (krathwohl, 2002; kim et al, 2014; davis et al, 2013). an approach encouraging active engagement in lowerand higher-order tasks builds up skills and capabilities vital to students as graduates and allows them to take charge of their own learning (halili and zainuddin, 2015): from mere recipients of knowledge, they become active learners and critical, reflective and creative thinkers. successful application of these skills results in the development of further intellectual capabilities that foster explanations, decisions and performances, which are valid within the context of available knowledge (pogrow, 1990; halili and zainuddin, 2015). by extension these intellectual capabilities describe problem-solving skills and, if students are to develop them, they need to be encouraged and taught in a way that at first involves lower-level skills as a foundation and then higher-order skills from application to evaluation (creating, judging, analysing, synthesising) for deeper understanding. as noted by nederverd and berge (2015), application of the higher-order cognitive domain of learning enhances and develops cognitive and problem-solving skills. the method of delivering content prior to the class may vary: self-recorded short clips, lectures and/or selections from a vast library of oer resources in different formats (text, audio, and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 video). content variation is vital, both to stimulate students’ interest and to address their different learning styles, as is embedding activities and breaks to sustain their attention. the pre-class material having been assimilated, students can use their acquired knowledge to devote the liberated class time to applying concepts and practising relevant skills in activities facilitated by the lecturers (kim et al, 2014; davis et al, 2013). drawing on the notion of ‘a guide on a side’ (king, 1993), the lecturer’s role changes to that of a designer and facilitator of learning, whilst the learning simultaneously becomes more studentcentred: with a facilitator at their side, to motivate, guide and provide continuous feedback on their activities and performance, students are more active and much more in control of their own learning (bergmann and sams, 2012). a recent study by asef-vaziri (2015: 72), promoting the flipped classroom approach using a screen capture tool and active learning tasks in the classroom, concludes: “by delivering lectures online, ... students can learn the material at a time and location of their choice, … live face-to-face in-class discussions … offer a more active learning environment that is a result of better-prepared students. class time is no longer spent teaching basic concepts, but rather on more value added activities, such as problem solving, answering questions, systems thinking, and potentially on collaborative exercises such as case studies, web based simulation games, and real world application” (2015: 72). additionally, according to mayer (2002), a meaningful learning environment where problemsolving skills can be applied may be created when students have knowledge and skills related to cognitive processes. he further suggests that the flipped classroom and active learning are at the very core of such learning environments. the purpose of this paper is to share the results of two cohorts of students whose teachers adopted the flipped classroom model; it explores activities and techniques chosen and designed to make the most of the students’ learning environments in developing their problem-solving skills. the following section introduces the learner experience in flipped classrooms facilitated by two lecturers from different disciplines. 3. learner experience the purpose of this case study is to explore how flipped learning supports students in developing problem-solving skills. this case study was conducted over a twelve-week period during the autumn term. as briefly summarised above, the research offers evidence that flipped learning can increase student participation and engagement, help develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and promote deeper levels of learning. the study was conducted using two different samples within the faculty of architecture, computing & humanities: ● 140 undergraduate level 4 law students on a law of contract course ● 52 postgraduate level 7 computing students on database architectures and administration course case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 problem-solving and analytical skills are essential for both law practitioners and it specialists (database administrators). the university of greenwich uses panopto as a video-based software. panopto allows lecturers to produce recordings with embedded power points/screen capture/ external sources/etc. the recordings are accessible via panopto app or embedded into the university virtual learning environment moodle. both lecturers used panopto to pre-record relevant content that was made available to students before face-to-face contact time. 3.1 law cohort teaching and learning strategy the cohort chosen for this case study comprised first-year law students on the undergraduate ll.b law programme. these students were studying a compulsory law of contract course. most of the 140-strong cohort were students entering higher education for the first time, following study in further education. the course attracts low numbers of mature students and only a small percentage of international students. the law of contract is one of the seven foundations of legal knowledge, which all students must pass in order to progress. students are required to develop a sound knowledge of the subject and a range of skills to support them in practically applying the law to factual scenarios incorporating problems to be addressed. these skills include research specific to law: legal research and referencing, strategies for analysing and evaluating the facts provided in a case study or scenario and then application of the appropriate legal principles to that context. students work with a range of research sources, including primary and secondary sources of law, which are in both electronic and paper form. students must also develop the skills to solve problems within limited timescales and to work independently and as part of small groups. providing opportunities and time to support students in developing and scaffolding these skills is essential during level 4. the course was assessed by three written pieces of coursework, based on factual scenarios, and an exam, which also included similar scenarios with problems. the course’s allocated weekly contact time consisted of a two-hour, large-group session and an hour’s seminar session. materials for teaching and learning and assessment were constructively aligned, throughout the teaching, with all forms of summative assessment. an engaging, contextual scenario (based on a music festival held on campus) was used as the backdrop for all the derivative scenarios, both in the pre-released material and at every stage of teaching/learning, whose problems the students had to address. prior to attending the weekly large-group session, students listened to pre-recorded panopto presentations. the recorded sessions provided an overview of the key legal principles and relevant legal cases for a topic. students were provided with a course handbook containing notes and case law with blank spaces for recording information given via the panopto. the flexibility of access to the advanced material helped to promote independent learning as students were able to choose when and how they engaged with the content. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 a different factual scenario was used at the start of each recording to set the context for the topic area. this supported students in developing an understanding of how the subject matter would be applied to the scenario. this scenario would then be re-visited in the large group. the teaching material used in the two-hour lecture slot was designed to stimulate active engagement and to support development of a deeper knowledge of the pre-released topic areas. students attending large group sessions were asked to bring in some form of technology to create an interactive learning environment, as supported by scale-up the student centred active learning upside-down pedagogy (beichner, 2006). students then worked on a range of activities, including multiple choice questions (hot potato activities), short-answer questions, problem-solving case scenarios, legal research activities, discussions, referencing activities and development of specific strategies to apply the law all aimed at consolidating knowledge and developing problem-solving skills. the one-hour seminar session allowed students to work in smaller groups on applying law to case scenarios, thus encouraging deeper learning and giving the opportunity to receive more personalised feedback. 3.2 computing cohort teaching and learning strategy the cohort that was chosen for study in the department of computing consisted of fifty-two masters-level students, the majority of them international. these students were new to this country, to university-level education and to the flipped method of teaching and learning. the cohort traditionally presents a mixture of young students, mature students and part-time students with work experience. the subject of the course is advanced database management and administration, technically complicated and challenging. the course requires students to acquire in a short period of time (twelve weeks) not only a comprehensive knowledge of the subject but also a considerable number of practical skills. among these are, specifically, problem-solving skills, as any database administrator employer requires an investigative mind set and the ability to think fast and to solve complex problems in a time-pressured environment. prior to the in-class session, students were provided with a video lecture consisting of a narrated powerpoint presentation as well as a live demonstration of the database system in action. the lecturer used panopto to record the videos. the students also had access to the pdf version of the powerpoint presentation used in the video. the students were encouraged to research other online material on the topic, including online dba forums and various youtube videos. for the practical assignments, each student was given a virtual machine with all necessary software installed, supplying an individual environment where a student could practise without affecting other students’ work. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 in-class time was divided between one hour of various interactive activities and two hours of supervised lab. the interactive activities were very important and aimed at verifying how well the students understood the material presented in the video lectures. they also helped the students to understand how to apply theoretical knowledge to real-life scenarios and revealed to what extent the students were able to compare and contrast different aspects of the topic. usually, the in-class session started with a quiz based on the video lecture: students first discussed the questions in pairs and then the pairs each presented their answers and arguments to the whole group. thus, it was possible to check how well students had prepared, as well as to encourage them to watch videos regularly and engage with the content. the activity also provided the lecturer with a sense of the overall progress of the students and of which parts might need to be revisited if they still posed challenge. after the quiz, the interactive activities varied from week to week, but they included: discussion about the results of the previous week’s practical lab assignments; group discussions about common database administrator (dba) problems and possible solutions; simulation of the reallife scenarios through a ‘dba vs. users’ interactive game. the supervised lab assignments required the students to complete various tasks in their virtual machines. after the lab, the students were required to upload a short report, together with their answers to the reflective lab questions. the students’ uploads were marked and individual feedback was provided weekly. also, generic feedback was offered during the next interactive session, as a way of ensuring that the students had a sense of continuity from one week to the next and did not lose sight of the overall context behind each week’s tasks. 4. research methods and findings for the purposes of this study, a set of two data sources were taken into consideration. the first one was a standard course-evaluation survey, containing questions related to student satisfaction on the course. this survey provided an overall picture of students’ experience of the new teaching method. the summary of the data on both courses was positive. the students on both courses enjoyed the flipped learning approach and provided a very positive generic feedback:  “interesting teaching format. great class discussion and the quiz time is highly helpful.” (student a)  “the way this course was taught is very interactive and helped me to learn new things.” (student b)  “flipped classroom’ is really beneficial for student whose first language is not english and it gives student a very flexible approach to prepare for classes and discussion topics.” (student c) case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017  “very good teaching format. videos and labs were very useful in completion of coursework.” (student d)  “probably the most useful database course which i had and a solid wrap up of the courses which i have taken since first year. new teaching method introduced 'reverse classroom' which challenges your knowledge and helps to remember and pick the most useful content from the course.” (student e)  “challenging but also enjoyable it made my understanding easier and developed my skills of independent work further.”  “pre-recorded sessions helped develop my understanding and made me more confident.”  “i found it engaging and student friendly (keeping concentration).”  “the combination was very helpful however in the beginning it was challenging to keep up with everything.” however, as the purpose of this case study was to find out the impact the flipped classroom approach had on students’ developing problem-solving skills, a more focused survey was designed and distributed to students via survey monkey. both cohorts were asked mainly the same questions, with a few additional examples added within some questions e.g. questions 1 and 18 were subject-specific. [in the attachment, you will find a list of all questions. however, owing to limitations in the scope of this paper, some questions are omitted from the summary.] the sample of the voluntary survey was relatively large, as, out of 140 law students, fifty-nine took part in the survey and, out of fifty-two computing students, twenty-four took part in the survey. the survey was conducted at the end of semester 1. 5. putting flipped into practice this research identified a few areas that influenced the students in developing their problem solving skills: what preparation was done prior to the in-class sessions, what activities were helpful during the in-class interactive sessions and whether the students were engaged with the course after in-class time. in the first instance, students were asked about their pre-class engagement with various content. the questions differed slightly, as law students were asked about specific documents, whereas computing students were asked about relevant pdf.s in general. figure 1 indicates that an overwhelming majority in both cohorts engaged with the videos and/or written documents (pdf.s, case studies and statutes). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 law cohort computing cohort figure 1: results from question 1. what type of content did you engage with prior to the lecture/large group sessions and was it useful? please rate on a scale of 1=least useful to 5=very useful. as one of the crucial parts of the flipped classroom approach is engagement with the advanced content, and as the most content was given in the form of videos, the students were asked about the regularity of their watching of these. as is evidenced, only a small percentage of students rarely or never engaged with the videos. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 figure 2: results from the question 4. do you watch the videos before the lecture session? advocates of the flipped classroom suggest that students have the opportunity to watch the recordings on multiple occasions. this was therefore the next question that both student cohorts responded to (figure 3). here the answers varied. as the majority of the msc computing cohort consists of international students, it was identified that more than one third of the cohort (37.5%) did watch the videos twice or more before coming to the class. this result indicated that pre-recorded videos are a valuable resource for international students (english being their second language), if they are to engage with the course without being embarrassed in front of their peers by not having understood the material from one viewing. the law results demonstrated that a significant number of law students watched the material before the lecture: 86.4%, with only 13.6% watching the material twice in advance of the class. figure 3: results from the question 5. how many times on average do you watch the material before coming to the class? always sometimes rarely never 67.8% 30.5% 1.7% 0.0% 58.3% 29.2% 4.2% 8.3% law computing 2 times or more once zero 13.6% 86.4% 0.0% 37.5% 58.3% 4.2% law computing case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 the results of the survey also showed that the majority of students from both cohorts did revisit course videos after the in-class group sessions to support and/or to clarify their learning (see figure 4). this was a particularly useful insight, as it evidences the willingness of students to take responsibility for their own learning and confirms the validity and usefulness of providing students with pre-recorded materials. figure 4: results from the question 12. after the large group session/lecture do you revisit videos to support/clarify your learning? during in-class time, large group sessions were the main vehicle for putting the learnt material into practice and applying it to real-life scenarios and problems. the students had a chance to discuss and debate their possible solutions. so, it was not a surprise to discover that the majority of the cohort felt that the in-class group sessions helped them to develop problemsolving skills (see figure 5). figure 5: survey results from question 10. the large group session has helped me to develop problem-solving skills. please rate on a scale of 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. yes no sometimes 91.1% 8.9% 0.0% 58.3% 16.7% 25.0% law computing 1 2 3 4 5 0.0% 5.4% 32.1% 37.5% 25.0% 4.2% 8.3% 8.3% 33.3% 45.8% law computing case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 students were also asked about whether the flipped classroom method inspired them to carry out further research in their course (figure 6). the results indicated that the overwhelming majority had chosen either ‘yes’ or ‘sometimes’ in their answers. figure 6: survey results from question 11. has the large group session inspired you to carry out further research in your course? an overwhelming majority of students in both cohorts participating in the survey felt that the flipped classroom enhanced their skills in general (see figure 7) and, particularly, independent study skills, problem-solving techniques, research skills, working in groups, etc. (see figure 8). figure 7: survey results from q17. using flipped learning as a basis for learning has enhanced my skills. yes no sometimes 42.6% 13.0% 44.4% 70.8% 4.2% 25.0% law computing yes no i don't know 78% 4% 18% 96% 0% 4% law computing case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 figure 8: survey results from q18. using the flipped classroom approach has developed my problem skills. when the students were asked to explain why they found the flipped classroom activities useful, they mentioned various aspects and highlighted some useful perspectives. for example:  the flipped classroom activities encouraged their learning and understanding of the course material;  it helped them to have a clearer understanding of the subject topic;  it helped them to find the right approach to the problem that they were facing;  it helped to learn from peers during the interactive session;  the debates during the large group sessions helped to correct their misunderstandings and errors; 74.5% 63.6% 74.5% 23.6% 34.5% 80.0% 0.0% 16.4% 83.3% 87.5% 83.3% 54.2% 45.8% 0.0% 66.7% 66.7% law computing case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017  it provided a practical approach to real-world problems and it also made the learning experience interesting and enjoyable;  it gave law students the opportunity to practice specific strategies for solving problemstyle questions and for giving advice to potential clients. those findings are consistent with the results reported in krathwohl (2002), kim et al (2014) and davis et al (2013) on the higher-order thinking skills, as well as in studies by asef-vaziri (2015: 72) and mayer (2002). they are also consistent with advocates of the flipped classroom and the development of problem-solving skills explored by asef-vaziri (2015) and mayer (2002). additionally, these findings back up the notion of the enhancing of students’ collaboration in flipped classroom learning (halili et al, 2014). this approach created an active learning setting where students engaged with real-world problems; it enabled their application of basic knowledge acquired from engaging with the videos and, in a ‘safe’ environment, stimulated discussion/debate of various possible solutions to a question or to the problems of a scenario. that gave students confidence in their ability to transform things they knew into things they could do. it also showed them that they could be in control of their understanding and memory of the content (the bloom’s taxonomy lower-level thinking skills) and did not need to be afraid (or embarrassed) to re-visit the fundamentals if necessary. conversely, when asked about why, in their opinion, the flipped classroom activities were not useful, the criticisms mentioned by students were as follows:  some activities were too long;  some students prefer working alone rather than in groups;  group presentations did not work as some students did not participate in the group work;  some videos were too long;  students were less keen on the flipped classroom activities;  some students felt they missed out on lectures;  some students found it challenging to understand the concept of flipped learning. considering these criticisms, it would be relatively simple for the lecturers to revisit and review their flipped classroom content to make appropriate changes. teaching first-year students highlighted that it was vital to revisit, sometimes more than once, the concept of the flipped classroom to explain its rationale and intention again; by supporting students’ understanding, lecturers might thus secure their commitment to this chosen pedagogy. the background research review highlights the importance of varying both the activities (to address different learning styles) and their pace. on this basis, it is clear that further experimentation and practice is required to achieve a workable contact-time balance in terms of the amount and type of flipped classroom activities. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 6. conclusions and looking ahead this research has highlighted that, although two different cohorts engaged in this study (different in size, cultural backgrounds, age groups, subject and level of study), the flipped classroom approach did enhance students’ learning experience and enabled them to develop problem-solving skills (crucial for both law and computing students and practitioners), in addition to a range of other graduate skills. the findings offer clear evidence that the experience of both cohorts was similar in terms of benefits gained and consistently-positive student feedback. the structure of the flipped classroom sessions and the clearly-thought-through and constructively-aligned teaching activities enabled students to acquire a range of different skills and become both confident and competent in their use. overall, the results support this paper’s claim that the flipped classroom can be used to enhance the student experience and that it provides the scope to support students in developing problem-solving skills. adopting this approach might present challenges for the lecturer. these are highlighted below:  the challenges of becoming a flipped academic: ○ supporting students to adapt to student-centred teaching style; ○ the time involved in providing continuous feedback to students and adjusting to being a ‘guide on a side’ rather than a ‘sage on the stage’. ● time involved in both planning and redesigning teaching materials: ○ recording videos; ○ creating material for interactive sessions; ○ creating appropriate assessment to reflect the method of teaching. ● managing the large group: ○ finding suitable teaching space; ○ flexibility (a must) in personal teaching techniques; ○ being comfortable in engaging with any questions that may be offered by the students; ○ ensuring maintenance of the focus of each session and taking students with you in terms of their understanding and consolidation of learning. ● level 4 students new to he may find it initially challenging to get used to the method. however, owing to the limited scope of this study, these issues were not explored; a further study to examine the above would be beneficial. also, future study would benefit from exploring the benefits of the flipped classroom for the development of other skills, including reflection, deeper comprehension and so on; such an investigation would require the researchers to study participants for an extended period of time and under a different research lens. since the flipped classroom literature rarely adopts longitudinal studies, such an approach is recommended for further exploration. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 finally, as some recent studies have looked at how student-centred learning and the individualised learning opportunities offered by the support of the flipped classroom can have an impact on the efficacy of the flipped-learning design in raising students’ attainment and increasing their engagement, an empirical and longitudinal study to explore this notion would be beneficial (e.g. hibbard et al, 2016; o'flaherty and phillips, 2015; little, 2015). moreover, based on the results of this research and our classroom observations, we can conclude that the flipped learning approach does present numerous benefits in addition to those mentioned already. the attendance at in-class sessions was excellent and did not confirm the common anecdotal and sceptical opinion that if students watch the provided videos they will not come to the class. making group sessions interactive, practical and interesting attracted students even more than the traditional lectures. finally, though we have noted from the results the need for some adjustments to assessments, types of flipped classroom activities and the content and length of videos, further research would be needed to provide empirical data. reference list asef-vaziri, a. 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(2014) innovating pedagogy 2014: open university innovation report 3. milton keynes, uk: the open university. strayer, j. (2012) ‘how learning in an inverted classroom influences cooperation, innovation and task orientation.’ learning environments research, 15(2), 171-193. 1 editors’ introduction in 2010 the university hosted two annual conferences focused on learning and teaching. the first, inspiring learners: equipping the next generation of graduates, explored the interplay between learning, teaching, employability and the wider world. the second conference, future learningscapes: a 21st century challenge, invited delegates to consider how the technologies that surround us, and now impinge on every aspect of our life, might shape future learning and teaching practices, and provide a better understanding of the approaches and environments needed in the decade ahead. although both conferences developed quite different themes, and attracted very different audiences and constituencies, the papers that emerged from the presentations addressed common challenges and issues. we believe that there is considerable value in capturing the process that conference presenters undergo in writing a proposal, presenting their work, and engaging the audience in a discussion of the issues, and then analysing these discussions and writing them up as an act of scholarship. the following chapters in our third issue of compass, then, are much more than a set of dry academic conference papers – they are the result of interactions and reflections with other practitioners and research peers about their research into teaching and (technology-enhanced) learning. we have maintained a similar format to previous volumes. in his opinion piece, james derounian provides a brief, lively report, giving readers who were not at the conference a flavour of the day. his reflection on david robinson’s citing of mandela echoes many practitioners attitudes to teaching better to do it slow...and right. the pressure is always for immediate action. his conclusion that inspirational teaching and learning is the payoff for increased student compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 debt will strike a chord with many university managers keen to add value within the context of increased fees and competition. the three case studies provide us with many new ideas and strategies that are transferrable across subjects. although different disciplines undoubtedly have signature pedagogies, the common thread that joins these case studies together is learner engagement. sandra clarke discusses how technical subjects can be made more interesting by using strategic and highly engaging methods of teaching and assessment. she provides a set of principles which are illustrated with novel examples, such as commissioning students to take photographs of the ‘dry’ subject for use in lecture material and demonstrates that this varied approach to teaching not only engages learners more, it produces better results. rose heaney’s case study from the university of east london has lessons for many in other institutions and on courses not remotely related to herbal medicine. much of the innovation echoes the use of computer marked assignments by the open university and, collective feedback to the cohort. heaney reflects on the need to develop an academic community in which staff develop with their students, but notes that students need support to make the transition to new modes and initiatives we should not assume they are all digital natives. heaney’s model extols many of the benefits of elearning and proposes evolutionary change – successive innovations and introductions from the bottom up, and with peer involvement, is, in her opinion, much more likely to succeed than revolution, particularly if imposed by those who do not have to implement proposals. our history is littered with such initiatives. sandra rankin and rob willson recount how their initial experience of working with psychology students to create digital posters using video and youtube resulted in a new approach to scaffolding the learning tasks and its assessment. their example compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 illustrates that in our brave new world, we need teachers who are prepared to take calculated risks and create new techniques for assessment. following these illuminating case studies, diana bath provides insights into the emotional aspects of learning. she uses her background of dance movement psychotherapy to argue that if emotional responses to learning are not integrated, then the learning process may not be complete. for bath the narrative of ‘personalisation’ can reduce the learning context to a mere set of learning needs and strategies. personalised learning calls for personalised pedagogies. jennefer hart, theo zamenopoulos and steve garner describe their innovative approach to the practice of the ‘atelier’ teaching model in undergraduate art and design education at the open university. they experimented with the use of a range of learning enhanced technologies to create a modern studio learning environment. their findings reveal a number of benefits and challenges for staff and students, and provide insights into the issues facing staff and their institutions in developing new learningscapes in design education. andy coverdale, leroy hill and tracy sisson from the university of nottingham describe how their student-led initiative of introducing social media into formal graduate training engaged phd students in a process of sharing expertise as well as contributing to their own professional development. although they recognise that differences in individual skillsets did impact upon their peers’ ability to use the technology, they provide a convincing rationale that social media tools now play an important part in the development of academic and professional network development. wayne barry presents findings from the work of the iborrow project, a self-service laptop loan initiative that coincided with the new build development of augustine house at canterbury christ church university. using radio-frequency identification (rfid) tags, the project was able to map the ways that learners were using these devices, and compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 provide new insights to learner behaviour in using mobile technology in large flexible learning spaces. one of the keynote speakers at the conference, bernhard niesner, the co-creator of busuu.com, discussed the uptake of his web 2.0 language learning site with over 2 million users. in his article, billy brick, from coventry university, reported on his experience of integrating the web 2.0 language learning tool, livemocha. his valuable analysis of the various sites that are now emerging identifies the benefits for learners, but also discusses some of the issues and challenges in integrating these resources and approaches in formal language teaching settings. there are significant implications for institutions that realise the importance for employability and diversity of speaking other languages. we believe that a conference edition, as our journal matures, is a valuable addition to the series, allowing readers to reflect upon ideas and innovations and inspiring new submissions from practitioners and researchers. we hope that you will find something of interest. simon walker, wendy cealey harrison, patrick ainley and ian mcnay university of greenwich case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 why play matters in a world of ref, tef and what the jeff alison james university of winchester on april 28th 2017, i went on twitter and found it bouncing with announcements, memes, gifs and pictures proclaiming #edballsday. now, i know who ed balls is – he’s a dancer who was once a politician – but i have no idea how we came to have an ed balls day; or, what one is. however, it really doesn’t matter. it made me laugh and someone had written a brilliant poem dedicated to him and the point seemed to be the collective joke – something daft that brought people together to appreciate the enjoyment as much as the purported purpose. virtually and dispersed, we were all momentarily playing together. #edballsday typifies a what the jeff1 moment. it’s a statement of incredulity that can be applied in so many contexts. what is this? what does it mean? how on earth did this come about? questions that seem to apply whether we are ruminating on the ed balls phenomenon or our current ride on the ghost train of educational change. as i write, we are hurtling through the tunnel of pre-election legislative push-through, our white knuckles gripping the handle. will we get thrown off on the next bend? will we arrive safely at our destination? and if we do, what state will we be in? elated by the thrill and clamouring for another go? or queasy and doubtful we can take any more? we all know what is lurking to go “boo!” at us from different dark angles: brexit, the teaching excellence framework, research excellence framework, changes to the quality landscape, student recruitment and general uncertainty. three of these represent the intensification of the metricand measurement-driven culture of higher education (he). singly, each can be daunting; clustered together, they are pretty terrifying. we are all dealing with them in multiple strategic and operational ways, some of which are obvious, whilst others – playing in response to difficulty – may seem counter-intuitive. however, playing in the face of challenge is something that we have done at winchester recently and its success has surprised us. this article is an informal account of our experimental ‘play and creativity festival’: an event guided by some simple principles, the minimum of structure and few directives. our mission was to (re)instate play at the heart of higher education community and activity, driven by four main desires. these were to  celebrate and re-energise teaching and learning  find alternative ways of communicating complex ideas and important messages  generate fresh perspectives and new ideas  build connections and community the theoretical basis to our belief in play recognised that infinite forms of play exist – and they suit different people. we draw from stuart brown (2010), pat kane (2004), brian sutton smith (2006), robert fagen (1981) and other eminent play theorists who argue that play is 1 what the jeff ?! vernacular expression indicating surprise; polite equivalent of phrase using word starting with eff. can be used in response to he-related developments which are viewed as baffling or flawed. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 crucial to human learning, behavioural development and socialisation. brown, in particular, defines play in its myriad forms as being pleasurable and apparently purposeless. and yet his research evidences that it is not just fun, but vital to our lives, as, when we play, we forge new neural pathways in our brains. these foster new ways of thinking and keep our minds alert. not only this, but from compiling thousands of play case histories, he found that people who play demonstrate greater lightheartedness, empathy and optimism, particularly if they play physically. through play, we build strength and agility, work out hierarchies and relationships, rehearse ideas and ways of being and chisel out new understandings. all of these are essential if humans are to remain responsive in the face of uncertainty and change. with all of this in mind, it did not seem too much to suggest that the university sector needs play and players now more than ever. and so the idea of a ‘play and creativity festival’ was born and the real thing ran from april 3rd – 7th 2017. it came from a leadership development programme generating projects to enrich the life of the university. play and creativity were already at the heart of my interests through my work on creative reflection and pdp, as a lego® serious play® facilitator and through collaborations with chrissi nerantzi and prof. norman jackson on exploring play in higher education (creative academic cam2a and 2b, 2015). before joining the university in september 2016, i felt sure that the community would be playful and creative in ways it did not necessarily make visible. to my joy, i found like-minded partners in julia osgerby, tina newman and sheila nicholson and the four of us bid for senior sponsorship to back us in designing and running the festival. we honestly didn’t know if this would be forthcoming: would the idea sound inappropriate at a time of nervy horizon-scanning, the need to funnel resources strategically, the overwhelming demands on staff and students at the end of the semester? to our delight, however, we won complete support… and we were off! our starting point was our belief that playful and creative engagement was essential for reenergising, bolstering morale, lightening the load, refreshing ideas and strengthening community. however, we had no fixed blueprint for action. even though we were excited by the prospect, we also had no idea if anyone would want to join in; so, we decided to hold an open meeting, inviting people to come and explore with us what shape the festival might take and how to put it on. as part of this, we invited our colleague and soon-to-be fellow musketeer richard cheetham, from sports coaching, to run an eight-minute exercise with balloons to loosen us all up. two things blew us away. one was that forty people turned up for this meeting. the other was that, in eight minutes, while forty ‘almost strangers’ ran around the room following instructions as to what to do with our balloons, we learned several things: lots about heart rate, mobility, coordination, team working, but even more about how much we laughed and how differently we felt at the end of that brief runaround. it energised our thinking and helped us frame what to do next. one of the most important outcomes was the over-riding view, voiced by those in the room, that this was not just something we could or should do – we needed to do it. it was clear that if balloon play could bring home to participants complex concepts relevant to body functioning and sports science, there must be countless other playful ways to inspire learning. http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 whilst the pedagogic side of the festival was of paramount importance, we agreed we wanted to give staff in any role – and students – the chance to contribute and/or to participate. we adopted an open and organic philosophy, which welcomed anyone from anywhere to do so something in festival week – they chose the activity and organised it; we promoted it widely through a programme. we did not envisage a nice, neat, systematic conference, but something widespread and unexpected – a bit like lovely mushrooms popping up in unusual places. and so the organised, serendipitous not-quite-chaos began. the core team rapidly expanded with more play aficionados – amy barlow, cassie shaw, jack hancock, and bekki street – who threw more ideas into the mix and helped us gather momentum and offers of activities. through the festival, we were both shaping and feeding from a shift, palpable over the last three years, in the zeitgeist of he. play is starting to be recognised as a valid part of university life in all its forms and aspects. one strand of play, gamification, has become a popular topic in journal articles which recount how the principles, rules and characters of game-playing are being adopted for high-level teaching. building on our earlier ventures together, chrissi nerantzi and i are producing an international collection of play practices in he for palgrave macmillan (2018). play has suddenly become a hot conference topic, as in the national teaching fellow symposium (2016) and at the playlearn conferences at manchester metropolitan university (2016/2017). however, there is still work to do to ensure that play in he is as roundly appreciated as things like ‘innovation’ and ‘creativity’, buzzwords which seem universally popular, whilst ‘play’ is a word that attracts some but makes others feel uneasy. this is often because the true nature, scope and relevance of play has been misinterpreted as something that children do and grow out of, confined to the social and leisure-based. at worst, it is considered trivial or something we do instead of the real and important. the pedagogic challenge of integrating play into he teaching is to intrigue, inspire, stretch and amuse students by unexpected approaches to a subject, whilst not pitching the play in ways that feel childish or discomfiting. with this balance in mind, by the time the first day of the festival had arrived, i was wondering what we had let ourselves in for. however, i was also overwhelmed by the buzz that had built up; with well over sixty sessions running, we were turning away offers right up to the moment it started. participants and contributors ranged from the vice chancellor, assistant and deputy vice chancellors to academics, students, administrators, professional services staff and more. we even had messages from colleagues in a korean university, saying that, if they had only known about it, they would have flown over. we went from being nervous about whether people would take part to slack-jawed at the ways they responded. the kinds of play that populated the festival were incredibly diverse, from events which had purposeful outcomes to those which were open and free. some were solitary or quietly communal (jigsaw building, no-sew bunting making, sensory drawing with blindfolds and music); others invited louder, more active participation, such as scientific demonstrations conducted through maggot ‘racing’ (to understand aspects of forensics) or playing catch in the dark to illustrate aspects of cycling safety and the design of appropriate bike lights. there was physical rough-and-tumble in the shape of a re-run of the balloon activity, this time with over thirty coaching students. somehow, i ended up playing sitting volleyball with some case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 third-year drama students, heady after the relief of their final hand-in. (to my astonishment, this was a hoot, although i ruined my beige trousers sliding across the sports hall.) the physical and participatory examples listed here all came from current curriculum practice and further revealed that playful pedagogies are being used to good effect on our programmes. some challenges were literally puzzling – learning to break code like sherlock holmes, or trying to grasp the niceties of eighteenth-century hand gestures and protocols for dramatic performance. there were gentler outdoor enquiries too: the secret life of campus tour combined history, geography, biodiversity, environmental sustainability and a nice healthy walk, all in one package. there were music, performance, making, sticking, lego building, voice and body workshops, a lecture, ceramic painting, digital gaming, labyrinth walking and imaginative contemplation. and soooooo many others! all provided the opportunity to come together and learn about a subject – and often inspired ideas about how to teach in new and unexpected ways. we rounded off festival week with a ‘clarice cliff tea party’; one of the most popular drop-in events of the week had been the chance to paint slipware in the style of clarice cliff – with artworks, guidance materials, music of her time and a wonderful array of found, donated and gathered plain china for colleagues to decorate. these were all dried by the friday and the table set for cake and tea amidst a riot of ceramic shapes and vivid colours. if you have read this far, i hope some of the excitement of the festival and the beliefs which inspired it are coming across to you. even if you think it sounds fun, you might still be wondering what the point of it was and whether it will have lasting impact. you may also be asking what its relevance was for teaching and learning. i shall try to pull together some thoughts to conclude. we were keen to capture, in a non-invasive way, responses to the events of the festival and thoughts as to its value, by means of interviews and paper evaluations. some of the former can be found in our memento film of the festival on our blog homepage here: https://playandcreativityfestival.wordpress.com/. extensive written feedback supported our hunch that although we are often playful and creative we do not always make this visible. it confirmed that by sharing these practices we enjoyed noticeable benefits. from a pedagogic point of view, these included learning new skills and techniques and combining unusual subjects, materials and approaches to embed concepts or stimulate thinking. participants repeatedly remarked on the value of integrating play into teaching complex subjects. teaching staff were inspired to modify approaches for application to their own contexts, whilst students emphasised how stimulated by activities they felt. a playful, round-campus nature walk, designed to raise awareness of sustainability and biodiversity, triggered ideas about how to use such an approach to develop language teaching. an activity with peas and sticks was seen as an effective way of communicating the history of froebel to education students. three illustrations of transferability as well as value for teaching can be seen here:  “i feel very privileged to have seen this – this was a fascinating mix of art, theatre, exhibition, play and poetry reading as well as being a scientific treatise on the physics and chemistry of clouds (the naming of clouds; a performance)”  “this was an excellent opportunity to engage physiologically, emotionally and socially to use our voices. we used our bodies and our voices to make sound in a way that was conscious, purposeful and selfaware ...(playing with voice: workshop)” https://playandcreativityfestival.wordpress.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017  “who constructs, controls curates? really interesting questions for each of us… relevant to all programmes – this exhibition would be a great resource across all faculties (the pop-up winchester american museum, exploring questions of content and ownership)” a recent graduate of the university, working in student engagement, noted the true partnership value of experimenting together: “there was no hierarchy in the sessions, no student-teacher dichotomy, everyone was equally new to the activity and they learnt together. the week was a refreshing and reinvigorating opportunity for staff and students to put down their pens, stop typing, and equally engage in play.” julia, a core team member, reflecting on the festival, afterwards wrote: “i lecture in accounting and i am always trying to find new and interesting ways to keep students engaged with what can be perceived to be a dull and boring subject. i was initially drawn to getting involved in the festival as i knew very little about play and creativity in the higher education context. the festival allowed me to discover the pedagogy behind play and creativity. it provided me with a wonderful opportunity to explore how i could use play and creativity in my teaching practice. it also created a productive and exciting forum to share and discuss best practice with colleagues from my own department and other colleagues from different disciplines and backgrounds from across the university.” in an he culture driven by targets, benchmarks and metrics, participants repeatedly noted what they could do when the pressure was off and the opportunity to explore was openended. sessions were an antidote to wistful laments by academics about the loss of learning for learning’s sake or the pleasure of playing without agenda. there were other positives too. we fulfilled our ambition to lift spirits and re-energise people in the final crazy taught week of semester 2. there is never a good time to run any kind of major event and this particular week did at times feel like a bonkers choice. however, we felt that, actually, when you are overstretched and stressed and exhausted and the easter holiday is just never coming – that is in fact when you need to take time out and do something else. this could be for fifteen minutes, or for an hour, or longer. student participants agreed. the festival certainly consolidated our sense of community and connection – time and again people fed back that they were having conversations they would not usually have, with people they would not usually talk to. we all played with people we never come across as a rule and people took part who six weeks earlier had really looked as if they wouldn’t. a colleague who, if not sceptical, certainly was not sure that it was for her, observed afterwards that “the play and creativity festival was marvellous, and it really brought people together”. others remarked that a really important – but unintended – benefit of the festival was that it served as a form of professional development, but not of the conventional kind. sessions case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 gave people new perspectives and ideas for tasks, approaches, teaching, relationships, team building, all of which were transferable in some way to entirely different fields. let me also touch upon the no-small-matter of staff wellbeing. the atmosphere in the sessions that i participated in – and trust me, i went to loads; i felt i had to! 😉 – was unfailingly collegiate, interested and goodhumoured and the activities themselves were all eye-opening. with all the regularity of a refrain, people said that they felt calmer and happier as a result of participating. a final plus is that the festival was relatively economical to put on – we organised and ran it ourselves and, whilst we did draw on small amounts of budget to pay for resources and some basic promotional materials, it cost a fraction of a major conference. though it was a huge undertaking, somehow it bowled along and did not feel like work. above all, it was fun. was it perfect? of course not. the wind blew our lovely banners down. our festival t-shirts turned up battleship grey instead of navy blue and the small ones wouldn’t have fitted a mole. we said from the outset that it was an experiment, that it would be homespun, that we couldn’t guarantee who would attend sessions as it was all organised on a pot-luck basis. the potluckery was both part of the charm and freedom and also something to reflect on; some sessions were extremely well-attended and others much quieter. this was no reflection on the quality of the contribution, but down to such variables as timing, location and local promotion. i invited a colleague from outside the university to run an outdoor workshop, as long as she didn’t mind not knowing who might be there. i joked to her that if no-one turned up it might just be her and the west downs cat. shortly after her session started, she sent me a photo. of the cat. thankfully, others joined them moments later. we travelled a long way in the three months leading up to the festival and saw an awakening within the community as to what it could do for us. it is now august 2017 and since i first drafted this there have been numerous enquiries from colleagues in other universities as to how they might run a similar festival. we have been happy to discuss our experiences widely, but the true key to the success of this kind of venture is simple: it is both believing in the value of doing it and also giving yourselves as a community permission to play. we had, most helpfully, senior-team backing, but local, individual will is important, too; through our enthusiasm and belief, we got the buy-in of a wide constituency. we presented the film at the governors’ awayday and received their blessing to run annual festivals. we are now planning the next one and looking at how we can involve our local community. in our midst, we now have a growing number of play evangelicals, all fired up to develop the event. the festival even won a senate learning & teaching award and received the the following statement of support from the first deputy vice chancellor: “the festival was a perfect example of research-informed pedagogy. built upon the research into play as a form of learning, the festival provided a forum for imaginative, challenging and fun pedagogic practice which, in turn, inspired colleagues to review their own pedagogic practice and open themselves to the possibility of incorporating elements of play. we hope the festival will continue and build upon this excellent start and become a distinctive part of winchester’s learning and teaching practice.” bring on play and creativity 18! case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 reference list brown, s. (2010) play. how it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul. new york: penguin. fagen, r . (1981) animal play behaviour. oxford: oxford university press. kane, p. (2004) the play ethic. a manifesto for a different way of living. new york. macmillan. nerantzi, c. and james, a. (2015) ‘waterfall of questions or can we afford not to play in he?’ in: nerantzi, c. and james, a. (eds.) exploring play in higher education. creative academic magazine, 2a, june 2015, 4-5. available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/ (accessed: 18 september 2017.) sutton smith, b. (2006) ‘play and ambiguity.’ in: salen, k. and zimerman, e. (eds.) the game design reader. mit press. available at: http://creativegames.org.uk/modules/intro_game_studies/suttonsmith_play%20and%20ambiguity_excerpt-1997.pdf (accessed: 18 september 2017.) http://www.creativeacademic.uk/ http://creativegames.org.uk/modules/intro_game_studies/sutton-smith_play%20and%20ambiguity_excerpt-1997.pdf http://creativegames.org.uk/modules/intro_game_studies/sutton-smith_play%20and%20ambiguity_excerpt-1997.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the padlet project: transforming student engagement in foundation year seminars wendy a garnham, tabban betts university of sussex introduction how do we get students to engage more actively with the material they are learning? this was the primary question for us when teaching a cohort of foundation year psychology undergraduates at university of sussex. in traditional seminars, one or two more confident students often dominated discussion, whilst many of the more reserved individuals failed to contribute – even when prompted, they were reluctant to speak up. others, perhaps having not completed the preparatory tasks for the seminar, also remained quiet, but for a different reason: they could not make meaningful contributions. the role of the tutor became increasingly a case of ‘sage on the stage’, with students looking to the tutor for guidance and dissemination of knowledge about the key readings they should have been working on. the padlet project was designed as a response to this, moving the focus from passive presence to active collaboration. all students, by the very nature of the project, were actively involved in each seminar and the quality of the resulting products exceeded all expectations. literature review according to hu and kuh (2001), engagement refers to “the quality of effort students themselves devote to educationally purposeful activities that contribute directly to desired outcomes.” it correlates with student satisfaction (kuh and vesper, 1997), improved grades (tross, harper osher and kneidinger, 2000) and practical competence and transferability (kuh, 1993, 1995). indeed, bovill, cook-sather and felten (2011) believe it to be a central requirement for success in higher education (he). no wonder, then, that student engagement has become an increasing focus for many he institutions. however, it has become ever more apparent that the traditional teaching approaches used in these institutions areas support the assessment of learning outcomes rather than student engagement (cotterill, 2015). they also often lead to a sense of alienation, as defined by mann (2001) in her ‘alienation or engagement’ proposal. alienation refers to a situation in which a student feels isolated from the rest of the learning group. in re-thinking the development of effective learning environments, cotterill proposes that we should be focusing on inspiring and motivating students to learn and this necessitates the creation of effective learning relationships within each seminar group. one suggestion for how to achieve this is chaijaroen and khanjack’s (2008) approach. rather than transmitting knowledge, the focus for educators in he, they argue, should be on construction of knowledge. if the emphasis is on the simple transmission of knowledge, then students are likely to interpret learning as simple rote learning of facts for an assessment, information to be forgotten soon after. if this is the learning that takes place, then there is little hope that students will be able to apply this to novel real-world contexts that are new to them. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 spiro et al. (1992) believe such an experience oversimplifies information, leading to surface learning, and risjord (2010) points to how it omits qualities such as critical thinking and reflexivity, both deemed essential for some career paths. moreover, the traditional lectureseminar approach often devolves into what davies (2014) describes as a session “frontloaded” by information dissemination followed by “didactic” explanation with little opportunity for students to engage with the material in a meaningful way. the question that arises from this, then, is: how do we engage students in a way that facilitates high levels of engagement in their learning? jankowska and atlay (2008) have explored the use of creative space to improve student engagement. collaboration, they argue, and the ability to interact with learning are fostered by a sense of novelty and surprise. fink (2003) has proposed similar ideas, in which active learning is advocated as enabling students both to experience learning and to reflect on what they have learnt and just how that has been achieved. the advent of multimedia tools has not seen a concomitant exploration of their potential to transform seminar teaching. however, as jonassen et al. (2008) recommend, their use, if effective, should be in terms of actively engaging the learner with the material rather than of just substituting traditional methods. there have been various attempts to integrate the use of multimedia into seminar teaching. davies (2014) reported an “overwhelmingly positive” experience for students when using ipads in seminar sessions. nursing students were able to record thoughts on interactive whiteboards, annotate presentation slides and upload their work to a wiki site. salaber (2014) used wikibased activities with students on a postgraduate international management course and similarly reported positive facilitation of student engagement and collaboration. baildon, lin and chia (2016) successfully used an online critical web reader in conjunction with padlet to develop conceptual understanding in a social studies class. padlet (padlet.com) gives students the opportunity to post responses, images and a range of other multimedia content to an online noticeboard. students can then access this at any point during or after the seminar. this not only enabled tutors to develop students’ analytical skills in evaluating sources – it also encouraged students to respond to each other’s ideas and inform their own responses. this study used padlet to transform traditional seminar-based teaching into an active collaborative experience. methodology the ‘padlet project’ was conducted with 70 foundation year undergraduates studying the foundations in psychology: organisational, social and applied psychology (osa) module at university of sussex. for each seminar, students were required to read a key paper for discussion. seminars were held once a week throughout the term and lasted for fifty minutes. autumn term seminars were conducted using the traditional method, with students sitting around the room and contributing to a group discussion. the tutor’s role was primarily to lead the discussion, directing questions to students as appropriate and challenging their thinking by asking them to apply their articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 understanding to real-world topical problems. for example, having considered a paper by kuo and sullivan (2001) on how the environment can influence crime, students were asked to discuss how they thought this knowledge could be used to develop a run-down estate in manchester. in the spring term, the padlet project was initiated. in each seminar, students were randomly grouped in pairs or threes and the forty-eight hour challenge began. the aim was to get each group to produce a padlet post related to the reading for that week. the members of each group were asked to decide whether there was anything in the papers that they had not understood. if so, they would be producing a ‘consolidation’ padlet post. consolidation padlet posts help students to clarify, revise or deepen their understanding of the key readings. examples might include: producing a short quiz identifying those aspects they were unsure of, thus helping them to work on using the information in a different way; an infographic requiring them to precis the key points of the paper; or an animation requiring them to tell a story with the points from the paper. they could summarise the whole paper in the post or focus on a specific aspect – such as the terminology used or a single section (e.g. the method of the study). if all members of the group had understood the paper, however, they would be producing an ‘extension’ padlet post. an extension post enables students to move beyond the key reading to explore the research area more widely. such posts might involve students’ linking to an interesting article that contradicted the claim of the key reading, devising a short research task that related to the key reading or developing their own response to the key reading. students were given just five minutes to finalise their decisions about what type of post they would be making and at which point; they were then asked to select a form of multimedia to enable them to post their work on the padlet board for that week. a list of options was provided for students which began with three possibilities: a youtube video (youtube.com), an audioboom podcast (audioboom,com) or a flipboard magazine (flipboard.com). as well as the tutor, a member of the technology enhanced learning (tel) team was present for the initial seminar in the spring term to provide additional support for students in making their posts. students were encouraged to work alongside the tutor and members of the tel team to add to the list of possible multimedia applications that could be used as the term progressed, extending the collaboration beyond just peer-to-peer learning. students were encouraged to work effectively in the seminar to try to complete their multimedia post while the tutor was present to support them. however, for the more ambitious posts, which required a longer time to complete, students could take up to forty-eight hours to complete and upload their work. after this time had passed, students were asked to look again at the padlet wall and comment on at least one of the posts their peers had uploaded, asking either a discussion question or raising comments about the reading itself. the padlet walls remained active right through the term and into the assessment period, so that students could access it and make use of it in preparing for the examination at the end of term. during the assessment period at the end of each term, students sat a fifty-question, multiplechoice examination which assessed their understanding of the key readings across the term. to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 assess the effect of the padlet project on attendance and achievement, performance on the osa module was compared to performance on an analogous module which ran for the same length of time and had the same method of assessment (including the same number of multiplechoice questions). this will be referred to as ‘the control module’. presentation/discussion of the data the padlet project transformed all students from passive listeners into active producers of multimedia content. the quality of their posts was beyond expectations and many students explored new multimedia applications which they then fed back to the tutor. the list of possible applications, that began with three ideas on it, amassed over thirty different ideas as a result of the collaboration between the students, the tutor and the tel team. to assess the effectiveness of the padlet project more formally, students were asked to complete an end-of-module survey. performance on the exams in the autumn and summer terms was compared and attendance measured across each term. a. survey responses fifty-three per cent of those who responded to the survey rated the module as either 1, 2, or 3 on a scale of 1-10 where 1 was ‘fantastic’ and 10 was ‘awful’. 41% thought that the seminars in the spring term were better than in the autumn term and a further 21% stated that they liked them just the same. students reported finding the spring term seminars more engaging and interesting than seminars on other modules. the opportunity to make decisions about how to develop their understanding was seen as a particular strength: “i like the fact that it is really dynamic and that we can run it as we want. i really enjoy the possibility to exit our comfort zone.” perhaps, the most striking feedback was the effect the padlet project had on social interaction in the seminars. many students pointed to how the padlet project had enabled them to feel more comfortable talking to each other about the work in smaller groups: “i like how interactive it is, talking to different people each week and making a form of revision.” or “i like the fact that we all have an input into giving more information around the topic.” those comments that were less positive pointed to the paucity of discussion arising from the padlet project. despite much encouragement to do so, students were reluctant to post comments on the posts of other groups: “you can’t really discuss things as it’s hard to reply to other people.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 b. exam performance performance on this module – a comparison of assessment period 1 (at the end of the autumn term) and assessment period 2 (at the end of the summer term) – was compared with the same exercise for the two assessment periods of a parallel module (‘the control module’) that all of the students sat. both modules used a similar fifty-question multiple-choice exam format. the only difference was the content. a paired samples t-test suggested that performance was significantly different between assessment period 1 and assessment period 2 for both the osa module and the control module: osa: t = – 2.026, df = 70, p < 0.05; the control module: t = 2.015, df = 70, p < 0.05. however, closer inspection indicated that this effect was expressed differently for the two modules. figure 1: average difference in exam performance from assessment period 1 to assessment period 2 in both the osa module and the control module. in the osa module, on average, improvements of 13% were made between assessment period 1 and assessment period 2. in the control module, an average of 10% decline in scores was observed. although scores were significantly different between the time points, this was owing to a significant improvement in the osa module but a significant decline in the corresponding control module. to test this statistically, the difference between performance from assessment period 1 to assessment period 2 was calculated for each student. a paired samples t-test was used to show that the differences obtained were significantly different for students in each module: t = – 12.072, df = 70, p < .01. -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 control osa articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 c. attendance as for the exam performance measure, attendance was measured for both the module which used the padlet project and the control module that all students sat through the same term. figure 2: a comparison of attendance across the autumn term and across the spring term for the osa module. attendance seemed to be significantly lower across the spring term compared to the autumn term: t = 6.506, df = 10, p < 0.01. as figure 2 illustrates, however, attendance began at a lower level for this module from week 1 of the spring term. therefore, it is possible that this pattern is one replicated across other modules and reflects lower attendance generally across the spring term. to test this possibility, the attendance of the same students on the control module was assessed. figure 3. a comparison of attendance across the autumn term and across the spring term for the control module. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 spring osa autumn osa 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 spring control autumn control articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 as figure 3 illustrates, attendance on the control module was similar across both terms and this was shown statistically with no reliable difference between the two terms: t = 0.701, df = 10, p > .499. data was not available for week 12 of the spring term for this module. analysis of the data as reported by salaber (2014) and baildon, lin and chia (2016), the use of digital tools to aid deeper levels of understanding proved largely successful. the strengths of the padlet project were two-fold: not only did it promote social interaction within each seminar group, but it also had a significant impact on examination scores at the end of term. students appreciated the opportunity to get to know other members of the seminar group in a more informal context than had previously been the case. by getting them to work with different people each week, they were moved out of their comfort zone and were encouraged to participate and contribute more actively. the weaknesses of the padlet project, similarly, are two-fold. in terms of attendance, this paints a far less positive picture. however, we believe that this represents a ‘no-place-to-hide’ effect. with the padlet project, it is imperative that students have read the paper before they come along to the seminar. their not having done this creates resentment amongst the rest of the padlet group and this peer pressure creates an uncomfortable situation. it is possible that, rather than experience this, these students just do not attend. if this is the case, this should be seen in a positive rather than negative light as it emphasises the way that the padlet project promotes independent learning. responses to the survey did in fact indicate that this was the case, for a number of students commented on how the project had made them engage with the reading more than the traditional seminars had done. in terms of discussion, students were very reluctant to discuss their responses to the padlet project. where comments were posted, these tended to be very low-level comments such as “brilliant” or “this is very interesting”, rather than anything that involved more analytical thought. in response, the padlet project has now moved into a new phase. a fortnightly cycle of padlet posting, followed by team-based learning exercises, is being trialled. whilst the padlet posting week will enable students to clarify, deepen and extend their understanding of the key reading, the team-based learning encourages discussion between peers. conclusions the padlet project was developed as a response to the problem of lack of engagement in traditional seminars on a foundation year psychology module. by asking students to work in small groups to produce a multimedia post (for a padlet wall) about the key reading, engagement was significantly enhanced, leading not only to a significant improvement in examination scores but also to better social interaction within the seminar groups themselves. although attendance was negatively affected, this is interpreted in terms of the no-place-to-hide effect, demonstrating the impact of the project on students’ preparation. the padlet project, by articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 its very nature, could be transferred to any context where traditional seminar structure has historically been used. reference list baildon, m., lin, m., & chia, g. (2016) ‘developing conceptual understanding in social studies using technology and discussion.’ hsse online, 5(2), 94-102. available at: https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/18683/1/hsse-5-2-94.pdf (accessed: 18th oct 2018). bovill, c., cook‐sather, a. and felten, p. (2011) ‘students as co‐creators of teaching approaches, course design, and curricula: implications for academic developers.’ international journal for academic development, 16(2), 133-145. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360144x.2011.568690 (accessed: 18th oct 2018). chaijaroen, s. and khanjak, i. (2008).synthesis of learning innovation model enhancing learning’s potential using brain-based learning. khon kaen: faculty of education, khon kaen university. cotterill, s.t. 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case studies in february 2010, the university of greenwich hosted the uk’s first undergraduate mathematics conference with support from the institute of mathematics and its applications (ima). the conference was of great value to all who took part and has received much positive feedback. this is the account of how and why it came about, and the factors that contributed to its success. ideology the idea for a mathematics conference for undergraduates presented itself after the author took a group of greenwich students to the ima’s younger members’ conference in november 2008. although they had enjoyed a wonderful day and were made to feel most welcome, it was obvious, talking to students afterwards, that many of them found that the gulf between the early stages of the undergraduate curriculum and cutting-edge applications of mathematics tersely presented meant that, understandably, the material was not easily assimilated. consequently the undergraduates had difficulty identifying their future selves with the presenters. after much reflection it seemed that a possible way forward would be to provide an undergraduate conference where maths undergraduates could present any mathematical topic of their choice; something they were interested in or were researching, to an audience, made up primarily, of their peers. this would inspire those present to investigate these or similar topics further during their degrees or afterwards in their research. the various benefits for mathematics students seemed enormous: those going into research would gain experience of the process of conference submission, while those going into the workplace would gain valuable experience to enhance their cvs and career prospects. all delegates would gain insights into a wide range of mathematics of potential value in their future careers and would feel the benefits of being a part of the wider maths community. research and inquiry-based learning at undergraduate level is important. mick healey and alan jenkins’ paper (2009) states that “all undergraduate students in all higher education institutions should experience learning through, and about, research and inquiry”. the boyer commission (1998) argues that “dissemination of results is an essential and integral part of the research process”. many of the so-called soft skills such as confidence building, time management, etc. are increased by presenting research. 2 these skills, valued highly by employers and many others, are enumerated by angela brew (2007). the 2002 qaa benchmark statement for mathematics, statistics and operational research (msor) suggests that msor graduates are generally “able to transfer knowledge from one context to another, to assess problems logically, and to approach them analytically. they have highly developed skills of numeracy, including being thoroughly comfortable with numerate concepts and arguments in all stages of work”. however, there are other, highly desirable, skills that do not come quite so naturally to mathematicians. challis et al (2002) found that “mathematics graduates tended to lack presentation and communication skills (including report writing and presentation to a non-technical audience)”. the opportunity of presenting at an undergraduate conference such as tomorrow’s mathematicians today (tmt) would address this. similar events from research into the viability of this idea, it transpired that the mathematical association of america (maa) promotes a number of such events based in regional centres around the us, and that they are a great success and well thought of by students and academics alike. the reasons they give for promoting the idea resonated soundly: “the goal of the undergraduate mathematical conferences program (sic) is to provide opportunities for students in the mathematical sciences to make presentations in a supportive and non-threatening atmosphere” (ma a, 2011). they also recognise the importance to those attending the conference: “students in the mathematical sciences who attend but do not present papers also benefit by seeing that undergraduates can successfully pursue independent study in mathematics” (ma a, 2011). of course, undergraduate studies in the us are structured differently from the uk, with much less specialisation and perhaps less sense of identity for undergraduate mathematicians as a result. interestingly the first conference in british undergraduate research (april 2011), organised by the university of lancashire, built on boyer with participation from healey and jenkins. methodology having set a date, obtained initial support from ima and obtained the agreement of our keynote speaker, professor ian stewart (warwick), a prolific writer and broadcaster with a wide following amongst mathematics students, the task was to put out a call for abstracts from undergraduates. initial concerns as to whether suitable undergraduates would offer to speak and whether others would see the relevance and benefit of attending were quickly dissipated by the response obtained. at the outset, the plan was to limit participation to those at london universities but when some academics further afield expressed interest, on behalf of their students, we thought it necessary to send the information and the call for abstracts to all uk university mathematics departments. we were delighted with the response. we received over 30 abstracts from 11 universities and by the end of january had a total of 130 delegates registered from 22 different institutions from as far afield as aberdeen and exeter and from institutions as diverse as oxford and brunel. it was wonderful to hear that this was being talked about in maths department common rooms up and down the country and that staff were actively seeking out would-be presenters. it was mentioned on facebook and twitter and peter rowlett, the then university liaison officer for the ima, discussed it on his blog in the context of “providing graduates with appropriate experiences and evidence of their skills”, (rowlett, 2009). we were very grateful to receive sponsorship from the publishers taylor and francis, and simon walker (university of greenwich) kindly agreed to supply folders for conference packs. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 the programme the day surpassed all expectations. we began with three plenary talks on diverse but generally understandable topics such as the maths behind the weakest link, paradoxes and cayley’s definition of an abstract group. after a short break we had a couple of parallel sessions (one on pure maths and one applied). following a buffet lunch we separated into five streams on topics such as group theory, applications of maths, applied maths, statistics and others before ian stewart’s closing keynote speech. the streams were named after historical mathematicians connected with greenwich and the subject of the stream. there was a tremendous buzz throughout the day; students networking with those from other universities, maths being spoken in corners and corridors and the university liaison officer from the ima talking to students about working in industry and the benefits of ima membership. there was also a live twitter stream which provided a number of useful comments for us to reflect on afterwards. full details of the abstracts and programme can be found on the conference website (tomorrow’s mathematicians today, 2009). conclusions and feedback although there are a few minor details we would change based on feedback received from delegates, the overall response has been extremely positive. initial feedback gathered straight after the event included comments such as: “thank you for hosting such a successful event for our students. i have received very positive feedback and we are pleased as a department that so many of our students took an active interest.” “thanks again for organising the conference – everyone i spoke to got a great deal out of it and is eager for something similar to happen again.” two years later two years on, the conference is now functioning under the umbrella of the ima as we felt unable to undertake such a big event every year. we are due to be hosting it again in february 2013, something that we are looking forward to immensely. greenwich students benefitted enormously and some of those who presented, and are now in their final year, had this to say about their experience: “speaking at tmt was undoubtedly the highlight of my mathematical career thus far.” “my presentation has led me into a project for my dissertation – my tmt research when coupled with my third-year studies has enabled me to come up with an excellent dissertation idea.” “my confidence and skills in public speaking were enhanced incredibly and this has been a prime experience to use when applying for graduate jobs. employers are especially impressed at the amount of motivation and passion required to voluntarily research a topic and present your findings to such a large audience.” “i was also able to gain excellent feedback from students at other universities, allowing me to look at my research in new ways.” “not only did i speak at tmt but i was able to attend a number of fascinating talks. it was inspiring to see so many maths students presenting their research into the areas that excite them the most.” compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 “tmt was really great, you got to show people what you enjoy most in maths and see what others enjoyed. it was fun and enjoyable.” “it felt amazing afterwards to know that i’d done it and i hope to do more talks like it in the future.” in the department of mathematical sciences at greenwich, we have a focus on enquiry-based learning. as part of this, students are required to complete a final year research project, similar to a dissertation in other disciplines. as one of the final year project co-ordinators at greenwich, it is very apparent to me that those second year students who participated in tmt began their final year with more confidence, determination to succeed and clarity of thought than others of similar ability in their year. they were more focussed when choosing a topic for their project, presented their work with greater confidence and had a far greater appreciation of the breadth and diversity of their subject. they had a better understanding of research and how to structure research for their learning. having this conference on their cv, and being able to talk about it at interviews, certainly gives them an edge over other, similarly qualified candidates. feedback from staff and students based at other institutions suggests that everybody derived similar benefits. the success of this conference has caused me and other, initially sceptical academics to think that this is something that undergraduates really want and need. while mathematics is an unusual discipline, in that ideas are often difficult to communicate in a brief presentation and require time to comprehend, tmt has shown that this is not an obstacle to the sharing of enthusiasm and new ideas. students emerged from the conference excited and stimulated. we believe that it is worth investigating whether teaching and learning in other disciplines could be similarly enhanced by events which bring together undergraduates from different institutions whose courses may have different foci. references boyer commission on educating undergraduates in the research university (1998). reinventing undergraduate education: a blueprint for america’s research universities. stony brook: state university of new york at stony brook. available at: <http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf> [accessed 14 february 2011]. brew, a. (2007). research and teaching from the students’ perspective. international policies and practices for academic enquiry: an international colloquium. uk: winchester, pp. 19–21. british conference for undergraduate research, 2010. lancaster. available at: <www.bcur.org> [accessed 15 february 2011]. challis, n., gretton, h., houston, k., and neill, n. (2002) developing transferable skills: preparation for employment. in: kahn, p., and kyle, j. (eds.) effective teaching and learning in mathematics & its applications. london: kogan page, 2002, pp. 79–91. mathematical association of america, 2011. maa, washington. available at: <www.maa.org/rumc> [accessed 15 february 2011]. quality assurance agency for higher education, the, (2002) subject benchmark statements: academic standards – mathematics, statistics and operational research. gloucester: the quality assurance agency for higher education. http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf http://www.bcur.org/ http://www.maa.org/rumc compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 rowlett, p. 2009. nottingham. available at: <http://travelsinamathematicalworld.blogspot. com/2009_11_01_archive.html> [accessed 26 february 2011]. tomorrow’s mathematicians today, 2009. london. available at: <http://mathsoc.cms.gre.ac.uk/tmt> [accessed 26 february 2011]. http://travelsinamathematicalworld.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html http://travelsinamathematicalworld.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html http://mathsoc.cms.gre.ac.uk/tmt d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf 1 case studies the impact of group projects on learning, teaching and assessment in a year 3 ba course emma abson the business school introduction the following case study is an analysis of a level 6 course, on the ba events management programme. it explores the effectiveness of group projects as a learning tool, the teaching strategies employed on this course, and the assessment process currently in place. the course is designed to synthesize all elements of the programme to allow students to reflect upon and develop earlier theoretical learning and to encourage students to put theory into practice within a real world context. there is a substantial advanced practical element to the course with students aiming to deliver an event of their own devising in groups of six students. assessment consists of an individual formative piece, a group pitch assignment, a written group proposal, and an individual reflective assignment. teaching delivery of the teaching on this course is through two elements – a block of structured lectures, and tutorial sessions consisting of regular group monitoring sessions, managed by students and observed by tutors. lectures lectures take place weekly for one hour, with the intention of linking the key theoretical pathways and offering students the opportunity to apply the theory to their practical work. the lecture content focuses on areas of practice that students may be considering in their own projects at that point in the event planning process. tutorials the structure of the tutorials is based on the principle of introducing and underpinning the practical element of the course. in theory, the tutor spends the first part of the tutorial in discussion with the group as a whole, incorporating activities such as case studies diagnosis, problem-solving exercises or quizzes. the second half of the tutorial is dedicated to group project meetings with tutor observation, which give tutors a chance to understand the group dynamics and to see who is or isn’t engaging with the project. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 this structure is solid and, if the tutor is able to deliver the teaching along these lines, it provides a fantastic learning environment. however, in practice, there are a number of challenges that result in a shift in the delivery, particularly in the second part of the tutorial. the structure of group project meetings is designed to give students the opportunity to discuss their projects in some detail with the tutors, and the tutor the opportunity to see real progress (or lack of) to the student’s learning. however, in practice much of these group discussions tend towards the tutor as mentor or adviser, with the focus on helping students to work in groups and working with them to resolve group issues. on this particular course, students often cite common difficulties, such as team members who are not engaged, disagreements and conflict within the group, and decision-making issues, as major obstacles to their projects. as anderson et al (1998: 34) suggest, it is essential that tutors: “help students to understand the reasons why group work can go wrong. the more students know about the things that work and the hazards of interpersonal relationships and group dynamics, the better they can cope with the aspects of human nature that inevitably play their part in any kind of group situation.” there is often an assumption that group work will happen naturally for students, but frequently it does not. the provision of training for students on how to operate within a group environment, and preparing them to work effectively as a team member, would help to ensure that learning can take place without obstruction. it is important to note that feedback suggests that students relish the opportunity to run their own event, despite the problems often cited with group projects. in support of this feedback, griffiths (2009) points to several research projects that provide strong evidence from students themselves that they benefit from the experience in both cognitive and affective ways: “alongside understanding and knowledge benefits, students suggest that participating, belonging and being involved are important dimensions of the experience. the implication of these findings is that the process of building and managing groups, and assisting with the development of relationships is of paramount importance.” (griffiths, 2009:44) students on this course report that they like the group meeting environment and find the opportunity to discuss the project with tutors on a group-to-one basis an invaluable learning tool, during which they have the opportunity to reflect on their practical work and discuss key events-related issues with an expert. learning this course has experiential learning as one of its underlying rationales – in particular, the practical element can be related to kolb’s learning cycle (kolb d. (1984) experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. englewood cliffs, new jersey: prentice hall), where learning is a continuing process requiring experience, reflection, adjustment and re-evaluation and then the application of any enhanced understanding to the problem in order to shape understanding (cameron, 2010). for this course, the students are required to take an active role – it is a student-centred course, which stresses the students’ direct experience and asks them to reflect upon experiences, discuss and theorise them compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 during the group meetings, attempt to make sense of the experience and to better understand how to approach the same experience again in the future. however, whether the experiential learning gives an insight into how students learn during a set task is debatable. as such, it is interesting to review some theories that consider this in more detail. in the 1970s marton (cited in fry et al, 2009) carried out empirical research regarding the interaction between a student and a set learning task. marton concluded that the way a student approaches a task determined the engagement with the subject and the outcomes. the students therefore approached learning on either a deep or a surface level. the deep approach to learning is typified by an intention to understand and seek meaning, leading students to attempt to relate concepts to ensure understanding…to distinguish between new ideas and existing knowledge, and to critically evaluate and determine key themes and concepts. (fry et al, 2009:10). so, deep learning represents a desire to understand the ideas for yourself, and is born out of an active interest in the subject matter. it represents a “higher level of cognitive processing throughout learning” (11) and it is this state students and tutors alike should strive towards. students engaging in a surface approach to learning, however, can be typified as undertaking study done without regard for its purpose (cameron, 2010). it can be argued that this course forces, as far as is possible, deep learning. through the practical elements of this course, the students are required to engage in a full exploration of their understanding of the processes, with reflection, evaluation and action as a central part of the success of their events. the course also fosters conditions whereby students can “observe their own learning styles, change these styles to suit different tasks and engage more deeply with the content of the subject” (griffiths, 2009:74). these latter attributes are often cited as prerequisites for a deep approach to learning. biggs (1999), however, has suggested a third approach to learning – the strategic approach – which is of some relevance to the way in which students learn for this course. the strategic approach is associated with assessment and there is an emphasis on organising learning specifically to obtain a high mark. whilst i argue that this course encourages deep learning and is constructed to make it difficult for the students to employ surface learning techniques, group projects do provide an opportunity for them to also employ techniques from the strategic approach. there is evidence of some students engaging in little activity until just before an assessment is due, and evidence during assessment that little preparation has taken place, as well as some demonstration of a lack of understanding of the processes as a whole. and, of course, a number of disappearing students and weak group members are being carried. it is my opinion that group projects, whilst perhaps needing more care to organise, supervise and participate in than other learning tools, are an important aspect of university learning – through the group processes, students develop and demonstrate important skills in working together and largely undertake learning on a deep level. despite the issues surrounding the forming of groups, group dynamics and the ability to undertake strategic learning, the students offer extremely positive feedback and tend to achieve high marks during the assessment process. assessment race (2006) suggests that “assessment processes need to address the qualities of reliability and transparency in order to meet uk educational standards and to embrace the aspirations of teaching and learning strategies”. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 he proposes that assessment should be reliable – the assessment should be fair and consistent, and the briefings, criteria and marking schemes need to be clear for learners and tutors alike. it is difficult to offer a truly reliable assessment of practical elements as they are often ‘live’ and happen in a moment. however, this is combated, to some extent, on this course with the requirement that each piece of work is double marked – two tutors are present for each of the practical elements and each piece of written work is viewed by the same two tutors. there is then a conference to discuss marks and to come to an agreement. in this way, the assessment on this course can be said to be as reliable as is possible, given the nature of the set tasks. the assessment criteria should be transparent; the learning outcomes and assessment criteria should be matched. there is a good attempt to do this within the handbook, but it is not clear that the students always understand the links between the outcomes and assessment processes, or indeed how we intend to assess their evidence (race, 2006). the teaching attempts, on occasion, to facilitate this understanding in the classroom, and the practical elements can be seen to be fairly transparent. this is not so successful, however, in the written elements. another key element of assessment that is relevant to this course is that of authenticity, particularly in relation to the assessment of group projects. whilst group projects are an important learning tool – not just for the learning related to the course but also due to the learning the experience itself offers – the authenticity of the assessed work is difficult to establish. how is one to tell who did what within the group, when all the assessor really witnesses is the final product? there is an attempt to establish authenticity through the requirement of each group member to participate in a group pitch, but the stronger team members can easily cover for others. in order to make the assessment process as fair as possible then, the assessment process should build in criterion that ensures that students’ individual contributions will be included in the assessment. there are a number of methods of assessment not currently employed that would enable the students to understand that individual contribution will be measured fairly. race (2006) suggests these could include the provision of logs of meetings, a breakdown of who agreed to do what, and evidence of the contribution of each member. all of these can be prepared by the group and included in the group project report, and they all lend themselves to assessment. another suggestion which would help identify student contributions is intra-peer assessment “students need to know in advance that there will be penalties for being a passenger. it is usual to have some form of intra-peer assessment, where students themselves decide whether or not the group members contributed equally” (anderson et al, 1998:37). race et al (2005) discuss peer-assessment in depth and suggest that it helps involve students more closely in their learning and its evaluation, as well as going some way to ensure the students understand what is required of them. importantly, peer assessment will encourage students towards deep learning. “the act of assessing is one of the deepest learning experiences” (race et al, 2005:132). it develops a deepening understanding of what the subject matter involves and also allows students to learn from each other’s successes and weaknesses – they have to notice when work is better than their own, and when they see things done badly that can become a learning experience too, that is a case of what not to do. additionally, any surface or even strategic approaches will be identified by the other group members, and whilst students may be able to hide their lack of contribution from tutors, they cannot do so from their team members. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 there are a few issues around peer assessment which should be noted – reliability can be a problem, and peer assessment is often an emotional process. however, these can be overcome with input from students and moderation from tutors, and the benefits to learning and to students’ engagement with the assessment process suggest that the introduction of this tool should be considered. learning, teaching and assessment – constructive alignment? the theory of constructivism describes learning as a process of transformation, during which students actively construct their knowledge through new experiences, actions and information (fry et al, 2009:9). using the principles of constructivism and the alignment of teaching activities with learning outcomes, biggs coined the phrase ‘constructive alignment’. the basic principle for biggs is the idea that students construct meaning from what they do to learn. the key to constructive alignment is, therefore, that all the areas of the teaching system – aims, teaching strategies, learning outcomes and assessment tasks – are aligned to each other. central to this is that all areas of the system are tuned to the learning activities (biggs, 1999). this course is an example of the encouragement of students to construct meaning through their own actions, and it is interesting, therefore, to spend some time considering whether this course is constructively aligned. houghton (2004) suggests there are three processes that need to take place to ensure a course is constructively aligned: (1) set learning outcomes the rationale behind this course is a forum for students to demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical and practical skills essential for a successful career in events management. the learning outcomes are clearly outlined in the course handbook and offer, in my opinion, enough information for the students to understand what is required of them and what outcomes we expect to see. (2) select learning and teaching strategies that are likely to enable the students to attain the outcomes “…we need to consider approaches that require participation that is more active and encourage more high-level learning. therefore, if we want students to consider that we expect them to synthesize concepts and link them together, then we should consider assessment activities that encourage that behaviour” (houghton, 2004). this course can certainly be said to use activities that encourage student engagement but this takes place chiefly in the practical assessment elements of the course. in order to fully align the learning and teaching strategies, we need to further incorporate activities that ensure the students are engaging with the theoretical learning, and encourage or require students to carry out activities that meet all of the learning objectives. (3) assess the students’ outcomes and grade their learning the question here is whether the assessment tasks require students to demonstrate that they have met the learning objectives. there is some evidence that the learning outcomes and teaching strategies are on the right path, and this evidence is demonstrated through the delivery of some of the assignments by the students. in particular, the pitching process, which involves each of the groups (and each group member) actively delivering a pitch on the formation of their group and their event planning so far, appears to indicate that the students understand the stated learning outcomes and are working hard to compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 6 achieve them. the same can be said of the actual delivery of the event. however, there is less evidence of alignment between the outcomes, teaching strategies and assessment when considering the written assignments, which are often neglected within the teaching elements of the course. conclusion this course has as its core a group project, with all teaching, learning and assessment designed around this practical element. this focus on only one element of the course presents a number of issues for teachers and students alike, and my key recommendation is that this course would benefit from a more holistic approach to the teaching, learning and assessment of the entire course content. the learning on a course with a substantial practical element presents a number of challenges – not least the issues surrounding the forming of groups and group dynamics. these issues can be tackled with increased attention to students’ learning needs in this area, and the provision of training for group work. another major concern for the practical element is the strategic learning of some students, who act as passengers, allowing other team members to complete the work. these problems can be addressed with a review of the assessment tasks. the assessment tasks need to have further detail within the criterion, and should provide opportunities for the students to demonstrate their own learning (as distinct from that of the group). in particular, i believe that the inclusion of vivas and the introduction of peer assessment will not only improve the validity and establish authenticity of the assessments, but will also ensure that the students are able to understand the link between our teaching and their assessments. whilst i have made several recommendations for change, with particular emphasis on applying increased attention to delivering teaching, learning and assessment that focuses on the entire course content, i believe that practical projects are a relevant and worthwhile component of student learning. when discussing individual student projects, anderson et al (1998) make a number of points relevant to group projects; in particular they suggest that the time spent on practical projects or ‘learning by doing’ must be useful to the student and relevant to the overall learning outcomes of the course. this project represents the only chance for ba events management students to demonstrate the integration of their three years of learning and to apply theory to actual event production. despite the various criticisms outlined within this case study, i firmly believe that this course represents one of the most important learning tools these particular students will undertake during their studies. references anderson, d., brown, s., and race, p. (1998) 500 tips for further and continuing education lecturers. london: kogan page limited. biggs, j. (1999) teaching for quality learning at university. buckingham: srhe and open university press. cameron, s. (2010) learning and reflective practice. in: dass. r. (ed.) personal and professional development (1). pearson education limited. fry, h., ketteridge, s., and marshall, s. (2009) teaching and learning in higher education. oxon: routledge. griffiths, s. (2009) teaching and learning in small groups. in: fry, h., ketteridge, s., and marshall, s. (eds.) teaching and learning in higher education., oxon: routledge. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 7 houghton, w. 2004. engineering subject centre guide: learning and teaching theory for engineering academics. loughborough: hea engineering subject centre. available at: <www.engsc.ac.uk/er/theory/ constructive_alignment.asp> [accessed 18 january 2010]. jordan, a., carlle, o., and stack, a. (2008) approaches to learning. berkshire: open university. kolb d. (1984) experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. englewood cliffs, new jersey: prentice hall. race, p. (2006) learning, teaching and assessing study text. london: the university of greenwich. race, p., brown, s., and smith, b. (2005) 500 tips on assessment. oxon: routledge falmer. http://www.engsc.ac.uk/er/theory/constructive_alignment.asp http://www.engsc.ac.uk/er/theory/constructive_alignment.asp d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf opinion pieces 1 problems with evidencing reflective practice (and their possible resolution) paul dennison educational development unit a quarter of a century after schön first published the reflective practitioner (1984), the phrase ‘reflective practice’ still resonates strongly in discussions about professionalism. reflective practice is the hallmark of a professional, and the reflective practitioner paradigm is still very much mainstream in both professional practice and in the preparation for that practice. in fact, it has become almost a rule on pre-professional courses that students are required to evidence their ‘reflective practice’ by writing a reflection upon an incident or encounter, or producing a written reflective commentary, or reflecting (in writing) upon their experience, etc. the higher education academy (hea) and nursing and midwifery council (nmc) require candidates for their professional recognition schemes to develop whole portfolios of such written ‘evidence’, characterised as ‘reflections’ or ‘reflective pieces’. my contention is that this is a mistake, and that confusions and contradictions ensue when the words ‘reflective’, ‘reflection’, and ‘evidence’ are misapplied in this way. there are contradictions with the nature of the evidence. ● true professionals are reflective for themselves alone; to produce a written account of that for public consumption is not to reproduce that reflection but to create something else entirely, something permanent, that can be interrogated at leisure. to call it ‘evidence’ is problematic since in reality, these reflections are authored, created and concocted by the students. it is quasi-evidence, which may achieve verisimilitude but never validity. ● students are required to evidence reflection to show professionalism. in many professions, teaching for instance, practitioners rarely write those reflections down. so we recognise professionalism on a requirement for evidence that recognised professionals do not require of themselves. there are problems with coaching the creation of the evidence. ● not surprisingly, students do not intuitively know how to ‘write’ a reflection and need to be coached in that ‘skill’. the questions arise: “why are we coaching them?” if it is to produce evidence, isn’t that evidence automatically ‘artificial’? what is the value of that skill once their professionalism is recognised? compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 12 ● as part of the coaching process, we show students how to select and present evidence of reflection that will make them appear professional. the better we succeed, the more convincingly ‘professional’ they appear, but it is an appearance; artificial and unreliable. it is even possible that students are encouraged to concoct – or at least heighten – incidents, reactions, problems and solutions. ● should we coach students to adopt the style of total revelation and honesty or a more tempered partial (and perhaps professional) approach? how far should students disable their ‘internal censor’? there are also problems with assessing the evidence. for this reason many academics limit themselves to formative feedback only. do you reward honesty, which may result in bland, boring or unsatisfactory ‘reflections’, or reward industry and invention, with the risk of inauthenticity? all of these problems have at their heart the insistence on using the terms ‘reflective’, ‘reflection’ and ‘evidence’, with the implicit insistence on naturalness, immediacy, and authenticity. there is no room for authorly distance and revisionist editing. why not accept that the productions which students write to demonstrate their thinking and reflective processes are not ‘reflections’, nor are they direct ‘evidence’ of reflection? instead, adapting bruner’s (1991) ideas on the narrative construction of reality, let us call them ‘narratives of professionalism’. when we use this terminology the problems above largely evaporate. students understand and achieve their task more naturally and with less coaching and anxiety. portfolios are valuable developmental as well as evidential tools, but let us not call the productions that fill them ‘reflections’ or ‘reflective practice’. they are narratives – narratives of professionalism. references bruner, j. (1991) the narrative construction of reality. critical inquiry, 18(1), pp. 1–21. available at: <www.semiootika.ee/sygiskool/tekstid/bruner.pdf> [accessed 10 march 2011]. schön, d.a. (1983) the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. aldershot: ashgate publishing. d6010-11 e january 2012 http://www.semiootika.ee/sygiskool/tekstid/bruner.pdf tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 is the tef a good idea – and will it work? nick hillman this reflection piece is based on a lecture delivered at greenwich in november 2016. the teaching excellence framework (tef) is designed to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning in higher education and to reward or punish institutions accordingly. the idea of some sort of teaching excellence framework is older than many people realise. it was floating around whitehall before i left my role as special adviser to the minister for universities and science in late 2013. at that time, we were vaguely thinking of a tref: a teaching and research excellence framework that would be light touch and perhaps piggyback on the ref. but, in truth, our thinking had not gone very far. there were three progenitors of the idea. first, my then boss, david willetts, was worried that measures of institutional performance flattered ancient research-intensive institutions but did the opposite for institutions focusing on great teaching. if those that focus on excellent research are applauded for it, it is surely only fair that those that focus on excellent teaching receive similar plaudits. second, when £9,000 tuition fees came in, ministers said universities would be much more responsive to their students. my job entails visiting around fifty higher education institutions each year and, as i travel around, i see that this has happened. but ministers lack hard supportive data and thus have been unable to prove unequivocally that teaching and learning have improved as a result of their reforms. third, we have to accept that not all students are as engaged as they should be. for example, our annual student academic experience survey, undertaken with the higher education academy, shows that, on average, they work for only three-quarters of the time that the quality assurance agency say they should. so, i understand where the government is coming from on the tef, but i do worry about the statistical proxies by which university teaching is to be measured. i also worry about its implementation and structure. that explains why the higher education policy institute has tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 published more detailed critiques of the tef than anyone else, including, as well as various blogs on specific aspects, four lengthy papers: 1. in early 2016, we published professor graham gibbs’s critique of the higher education green paper. he argued for the tef to be replaced with process measures focusing on student engagement: ‘the government must choose between obliging universities to give students what they say they want, even if it is counter-educational, and encouraging forms of provision which are known to be more educationally effective, whether students want them or not.’ 2. we published a lecture by andreas schleicher, who is the oecd’s director of education. he believes we should test students on what they know instead of using proxies. only then would it be possible to compare the quality of, say, a japanese engineering student to a uk one. he argues we are much closer to being able to do this well than we were a few years ago and so the time has come to start measuring learning gain directly. that is a controversial proposal and difficult to do in practice, but measuring learning gain does have increasing appeal and hefce is now funding its own pilots on the idea. 3. we also published a paper by louisa darian that looks at whether there are lessons for the tef from other sectors in receipt of public funding. she found some clear ones. for example, experience in healthcare shows that stability in the organisation delivering quality ratings is crucial to their success. thought needs to be given to this, because the tef is to be implemented alongside the abolition of the higher education for england and the establishment of the new office for students. 4. in autumn 2016, we published a polemical paper by professor paul blackmore of king’s college london, which argues that prestige comes from research and so the best way to put a new focus on teaching is to bring teaching and research closer together rather than to drive them apart. his paper argues that, because the tef does nothing to integrate teaching with research, it could end up a sideshow to the ref. instead, he called for more links between teaching and research at every level. despite the power of these critiques, it is important to be fair to the government. for the tef to happen quickly, you do need to use existing metrics rather than wait for better measures of teaching and learning to come along. we could wait for the data to be perfect but, if we do so, tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the chances are the tef would never actually happen. jo johnson makes a valid point when he cautions against comparing the first iteration of the tef to the latest ref. moreover, ministers have proved admirably flexible on the way the tef will operate. for example, the original timetable has been extended, universities are able to submit qualitative information to be assessed alongside their hard data and the tef is, in due course, to shift to the basis of disciplines. numerous tweaks have been made to the details as well. it is a very different beast (in many ways, better) from the one jo johnson originally announced, even if it is bigger, bossier and more bureaucratic. we can still query the details – some people particularly dislike the gold / silver / bronze hierarchy, which probably derives from the fact that 2016 was an olympic year – but i do not think we can question the willingness of ministers or civil servants to alter their plans in response to valid concerns. my only hope is that they continue to be just as flexible in future as we learn from the process of rolling the tef out. there has been talk of a boycott of the tef, particularly by older universities. i am sceptical that this will happen in any big way, because not all the sector is united against the tef, universities want the fee increases that will come with success in the tef and precedents suggest that those who stay out of sector-wide initiatives do not stay out for long. perhaps, if the whole sector fiercely opposed the tef and refused to play ball, they could kill it, but that is a battle that would have little public support at the very time when, post eu referendum, our universities are trying to show they are in close touch with the wider community. i am also sceptical that the attempt by the national union of students to boycott the national student survey will have much impact. even many student unions question whether it is the right approach and i do not see what incentive there is for students to hurt the reputation of their own universities in this way. overall, i think it is a good idea to respond to concerns about the quality of higher education by trying to assess the quality of teaching and learning. i think it is right to re-balance the incentives within universities to the benefit of teaching and learning. i also think the tef results could prove useful to parents, teachers, advisers, applicants, students, graduates, staff and employers. moreover, i believe none of us working in higher education should ever shy away from new information, however difficult. we should play with it, contextualise it, highlight its limits… and also learn from it. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 however, i am uncomfortable about the link to fees, especially while the tef is undertaken institutionally rather than at the level of disciplines: that seems to me to mix up ends and means and to focus debate on funding when it should be on pedagogy. i also worry that the tef could hinder innovation in the classroom by encouraging safe rather than risky teaching. it would, for example, be a tragedy if the tef meant difficult subjects were no longer taught or if it were to encourage spoon feeding at the expense of teaching designed to stretch students, develop their independent learning skills or help them to learn in research-like ways. so, most importantly, we must all be discriminating enough to select from the rollout of the new assessment of teaching and learning what helps rather than hinders. the tef has encouraged lots of technocratic discussions about teaching and learning. as a former teacher, i want to end by noting something else. there is no feeling in life as rewarding as successfully imparting knowledge to others. it is therefore incumbent upon us all to ensure that the tef does not erect a new barrier between the teachers and the taught. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 tef: why and how? ideological and operational imperatives driving policy ian mcnay this short piece attempts to identify the origins of the teaching excellence framework (tef), to locate it within the wider framework of policy for higher education (he) in the uk more specifically england to identify characteristics that will endure whatever tinkering at the edges happens as a result of the trial and error approach adopted towards many issues in contemporary politics, including the ref (mcnay, 2016), which can be seen as a reference point for what we can anticipate. government acknowledges that the approach will be applied to tef: ‘we will continue to trial and pilot changes to ensure that the framework continues to improve’ (department for education, 2016, paragraph 7). the basic principle is that he is seen as a business, operating in a competitive market, with universities described as ‘service delivery agents’ by one senior civil servant, and students, as customers, put ‘at the heart of the system’. since government no longer funds teaching, except to top up costs of expensive essentials in stem subjects, it is no longer a near monopoly client controlling through resource allocation policy, but has re-shaped itself as a students’ champion, a blend of the consumers’ association, sponsors of the which? guide to universities, and the competition and markets authority, monitoring probity in provision and publicity. its agent for this will be the new office for students, which at least is within the education ministry, not business, where research remains. the secondary principles underpin traditional conservative attitudes since the collapse of butskellism: value for money – as in economy, efficiency, effectiveness, in that order; a belief, if applied to higher education, demonstrated to be mistaken by gareth williams as long ago as 1992, that competition enhances quality and reduces costs (williams, 1992); that is also false for other sectors as currently evidenced by prisons, forensic services, energy companies and transport provision. so, jo johnson (dbis, 2015) thinks that new providers should be able to award their own degrees as soon as they open their doors – the level playing field syndrome because such [unproven] ‘high quality challenger institutions… will add a positive competitive dynamic’ to the sector (havergal, 2016a). that was the argument behind the polytechnics, and later the tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 open university, but they had a much long probationary period – the ou had an academic advisory committee for 6 years before operating with full autonomy; a suspicion of professionals as autonomous ‘experts’, particularly those in public service, whose first loyalty should be to the state as employer, and compliance with its views, recently seen in attitudes to the judiciary supporting elective democracy within the brexit process, and, ironically, ‘service providers’ in the central civil service and embassies world-wide. value for money promoting efficiency, and accountability, curbing autonomy, were the initial drivers behind what has become the ref, to monitor whether academic professionals in the universities of that era were doing what they were paid to do research. many were not. the rqa/rae/ref then conditioned the award of funds for research and distorted strategic and resource support away from teaching, still the second main expenditure across the he sector, after administration. before fees were re-introduced (they existed when i was a student in the mid-1960s) only four heis out of nearly 150 got more money from government for research than for teaching. the dominant discourse later became that teaching in he was of poor quality because of government emphasis on research, though that causal link was denied. the white paper (bis, 2015) expresses a ‘concern that too often the incentive at an institutional and individual level skews activity away from teaching’ – with no acceptance of government responsibility for setting those incentives. we are to blame for a negative policy impact i identified for hefce 20 years ago (mcnay, 1997), and which it acknowledged then. bahram bekhradnia, formerly the boss of hefce which funded he and had a duty to ensure quality was more generally critical in saying that universities are ‘not very good at teaching’. he drew on various comparative projects across europe and the wider world (havergal, 2015). that may have been true in the russell group universities, as evidenced by a trial tef run by times higher education (the), which put none in the top ten (havergal, 2016b) and had several well into the bottom half of the league table bristol, king’s college, london (kcl), london school of economics and political science (lse), goldsmiths, st. andrews, edinburgh were all ranked below greenwich. senior managers attributed this to the impact of ref – the research excellence framework, a government policy, but with academics being blamed – and the solution seen as replicating that approach for assessing teaching excellence, when many academics believe that the ref and its antecedents have had significant negative impact (mcnay, 1997, 2007, 2016) . the 2016 hepi academic experience survey showed that student satisfaction is in decline and student assessment of value for money fell steeply, by 20 tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 percentage points in england since fees were last trebled – another government policy (neves and hillman, 2016). it is worth noting that the the survey of academic staff (grove, 2017) showed that 39 per cent agreed that teaching was the most important function of a scholar, with only 24 per cent disagreeing. the same survey showed that 55 per cent of academic respondents believed that research is valued more highly than teaching in their institution. so, leaders and managers are also culpable, but not the teachers now being frameworked. the motivations driving entry to the ref were described by one of my favourite ex-vicechancellors as ‘fame and fortune’ – esteem and funding, thereby combining intrinsic and extrinsic elements. this will also apply to tef which will have a ranking and a reward. but, with a difference – politicians do learn, but slowly. the ranking will be initially at corporate level; and the reward will be paid by the students in even higher fees, or by teachers because managers will be allowed to increase student numbers. recruitment of international students will also be conditional on a good grade. those factors mean that 134 heis, mainly in england, where the policy operates, are taking part in year 2 of the exercise, despite staff attitudes, as stuart croft, vc of warwick acknowledged in a letter to the on 2 february, 2017, where his argument was simple: ‘the government has us over a barrel’. officially, in england, there is no cap on numbers, but that may not last long when the size of the 18+age cohort expands rapidly soon after the start of the next decade. however, that will be balanced by leaving the eu and losing the obligation of give loans to people from 27 other countries, delighting the thatcherites. conditions of student financial support have become harsher and data on the ‘graduate premium’ suggest it is declining, also acknowledged by government (dbis, 2015) so the calculation about whether to enter he may change with the limit to numbers emerging from decisions by potential students. the other value for money lesson learned from ref is about the cost of the evaluation exercise itself. there has long been pressure to reduce peer assessment in ref and use metrics as the dominant evidence base for quality. for tef, the search was for existing metrics, because there is not a tradition of peer review within politicians’ living memories. some of us may be nostalgic for the council for national academic awards, which validated polytechnic degrees, with its formative, developmental approach. even teaching quality assessment, the last experiment in this field, involved visits, observation and discussion as well as rooms full of paperwork, but it cost a lot to find very, very little to criticise: not the government expectation, so it was abandoned. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 government acknowledges that there are no good metrics, but they are prepared to use bad ones, or proxies, to get something done, with, initially, little flexibility from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ core (department for education, 2016) beyond socio-economic background of students, and an institutional submission to stake a claim for excellence against institutional benchmarks. the chair of the tef panel acknowledges that all data are flawed in some respect, especially those from the national student survey which are corrupted by student self-interest in rating highly the quality of their university and where 25 student unions are committed to a boycott because of the impact on tef ratings (grove, 2017a). there are some positives for universities that value teaching – greater parity of status between teaching and research careers, with explicit career paths and rewards for teaching, which may redress the distorting imbalance that has developed. the three main metrics concern teaching quality, learning environment, student outcomes and learning gains (dbis, 2015, chapter 3). teaching quality will use student satisfaction statistics, which risks popularity displacing quality, with negative effects. learning gain is notoriously difficult to measure; some pilot, unpublished, work on this i did with john pratt showed oxbridge students had a learning loss, given that their high entry qualifications were not matched by high degree classification. teaching excellence may be related to contact hours and student time spent studying as well as, possibly, the proportion of staff on permanent contracts. study time depends on self-reporting, not a reliable process. outcomes will use leaver destination statistics to measure high level skills development to promote social mobility and enhance productivity. the consultation showed only about 40 per cent of respondents supported several government proposals on this, but they will be retained despite that (department of education, 2016, paragraph 38). however, the quantifiable metric is salary, and recent hesa stats have shown that salaries in law are related to family background of students on entry. they will also vary by the differences between working in family law and corporate law, so skewing the advice given to students. hesa stats also show that the job market is institutionally racist and sexist, something often hidden by treating employment and further study as a single metric, when the second may be a fall-back after prejudiced decisions on the former. heis do, though, need to examine why black students on average gain lower final degree classifications than others with the same entry qualifications. the report on responses to the consultation raises issues about ideological drivers for proposals to support new market entrants. there were responses from 132 ‘state’ heis, of which 18 are quoted in the text; private alternative providers, including for profit organisations with foreign owners provided 21 responses with 8 quoted. in percentage terms, that is a quotation rate of 13 tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 per cent and 38 per cent, three times as many for new entrants encouraged by government as for established heis. for student unions, representing those ‘at the heart of the system’, the rate is even worse: three quoted from 35 responses: 8.6 per cent. (department of education, 2016). in the end, only six alternative providers will take part in full this year (hefce, 2017), despite government sponsorship of them as high quality entrants. the rae/ref has shown that any metrics adopted will be ‘gamed’. my work (mcnay, 2016) has shown that research approaches become less innovative, more conformist to fit with perceived assessment panel prejudices. hardly, then, an approach to encourage developments and diversity in teaching and learning: another unexpected negative consequence, moving authority to managers and away from academic professionals. the professionals do not think the tef will achieve its aims. in the the survey only four per cent of academics thought that the proposed framework will accurately assess teaching quality, with 75 per cent saying it will not. similarly, 12 per cent believe it will improve quality, with 64 per cent saying it will not. administrators were equally sceptical (grove, 2017b). the record of institutional strategic leaders is not good: when high fees for taught courses came in, the extra funding was taken from teaching departments to spend on central marketing, and iconic buildings, not invested in the teaching process. yet students’ top priority for savings, if needed, is…buildings (hea/hepi, 2016; jones et al, 2016). tef may see a transfer of funds from teaching departments to internal employment agencies, given a racist employment market. i know of one hei that reduced its intake of bme students, as part of a tactic of raising its ucas entry tariff, so as to improve its league table position. tef plans are to reward widening access to counteract that, as part of a wider aim to double numbers of disadvantaged entrants, but that is hardly an indicator of teaching excellence at that stage, and is not affected by the quality of teaching staff activity. so, there is confusion, lack of clarity, but, as with research, emergent greater control. there is discontinuity built in: such uncertainty risks loss of innovation and creativity essential to quality improvement. as with the impact criterion for research quality, an aim of tef is to change behaviour (dbis, 2015). that change may be towards compliance, conformity and convergence to an isomorphic range of provision. at least we have been warned. i have tried to indicate what to expect, but, expect the unexpected as well. as one head of hefce said about the rae: ‘you never know how it will all turn out’ (mcnay, 1998). tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 reference list dbis (2015) fulfilling our potential: teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice, cm 9141, london, department of business, innovations and skills. department for education (2016), teaching excellence framework: year two and beyond. government technical consultation response. london, department for education. grove, j. (2017a) ’tef to limit use of ‘flawed’ nss scores’, times higher education, 2 february, p8. grove, j. (2017b) ‘we want to be happy in our work, but…’, times higher education, 16 february, pp32-43. havergal, c. (2015) ‘english universities ‘not very good at teaching’, says hepi president’, www.timeshighereducation.com/news-teaching-excellence-framework (accessed 15 december, 2016). havergal, c. (2016a) ‘absolute beginners: degree powers from day one’, times higher education, 19 may, p7. havergal, c. (2016b) ‘a new perspective’, times higher education, 23 june, pp 36-49. higher education academy/higher education policy institute (2016) ‘the 2016 student academic experience survey’, york/oxford, hea/hepi. higher education funding council for england (2017), ‘299 universities and colleges take part in year 2 of the tef’, www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchivw/2017/ (accessed 21 february 2017). jones, s., sutcliffe, m.j., bragg, j., harris, d. (2016) ‘to what extent is capital expenditure in uk higher education meeting the pedagogical needs of staff and students?’, journal of higher education policy and management, 38(4): 477-489. mcnay, i. (1997) the impact of the 1992 rae on institutional and individual behaviour in english higher education: the evidence from a research project, bristol, hefce. mcnay, i. (1998) ‘the rae and after: ‘you never know how it will all turn out’’, perspectives, 2(1). tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 mcnay, i. (2007) ‘values, principles and integrity: academic and professional standards in uk higher education’, higher education management and policy, 19(3): 43-66. mcnay, i. (2016) ‘imbalancing the academy: the impact of research quality assessment’, sociologia italiana, 8: 119-150. neves, j and hillman, n. (2016), the 2016 student academic experience survey, oxford, hepi. temple, p. (2013), ‘aspects of uk private higher education’, in callender, c. and scott, p. (eds.) browne and beyond: modernizing english higher education, london, ioe press. williams, g. (1992) changing patterns of finance in higher education, buckingham, srhe/openup. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the teaching excellence framework (tef): yet more competition – and on the wrong things! phil race when the uk green paper which heralded the tef was released in 2015, it claimed that the aim was to introduce something much less burdensome than the research excellence framework (ref). working in higher education institutions (heis) as a consultant, i see that the ‘less burdensome’ intention is already clearly failing, with the energy of staff at all levels being sapped by numerous planning and strategy meetings as institutions gear themselves up for the inevitable competition and league-table fallout which will accompany the tef. participating as a national teaching fellow in the various consultations preceding the present higher education bill, it was clear that there were problems with the three words involved in tef. what are the best metrics to try to quantify ‘teaching’? in particular, what on earth might ‘excellence’ in teaching be, and how could this possibly be measured in a valid or reliable way? and even the word ‘framework’ implies a concept so complex that it could hardly be expected to be fair or productive. so how can we enhance the student experience of higher education? higher education institutions and practices tend to change very slowly. einstein is reputed to have said ‘it is sheer madness to keep doing the same thing, and to expect different results’. therefore, if we want different and better results, we need to be doing different things, not just continuing to put the same old ways of doing things under spotlights, focusing on a few selected dimensions. overburdened staff in heis are already burning themselves out, using traditional methods of assessment and feedback introduced long ago when student numbers were much smaller. indeed, assessment and feedback take up far more time and energy than ‘teaching’ per se and additional tef burdens may thus be a step too far. there are numerous ways to try to teach well. any attempt to highlight particular aspects of good teaching will exclude other equally worthy ways of giving students a good higher education experience. but perhaps the biggest problem is with the word ‘excellence’. rewarding excellence breeds competition and the losers, who will always be far more numerous than the winners, may well be disappointed and discouraged – and therefore less likely to try again to tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 excel. most of the benefits of collaboration may be lost when individuals, departments and institutions are made to compete. it would be much wiser to redirect the energy currently being expended on tef to reviewing the processes of assessment and feedback. successful educational outcomes, including the now oft-cited ‘longitudinal’ ones, depend very strongly on the quality of the assessment and of the consequent feedback that students experience, (e.g. hea, 2012). the higher education sector still over-uses some processes, including the much-criticised unseen written exams (which often continue to measure what is remembered rather than what is learned), and coursework essays (despite all the research which shows that we are poor as a sector at grading them fairly or reliably, and despite ever-increasing concerns about who actually wrote them). essays remain a good way to get formative feedback to students on their thinking and writing, but assessing them fairly is fraught with difficulty. even though the national student survey, which feeds in to the tef, has been adjusted for 2017 onwards and includes issues relating to the student experience of assessment and feedback, known as an aspect which students themselves find the least satisfactory, i would nevertheless argue that the tef would do better to focus more on assessment rather than teaching. so, in short, the tef seems set to measure the wrong things and to generate greater competition in a world which instead needs much more emphasis on collaboration. rather than vain attempts to continue to do the same old things better, processes are needed to recognise and reward outstanding assessment and feedback practice, which itself needs to be better monitored, developed and changed to keep up with the present and future needs of our students, and of the world beyond heis. reference list higher education academy (2012) a marked improvement: transforming assessment in higher education. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/marked-improvement-transforming-assessment-highereducation-assessment-review-tool (accessed: 03 april 2017). tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 supporting elearners by increasing digital literacy skills in healthcare educators rebecca sherwood london south bank university abstract this paper presents a case study detailing the author’s involvement in a teacher training module designed to improve healthcare educators’ scope for delivering e-learning elements within their curricula. the best method for enhancing teacher understanding of how students experience learning in the online environment is by first allowing teachers to experience the process themselves from a student perspective. it is proposed that such exposure will allow teachers to gain greater insight into the potential benefits and pitfalls of online delivery and apply the knowledge gained to their own practice. teachers from a wide range of healthcare specialities engaged in discussion forums and gained practice in new and varied methods of e-learning, discovering how they could be blended with traditional classroom-based delivery to achieve a diverse range of learning outcomes. it was found that the inter-disciplinary representation on the module created a potent mix of experience and viewpoints that greatly contributed to the overall learning environment. the cohort of twelve included adult and children branch nursing (hospitaland community-based), midwifery, allied health and a member of the e-learning support team. keywords: e-learning, inter-disciplinary, healthcare education, blended learning, learning technologies, technology-enhanced learning, digital literacy, teacher training. introduction the 21st century has seen rapid social, economic, and technological advances which have questioned traditional forms of teaching that are no longer appropriate for the modern age. teachers are no longer seen as knowledge experts but are co-learners and facilitators, increasing learning capacity through transformational learning (bull and gilbert, 2012). learning itself is difficult to define; correspondingly, there are multiple definitions for elearning within the literature. e-learning may broadly be described as content delivered on electronic devices, which is intended to support learning. the ‘e’, somewhat incidentally, represents the digital medium by which the material is delivered, but the ‘learning’ represents the necessity that it seeks to achieve educational goals through appropriate methods (clark and mayer, 2011). educators can choose the level of contribution e-learning makes to their courses from e-supported traditional sessions, through a continuum of blended-learning strategies, to those run entirely online. e-learning may be individual or social, synchronous or asynchronous (naidu, 2006). the government states that e-learning provides an important strategy for staff and students to attain the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes for safe and effective care to improve patient outcomes, and therefore encourages e-learning in preand post-registration curricula (doh, 2011). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 digital learning is going through rapid, and at times controversial, changes in terminology. this has led to very different understandings by those in education, research and industry as to what the definition of e-learning does or does not encompass, as there is no universal, internationally-agreed and accepted definition. this situation can raise important philosophical debate about education and the relation of technology to it. since its inception, circa 1998 (cross, 2004), the term e-learning has been plagued by a lack of precise delimitation between researchers, authorities and countries. sangrà et al, (2011) identified that there were actually four categories of definitions applied to the same term. as a consequence, e-learning has been variously defined as: technology-driven learning, a methodology of the ict delivery system used, a communication-oriented model with an emphasis on flexibility and social interaction and, finally, as an all-inclusive unique educational paradigm in itself (guri-rosenblit and gros, 2011). a plethora of further terms have been applied to digital learning, including computermediated learning, technology-mediated learning, online learning and online technology. in 2009, the higher education funding council for england updated its e-learning strategy, stating the danger that ‘e-learning’ could be interpreted too narrowly by some and would therefore be substituted by the broader concept of technology-enhanced learning (tel). tel would consider how technology may be used by institutions to enhance the process of learning, teaching and assessment (hefce, 2009). however, e-learning and tel were still being used as interchangeable terms within the higher education academy’s 2014 report describing the important potential of technology to provide increasingly flexible approaches to educational provision (hea, 2014). tel appears to be experiencing similar controversies re its scope and definitions, leading to problematic misinterpretations within the literature. kirkwood and price (2014) express concern about the ‘value-based judgement’ incorporated within the term tel and its assumption that technology has an inherent ability to enhance learning and, if so, what are the agreed measures that can be used to determine this? bayne (2015) emphasised the uk-centric bias of the tel term: whilst appearing inconsistently in european literature, its use does not prevail globally. bayne also expresses misgivings about the separation of the ‘technological’ and the ‘human’ implied by tel, suggesting that technology is there merely to enhance existing teaching practices, and therefore advocates the less disquieting term of ‘digital education’. an in-depth discussion about evolving terminology is beyond the scope of this paper and the continuing debate may take time to resolve itself fully. the term ‘e-learning’ will here be applied in its broadest sense and is used synonymously with the terms ‘tel’, ‘digital education’ and their variants. this paper will take the reader on a novice lecturer’s reflective journey through a multidisciplinary e-learning module, highlighting the benefits of first-hand participation with a range of digital applications, whilst considering the particular complexities of the online environment educators need to prepare themselves for. the discussion will appraise the potential benefits, in terms of deeper forms of learning that may be gained from novel tools and environments (but only when applied thoughtfully), as well as the increased flexibility afforded by mobile and distance learning. this will be balanced by reflections considering the potential challenges and frustrations those working within this milieu may encounter. the importance of evaluating baseline digital literacies of learners and facilitators to determine technological learning needs is stressed. the paper considers: practical experiences, gained from a number of digital learning tools; reflections on the group’s ability to form and maintain effective co-operative working relationships in the online environment through case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 synchronous and asynchronous modalities; the difficulties that can occur when utilising technology for communication; the importance of adopting an adaptive and flexible approach. “lecturers need to understand what it takes to learn their subject in the context of the environment their learners inhabit…” (laurillard, 2008, p.522). finally, the paper evaluates how the experience of module participation can consequently assist in the successful development of future modules when applied within the constraints of a pre-registration healthcare course. this case study is expected to be of particular interest to teachers seeking a broad introduction to how online and blended learning may be used to develop novel pedagogical approaches aimed at reinforcing student engagement and facilitating attainment of learning outcomes. background it can be challenging for an educator to cover all required learning outcomes (los) with limited contact time. i certainly want to employ a greater variety of media to enhance student engagement and understanding of content and was therefore excited about the opportunity afforded by first-hand participation in an e-learning module, especially since it offered the potential for improving module materials and overall course design. jisc (2014) developed a tool for teachers to examine the seven digital literacies of both themselves and their students. our group was asked to undertake a moodle poll to analyse how we felt about our digital literacies at the start of the module. i wouldn’t categorise myself as a confident technology user and therefore rated my competencies as mainly average, occasionally poor or good. i would be described by marc prensky as a ‘digital immigrant’. i was born before the digital revolution in the 1980s, i have not grown up with the internet or mobile technologies and i was a late adopter of web 2.0 applications. i am not like younger ‘digital natives’ or the ‘net-generation’, who expect rapid access to information through immediate ‘twitch’ responses, communicate through instant-messaging, prefer graphics to text, are multitaskers and expect non-linear learning combined with social and technical interactivity (prensky, 2001). at school, my teacher was my main source of information and learning was heavily dependent on remembering and reproducing content; although suited to the context of that era, such a way of learning is clearly less suited to the new, rapidlyevolving digital age. however, the generational digital-divide may not be quite so clear cut. it appears the net-generation are not consistent in their use and understanding of technology (jones et al, 2010). cultural background, academic discipline and gender may all be more influential than age (margaryan et al, 2011) and, what differences are seen reflect rather the use of specific social-media tools than increased digital literacy per se (valtonen et al, 2010). therefore, the digital landscape is highly complex and it is likely that we are all at different points on the various literacy scales. the important implication is that students and teachers should work together to improve each other’s areas of weakness. evaluation of learning experience during the module, i developed skills in two clearly-linked main areas: task-orientated creation of products; the building of social relationships. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 i took part in a group cooperative learning task, in which individuals, having divided the work between them, interacted together to accomplish a specific end-product or goal (normally set by the teacher). such an approach is distinct from collaboration as a philosophy, which puts the emphasis on students’ working through and integrating ideas together for a common goal; this latter method is more student-led and affected by group dynamics (panitz, 1999). our activity made use of the philosophy of paragogy (peer-learning) which is used in many e-learning courses and sees teachers and students as co-creators of learning, reducing the traditional teacher power-base (corneli and danoff, 2011). we were asked to build a moodle database by choosing one or more technology learning tools to review; i chose the presentation tools prezi and powtoon. as an exercise, it was very useful, certainly providing me with the opportunity to experiment with both tools to discover exactly how they worked and what their benefits and limitations were, as well as to think about possible contexts for their use. by uploading presentations to personal youtube channels, the class could view and discuss each other’s work – very motivating for all of us. it soon became clear how quickly such a resource might be built up, with students and staff learning together and sharing the workload. as we could choose tools that were most relevant to our practice, the activity supported an andragogical learning approach that was experiential and inclusive of individual interests (jarvis, 1995). i personally gained insights into tools i might not otherwise have considered. two brainstorming cooperative learning tools i gained experience with were mindmeister and padlet, both employing a highly-visual communication style. i found padlet extremely straightforward, with a user-friendly interface for displaying ideas and resources in the form of post-it type notes. able to provide links to other web-media, we discovered our differences and similarities when it came to e-learning and we considered what makes e-learning effective. this activity was helpful, early on, for group cohesion. i realised that a number of class-based brainstorming exercises i undertake with students would be more engaging using padlet, as it allows learners additional time to research and gather articles, pictures, videos, and links, all of which can then be shared to encourage deeper learning. the mindmapping tool mindmeister likewise enabled us to create content together, this time to examine the meaning of e-learning. the nature of mind-maps allows the formation of structured links between different ideas, a process which enhances critical-thinking skills; it helped me to appreciate the potential scope of e-learning as a topic. mind-mapping has been shown to enhance cognitive ability, with studies suggesting that its use may improve exam performance (rosciano, 2015). i enjoyed, and still do enjoy, the mind-map concept, but i found it took me longer to use this tool correctly. my first efforts were clumsy and i was frustrated by the time taken to make additions to the map. during a later face-to-face session, we continued to work on the mind-map as a group: we were quickly able to pool resources and help each other gain competence with this tool, to the benefit of everyone’s learning. those who had not previously managed to use mindmeister were then assisted in contributing map links, so that everyone could express her/his ideas. any e-learning tool must therefore be carefully selected in terms of its usability. educators must weigh up the time taken to learn how to use the tool for a particular student group against the learning gained. if this tool were to be taught at the beginning of a course that then included lots of brainstorming, then the time taken could be justified; it might not, however, be appropriate for one-off use, in which case, another mind-mapping or cooperative tool might be a viable alternative. both tools support the principles of constructivist educational theory which promotes an active student-centred approach to learning, gained through the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 accommodation and assimilation of new experiences into schemata of knowledge. in this theory, the student is responsible for her/his own learning, but social interaction is necessary for establishing meaning from the information gained (keengwe et al, 2014). padlet and mindmeister are examples of web 2.0 applications. whereas web 1.0 (readweb) technology represents one-way communication comprising static web-pages that simply provide information, web 2.0 (read-write-web) are interactive technologies allowing users to modify content and to create and share information (shemberger and wright, 2014). they encourage the course of learning to become self-determined (i.e. student-centric rather than teacher-centric), a process termed ‘heutagogy’ (cochrane et al, 2012). to be exposed suddenly to seemingly endless sources of web-based material can nevertheless be intimidating, although it is suggested that the process of being immersed in creative and collaborative e-learning technologies can actually cause re-wiring of the brain and change the way we learn (pritchard, 2014). during the course, i was introduced to storify, an online curation tool that brings together content from across the web to create a narrative around a given topic. it requires students to search out, critically analyse and evaluate many sources of information, before linking the sources into a cohesive story. this communication tool can then be used to inform and engage others. storify and other networking tools use constructivist principles, but also go further in that the learning is not just constructed by the student, but is also conceived by networks of individuals in many different formats and locations and is therefore shared. this has resulted in the development of a learning theory for the digital age called ‘connectivism’ (bassett, 2015). taken to its extreme, acquisition of knowledge is comparable to a rhizomatic plant with a multitude of nodes, each capable of spreading out on its own independently, resulting in nomadic, unstructured learning. although equally exciting and terrifying as a concept, in reality a purely rhizomatic approach may not be appropriate for all courses (bali and honeychurch, 2014) and educators must realise when lack of structure and scaffolding could become a barrier to learning. i was initially apprehensive about the prospect of interactive social online learning as i thought it would be the antithesis of my personality type. however, i felt that exposure to this environment was necessary for my personal development and essential for my understanding of how social learning may be facilitated. there is evidence from the literature that certain e-learning environments have the potential to make students feel isolated and lonely in the absence of the face-to-face contact characteristic of traditional courses (zembylas et al, 2008) and are consequently detrimental to both their motivation and learning, since the need for security and belongingness is usually a prerequisite of higher levels of performance (maslow, 1987). to prevent this, facilitators should foster the growth of online student support networks, socialisation and a shared sense of purpose. many of our group already knew each other and our first face-to-face session made introductions easier and also allowed us to welcome new members. regular online discussion forums then enabled us to become better acquainted and, unexpectedly, i quickly discovered much more about my peers than i had known through our previous face-to-face communications. we were forming a ‘learning community’ or ‘community of practice’ (cop), defined as a group of people with a shared area of interest (in our case education and elearning) who form a network to participate in collective learning, by building relationships and exchanging knowledge to create a shared repository of resources (wenger, 2006). to establish this community, we needed to know the diversity of expertise and experience within the group the introductions forum helped us here. i was able to identify those with case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 common interests and there was clearly the possibility of taking projects forward with the group. for social constructivist learning, we needed to be willing to exchange information and resources for the mutual benefit of the group and thus had to establish trust and develop a sense of ‘group spirit’, which grew between us over time. it was clear that friendships were being developed and, as a result, the sharing of learning increased, as expected in cops (chang, 2012). however, there were also times when some group members did not fully participate in the forums, or questions we asked of each other were not answered. it is important not to take lack of responses personally. there are numerous reasons for lack of participation in online cops, including unwillingness to share information to gain a competitive edge, concerns about intellectual property rights, lack of trust about how others might use the information, not finding the time and/or lack of commitment to post. researchers have also demonstrated that non-participation is not always accounted for by student self-interest or attempts to hoard information and may be down to lack of confidence within the online community, or different cultural norms. sometimes participants may not understand a task or think they have a worthwhile contribution to make; they may fear stating incorrect information which will then be open to public scrutiny and possible ridicule (ardichvili et al, 2003; ardichvili et al, 2006). tseng and yeh (2013), although stressing the importance of peer support and trust also warn against excessive ‘blind trust’ amongst group members which could lead to ‘groupthink’ where members tend to agree with each other and self-censor their opinions, rather than rock the boat. the medium of communication can also affect participation. i wrongly assumed that, as an introvert, i would also find online socialisation difficult. in fact, i found the opposite and discovered i was more comfortable posting online than speaking in class. studies undertaken by mckenna and colleagues (2002), propose that those with social anxieties may actually find the online environment a more secure milieu in which to express themselves, owing to the greater anonymity and lack of gating procedures this environment affords. mckenna et al (2002) define ‘gating features’ as visual or verbal barriers to relationship formation encountered in face-to-face settings. it is proposed that shy students will be more self-conscious about their physical or verbal characteristics (such as how they look or if they stutter) in the immediate presence of others than when they are within the safe environment of text-based e-communication. this theory is supported by the work of joinson (2001), who studied online interactions between individuals both with and without the use of web-cams, as well as in traditional face-to-face exchanges. he discovered reduced levels of personal disclosure in encounters where individuals were required to interact either face-toface or with the use of web-cams, when compared to purely text-based computer-mediated communication (cmc). the inhibition of personal disclosure caused by the presence of webcams was later independently demonstrated by brunet and schmidt (2007). teachers should be aware, however, that enhancement of student communication by computermediated anonymity has not been universally demonstrated in all contexts. saunders and chester (2008) pointed to a body of dissenting literature suggesting that online environments may actually reduce social communication skills by encouraging isolation and propose that further research is needed. consequently, online environments may not suit all students equally. teachers therefore need to consider carefully their use of online learning activities, as the results may be influenced by such factors as age, gender, culture, attributes of personality (such as degree of shyness), as well as the overall length of time spent online. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 i experienced increased social presence online, defined as the feeling that you are ‘actually there’ and are able to project your personality into the environment. as a teacher, by increasing student e-interactivity and avenues for communication, i can enhance social presence and decrease student loneliness (vakoufari et al, 2014). social-media tools can increase such online presence. the group participated in skype and canvas tutorials, exploring how these may be integrated into courses. i enjoyed the synchronous nature of these tools, as they prevented the previous frustrations i had experienced when not receiving responses from the discussion forums; however, i discovered that they could be prone to problems of their own, as some members of the group were unable to connect. facilitators of online tutorials should therefore consider providing computer lab practice, to develop familiarity with the technology, and have a back-up strategy for disseminating tutorial information to those unable to connect. i had some personal concerns about being videoed, but it is true that the ability of students and teachers all to see each other can help with the human-element of personalising e-learning. in the same way as responding to posts, advertising your availability (e.g. sharing skype addresses), using profile pictures/avatars and applying emoticons to represent feelings can also increase perceptions of connectedness (jeremic et al, 2012). synchronous and asynchronous forums should be seen as complementary rather than competing modes of communication. asynchronous forums are believed to promote deeper, more reflective products, as students have longer to consider their responses and tend to write in more formal prose. synchronous forums, although usually more informal, are useful for the exchange of rapidly-evolving ideas (e.g. debates) and are also more suited to increasing social presence and therefore filling the social void in the absence of face-to-face interaction (oztok et al, 2013). i came to appreciate that socialisation plays an important role in allowing relationships to form and provides a foundation for learning. pan et al (2015) stress the importance of online friendship formation, as friends are more likely to share knowledge in cops than strangers; therefore, by providing social-networking platforms, teachers can increase knowledge exchange. conversely, other studies have demonstrated that too much time spent on social activities (gossiping/telling jokes) can be detrimental to performance during group work, as it may distract students from the task (janssen et al, 2012). a balance is obviously required. application of learning to future teaching practice taking course-design from a macro to micro perspective, i think it important to realise that course design must follow an underlying pedagogy. as the fundamentals of learning remain the same (whether classroomor e-learning-based) i shall draw on all three traditional learning perspectives: associationist (application of repetitive tasks for the building of skilled behaviours), cognitive/constructive (for building knowledge and understanding by incorporating new ideas into a framework of what students already know, either via interaction with learning objects and theoretical content or through social-interaction) and finally situative, by providing relevant activities they can apply to their practice with support from their cop. any e-learning applications used should be there purely to support los and not be included just for the sake of incorporating fashionable new technologies (beetham and sharpe, 2013). constructive alignment ensures that all los, activities and assessment tasks are linked together at the correct academic level (biggs and tang, 2011). one challenge presented by new e-learning tools is understanding how they can be applied to achieve los at the correct level in each of the domains. fortunately, some authors have produced supportive media to guide educationalists. churches (2009) has created a revised case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 digital taxonomy for bloom that provides examples of how a range of digital tools and social media can develop students from lowerto higher-order thinking. my future modules would most logically employ a blended-learning approach. i have learnt, however, that blended learning, if applied clumsily, will only confuse students and make courses feel disjointed. blended learning should not consist of e-homework and online tests, but should feel seamless as an integrated approach best exemplified by the ‘flipped classroom’, which allows knowledge content to be delivered online (e.g. the advanced organiser) freeing up classroom time for group work such as discussion, debates and practical activities (hubbard, 2013). to run successful e-learning, i should integrate three levels of interactivity (moore, 2015): learner-instructor, where the e-moderator’s online presence supports and provides timely and thoughtful feedback; learner-learner, supported by synchronous and asynchronous communication tools and learner-content, where interactions between learners and content are scaffolded with well-designed activities. my role as e-moderator at each stage of a module would change, depending on the degree of student experience and autonomy. salmon’s (no date) five-stage model is an excellent example of this role: from stage 1, where students learn how to log on and navigate the vle and where ground rules are established, to the building of social relationships, to the gaining of confidence in sharing knowledge and the taking part in online activities together, to stage 5, which involves looking back on the learning achieved. however, for those seeking to integrate increasing proportions of e-learning into their curricula, i am aware that there are significant challenges, which should not be underestimated. in their 2014 publication ‘flexible pedagogies’, the higher education academy highlighted the educational benefits of utilising technologies to offer students ‘flexible learning pathways’. these pathways grant students access to a variety of level-appropriate learning materials and content, depending on their capability and unique learning needs. this ‘learning utopia’ produces ‘personalised learning environments’ which are tailored to the learning styles, interests, preferences and aptitudes of individual students. such an educational model recognises that learning outcomes may need to be differentiated for different students and, in the true spirit of andragogy, could be determined by the students themselves. this also assumes that course structures could be moulded to accommodate the increased flexibility required, including the academic teaching and assessment timetables. clearly, even when desired, this approach may not always be practicable (hea, 2014). the undergraduate health care modules i am currently engaged with impose a number of constraints on content and delivery, largely owing to specific curricular requirements demanded by professional registration. this can reduce the ability of teachers to innovate and promote truly flexible and individualised e-learning. such restrictions are not conducive to separate learning pathways and individualised assessments. additionally, health care students are expected to attend university for a number of face-to-face sessions to practise a range of ‘patient safe skills’, in simulated environments with equipment and mannequins. this allows tutors and peers to provide direct supervision and instant feedback. traditional ‘hands-on’ practical training remains a vital component of health care education and students recognise its worth in allowing them to gain the necessary communication, kinaesthetic and situational awareness skills fundamental to their roles in working with case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 patients. not surprisingly, therefore, these sessions have been demonstrated to boost both student confidence and competence (cant and cooper, 2010; cook et al, 2011; motola et al, 2013). however, such constraints do not prevent the use of technology to support practical skills training, as is evidenced by the increasingly popular use of videos, gaming and virtual reality computer simulations such as second-life (rogers, 2011). the challenge for teachers is to decide which course elements should remain face-to-face and which aspects would be more successfully achieved online, ultimately allowing all elements to be seamlessly blended together into a logical and coherent course design. institutional support for e-learning and a continuous commitment to providing the necessary infrastructure and staff training is a recipe for the development of quality courses. specifically-designed learning platforms termed learning management systems (lms) or virtual learning environments (vle) are now a common feature of most uk educational institutions. these systems have been embraced for the many advantages they offer in standardising the e-learning interface for all students and staff within an organisation. my university employs moodle as its lms. moodle functions as a ‘one-stop shop’ for uploading and downloading online content. moodle provides students with easy access to a range of resources, such as files, videos, and moodle-incorporated learning tools that include quizzes, databases, polls, wikis, forums and workshops. external tools may also be assimilated into moodle sites and links to libraries and student support services are provided. moodle accommodates the central collation of e-records and e-submissions via portals, which improve the efficiency of course administration. a good lms should be fully accessible through standard browsers and compatible with the software the majority of students and teachers have access to. providing accessibility is extremely important and the functionality of any lms needs to be regularly assessed and updated. careful selection of the lms to be used is important to ensure its capabilities meet the needs of students and staff equally. standardisation of a learning platform has many advantages, as it makes navigation easier. staff and students do not constantly have to learn new page ‘set-ups’ and tools. however, any lms inherently assumes a locus of control when compared to web 2.0 learning environments and it could be argued that control in an lms tends to be skewed towards the teacher and institution rather than the learner and therefore moves away from the learner-centric model. tomberg et al, (2013) discuss the pedagogical principles which can be undermined by close-controlled learning environments, but goes on to to say that moodle, with its open-sourced architecture and various adaptive ‘plug-ins’, is far more flexible than older lms designs in this respect. moodle may also be able to help improve learning outcomes through the use of learning analytics, whereby tutors may monitor student progress by analysing data on how many times and for how long students access various pages on the lms, which activities they take part in and which they complete, viz. the students’ ‘digital footprint’. it is a particularly useful tool for identifying struggling students and its use, it is believed, can assist with student retention (sclater et al, 2016). one of the greatest challenges when running online learning is student acceptance of this learning modality, presenting a notable difficulty with students who have previously been exposed to largely teacher-led methods. i have discovered the importance of spending some initial time on orientating students to the moodle environment, checking access and providing extra support for those unaccustomed to this platform. students require an understanding that control over their learning has shifted from teachers to themselves. students who proactively engage with available resources are less likely to feel alienated case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 and lost in the online domain. participation in online activities can be made compulsory for course progression, in order to encourage student engagement. evidence suggests, however, that, despite significant pedagogical benefits offered by the flipped classroom model, it may not work for all students in all circumstances, with a proportion continually resisting participation (berret, 2012). one factor in online engagement is the perceived ease of use of the lms by students and the relevance of its content to their educational goals. to students, teachers represent the first line of support in responding to and resolving their concerns (sánchez and hueros, 2010). another significant factor, as discussed previously, is the retention of the human component within the online environment, so ensuring that students have access to tutors and peers to reduce possible feelings of isolation (martinrodriguez et al, 2015). teachers therefore require training and support from their departments and institutions when implementing flipped-classroom approaches (yarbro et al, 2014). ironically, in our efforts to provide a wide range of multimedia resources for students with different learning styles and assist with flexible learning, we can run the risk of overwhelming them with too much information, resulting in ‘cognitive overload’ (lau et al, 2014). students may feel the workload involved in an e-learning course is higher, so teachers must implement reasonable timescales for the completion of online activities. packham et al, (2004) has previously cited coursework overload as one reason for student withdrawal from e-learning programmes. successful e-learning also requires teacher engagement and there are some reasons for staff failure to engage fully with e-learning, including technophobia and reduction in the time spent directly interacting with students in a classroom setting, which can reduce their feelings of personal fulfilment as teachers (childs et al, 2005). an increase in workload and resource requirements that can be introduced by e-learning and blended approaches is another consideration (panda and mishra, 2007). the time allocated to students for researching their own material and collaborating can take up a significant proportion of a module, when such knowledge could be imparted more efficiently with classroom teaching. unlike large group lectures, the flipped classroom model also tends to involve collaborative group work within smaller student-led discussion seminars, thus necessitating an increase in staffing and additional room bookings. monitoring and responding to online student discussion forums can also be resource-heavy. as a teacher, i need to consider what my courses are attempting to achieve. do i advocate rote learning of large volumes of detailed material, much of which will probably be forgotten soon after the assessment processes have been completed, or a method by which students will understand a smaller amount of material at a deeper level, which they can build on using constructivist approaches? for the latter, i must provide students with opportunities to explore and debate. as a facilitator, my role is to guide and ask questions, whilst allowing students to learn from their own mistakes and discover the answers for themselves. this goal is a substantial challenge when concurrently targeting the achievement of a large volume of specific learning outcomes. clearly my aim must be to find the balance between these two opposing forces. i shall need to develop strategies to manage workload and reduce the time spent on creating new learning materials. although e-learning resources can take longer to produce initially, they can also be time-saving in the long run if created intelligently and future-proofed so that they require only minimal updating later. in addition, moodle has incorporated a means by which resources created by teachers across different modules can be assessed freely, case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 therefore saving time and preventing repetition of work. similarly, student research generates content that can be utilised and shared. having developed in me and my fellow participants a range of digital skills, this module has shown very clearly how rewarding and enjoyable e-learning can be and it has sparked my interest to learn more. conclusion good e-learning courses should challenge any previous negative assumptions about learning in the online environment. e-learning is capable of enhancing the achievement of student los if intelligently utilised at the right time and in the right context. learners bring a spectrum of digital literacy levels with them and high-quality courses should combine knowledge and skills acquisition with online socialisation and collaboration. health care is rapidly incorporating such new technologies as e-records, telemedicine, social networks of patients and health professionals (gretton and honeyman, 2016). educators cannot afford to ignore this. button et al (2014) emphasise the need to incorporate digital literacy into pre-registration curricula to support life-long learning. teachers, too, require support from managers to improve their own digital literacies, perhaps by undertaking courses such as that which has been described here. otherwise, there is a real risk that educators will become under-skilled and be seen by new generations of learners as using increasingly irrelevant teaching methods, thus producing graduates who fail to meet employers’ requirements. educators need to stay innovative and open-minded about how best to capitalise on e-learning technologies: failure to 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(2008) ‘the role of emotions in the experience of online learning: challenges and opportunities.’ educational media international, 45(2), 107-117. http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/06-brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/06-brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf http://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/extension-of-flipped-learning-lit-review-june-2014.pdf http://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/extension-of-flipped-learning-lit-review-june-2014.pdf untitled 1 opinion pieces multiculturalism in higher education (he); fact or fiction? dr sue jones, david timmins, dr david wood, dr po li tan and dr sian howells king’s college london working in a russell group university can be a challenge in many ways and there can often be a pre conception about students studying on our programmes. in the department of pharmacy, the ethnic mix of our undergraduates shows that they are mainly asian (>50%) and female (>70%) with our ethnic ‘minorities’ comprising of white and black males. interestingly, this mirrors the workforce data which shows that in 2009 registered pharmacists 68.5% were ‘white’ and 65% of pharmacists aged over 40 years old were female (seston and hassell, 2010). when the term ‘multiculturalism’ is used, one needs to define and understand what this means. hofstede (1991) defined culture as, “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another”, (hofstede,1991, 5). his definition really bears no reference to the superficiality of suggested meaning often implicit of other’s ideas around ‘culture’; race, religion or ethnicity (breakwell, 1986; hall and du gay, 1996). we would reject most definitions of culture in so far as they try to describe or define the term so narrowly that the definition itself divides people. roger’s (2003) client-centred approach would more closely match our definition so that culture can ‘be’, in heideggerian (2005) terms, anything you want it to ‘be’. so that whatever individuals or groups bring to an interaction, should be respected and recognised; whether that is the culture of age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, dependence, illness or ability, is irrelevant. working together to understand perspectives and some of the perceived barriers develops cultural awareness. so perhaps, by application of our ‘cultural’ understanding maybe multiculturalism is in the positive application of ‘culture’. that it is the ability to relate to groups and categories of people by recognising and embracing difference rather than recognising, ignoring and discouraging obvious differences. taking this as a reasonable working hypothesis then suddenly we are at a transition. our current research hypothesises that our students, both undergraduates and healthcare professionals (hcp), have a lack of understanding of the broader concepts of culture. so, we have developed and evaluated a pedagogical strategy to engage these groups to discuss culture. this involved teaching in the form of lectures, a psychometric test, workshops and developing reflective writing skills in pharmacy undergraduate students and hcp (n=346; n=9 respectively). from this, we have found that some of our findings are at odds with our hypothesis: “there are no differences really...we are all brown and indian.” (s1c3) this student exemplifies an innocence that bennett (1986) would term ‘reversal’. although born in kenya, this student has rejected their own heritage in favour of another ethnicity. surely then, the student has a lack of multiculturalism. a further example: “i am a hindu living in london....therefore i am multicultural.” (s5c1) compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 this student demonstrates a common misconception that having many cultures around you makes you, by default, multicultural. we would propose that the naivety shown by our students is simply due to an immaturity and a general lack of ‘exposure’ to the variety of difference around them. perhaps may and kruger’s (1988) management metaphor of ‘unconsciously incompetent’ could be melded with bennett’s (1986) continuum to assist in explaining the lack of, or confined world-view of our students. self-centric stages multi-relative stages denial defence minimisation acceptance adaptation integration unconsciously incompetent consciously incompetent consciously competent unconsciously competent figure 1 developmental stages in cultural awareness (after bennett (1986) and may and kruger (1988)) whilst others talk of culture and multicultural, our group thinks that some of these terms are redundant and divisive and rather than embracing, actually marginalise those they seek to assist. as seen from our research, students are culturally naive and they have a very narrow view of the world outside of their own cultural contexts. they enter into higher education with a lack of perception and understanding of the contexts in play in a multicultural society and the huge number of different influences. this can often lead to them further dividing themselves and not mixing with students different to themselves as illustrated by another student: “before i just had asian friends that i hung around with, but (through cultural awareness and sensitivity teaching) now i have completely changed,…(my friends are)…irish…polish…and chinese.” (c3fg3) we would like to propose the term ‘cultural awareness and sensitivity (cas)’ may be more appropriate to encapsulate the considerations of interactions between people. cas is the ability for an individual to interact with another individual or group of individuals showing empathy, awareness, sensitivity and regard for all aspects of their persona(s). in particular, with a deep respect and consideration for the individual’s background, the relative nature of how these factors interplay and the relative importance of them to that individual. by working together and sharing cultural similarities and difference without the fear of being labelled prejudice then perhaps multiculturalism, as a utopian value, in higer education can be pursued. 3 4 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 references bennett, m. (1986) a developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. international journal of intercultural relations, 10, pp. 179–196. breakwell, g. (1986) coping with threatened identities. london: methuen and co ltd. hall, s., and du gay, p. (1996) questions of cultural identity. london: sage. heidegger, m. (2005) being and time. oxford: blackwell. (first translated in 1962). hofstede, g. (1991) cultures and organisations; intercultural co-operation and its importance for survival. london: profile books. leask, b. (2006) plagiarism, cultural diversity and metaphor – implications for academic staff development. assessment and evaluation in higher education, 31 (2), pp.183–199. may, g. d., and kruger, m. (1988) the manager within. personnel journal, pp. 57–65. rogers, c. (2003) client centered therapy. london: constable and robinson ltd. (first published in 1951). seston, e., and hassell, k. (2010) workforce update – joiners, leavers and practising and non-practising pharmacists on the 2009 register. pharmaceutical journal, 284, pp. 80–82. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 students as consumers? there is a potential alternative… sam grogan abstract this paper offers a reconsideration of the student as consumer. through playfully finding similarity between a university and a gym, students are recognised as creators, or co-creators, of their educational journey and therefore producers, rather than consumers. keywords: consumerism, student experience, learning, co-creation the well-worn creation of students as consumers and the debates and tensions within this problematic positioning are, given the wider landscape, perhaps more relevant than ever before.1 the shiny tef badges provide us with a honed, contemporary resonance of elements within the 1997 dearing report, in which the uk government identified students as ‘customers’. similarly, the increased marketisation of ukhe, the commercially-centric stance of the cma, which encourages a consumerist attitude in applicants and students, and the increase in tuition fees (themselves linked to institutional tef ratings in the future) all serve to position the student as an increasingly value-driven customer. however, the rise of the student-as-customer does not wholly emanate from the mechanisms of the he sector and its governance. there is a wider picture to be drawn upon… at root, the problem perhaps lies in the word ‘consumer’ or ‘customer’. for a moment, let us imagine the person who, in popular terms, might embody both of these words. have a picture? we are drawn irrevocably to the idea of the shopper. retail culture is intrinsic to the notion of customer. i would venture that this is also what our students imagine, embedded as they are in the popular culture of commercial consumption. and therein lies the crux of the issue. by and large, popular culture positions the consumer/ customer as a transactionalist; i go to sainsbury’s 1 for instance, the nuanced complexity can be seen in; kandiko, c. b. & mawer, m. (2013). student expectations and perceptions of higher education. london: king’s learning institute, or in bunce, l, baird, a and jones s.e. (2016) ‘the student-as-consumer approach in higher education and its effects on academic performance’ studies in higher education [online]. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 (other brands are available), i buy my goods and i leave. i do not invest in sainsbury’s; i do not feel a sense of belonging or shared endeavour. it is a transactional engagement, however much the branding might suggest otherwise. this is the cultural backdrop against which i think our students understand their position as consumer. moreover, i think the genie is out of the lamp and will not be returned. as a passionate educationalist, i see this position at its most stark as devastating. it reduces the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities to a shallow transaction: i pay for my degree and i leave. this commoditisation of knowledge destroys the potential for university education to be a genuinely humbling and transformative personal experience from which one emerges with horizons stretched; a sometimes messy, stumbling exploration for the student, in which becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable is crucial for developing a valuable personal resilience. enough idealism; the genie is ready to wreak reductive havoc if we let it do so. this is where the notion of the gym might enter; if one repositions the student-customer, not as a transactionalist, but as an engaged co-owner of the personally developmental experience, such as is found in the active gym member, one is able to re-imagine the student as consumer. in the university-as-gym, it is the institutional job to provide good running machines, good classes, and a wider facilitative environment in which the staff can intelligently steer members towards co-defined fitness goals. however, the burden of success does not lie solely with the gym and its staff, but also with its members. it is, emphatically, not the responsibility of the staff to exercise for their members; if, after missed training sessions and non-engagement with the self-directed diet and exercise plan, members were to complain that, despite being paying customers, they were neither thin nor fit, i should have to remind them of their side of the bargain. this is a difficult but essential conversation. i find the gym analogy allows a way into territory wherein those students drawn to sitting in a consumer mindset can reimagine the customer role and recognise that, in the context of a successful university journey, they are not actually popular consumers at all, but rather consumer-producers. they do not really consume the facilities or the expertise at their disposal, but they do produce outcomes. more than this, at their tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 most successful, students are co-producers, working in partnership with the university towards co-creation of a better future self; jointly and equally responsible for the outcome.2 this is a continuous, iterative journey. given the particular nature of the external landscape, it also presents a troublesome position to occupy successfully. however, i believe that meaningful co-creation is necessary to help our students move beyond being a consumer of knowledge-ascommodity, to being co-producers of knowledge as a lived experience that delivers deep, transformative growth. reference list bunce, l., baird, a. and jones s.e. (2016) ‘the student-as-consumer approach in higher education and its effects on academic performance’. studies in higher education pp1-21 [online: accessed 10.04.17]. dearing, r. 1997. higher education in the learning society: report of the national committee of inquiry into higher education. london: her majesty's stationary office. kandiko, c. b. and mawer, m. (2013) student expectations and perceptions of higher education. london: king’s learning institute. 2 last year, i was fortunate enough to meet professor tom inns, director of the glasgow school of art. he indicated that students there had rejected their role as consumers in favour of self-recognition as producers. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 recognising and rewarding teaching excellence: an argument for authentic metrics sally brown who could argue with the basic premise of recognising and rewarding teaching excellence in higher education as is being planned within the uk in 2017? it is, for many, unquestionably a good idea for teaching and research in universities to be given parity of esteem. indeed, following the national committee of inquiry into higher education in 1997, lord dearing proposed the setting up of an organisation to do exactly that (dearing, 1997), in the form of the institute for learning and teaching in higher education (ilthe), which subsequently became part of the higher education academy. working within the ilthe, i was charged with the task of setting up, in 2000, the national teaching fellowship scheme (ntfs) for england and northern ireland. having first singled out the key features of teaching excellence, i set about putting into place a process by which to recognise and reward up to twenty university teachers a year those who demonstrated what international research and parallel schemes in australia, canada, the usa and other nations had identified as the characteristics of outstanding university teachers. though the scheme and its criteria have been refined over the lifetime of the awards, the focus from the outset was on individuals nominated by their universities as demonstrating evidence of transforming and enhancing the student learning experience and supporting colleagues within and beyond their own institution. their reflective claims must provide evidence of ongoing cpd and must be based on significantly more than mere assertion: it is the responsibility of the institution to provide endorsements that support the applicants’ veracity and credibility, and testify to their impact. nationally, we have therefore seventeen years of experience of a system which has wide acceptance and high credibility across the uk (wales is now within the scheme and a number of national teaching fellows (ntfs) have relocated to scottish universities), but the teaching excellence framework has no plans to take account of the scheme. with a community of more than 750 ntfs nowadays, represented by the association of national teaching fellows (antf) that i chair, we are a vibrant and proactive network, overtly committed to sharing good practice and disseminating innovation across the higher education learning and teaching community in the uk and beyond. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the antf contributed fully to the consultations in advance of the introduction of the tef and we were particularly keen that any metrics used to recognise excellent teaching should be those which truly represented improvements to the student experience brought about by interactions between hei teachers and students, rather than measures representing existing differences in the level of advantage in different university mission-groups. for example, if salaries on graduation are to be a metric, this clearly reflects existing advantage of university entrants, rather than any evident value added by the hei. some other proxy metrics, for example, contact hours for students on site, we regard as being less useful than metrics that focus on how committed universities are to foregrounding and improving the student learning experience. preferred metrics for us would be the relative number of promotions to reader or professor on the basis of teaching expertise, rather than research alone, or the relative proportion of staff who have achieved external recognition for their teaching, as measured by hea fellowships at associate, fellow, senior fellow or principal fellow, (hea 2012), or by seda fellowships at fellow or senior fellow level, or, indeed, national teaching fellowships. since most uk universities offer initial training programmes (often year-long, part-time and credit-bearing) for academic and learning support staff new to teaching in higher education, a further metric could be the proportion of staff who have successfully completed such programmes and who additionally commit annually to cpd. several consultation responses, including ours, suggested that impact studies could be used for the tef as they have been for the ref. there are extant hundreds of successful applications for national teaching fellowships, hea senior fellowships and principal fellowships which could provide, without any further work, case studies of excellent teaching and leadership for use by heis. national teaching fellows are committed to fostering innovations in learning and teaching, disseminating good practice and ensuring that pedagogic change is soundly based on researchbased scholarship. we are well represented on the panel of tef assessors and as a group are active in championing a tef process that uses authentic metrics. we argue that these should genuinely and validly gauge the value added by universities to the student learning experience. university teaching is too important for it to be allowed to become a means of gaming the system. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 reference list dearing, r. (1997) higher education in the learning society. the dearing report. the national committee of enquiry into higher education. hea. (2012) uk professional standards framework. available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/professional-recognition (accessed: 7 april 2017). untitled 1 10 law games – role play and simulation in teaching legal case studies application and practical skills: a case study edward phillips university of greenwich, department of law & criminology introduction the binary divide between the academic and the vocational-professional stages of legal education present special problems for law teachers who wish to achieve the dual goals of encouraging a deeper engagement among law students as well as to contextualise their classroom experiences. achieving these goals is one reliable method of ensuring that deep learning, as opposed to surface learning, takes place (hussey and smith, 2010). the problem may be put in succinct form: how do law teachers introduce a healthy dose of reality to balance out the academic-conceptual discussion that takes place in lectures and seminars? to use an obvious example, an in-depth discussion of the legal technicalities relating to the principles of negligence must, perforce, remain ‘merely academic’ without the addition of the crucial role of insurance in the mitigation and mediation of the payment of damages. a simulated/role-play exercise, involving perhaps, the negligent driver of a motor vehicle, increases the possibility of student understanding and engagement, with the crucial notion that such claims are, in fact, ‘run’ by insurance companies; those students who are drivers will understand this point immediately while it is not too difficult to explain this point to non-drivers. the absence of a clinical element in the undergraduate teaching of law students perpetuated since the various reforms of legal education in the 1970s and 1980s, has too often encouraged an unfortunate separation between the law school and the vocational/professional stages of legal education, and on into the world of the working practitioner. this is in total contrast to the pedagogic methods applicable in the teaching of a range of other disciplines. from medical education to drama and architecture, it is taken for granted that education involves simulation, role-play and experiential (or clinical) learning. conversely, legal education appears to offer the ideal environment for the use of simulated learning mechanisms. as twinning puts it, “law as a discipline is constantly fed with practical problems and materials from the ‘real world’: actual rather than hypothetical cases; proposals for legislative reform; and social problems from domestic violence and crime to world peace and environmental survival”, (twinning, 1994). crucially, simulation serves at least one essential function: it assists in overcoming some, at least, of the psychological barriers to deep learning. while it would be going too far to claim that simulation, in its various forms, is the ultimate panacea, it remains true that this is a pedagogical method that is too rarely utilised by law teachers whilst it is also a method that has the potential to elevate and re-energise the classroom compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 experience (moizer, lean, towler and abbey, 2006). finally, simulated learning strategies mediate the significant transition from university to work place. problem solving, role play and simulations there are a diversity of role play models, at least one of which is in common use in law schools: problem solving. typically, this involves presenting the student with a given set of facts, followed by the instruction, ‘advise the claimant (defendant/prosecution)’. the problems with the ‘problem question’, however, are manifold. first, it is constrained by the set of facts which, perforce, has been set by the teacher and within which the student-adviser is forced to work. second, in the ‘real world’ of the practising professional, facts do not present themselves ready-packaged; it is the task of the legal professional to obtain the facts, to sift out what is relevant from the chaff and to manage facts. the task is as much one of fact-management as fact-solving. finally, the stage-managed set of facts within which problem-solving occurs stifles creativity and the impulse to work ‘outside the box’. the typical response to the lateral-thinking student is, ‘stick to the facts which have been provided’. and yet, it is precisely this form of thinking that higher education (in law or in any other discipline) should be focused on encouraging. role play in the form of problem-solving does offer the advantage of being convenient, tried-and-tested and economical in terms of time and resources. moreover, taken together with the essay question, it has become the standard form of coursework and examination assessment. this is perhaps the primary reason both for its over-use as well as for the lack of attention to other forms of role play. at least three possibilities may be noted here, all of which have been used with great success by law academics at the university of greenwich. these are (a) moots, (b) client interviewing and counselling, and (c) mock trials. a detailed study of these techniques is beyond the scope of the present paper. however, it is worth noting that the common feature of all three is that they involve role play in a form which is open-ended. this is unlike problem-solving, where the desired end is designed into the problem. to re-iterate the point, these simulations may produce conclusions which may surprise. in much the same way that a verdict of guilt may surprise those who have followed the media reporting of a criminal trial, so too the teacher and even the student may be surprised by the outcomes reached in these simulation exercises. but, then, this is in the very nature – and the value – of these exercises. nonetheless, the fact that simulations are timeand resource-greedy cannot be overlooked; this has to be factored into the pedagogic decision to use them and the careful planning that is required. the challenge (and the rewards) for the law teacher are clear, “the driving force for diversity and innovation is the common goal of improving the quality of student learning and achievement.” (phillips, clarke, laycock and crofts, 2010). the law of evidence: a case study the law of evidence is an optional course, usually offered in the final year and taken by those students who have chosen a career pathway leading to professional qualification. it is, in many crucial aspects, the paradigm undergraduate course that bridges the divide between the academic and the practical/ vocational, thus providing the ideal opportunity for simulation-based learning. moreover, understanding the legal principles pertaining to admissibility and proof constitute only a small part of this subject. the central subject matter of the law of evidence is its emphasis on two matters of concern (twinning, 2006). the first is the focus on proof and fact-finding. questions of how to prove and fact determination (or, indeed, fact scepticism) are the essential concerns of the law of evidence. secondly, the law of evidence is the ideal vehicle for the teaching of a range of inter-disciplinary skills, primarily relating to logic and inferential deduction. both of these lend themselves seamlessly to simulation-based teaching and learning. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 teaching fact determination, fact evaluation and legal application the teaching and assessment of the law of evidence at greenwich has been radically overhauled to incorporate simulations as the main teaching mechanism. teaching on the course revolves around a case study, culminating in a civil claim as well as criminal proceedings. the case study is used to illustrate the legal principles, the manner of their practical application, the basis for criticism and evaluation as well as a range of assessment exercises (both formative and summative). the full range of simulations is employed, including: interviewing, counselling and advising, negotiation, research and opinion writing and advocacy. the exercises take place at the appropriate point in the syllabus over the academic year. all exercises are then written up in a final portfolio. crucially, therefore, the simulations are designed not only to be a teaching mechanism but also as a component of the assessment in the course. while there is a final year examination, along fairly traditional lines, the portfolio of simulation assessments accounts for 40% of the overall grade for the course. the simulation exercises are designed in such a manner so as to pitch the challenge to just beyond and above what the students think they are capable of achieving. simulations and role play thus move students outside their comfort zone into a position where (a) deep learning takes place, and (b) students take responsibility for their own learning. each exercise is prefaced with adequate briefing, and where necessary and appropriate, with a preceding formative exercise. although some simulations require students to work on their own, some also require peer-group activity; sometimes as part of a pair, as part of a larger group or as a whole-class exercise. on some occasions, peer-group assessment is also used (but only for formative assessment). where appropriate, students may choose their role or, in other instances, be assigned to a particular role by the teacher. in all cases, the exercise will be written up, as a brief report, by the student concerned. the case study involves (a) a civil action for medical negligence, and (b) a criminal prosecution for gross negligence manslaughter. the various simulation exercises include the following: ● client interviewing to determine the facts surrounding the claim/prosecution ● interviewing witnesses, drafting witness statements and assessing the legal efficacy of witness statements ● assessing the propriety of police interrogation of the defendant, through transcripts and the police custody record ● assessing the reports produced by the forensic experts ● the examination and cross-examination of the forensic experts ● assisting the trial judge in the preparation of the essential directions to the jury ● the preparation of appeal documents. additional exercises are added throughout the course, as and when necessary. for instance, applications may be made for directions (including special measures directions in relation to the examination of any ‘vulnerable’ witnesses) or in relation to admissibility of hearsay statements. conclusion simulation-based teaching and learning offer a number of pedagogic rewards. these include the fact that it is student-centred rather than teacher-centred; it identifies gaps not discernible in conventional learning; compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 14 it focuses on students’ real knowledge and skills; it integrates reality and context with academic learning (including interviewing skills and practical advice-giving, as well as the ability to deal with the unexpected); and it effectively engages the student in the learning process. moreover, since simulated learning almost always involves co-operative or peer-focussed activity, it nurtures a range of ‘soft’ skills (such as organisation and team-working, tactical/strategic selection) and the whole range of communication skills (language, articulation and presentation). finally, it allows for student experimentation, something often ignored in legal education. the skills deficit amongst law students causes a problematic transition from school to law school. role play and simulations, by their very nature, allow the creative development of these skills. this is especially the case with regard to language, articulation, critical thinking innovation and other ‘soft skills’. in short, all the elements that constitute professionalism and the attributes of ‘graduate-ness’. just as important, the student is better placed to successfully negotiate the onward transition from university to vocational /professional education and thence on to the work-place. crucially, these techniques of teaching and assessment nurture an holistic approach to understanding what law is for and what law does. references hussey, t., and smith, p. (2010). transitions in higher education. innovations in education and teaching international, 47 (2), pp. 155–164. moizer, j., lean, m., towler, m., and abbey, c. (2006). simulations and games: overcoming the barriers to their use in higher education. active learning in higher education, 10 (3), pp. 207–224. phillips, e., clarke, s., laycock, a., and crofts, s. (2010) exceeding the boundaries of formulaic assessment. the law teacher, 44 (3), pp. 334–364. twinning, w. (1994) blackstone’s tower: the english law school. london: sweet and maxwell. twinning, w. (2006) re-thinking evidence: exploratory essays. cambridge: cambridge university press. d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf 1 demystifying theory heather brunskell-evans school of education article introduction a seminar series in the school of education initiated by myself, together with professor andrew lambirth, dr priti chopra and anna kilderry, acts as a forum where colleagues discuss the theoretical background that informs their practice as educationalists. if i may be permitted to speak here for the core group, each one of us has had the experience that theory, ironically, can be difficult to discuss in the higher education (he) context. such discussions can sometimes lead to a combative situation in which an academic from one theoretical background assumes the political and epistemological superiority of his/her own distinctive theoretical paradigm. we decided to call the series ‘demystifying theory’, since this term would serve a dual purpose. firstly, it would involve an approach where contributors could be open about why a particular theorist had come to have such personal significance to them as academics interested in pedagogic change. secondly, in revealing our personal investments in a particular theorist, we hoped that this approach, set within the context of respect for others’ contrasting passions, might induce sometimes opaque theory to spring into life and vivacity. at the time of writing this, three theoretical perspectives have been discussed: andrew lambirth talked about ‘marx and me’; i talked about ‘foucault and me’; and priti chopra talked about ‘spivak and me’. the seminars have been very successful and we hope our pleasure in sharing ideas and the friendly discussions that ensued might be a model for the extension of the seminar series into the next academic year. we have discovered the school of education has a panoply of theorists who inform the thoughts and practices of colleagues. in this article i take the opportunity to address some of the issues explored in my own talk on foucault. i briefly rehearsed the nub of the contention between foucauldian and marxist educational theorists with regard to how to analyse political power. this is pertinent to my own ‘relationship’ with foucault and my proposal that his body of work provides a fertile conceptual ‘toolkit’ for critical analysis of the policies and practices of education. since the purpose of this paper is not to delve too deeply into theory, i simplify the theoretical positions of marx and foucault. i apologise in advance for the necessary reductionism of complex and subtle arguments. two models of power the conflict between marxist and foucauldian theorists tends to wander down the following well trodden path. contemporary marxists argue the determining force that drives modern western liberal democracies, and why we do not always function in a democratic way, is global capitalism. the capitalist system, in being shackled to democracy, rides roughshod over the humanitarian liberal democratic ideal of equity of opportunity. capitalism is not a static mode of social and economic organisation; rather it compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 is mobile and ever changing. nevertheless, whether it is the capitalism of the industrial 19th century or the global capitalism of the 21st century, it has the same core internal dynamic. the current education system, from primary education through to he, is an ‘ideological state apparatus’ that mobilises the vested interests of global capitalist accumulators and the privileged few. the casualties are the ordinary people – the non-privileged girl or boy, woman or man – who gets swept up in its wake. the current education system largely trains the masses for the reproduction of the capitalist system and the result is a diminution of the individual’s intellectual potential. it is clear that the economic/social/political model of power deployed by marxist theory, whether it is the power that belongs to the capitalist, the student or the education system itself, conceives of power as sovereign. by sovereign power i mean it is made up of the following components: ● a binary division demarcates those who possess power and those who do not ● power is a possession that is held by one group, the privileged class, and it is exercised negatively ‘over’ the less fortunate ● the exercise of power is accomplished by ideology ● oppressed classes, through becoming conscious of the unjust social conditions of their existence, can overthrow power and be free. foucault, in contrast, argues that a model of power as sovereignty is anachronistic since it does not fully account for how the social control of population is exercised in advanced liberal democracies. the sovereign power described by marxism refers to the kind of power exercised by the pre-modern monarch or sovereign. foucault’s (1977; 1978) pivotal claim is that since the 19th century, power has operated not so much negatively, in the form of power ‘over’ individuals, but productively and from ‘below’, through normalisation at the deepest level of an individual’s self-identity. disciplinary normalisation occurs at local sites, for example within the family, the education system, medicine, etc. these institutions interact with ‘official’ human science knowledge that constitute human beings around a psychological axis of normalcy/abnormalcy. discourses of normalcy set up a dynamic in which human beings self-police or discipline themselves around the question: ‘is my behaviour normal’? liberal democracy is a political system originally conceived in europe in the 18th century in opposition to monarchical rule and was constituted around the alleged freedom of individuals to be self-determining. however, since structure is a requirement of all social order, democracy can only function if disciplinary control is exercised but not experienced as disciplinary. it is mobilised by the way individuals ‘freely’, through self-surveillance, constitute themselves around the axis of normalcy/abnormalcy. foucault and marx both set out to theorise the same problem, namely how human beings ‘consent’ to being governed when government does not serve the interests of their freedom. although each argues that human consciousness is determined by its social, political and historical context, foucault’s methodological approach is more radical than marx’s approach. marx argues that the individual consciousness has been historically acted upon by the ideology of class relations; so that only in a future society, when class relations are abolished, i.e. in communism, can human beings have ‘true’ (nonideological) consciousness of the conditions of their existence. foucault (1982), similarly, argues the individual is always and inescapably discursively constituted or ‘subjectified’. there is a play on the term subjectification: on the one hand, in liberal democracy, we are subjects ‘of’ our own lives; compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 on the other hand we are subject ‘to’ a disciplinary power composed around self-regulation and our ‘voluntary’ adherence to normalising discourses. he demonstrates that in the contemporary period we are all constituted by the liberal institutions of the family and the education system, for example, and the normalising knowledges or discourses that inform them. these sites conjoin and consolidate from the bottom up with larger structures of state power in a network whose overarching effect is oppression. power does not ‘only’ emanate from ‘below’, it is exercised from above too, but sovereign power would be ineffectual in a democratic political system if we had not already been normalised in our personal lives to comply with it or even want it! foucauldian ideas were introduced into critical thinking about education (marshall, 1989, 1996) as a complement to or substitute for marxist critical thought in the late 1980s. over the years there has been something of an entrenchment or polarisation of theoretical positions. two camps were created: those who welcomed foucault’s ideas as a fertile theoretical development of marxist thought; and those who resisted foucault’s ideas as reactionary and unable politically or ethically to effect change. this latter reaction is exemplified by apple’s (1995) response to the analysis of the relationship between the state and he. he claimed that a considerable portion of critical education research was taken up in the late 1980s and the early 1990s by “an upwardly mobile fraction of the new middle class within the academy ... [which] has lost all but the most rhetorical connection with the struggles against domination and subordination at universities” (1995:xi). the emphasis on discourse he described as “the linguistic turn”, whereby social theorists have forgotten “the world inside and outside education is not only a text. there are gritty realities out there, realities whose power is often grounded in structural relations that are not simply social constructions” (1995:xiii). apple deployed marxist theory to help him in the task which he urged us all to carry out, namely “to avoid losing sight of these realities in the economy and the state” (1995:xiii). i argue apple’s characterisation of foucauldian thought as retrograde and ineffectual. it exemplifies an established orthodoxy in marxist thought, and one that mistakes the term discourse, assuming it means language. discourse is more than language: it is the inter-relationship between what we say (including what ‘official’ knowledges say) and power. as a scholar analysing he from a foucauldian perspective how do i understand my own theoretical activities in the face of this critique? a foucauldian analysis of he firstly i argue that a marxist view that rejects the political potency of the discursive production of subjectivity fundamentally misunderstands foucauldian thought. to give an example: i was challenged by a colleague recently who suggested that not many people in the school of education would accept that power resides at the ‘bottom’ and is exercised ‘upwards’. however, my colleague also reasoned that top-down power and compliance enforcement are still active but that other tactics are now exercised less overtly through normative re-educative approaches rather than power-coercive approaches. he argued contemporary politics have set a new ‘normalcy’, for example over the roles of traditionalist elitist universities and modern universities, a normalcy that is projected as the natural order. he posited that there has been a raft of legislation by the power-holders, based on fear, in an attempt to control through surveillance and enforce compliance to a concept of the ‘good citizen’ which is both racist and class ridden. interestingly, this interpretation of the contemporary government of he, which sets out to counter foucault’s proposition that power functions from ‘below’, actually exemplifies it. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 foucauldian theorists do not deny that in he power functions in a ‘top-down’ mode and that elite and ‘new’ universities distribute students according to class and race. clearly power functions coercively by coalescing around certain groups to form hierarchical divisions, as witnessed by the preponderance at new universities of working-class and ethnic minority students. however, whilst this may demonstrate power ‘over’, the model of power as sovereignty cannot be taken as an example of the quintessential operations of modern state power, global capitalism and their relationships to he. if power is conceptualised as sovereign it obfuscates technologies of power which discursively constitute university members – students and tutors – as particular kinds of normalised subjects. although he is the outcome of the complex relations of advanced liberalism with global capitalism it can only successfully govern by governing individuals through discourses of ‘freedom’. in doing so foucauldians do not reject the marxist concern with material conditions. on the contrary: they re-configure materialism (olssen, 1999). in contrast to marxist discourses, olssen argues a foucauldian approach does not represent materialist processes as determined primarily by the economic base, or describe the ‘fit’ between state power and capitalist interests in terms of the individual’s oppression by a power imposed from ‘above’. with regard to the discursive construction of the student, a foucauldian analysis demonstrates how students take upon themselves the idea of responsible citizenship through educational self-maximisation. this shows how the contemporary relationship between university qualifications and personal enhancement and career development has historically been put together, the practices which support it, and the relations of power that constitute particular kinds of students (who for example currently demand he as their ‘right’ despite the increase in fees). with regard to the discursive construction of tutors, a foucauldian analysis demonstrates how corporatist management practices involve individuals in implicating themselves in their own government, where self-government occurs at the intersection of technologies of discipline and technologies of self. the market, management, appraisal and performance are ‘regimes of truth’ through which tutors, even though they partially demonstrate resistance, are both governed and govern themselves ‘voluntarily’. foucauldian politics a foucauldian approach to power provides a new political imagination for theorists working for progressive social and educational change. it suggests abandoning the idea that as human subjects we can emancipate ourselves by totally escaping from power. unlike a traditional marxist analysis, this approach does not involve revolutionary ideas about overthrowing the contemporary organisation of contemporary he, since this would probably be impossible. freedom lies in reflecting upon the micro politics of our discursive ‘subjectification’ within he as well as the macro-politics, and how these micro politics produce us as governable subjectivities. on the basis of that reflection, we can act upon the self and join up with others to conduct the self ‘differently’. where i once felt disturbed by foucault’s idea that individuals are never ‘free’ in the sense that we can become autonomous individuals outside of conceptual systems – or what foucault (1980) calls power/knowledge – i now take comfort in this view. it provides a new political imaginary of the modes of resistance needed if, as theorists working for progressive social and educational change, we are to challenge power in its various manifestations. freedom exists in our ability as subjects to comprehend how we have been discursively constructed – the task foucault (1994) describes as a critical ontology of the self – and to become political activists at local sites of subjectification. since modern power is compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 productive of humanist subjectivity, the political and ethical task is not to try to liberate the individual from the state and from the state’s institutions, but to liberate us from the type of individualisation which is linked to the state (foucault, 1991). conclusion foucault has been utterly transformative in my intellectual, political and emotional life. i first ‘met’ him some years ago when i was undertaking an ma in culture, communication and society. quite frankly i didn’t like him and found his ‘oeuvre’ depressing, arcane and seemingly without moral purpose. moreover foucauldian theorists were, in my view, academic dilettantes arrogantly impervious to any criticism. i set out to demonstrate from a feminist (standpoint epistemological) perspective, influenced by marxism, that foucault’s methodology was incapable of addressing the ‘gritty realities’ of oppression, reneging on social responsibility by playfully taking ‘discourse’ as its object. however, like one of those children’s toys shaped like a man with a round bottom and no legs that becomes upright when you knock it down, the more i targeted foucault’s thought the more it re-asserted itself for further consideration. foucault asked me to consider at least temporarily changing theoretical directions since fostering doubt about marx’s methodology is not perilous if one can retrace one’s steps. thus began a long journey that witnessed me as an initial unhappy traveller. rather than engaging in a vacuous project, i now experience his work as providing a powerhouse of tools which help theorists analyse the most serious social and political problems of our day. as such he is an intellectual giant who takes up his place in the pantheon of those giant thinkers (including marx) who, across history, have helped us, against the grain of traditional or orthodox thought, to ‘see and act otherwise’. references apple, m. (1995) education and power. new york and london: routledge. foucault, m. (1980) michel foucault: power/ knowledge, selected interviews, edited by gordon, c. harvester. london: wheatsheaf. foucault, m. (1991) governmentality. in: burchell, g. et al. the foucault effect: studies in governmentality. london: harvester wheatsheaf. foucault, m. (1994) what is enlightenment? in: rabinow, p. (ed.) michel foucault: ethics, the essential works of foucault 1954–1984. olssen, m. (1999) michel foucault: materialism and education. wesport: bergin and garvey. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 using wireless collaboration to enhance university learning spaces and encourage mobile learning practices dominic pates city, university of london abstract this article is a reflection on a presentation, given at the apt 2017 conference, on a case study of wireless ipad projection for enhancing civil engineering teaching at city, university of london. it considers how mobile devices might facilitate transformed pedagogies, if socialised within learning spaces. keywords: mobile learning, byod, smartphones, tablets, wireless collaboration, engineering. how are computers used in most university learning spaces? a common response to this question might describe a context with networked desktop pcs running variations of microsoft windows, laid out in rows in airless pc labs – “immobile computers” (jacob, 2007) – or a single desktop pc at the front of a lecture or seminar space, used mostly for running powerpoint presentations. administrative access is typically denied to most users – inherently limiting the choice of software that can be run on each device – and, to function fully, both devices and network require specialist management by an it department. most contemporary learning spaces, when in use, in fact contain far more computers than a higher education (he) institution provides as standard, in the form of an array of mobile devices that learners and teachers usually bring to a class. yet these spaces tend not (apart, perhaps, from allowing a laptop image to be projected via the lectern) to enable their users to incorporate personal smartphones and tablets into the teaching and learning experience. lack of integration or connection with the in-space infrastructure partially accounts for this; it certainly means that users of these spaces cannot fully harness the affordances of mobile technologies to enable innovative pedagogies or enhance either teaching or learning. whilst mobile computing technologies have long been having an impact on learning (traxler, 2008), usage has often been a highly-personal experience, such as taking lecture notes with an ipad or laptop instead of a notebook. socio-constructivism (bruning et al., 1999) regards learning as an experience as much social as personal, a context in which knowledge is constructed socially at first and then appropriated by individuals. this suggests a paradox perhaps best summarised as: mobile is usually personal, whereas learning is often or mostly social. the harnessing of mobile devices for input into audience response systems – via tools such as poll everywhere, mentimeter or kahoot! – is a rare example that sidesteps this paradox. mobile devices generally and ‘bring your own device’ (byod) approaches specifically have repeatedly been identified as likely to have substantial impact on he in the ‘near future’ conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 (gillies, 2016). institutions are coming under increasing pressure to facilitate lecturers’ delivery of teaching materials directly from their own devices (towers, 2016), although there is no single, widely-adopted technology that facilitates wireless projection and collaboration between mobile devices (ucisa, 2016). many academics may have justifiable concerns about learner withdrawal into personal devices when in a face-to-face learning context, yet those who do wish to harness the potential of powerful portable computers to enhance both their teaching and their students’ learning would readily do so, were they not invariably hamstrung by their current inability to integrate mobile devices into the learning environment. at city, university of london (city), investigations into bridging the gap between learning spaces and byod have been continuing since at least 2014. a case study was presented at the apt 2017 conference into the use of an ipad wirelessly projected on to a common room display for enhancing civil engineering lab teaching. this article provides further detail on that case study, reflects on the conference presentation and considers both why university teaching and learning might be enhanced by more effective use of mobile devices and how this vision could inform the conference theme of “reimagining higher education in the face of a rapidly changing and sometimes chaotic environment” (apt, 2017). the ‘wireless collaboration’ solution developed for civil engineering lab teaching at city consisted of an ipad pro and apple pencil – used as a mobile teaching and sketching device – and a small box called a ‘mersive solstice pod’, that routed content from the ipad to the projector display in much the same way as an apple tv might do in the home. this allowed any material on the ipad, such as sketched graphs, to be shown to the whole room and the teacher to move around the space, rather than remain static at a particular writing surface. this solution was evaluated via a teaching observation and a staff focus group. the observation revealed that the ipad was used mainly for showing pre-prepared slides or for drawing graphs when students and teaching demonstrator were seated around a table; it was occasionally passed around to students for their inputs. that the demonstrator was able to spend all of the teaching time sitting at the same table as the students brought them all closer to each other and made for a more inclusive, collaborative approach to teaching. individual students were given direct formative feedback via a drawing app that could also be shared with the whole group and without the flow of the session being interrupted by the demonstrator having to return to a ‘front’ of the room to present. the focus group remarked upon the facility to share workings-out with a whole class – rather than just with an individual or a small group – as a positive means of extending learning opportunities to all. the app allowed them to write across multiple pages and easily refer back to previously-discussed content, studies or background theory; it was thus much better for writing than a flipchart. furthermore, additional material not normally accessible in a conventional space could be easily introduced. finally, for teaching staff, it opened up within the teaching of civil engineering such new possibilities as being able to draw over the top of structural designs and photographs of buildings. apt participants fed back on how their own institutions supported staff and students to incorporate mobile devices into teaching and learning; they also discussed other possible he applications of a ‘wireless collaboration device’. with a mix of technical, academic and professional support staff present, many issues familiar to city emerged: how to handle both network security and content moderation; the immaturity of the market for providing educationally-focused, platform-agnostic technologies; and how academic staff might feel conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 about increased use of mobile devices in their classes. it was reassuring to hear, emerging from conference discussion, questions and issues similar to those which had arisen at city. it appears that institutions across the he sector will have to tackle such common challenges as securely integrating a solution into their networks and encouraging academics to ‘go mobile’ in their practice; they can only benefit from a sharing of knowledge about these matters. many he institutions have responded to the ubiquity of mobile devices by deploying or expanding wifi networks, delivering campus information through their own corporate apps or redesigning their virtual learning environments to make them more 'mobile-friendly' (handal et al., 2013). according to cochrane et al. (2014), educators have tended to adopt these new technologies within their existing teaching paradigms, replicating a stubbornly teacherdirected practice that focuses on content delivery rather than leveraging the unique affordances of mobile computing to redefine the possibilities of learning and assessment activities in the mobile era. cochrane et al. (ibid.) describe this information-delivery approach to online learning as “digital myopia”, suggesting that pedagogical change does not often happen without an effective catalyst and that many academics may well need to be convinced of the benefits and necessity of changing from tried-and-tested teaching methods. mobile devices tend to contain many features that differentiate them from 'fixed computers' and which can be readily and beneficially applied to learning. they contain inbuilt microphones, speakers and still and video cameras. they can be deployed as instruments of measurement and often integrate easily with other devices, such as wearables or bluetooth peripherals. they can be used for interacting with their environment, such as with a deployment of qr codes, through augmented reality apps or via gesture-based interaction. with byod, apps don't require institutional permission to be installed or enabled and they offer quicker or instant formative feedback to students (cochrane and withell, 2013). key, however, is the very fact of their mobility. sharples et al. (2005) present a theory of mobile learning, starting from the key point of learners being on the move. this could be: through space, where ideas gained in one location are applied in another; across time, where prior knowledge is revisited in a different context; across topics; and even in and out of technological engagement, as learners move in and out of connectivity areas. mobile devices can take a user’s ‘situatedness’ into account (handal et al., op.cit.), thus facilitating a form of immersive, highly-personalised learning that is evidently highly learner-centred (ibid.). the potential for synchronous and asynchronous local or international collaboration via messaging and mobile social media is enabled wherever there is wifi or other mobile connectivity. mobile learning thus encourages the nurturing of learning communities across a variety of contexts that would not have been previously possible (cochrane et al., op.cit.) and offers ways to use active learning strategies to transform pedagogy (ally and prieto-blazquez, 2014). providing the technical infrastructure that enables any appropriately-equipped user to be able to project content on to a common screen does not in itself deliver pedagogic transformation, although it may serve to catalyse it. dyson et al. (2016) suggest that several preconditions are necessary for mobile learning to become sustainable, including factors economic, political and social, as well as those technical and pedagogical. ally and prietoblazquez (op.cit.) assert the reinvention of teacher training as an imperative, while cochrane et al. (op.cit.) advocate the importance of lecturers’ both engaging with and modelling the conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 use of mobile social media as part of the curriculum, as well as the redefinition of pedagogy as revolving around learning communities, where lecturers create an ecology for community interaction and broker student participation within networks wider than a single class. cochrane and withell (2013) would foster this within a lecturer community of practice, which might include a community-driven hub, channels for communication and collaboration and opportunities for sharing practice (cochrane and narayan, 2016). a new culture would also be required amongst students, with smartphone or wireless tablet ownership expected and these previously personal devices redefined as core collaborative tools (cochrane and withell, op.cit.). does enabling mobile devices to be better integrated into learning spaces therefore help us to re-imagine he practice? perhaps, by extending content held on mobile devices from the personal space to the social space, we may be better placed to realise their transformative potential. however, to be able to rethink and enhance he teaching and learning by means of such devices, we evidently need to look – beyond mere technical integration – to what he currently fails to adopt: the undeniable advantages that mobile learning truly affords the sector. reference list ally, m. and prieto-blazquez, j. (2014) ‘what is the future of mobile learning in education? mobile learning applications in higher education [special section].’ revista de universidad y sociedad del conocimiento (rusc). 11(1), 142-151. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.7238/rusc.v11i1.2033 (accessed: 12 november 2018). apt (2017) web page. available at: https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2017/schedconf/index (accessed: 10 november 2017). bruning, r.h., schraw, g.j. and ronning, r.r. (1999) cognitive psychology and instruction. upper saddle river, nj: merrill. cochrane, t. and withell, a (2013) ‘augmenting design education with mobile social media: a transferable framework.’ journal of the nus teaching academy, 3(4), 150-168. available at: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/ajsotl/article/augmenting-design-education-with-mobile-socialmedia-a-transferable-framework/index.html (accessed: 12 november 2018). cochrane, t., antonczak, l., keegan, h. and narayan, v. (2014) ‘riding the wave of byod: developing a framework for creative pedagogies.’ research in learning technology, 22. available at: https://www.learntechlib.org/p/155665/ (accessed: 12 november 2018). cochrane, t. and narayan, v. (2016) ‘nurturing collaborative networks of practice.’ in: dyson, l.e., ng, w. and fergusson, j. (eds.), mobile learning futures – sustaining quality research and practice in mobile learning. 15th world conference on mobile and contextual learning proceedings. sydney, australia: the international association for mobile learning. dyson, l.e., ng, w and fergusson (eds.) (2016) mobile learning futures – sustaining quality research and practice in mobile learning. 15th world conference on mobile and conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 contextual learning proceedings. sydney, australia: the international association for mobile learning. gillies, c.g.m. (2016) ‘to byod or not to byod: factors affecting academic acceptance of student mobile devices in the classroom.’ research in learning technology, 24. available at: https://journal.alt.ac.uk/index.php/rlt/article/view/1781 (accessed: 12 november 2018). handal, b., macnish, j. and petocz, p. (2013) ‘adopting mobile learning in tertiary environments: instructional, curricular and organizational matters.’ education sciences, 3, 359-374. available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1118026.pdf (accessed: 12 november 2018). jacob, s.m. and issac, b. (2007) ‘mobile learning culture and effects in higher education.’ ieee multidisciplinary engineering education magazine, 2(2), june 2007. sharples, m., taylor, j. and vavoula, g. (2005) towards a theory of mobile learning. birmingham: centre for educational technology and distance learning, university of birmingham. towers, b. (2016) adding byod functionality to teaching spaces. a research project by the university of essex in conjunction with schoms. colchester: university of essex/schoms. traxler, j. (2008) ‘learning in a mobile age.’ international journal of mobile and blended learning, 1(1), 1-12. available at: http://www.academia.edu/171500/learning_in_a_mobile_age (accessed: 12 november 2018). ucisa (2016) the uk higher education learning space toolkit. available at: https://www.ucisa.ac.uk/learningspace (accessed: 12 november 2018). case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 “it’s just a stage i’m going through”: moving student teachers from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ dr mark betteney faculty of education and health, university of greenwich introduction this article identifies three published models of professional progression in initial teacher education (ite), and uses them to ask questions about the stages of pedagogic development that student teachers tend to go through. it is written primarily to enhance student teachers’ understanding of the processes involved, and to give them the vocabulary they may need to reflect on their on-going professional development. however, experienced teachers and lecturers from disciplines outside of teacher training may also find it thoughtprovoking to consider where their own teaching methods sit within the categories of pedagogic progression or curriculum delivery, which are presented here. in this respect, the work of twiselon (2000) may be particularly apposite. the context as i write this article, the third year undergraduate student teachers on the ba primary education programme on which i teach, are beginning their final teaching experiences. they are keen to secure the best grades possible, since they (rightly) perceive that achieving high grades will enhance their prospects of securing employment in a competitive market. strangely, given the high stakes, the majority of students receive graded judgements passively, irrespective of what those grades are. if, for example, i am able to grade an observed lesson as being ‘good’, the student in question will invariably heave a sigh of relief at having passed the assessment, and look pleased. this is understandable. but it is a rare student who, on receiving a grade of ‘good’, will heave a sigh of relief, look pleased, and then ask ‘ok, but what must i do to become outstanding?’ the answer to that question invariably lies in an understanding of the stages of professional development that students go through on teaching programmes. when i visit schools to observe students, i have become rather accustomed to seeing very safe lessons, where students are more concerned with passing the assessment event than with demonstrating progression. understandably, the avoidance of failure is a first priority, and this can take the form of rather sterile, easily managed, easily assessed, product-based activities for the children, involving a minimum of child mobility or input. the student’s view is often that the children must be seen to learn what it is intended for them to learn. the lesson is therefore designed to facilitate and demonstrate that learning, and only that learning. any additional or incidental learning is therefore both unexpected and unlikely. such an approach can easily result in a ‘good’ grade, because there is little to go wrong, and there are unlikely to be any surprises in children’s responses. but equally, it is an approach which presents me, as the assessor, with a barrier – a barrier which often prevents me from being able to award an outstanding grade, and for the same reasons. thus, students reach a ceiling in their case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 performance. being consistently graded as ‘good’ is a safe and comfortable place to be. this ceiling is sometimes referred to as a plateau (furlong and maynard, 1995). i write this article then, with an aim to encourage student teachers to move into territory that is less safe, more risky.. however, first let me report on the responses from year 2 students during a recent group tutorial when i asked them to suggest risky things they might do in a lesson. at first they rather missed the point, suggesting professionally unacceptable things. charlie: teaching without a plan, that’s risky (laughs) emma: yeah, or being rude to your link tutor. nicolle: no, but seriously, doing complicated maths in front of the children – i panic when i’m being observed, and i got it wrong once. me: did that result in failure? nicolle: no. [the link tutor] knew i was nervous and checked [in the debrief that] i understood the maths. it could have done though. i was scared at the time. these students directly associated the word ‘risk’ with risk of assessment failure. notice also how these responses are all about the student. there is no mention of children’s involvement here at all. however when i substituted the word ‘risky’ with the word ‘ambitious’, suddenly things become clearer, and more child-centric. in the same tutorial, when asked to suggest ambitious things that a lesson might contain, the students were much more reflective, and aware of the needs of the children. charlie: wider differentiation, i’d do. my teacher uses a sort of carousel system, four groups rotating around completely different activities in different subjects over two afternoons, and she makes it a bit harder or easier for each group each time. it’s awesome. nicolle: in maths i let the children decide different ways of calculating a number problem once. it was great because listening to them i could see their thought processes. some of them could suggest loads of ways, some… annette: … yeah but nicolle, problem solving is ok, but where that’s risky is you can’t be sure how they will solve the problem, or even that they will. that's dangerous isn't it? surely they have to be successful if you’re being observed … me: i wasn't thinking especially of when you are observed ... oli: … i’d love to do more drama, not just stories, but acting out maths problems or the result of a science experiment. my teacher got a group [of his year 5s] to act out the story of a pot of water that boiled at the top of a mountain at a really low temperature they were all water molecules with their hands (demonstrates) or the flames, trying hard to heat the ... it was either that or we all had to go up a mountain to do the experiment, and that’s not going to happen, is it? is that drama? i don’t know, but it’s better than doing stuff on paper. but i am not sure i’ve got the confidence to do that yet. me: would you do those things if you were being observed? together: no; i don’t think so; no. oli: i’d like to think so, but (smiles self-consciously) probably not. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 maheni: i will do it when i’m not being looked at, but i don’t know what my tutor would think. like, would she like it? maheni brings us back down to the safe lesson by identifying her need to first satisfy the things the assessor might like. her priority is to avoid failure; to avoid the wrath of the link tutor. for her, that dreamed-of 'outstanding' grade is likely to remain elusive, because safety is her default position. stages student teachers go through many writers (bullough and gitlin, 1994; guillaume & rudney, 1993; furlong and maynard, 1995; twiselton, 2000) have identified a range of stages that teachers go through when learning how to teach. the choice of focus of such studies tends to centre on either classroom management skills, or subject delivery skills, but in each study, clearly delineated paths of progression are categorised. the two skill types are intricately entwined and my experience in the development of student teachers has shown these models of development, although dated, remain perceptive and helpful, and have not yet been superseded. as far back as the mid-1970s, fuller and brown (1975) identified three recognisable linear stages that student teachers go through, which they (fuller and brown) labelled as survival; mastery; and consequence orientation (survival concerns; task concerns; impact concerns). by ‘survival concerns’, fuller and brown show that in the early stages of development, student teachers hold a very ego-centric approach to their teaching (show this resource; ask that question; use this example; check the time; stick to the plan). the second stage, ‘task concerns’, refers to a movement away from ego-centricity to an awareness of what the children are doing in a lesson (keep them busy; get them to discuss this; draw that; explain this to your talk partner; line up in alphabetical order). the third stage, ‘impact concerns’ shows an awareness of what the children are learning, and how effective their learning experiences are. in this stage, the children can influence their learning or the activities. they can show independence. they may have choices and preferences. the teacher is no longer the sole driver of the lesson. outcomes are not pre-determined. risk of the unexpected is therefore a factor. building on fuller and brown (1975), furlong and maynard (1995) suggest their own categorisation of five broad stages – early idealism; personal survival; dealing with difficulties; hitting a plateau; and moving on. the early idealism stage can be painful, professionally, and can be the undoing of students in their first school experience. bullough and gitlin (1994) observed that at the beginning of their training nearly all teachers have a clear and idealistic image of the sort of teacher they want to become. this persona is made up of vignettes of diverse and memorable teaching practices or personalities which the students themselves experienced as pupils in schools. however, the student teachers often experience a transition, in which this self-constructed image is invariably swiftly and painfully swept away by the reality of modern classroom organisation, planning, assessment, behaviour management and subject delivery. that transition accomplished, the stages of progression suggested by furlong and maynard (1995) show close parallels with fuller and brown’s (1975). case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 the fuller and brown (1975) model ties in extremely tidily with a model of progression developed by twiselton (2000). twiselton was interested in developing the teaching of literacy, and her motivation for research was her stated observation that ‘…there is a danger that even student teachers at the end of their training view the curriculum as an end in itself, without questioning, exploring or fully understanding the rationale underlying it‘ (twiselton, 2000: 391). writing when the national literacy strategy (1998) was at its most influential, twiselton’s paper suggested that the nls had increased that danger, and to justify this claim she drew on observations of teachers new to the profession from a previous study (twiselton & webb 1998). twiselton (2000) identified three distinct hierarchical categories of delivery type, which she considered were identifiable positions that a teacher might adopt in response to the demand to deliver a prescriptive curriculum.  task managers the nqts preoccupation is product orientated; the criterion for success is that all children are on task; the logistics of the task are amplified (instructions, layout, time restraints, resource-use); children’s’ education is outcome-led  curriculum deliverers the purpose of the task is highlighted; learning objectives are clear, but isolated as ends in themselves; learning objectives are willingly accepted by the teacher as being arbitrarily received from within an externally ‘given’ curriculum; the selection of learning activity is imposed upon, not selected by, the teacher  concept/skills builders concepts and skills define the task; the task is only important as a vehicle for learning; the concepts and skills that are being learnt are advertised and reinforced; the value of the process of the task outweighs that of the product to both teacher and children. these categories are not mutually exclusive, but they do give a good indication of the developmental stages experienced by a good proportion of student teachers. student teachers on their journey to become autonomous and effective practitioners, may like to consider where they would place themselves in these various categories and, whether progression to a different category might be possible or desirable. it is true that we might question whether all categories identified by fuller and brown (1975), furlong and maynard (1995), or twiselton (2000) apply equally to both early years and primary settings, or whether ‘mastery’ is even possible in the organic and changing professional teaching environments that teachers find themselves in today. however in the pursuit of that ‘outstanding’ grade, it can only help a student to consider whether a plateau has been reached, and whether ‘consequence orientation’ (fuller and brown, 1975) or ‘concept building’ (twistelton, 2000) might be attainable. conclusion case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 to conclude, i would urge all student teachers, after each school observation, to question their assessors, whatever grade has been awarded, as to how that grade might be improved upon in future. it is a reasonable question to ask and demonstrates a commitment to professional development. the categories presented in this article may help as a model for progression and may help to guide those conversations. i am not suggesting that all students in all curriculum subjects should be capable of achieving outstanding grades all of the time that would be naïve and unrealistic. all students will have aspects of the curriculum that they feel more comfortable teaching than others, and so a student may feel able to experiment in one subject whilst clinging tightly to safety in another. that is understood. but if students on professional programmes want to push past the plateau that safe, tidy, teacher-driven lessons afford, then considering how one might incorporate risk, or how one might allow additional or incidental learning to blossom in a classroom or setting would be a giant leap towards the ‘outstanding’ grade that every student teacher dreams of. references bullough, r. & gitlin, a. (1994) ‘challenging teacher education as training: four propositions.’ in: fish, d. (1995) quality mentoring for student teachers. london: david fulton publishers. dfee (1998) national literacy strategy: framework for teaching. london: department for education and employment. fuller, f.f. & brown, o.h. (1975) ‘becoming a teacher.’ in: furlong, j. & maynard, t. (1995) mentoring student teachers. london: routledge. furlong, j. & maynard, t. (1995) mentoring student teachers. london: routledge. guillaume, a. & rudney, g. (1993) ‘student’ teachers’ growth towards independence: an analysis of their changing concerns.’ in furlong, j. & maynard, t. (1995) mentoring student teachers. london: routledge. twistleton, s. (nov 2000) ‘seeing the wood for the trees: the national literacy strategy and initial teacher education; pedagogical content knowledge and the structure of subjects.’ cambridge journal of education vol 30 no. 3, p 391-403. cambridge: carfax. twiselton, s. & webb, d. (1998) ‘the trouble with english: the challenge of developing subject knowledge in school’. in i: richards, c., simco, n., & twiselton, s. (eds) primary teacher education high status? high standards? london: falmer press. author biography dr mark betteney is the ba primary education programme leader at the university of greenwich. before becoming a university lecturer he taught for 14 years in primary schools in north-west kent and south-east london, and in that time developed a keen interest in mentoring and student development. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 one size doesn’t fit all: rethinking approaches to continuing professional development in technology enhanced learning martin compton, timos almpanis university of greenwich introduction in a prescient book, tony bates (2000) stated that students would reject universities which refused – or were unable – to integrate technology into teaching and learning. to fail to integrate it has long been unthinkable; its deployment has been unavoidable (donnelly and o’rourke, 2007). however, the pace of change, the embedding of technology and the approaches taken have not been as swift or successful as many would have hoped. analyses of data from national student surveys (nss) suggest that the negative views of students about assessment and feedback might be accounted for by failure to exploit the potential of technology (cook and jenkins, 2010). more recently, whilst 80% of higher education (he) students reported reliance on their virtual learning environment (vle), only 40.8% said that they enjoyed vles’ collaborative features and only half stated that their programmes of study were preparing them adequately for digital workplaces (newman and beetham, 2017). there is no doubt that higher education providers (heps) have invested in technological infrastructure for teaching and learning, as well as in what must often seem like an army of learning technologists to support and promote the use of various learning platforms. some of the systems’ licences cost tens of thousands pounds per annum. vles are now commonplace in uk heps and their use by lecturers is increasingly prescribed. furthermore, the vast majority of institutions have deployed it solutions for the electronic management of assessment (ema) which includes online submission and online marking. lately, lecture capture systems have become increasingly popular as well (walker et al., 2016). whilst the above centrally-deployed systems have been used by many staff, they are often used for their administrative benefits rather than to transform teaching and learning. for instance, in the majority of cases, the vle has been used largely as a content repository and ema practices have been implemented for their administrative benefits and for convenience, as they allow students to submit their work (and tutors to mark it) from anywhere in the world. many heps are aware of the potential growth of online, distance (and often shorter) courses and programmes using such approaches as massive open online courses (moocs) and/or strategies that seek to push mobile learning and ‘bring your own device’ (byod). however, paul feldman, chief executive of jisc (cited in newman and beetham, 2017, p.5), says that “some providers still need to do more to get the basics right – including guaranteeing decent wifi provision across campuses and continuing access to desktop computers”. within this evolving and often discordant technology enhanced learning (tel) landscape, one aspect that is also fraught with difficulty is the way new technologies and technological initiatives are deployed and supported, especially in terms of continuous professional development (cpd) for staff with lecturing or other student-facing roles. institutional technology is often articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 introduced to lecturers with standardised, one-size-fits-all training sessions which focus on the technological functions rather than pedagogy (see figure 1 below). in our current roles as educational developers, both authors have lecturer education responsibilities which include the use, promotion, modelling and support of technologies for teaching, learning and assessment. our previous work in teacher education and learning technology, and with a range of post-1992 heps, suggests that this is a sector-wide need. this experience has given us both the opportunity to see evidence of missed opportunities, misalignment of technology with training, a disconnect between the technological tools and pedagogy and the persistence of forms of the didactic, tool-focused training that is more transmissive than transformative. one consequence is that it fails to engender the hoped-for spike in the use of such tools, let alone innovative and creative uses of them. despite its ability to improve the quality of teaching and learning and, in our nss-sensitive world, such essentials as rapidity of feedback, there remains an apparent reluctance to change established academic practices at the anticipated/desired rate, to the intended scale or by the type of technology used. © artist: cristina chitoroaga (first-year ba hons graphic and digital design student at the university of greenwich) figure 1: one size fits all: a training day horror we have discovered that we have sought to tackle this in similar ways. we both favour the use of cloud-based educational and productivity applications (or ‘apps’) where there is an identified need – for lecturer or student – or where existing tools (for example, the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 collaborative tools in vles that the majority of students do not enjoy) are too clunky, unintuitive or inadequate. we also favour a re-focus – away from the ‘tool’ – which instead places purpose and pedagogy at the focal point. an example of this would be sessions where colleagues are invited to consider the concept of the ‘advance organiser’ and are first shown a range of technological approaches to creating advance organisers. they then choose one they feel may best suit their cohorts, their needs and their technological ‘comfort zone’ and produce an ‘artefact’ that can be trialled with their students. step-by-step training, how-to guides and at-the-elbow ‘click here, click there’ training are replaced by choice, discovery, collaboration and available support if required. on the formal training programmes that we offer academics, we model a selection of tools as exemplars and present them as options for completion of individual or collaborative assessments. we make frequent use of such methods as screencasts, podcasts, interactive video content and curated material; participants often ask us about these and how they might apply them in their own contexts. by these means, we are suggesting and providing alternative approaches to using technology for teaching and learning that are needs-focused, more likely to be individualised and helpful for recognising and addressing some recurring problems. this contrasts with the standardised training characterised in figure 2 below. integrating relatively easy-to-use ‘quick win’ apps into the vle increases interest in using them to enhance the look, feel and effectiveness of the courses on the vle. in this paper, we detail some of the problems and rationalise further the approach we take, arguing that we are more likely to effect change in technology-use culture if we eschew as default the one-size-fits-all approach, with its emphasis on institution-wide systems and compliance. © artist: cristina chitoroaga (first-year ba hons graphic and digital design student at the university of greenwich) figure 2: the thrill of the mandatory e-learning training articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 we also argue that, to challenge the apparent reluctance to embed technology, there is potential in rethinking the strategic approach to the tools used and the ways they are introduced and supported. we suggest that free or freemium1 cloud-based tools and mobile apps have the potential to engage lecturers and thereby enhance teaching, learning and assessment; they would complement, and encourage use of, the established institutional learning technology platforms. resistance and barriers given the impetus for integrating technology into learning, teaching and assessment, the internal and external drivers of it and the degree of investment in it, why do most of us not work in technology utopias, surrounded by adept lecturers comfortably using a range of bespoke productivity tools to enhance that teaching, learning and assessment in dynamic, fluid and innovative ways? a cynical view might be that academics are notoriously conservative and have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the digital age; indeed, when it comes to the use of learning technologies in he, staff reluctance and resistance reportedly constitute one of the main barriers to the widespread adoption of tel by teaching staff (almpanis, 2015a). yet there are logical and reasoned arguments that might better explain this reluctance, inability or scepticism. in relation to elementary education (though the arguments have resonance at the other levels of education), rowan (2014) cites fears about medical and emotional dangers, ‘detachment from humanity’, dubious cost benefits, neglect of ‘basics’ and ‘unproven benefit’. this continuing debate “is compounded by the fact that there is very little reliable, original pedagogic research and evaluation evidence” (anderson, 2007, p. 32) – a fact that, ten years on, is often an argument for resistance. according to rogers’ (2003) ‘diffusion of innovations’ model, new ideas, if they are to spread, need communication channels, time and a social system. in this process, just a few people are the innovators, followed initially by the early adopters. next, the early majority adopts the innovation, followed by the late majority. finally, there are the ‘laggards’, who fall behind, either because the innovation is passing them by or because they are reluctant to change. when it comes to the use of technology in education, reasons behind this ‘laggardliness’ include pressures on staff time, lack of digital skills and, more importantly in the context of our argument, lack of pedagogical understanding of the ways technology can be used as part of a different teaching approach (almpanis, 2015a). time and financial costs – in set-up, maintenance and encouraging participation (hughes and kidd, not dated) – are common barriers, both individually and institutionally. lack of appropriate resources (attwell and hughes, 2010) and the (physical and virtual) location of those resources (romiszowski, 2004; daly, pachler and pelletier, 2009; attwell and hughes, 2010) have also been frequently-reported impediments, as, too, have reliability of equipment and time commitments (butler and sellborn, 2009). romiszowski (2004) argues that it is not the technology itself, but the lack of both institutional understanding and of training that lead to failure. our own experiences do seem also to confirm that current he budget constraints are a major impediment to completely comprehensive staff acceptance of – and capability to apply – technological strategies in learning and teaching. 1 freemium: a business model where basic services are free of charge while more advanced features must be paid for. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 an extensive literature review (atwell and hughes, 2010) on pedagogic approaches to using technology in the classroom makes it clear that pedagogic benefits still outweigh the issues cited above if approach, training and investment support their use. those infrastructural and policy impediments are largely beyond our direct sphere of influence, but cpd, from one-off sessions to full lecturer-development programmes, is central to our roles in the educational development unit. our roles require us to deploy technology and model pedagogically its effective use. through personal and professional interests, we are exposed to a range of approaches and tools that sit outside such institutional systems as the vle. the following section looks at how cpd in the application of learning technologies can form the basis for positive changes and new directions. cpd in the use of learning technologies one of the most fundamental issues in much of the dominant hep cpd in the use of learning technologies is the disconnect between pedagogy and technology. this is a frequent refrain in the two most comprehensive educational technology reviews (daly, pachler and pelletier, 2009; attwell and hughes, 2010), where acknowledgement of the apparently impressive extent of technology-based training is counterpointed with the observation that too much of it is skills-focused and fails to address pedagogy, let alone subject specificity or teacher dispositions. attwell and hughes (2010) argued that, considering the emphasis placed on improving integration of technology and education, there was “a surprising lack of research on the impact, organisation effectiveness and still less the pedagogy of such professional development” (ibid., p.5). whilst this has been addressed to an extent in the last few years, it is still far from being comprehensive, consensual or compelling. the academic evidence and the continuing problems hint at the solutions, however. the issues above suggest that part of the solution might be technology that is easier to use, is cheap and/or free and, above all, saves time or has quick and easy tools (bitner and bitner, 2002). other solutions suggested by the deficits identified could be to: give ‘ownership’ and make access flexible (bradshaw et al., 2012; beetham and sharpe, 2007); evaluate, trial, show value to engage teachers’ interest (butler and sellborn, 2002); change entrenched attitudes and beliefs (hew and brush, 2007; guskey, 2002). we share guskey’s (2002) view that teacher behaviours will change only if teacher beliefs are challenged. in terms of the actual process of cpd, there is a need to have agreed content, ownership of cpd materials and a culture-shift away from teachers having cpd ‘done’ to them (bradshaw et al., 2012). nevertheless, there remains value discord in relation to types of cpd: transformative cpd, which rates informal and collaborative learning highly, is not favoured by key policy-making and managerial stakeholders (kennedy, 2011). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 © artist: cristina chitoroaga (first-year ba hons graphic and digital design student at the university of greenwich) figure 3:the do-what-i-do e-learning training model embracing the changing role of teachers and providing carefully-planned cpd are essential for effective use of technology in and beyond classrooms (ackerman and krupp, 2012; almpanis 2015b). multiple models for the implementation of educational technology are needed, as well as innovative approaches to curriculum delivery (oblinger, 2012). putting teachers at the heart of technology implementation, in lieu of the tendency towards technology-driven approaches to cpd, is also crucial (hennessy et al., 2005). the inadequacies of a one-size-fits-all training approach (see figure 3 above), though this appears to remain the predominant model, are mentioned in most of the analytical literature from the last decade or more (koehler and mishra, 2009; attwell and hughes, 2010). ownership, informal learning, relevance and supported links to pedagogy therefore appear fundamental to achieving the changes desired by all the key policy-making stakeholders. an extensive study (cordingley et al., 2007) of positive outcome and specialist-led cpd in schools, found that there were commonalities in approach similar to those cited above, though the structures and types of interventions were varied. effective cpd is as much about the process as the content (rodriguez et al., 2003) and needs to be dynamic to reflect the rapidly-changing nature of technology itself (donnelly and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 o’rourke, 2007). koehler and mishra (2009) argue that that digital technologies are mistakenly considered to be like other technologies used in classrooms, such as whiteboards and pens. however, they are ‘protean’ (multi-functional), ‘unstable’ (constantly evolving) and ‘opaque’ (ibid., p.61) (it’s not self-evident how they should be applied) and this means that alternative approaches for teacher development need to be employed. the changing e-tool landscape – in terms of what tools are available and how innovators are using them for teaching, learning and assessment – will also have impact on sustainable cpd designs. teachers’ already-acquired capabilities in using social media technologies will have an increasing impact on their digital literacy and could be harnessed and focused on pedagogy. a survey, by ecclesfield et al. (2013, p.10), of over 800 fe practitioners led them to conclude that the factors which define effective education technology interventions are: “good teaching and learning and not uniform use of large centralised technology hosted by the employer” and “training should be aimed at the application of technology”. cloud tools and apps the use of mainstream, institutional and sometimes inflexible platforms has been criticised by the ‘edupunk’ movement, whose members advocate a more do-it-yourself approach to technology, by means of free, cloud-based tools (desantis, 2012). their argument is that institutional systems can be used for management and control and they are not fit for purpose, whereas a combination of freely-available tools allows for more flexibility and freedom of choice, providing opportunities for the online community to remain active beyond the strict duration of a course. this also means that students will become more familiar with technologies they might be using already or will use later on in their professional lives, so acquiring real-world experiences and becoming more digitally literate. this approach, of course, would require academic staff who are not only digitally literate but also willing to explore new possibilities for learning. whilst we doubt that most academics feel they are in a position to embrace fully the edupunk ethos, we feel there is much that is inspiring and potentially beneficial when it comes to the integration of technology. there are countless apps designed for cloud-based use and others that work with tablets and smartphones. many are designed deliberately for the education market, whereas others are better framed as ‘productivity’ tools that have applications within, but also beyond, education. we have been using, testing, collecting and disseminating these tools for several years. we have established three broad criteria for their use. they need to meet all three to have any chance of proving a utility to some teaching academics: are they cloud-based or mobile apps that are free/freemium? too often, those with purchasing power are ‘wowed’ at technology exhibitions or other events and persuaded to buy expensive licences without considering training costs or other implications. if the tool/software also requires a download or individual installation, then this adds additional barriers and costs. trialling and, hopefully, continuing limited use for cloud-based and mobile apps must be free, freemium or advertisement-supported. this allows for a diversity of tool use, precisely aligned where possible to the specific need. are they easy to use? one of the perennial problems with technology is that what is easy to an expert learning technologist may seem unintuitive and very difficult to someone who articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 does not use technology to the same level. of course, ‘easiness’ is a supremely subjective concept, but our benchmark is the microsoft powerpoint software: for something to be ‘easy’, it needs to have a shallower learning curve than that, and, preferably, significantly so. are they fit for purpose? do they fulfil a need that might otherwise not be met by existing technology or do it better? for instance, most vles have quizzing tools, can support video upload and have wiki-type collaboration spaces, but a wide range of tools can do these things with greater ease, providing better functionality and integrating (e.g. through linking or embedding) with vle platforms. for example, for our own programmes, we use online curation tools to collect and collate our own as well as web-based content (such as youtube videos) and then embed these resources in our vle. we estimate that to organise and upload the same amount of material directly in the vle would take between three to five times longer. we use collaborative cloud-based presentation software embedded in the vle to provide a single space for cocreated resources. we use cloud-based poll and quiz-authoring tools linked to or embedded in vle content to encourage interaction and engagement. the authoring of this takes a fraction of the time of the vle system, is usually more visually appealing and is diverse in format and question-type options. it is sometimes argued that the tracking options are limited, and this may be true with some of the tools we use, but our intention is engagement and formative assessment (as well, of course, in our case, of showing lecturers the range of tools available to them). we also utilise content created with mobile and tablet apps, such as presentation artefacts, animations and interactive media, or create resources that allow for interaction via mobiles and tablets. the use of these tools has additional benefits. setting up a student collaboration zone using a vle tool means that users experience something that has no transferability beyond education settings. vles are by definition ‘walled gardens’ and so, though the online collaboration is there, the wider, future use potential is not. beyond tools used within or alongside the vle, we have also shifted from a paid, bespoke e-portfolio system to one that exploits free online cloud storage. it also allows our students (who are our colleagues) to see potential in such use of cloud storage and authoring systems, which many have, in turn, applied to their own context. in all these instances we are overtly focusing on teaching and learning, but, in many ways, conducting technological cpd by stealth. the focus on pedagogy on the programme is underpinned at all stages by the tools and approaches used and this provides a springboard for continual requests for one-to-one, departmental and faculty support in using similar tools and approaches. one example has been the success of the ‘30 apps’ session, which encourages colleagues to consider the potential of a range of cloud and mobile apps before choosing one or two for experimentation and application to their discipline and teaching contexts. when using open tools, it is important to keep in mind that staff and students develop their conceptual digital capabilities alongside the technical in order to meet their pedagogical needs. as traces of usage in such tools as twitter and blogs will leave a digital footprint for a very long time, lecturers should emphasise the importance of responsible and professional use of such software, enabling students to have a considered approach and preparing them for the workplace. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 conclusions institutional systems that support learning still have a place, as they provide a tel baseline. these systems are modular and integrated to other university systems, such as student records, thus making easy some of the administrative processes in creating an online safe space per course or programme. however, we argue that these spaces can be enhanced and/or spiced up by the use of other cloud-based solutions as and when the lecturer sees fit, on the basis of context and pedagogical needs. the wide adoption of institutional platforms doesn’t necessarily equal effective use. a more blended approach to the tools used might be the way forward. institutional platforms such as vles can still be used as the backbone, but other cloud tools can also be used when they are fitter for purpose. whilst training and support for the institutional platforms may continue to be centralised and offered by non-academic staff, knowledge-sharing among educators by means of the pedagogically-effective use of various cloud-based solutions and applications is important too. our advice is to ‘start small, start easy and then build up’. decision-making in choosing the right tool for each scenario is always required: whilst a discussion forum in the vle might sometimes look like a safe option for students to express their opinions, a publicly-available blog may provide a more real-world experience to students studying media or journalism, for instance. we suggest that a blended approach in terms of the tools used in he is the way forward; the vle as the learning portal can be the cake but without the icing, cherries and candles: it might be a bit dry and uninspiring! furthermore, letting lecturers have a little pick at the embellishments may persuade them to try a whole slice voluntarily rather than having it force-fed to them. reference list ackerman, a.s. and krupp, m.l. 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(2005) ‘teacher perspectives on integrating ict into subject teaching: commitment, constraints, caution, and change.’ journal of curriculum studies, 37(2), 155-192. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0022027032000276961 (accessed: 16 september 2017). hughes, j. and kidd, w. (not dated) working with diverse groups of learners in the digital age. escalate. available at: http://escalate.ac.uk/downloads/8642.pdf (accessed: 21 may 2017). kennedy, a. (2011) ‘collaborative continuing professional development (cpd) for teachers in scotland: aspirations, opportunities and barriers.’ european journal of teacher education, 34(1), 25-41. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02619768.2010.534980 (accessed: 21 may 2017). koehler, m. and mishra, p. 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(2003) diffusion of innovations. new york: free press. romiszowski, a.j. (2004) ‘how's the e-learning baby? factors leading to success or failure of an educational technology innovation.’ educational technology, 44 (1), 5-27. available at: http://asianvu.com/digital-library/elearning/elearning_failure_study-romiszowsky.pdf (accessed: 21 june 2017). rowan, c. (2014) five arguments for the restriction of education technology in elementary school settings. available at: http://www.zonein.ca/zoneinworkshop/articles/fivearguments-for-the-elimination-of-education-technology-in-elementary-school-settings/ (accessed: 22 may 2017). walker, r., voce, j., nicholls, j., swift, e., ahmed, j., horrigan, s. and vincent, p. (2016) survey of technology enhanced learning for higher education in the uk. oxford: universities and colleges information systems association (ucisa). available at: https://www.ucisa.ac.uk/bestpractice/surveys/tel/tel (accessed: 21 october 2017). http://asianvu.com/digital-library/elearning/elearning_failure_study-romiszowsky.pdf http://www.zonein.ca/zoneinworkshop/articles/five-arguments-for-the-elimination-of-education-technology-in-elementary-school-settings/ http://www.zonein.ca/zoneinworkshop/articles/five-arguments-for-the-elimination-of-education-technology-in-elementary-school-settings/ http://www.zonein.ca/zoneinworkshop/articles/five-arguments-for-the-elimination-of-education-technology-in-elementary-school-settings/ https://www.ucisa.ac.uk/bestpractice/surveys/tel/tel opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 flipped classroom: a student experience fon yan li, gemma boden university of greenwich supported by bergman and sams (2014), the flipped learning network (2014) defines ‘flipped learning’ as a pedagogical method “in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.” it is an approach that changes the conventional constructs of a classroom. successful implementation relies on three components: collaboration, student-centred learning and optimised learning spaces (bergman and sams, 2014). in a traditional setting, the student would be presented with learning material for the first time, whereas in a flipped scenario, the student is required to engage in preliminary learning. this familiarises them with the content before the lecture, creating a session that encourages questions and debate, rather than one where learning depends solely on the educator’s delivery. often, thanks to such prior preparation, students will have studied such a wide spectrum of different aspects of the subject from a range of sources, that the learning during the lecture – of both individual students and of the class as a whole – is enriched (kumah, 2015). the resources used in the deployment of flipped learning vary in accordance with the topic taught. video may be recommended (its application commonly associated with the practice of flipped learning), but it is not pivotal; it should instead act as a gateway to further and deeper learning and the practitioner should remain focused on the reclamation – for the most effective use – of the time spent in class (bergman and sams, op.cit.). my first experiences of flipped learning, a new concept to me despite my previous higher education (he) studies, were positive. the cohort was large, comprising more than fifty student paramedics aged from eighteen to forty and representative of a diverse scope of knowledge and experience: some with backgrounds in healthcare, some having changed career from a different industry altogether and some fresh out of college. the requirement for pre-learning ensured that the students entered the classroom with similar levels of topic understanding and it helped to eliminate that sense of trepidation and vulnerability which a more traditional teaching environment can induce in participants. we were asked to do such prior learning as specific recommended reading and the viewing of topic-related videos. the increased level of enthusiasm and student engagement was noticeable. incorporated technology and media became fundamental aids for students whose learning styles did not favour the didactic approach. for instance, prezi was a novel alternative to the standard slide show and kahoot! quizzes necessitated active participation – to take part in these, students found themselves encouraged to use their mobile devices, something they might well have found at odds with the usual imposition of restrictions in class. with points awarded for correct answers and speed, and with a much-coveted ‘curly wurly’ reward for the top three players on the leaderboard, it is not hard to understand that students completed pre-learning tasks without demur. as you can imagine, in a class consisting of fifty-seven students on a full-time course, it wasn’t long before competitive instincts kicked in, opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 producing such a commotion that the lecturer from next door peeked in to see what was going on! chocolate incentives aside, the quiz was a useful tool to recap subjects covered. it gave the tutor a quick and concise method of pinpointing areas of learning that needed further work. flipped learning also offered the opportunity for teacher-student relationship development. time that might previously have been devoted to teaching had now been dedicated to such practical applications as practising cannulation and basic life support with mannequins and participating in role plays based on both factual and fictional case studies.these sessions did not adhere to a rigid structure creating a safe space where questions, thoughts, open discussions and debates were always welcome. theory can be learnt, but putting it into practice can be an entirely different matter. being acutely aware (and wary!) of the fact that the role of a paramedic is hands-on, i relished any additional time to practise and refine my techniques. on the rare occasion when i was unable to complete the pre-learning, it became apparent that it was easy to fall behind. not only would the curly wurly be unattainable, but it made practical lessons difficult. ironically, by not doing the pre-learning, i found that the workload seemed to increase twofold. in the current digital era, when the use of the internet has become habitual and information is freely accessible, flipped learning is increasingly relevant. whilst he was previously heavily textbook-based, flipped learning is multi-faceted. it takes advantage of a wealth of material and comprises various elements, including online academic help-seeking and selfdirected study. the flipped classroom is a contemporary take on learning well-suited to a generation that has grown up alongside google. the notion of relying exclusively on textbooks as a means of learning is no longer realistic. research has shown that students who participate in a flipped environment value interaction, flexibility and accessibility (avdic and åkerblom, 2015): presenting students with the opportunity to learn at their own pace seemed to resonate positively a view echoed by my peers in a collation of optional feedback. furthermore, the variety of teaching aids connected with visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles (op.cit.) resulted in reports of greater student involvement, autonomous learning, motivation and achievement (chyr et al., 2017; zainuddin and halili, 2016). a shift of emphasis from teacher to learner created a student-centred approach. i certainly felt that this shift in method was positive and empowering. when there is an expectation that information will be willingly given, learners can become disengaged and indifferent. my personal drive came from the fact that if i did not complete the pre-learning, i knew i would be at a disadvantage in class. furthermore, as i undertook the groundwork for the forthcoming session, i found that my enthusiasm grew in tandem with the interest my studies provoked. the success of the flipped classroom relies on several factors: students’ willingness to put in effort and become self-sufficient; their completion of preliminary learning tasks, on which depend growth of confidence, increase in participation and the greatest personal learning gains (those who don’t complete have to play catch-up and inevitably struggle in the forthcoming lesson and subsequently); determination by the teacher to maximise the benefits of positive teacher/learner interaction to ensure a growth mindset; the teacher’s creation of a safe learning space (sickle, 2016) to allay or prevent completely those feelings of vulnerability which lead students to avoid answering questions in class for fear of being opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 wrong; the absolute imperative that the teacher is appropriately trained in the flippedclassroom method – someone untrained may not account for individual learning styles, with consequent adverse effect on students’ engagement, motivation and interaction (zainuddin and halili, 2016). when undertaken properly, flipped learning can be a rewarding and modern alternative to the traditional classroom, as the teacher and student must coexist and work together to create a united approach (yamashita and yasueda, 2017). although my experience of flipped learning was enjoyable, i agree that there are limitations, as stated in the cited literature. it may not be a way of learning with appeal to mature students, who may be used to and more comfortable with conventional techniques. furthermore, the concept may not prove popular with introverted individuals. despite the presence of a trained lecturer who encourages all learners to participate equally, some students will always be reticent when it comes to speaking in front of a class, whilst others, more extrovert, will naturally spend more time participating and interacting with the lecturer. educators should therefore be aware of and sensitive to the differing classroom experiences of diverse personalities and learning styles. for teachers who are thinking of changing their classrooms into a flipped-learning environment, there are some important considerations: first, time spent in class should centre on activities that cannot be achieved at home – discussions, collaborations and group projects; second, teachers should practise what they preach – flipped learning should be adopted in all classes to ensure success; third, teachers should make use of existing material (such as the khan academy) rather than feeling that they must create their own. since other sources will naturally be discovered as students partake in pre-learning activities, a platform for sharing amongst peers should be made available for use as desired (ullman, 2013). as for students with no experience of the flipped classroom, the initial adjustment may be difficult at first, but it’s essential to keep an open mind (yildirim, 2017). overall, i found the flipped classroom interesting and engaging. the variety of approaches and use of appropriate technologies enabled me to become self-sufficient and to learn more effectively. our having been able as a group to share that experience opened up opportunities to work together, discuss and question. finally, though there is no doubt that there are positive outcomes associated with flipped learning, it is important that emphasis remains on the learners and their experience, with adjustments and improvements to the method where necessary (sickle, 2016). reference list avdic, a., åkerblom, l. (2015) flipped classroom and learning strategies. in: jefferies, a., cubric, m., barton, k. and lilley, m. (eds.), proceedings of 14th european conference on elearning. reading, uk: academic conferences publishing, 41-49. bergmann, j. and sams, a. (2014) flipped learning: gateway to student engagement. first edn. washington, dc: international society for technology in education. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 chyr, w. l., shen, p. d., chiang, y. c., lin, j. b. and tsia, c. w. (2017) ‘exploring the effects of online academic help-seeking and flipped learning on improving students learning.’ educational technology & society, 20(3), 11-23. flipped learning network (2014) definition of flipped learning. available at: https://flippedlearning.org/definition-of-flipped-learning/ (accessed: 20 january 2018). kumah, c. h. (2015) ‘a comparative study of use of the library and the internet as sources of information by graduate students in the university of ghana.’ library philosophy and practice, 1298. available at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1298/ (accessed: 2 october 2017). sickle, j. v. (2016) ‘discrepancies between student perception and achievement of learning outcomes in a flipped classroom.’ journal of the scholarship of teaching and learning, 16(2), 29-38. ullman, e. (2013) ‘tips to help you flip your classroom.’ education update, 55(2), 3-5. yamashitaa, k. and yasueda, h. (2017) ‘project-based learning in out-of-class activities: flipped learning based on communities created in real and virtual spaces.’ procedia computer science, 112(2017), 1044–1053. yildirim, g. (2017) ‘a new learning approach: flipped classroom and its impacts.’ acta didactica napocensia, 10(2), 31-44. zainuddin, z. and halili, s. h. (2016) ‘flipped classroom research and trends from different fields of study.’ international review of research in open and distributed learning, 17(3), 313-341. https://flippedlearning.org/definition-of-flipped-learning/ http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1298/ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 student response systems: a rationale for their use and a comparison of some cloud-based tools martin compton, jason allen university of greenwich take any lecture or seminar and monitor student verbal responses to questions or contributions to discussions and the likelihood is that a few students will dominate. others will contribute rarely and many will not contribute at all unless deliberately targeted by the lecturer. technological solutions to widening participation in face-to-face taught sessions include ‘student response systems’ (srs). these are also referred to in the literature as ‘classroom response systems’ (crs), ‘audience response systems’ (ars) or, simply, ‘voting tools’ or sometimes ‘clickers’. throughout we use the terms srs or cloud-based ‘tools’ as these are the most common terms in our context. some tools focus on providing an interface for answering questions (from multiple choice to open text), whilst others include student question-asking, voting, rating and discussion options. this article sets out to offer an analysis of six srs web-based systems that can be used for free (though most have premium options), using a common analytical framework. it should be noted that there are dozens of such tools available, but these have been selected as they represent what we consider to be the best of various types of web-based srs. our conclusions are based primarily on functionality and ease of use, as detailed in the analyses set out below. each tool has its own unique selling point/s (usp), which we have also highlighted. although our university has embraced the concept of digital first and connectedness as core principles of 21st century teaching and learning, concerns and doubts are often heard in relation to this. the proliferation of mobile devices is often seen as a negative, particularly in terms of their distraction potential. the tendency towards divergent functionality of device types and a range of potential ethical issues (traxler, 2010) could well be seen as a reason to discourage or even ban mobile devices in lectures and seminars (brenner, 2015). academics have legitimate concerns about the use of mobile devices, especially their potential to distract students in lectures. yet the extent of proliferation, the impracticality of – and likely resistance to – policing of device mis/use and the existing widespread use of such devices for other academic activity, by students and academics alike, make for conditions well suited to their appropriation in classrooms and lectures (balakrishnan and lay, 2013). such appropriation aligns with our broad institutional support for the principles that underpin ‘byod’ (bring your own device) which seeks to exploit the potential of the expensive and powerful devices many, if not most, of our students carry with them on a daily basis. taking control, in effect, of the devices by embedding their use at different stages of a lecture or seminar, is one way to minimise temptation towards distraction while maintaining other benefits afforded by mobile device use, such as note-taking and language support. one of the authors has delivered cpd sessions which have highlighted the potential of the tools analysed below across the university. colleagues who have then gone on to use one or more of them have reported real benefits in using srs because they provide continuing opportunities for interaction. for example: students can pose questions as well as answer them; individuals or groups can post text wall comments; the lecturer can utilise slide management options to focus attention in different ways. many colleagues have made a technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 point of saying how they have achieved this despite perceiving themselves as anything but ‘tech savvy’. early srs were dependent on the use of sets of ‘clickers’ (physical voting devices that were issued to students at the start of a lecture). like their more recent internet-based (more typically referred to as ‘cloud-based’) and mobile device-dependent counterparts, reported benefits include improvements in academic achievement (kay and lesage, 2009), instant feedback to the lecturer on breadth of understanding (keough, 2012) and higher levels of engagement and satisfaction (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, 2014). other benefits include: engagement through ‘fun’ and student-student / student-lecturer dialogue (blasco-arcas et al., 2013); boosting attendance and providing opportunities for reflection (bojinova and oigara, 2011); the promotion of active and student-centred elements in a didactic environment (caldwell, 2007). clicker options can often be subject to practical barriers to their use, not least the fact that initial costs of device purchase and installation can be high (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, 2014). whilst many of the reliability issues have been resolved since clickers first appeared in the 1960s, frustration with establishing connections (kay and lesage, 2009) and equipment failure (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, 2014) remain a concern – this is one reason why our institution has focused on surveying options that are cloud-based and are byod dependent. the main concerns related to cloud-based solutions are the strength and capacity of wi-fi in large lecture spaces and students’ willingness to use their own personal devices. as with all technology used to support teaching and learning, it is the underpinning pedagogy that should drive the choice of tool and the way in which it is used (beetham and sharpe, 2013). when using srs, lecturers need to understand and be able to articulate their goals and be suitably prepared, since wasted time and questionable relevance will reduce student commitment to participation (nielsen et al., 2013). whilst it is not the goal of this article to discuss pedagogy, it is worth sharing the question that we ask ourselves whenever we are thinking about deploying a srs: “what does it add in terms of engagement, interaction or communication that couldn’t be achieved using traditional approaches?” we spent some time looking at and trialling a range of srs options. each needed to offer lecture/seminar interaction potential and be free or available on a ‘freemium’ basis (i.e. available for trial with paid add-ons or extensions to functionality; the free elements are designed to attract a proportion of users to purchase premium options). to evaluate these tools, our criteria were: their potential for engagement and participation (a challenge to passive pedagogic approaches) and how easy they were for staff and students to use. the next section gives brief summaries of each srs system. each of these is followed by a summary of key points found in our analysis of the tools by means of the ‘score’ system (graves, 2008), which we have interpreted and adapted as set out below. score is a response to perceived inadequacies of the ‘swot’ (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analytical model and, given the opportunity to construe the model according to our own needs and criteria, we have found it an effective analytical and comparison tool that may also be applied in future to other technology or educational resource reviews. each element of score represents the following aspects of our reviews: strengths: we interpreted these as perceived good points, effective aspects of the tool and, where relevant, any unique (or unusual) selling points. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 challenges: here, we focus on limitations to the tool itself and also include key constraints in its use – from both lecturer and student perspectives. options: all the tools here are either free or work on a freemium model. some tools limit the number of students in the free version (e.g. zeetings), whilst others limit the number of polls or questions you can use per presentation (e.g. slido/ mentimeter). as many srs have institutional markets in mind, they offer a broad range of licences and packages – appropriate to the needs of every buyer from individual to whole institution and costing from a few pounds to tens of thousands. it would be impossible to capture the breadth of this but we have tried to highlight those aspects of functionality incurring cost that we consider to be of most potential value/relevance to academic users. responses: in the original score model this refers to the response by the outside world to the strategy under review. for the purposes of this paper we have here focused on what it offers in terms of student engagement. effectiveness: these comments, both by the review team and arising from discussions with colleagues who have trialled the tools in question, are inevitably subjective. such aspects as relevance to different contexts, efficiency, reliability, elegance, appropriateness and potential for integration with core systems (e.g. the virtual learning environment) have guided our brief conclusions. below are our score analyses of todaysmeet, slido, polleverywhere, mentimeter, socrative, kahoot and zeetings. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 todaysmeet (https://todaysmeet.com/) the todaysmeet strapline is ‘ enhance classrooms. enable discussions. empower students.’ it is designed to act as a ‘backchannel’ to any taught session, providing a secondary layer of discussion or conversation to the topic. of all the tools, it has the fewest functions, but that means it is simple to use. it is primarily a ‘text wall’ system that can be used either synchronously in taught sessions or for collaboration and discussion outside of face-to-face classes. students go to a unique web address (url) provided by the lecturer or scan a quick response (qr) code with their mobile device (if they have a free qr scanning app enabled). figure 1: todaysmeet lecturer window, showing options and records. figure 2:todaysmeet student interface. students type in the blue box and their message appears at the top of the contributions. the responses can be displayed full screen. https://todaysmeet.com/) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 todaysmeet score strengths provides lecturers with a method of discussing work and key ideas in a session and of offering feedback outside of the classroom. students can contribute by accessing a lecturer’s created link and then collaborate and share ideas in that link’s unique ‘room’. lecturers can set a time limit for how long a room stays active. lecturers are able to keep track of what goes on within rooms, delete inappropriate content and secure rooms with a password. challenges consists only of a text-based chat room. lecturers may find that the ease of use prompts a deluge of responses or questions that is hard to monitor. no profanity filter (though presenter can easily delete posts). messages are limited to 140 characters. no multimedia options such as videos or images. effectiveness the beauty is in its simplicity of use (both in setting up and for students). it also generates a large qr code, for ease of access via mobile devices, and clear presentation options for large lecture halls. more efficient contact between lecturer and student than email, so has the potential to be used for collaborative work outside classroom time. to make sure that only appropriate content is posted within a chat room, the lecturer is able to regulate content being posted within the room and set time limits to availability of specific rooms. options offers a monthly subscription of £3.86 and an annual subscription of £43.98.1 subscription grants: permanent access to transcripts; ability to pause rooms until they are next needed; limitation to spaces within rooms for students at own institution; ability to mute unruly students. all rooms generate embed code for virtual learning environment (vle) use. responses less vocal students can be heard more effectively as they are given an alternative, less-threatening medium of communication. wider and potentially more immediate and dialogic lecturer-student / studentstudent communication than emails. requires virtually no training for participation. like all the tools, it does, of course, necessitate access to a device. 1 all prices and urls current as of 27 september 2017 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 slido (https://www.sli.do/) slido (or sli.do) is promoted as a conference/event interaction tool. it is designed primarily with smart phones and tablets in mind and offers both polling and options for the audience to ask questions of the event hosts which can be ‘upvoted’ in the free account (i.e. other students can show approval or agreement with questions and the most popular are pushed to the top of the list) or downvoted (pro accounts only). students go to the standard url (above) and enter a unique ‘event code’. figure 3: slido screen as it appears on a mobile device for students. the ‘questions’ are those that the students ask the lecturer and the ‘polls’ those asked by the lecturer. note the ‘admin’ (i.e. lecturer) and ‘present’ views and the joining instructions. these are much larger in ‘present’ mode. https://www.sli.do/) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 slido score strengths polls can be set up within a matter of minutes and be in multi-choice, open-text or ranking formats. lecturer can prioritise questions voted by large proportions of students. enhances interaction with less vocal students. lecturer is able to test and show the interface of event from the viewpoint of students. challenges there is no moderation control on free accounts. free account offers unlimited events but only three polls per event. many of the services available within slido are unusable by free accounts and costing per event and payment plans are quite expensive. switching between lecturer view, student view and presentation (of poll results) is tricky initially. effectiveness once the lecturer is comfortable with the system, the combination of polling and question-asking is very effective and works especially well with very large groups. requires lecturers to switch between presentation tools used and the slido interface which can hinder session fluency. options one time (private £119, pro £199, premium £599), and edu (lecturer £50, department £125, institution £325) payment plans available. discounted payment plan for educational institutions. ‘down voting’ feature in paid accounts allows both lecturers and students to regulate questions added to an event. twitter integration can be implemented by identifying an event hashtag in all accounts. event analytics and instant infographic generation available in all accounts, but surveys, video-embedding, data exports, support and branding only with pro and premium accounts. responses encourages good responses from the less vocal students and some features (e.g. word cloud generation) prompt additional interaction once one or two people have begun contributing. depending on audience, the ability to self-moderate questions is open to abuse. this feature does heighten levels of engagement, however. assists in keeping the attention of students through the use of polls which can be set up while presenting. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 polleverywhere (https://www.polleverywhere.com/) polleverywhere is a united states-based lecture and event interaction system. students can respond by text message or via a unique (to the lecturer) polleverywhere link, which remains the same when the lecturer changes the poll in the lecturer area. alternatively a range of poll types can be embedded into presentation software (powerpoint, keynote or google slides). figure 4: poll creation window. note options including ‘clickable image’, which is a unique element. figure 5: poll settings and options with display showing instructions for students. note text messaging option, along with standard url response space online. single url (rather than access code) means each new question has to be activated. figure 6: sample output display. this is the word cloud option. https://www.polleverywhere.com/) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 polleverywhere score strengths offers the students alternatives to participating in polls via a text message. offers several variations to gather quantitative data from the audience and plugins that allow the lecturer to integrate polls within powerpoint and google slides. lecturer is able to add additional polls while presenting via the polls tab. lecturer has full control over how many times a student can respond to a poll as well as whether they can access polls anonymously. lecturer has control over when a student will see a question as well as being able to set a time limit for when the poll locks. challenges free version offers no method of moderation. basic free plan limits the number of responses to twenty-five, and the higher education edition limits the number of responses to forty, though there is no limit to the number of polls a lecturer using a free account can create. when further questions need to be added during a presentation, having to navigate to the poll interface may disrupt the flow of the presentation. limited multimedia options. effectiveness integrations with powerpoint and google slides plugin offer more flexibility to this srs, though may be subject to institutional download policies and software versions. lecturer can keep a record of entries received from polls through a downloadable excel file. the look and feel as well as the range of poll types (some of which are particularly creative and engaging) make this a very attractive option. options offers customised, institution-wide options as well as a student and instructor payment plans: student ‘pays’ (£10 annually per student where responses are class-size-limited) or instructor (£251 per semester, 400 responses per poll username). both options add a range of question types, live word clouds, text walls, customised look and styles, correct answer display, reporting and grading team competitions, moderation, automatic censoring, custom keywords, vle integration, share polls among lecturer options, faq and email support. responses the different variations of poll activities provide methods of maintaining students’ attentions for longer periods of time. offers rating activities that assist the lecturer in prioritising topics the audience is most interested in, as well as in gaining a better understanding of the overall mood of the audience. icebreaker activities offer a smoother transition into group-based activities among students and build confidence in use of the tool itself by students. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 mentimeter (https://www.mentimeter.com/) mentimeter is another meetings, events and lecture interaction tool; the company is based in sweden. unlike other tools it is designed so that it can be used synchronously in taught sessions (students go to the standard menti.com link and enter a room code which is generated by the lecturer) or asynchronously via a permalink so that responses can be entered at any time and mentimeter can then act as a research tool. figure 7: mentimeter lecturer window showing question format options, numbers of questions available (limited in free account) and formatting/configuration options. it is also possible to insert unlimited slides via this window. when ready, the slides/ questions are launched using the ‘present’ button which displays the first slide. figure 8. in presentation mode, the screen displays the active poll or question and the results (choice between immediate display or delayed allowing time for all contributors to comment without being influenced by others). note the number of students (bottom right), the navigation arrows (either side) and the joining instructions at the top. https://www.mentimeter.com/) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 mentimeter score strengths clear interface that lists presentations with no limits to question types or number of respondents in free account. in terms of navigation, presentations within cloud-based mentimeter make use of an interface similar to that of powerpoint. powerpoint slides can be imported into mentimeter by saving slides as images. image and video upload options. includes a wide range of closed and open question types and a competitive quiz option. challenges mentimeter powerpoint integration limits lecturer to 5 mentimeter questions. on free accounts, lecturers are limited to two poll activities and five quiz questions (an additional poll and question can be ‘earned’ by e-mailing a recommendation to a colleague). branding and colours may be customised only through a paid subscription. effectiveness in our view the easiest quiz-authoring system of the all the srs tools that have multiple question formats. moderation and profanity filters (multi-language) as standard and option of presenter or audience-paced responses. particularly effective where basic slide information is needed to contextualise interactions and even more effective when embedded into online presentation tool or plugin is used in powerpoint. both of these negate the need to switch between presentation and srs. instructional material for lecturers and support are very good. options in addition to locally-negotiated, institution-wide options, mentimeter offers a range of priced options for single-user educational accounts from £3.50£15.40 per month. the basic package includes: unlimited audience size, anonymous voting, quizzes for students, unlimited questions, security and privacy, export results, tech support. site licences can add the ability to customise style, share lecturer presentations across accounts, branding and advanced visualisations. responses ‘reaction’ feature is quick method of testing classroom engagement – this feature can be used to see who in the classroom agrees or disagrees with a displayed statement. familiar social media icons can be activated by the lecturer and used by students to show engagement, enjoyment, confusion etc. very varied integration types including a student opinion/ questions to lecturer option. through the use of asynchronous open-question activities, it is possible to gain insight into student views or use it as a research tool which allows for comparison and cross referencing of data. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 socrative (https://www.socrative.com/) socrative is a quiz tool that pushes the gamified approach and lecturers use their own space to create quizzes. the tool generates a unique room number for students which is accessed through the standard url above. it is optimised for smart phone and tablet use and, although authoring can be fiddly, the student experience is simple and intuitive. figure 9: socrative ‘lecturer’ app showing quiz options. note the ad hoc ‘mc’, ‘tf’ and ‘sa’ which enable the tool to be used for unplanned, verbally-delivered questions. figure 10: socrative lecturer options figure 11: socrative student app. this is accessed via a separate link (or different mobile app) and the quiz is accessed via an access code unique to the lecturer. https://www.socrative.com/) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 socrative score strengths use of gamification elements designed to increase excitement, fun and class engagement. in the event of repeating quiz-based activity, lecturer can alter the order of questions, to see what students have picked up. lecturer is quickly able to develop quiz-based activities online, or offline through an excel spreadsheet. possible to check classroom engagement through quick-question activities, which can be set up during a lecture. offers immediate post-quiz emailing of results to lecturer. challenges activities are limited to quiz-based activities only, which get repetitive. no system in place that allows students to ask questions in relation to quizzes. only one activity can be active within each room at a time. it is perceived by some as being more appropriate to younger students and certainly has a school ‘feel’. effectiveness whilst there are activities aimed at groups and individuals, implementation of multimedia features, such as video clip and audio files, is not possible. the facility to email a report of results immediately after the quiz is particularly easy and useful if the lecturer is keen to gauge an individual student’s progress. lecturers can prepare pre-set feedback to students which is determined by the answer that the students give. possible to set up activities that can remain active outside the classroom. no limits to the number of attempts students can make so can be an effective formative approach. options annual payment of £43 in higher education institutions includes a range of additional features, tracking and email support. additional features within the gamified ‘space race’ activity are made available, as well as a countdown timer, shareable links and advanced data export features. gives access to ten rooms, private and public. responses competitiveness in response to gamified group elements often positively impacts attention and enjoyment. possible to keep track of student progression by reviewing their answers within reports that can be accessed online or downloaded in a range of formats. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 kahoot (https://kahoot.com/ ) kahoot is another quizzing tool that emphasises the gamified approach. it is purely multiple choice and the entire tool is currently available free. students access the quizzes via a unique url (self-paced) or via the kahoot.it url by entering a unique ‘game pin’. students select their answer in a competitive and time-limited environment that employs colour, music and leader boards to suggest a quiz show type format. figure 12: kahoot lecturer launch screen (left) with options menu (above) figure 13: screen displayed at front of class or lecture hall. note countdown timer on left (can be set for different times). also note that students use their own devices to vote (by colour or shape) but they do not have the questions on their devices. https://kahoot.com/ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 kahoot score strengths makes use of gamification elements to increase classroom engagement. offers two variations of quiz-based activities which focus on individual interaction. offers a survey activity which allows the lecturer to gain quantitative data from students. has a feature that allows lecturers to develop quick questions during a lecture. allows use of multimedia features, such as images and video within activities. has an interface for videos that allows lecturer to play a specific portion of a clip. challenges limited to multiple-choice questions. students are unable to post their own questions through the service. time-limit element may cause students to rush to answer questions instead of analysing them; it generates tension and anxiety and, though it certainly increases student motivation, could well have a negative impact on those with neurodiverse conditions or disabilities. in competitive mode, the questions are displayed only on the presenter’s screen, not on the students’ devices. effectiveness can integrate well with media resources such as images and videos. can be integrated within powerpoint through the use of third-party plugins; however this may have a detrimental impact on the overall performance of powerpoint. reliant on the lecturer use of a large screen, so that questions can be seen by students. clearly targeted at school children, but we have seen it used very effectively with undergraduate groups. options although kahoot has launched pilot corporate accounts and intends to monetise through premium services and solutions for corporates, there are currently no restrictions governing the services available within kahoot. responses through gamified elements, students are more competitive and excitement is palpable. students are unable to see the question on their own devices which can frustrate and lead to students opting out. assigning groups can enhance collaboration and communication skills among students. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 zeetings (https://www.zeetings.com/) zeetings is an australian-based tool that is relatively new to the market and offers something unique: the ability to upload slides and then insert staged interactions and video; furthermore, when accessed via a fixed lecturer url, the slides progress at the lecturer’s pace, thereby effectively taking full but unobtrusive control of the students’ devices for the duration of a session. students interact wherever the lecturer places a poll or question, but can also interact via a live discussion option and take notes in their own window. figure 14: zeetings lecturer interface. slides are uploaded from powerpoint and the interactions are then inserted in sequence. note: youtube videos can be inserted to run seamlessly within the slides. figure 15: zeetings interaction slide. note the tools on the left, which include student notetaking space and optional discussion forum. the responses can be displayed as they arrive or when released by the lecturer. https://www.zeetings.com/) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 zeetings score strengths supports powerpoint upload, video embedding and slide creation along with interaction in form of open text, rating and multiple choice. takes control of student devices by managing slide advance. includes a discussion forum and student notes options adjacent to slides. upon logging in, the lecturer can access an easy-tofollow tutorial on zeetings’ functions. allows lecturer to gather responses from students who did not attend the live presentation; they can move through it at their own pace. challenges limited to twenty-five students on the free version of the account. only three interaction types available in free account. individual poll responses cannot be viewed within zeetings without an upgraded account. poll responses can’t be exported without an upgraded account. effectiveness powerpoint and pdf file formats can be integrated within zeetings, but cannot be edited further. nevertheless, this feature makes the possibility of slide and interaction easier than any other tool. the social media icon integration, discussion and notes options, along with the lecturer-controlled pacing of slides, give this tool the widest range of usps. offers integration with a range of media resources through the use of embed codes. options offers three monthly payment plans for education institutions; these are: classrooms £6.94, seminars £12.35 and lectures £19.29. classrooms offer up to fifty students per presentation, unlimited presentations, advanced analytics plus exports and email support. seminars offer up to 250 students per presentation and lectures offer up to 500 students per presentation. responses students have a range of interaction options while working at presenter pace and can mail slides to themselves for review after the session. students are able to post their own questions to the presenter. gives students who are less vocal the opportunity to be heard in multiple ways. the versatility of the embed function, offers more methods of holding the audience’s attention. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 conclusions we have used all of these tools ourselves in a range of settings and have also seen them used by colleagues in situations ranging from large lectures to seminars and laboratorylocated sessions. there is no doubt in our minds that each can add to levels of engagement and interaction and, given the ease with which most, if not all, can be used to create resources, we would argue that all lecturers should be encouraged and supported in trialling at least one if they have not used such systems before. we hope that the above summaries will help colleagues decide which to use or at least prompt them to have a look at whichever has the most immediate appeal. at the time of writing, we are pushing to integrate at least one of these tools across the university, but, as individuals within the institution, we would advocate that all of the above are promoted and that their use at individual, department or even faculty level is supported with training and/or the resources supplied. further, we would argue for licences for extended use and pro features be purchased, according to need, within faculty budgets. of course, care needs to be taken, whichever tool is used, to alert students to institutional policy on bullying and trolling. our own approach is to say that comments that appear on screen will be dealt with in the same way as if someone stood up in a lecture and shouted them. whether data exports are offered free or in paid accounts, lecturers should always attune themselves to data protection guidelines. if there is any doubt, they should encourage use of anonymity settings, pseudonyms or first names only. above all, they should always know what they expect of students and apprise them of those expectations and of what they will be sharing. such concerns are valid, as are continuing worries about encouraging rather than discouraging mobile device use. however, and whether we are entirely comfortable with it or not, we in higher education need to reflect the digital and engagement agendas in our delivery. we think that these tools, if chosen according to need, cohort types and pedagogic approach (and with due consideration of each lecturer’s current relative comfort with technology integration), can add layers of engagement and breadth of interaction that will inject additional vigour into any taught session in any discipline. reference list balakrishnan, v. and lay, g. c. (2013) ‘mobile wireless technology and its use in lecture room environment: an observation in malaysian institutes of higher learning.’ international journal of information and education technology, 3(6), 634. beetham, h. and sharpe, r. (2013) rethinking pedagogy for a digital age: designing for 21st century learning. oxon: routledge. blasco-arcas, l., buil, i., hernandez-ortega, b. and sese, f.j. (2013) ‘using clickers in class: the role of interactivity, active collaborative learning and engagement in learning performance.’ computers and education, 62, 102-110. bojinova, e.d. and oigara, j.n. (2011) ‘teaching and learning with clickers: are clickers good for students?’ interdisciplinary journal of e-learning and learning objects, 7(1), 169184. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 brenner, t. (2015) the use of mobile devices in the college classroom. harvard university: the derek bok center for teaching and learning. available at: http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/blog/use-mobile-devices-college-classroom (accessed: 20 november 2017). caldwell, j.e. (2007) ‘clickers in the large classroom: current research and best-practice tips.’ life sciences education, 6(1), 9-20. graves, t. (2008) semper and score: enhancing enterprise effectiveness. colchester: tetradian books. hedgcock, w. h. and rouwenhorst, r. m. (2014) ‘clicking their way to success: using student response systems as a tool for feedback.’ journal for advancement of marketing education, 22(2), 16-25. kay, r. h. and lesage, a. (2009) ‘examining the benefits and challenges of using audience response systems: a review of the literature.’ computers & education, 53(3), 819-827. keough, s. m. (2012) ‘clickers in the classroom: a review and a replication.’ journal of management education, 36(6), 822-847. nielsen, k. l., hansen, g. and stav, j. b. (2013) ‘teaching with student response systems (srs): lecturer-centric aspects that can negatively affect students’ experience of using srs.’ research in learning technology, 21. sana, f., weston, t. and cepeda, n. j. (2013) ‘laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers.’ computers & education, 62, 24-31. traxler, j. (2010) students and mobile devices. alt-j, 18(2), 149-160. http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/blog/use-mobile-devices-college-classroom opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 the role of teaching observations: developing or managing academic practice? martin compton university of greenwich “in four years teaching, you are the first person to observe me. i can’t help thinking it might have been better for my students and me if it had happened sooner.” senior lecturer at a london hei “this patchiness in the student experience within and between institutions cannot continue. there is extraordinary teaching that deserves greater recognition. and there is lamentable teaching that must be driven out of our system.” jo johnsonuniversities minister 9th september 2015 teaching observations are well established in both the school and college sectors and, with the growth of higher education (he) teaching programmes and the higher education academy (hea) fellowship scheme, they are becoming increasingly common in he too. given the talk of using outcomes from teaching observations as part of the teaching excellence framework (tef) metrics, it is important to understand both the real value of teaching observations and some of the potential pitfalls in their wider implementation. a useful starting point when engaging in the teaching observations debate can be to reflect momentarily on what immediately springs to mind when this phrase is used. there is of course a plethora of models and a matching collection of often beguiling drivers underpinning observation programmes, with varying degrees of opacity. who is doing the observing? what will they get from it? what will the observed person get? what power dynamics exist between the parties? how experienced or well trained are the observers? what exactly is being observed? are there criteria against which the observed session is being judged? how does the feedback work? is it reported or recorded? our own perceptions and expectations as well as how we conduct ourselves when being observed or carrying out an observation will inevitably be shaped by personal experience. i spent ten years professionally straddling further education (fe) and he as a teacher trainer on pgce and other teacher education programmes. in addition to observations of potential teachers at the recruitment stage and developmental observations on trainees, i also carried out ‘quality’, graded observations. i calculate that i have conducted more than 500 observations in those ten years. a recent shift to a teacher education role fully within he, comments such as those in the epigraphs above and ongoing speculation about the likely impact of the tef have given me cause to examine how my experiences might inform the debate around the role observations could or should play in he. observations of teaching in a range of guises have the potential to transform practice at individual and institutional level. there is always a danger, however, that they can become a resented consequence and instrument of marketisation and managerialism which feeds popular narratives of lazy teachers and lecturers only interested in long holidays or enhancing their research profiles. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 learning from “cinderella’s” experience despite ofsted’s removal of individually graded lesson observations from september 2015 in fe (often referred to as the cinderella sector), there has not been a deluge of institutions removing grading from their own observations. despite a profusion of developmental observation projects across the sector, its bond to quality assurance will define a typical framework. usually, all teaching staff are observed once a year, often by a manager and this is then graded against extensive standards drawing on the common inspection framework (cif) (ofsted, 2014). along with concerns about the validity and reliability of management driven and conducted observations, and about the measurability of such subjective concepts as ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ teaching, there has been a growing discord between the research evidence against grading (see for example o’leary, 2013) and many institutional policies of not only maintaining grading but also linking grades 3 and 4 (labelled: 'requires improvement' and 'unsatisfactory' respectively) to capability procedures, which can result in dismissal. many of the consequences of such systems were apparent in all the institutions i worked in and are reflected in matt o’leary’s project report for ucu (2013b): normalisation of and focus on grading at the expense of developmental feedback; cynical compliance with a system leading to formulaic teaching sessions built around a perceived ‘acceptable’ structure; marked divisions between senior management and teaching staff perceptions of the worth and fairness of observations; an undermining and marginalisation of developmental and peer observation projects. take any fe policy on observation and i am confident it will be littered with words like 'developmental' and 'supportive'. wrapping an accountability measure in improvement and support language in this way leads teaching staff to believe they are being misled by a management embarrassed by the system's true nature. tweaks to observation policies, practices and outcomes become an annual battleground between trades unions and senior management teams. some fe colleges have even gone so far as to claim they have removed grading, replacing it with a rag rating system (red, amber, green) or similar value-laden descriptors. it may not be numbers but it is grading all the same. jo johnson’s desire to recognise the extraordinary and drive out the lamentable suggests judgement mechanisms, not supportive or developmental ones. within his statement sits a clear echo of discordant perspectives on the purpose of observations between fe leaders and the teaching staff. my fear is that statements such as his and a desire to implement teaching quality metrics might well create conditions wherein grading based on observations of some sort works its way into he systems. if i put aside the largely developmental observations that are deemed necessarily pass/ fail on teacher training programmes, in any other context i would happily concur with this statement: grading lessons is a piece of lunacy so obviously open to misinterpretation, misunderstanding and abuse that it should be abandoned immediately (didau, 2014, online). in addition to the grading debate there are also questions about the validity and reliability of observations as mechanisms for making such judgements in the first place. professor opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 robert coe (2013), for example, lists several examples of ‘poor proxies’ for learning which are often cited as essential elements of an outstanding teaching session such as: students are busy: lots of work is done (especially written work); students are engaged, interested, motivated [and] classroom is ordered, calm, under control. (p. xii) ho and kane (2013) address issues of reliability in (school) observations and conclude that multiple observers are the best mechanism for improving reliability, noting that two sets of eyes more than doubles the reliability. coe (op cit.) concludes that we have been measuring only those things that we can skew to show sought impacts have been achieved. governments may make policy decisions with apparent disregard for educational research evidence but it would constitute a particular kind of folly for heis to do the same. observations in he heis have followed divergent paths with regards to observations. peer observation (often called ‘peer review’) systems are the most typical but even these can be viewed with suspicion if they are perceived as quality-driven judgement systems (see for example, shortland, 2004). to say that use and enthusiasm is patchy is something of an understatement and this is likely to be due to suggested or imposed auditing demands, at least in part. considering all that i have said about the dangers, should i not be advocating the construction of barricades? in fact, i believe that there is an opportunity here to pre-empt likely, possibly even inevitable, drives to implement or develop observations systems and, above all, to be clear about what we want them to achieve. particularly with an institutional commitment (and preferably backed up with appropriate resourcing), observations can be transformative and not only for those observed. aside from the need to build genuinely collaborative relationships and other pre-requisites, peer observation projects in he have proven successful in developing teaching attitudes and approaches. bell and mladenovic (2008), for example, highlight the value of the observation process to the peer observer, weighting its importance above that of the feedback given to the observed party. a study by hendry et al. (2014) similarly concluded that through the process of being the observer, lecturing staff were able to positively change lecture and seminar practices. by definition, the structure of these peer observation projects subverts or reverses the oft-held assumption that the observer has some sort of authority or seniority. in shortland’s (op cit.) case study the participants in a peer observation project “recognized that observation offers a tremendous potential to promote self-knowledge and personal development” (p. 227) despite their university’s apparent managerialist agenda and failure to provide promised developmental resources. hammersley-fletcher and orsmond (2004) report on two models of peer observation (a ‘trios’ model similar to that cited by shortland above wherein each participant is observed by the other two in the group and a somewhat more formalized approach with experienced and trained peer observers conducting observations). in common with more recent research they conclude that establishing positive interpersonal relationships and providing constructive and developmental feedback are essential, but also suggest that there are benefits in the very process of observation training as well as in its subsequent application. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 frequently cited barriers to success include a lack of clarity in objectives and processes as well as confidence in giving feedback to peers in terms of both the ‘what’ and ‘how’. a ‘hybrid’ model described by yiend et al. (2014) combines perspectives of both experienced observers and discipline specialist peers. they conclude from their data that: the peer review model of teaching observation was only effective in prompting a reflective approach to observation when those participating had an adequate understanding of its meaning and implementation (op cit., pp.480-481). there are other models that can be used to suit different contexts and needs, some of which are relatively untested in heis. one is the japanese lesson study method which appears to be growing quite significantly in the schools sector. in this process teachers collaborate on planning taught sessions then, as equal stakeholders in the design, deconstruct the efficacy of the implementation. this model extends the already more democratic ‘trios’ model of multiple observers and further shifts the emphasis away from the teacher to the delivery and its impact. success of any model may not be dependent on a commitment to resourcing these projects or subsequent staff development opportunities but this would of course help enable their development and demonstrate institutional commitment. from the point of view of quality assurance and with the tef in mind, fair resourcing might also encourage lecturers to report (confidentially) on the broad outcomes as a quid pro quo. what is fundamental is an awareness of what drives an observation system and how different modes of organisation can make for very different outcomes. if we make the connection in our own minds between teaching improvement and observations and resist the assumptions that observations are about making judgements, then we have a mindset conducive to creating and valuing observation systems that engage and work. commitment at institutional level needs to come in the form of adequate resourcing and a willingness to separate the observation process from the system of appraisal. we need to be clear about why and how we go about observations coupled with a recognition of the value of observational expertise to model effective practice or to facilitate training within whatever specific framework or model is embraced. the tef is still embryonic and there are few in the sector that have no concerns about its ramifications, but it may well prove to be a real opportunity for establishing genuinely effective and developmental observation systems. what is certain is that if we sit back and wait to see what happens we might be worrying more about our own grades than the ones we are giving our students. reference list bell, a., & mladenovic, r. (2008). the benefits of peer observation of teaching for tutor development. higher education, 55 (6), 735-752. coe, r. (2013). improving education. a triumph of hope over experience. inaugural lecture of professor robert coe, centre for evaluation and monitoring, university of durham, 18 june 2013. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 8, no 12, 2016 didau, d. (2014). how can we make classroom observation more effective? [online]. available at: http://www.learningspy.co.uk/learning/can-make-classroom-observationeffective/ [last accessed: 27th october 2015] hammersley-fletcher, l., & orsmond, p. (2004). evaluating our peers: is peer observation a meaningful process? studies in higher education, 29(4), 489-503. hendry, g. d., bell, a., & thomson, k. (2014). learning by observing a peer’s teaching situation. international journal for academic development 19 (4), 318-329. ho, a.d. and kane, t. j. (2013). ‘the reliability of classroom observations by school personnel’. research paper. met project. bill & melinda gates foundation. available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed540957.pdf [last accessed: 27th october 2015] ofsted (2014). common inspection framework 2012: updated for september 2014. manchester, ofsted. o’leary, m. (2013a). surveillance, performativity and normalised practice: the use and impact of graded lesson observations in further education colleges. journal of further and higher education, 37(5), 694-714. o’leary, m. (2013b). developing a national framework for the effective use of lesson observation in further education. ucu. shortland, s. (2004). peer observation: a tool for staff development or compliance? journal of further and higher education, 28(2), 219-228. yiend, j., weller, s., & kinchin, i. (2014). peer observation of teaching: the interaction between peer review and developmental models of practice. journal of further and higher education, 38(4), 465-484. 1 how effective are web 2.0 language learning sites in facilitating language learning? billy brick coventry university abstract this article discusses the new phenomena of social networking sites (snss) for language learning and their implications for higher education. the strengths and weaknesses of these sites are identified and the potential to integrate some of the features of snss for language learning into the he curriculum and the implications of this for educators are also discussed. introduction there is a long tradition in language teaching of encouraging learners to communicate with others in their target language. until recently this was often only possible with the class teacher, if indeed, they were native speakers themselves. one solution to this problem, advocated by teachers, was through penpalling and later keypalling. this has recently changed with the advent of snss for language learning such as the websites livemocha and busuu which offer learners the opportunity to practise their target language (l2) in all of the four language learning skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking with other members of the community who are often native speakers of the l2. the integration of snss into the he curriculum faces some obstacles including: ● lack of control over the curricula ● that many classes are taught in multiple occurrences which makes it diffi cult to implement change consistently ● that the majority of language classes are introductory and therefore the majority of learners will only have a basic knowledge of their chosen language. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 godwin jones (2005) has described snss as disruptive technologies in that they allow for new ways of carrying out familiar tasks. in the case of snss for language learning, this includes being able to practise speaking with native speakers and receiving almost instantaneous peer feedback on written and spoken submissions. three potential models there are three different options for educators. the first option involves directing learners towards sites such as livemocha and busuu and suggesting they use the site to practise their language skills, leaving them free to proceed without further involvement from the tutor. the second option is based on a model suggested by mullen, appel and shanklin (2009) who replicated some of the features of snss within a moodle web where a class of japanese learners met with a class of us learners and completed language learning exercises based on the principles of tandem learning. both options provide opportunities for learners to practise their language skills: one of them in a public forum with no involvement from the tutor and the other in a more controlled environment where the tutor can monitor the amount of time learners spend communicating with their learning partners and can also suggest suitable exercises to complete. the third option is the institutional platform which allows the tutor to set up classes within the sns. livemocha have recently released their version and busuu released theirs in september 2010. how do snss work? language learning snss are characterised as having the following features: learner profiles containing details of language(s) spoken and target language(s), a profi le matching facility, free and premium learning materials, peer-review facilities for spoken and written feedback, and a points system to reward learning and peer-review. livemocha was the first of its kind and remains the most popular, with over five million members worldwide, mostly in the 18–35 age group (livemocha, 2010) compared to its nearest competitor busuu which has around 600,000 members. livemocha members can take courses free of charge in 35 different languages with the option to pay for premium content in some of these. the site is divided into four parts: home, learn, share and teach. in the home section (see figure 1), learners can keep track of their progress, view their reward points, monitor their recent activity, view the work they have submitted for peer review and access requests from other community members to review their work. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 figure 1 home screen (© 2010, livemocha. used with permission.) in the learn section (figure 2), learners are able to view the courses they are currently taking, create flashcards based on what they have learnt and further sections to view work submitted for review and for further practice. there are seven activities: ● learn: learners listen and select the correct picture for vocabulary learning. ● reading: learners read the sentence and select the correct picture. ● listening: learners listen and select the correct picture. ● magnet: learners listen and arrange words in a correct sentence. ● writing: learners read the prompt, write an essay, and submit it to receive feedback from other anonymous users or their invited friends. ● speaking: learners record a paragraph length discourse sample and submit it for peer review. ● dialogue: learners practice a paragraph-length given dialogue with a partner of their choice. the quality of the learning materials on the site has come in for some criticism. jee and park (2009) argue that, “the instructional content in the system could benefit from guidance from sla [second language acquisition] practitioners to improve its pedagogical design and offer a more systematic approach to effective learning”. however, they acknowledged that livemocha learners would benefit from the authentic communicative experience with native speakers, even without the presence of a tutor. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 figure 2 learn screen (© 2010, livemocha. used with permission.) the share section (figure 3), allows learners the opportunity to review submissions by other users and to provide feedback. it is in this section that learners are able to contribute to the community and in doing so earn ‘mochapoints’ and, eventually, ‘medals’. the teach tab encourages users to complete their profile in anticipation of increased functionality being added to the site in the near future. few details have so far been provided but it is suggested that members with high livemocha points ratings are likely to be offered the opportunity to teach on the site in exchange for money or livemocha points. learners are encouraged to search for other learners on the site to engage in tandem learning with. this is supposed to offer mutual benefits to both parties as they can provide feedback for each other’s oral or written work and communicate asynchronously, via an in-built texting tool, or synchronously, via a voip tool. built-in video-conferencing software allows users to communicate with friends within the site. peer review is at the centre of the design of the site, and ‘mochapoints’ are awarded to members who choose to review the written or oral submissions of other site members. this is one of the major attributes of snss for language learning and was one of the major points of discussion at the conference. on one hand, it can be diffi cult for learners to know whether their peers have provided constructive feedback. on compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 5 the other hand, the feedback can be almost instantaneous and from multiple sources which allows users slowly develop a reliable network of ‘friends’. figure 3 share screen (© 2010, livemocha. used with permission.) the market for language learning is growing as a result of globalization, immigration and travel, and one of the founders of livemocha, krishnan seshadrinathan (livemocha, 2010), has predicted that over the next five years its service will become available on a variety of electronic devices, will offer 100 different languages, and will have between 30 and 50 million users. whether these predictions are accurate remains to be seen, but it appears as though snss for language learning will play an important role in foreign language learning in the future. this raises a number of questions for he practitioners. should these sites be integrated into the curriculum? if the answer to this question is yes, then how should we determine which site is the most suitable and what sort of guidance, if indeed any, should we provide for learners? if the answer is no, then should we consider recreating some of the features of these sites in a more controlled environment such as that described by mullen, appel and shanklin (2009)? if we choose to reject snss in favour of more traditional methods, then do we run the risk of being unable to offer appropriate advice to learners practising their language skills in forums we are unfamiliar with? compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 6 strengths and weaknesses although livemocha and busuu are similar, the author has chosen to focus on a critique of livemocha.com. the most common criticism levelled against snss for language learning concerns the quality and relevance of the free learning materials, which are based around a series of pictures and a complete lack of grammar teaching. although the learning materials are poor, it is easy to understand why livemocha have taken this approach. materials based on word lists are particularly cheap to produce because it can be applied to all languages using the same prompts. the lack of grammar exercises is also one of the main criticisms of the blogger street-smart language learning (2010), who reported on his attempt to study the german case system using livemocha, and his eventual decision to abandon livemocha in favour of other language learning web sites and books. he also goes on to mention that he had learnt german in the past and hoped to review the grammar rules he had previously learnt. undoubtedly a beginner would fi nd learning grammar from livemocha even more difficult. the comments of the two bloggers street-smart language learning (2010) and fluent in 3 months (2010) are both extremely critical of the free learning materials (neither comment on the premium content) but they agree that the site offers a unique opportunity for learners to practise their spoken skills with native speakers and that they facilitate almost immediate feedback. a recent blog (winkler, 2010) reveals that busuu has released an iphone app and predicts that livemocha is likely to follow suit shortly. the review is on the whole positive and suggests that there is potential for snss for language learning to become embedded as part of language students’ personal learning environments (ples) once these technologies become widely accessible. guo (2010) has stressed the importance of building motivation concepts such as immediacy and authenticity into language learning materials. snss offer both of these and according to guo (2010) “the educational language website or computer application based on motivation is a true step forward as compared with inventions of printing, computer, the internet and their applications to human language learning.” it may take time to develop a network of trusted partners within sns sites and that this can only be built up on a trial and error basis. this addresses a common criticism often levelled against sns for language learning: namely that the quality of the feedback is poor. the blogger street-smart language learning (2010) supports the idea that you have to develop a network of friends in whom you have confidence, “i now have a core group of tutors to whom i consistently submit such assignments to, and their feedback is phenomenal. they drill into my work to fi nd even subtle mistakes and offer excellent explanations of what compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 7 i’m doing wrong. so, while initially you may fi nd that the feedback you get is not all that great, as you separate the wheat from the chaff you’ll eventually end up with excellent tutors”. the blogger goes on to describe livemocha as ‘ingenious social engineering’ because members are presented with work to correct immediately after they have had a piece of work corrected themselves. they then feel obliged to reciprocate by providing high quality feedback for someone who has done the same for them. the national student surveys (nss) has consistently received negative response regarding feedback. according to hefce (2009) only 57% of students considered it to be prompt and useful. perhaps the quality of the feedback on snss for language learning is variable, depending on your network of friends, but it is almost immediate, often taking only a few minutes to arrive. this compares favourably with he institutions where learners often have to wait several weeks for feedback. conclusion the advent of snss for language learning has provided the opportunity, previously unavailable, for learners to practise oral skills with native speakers and to receive immediate feedback, thus justifying their designation as ‘disruptive technologies’ (godwin-jones, 2005). these two features are highly rated, as opposed to the learning materials which receive universal criticism. the number of sites and the number of people joining these sites continues to increase, even more premium content is likely to be offered and learners are now able to access the sites on various mobile platforms. in the face of ongoing cuts in he, educators cannot afford to ignore snss for language learning. this has not gone unnoticed by busuu who have launched a platform aimed specifically at universities. practitioners will also need to be made aware of the various snss, so that they can evaluate them and select the one most suitable for their needs. further research in this rapidly developing area is essential to enable practitioners to make informed choices with regard to their role in the curriculum. references fluent in 3 months (2010). busuu & livemocha: review of pros and cons. available online at: www.fluentin3months.com/busuu-livemocha-review/ (accessed 28 july, 2010) godwin-jones, b. (2005) ‘emerging technologies: skype and podcasting. disruptive technologies for language learning’. language learning & technology, 9(3), 9–12. guo, s. (2010) from printing to internet, are we advancing in technological application to language learning? british journal of educational technology vol 41 no 2 e10–e16. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 8 hefce (2009). the national student survey. available online at: www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/nss/data/2009/ (accessed 28 july, 2010) jee, m.j. & park, m.j (2009) livemocha as an online language-learning community, calico software reviews. available online at: https://calico.org/p-416-livemocha%20as%20an%20online%20languagelearning%20community%20%28012009%29.html (accessed 23 march, 2010) livemocha (2010). livemocha and pearson announce partnership for online language learning. available online at: www.livemocha.com/pages/pr/03102009 (accessed 24 march, 2010) mullen, t., appel, c. & shanklin, t. (2009) skype-based tandem language learning and web 2.0. in m.thomas (ed.), handbook of research on web 2.0 and second language learning (pp. 101–118). hershey, pa: igi global. street-smart language learning (2010). livemocha review: love the native speakers, the method not so much. available online at: www.streetsmartlanguagelearning.com/2009/01/livemocha-reviewlovenative speakers.html (accessed 2 july, 2010) winkler, k. (2010) blackberries on the iphone – busuu launches its mobile applications best customer. available online at: www.kirstenwinkler.com/blackberries-on-the-iphone-busuu-launches-itsmobileapplications/ (accessed 24 september, 2010) compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 first published in may 2017 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series sarah crofts, independent critical friend paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, school of law, university of greenwich catriona mcallister, university of reading gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university reviewers monica fernandes, brunel university london mark dawson, brunel university london conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 addressing the unconscious bias gap a reflection on reactions to a case study on unconscious bias presented at the apt conference 2016 karla benske, sheila macneill grited ltd, glasgow caledonian university what? this article is a reflection on the discussion that followed the presentation of an online resource on unconscious bias in learning, teaching and assessment at the apt conference 2016 at the university of greenwich. it follows rolfe’s et al (2001) reflective model of asking and responding to the questions of what?; so what?; and what next?. our institution’s commitment and statutory requirements to equality and diversity are based on the common good with the mission of ‘mak[ing] a positive difference to the communities we serve and this is at the heart of all we do, especially in our social innovation, teaching and research’ and the vision of ‘delivering social benefit and impact through education, research and social innovation’ (gcu, 2016). to support the institution’s mission and vision, a small cross-institutional team developed a range of resources to support and foster awareness and understanding of unconscious bias. the equality challenge unit (2013) define unconscious bias as “a bias that we are unaware of, and which happens outside of our control . . . influenced by our background, cultural environments and personal experiences.” these resources are being delivered through a blended learning approach and informal accreditation via digital badges. in late 2015 the british prime minister, david cameron, raised the awareness of unconscious bias in relation to uk university admissions processes. from 2017 all admissions are expected to be anonymous. however, there are very few journal articles examining the potential influence of unconscious bias on learning and teaching approaches, resources and delivery methods. the conference presentation illustrated how the authors are attempting to address this gap by developing sustainable, openly licensed, online support materials to raise awareness of unconscious bias (on blendspace and sutori). our approach is to encourage learner self-regulation through active reflection on personal attitudes and behaviours. the materials, which were demonstrated at the conference, are accessible to all staff via our virtual learning environment (vle) and are integrated more widely into a range of learning and teaching related continuing professional development (cpd) opportunities. so what? shortly before the conference, contributions to the seda jisc mail list identified a gap on unconscious bias, asking for resources and additional information. however, we found that most of the resources and information on unconscious bias centred around guidance developed for managers and not for learning, teaching and assessment. the demonstration of the resource was very well received and there was an expression of interest as to how this could be used by other institutions. the audience was reassured that the online resource was available under an open licence and not just for our own institutional use. however, the main discussion revolved around the term ‘unconscious’ bias and how this has been adopted by the media and politics. in summary, contributions by the discussants conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 expressed the view that the term has been hijacked to express the intention of addressing unconscious bias, for example in recruitment and university admissions. there was an emerging agreement by the participants that these intentions are not addressing the real issues of bias in relation to discrimination and race, for instance. this could be seen to be reflective of neoliberal attitudes that makes people feel better about themselves without actually changing practice, stating that ‘we do all we can, but we all are victims of our own ‘unconscious’ bias which cannot be helped. potentially, one may state that now we have a name for it we can put processes in place, follow checklists and tick boxes, and thus, avoid delving deeper into the actual impact that unconscious bias has on decision making and establishing relationships. overall, the discussion confirmed the original proposition of the authors that there is a significant gap in the literature on unconscious bias in learning, teaching and assessment. while name-blind admissions may be a step forward, how far reaching is it? unconscious bias will still need to be addressed throughout the rest of the student journey, i.e. in student support, the (virtual) classroom, assessment and feedback. the online resource represents a first attempt to raise awareness of how unconscious bias affects our interactions with students and encourages practitioners to be more mindful and reflective about their biases.this is particularly important given that students now pay a significant amount of money to be able to study at university and in the process are expected to become more discerning on the way they are supported, taught and assessed. the development of a teaching excellence framework is an indicator of this trend and signifies the importance of the student experience in relation to tuition fees. in contrast to the rest of the uk, scotland faces a different challenge with regards to unconscious bias and name-blind admissions. while scottish students do not have to pay tuition fees for studying in scotland, the scottish government is driving forward contextual admissions (scottish government, 2016b). this partly serves to align the admissions process with the scottish curriculum for excellence that includes transferable skills in addition to formal qualifications. it also aims to address the barrier to widening access in line with the scottish government’s aim to ‘create a fairer scotland’ (scottish government, 2016a). contextual admissions contradict name-blind admissions since they focus on a holistic process taking into account all aspects of the prospective students. here it is even more important to address unconscious bias and make sure admissions staff are well trained to be aware of the potential impact that unconscious bias has on decision making. despite the public drive to address unconscious bias in recruitment and university admissions, there is a need for further research and development on unconscious bias in relation to learning, teaching and assessment in order to identify strategies to mitigate the impact of unconscious bias within all aspects of higher education. what next? are we off the hook by applying different processes and procedures? regardless of how many processes we put in place, we will still have biases. they are innate and based on the way our brain evolves during our lifetime (ariely, 2009; kahneman, 2011). alongside the processes/procedures we need to constantly remind ourselves that we as human beings are biased and that this will influence our decision making. as such, the new processes/procedures that aim to address our biases can be viewed as a scaffolding to conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 support our decision making. they do not represent a solution, since there is no ‘solution’ as such. as a result of the reaction to our presentation at the conference, we propose an open discussion and recognition of our biases and how they affect our decision making. a first step could be to challenge the term ‘unconscious’ bias and apply the term ‘cognitive’ bias to all our discussions and strategies to address the issue, adopting the term used by the nobel prize winner daniel kahneman (kahneman, 2011). we believe this has the potential to encourage a more open and honest discussion, accepting the responsibility for our biases and accepting the need to train ourselves in order to recognise and mitigate the effect of cognitive biases on our decision making. it also allows us as practitioners to delve deeper into the uncomfortable truths of discrimination, race and ethnicity, physical ability and social class (mahzarin & greenwald, 2013). another step could be for heis to move beyond the procedures/processes and incorporate proactive cpd on cognitive biases for all staff that includes exercises that enable learning and understanding of the effect biases have on our day-to-day working life for both students and staff. it could also be built into the curriculum for all students to enable an understanding and a proactive assessment of how cognitive biases impact on decision making and thereby also encourage an acceptance and understanding of the equality act and its significance for society as a whole. higher education should always be about challenging biases and assumptions, this is the basis on which all research and scientific progress is built. the increased awareness of cognitive biases offer an opportunity to redefine how we as educators tackle discrimination and embrace diversity in its truest sense. reference list ariely, d. (2009). predictably irrational. the hidden forces that shape our decisions. london: harper collins. burns, j. (2015). ‘university applications to be anonymous, says david cameron’ [online] bbc news. available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34616420 [accessed 12 february 2016] equality challenge unit (2013). unconscious bias and higher education. london: equality challenge unit. glasgow caledonian university (2016). common good. available at: http://www.gcu.ac.uk/theuniversity/commongood/ [accessed 30 january 2017] kahneman, d. (2011). thinking, fast and slow. london: penguin books ltd. mahzarin, r. b. and greenwald, a. (2013). blind spot. hidden biases of good people. new york: delacorte press. rolfe, g., freshwater, d., jasper, m. (2001) critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. basingstoke: palgrave macmillan. conference reflection compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 scottish government (2016) it takes all of us to build a fairer scotland. fairer scotland action plan. edinburgh: scottish government. scottish government (2016) a blueprint of fairness. the final report of the commission on widening access. edinburgh: scottish government. 1 the learningscape of a virtual design atelier jennefer hart, theo zamenopoulos, steve garner the open university abstract the development of e-learning platforms is fundamentally changing the nature of education across all disciplines. art and design education has traditionally taken place within a studio environment and its model of teaching and learning has been informed by the ‘atelier’ approach which has a distinctive educational and cultural history. significant pressures arise today in undergraduate art and design education and partly these drive the need to establish an effective and viable modern studio experience. not only must any new studio support student learning of practice and principles, for example, by allowing students to work alongside experts, it must foster the community and culture of the creative industries. as if this wasn’t difficult enough, any innovation in teaching and learning must not incur the huge costs and resource demands of our current models of art and design education and it must be scalable to provide a stimulating experience for large numbers of students with diverse backgrounds, abilities and needs. this paper reports on a suite of studies that were carried out as part of a jiscfunded project titled atelier-d. the aim of the project was to create an online virtual design learning environment that replicates and improves the features of traditional face-to-face studio education. the paper makes reference to new curricula at the open university, particularly a new fheq level 4 online design course fi rst presented in february 2010 to 350 students. tradition and opportunity one of the traditional drawbacks to distance education is that student learning has largely taken place in isolation. the peer community is widely distributed and, save a few day-school experiences, students have lacked the opportunity to interact with each other. tutors have been limited to one-to-one exchanges. but new technologies have given rise to new opportunities. through ict it has, for example, become possible to offer students and tutors shared virtual spaces that go some way towards simulating the shared spaces found in traditional face-to-face undergraduate education. this is particularly significant for art and design compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 2 education. the opportunity for distance learning institutions, such as the open university, concerns the ability to create an effective model of online design education. but there is a second and much broader possibility for those universities providing a more traditional face-to-face education service. there exists a major opportunity to create an effective hybrid model that combines appropriate face-to-face interaction whilst taking advantage of new tools for online collaborative learning.not only would the new model be more sustainable, but the work reported here suggests there are opportunities for qualitative improvements in art and design learning. the teaching of art and design at university level is an activity-based process that taps into the expertise of skilled practitioners. studio design teaching, using problem-based learning (pbl), predominates. this model, widely documented by kvan, 2001, broadfoot & bennett, 2003, etc., involves students addressing ill-defi ned problems and communicating and justifying their outputs under the guidance of expert practitioners. over the past two decades the professional creative process has become more collaborative involving various specialists working together. more recently, advancements in web 2.0 technologies have provided opportunities for those engaged in professional practice and education to communicate and share their ideas online. the adoption of new technologies for creative collaboration has changed the landscape of the design professions and thus the learningscape of design education. the merging of traditional design skills and new digital working practices within new social networking structures is giving rise to a new design pedagogy and impacting on the teacher and student dynamic (shao et al. 2007). it is within this context that the atelier-d project was devised and conducted. the atelier-d project this paper focuses on fi ndings and observations that have emerged from a two-year jisc-funded project titled ‘achieving transformation, enhanced learning and innovation through educational resources in design’ (atelier-d). the project is one of fi fteen addressing the theme ‘transforming curriculum delivery through technology’. atelier-d sought to explore and develop new models of fl exible distance learning by drawing on the design studio model of teaching and learning. there have been earlier online design studios, for example the omnium project from the university of new south wales (unsw) australia (bennett & dziekan, 2005), and the icon project from strathclyde university (sclater, et al. 2001). some of these have been domain-specifi c such as those aimed at supporting architectural practice (broadfoot and bennett, 2003). atelier-d sought to go beyond the creation of a studio to explore, as its title suggests, innovation and enhanced learning. here there are many fewer published studies. this paper is presented in four parts. first, it outlines the context of the study, identifying some of the core features of a virtual environment for design teaching and learning. second, it discusses some of the compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 3 technologies studied in the project in relation to three core requirements: (a) the creation of a social environment for teaching and learning, (b) the facilitation of reflective practice through collaboration, and (c) the development of a platform for communication and learning across different courses. the third part reports on some key findings and observations and the final part reflects on issues emerging from the project. design learning and the legacy of the atelier as noted above, the origin of design studio-based learning lies in the art atelier model and dates back at least three centuries. in this, young apprentices worked alongside a master craftsperson or artist (broadfoot & bennett ,2003). the model is founded on the principle of ‘learning-by-doing’ where students master a variety of technical skills and gain aesthetic training while working on tasks within a community. it is a type of learning that has much interested scholars in recent years (e.g. schön, 1983). this traditional studiobased learning model proved effective in centres around the world up to the 1990s when new pressures emerged. art and design found itself having to justify space for displays, meeting spaces, studios and workshops. in comparison to other subjects, staff-student ratios were viewed by senior management as generous. costs of resources such as academic staff, technical staff, capital equipment and materials compounded the problem. there have been many moves towards rationalisation and efficiency, for example class sizes have increased, contact time between students and staff has decreased and new technologies such as virtual learning environments have been rolled out, but there have been no significant attempts to combine the best of the old model with the potential of the new. there has been little progress in combining the proven capacity of the atelier model with the broad range of computer-based tools available today. each year universities teach a myriad of design courses to classes of students who typically work in a shared environment. these design students work alongside their peers in a space where they interact, display work-in-progress and engage in private or parallel pursuits of common design tasks. students work under the supervision of a design tutor who is, even today, likely to be a practitioner as well as an academic. design projects present design problems that enable students to refine their knowledge through the reflective act of designing. skills and knowledge are developed and demonstrated through students’ design work. the design process is iterative, involving regular individual or group critiques where all participants provide feedback on each student’s work. these critiques, or ‘crits’, are a distinctive component of studio-based learning. they facilitate the discreet transfer of tacit knowledge where design strategies, values and behaviours are played out through verbal and graphic communication, often supplemented with 3d constructions (kvan, 2001). the use of peer-to-peer assessment can be very effective in stimulating progression and placing learning outcomes in practical contexts. the studio setting, compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 4 which is both a work and a social environment, is seen as vital to facilitating the type of camaraderie required for creative learning. atelier-d technologies within the atelier-d project a number of web 2.0 technologies were evaluated in order to explore their potential in supporting a virtual design atelier. these studies took place across three design courses offered at the open university which form the backbone of the bachelor degree in design and innovation. at the beginning of each course (in february 2009 and 2010), the course team invited students and tutors to participate in a number of studies. the participation in each study ranged from 8 to approximately 350 people. the age and educational background of students varied considerably as is the case with most open university courses. adopting an action research methodology, data were gathered and analysed using a mixed method approach. qualitative data were gained from observations, questionnaires and interviews, and quantitative data were gained from technology data logs and analysed using statistical and social networking analysis (sna) methods. the atelier-d project took place over two years and is currently in its fi nal stages of evaluation. in the first year six small studies were conducted using a mix of web 2.0 technologies. these included two social websites (facebook and flickr), a video conferencing tool (elluminate), a knowledge mapping tool (compendium), immersion in a virtual world (second life) and a bespoke studio tool developed at the open university (opendesignstudio). findings from these six studies informed the creation of three larger studies that took place within year two. the project process is illustrated in figure 1. in year two, technologies were selected to support both students and tutors across the design programme in order to explore three core aspects of the virtual design studio: (1) the formation of a social environment for learning and teaching (ning), (2) the facilitation of refl ective process through designing and sharing experiences (opendesignstudio), and (3) the formation of a platform for communication between tutors across the degree programme (google wave). discussion now turns to these three core studies. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 5 figure 1 the atelier-d project process 1. creating a social environment for teaching and learning in year one a small facebook study took place which provided clear indication that the use of social networking tools can have a positive impact in the building of a social community of designers. creating a space for both students and tutors to participate across the design programme provides huge opportunities for informal learning. it facilitates the transfer of tacit knowledge, not just for design learning, but also for information and resources about the wider design profession. social networking sites offer tools that allow students to personalise their own space and provide a shared virtual space where they can socialise, share resources, comment and discuss with each other. a larger study took place in the second year involving volunteer students and tutors across the three open university design courses. a ning website was created (www.oudesig.ning.com), to provide a programmecentred network and facilitate communication across levels of study. the move from facebook to the ning platform was chosen for a number of reasons. ning allowed both asynchronous and synchronous communication to take place thus providing an active space for live chat. similar to facebook, it promotes the sharing of pictures and video and allows users to create their own groups. but the ability to customize compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 6 the website enabled the creation of a more personalised private space dedicated to the design community within the open university. a screenshot is shown in figure 2. the designing website was created in february 2010 and now has over 150 members across all three course programmes. the site provides three main functions. first it acts as a living repository of design resources based around videos, pictures and web-links uploaded by its members. second, the uploaded artefacts (pictures, videos, links etc) provide the basis for communication within the network and third, the site provides a space for both synchronous and asynchronous events to take place, for example collaborative games, competitions and live events. figure 2 the open university designing network 2. facilitating reflective practice through collaboration traditional face-to-face design education allows for both formal and informal exchanges of design ideas through design artefacts (sketches, photos, models and prototypes). sharing design ideas and engaging in reflective interaction is seen as a crucial part of the design process (schön, 1983). these can take place in compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 7 both formal and informal interactions. formal exchanges typically take place during design critiques or reviews between students and tutors. informal exchanges take place throughout the academic year and include student-to-student and student-to-tutor conversations, but also communication through pin-board or notice board displays. as outlined above, in year one of the atelier-d project a number of technologies were explored with regards to their potential to facilitate reflective practice through collaboration between small numbers of students. flickr was used for organizing design critiques, elluminate for tutor-student communication, and second life for supporting collaboration in small projects. for year two, we assessed the technologies according to three criteria: a) the scalability of these platforms for use by a very large number of students, b) the effort required by students and tutors in order to familiarise themselves with the new technologies and be able to effectively use them, and c) the possibility of customising the technologies so that they are tightly integrated with the main structure and learning objectives of the individual courses. second life requires significant training before students and tutors are able to use it effectively in design and it is difficult to implement for large cohorts. flickr was found to be quite complex to use and it lacked customization tools. elluminate was found to be very beneficial as a tool for organising synchronous meetings, tutorials and online workshops, yet took time for its users to overcome the technical issues and become confident users. however, elluminate offers potential to be used with other technologies, but was not considered core as it lacks the ability to sustain an off-line collaborative space. given these drawbacks the team decided to continue with the bespoke e-portfolio tool opendesignstudio developed by the open university’s learning and teaching solutions unit. this was created in parallel with the new fheq level 4 course: u101 ‘design thinking: creativity for the 21st century’, first presented in february 2010. opendesignstudio is an image-sharing interface that allows students to share photos, scans and information with their peers and tutors as well as submit work for formal assessment. students are encouraged to upload their ideas, comment on the work of others, and share their learning experience with the community of designers (tutors) and design learners. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 8 figure 3 screenshot of opendesignstudio portfolio page when users join opendesignstudio they are encouraged to create a personal profile where they can add information about themselves and upload a profi le picture, similar to other social networking websites. the screenshot in figure 3 shows a user’s portfolio page with images that have been uploaded. against each image a small red balloon indicates if they have received any comments from other members within the network. at the top right of the page there is a green indication bar that reveals the user’s progress within the course. this technology is embedded within the learning objectives of the course and students are encouraged to actively engage with their community by sharing their design ideas and commenting on the postings of others. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 9 3. communication and learning across levels there are over 50 tutors (associate lecturers) involved in the tutoring of students across the three design courses, coordinated through 13 regional open university offi ces around the uk. although some associate lectures meet occasionally to run day schools they have limited opportunity to communicate across the programme and rely on the course tutor forums or private emails for communication. this study began with the intention to create opportunities for the sharing of knowledge and resources to take place within a virtual environment, through the use of google wave, a content sharing tool. google wave was chosen as it provides a private space for members to communicate and to share documents, as shown in figure 4. figure 4 screenshot of a google wave for tutors compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 10 findings and observations the discussion is presented under six headings that represent some of the key attributes of a virtual design studio: social spaces, social roles, visual object sharing, personalisation, refl ective practice and cross-level communication. social spaces in traditional face-to-face institutions, students and tutors have the benefi t of sharing the same physical space. there are social spaces such as ‘the corridor’ or the ‘café’ that provide the opportunity to chat or to share problems and experiences. participants get the opportunity to peer over pinboards to view ‘work-inprogress’ of students at higher and lower levels. also, there are spaces for ‘exhibitions’ and ‘events’ where organised activities bring people together allowing them to share experiences, formally showcase their work and communicate with the wider design community. the sharing of ideas through social interaction is viewed as essential to the development of a community of practice (wenger, 1998). web 2.0 technologies provide opportunities to re-create these social spaces where informal learning can take place. technologies that create virtual environments such as second life can augment the design studio space allowing actual design activities to occur within either a private or shared collaborative space. social networks such as ning can provide social spaces that facilitate communication across a network. providing a networked learning environment can facilitate knowledge building and support collaborative designing (seitamaa-hakkarainen et al. 2004). this study provides a better understanding of how both informal and formal spaces can be created and developed within a future design atelier, but also illustrates how online social spaces can provide benefits across other subject disciplines. this is applicable not only to distance learning education, but can also be hugely beneficial for traditional face-toface education which, as noted earlier, is moving towards a blended mode of teaching. social roles the atelier-d team adopted a grounded theory approach in order to analyse the activity within the social networking sites (facebook and ning). content analysis and social network analysis revealed the emergence of particular social structures and social roles. in this study social networking facilitated three kinds of learners: ‘content-focused learners’, who focus their discussion on concrete aspects, artefacts or methods of the design course; ‘content-orientated socialisers’, who focus their discourse on their personal experience within the course without explicit examples; and ‘brokers’ who are actively engaged in transferring information between the two aforementioned kinds of learners (schadewitz & zamenopoulos, compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 11 2009). the evidence suggests that future online design studios need to support social networking but appropriate conditions and motivations for sharing information within the network still need to be defi ned. visual object sharing effective learning in design requires a rich visual environment. verbal communication is enhanced where visual cues are present and act to promote a collaborative discourse. this study revealed the positive role that visual object sharing plays in the formation of a community of learners. many of the technologies employed within this study support a wide range of visual objects (photos, images, videos). the sharing of visual media in face-to-face design education is an essential element of teaching and learning. in keeping with the atelier model, a studio master can demonstrate ‘knowing-in-action’ through a variety of visual 33 objects backed up with verbal discourse. this is seen as essential to developing students’ tacit knowledge as promoted by scholars such as kvan (2001) and schön (1983). the inclusion of visual object sharing is seen as a fundamental element of a design studio and further research into understanding the nature of an online visual object sharing would prove valuable in the development of a virtual design atelier. personalisation in traditional face-to-face teaching, art and design students have access to dedicated studio space in which to work. however, this is increasingly under threat and hot-desking is becoming the norm. where space is provided, students often personalise their space with current work, artefacts and images of inspiration. these spaces are often configured and reconfigured over time and become highly personalised workspaces expressing the students’ identity. as noted by binder et al. (2004), they also provide a place for students to showcase selected work to the wider design community. the ability of students to personalise their own design studio space encourages a sense of ownership and it facilitates the formation of what wenger (1998) refers to as a ‘community of practice’. digital technologies that provide opportunities for personalisation and facilitate users to re-configure their learning space can therefore assist in providing a sense of ownership, which ultimately should lead to a sense of community. technologies used within this study were chosen for their ability to provide personalisation of space (e.g. ning). however, more research is needed to understand how users can be encouraged to take ownership of the technologies made available by education institutions. reflective practice design studio learning is dynamic with the convergence of knowledge and action. it exploits a particular cognitive capacity for evaluation – what schön (1983) referred to as ‘reflection-in-action’; the reflective dialogue that takes place within individuals and across a community through exchanges between compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 12 participants (broadfoot & bennett, 2003). virtual environments (e.g. second life) can provide an immersive environment for creative and reflective thinking, while knowledge mapping tools (e.g. compendium) can assist designers to reflect on their own creative process and communicate this process to others. the ability to record students’ activity, artefact creation and related conversations can be enhanced with new technologies. for example, e-portfolios (e.g. opendesignstudio) keep track of students’ design process and make development available for re-examination at any time. it seems that in documenting process, opendesignstudio might be superior to traditional techniques for facilitating reflective practice. cross-level communication within a traditional face-to-face design institution community awareness embraces both senior and junior students and their tutors. there is also a wider enculturation involving external stakeholders such as employers. such cross-level and multi-participant communication enhances a learning environment and particularly those that seek to develop design skills and knowledge. it offers the opportunity to transfer tacit knowledge about, for example, the curriculum, assessment, the institution, employment opportunities or the wider profession. traditionally the mechanisms for fostering such community building and enculturation have been many and various involving formal and informal means. exhibitions, shared spaces, opportunities for interaction, committees etc all can play a vital role. the mechanisms for achieving meaningful dialogue across levels of a virtual community are less clear. it seems likely that supporting the sharing of visual images, text and verbal discourses plays an important role. bringing students and tutors from different levels is a worthy but diffi cult challenge – particularly the issues of motivation and reward for participation. mechanisms for programme-wide communication can provide opportunities for users to socialise, communicate ideas, share resources and support each other. key issues despite the availability of some simple and easy to use web 2.0 technologies today, combinations of tools are poorly researched and the creation of an online design studio still very much relies on a practical exploratory approach. the atelier-d study examined the use of a variety of digital technologies and the combination of selected tools to support design learning and teaching. clearly such work makes demands on the digital literacy of both teachers and learners and, as with much design work, this is an area of skill and knowledge where teachers and learners journey together. a number of key issues emerged from atelier-d. the issue of scalability and technology robustness was seen as a key challenge for the open university as student populations frequently exceed 500 per module. this limits the application of certain technologies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 13 because of the level of support, training and expertise needed to successfully implement these technologies. some web 2.0 technologies would therefore be difficult to adopt with large student cohorts while others would require unrealistic levels of support. for example, the use of second life offers huge potential for design but would be problematic to implement such technology at a distance. the technologies employed within this research were chosen for their potential to promote design thinking, aid communication and social collaboration. however, participants faced significant frustrations and difficulties, and reported feeling overwhelmed at the number of tools available to use. both students and tutors reported on the challenges of having to overcome a steep learning curve when first encountering some of the tools, which resulted in low levels of engagement by some of the studies. the aspect of usability and appropriate use of any digital technology needs to be carefully considered and we therefore need to learn to adopt a digital wisdom when developing future learning technologies. embedding technologies within course learning objectives proved valuable. a seamless experience is particularly important when a number of different technologies are used. providing tailor-made guides, that include clear instructions for using the technology and explanations how this will benefit the user, are essential. additionally, it is important to allow adequate time for users to become familiar with new technologies and to become acquainted with their online peers. virtual interactions can lack the social cues that take place in face-to-face interactions and users need time to get to know and trust their fellow peers and tutors in order for a virtual design atelier to grow. summary whilst design education has unique characteristics, the findings of this project have implications for other subjects that rely on the establishment of communities of learners and teachers. subjects in the sciences, arts and humanities increasingly seek to engage learners in dynamic, creative activities that involve communication, reflection, collaboration and a sharing of skill and knowledge. the study described here reveals pointers to the fostering of rich dialogues, often visual, between participants that allow ideas and artefacts to receive the iteration and re-configurations they require. for the domain of design a virtual studio needs to be flexible, allowing participants to share and test their design ideas, map their thoughts and make connections with a variety of stakeholders. the atelier-d project has begun to capture and model some of the key features that make up a traditional studio but the project has also given rise to new questions regarding the nature of a virtual visual object-sharing community. through its links with curriculum development at the open university, and particularly the creation of the new fheq level 4 course ‘design thinking’, atelier-d has demonstrated the potential for a new learningscape in design education. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 14 the authors acknowledge the support of the joint information systems committee in funding the work reported here, and the contribution of other members of the project team: georgy holden, nicole schadewitz, peter lloyd, emma dewberry and giselle ferreira. references bennett, r. and dziekan, v. (2005), ‘forming online communities of students, educators and professionals to explore collaborative modes of creative interaction and practice’, etd2005, 8 th international electronic theses and dissertations symposium proceedings. sydney: unsw. binder, t., de michelis, g., gervautz, m., jacucci, g., matkovic, k., psik, t. and wagner, i. (2004), ‘supporting confi gurability in a mixed-media environment for design students’, personal and ubiquitous computing, vol. 8. (5), pp. 310–25. broadfoot, o. and bennett, r. (2003), ‘design studios: online?’ apple university consortium academic and developers conference proceedings 2003, pp 9–21. kvan, t. (2000) ‘the pedagogy of virtual design studios’, automation in construction, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 245–354. schadewitz, n. and zamenopoulos, t. (2009), ‘towards an online design studio: a study of social networking in design distance learning’, proceedings of international association of societies of design research (iasdr) (cd-rom) october 18–22, 2009, seoul: korea. available at: http://design.open.ac.uk/atelier-d/documents/iasdr_paper_web_pdf.pdf schön, d. (1983), the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. new york: basic books. sclater, n., grierson, h., ion, w. j. and macgregor, s. p. (2001), ‘online collaborative design projects: overcoming barriers to communication’, international journal of engineering education, vol. 17, no.2, pp 189–196. seitamaa-hakkarainen, p., lahti, h. and hakkarainen, k. (2004), virtual design studio as a learning environment, a paper presented at the scandinavian summer cruise at the baltic sea (theme: motivation, learning and knowledge building in the 21st century), organized by karoliniska institutet, earli sig higher education, and ikit, stockholm, sweden. available online: www.lime.ki.se/uploads/images/516/seitamaa-hakkarainen_p_et_al.pdf compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 3, 2011 15 shao, y., daley, l. and vaughan, l. (2007), exploring web 2.0 for virtual design studio teaching.in ict: providing choices for learners and learning. proceedings ascilite singapore. available online: www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/singapore07/procs/shao.pdf wenger, e. (1998), ‘communities of practice; learning as a social system’, in: systems thinker, june 1998. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 ‘i prefer research to feed my teaching, not lead it’ ian mcnay school of education & training i do get irritated by senior academics from some universities who proclaim an institutional policy of research-led-teaching in a tone which implies that such an approach is an axiomatic good, universally applicable, to which there is no legitimate alternative and, which cannot be questioned. let me question this unthinking approach. i did a research-led degree, in english, in the 1960s. what i got, then, was a fragmented programme with no internal coherence. it seemed that staff pursued individual research interests and did not talk with one another about the programme as a whole, or about the student experience. the council for national academic awards did much to improve that in the 1970s and 1980s for the newly emergent challengers to tradition; i do not want to regress. i was interested when one of my students on the greenwich course for new academics, in an assignment on the research-teaching nexus, argued that he could not use his research in teaching since the gap between what he was researching and where his students currently were situated in the discipline, would take considerable time and effort to bridge, reducing time for other more relevant and accessible material and risking deterring students. from that individual experience, let me move to the institutional level. times higher education has regular reports of courses, or even whole teaching departments being closed, not because of lack of student demand or poor quality ratings for teaching, but because of research assessment exercise results. the issue of 24 september, 2009 reports (p. 11), the proposed closure of sociology at birmingham and the decision by stirling to move to a staff:student ratio of 1:30 and, an end to appointing teaching fellows in favour of rising research stars, because the balance between teaching and research staff is not appropriate in a research-led institution. so, decisions on teaching provision are being made on the basis of judgements on a different activity. jon adams and his colleagues at evidence ltd., which spun off from the university of leeds, have shown that the aggregated consequence of such decisions is that some regions of the country may have no courses in some key subjects within easy reach. that runs counter to policy on access, where geography is a prime factor in student decision-making. part-time students will be particularly disadvantaged. since statistics from the higher education statistics agency on graduate employment show that full-time graduates tend to seek jobs in the locality of their university, there are also implications for the supply of people with key skills in certain regions – not helpful to re-generation (another policy priority). the paradox is that the policy does not operate in universities where the claim is made. my research on research quality assessment led to a conference session where i asked participants whether research policy was linked to teaching policy. nobody said ‘yes’ out of ‘i prefer research to feed my teaching, not lead it’ 2 more than 50 people. there were very few policy linkages to anything even enterprise, when the two activities may be located in the same unit. research stood by itself, a discrete entity, somewhat apart from other elements of the university. that confirms the hefce review of strategic plans, which found fragmentation into silos. my experience of research into top teams in universities underlines that: pvcs in many places have an implicit norm of not commenting on others’ portfolios in return for not having them comment on their own. that is not good. the national science foundation in the usa has a criterion for approving research bids, which is that there must be evidence that outcomes will feed into learning. in the netherlands, quality in research and teaching is assessed by the same agency, often together. in hong kong, the university grants commission uses all four of the carnegie scholarships in its rae, so discovery, teaching/ dissemination, application and integration form a synoptic framework. none of that is evident in the uk. here, even ‘impact’ has not meant impact as the lay person would understand it – changing people’s lives, but influence on other academics in a closed world, assessed by a citation count of journal articles written by a coterie in an exclusive club. when i ask research staff in places proclaiming research-led-teaching whether internal approval of a research bid requires evidence of how it will lead teaching, i often get blank or even scornful looks. when i ask people in teaching and learning offices whether validation processes seek to identify how research has an impact on teaching, the same blankness spreads across their faces. it is not a requirement for approval; it is not audited for reapproval. it is not explored by qaa in england as a quality criterion – though the scots do. the final negative is: if research leads teaching, teaching must follow research, and not, by implication, the needs of students nor the expectations of employers. however, the role of universities has gone beyond preparing the teachers and professors of the future to feed only themselves. that was true in the 1960s, but the rise of new graduate professions and the massification of provision mean that it is true no longer. many academic staff now gain their authority from recent and relevant experience in the field for which they are helping students to prepare, whether in acting, architecture or archaeology. the reflective professional is as valid a source of expertise as the researcher academic. employers comment on graduate skills and lack of preparedness; bodies representing research users criticise the nature of the discourse in publications, which deters those beyond the ivory towers and prevents learning, or knowledge transfer as we now call it. so, the claim to an essential, universal link between research and teaching is dangerous rhetoric. of course, i do not want to deny a rich potential symbiosis between research and teaching. i use my own research in my teaching, and many of my students provide data that feeds into my understanding of my research fields. note that: ‘feeds’, not ‘leads’, a key difference in the nature of the articulation. at its extreme, a research-led-teaching policy would mean teaching staff only teaching topics where they are engaged in research and can provide primary data. an obvious nonsense. we cannot cover the whole field and have to rely on secondary data from others. the scholarship of bringing a critical perspective to differing views on a topic is key to developing such skills in students. it is the approach of the researcher, seeking to test a claim, a hypothesis, an assertion, a policy statement from a politician claiming to pursue evidence based policy (another fiction). equally, i encourage students to pursue a topic by a critical literature review, so that research processes are part of what i teach. that develops a skill for lifelong learning, based on critical enquiry and healthy scepticism. ‘i prefer research to feed my teaching, not lead it’ 3 let me offer one example of a researcher approach to such student approaches. i was observing a session by a new tutor – young, male – who was covering work on child development, drawing on work by the newsomes in nottingham. one student – mid-30s, female – commented that two of her three children fell closely into the newsomes’ typology; the third did not. she suggested reasons for this. the tutor response was to say ‘oh, that is just an anecdote; the newsomes were presenting research’. i spoke to him afterwards about acknowledging student contributions positively; acknowledging other forms of learning and pointing out that the newsomes’ ‘research’ was based on a (largish) sample of ‘anecdotes’ of the kind he had just dismissed. of course, despite their rhetoric, many employers do not want challenging employees who use such skills of enquiry, critique and challenge. i once surveyed students on a postgraduate diploma in management studies, sponsored in a regular block-booking by an employer with awards for employee development support – an investor in people. i asked how far they could implement the learning from the course. not at all, was the modal reply: there was a resistance to new, disruptive ideas. ‘no new paradigms here’. so money was spent on training and development, but it was a wasted investment. the pity is that this applies to universities, too. when i explore how far they are learning organisations, staff do not score them highly – usually below the 40 per cent pass mark they apply to learners. so, research-led teaching is a dangerous myth; research fed teaching will be good. so will research-led policy… on research and teaching and assessment. references times higher education, 24 september 2009: 11. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 first published in april 2018 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, school of law, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university reza gholami, keele university sarah crofts, independent critical friend claire rossato, university of greenwich christina malamateniou, university of greenwich reviewers monica fernandes, brunel university, london harriet lowe, university of greenwich jane robb, university of greenwich ray stoneham, university of greenwich mark dawson, lancaster university nicky garsten, university of greenwich agnieszka marciszewska, university of greenwich louise hewitt, university of greenwich yang yang, university of greenwich articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 the mooc revolution – massive open online courses: the answer to problems facing education or an experiment that could destroy centuries of tradition? katharine jewitt the open university and university of glasgow abstract a radical rethink is going on about what it means to go to an educational institution, asking profound questions about what the classroom of the future should look like and the way we should learn. given the emerging nature of massive open online courses (moocs), this paper is a synthesis of critical reflections, commentaries and cautionary tales from a variety of perspectives, looking at the issues facing education and considering whether traditional teaching methods have outlived their usefulness. in times when educational institutions are facing financial cuts and student debt is increasing, some argue that free university online courses will be the saviour of education, (koller et al, 2013). others argue that they could destroy centuries of tradition and threaten some of the world's greatest universities (vardi, 2012). much research focuses on the design and categorisation of moocs (clark, 2013, downes, 2010 and reich, 2013) and the role of the educator (ferguson and whitelock, 2014). this paper builds on the research by examining some of the phenomenal changes to technologyenhanced learning being brought about by new technologies and business. it summarises some of the key discourses about moocs, which continue to generate heated debates and divide opinions about their credibility, value and importance. i argue that any form of technology that drives engaging education, tailored precisely to the needs of individuals, and opens up education to those who cannot afford it, must be a viable alternative and challenge traditional academic institutions both to question what they offer and respond accordingly. key words: technology-enhanced learning, moocs, personalised learning introduction the word ‘revolution’ gets bandied about an awful lot, but i do not use the term lightly. a revolution is a great shift in the world’s society, where an old system is thrown out and a new one is embraced. in all of history, success is made in revolutionary times. the difference with this particular revolution is that it presents a chance for education to spread to a lot more people on a global scale. the tools, technology and opportunities that are being developed are designed to empower people; lots of people. it is shaking the foundation stones of the academic world. year by year, a new technology arrives: over the last ten years, we’ve seen mobile and smart devices, tablets, e-books, wifi and bluetooth, gaming technologies, wearable technology, augmented reality, 3d virtual worlds and social networking. christensen (1997) coined the term ‘disruptive technology’, which he describes as something that fundamentally challenges the status quo and changes the way we’ve always done things. he categorised articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 them as disruptive because they challenge existing systems and models. christensen discusses how large companies will often dismiss the value of a disruptive technology because it is not something they know and therefore regard it as conflicting with their business goals, only to discover later that they have missed out on the market share. revolutions work by destroying what was perfect and enabling a new kind of perfect, but this transformation cannot be immediate. the process in between is what the human species has to get right. much research focuses on the design and categorisation of moocs (clark, 2013, downes, 2010 and reich, 2013) and the role of the educator (ferguson and whitelock, 2014). this paper builds on the research by examining some of the phenomenal changes to technologyenhanced learning being brought about by new technologies and business. it summarises some of the key discourses about moocs, which continue to generate heated debates and divide opinions about their credibility, value and importance. this paper provides a brief overview of how education has been industrialised and suggests that it has, in this form, consequently outlived its usefulness. the second section discusses the flipped classroom and how technology-enhanced learning is helping marginalised communities, with examples from silicon valley, home to some of the world’s biggest technology companies whose research and development is focused on how people learn best. the paper looks at some specific examples, including rocketship education (which is focused on individualised learning), the khan academy (providing free education to anyone, anywhere), the use of tablets in schools, gaming, and platforms to personalise educational content. the third section focuses on the phenomenal changes in education being brought about by moocs. finally, the paper summarises the discussions and makes recommendations for moving forward. throughout this paper, i argue that any form of technology that drives engaging education, tailored precisely to the needs of individuals, and opens up education to those who cannot afford it, must be a viable alternative and challenge traditional academic institutions to question what they offer and respond accordingly. the nature of educational research, learning and teaching is always changing and evolving: we academics cannot ignore anything with the potential to create powerful learning experiences that make educational environments connected, collaborative and personalised, developing in students the digital literacy skills essential to their growth in an ever-changing digital world. the next section provides a brief look back at educational systems from early civilisations, thereby setting in context how the rules that created traditional teaching methods 2000+ years ago have outlived their usefulness. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 the end of a system it is important to look back at our educational history dispassionately and recognise how resistant the field of education is to change and how little it has evolved (waller, 1961). the origins of traditional education date back to early civilisations in egypt and babylonia when, in about 3100bc, trade, government and formal religion all began to rise (mulhern, 1959). the emergence of education lies, to a large extent, inside the military. in ancient greece, boys began at the age of seven, learning by memorising, and training in preparation for joining the state militia at the age of twenty. the system was designed to create identical soldiers and administrators, trained in the art of war. this drive for conformity continued in systems of slavery and was evident during the rise of agriculture in the late middle ages. landowners discovered that they could increase their wealth by having other people do the work for them (orme, 2001 and tutek, 1991). when the industrial revolution took place, from 1760 through to the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy mill owners, such as richard arkwright, wanted people with identical skills and identical knowledge to work in their factories. twentieth century manufacturing assembly line owners, such as henry ford with his mass production of automobiles, also desired everybody to buy the same thing and wanted consumer conformity, too. montessori education (montessori, 2009) is an educational method developed in the early 1900s to move away from the factory model of school teaching and emphasises learning through all five senses. it’s hands-on, self-paced, collaborative, challenging and enjoyable. it encourages students to take ownership and be responsible for their own learning, enabling them to choose what they want to learn depending on their interest. divergent and innovative thinking is nurtured without the need for testing, grading and homework. classrooms have mixed age groups spanning four years. the older children of the classes become leaders and mentors and younger children can see how their learning will develop by seeing what older children are working on. heppell (2011) discusses how, in this new, connected, world, the concept of education conveying content is dying and learning is just beginning. the idea of working on your own, sitting at a desk to take an exam paper which both student and teacher hope holds no surprises, is passé. examinations prepare students for certainty by specifying a set syllabus which covers the examination questions, but the real world is not like that. heppell believes that knowing anything is an obsolete idea, as, every day, we live in a world full of surprises. everybody can find out anything online when s/he needs to know it, so teachers do not need to give answers. learners who find out things for themselves will retain the information better. education is no longer limited to what teachers can tell a student or limited by a text book, as content is available to everyone. students are connected outside educational establishments and can gain access to a lot of information, exchange ideas, talk about more things and become more confident. this section provided a brief look on the past and the end of the industrialisation of education. the next section takes a look at the new world of online education and the future of technology driving an education revolution, focusing on some specific examples of how technology is being utilised in marginal communities. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 the new world of online education for some people, the new world of technology-enhanced learning is a time of great uncertainty and loss. it means something new and unexpected; it results in change and new practices. mind-sets and attitudes have consequently to be changed, in order to provide students with a unique, value-added learning experience. the concept of disruptive education can be looked at from the emergence of learning environments. in the first virtual learning environments, tools were provided by the educational institutions and teachers chose which to use for their courses. personal learning environments (ples), where learners create their own learning space, have now superseded them. there is a pick and mix of cloud-based tools and institutional tools. more recently, building on ples, has been the emergence of ‘the internet of things’ (iot), the networked connection of people, process, data and things, which is the basis for the internet of learning things (iolt) (edutech associates, 2013). it allows for seamless learning across different devices and in a variety of contexts. the flipped classroom flips education on its head from a traditional lecture-centric approach to a learnerand activity-focused one. students watch videos and complete online activities prior to attending face-to-face discussion sessions. teacher time is then focused on problem-solving and collaborative activity. students have the benefit of watching lectures at home at their own pace and at a time to suit them and are able to collaborate with peers and teachers through online discussions. instruction is delivered outside the classroom and homework activities are brought into classroom hours, where teachers dedicate their time to explaining difficult concepts and can provide instructional and personalised support in the classroom and encourage group collaboration to work on ideas. class time is set for work that used to be set for homework, but now the teacher can help students with what they are finding most difficult or set new challenges for those students who are racing ahead. sal khan spawned the debate on flipping the classroom. he is the man behind ‘the khan academy’, an online teaching service whose mission is to provide a free, open, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. it is backed by bill gates and google who have donated more than two million dollars (khan academy, 2014). khan was a boston hedge-fund analyst who began tutoring his cousin remotely over the telephone, using a simple computer program called yahoo doodle. after his cousin passed with flying colours, khan received many more requests from relations and friends and decided to publish his lessons with open access and post them on youtube, a video-sharing website. today, it is arguably the world’s largest school, with ten million people using the site every month and over half a million registered teachers using the academy in their classrooms. there are over 400,000,000 lessons translated into twenty-eight languages and around four million exercises are completed every day (khan academy, 2014). the website contains practice exercises, instructional videos, dashboard analytics and teacher tools, all of which which empower students to study at their own pace, whether inside or outside a classroom. in a traditional classroom, it is very hard for teachers to know who is understanding the subject matter and who is not. the khan academy is supporting a classroom of the future, providing a personalised kind of education through videos. the videos are typically ten minutes long. when students struggle, they can pause and rewind and make a note of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 questions they want to ask their teacher later. every time the student uses it, the system is improving its knowledge of what the student may or may not know. based on this, the system recommends what the student should do, teaching the child what s/he needs to know and not a whole class. each child is receiving an education tailored precisely to personal needs so that there are no gaps in her/his knowledge. the teacher is told what skills students have mastered, the number of attempts and how long it took for the student to complete the activity. what is so powerful is that it tells the teacher the exact problem the student has encountered. the teacher can thus intervene and clear up quickly something that, in a traditional context, the student could have struggled with for years. the best teacher in the world cannot know as much as the khan dashboard. it knows everything a child does, where s/he went wrong, what videos s/he watched. students earn energy points and badges so they can update their avatars. the computer is driving the teaching and the teacher role is that of mentor. khan is not alone in driving the revolution and it is not just technology driving developments in education, either. astonishing advances in brain science are allowing us to learn much more about how neurological connections are made, why we remember what we do and how we may enhance that process… and gaming technology taps into all of this. neuroscientists have discovered how the brain can rewire and change itself in response to behavioural conditions (marcus, 2009). detailed human mapping is taking place with new imaging technology, which former us president barack obama likened to the ‘space race’ (the white house, 2013). nolan bushnall, founder of atari and modern video games, has brought his knowledge to brainrush, making education as addictive as video games. anyone can log on to the website and study a range of subjects by playing games for free, which provide personalised practice to develop their fluency. brainrush allows teachers to assign activities to students or to create their own and monitor progress in real time, assigning remedial or advanced work according to the needs of each student. children want to play video games and want to design them. with gaming technology, learning can be ten times faster and almost anything can be learned in a game (rivero, 2013). in a two-year test, run on spanish language vocabulary, involving over 2,000 teachers and 80,000 students, the test participants claim to have increased learning speeds between eight and ten times those of traditional learning methods (rivero, 2013). bushall says that, by repeatedly playing various games on a subject, you can ensure you retain 100% of what you learn for the rest of your life and never forget it. the brain science indicates that we should be able to do this. it is a breath-taking thought and there’s a huge amount of research to support this (marcus, 2009). the use of gaming technology moves away from behaviourist learning, where learners are passive and being lectured to, and instead engages them in actionand problem-based learning. students study, manipulate the content and work with it. they apply the content rather than simply memorise it. in a study of 225 studies of meta-analysis, it was found that undergraduate students in classes with traditional stand-and-deliver lectures were 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes using active learning techniques (freeman et al, 2014). in many developing countries, text books are not available because they are too expensive or, even if available, are out-of-date. funding for developing new educational materials is articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 often not forthcoming and access to educational resources is limited. the impact of such resources like the khan academy, on all stages of an individual’s education, could be significant in emerging economies where access to high-quality educational resources will help support and improve teaching and learning. blended learning is being adopted by rocketship education, a network of public elementary charter schools in the usa, serving primarily low-income students in neighbourhoods where access to excellent schools is limited (rocketship, 2014). around a quarter of the school day is spent online and results have soared. rocketship students are outperforming students in the virtual comparison group in mathematics between 67% (grade 3) and 89% (grade 5). in addition, results show that rocketship schools are significantly reducing the high-versus-low income achievement gap in grades 2 and 3, up to 75% (michael and susan dell foundation, 2014). text books of the future can be and are being delivered on connective devices, which means that the incredible amount of data produced by students is calculable and usable. this allows teachers to detect where each student needs help and to focus their instruction on students’ gaps in knowledge. jose ferreria is the founder and ceo of knewton, a former executive at kaplan inc. who has developed a platform to provide personalised educational content. as students progress through a course, it calculates what each student knows and when and how that student learns best, and then presents material that is most suited to that student in the format from which the student learns best. the data can calculate, for example, that a student learns mathematics best in the morning in fifty-minute blocks and is most effective when learning science in twenty-minute bite-sized chunks as their click rate declines. the data can show when students should take a break and whether they prefer short questions for some subjects and more complicated, difficult questions for others. the platform revisits material if the students did not fully understand the first time. the system gets smarter the more it is used and is able to predict failure in advance and prevent it from happening by presenting material for students to study, knowing that a student struggled with those concepts in a previous session. knewton can take students to content from the previous month or year and can recognise that this student is similar to another student and therefore choose the same study strategy. this kind of personalised learning stops students from feeling alienated, bored or frustrated because they don’t understand their homework. the system has already predicted what content is required, so that the student has everything s/he needs prior to completing the piece of work. this benefits advanced children, who can unlock their potential and work at a faster pace and study more stimulating material. students who need to work at a slower pace can do so and still fulfil their potential. it allows every student to have a path to success. it is unclear what the full impact of all the educational technology discussed in this section will have on the future landscape of education. these open resources raise the debate about tel and the role of openness as a driver for innovation, equity and access. since much of the running in this new world of online education is being made by people who stand to generate a great deal of money, perhaps this is the answer to the present funding crisis. have traditional teaching methods outlived their usefulness? whatever your opinion is of the khan academy or games like brainrush, they make traditional educational institutions question what it is they do and compare the value of online learning to a face-to-face, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 campus-based experience. examples such as the khan academy and knewton provide teachers with an opportunity to review how they work with their students and to rethink their values and delivery of learning, which can only be a good thing. the next section takes a look at whether moocs are the answer to problems facing higher education. the mooc revolution moocs are courses that are open, participatory and provide lifelong networked learning. they provide a way to connect and collaborate and for participants to develop their digital skills and engage in the learning process. in a mooc, participants choose what they want to do and how they want to participate. they are a means of working and talking together in a structured way because part of the course requires collaborative engagement with the material together with both other participants and other material found; students must make connections with ideas and their network. the content of a mooc knits together to create a networked forest of resources. there’s no right or single path to study, which promotes independence whilst working in your own space; networked connections are also created from engagement with others. a mooc has been defined as: “an open-access online course (i.e., without specific participation restrictions) that allows for unlimited (massive) participation. many moocs provide interactive elements to encourage interactions among students and between students and the teaching staff, although the latter is not a defining requirement.” (kaplan and haenlein, 2016) in these times, when educational institutions are facing financial cuts and student debt is increasing, some argue that free university online courses will be the saviour of education, (koller et al, 2013). others argue that they could destroy centuries of tradition and threaten some of the world's greatest universities (vardi, 2012). the role of openness as a drive for innovation, equity and access to learning has gained increasing interest in recent years, partly through the emergence of open educational resources (oer), a term first used at unesco’s 2002 ‘forum on the impact of open courseware for higher education in developing countries’ (witherspoon, 2002), but, most recently, through moocs. the idea of the mooc revolution is driving a huge shift from an education system based on memorisation and knowledge recall to a world of engagement of the mind and of the development of skills for problem solving, thinking and retrieving and utilising information effectively. some see moocs as disruptive technology; for others, they constitute the greatest opportunity in history. moocs are challenging traditional academic institutions to radicalise the way they deliver education, thus taking a step towards global education. moocs allow anyone in the world to have access to education entirely from their home. however, how to invigilate tests does present significant challenge, as does knowing that people are who they say they are! there are various types of mooc (cusack, 2014). the xmooc has a core curriculum and a professor who runs recorded lectures that can be watched by students at any time. cmoocs have course materials as a starting point and centre upon connectivity through student-tostudent interactions. doocs are distributed online collaborative courses, where the same articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 materials are used at multiple institutions. students are able to engage across institutions, but the exact administrations of the material can vary. boocs are big open online courses. but limited to a smaller number of participants, usually around fifty. smocs are synchronous massive online courses with lectures that are broadcast live, which requires all participants to be logged in at the same time. spocs are a version of a mooc, that are small private online courses and mostly replicate the traditional classroom with teacher interactions and limited class sizes. they are often used locally with on-campus students (kaplan and haenlein, 2016). there are also corporate moocs that are designed for employee training. the first mooc, created in 2008 by educators stephen downes and george siemens, was called connectivism and connectivity knowledge. it used many different platforms and resources for student engagement, including wiki pages, forums and facebook groups. in 2011, peter norvig and sebastien thrun created ‘introduction to artificial intelligence’. 160,000 students from around the world signed up and over 20,000 completed the mooc (mcgill, 2014). following this, a number of companies emerged. in 2011, coursera was set up by andrew ng and daphne koller (mcgill, 2014) and in the following year, udacity was created by sebastien thrun. both are online technology platforms that host moocs in a wide variety of topics, by partnering with top-tier universities to offer free courses to anyone. coursera launched with an enrolment of 100,000+ students on each of its first courses and now offers in the region of 1,000 courses provided by over 100 partners and has over eleven million students from at least 196 countries (coursera 2015). in january 2014, it was reported (cusack, 2014) that coursera had over five million students, in 190 countries, studying its portfolio of 532 courses. udacity had 1.8 million students in 190 countries, studying its thirty-three courses. udacity is radically rethinking what a university can do for its students. it has teamed up with companies from silicon valley to create ‘universities by industry’ and devise courses for their workplaces, matching students to jobs available. courses are being built specifically to match job roles, and students, after studying the mooc, can walk straight into jobs if they have performed appropriately. pros and cons more children will leave school in the next thirty years than ever in history (oecd, 2012). twenty-seven million teachers need to be hired by 2030 (unesco, 2014). technologyenhanced learning is available to support a lifetime opportunity and we cannot fail on the delivery of building a successful future. the real advantage of moocs is their openness and capacity for widening participation and extending education to students who cannot afford education. research by coursera, however, shows that 85% of participants already have university degrees (coursera, 2014). laurillard, (2014) advises that we should always be asking how technology can help us in addressing ambitious educational goals. she goes on to explain how moocs could be used to train teachers in cities of developing countries and suggests that they could go on to train teachers in their local towns; these in turn could reach children who would otherwise receive no formal education. a key advantage of moocs is scale and access. providers such as coursera are able to offer a high-quality product at a marginal cost. they provide students with a free education articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 of the highest quality because, thanks to the numbers involved, the cost per student head is so low. as a result of free access to moocs and other resources like the khan academy, access to learning can be opened up beyond basic education and does not have to be limited by economic status. moocs have been heralded as opening university up to many people who would not otherwise get a university education and as having the ability to improve the quality of life of many people who cannot afford a formal education. moocs help minority students who are capable but unable to attend university to participate in courses. they also open up access for disabled or homebound students to study and interact with other students. there are concerns about the effects these courses will have on the universities themselves and whether universities will be a thing of the past. there’s concern that rich students will study at university and poor students through a computer (mcghee, 2012). moocs facilitate interaction of students to ask questions and discuss better learning experiences through social and peer learning in a social community. education in universities is back to teaching, engaging in dialogue and helping students to develop thinking and problem-solving skills and acquire a passion for discipline. these skills are much easier to harness in face-to-face settings and more difficult in an online context. on campus is where the development of skills will be; teachers there can push students forward and teach them to solve problems. moocs are forcing universities to find more creative ways to improve the learner experience to attract and retain students. as universities evolve, moocs will help to improve what is on offer, educationally. the numbers currently registering on moocs are generating large sets of data providing a wealth of information on student registrations, the number of dropouts, the number of students attending particular lectures and subjects and the percentage of students who take the certified assessments. this data will help academic institutions to improve both their online and face-to-face offerings by providing a more personalised approach to teaching and feedback. data provided by moocs will help universities know how long students are studying for, which topics are most popular and where students are located, all of which will assist in the marketing of courses; certainly, understanding why students are dropping out of courses will serve to improve those courses and enable educators to decide which material is most successfully delivered via moocs. the data collected could well influence institutional student retention and advance the professional development of teachers, by serving to identify, and then illustrate via the mooc videos, those delivery skills best suited to the teaching and learning environment. to conclude, whatever you may think of free and open resources in education, such as moocs, brainrush, the khan academy and knewton, they are opening up learning opportunities for millions of students and offer a real solution to the pressing issue of those 100 million children who currently cannot afford formal education (unesco, 2014). moocs and other learning platforms offer these children a ladder to education and thus a way up from the poverty line. the real value of these disruptive developments is that they are promoting social inclusion and forcing traditional schools, colleges and universities to question what they offer, by articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 asking them what more they can do to provide for students. whether the hype over these learning platforms comes to fruition is less important than their legacy in widening participation, opening access to education and producing a better quality and more personalised learning experience. summary there is no doubt that phenomenal changes in education are occurring. technology is starting to change radically the way we educate our children. education is having to compete with leisure technology and the use of readily-available devices such as tablets and smartphones. faster internet speeds, cheaper computing devices and greater scientific advances in the understanding of how our brain works and how we learn are opening up new opportunities for making effective use of technologies in education and expanding what is on offer online. various factors, such as moocs and the khan academy, are driving the success of free and open resources in education. firstly, connectivity is opening up the world and moocs and other free resources demonstrate the scope of transmission. there is, more than ever before, increasing demand for educational institutions to provide for ever-greater numbers of students from a wider diversity of backgrounds. this is the first generation to live and breathe technology without trepidation and moocs are able to make knowledge accessible to significant numbers. as tapscott (2009) discusses in his book ‘grown up digital’, technology is ‘like the air to them’ and there is an imperative for academic institutions to equip our generation of learners with the digital literacy skills required to survive and prosper in an ever-changing and complex society in the twenty-first century (jenkins 2009). secondly, content is everywhere and readily available. if anybody needs to know anything they can look it up on the internet. education is no longer dependent on a teacher conveying knowledge from a textbook. there’s a new emphasis on the development of skills rather than knowledge recall. technology can get children passionate and excited about learning. emotional interaction increases motivation and learning. playing a game makes children interact more emotionally within an environment in which they are learning and these games can adapt and adjust to improve the level of learners. but all this technology will not take us anywhere without the teachers. if lecturers are concerned that they can be replaced by a video then they should be worried, because, if what they do is exactly the same as they have always done, traditionally, rather than providing tailored tutoring and responses to students’ questions and moving away from content-heavy delivery, then they should be replaced. students, however, do want living, breathing teachers. the lecture videos in moocs may be instructive and helpful, but they do not replicate, for students, a real interactive presence in the room with them. there is something tremendous about getting people together in a place where serendipitous interactions can happen, where you can have face-to-face mentoring between an instructor and students, where students can talk together and create together and learn to debate ideas. moocs do not replace this campus physical experience. the creation of moocs does not equalise the opportunity of students without access to education and that of students attending, say, the massachusetts institute of technology in the usa or the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 university of cambridge in the uk; moocs do, however, have the potential to enhance considerably the levels of performance of both. teachers are at the heart of education, orchestrating the game of learning and providing one-to-one support, riding with students the rollercoaster of discovery and often learning with them. teachers in the twenty-second century will be asked to teach a generation of students they do not understand. the focus is no longer on passing on old knowledge, but equipping our future generations with mental agility and smartness to deal with (and none of us can predict it) what the future will hold. the task for teachers of the future will be how to use the immense power of technology and transform students into higher performers than previous generations. the flipped classroom goes beyond the borders of the classroom and extends our reach to children to help them learn and motivate them to learn. the data that the use of moocs and other platforms can provide, constitute for teachers, an unprecedented means of seeing where children are struggling and providing personalised learning. finally, today’s students are born into a digital revolution with a 24/7 lifestyle immersed in technology. educational institutions have to ‘up’ their game if they are to compete against the proliferation of technological competitors. institutions need to address new competitive niches; teachers need to learn how to use technology effectively for learning. the learning platforms discussed in this paper represent the modern age we live in. maslen (2012) argues that moocs are challenging traditional institutional business models, but, whether or not they are here to stay, they are just the start of more evolutionary disruptive education to follow. what is important is that educators stop fearing what technology might do and take developments seriously, thus making more informed decisions about pedagogical design to deliver quality assurance and an enhanced, personalised learner experience. reference list christensen, c. 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(2012) ‘why online courses can never totally replace the campus experience’, guardian, 19 november 2012 [online], available at http://bit.ly/1g3wpgp https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262513623_confronting_the_challenges.pdf https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262513623_confronting_the_challenges.pdf https://khanacademy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202483630-press-room https://khanacademy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202483630-press-room http://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/6/retention-and-intention-in-massive-open-online-courses-in-depth http://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/6/retention-and-intention-in-massive-open-online-courses-in-depth https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2014/06/what-is-the-problem-for-which-moocs-are-the-solution/#gref https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2014/06/what-is-the-problem-for-which-moocs-are-the-solution/#gref articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/nov/19/open-online-courses-higher-education (accessed 24 november 2011). mcgill, (2014) a brief history of moocs]. available at: http://www.mcgill.ca/maut/currentissues/moocs/history (accessed: 29 september 2014). michael and susan dell foundation. 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(2012) will moocs destroy academia? available at: http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2012/11/156587-will-moocs-destroy-academia/fulltext (accessed: 24 september 2014). waller, w. (1961) the sociology of teaching. new york: russell & russell. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/nov/19/open-online-courses-higher-education http://www.mcgill.ca/maut/current-issues/moocs/history http://www.mcgill.ca/maut/current-issues/moocs/history http://5a03f68e230384a218e0-938ec019df699e606c950a5614b999bd.r33.cf2.rackcdn.com/msdf-blended-learning-report-may-2014.pdf http://5a03f68e230384a218e0-938ec019df699e606c950a5614b999bd.r33.cf2.rackcdn.com/msdf-blended-learning-report-may-2014.pdf http://5a03f68e230384a218e0-938ec019df699e606c950a5614b999bd.r33.cf2.rackcdn.com/msdf-blended-learning-report-may-2014.pdf http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2013/05/is_a_mooc_a_textbook_or_a_course.html http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2013/05/is_a_mooc_a_textbook_or_a_course.html https://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/play-it-again-nolan http://www.rsed.org/index.cfm articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 witherspoon, j. (2002) open courseware and developing countries: building a community. report of the forum on the impact of open courseware for higher education in developing countries, convened in paris by unesco 1-3 july 2002. available at: http://www.hewlett.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/08/opencoursewareanddevelopingcountri es.pdf (accessed: 29 september 2014). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 using an open digital space assessment on a course for new teachers in higher education francesca robinson royal holloway, university of london abstract an assignment was devised – in an open online space – to enable participants on a oneyear initial teacher education course to: deepen and share their knowledge on a teachingrelated topic of interest; develop their digital skills; enable reflection on their experience of the task. after two cohorts had completed the assignment, a small research project was then carried out to explore participants’ experience of and attitudes towards this type of assessment. survey responses suggest that, overall, respondents found it to be a worthwhile activity that encouraged them to engage with the literature and reflect on their own and others’ practice. respondents also critiqued the task implementation and commented on how they would adapt it within their own teaching contexts to encourage fuller engagement with the tasks. in the light of the responses, the assignment was redesigned for the third cohort. keywords: teacher education, digital skills, social media, assessment for learning introduction as teacher educators, part of our role is to contribute to the professional development of student teachers, to show them new ways of educational thinking and to enable them to build on their knowledge of pedagogical methods and make connections between theory and practice (lunenberg, korthagen and swennen, 2007). one way to do this is through building a community of practice (gibbs, 2013, p.6) and this can be fostered through a digital assignment that relates to a professional context and encourages participants to take an active role (sambell, mcdowell and montgomery, 2012). if the assignment enables students to be creative in their response, they might be more likely to take ownership of their learning. in higher education (he), features associated with creativity across teaching contexts include being imaginative, exploring, taking risks and providing a novel, suitable response to an open-ended task (jackson, 2006; mcwilliam, 2009). with these points in mind, i devised an assignment that required the participants of a one-year initial teaching course to contribute posts to an open online space. from a prior study three years earlier – an investigation into course participants’ preferred learning methods, their experiences of using a range of social web tools and their interest in using such tools in teaching – it had become clear to me that the use of several current technologies needed to be embedded within the course (robinson, 2017). to apply a blog or wiki to teaching was something a large number of participants said they would like to learn more about and so i began to think about how to include a meaningful task using an open digital space. at that time, i was also reflecting on the fact that many of the participants’ assessed reflective accounts of their teaching practice were full of interesting insights and tips on teaching and learning that would only ever be articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 read by the markers; it seemed a shame not to share these with a wider audience. however, as instone (2005, p.305) states, it is important to consider how, on a course like this, to engage busy participants without overloading them. moreover, as this would be an opportunity to develop digital skills, i should need to consider carefully which digital space to choose. developing digital skills in an open space it can be argued that giving student teachers the opportunity to develop their digital skills is essential in contemporary society (dohn, 2010, p.143). in this task, they would potentially touch on several elements of the jisc digital literacies model (2014): learning how to use and work in a new online space; contributing – as part of a large group – posts to the creation of a teaching-related digital resource; building on others’ posts; and reflecting on their digital reputation when choosing their online identity. one of the benefits of using an open space – as opposed to an activity in a virtual learning environment (vle) – is that it can enable participants to begin to experience open educational practice and to consider open teaching, which couros (2009, p.235) defines as the “facilitation and promotion of learning experiences that are open, transparent, collaborative, and social.” however, as hegarty points out (2015, p.6), how far this practice can be considered truly open is questionable, as, even though the space would be publicly visible and posts could be shared through social media, only participants on the course would be invited to contribute. yet perhaps one of the main reasons for using such an open digital space as a blog is that openness can encourage innovation and experimentation (weller, 2010; oravec, 2003). producing work for an audience other than the teacher can be a strong motivator that encourages contributors to make more of an effort (wood et al., 2015; wheeler, 2011). another potential benefit would be that participants could continue to refer to, add to or share posts from within the space after the end of the course (instone, 2005, p.306). this is important because sharing and commenting on posts through social media is an increasing trend in teacher professional development; it would appear that a growing number of teachers are keen to share their expertise and reach out to like-minded others (mcculloch, mcintosh and barrett, 2011, p.4). assignment task the task involved contributing posts on teaching and learning to an online space, thereby creating a useful digital resource for fellow teachers in he. it was designed with a selfdirected approach in mind in order to encourage deep learning (dohn, op.cit., p.143). the assignment brief was: discuss critically one theme related to teaching and learning in he that sparks your curiosity, with reference to the literature. this should be on a topic that would be considered to be useful and of interest to others. you may wish, for example, to discuss an article you have read or a video you have watched. images and video clips can be added too. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the intended learning objectives of the task were: • to participate constructively in an online community of learners; • to discuss critically a relevant topic within teaching and learning in he; • to evaluate the uses of the digital space and learning activity (not formally assessed) by their nature, online spaces can enable freer activities and i should have preferred not to assess the task, but felt this necessary to make it a valued activity and to ensure equal participation. by making the task open-ended and having broad learning outcomes, i hoped that participants might provide an imaginative response. choosing the right platform was crucial: for many participants, it might be their first experience of contributing to an open space. in order to encourage teachers to use social media with their students, we need to think about how we can make the technology we use easier to access and use (mcculloch, mcintosh and barrett op.cit., p.29). their experience of using technology in education as students or trainee teachers might well have impact on their confidence and interest in exploring its use in their own teaching practice. i considered wikispaces and wordpress as platforms; i rejected the latter because, while tags can be added to indicate post topics, so many students would be working in the space that several posts might go unnoticed. i opted for wikispaces because each page title can be part of a neat, extensive list to one side and so it lends itself well to this type of resource creation. i also found that it has an intuitive interface and so editing it is relatively straightforward. the space would also enable participants to choose how much to reveal about themselves (oravec, op.cit., p.229). the fact that participants could also choose to be anonymous was essential in ensuring that the space enabled a “low threat, high challenge” task (mcwilliam, 2009, p.289). this, i hoped, would make it less of a “risky space” (instone, op.cit., p.307), so that they might feel they could openly discuss a topic of interest to them. another important aspect to consider was how much support to give. as wheeler (op.cit., p.187) argues, we need to strike a balance in terms of the amount of support given in an online space; in response to his use of an open wiki in initial teacher training, some of his students said in their feedback that they would have liked training in how to use it effectively. i therefore gave guidance on joining and editing the space and put the college guidelines for use of social media in the course handbook. i added an example of an educational blog post to moodle and set up pages with such broad suggested themes as ‘assessment’ and ‘metacognition’. participants could also add pages with their own themes. assignment evaluation – first and second cohort during the first year, several observations were made: • initially, during course workshops, some participants asked what they should write, even though i had given them an example of a short blog post. that it was a blank space was perhaps somewhat overwhelming for some, as wheeler (op.cit., p.183) suggests. i therefore recommended that they should wait until some posts were added, because being able to observe how others do a new task is a good way of encouraging peer learning. as couros articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 (op.cit., p.233) found, those who are more unsure become more comfortable once they see what might be expected of them. • participants wrote posts on a broad range of topics within the space. some linked theory to classroom practice, whilst others wrote about the impact of wider issues, such as the importance of arts subjects in he. a few participants added images or video links. several added new pages for their posts whilst many added posts underneath others within pages with such broad titles as ‘assessment’. • interestingly, two participants from the previous year who weren’t required to contribute to the space as part of their assessed tasks opted to do so. i linked to one of these posts when i gave feedback on another participant’s portfolio, as they had discussed similar aspects in their teaching evaluation. • as in a typical wiki space, one participant edited and built on another’s post, which was something i hadn’t anticipated. i therefore let the first contributor know that they could leave it as it was or add their original post to a separate page if they weren’t happy with it. this made me consider the importance of making the task clearer for the following year, given that they were working in a ‘wiki’ space. • whilst most participants chose usernames that didn’t identify them, one person wrote his name at the bottom of his post. based on these observations, i made the following additions to the task guidelines: participants could work together on a post, but their individual contributions needed to be made clear; if they wished to build on someone’s post, they should ask permission first; they could refer to a post from the previous year’s space by linking to it. i made a screencast of how to join the space, as further support for participants with less or no experience of editing a wiki or blog. i also added to the assignment outline (which appears in the course handbook sent to them before their introductory day) a link to the previous year’s digital space. i initially planned to ask the second cohort to contribute to the same wiki space. however, since there were already many links to pages on the left-hand side, i created a new one. as i also wanted to encourage participants to experiment more, i extended the guidelines to include varied post formats, such as audio-recording or video, together with a comment option so that participants might add comments/links when reading each other’s posts. during the second year, i observed that: • in contrast to the previous year, very few questions were asked during the course introductory days about the digital assignment – perhaps because participants could refer to the screencast and had the chance to see posts by the first cohort; • although there was an option to comment on other posts, only a few participants did this. • several participants in their posts linked to other posts from the previous wiki space, indicating that there was some interest in reading other contributions. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 research study at the end of that year, i planned to explore the second cohort’s experience and views as part of a small research project. as dohn (op.cit., p.146), reminds us, learning activities can have the intended outcome of developing knowledge and skills or, “in the holistic project, of transforming, utilising and making integrated sense of the experiences, perspectives, knowledge and attitudes” within a given setting. a task in an online space might lead to the former outcome even if the latter focus was the intended one. i was therefore keen to explore participants’ perspectives of the task. the research question was: how far do participants value and engage with the digital assignment? method during the course introductory days, i gave an outline of the research and invited participation in an end-of-year survey that would help me to gain insight into participants’ attitudes to and experience of the task. i stated that, though i might look at their individual posts, i was more interested in learning about their perspectives of this type of assignment. although 45/108 signed a participation consent form, i anticipated that the eventual number of responses would be much lower, as less than half of the cohort usually complete the course within a year and some of those who did finish it might be suffering from end-ofcourse survey fatigue. i chose an e-survey for its provision of anonymity for responses; as the course leader was also asking for feedback on a newly-designed assessment, it was important that respondents felt they could be honest. the first question contained a three-point scale and a comment box, whilst the remaining four questions were entirely open-ended. it was reiterated in the survey that participation was optional and that the responses would be anonymous. following portfolio submission by thirty-three participants, the e-survey was sent out to those who had given their consent to participate in the survey (n=14), and nine responses were received in total. the open-ended responses were coded and grouped into themes using thematic analysis (braun and clarke, 2006) and compared to the literature. findings and discussion perceived value of the task two respondents saw the value of being pushed to experience this type of online task: “it prompted me to search for material which could be visually represented.” “interesting engagement with an e-tool, good to provoke us to use it.” it was also seen as a chance to develop their understanding of how theory relates to teaching practice: “without the assignment i would never have gone into the theory which underpins best practice.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 “i read through other topics that interested me and might be relevant to my teaching.” some respondents could see the potential relevance and value of the task to their own students: “it mixes things up a bit.” “i think it may be particularly useful for quieter students who may be less comfortable with speaking out during seminars or tutorials.” “good platform for sharing ideas.” “by only having to write a short piece of work students might feel more inclined to contribute and the use of the discussion feature is useful.” however, one comment revealed that there perhaps needed to be more clarification on the style of writing: “i personally understood the wiki task as different to a classic essay writing…it is a good idea, but i did not particularly like the implementation.” this comment made me reflect on how student-teacher expectations can differ and that mine needed to be made even more explicit. i had left the topic, format and style of post entirely up to participants, with, for simplicity, only one marking criterion. as a result, in several posts, more attention was given to content than to the style (though i have found, in general, that the style varies and that some blog posts do, in fact, have more academic formality). a further aspect commented on was how to adapt or improve upon the task in different teaching contexts. for these respondents, there was a question concerning participation: “i would use a collaborative online space with my students…provided students are engaged in using the space and the space is monitored.” “only if ways could be found to encourage wider participation. left voluntary, i don’t think it would work.” engagement in task beyond assignment requirements the assignment asked participants to post to the space on a teaching-related topic of interest to them, but, whilst reading and commenting on other posts was encouraged, to do so was optional. in spite of this, eight of the nine respondents stated they had read or would read other posts. one respondent, in addition to reading other posts, had commented on them and attributed the lack of responses to the fact that comments weren’t compulsory: “i have read several…i also left a few comments/questions but didn’t get a response...perhaps not many others used the wiki as a space for learning and wheeler (op.cit., p.182) notes that leaving this aspect optional can have a negative impact if not all participants are checking back for any comments/questions and responding to them. though i did see a detailed response to one of the comments, it had been made at a later date. i concluded it can be demotivating for those willingly engaged in making comments not articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 to receive a response in a shorter timescale. a conundrum: do we need to assess comments and risk the possibility of lower-quality responses because they’ve been made obligatory? as the digital space could be viewed by anyone with the link, i hoped that participants might wish to share their own or others’ posts on social media so that other teachers might benefit from reading them, as instone suggests (op.cit., p.36).three respondents commented that they might share their posts through other platforms, but five of the nine participants didn’t intend to do so. two respondents stated they wouldn’t because they didn’t participate in social media, whilst another person mentioned the variation in quality of posts: “i might mention an idea i came across in others’ posts but i wouldn’t share posts wholesale as…there is a sense of ‘no quality control about them’.” with regard to quality, as bryson and hand (2007) propose, there are several reasons why some participants may appear to make more effort than others – for instance, it could be a result of our curriculum design or implementation (such as assessment workload). as this comment reveals, the amount of time it takes to craft a well-written post can be a contributing factor: “…my post was written in a rush so i would want to amend it before sharing it through other platforms.” an apparent lack of effort could, however, also be down to a lack of interest in teaching. this raises the question of what being a professional teacher means and whether all online contributions are worth sharing (mcculloch, mcintosh and barrett, op.cit., p.29). discussion and next steps the assignment involved participants’ contributing posts within an open digital space, thereby creating an he teaching and learning resource of potential interest and use to fellow teachers. the respondents’ comments revealed: the aspects they found to be of value; some of the limitations of the task; and, importantly, how they could adapt or improve on this task within their own teaching practice. the small sample size is, however, a major limitation of this study, representing the views of just over a quarter of the participants who completed the assignments that year. in future, a similar survey could be sent out earlier to encourage more participation and make the findings more representative of the entire group. yet, whilst the responses are not representative of the cohort as a whole, many of the comments helped me think further about how the task could evolve, including looking at the possibility of opening it up to participants on a similar course in another university. for the third cohort, i changed the task to put more emphasis on sharing teaching ideas: participants were required to prepare a shorter post, in any format, on a novel way of teaching something and to post it on the page of the department they were teaching in. this could be more helpful because, as gibbs (op.cit., p.6) admits, most teachers he has met have found his practical guides and tips to be invaluable, with a far greater readership than articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 his research articles. in an effort to address possible variation in the quality of posts, i shared, on the introductory days, strong examples of shorter posts within exemplar portfolios and on moodle, so making explicit my expectations of quality. to encourage more discussion and sharing of ideas within the space, i also required participants to comment on at least one post, preferably on the page of another department, adding their own ideas or links to teaching tips. i hoped that, by reading posts from teachers in different departments, participants might ultimately feel more confident about trying out new teaching methods within their discipline. as malcolm and zukas (2000) argue, crossdisciplinary professional development can enable new thinking, in addition to department-led communities of practice. finally, in order to focus more on how the task related to professional development and to encourage sharing of posts through social media networks, the first learning objective became: to create a digital resource for and participate in an online teaching community. assignment evaluation – third cohort • i observed that, overall, the posts were more concise and had much more of a practical focus. • as i was writing this article, the first participant to post from the third cohort made and shared, through her youtube channel, a short, engaging videoscribe video that linked theory to practice. this was the first time someone had posted in a different format and, whilst it didn’t appear to encourage anyone else to experiment with alternative media, it received several enthusiastic comments. • whilst most participants now added their name to their post and comment, some still chose to remain anonymous. most participants commented on posts on the pages of other departments, but several also commented on posts on their own department’s page. it was good to see that many participants offered further ideas and twists on the teaching methods suggested, as well as links to articles and posts from previous wiki spaces. • at the end of the year, i decided that the same space would be used for the fourth cohort, since the number of pages had already been restricted by the number of departments and the posts were generally now more concise. unfortunately, the wikispace service ended this year, but i have been able to save all of the posts from the previous wikispace assignments as pdfs. after reviewing the options, i decided that a google site will now be used for the assignment, as the pages can be laid out in a similar neat way on the left-hand side. i consider it important to keep using an open digital space, for that can be motivating for participants and they can, if they choose to do so, refer to it in future. conclusion it can be argued that, as there is growing evidence of the educative benefits of social media tools (mcculloch, mcintosh and barrett, op.cit.), educational developers should be using them to support new teachers with online professional development. introducing these in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 contextualised tasks within initial teacher education courses might have more impact than larger institutional attempts to improve teaching (op.cit., 2013). moreover, although it is difficult to say how far the task reported on here has enhanced or will enhance teaching practice, i hope that it has encouraged reflection and deep engagement with a range of topics. when teaching in future, participants may design a similar task based on their own critical evaluation of the assignment from an experiential viewpoint. they might also be open to designing, evaluating and adapting the activity with their students. another important consideration is that, even though not all of the participants will go on to teach in universities after the course, they will need continually to update and develop their digital and professional skills in any work environment. for those who do, their contributions can also be seen as a positive digital footprint (mcculloch, mcintosh & barrett, op.cit.) and used as evidence of their interest in and commitment to teaching. as a final point, developing this task has been an enjoyable experience that has offered plenty of opportunity for critical reflection on my own task implementation. as educational developers, i believe we have a responsibility to experiment with new teaching methods. as lunenberg, korthagen and swennen (op.cit.) suggest, we can make it clear to the new teachers with whom we work and learn that this involves risk-taking and discuss why this might be advantageous to teachers and students. reference list bryson, c. and hand, l. (2007) ‘the role of engagement in inspiring teaching and learning.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 44(4), 349-362. available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14703290701602748 (accessed: 19 july 2016). couros, a. (2009) ‘open, connected, social-implications for educational design.’ campuswide information systems, 26(3), 232-239. available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/10650740910967393 (accessed: 2/2/2016). dohn, n.b. (2010) ‘teaching with wikis and blogs: potentials and pitfalls.’ in: proceedings of the 7th international conference on networked learning (pp. 142-150). available at: http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/past/nlc2010/abstracts/pdfs/dohn.pdf (accessed: 4/6/2016). evans, p. (2015) ‘open online spaces of professional learning: context, personalisation and facilitation.’ techtrends, 59(1), 31-36. available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-014-0817-7 (accessed: 8/4/2016). gibbs, g. (2013) ‘reflections on the changing nature of educational development.’ international journal for academic development, 18(1), 4-14. available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1360144x.2013.751691#.ueeoqzs3va4 (accessed: 4 april 2013). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14703290701602748 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/10650740910967393 http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/past/nlc2010/abstracts/pdfs/dohn.pdf http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-014-0817-7 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1360144x.2013.751691#.ueeoqzs3va4 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 hegarty, b. (2015) ‘attributes of open pedagogy: a model for using open educational resources.’ educational technology, 4. available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/ed_tech_hegarty_2015_article_attrib utes_of_open_pedagogy.pdf (accessed: 7/6/2016). instone, l. (2005) ‘conversations beyond the classroom: blogging in a professional development course.’ in: proceedings of the 2005 ascilite conference, brisbane. available at: http://www.ascilite.org/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/proceedings/34_instone.pdf (accessed: 18/3/2016). jackson, n. (2006) ‘creativity in higher education: what’s the problem?’ educational developments, 7. available at: http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_20_eddev7_1.pdf (accessed: 5/6/2016). jisc (2014) developing digital literacies. available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/fullguide/developing-digital-literacies (accessed: 4/1/2016). lunenberg, m., korthagen, f. and swennen, a. (2007) ‘the teacher educator as a role model.’ teaching and teacher education, 23(5), 586-601. available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0742051x06001685 (accessed: 15/7/2016). malcolm, j. and zukas, m. (2001) ‘bridging pedagogic gaps: conceptual discontinuities in higher education.’ teaching in higher education, 6(1), 33-42. available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13562510020029581 (accessed: 29/6/2013). mcculloch, j., mcintosh, e. and barrett, t. (2011) tweeting for teachers: how can social media support teacher professional development? pearson centre for policy and learning. available at: http://www.itte.org.uk/sites/default/files/tweetingforteachers.pdf (accessed: 9/12/2016). mcwilliam, e. (2009) ‘teaching for creativity: from sage to guide to meddler.’ asia pacific journal of education, 29(3), 281-293 available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02188790903092787#.v44lgdirlcs (accessed: 20/4/2016). oravec, j.a. (2003) ‘blending by blogging: weblogs in blended learning initiatives.’ journal of educational media, 28(2-3), 225-233. available at: http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/images/0/05/oravec.pdf (accessed: 20/4/2016). sambell, k., mcdowell, l. and montgomery, c. (2012). assessment for learning in higher education. london: routledge. isbn: 978-0-415-58657-3. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/ed_tech_hegarty_2015_article_attributes_of_open_pedagogy.pdf https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/ed_tech_hegarty_2015_article_attributes_of_open_pedagogy.pdf http://www.ascilite.org/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/proceedings/34_instone.pdf http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_20_eddev7_1.pdf https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/developing-digital-literacies https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/developing-digital-literacies http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0742051x06001685 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13562510020029581 http://www.itte.org.uk/sites/default/files/tweetingforteachers.pdf http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02188790903092787#.v44lgdirlcs http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/images/0/05/oravec.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 robinson, f. (2017) ‘embedding tel in an initial course in teaching & learning in he: a codesign approach.’ compass journal of learning and teaching 10(1). available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/368 (accessed: 27/4/2017). weller, m. (2011) ‘the openness-creativity cycle in education.’ journal of interactive media in education, 2012(1), article 02. available at: http://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/201202/ (accessed: 5/4/2016). wheeler, s. (2011) ‘using wikis in teacher education: student-generated content as support in professional learning.’ web 2.0-based e-learning: applying social informatics for tertiary teaching: applying social informatics for tertiary teaching. hershey: information science reference, pp. 180-191. isbn: 9781605662947 wood, j., griffiths, m. and kutar, m. (2015) ‘ecstasi project: using technology to encourage creativity in the assessment process.’ available at: http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/19975/ (accessed: 20/4/2016). https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/368 http://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/2012-02/ http://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/2012-02/ http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/19975/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 a critical assessment of the nmc horizon reports project sonja grussendorf london school of economics and political science introduction in february 2017, the new media consortium (nmc) published its fourteenth horizon report. horizon reports are the result of discussion and evaluation, by a panel of experts, of current trends in educational technologies. based on their survey of the educational technology landscape, they predict which technologies are likely to become of value and/or established in the higher education sector over the next five years. these reports are popular among the learning technology community: many bloggers summarise the main findings year on year; they are cited in academic literature; they are used as benchmarks and evidential support to learning technology projects. they have become a mainstay resource and influence educational technology purchasing decisions – and, by implication, one might expect them to have influence on pedagogical ideas. for that reason, it is important that they come under some academic scrutiny, but there is surprisingly little critical engagement with them in academic literature. it is my intention to contribute to that engagement in some small way by critically examining these reports on three connected issues: 1. the issue of their influence on the educational technology community; 2. the issue of their forecasting practice; 3. the issue of their ideology. the nmc claims that its reports are being downloaded in their millions, but the reports’ actual influence may not be as wide-reaching as all that, because one might argue that downloading does not equal reading, and that reading does not equal agreement. if therefore the horizon reports have relatively little influence on educational ideas, and on purchasing decisions, one might understand the lack of critical academic engagement with them. if the reports do have considerable reach however, then it is important that we do examine them critically, both about their nature, i.e. what they are, and about their intended purpose, i.e. what they are for. in the first part, i will therefore look at the purported importance and possible influence the horizon project has or has had in the first place. secondly, horizon reports make predictions about the future. it is for that reason that the issue of their influence on the educational technology community matters. if they merely charted the educational technology landscape – to give practitioners a broad, perhaps global, context for their field – one might trust their ‘objectivity’, as long as their methodology were sound and open. however, if the horizon reports’ major selling point is that they make predictions about the future, then the way that they are used by practitioners, and the way their predictions influence decision making, take on a further significance. i will, therefore, in articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the second part, explore to what extent their forecasting practice matters, especially with regard to accuracy. finally, forecasts aren’t neutral observations, but rather the results of interpretations, which are ultimately based on subjective choices, and forecasts may have a strong underlying ideological bias. while we can accept that neutrally observed, descriptive, or ‘factual’ reports are used to make decisions on investments in information technology or educational technology, subjective forecasts – and i repeat my suggestion that forecasts are necessarily subjective – ought to be scrutinised more carefully. we should therefore set out to determine whether the nmc has any allegiances or dependencies and whether the reports subscribe to any particular ideology. uncovering any such bias does not render the reports untenable or obsolete, but it should be part of good practice to make such bias explicit where it is implicit. in consequence, in the third part, i shall uncover some of the implicit bias inherent in those reports. i shall begin by giving a short exposition of what the horizon reports are. horizon reports and the nmc: background horizon reports have been published since 2004. they are part of a continuing ‘horizon project’, initiated and run by the nmc, itself conceived in 1993 in order to bring together “a group of hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers who realised that the ultimate success of their multimedia-capable products depended upon their widespread acceptance by the higher education community in a way that had never been achieved before.” (new media consortium 2017c). the horizon reports set out to help educational ‘thought leaders’ make decisions about which types of educational technologies to pay attention to, which of them to use and in which systems to invest. they make forecasts about technologies that they suggest will have an impact on the global education sector. according to the authors, the nature of their project is to “chart the landscape of emerging technologies for teaching, learning, and creative inquiry” (johnson et al. 2011; johnson et al. 2012; johnson et al. 2013); they added, in 2015, that “with more than 13 years of research and publications, [the horizon project] can be regarded as the world’s longest-running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education.” (johnson et al. 2015, p.1) the ultimate aim of all these publications, whether taken as a whole or taken individually is “to help educators and thought leaders across the world build upon the innovation happening at their institutions by providing them with expert research and analysis” (new media consortium 2017c). the nmc says that its research “uniquely provides a cross-sector view of disruptors in higher education, k-12, academic & research libraries, and museums” (new media consortium 2017b) the reports are produced by means of a transparent iterative research method, a modified delphi process, refined over the years. they are written by a large panel of experts, and “in any given year, a third of panel members [of experts] are new, ensuring a flow of fresh perspectives each year.” (new media consortium 2017b) for every report, the evidence collection and discussions are openly accessible on a corresponding horizon report wiki. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the issue of influence and impact of horizon reports on the educational technology community the nmc horizon project prides itself – justifiably – on its openness of research, but it is not so easy to learn about its reach from its website. thankfully, i received some email clarification from the nmc’s former senior director of publications and communications, samantha becker1. she declared that there have been at least three million downloads in 195 countries of reports in their he series from 2014-2017. numbers are available only from 2014, when a data analytics’ infrastructure was introduced. on an annual basis, sum downloads of all the reports since 2014 are between one and two million. the top five countries for downloads in the six months leading up to may 2017 – the time of my email exchange with ms becker – were, in descending order, the us, australia, uk, china and canada. bearing in mind that downloading doesn’t equal reading and that reading doesn’t equal agreement, one might, on the basis of these numbers, justifiably assume that the reports have garnered a status of some global popularity. when further looking at citation numbers, one might also assume that they have garnered a status of some authority: for example, a google scholar search sets the citation number for the 2015 higher education edition of the horizon report alone at 807. to determine how the reports were used in the literature, i sampled about forty articles from a pool of fifty-six articles in the british journal of educational technology that contained references to any horizon reports from 2004-2017. it was apparent from my sample that the reports are on the whole used instrumentally, i.e. as trusted neutral instruments: as reference works, and/or as benchmarks against which the technology uptake of a country / a sector / an institution is measured, and as structural support and/or justification for embarking on specific learning technology research projects. for example, one article begins: “as revealed by the recent horizon report (johnson, smith, willis, levine & haywood, 2011), the creation of gesture-based interfaces (e.g., microsoft kinect, nintendo wii and apple iphone/ipad) create promising opportunities for educators to offer students easier and more intuitive ways to interact with the content in multimedia learning environments than ever before.” (chang et al. 2013, my emphasis); another article uses the same report in the same context: “in short, all these studies suggest that gestures enhance learning. in support of this assertion, the horizon report (johnson, smith, willis, levine & haywood, 2011) identified gesture-based computing as an emerging technology that has a great potential to influence education in the near future by providing a novel form of interaction, expression and activity” (ozcelik and sengul, 2012; my emphasis). 1 in december 2017, it was announced, to general surprise, that the nmc had ceased operations. this was after a first draft of this article had been sent off. the nmc website has not been updated since nmc cessation of operations. for the purposes of this article this does not matter, as it deals with the horizon reports up to february 2017. it is nevertheless a surprising and sad turn of events, not least for the nmc staff. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the reports are thus treated as expert data, or objective reference works: “the nmc horizon report (johnson, adams, & cummins, 2012) identified mobile apps, smartphones and tablet computers as trending tools for active learning in classrooms with a time-to-adoption horizon of one year or less.” (van daele et al. 2017, my emphasis) and “indeed social media has been seen as a major driver for change in higher education in the 2014 new media consortium horizons report (nmc, 2014) and improvement of digital literacy skills has been reported as a major challenge in the 2015 report (nmc, 2015).” (purvis, rodger and beckingham, 2016; my emphasis) these are representative of the type of engagement the horizon reports meet with in the literature: relied on as supporting evidence, yes; questioned and analysed critically, no. one article that engages explicitly with the horizon reports in terms of their forecasting accuracy is new technology trends in education: seven years of forecasts and convergence (martin et al. 2011) it contains a bibliometric analysis of the predictions and concludes that the reports are well suited for “meta-trends analysis of technologies likely to impact education.” (martin et al. 2011, p.1905). the authors focus on the success or failure of horizon report forecasts, but they do not discuss the desirability of such forecasting. nor do they discuss the impact that the reports have in promoting some technologies over others, or the bias that this implies and promotes. i have given here only a snapshot of the literature, but the snapshot is representative of the academic treatment the reports have received so far. most of the sampled papers and books cite the reports, but do not discuss them. this suggests that they are viewed as trustworthy neutral sources of impartial information. so far, i have established that the horizon reports feature heavily in the literature as neutral reference works, but this does not in itself mean that they also influence ‘thought leaders’ directly. yet, owing to their popularity and the singular uniqueness of the project, it is likely that they do. and it does mean that academics in the learning technology discipline regard them, and rely on them, uncritically, which makes it unlikely that policy makers view them any more critically. i conducted a short opinion survey to see if the horizon report is as prominent in real life as it is in the literature. the sample is not representative, but offers a larger anecdotal basis for determining how the reports are received and used in the community of educational technology practitioners (and ‘thought leaders’). the survey was sent to various email network lists of learning technologists, heads of elearning and he sector it departments, from which participants self-selected. eighty-one respondents participated. thirteen participants stated unfamiliarity with the horizon report, which ended the survey for them. three respondents did not answer any questions after having stated familiarity with the horizon report. one respondent did not answer any further questions after stating that they did not read them as a priority. this left sixty-four respondents who answered the majority of the survey questions. the purpose of the survey was to inquire into three related areas, a) how participants read the horizon reports and b) how participants thought the horizon reports influenced their understanding of the educational technology landscape and c) how, if at all, they felt that their own views were represented in the horizon reports. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the following short summary is for the sixty-four respondents who answered the majority of the survey. asked to classify how regularly the respondents read the reports,  forty-one read them regularly, seventeen read them occasionally when they remember it, five do not think of them as a priority and one person chose “other”, qualifying their answer with “it is on my radar, and sometimes i look at it to remind myself how typically annoying such reports are”. asked to classify how much they read the reports  thirty-three chose the statement “executively: i read the summary and some of the predicted technologies”, twenty-two chose the statement “fully: i read as much of the report as i can”, eight chose “concisely: i skim the headline predictions in the content table” and one chose “by proxy: i read/ hear about it elsewhere”. asked to choose reasons for reading the reports, respondents chose as follows (this question allowed for multiple answers):  fifty-six respondents chose “horizon scanning” as a reason, forty-three chose ‘it is directly relevant to my job’, twenty-nine agreed that it provides them with a global baselined, and twenty-seven agreed that they read the reports to aid them in strategic decisions about educational technology. nineteen respondents also agreed that the reports had descriptive accuracy for which they read them and sixteen that the reports’ predictive accuracy had value to them. asked whether the descriptions and predictions contained in the horizon report influenced their thinking about educational technology,  thirty-five chose to answer with yes, sixteen were not sure and twelve said that it was not. one person did not answer this question. asked whether the descriptions and predictions contained in the horizon report influenced their strategic decisions about adopting particular educational technologies,  thirty chose to answer with yes, eighteen chose to answer with no, and sixteen were not sure. asked if the descriptions and predictions contained in the horizon report reflected how respondents think about educational technology,  twenty-five respondents chose to answer with yes, twenty-nine were not sure and ten respondents chose to answer no. asked if the descriptions and predictions contained in the horizon report reflected their strategic decision making about educational technology,  twenty-seven respondents opted to say they were not sure, twenty-two chose to answer with yes and fourteen respondents chose to answer with no. one person did not answer this question. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 in this short poll, respondents were more likely to believe that their thinking was influenced by the reports than they believed that their opinions were reflected in the reports. this brings us to a point about the reports’ methodological intentions. horizon reports are supposedly put together by an expert of panels who listen to the opinions of the sector. the nmc explains that the panel of experts brought together each year for each annual report “as a whole is intended to represent a wide range of backgrounds, nationalities, and interests, yet each member brings a particularly relevant expertise.” (new media consortium 2017a). in the above short survey, respondents were either unsure or did not feel that their views were being taken on board by the horizon reports. however, my participants were almost exclusively from the uk, whereas the horizon project panels tend to be populated by experts from the usa. any discrepancy might be explained by this difference. then again, the nmc points to its reports’ global reach and global impact, and we should therefore point out that there might be some cultural and geographical bias in them. the usa higher education system differs significantly from those of the uk and europe. uk and/ european readers of the report will need to consider that some of the technologies that are predicted to make an impact within a usa context, and that such predictions are not so easily translatable into their own context. so far, i have argued that the reports are used extensively as neutral reference works and have received very little critical attention in the literature. judging from a small sample of uk practitioners we might further suggest that the reports are read strategically, rather than critically, above all for horizon-scanning and because they are directly relevant to their jobs, and that the reports have some influence on their strategic decision making with regards to using technologies for learning. thus, the reports have established themselves as a trusted source of information and potentially form the basis for financial decision-making in the sector, without having been scrutinised for their methods and processes, their neutrality or even their forecast accuracy. in the next part, i will deal with the matter of their forecasting practice. the issue of the horizon reports’ forecasting practice the horizon reports’ first aim is to chart “the landscape of emerging technologies”, but, based on this, they also make predictions about the future. commenting on the eighth annual report, stephen downes complained: “in my opinion, the horizon report tracks technologies that have become more prevalent in media reports. it is a publicity tracker, not a tech tracker.” (downes, 2011; my emphasis). i am not sure that this is entirely fair, because if the panels of experts are to track emerging technologies, they need to have heard about them. the horizon report expert panels explicitly track the cultural educational technology landscape, naturally technologies which receive most publicity feature most prominently on that landscape. i would suggest that, owing to their popularity, horizon reports have become publicity generators, adding to the hype and promotion of their selected technologies or technology trends. predictions by a well-regarded, and (selfproclaimed) unique authoritative source can act as self-fulfilling prophecies. the six technologies that the panel of experts pick each year are not merely predicted to make an impact; rather, by the very fact of their being predicted, they become recommended. which emerging technology company would not want to be recommended by such an influential publication? articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 i have asserted that the horizon reports have somehow escaped academic scrutiny, but, naturally, they have also attracted critical comments in the past. most frequently, their methodology is criticised. stephen downes’ is one such critical voice, because he considers the methodology not to be based on a “deep knowledge [of] significant technology developments.” (downes 2015). audrey watters has focused her criticism on the lack of historical perspective, stating as one of her “frustrations with the project: it does not revisit previous year’s predictions, and as such does not really explain how or why the trends suddenly appear and disappear and reappear…” (watters 2015). but both these criticisms appear merely in short blog posts – and neither of them has a problem with technology predictions as such. i would suggest that a more important issue about forecasting is that it is always liable to bias, because forecast methods are subject to bias sample bias, startingpoint bias, ideological bias and so on. yet these forecasts are often presented as hard evidence, and they are read and used as providing and being exactly that. for example, a judgmental forecasting method like the delphi method, which relies on the judgement of a large set of experts, needs to be scrutinised for the criteria for assembly of the expert panel. one of the few properly engaging, critical analyses of the horizon reports i have been able to find is when prophecy fails by john baggaley (baggaley 2013). in his article, he describes with brilliant clarity, and with great force, the negative fallout of inaccurate predictions. he castigates projects such as the horizon report and the ‘one laptop per child’ initiative because of their flawed methodology and their hyperbolic claims of the positive effects of educational technology on, in particular, developing countries. baggaley wants us to be aware of the real dangers of applying future-gazing speculations to real-life situations, especially if applying forecasts out of their first-world, privileged context: “predictions about emerging technologies play a useful role in alerting educators to new possibilities. but the history of the field is littered with uncritical stargazing, and well-designed media are left to rot like dinosaurs on the landscape owing to baseless promises that new media will improve on them. abandoning technologies that do the job well in favor of unproven ones can set the field and the students back by years.” (baggaley 2013, p.125). baggaley means that the prediction-makers, even if they do not care about their predictions’ accuracy, are still responsible for potential negative fall-out. one could argue that each horizon report is only a snapshot of expert opinion at the time of their conception, and that the nmc makes no claim to have envisaged the project to be a longitudinal analysis. but even if the horizon report project was not intended as a longitudinal analysis from the outset, the authors accept it as exactly that in the 2015 higher education edition, by stating that “with more than 13 years of research and publications, [the horizon project] can be regarded as the world’s longest-running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education.” (johnson et al. 2015). but perhaps it does not matter whether forecasts are accurate or not, perhaps what matters more is why forecasts are being made at all. i suggest that we should question the motivation for making such predictions in the first place. predictive reports are, in some way, always about the present. like science fiction, they do not deal with the future, which is in any case impossible, but they reveal the now. what matters is that the now creates the future. for this reason, john baggaley raises the point that predictions can be irresponsible. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 predictions made by an authoritative source can cause investors to ignore present solutions because they are always waiting for the future. for this reason, we must focus our attention not on when and how the reports have ‘failed’ in their crystal-gazing: i want to bring us back to asking why they might engage in this crystalgazing in the first place. what benefit is there to making such predictions? further, who benefits from such predictions? above, i have already intimated that the horizon reports garner publicity for the technologies they discuss and, in some way, recommend. in a private email, samantha becker, the nmc senior director of communications (who was then also the director of the horizon project) wrote to me that “once we release a report, i like to say ‘it belongs to the people.’ any conversations it incites, positive or negative, is a beautiful thing because it's getting people talking and questioning about pressing issues in education.” this is a generous sentiment and she further elucidates: “we strive for the reports to be completely neutral and unbiased. the nmc staff never selects the topics — an outside expert panel does upon months of discussion and voting.” this is undoubtedly true, but it is not the whole truth. baggaley observes that access to the panel is provided by membership to the nmc, and corporate members include adobe, apple, pearson, corporations for whom the education sector is a significant market. thus, at least some people on the editorial board have vested financial interests in technologies being used in higher education. in that context, the composition of the panel matters, and so does the chosen method. the delphi process is designed for the building of consensus – a wonderful thing, unless it means that it methodically irons out fringe views, where such fringe views might be determined by one’s nationality. for example, a german academic working and reading in a german higher education context, will necessarily be at the fringes of a panel whose middle ground is populated by americans. by that same reckoning, an academic might find herself or himself at the fringes in a panel dominated by corporate types. and here we might return to what we know about the origins of the nmc, namely that it was explicitly put together so that a group of technology corporations could open the higher education sector to their products. in other words, the nmc’s raison d’être is to “sell us stuff”. the issue of the underlying ideology of the horizon reports the group consisted of apple computer, adobe systems, macromedia, and sony, companies still well-known, though perhaps not primarily for their philanthropic endeavours. i cannot here enter a discussion about whether or not private for-profit companies can have benign or educationally-beneficial motives. i can say that the nmc subscribes to a positive technological instrumentalism, that is, its implicit assumption is that technology is always better, that it is always progressive and that it has intrinsic positive value. that is a perfectly legitimate position to hold, albeit not a particularly differentiated one. it is tenable, however, and allows for the possibility that the consortium’s motivation for making its products useful to the education sector is not merely profit-motivated. thus, whilst the consortium members banded together the better to sell their products to the higher education sector, it might also have benefited that sector. and so, though we might be suspicious of the origins of the nmc, we do not need to conclude that their research is deliberately biased. we do need to be vigilant. at least their data is open, and so they are justified to claim in their research and publication standards: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 “we are committed to contributing to the body of knowledge that informs practice and drives innovation through conducting independent research and publishing unbiased reports and other resources …” (new media consortium 2017d) we can be generous and grant them their commitment to research that is neutral, objective, and agenda-free. we don’t have to take for granted that they succeed. as for their independence, i would suggest that my earlier point – that nmc membership guarantees access to the expert panel – puts this into doubt. there are also other ways in which bias shows. for example, i mentioned that the nmc clearly subscribes to a positive and instrumental view of technology. such a view expresses an ideology and it gives rise to ideological bias, of which there are plenty of implicit instances. thus, in the 2014 report, the authors state that because "students expect to graduate into gainful employment, [i]nstitutions have a responsibility to deliver deeper, active learning experiences and skillsbased training that integrate technology in meaningful ways." (johnson et al. 2014) this implies that, for the authors, the responsibility of universities is to deliver students ready for the labour market. it begs the question ‘what are universities for?’ quite clearly: universities are places of vocational training. however, that is not the only answer and it is not everybody’s answer; it is an answer specific to a specific educational viewpoint – an ideology. in the 2017 report, the theme of 'spurring innovation' is introduced by this clause: "if education is viewed as a vehicle for advancing the global economy...". this too, begs the question of what education is for, this time implying that it is to advance the global economy. it is possible to find such hidden unchallenged assumptions throughout the reports from 2004 till now and i will add two further examples. in the 2009 report, the executive summary states that “higher education is facing a growing expectation to deliver services, content and media to mobile and personal devices.” and “the renewed emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing the educational community to develop new forms of interaction and assessment.” (johnson et al. 2009). it does not matter if these are statements that one agrees with, or that they reflect an agreeable or disagreeable idea. what matters is that both statements carry hidden assumptions that are not ‘neutral’. the first quotation implies that, when there is a growing expectation to deliver a service, the answer must be to fulfil the expectation, rather than to question it. that, however, is not always the best or only option available. it is not the only answer and it is not everybody’s answer. the second quotation implies that collaborative learning is educationally valuable. this too can and should be questioned. maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. i would suggest that at least it is not exclusively so: in higher education, solitary learning is also important, useful and encouraged, but we find no mention of this in the reports. it just so happens that the technological trend is towards social working, collaboration, networking. one might wonder to what extent we have ‘renewed emphasis’ on collaborative learning because of the explosion of social media over the last decade, rather than because demonstrable improvements in learning drive the development of social tools. one might also wonder to what degree that is down to bands of commercial enterprises such as the new media consortium. above all, it matters that within the context of the horizon report these are ‘factually reported’ but not critically discussed. it matters, because it is rightfully academic that we approach these and many other assumptions critically and ask critical questions. we understand now that the nmc’s answer to any of our educational challenges is to utilise technology to meet them. disagreeing with such technological determinism does not necessarily force us to shun the outcomes of the reports. the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 suggestions made by the reports can remain useful to us, but we should approach them critically. that, i would suggest, would be to our students’ and our own advantage; it would be to the advantage of learning, teaching and research, rather than to the advantage of the companies who initiated, more than twenty years ago, a consortium that has as its explicit aim the embedding of its technologies into our sector. reference list baggaley, j., 2013. when prophecy fails. distance education, 34(1), pp.119–128. chang, c.-y. et al., 2013. embodying gesture-based multimedia to improve learning. british journal of educational technology, 44(1), pp.e5–e9. van daele, t., frijns, c. & lievens, j., 2017. how do students and lecturers experience the interactive use of handheld technology in large enrolment courses? british journal of educational technology, 48(6), pp.1318–1329. downes, s., 2011. stephen’s web ~ crib sheet for 2011 educase horizon report ~ stephen downes. blog. available at: http://www.downes.ca/post/54807 [accessed october 26, 2017]. downes, s., 2015. stephen’s web ~ nmc horizon report: 2015 higher education edition ~ stephen downes. stephen downes (blog). available at: http://www.downes.ca/post/63412 [accessed october 24, 2017]. johnson, l. et al., 2013. nmc horizon report: 2013 higher education edition, austin, texas: new media consortium. johnson, l. et al., 2014. nmc horizon report: 2014 higher education edition, austin, texas: new media consortium. johnson, l. et al., 2015. nmc horizon report: 2015 higher education edition, austin, texas. johnson, l. et al., 2011. the 2011 horizon report, austin, texas: the new media consortium. johnson, l., adams, s. & cummins, m., 2012. the nmc horizon report: 2012 higher education edition, austin, texas: the new media consortium. johnson, l., levine, a. & smith, r., 2009. the horizon report 2009, austin, texas: the new media consortium. martin, s. et al., 2011. new technology trends in education: seven years of forecasts and convergence. computers & education, 57(3), pp.1893–1906. new media consortium, 2017a. 2017 horizon report wiki methodology. horizon wiki methodology. available at: http://horizon.wiki.nmc.org/methodology [accessed may 5, 2017]. new media consortium, 2017b. nmc horizon | the new media consortium. nmc horizon articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 project. available at: https://www.nmc.org/nmc-horizon/ [accessed october 30, 2017]. new media consortium, 2017c. nmc horizon project history | the new media consortium. the horizon project webpages. available at: https://www.nmc.org/nmc-horizon/nmc-horizonproject-history/ [accessed may 5, 2017]. new media consortium, 2017d. nmc research and publication standards. nmc webpages. ozcelik, e. & sengul, g., 2012. gesture-based interaction for learning: time to make the dream a reality. british journal of educational technology, 43(3), pp.e86–e89. purvis, a., rodger, h. & beckingham, s., 2016. engagement or distraction: the use of social media for learning in higher education. student engagement and experience journal, 5(1), p.6. watters, a., 2015. the horizon report: a history of ed-tech predictions. hack education blog. available at: http://hackeducation.com/2015/02/17/horizon [accessed october 24, 2017]. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 first published in october 2017 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board patrick ainley, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, school of law, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university sarah crofts, independent critical friend reviewers timos almpanis, university of greenwich barbara johnstone, university of greenwich monica fernandes, brunel university, london harriet lowe, university of greenwich jane robb, university of greenwich catriona mcallister, university of reading conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 using technology as a way of evolving assessment practice sandra clarke university of greenwich a 30-credit, level 5 land law course is delivered to around ninety students per year in the university of greenwich, a post-1992 uk university. the original assessment regime consisted of five items of assessment: figure 1: the problem although each of these assessments had a sound justification individually, some smallstakes assessments were either too stressful (the effort required to produce and upload the web page/online poster accessed only 5% of the total marks for the course) or tripped up even diligent students (though all students uploaded the learning log weekly, some of them forgot the final hand-in). the timed assignment, a seen examination sat in january each year, was a very good formative and summative assessment, but generated piles of long, hand-written scripts which were very difficult to mark and return within the fifteen working days required by the assessment and feedback policy of the university of greenwich. such considerations, together with proposed changes to professional legal education, made it a sensible time to consider alternative methods of assessment – those using learning technology. key drivers for change were: figure 2: key drivers for change reduction of marking load reduction of student stress avoidance of traps for the unwary preparation for changes to legal education – the sqe but… still keeping the benefits of the former assessments conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 decisions made fell broadly into three categories: figure 3: change decisions this article will concentrate on two items of assessment which it was decided could be assessed in a different but equally effective way by utilising learning technology already available within moodle. 1. the web page/poster assessment the web page/poster assessment has been previously described by the author (clarke et al., 2010). briefly, the task requires the student to choose and photograph any object (a chair, a bridge, a statue) and to apply the law to determine whether that object forms part of land or remains a separate chattel, using the authorities studied in the early part of the course. to alleviate the marking load, a rubric was set up in turnitinuk for the swift grading of submitted posters. however, students suffered stress whenever technical problems prevented their assignments from being uploaded or displayed correctly. in addition, since turnitinuk’s anonymous marking function renders document-embedded links unclickable, references had to replace links, thus diminishing the value of the electronic format. it was therefore decided that the poster should instead be a formative, peer-reviewed and peer-marked exercise, using the moodle workshop tool. the students uploaded their assignments, which were then assigned to five other students for online marking – on personal electronic devices – within seminar time, using the rubric provided and allowing for free-text final comments. prior to this peer-marking exercise, the lecturer led class discussion about assessment and feedback on the basis of the reap principles (reap project, 2010). the exercise itself was designed in accordance with ‘seven good practices for undergraduate education’ (chickering and gamson,1987): it encouraged inand out-ofclass contact between students and lecturers, developed reciprocity and cooperation among students, used active learning techniques, gave prompt feedback (within forty-eight hours of hand-in), emphasised time on task and respected diverse talents and ways of learning (particularly as it was a creative exercise, unusual in a law degree). students also expressed amazement at and respect for the best submissions, which communicated high expectations for the course. there were some problems: the moodle workshop tool is quite complicated for the lecturer to set up correctly, so careful attention to detail is required throughout; not all students participated (they failed either to upload a poster or to attend the assessment seminar); students using phones as marking devices found the rubric difficult to access; the lecturer had to mark some posters whose assigned students had not done so; a small number of posters did not upload correctly (usually on account of student inability to follow advice about acceptable file formats) to the disappointment of the students concerned. improvements in response to these initial challenges will, next year, include: an in-class opportunity for the lecturer to discuss each poster with its author and provide oral feedback; an invitation to drop • learning log change • web page/poster • january exam keep • research coursework • final exam conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 students to email to the lecturer any posters which fail to display correctly, so that feedback may still be acquired. nevertheless, in spite of such difficulties, this was a largely successful change, retaining the learning outcomes of the original assessment while reducing stress and adding the chance of experiencing peer marking. 2. the january exam the second change was from the seen written exam in january to a seen online assessment. both assessments test all the material taught in the first term, including the topic covered in the formative poster assignment. the assignment consists of twenty questions, a mix of multiple choice (mcqs), extended matching and ordering questions, created using the moodle quiz tool. they are based upon a register of title document, which is available to students before the christmas break, as are the questions asked (but not the answer options). students can seek guidance about the assessment on a dedicated moodle forum. students take the assessment unsupervised during a period of eight hours. once they begin, they are timed and cannot restart. questions and options within questions are shuffled randomly to make collusion more difficult – although it is not impossible. an improvement would be for the assignment to be taken under controlled conditions. professional online examinations in law, such as the qualified lawyers transfer scheme, allow just under two minutes per question, so forty minutes were allowed for the test. the moodle quiz tool – which allows extra time to be added for students, with reasonable adjustments for specific learning needs – proved straightforward to use. it is, however, important to create the questions in named question banks, before producing a quiz and adding questions to it. this facilitates the re-use of questions in later quizzes. research is available on the use of online testing in disciplines where understanding and problem-solving are required skills rather than, for example, accurate calculation (fry et al., 2013). several benefits have been identified, including: the ability to test a number of different topics within a shorter exam; the avoidance of the need for handwriting under pressure when students are more used to typing; automatic, unbiased marking which is easy and quick, no matter how large the cohort. there are also perceived drawbacks – students might pass by guessing the answer or working it out by spotting the relevant words without understanding the concepts (deane and bozin, 2017). online exams also fail to test writing skills, which are essential to lawyers. these concerns must be answered if the benefits of this type of assessment are to outweigh the difficulties. the answer lies, firstly, in using online assessment as one of a number of assessments on the course (writing skills are tested in the unchanged research coursework and end-of-year exam, for example). secondly, problems such as guessing or recognising the answer without understanding it are best solved by appropriate question design, which is a significant challenge. mcqs, which form the majority of the questions, consist of three main parts – the stem, the lead in and the options, which latter consist of the key (best answer) and a number of distractors (less good / less correct answers). the stem of a mcq needs to be clear and avoid unnecessary detail. it should present a realistic, meaningful scenario which avoids ambiguity. it should test a key rule, not ‘nitpicky facts’ (case and donahue, 2008). conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the lead-in should ideally be able to be answered by the student before the options are seen. a student who knows the legal rule should be able to apply it and reach an answer. lead-ins to avoid include ‘which of the following is correct?’ and, even worse, ‘which of the following is incorrect?’ the options should contain a clear key and a number of distractors which should be plausible and not too different in length and style from the key. using correct technical vocabulary in the distractors minimises the likelihood of success by ‘recognising without understanding’. these requirements make setting questions difficult and time-consuming. however, the work can be spread over a longer period, rather than compressed into the fifteen-day marking limit. it is essential to involve colleagues in a thorough testing process. however, it is possible to exclude one question from the overall grade if it is later realised that it was unfair or unreliable. moodle produces analytics which can be used to assess performance across the test as whole and within particular questions. overall, the changes to assessment in the course were successful. the students enjoyed the poster assessment and the online exam and appeared to work hard for both assignments. the results in the course were in line with those in previous years (mean grade 54% in 2015-16 and 56% in 2016-17) and there was good student satisfaction. there was no reduction in workload for the teaching team, but the work could be moved to less busy times of year, which made it less stressful. lessons learnt from this first implementation of the changes will serve to refine future iterations. reference list case s. and donahue e. (2008) ‘developing high-quality multiple-choice questions for assessment in legal education.’ journal of legal education, volume 58, number 3 available at http://www.law.smu.edu/media/faculty/faculty%20teaching%20resources/assessing%20s tudent%20work/developing-high-quality-multiple-choice-questions.pdf (accessed 12 march 2018). chickering, a.w. and gamson, z.f. (1987) seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. aahe bulletin, march. available at: http://www.lonestar.edu/multimedia/sevenprinciples.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2017). clarke s., crofts, s., laycock a. and phillips e. (2010) ‘exceeding the boundaries of formulaic assessment: innovation and creativity in the law school.’ the law teacher 44(3), 334-364. deane, f. and bozin, d. (2017) ‘using guiding principles to construct effective multiple choice exams to assess legal reasoning.’ legal education review: 26(1), article 1. available at: http://epublications.bond.edu.au/ler/vol26/iss1/1 (accessed: 30 october 2017). fry, e., crewe, j. and wakeford, r. (2013) ‘using multiple choice questions to examine the content of the qualifying law degree accurately and reliably: the experience of the qualified lawyers transfer scheme.’ the law teacher, 47(2), 234-242, doi: 10.1080/03069400.2013.790156 available at: http://www.law.smu.edu/media/faculty/faculty%20teaching%20resources/assessing%20student%20work/developing-high-quality-multiple-choice-questions.pdf http://www.law.smu.edu/media/faculty/faculty%20teaching%20resources/assessing%20student%20work/developing-high-quality-multiple-choice-questions.pdf http://www.lonestar.edu/multimedia/sevenprinciples.pdf http://epublications.bond.edu.au/ler/vol26/iss1/1 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03069400.2013.790156 (accessed 12 march 2018). reap project. (2010) available at: https://www.reap.ac.uk/home.aspx (accessed: 30 october 2017) helpful resources moodle docs. available at: https://docs.moodle.org/32/en/workshop_quick_guide (accessed: 30 october 2017). moodle docs. available at: https://docs.moodle.org/34/en/quiz_statistics_report (accessed: 30 october 2017). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03069400.2013.790156 https://www.reap.ac.uk/home.aspx https://docs.moodle.org/32/en/workshop_quick_guide https://docs.moodle.org/34/en/quiz_statistics_report untitled 1 transforming a face-to-face case studies module for an online environment: a transferable pedagogical model will stewart university of bradford introduction this case study will describe a pedagogical model successfully used in the re-design of an existing face to-face postgraduate certificate in higher education practice (pgchep) module for online delivery at the university of bradford. the challenge was to design a course that reflected a 21st-century approach to teaching and learning, rather than simply to replicate a traditional didactic, classroom model in an online setting. based around the creation of an online learning community, learning takes place through immersion in this community. participants are involved in individual and collaborative activities and assessment, structured discussions, synchronous online seminars, sharing of ideas and resources, and critical reflection. the participatory nature of the model encourages peer-to-peer support and allows individuals to contribute their existing expertise to the community as a whole. the model is enabled through the use of web-based learning technologies, including an online learning platform, blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, communication and collaboration tools. the model allows for flexibility in the choice of tools depending on the nature of the participants and the requirements of the course. participants are encouraged to develop innovative and creative ways to use these technologies, not only to support their own learning, but that of others in the community. their use of such a technology enhanced learning environment is in itself a key learning experience, enabling them to assess its potential for use in their own practice. it is argued that this pedagogical model is transferable and could be used to transform other face-to-face courses for an online environment. the context the postgraduate certificate in higher education practice is designed to support and enhance the practice of lecturers involved in higher education teaching in the uk. it is a master’s level course consisting of 3x20 credit modules. the online version was designed, in the first instance, specifically for lecturers at the university’s partner institutions around the world. the module has now been delivered twice to staff at one of the university’s partner institutions in north west pakistan and is currently being delivered to another partner institution in singapore. there were eight participants in the first presentation and six in the second. in the current presentation there are 14 participants. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 the problem in setting out to design this module, our main problem was to ensure that, despite being taught at a distance, the quality of the learning experience of students on the online version was similar or better than that of students on the face-to-face module. in order to ensure equivalence between the face-to-face and the online versions in terms of the learning outcomes, assessment strategies and module topics, it was decided that these would be kept the same. in addition, it was decided to teach the online version over a six-month period, the same duration as the face-to-face module. before starting to design the module, there were three major questions that the course team had to address: 1. what design principles would we adopt in order to ensure a high quality learning experience for the students? 2. which learning platform and other technologies would be the most appropriate for the creation of a learning community? 3. what type of learning activities would encourage students to engage with the module topics? the major questions addressed 1. the design principles in designing the online module, the course team agreed that the principles of good teaching that apply to a traditional face-to-face course apply equally to one delivered online. chickering and gamson (1987) proposed that good teaching: 1. encourages contact between students and tutors 2. develops reciprocity and collaboration amongst students 3. encourages active learning 4. gives prompt feedback 5. emphasises time on task 6. communicates high expectations 7. respects diverse talents and ways of learning. in addition to keeping these teaching principles in mind during the design stage of the module, we also needed to consider how to structure the environment so that students experienced a rich and meaningful learning experience through being active participants in the learning community. such an environment also needed to consider the nature of the students. these were working professionals with busy teaching schedules, none of whom had taught within the uk higher education system. the design needed to be flexible in terms of time and place, but had also to consider cultural differences. it needed to provide a supportive framework within which students could reflect on their own practice and actively engage not only in their own learning, but also support that of their fellow students. in terms of models of teaching and learning, it was clear that the final design of the module should most closely align with a constructivist approach, i.e. one where the role of the tutor is to engage participants in authentic learning activities, rather than to act as a deliverer of content, (biggs and tang, 2007). it was decided to build the learning experience around the interaction of three essential elements, namely a cognitive element, a teaching element and a social element, as described by garrison et al., (2000). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 teaching element authentic activities supportive environment learning experience social element active discourse cognitive element (adapted from garrison et al., (2000)) figure 1 essential elements of an online learning community the cognitive element would allow participants to reflect on their own practice, build on existing knowledge, construct new knowledge, and challenge accepted beliefs and practices. it would also enable them to contextualise their learning within their own cultural setting. the teaching element was made up of two components. the first was important during the development stage and related to the actual design of the learning environment to ensure the active engagement of the students. it was decided that the module would be built around authentic and challenging learning activities, and the provision of opportunities for dialogue and sharing of ideas. as with the assessment, both the learning activities and the discussion were carefully aligned with the learning outcomes. during this development stage, content was sourced or produced that would support the learning activities and help students achieve the learning outcomes. the second component of the teaching element took place during the delivery of the module and involved the facilitation of learning by the tutors. this required tutors to be visible, to encourage discussion, collaboration and sharing of ideas. in other words, to have a ‘presence’ (bach et al., 2007). students needed to know that the tutors were active members of the community, providing support and guidance whenever needed. if the design is right, students would never feel isolated or alone within the community. through engagement with the learning activities and discussions, students would make sense of the module content within their own particular context. at no stage in the module was content ‘delivered’ to students other than in the introductory blackboard collaborate session at the start of each topic. there was a clear move away from a traditional didactic approach, where the delivery of content is seen as a tutor’s main role, to one where the tutor is much more of a facilitator of learning, as described by mcconnell (2000). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 the social element related to the creation of an environment that supports the cognitive and teaching elements through providing a safe and supportive online space in which sharing of ideas, collaboration, dialogue, interaction and reflection can take place. it is this social element that holds the module together and transforms an online space into a learning community. designing the module around the interaction of these three essential elements allowed a pedagogical model to be developed that was active, participatory, collaborative and social. within this framework students are very much interdependent, supporting each other’s learning, discussing issues, and helping each other make sense of the theories, practices and topics covered in the module. their active involvement and critical engagement was key not only to their own learning but also to that of their peers. once the pedagogical model and the design of the module had been decided, the next stage was to choose the technologies that would enable both of these to be realised. in this sense it could be argued, that we have transformed the way in which we think about and design a course, accepting that each iteration of the module may involve a modified design and the use of a different suite of technologies. it could also be argued that this model is much more ‘learner-centred’ than the traditional model where, frequently, an in-house virtual learning environment is used to deliver all courses irrespective of its suitability and functionality. 2. the learning platform and supporting technologies in addressing question 2, it was decided that moodle would be a more appropriate learning platform than the one currently provided by the university, i.e. blackboard. moodle is designed around a social constructivist framework that supports collaboration, interaction and communication in ways that are conducive to the creation of a learning community. it was felt that it would be much more difficult to incorporate the design principles discussed above within blackboard, and that this would compromise the learning community model we wanted to develop. a number of other web-based tools were included in the design of the learning community. each tool was chosen for its ability to ensure that the seven principles of good teaching could be fully met, and for its contribution towards the three essential elements in the design process. a brief summary of how and why the tools were used is provided in table 1 below. table 1 the use of web based tools to support the formation of a learning community tool use how it was used main principles of good teaching enabled elements moodle main learning platform provided the focal point for the learning community. it provided the physical structure and main learning area. all topics, activities and other tools were accessed from here. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 teaching cognitive social compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 5 tool use how it was used main principles of good teaching enabled elements blackboard collaborate (elluminate) platform for real-time, synchronous seminars each topic was introduced with a collaborate seminar. students also used it to deliver presentations as part of a collaborative assessment. it allowed the ‘face-to-face’ component that is often cited as a weakness of online learning, and removed the ‘distance’ from distance learning. 1, 4, 6, 7 teaching cognitive social skype allowed regular synchronous, one-to-one conversations with individual students this proved invaluable both for scheduled meetings, and for the ‘can-you-help me’ chats. it was also used for scheduled one-to-one tutorials with individual students. 1, 4, 6 teaching cognitive social diigo social bookmarking site allowed students to share and comment on web based resources they felt were relevant to the module. the creation and discovery of resources by students on an online course is more common than on a traditional face-to-face course, (anderson and dron, 2011), and is part of being an active member of the learning community. 2, 3 cognitive social wikis collaborative group work students took part in collaborative group activities using the wiki tool within moodle. although unfamiliar with their use, students quickly learned to use them effectively and they became a key learning tool. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 cognitive social compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 6 tool use how it was used main principles of good teaching enabled elements blogs encouraged reflection on practice students were encouraged to reflect on their practice throughout the module, culminating in a final assessment which included an overall reflection of their journey over the duration of the module. students used a variety of blogs, e.g. blogger, edublogs, to do this, giving access to the other participants and allowing comments. 3, 4, 5, 7 cognitive social 3. choice of learning activities a key focus of the design framework was to ensure the active involvement and critical engagement of the students in their own learning. staff teaching on the module would act to facilitate and support students in this goal. in designing the learning activities to meet both of these requirements, a number of characteristics were kept in mind, namely that the activities should be: ● learner-centric ● active ● engaging ● creative ● purposeful. a mix of individual and collaborative activities were designed, and these could be classified into five broad categories, as described in table 2 below. table 2 categories of individual and collaborative learning activities category description example individual/collaborative 1 enable students to contextualise their learning within their own cultural setting create a wiki describing what makes effective teaching collaborative 2 encourage students to challenge accepted beliefs and practices an examination of assessment in higher education individual compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 7 category description example individual/collaborative 3 engage students in a problem how to make group work effective individual/collaborative 4 highlight specific aspects of learning goals exploring effective lecturing collaborative 5 encourage students to reflect on their learning and practice development of a personal learning and teaching statement individual the module was designed around seven topics, each one lasting two weeks, with additional time built in for assessment. each topic was introduced by a one-hour blackboard collaborate seminar that all students were required to attend. pre-reading was provided for these seminars and each one was recorded and made available within the learning community. as well as setting the scene and putting the topic in context, the seminar provided an opportunity for discussion and reflection. this was followed by a two week period during which students worked on a range of individual and collaborative activities, as highlighted in table 2. learning took place through their engagement with these activities and through dialogue with peers and tutors in a discussion forum. assessment the two summative assessments for this module were identical to those of the face-to-face module in terms of what the students were asked to do and the learning outcomes assessed. assessment 1 was a collaborative assignment in which students were asked to deliver a group presentation that critically analysed a particular educational theory. their presentation was delivered through blackboard collaborate to members of the module team, replicating the situation that students on the face-to-face module experienced. the second assignment was an individual one, reflecting on and evaluating their own teaching practice. in order to emphasise the collaborative nature of the online module, the weighting for each assignment was equal, whereas in the face-to-face module assignment 1 was weighted at only 30%. of the 14 students who have completed the module so far (eight in presentation one; six in presentation two), there has been a 100% pass rate, with 12 receiving merits and two receiving distinctions. evaluation at time of writing the online version of the learning and teaching in higher education module is in its third presentation. while minor changes to the design have taken place between each presentation, the overall structure of the module has remained stable. feedback from students from the first two presentations is shown below in table 3. each of the questions required a likert-type response, with five indicating total agreement and one total disagreement. in general terms, the feedback indicated that the learning community model has worked well in encouraging an active and collaborative approach to learning. for most students, this was their first experience of learning in an online environment and their feedback would indicate that they found it enjoyable and worthwhile. there was some initial concern amongst the course team that, because all participants were from the same institution, this would have a negative effect on the level of engagement. however, the feedback indicated that this did not appear to be the case, and one student commented that: compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 8 “we didn’t face any difficulty in engaging with each other in an online environment.” in reflecting on their experience, all students commented that the module had a positive impact on their teaching, helping them to critically evaluate their practice and giving them the confidence to try new methods and technologies with their students. the majority of students (92%) found the moodle learning environment enabled the creation of an active online learning community. the use of blackboard collaborate (elluminate) was seen by most (85%) as a key tool in supporting learning, and a major factor in the success of the module. one student commented: “elluminate was the most effective tool we ever used for real-time learning.” all students found the use of skype as a useful way to make contact with the tutor. it is interesting to note that while blackboard collaborate and skype enabled the synchronous communication component of the module, they were used in completely different ways. blackboard collaborate provided the more formal, one-hour, whole-group seminar environment, while skype was used for more informal one-to-one dialogues between participants and tutors. from both the tutors’ and participants’ point of view, the mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities was successful in the sense that it was manageable in terms of time, relevant in terms of student engagement, and effective in terms of student learning. while a ‘bedding down’ period of between two to four weeks has been typical for participants to familiarise themselves with the technologies, students have adapted well and found the technologies enabling. table 3 participants feedback from first two presentations of module survey questions 5 4 3 2 1 overall i was very satisfied with the module. 69% 23% 8% _ _ the module provided a flexible, discipline-based and reflective approach to the practice of teaching and the support of learning. 39% 62% _ _ _ the module enabled you to engage in a critical reflection of your current professional activity within your own organisational context. 46% 38% 16% _ _ the module provided you with the support and guidance necessary to work effectively in an online learning community. 69% 31% _ _ _ the module developed your knowledge of key concepts in the field of teaching and learning in he, and helped you relate these to effective learning and teaching practice across a range of contexts. 69% 23% 8% _ _ the module examined and evaluated contemporary models, strategies and techniques to help you design, deliver, manage and assess your own teaching and your students’ learning. 31% 62% 8% _ _ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 9 survey questions 5 4 3 2 1 the module developed your capacity to critically reflect on your practice, within the context of your own discipline or subject. 46% 46% 8% _ _ the module provided you with an insight into the diversity of students and of their experiences, and equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to develop inclusive learning environments. 8% 62% 31% _ _ the module acted as a platform for your ongoing professional development. 85% 8% 8% _ _ the topics covered in the module were relevant to my own practice. 46% 46% 8% _ _ the module made good use of information and communications technology (ict). 46% 54% _ _ _ i found the moodle learning environment an effective space that helped create an active online learning community. 54% 38% _ 8% _ i found the blackboard collaborate (elluminate) sessions useful in helping understand the different topics covered in the module. 85% _ 16% _ _ i felt that skype was a useful tool to enable contact with my tutor. 69% 31% _ _ _ i found diigo a useful tool for organising and sharing resources. 46% 23% 23% 8% _ 5 = i totally agree 4 = i mainly agree 3 = i neither agree or disagree 2 = i mainly disagree 1 = i totally disagree compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 10 lessons learnt 1. the success of the module is as much to do with what happens before the start of the course as what happens during it. deciding on the design principles and pedagogic model, and then choosing the most appropriate technologies to support that design contributed to the success of the module and enabled a much more learner-centred approach to be adopted than would have been possible using solely ‘in-house’ tools. 2. be explicit and open about the structure and nature of the module before students sign-up for it. it is very important that potential students are clear about the structure and nature of the module before they sign up for it. for many, it may be their first experience of an online course, or they may come to the course with preconceived ideas of what it will be like. they should be in no doubt about the learning and teaching strategies used on the module and what this means in terms of their time commitment. provide students with a study calendar which outlines the start and finish dates for each topic, dates and times of the blackboard collaborate seminars, and assignment submission dates. this allows students to plan their time and makes it less likely that they will get behind with their work. 3. provide easy navigation through the online environment. navigation through the learning environment should be simple and straightforward. with preferably a single click to move between one page and any other. 4. do not assume that students will be familiar with all of the technologies used on the course. many students will have little or no experience of blogs, wikis and web 2.0 technologies. it is important to build in an induction period during which they can get familiar with the tools to be used on the course. we have found that a two-week induction is about right, during which time they are given a range of tasks to complete that allow them to familiarise themselves with the technology in a non-threatening manner. conclusion the pedagogical model described in this case study has proved effective in transforming a traditional face-to face module into one suited to an online environment. we feel that we have met our challenge of designing a course that reflects a 21st-century approach to teaching and learning. in deciding firstly on the design principles and then choosing the most appropriate technology to enable those design principles to be met, meant that the course could be tailored both to the online environment and to the participating students. the focus was on student engagement through authentic learning activities, rather than a tutor-led transmission of content. the development of a learning community resulted in an active, participatory and collaborative approach to learning. not only is this pedagogical model transferable to other online courses, we would suggest that it could also be incorporated into face-to-face courses with positive effects on the student learning experience. references anderson, t., and dron, j. (2011). three generations of distance education pedagogy. international review of research in distance and online learning, 12 (3), pp. 80–97. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 11 bach, s., haynes, p., and lewis smith, j. (2007) online learning and teaching in higher education. maidenhead: open university press. biggs, j., and tang, c. (2007) teaching for quality learning at university. maidenhead: open university press. chickering, a.w., and gamson, z.f. (1987) seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. american association of higher education bulletin, 39 (7), pp. 3–7. garrison, r., anderson, t., and archer, w. (2000) critical inquiry in a text-based environment: computer conferencing in higher education. the internet and higher education, 2 (2–3), pp. 87–105. mcconnell, d. (2000) implementing computer supported cooperative learning. london: kogan page. d6601-12 june 2012 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 are accelerated degrees the future for higher education? iain l kitchener university of greenwich abstract as the government pushes though the higher education and research bill, universities have an unprecedented opportunity to add well-funded accelerated degrees to their portfolios (department for education, 2016). to ensure high-quality outcomes and positive student experiences, we need to establish a well-researched pedagogy for accelerating learning alongside an accelerated delivery. are accelerated degrees the future for higher education? this is clearly a provocative question, though recent announcements about raising the yearly fees universities can charge students on accelerated degree programmes should give us pause for thought. the author is currently, at the university of greenwich, the programme leader of, and teacher on, an accelerated degree course in primary education without qualified teacher status (qts). this compresses a full 360-credit ba (hons) into two academic years. if we chose to engage further with this approach, what would be the consequences for the higher education (he) sector and how would such a decision fit within the strategic aims of institutions such as greenwich? this article will explore the drivers for accelerated degrees, identify some of the issues surrounding the initiative and consider important next steps towards ensuring that such a project is truly successful. this article will conclude by arguing that effective accelerated degrees require more than the simple reduction of a three-year programme to a two-year time frame. the increase in accelerated degrees is being driven in part by government policy. the conservative party manifesto outlined, as part of the reform of university funding, that the conservatives would “encourage universities to offer more two-year courses” (conservative party, 2015, p. 35). more recently, the government published findings which concluded that there was indeed a demand by students and employers for accelerated programmes and that post-92 universities would be the most likely to offer such programmes. however, some, like scott (2017), argue that minister for universities, science and innovation jo johnson’s backing of two-year degrees is likely to lead to only a few hundred such accelerated students, an argument put in doubt by the fact that the report also identified as key benefits reduced costs for students and quicker access to the graduate job market. for many students, finance is arguably an overriding and entirely pragmatic concern when they make their choice of study. our own programme has a mix of students, including those who opted for a cost-effective route to graduation. the current arrangements ensure that they complete the full 360 credits of an honours degree at a cost equivalent to that for 240 credits. however, this has a significant impact on staff workload, since the finance – currently limited by the office for fair access (offa) to £9,000 p.a. – brought into the faculty does not equal the staff time required to teach those students. lifting the cap on the amount universities can charge for tuition fees would certainly help ameliorate the problems opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 of teaching 180 credits in a year (stockwell, 2012), but this might be where things become more complicated. more controversially, stockwell goes on to suggest that students who are studying as ‘full time’ in fact have plenty of space for additional courses of study during the academic year because they are so often lightly timetabled. the findings (2016) of the department for education (dfe) identify one benefit of accelerated programmes as a means of speeding student access to the labour market. another selling point for increasingly competitive universities is the option for students to enter the market via a masters-level qualification within just three years. for fielden and middlehurst (2017), the move to allow accelerated degrees is tied to the fact that alternative providers already offer accelerated learning and progression to masters. they identify that the higher education and research bill is broadly driven by the desire to increase competition and innovation between existing providers, but that it is predicated on an ideological belief that increased competition will serve to raise standards across the entire he sector. the concern might be that such an approach to higher education will serve only to undermine quality and to water down the integrity of the sector. the dfe has identified several barriers to the implementation of accelerated programmes. these include: a lack of student awareness that such routes exist; the incompatibility of certain externally-regulated courses, such as nursing or teaching; concerns about how such programmes would be valued internationally; the impact on staff research activity if teaching extends beyond the traditional term times; a reduction in summer vacation time during which students can earn. (department for education, 2016) however, whether these need be issues of concern really depends on the model of acceleration which is adopted. in the united states, accelerated degrees have been around for many years. the washington state council of presidents (2016) defines these as “an innovative approach to improve college affordability, address workforce needs and increase degree completion.” the american association of state colleges and universities (aascu, 2012) defined four models for such programmes, one of which, the compression model, fits with that being promoted through the higher education and research bill and this model does address concerns raised in the previous paragraph. completing the study during normal term times would avoid a reduction in student and staff time for other activity during the summer. the final issue is arguably by far and away the most serious for us, as teachers and academics, to address. although authors such as davies, slack and howard (2012) found that there were no significant differences in outcomes between accelerated and traditional three-year students, this remains an area of limited research. it could be proposed that a successful accelerated degree programme cannot simply be three years of study delivered over two. such a choice would be perilous at best, because the learning is forced to progress through levels 4-6 during that compressed time frame. this presents new challenges and it is my belief that a pedagogy for accelerated degree level learning will be required if students are to achieve the greatest possible amount of learning. blended learning has much to offer in this regard, as may transformative learning theory (mezirow, 1997), in forcing the development of critical analysis and more meaningful changes in frames of reference for our students as part of accelerating that process of learning. the learning gain of students from any discipline on an accelerated programme is likely to depend upon a range of factors. it is possible that we might construct a framework for opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 accelerated progress which can be bolted to any programme and discipline, but the effective action research necessary to produce this result has yet to be undertaken. i would argue that there is a core need for an accelerated curriculum which guarantees both the development of academic skills in tandem with subject knowledge and the fundamental transformation of the learner. though we may glean much from the experience of accelerated programmes in the us, we must seek to refine the process within our own context if this is to be really successful for our own students. the university of greenwich already runs an accelerated degree in primary education and degrees in language and literacy and mathematics education which can serve as test beds for the pedagogical development outlined above. the university’s primary department blazed the way over the last three years, but decisions are now required about how to place these programmes within a mixed-economy portfolio, alongside degree-level apprenticeships and extended degrees. at a time when funding is strained, decisions must be made about fees, value for money and support for accelerated students. yet, of greater importance to the success of this new enterprise is the need for a pedagogy to be generated through research and engagement with the teaching community and with the support of academic development units. it is not only the time frame which must accelerated, but also the learning gain of students. in this way, the established university sector can confidently diversify its portfolio, address government policy and meet the needs of a wider range of students in the future. change could indeed start here. reference list conservative party. (2015) the conservative party manifesto 2015. england: the conservative party. available at: https://s3euwest1.amazonaws.com/manifesto2015/conservativemanifesto2015.pdf (accessed: 1 march 2017). department for education (2016) findings from the call for evidence on accelerated courses and switching university or degree. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579438/findin gs_from_the_call_for_evidence_on_accelerated_courses_and_switching_university_or_d egree.pdf (accessed: 1 march 2017). department for education (2016) higher education and research bill. available at: https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2016-2017/0097/17097.pdf (accessed: 10 march 2017). elmes, j. (2017) 'uk government warned over two-year degree proposal.' times higher education. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-governmentwarned-over-two-year-degree-proposal (accessed: 1 march 2017). fielden, j. and middlehurst, r. (2017) alternative providers of higher education: issues for policy makers. higher education policy institute. available at: http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wpopinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 content/uploads/2017/01/hepi_the-alternative-providers-of-higher-education-report-9004_01_17-screen2.pdf (accessed: 1 march 2017). hefce (2011) costing study of two-year accelerated honours degrees. available at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/indirreports/2011/re,0311/rd03_11.pdf (accessed: 8 march 2017). hillman, n. (2017) 'he bill: amendments do not mean government is out of the woods just yet.' times higher education. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/he-bill-amendments-do-not-meangovernment-out-woods-just-yet (accessed: 1 march 2017). mezirow, j. (1997) transformative learning: theory to practice. available at: http://www.hrdmax.com/images/column_1325932983/mezirow%20transformative%20learni ng.pdf (accessed: 7 march 2017). peter davies, k. s. (2012) 'variation in the length of an undergraduate degree: participation and outcomes.' studies in higher education, 37(4), 431-447. scott, p. (2017) 'ideological shakeup will create a squeezed middle of universities.' the guardian. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/07/ideologicalsqueezed-middle-universities-higher-education-bill (accessed: 8 march 2017). stockwell, r. (2012) 'two-year accelerated degrees: blue sky or in the red?' blue skies. available at: http://pearsonblueskies.com/2012/two-year-accelerated-degrees-blue-sky-or-inthe-red/ (accessed: 9 march 2017). washington state council of presidents (2016) accelerated degree programs work group report. available at: http://www.councilofpresidents.org/docs/reports/2016_12_cop_report_accelerated_degre e.pdf (accessed: 9 march 2017). yorke, h. (2017) 'students to be offered university degrees over two years.' the telegraph. available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/02/24/students-offered-universitydegrees-two-years/ (accessed: 2 february 2017). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 ‘a wiki for your thoughts’can wikis promote a collaborative learning environment? andrew ferrier university of greenwich abstract in this paper, it will be argued that the incorporation of wikis within a collaborative learning environment can overcome the restraints created by larger classes. the paper will define what a collaborative learning classroom should look like and how wiki technology has been used to create effective learning environment for large classes. the paper will also set out some ideas for teaching applications incorporating wikis, along with some correlation evidence showing a relationship between student academic achievement and participation in wiki activities. in the context of increased demand for courses and correspondingly greater enrolments, it should come as no surprise to discover tutorial class sizes of twenty-five to thirty students. however, whilst class sizes have increased, the method of and systems behind the timetabling of tutorials haven’t changed. usually, tutorials are allocated an hour, which student inter-class movement effectively reduces to forty-five minutes, obliging the tutor to rethink session strategy. with more students and less time, the tutor faces such restrictive choices as presenting a mini lecture or planning activities with limited scope, with the resultant challenge of judging what (if any) learning has been achieved. in a research study that focused upon the consequences of large class sizes in higher education, cuseo (2007) identified such dangers as increased faculty reliance on the lecture method of instruction and reduction in the level of students’ active involvement in the learning process, matters that should concern all academics and academic administrators. cuseo highlighted other issues, like the reduced frequency and quality of instructor interaction with students and feedback to them, with consequent impact upon the depth of their thinking inside the classroom. large class size limits the breadth and depth of course objectives, course assignments and course-related learning outside the classroom; it also lowers students’ academic achievement (learning) and academic performance (grades). students report less course satisfaction in large-sized classes and tend to give lower overall ratings (evaluations) for course instruction delivered in such circumstances. these findings suggest that we should revisit our understanding of what makes an effective tutorial. is it possible either to alter radically or modify slightly our teaching and learning strategies in order to deal with larger class sizes? an effective tutorial session should develop the ability of students to be more self-reliant in their learning. nigam (2013) describes three characteristics behind effective tutorial delivery: tutorials should encourage active learning opportunities, in which students are presented with activities designed to involve them in building their knowledge rather than being passive recipients; tutorials should also foster in students the confidence to think independently and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 to discuss their ideas; tutorials also should allow time for tutors to motivate by tailoring activities and tasks to identified individual student abilities. physical constraints in the academic delivery systems in universities can make the achievement of nigam’s three characteristics very difficult. wouldn’t it be great if we could, virtually, provide more time, space and flexibility to allow students to become more collaborative and self-reliant in their learning? could the inclusion of wikis amongst teaching and learning tools be part of the answer? in this paper, it will be argued that the incorporation of wikis within a collaborative learning environment can overcome constraints imposed by larger classes. the paper will define what a collaborative learning environment should look like and show how wiki technology has been used to create effective learning activities for large classes. the paper will also set out some ideas for wiki-incorporated teaching applications and offer some evidence of correlation between student academic achievement and participation in wiki activities. what is a wiki? a wiki in its basic form is like a cross between a web site and notebook. it can be an individual wiki, where the user creates and edits her/his own web document, or, more usefully, take the form of a collaborative wiki, where students working in a small team can create and edit group documents. content changes and version updates can be tracked. some wikis, such as wikipedia, have an open editorial rights policy, which allows anyone to make editorial changes; other wiki sites usually have editorial settings, similar to those for blog sites, with the editorial rights in the hands of one person or collaborative group. these wiki administrators may extend rights to others or may allow their audience only to read and leave comments. the moodle wiki sites work in this way. students can update and add further information to the content of their site. readers can remove and replace published information on a wiki site if they feel that corrections are needed. stakeholders (i.e. students and tutors) may leave comments and suggestions. a wiki also self-tracks its change history, identifying contributors. all stakeholders (including the readers and the original authors) have the same publishing rights. these are the tools a wiki can offer. can they be used to achieve the three attributes of selfreliant learning as expressed by nigam? can wiki be used to enhance a collaborative learning environment? answering this question requires some understanding of what an observer would expect to see if participating in a collaborative learning community. matthieu (2005) states clearly that such an environment would show evidence of shared discovery and learning (in the process of which participants can see and articulate their role) and evidence of functional connections between learners that are meaningful, inclusive and necessary for the accomplishment of work within the learning activity itself. within such an environment, the development and ownership of course knowledge has been based on the connections of wider related learning and life experiences of other group members. matthieu makes the point that: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 “these connections help situate one’s learning in a larger context by solidifying one’s place in the broader campus community of learners and life experiences. these connections decrease one’s sense of curricular and personal isolation” (matthieu (2005) page 4). in general, though halpern (2011) supports these views, she argues that the implementation of a collaborative learning environment is not easy. however, it is worth noting her observations of student learning behaviour in a collaborative context, which include:  increased time on task – the more time and effort students put into learning, the greater the probability that quality learning will occur. in general, students spend more time working actively with cooperative learning groups.  increased motivation – in general, students are more motivated to succeed. students depend on each other to complete an assignment, a fact that usually increases motivation to achieve at a high level.  more immediate feedback – students receive more feedback on their learning and thinking and they receive it with more immediacy than in traditional learning settings.  thinking and learning are modelled as processes – the process of how to think about a complex issue and how to learn is modelled and practised. thinking and learning become dynamic processes, instead of learning outcomes.  shared knowledge and skills – when tasks are complex, the knowledge, skills and experiences of group members may be shared, so that the collective knowledge of the group can achieve goals that would elude any single member.  connected knowledge structures – information is processed more deeply when students are required to process it in a meaningful way. it could be argued that most lecturers, teachers and tutors already make use of collaborative learning as part of their teaching strategy and that what has been described above is not exactly ‘news’ . indeed, within the business community, a key indicator of a sound employee is the ability to work as part of a team. many courses incorporate student team work for such tasks as presenting a business activity or designing business plans. some of these activities work extremely well and others can result in disaster or failure. why does this happen? middlecamp (1997) indicates that the human element can easily derail the collaborative learning process very quickly. her discussions with students alerted her to the adverse influence of blockers, such as: people need to go at different speeds; someone may try to dominate the group; quiet people may be overlooked; friction may occur between group members; some members may be perceived as not pulling their weight; some members may be exploited. some students also added that concepts might not be understood as well if a person doesn't have to figure something out and that a lot of time can be wasted in talking about irrelevant topics. it should be said that this is not an argument against the concept of collaborative learning, but it can show what might happen if there is not a sound pedagogical management strategy on the part of the teacher. what can wikis offer? whilst not being able to address in entirety the issues raised by middlecamp, wikis can nevertheless provide tutors with a powerful tool in managing the implementation of a collaborative learning environment. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 matthews (2009) states that wikis play an important role in incorporating group work, cooperative learning and collaboration into face-to-face or online learning environments. the space can be used for everything from brainstorming to writing the final presentation. through her work with wikis and collaborative learning, she finds they have considerable advantages for both teachers and students. most of the features she describes are available with the moodle wiki tool:  users of the wiki can read, visit, reorganise and update structure and content.  most wikis keep track of changes and maintain a number of versions, providing an edit trail (version control system) of every change made to every wiki page.  many wikis enable images, videos and multimedia presentations to be embedded directly in the wiki pages. if this facility is not available, many wikis provide the means for linking to web sites, images, videos and multimedia presentations.  whilst the tools in blogs and discussion boards tend to be developed for one-to-many communication, wiki tools have the advantage of facilitating many-to-many communication. the key difference is that a wiki allows any user with the correct permissions to update the content as well as to make a comment in the comment facility, whereas discussion boards limit users other than the author to the comment facility only.  any individual who has access to the wiki can make a comment. this is great way for a teacher to provide feedback to the students on a task and point them in the right direction if they need help. it can also be used for student peers and parents to provide feedback.  wikis are generally organised by content; blogs, chronologically.  most importantly for the tutor, a wiki maintains a trail documenting the evolution of a written task. the edit trail enables the teacher to see who has made additions, changes and deletions and when each change occurred.  in group work, a teacher can see who has contributed and who has not. within moodle, a report listing the contribution of individual team members to a wiki task can be generated.  wikis enable students to create a document or presentation which reflects the shared knowledge of the learning group.  wikis can be used to facilitate the dissemination of information and enable the exchange of ideas. for this reason, wikis are often used by ‘communities of practice’ to facilitate group interaction. do collaborative learning and wikis have an impact on student performance? so far, we have discussed the merits of the relationship between collaborative learning and the use of wikis. does, however, the combination of collaborative learning and wikis affect student performance? with this question in mind, the report tool in moodle was used to track incidences of student interaction with wikis, correlating them with end-of-term student results (a rather crude test, but a useful snapshot of any positive correlation between high attainment scores and the use of collaborative learning activities and wikis). the information collected came from a foundation course and a year 3 undergraduate course. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 project 1 foundation course business insights this course was a fifteen-unit single-term course run as part of the international diploma programme. there were forty international students on the course, most of them new to tertiary education. one part of the programme required their exploration of some case studies and response to related key questions, using the wiki knowledge bank after participating in lecture and seminar activities. the idea of the wiki knowledge bank was to provide a group ‘study notebook’ which would consolidate understanding of the theoretical constructs arising from the case study materials. the knowledge bank was seen as a good analogy, as it encouraged students to make a group knowledge ‘deposit’ of ideas, course references, web links and argument examples which could be ‘withdrawn’ later for deployment in an exam, during peer assessment activities and/or in preparation of essays. they could review (and adapt) other groups’ knowledge banks as well. as english was a second language for the students, it was important to provide opportunities for their development of oral english as well as written: they were encouraged to respond not only via written text, but also via sound recordings (podcast software) or their inclusion of video links in their wiki knowledge banks as long as the materials provided addressed the questions and course constructs covered in the delivery of the course. student interaction with moodle was measured on recorded incidences of their viewing, creating, updating or deleting the wiki content. at the conclusion of the course, their wiki interactions were compared with their results with a moderately positive correlation coefficient of 0.31 as indicated in the scatter gram chart below: figure 1: wiki participation and course achievement, busi 1542 foundation course evidence in the course moderation report for this subject, noted a rise of 3% in the mean score for both the individual essay submission and the group presentation report activities. the positive correlation coefficient result also shows that the use of wikis may have made a contribution to this rise of the mean for both assessment tasks, although more research may 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 w ik i p a rt ic ip a ti o n course achievement score busi 1542 foundation course case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 need to be done in order to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between wikis and academic achievement. these results will be discussed below. project 2 busi 1151 small business development this course was a thirty-unit course as part of the business degree programme. the twentynine participants were students in the third year of their course programme. like the students in the foundation group, these students were encouraged to work as collaborative teams. they used their wikis for reviewing the case studies presented during the course as well as constructing their group business plans. being in their third year of study, these students were more experienced and more familiar with the demands and standards required. their academic results were recorded along with their wiki interactions (from the report tool in moodle). they recorded a positive correlation of 0.41, which was slightly stronger than the first group. figure 2: wiki participation and course achievement, busi 1151 sbd reviewing the results the interesting thing about both correlations is that they show a moderate positive relationship between the high student involvement with wikis and corresponding high academic achievement for the course. whilst they provide an interesting guide, some caution needs to be taken in the interpretation of these results. it would be an overstatement to say that wikis alone are responsible. other factors that need to be taken into account include the ones mentioned above in the studies cited in this report. middlecamp (1997) highlights the importance of getting the group dynamics correct in the first place and, during this project, a great deal of time was spent on the achievement of this aspect. all participants in both groups undertook belbin’s team role assessment tests which were used to determine the makeup of the groups, but even this degree of preparation did not eliminate all ‘human element’ problems within group interactions. however, the use of wikis played an important role in settling disputes, especially with regard to the matter of 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 20 40 60 80 100 w ik i p a rt ic ip a ti o n course achievement mark busin 1151 sbd case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 equitable input. the wiki tool made it easier to track the individual contributions of members and thereby to assess the validity of any disputes about whether all had pulled their weight. many students were reassured to know that, when it came to assessments, the wiki tool would ensure that their contributions would be judged fairly and equitably. it was also interesting that there was a much higher positive correlation recorded for the 3rd year undergraduate students compared to the foundation course students. various explanations for this are possible, one of which might be that, for the international foundation students, the curriculum and teaching pedagogies and systems used in the delivery of university courses are very different from what they have experienced in their own secondary education systems. in the delivery of curriculum in western higher education, there is a mixture of constructivist and behaviourist systems, which international students may find confusing. some students also find it a challenge to have to share their own thoughts – especially if they are used to a system which rewards them for memorising and repeating the teacher’s views rather than their own. in this case, the use of collaborative wikis (knowledge banks) did play an important role in helping students to focus on developing and building their own knowledge about the course constructs. in contrast to previous years, thanks to the deployment of wikis, these foundation students more easily grasped essential course theories; wiki use also contributed to more thoughtful and nuanced peer assessment judgements than previously, both in reviewing group presentations and in commenting on peer essays. but is this a trend or an aberration? more research on this area is needed! conclusion moodle’s group tools and wikis have played an important part of curriculum delivery for students, reinforcing the many excellent points that matthews makes regarding their efficacy. wikis have been used by students working in collaborative groups for developing and tracking projects and as a repository for project-related resources, links and discussions. to other audiences, they can provide evidence of knowledge growth. collaborative wikis provide solid evidence of students’ internalising ideas associated with course constructs, something which proves elusive in the course of seminar discussions. students can also return to their wikis and either add, edit or modify the content. all entries to the wikis are retained and so, if a student’s contribution has been deleted by other group members, a version will still be accessible within the wiki history tab. this presents the tutor with the opportunity to measure the effectiveness of the course as well as to address any anomalies that may occur in the learning path of the student. wikis also provide the means by which more reticent students may make a valid input into any curriculum discussion. furthermore, to return to the point made earlier in the paper, they break down the forty-five-minute ‘wall’ that often occurs with tutorial/seminar delivery. as wikis are an online tool, students can arrange to add or build their collaborative wiki sites at times which best suit them. rather than their trying to complete tutorial tasks within a short time space, task activities can be captured on the wiki site. during tutorial sessions, students can use their time to engage in planning how to address the task on the wiki, allocate sub tasks to appropriate members of the group and agree on suitable reviewing steps. it could therefore be argued that wikis enable learning engagement beyond the confines of a forty-fiveto sixty-minute tutorial. more importantly, they are an excellent tool case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 for demonstrating that functional connection that matthieu (2005) sees as important in the development of shared discovery and learning a keystone in collaborative learning environments. a ‘wiki for your thoughts’ indeed! reference list barnes, s. (2017) ‘responding to student feedback: from full-cohort lectures to mole content and small group tutorials.’ school of health and related research. available at: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.259287!/file/modes_of_teaching_small_group_tut orials_barnes.pdf (accessed: 6 november 2013). bruns, a. and humphreys, s. (2005) ‘wikis in teaching and assessment: the m/cyclopedia project.’ in: proceedings international wiki symposium, 25-32, san diego. copyright 2005, acm press. available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au (accessed: 6 november 2013). cuseo, j. (2007) ‘the empirical case against large class size: adverse effects on the teaching, learning, and retention of first-year students.’ journal of faculty development, 21(1), 5-21. dias, m. (2010) ‘using wikis in university teaching: the basics centre for university teaching ottawa canada october 2010.’ available at: http://tlss.uottawa.ca/site/images/1saea/cpu/publications/01_wiki_en.pdf accessed: 23 may 2016). halpern, d. (2011) creating cooperative learning environments. available at: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/uncategorized/creating-cooperative-learningenvironments.html (accessed: 7 june 2016). matheiu, r. (2005) creating a collaborative learning environment. cirtl center for the integration of research, teaching, and learning. available at: http://www.cirtl.net/files/guidebook_creatingacollaborativelearningenvironment.pdf. (accessed: 16 june 2016). matthews, c. (2009) exploiting the potential of wikis to support collaborative and cooperative learning activities in the online environment. available at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/cdelt/index.html (accessed: 7 june 2016). middlecamp, c. (1997) ‘students speak out on collaborative learning.’ available at: http://archive.wceruw.org/cl1/cl/story/middlecc/tscmd.htm#speed (accessed: 7 june 2016). nigam, a, (2008) ‘how to conduct an effective tutorial class.’ how to conduct an effective tutorial classezinearticles.com. available at http://ezinearticles.com/?how-to-conduct-aneffective-tutorial-class&id=1223771 (accessed: 22 june 2017). editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 welcome to the latest issue of compass: journal of learning and teaching! this issue of compass explores further the applications of technology to learning and teaching and emphasises the importance of academics’ partnership with students in their growing command of digital devices and tools, including social web tools. institutions and their staff can’t avoid technologically-enhanced methodology and some of the papers here may offer hope and reassurance to anyone with fears about embracing it. the issue continues the themes of staffstudent collaboration, student empowerment and students as co-producers; it also offers an insight into the way adults learn. an opinion piece by daniel james peart aims to allay the possible fears of academic teachers about embracing the use of mobile technologies in teaching and learning draws its conclusions from the observation of student practice with mobile devices. although the project was small, it does confirm that students are well-versed in this technology and deploy it successfully to their own ends. (indeed, staff should, daniel says, take encouragement from the fact that students see them primarily as subject-specialists and don’t have expectations of them as technological experts.) a table of student responses to questions about their subsequent use of mobile devices in other higher education contexts helpfully reveals aspects of their attitudes to these powerful hand-held units. a reflective piece by s. yerrabati sheds light on the way adults learn. by considering the relevant literature and personal observation of the adult students’ approach to research and its methodology, s. yerrabati concludes that student validation of what is taught in class by relating it to life experiences and developing conceptual and practical competence through the medium of group discussion are key to adult learning. however, in a challenge to the literature on the subject, s. yerrabati emphasises that the power of cultural and social expectations in influencing adults’ learning behaviours must not be underestimated. a thoughtful reflection by s. yerrabati on the close involvement of students, this time in the assessment process, in tutors’ making clear to them the broad context of its purposes and the detail of its criteria and methods of evaluation, demonstrates how academic performance might be positively influenced by appropriate summative tasks and constructive formative assessment. the paper considers how, when students are well-versed in the expectations of a course, when judicious feedback is not only provided but also properly understood through further discussion and when reflection is practised and acted upon, learning outcomes may be considerably enhanced. in a case study focused on the deployment of wiki technology to enhance collaborative learning by andrew james ferrier, the author argues that this strategy can overcome the twin challenges of time and large-class constraints, but, more importantly, that it can track and measure student participation as well as stimulate much greater levels of contribution and resultant learning. the paper produces some positive evidence of the correlation between wiki-incorporated learning activity and academic achievement. editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 wiki and other social web tools also come under the spotlight of francesca robinson’s very engaging study of an effort to embed technology-enhanced learning into the programme of a postgraduate course in higher education teaching and learning. empowering participants to make use of such current technologies in their own teaching and thereby similarly influencing their students to take control of their own learning certainly disseminates excellent practice! this paper reflects, in its carefully-selected supportive literature and detailed exploration of one institution’s experience, francesca’s considered objective of achieving a partnership approach to course design, creating a community of practice, communicating and collaborating. skill in the application of social media tools is already well-recognised in the workplace and francesca provides convincing argument for how students will benefit when these elements are an intrinsic part of their courses. continuing the technology theme is a case study by malgorzata iwaniec, tatiana simmonds, and zoe swan. this case study, which confirms the beneficial impact of flipped-classroom learning analyses the reactions of two distinct groups of students (computing and law) to this method, which their lecturers chose as a means of developing the skills essential to graduates, with particular focus upon problem-solving. alongside some very positive participant-response data, the authors helpfully provide student comments that are critical of some aspects of the experience, as they illuminate areas for fine tuning the delivery of both pre-release study material and interactive classroom activities; additionally, a summary of what the authors see as the potential challenges facing teachers in adopting flipped learning gives the whole paper a feeling of informed objectivity and balance. a case study by louise hewitt reviews the introduction of the flipped classroom method among two cohorts of law students first year and third year students. the piece begins with a clear outline of the flipped classroom method, helpful for readers who may be unfamiliar with the approach. the hypothesis was that first years students would engage more quickly with the flipped method in comparison to third years, as the latter were assumed to have become used to the regularity of teacher led lectures of previous years. however, the surprising results found that many third year students were complimentary of the flipped approach and were engaged with the learning materials. louise offers a detailed reflection upon how students responded to the flipped classroom method over the course of five weeks, and highlights the benefits which such an approach can have on enhancing the independent study skills of students. a frank and very informative account of personal experience of a teacher-training module for the application of elements of e-learning to healthcare courses contains a wealth of useful and supportive advice for any lecturer unfamiliar with the range of strategies for incorporating online learning into her/his practice. rebecca sherwood carefully appraises the potential benefits of a first-hand exploration of a range of digital applications, especially in stimulating in students the deeper forms of learning, but it is particularly helpful in flagging up the practical challenges to educators. the module’s central task required participants, working cooperatively, to review one or more learning tools within the shared aim of building a moodle database; membership of this ‘community of practice’ enabled rebecca to understand precisely what students would themselves experience and therefore to plan appropriately for their needs, leading to the logical and preferred choice of blended learning, delivered in the integrated manner of the flipped editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 classroom. there is much reassurance here, against a thorough background of relevant reading. further reassurance for both academics and their institutions is provided by katharine jewitt in a very thorough perspective of the emergence and growing impact of moocs and their potential to transform learning and teaching. katharine is in no doubt of the value of online learning in offering opportunity for collaborative student activity that is personalised and can be monitored by teachers; the data generated and the online tools and materials offer much to students and their teachers, especially since the software is sophisticated enough in some cases to adapt itself to individuals’ performance and progress. furthermore, for students across the world who, because of their straitened circumstances, do not have much chance of accessing higher education in person, what is on offer online can transform their educational experience. there is a clear message that universities and teaching staff do need to reappraise what they offer to students – unwillingness to adapt to the changing world of technologicallyenhanced methodology is not an option – but there seems no question that students, in spite of the huge benefits to them from online sources, do want and need the human reality of face-toface engagement in the classroom as well. a conference reflection on the topic of unconscious bias in learning, teaching, and assessment by karla benske and sheila macneil points to the lack of critical attention allocated to this particular area of research. in an effort to raise awareness of the topic, valuable resources have been created and made available online through a blended learning approach. taking on the comments of participants at the conference, the term 'unconscious' bias is interrogated and the term 'cognitive' bias becomes favoured. karla and sheila explore the importance of how greater levels of understanding unconscious bias 'encourages practitioners to be more mindful and reflective about their biases'. i hope you enjoy this latest edition of the journal and that it encourages continued critical discussions concerning these topical issues in the sector. danielle tran editor articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 m level primary mathematics cpd: an identity crisis? gemma richardson faculty of education and health, university of greenwich abstract one key outcome of a recent seminal review of primary mathematics was a renewed emphasis on the continuing professional development (cpd) for teachers of primary mathematics (williams, 2008). the national centre for excellence in the teaching of mathematics (ncetm) endorses its importance (hoyles, 2012), and the current government emphasises the importance of teacher quality (dfe, 2010). however, a prerequisite for the success of the drive to broaden participation in primary mathematics cpd, is the willingness and commitment of individual teachers to enrol on relevant programmes. this study explores barriers and incentives early career primary teachers experience regarding masters-level primary mathematics cpd relating to their personal and professional identity. its focus is the teachers’ analyses of their experiences using data that was collected through questionnaires and followed-up by in-depth individual interviews. findings indicate that teachers’ academic identities impact on the uptake of masters-level primary mathematics cpd and, that their personal identities as working family members can be influential. implications for practice in both primary schools and higher education institutions (heis) providing initial teacher education are discussed. key words: primary mathematics; continuing professional development; teacher identity; professional identity; masters-level introduction this paper presents the findings of a small scale empirical study focusing on early career primary teachers (ects) and the relationship between issues of identity and engagement with masters level primary mathematics continuing professional development (m-level pm cpd). the paper begins by setting out the context within which this research was carried out before offering a brief review of some of the relevant literature in the field, focusing on personal and professional identities and the impact of primary mathematics m-level cpd. a description of the methodology employed precedes a description of findings, discussion and recommendations for how hei providers of primary initial teacher education (ite) and primary schools may work to encourage more ects to engage with m-level pm cpd. this research is set in the national context of the last decade which has seen the development of a significant consensus that high quality mathematics cpd should be a matter of priority for primary teachers (acme, 2002; williams, 2008). whilst a newly qualified teacher’s (nqt) induction year is often seen as a pertinent opportunity for a hiatus from further study (stronach, 2010), with cpd centring on statutory induction (dfe, 2012a), the subsequent early years of a teacher’s career are a prime period to enrich professional learning. articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 cpd is particularly crucial for ects as it can sustain a motivational sense of progression (bubb and earley, 2007; ofsted, 2010) and develop critical skills necessary for expertise to develop (lovett and cameron, 2011). the labour government’s (1997-2010) support of this, was exemplified by their targeting of ects in the drive to raise standards by developing a masters-led profession (dcsf, 2008). to some extent, the current coalition government has sustained the acknowledgment that the standard of teachers is critical, as they hold the belief that ‘no education system can be better than the quality of its teachers’ (dfe, 2010:8). however, political decisions affecting funding have meant the provision and parameters of m-level cpd for primary teachers, including mathematics-specific training, have been unstable. between 2009 and 2012 two strategic initiatives, the masters in teaching and learning (mtl) and the mast (mathematics specialist teacher) programme, were introduced on a fully funded basis, only to suffer severe, financial cuts leading to their demise (tda, 2010). the closure of new applications to the postgraduate professional development (ppd) fund (tda, 2011), also altered the landscape. in the face of such political adversity, the importance of robust professional and personal identities which facilitate the engagement of ects with m-level pm cpd may be heightened. for the teaching profession as a whole, augmenting the level of expertise of practising teachers could be considered a particularly current issue. as more primary ite is devolved to schools due to the increase in school direct places (dfe, 2012b), and the broad remit of teaching schools includes a responsibility to support the professional development of colleagues across schools (dfe, 2010), good standards are a necessity. literature review this review of literature focuses on primary ects’ identities and the potential relationship with uptake of m-level pm cpd. it culminates by considering the impact of m-level primary mathematics cpd. identity is simply ‘an explicit account of what some people are like’ (wortham, 2006:6), which can be dependent upon contextual and social interactions (lawler, 2008). identity can relate to the way that one views or defines oneself (olson, 2010), which may not be consistent with the social identity assigned by others (woods and jeffrey, 2004). identity can be potentially categorised through ‘hierarchical binaries’ (youdell, 2011:39) such as white or black and man or woman, however, youdell (2011) warns that consideration should be accorded to the ways in which multiple categories of identity impact on each other. the inter-relation of principal categories of identity evident within the literature (teacher identity, gender and class) demonstrate this and it would be misleading to present them as separate entities.  teacher identity teacher identity evolves as a result of being a school employee (hoveid and hoveid, 2008) and mockler (2011) believes that the formation and status of such professional teacher identities are critical to enable a true understanding of teachers’ cpd needs. articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 during the 1970s and 1980s, the majority of teachers had an integrated and consistent identity based on two major sets of values – humanism and vocationalism (woods and jeffrey, 2004). humanism is concerned with ‘holism, person-centeredness, and warm and caring relationships’ (ibid, p.223) whilst vocationalism summarises teachers who feel a strong emotional dedication to their work which underpins their total commitment to teaching. perhaps it is teachers who have such identities that feel judged by colleagues for taking time out of the classroom to study and feel others question their commitment to their class, deeming their actions self-indulgent (leaton gray, 2005; soulsby and swain, 2003). perhaps the struggle to overcome feelings of guilt and betrayal that would result from the pressures of m-level study mean that instead, they choose to focus their full attention, time and energy on their school. alternatively, such feelings could be the embodiment of an internal clash between two elements of a teacher’s professional identity their individuality and their status as an ‘agent of an education institution’ (hoveid and hoveid, 2008:125). the modern era of performative primary schools and such defining features as league tables, performance related pay and advanced skills status, have resulted in a shift in teacher identity (troman, 2008). new demands require teachers to evolve a far more complex, assigned social identity and to adapt their substantial selves, defined as an enduring identity by woods and jeffrey (2004), on a regular basis (troman, 2008). mockler (2011) and millar marsh (2002) agree, stating that throughout a career, a teacher’s professional identity is formed and re-formed due to the dynamic chemistry between personal, professional and political influences. generally though, whilst more experienced teachers have strong self-identities based on humanism and vocationalism, ects differ as their commitments have adjusted whilst maintaining their humanistic values. for example, they stress the importance of time compatibility for family‐friendly work and child care (troman, 2008). this more modern teacher identity links to cultural issues such as work-life balance, whilst also encompassing issues of gender and career planning which have a possible impact on the uptake of m-level pm cpd for ects.  gender ball’s (2004) analysis is that feminists involved with the sociology of education focus on the reproduction of demarcations between masculine and feminine, as well as gender stereotyping within schools. long (2000) believes that a person’s perception of whether they fit into a typically male or female role is their gender identity, which is more influential as a behaviour determinant than any biological difference between the sexes. the question of gender is an important one when analysing the uk primary teaching profession because towards the end of the 20 th century, teaching had a reputation as a woman’s job and thus tended to provide employment for women (steedman,1986). in 2005, nearly 90% of the nursery and primary workforce in england was female (mcnamara et al., 2008) demonstrating a continuation of this trend. it is significant too, if long’s (2000) research is borne out as he believes major gender inequalities within society impact both career success and financial rewards. there is some evidence to suggest that male and female teachers may have quite different self-identities. men seem to view themselves as committed professionals with leadership positions firmly on their horizon. for example, mcnamara et al.’s (2008) report revealed men articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 were most likely to reply ‘become a headteacher’ in response to questions about their future career plans, whilst women aged between 20 and 35 years were significantly more likely to leave teaching than their corresponding male colleagues. furthermore, they revealed 20% of male primary teachers with 5-9 years of service are on the leadership scale, which is more than double the 8.5% of female primary teachers. this may reflect female teachers’ identities which seem more likely to focus on, and flex in response to, external factors; for example, for most female teachers, childbirth is the critical career event (troman, 2008). these factors could affect the number of ects, particularly females, participating in m-level pm cpd as one key inhibitor of award-bearing in service training (inset) is a lack of career incentive (soulsby and swain, 2003). conversely, evidence shows that career development is a motivating factor for participants on ppd programmes (dean, 1991; curee and the university of wolverhampton, 2011; soulsby and swain, 2003). it is suggested a promotion can often trigger m-level study as a new post and context invites teachers to question existing assumptions and refine their practice in a manner congruent with expectations of mlevel work (arthur et al., 2006). however, if teachers do not envisage a long term career in teaching involving promotion, they may question the value of completing an ma. so if female teachers are more likely to be in this category, it could potentially follow that they are less likely to engage in m-level study. other issues may also impact on female teachers’ identities and have a negative influence on participation in m-level cpd. as a range of research confirms, there is a persistent, traditional sexual division of labour in the home whereby women shoulder the majority of domestic work (oakley, 2002; crompton, 2006; gallie and russell, 2009). female teachers recognising their already demanding responsibilities outside of their workplace, entirely unrelated to cpd programmes, contributes towards the limited popularity of award-bearing inset (hancock, 2001; cole, 1999; curee and the university of wolverhampton, 2011; soulsby and swain, 2003). indeed, the literature converges to some extent on the viewpoint that the balancing act of professional and personal commitments is an undisputed barrier to higher levels of cpd for teachers (seaborne, 2010; mcnamara et al., 2002; arthur et al.,2006; leaton gray, 2005). a self-identity built on confidence in one’s own academic ability can be an important incentive; pre-existing m-level credits could be a factor of this, which again may favour male teachers. mcnamara et al.’s (2008) snapshot showed that 72% of female nqts, as opposed to 86% of male nqts, entered teaching via a postgraduate route rather than an undergraduate ite programme. it was therefore more likely for male nqts to already have some m-level credits as a result of the bologna agreement (the european higher education area, 1999) which necessitates the option of working at m-level for all postgraduate programmes.  cpd impact there has long been held a belief that high quality cpd is essential to maintain high standards of teaching (burghes, 2008; oecd, 2009; wiersma and jurs, 2009). for primary mathematics specifically, teaching quality is a ‘significant and moderate to strong indicator’ (sammons et al., 2008: iii) of children’s progress. whilst ofsted (2012) suggest progress has been made in primary mathematics teaching, significant areas for development are also articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 identified. as director of the ncetm, professor hoyles’ (2012) statement that the ncetm looks forward to helping embed ofsted’s targets in the professional development of all mathematics teachers, reinforces the importance of cpd. the m-level element could also prove significant as jackson and eady (2010) believe ‘the successful translation of the vision of an m-level teaching profession could promise a powerful and ultimately positive transformation of the education system in england’ (2010:9). overall, a significant amount of research suggests that personal and professional identities of ects impact on enrolment in m-level cpd. however, to date, the focus has primarily concerned non-subject-specific cpd and that the narrower area of primary mathematics mlevel cpd remains relatively untouched. research design and initial analysis the research was carried out during the summer term of 2012, largely within the south-east london area. the following research questions were addressed:  what features of ects’ identities encourage engagement with m-level primary mathematics study?  what features of ects’ identities present a barrier to engaging with m-level primary mathematics study? this research was guided by a constructivist ontological position and an interpretivist epistemological stance. it involved ten participants who were working as class teachers in both private and state primary schools, within their second, third or fourth year of employment. it proved challenging to recruit participants as teachers have very busy lives and to some extent therefore, the participants were selected by convenience sampling. however, there was an element of purposive sampling too, as the cohort comprised of pgce and ba(qts) graduates who all completed ite in an hei. angus, iris and lee were engaged with mast, whilst the other seven had not yet begun any m-level cpd. the research was concerned with exploring the participants’ accounts of personal experiences (scott and morrison, 2006; cohen et al., 2011). the small number of participants facilitated detailed exploration of the issues (hennick et al., 2011) and the qualitative methodology aimed to achieve an in-depth understanding of the participants (gage, 2007; bryman, 2008; cohen et al., 2011). flick (2004) asserts that in principle, qualitative research relies on multiple methods which denzin and lincoln perceive to be an aspiration to ‘secure an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon in question’ (2008:7). this is fitting as cohen et al. (2011) highlight the qualitative researcher’s aim of gaining a good understanding of the participants, without necessarily generalising their findings. hennick et al., (2011) support this as they state that ‘qualitative methods are typically used for providing an in-depth understanding of the research issues that embrace the perspectives of the study population and the context in which they live’(2011:10). each of the ten participants completed a questionnaire which asked them to identify from a list, and subsequently rank, any influencing factors on their engagement with m-level primary mathematics cpd. despite being a finite list of options, there was confidence that the articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 options were sufficiently comprehensive as they were borne out of the existing literature. to further allay any risk of limiting answers to a pre-determined range, the inclusion of an ‘other’ option on the questionnaire enabled participants to add more information if necessary. the initial questionnaires were carefully scrutinised to inform selection of the most appropriate interview schedule for each participant’s individual interview. the interviews lasted approximately thirty five minutes and due to the semi-structured guidance, the interviewer was able to react to participants’ answers and non-verbal communication. wellington’s view that that ‘interviews reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (2006:71) indicates that they are a valuable research tool. however, kvale and brinkmann (2009) support a dual approach of questionnaires and interviews as they believe that ‘actively following up subjects’ answers, seeking to clarify and extend statements’ (2009:7) achieves the ultimate aim of qualitative research of an in-depth understanding of the participants’ viewpoints. flick (2011) posits another advantage; having made the participants aware of the researcher’s areas of interest via the questionnaire, the participants may be able to give some thought to their answers before attending the interview which could result in a more detailed discussion. the short interviews were recorded, transcribed and reviewed by participants for accuracy. subsequent coding enabled ‘key issues to be ‘clustered’ and initial steps taken towards drawing conclusions’ (bell, 2010:222). as a result of this process, emergent themes regarding barriers to m-level pm cpd enrolment include individuals’ personal identities and commitments and short-term teacher identity. lack of identity as an academic or a progressive, confident employee also proved to be barriers.. revealing some overlap, two principal themes emerged from the data regarding incentives. these were having a either a strong identity as an able academic or as a confident teacher worthy of career progression. the research was carried out in alignment with the british educational research association’s (bera) (2011) guidelines. the participants provided their informed consent, data was stored securely and pseudonyms have been used throughout to protect anonymity. findings and discussion  barriers the data collected reflects the literature which believes teachers in 2012 have strong concerns about work-life balance as opposed to having identities based on humanism and vocationalism (troman, 2008). identities which prioritised responsibilities outside of school were evident as barriers, as several participants expressed genuine doubt as to whether mlevel cpd would be able to fit alongside other commitments: “it’s really just that i want to have time to spend with my family. sometimes it’s bad enough working at the weekends, let alone taking on something extra.” – lily evidence from the interviews also supports research suggesting a lack of a fixed identity among teachers (mockler, 2011, millar marsh, 2002): “i question whether i’m going to stay in this career now because it’s taking over my life entirely and i don’t want that for myself. some part of me feels like i want to come out of it altogether and go into a different type of career.” – hatty articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 other factors of ects’ identities concern confidence. for example, lily does not see herself as a strong candidate for m-level study: ‘although i only got a 2:2, i actually enjoy studying and i enjoy finding out about the theory behind the practice. but then i do worry as well about the academic side of it, i think ‘ooh, would i be able to cope with that?’ despite having a background in research, hatty similarly suffers from a lack of confidence. however, hers is rooted in the fact that she is an ect and has only worked at the school for two years, which she feels to be an insignificant amount of time when considering an approach to her management team for support for m-level cpd: ‘it’s kind of a weird thing to ask, feels a bit uncomfortable. i think, am i a candidate for this? and i feel quite new, i mean i know it’s my second year, but i still feel quite new and i think ‘am i at that stage yet, should i be doing that?’’ such a lack of confidence has been cited in previous research (arthur et al., 2006), however, research by mcnamara et al. (2008) which indicates these factors may be more pertinent to female teachers was not corroborated as there were imperceptible differences between female and male participants. overall, it can be concluded that the empirical data from this study concerning barriers is in alignment with the existing literature, although gender identity did not emerge as significantly as previously suggested.  incentives many of the participants were mature entrants to the profession with previous careers and relevant experiences underpinning their teaching practices. hatty, for example, had paid experience of research work which meant that she had the confidence to approach m-level pm cpd. coral too saw herself as a confident, determined teacher who would be willing to prioritise her time to work towards an ma: ‘if i had the programme information i would make the time for it, i would have it as a priority.’ – coral iris too saw herself as capable although her incentive was slightly more specific: “i found quite early on that maths was something that most other people struggled with and i thought well, if i’ve got a skill here then i should exploit it because if people who are good at teaching maths are quite rare then this is a niche i can get into.” for others, the m-level credits garnered throughout their ite programme contributed towards an academically able and confident identity of themselves, which in turn encouraged m-level work. articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 “it was only two years after finishing my degree and getting a 2:1 that i started my pgce so i thought that i could do the ma credits. they’re what really set me up for mast.” – angus such confidence, whether as a result of earlier academic success or relevant experience during prior employment, emerged as a real incentive which replicated findings from existing research (curee and university of wolverhampton, 2011). despite the ects seeing themselves as capable, the short time lapse between prior m-level credits and m-level cpd served as a further incentive for some. essentially, some ects felt that the momentum of their ite programme needed to be capitalised on and embarking on further credits in a timely fashion was critical, for example: “i do feel if i’d have left it longer i would have felt more wary about starting the academic reading and writing again.” angus iris shares similar feelings although cites a personal acquaintance as her personal motivation: “my nqt head has just gone back to do her ma 20 years out of practice and she is really struggling. so i thought as i’m in the habit now…….” for some, their identity as an academically able teacher means that the pure enjoyment of studying is a powerful incentive: “i’d thoroughly enjoyed the academic rigour of my degree and done well, coming out with a very good degree, in fact i graduated thinking, perhaps this is what i want to do instead of teaching. do i want to go and teach at university? i would have loved to conduct further research and doing the ma for me was really deciding whether that was the way i really wanted to go in. so giving it up was very difficult.” – ella overall, these factors compound to create an identity for some ects as future leaders of education. essentially, m-level cpd is viewed by some as a stepping stone to future promotion; this is in direct contrast to one of the barriers discussed previously, as some ects did not believe further qualifications aided career progression. “i remember seeing somewhere that there was a ma on special needs and i like that, it’s where i want to go. i want to be a senco in the future so i thought that would be a good idea. i think it could be a stepping stone to promotion.” coral for lily, it was seen as a way to boost her confidence in preparation for a potential leadership role: “i feel a bit nervous about the idea of having to step up in front of other teachers and i think having a ma might help me feel a bit more confident in myself. i’d feel like ‘i’ve got a ma and i know what i’m talking about, so you need to listen to me!’” articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 the idea of promotion was also an incentive for hatty, although principally as she coveted the associated pay rise: “i would like to be on a higher wage and to be more secure personally, in terms of housing for example, and i think an ma might help towards that.” similarly, lily saw potential concrete outcomes as being a true incentive: “if there was some kind of outcome from it, say a definite pay rise or higher position,that would be even better. it would give me something to work towards.” this potential impact of higher qualification on promotional prospects, for a range of reasons from straightforward career aspirations to a need for financial reward, reflects existing research (dean, 1991; curee and the university of wolverhampton, 2011; soulsby and swain, 2003). however, mcnamara et al.’s (2008) research showing that it is significantly less likely for career progression to be as integral to female teachers’ identities as males, perhaps impacting on their willingness to embark upon challenging, time-consuming cpd, if they are not to reap the rewards of promotion throughout a lengthy career, was not reflected in the sample of ects. there was very little to differentiate between sexes in general. in fact, an opposing viewpoint was proposed by one ect who viewed potential maternity leave as a good opportunity to begin m-level cpd due to the relief from school pressures. finally, personal identities as confident, established teachers mean that for some, the challenge of something new is enticing as coral explains: “i feel as if i’d be ready for it [doing an ma] now as in september it’ll be my third year teaching y1 and everything’s already done. i feel like i know what i’m doing now and i feel comfortable.” ella’s assured identity generates a slightly different agenda. she sees herself as a consummate professional who is subject to overpowering constraints: “it’s frustrating, and at times depressing, when policy is dictated by non-teaching professionals whilst we are teaching professionals who have been relieved of that responsibility.” ella is keen to continue to develop a thoughtful, insightful and independent identity as a teacher which she believes could be supported by an ma: “i’ve always been aware of a slight mismatch between government directives and actually research-based ways of teaching. personally, i’ve always believed more strongly in the things i learnt at university and the more research-based ways of teaching.” this averment that m-level study develops independent identities and develops autonomous practice in the interests of good teaching, as opposed to blindly following (potentially illarticles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 conceived) government initiatives and directives, and was therefore considered attractive, is new. to summarise, the results of this study are largely consistent with existing literature concerning incentives for ects to enrol on m-level pm cpd. however, the lack of impact of gender is a minor difference and the lure of mas to hone independent, thoughtful teacher identities is original. conclusion to summarise, findings from this small scale research project reinforce the existing literature which identifies the importance of ects’ academic identity regarding uptake of m-level cpd. however, similarities between genders are in contrast to mcnamara et al.’s (2008) study which allocates differences of real significance and believes female teachers’ identities to be a greater barrier to m-level cpd. this study’s empirical data suggests that the theory could evolve to subscribe less emphasis to gender difference in barriers to m-level pm cpd. the existing theory could further evolve to reflect this study’s empirical evidence which identifies the appeal of mas to hone independent, thoughtful teacher identities. perhaps the root of this as an incentive is in the ever-increasing involvement of the authorities in day-to-day school practice and the rise of accountability within the performative primary school. with the draft mathematics curriculum for ks1 and 2 (dfe, 2012c) coming under fire from a range of professionals, including practising classroom teachers (pollard and james, 2011, tes, 2012), as well as serious concerns within the english education community about the new y1 phonics screening test (rosen, 2012), to give examples from two core curriculum subjects, there appears to be a growing battle between the profession and its government ministers. the inherent liberation from controlling mechanisms embodied by free schools and academies, alongside the growth of autonomous leadership (dfe, 2012b; dfe, 2013), means the strength of this as an incentive may flourish and as such should be recognised within the theory. despite bryman’s (2008) caution that limits to generalization render the findings relevant to the sampled population only, tentative implications for practice can be suggested. firstly, both schools and heis could take more account of teachers’ identities as working family members. by considering more conveniently timetabled taught sessions, flexible submission dates and blended learning reducing the demands of contact time, heis could demonstrate their commitment to this cluster of teachers. schools could contribute by ensuring a manageable workload is compatible with family life, although this is perhaps governed by political and financial strategies, as well as firmly entrenched working cultures. however, if schools are able to develop in this way, it may result in a beneficial side effect of people developing more long-term teacher identities with lengthier careers and a stronger disposition towards m-level cpd. secondly, developing teachers’ academic identities with a view to being individuals confident and able to approach m-level work seems critical. heis could support this by perhaps integrating an academic review for graduands into standard exit procedures. similarly, by focusing on academic successes within standard nqt induction and, subsequent performance management procedures, confidence may develop. articles compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 overall, this small scale research has highlighted some tangible, achievable ways in which two settings could support efforts to encourage the future of the teaching profession to enrol on m-level primary mathematics cpd, ultimately contributing towards the goal of raising standards of primary mathematics. references acme (2002) continuing professional development for teachers of mathematics. london: the royal society. arthur, l., marland, h., pill, a. and rea, t. 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(2008) primary teacher identity, commitment and career in performative school cultures in british educational research journal, volume 34, issue 5, pp. 619-633. wellington, j. (2006) educational research; contemporary issues and practical approaches. london: continuum. wiersma, w. and jurs, s. g. (2009) research methods in education; an introduction. usa: pearson. williams, p. (2008) independent review of mathematics teaching in early years settings and primary schools. nottingham: dcsf publications. woods, p. and jeffrey, b. (2004) the reconstruction of primary teachers’ identities, chapter 11 pp.221-239 in ball, sj (ed) (2004) the routledgefalmer reader in sociology of education. oxon: routledgefarmer. wortham, s. (2006) learning identity; the joint emergence of social identification and academic learning. new york: cambridge university press youdell, d. (2011) school trouble; identity, power and politics in education. oxon: routledge. author biography gemma richardson is a new researcher with an interest in professional development opportunities for new teachers. gemma had a seven year career as a primary school teacher, teaching in primary schools in london and the netherlands. she is currently a senior lecturer in primary education teaching on ite programmes. she has an ma in education from the university of roehampton. http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cber20?open=34#vol_34 http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cber20/34/5 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 from humanities to metahumanities: transhumanism and the future of education poppy frances gibson university of greenwich abstract educational policy and provision is ever-changing; but how does pedagogy need to adapt to respond to transhumanism? this opinion piece discusses transhumanism, questions what it will mean to be posthuman, and considers the implications of this on the future of education. this piece aims to identify some key questions in the area of transhumanism and education as four themes are considered: teachers, human hardware, curriculum and lifelong learning. keywords: transhumanism, biotechnology, pedagogy, social futurist, posthuman. introduction when i tell people i am a transhumanist, it often raises an eyebrow – or several questions. what is transhumanism? what is a ‘posthuman’? why would anyone want to live forever? this article will briefly respond to these questions (amongst others) and consider what this may mean for the education sector. key questions will be identified in the area of transhumanism and education as four themes are considered: teachers, human hardware, curriculum and lifelong learning. with ‘trans’ meaning ‘across’, transhumanism is a ‘technoprogressive’ socio-political and intellectual movement (porter, 2017) that involves transforming our primitive human selves into selves enhanced through technology. transhumanism aims to develop our physical, emotional and cognitive capacities and thus to open up new possibilities and horizons of experience (thompson, 2017). the end goal is one day to become ‘posthuman’: combating ageing and freeing ourselves from current biological limitations. human to posthuman, the transhuman journey this may sound like science fiction, although many recent articles show the increasing potential and utilisation of artificial intelligence (ai) in our daily lives (agrawal et al., 2018; fahimi and powell, 2018; laplante and white, 2018). recently, i watched the film adaptation of ‘ghost in the shell’, based on the famous japanese seinen manga series, where a human brain is implanted into a robotic body. in reality, several breakthroughs in the partnership between neuroscience and biotechnology suggest that this could one day be achievable. why should we not want to improve ourselves – and our society – with the tools we have to create positive social change? unsurprisingly, the movement of transhumanism originated in silicon valley, california, renowned for being a hub of high-tech innovation and development. transhumanists claim common ground with several esteemed thinkers and traditions, from the ancient philosophy of plato and aristotle to the postmodern philosophy of nietzsche (porter, 2017) whilst current ideologies sit with the developments of science. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 transhumanism is driven by innovations in the health-care sector, increasing machine intelligence and the military (benedikter and siepmann, 2016), merging man and machine. transhumanist political parties will play a role in the key policy decisions of the coming years – the start of this year saw the founding of the transhumanist party uk – but how will changes like these influence the cultural currency of pedagogy? what does transhumanism mean for the future of education? from humanities to metahumanities: the changing face of education as we begin to augment ourselves with technology, humanities will need to be transformed into metahumanities (sorgner, 2015). technology will enhance both our physiology and our intellectual ability. when knowledge can be accessed literally through the blink of an eye (wearing an augmented reality contact lens) what is there left to teach? the face of education has already been responding to technological changes in recent years, such as the use of tablets and smartboards in the classroom, electronic submissions of assignments through software like ‘turnitin’ and hosting online learning platforms like moodle, where students can access course materials and communicate with their peers and tutors. the new primary curriculum in 2014 saw a shift from teachers as the transmitters of facts, to scaffolders of a more child-centred pedagogy, aiming to build problem-solving skills, develop resilience and encourage creativity. let’s consider how some other elements of education may change to enhance students’ capabilities by means of biotechnology: teachers: in japan, the world’s first robot teacher, ‘saya’, is now an accepted part of school culture; this is the first step, i believe, into moving to either robotic or virtual teaching. perhaps one day our brains will be able to link to an online network and download data directly? the key question that this possibility raises is: what, essentially, is the role of a teacher? if a teacher is simply to pass on knowledge along the information journey, this can be achieved through ai. however, if a teacher is needed to be a mentor or a coach and, if nurturing of a student’s academic and personal potential if required, i argue that until ai is advanced enough to respond to subtle emotional triggers, such as to pick up on a student’s mood or discreet body language, it is not a suitable replacement for the human touch, especially in the light of current concerns about unprecedented highs in student mental health issues. (evans et al., 2018). human hardware: ‘neuromorphic’ hardware is being developed in the quest to create machines that can function as closely as possible to the human brain. the pioneering 'brainternet' project, revealed last year, streams brainwaves onto the internet, which means that the human brain can be converted to an ‘internet of things’ (iot) device on the world wide web; iot refers to connecting any device with an on-and-off switch to the internet (wits university, 2017). brainternet is a new frontier in brain-computer interface systems (pantanowitz, 2017) which allows brain signals to be read on a device using the technique known as electroencephalography (eeg). the vision for the future is for programming to become sufficiently advanced for interactivity to be possible, and for electrical signals to be sent both ways, namely back from a device directly into the human brain. this process is not yet achievable, as the human brain is a very different processor from that of a computer (andrews, 2017) and the data conversion process is still incompatible. whilst digital computers use the binary signals of ones and zeros, our human brains send out signals composed of several billion bioelectrochemical transmissions. should such a conversion one opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 day be possible, i speculate that we would no longer see academics queuing at the departmental printer/photocopier when students can download data virtually. curriculum: i believe that, in the future, we shall see the removal of a school curriculum, and of subjects, and the time thus saved used instead for developments of further innovations. some critics of technology fear that robots may one day overpower humans (sasi, 2017); in the battle to stay ahead of ai, will our studies turn to the necessary developments in engineering? the prediction that robots will, over the next decade, take over thirty-five percent of jobs through automated systems (sasi, 2017) should influence our planning for future curriculum provision at primary, secondary and further and higher levels. we need to evaluate which jobs can be automated and thus which skills will become redundant. we need to consider which jobs ai robots will not be able to do – or at least will take longer to be able to master – and prepare students to take on these roles; essentially, roles which involve moral judgement, such as law, or professional roles which can support mental wellbeing, such as counsellors, psychotherapists and coaches. lifelong learning: henriksen (2015) argues that it is our finite condition that makes us human. i argue, why should we be finite when we can be infinite? transhumanism suggests that human life will be better and even fulfilled in a new way, if humans can overcome some of the finite conditions now given (henriksen, 2015). although some critics of posthumanism posit that is the fragility of our mortal life that promotes the deeper meaning of our existence, i suggest that becoming posthuman would allow for freedom from daily worries and more energy to be put into, for example, positive relationships, higherorder thinking and innovation. we would need to review the real implication of ‘lifelong skills’ rather than skills just to get a job to pay the daily bills until retirement. in my opinion, being human transcends our mortal skin. it isn’t about how much of us is flesh and how much is synthetic. we continually strive for newer models of devices, the latest upgrades of apps; it is common sense that we should aim to develop ourselves into faster, smarter, better-connected beings. only time will tell how the journey to posthumanism unravels but, as and when it does, we must see our society develop along with it, and that includes our institutions, public services… and even our universities. moodle implant, anyone? reference list agrawal, a., gans, j. and goldfarb, a. 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(2015) 'the future of education: genetic enhancement and metahumanities.' journal of evolution & technology, 25(1) 31-48. academic search premier, ebscohost. available at: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c444ac1-a9cd741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=10 3251705&db=aph (accessed: 13 february 2018). http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=29509732&db=cmedm http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=29509732&db=cmedm http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=29509732&db=cmedm http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=29509732&db=cmedm http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=13&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=13&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=17&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=17&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=26&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=wapo.76c35408-4959-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee&db=bwh http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=26&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=wapo.76c35408-4959-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee&db=bwh http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=26&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=wapo.76c35408-4959-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee&db=bwh http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=29&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=29&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/artificial-intelligence-overpower-humans-rahul-sasi/ http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=103251705&db=aph http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=103251705&db=aph http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=103251705&db=aph http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=103251705&db=aph opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 thompson, j. (2017) 'transhumanism: how far is too far?' new bioethics, 23(2), 165-182, academic search premier, ebscohost. available at: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=23&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=28 683597&db=cmedm (accessed: 14 february 2018). wits university (2017) ‘biomedical engineers connecting a human brain to the internet in real time.’ medical press. available at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-biomedicalhuman-brain-internet-real.html (accessed: 1 june 2018). http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=23&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=28683597&db=cmedm http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=23&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=28683597&db=cmedm http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=23&sid=ce3f2fd1-6c44-4ac1-a9cd-741a03cded90%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zq%3d%3d#an=28683597&db=cmedm https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-biomedical-human-brain-internet-real.html https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-biomedical-human-brain-internet-real.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 exploring first-year undergraduates’ perceptions of poetry and their acquisition of skills in reading poetry for study at university daniel weston university of greenwich abstract there is significant evidence drawn from student evaluations that students embarking on undergraduate english degrees feel uneasy about studying poetry and that this anxiety has an effect on the module choices they make as they progress through the three years of their programme. this study aims to investigate the causes of students’ responses to poetry and to make a beginning in looking at the implications that this has for teaching and learning. it explores students’ acquisition of skills and attitudes that make poetry-reading a rewarding activity. data has been gathered from focus groups with first-year undergraduate students in an english department at a uk university to discover what perceptions of poetry students hold and what factors in teaching contribute to the development and/or perpetuation of these perceptions. in brief, the study finds that, for effective teaching, the cultivation of enthusiasm for poetry is just as important as building technical vocabulary and learning techniques of formal analysis. there is some evidence that the technical competence flows out of enthusiasm. the study also finds that students feel their enjoyment of and affective response to poetry is often overlooked in the classroom. introduction the initial motivation to research the teaching of poetry to first-year undergraduates arose from anecdotal experience in my own teaching at several uk higher education (he) institutions; i came to believe that first-year undergraduate students enrolled on english degree programmes feel less comfortable studying poetry than prose (for example, novels or short stories), are less willing to engage in seminar discussion of poetry and choose to write assessed essays on it less often than on other literary forms. informal discussion with colleagues revealed to me that others engaged in teaching these subjects had similar experiences. basic analysis of students’ choices provides some good backing for this anecdotal evidence. for this purpose, i draw on data relating to a compulsory, core module for all single and joint honours students on ba programmes in english at a uk university. assessment on the course permits students to select an essay question from a list of options (with their choice having no bearing on future choices available to them and therefore being a reasonably reliable indication of their preferences). even though roughly 50% of the texts available for the students to choose from were poetry, only 20% chose to write on poetry, with the figure dropping further to 8% for modern poetry (defined as that written in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries). when cohorts reach secondand third-year study, their selection of option modules reveals a similar trend: modules involving little or no study of poetry recruit larger numbers of students than those focused primarily on poetry. of course, there are other variables to take into account here, but the trend seems to be significant nonetheless. combining anecdotal evidence and these figures reveals a fairly consistent cohort division: a few students elect to study poetry whenever they can, whilst most, where possible, avoid it. as secondand thirdyear preferences tend to follow those established in case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the first year (or earlier), it may be the case that formative engagements with poetry in the he setting are important in determining which of these groups students subsequently fall into. this study explores first-year english students’ perceptions of poetry and investigates what factors in teaching cultivate and perpetuate these perceptions. i am particularly interested in determining what kinds of teaching have led students to feel that they have made significant progress in understanding and enjoying poetry. i am also interested in where students feel that they have experienced difficulties and what types of instruction they have found to be less productive. i conclude by making recommendations for practice in the undergraduate teaching of poetry. i feel that this guidance is particularly necessary because, whilst many academics who teach in english departments have to teach poetry, their research expertise might be focused on a different area of literature. they might not have studied poetry in any detail since they themselves were undergraduate students. literature review the teaching of poetry, along with other forms of literature, has been conditioned by the changes that have accompanied the growth of english as an academic subject over a long period. the model for the study of english that held sway from the 1920s to the 1960s and beyond is that of new criticism, as developed by f.r. leavis (1952) and others. this mode of engagement with literature saw the literary critic and the student of literature as arbiters of culture and tradition, equipped with the skills of close reading in order to discern valuable thought of use to society and to confirm the greatness of canonical literature (leavis, 1952). the methodology that grew up around this aim was the identification of the literary features that bespoke the poem’s or the novel’s quality, along with a vocabulary to articulate this. the unspoken rationale underlying this method is that terminology underpins communities of practice (wenger, 1998). amongst the multiple challenges to this way of thinking that have subsequently taken place, the growth of reader response theory is the most significant for classroom teaching and learning. across the 1970s and ’80s, reader response theory sought to shift emphasis away from the ‘leavisite’ mode and to focus instead on how readers actually experience a poem and engage with it (rosenblatt, 1970, 1978; iser, 1978, 1988). these changes led dias and hayhoe (1988, p.5). to argue that traditional english teaching in schools had focused too much on identifying and accounting for features: “the apprehension of a poem as a process of close reading, a careful attending to the words on the page, an ‘explication’ … has led to classes in poetry where the sole object is one of training pupils to read poetry by examining as many aspects as would explain its inner workings”. this critique then made space for the development of ‘progressive’ english teaching, such as cox’s ‘personal growth’ model, focusing on the role of poetry in “developing children’s imaginative and aesthetic lives” (cox, 1991, p.21), and john dixon’s suggestion that “english is about finding personal and social experiences worth sharing, and in the course of doing so, potentially making discoveries” (dixon, 2009, p.244). more specifically, naylor and wood (2012, p.viii), again focusing on school rather than university teaching, recommend “mov[ing] away from a model of teaching poetry from the front, where the teacher explains meanings that pupils passively accept, to an active approach where pupils are able to access the ideas behind the poetry, enabling them to make their own meanings and respond to the poetry on a personal level”. however, at a more advanced level of study, the situation is less clear. for knapp (2002, p.720), questions remain for the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 college and university teacher: “how does one induct a novice reader into an interpretive community of developed expertise? what specific steps does one take to move novice literati from relative ignorance to readerly sophistication?” in the very phrasing of knapp’s query, the tension between the two models for studying literature – leavisite and reader response – remains unresolved. a further question that is also necessary to ask (but that knapp does not ask) is: how does one enthuse and motivate a student to want to enter this interpretive community? to survey student-targeted introductory guides and primers in the study of poetry is to find that focus is often devoted to the technical aspects of writing in verse and to providing the associated specialist vocabulary for talking and writing about them. three examples demonstrate prevailing trends in study guides aimed at undergraduates. john lennard’s the poetry handbook: a guide to reading poetry for pleasure and practical criticism (lennard, 2005: p.xxi) is paradigmatic in aiming to provide readers “with a better understanding of craft and technique’ such that they might ‘judge’ a poem and poet”. thus, the book “introduces students to the technical vocabulary of poetry and its criticism”. this vocabulary “though perhaps off-putting, is essential” (op.cit., p.xxiv). the book is written against the view that “analysis spoils pleasure” and out of the conviction that “understanding redoubles pleasure” (ibid., p.xxv). as a result, it takes the form of a series of chapters devoted to poetic devices (metre, form, layout, rhyme, etc.). each chapter ends with a discussion of the feature under consideration in derek walcott’s poem ‘nearing forty’. despite this concession to engaging with a particular poem, the focus is firmly on technical information, even though there is an open acknowledgement that is felt to be off-putting by many students. like lennard’s book, rhian williams’s the poetry toolkit: the essential guide to studying poetry (williams, 2009, p.8) aims to “explore and explain the technical vocabulary often used in studying poetry”. it, too, gives over the bulk of its content to chapters dealing with forms, prosody, rhyme, stanzas, etc. like lennard, williams is also conscious that “technical vocabulary and poetic devices can be off-putting”, but proceeds with this focus nonetheless (op. cit., p.4). shira woloksky’s the art of poetry: how to read a poem (woloksky, 2001) is also organised into chapters focusing on technicalities – individual words, syntax and poetic line, images, simile and metaphor, etc. – even though it focuses less obviously on specialist vocabulary and does take on more extended examples. there is, however, an alternative methodology (one that implicitly draws on reader response theory) discernible in other books that introduce or otherwise approach the topic but are not presented primarily as study guides for undergraduate students (as the three samples above are). tom paulin’s the secret life of poems: a poetry primer takes the form of an anthology of forty poems with paulin’s commentaries on them – typically two or three pages in length on each – with no introductory essay. the only front matter of any note is a onepage entry on metrical feet and consonants (paulin, 2008, p.ix). even here, definitions are not offered; instead, there is a single example of each type of poetic foot (e.g. iamb, trochee) and the different consonant sounds listed in their classes (e.g. aspirant, fricative). the point is that, even when technical information is being conveyed, the choice has been made to do so via tangible example rather than theoretical discussion. as the back-cover blurb makes clear, “paulin attends closely to the words on the page, above all their hidden acoustic and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 musical workings”. that is, the focus is still on technical aspects but by a completely different means. ruth padel’s 52 ways of looking at a poem: a poem for every week of the year takes a similar approach to paulin’s, with a body of poetry accompanied by short commentaries. here too, the focus is on engaging with particular poems and, as the title suggests, doing so regularly and in sustained ways. familiarity is the key. padel (2004, p.4) avers that “the important thing is making your own relationship with the poem”. “you can respond to a poem emotionally and imaginatively without being aware of the technical ways it gets its effects”, and in that process your interest may lead you to seek out that technical understanding. thus, “with poems, technical illumination increases your enjoyment in something that was, after all, made for you” (op.cit., p.5). it is not the case then that technical vocabulary is absent here, but that it is arrived at through reading poems, rather than undergoing the offputting prelude to that enjoyable engagement as it might be in lennard, williams and, to a lesser extent, woloksky. a final example cements the difference. john fuller’s who is ozymandias? and other puzzles in poetry “is intended to comfort readers who find poetry difficult by showing that everyone, including professional critics, can find it difficult. … poetry is a form of writing that deliberately employs puzzles as a means of engaging the reader in the pleasurable business of solving them, and that therefore we might as well take our time”. the book “is largely built, not so much on theories about all this, but on a number of briefly considered examples of individual puzzles” (fuller, 2011, p.vii). once again, the focus is on pleasure in reading as the means by which to build understanding. paulin, padel and fuller are all still attempting to equip readers to enter the ‘interpretive community’ that knapp identifies, whilst not putting them off with technical vocabulary as a prerequisite. it may be worth noting here that these three are themselves well-regarded poets and therefore bring a different set of experiences and understandings (especially those won outside the classroom) to this endeavour. my research looks to ascertain whether this approach might solve some of the problems in enthusing undergraduate students of poetry identified at the outset of this paper. investigation methodology this project falls under norton’s definition of pedagogical action research, as i am a practitioner within the field of poetry teaching rather than an outsider, and because the study has “the dual aim of modifying practice and contributing to theoretical knowledge” (norton, 2008, p.xvi). this is a qualitative, interpretivist study that relies on rich student data from a relatively small sample, in order to allow for good depth of analysis rather than comprehensive breadth of coverage. it selects focus groups over other forms of interview as the means of gathering data so that “the participants rather than the researcher’s agenda can predominate” (cohen et al., 2011, p.436). my aim was to reduce as far as possible my own influence on the results. i followed fowler’s recommendation of six to eight participants in each group so that each participant could contribute fully (fowler, 2009, p.117). in order to achieve this number, i over-recruited (calling on ten participants per group) to allow for the twenty per cent non-attendance that morgan (1997, p.44) suggested might be expected. in this study, morgan’s prediction for attendance rates proved accurate. i used three different groups in an attempt to ensure that findings could be generalised rather than relate only to one particular group and in the hope case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 that this would avoid any skewing of data by the dominance of one voice within a group (morgan, op.cit; smithson, 2000). i designed the method of conducting the focus groups with the aim of capturing students’ perspectives: they were semi-structured, with some basic questions, but without a rigorously-upheld agenda, allowing for probing into certain points to gather greater detail and encouraging participants to talk to one another, rather than through the researcher, as much as possible. to this end, the initial questions were very open: • have you enjoyed your encounters with poetry? why/why not? • what helped you in overcoming any difficulties you experienced? • has studying poetry at university been similar to/different from at school/college? how? • have you found particular books useful? as norton (op.cit., p.74) suggests, features such as these are “much more likely to establish a richer picture of the student perspective”. i also chose the methods of data collection to encourage participants to set their own agenda. thus, in addition to the audio-recording that is standard practice in focus groups, i provided flip charts and pens for participants to record and organise in their own terms what they felt to be important. this extra source of collaboratively-produced data was then triangulated with others to corroborate the important themes and issues. i decided upon the identification of a group from which to draw participants with the aim of accessing responses from those for whom the first experience of studying poetry at university was a recent experience and fresh to mind. i therefore targeted first-year students, rather than secondand third-year, as the latter groups’ memories of initial engagements with poetry at university might not be so easily recalled. data from first years might prove more reliable because of this factor. students enrolled on a core first-year module covering a range of literature, including poetry, were invited to take part. this sample was therefore broad and had experience of the issue being investigated. all students on the module were invited to participate, apart from those whom i taught personally; i avoided inclusion of these students to prevent the possibility of any perception of a personal power position in this activity. i selected and assigned those who were willing to take part to groups – this by student number rather than name to eliminate possible bias. all participants’ contributions were anonymised to ensure confidentiality. all were given and signed an informed consent form. results, analysis and interpretation following glesne’s guidance for data analysis (2011), i thought it necessary to present the interpretations on the basis of thematic analysis, since what had initially seemed a rudimentary coding process became, when in contact with the data, increasingly complex. in effect, this means that i applied, on the one hand, a blend of a priori ‘template’ codes and, on the other, codes developed through encounter with the data. in the light of morgan’s assertion (1997, p.62) that “those who can answer their research questions without counting codes should feel well justified in doing so”, i do not present statistics here. rather, i describe the points on which there was broad consensus in focus-group discussions and the themes that emerged as significant. the importance of particular topics and views has been case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 determined by a combination of factors: how many groups mentioned something, how many participants within a group mentioned it and how much energy was generated in discussing it. focus groups’ discussions revealed a broad consensus on a number of points, but some disparity on others. the first point of consensus was that practical classroom experience of working with particular poems was felt to be important in understanding poetry. for example, one participant reported: “it being like a different poem after we worked on it in class”; another said that “it just clicked once we’d gone through it together”. a number of participants across all three groups contrasted this against similar activity undertaken alone in private study (“i didn’t get it before”; “i couldn’t get anything like as far on my own”). the only detractors from this consensus were those who also reported already enjoying reading and analysing poetry before degree-level study. discussion of poems was generally seen both as crucial to understanding and enjoyable. adding nuance to this broad finding, some participants reported that hearing a range of interpretations of a poem from their peers in seminars was a positive experience. reasons for this varied from feeling that “there’s no right answer but a lot of options” to “it made it more free”. a related finding was that learning about poetry was mentioned far more often in conjunction with seminars than with lectures. the issue of vocabulary and technical analysis of poems was often mentioned. this was discussed negatively by participants who also reported not enjoying the study of poetry. such a correlation suggests that technical vocabulary can indeed be off-putting for students. however, almost all reported recognising the importance of “knowing the right terms” (including those who struggled with that). participants were more positive about technical vocabulary when used with reference to specific examples. in this context, “it made sense”, whereas, without locating the technical terms in examples, it “felt like doing maths”. the combination of these two points – preference for classroom study of particular poems and dislike for technical vocabulary in abstract contexts – carries clear implications. these focus groups suggested that students are most enthused by hands-on learning through example when it comes to initial engagements with poetry in he. they realise that vocabulary is important, but feel better equipped to use it when they have tangible examples to focus on. this finding clearly speaks to the issues raised in the literature review. other points that emerged open up new considerations. there was significant consensus on how it felt to learn about poetry: many participants, again across all three groups, reported experiencing a moment in which understanding was arrived at suddenly rather than via a patient accumulation (“it was like eureka”; “it just clicked”). it is less obvious how instructors might capitalise on knowing this and cultivate such moments in the classroom. the opposite is true of one other aspect of teaching. many participants reported that hearing poems read aloud revealed a lot to them about their workings and aided their understanding (though some did not like to read poems aloud to the class themselves). it is clear that for participants in these focus groups this activity is a very worthwhile one. lastly, participants were less interested in discussing the issue of similarities/differences between poetry teaching at university and that experienced previously at school or college. neither was much attention devoted to the question of whether particular books had been helpful, even when prompted. data on these questions does not provide much information towards a consensus. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the provision of flip charts and pens for participants to record their ideas did not produce any data radically different from that gathered via audio-recording, but it did allow for a clearer sense of what the most important points were for participants. these were twofold: firstly, learning about poetry is facilitated best by classroom discussion of particular poems; secondly, learning about technical aspects and being able to apply appropriate vocabulary is recognised to be necessary, is found difficult by a significant proportion of students and is made easier when linked to the reading of the poems in question. conclusions it is clear that, for participants in these focus groups, what makes students feel most comfortable in learning about poetry when they first encounter it at university conflicts with the ways that some textbooks implicitly and explicitly recommend that they ought to learn about it (lennard, op.cit; williams, op.cit.). whilst students recognise the importance of the information that will allow them to express their thoughts on poetry in academic terms (and sometimes recognise that this actually opens up new possibilities), they do not feel that this information is always effectively packaged for them to absorb. spending more time on specific examples – that is, particular poems – and less on the ‘rules’ of poetry analysis in the abstract is likely to achieve students’ acquisition of the appropriate critical vocabulary and a working understanding of it – and at the same time to foster their enthusiasm for the endeavour. the benefit of the latter is significant. extended focus on examples and the more thorough engagement that this encourages also make more likely the ‘eureka’ moment that some participants reported occurring. it is also clear that participants felt reading poems aloud to be a valuable activity that enhanced their understanding of how the verse functioned. the literary devices that poets deploy are perhaps made more explicit when they are heard in action. it is also reasonable to assume both that students are unlikely to read poems aloud to themselves in private study and that lectures and seminars (especially the latter) are the learning situations in which reading aloud could most productively be employed. evaluation of the study clearly, with comparatively small numbers of participants in focus groups, this project should be considered to be a pilot study rather than a full or complete piece of compelling research. nevertheless, the findings that emerged are clear enough to suggest that a larger and more detailed treatment of the issues would be valuable. future extension to the work could take up two different approaches. the first would be, simply, to increase the number of participants and the number of focus groups. more data of the same kind might make a more extensive and elaborate coding process rewarding. statistical data would be more meaningful in this context. the second would be a triangulation of this kind of data with other sources of qualitative information. triangulating this focus group material with a survey or other types of interview (that were not attempted here owing to constraints of time and resources) would help to build a more detailed picture from the sketch that i have provided. this nature of this research has been part exploration and part hypothesis-testing. i began with anecdotal experience of the problem – students not enjoying the study of poetry as much as other literary forms and choosing it less often – that i wanted to explore and then built towards a sense of the possible reasons for this and the means to address it through the literature review that i undertook before beginning work with the focus groups. given that case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the findings to emerge out of the focus groups broadly confirmed these indications, my own position in relation to this set of issues must be acknowledged. as an advocate of poetry with strong views about the subject, i cannot be considered a disinterested researcher regardless of the measures i put in place to guard against my influencing the results described above. reference list cohen, l. manion, l. and morrison k. (2011) research methods in education, 7th edition. abingdon: routledge. cox, b. (1991) cox on cox: an english curriculum for the 1990s. london: hodder and stoughton. dias, p. and hayhoe, m. (1988) developing response to poetry. oxford: oxford university press. dixon, j. (2009) english renewed: visions of english among teachers of 1966. english in education, 43(3), 241-50. fowler, f.j. jr. (2009) survey research methods, 4th edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage. fuller, j. (2011) who is ozymandias? and other puzzles in poetry. london: vintage. glesne, c. (2011) becoming qualitative researchers: an introduction, 4th edition. boston, ma: pearson. iser, w. (1978) the act of reading: a theory of aesthetic response. london: routledge. iser, w. (1988) the reading process; a phenomenological approach. in: lodge, d. and wood, n. (eds), modern criticism and theory. edinburgh: pearson, 295-310. knapp, j. (2002) teaching poetry via hei (hypothesis-experiment-instruction). journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 45(8), 718-729. leavis, f.r. (1952) the common pursuit. london: chatto & windus. lennard, j. (2005) the poetry handbook: a guide to reading poetry for pleasure and practical criticism, 2nd edition. oxford: oxford university press. morgan, d.l. (1997) focus groups as qualitative research, 2nd edition. beverley hills, ca: sage. naylor, a. and wood, a.b. (2012) teaching poetry: reading and responding to poetry in the secondary classroom. abingdon: routledge. norton, lin s. (2008). action research in teaching and learning. abingdon: routledge. padel, r. (2004) 52 ways of looking at a poem: a poem for every week of the year. london: vintage. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 paulin, t. (2008) the secret life of poems: a poetry primer. london: faber. rosenblatt, l. (1970) literature as exploration. london: heinemann. rosenblatt, l. (1978) the reader, the text and the poem. carbondale and edwardsville: southern illinois university press. smithson, j. (2000) using and analyzing focus groups: limitations and possibilities. international journal of social research methodology, 3(2), 103-19. wenger, e. (1998) communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity. cambridge: cambridge university press. williams, r. (2009) the poetry toolkit: the essential guide to studying poetry. london: continuum. woloksky, s. (2001) the art of poetry: how to read a poem. oxford: oxford university press. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 reasons to be different: a ‘post-1992’ perspective peter jones university of greenwich abstract at a time when british higher education’s relevance and value for money are increasingly questioned, i argue that post-1992 universities should resist the temptation to emulate their ‘elite’ counterparts; and suggest some reasons why, and ways in which, they might do things differently. my analysis derives from experience of teaching social sciences (especially sociology) in a post-1992 institution, but may well have wider validity. keywords: post-1992 universities; social and cultural diversity; ‘inclusive’ and ‘applied’ higher education. post-1992 university students are socially, including culturally, more diverse than their ‘elite’ counterparts; are more likely to be comprehensive/state school-educated and without privileged backgrounds; are probably doing paid term-time work; and may be living at home (metcalf, 2003; moreau and leathwood, 2006; and national union of students [nus], 2015).1 however much higher education may fulfil these students’ intrinsic desires for learning, it also needs to enhance their employment prospects, since neither their personal backgrounds nor their educational trajectories afford guarantees of security and prosperity. i argue here that learning, teaching and assessment in the social sciences should more fully recognise these distinctive needs, and that post-1992 institutions should develop a different approach from that bequeathed by pre-1992 traditions. i also suggest that these students’ diversity should be considered an asset, to be nurtured through higher education and into their post-university lives. today’s social sciences curricula are heavily influenced by ‘current research interests’ and ‘received disciplinary wisdoms’. in sociology, this implies a somewhat esoteric and fragmented offer; and a distinctly twentieth (even nineteenth) century, anglo-europeanamerican, bias – often in favour of theorists who are ‘pale, male and stale’, and sometimes intellectually discredited, albeit still revered as ‘founding fathers’ (sic). in terms of assessment, the essay, the dissertation and the exam (usually calling for more essays!) still dominate. arguably this model, which evolved during more exclusive higher education times, favours those coming from elite schools, those who themselves envisage an academic career, and those for whom employability is not a major anxiety. it is probably not one that 1 data from the higher education statistics agency [hesa] also support some of these claims. for example, 2016-17 data for london’s eight former polytechnics (east london, greenwich, kingston, london metropolitan, south bank, middlesex, west london and westminster) and for its ten principal elite institutions (birkbeck, city, goldsmiths, imperial, king’s, lse, queen mary, royal holloway, soas and ucl) show the following aggregate differences (for uk domiciled students only): 97.2 versus 81.0 per cent from state schools and colleges, 7.5 versus 4.6 per cent from low participation neighbourhoods, and 44.9 versus 32.7 per cent from black and asian ethnicities (analysis based on hesa, 2018 and hesa, no date). for data on students' paid work, see the periodic student income and expenditure survey – most recently for 2014-15 (department for education [dfe], 2018) – which, however, does not differentiate between preand post-1992 institutions. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 best serves the needs of most post-1992 students. so what might a more appropriate educational experience look like, for the kinds of students i have described? first, the curriculum should reflect their concerns and be more focused on the present and the future than on the past. so for example, globalisation, migration, population ageing, race and diversity, gender and sexuality, crime and criminalisation, environmental degradation, inequalities and the changing nature of work are all relevant to sociologists. in connection with the latter, for instance, this would imply giving more attention to automation and ‘precriatisation’ than to ‘fordist’ work experiences of the twentieth century and class analyses based on nineteenth-century industrialisation. second, it should enable students to enrich their cultural capital in ways which again connect with their own lives, whilst also supporting the social mobility to which they aspire. whether or not this necessitates immersion in the elitist cultural worlds of corporate and white middle class britain, it clearly should encompass much greater social and cultural inclusivity. my own recent tentative steps in this direction include videos of shazia mirza (a british asian, female stand-up comedian) and grayson perry (a white, british, male transvestite contemporary artist), discussed in connection with learning and teaching around race, gender and sexuality; and novels which meet similar criteria – for example elif shafak’s honour, a diasporic (kurdish-british) story which i recommended to a student researching honour killings. it should also involve systematic engagement with current social and political affairs – for which bbc world service radio is one possible authoritative, and surprisingly non-anglocentric, source. third, it should include more ‘issue-based’ learning – akin to the approach adopted by public and voluntary organisations, think tanks and others when conducting ‘applied’ social research or developing and evaluating policy – and should cultivate the cross-disciplinary teamwork, data-handling and other skills required for this kind of work. it need not be less rigorous than traditional academic learning and assessment. but it is more likely to be undertaken as work-related learning, to generate reports and multi-media outputs, and to provide stepping-stones to employment with organisations such as ngos – who now employ around one million people in the uk. the iars international institute, which works with disadvantaged young people, and where a former student has recently progressed from internship to permanent employment, prompted “i’d love to work for an organisation like that!” reactions from current students to whom i mentioned it as a work placement opportunity. not least in light of the recent oxfam scandal, it seems likely that public policy and service providers increasingly recognise diversity – and diversity awareness – in their workforce as an asset and, in some cases, an urgent necessity.2 in responding to current questions about relevance and value for money, post-1992 institutions might therefore reflect rather more on the ‘applied’ educational missions of their former polytechnic and college selves, and aspire somewhat less to emulating elite models of higher education. indeed, there may be reasons why the reverse should apply … 2 there are obvious parallels here with recent campaigns for ‘decolonisation’ of the curriculum – cutterham (2016), gopal (2017) and kennedy (2017). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 reference list cutterham, t. (2016). ‘what is diversity for?’. the times higher education supplement, 22 september. dfe (2018). student income and expenditure survey 2014 to 2015. available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-income-and-expenditure-survey-2014to-2015 (accessed: 5 september 2018). gopal, p. (2017). ‘yes, we must decolonise: our teaching has to go beyond elite white men’. the guardian, 27 october. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/27/decolonise-elite-white-mendecolonising-cambridge-university-english-curriculum-literature (accessed: 5 september 2018). hesa (2018). widening participation: uk performance indicators 2016/17. available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/01-02-2018/widening-participation-tables# (accessed: 5 september 2018). hesa (no date). who's studying in he?: personal characteristics. available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-he/characteristics (accessed: 5 september 2018). kennedy, m. (2017). ‘welcome and important’: academics on decolonising education’. the guardian, 26 october. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/26/grand-acts-of-national-self-harmacademics-on-decolonising-education (accessed: 5 september 2018). metcalf, h. (2003). ‘increasing inequality in higher education: the role of term-time working’. oxford review of education, 29(3), 315-29. available at: http://content.ebscohost.com/contentserver.asp?ebscocontent=dgjymnle80sep7y4zdny olcmr1cep69ss6q4srewxwxs&contentcustomer=dgjympgrtky2przquepfgeyx9yvf5uc a&t=p&p=an&s=r&d=aph&k=10665404 (accessed: 5 september 2018). moreau, m-p and leathwood, c (2006). ‘balancing paid work and studies: working (-class) students in higher education’. studies in higher education, 31(1), 23-42, doi: 10.1080/03075070500340135. nus (2015). reaching home: a report on the experiences of students living in the parental home during study. available at: https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/reaching-home (accessed: 5 september 2018). https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/afbscmwpkfgb9lskwy0t?domain=gov.uk https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/afbscmwpkfgb9lskwy0t?domain=gov.uk https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/27/decolonise-elite-white-men-decolonising-cambridge-university-english-curriculum-literature https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/27/decolonise-elite-white-men-decolonising-cambridge-university-english-curriculum-literature https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/01-02-2018/widening-participation-tables https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-he/characteristics https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/26/grand-acts-of-national-self-harm-academics-on-decolonising-education https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/26/grand-acts-of-national-self-harm-academics-on-decolonising-education http://content.ebscohost.com/contentserver.asp?ebscocontent=dgjymnle80sep7y4zdnyolcmr1cep69ss6q4srewxwxs&contentcustomer=dgjympgrtky2przquepfgeyx9yvf5uca&t=p&p=an&s=r&d=aph&k=10665404 http://content.ebscohost.com/contentserver.asp?ebscocontent=dgjymnle80sep7y4zdnyolcmr1cep69ss6q4srewxwxs&contentcustomer=dgjympgrtky2przquepfgeyx9yvf5uca&t=p&p=an&s=r&d=aph&k=10665404 http://content.ebscohost.com/contentserver.asp?ebscocontent=dgjymnle80sep7y4zdnyolcmr1cep69ss6q4srewxwxs&contentcustomer=dgjympgrtky2przquepfgeyx9yvf5uca&t=p&p=an&s=r&d=aph&k=10665404 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070500340135 https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/j2fhcmoo1cgybgt9nmly?domain=nusconnect.org.uk technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 web annotation technologies for learning john casey city of glasgow college introduction this introduces web annotation tools and standards and their potential to support learning and teaching across a range of activities using existing web resources, with an initial discussion of implications for academic practice. it concludes with a short description of current web annotation tools for text, images and audio-visual resources. what is web annotation? to start with, it helps to remind us of traditional uses of annotation in the pre-digital world of paper. these have included ‘marginalia’ – i.e. handwritten notes in the margins of books, underscores and highlights etc. – used by individuals. more wide-ranging applications of annotation in paper media have included scholarly works, such as annotated anthologies of poetry or annotated bibliographies of quantum physics. from this perspective, web-based annotation is an attempt to recreate and extend that functionality as a new layer on top of the web. this brings all the affordances of the web environment; annotations can be ‘published’, shared, managed and curated, as well as re-published via social media channels. annotations can be linked, shared between services, tracked back to their origins, searched and discovered and stored wherever the author wishes. web-based annotations enable a reader to interact with web pages to create her/his own content linked back to the original web page and these annotations (and their connections to the original web page) can, in turn, be annotated by others. applications for learning with web annotation, what is developing are powerful ways of interacting with web content and other web users. these tools bring some great opportunities for education and research. in education, the use case is especially compelling: students have been writing in their books since the book was invented. as books, texts, images and videos studied in schools and college migrate online, these marginal notes can become media-rich and shared with others. in face-to-face, online and blended classrooms, collaborative annotation combines traditional literacy with more emergent understandings of the types of skills students need to develop to be successful in digital environments. at the i annotate 2016 conference in berlin (http://iannotate.org/2016/) a range of educational examples of web annotation were provided including the lacuna project from stanford university (http://bit.ly/2nfmbe7) and the pahsit project at university of colorado denver (http://bit.ly/2eb8bd2). what was striking was that the annotation technologies were enabling the kinds of threaded discussion that we normally associate with forums in virtual learning environments (vles). however, in this case, the discussion was happening in the ‘annotation layer’ centred on shared web resources; the w3c infographic below (figure 1.) file:///c:/users/kg21/appdata/local/microsoft/windows/temporary%20internet%20files/content.outlook/xr42l3p7/(http:/bit.ly/2nfmbe7) file:///c:/users/kg21/appdata/local/microsoft/windows/temporary%20internet%20files/content.outlook/xr42l3p7/(http:/bit.ly/2eb8bd2) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 will help with visualising this, as will the screenshot of the ‘compass’ journal article with an annotation (figure 2.). implications for academic practice a good, single sentence, description of the potential user experience of web annotation is provided by a leading scholarly annotation service: “a conversation layer over the entire web that works everywhere, without needing implementation by any underlying site.” (hypothes.is: https://web.hypothes.is/about/) this conveys perhaps the most important thing about web annotations – they are independent of the original web page, exist separately from it and are under the control of the annotator. yet, to a third-party viewer of the annotations, they co-exist with the original content, because this annotation layer is under the control of the annotator and not the original web page author/publisher. thus, annotations can circumvent decisions that content owners have made about whether they want ‘commenting’ in the first place. in academia and elsewhere, this raises important questions about the traditional role of the author, copyright, reputation and ownership. technical architecture of web annotations the w3c (world wide web consortium) is establishing data standards to provide a good foundation for future developments in the key areas of inter-operability, preservation and sustainability. the pages of the w3c web annotation working group (https://www.w3.org/annotation/) provide a good source of information; the illustration (and the accompanying text below) is taken from there and provides a useful visualisation of how web annotation works in practice (w3c, 2017). figure 1: a generic web annotation architecture, showing a reader creating captions (righthand column) in relation to selections on a web page https://web.hypothes.is/about/ https://www.w3.org/annotation/ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 “with annotations, a reader can target a discrete selection. a selection can be text, a section of an image, a location on an interactive map, a timestamp of a video or audio, or a data representation that has an underlying data source. a reader can even annotate a footnote ... or a traditional site comment. other readers can annotate sections of content that overlap existing annotations ... and even annotate annotations themselves, in threaded replies. ” copyright statement © (23 february 2017) world wide web consortium, (mit, ercim, keio). http://www.w3.org/consortium/legal/2015/doc-license web annotation tools annotating textual resources on the web is relatively well advanced, with perhaps the best example being the open source hypothes.is project (https://web.hypothes.is) that provides a free subscription service for users. an example of a hypothes.is service user’s public annotation of a compass journal article page is given below in a screen shot featuring a single annotation; the public annotation is also available at this web link: http://bit.ly/2eatga4. figure 2: a compass article page, with annotation available at: http://bit.ly/2eatga4 http://www.w3.org/ http://www.csail.mit.edu/ http://www.ercim.org/ http://www.keio.ac.jp/ http://www.w3.org/consortium/legal/2015/doc-license https://web.hypothes.is/ http://bit.ly/2eatga4 http://bit.ly/2eatga4 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 annotation of images is developing rapidly, with work being led by the iiiaf consortium (http://iiif.io). an example of image annotation is given by the work of digirati with the wellcome trust and their development of a universal player for the trust (http://bit.ly/2s6785s), with the planned addition of annotations. annotation of audio-visual resources on the web is more emergent. in this connection, the work of the clipper (clipper 2017) project, funded by jisc (http://bit.ly/1sizmcd), is providing some useful insights, making it easier for learners and teachers to analyse, manage and collaborate using online audio and video resources. http://iiif.io/ http://bit.ly/2s6785s http://bit.ly/1sizmcd opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 a response to ‘teaching ‘dry’ subjects without tears’ andrew thompson university of west london in 1991 a young barrister, james brown walked into the large m16 lecture theatre of the dartford campus of the then thames polytechnic, the forerunner to the university of greenwich. using a whiteboard and the simple power of the english language he started his lecture series on the law of land and property. he opened, “in 1066 william the bastard invaded england, defeated harold at the battle of hastings and here we will start……” the passion, knowledge and detailed understanding of his subject filled the room with interest, sowing the seed of interest that still carries me forward! mixing legal theory, history, business application and practical story telling with the core subject, case law, the topic was presented in a relevant, future practitioner-focused style. does therefore the view that land law is a ‘dry’ and difficult subject to convey to learners expressed by clarke (2011), represent a wider problem of conveying complex higher education (he) subjects? are these subjects ‘dry’ to those who have become pure teaching staff, remote from the topic, rather than coming to the issue as an active practitioner/researcher holding a fuller depth of subject understanding? the premise of clarke (2011:3) is that for a subject such as land law, ‘we have in mind a number of features which make a subject appear uninteresting and unapproachable to the average student’ and, as such, requires a special topicspecific teaching strategy to be effectively conveyed beyond the needs of any general he taught subject. this view appears to reject the basic role of the teacher as the motivator of learning in every subject context, petty (2009). the counter point of this paper is that the most motivated learner can be bored or turned off a subject due to poor presentation. every subject can be made ‘dry’ if conveyed in a style incorrect to the potential audience. motivation theory suggests that any topic poorly conveyed to the learner will miss the need of the psychological learning contract, petty (2009). therefore, whilst i do not reject any of the suggested teaching strategies outlined by clarke (2011:4), i feel that the suggested learning strategies detailed in table one (clarke 2011:4) are wrongly grounded in learning theory. the potential pitfall within the clarke (2011) view is that the lack of a teacher’s feel for a topic within a programme may be due to the loss of contact with the application of the subject by the presenter. this loss of teaching vitality is discussed by knight (2002) and is identified as a risk faced by everyone engaged in longterm academic practice. the practical teaching problem identified is that not every topic within a broad programme course such as law, will fit within the practitioner’s own interest or research experience. the opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 wider learning point is that when taken away from your own core areas of experience, the tools available to you to inspire or motivate learners will be reduced. this will then require a more formal teaching lesson plan style to be adopted. practitioners need to be reflective in terms of their own background, experience, skills and motivations. this skills matrix approach is required at both individual and management level to ensure that a broad programme of study is covered by the skills and experience held within the team. when those skills are shown to be missing, teaching strategies should be adopted to maintain deliverable quality. conclusion everyone will be expected to teach subjects, core to a he programme, that are not his or her own primary topic of interest or experience. it is therefore a risk faced by everyone that some lessons will need more preparation and planning than those that are their primary subject interest. but it is not the he topic that is an issue; rather the preparation and enthusiasm you bring to the presentation. land law will only ever be as ‘dry’ as the presenter makes the topic. given to the right person the topic can motivate a learner into a career specialism. references dr james brown, senior lecturer, aston law, career profile on website of aston university. [online]. available at: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/aston-business-school/staff/academic/law/drjames-brown/ (accessed 29 december 2012). clarke, s. (2011) ‘teaching ‘dry’ subject without tears.’ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich 3 (2011) p3-5. knight, p. (2002) being a teacher in higher education. buckingham: open university press. petty, g. (2009) teaching today: a practical guide, 4 th edition. cheltenham: nelson thornes. author biography andrew thompson is a graduate of the university of greenwich having read a bsc (hons) in building surveying. he a member of the rics boundary & party wall practice panel and was part of the working group that has produced the professional guidance notes on boundaries 2 nd edition, party wall legislation and procedure 6 th edition, rights of light 1 st edition and daylight & sunlight 1 st edition. he is a lecturer in the built environment at the university of west london (uwl) and is currently undertaking the uwl postgraduate certificate in learning & teaching via the uwl institute for teaching, innovation and learning (instil). opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 in praise of yellow pages what is the point of referencing, and why do students find it so difficult? dr ray stoneham faculty of architecture, computing & humanities, university of greenwich it has been said that ‘google makes us stupid’ (carr, 2008), and certainly when it comes to referencing academic work it is clear that the ready availability of internet search engines means that some students see no point in providing the source of their information. in some cases this is in the hope that tutors will not recognise that the work is plagiarised. in others it is that they assume the reader could also use google to find the document themselves if they so desired. or maybe it is because they just do not "get" the point of referencing. this opinion piece explores some possible reasons for this, and also considers why many students find it difficult to reference even if they appreciate its purpose. we have yet to reach the stage foretold in the science fiction short story ‘answer’ (brown 1954) where all the computers in the entire universe are connected together to answer the ultimate question "is there a god?" with the response "yes, now there is a god!" followed by a bolt of lightning that fuses the circuits to prevent humans undoing what they had just done. but maybe we are not so far off. google has made considerable effort to digitise information (the google books digitisation project being the one area where issues of copyright have hampered their progress) and development of the semantic web promises a more "intelligent web" that students will undoubtedly embrace, but with even further detachment from and lack of understanding of what "is under the bonnet". information in the "deep web", behind paywalls or security logins and in scanned document images, databases and "big data" (where extraction of information requires sophisticated tools and knowledge), will remain beyond the scope of search engines, but it is often this information that students need to access as part of their academic studies. referencing is a high level skill that many students at university will never attain, in the same way that others will never learn to drive no matter how hard they try. understanding the difference between assumed (tacit) knowledge and being explicit by using a reference is a big issue (sternberg and horvath 1999). for example, deciding whether a reference is needed to pele or messi, depending on the audience, is something many students would not even consider. students are also mostly stuck in the "now" and cannot appreciate the temporal aspect of knowledge. those of us who use jokes from monty python or the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy in our lectures are aware how tacit knowledge changes over time, and are now having to provide citations for the current generation of students, or move on to south park or whatever is trending in twitter. simple referencing is something many students do not get, even though a basic concept of the world wide web that they use every day is hypertext (cross-referencing the web). students often think that "cut and paste" is necessary, whereas all that is needed is a reference to the source. students who use automated referencing tools, without an understanding of the purpose of referencing, often cite material that is inaccessible to anyone but themselves, and many confuse the author with the publisher or other information opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 provider. most lecturers will have examples of students who have given a reference to wikipedia.org without specifying which bit of wikipedia they meant. a single entry in their bibliography to "the internet" would be just as helpful. even students who appreciate the point of referencing find it difficult to do it well. identifying the correct format for names (in particular extracting the surname) is a significant problem for students from some countries. i use my name as an example in lectures (stoneham, r. j.) in order to minimise the number of variations on "ray, s." i get, but i am reluctant to correct students who greet me as "dr ray" at their first meeting. perhaps this is something guidebooks to studying in the united kingdom should consider, and maybe it should be part of induction for all university students from countries without the british convention for personal names. trying to find a resource to refer students to, to help them with this aspect of referencing is something where my own research skills using google have failed. if anyone knows of a suitable resource to help with this, please let me know. the concept of citing the date accessed for web pages is easy to convey to students, although those who put the time of access to the nearest second are probably missing the point. however, referencing web pages where there is no named author or date information is a particular issue for students who are trying to reference properly. blindly following rules, such as anon. for anonymous, and n.d. for no date, can lead to masses of irrelevant detail. urls that wrap around several lines of text, or which have been copied incorrectly, are a particular issue for web references. once students can identify the surname of the author and the date of publication, there is then the problem of them appreciating why listing the bibliography in alphabetical order by surname, and then by date, is important. i have often seen students find their name on the class register by starting at the top and working down until they find their name, even if it begins with x, y or z. having all the websites grouped together under the author "anon." is not very helpful for this. lecturers and librarians know that many students have little idea of the difference between a reference and a bibliography, despite there being clear guidance provided throughout their academic career. many students never "get it", but at least it is easy to refer the student to the appropriate guidance for whatever referencing system they should be using. automated referencing tools in the hands of users who do not understand the purpose of referencing can lead to strange results. students who put ‘data protection act’ as the author and then find the reference listed under the surname "act", and do not question it, is just one example. automated indexes are another example where the use of a tool can lead to useless output in the hands of someone who does not "get it". in conclusion, maybe we should all bemoan the loss of the printed phone book, which gave those of us born last century a sense of the importance of knowing the alphabet, an understanding of why alphabetical order matters, skills with common search techniques and an appreciation of the different formats for names. the loss of the printed yellow pages has also meant a loss of common understanding of how things can be categorised and opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 organised. to quote bowman (2008), maybe ‘stupid makes us google’, or should it be ‘google makes us google?’ references bowman, j. (2008). ‘is stupid making us google?’, in the new atlantis.[online]. available at: http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/is-stupid-making-us-google. (accessed 19 march 2013). brown, f. (1954). ‘answer’, in angels and spaceships, dutton. [online]. available at: http://www.roma1.infn.it/~anzel/answer.html. (accessed 19 march 2013). carr, n. (2008). ‘is google making us stupid?’ in atlantic magazine. [online]. available at:http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google. (accessed 19 march 2013). sternberg, r. j, and j. a. horvath (1999).tacit knowledge in professional practice: researcher and practitioner perspectives. mahwah,nj: lawrence erlbaum. bibliography bemoan, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bemoan [online]. (accessed 19 march 2013). big data, http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/ [online]. (accessed 19 march 2013). deep web, http://www.internettutorials.net/deepweb.asp [online]. (accessed 14 march 2013). google books digitization project (2013), the chronicle of higher education. [online]. available from http://chronicle.com/article/google-begins-to-scale-back/131109/ (accessed 19 march 2013). semantic web, http://semantic-web-journal.org/sites/default/files/swj51.pdf [online]. (accessed 14 march 2013). author biography dr ray stoneham is a principal lecturer at the university of greenwich and a specialist in data-driven web sites, with a particular interest in intranets and e-learning. he developed and manages several school intranets and the website used by external examiners of the university. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bemoan http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/ http://www.internettutorials.net/deepweb.asp http://chronicle.com/article/google-begins-to-scale-back/131109/ http://semantic-web-journal.org/sites/default/files/swj51.pdf untitled 1 a case study on learners’ perspectives on technology for learning christine davies university of glamorgan case studies introduction in 2008, the university of glamorgan embarked on a large-scale student expectations’ project which subsequently featured in a slida (supporting effective learners in a digital age) case study (jisc, 2010). the project involved a survey of over 2,000 learners on many aspects of university life including the use of technology in learning, teaching and assessment, and gave rise to several important changes within the organisation. for example, online submission of assessments was introduced across the university, and training for both staff and students was put in place to ensure that the institutional virtual learning environment (vle), in this case blackboard, has widespread and consistent use. another outcome of the project as a whole was the establishment of student voice representatives (svrs) who, amongst their many other roles, have a key input into policies on technology usage, for example by attending meetings of the technology-enhanced learning steering group. in 2011, the technology-related aspects of this major survey were re-visited on a much smaller scale, giving rise to a case study which, though limited in size, had outcomes which are of value in the wider context of the use of technology for learning, teaching and assessment throughout higher education (he). methodology the institution’s annual online student experience questionnaire (seq) was used for this study. in consultation with student services representatives and svrs, six non-mandatory questions on technology for learning were added to the questionnaire, and these are listed below. the first two questions (a and b) aimed to find out the extent of internet-enabled mobile phone usage. the following two questions (c and d) examined the range of technologies students had encountered and the influence of lecturers in that experience, with question e specifically looking at methods of communication. lastly, question f asked about overall satisfaction, and gave scope for students to comment further (comments could be added for all questions except question a). the questionnaire was produced using surveypirate (www.surveypirate. com) and was made available to students during a two-week period in may/june 2011. a. do you own an internet-enabled mobile phone or similar device (e.g. iphone, blackberry)? b. if you own an internet-enabled phone, do you make use of it for learning in any way? c. which of the following has helped your learning in some way? (tick all that apply) d. what technologies have you been directed to use by your lecturers? (tick all that apply) http://www.surveypirate.com/ http://www.surveypirate.com/ compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 e. how have you communicated with your lecturers and other university staff over this adademic year? (tick all that apply) f. was the technology provided/available to you at the university as good as you expected? observations a total of 133 students participated in the 2011 student experience questionnaire, a significantly lower response rate than in previous years possibly due to the limited amount of time given to promoting the survey. of these respondents, 82% were undergraduates and 18% postgraduates, with the majority (91%) studying full time. 55 students answered the technology-related questions, i.e. 41% of total respondents. their responses indicate the following: ● nearly 80% indicated that the technology provided by the university came up to their expectations. however, respondents also frequently noted deficiencies in the availability and capability of campus pc provision ● 60% had an internet-enabled phone, but only half of these stated that it was used for learning ● nearly 80% stated that their own laptops were very useful to them, though only 33% valued wifi hot spots ● almost all lecturers used e-mail as a mode of communication, with other forms of online communication accounting for less than 2% of responses. text-messaging was used by approximately 5%. ● almost all lecturers directed their students to use the institutional vle, yet the use of tools associated with the vle, such as wikis and forums, was infrequent. lecturers promoted online submission of assignments and online journals, but rarely appeared to suggest other tools or technologies. figure 1 bar-chart showing technologies to which students were directed to their lecturers compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 inferences and issues though this study involved a small student sample, the data produced raise several issues that need to be explored further. firstly, the limited response to the technology-focussed questions seems to indicate that learners are not automatic ‘digital natives’ when it comes to learning and, as indicated by the findings of the jisc learner experience studies (jisc, 2009), they are probably highly dependent on their tutors for guidance on any use of technology relating to their studies. also, whilst mobile phones are frequently accepted as ubiquitous amongst the student population, it cannot yet be assumed that all learners can access online materials or modes of communication via mobile devices. the current case study indicates that smartphone ownership at the university of glamorgan in may 2011 was around 60%, yet at alt-c 2011 it was reported that the equivalent value for london metropolitan university students was 87% (bradley, 2011). however, the nus/hsbc student experience survey for 2010–11 found that out of over 3,000 students, only 32% owned smartphones. differences in survey methodology may play a part in these differences, and the rapid increase smartphone usage over the past year or so is also significant. some variation is also likely to be attributable to institutional region and student intake. the results also highlight ambiguities in the responses that may reflect weaknesses in the survey methodology. for example, most of the students answering the technology-related questions indicated that technology at the university was ‘as good as expected’, yet many made comments criticising the provision: does this mean that their expectations were low, but their satisfaction high? and do students tend to think of mobile phones and ‘learning’ as mutually exclusive? this problem of definition/interpretation is significant, and extends into the problem of experience, for it is difficult for learners to make meaningful comments about technologies they have never encountered. even apparently simple observations may not have a straightforward basis: for example, it is not immediately obvious why wifi hot-spots were not highly value, and this is a clear case where student follow-up is required. conclusions the above reflections highlight the importance of asking appropriate questions in appropriate ways in order to obtain accurate, inclusive data about students’ experiences and perceptions of technology. as suggested by desimone and le floch (2004), cognitive interview strategies may aid the process of question and survey design, and involvement of students throughout should have a highly positive impact. as a result of this study, future research in this area at the university of glamorgan will involve svrs and other student focus groups more closely both before and after survey activity to ensure more precise questions and better interpretation of responses. additionally, more will be done to ensure that students are better informed about technology in the context of their learning. references bradley, c. 2011. our students all have mobile phones: what do they have and how are they using them for learning? [online]. abstract 0187, alt-c 2011 abstracts, alt open access repository. available at: http://repository.alt.ac.uk/id/eprint/2160 [accessed 12 january 2012]. desimone, l.m., and le floch, k.c. (2004) are we asking the right questions? using cognitive interviews to improve surveys in education research. education evaluation and policy analysis, 26 (1), pp. 1–22. jisc. 2009. responding to learners. [online]. available at: www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ programmerelated/2009/respondingtolearners.aspx (accessed 23 april 2011). jisc. 2010. supporting effective learners in a digital age (slida). case studies: university of glamorgan. [online]. available at: https://wiki.brookes.ac.uk/display/slidacases/glamorgan [accessed 28 april 2011]. http://repository.alt.ac.uk/id/eprint/2160 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ https://wiki.brookes.ac.uk/display/slidacases/glamorgan compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 nus/hsbc. 2010. student experience full report 2010/11. [online]. available at: www.nus.org.uk/ pagefiles/12238/nus-hsbc-experience-report-web.pdf [accessed 21 january 2012]. http://www.nus.org.uk/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 mobile technology in higher education – give it a go: a perspective from bioscience daniel james peart northumbria university abstract barriers, as perceived by teachers, towards the acceptance of new and emerging technologies in teaching and learning are well reported in the literature. this article offers a reflection upon a project that observed student use of mobile technologies to support their learning. it was apparent that the main use of the technology was for self-directed learning and not for subject-specific studies or use within the classroom. it is suggested that teaching staff need not feel pressured by students to be technology experts and are encouraged to work in partnership with their students to evaluate the potential of such technologies for supporting learning. key words: self-directed, informal, ipads, mobile education introduction the use of mobile technologies to support teaching and learning in higher education is becoming much more popular and even necessary as a generation of school children that will ultimately become our students is already familiar with it (henderson and yeow, 2012, looi et al, 2011, looi et al, 2016, pegrum et al, 2013). during the 2013/14 academic year, we trialled the implementation of such technology with a small cohort of sixteen level 5 foundation degree (fdsc) bioscience students, studying in a university centre based within a further education college. the tuition fees for these students were increased to cover the costs associated with the purchase of an ipad mini and itunes vouchers, which became the personal property of the student. at the end of the academic year, students were unanimous in favour of these devices as support for their teaching and learning, identifying, amongst other things, how they facilitated research, communication and laboratory record keeping. moreover, the staff team highlighted the fact that they had witnessed an increase in student subject reading (through e-journals and/or mobile applications apps), and also provided examples of how the technology offered alternative methods for teaching the module content. the case study was presented in a staff-student collaborative manner at two regional (peart et al, 2014c, peart et al, 2014d) and one national conference (peart et al, 2014a), and resulted in the publication of an academic paper (peart et al, 2014b). the pilot work was generally well received by conference audiences, though many of the questions put to us were focused on the logistical barriers to using such technology and staff anxieties about their knowledge of the technologies, as opposed to the potential benefits. these exchanges were also evident during internal staff development presentations, where such comments as ‘i wouldn’t know where to start’, ‘i don’t get on with computers’ or ‘i can’t see the relevance for my subject area’ were frequent. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 staff anxiety towards technology a review of the literature would suggest that these responses are not uncommon. gong et al (2004) and blackwell et al (2014) both proposed that 'computer self-efficacy' was the cornerstone of teachers’ perception of the usefulness of technology and their subsequent intention to use it in practice. furthermore, teo et al (2008) suggested that confidence with technology needs to be embedded during teacher training, if its use in the classroom is to be promoted, and louw (2015) has gone so far as to propose a specific workshop to help staff. the staff anxieties that we encountered, alongside the apparently commonplace concerns about personal proficiency as reported in the literature, led us as teaching staff to ask ourselves the important question: ‘did we actually do anything, or was it the students?’ do the students need staff input? on reflection, it was difficult for staff members to identify any specific input by them into the pilot project and it appeared that the students were the main driving force. a further question arose from this: ‘do the students actually need any input from us to embed the technology into their learning?’ to go some way towards answering this question, the six students who had progressed on to bsc level 6 top-up year in 2014/15 at the validating university were invited to complete an online questionnaire (five responded). our purpose in doing this was to find out whether they still used the devices, even if their new lecturers were not promoting their use as we had done, as those staff had no knowledge of the pilot study. a detailed review of the responses is beyond the scope of this opinion piece, though an overview of questions and individual answers is presented in table 1 for readers’ perusal. implications for practice it would appear that the students continued to use the mobile device at their new institution in the same way, despite the staff there not being a part of our pilot project. this would suggest that the students had no expectation that the staff would use the technology in their teaching, and that they saw the devices as personal tools. similarly, rung et al (2014) have observed that students use mobile devices to support their learning despite their not being formally included in the curriculum. this may be because students reported that their main use of the technology was for such self-directed purposes as on-hand research and reviewing work. this was in accord with our observations during the pilot year (peart et al, 2014b) and also with those of other authors who have reported that mobile devices are used primarily by students for self-regulated learning (sevillano-garcia and vazquez-cano, 2015) and to enhance learning outside the classroom (foti, 2014). interestingly, none of the uses mentioned by the students were subject-specific, which again implies that teaching staff do not necessarily need to feel pressured to ‘find’ uses for mobile devices in their subject areas. finally, the comment that the devices are a ‘useful tool but not necessarily essential’ may go some way to assure the teacher/lecturer that the student sees her/his main role as that of a subject specialist and not an expert in technology. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 table 1: survey questions and responses question responses looking back at last year was the ipad a useful addition to your studies? did having the ipad help with the step up to level 6 in any way? has your overall use of the ipad changed since moving to your new institution? what specifically do you use the ipad for? do you feel that your learning experience at the university is improved with the use of the ipad? would you manage as well without the ipad? on an average day at university how often would you say you used your ipad? as a final thought, would you recommend that a student used an ipad (or similar tablet device) to support their studies? 1. the ipad was very useful during the academic year & for personal use thereafter. 2. yes, fantastic for on hand research. relevant, easy to use apps. 3. yes, it was. it helped that we were able to download the learning materials prior to the lecture (providing it was put onto the site in time) and open it up in the explain everything app. that way notes could be made directly on the lectures slides and it could also be recorded. 4. yes, used a lot to record lectures, for making notes, researching and enabled to download reading material. 5. yes, very useful for final year studies. 1. easy to refresh on previous studies and excellent for research and revision. 2. it made the transition easier. 3. yes not only has it been useful in order to record lectures but as a lot of the library books are available online, it is a useful tool for reading and downloading journal articles. 4. yes, was easier to download the lectures at level 6 and be more organised without the cost of always printing off lectures. it also meant i could record the lectures once again to go over and for revision. also very useful to manage time on the train, able to download reading again. 5. yes. 1. i use the ipad daily at university to access blackboard so i know of any lesson alterations, available lesson plans. 2. lectures and downloading journal articles. also quick research in lectures. 3. no, i still use the ipad & even more now. i commute to university & can easily access information while travelling. 4. used much more for research and less note taking. particularly useful in lessons with unfamiliar terminology to quickly revise. 5. very similar as i used it a lot before and continue to do so now, also take a lot more notes and form more ideas on it. use it in other ways too and generally in other jobs, it is very easy to check the timetable which is online and refer back to other lecture materials and module books which are on the blackboard site 1. additional support is required for the transition, not just self directed ipad study. 2. i feel i have integrated the ipad in to my learning in general and feel it is a beneficial tool at all levels. 3. maybe, but it is useful addition as it minimises the amount of books that you have to transport. 4. very subjective opinion. without the ipad i would have to carry big books to facilitate & incorporate extra reading. 5. yes it is improved, i think without it i would not be as organised and able to access all work as easily. so would probably be less productive or have to carry a lot more equipment/books etc. also it has helped to be able to record the lectures. it is also possible with a dictaphone, but with the explain everything app i can also link to lecture slides, so even if i don't understand the lecturer at that point it is easy to review. 1. i use the ipad 100% of the time & i'm happy with it. 2. in most of the lectures, occasionally in the library or when we have a break. 3. not very often. 4. often throughout the day and evening. 5. very regularly, on the train there and back, and whilst at university during lectures the majority of the time as well as between. 1. depending on research and revision strategy. not overly helpful for day to day lectures, but for self directed work. had i not have received one through the pilot scheme; i would have purchased one personally. 2. i would recommend the use of ipad. it is easy to get the course work & be organised. 3. yes 4. yes definitely, i think if they are already relatively computer literate it is very easy and you can utilise it to integrate well into your life and organise. most lecturers encourage the use of technology and so accessing it easily helps. 5. yes i would recommend an ipad or something similar. it may benefit students to be issued with a laptop so that they have access to a computer at all times. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 summary in summary, it is advocated that teaching staff do not need to be anxious about the emerging presence of mobile technologies in education. this article and other past research has presented evidence that students use such technology primarily for non-subject-specific selfdirected learning; teaching staff do not therefore need to feel pressured by the students to embed the technology into their own teaching and learning. moreover, staff interested in starting out with such technology may not necessarily need to make any deliberate steps, as there is the potential for the student to find the ‘fit’. these are the opinions of one author, and the information presented should be interpreted as such. it is also acknowledged that the opinions presented in this article have been formulated on the basis of evidence from a relatively small and specific cohort of students. however, it is hoped that the uncomplicated approach used in this case study may encourage teaching staff to work with their students and take the time to find a natural fit for the technology in their practice. acknowledgments the opinions presented in this article have been shaped in some part by discussions with colleagues and students. i should like to acknowledge the following: matthew shaw, david cross, steven johnstone, dr chris rowley, pumlani bangani, jessica brown, and orrin fairhead. reference list blackwell, c. k., lauricella, a. r. and wartella, e. (2014) 'factors influencing digital technology use in early childhood education.' computers & education, 77, 82-90. foti, m. k. (2014) 'mobile learning: how students use mobile devices to support learning.' journal of literacy and technology, 15(3), 58-78. gong, m., xu, y. and yu, y. (2004) 'an enhanced technology acceptance model for webbased learning.' journal of information systems education, 15(4), 365-374. henderson, s. and yeow, j. (2012) ‘ipad in education: a case study of ipad adoption and use in a primary school.’ 45th hawaii international conference on system science (hicss), 78-87. looi, c.-k., lim, k. f., pang, j., koh, a. l. h., seow, p., sun, d., boticki, i., norris, c. and soloway, e. (2016) ‘bridging formal and informal learning with the use of mobile technology.’ in: chai, s. c., lim, p. c. and tan, m. c. (eds.) future learning in primary schools: a singapore perspective. singapore: springer. looi, c. k., zhang, b., chen, w., seow, p., chia, g., norris, c. and soloway, e. (2011) '1:1 mobile inquiry learning experience for primary science students: a study of learning effectiveness.' journal of computer assisted learning, 27(3), 269-287. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 louw, a. (2015) 'developing a lecturer workshop for using tablets in the classroom.' international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 27(3), 294-309. peart, d. j., johnstone, s., brown, j. and bangani, p. (2014a) ‘supporting teaching and learning in biosciences with mobile technology: staff and student perspectives.’ university centre, yeovil: convergence academic research conference. peart, d. j., johnstone, s., brown, j. and bangani, p. (2014b) 'supporting teaching and learning in biosciences with mobile technology: staff and student perspectives.' the journal of research in higher and further education, 2(1), 5-10. peart, d. j., johnstone, s., brown, j. and bangani, p. (2014c) ‘the use of mobile technologies in biosciences: a case study.’ manchester university: jisc e-learning in he conference. peart, d. j., johnstone, s., brown, j. and bangani, p. (2014d) ‘the use of mobile technologies in biosciences: a case study.’ leeds beckett university: jisc digital festival. pegrum, m., oakley, g. and faulkner, r. (2013) 'schools going mobile: a study of the adoption of mobile handheld technologies in western australian independent schools.’ australasian journal of educational technology, 29(1), 66-81. rung, a., warnke, f. and mattheos, n. (2014) 'investigating the use of smartphones for learning purposes by australian dental students.' jmir mhealth and uhealth, 2(2), 20. sevillano-garcia, m. l. and vazquez-cano, e. (2015) 'the impact of digital mobile devices in higher education.' educational technology & society, 18(1). teo, t., lee, c. b. and chai, c. s. (2008) 'understanding pre-service teachers' computer attitudes: applying and extending the technology acceptance model.’ journal of computer assisted learning, 24(2), 128-143. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 against the tef: for quality learning j m moore in this piece, i argue for reclaiming concepts like teaching excellence and quality and developing an alternative discourse to that of the fatally-flawed teaching excellence framework (tef). keywords: teaching excellence framework; tef; critical pedagogy; quality learning. in the 1930s jawaharlal nehru observed that the indian civil service under british colonial rule was ‘neither indian nor civil nor a service’. such a critique is equally appropriate to the teaching excellence framework (tef), which, despite its misleading title, makes no attempt to evaluate directly either teaching or students’ learning experiences. the interaction between students and their tutors is outside its remit; instead, it seeks to evaluate through proxy metrics: student satisfaction, retention and graduate employment (forstenzer, 2016). student satisfaction is to be measured through national student survey (nss) scores. even before being given this increased importance, the nss has often been gamed and already distorts the focus of institutions: as joanna williams (2015) has highlighted, it has ‘become detrimental to learning, teaching and higher education.’ students have different learning styles and increasingly complex lives. that a university course satisfies the aspirations of an eighteenyear-old, privately-educated student dripping in social capital is of little relevance to the workingclass single mother returning to education in her thirties. the nss and the league tables that flow from it operate on the presumption that not only is a university education a homogeneous product but also that it should be one. the second indicator is to be retention rates. the selection of this depends on the premise that is always best for a student to complete her/his degree. however, for students on the wrong course, or at the wrong institution, or at university at the wrong time, this may not be true. the tef’s focus on retention also further incentivises institutions to maximise pass rates at a programme and module level (even at a cost to academic standards) and to guard against risky recruitment. students who pose a high risk of failure – mature students, those with caring responsibilities, those with disabilities and those without traditional academic qualifications – will be weeded out. tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 the final metric is graduate employment. this is determined by several factors, many of which the quality of teaching can never influence. social capital connections available through family and former schools are unevenly distributed across the university sector. this, like the other metrics, will perpetuate society’s existing structural inequalities by rewarding the universities which recruit the most privileged students. my critique of the tef is hardly original (patterson, 2015). however critique is not sufficient, we urgently need to imagine an alternative and develop a counter discourse, that reclaims concepts like educational ‘quality’, ‘excellence’ and ‘value’ for a democratic, participatory and critical pedagogy. to start a debate on what this might look like, may i make some provisional suggestions: 1. firstly, we should reject the idea that different universities can be directly compared. each university should have its own distinct mission, philosophy and purpose. widening participation requires greater diversity within higher education so that we can cater for the full spectrum of students. it is diversity rather than league tables which will give real choices to students. 2. universities and their staff need to learn about their students’ lives. with the exception, perhaps, of those attending elite institutions, the lives of students are becoming increasingly complex, with consequent impact upon their ability to engage fully with academic life (paired peers project, 2013). knowing this, we should re-engineer how we deliver he so that it is genuinely accessible all students, not just middle-class kids funded by the bank of mum and dad. 3. within institutions and teaching teams, we should be more proactive in promoting a critical pedagogy, in order to enable quality learning. how we teach and how students learn should be negotiated with students. students must realise that higher education should challenge them and teaching staff must sharpen their awareness of their students’ learning needs. it is incumbent upon us to welcome the experiences our students bring with them and take seriously their critiques of the curriculum. 4. university leaders need courage. increasingly, they have become willing agents of government policy. the limp acceptance of the prevent agenda (which, as well as threatening the integrity of our relationship with muslim students, curbs free speech and tef special edition compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 2, 2017 open debate), is sadly not an isolated example (lister et al, 2015). universities should be refocused to serve their communities, not the state. the tef will go ahead. gold, silver and bronze status for teaching ‘quality’ will be allocated to those who play the game. these will reflect the existing higher education hierarchy and help perpetuate wider social inequalities. the ‘better’ universities will be rewarded by being allowed to increase their fees. the quality of teaching and learning, perverted to adapt to the new metrics, will decline. however, the tef’s hegemony need not be uncontested if we work with students to create genuinely participatory learning communities based on social justice values. to do this is to build a resistance to the tef, based on an alternative discourse on what constitutes quality higher education learning. reference list forstenzer, j. (2016) ‘why the teaching excellence framework is flawed.’ guardian. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2016/feb/23/why-the-teachingexcellence-framework-is-flawed (accessed: 13 january 2016). lister, r. and 278 others (2015) ‘prevent will have a chilling effect on open debate, free speech and political dissent.’ independent. available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/prevent-will-have-a-chilling-effect-on-open-debatefree-speech-and-political-dissent-10381491.html (accessed: 13 january 2016). paired peers project (2013) ‘a degree generation?’ bristol university. available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/spais/migrated/documents/report.pdf (accessed: 13 january 2016). patterson, j. (2015) ‘5 reasons the teaching in excellence framework is bad news for higher education.’ novara media. available at: http://novaramedia.com/2015/09/08/5-reasons-theteaching-in-excellence-framework-is-bad-news-for-higher-education/ (accessed: 13 january 2016). williams, j. (2015) ‘the national student survey should be abolished before it does any more harm.’ guardian. available at: https://www.theguardian.com/higher-educationnetwork/2015/aug/13/the-national-student-survey-should-be-abolished-before-it-does-any-moreharm (accessed: 13 january 2016). untitled 1 the case of the curious and the confident the untold story of changing teacher attitudes to e-learning and “technology in action” in the fe sector nigel ecclesfield learning and skills improvement ser vice geoff rebbeck institute for learning fred garnett london knowledge lab article abstract this paper attempts to highlight findings from the recent lsis (learning and skills improvement service) survey into practitioner attitudes to technology. we presented the initial findings of a research project funded by lsis to the greenwich e-learning conference in july 2011. a number of interesting insights can be identified concerning both the methodology used and the results obtained. in terms of the methodology we believe that the more qualitative approach used, which we describe as examining ‘technology in action’, can provide deeper systematic insights into practitioner uses of technology for learning, as well as indicating individual practice. secondly, as a consequence of this approach, we have also unearthed some original insights into the use of technology for learning in colleges. additionally, the almost ‘learning analytics’ approach to gathering survey data (ecclesfield and smith, 2011), also allowed us to create individual narratives of professional practice. as a consequence we will discuss the following issues; a new methodological approach using new tools and survey instruments, a wider ranging curiosity-driven use of technology for learning in the practitioner, highlighting approaches reflecting personal development of practice, which extends the concept of both staff and professional development. overall our findings reflect a new professional confidence in using technology in colleges, which emerges from individual practitioner’s personal curiosity in how technology might be used to help students learn. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 the background to the research in 2008–9 discussions between the authors developed as a result of our joint involvement in work on institutional self-assessment tools as we felt that current surveys were not capturing the range and scope of practitioner use of technology in the further education (fe) and skills sector. one of the authors (geoff rebbeck) proposed an alternative model of exploring technology use and implementation, which involved the use of survey questions which explored respondents’ attitudes to technology and specifically their use of ‘technology in action’ with a view to identifying from measures of attitude, those individuals who might be predisposed, as a result of their attitudes, to further exploration and engagement with technology and provide a more receptive audience for technology training and implementation. respondents were asked to rate their feelings about their use of technology cited in the questions, rather than state what technologies they used. emerging from this study was a prototype survey instrument and indications that the methodology used could identify characteristic profiles of organisational and departmental attitudes to technology that were consistent with the findings of the national surveys in terms of identifying those who had no knowledge of or were disengaged from the use of technology in their practices as well as those who were more confident and capable in their practices. an opportunity to extend the work came in early 2011 which resulted in the work reported here. in scaling up the methods, a decision was made to use an online survey to gather, initially, 200+ plus responses were needed to test the method and organise the data for initial analysis. a key decision was to move away from a single comment box at the end of the survey to providing a free text box with each question, although no respondent was required to enter comments in these boxes. from the survey tool (survey monkey), we were able to download the quantitative data and carry out a conventional analysis using excel and also download the free text responses which were analysed using the tools and methodology described in morris and ecclesfield (2011) to explore themes emerging from responses at provider level, in subject groupings and the self-assessment classifications produced by individual respondents. subsequently we found that linking individual responses to questions together generated coherent narratives of practice that provided insight into practitioner practices as well as attitudes to technology – examples of these are presented below. now that the data includes 700+ narratives we have the detailed account of ‘technology in action’ we have been seeking. the study approached 1,000 individuals of whom 815 have responded and we are confident that the sample we achieved is broadly representative of the range of opinions and capability in the institutions participating in phases one and two of this work. phase three seeks to provide a more representative sample of practitioners across the sector as a whole. the research 815 practitioners drawn from providers of adult and community learning, work-based learning and fe colleges completed an online survey of their attitudes to technologies in use within the sector. the survey consisted of nineteen questions in six sections: ● about yourself and the context of your work ● vle, learning platforms and texting ● online discussions ● using different media and formats in my work compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 ● what i do ● personal development, collaboration and reflection, which included a self-rating question using the typology devised by the project team. each question was presented in the form of a self-rating scale of ‘responses in action’ consisting of seven options ranging from, ‘i don’t know about this’ to ‘normative’ where the technology is fully integrated into the work of the practitioner. in addition, respondents were given the opportunity to comment on their responses or the questions themselves in a large free-text box after each question. the response rate to the survey was 82% of those nominated (1,000), perhaps because we offered a usb drive to participants. we gathered large amounts of free text which was used by respondents to justify or reflect on their responses. despite our making answers to all questions optional, we were both surprised and gratified by the volume of the responses we received. respondents were offered their own data and a small incentive in return for participation. a full account of the research, the methodology, detailed findings and the data can be found on the lsis research pages on the excellence gateway (lsis, 2011), while this paper explores the implications of those findings in the context of a series of questions raised for us by the first phase of the study and our subsequent analyses of 14,700 responses to the questions in the survey and the 250,000 words of free text responses. the key findings are described to set the context for the discussion and the authors welcome further exploration of this work with colleagues. the analysis we have utilised research findings and models drawn from the learner-generated contexts group (luckin et al., 2010) and the open context model of learning, (mitra and dangwal, 2010) on self-organised and self mediated learning environments (soles and somes), anderson’s model of open scholarship (anderson, 2009), wesch’s work on learner engagement with planning, delivery and assessment of learning activities (wesch, 2011) and haythornthwaite’s explorations of the influence of networks on learning and the nature of collaboration (haythornthwaite 2010). the basis for the analysis here has been our shared work on what we call ‘the craft of teaching’ developed at the iped conferences and with the working lives project and on our views of research and scholarship seen in the proceedings for alt-c 2011 (garnett and ecclesfield, 2011). we are also seeking to address the issues emerging from recent challenges to teaching practices which appears to seek the replacement of face-to-face teaching by greater use of instructional technology, based on the experience of learndirect in the uk and on corporate training programmes championed by, among others, alison rossett in the usa (rossett and schafer, 2010). within the present political and economic climate in the uk and overseas, the focus on digital skills has become linked to other strands of thinking that focus on the economics of learning and the promise, as yet unrealised, of using technology in a way that reduces the cost of learning by replacing the two most costly elements of provision, namely staffing and estate costs. from this exploration we will present a view of practitioner use of technology that shows transformation of practice in the fe and skills sector through diversification of approaches and how practitioners as users of technology in their personal lives, are viewing the use of technology in their teaching and engagement with learners. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 key findings “the enquiring mind” from the structured range of responses available, from ‘don’t know’ to ‘independent’, there was a clear pattern of respondents demonstrating ‘an enquiring mind’ in their approach to facing new technology. these were the responses that indicated either a willingness to explore different uses of technology or where it was part of their practice. it is arguable that this demonstrates a shift in what might be called the e-learning journey in comparison with five years ago where teachers were expected to be relatively passive and wait for direction and instruction, seeing technology use as a method of standardising approaches to teaching. our survey suggests that teachers now prefer a more self-managed approach. we can talk in terms of an improving confidence in investigating and adapting technology for use in particular contexts and all the benefits that can bring to progress through collaborative activity. the opportunity for wider influence the opportunity for teachers to consult and exchange ideas outside of college is still underdeveloped because it is all contextualised with in-college experience. however, the similarities in mindsets and approach shown in the responses to the survey suggest that efforts to support this process of cross organisational communication and collaboration would be an extremely fruitful enterprise were it to happen more frequently. petty (2006) suggests that the greatest change in teaching practice occurs where teachers exchange ideas and our research supports this in identifying a common approach to assimilating the new. the narratives support the view that teachers are more conscious of the value of technology to the sector rather than of the value to self and personal development. it also shows how much desire there is to communicate and share ideas with others. it is clear that the use of learning platforms is now normative, being embedded in nearly every fe college. it is perhaps a good example of high impact technology demonstrated by its invisibility. the learning platform of choice in over 75% of colleges is moodle which offers the widest opportunity for individuals and providers to configure the application to meeting specific requirement needs. it is arguable that the speed of adoption of moodle since 2006, following the national scheme to purchase of commercial platforms in 2004–6, has been hastened by the ability of practitioners to contextualise its use for specific groups and purposes and, in some cases, engage learners as contributors to the content and configuration of moodle installations. web 2.0 technologies social media technologies are understood in terms of personal use but not fully in teaching terms. texting for example is a familiar technology but not understood as an effective tool in a teaching and learning situation. the diversity of technology in action our research offers a challenge to the perceived wisdom that technology is a force for centralising good practice, where benefits accrued from one experience can be replicated easily to others. rather than technology becoming a force for unification and centrality, it is taking teachers and their learners into unique learning situations that work in terms of good teaching and learning that teachers are now able to articulate more clearly. it would be interesting to explore the degree to which technology is allowing teachers to diversify their approach and practice of curriculum design and delivery, challenging the compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 5 organisational culture of central, settled methods of deliverables, based on relatively few, well defined ‘inputs’ and certainties of practice. the emotive and narrative responses to technology in action. asking people how they feel about ‘technology in action’ instead of ‘what they know’ appears to provoke a need in respondents to explain or justify the reaction. consequently this survey has a much higher than usual level of free responses. the underlying findings of this research lead to a better understanding of the notion of ‘confidence’ as we believe this to be a key to the successful assimilation of technology into learning. the markedly positive response from the exploring or enquiring mind suggests that teachers, on the whole, believe that the risks inherent in exploring new technologies to improve teaching and learning are now considered to be worthwhile rather than something to be shunned or be undertaken under the direction of an expert. it can be argued that these results demonstrate that practitioners are now confident enough to use technology for their own professional purposes and integrate this into their personal ‘ethic of care’ (jephcote, salisbury and rees, 2008). the principal gain from the survey methods adopted has been the rich data obtained from the free text responses, which we have been able to analyse in two ways: 1) by constructing user narratives from the free text responses, which aggregate the responses to individual questions 2) through the use of text analysis to identify key/common themes emerging from the 800+ responses recorded in the free text boxes. (see diagram on page 50) we are currently exploring differentiated narratives drawn from subject areas and from the response categories in the questions e.g. the ‘don’t knows’ and the ‘collaborative users’ and we will, in time, be able to explore the narratives at provider level as a large proportion of the sample providers have 50 or more respondents participating in the study. the thematic analysis of our current sample shows that the six most often occurring themes are: students, teaching, colleagues, moodle, texting and blog. the interest lies in what we are calling the ‘knowledge signature’ (see morris and ecclesfield 2011, pp. 245–6) of these responses, which includes the second and third level concepts associated with these key terms. it is our ability to compare the different signatures of different subject groups, provider profiles and self classification categories that gives us the option to widen our analysis and build on the profiles mapped through the analysis of individual responses to the survey questions. locating the digital practitioner our research provides much evidence for the view of the maturing of fe sector practitioner attitudes in england to the use of technology and that this maturity is characterised by confidence in the use of technology across a widening range of applications and equipment. the original premise of inexperienced teachers requiring process training in how technology works could now give way to an expectation of technology use by confident teachers who want support and collaboration to examine the use of different technologies in good teaching and learning practice, with students and their learning experience at the heart of professional concerns. teachers have developed the ability compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 6 figure 1 analysis of key themes emerging from the free text produced by the respondents to navigate their way through a range of technology options and uses with this professional focus on teaching and learning, which is alive to the needs of colleagues and their work contexts. furthermore considering the ‘normalisation’ of many technologies into learning practice as evidenced in the survey e.g. word processing, which is only referenced in ten instances, it is possible that we may have been deceived, in the past, in our search for the impact of technology, expecting it to be physically manifested and overt in everything teachers do. it could be that successful impact is evidenced by the opposite; technology use being one element in many artfully constructed student-centred compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 7 learning experiences that are part of everyday practice, such that the technology is not really seen nor acknowledged, simply being used when deemed appropriate for learning as planned. this appears to be the case with the now ubiquitous use of moodle vles, for example. perhaps only new or troublesome or unsatisfactory technologies with little immediate application to practice remain on the surface and open to view, and thus to questioning? it may be that the greatest impact of technology actually occurs where its use is not seen, nor recognised in framing immediate survey responses, but when that use emerges through prompts that promote reflection on practice, as indicated in our findings. this view has some support in recent literature on e-learning such as haythornthwaite and andrews (2011, p. 39) where they quote bruce and hogan who suggest that, “the cycle of adoption appears to be technological advance followed by overstatement of its transformative potential for learning; then gradual adoption (or not) and an integration of technology and learning so that the use of a new technology or device seems ‘natural’ and disappears from view .“ (bruce and hogan, 1998). relating the findings to other work and theory the detail of our data leads us to suspect that, at present, practitioners lead two lives as users of digital technologies. one based in their personal lives where mobile and web 2.0 technologies predominate to support and sustain personal communication, social activities and personal research and exploration of their subject/disciplines, the other based in their work, where there has been a more circumscribed use of technologies focused on business and management technologies such as word-processing, spreadsheet, presentation software, mis and earlier web technologies, where location of resources and information have tended to be the predominant functions reinforced by much technology training offered by providers that seeks to centralise data capture and analysis and create formal processes for the input and release of information. in the context of the jisc work on digital literacies, practitioner learning needs to develop as follows, “by digital literacy we mean those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society: for example, the skills to use digital tools to undertake academic research, writing and critical thinking; as part of personal development planning; and as a way of showcasing achievements.” (jisc, 2010a). further, jisc argue that, “courses that embed core digital skills, as well as subject specific use of technology, enable students to gain the skills and confidence they need to use digital technology not only to support their learning but also in the workplace.” (ibid) our argument here is that we are finding that practitioners are bringing their existing digital skills with them from education and previous work experience, but they are struggling to apply them for both organisational reasons e.g. security of systems, or they are not identifying uses for their personal technologies in their practice e.g. texting. what is in question, as a result of this, is the characterisation of practitioners as teachers, where, in this context they are, with their learners, engaged in situations that have been characterised by luckin as “obuchenie” – learning and teaching – seen as a unified developmental process when learners and teachers engage with issues collectively (luckin, 2010). where the distinction between learning and teaching is not possible e.g. when working in subjects where there is a rapidly evolving corpus of knowledge, it is entirely possible that students will know more about some recent developments than their teachers. however, teachers bring to their work a deeper knowledge of learning and facilitating learning which they incorporate into lessons to facilitate both the learning of their students and their own learning and professional development. in mitra’s and dangwal’s (2010) terminology such situations become self-organising mediated environments (somes), where learning is stimulated and sustained by the facilitation skills of the mediator. work by wesch (2011) in the usa is exploring the possibilities of incorporating student contributions into courses at every level from planning to assessment and compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 8 preparing claims for accreditation. to their knowledge of learning and facilitation of learning we are detecting, in our recent study, that practitioners, who are confident users of technology, are bringing a set of further skills and knowledge, which relates to the use of the affordances of technology to support learning. these are unlikely to have been the focus of the digital skills brought into providers by students who are, perhaps, more adept at using technology to obtain resources for learning than creating contexts for learning. cochrane (2010a) and his colleagues at unitec in auckland, new zealand have recognised that technology use can be central to developing the degree in design they are engaged in, but that students and staff are often in need of support and facilitation in relation to developing their work with technology. cochrane’s work has taken a pedagogical model derived from the work developed by the learner generated contexts group (luckin et al., 2010) to engage students in teacher-led activities in year 1 of the degree, through negotiated activity focused on androgogic practice in year 2 towards student centered activities and learning in year 3 supported by technology stewards (wenger et al., 2010) whose role is to help teachers and students develop their use of technology to meet personal and group needs and appropriate ‘digital habitats’. this work has been developed further in a more recent publication (cochrane, 2010b) where he talks of creating, “intentional communities of practice.” this work shows a practical application of a theoretical model derived from ‘learner-generated contexts’ and links to the work of haythornthwaite, who has been developing a model of learning through networks and communities, which haythornthwaite (2010b) sees as enabling the development of learning showing the following characteristics: type of learning instances as an outcome of relations a community holds a knowledge of its history, and information resources for dealing with new situations in spaces affinity spaces (gee), third places (oldenburg), geo community spaces (libraries, community centres, churches), online learning communities crowd and community spaces online and face-to-face spaces as a relation that connects people a student learns from a teacher; students learn together from a teacher; novices learn from each other as production as well as consumption an individual contributes content to a discussion, wiki, collaborative artwork the key to learning, in this model, is the development of networks to develop both informal communications such as single issue groups in facebook and more involved and structured communications involved in professional or occupational networks with greater commitment being required in these latter cases, which may include the acquisition of the experience as well as knowledge, which is seen as the essential component of mastery by sennett and others (sennett, 2008). from our perspective, learning programmes developed using the web, and other communication technologies, compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 9 move from being the creations of closed expert groups to becoming more open to co-creation, participative learning, and to review. potentially this allows for both the provision of more contemporary information and also enables knowledge development to promote and support learning in the future. this is similar to castells’ (2010, p.135) concept of “the creative audience” where communicative subjects, “integrate various modes and channels of communication in their practice and in their interaction with each other.” we could then argue that the ‘digital practitioner’ is, in part, the ‘communicative practitioner’ whose focus has become the initiation, support and facilitation of learning and whose expertise resides in both their subject knowledge and their ability to use technology and develop technology use in their students that opens out the ‘ecology of knowledge and learning’ and creates contexts to generate ‘obuchenie’ where learning and teaching can become fused in collaboration. we have pointers to this, in the data emerging from the lsis study we have reported here, showing that many practitioners are open to the possibilities opened up for their practice by digital technologies as well as contributing to the utilisation and development of those same technologies. we referred to the jisc-funded project llida which looked to explore: ● the evidence of change in the contexts of learning, including the nature of work, knowledge, social life and citizenship, communications media and other technologies ● review current responses to these challenges from the further and higher education sectors, in terms of: 0 the kinds of capabilities valued, taught for and assessed 0 the ways in which capabilities are supported (‘provision’) 0 the value placed on staff and student ‘literacies of the digital’ 0 collect original data concerning current practice in literacies provision in uk fe and he, including 15 institutional audits and over 40 examples of forward thinking practice (jisc, 2010b) while we would not presume to comment on the change in contexts in learning covered in detail in the final report of this project, we feel that the study reported here adds to this picture in terms of identifying practitioner feelings about their own capabilities, the provision they are engaged in and the value they place on both generic and specific ‘literacies of the digital’ and the contexts in which they are deployed in their professional practice. we see these findings as supplementing the data gathered for llida. what emerges from this work and other recent research is a richer picture of capability, provision and values that reinforces the messages of llida, the findings of jephcote, salisbury and rees (2008) and the analyses emerging from the activities of the ‘working lives’ project in wales concerning the ‘ethic of care’ for learners and changes in practice influenced by digital technology. the future – summary and issues we now have evidence to support the following: ● confidence is the critical measurement in the effective use of technology ● teachers who are confident in using technology in their lives are curious about how that use can transfer into their teaching practice ● a level of confidence in confronting technology to use in teaching is more important than the level of knowledge about the software compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 10 ● it is important to capture how people feel about ‘technology in action’ rather than what technology processes they know as this allows learning processes to be highlighted. this is what we now believe that has an impact on what national agencies such lsis, jisc and ifl do. again, we believe we have the evidence for this: ● technology intervention in learning is fragmenting and is supporting highly individualised patterns of use. the common factor that holds it together is good teaching and learning and not uniform use of large centralised technology hosted by the employer. ● training should be aimed always at the application of technology in teaching rather than reviewing everything that the technology can do in abstract. ● when it comes to expert help, teachers come to technology with curiosity to see how it might help teaching and learning rather than being passive and waiting to be directed how to use it. ● there is no one way to use technology. best practice is redundant. good practice in a given circumstance replaces it ● impact of technology is the degree to which it is invisible in teaching and learning. ● e-confidence and e-maturity are the same thing and one is a measurement of the other. we think the following now needs to be done across the sector: ● the means to assess the development of teachers is to characterise the higher level thinking skills they demonstrate in practise. through this, any training or reflective thinking undertaken can be measured to a central common standard based on thinking skills. ● teacher exchange by subject specialism across colleges is now easily accommodated through technology as the single most important way of influencing change in using technology (amongst other things) yet it is not happening effectively ● reflect, the ifl reflective tool, which uses an adapted e-portfolio technology, is emerging as a remarkable opportunity for teachers to capture the meta-skills through the use of tags and demonstrate individual development in a manner not yet being done ● reflect can inform both the peer review requirements of continuing professional development (ifl) as well as employer requirements for staff development and annual appraisal. a portfolio based approach accommodates the changing landscape for capturing development. we are, therefore, challenging jisc, the ifl, lsis and college staff development managers here with the need for a fresh approach, in the light of the developing use of technology generally. we look forward to engaging in the discussions on further research into the nature of digital practice in learning and teaching and how this will change professional and subject knowledge in the changing contexts of the near future. we intend to continue the work described above, which seeks to generate further data to give more representative samples in adult and work-based learning contexts and to explore how recent research and theoretical work might impact on practice and our own exploration of the issues in this paper. through lsis the data described here, will be made available, in suitably anonymised form, to the research community as well as making the method available for use in other self-assessment and research activity. with 350,000 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 11 words of free text available for analysis, we will be looking to continue our exploration of this rich resource and making this available for other researchers to use with other forms of analysis. references bruce, b.c., and hogan, m.p. 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[online]. available at: www.youtube.com/user/mwesch accessed http://newdoctorates.blogspot.com/2009/10/leverhulme-trust-public-lectures.html http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/terg/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/haythornthwaite.pdf http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/ http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 12 11 october 2011 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 57 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 solving the group project assessment quandary: can the instructor’s equal partitioning of each group’s topic be the solution? heba e. helmy october university for modern sciences and arts (msa), egypt abstract team work is one of the generic skills that undergraduate students are expected to acquire by the time they graduate. nevertheless, the traditional method of assessing group projects has been – in addition to its other shortcomings – sadly inaccurate in measuring individual students’ contributions to the project. in this paper, i present a new technique for allocating group project topics and for assessing such projects, whereby the instructor – not the students in each group – divides each topic into several sub-topics, to accord with the number of students allocated to each group. the new technique also obliges group members individually to upload their parts in the project to their own accounts on turnitin, rather than jointly uploading the whole project to one account, as had previously been the case. from my perspective, the new method has to date been very successful as it addresses the shortcomings – in terms of accuracy and justice – of the traditional assessment of group projects. the attitudes of students to the new methodology have also been very positive, as evident from the results of a questionnaire distributed among the students. the methodology does, however, have various limitations, the most significant of which are the incremental time and effort demanded of the instructor. keywords: undergraduate teaching, group project assessment, pedagogy 1. introduction team work is one of the generic skills that undergraduate students are expected to acquire by the time they graduate. seldom is there any contemporary invention, innovation or even upgraded technique that is accomplished solely by an individual. the unprecedented rate of proliferation of knowledge – not to mention the interdisciplinary interaction underlying any new progress in science and technology – has demanded that researchers work together, whether they themselves like it or not. most undergraduate modules consequently require students to collaborate in producing group projects. the traditional methodology – which i and many of my colleagues have previously used – allowed students a) to select a topic of their own choice or undertake one suggested by the instructor and b) to divide the research load among themselves as they wished. they would then upload their project on turnitin and, after that, present their work to the instructor. their presentations, together with their responses to their instructor’s questions, would reveal their understanding of the material. experience over many years has confirmed for me that this traditional method of allocating group projects to students has various shortcomings, the most striking of which is perceived inaccuracy in the assessment of individual contributions to the project. conventionally, instructors sought, during presentations, to determine individual contributions, but the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 students – especially if members of the group were friends – would commonly say “we all worked together”, in order to assure themselves of equal reward. whilst presentation of the work would reveal general understanding of the research, it would not precisely indicate each student’s effort and contribution to the writing of the paper, for the most able members of the team would, prior to the presentations, coach their fellows on the key ideas and results – a strategy perhaps arguably beneficial to group learning, but not to the just allocation of marks! a further weakness of the traditional group project method lay in the delegation to the students themselves of group workload distribution, which, as it was often arbitrary, led to inequalities in contribution. i thus decided to revise the method: the instructor would divide the topic into sub-topics – to accord with the number of students allocated to each group – as a more equal division of labour; the students would be required individually to upload their parts in the project to their own accounts on turnitin. this research paper aims to demonstrate the impact of this new group project methodology – in both managing the projects and addressing identified assessment challenges in them – from both my own perspective and that of the students. the paper briefly reviews the literature on assessing group projects, highlights the new technique and the methodology used to evaluate its efficacy, discusses and analyses the results (with a comparison of the traditional and new approaches) and concludes by shedding light on the limitations of the new technique. 2. are assessment techniques employed in group projects accurate and just? a review of the literature assessment usually falls into four types: self, peer, tutor or other (e.g. by members of another class). how many of them are deployed, however, depends on the context. in the case of group projects, there may be many variations of ‘other’, as, for example, individuals may evaluate other group members or groups may assess other groups. the number of types deployed may also depend on whether they are applied to formative or summative assessments (nordberg, 2006). brown et al. (1997) propose a variety of group assessment techniques, such as: 1. the same mark is given to all group members. 2. the mark of each team member is decided by the group at the end of the project. 3. the criteria upon which the marks are allocated are decided by the group at the beginning of the project, whilst marks are allocated at the end. 4. the group allocates the role of each member and the criteria upon which each role is assessed, whilst marks are allocated at the end. 5. each group member contributes equally to each task. the group decides together the marks given to each member. those with minimal contribution get low marks whilst those who have contributed extensively get higher marks. 6. the instructor and the group use any one of 2-5. 7. the instructor only does any one of 2-5. 8. each team member delivers an oral presentation. 9. the mark of each team member is a combination of both an individual mark and a project mark. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 10. all group members receive the same marks. however, if a group member is a timewaster, s/he has ten percent of the mark deducted (yellow card) and, if s/he does not improve by the end, s/he receives a zero mark (red card) 11. all group members receive the same marks. however, a remarkable contributor receives additional marks. for evaluating group projects, kuisma (2007) proposes portfolio assessment, which demands that students reflect on their learning experience; consequently, the instructor can assess the individual student’s learning in group tasks. nevertheless, despite the existence of a plethora of assessment techniques, absolute fairness in assessing individual contributions to a group project remains elusive, mainly because most of the techniques involved depend on selfor peer-evaluations of group members to moderate the tutor’s assessment. according to studies over the last two decades, selfand peer-evaluation both suffer from various biases. one of the very early studies is the survey by humphreys et al. (1997), which concludes that students are not very enthusiastic about peer assessment and prefer, although by a narrow margin, not to be evaluated by their peers. students also find it very challenging to be critical when evaluating their peers’ essays. another early study by miller et al.(1998) asserts that students’ selfor peer-assessment can be a useful tool in the assessment of group projects, since members of a group know better than an outsider what each member has done. although this might mean undermining the assessment role of the tutor, it represents a means of moderation for the unequal performance of group members. however, selfand peer-assessment are confronted by challenges: students may tend to overestimate or underestimate their own or their colleagues’ marks; selfand peer-assessment still do not resolve the issue of how to assess unequal contributions by group members (miller et al., op.cit.). other studies have acknowledged the learning benefits to the students of selfand peer-assessment, but have admitted that the technique does impose an additional work load on both students and tutors (hanaran and isaacs, 2001). later studies, from the beginning of the new millennium, also refer to the fact that students may be less convinced about the worth of peer-assessment evaluation in group projects. for example, a survey – in the form of a questionnaire – was distributed to students on two postgraduate business modules at london metropolitan university, to investigate how they perceived justice in the assessment of group projects. the two modules chosen for the survey employed contrasting assessment techniques. in the first module, the project accounted for 60% of the total subject marks, with 30% allocated to the group presentation and the other 30% to an individual critical review. in the second module, the group project accounted for 40% of the total subject marks. students were assessed on the basis of one written report, part of which was a compulsory evaluation of the contribution of each member in the group by each member. it was not apparent to the students whether their assessment would be taken – by the instructor allocating the marks – as unquestionable or only as advisory. the majority of the responses to the questionnaire showed overall satisfaction with what group projects had to offer in relation to learning and employability, but students were less certain about the fairness of assessment of group projects (nordberg, 2008). russell et al. (2006) attempted to resolve the issue of unequal contributions using a new algorithm, in which members of a team provided percentage scores for themselves and for articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 other students’ contributions in the group project. in addition, they gave a percentage score for the project as a whole. the mean score for each student and that for each group were then calculated. the two values were then compared. any deviation between the mean score of the student and that of the group would result in a negative value (undercontribution of the student) or a positive value (over-contribution of the student). the difference in the scores could be used by the tutor to moderate the group mark and change it to an individual mark for each member. this was done by multiplying the difference by a ‘phase weighting factor’ – the relative contribution (as a proportion) that the member’s work made to the final grade. zhang and ohland (2009) also proposed four methodologies using weighing factors. the weighing system built on the differences between peer-rating and selfrating to adjust the group grade. from the four methods suggested, the authors recommended adjustment using the between-group and the within-group methodologies (zhang and ohland, op.cit.). nevertheless, the main problem remained – that students tended to inflate their scores (russell et al, 2006). kennedy (2006) confirmed this conclusion, as the results of his case study proved that peerassessment marks did not differ significantly from the tutor’s equal allocation of marks to all group members, because students were reluctant to be ‘judgemental’ in assessing each other. furthermore, in many cases, peer-assessment resulted in raising tensions between group members rather than fostering team work – and many studies corroborate this. as for self-assessment, students in a study confessed that it was impossible for them to be objective when assessing their own work (lindblom-ylanne et al., 2006). williams’ very recent study (2017) reiterates previous approaches of combining tutor-, self and peer-assessments to allocate individual grades in group projects. students provide selfevaluation, shedding light on the process of group work, while the teacher alone sets a mark for the whole group and/or the product. the two scores are then combined to produce an individual score for each member. furthermore, the teacher makes use of qualitative (i.e. without scores) peer-based evaluation and wiki logs, the better to monitor the process. nevertheless, this author admits that there are no flawless methods in assessing group projects, as assessment is inherently subjective. despite its contemporaneity, the study also does not provide explicit answers to questions of bias in peer evaluation or of overestimation in self-evaluation. inaccurate assessment of individuals’ contributions to group projects – something partially moderated by selfand peer-assessment – can, in extreme cases, manifest itself as the ‘free-rider’ problem, yet another challenge to the assessment of group projects. brooks and ammons (2003) recognise the problem of free-riders in group projects – i.e. when some members of the group do not do their share of the work and then receive marks they do not deserve. these authors believe that the answer to understanding fully the contribution of each member lies in peer-assessment by students in the group. however, unlike previous studies, which advised instructors to carry out peer-assessment by the end of the semester, brooks and ammons present an assessment instrument which features early achievements, multiple assessment points and the use of specific assessment criteria. their evaluation, tested on 330 undergraduate business students and designed primarily for an introductory business module, was conducted three times every semester. the evaluation package required each student independently to assess every other member in the group, by responding to a number of evaluation criteria in addition to providing a mark for the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 member’s contribution and an overall feedback. results of the regression model proved that students perceived that early, multiple and specific peer-evaluations did alleviate the freerider problem (brooks and ammons, op.cit.). i do feel, however, that, though the evaluation package employed in this study may have helped to counter the free-rider problem, it does not fully address the challenge of achieving accuracy and justice in the assessment of group projects. in addition to the above-mentioned shortcomings of the various techniques used in group project assessment, such techniques do not tackle the problem of plagiarism by some – if not all – members. a final disadvantage, mentioned by biggs and tang (2011), is that some students focus on some tasks they are good at and do not fully comprehend how the other various sections have contributed to the final project. it is worth noting that some previous studies have referred to the idea of the instructor’s specifying tasks for the students in collaborative work. according to johnson et al. (2014, as cited in brame and biel, 2015), one of the main strategies for successful collaborative learning is that the instructor designates specific roles for the students in the group, such as manager, conciliator or educator. however, this approach is different from ours, as it specifies team tasks rather than specific research tasks to be carried out by the group members; it therefore does not equally divide between the students the academic research writing load. 3. a proposed new methodology: the instructor’s partitioning of group projects for allocating sub-topics and assessing students 3.1. splitting the topics into subtopics the new method proposed in this paper entails the instructor’s partitioning of each general topic into several subtopics, in accordance with the number of students allocated to each group. in addition, the new technique obliges group members individually to upload their part in the project to their own accounts on turnitin, so that the instructor can clearly gauge the exact contribution of each group member in terms of analysis, word count and plagiarism. for example, one of the topics included for the group projects in the money and banking module in the fall 2017 semester dealt with the international monetary fund (imf) loan provided to egypt. this topic was divided into three subtopics: the advantages egypt reaps from the loan; the disadvantages it incurs; other countries’ previous experiences with imf loans. in the guidelines, all three subtopics appeared under the broad topic title, but were preceded by ‘student 1’, ‘student 2’ and ‘student 3’. the three members of the team could still exercise choice in allocating the subtopics among themselves. after finishing their parts, students uploaded their respective parts to their own turnitin account. as a result, i could clearly identify the exact contribution of each member in terms of analysis, the number of words written and the turnitin similarity percentage. both the introduction and the conclusion were produced by the collaboration of all three members. both had a size limitation and the conclusion, rather than repeat the whole paper, had to highlight the main findings. to use the previous example about the imf loan, the conclusion was expected to include recommendations as to how egypt could maximise the advantages to be reaped from the loan and minimise any disadvantages on the basis of the comparative experiences of successful countries. as the conclusion would stem from the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 sub-topics i had arbitrarily included in the general topic, opportunity for plagiarism would be very unlikely and i therefore did not require it to be uploaded on turnitin. 3.2 modifying the feedback templates all other conditions for the group project were clearly defined in the guidelines, including dates for the submission of formative tasks: outlines and first drafts, recommended number of words, useful websites, referencing style, assessment criteria (rubric) etc. the feedback forms for the first draft and the final drafts were also modified, to account for the new method by incorporating new blank spaces for the turnitin percentage and the number of words written by each member of the group. reflection on the new technique necessitated evaluating it, not only through my lens but also through that of my students (brookfield, 1995). in order to do this, i distributed among the students of my class a questionnaire asking them five main questions concerning their attitudes to the new method (see appendix a).the prime intention of these questions was to investigate whether the new method had addressed previous students’ concerns about group projects, especially those relating to the instructor’s fairness in assessing their work within the group, the equal distribution of the workload among group members and the added value of their collaboration in a group. the results of the questionnaire appear in the following section. 4. discussion and analysis of the data 4.1. instructor’s view from my perspective, the new method was very successful, as it addressed the shortcomings of the traditional group projects in terms both of accuracy and justice of assessment. specifically, the new technique addressed six main shortcomings: 4.1.1. shortcoming 1: rewarding dishonest students sometimes, the traditional methodology permitted a dishonest student to pass the project when s/he in fact deserved to fail. for example, were the instructor to have set a maximum score of 15% in turnitin for the paper to pass, if the honest student’s part scored 0% and the dishonest student’s part scored 30%, the paper’s average would become 15% and thus the project would pass… and so would the dishonest student! the new technique obliges group members individually to upload their parts in the project to their own accounts on turnitin. plagiarism assessment is based on her/his part only and the dishonest student therefore never passes the project. 4.1.2. shortcoming 2: penalising honest students sometimes the traditional methodology may have led honest students to fail the project when they actually deserved to pass. for example, were the instructor to have set a maximum score of 15% in turnitin for the paper to pass, if the honest student’s part scored 15% and the dishonest student’s part scored 35%, the paper’s average would become 25% and thus the project would fail… and so would the honest student! the new technique requires group members individually to upload their parts in the project to their own accounts articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 on turnitin. plagiarism assessment is based on her/his part only and the honest student therefore never fails the project on this aspect. 4.1.3. shortcoming 3: rewarding weak students traditional methodology may also have led to over-estimation of the performance of weak students who acted as free riders or made only minor contributions to the project. since their parts were intermingled with those of the clever students, their individual contributions were not apparent to the instructor, even after presentations of projects. under the revised method, by uploading her/his own part to her/his personal turnitin account, the weak student reveals the true nature of her/his contribution in terms not only of plagiarism, but also of the limited number of words and of shallowness of analysis. the mark in this case is low, as a true reflection of poor participation. 4.1.4. shortcoming 4: penalising clever students traditional methodology may have led to under-estimation of the performance of clever students whose contributions to a project were excellent. since their parts were intermingled with those of the weak students, the extent of their contributions was not apparent to the instructor and they may have been under-assessed. under the revised method, by uploading her/his own part to her/his personal turnitin account, the strong student demonstrates the true nature of her/his contribution in terms not only of absence of plagiarism, but also of an appropriate number of words and of depth of analysis. the mark in this case is high, as a true reflection of committed participation. 4.1.5. shortcoming 5: limiting students’ learning from research traditional methodology allowed students so to divide the project among themselves that academic learning to an equal level for all participants would be hindered. for example, students usually divided three-grouped projects into the – to them – the most obvious three parts – introduction, body and conclusion – with each participant responsible for one of those unequal parts. a student whose only effort was to write a brief introduction to the project would therefore benefit little from the research. under the revised method, the instructor’s partitioning of topics into equally-important subtopics enables students to work on important issues that merit investigative research and enhances each student’s knowledge and skills. since all three students are collaboratively responsible for the entire document, the new approach guarantees participant knowledge about, and understanding of, the whole project and its outcomes; in consequence, they benefit much more equally from their research. 4.1.6. shortcoming 6: inequitable distribution of research effort not only does an unequal division of the research load by the students prevent their learning equally from their research; it also leads to inequalities in the effort and contribution of group members. for example, if all students are strong and they do their unequally-weighted parts excellently, they will all be rewarded with the same marks, even if some students have had to make double the effort of others; thus, though there may be justice in the marking, there occurs injustice in the unfair distribution of the workload. with the new methodology, the instructor deliberately creates subtopics of fairly equal load and thus ensures an equal distribution of required effort. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 from my perspective, and by overcoming all these shortcomings, the new approach has proved to be superior to the traditional group project method: the students’ complaints of injustice have been minimised and the likelihood of assessment accuracy maximised. previously, i used to receive complaints from students that the high plagiarism percentage was not their fault as the copied part in the paper belonged to another group member. such a student would bring me the turnitin copy as evidence. however, later on, her/his colleague would claim the opposite! parts were usually so intermingled that i could not confidently discriminate between them to deduce the identity of the culprit. now, i can be certain of identifying the plagiarist. as for assessment accuracy, i can confidently apply the criteria to the part of each student (see the final project feedback form in appendix b) without fearing that i have overestimated or under-estimated the performance of any student. on several occasions after my deployment of the new approach, two of three group members scored well, whilst the third had low marks or failed when the turnitin percentage was extremely high. the two high-performing students’ marks were certainly adversely affected by the weak third part, but not to a damaging degree: the students did not fail and thus did not have to bear their colleague’s fault. 4.2. students’ views in order to quantify the impact of the new methodology on student satisfaction, i distributed the previously-mentioned questionnaire to my money and banking students in a lecture in fall 2017 (see appendix a). out of fifty-four students registered, forty-four were attending the class that day and responded to each question with one of five possible choices: strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree. each response was coded as follows: • strongly agree = 5 • agree = 4 • undecided = 3 • disagree = 2 • strongly disagree = 1 4.2.1 results of the questionnaire: the results of the questionnaire appear in table 1. as evident from the table, 91% of the respondents agreed that the new method was more efficient in reflecting their contribution to the project (question 1), while 77% agreed that it was more conducive to a fairer mark (question 2). moreover, 86% agreed that both being assigned a specific sub-topic and collaborating together in writing the introduction and conclusion improved the learning outcomes of the project (questions 3 and 4). finally, 89% believed that the new methodology was superior to the traditional methodology in fairly distributing the workload among the students. the average scores of each question (last column in table 1) were also very high, with a maximum score of 4.4 for question 1 and a minimum score of 3.9 for question 2. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 1. attitudes toward partitioning group topics question response no . percentage average . 1. do you agree that dividing each topic into subtopics, where each student is responsible for finishing a clearly-defined sub-topic, and uploading her/his part on her/his own turnitin account was better in reflecting your own contribution, compared to the old methodology where you were assigned a general topic, and where the part of each student was not clearly apparent to the instructor? strongly agree 25 56.8% 4.4 agree 15 34.1% undecided 2 4.5% disagree 0 0% strongly disagree 2 4.5% 2. do you agree that uploading your part of the project to your own turnitin account was better in giving you a fairer and more just mark as it decreased your chances of being wrongly accused of plagiarism, compared to the old methodology which asked all students to upload the whole project to one member’s account and their turnitin percentage score was an average of all students’ percentages? strongly agree 18 40.9% 3.9 agree 16 36.4% undecided 2 4.5%% disagree 3 6.8%% strongly disagree 5 11.4% 3. do you agree that dividing the topic into subtopics related to important aspects of the topic improved your learning outcomes from the project, compared to the old methodology when you sometimes worked on unimportant aspects, such as the introduction alone, which resulted from letting students themselves divide the topic? strongly agree 18 40.9% 4.2 agree 20 45.4% undecided 5 11.4% disagree 1 2.3% strongly disagree 0 0% 4. do you agree that the writing of the results and conclusion together by all team members improved your learning outcomes from the projects by discussing the contributions of other team members before reaching a final strongly agree 23 52.3% 4.3 agree 15 34.1% undecided 3 6.8% articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 conclusion for the whole paper, compared to the old methodology, when sometimes only one student was responsible for writing the conclusion? disagree 3 6.8% strongly disagree 0 0% 5. do you agree that dividing the topic into subtopics fairly distributed the work load among the group members so that all members shared with an equal effort, compared to the old methodology when students themselves divided the work load, so that one student might do the bulk of the work while others might do nothing? strongly agree 24 54.5% 4.3 agree 15 34.1% undecided 2 4.5% disagree 2 4.5%^ strongly disagree 1 2.3% source: survey conducted among students enrolled in my money and banking module during fall 2017. the average score for each question was calculated by going through each respondent’s questionnaire and adding in the following codes: strongly agree=5; agree=4; undecided=3; disagree=2; strongly disagree=1. these extremely encouraging results can also be seen in figure 1, which depicts students’ positive attitudes towards the new methodology after aggregation of their responses to all questions. as evident from the figure, the percentage of the strongly-agreed and agreed responses amounted to 86%, whilst the strongly-disagreed and disagreed responses amounted to 8%. the remaining 6% of the responses came from students who were unable to decide. source: survey conducted among students enrolled in my money and banking module during fall 2017. the average score for each question was calculated by going through each respondent’s questionnaire and adding in the following codes: strongly agree=5; agree=4; undecided=3; disagree=2; strongly disagree=1. the figure pertains to the total respondents’ answers to all questions. 48% 38% 6% 4% 4% figure 1: attitudes toward partitioning of students group projects strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 5. conclusion and limitations this paper has expounded a new technique for assessing group projects. from my perspective, the new method proved to be very successful since: a) the likelihood of accuracy of marking was maximised, as each student’s analysis was clear to the instructor from her/his account on turnitin – thus no performances of excellent students were underestimated nor those of weak students over-estimated; b) the likelihood of injustice to students was minimised, as the group members’ similarity percentages were clear to the instructor from their accounts on turnitin – thus no honest student failed and no dishonest student passed; c) students’ chances of achieving the learning outcomes from the project were maximised, as all students tackled only significant aspects of the research; d) equality in the distribution of the workload was achieved, as no single student carried the bulk of the load whilst others shared minimally or acted as free riders. the new approach improves accuracy in assessing group projects and has demonstrablyenhanced impact on the development of students’ team-work skills. upon finishing their parts, students have to sit together and discuss the results of each section to arrive at the main conclusion or finding of the research. this is by no means an easy task, as most of the topics i assign are debatable issues which encompass different perspectives. arriving at a conclusion is likely to entail detailed discussions among peers, and – in many cases – reediting of the various parts to align the analysis in the text with the conclusion. although the new method fosters accuracy and justice in the assessment of group projects, it does have limitations, the most significant of which is the incremental effort and time demanded of the instructor. the limitations may be summarised as follows: 1. time spent by the instructor in thinking of topics and sub-topics for each project in each module. before the semester starts, the instructor has to spend many hours selecting topics and dividing them into sub-topics of equal weight. this limitation becomes more intense as classes continue to grow in size and the instructor has to extend the list of topics so that no topic is too frequently repeated. 2. some topics are not easily divisible. for example, some topics may lend themselves to one student only, as they are naturally indivisible. take, for example, the following topic: ‘critically analyse the contributions of leon walras to economics.’ this topic entails a critical evaluation of all of the more than thirty works of walras and it can be done by a student who takes charge of brief critical reviews of all these works. alternatively, adapting this topic to the new approach means dividing the more than thirty works between the three students by specifying – in the topic’s title – ten equally-difficult works for each student to review. this is an extremely timeconsuming task for the instructor. more importantly, this division might not be the best way of analysing this topic, for the student(s) may think of a better way to structure the paper. for cases like this, the best decision is to exclude that topic from the assigned list of topics or redraft the topic to render it divisible between three students. in this case, comparing walras with two other economists on a specific issue in economics (where each student will be in charge of one economist) may help to fit the topic to the new approach. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 3. if two students cannot find a third partner for a partitioned three-part project, they will be jointly responsible for the third part. in this case, the instructor has to re-divide the third sub-topic between the two students, each of whom will upload half the additional part – together with her/his initial part – to her/his turnitin account. the reason for this is that, if the instructor does not divide the third sub-topic, the analysis in the paper will be weaker compared to other papers on the same topic, thus complicating assessment. to have to do this further reallocation also adds to the time and effort imposed on the instructor. 4. effort and time spent by the instructor on opening all these turnitin accounts, which have increased by a multiple of three (in the case of a three-part group project). 5. relating which accounts belong to which group project is another tedious and timeconsuming task, especially if the number of students in the class is large. despite its limitations, i have currently employed this methodology for the second consecutive year for the money and banking module, as it was successful in solving the group project assessment quandary. in fact, this methodology suits classes which comprise students of various academic standards and from different disciplines (such as the previously-mentioned class, which includes accounting and economics students). it is also suitable for classes where students are relatively less trained in writing long papers, for structuring the paper may help students find relevant ideas. to sum up, the new approach discussed in this paper may be suitable to some – but not all – group projects. the following are some cases where the new approach might be applicable: 1. classes that comprise academically-heterogeneous students, where wide differences in academic standards may harm the good students or reward the poor ones. 2. classes where students are relatively less trained in writing long research papers. 3. moderately-sized classes, since having to compile the various texts from the various accounts which pertain to the same group is extremely tiresome and time-consuming for the instructor. 4. topics which can be divisible and easily partitioned between students. 5. group projects which are mainly focused on research and writing skills, rather than on a combination of miscellaneous skills (such as artefacts or film production). reference list biggs, j. and tang, c. (2011). teaching for quality learning at university, 4th edition. london: open university press. eisbn: 978-0-33-524276-4 brame, c.j. and biel, r. (2015). ‘setting up and facilitating group work: using cooperative learning groups effectively.’ available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guidessub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groupseffectively/ (accessed 27 june 2018). brookfield, s. (1995) becoming a critically reflective teacher. san francisco, ca: john wiley and sons. isbn-10: 0787901318. isbn-13: 978-0787901318. http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/ http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/ http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 brooks, c. and ammons, j. (2003) 'free riding in group projects and the effects of timing, frequency, and specificity of criteria in peer assessments.' journal of education in business, 78(5), 268.available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08832320309598613. (accessed: 15 march 2018). brown, g., bull, j. and pendlebury, m. (1997) assessing student learning in higher education. london: routledge. isbn-13: 978-0415144605 hanaran, s. and isaacs, g. (2001) 'assessing selfand peer-assessment: the students views.' higher education research and development, 20(1), 53-70. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360123776. (accessed: 15 march 2018). humphreys, p., greenan, k. and mcilveen, h. (1997) 'developing work-based transferable skills in a university environment.' journal of european industrial training, 21(2), 63-69. available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/03090599710161739. (accessed: 17 march 2018). kennedy, g.j. (2006) 'peer assessment in group projects: is it worth it?' in: young, a. and tolhurst, d. (eds.) conferences in research and practice in information technology, 42. available at: http://crpit.com/confpapers/crpitv42kennedy.pdf. (accessed: 29 june 2018). kuisma, r. (2007) 'portfolio assessment of an undergraduate group project.' assessment and evaluation in higher education, 32(5), 557-569. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602930601116904?journalcode=caeh20. (accessed 30 june 2018). lindblom-ylanne, s., pihlajamaki, h. and kotkas, t. (2006) 'self-, peerand teacherassessment of student essays.'active learning in higher education, 7(7), 51-62. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787406061148. (accessed 30 june 2018). miller, a., imrie, b.w. and cox, k. (1998) student assessment in higher education. london: kogan-page. isbn-10: 0749427973. isbn-13: 978-0749427979 nordberg, d. (2006) 'fairness in assessing group projects: a conceptual framework for higher education.' ssrn working paper. available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=873605 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.873605 (accessed: 5 january 2018). nordberg, d. (2008) 'group projects: more learning? less fair? a conundrum in assessing postgraduate business education. 'assessment and evaluation in higher education , 481492. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602930701698835 (accessed: 8 april 2018). russell, m., haritos, g. and combos, a. (2006) 'individualizing students' scores using blind and holisitic peer assessment.' engineering education,1(1), 50-60. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.11120/ened.2006.01010050. (accessed: 8 april 2018). williams, s. (2017) ‘investigating the allocation and corroboration of individual grades for group-based learning.’ studies in educational evaluation, 53, 1-9. available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08832320309598613 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360123776 https://doi.org/10.1108/03090599710161739 http://crpit.com/confpapers/crpitv42kennedy.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602930601116904?journalcode=caeh20 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1469787406061148 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.873605 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602930701698835 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.11120/ened.2006.01010050 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0191491x16300979. (accessed 8 april 2018). zhang, b., and ohland, m. (2009) 'how to assign individualized scores on a group project: an empirical evaluation. applied measurement in education, 22(3), 290-308. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08957340902984075 (accessed: 9 april 2018). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0191491x16300979 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08957340902984075 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 appendix a questionnaire 1. do you agree that dividing each topic into sub-topics, where each student is responsible for finishing a clearly defined sub-topic and uploading her/his part on her/his own turnitin account was better in reflecting your own contribution, compared to the old methodology where you were assigned a general topic, and where the part of each student was not clearly apparent to the instructor? strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree 2. do you agree that uploading your part of the project on your own turnitin account was better in giving you a fairer and more just mark as it decreased your chances of being wrongly accused of plagiarism, compared to the old methodology which asked all students to upload the whole project from one member’s account and her/his turnitin percentage score was an average of all students’ percentages? strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree 3. do you agree that dividing the topic into subtopics related to important aspects of the topic improved your learning outcomes from the project, compared to the old methodology when you sometimes worked on unimportant aspects, such as the introduction alone, which resulted from letting students themselves divide the topic? strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree 4. do you agree that writing the results and conclusion together by all team members improved your learning outcomes from the projects by discussing the contributions of other team members before reaching a final conclusion for the whole paper, compared to the old methodology when sometimes one student was responsible for writing the conclusion? strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 5. do you agree that dividing the topic into subtopics fairly distributed the workload among the group members so that all members share with an equal effort, compared to the old methodology when students themselves divided the work load, so that one student might do the bulk of the work while others might do nothing? strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 appendix b final project feedback module code-----------------module title-----------------------------------------------------------------------------assignment title-------------------------------------------------semester-------------------------------------------- name name name general information turnitin percentage (maximum) 15% word count (minimum) 3500 assessment criteria research 70% title page 1% introduction 2% thesis / research objective 2% analysis 30% conclusion 5% in-text citation 5% references (end-of-text citation) 10% bibliography and sources 5 % length requirements 5 % language and style 5% presentation 30% explanation of research 15 % use of power points 10 % articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 presentation skills (eye contact, loud voice, body language, etc.) 5 % first marker final mark 100% second marker final mark 100% final mark 100% other strengths other weaknesses advice on improving future performance technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 technology reviews by first year law students sarah crofts information & library services, university of greenwich as part of their first year legal method course, students attend four library seminars which have linked assessments forming part of their overall grade. for their final assessment, i offered them a choice of the assessment. they could either complete an assessment based on legal information sources on the internet or write a technology review, the best of which i would submit to compass. this alternative assessment asked them to base their review on “any freely available app, tool, piece of software which you feel has a benefit for anyone studying or teaching law”. i also asked them to take account of the following points: 1. what is it? give the manufacturer or developer’s name and the website where you can find it. 2. how is it used? explain what it does, and how well it fulfils its purpose, and any limitations. 3. why is it useful and who might use it? 4. how easy is it to use? indicate how user friendly you think it is. 5. what is the “killer” feature? explain what makes this stand out against the competition? 6. what mark would you give it out of 10? my reason for taking this approach was threefold: firstly, to provide an alternative assessment; secondly, to allow students to undertake an activity which could help their writing skills in something that was also a typical example of a workplace activity in their chosen subject area; and thirdly, i wanted to find out more about apps and software used by law students. assessment has the potential to motivate students, and one approach is the use of realworld scenarios. burton (2011) summarised approaches which identify an assessment as authentic. these include “fidelity of the task to the real world”, the idea that the task is “a polished product valuable in its own right” and that this type of assignment “requires students to make judgements, choices”; these seemed to be key aspects in the assessment i created. for example, students taught by abel nyampfene (2011) at the university of exeter worked on a risk assessment for the it network at the university as an authentic assignment for electronics engineering and computing students. nyampfene noted that in contrast with more traditional teaching methods, students had to come up with their own ideas. his end of course evaluation confirmed that most students were motivated by this approach. in another example, strachan and colleagues (2010) devised an assessment to develop their computing students’ technical writing skills and to make research and the dissemination of their research a more central part of their course. the task achieved authenticity by the creation of a conference attended by employers at which the students presented their research. the students prepared posters on a range of computing topics, ensuring that they technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 used terminology understandable by a non-technical audience, and at the conference gave a verbal tour of their poster to the audience. the task of reviewing pieces of writing is already used in literature courses; reviews of writing or of products and software could also be included in many subject areas. the growing interest in student research and publication is demonstrated by the increase in undergraduate journals across the higher education sector including the university of greenwich, which produces platform: the journal of student research and scholarship in secondary education, the law school’s sui generis, and the beagle in the business school. i was very pleased when a small number of students chose the alternative review assessment task, and i have selected two reviews for this article. i did not receive reviews of any freely available public apps but of two subscription services widely used by law students in the university. an interesting point to note is that whilst the university pays a substantial fee for this service, students perceive it as a ‘free’ service. in future i will provide further advice and guidance on the difference between paid for and non-paid for services. the reviews lexisnexis review conducted by petar arnaudov, first year law one of the most beneficial applications for law students is lexis nexis. it provides computerassisted legal research and is a legal database providing a wide range of court opinions, legislation, documents and additional law related materials. the app not only established the electronic accessibility of legal documents, but in fact probably provides the largest legal electronic database. the application allows the user to search for legal documents among a large number of court decisions, statutes, commentary on cases, precedents, journals and other law related information, such as news and other additional materials. it provides a wide range of search options giving more and easier access to the required information. lexis is a favourite source of information in the legal worlds, mainly because of the instant access and easy accessibility. the company offers paid subscription to its services. these services can be helpful to students, academics and legal professionals. in addition, the website provides a user-friendly layout, where the customer can use different search methods such as case name, issue related cases, case citation, source and legal term. it also allows the client to choose between cases, legislation, comments and additional materials. what makes lexis a desired partner in education, research, and work and allows it to offer features not provided by the other legal search tools, is that it is a huge legal database guaranteeing a helpful search outcome. what i consider to be a “killer feature” is the practice area tab offering a selection of up to five practice areas for professionals and students, who specialise in a specific area of law. technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 this allows the users to see recent updates, articles and cases within the practice area and if i were to rate the application, then i would easily give it a 10/10 because of the great service and the simplicity of the website. westlaw review conducted by nistha sharma, first year law. what is it? westlaw has been useful in providing reliable legal information sufficiently. the westlaw search engine has been established since 1970 and is expanding its provision of legal information. how is it used? it can be accessed through a user account or it is available on the student portal. accessed through a student account, westlaw is available through the greenwich library website and portal, located under database, journals and e-books. how easy is it to use? one of the greatest advantages of westlaw is that it is user friendly and, although the software is different to familiar search engines, it is easy to use. this reliable source of information is also one of the most advanced legal databases. law students will find that expertise in searching gained from using the database will be a valuable asset in their future career in law firms and other places of work. why is it useful? westlaw is a search engine which stores more than 40,000 databases of case law, journals, statutes, law reviews and many more legal resources. having access to such a large source through the internet makes case finding simple and easy. this search engine is particularly useful for law students who wish to search case information quickly through a reliable and accurate source. the killer factor & score the differentiating factor of westlaw in comparison to other databases is that westlaw has an easy to use search engine that allows one to rapidly locate useful information. the continuous updating of legal information makes westlaw a reliable source. overall i would highly recommend this online legal resource and rate it 10/10. conclusion as the law subject librarian, i teach on part of the legal method course, which is only a small part of the whole programme. i therefore have limited access to surveying students’ reaction to this type of assessment. despite this, the results have been very interesting and i would like to develop a clearer brief and include this option again. one of the major learning points for students is to understand the digital environment in which they are entering as professionals. as generation y-fi, they have grown up thinking that almost everything is free to them. in this era of high student fees it is worthwhile pointing out that these two subscription services are costly and this is partly what they pay their fees for. technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 references burton, k. (2011), `a framework for determining the authenticity of assessment tasks: applied to an example in law’, journal of learning design, 4 (2), pp. 20-28. nyampfene, a. (2011), `harnessing the internet for authentic learning: towards a new higher education paradigm for the 21 st century’, in proceedings of the european conference on elearning, sonning common: academic conferences and publishing, pp. 586-592. strachan, r., pickard, a. and laing, c. (2010), `bringing technical authoring skills to life for students through an employer audience’, innovation in teaching and learning in information and computer sciences, 9 (2), doi: 10.11120/ital.2010.09020009. author biography sarah crofts is a based in the greenwich campus library and is senior academic services librarian for law and criminology. she is interested in the general area of students’ digital literacy and is is co-author (with irene barranco, maggie leharne and rachael hartiss) of the iprogress online information skills course. sarah is also an associate teaching fellow and participates in teaching legal research on the law school courses. d6010-11_compass_jan2012_web.pdf 1 the road ahead chris birch the business school article introduction in 2012, tuition fees in england will treble, further changing the relationship between provider and user. this will redefine the modus operandi of universities, with much greater emphasis on customer (learner) satisfaction. this will be re-enforced though published league tables, in which student satisfaction will be measured and heavily weighted, thereby materially influencing final rankings. to many this represents the antithesis of the core values of a university and is bound to lead to conflict and confusion since introducing quasi-market economics into the university system creates a new dynamic with many repercussions. not only are significant sums now spent on marketing, but also on regulation, compliance, complaints and litigation, all of which absorb academics’ time, distracting them from other duties. to counter these trends a more mechanistic approach to assessment and feedback may be emerging, which does not necessarily enhance deep learning and personal development. furthermore, attending university is now more likely to be an investment decision, whereby the cost of study is weighed against potential future earnings. this in itself creates a different dynamic, influencing subject choice, the perceived value of the brand of the university, and the individual focus on gaining a well classified degree, perhaps at the expense of a more rounded education and experience. given these changes, do universities know what their primary purpose is? questioning the traditional model traditionally, individual and organisational inquisitiveness and curiosity have been at the heart of a university’s mission. it has been about the hunger and need to find out more and to discover, create or reinterpret knowledge which leads to deeper understanding of our universe which results, sometimes, in the emergence of new ideas and technologies which positively impact on our everyday lives. arguably, the university system has provided on-going continuity between generations, ensuring that traditional knowledge has been systemically captured, further developed and passed on, to create an ongoing cycle of improvement. this process is underpinned by the principle of academic freedom, a fundamental tenet to ensure that existing knowledge, and its interpretation, can be challenged without fear of retribution on the individual or their host institution. indeed, this may well be what some, or many, academics currently understand to be the true purpose of a university. this approach and model has an enticing simplicity, but it is anachronistic. two fundamental questions need to be asked. the first relates to the principle of the creation and ownership of knowledge. the original university paradigm assumed that it was in and through universities and their academics that significant new knowledge was generated – in terms of both quantum and compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 2 importance. in the world in which we now live, corporate research and development budgets dwarf those of most universities. furthermore, with our modern information infrastructure, access to knowledge is no longer dependent on libraries or other place-based repositories. the complexity and sophistication of our modern knowledge base increasingly necessitates inter-, intraand cross-disciplinary working, based on newly constructed, often commercially oriented collaborations and partnerships, which in many ways are the antithesis of the domain-based organisational structures that characterise many, if not all, universities today. furthermore, small businesses now play a very important role in both creating and commercially applying knowledge, and their success is not so much based upon large budgets, but their ability, agility, creativity and innovativeness. the second question relates to the cost and funding of our university system. it could, and increasingly is, argued that where the state pays for the significant costs of running these fiercely autonomous institutions, albeit indirectly, there has to be a political quid pro quo. however, the difference may now be to do with ever-changing government agendas, the speed and unpredictability of change, and their motivation for what might be seen as multi-faceted interference that often lacks consistency and continuity, is ill conceived, incoherent and short sighted, opportunistic and ideologically politically motivated and, at worst, a crude and modern form of gerrymandering and social engineering. if this is true, then it is little wonder that we struggle to get a clear understanding of what the purpose of a university now is. universities themselves have to try to make some sense from the ensuing chaos, and significantly, this perhaps further exacerbates the situation. in the uk, their position is made worse by virtue of the fact that on the one hand, they are fiscally and legally autonomous institutions, but on the other, most are overly-dependent on funding sources which, irrespective of the quasi-market, the state controls. they have become opportunistic, often seeking short-term competitive advantage through responding to incentivised initiatives. as a result, universities are increasingly different, and to talk homogeneously of what a university is might be conceptually flawed. the end of the baby-boomer generation one of the huge challenges of our time relates to a rapidly aging population, and universities need to become a sustainable part of the solution over the long term. the demographic structure of the developed world is changing rapidly. the post second world war baby boomer generation is now working its way through, and medical and health care advances now mean that average life expectancy has increased by over 20 years in a 50 year period, from 67 to 87. this is remarkable, and of itself, profound. when added to the ability of families effectively to choose when and indeed whether, to have children, and birth rates falling to less than 1.4 from nearly three in 1945, one can easily anticipate huge economic and social consequences. in the uk, by 2020, the population is projected to grow to 67 million. those aged over 65, a traditional proxy for retirement, will increase by 33% in this period, taking this sector of traditionally economically inactive groups to 21% of the total population. if life expectancy continues significantly to rise as is predicted, then this percentage will further increase. in the uk, the hutton review has been looking at these very issues and, even before new legislation is developed, state retirement ages have been increased and are likely to rise further still. no longer is there a legal requirement ‘to retire’ and indeed, statutes have already been passed which legally treat ageism in the same way as discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. this of course is a good thing per se, but it changes the fundamental relationship between the ageing person, the state and the employer, and in its wake it will give rise to new needs and requirements – not least the need to compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 3 re-skill and up-skill older people for longer. assuming that developed economies remain dependent on the creation of high value-added goods and services, predicated on knowledge-related infrastructure, then there will be a need to educate older people to a much higher level than is currently the case. this almost infers a philosophical re-adaptation of the rhetoric relating to lifelong education, for the greater good, to the necessity and reality of lifelong learning for lifetime working, whatever that may mean! what is certain is that universities should have a clear part to play in this – indeed, older learners may well become primary markets for them. currently, however, most are both geared and resourced to educate younger people, and have far less expertise in the andragogy needed to deliver to those who are much older. space management alongside these challenges are other systemic changes that have a material impact on the affordability and access to our current system, and the medium term sustainability and viability of it. huge financial investment has and continues to be made in university real estate. the cost per square metre is significant, averaging in the uk over £400 pm2 including depreciation charges. many universities have hundreds of thousands of square metres of space, and therefore an average sized university (150,000 m2) can easily spend £45m per annum on the capital, revenue and debt servicing of this estate. by any standards, this is a huge investment and often represents close to 33% of the turnover of a typical university. with staffing costs running at an average of 55% of turnover, that leaves only 12% to invest in other things, including investment in the power and opportunity provided by new technology. at the very least, this huge and inflexible cost base makes the typical university rigid, in-agile and potentially unresponsive to new demands that need, want and expect demand-led engagement. clearly, costs need to be viewed in light of utilisation. with high usage, the rationale for the expenditure may be easier to make. one can debate usage statistics, but given that most universities operate only two academic terms for full time undergraduates – for most by far the biggest segment of their learning community – which equates to circa 32 weeks of the full calendar year, then one can instantly sense that for a third of the year, much teaching space will probably not be well used. usage rates of academic staff offices are relatively low (they teach and have other duties that do not require fixed office presence), and ‘void’ spaces, including corridors and rest rooms, compound the inefficiency. arguably, this may boil down to an average real annualised usage rate of 25% or less. at the very least, questions need to be asked about any return on investment that consumes 33% of turnover and yields a 25% usage rate. it is hard to see how this is economical or efficient, even if effective when in use. the concept and reality of learning effectiveness itself begs another question – this time a pedagogic one. is university real estate, and specifically classrooms, lecture theatres, seminar rooms and other learning spaces, designed to meet not only place-based teaching input needs, but also generate creative and effective learning environments? for example, do they have adequate power for students to plug in their laptops, electronic notepads and the array of modern communications tools that we all know they now have? do they have ubiquitous, fast and reliable wireless connectivity? are the lines of desks in most classrooms really conducive to participative learning as opposed to more traditional didactic teaching? if we are genuinely moving from ‘sage on the stage’ towards ‘guide on the side’, then it can easily be argued that what we have invested so heavily in is no longer appropriate to create an effective learning environment that develops, nurtures and measures not only knowledge, but a wide variety of skills, competencies, behaviours and mindsets, all of which are increasingly regarded as important employability attributes. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 4 efficiency, effectiveness and value for money as public and private finances become tighter over the coming years, as a direct consequence of the impact of the banking crisis and subsequent economic collapse, efficiency, effectiveness and value for money are likely to become more important in all walks of life, not least universities. in the uk, and in many other nations too, learners and beneficiaries, including current and future employers, are likely to have to pay a much bigger proportion of the cost of their own education, from which they derive many benefits both directly and indirectly. despite government-sponsored funding support packages for tripled fees, it is clear that graduate debt levels will treble from 2012 and this is likely to lead to changed ‘consumer behaviour’ involving different academic choices, selection and re-prioritisation of choice criteria. future employment, employability and prospects will be critical to investment decisions, whether we academics like this instrumental approach or not! there is great concern over the impact on those from families with no history of involvement with higher education, who may well be more debt adverse than those who have more income and inclination, to invest this in a university education. potentially, this could reduce social mobility still further, which politically remains a very sensitive issue. given the demographic changes already alluded to, this could have profound and negative impact upon the workforce of the future and the knowledge, skills and competencies that will be needed to sustain the knowledge-based economy. potentially, this could provide new opportunities for those universities, or indeed other private providers which can deliver a recognised and credible university level award, such as phoenix, bpp and kaplan, to think laterally, be more demand-responsive and offer a better value for money proposition to would-be consumers. this is likely to involve more technology-enhanced delivery, less face-to-face campus-based interaction, more work-based and work-related learning, more emphasis on business-related benefits and return on investment, with a short payback period, and less on intrinsic educational value. potentially it could also involve a greater demand for shorter units of higher level learning, with less constraints imposed around academic coherence, and full degree programmes of study. the ability and flexibility to earn and learn may well become a defining consumer trait. that is not to comment on whether these changes are good or bad, but to indicate that there may well be markets that will pay if such an approach is adopted. price competitiveness, global competition and comparison will become critical variables in the marketing mix of those providing university qualifications (in the uk), and with current pricing constraints being relaxed and removed, the dynamic of the market place is likely to change significantly. how and whether established universities will be able to respond to this is open to question, and new private providers and indeed companies themselves, are evaluating options that may now be open to them. pedagogy, the crucial variable the marketing mix includes what marketers refer to as their ‘p’ variables, of which there are anything between four and 12 commonly referenced. at this juncture, one might add a specific ‘p’ for higher education, which should already underpin that which we do. that is pedagogy. if we can take the opportunity to look at the whole landscape as it now is, gaze ahead and then innovatively re-think how we deliver and distribute our learning – making better use of technology, how (and what) we assess, and how we support learners – then we might well find that we attract those that the system has always missed, or who will start to opt out on a perceived cost/benefit basis. it is hard not to concede that the time is right to fundamentally challenge our long established academic delivery and quality assurance mechanisms, which originated in a totally different era, where opportunities compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 5 and constraints were very different. there is evidence that change is taking place, but this is often relatively peripheral. every day, as a commuter, i see thousands of people using ever more sophisticated mobile technology for a plethora of purposes. cheaper and better tablet computers and faster and more reliable mobile internet connections can only exacerbate this trend. furthermore, more people now have to commute further and more often, as the nature of work and employment changes. technology can help to make commuting time much more valuable and useful, and there is no reason why academic study cannot compete for use of this time, if appropriate digital content is constructed. increasingly, our lives are less dominated by the concept of place and space; we multi-task and fit things in around other activities; sometimes we have more time than others, so we need to be able to accelerate and decelerate as time permits. this is the reality of the everyday life of so many around the world, and universities need to start to consider how they can present their products and services in a way that a significant, and growing, niche market requires. as academics, we need to embrace the opportunity, and use our expertise to benefit our students as we always have, just differently, based on circumstances and resources now available. most other service industries have had to adapt the way that they operate, and we too have perhaps reached that point. table 1 is a matrix that conceptually captures this new dynamic, mapping time and place against rigidity and flexibility. it is quite possible that with better, faster and cheaper technology, a developing understanding of effective online learning and the supporting pedagogy, the changing needs and nature of the population and overall affordability and access, that more course delivery and support will take place online and not on-campus. given the existing cost structures of a typical ‘traditional’ university, it would not be surprising if some, indeed many, do not start to invest more in technology and online support, and less in campuses and place-based academic support with a view to gaining competitive advantage in emerging new markets, both home and abroad. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 6 in addition to this, especially with older and non-traditional learners, who may well not have had a good experience of traditional education, either at school, at college or elsewhere, making learning relevant, enjoyable and fun is also vitally important. the matrix in table 2 plots work and leisure against obligation and fun, and visually illustrates how effective learning needs to be positioned as a leisure pursuit, even if work-relevant. part of achieving this is allowing flexible access and support at times that they can more easily fit into busy life schedules. for too long, learning, especially if work-related, has been seen as a compliance-driven or needs-obligated activity, done because it has to be. imagine a scenario where the pedagogic design, quality and flexibility of the offer makes it both satisfying and enjoyable to participate. one can only think that this makes for a very powerful learning environment, where it realistically has a chance of becoming an up-skilling and re-knowledgeing activity for life. with the challenges that economies and societies face, those that can achieve this are likely to be the sustainable and successful ones. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 4, 2012 7 conclusion the time is right to go back to basics and reconsider the role of a university. it could well be that individual universities become defined as much by difference as similarity, with only a core set of values giving coherence to participation in university-level activity. in many ways, as we lead more sophisticated and complicated lives, as the systemic challenges ahead get ever-more complex, as our life aspirations and expectations evolve and as technology provides new choices, a deeper and more widely educated person should be better equipped to cope with the emergent tensions, challenges and opportunities that ride in the wake of change. in a knowledge-based world, there has to be a critical place for a university, but this has to be earned on merit and not be based upon past performance and reputation. if existing players cannot rise to this challenge, new players will certainly emerge, and quickly. innovative universities should not fear the future. they should embrace it and play a leading role in developing and defining it. in a world where sustainability of developed economies is predicated on creating and commercially exploiting knowledge, where the threshold for skills and competencies rises ever higher, where creativity and enterprise are key sources of competitive advantage, and where societies and individuals have instant access to vast arrays of information, from which they need to build personal understanding, the opportunity for universities to engage with so many for so long, has never been greater. they can, and should be the thought leaders of future generations, but this can only be achieved by thinking differently, looking ahead and focusing outwards. the question then becomes whether this is what they really want to do? d6010-11 e january 2012 case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 student collaboration in developing an on-line self assessment tool, to enhance development for student and newly qualified professionals julie laxton, university of leeds; paul dagg, university of huddersfield; janet hargreaves, university of huddersfield; duane laverick, university of huddersfield; and carrie mitchell, university of huddersfield abstract a “competence in practice” (cipa) self assessment tool was developed initially as a research instrument as part of the centre for excellence in teaching and learning; assessment and learning in practice settings. the tool asks a series of questions against which participants self-rate their preparedness for practice. a working group then created software from this that is used as a formative exercise to rate confidence and perceived competence in practice. this freely available package (http://cipa.hud.ac.uk ) responds with feedback to individual users on their self evaluation, facilitating reflection and guided supervision. the development involved an innovative, collaborative partnership with academics and students, who undertook the work as a paid project as well as actively participating in workshops and conferences. working collaboratively was a powerful experience for all involved. this case study presents the development of the tool, focusing on the collaborative aspects of the work. working collaboratively with students in this manner enabled many positive outcomes and lessons for the future. introduction the purpose of this case study is to describe the methods used to develop an existing research tool into an easily accessible self-assessment tool for developing or recently qualified professionals within health and social care, and to share our experiences of student collaboration in that project. the assessment and learning in practice settings centre for excellence in teaching and learning (alps-cetl) involves five uk universities (the universities of bradford, huddersfield, leeds, leeds metropolitan, and york st john) and its national health service (nhs) and social care partners comprising the clinical and social care networks, professional and statutory regulatory bodies, and 16 health and social care professional groups. the alps-cetl programme set out to nurture innovation and change in higher education learning and teaching, rewarding departments that could identify a strong programme of development. it was successful in developing a range of assessment tools and other artefacts, and the network of universities and clinical organisations involved with alps strived to create collaborative projects that could enable this. the regional strategic health authority (for yorkshire and the humber) offered follow-on funding for one year after the end of the alps programme, which was used to incentivise projects that maintained and developed the alps outputs and collaborative work. one of the unique features of the alps programme was that the developments involved collaboration across 16 different health and social care professions and therefore combined http://cipa.hud.ac.uk/ case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 innovative learning and teaching with many different practices and professional requirements. the alps team set out to explore students’ understanding of their competence to practice. whilst some authors question the ability of students to self –assess (see for example baxter et al 2011; kruger et al 2002) the competency in practice assessment (cipa) tool was primarily developed as a research instrument. initially it was piloted as a self-rating tool with new graduates with the intention of extending its use by employers of new graduates. the tool offered a way of establishing some baseline measures of confidence and competence, where these did not currently exist. it also enabled comparison of confidence and competence levels in and between different professions. it focused on the agreed alps common competences such as communication, team-working and ethical and professional practice, (holt 2010). the cipa tool was subsequently rigorously calibrated to ensure it was reliable and valid across a multi-professional group of undergraduate health and social care students, as part of the original alps cipa work. the re-use of the cipa research instrument as the basis for a reflective self assessment tool was the focus of a collaborative follow-on project, which in turn has been subject to initial evaluation. figure one records the timeline for these developments. 2007 the need for a ‘base line’ assessment of competency is identified by the alps team 2008 the cipa research instrument is designed and tested 2008 -10 longitudinal data is gathered from final year health and social work students just before graduation and at 6 and 12 month post qualifying. 2010 -2011 the cipa self assessment tool is designed and launched 2011-2012 an evaluation survey is added to the cipa website figure one: cipa timeline having decided to conduct the project with student involvement, their collaboration became particularly significant. students as collaborators a strategic decision was made to have significant involvement of students as collaborators in this project. the authors are aware of a number of examples of successful student collaboration in research and development projects in addition to their own. for example the ‘student as partners’ initiative launched as part of the cetl programmes has been embedded within established schemes involving birmingham city university, northumbria university, and the university of manchester. this is now sustained as the “student learning and teaching network” (2012). similar schemes involving student collaborators were conducted in the alps programme. millard and hargreaves (in press 2013) have argued theoretically that student collaboration is a positive and a sustainable model for funded academic developments. however little seems to have been published that specifically evaluates students engaging in project work as collaborators with academics, an area we hope to investigate in the future. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 a literature review using ovid medline and the key words of “student” and “engagement” or “involvement” and research” revealed only 3 published articles, one of which was an editorial. (harpin 2012, vessey 2008, kramer 2005) even with these articles the emphasis is on educating the students to take part in research, rather than actual examples of their collaboration activity with academics. collaboration as a key word revealed further papers on interprofessional education, and some on students as activists or change agents, rather than the type of collaboration this case study is concerned with. we therefore thought that looking more widely at student collaboration within an educational setting might offer some insights. there is, for example, a wealth of research exploring the use of ‘group work’ in its many guises. two papers explicitly refer to this as a ‘collaborative’ activity. conway-gòmez & palacios (2011), evaluated students from the usa and chile collaborating on a sustainable development project via non synchronous discussion online, and osman et al (2011) conducted in depth interviews with 10 students to explore their experiences of collaborative or group-based learning. both, in different ways, focused on the collaborative aspect of our project. in both cases students reported pleasure in learning from and about others, and the osman et al (2011) study supported the notion that collaborative learning is rated highly as an engaging and enjoyable experience. however in both studies, structure, facilitation and careful managing of the relationships within the collaboration were important and students did not necessarily report the positive outcomes that the researchers would have preferred. in particular more seemed to be gained from their interaction with others, than from any pedagogic advancement of their knowledge or critical understanding of the topics involved. an evidence based report (hea 2012) from the higher education academy reinforces the power of creating a culture of involvement throughout the whole student journey. this is reflected in their personal success, engagement and enhanced university experience problem-based learning could be regarded as a similar approach where students learn through facilitated problem – solving. in this process the tutor facilitates the work of the students rather than delivering a lecture. evidence suggests that this enables students to develop flexible knowledge, effective problem-solving skills, self-directed learning skills, effective collaboration skills, and intrinsic motivation (hmelo-silver 2004). we agree with this work and used this approach. the students responded with their ideas and enthusiasm for the work required to complete this tool. method despite limited evidence to support collaboration in project development and research, the alps experience led to this collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to the management of the follow on project. the project set out to convert the cipa research instrument into a self assessment tool. we theorised that, as the questions had been validated they might form a successful basis for a self assessment. the students could then complete the questions via a web based piece of software, and receive feedback on their scores. rather than a researcher analysing the data case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 gathered, each student could use their own result to reflect on and develop their own practice. the project group consisted of academic staff from several universities, computing students on a full time sandwich year bursary working in the learning technology support unit of a school of human and health sciences, and student collaborators who responded to an advertisement though the university jobshop for part time work. the inclusion criterion for the work was that they had some experience of being on a placement (work experience). 14 students responded to the advertisement. a series of workshops were undertaken where the project was explained to the student collaborators who completed the cipa questions themselves. working in groups they discussed and agreed feedback they considered useful, and gathered resources that they felt would aid development. by this process our student collaborators were able to strongly influence feedback so that it was relevant, helpful and student focused. the computing students worked with their supervisor to develop software to the specification requested. the academic team moderated the feedback to create a consistent format, and all the students offered iterative feedback on the stages of the tool as it was developed. the subsequent self assessment tool was launched at a number of seminars and conferences regionally and nationally, and remains openly available on the internet [see http://cipa.hud.ac.uk ] the aim of this project was to create a tool where the software was as simple and practical as possible. having been given this brief, cipa was developed as an online application that allows the person to assess how competent or ready they are for practice/placement/work. through taking the test, the user answers a series of questions selecting either ‘not applicable’ or 0 to 4 on a likert scale. once completed the assessment runs some calculations to generate a feedback report to help build on competence for practice/placement/work. it is this feedback that was developed through the student collaboration. cipa is a freely available tool that anyone can use which has been received very positively by people at dissemination events. indeed it has been adopted as a springboard for newly qualified staff joining a number of nhs trusts in the region to commence their ‘preceptorship’ period of initial post qualifying employment, linked to the ‘flying start’ [http://www.flyingstart.scot.nhs.uk ] programme. the disadvantage of the approach was that the development team were left with a belief that the tool was well received, but gave no means of knowing who the tool was being used by, or if they were finding it helpful. evaluating cipa in order to address this deficit ethical approval was gained to add a survey to the website that users were invited to complete after they had used the tool. a simple survey using bristol on line (bos) software was designed and developed by subsequent computing students and the website was updated to include the survey. the survey is intended to identify:  which professions are using the tool http://cipa.hud.ac.uk/ http://www.flyingstart.scot.nhs.uk/ case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5  whether they were using it individually or as part of a supervision relationship, and  ease of use and usefulness for their practice. figure two lists the professions and roles of those who responded to the tool. whilst we were disappointed to only receive 11 responses within the time period, we were pleased that it represented a range of students and qualified professionals from 6 different disciplines. one respondent was mentoring a newly qualified person. all the results were generally favourable; all but one responded agreed or strongly agreed against all of the questions, this would suggest that the tool does have interprofessional application, and can work as a starting point for discussion and supervision, as well as individual reflection and development. total number of respondents 11 discipline areas 6 students 4 newly qualified professionals 2 supervisor/mentor 1 experienced professional 4 figure 2: evaluation results – professions and roles more detailed feedback identified a number of points, including relevance to practice, different styles of communication and reflection. the evaluation also highlighted some of the more challenging aspects of developing the professional role, such as dealing with cultural issues, which students often state that they feel ill prepared for once they are no longer under supervision. asked if there were any ‘surprises’ most respondents said no. one, however, picked up on the emphasis on service users as a separate and important group. service user engagement had been an important feature of the alps programme, so it was good to see this reflected here: ‘it gave opportunity to separate communication between service users and colleagues which was useful, they are often thought of or reflected on together.’ respondents were asked if it offered anything new or different that they could use. most said yes regarding the structure it could give: ‘suggested some useful strategies in the feedback. this is different to clinical reflections done in the past. good to have some guidance on where you can go or activities to help develop’. this particular result indicates that the student involvement in developing the feedback and signposting to support and guidance may have positively influenced the quality of the tool. whilst these are only limited initial results, the team feel that they offer justification for the strategy of student collaboration. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 6 conclusion working collaboratively did have a number of advantages for the project team: student insights and ideas for the generation of feedback offered a perspective that would not have been reached by academics working in isolation. the involvement of student technologists allowed for a flexibility of approach and the input of fresh ideas. in addition there were clear advantages for the students, all of whom enjoyed the involvement and gained personal confidence and employment skills, mirroring the aspirations we had for users of the cipa tool. the learning and skills displayed by the students were similar to those identified by osman et al (2011). more structured evaluation of the student experience is being built in to subsequent projects. reflecting on this experience, it was the first time that the academics involved had engaged in a collaboration of this nature. there were a number of lessons learned with regard to this: firstly, the interaction with the students during the development of the responses to the tool was significant. we wanted to learn from them, and for this to be reflected in a tool that had meaning and purpose to them, rather than us. we recommend this methodology to others: giving students time and a free rein to think creatively led to a richer outcome. the tool relates strongly to student and newly qualified professionals’ needs and concerns. secondly, facilitation was important – from our perspective we learned that more short sessions over time would have been better than one big session at the beginning, as it would have given students more time to understand the project and get to know us and the other students whilst there are gains in student collaboration, there is also possible dilution of purpose. having given the students the framework, we had to go with their direction and could not predict or fully control the outcome. the project team therefore need the confidence, and flexibility of design to allow for this type of variation. finally, we have created what we believe is a robust and very useful tool. however, wide ranging implementation has proved challenging, which we recognise by the small number of responses to the evaluation so far. we have strong anecdotal feedback that the tool is fit for purpose and value, which motivated us to create the evaluation. a limitation of this study is that we still do not know the full extent of its use. references baxter, p. and norman, g. (2011). self-assessment or self deception? a lack of association between nursing students’ self-assessment and performance. journal of advanced nursing. 67 (11), 2406-2413. conway-gòmez, k. and palacios, f.a. (2011). discussing the geography of sustainable development through an international online collaboration with students in chile and the usa. journal of geography in higher education, 35(2), 265-279. flying start programme, nhs scotland. availble at: http://www.flyingstart.scot.nhs.uk. (accessed 13 august 2012). http://www.flyingstart.scot.nhs.uk/ case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 7 harpin, s. and gilmore-bykovoskyi, a.l. (2012). bringing students to the table: the value of student involvement in midwest nursing research society. western journal of nursing research. 34 (3), 287-8. higher education academy (2012). what works? student retention and success programme, available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/what-works-retention. (accessed 7 january 2013). hmelo-silver, c.e. (2004). problem-based learning; what and how do students learn? educational psychology review, 16(2), 235-266. holt, j.; coates, c.; cotterill, d., eastburn, s.; laxton, j.; mistry, h.; and young, c. (2010) identifying common competences in health and social care: an example of multi-institutional and inter-professional working. nurse education today. 30(3), 264-270. kramer, k. (2005). medical student involvement in research in the pre-clinical years. hawaii medical journal. 64 (7), 190-1. kruger, j. and mueller, r.a. (2002). unskilled, unaware, or both? the better-than-average heuristic and statistical regression predict errors in estimates of own performance. journal of personality and social psychology. 82 (2), 180–188. millard, l. and hargreaves, j. (2013) creatively employing funding to support innovation innovations in education and teaching international (in press). osman, g; duffy, t.m.; chang, j.y.; and lee, j. (2011). learning through collaboration: student perspectives. asia pacific education review, 12(4), 547–558. student learning and teaching network (no date). available at: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sches/programmes/lt/afl/cetl_afl/engagement/net work/studentnetwork (accessed 13 august 2012). vessey, j.r. and de marco, r.f. (2008). the undergraduate research fellows program: a unique model to promote engagement in research. journal of professional nursing. 24(6), 358-63. author biographies julie laxton ma, bsc, rd is teaching fellow, inter professional education. she teaches non-clinical subjects to medical students and other professions. her main research and teaching interests are interprofessional education. contact j.c.laxton@leeds.ac.uk paul dagg and advises staff with the development of technology-based learning resources. he managed the technical assistants who worked on the cipa tool as well as contributing to its development. paul is interested in useability, interface design and social media, and is currently completing a master’s in technology enhanced learning.contact p.w.dagg@hud.ac.uk dr. janet hargreaves ma, ba, rgn is associate dean learning & teaching in the school of human and health sciences, university of huddersfield. she teaches ethics, research and reflection. her research interests are professional education and nursing history. contact j.hargreaves@hud.ac.uk duane laverick bsc ict (hons) year 4, placement year student learning technology assistant he develops web applications for the school of human and health sciences and assists in supporting students and academics with our vle. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/what-works-retention http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sches/programmes/lt/afl/cetl_afl/engagement/network/studentnetwork http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sches/programmes/lt/afl/cetl_afl/engagement/network/studentnetwork mailto:j.c.laxton@leeds.ac.uk mailto:p.w.dagg@hud.ac.uk mailto:j.hargreaves@hud.ac.uk case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 8 carrie mitchell bsc ict (hons) year 4, learning technology assistant and placement year student. she develops databases and other it applications for the school of human and health sciences and assists in supporting students and academics with our vle technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 trial of a ‘webinar’ to improve student perception of engagement paul stoneman faculty of business, university of greenwich introduction a group of part-time students studying the mba in a blended mode of both online facilitated learning and face-to-face workshops had commented that they felt like second-class citizens in comparison to their full-time counterparts. a number of academics agreed to trial ‘adobe connect’ as a means of enhancing engagement for both part-time and full-time participants. what is it? adobe connect is a hosted (one does not need a server to store content) web-based application for running online seminars – commonly known as ‘webinars’. what can it do? adobe connect webinars allows groups to share multi-media in real-time whilst recording it to playback later. figure 1: screenshot of adobe connect webinar’s main screen (march 2013)  video and audio features: the person hosting the webinar can enable their webcam to allow all participants to see the online session in real-time. the host can also enable each participant’s webcam individually so that they may also be seen by all participants if they so wish. the same facility also applies to audio, although most technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 users prefer to click the ‘hands-up’ icon to show they wish to speak to avoid constant background chatter.  text chat: all participants have access to the text based chat facility, which again is in real-time. this is shown in the middle column (chat – everyone) in figure 1 above.  content: the host can share content in real-time. this includes powerpoint slides, documents, applications, or they can mirror whatever is on their desktop. the host can individually allow participants to be co-presenters or to share their own content. figure 2: screenshot of sharing content in adobe connect webinar (march 2013) all the features listed above are real-time and synchronised. the entire webinar can also be recorded in this synchronised fashion and stored on the adobe server for access/playback by anyone that the host provides with the url. how does one access it? all that is required is a device (e.g.: pc, laptop, iphone/ipad, android mobile) and access to the internet – no software needs to be installed except for a free ‘app’ for mobile devices. the host presenter requires a software license which includes a login and password to the adobe connect server in order to set up a webinar online meeting room. a webinar can be set up in just a few keyboard clicks. all that is required is to give the webinar a “specific name”, as well as a date/time and deciding whether the participants’ access should be open access or password protected. the system returns a url which can then be sent to desired participants. the whole process takes about a minute. technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 participants simply click the url at the designated time and enter either as a guest or using the password provided by the host presenter. how can it be used for teaching and learning? almost anything you can do in a classroom you can do via adobe connect online, plus you can have all of this available for participants who could not attend at the designated time to view later, or for those who did attend to recap on what happened. i have used it for a number of pilot sessions:  an interactive show and tell for academics – a kind of ‘webinar about what you can do with webinars’ both real-time and for later playback.  running an interactive workshop with a number of students to discuss the requirements for an upcoming piece of coursework. this involved presenting examples of good work and students asking questions using both the chat and audio facilities. both full-time and part-time students joined the session. what other uses could it be put to? the limit is one’s imagination. here are a couple of suggestions that have been put to me:  recording an introduction to a course using powerpoint slides with audio (as if it were a one-to-many lecture) so that it can be used for distance or partner students to view as needed.  integrating traditional students with part-time students by using it in the classroom in real-time.  programme or course team meetings for sharing materials or practice – perhaps including overseas collaborative partner tutors. what are the downsides? one needs a license, which costs money, and, whilst this can be shared, only one person can be running a webinar using that licence at any one time. additionally, the host presenters need some initial training – maybe an hour, but once trained, adobe connect is very simple to use. it could be argued that students may deliberately not engage if they can look at the whole session in playback later. sweeney (2009) mentions that it is sometimes difficult to agree a time for all participants to engage. however, the record features of adobe connect alleviate this problem somewhat. sweeney (op. cit.) also mentions technical problems, although the author’s experience is that adobe connect specifically is very simple to use for presenters and participants. it is thought that the use of webinars wouldn’t be a wise decision for highly standardized, strictly planned and low-feedback courses and lectures (moscow state university 2013). also, if it is to be truly interactive, it becomes difficult to manage with very large numbers of participants. therefore it is important to recognise that pre-planning is critical to a webinar’s success. technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 ‘giving an effective webinar requires some presentation redesign and technology skills that you don't necessarily need in a face-to-face presentation. a great speaker in a face-to-face environment can easily crash and burn in a webinar setting if he or she isn't prepared for theunique challenges and needs of that environment’ (mohorovicic 2011:1272). what is the student experience? in an online survey conducted with a sample of 215 students from several faculties in croatia (mohorovicic 2011:1273), it was found that: ‘most of the students (89%) consider that implementation of webinars in higher education would be useful and 70% of students believe that webinars, along with traditional teaching in classroom, will become common at universities. 55% of students think that [a] webinar can be [as] effective as face-to-face teaching in classroom. opposed to that, 32% of students consider that their concentration on [a] lecture would be impaired while attending the lecture through webinar.’ the trial suggests that there is a high level of acceptance. one comment from a full-time student on the chat facility was ‘we should run all our classes like this’ as he was sitting at home eating his dinner. future plans the use of adobe connect to enhance engagement will be extended and used by other course leaders during the new academic year. student feedback will be monitored through liaison meetings with the hope that there is an improved perception of engagement with tutors. references mohorovicic, s., lasic-lazic j. and strcic v. (2011). "webinars in higher education." mipro, proceedings of the 34th international convention. ieee 2011. moscow state university (2013). [online]. available at http://titova.ffl.msu.ru/webinars2.html. (accessed 25/4/13). sweeney, s. (2009) internationalisation and the use of electronic media in teaching and assessment. live webinars and audio feedback: apparent benefits and drawbacks. hea journals volume 2, issue 1, july 2009. author biography paul stoneman is a principal lecturer and programme leader for the masters of business administration. before joining the university of greenwich, paul stoneman qualified as an engineer and spent many years in business within global blue chip organisations with management responsibilities for service operations, sales, marketing, training, business management and international business development across europe, the middle east and the usa. paul has a master’s (ma education-elearning) which is an area of continuing research. http://titova.ffl.msu.ru/webinars2.html opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 “online cpd courses: do they enhance student knowledge?” scott malcolm goudie university of greenwich most professional bodies require registrants to demonstrate a commitment to continuing professional development (cpd). during the re-registration process, the registrant’s cpd folder may be audited by her/his registering body to check that the registrant has evidenced the knowledge, skills and experience gained throughout that period of professional practice. anticipation of a cpd audit leads many professionals to search for quick, easy and often free cpd courses that can be evidenced in their portfolio. the internet has become saturated with free courses relating to all disciplines of cpd for professional practice. many employers also use an online course method to ensure that employees meet statutory and mandatory training needs for each year. in recent years, online cpd courses have become far more commonplace. it is easy to see why: materials are widely accessible to all and may be enhanced with seemingly endless technological possibilities – audio, visual, animation, conferencing, discussion forums, social networking – all of which help to give the student a richer learning experience (harish, 2013). strong consideration is given to financial cost. once course materials have been developed, little remains to enable that course to run effectively. administration, consumables, wages and expenses are just some of the costs reduced by transferring materials online (herman and banister, 2007). moving to online courses seems logical, given the time and monetary constraints placed on modern businesses. the ability to ‘tick the box’, as confirmation that employees have complied with yearly requirements, is a necessity and employees want quick courses that provide them with evidential cpd certificates. but are these online courses fit for purpose? what pedagogy is used to facilitate learning? recent personal experience would suggest that the raison d'être of some courses is merely to ‘tick the box’ rather than to educate students meaningfully. having undertaken several online courses billed as ‘essential’ training, i was able to complete them without having to open any online learning materials – i was able to skip straight to the course assessment and take them immediately. the answers to most multi-choice questions were guessable and i could address the more difficult questions by a logical process of elimination. at no point was reference to learning material required in order to answer a question. furthermore, if i failed any cpd test, the consequent provision of correct answers enabled me immediately to repeat them and attain perfect scores – in subjects i profess not to know much about! i have complied with mandatory training and can evidence my cpd – but have i learnt anything? superficially, this may seem a win/win situation. i have certificates and have met statutory requirements. what does this mean for the competence of individuals and whole professions? if unchecked, this type of emergent cpd runs the risk of misrepresenting the competence and thus undermining the credibility of the professions involved. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 zimmerman (2012) states that “learner-content interaction is an essential element of the learning process” and satisfaction should be derived from the fact that subject knowledge has increased. however, the design process of these cpd courses is lacking in this regard. akyol and garrison (2011) recommend that focus be placed on linking cognitive learning processes to the learning outcomes of materials, so as to gauge whether learning has occurred. this cannot occur in assessment in which answers can be guessed or logically deduced. an important factor in the learning process is learner compliance. it is often difficult for a student to engage with mandatory training, as the subject matter is rarely of interest. if a student is to approach and engage with learning in a deep, meaningful manner, the material framework needs to promote inquiry, whereby the student will develop and enhance their knowledge by constructing their own personal learning experience, developing existing knowledge and obtaining new information (akyol and garrison, 2011). this approach must excite the student and maintain engagement throughout in order to work. to encourage students to read subject material, it may be worth including a productive failure assessment prior to release of the course material. this involves the students answering questions which s/he may fail, highlighting specific knowledge gaps in areas that require exploration in greater depth and detail (sharples et al., 2016). this form of enquirybased learning requires – and therefore encourages – students to delve into areas where their knowledge/understanding is weak before they can successfully undertake final assessment. only once students have undertaken this should they be able to access the certificate. failure in one particular area should require the student to revisit it in order to understand why s/he answered incorrectly: real learning is achieved not by the giving of the answer, but rather by the provision of a problem-based learning situation that will lead to discovery of the answer through engagement with the material. in the quest to ensure that professionals are keeping up to date, paper certificates have replaced the genuine requirement for sound and meaningful acquisition of knowledge. online cpd courses should be scrutinised for design and relevant pedagogical merits. it is time for professional bodies to look at what effect this could have on their registrants and devise methods of accrediting individual cpd courses according to the positive impact they can have on professional development. for convenience, many time-constrained professionals seek sanctuary in online teaching materials, which by their very nature, are asynchronous. both pelz (2004) and sharples (2016) recommend the use of online materials, as students are in their own environment and engage with the materials when they feel comfortable and ready. this allows them to analyse and digest the information and then undertake assessment when ready to do so; this engages everyone and removes the immediacy of traditional classroom teaching. massive open online courses (moocs) could be used to facilitate real-time group cpd sessions, allowing professionals with united interests to collaborate and disseminate knowledge and research through discussion. sharples (2016) recommends that webdesigners, academics and educational technologists should collaborate to improve technological pedagogy. professionals should be encouraged to participate in meaningful cpd, in order to demonstrate a positive approach to reflective learning and so contribute to the development opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 of their profession. newer emergent technologies will hopefully bring about change in attitudes and behaviours relating to course design and encourage a positive pedagogy. in a world where time and money are considered crucial elements of course design, it can only be hoped that behaviours dictated exclusively by time and money do not become pandemic and hinder the development of the very professions they inhabit and profess to enhance. reference list akyol, z. and garrison, r. (2011) ‘understanding cognitive presence in an online and blended community of inquiry: assessing outcomes and processes for deep approaches to learning.’ british journal of educational technology, 42, 233-250. harish, j. (2013) ‘online education: a revolution in the making.’ cadmus: promoting leadership in thought that leads to action, 2(1), october. available at: http://cadmusjournal.org/files/pdfreprints/vol2issue1/reprint-cj-v2-i1-online-educationjharish.pdf (accessed: 7 august 2017). herman, t. and banister, s. (2007) ‘face-to-face versus online coursework: a comparison of costs and learning outcomes.’ contemporary issues in technology and teacher education, 7(4), 318-326. pelz, b. (2004) ‘(my) three principles of effective online pedagogy.’ journal of asynchronous learning networks, 8(3), 33-46. sharples, m. (2016) ‘digital education: pedagogy online.’ nature: international journal of science, 540, 340. sharples, m., de roock, r., ferguson, r., gaved, m., herodotou, c., koh, e., kukulskahulme, a., looi, c-k., mcandrew, p., rienties, b., weller, m. and wong, l. (2016) innovating pedagogy 2016. open university innovation report 5. milton keynes: the open university. zimmerman, t. (2012) ‘exploring learner to content interaction as a success factor in online courses.’ the international review of research in open and distributed learning, 13(4). available at: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1302/2294 (accessed: 7 august 2017). http://cadmusjournal.org/files/pdfreprints/vol2issue1/reprint-cj-v2-i1-online-education-jharish.pdf http://cadmusjournal.org/files/pdfreprints/vol2issue1/reprint-cj-v2-i1-online-education-jharish.pdf http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1302/2294 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 how adults learn: a reflection s.yerrabati sohar university abstract theories on how adults learn, such as andragogy (knowles, 1980), transformational (mezirow, 2000) and self-directed learning (tough, 1971, and cross, 1981) provide insight into how adult students learn and how instructors like me can be more responsive to the needs of my learners by use of effective teaching practices. whilst these theories suggest that adults use experience as a means of learning, are self-directed, motivated and oriented towards learning, in my view, they are generic and are less cultureand context-specific. introduction based on brookfield’s (1995) relative areas of own reflection, student feedback, peer assessment and theoretical literature, i have reflected upon how adults learn in what was, for me, a new cultural context outside the uk. this paper will provide a brief overview of how adults learn and will end with my reflections and action points to improve my practice. in addition to my experience in a new cultural context outside the uk, it was the first time that i had taught working adults who were returning to study after some years away from formal education. from speaking to the students, i realised that these adults were returning to education with such varied goals as career transition, skills’ enhancement and improved employability chances in a competitive job market. students on my course learned in primarily two ways: first, through group discussions; second, by relating what had been taught on the course to their real life experience. let me elaborate these further. like young learners, adult students in group discussions were able to interact fully, voicing their views on the topic and listening to others’. in line with mezirow’s (2000) remarks about transformational learning, i noticed that, as students discussed, reflected, challenged different research ideas and considered various perspectives, they often experienced a shift in their views about the topic and about the research process itself. for example, although the students had the freedom and ability to choose research topics of their own, they initially thought it could be a daunting process. yet some of them reported to me that the group discussions helped them to understand how to choose, define and limit the scope of the research topic. it soon became evident that, in spite both of self-consciousness about their language ability and of early challenges to balanced discussion by a few dominant personalities, they gradually, session by session, increased the depth of their learning, knowledge and skills to unprecedented personal levels. though they had started the course with no prior experience or awareness of the research process, it took only one or two group discussions before they were thinking carefully about and beginning to investigate and write on their chosen research topic. their rapid progress in identifying potential problems, developing research questions and narrowing the scope of their study soon led them to a much better sense of how to choose a realistic topic for themselves. in terms of relating the course to their experience, i noticed, in accordance with knowles (1984), that most of my students were motivated to improve their job skills, gain a particular type of knowledge and achieve professional growth; they tended to link what had been opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 taught in class with what they knew from life in order to validate particular concepts. for instance, the work experience of a few students enabled them to foresee at least one challenge presented by the data collection environment and to suggest how it might be addressed. however, whilst the practice was facilitating their learning, i felt that, for a course like research methods, and with students with no previous experience of research, experiential learning had its limitations when it came to the understanding of such critical aspects of a proposal as literature review and data analysis. moreover, experience, which is more central to transformational learning, is difficult to measure. with reference to mackeracher’s (2012) types of experience, one of the things that surprised me was that the students were relying on culturallyand socially-imposed experience or preconceived notions, rather than what they had experienced directly. for instance, they had preconceptions about whether they would or would not be able to work a specific research topic. since, either consciously or unconsciously, these notions might well have had a tangible effect on their work, it was important that i help the students overcome them and embrace new ideas. to this end, i provided a substantial amount of information on research philosophies and strategies and also used a couple of demonstrations. in keeping with the views of davies and williams (2001), and davies, osborne and williams (2002), the adult students in my class for the most part wanted to improve their qualifications, were interested in advancing their career and sought a change in the direction of their life. with the exception of two students, i noted that most of my class learned by sharing their views and opinions on a topic with others in their group, and to some extent matching taught material to personal experience. whilst what happened in practice bore out most of the theories on how adults learn, i did see a few exceptions to this. i realised that self-directedness, identified by tough (1971), cross (1981) and mezirow (1985) as a central competence of adult learning, is indeed influenced by adults’ life situation (knox, 1986), social status and cultural influences. knowles (1975) views self-directed learning as a process whereby, without the help of others, individual learners diagnose their learning needs, formulate goals, identify required resources and evaluate their learning outcomes. my discussions with the students, reflecting what tennant (1988) suggests, indicated that not all students were self-directed and that the readiness to learn of some of them was largely governed by what society expected them to learn; this might account for their apparent lack of motivation in class activities and of inward determination to raise their levels of competence. though i had to spend a great deal of time talking to these students, the opportunity to probe reasons for such exceptions has led me to deduce that the way adults learn is more complex than the theories suggest. having reflected on all this, i have learnt that, in contrast to young learners, adults have unique challenges, motivations and expectations. whilst adults take responsibility for their learning and have better time management skills, the way they learn is subject to the culture and the context of where they live. furthermore, my experience in teaching adult students informs me that, in addition to social and cultural context, their employment status and aspirations make a difference to the way they learn. in order to boost their confidence and facilitate their learning, in addition to gaining more culture-specific knowledge, i sought to discover what my students’ expectations were and provided information that they could relate to their work. i strove to create a friendly learning environment so that students’ personal obligations wouldn’t obstruct their learning and drive for competence. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 1, 2017 reference list brookfield, s. (1995) becoming a critically reflective teacher. san francisco: jossey-bass. cross, k. p. (1981) adults as learners: increasing participation and facilitating learning. san francisco: jossey-bass. davies, p. and williams, j. (2001) ‘for me or not for me? fragility and risk in mature student’s decision making.’ higher education quarterly, 55(2), 185-203. davies, p., osborne, m. and williams, j. (2002) ‘for me or not for me? that is the question. a study of mature student’s decision-making and higher education.’ dfes research report 297, dfee. knowles, m, s. (1975) self-directed learning: a guide for learners and teachers. 18. n.y: cambridge books. knowles, m. (1980) the modern practice of adult education: andragogy versus pedagogy. englewood cliffs, nj: cambridge adult education. knowles, malcolm, s. and associates (1984) andragogy in action: applying modern principles of adult learning. san francisco: jossey-bass. knox, a. b. (1986) helping adults learn. san francisco: jossey-bass. mackeracher, d. (2012) ‘the role of experience in transformational learning.’ in: taylor e.w. and cranton p. (eds.), the handbook of transformative learning: theory, research and practice, 342-354. san francisco: jossey-bass. mezirow, j. (1985) ‘a critical theory of self-directed learning.’ new directions for continuing education, 17-30. mezirow, j. and associates (2000) ‘learning to think like an adult: core concepts of transformation theory.’ in mezirow, j. and associates (2000) learning as transformation. critical perspectives on a theory in progress, 3-34. san francisco: jossey-bass. mezirow, j. (2000) learning as transformation: critical perspectives on a theory in progress. san francisco: jossey-bass. tennant, m. (1988) psychology and adult learning. london: routledge. tough, a. (1971) the adult’s learning projects. toronto: ontario institute for studies in education. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 it’s good to talk in the digital age nicky garsten university of greenwich abstract our millennial students may, at times, feel apprehensive about talking face to face or on the phone. whilst the development of digital skills is crucial in our connected age, let’s not forget about the importance of verbal communications. the media can portray youngsters as digitally obsessed, detached and inarticulate. for instance, in the bbc comedy ‘w1a’ the intern, will humphries (played by hugh skinner), “spends most of his time wandering round plugged into his mp3 player trying to find out what he’s supposed to be doing” (bbc, 2017). he rarely initiates a conversation. when he responds it is usually with the monosyllable ‘cool’. this portrayal certainly isn’t my experience of our lively student population, many of whom secure fabulous work experience opportunities for themselves. however, the characterisation does make a point. talking isn’t always students’ first choice of communication with co-workers on an internship. verbal reticence was identified at a recent conference bringing together employers and academics at birmingham city university.1 head-phoned student interns, reported a disappointed practitioner, were more comfortable communicating silently on screen than speaking face to face to colleagues or clients. what students needed, she said, was to be taught verbal communication skills. similarly, lecturer sam pidoux noted that students often preferred to email lecturers rather than to speak to them during office hours. emails were not only convenient but also relieved undergraduates of their anxiety about broaching potentially awkward conversations face to face. pidoux believes that students need to understand that a normal part of conversing is feeling stress when broaching awkward topics. “millennials are digital omnivores’’ according to millennial marketing specialist josie baik (2016). their online savviness is a strength in an age where digital developments have the potential to unlock $100 trillion (world economic forum, 2017). indeed, digital transformation, according to the world economic forum (ibid., p. 2), “has the immense potential to change consumer lives, create value for business and unlock broader societal benefits.” according to pwc research, two thirds of uk chief executives surveyed report problems in recruiting people with digital skills (ellis, 2017). never has the need to teach our students digital skills been more acute. yet, as outlined earlier, there is also still a need for the soft skill of verbal communication. the ability to communicate verbally, inside and outside an organisation, is in the top three skills employers most want in graduates, according to forbes (adams, 2014). nevertheless, our students of this generation ‘hate’ talking on the phone because they are ‘more 1 mind the pr gap 2017bringing together research and practice. 12th july. birmingham city university. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 comfortable’ with texts, emails and messaging, all of which give them the opportunity to pick their words (alton, 2017). when we encourage our students to speak, there is no doubt that we need to adapt to our ‘digital natives’ (prensky, 2001), even if in small ways. it’s a start just being aware that for some students, in some situations, talking may be stressful. we can bear this in mind when we expect students to participate in academic life, be it verbally contributing to seminar sessions or taking advantage to talk to their tutors in office hours. since seminars are integral to university teaching in many institutions and countries, do we organise seating so that students can look at each other when speaking? do we show interest and curiosity when students tell us things that we don’t know? do we have a rule that no question is ‘stupid’, given that, if one person in a group articulates something, it is likely that others are thinking it too? lecturers often offer office hours. i was startled when a friend’s daughter observed that she had initially felt, in her first year, that her lecturers didn’t really want to see her during their office hours. how do we greet students when they knock at our doors? counsellors refer to the importance of eye contact at entry, to help facilitate relationship depth. furthermore, we can convene special drop-in surgeries – for specific assessments – that convey the message that it’s okay to have further questions about assignments and it’s important to start work early on these tests. we can also support networking events for our students by inviting alumni and other professionals, who can help them develop their professional networks. in preparation for these events, we can coach them. introverts for instance, can learn from the excellent guidance of cain (2012) and zach (2014). the key point for them to learn is that both introverts and extroverts can be great networkers. students are expected now to enter the workforce with digital, writing and verbal skills. this means that we need to be mindful of teaching all these skills. i’ve never met a student like the character, will humphries. we need to talk to our students to ensure that we never do. reference list adams, s. (2014) ‘the 10 skills employers most want in 2015 graduates.’ available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/12/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in2015-graduates/#6f13d1132511 (accessed: 31 october 2017). alton, l. (2017) ‘phone calls, texts or email? here's how millennials prefer to communicate.’ forbes.com. available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2017/05/11/how-do-millennials-prefer-tocommunicate/#2384d0966d6f. (accessed: 31 october 2017). baik, j. (2016) how enterprises can optimize mobile apps for millennials. mobile business insights. available at: https://mobilebusinessinsights.com/2016/01/how-enterprises-canoptimize-mobile-apps-for-millennials. (accessed: 31 october 2017). https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/12/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in-2015-graduates/#6f13d1132511 https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/12/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in-2015-graduates/#6f13d1132511 https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2017/05/11/how-do-millennials-prefer-to-communicate/#2384d0966d6f https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2017/05/11/how-do-millennials-prefer-to-communicate/#2384d0966d6f https://mobilebusinessinsights.com/2016/01/how-enterprises-can-optimize-mobile-apps-for-millennials https://mobilebusinessinsights.com/2016/01/how-enterprises-can-optimize-mobile-apps-for-millennials opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 bbc (2017) staff profiles: will humphries. available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/2zsy582zfv8gdyqblvw6twt/will-humphries. (accessed: 31 october 2017). cain, s. (2012) quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can’t stroptalking. location: sage. ellis, k. (2017) ‘pwc proposes new way of overcoming shortage of technology skills.’ the times. available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to-fill-gaping-skills-gap-intechnology-rjczwplk5. (accessed: 31 october 2017). prensky, m. (2001) ‘digital natives digital immigrants.’ available at: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf (accessed: 31 october 2017). world economic forum (year) digital transformation initiative in collaboration with accenture. available at: http://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/wpcontent/blogs.dir/94/mp/files/pages/files/170328-dti-executive-summary-slideshare.pdf (accessed: 31 october 2017). zach (2014) networking for people who hate networking. san francisco: berrett-koehler. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/2zsy582zfv8gdyqblvw6twt/will-humphries https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to-fill-gaping-skills-gap-in-technology-rjczwplk5 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to-fill-gaping-skills-gap-in-technology-rjczwplk5 http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf http://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/wp-content/blogs.dir/94/mp/files/pages/files/170328-dti-executive-summary-slideshare.pdf http://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/wp-content/blogs.dir/94/mp/files/pages/files/170328-dti-executive-summary-slideshare.pdf case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 plymouth university goes digital for better access to textbooks linda bennett, proprietor gold leaf abstract this paper describes the first part of a resources provision experiment that is currently taking place at plymouth university; it involves the ‘free’ provision of all recommended texts to first year psychology students in digital format, supplied via the vital source electronic delivery platform. the university is paying a discounted price for the service by subtracting the sum negotiated from course fees. the paper draws on student feedback collected from dr philip gee, the course director, after the first term. it places the initiative within the wider context of changes in academia and academic publishing. it is an interim account, to be followed up with a more detailed report when the project has been completed in 2014. broadly, initial reactions from students were favourable, though some said that they would have preferred print if it had also been available ‘free’ and a small minority did not like the e-book format at all. introduction print textbook sales in the uk have decreased year-on-year for more than a decade. the reasons for this are complex, and cannot be attributed to a single factor. in 2011, undergraduate students in the uk spent on average only 58% as much money on resources (such as textbooks) as they did in 2003. this figure is taken from the survey student information sources in the digital world, published by book marketing limited in 2012, its first survey of uk students’ attitudes to learning resources since 2003. other findings from the bml report include: 62% of students have used an e-book ‘at all’; 48% of students have downloaded e-books ‘free’ [note: some of these will actually have been referring to library holdings without realising it]; 38% have borrowed e-books from the library; and 9% have themselves bought e-books. the decline in textbook sales is not just a worry for publishers; academics and politicians are also concerned that the quality of undergraduate education, and therefore the quality of the qualifications held by the uk’s working graduate population, is suffering because students have not had access to the best textbook resources. the university library is often expected to make up the shortfall in student textbook purchases, and most libraries and higher educational institutions (heis) now buy multiple print copies of core textbooks. however, no library has the resources to cater for all undergraduate textbook needs: a typical library might buy one textbook for every 10-20 students taking a particular course. academic libraries in the uk have also been building collections of e-books for more than a decade, and some now have large collections; a majority also have ‘digital-preferred’ acquisitions policies. but although undergraduate use of e-monographs is widespread, the take-up of e-textbooks has been slower to develop, partly because they have been in relatively short supply. some publishers have been reluctant to make e-textbooks available via current library purchase and subscription models, as they believe (with some justification) that this will undermine textbook sales yet further. a two year jisc project undertaken in 2008 – 2009 (see http://observatory.jiscebooks.org/), which supplied a limited number of e-textbooks ‘free’ to more than 120 libraries in the uk both sought to persuade publishers that a viable business model for e-textbooks could be case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 achieved and – through the uk national e-book observatory – collected the most comprehensive body of information yet obtained and analysed on e-books usage in the higher education sector (jamali et al, 2009). however, it should be noted that the etextbooks used in the study were accessible through the library only, whereas the plymouth project described in this paper made a copy of each e-textbook available to every student individually. therefore, some of the problems described by the 22,437 observatory project respondents – for example, problems with digital rights management [drm], athens authentication, etc. – will not have been encountered by the plymouth students. the national observatory report concludes that: the two main advantages of e-books for students are: they were (sic) easy to access, which means that they can access them at any time anywhere, and their searchability … the findings also show a big potential market for e-textbooks. although students seem to favour e-books for pragmatic reasons such as avoiding going to the library, convenience of use, added features such as searching and copy and pasting are not considered to be sufficiently user-friendly. the most inhibiting feature of e-books is the difficulty of reading them from the screen (jamali et al, 2009, 41; see also grzeschik et al, 2011 on this topic). however, also writing in 2009, lam found that students’ attitudes to print resources changed over time (lam, 2009). there has also been concern in some academic circles about the effect that using electronic textbook books may have on students’ rate of reading and concentrations skills. little research has been undertaken on this subject on e-textbooks specifically, because they are so new to the market. there is also only a small amount of published research on the use of e-books more generally within the academic context. however, there is a considerable body of work available on electronic reading rates and how to measure them. to date, much of work has been done with primary and secondary school children; but the same principles can be applied to studies of adult readers, and their reading rates measured accordingly. drawing on these electronic reading rates, a german study of the use of e-books by a small sample of postgraduate students, carried out in 2010, concludes that “astonishingly, and against general belief that electronic devices are less easy to use, the average reading rates for the sony ebook reader were the highest (162.5 wpm), followed by the laptop computer screen (140.5 wpm) and lastly the printed book (117 wpm)” (grzeschik et al, 2011, 295– 296.) it should be pointed out, however, that the experiment was conducted with postgraduate library school students, who could be expected to be skilled at deploying ict resources, even though their experience of hand-held chosen for the experiment, because it was known that these would have an effect on the reading rate. most e-textbooks, of course, contain both. vital source technologies, inc., an ingram content group company, has enjoyed considerable success as an innovator in the united states e-textbook market, and has also been delivering e-textbooks to institutions in the uk for more than eight years. the platform is supported by a business model that is widely considered to provide a ‘win-win’ solution for students, lecturers and publishers. it has a relatively flexible business model that enables engagement with campuses in a variety of ways, including integration with campus virtual learning environments [vles]. sometimes the company works with lecturers and students directly. lecturers are able to ‘sample’ e-textbooks from the vital source catalogue, and case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 recommend them to their students. students can then rent or purchase recommended title(s) from the platform at a preferential price. vital source has gradually penetrated the uk higher education market. by 2012, a significant number of institutions were showing an interest in the platform, causing academic publishers to speed up their supply of textbooks to it. further opportunities for expansion for vital source and its rivals have become apparent more recently as the uk higher education system itself has undergone radical and rapid change. the causes of this are complex and have their roots in many pedagogical, sociological and financial factors. three resulting outcomes of the changes have been of particular significance to vital source and its academic and publisher clients: a new emphasis from vice-chancellors that universities should focus on the quality of the student experience; the increase of university fees to (up to) £9,000 each year; and the uk government’s directive to all universities to ‘widen participation’ in tertiary education, particularly by ensuring that students from poorer backgrounds are not disadvantaged, as well as by making resources available equally to distance learners (for more about inclusion and how to address it with digital resources, see: hocking, 2010). students now have more power to demand what they want than at any previous period in uk tertiary education; and most are saying that they don’t expect to have to buy resources if they are paying several thousand pounds in fees. the plymouth psychology project the changes in the uk higher education system have acted as a catalyst for many publishers with a significant customer base in the uk. cengage learning, a prominent textbook publisher, and one that has been working with vital source for some time, decided to formulate a new strategic approach towards the hei community. jeni evans, cengage learning’s enterprise solutions manager at the time, was tasked with speaking directly to senior faculty and decision-making staff at hei’s, about how its print and electronic publications were delivered to students, and how this might be changed in the future to align with modern educational needs. jeni evans worked with dr philip gee, the programme director for undergraduate psychology at plymouth university, on a ground-breaking initiative. dr gee was interested in supplying all first year psychology students at plymouth with textbooks, but was uncertain how this might be done. all the core subjects in plymouth’s psychology programmes were targeted. across this programme, four cengage books had been adopted as the main texts and two from another well-known publisher had been recommended for the remaining two; and there was also a general introductory text. while a multi-publisher deal would have been dr gee’s preferred solution, very tight time constraints led to the substitution of alternative cengage texts because permission could not be obtained quickly from the other publisher. it also proved possible to service some of the non-core modules with cengage texts, so the final negotiation was for a set of 12 cengage learning e-textbooks. together dr gee and vital source explored the possibility of placing e-textbook versions of the core texts on the university library’s system, but they quickly realised that this would not work, because the library and retail business models are different. dr gee wanted each student to have entire access to all of their texts all of the time, and to be able to read them on mobile devices; the library’s e-book contract did not allow for this type of access, and it was therefore decided that the best practical solution might be to use the vital source platform, case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 which would deliver to each participating student online, offline and mobile device access to the texts. this solution was set up as a trial, on the understanding that the university would pay the costs upfront. plymouth’s intention was to recoup the cost of the e-textbook provision direct from the students’ fees. in autumn 2011 each first year psychology student at plymouth was given access to his or her twelve e-textbooks through the vital source bookshelf application. access will be maintained in this way until 2014. the plymouth psychology project: faculty perspective for philip gee the project stemmed from his desire to get electronic textbooks for his students. with three hundred first year students studying psychology at plymouth, ‘we aim to point them in the right direction so that they know where to find interesting and relevant class materials’. gee has always been a huge believer in good quality textbooks and all psychology publishers ‘are at the top of their game and all have good texts in the core subject areas’. in the past, he had negotiated ‘bundle deals with publishers. gee encouraged students to buy bundles by making the exams open book, he explained: ‘this wasn’t to boost the publishers’ coffers, but because i was worried about the quality of their education if they weren’t getting access to the right books’. following the announcement that plymouth would begin to charge £9,000 in annual fees from 2012 onwards, he felt students might be even more reluctant to spend a lot of money on textbooks. gee also felt that the traditional route to textbook adoption was no longer working: ‘publishers’ reps trudge round the campus and try to persuade us to change to their textbooks if we aren’t using them already. if we do change, and recommend the texts to the students, who knows what percentage of the cohort will buy them?’ it was a colleague that suggested that gee should try and negotiate a bundle for his first year students; but even with discounts, the package would have cost students several hundred pounds. gee then started to think about promoting the use of e-books: ‘i realised that one of the reasons that books were as expensive as they were was because of the students who didn’t buy them, rather than those who did. what if i could secure 100% sales?’ in this model, it was not the student who was the customer, but the publisher and the platform would be working with faculty as the consumer. gee did some research and found that the publisher cengage had a 10 e-book bundle deal with unlimited use for an unlimited time by the student cohort. however, the titles included were not the ones that they wanted. he contacted cengage to discuss a similar deal with different titles. they found that cengage held the majority of the texts the programme team wanted: ‘we did not set out to take all of the titles from the same publisher; but a very tight deadline resulted in a cengage learning-only bundle in this instance. having now spoken to a number of publishers, i am confident that a multi-publisher deal will be possible in the future’. cengage senior management were very enthusiastic about the project and set up the deal just as gee wanted. the project was funded by additional school funds at the end of the 2010-2011 academic financial year and this made philip even more keen that the project was well managed and was delivering what the students needed. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5 working to a very tight timeframe, the e-textbook offering had to be set up very quickly. it all came together a few days prior to student induction week. gee noted that: ‘it is a tribute to vital source and cengage that the technology worked almost perfectly and the content was in place. students were e-mailed with instructions on how to access their materials, and just a handful of them misunderstood – they were able to e-mail to ask for help from vital source’. gee collected feedback from the students when they had been using the service for a week and then again at the end of the term. feedback was received from 90 students (about 30% of the cohort). overall, the comments were very positive. gee is currently consulting with colleagues who would like to try out resource delivery for more courses in this way, with a view to extending across the whole university. what the students said ninety of the first cohort of 300 students to benefit from the project provided comments. most were positive about the results. the students were grateful to be able to access all of their recommended texts, as one student noted: ‘i am given the satisfaction of knowing that the books are all in one place and accessible’. not only were the books accessible, there was also the convenience of 24/7 access, and of not having to carry heavy books around the campus. i believe that these books are a great source for the course. they are very useful if you are at home and want to look something over from a lecture; it means you can easily do this from your laptop. it also saves having to carry big heavy books around. this can be particularly beneficial for non-traditional students: i am a single mum with three children – they are all under five, thus staying at the university after lectures was impossible, as well as going to the library to borrow books. also important for the students was the ease of navigation, note taking and searching that the e-books offered, as these quotes show: being able to navigate to what i want easily using the search box has been the best part for me. far simpler than desperately scanning through a textbook! extremely easy to make notes, which can be edited, deleted or shared. a few students said they would have bought all the titles themselves; many would not have bought more than one; and some would not have bought any due to the expense: if i did not get the e-books, i would not have a copy of all the core books, as i would not be able to afford them. overall, the students very happy to receive the e-books ‘free’ as part of their university fees. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 6 e-books are great: you saved us huge amounts of money … and, as one student noted, it certainly helped with independent study: it really gives you no excuse to not be prepared for lectures. ninety of the first cohort of 300 students to benefit from the project provided comments. most were positive about the results. the students were grateful to be able to access all of their recommended texts, as one student noted: ‘i am given the satisfaction of knowing that the books are all in one place and accessible’. not only were the books accessible, there was also the convenience of 24/7 access, and of not having to carry heavy books around the campus. i believe that these books are a great source for the course. they are very useful if you are at home and want to look something over from a lecture; it means you can easily do this from your laptop. it also saves having to carry big heavy books around. this can be particularly beneficial for non-traditional students: i am a single mum with three children – they are all under five, thus staying at the university after lectures was impossible, as well as going to the library to borrow books. also important for the students was the ease of navigation, note taking and searching that the e-books offered, as these quotes show: being able to navigate to what i want easily using the search box has been the best part for me. far simpler than desperately scanning through a textbook! extremely easy to make notes, which can be edited, deleted or shared. a few students said they would have bought all the titles themselves; many would not have bought more than one; and some would not have bought any due to the expense: if i did not get the e-books, i would not have a copy of all the core books, as i would not be able to afford them. overall, the students very happy to receive the e-books ‘free’ as part of their university fees. e-books are great: you saved us huge amounts of money … and, as one student noted, it certainly helped with independent study: ‘it really gives you no excuse to not be prepared for lectures’. however, not all of the students liked using the e-textbooks. 36% of respondents said that they preferred studying from print, even to the extent of being prepared to buy the print version of titles that they had received free in electronic format. some students remarked case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 7 that straightforward digitisation of the print text results in a publication was not always easy to navigate electronically. other problems they noted included: not pleasant reading from a screen / gives me a headache. interferes with concentration over long periods of time. some also experienced various technical problems. these problems could often be attributable to the fact that the student was working on an old pc or one of the less wellknown proprietary e-readers. a final issue was that some students found it less convenient to carry a device with them than to carry books. necessity of taking laptop / gadget everywhere conclusion the plymouth experiment is ongoing. more information will be gathered about how psychology students respond to the ‘free’ e-book collection over the course of its four year schedule. this will include the monitoring of the standard of the students’ work and examination results, as well as student satisfaction with electronic resources, as the first cohort to engage with the project progresses through the university. the preliminary evidence that has been gathered is encouraging. almost two thirds of the students who volunteered comments indicated that they did not have problems with using electronic texts, and some preferred them (though for a variety of reasons, not all of them pedagogical). that the e-textbook collection was provided as part of the course fees appealed to almost all of the students, and is in itself an effective way of helping to address the inclusion issue. students’ questioning of whether straightforward digitised versions of print texts are fit-forpurpose as academic learning and teaching methods change sends a clear message to publishers which they will fail to take seriously at their peril. by engaging with collaborative projects of this kind, academics, students, publishers and aggregators together are conducting ‘action research’ into the nature and format that learning resources of the future should take. references book marketing limited. “student information sources in the digital world”. survey published in march 2012. london: bowker market research. grzeschik, k., kruppa, y., marti, d. and donner, p. (2011). ’reading in 2110 – reading behavior and reading devices: a case study’, the electronic library, 29(3), 288 – 302. available at: 10.1108/02640471111141052 (accessed 17 may 2012). hockings, c. (2010) inclusive learning and teaching: research synthesis. york: higher education academy. jamali, h.r, nicholas, d. and rowlands, i. (2009). ‘scholarly e-books: the views of 16,000 academics: results from the jisc national e-book observatory’, aslib proceedings, 61(1), 33-47. available at: 10.1108/00012530910932276 (accessed 17 may 2012). lam, p.; lam, s. l.; lam, j.; and mcnaught, c.(2009). ‘usability and usefulness of ebooks on ppcs: how students’ opinions vary over time’, australasian journal of educational technology, 25(1), 30-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02640471111141052 case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 8 acknowledgements i am indebted to dr philip gee of plymouth university, who has been extremely generous with his time and by sharing the research he undertook on student feedback. i’d also like to thank nick candy, senior lecturer in publishing at university college london, dr mark kerrigan, senior lecturer in education, physiology and anatomy at the university of greenwich and elspeth williams, learning and teaching fellow at the university of the west of england for advice and for their help in supplying articles on electronic learning and teaching. i should like to thank them all very sincerely. author biography linda bennett is the proprietor of gold leaf, a small consultancy which advises publishers, academics, librarians and others in the publishing and academic communities on electronic publishing, especially in the academic field. she was formerly business development director at waterstone’s and mba course director at the university of huddersfield. she is a visiting research fellow at huddersfield university, manchester metropolitan university and the university of the west of england. untitled 1 article developing a sense of belonging: findings from a three institution study with implications for bme students and staff engagement. ronke shoderu and suzanne kane london metropolitan university deborah husbands university of westminster debbie holly anglia ruskin university acknowledgements to the wider project team: guglielmo volpe, queen mary university, helen pokorny and david chalcraft, university of westminster, linda johnson, myrtle emmanuel, yaz djebbour and andrew halford, london metropolitan university abstract this article provides interim observations with reference to a three university study into the implications of students’ sense of belonging in uk tertiary education. descriptions related to sense of belonging were recorded via the biographic narrative interpretive method (bnim) (wengraf, 2007) and will be subject to further analysis via this method in later stages of the project. initial findings include emergent themes and practice-based opportunities to increase students’ sense of belonging. introduction this article presents an evaluation of three student interviews, which represent one student from each of the universities engaged in the project. this is one part of the larger project, which includes the collection of questionnaire data from first year students at three london universities. the analysis of this survey data will be available in the later stages of the project. in addition to the collection of questionnaire data, in-depth interviews were carried out through the biographic narrative interpretive method (wengraf, 2007). the study investigates the experiences of new students entering university, and whether or not they recognise a level of sense of belonging to their chosen institution. while the concept of sense of belonging is not fully developed in this paper, in the literature (see goodenow,1993) it is defined as the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included and supported by others in the educational social environment. this research will address the gap in knowledge regarding students’ sense of belonging in compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 uk higher education. a specific objective of this project is to uncover and evaluate individual concepts of students’ sense of belonging. to this end, rich descriptions, through the application of the biographic narrative interpretive method (bnim) (wengraf, 2007), were recorded and evaluated. the bnim interview method allows interviewees to construct their own lived experience as free as possible from any researcher influenced bias, and offers rich description of the participant experience. this project is informed by previous research, such as tinto (1997) and astin (1973), as well as a consideration of broader themes identified by other studies, such as individual culture and self-perception (chow and healy, 2008; de beer, smith and jansen, 2009), university branding and the physical environment (dixon and durrhiem, 2004), induction events and transition (vinson et al., 2010), teaching and group belonging (hamilton, mcfarland and mirchandani, 2000; levett-jones and lathlean, 2008). the interviews data collection the project team elected to use the bnim interview method because it stimulates ‘whole story’ or ‘long narrations’, which allow interviewees to construct their own lived experience as free as possible from any researcher-influenced bias, and offer rich descriptions of the participant experience. it is a method of in-depth interviewing, which consists of an initial interview question, followed by additional prompting by reintroducing points from the narrative (known as: particular incident narratives). the research team endeavoured to record student narratives by listening to the lived-life experiences of students, without interruption where possible. interviewees were informed that they would be asked one research question, and that they should simply talk about anything they considered relevant to the research question. they were also informed that the interviewer was not going to say anything, as they were only there to listen. the squin (single question aimed at inducing narrative) used for this project was: “can you tell me about the events in your life when you felt that you really belonged (and did not belong)? this might include university experiences, or not.” this question avoids limiting the spoken responses by allowing relationships to any part of the individual’s narrative, not just that which is related or appears important in the university experience. while it was not possible to remain completely silent, the interviewers spoke as little as possible and only in an attempt to encourage the interviewees to continue their narratives. when the interviewees had found the natural end to their narrative the interviewers encouraged further remarks by highlighting a number of events or incidents (particular incident narratives), which had been stated. this often provided impetus for greater commentary. all interview subjects self-selected for inclusion in the interview process. in advance of the interview, ethical protocol was explained to the subjects, including personal anonymity and confidentiality of the interviews. all subjects agreed that the research interviews could be used for the purposes of academic research. data analysis each interview was transcribed and printed. the eleven members of the project team split into three smaller groups to analyse the transcripts using text structure sequinization (wengraf, 2007) and utilising the descriptive, argument, report, narrative, evaluation, (darne) framework. the groups discussed each section of the text and defined each part of the text as, descriptive, argument, reporting, narrative or evaluation. the groups then compared the results of these deliberations, and debated any points of difference, until there was complete agreement for each of the transcripts. the parts of the interviews agreed to be ‘narrative’ were taken forward for evaluation and comparison. both the narratives and the delivery of the narratives are of interest here. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 this is a lengthy process, the analysis of one interview required the collaboration of eleven researchers for one day. however, these group analysis exercises do allow extensive discussion and debate towards final agreement via the darne typology. additional stages of the interview analysis will be carried out later in the project. preliminary analysis of the three interviews provided emergent themes, which relate to factors, which have emerged in prior literature (transition, university life/environment, and expectations/aspirations). the noted emergent themes can be seen to interweave through parts of all three interviews and are presented here under each theme. the emergent themes have related points of perspective, transition has ‘past to present’ perspectives, university life and experience has a ‘present’ perspective, and expectations and aspirations has ‘present to future’ perspectives. all the interviewees are business students studying at london universities (two post and one pre 1992 institution). the interviewees were given pseudonyms; the boxer is uk born and educated, rita is african born and uk educated, and jean is brazilian born and educated. emergent theme: transition jean jean’s previous life experience was in her home country of brazil, her recollections are of a place, which is friendly, warm, inclusive, welcoming and easy to make friends: “i think that everyone is completely different… i’m from brazil where people are all friendly and welcoming and here i think people are very cold.” boxer the boxer’s home/family life recollections include tensions within his family and refers to them in a somewhat disconnected sense as “these people” and says: “…when i’m with my family i don’t feel like i belong there because everyone’s just screaming and they’re crazy…i don’t feel like i’m accepted there.” rita rita’s references to her family are positive, they accommodate her differing moods in a similar way that she is accommodating of their, sometimes, odd behaviour: “so it’s great, you can just be yourself and they accept you… you wouldn’t want to distance yourself saying this is not my family, you kind of want to be in it like yes, they’re mine, they belong to me… and they’re most like me...” cross comparison of the transition theme within the interviews: all three interviews are dealing with the difficulties of transition to university life in different ways. jean makes home life comparisons and considers her present environment as socially inferior. the boxer has a very different home life experience and describes a sense of alienation from his family. rita is positive about her family and the support they give her. the three interviewees had very different home life experiences, which underpin the way in which they endeavour to make sense of the transition period into university life. jean attempts to mediate her disappointment within this early transition period by engaging with students she considers to share a similar history (brazil and spain). during this time of early transition, the boxer makes considerable effort to belong, in a way in which he feels he does not quite belong in his family environment. rita positively identifies herself through her family background; she knows that her family will support her when she needs them. the interviewees have a range of past experiences to enable them, in differing ways, to navigate the transition period, which provides a foundation for future university life. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 emergent theme: university life/environment jean jean comments that her fellow students are far too young and only think about their handbags, and that the university toilets are poor. she compares the shiny buildings from back home, and contrasts the old, historic ‘london city’ architecture: “…the building is very old, the class is very old, toilets very old. it was wow, this is london?” her perspective of university life in london, reflects feelings of isolation: “…lots of black people talking to other black people and muslim people talking to muslims. and there was me, and you don’t feel [part of] any group and you try to talk to someone, they look at you as if ‘you don’t belong to us’.” a further narrative arises with regard to associating with students from other ethnic backgrounds, and she later reinforces the reliability of students from similar backgrounds when undertaking group work: “i found this brazilian, there’s the spanish girl, they were more helpful. but…we had to do more than the others because you can’t just rely on others sometimes.” jean considers the university facilities as below par. she feels excluded by students of other ethnic origins, who group together. this increases her need for some point of belonging and is relieved to find other brazilian and spanish students. however, her distrust of students from other backgrounds remains. the boxer the boxer considers issues of class and ethnicity: “it’s different for me” and “it really felt like yes, social class is showing here big time.” he relates areas of the physical environment to cultural zones: “…there’s a place called the zone, that’s where all the african people used to chill. and you go around here and this is the quad, it’s literally just pakistan”. he uses similar analogy for the university environment: “…you see the little asian group in the front…then you’ve got all the chinese at the front. you see them clusters.” he seems to suggest that this is culturally exclusive territorial behaviour. he also feels a lack of connection with people from other departments because the buildings are far apart. in negotiating these perceived restricted areas, he attempts to create social spheres of belonging by interacting with other students: “…i walk around, hello, are you ok?” and “…meeting new people has made me realise that i can’t be restricted, i can’t put my guards up when i meet new people, you have to interact with them.” the boxer expresses tensions with fitting in among a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds and considers this to be a shared experience by other students. he presents a continuous awareness of cultural and class distinctions/boundaries. he also describes zones (in which he does not belong) where particular ethnic groups congregate. in addition to this, he feels disconnected from other university departments, but attempts to mediate this through an open, communicative approach when meeting new people. rita rita’s initial impressions of university were disappointing: “when i came here initially i was a bit disappointed because it reminded me of my old college… so when i came here it was like i was taken back a bit, what i thought university was going to be like wasn’t really like it. i thought shiny building, really impressive but it wasn’t.” rita’s early impressions of the university buildings were poor, although she goes on to concede that its small size seemed to better facilitate student socialisation compared to a large university she had visited. cross comparison of the university life/environment theme within the interviews: compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 5 building a new life in the university environment appears to be problematic in a number of ways for our interviewees. those who are not included in the dominant student groups see the groups as isolationist. the physical separation of department buildings and lack of interdisciplinary links also appear to cause feelings of detachment. however, rita considers that her comparably smaller university provides a preferred social experience to larger institutions. all the interviewees have specific issues related to the practical factors of everyday, university life. emergent theme: expectations/aspirations jean jean draws a sharp contrast with the rigours of university study in brazil: “yes, if you study full-time there, there’s no way you can have a job at all, not even for a summer thing. yes, because other than the 40 hours we do at university, we still have assignments and work placements that are compulsory that you need to do. so it’s pretty much harder than here.” boxer the boxer’s resilience and determination to succeed academically is reflected in the coping mechanisms he develops to provide a structure for study: “timetable plays a massive role for me” and this seems to help him to make sense of the perceived difficulties he experienced during the first semester. rita rita is very articulate and self-assured, with clear views on her academic journey: “well, i knew that whatever i wanted to do in the future, i expected to get paid a lot of money for it and i knew that without my degree, it would be very difficult to get there. and even though i wanted to do something in business, you can’t really just start a business without knowing what to do, what a business is supposed to be like, structure, strategy. so that’s why i came to uni for that.” rita recounts her experiences of negotiating shifting landscapes resulting from the family having travelled extensively both internationally and within the uk, but this seems to result in increased self-confidence when accessing new and unfamiliar situations: “…i think i’ve moved four times now from the north (london) all the way gradually to the south (london)”. she summarises for herself the essence of university: “… i think that’s the most important thing about uni really, you don’t just come up to be one thing, you can be whatever you want to be”. cross comparison of the expectations/aspirations theme within the interviews: jean’s expectations and aspirations do not match the reality of her uk experience. she expected to work hard and for long hours, but does not recognise this in the uk system. the boxer realises that he employs coping mechanisms and depends on a structured timetable. rita’s aspirations link to her life after the university experience. her background of previously relocating to different areas of london, with her parents, aids her positive outlook and ability to cope with different situation. discussion the interviewees link their past, present and future perspectives to make sense of particular associations with regard to; transition from home to university, experiences of university life and environment, and expectations they have of themselves and their aspirations. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 6 in regard to transition, chow and healey (2008) note that transition to a different social and cultural environment away from home has profound significance. hausmann et al., (2009) suggest that social relationships with fellow students that are considered to be like-minded, related to individual sense of belonging. in addition, negative perceptions of the university as a learning environment, is not conducive to successful progression (de beer et al., 2009). jean’s early experience as an international student is that of moving to an unfriendly place. as a home student, the boxer has a very different background. he feels alienated at home and wants to fit into university life. rita’s family are a strong support network which she feels she can rely on. for international and uk students who are attempting to fit in, the university environment may be perceived as a daunting place, which does not provide the level of support required, and many students do not progress into the second year (bennett and kane, 2009). feeling the loss of home and family can relate to the loss of attachment to a community when entering higher education, this is not new and was remarked upon in the 1950’s by brownell (1959) and considered as a type of ‘social suspension’. in regard to university life and the university environment, the physical environment underpins our sense of self (dixon, durrheim, 2004), and, in jean’s and rita’s case, the environment does not meet with their expectations. sturner (1972) defined the input of inhabitants (students and staff) as essential in the development of campus environments. ‘the boxer’, in relating his perception of some university areas as places for other races, suggests that he perceives himself to be in an environment dominated by groups to which he does not belong. the perception of not fitting-in has been related to students who are not part of the majority, in terms of race, and as such, may lack self-esteem (de beer, smith and jansen, 2009). hurtado et al., (2007) state the importance of ‘cross-racial interactions’ for higher sense of belonging on campus. however, jean’s strongest concern is the absence of people with which she feels able to bond. dixon and durrheim (2004) state the notion of belonging, as a ‘group response’ ethnic and racial factors relating to ‘our space, their space’ and the concept of ‘insiders and outsiders’, which the student relates when describing university locations where she does not naturally fit in (ostrove, 2003). jean does not reflect well on her experience of campus life. this is problematic as the strongest influence on commitment to an institution comes from campus experiences (strauss and volkwein, 2004). jean’s expectations of university life did not include the possibility of peers who are less interested in academic achievement than her. the natural group formation of ‘collective preferences’ (dixon, durrheim, 2004) cannot accommodate students such as jean, due to the limited number of peers, at the institution, from her cultural background. experiencing lack of social integration is a factor that encourages students to leave (mackie in hassanien, barber, 2007). while cultural integration is a part of the university experience, it cannot develop over the length of a degree programme if students are not retained. perhaps narratives such as that given by jean can inform on issues of belonging for students from an international and cultural perspective. in relation to expectations/aspirations, jean’s expectations and aspirations do not match the reality of her uk experience. she expected an academically challenging environment, but does not recognise this in her experience of the uk system. the boxer realises that he employs coping mechanisms and depends on a structured timetable, which allows him to manage his expectations and that which is expected of him. rita’s aspirations link to her life after the university experience. her background of previously relocating to different areas of london with her parents, aids her positive outlook and ability to cope with different situations. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 7 the mismatch of expectations is detrimental to the progression of students and while actual changes that will provide an exact match may not be possible, such situations can be managed. much can be achieved through the advice of personal academic advisers/supervisors. while jean is perhaps seeking explanations, the boxer may simply require support, both of which are available through existing university systems in many cases. however, rita’s concerns have a future focus, which may be supported through the university careers service. while support systems are available to students, these narratives do not appear to include references to individual knowledge of such systems. student expectations and aspirations may well be hindered by a simple lack of engagement with existing services, which they are either unaware of, or feel unable to access. limitations of the study a number of limitations apply to the study. the initial stages of the bnim method have been utilised, but further stages are yet to be completed. the data collection and analysis methods require extended periods of time to complete, which is the reason for constructing this as a paper which informs on the interim stage of the project. the research centres on the narratives of a small number of students. as such, the investigation considers the views of three students (one from each institution). opportunities to collaborate through the analysis activities are limited due to time constraints. however, rich information is communicated via the narratives. further research will include additional interviews in 2012 and more detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the survey and interview data. references astin, a. w. (1973) measurement and determinants of the outcomes of higher education. in: solomon, l.c., and taubman, p.j. (eds.) does college matter? some evidence of the impacts of higher education. new york: academic press. bennett, r., kane, s. (2010) factors associated with high first year undergraduate retention rates in business departments with non-traditional student intakes. the international journal of management education, 8 (2), pp. 53–66. brownell, b. (1959) higher education and the community: the identification of learning with living. journal of higher education, (9). pp. 469–480. chow, k., healey, m. (2008) place attachment and place identity: first-year undergraduates making the transition from home to university. journal of environmental psychology. 28 (4), pp. 362–372. de beer, j., smith, u., and jansen, c. (2009) ‘situated’ in a separated campus – students’ sense of belonging and academic performance: a case study of the experiences of students during a higher education merger. education as change, 13 (1), pp. 167–194. dixon, j., durrheim, k. (2004) dislocating identity: desegregation and the transformation of place. journal of environmental psychology. 24 (4), pp. 455–473. goodenow, c. (1993) the psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: scale development and educational correlates. psychology in the schools, 30, pp. 79–90. hamilton, d., mcfarland, d., and mirchandani, d. (2000) a decision model for integration across the business curriculum in the 21st century. journal of management education, 24 (1), pp. 102–126. hassanien, a., barber, a. (2007) an evaluation of student induction in higher education. international journal of management education, 6 (3), pp. 35–43. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 8 hurtado, s., han, j., saenz, v., espinosa, l., cabrera, n., and cerna, o. (2007) predicting transition and adjustment to college: biomedical and behavioral science aspirants’ and minority students’ first year of college. research in higher education, 48 (7), pp. 841–887. levett-jones, t., lathlean, j., higgins, i., and mcmillan, m. (2008) staff-student relationships and their impact on nursing students, belongingness and learning. journal of advanced nursing, 65 (2), pp. 316–324. mackie, s.b. (2001) jumping the hurdles undergraduate student withdrawal behaviour. in: hassanien, a., and barber, a. (2007) an evaluation of student induction in higher education. international journal of management education, 6 (3), pp. 35–43. ostrove, j. (2003) belonging and wanting: meanings of social class background for women’s constructions of their college experiences. journal of social issues, 59 (4), pp. 771–784. strauss, l.c., and volkwein, j.f. (2004) predictors of student commitment at two-year and four-year institutions. the journal of higher education. 75 (2), pp. 203–227. sturner, w. (1972) creating a sense of place on the college campus. the journal of higher education, 43 (2), pp. 97–109. tinto, v. (1997) classrooms as communities: exploring the educational character of student persistence. the journal of higher education, 68 (6), pp. 599–623. vinson, d., nixon, s., walsh, b., walker, c., mitchell, e., and zaitseva, e. (2010) investigating the relationship between student engagement and transition. active learning in higher education, 11 (2), pp. 131–143. wengraf, t. 2007. guide to bnim. [online]. available from: tom@tomwengraf.com. mailto:tom@tomwengraf.com opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 look, listen & learn! do students actually look at and/or listen to online feedback? dr ray stoneham and matt prichard, school of computing & mathematical sciences, university of greenwich the national student survey and other student surveys regularly highlight student dissatisfaction with the nature and timescale of the provision of feedback (nus 2010; national student forum, annual report 2009; thompson & meredith 2012). to address this issue the managed learning environment at the school of computing and mathematical sciences at the university of greenwich (stoneham 2012) has facilities for lecturers to provide online feedback through a range of media including text, annotated documents, audio and screencasts. many lecturers have taken advantage of this to give timely in-depth feedback to students, and this has involved considerable effort and time on their part. a crucial question is whether students actually engage with this process by reading, viewing or listening to the feedback, and whether this makes a difference to their grades. this opinion piece presents evidence of the level of engagement as measured by whether students actually access the feedback, how quickly they do it, how often, and whether the level of engagement correlates with the grades they achieved. it does not address the issue of whether they actually read, view or listen to it after they access it, which we plan to investigate in future research. previous studies in this area have established through interviews that alternative methods of feedback can be very effective, but most studies have been quite small scale and focused on just audio (nortcliffe & middleton 2007; lunt & curran 2010; king, mcgugan & bunyan 2008), although video and screencasts (stannard 2007; brick & holmes (2008) are becoming more widely used. the system used for this research records when the student accesses their feedback (if at all), and how often. it was introduced part way through the 2011/12 academic year and the quantity of evidence was substantial. 3554 feedback files were uploaded by 37 staff in the academic year using 5 file types, namely word, pdf, mp3, shockwave (screencast generated by the free jing recording software, jing 2012) and zip (of mp3 and word files together). of these around 2000 feedback files were released to students after the monitoring system was in place. an in-house storage system for the feedback was chosen. feedback is personal data as defined by the data protection act (data protection act 1998). cloud-based storage (e.g. jing, dropbox, google docs, vimeo) has issues due to uncertainty of where it is physically stored, who has access to it, its security, and the period over which it is stored. there is also no guarantee of long-term access to the feedback. in-house storage, on the other hand, is not expensive, is stored in one location and is easy to manage and use for monitoring purposes. it also allows the production of an integrated profile of each student across all their courses, indicating the level of engagement with their programme of study, and helping to identify students at risk of failing. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 the results of this study can be summarised as follows. roughly a quarter of students failed to access their feedback by the end of the assessment period. the average was 1.9 times, with one student accessing it 18 times, 4% accessing it more than 5 times and 45% accessing it more than once. the quickest access was just over 5 minutes after it was released online, with the average being 27 hours and with 66% of students accessing it within a day of it being released. the average grade for students who did not access the feedback was 58.6%, whereas students who did access their feedback gained an average grade of 66.6%, eight percentage points higher. a surprising result was that mp3 files were significantly less likely to be accessed than other file types (40% compared to around 70% for the other types). this may be because audio feedback needs to be accessed serially whereas the other feedback types are easily scanned and navigated through, or it may be that students prefer visual feedback. this is something the authors plan to investigate over the next academic year by interviewing students and correlating the results with the data from monitoring their accesses to the feedback. the findings of our research are 1. students do generally access online feedback 2. students access it as soon as it is released in most cases 3. mp3 files are not popular with students as a feedback medium 4. students with better grades are more likely to access their feedback. we also conclude that in-house storage is better than cloud-based storage, not least because it facilitates research of the nature presented in this paper. most importantly, more research is needed to establish the best methods to provide feedback to students to make the most effective use of valuable staff time to provide the appropriate feedback that students are currently missing, as evidenced by student satisfaction surveys. references brick, b. and j. holmes (2008) ‘using screen capture software for student feedback' in klinshuk, d., g.,sampson, j.m. spector, p. isaias and d. ifenthaler (eds.) cognition and exploratory leaning in digital age: proceedings of the iadis celda 2008 conference, freiburg, germany: pp. 339-342. available from http://www.iadis.net/dl/final_uploads/200818c046.pdf (accessed 13 september 2012). data protection act (1998). availble from: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents (accessed 13 september 2012). king, d., mcgugan, s. & bunyan, n. (2008): ‘does it make a difference? replacing text with audio feedback.’ practice and evidence of scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education, 3(2),145-163 jing (2012). available at: http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html (accessed 1 july 2012). http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 lunt, t.; & curran, j. (2010): ‘are you listening please? the advantages of electronic audio feedback compared to written feedback’, assessment & evaluation in higher education, 35(7), 759-769. national student forum, annual report (2009). available at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/n/09-p83-national-studentforum annual-report-09 (accessed 18 april 2012]. nortcliffe, a. and middleton, a. (2007) ‘audio feedback for the ipod generation’ international conference on engineering education – icee, portugal. nus (2010). charter on feedback and assessment. available at http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/asset/news/6010/feedbackcharter-toview.pdf (accessed 13 sept 2012). stannard, r. (2007), ‘using screen capture software in student feedback: a case study from the hea english subject centre’. available at: www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/publications/casestudies/technology/camtasia.php (last accessed 26 march 2012). stoneham, r. (2012): ‘managed learning environments in universities: are they achievable?’, compass, the teaching and learning journal of the university of greenwich, 6, 45-54. thompson, r. and lee, l. (2012) ‘talking with students through screencasting: experimentations with video feedback to improve student learning”, the journal of interactive technology and pedagogy, 1, available at: http://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2012/talking-with-students-through-screencastingexperimentations-with-video-feedback-to-improve-student-learning/ (accessed on 13 september 2012). author biographies dr ray stoneham is a principal lecturer at the university of greenwich and a specialist in data-driven web sites, with a particular interest in intranets and e-learning. he developed and manages several school intranets and the website used by external examiners of the university. matt prichard is a senior lecturer in the creative digital technologies department and course coordinator for web technologies. his research and scholarly interests include, elearning/e-assessment, web technologies, html 5, kinesthetic learning, digital audio production and scripting for novices. editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 this special technology enhanced learning issue of compass contains a fascinating range of articles: critical appraisal of published reports on new technologies; skilling the visual effects artists of the future uk film industry; a student perspective of flipped learning; a series of insights into and reviews of various technological tools with application to higher education; self-assessment to counter student dissatisfaction with assessment feedback; technologyrelated continuing professional development; a call for equal emphasis on verbal skills’ development in a digital age; aspects of course and activity design. it presents a multifaceted and inter-related picture of contemporary higher education that is rich indeed! the horizon reports – published by the new media consortium (nmc) – come under appraisal in a paper by sonja grussendorf which seeks to redress a perceived lack of critical engagement with them in the academic literature. sonja is concerned that these reports, popular among the educational technology community and influential for their predictions of technologies likely to be of value to the higher education sector, should be scrutinised properly; after all, they influence purchasing decisions and thus, inevitably, pedagogy as well. the paper, in some detail and with creditable objectivity, explores the degree of influence wielded by the reports and assesses their predictive accuracy and consequent impact; it also seeks to discover whether they subscribe to any ideology and, if so, whether this is made explicit by the nmc. ‘vfx he online mentoring programme 2017’, a project led by the university of greenwich, set out to provide students with an in-depth understanding of visual-effects (vfx) productions and of the hard and soft skills required for making them; to do so, it harnessed the expertise of three professional facilities. the british film institute has identified widespread vfx skills’ shortages in the uk and the industry is having to source talent from abroad. the higher education sector thus needs to respond, by equipping uk students with appropriate training. jin zhi’s case study outlines the two-part, technology-enhanced mentoring and learning programme in greenwich’s department of creative professions and digital arts: provision to the students of exclusive learning videos made by the three vfx companies; end-of-week online question-and-answer sessions for the students to interact directly with the companies’ senior creative artists. the study also provides key findings and offers recommendations for the future versions of the programme. gemma boden and fon yan li offer a balanced and well-referenced analysis of the application of flipped learning and is a positive and helpful addition to the literature on this topic. the authors draw on personal experience of well-managed flipped learning to argue that this approach has much to offer. their view is that it overcomes – by means of such directed prior learning as recommended reading and the watching of relevant videos – disparities in student understanding. it thus improves classroom engagement with, and engenders enthusiasm for, a range of stimulating activities; the learning becomes studentcentred and the flexible classroom a safe space for interaction, discussion and debate. the paper makes clear that it is incumbent on the teacher to be proficient in the method and sensitive to individual learning styles, and on the student to put in the effort to complete the preparatory learning. identified problems with the traditional assessment model of a university of greenwich land law course, together with changes proposed for professional legal education, led to alternative assessment methods using learning technology. sandra clarke offers a review of editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 this process and considers, in a very balanced appraisal, the advantages and challenges of using the moodle workshop tool for a new formative, peer-reviewed and peer-marked exercise and the moodle quiz tool for the online replacement of a seen written exam. some very helpful guidance is offered for the design of multiple-choice questions in the latter case. sandra also makes very clear the need, especially for assessing the full range of skills demanded of lawyers, for an appropriate selection of modes of assessment across the course. a comparative case study explores the respective contexts, institutional drivers and evolution of the use of the carpe diem learning design methodology by glasgow caledonian university (to support the development of online programmes) and the university of northampton (to develop blended programmes). julie usher, sheila macneill, and linda creanor provide a meticulously-detailed account of these institutions’ applications of carpe diem, concluding that it is well-suited to purpose, as long as some customisation and contextualisation is incorporated to meet institutional priorities. though the two examples are not alike, common benefits and challenges emerged; the paper’s appraisal of these certainly fulfils the authors’ desired aim of contributing to the collaborative narrative about what is involved in implementing and embedding a formal learning-design process. a technology review, containing the careful analysis of six (free or free-with-paid-add-ons) web-based ‘student response systems’, intends to help others to choose from the many such tools on the market; martin compton and jason allen consider these six the best available, on the basis of functionality and ease of use, and highlight their unique selling points. (the paper endorses the deliberate incorporation of student-owned mobile devices into teaching and learning sessions to harness the associated benefits of such hardware and to minimise possible in-class misuse.) following their informative analyses, martin and jason confirm that all six can improve student engagement and interaction and suggest that teachers should be encouraged to try out at least one of them, with appropriate training and support and with due consideration of data protection guidelines. they add that teachers ‘should always know what they expect of students and apprise them of those expectations and of what they will be sharing.’ kahoot!, a game-based student response system, is examined by the authors of a review of this software. gemma boden and lindsay hart say that its bright colours, graphics and music make it an ideal medium for enthusing students in the classroom. accessible via personal mobile devices, it can be deployed by the teacher – using a computer and the class screen – at the beginning of a session, to assess prior learning or, at the end, to review key points or test what the students have learnt in class. essentially, it presents topic-related quiz questions and participants select from multiple-choice answers on their devices. the paper’s provision of a swot analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats does lend some balance to this review, but gemma and lindsay confirm that their own observations of it in class and students’ informal feedback both support an overall favourable judgement of its merits. not only is it straightforward for staff to use, but it also, from visible (and aural!) evidence, stimulates engagement and improves concentration. perhaps, best of all, it is free. formative assessment in mathematics by means of moodle’s quiz option is examined in relation to the development of students’ understanding by means of a series of noneditor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 assessed online quizzes. steve lakin, whose paper considers the application of this technology, discusses the opportunity of creating various versions of the same question; the multiple-choice options can be specified, to include one correct answer and other variants, covering common mistakes that students make. feedback indicated that students found the approach very useful for exam preparation, though steve clearly identifies the application’s limitations: moodle doesn’t have many important mathematical functions built into it, so that questions do have to be manipulated to allow for any randomisation; it doesn’t allow for any graphical randomisation. the conclusion: ‘useful, but limited.’ steve, however, does see its possible application to other subjects with a core mathematical or statistical element. john casey’s paper focuses on web annotation, its tools and standards to consider their ‘potential to support learning and teaching across a range of activities using existing web resources’, for ‘annotations can be published, shared, managed and curated, as well as republished via social media channels.’ web annotations are overlaid on the original web page, are separate from it and are under the annotator’s control; to a third-party viewer, however, they co-exist with the original content. there are thus implications for copyright, authorial reputation and ownership. john explains that there is opportunity in web annotation for interaction both with content and other web users – marginal notes can ‘become mediarich and shared with others’. in ‘face-to-face’, online and blended classrooms’, annotation (whether of text, image or audio-visual resources) combines traditional and digital literacies. against a carefully-considered theoretical background, david thompson presents the study of an attempt to counter evidence of student dissatisfaction with assessment and feedback practice, in this case in undergraduate film production courses, and to deal with ‘the characteristic indifference and laissez-faire attitude of students engaged in film-making.’ the activity, undertaken immediately prior to the students’ ‘live’ summative feedback from the teacher, involved the students’ written appraisal of their own work against the original brief for the task and their identification of aspects needing development. this was followed by a digitally-recorded focus group, allowing the students to reflect upon their self-assessment experience. such qualitative data provided david with two key findings: to appraise without knowing what action to take constitutes a barrier to student engagement with their feedback; ‘being able to maintain a distance from and perspective of their work’ helps students to assume personal responsibility for what they do. huge investment in technology in the higher education sector has not necessarily produced the transformative effect on teaching, learning and assessment that might have been expected. continuous professional development (cpd) must not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, according to timos almpanis and martin compton, the authors of a very cogent rationale for cpd emphasise, not upon the technological functions of tools and virtual learning environments (vles), but upon individualised and needs-focused applications that really do transform pedagogy. with their background in and experience of offering formal technology training for academics, timos and martin are convinced that user-friendly, ‘quick win’, cloud-based apps are the way forward – they have been ‘using, testing, collecting and disseminating these tools for several years.’ furthermore, they advocate a shift away from the culture of having cpd ‘done’ to staff and for staff themselves to have ownership of the materials used. in a nutshell, the message here is that such institutional platforms as vles may still serve as a foundation, but fitter-for-purpose cloud tools may well encourage staff to editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 be much more committed to and convinced by technology-enhanced learning strategies overall. online courses come under the scrutiny of scott malcolm goudie, the author of an opinion piece which weighs up the advantages of acquiring quick and easy evidence of continuing professional development (cpd) against the concomitant failure of the courses themselves to stimulate real learning. easy-to-guess or simple-to-deduce answers to multiple-choice questions that render unnecessary any pre-assessment study of online learning materials may achieve a comfortable cpd box-tick, but can hardly be said to confirm the competence and credibility of individuals or their professions. personal experience and careful reference to the associated literature lead scott to conclude that online cpd courses must be meaningful: ‘failure assessments’ – prior to release of learning materials – to highlight gaps in knowledge and understanding; problem-based learning that requires study of the materials to achieve answers and solutions; improved design of these courses to make them pedagogically sound; accreditation of the courses according to proven impact on professional development; massive open online courses (moocs) to facilitate real-time group cpd sessions. the article ends with the hope that new technologies will help with course design and encourage more constructive responses from learners. in our digitally-connected age, says nicky garsten, the author of lively argument which emphasises the importance of face-to-face communication, we should not neglect students’ verbal skills. though tech-savvy students may prefer to communicate by messaging or email and though they must certainly have excellent digital capabilities to be employable, this opinion piece points out that employers really do want graduates to be able to talk well. nicky outlines some key ways of countering students’ reticence: just being aware that speaking in seminars may be stressful for some students; arranging seating to enhance a group’s visual and verbal interactions; consistently and explicitly demonstrating in seminars that students’ views, uncertainties and personal knowledge are all valued; making student/staff one-to-one consultations welcoming and supportive. the piece ends with one clear message: staff should be mindful of the importance of developing in students all forms of communication – digital, written and verbal. a case study offers an overview of the experience of ‘designing a serious game for a large inter-disciplinary course at the london school of economics and political science.’ the intention was that the game should enhance student engagement on a course with a mixedability cohort. the authors of this paper, sarah jane leach, geraldine foley, jose javier olivas osuna, and aggie molnar, set the scene and offer the pedagogical rationale, before outlining the game itself, the design process and the challenges. the meticulous evaluation process included observation of a significant proportion of the game-playing sessions (there was considerable variation and tutor interpretation of the rules!) and the acquisition of qualitative data from both students and staff. overall, there are some fascinating insights here into the benefits and challenges of deploying game-based learning, especially on such a large scale. the authors conclude that more time for training the staff to practise the running of the game and the managing of the post-game activity would enhance what was a generally well-received exercise. the steeple (seven environments in which organisations must function – socio-cultural, technological, economic, ecological, political, legal and ethical) model is usually deployed editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 in business organisations’ strategic decision-making, but an article in this issue of compass describes its helpful application to course design for the pgcert he in a university of greenwich partner institution in trinidad and tobago. peter colin kelly explains how each of the steeple environments relates to the process of curricular design; though not a coursedesign model itself, steeple can be very useful in supporting those models which are, in order to make courses and modules flexible and responsive to the demands and expectations of society and the working world in which students will be employed. i hope you enjoy reading through the articles, opinion pieces and case studies in this special edition as much as we have enjoyed putting this issue together. danielle tran editor case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 re-engineering challenging and abstract topics using kahoot!, a student response system maria gebbels university of greenwich abstract the pervasive nature of digital technologies and students’ habitual use of them brings opportunities for their assimilation into the classroom environment. the ‘student response system’ (srs), kahoot!, which allows students instantly to provide answers to multiplechoice questions, was introduced in the research methods course. the motivation for using such technology was to reinforce key concepts, often very abstract, consolidate students’ learning, provide them with real-life feedback and help them to grow in their knowledge of, and confidence in engaging with, the subject matter. this case study, based on a smallscale exploratory research sample, showcases the benefits of incorporating this srs in the research methods tutorials. these benefits, as student feedback suggests, include better conceptual understanding and increased motivation, resulting in the transition from surface to deep learning keywords: student response system; learning technology; consolidation of learning; student engagement; confidence, feedback introduction this case study is based on the author’s evaluation of the effects and benefits of implementing kahoot!, also known as a ‘student response system’ (srs), in the delivery of material for research methods tutorials to second-year undergraduate hospitality management students. the ever-increasing use of digital technologies among students provides opportunities for the enhancement of their learning, as well as their overall engagement with and enjoyment of their chosen university programmes. because technology expectations (in particular those of young people) are changing, the key aspects of learning – namely listening, seeing and experiencing – can be met and expanded upon by means of kahoot!. furthermore, the exponential growth of digital technologies means that, as young people now enter university fairly conversant with them, they can be deployed in a classroom environment for learning and teaching purposes (lai and hong, 2015). since such digital natives, who have grown up surrounded by technology, are likely to learn differently, teachers in higher education (he) should consider accommodating their students’ alternative learning styles with “more technology-driven, spontaneous, and multisensory” approaches (prensky, 2001; lai and hong, op.cit., p.726). it is worth noting that the term ‘digital natives’ continues to be debated in the literature in terms of its scope and implications for teaching and learning strategies (maton and kervin, 2008; kivunja, 2014; šorgo et al., 2017). by incorporating this particular srs into her teaching, the author wanted students to make productive use of their mobile devices during tutorials and, at the same time, find out if there would be an improvement in how students learn and gain knowledge of an abstract topic (mayer, 2005). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 kahoot! is a free, game-based, learning platform that makes it fun to learn any subject, in any language, on any device and at any age. it is also classified as a srs, an electronic voting system that enables students to choose answers to multiple-choice questions, inside or outside the classroom environment (nielsen et al., 2012). in the literature, srss are often referred to as ‘classroom response systems’ (crss), ‘audience response systems’ (arss) or, simply, ‘voting tools’ or ‘clickers’ (nielsen et al., op.cit; compton and allen, 2018, p.1). kahoot! is one of at least seven different types of technological solution available on the market which are used to widen participation in face-to-face taught sessions. the other types of srs are todaysmeet, slido, polleverywhere, mentimeter, socrative and zeetings (compton and allen, op.cit.). they do have certain characteristics in common, but contrasting capabilities. for instance, todaysmeet is an online ‘chat room’ that acts as a backchannel to taught sessions. it is simple to set up and use, but messages are limited to 140 characters and it requires paid subscription. slido offers anonymous polling options in multi-choice, open-text or ranking formats and is effective when used during lectures to gather feedback or enhance student interaction; although it is free, each event is limited to only three polls and lecturers have little control over the content posted by students. polleverywhere enables students to take part in a poll using a text message, the frequency and content of which can be monitored by a lecturer; although a free version is available, it does not offer any methods of moderation and limits the number of responses. kahoot! increases classroom engagement by gamifying the sessions with quiz-based activities; students use internet-enabled devices, such as their mobile phones or tablets, to choose one of four shapes corresponding to possible-answer shapes they see on the main classroom screen (figure 1). before students can play kahoot!, all they need to do is to follow a web link and then choose a name for themselves, whether their own or a pseudonym. a comprehensive review of these tools can be found in a technological review by compton and allen (op.cit., pp.4-17). figure 1: kahoot! main screen example case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 in her own teaching, the author observed that students often struggle to make the transition from surface to deep knowledge when taking the research methods course. also, students often treat the material of the research methods as a recipe to be memorised and not as tools to enable them to conduct independent research in the future. this may be partly owing to the abstract nature of the content covered as well as the short delivery of the material, in term 2 only. thus, the aim of this case study was to explore the benefits of using kahoot! in research methods tutorials. the main reasons for incorporating this particular srs in the classroom setting was to reinforce students’ knowledge of the research methods, to enhance their ability to learn, to increase their overall confidence and to improve the classroom atmosphere with a focus on individual interaction followed by peer discussion. this case study is divided into the following sections: a brief introduction to kahoot!; the reasons for introducing this particular srs; critical discussion of the existing research on the use of srs in a classroom environment; description of the sample, implementation and evaluation, with direct quotes from students; and, finally, limitations and conclusions. literature review three key themes emerged after conducting a literature review of the use of srs in a classroom and they are used to guide the following discussion. benefits of using ‘student response systems’ existing research revealed the benefits of using srss, which are: increased student motivation and engagement; easier clarification of misunderstanding; promotion of active learning; enhanced student performance; better conceptual understanding; instant feedback; the possibility of increasing out-of-class study time; self-assessment of one’s knowledge; a positive classroom atmosphere; engagement and accountability; and increased reinforcement of key concepts (cf. hedgcock and rouwenhorst, 2014; draper and brown, 2004; masikunas, panayiotidis and burke, 2007; rice and bunz 2006; boyle and nicol, 2003; rao and dicarlo, 2000; crouch and mazur, 2001; nielsen et al., op.cit; caldwell, 2007). despite the many benefits, technology by itself, no matter how innovative or engaging, will not make the sessions better (mayer, op.cit.). it is critical to know the profile of the students and to identify clear objectives for using srss in any teaching scenario (lai and hong, op.cit.). importance of feedback apart from the benefits already mentioned, kahoot! enables teachers to provide feedback by assessing students’ responses almost immediately. feedback has been identified as key to successful learning in many learning theories (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, op.cit.). in the case of this srs, the feedback is instant and there are also opportunities to provide more detailed and targeted feedback or, in response to students’ answers, to spend more time on a particular theory, model or concept. this means that teachers need to be flexible in their delivery of the material and adopt an ad hoc approach. research has also revealed that students are more likely to change their study habits when early and frequent feedback demonstrates that their current study habits are inadequate (love, love, and northcraft 2010). unlike less expensive techniques, such as raising hands, these so-called ‘clickers’ can provide a degree of anonymity, real-time tallying and response-presentation that can improve the overall effectiveness of feedback (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, op.cit.). clickers also force students to pick an answer themselves instead of potentially relying on others, as case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 in the case of having to raise their hands. this has implications for the building of selfconfidence. according to bandura (1986), success achieved on one’s own is the strongest source of ‘self-efficacy’ (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, op.cit.). anecdotally, the results of the national student survey (nss) have revealed that students lack clarity about when and how they receive informal feedback. furthermore, hedgcock and rouwenhorst (op.cit., p.16) reported that “when clickers were used to facilitate feedback, students reported a better understanding of the materials, read more chapters before class, were more likely to recommend the course to others, and had higher exam scores than when clickers were used just for attendance”. this indicates the possibility of overall improvements in students’ learning, performance and attitudes. learning theories there are two main learning theories that can help to underpin the use of kahoot! and other srss (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, op.cit., pp.16-17). behaviourism and cognitive theories reinforce and contextualise the appropriateness of using such digital technologies to consolidate student learning. behaviourism declares that learning results from a change in observable behaviour, where the stimuli cause the learner to respond in a certain way (cf. bush, 2006; weegar and pacis, 2012). in this case, the student follows the instructions, takes the quiz, is likely to be motivated by scores (which are recorded and shown after each question is answered) and, as a result, makes gains in knowledge. cognitive theories state that learning is a process of gaining or changing insights, expectations or thought patterns and developing capacity and skills to learn better (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, op.cit.). in order for learning to occur, there are nine elements that needs to be present according to gagné, briggs and wager (1992). these are, in a consecutive order: (1) gaining attention; (2) informing learners of the objective; (3) stimulating recall of prior learning; (4) presenting the stimulus; (5) providing learning guidance; (6) eliciting performance; (7) providing feedback; (8) assessing performance; and (9) enhancing retention and transfer (matthews et al. 2012, p.72). from these elements, providing adequate feedback – in other words ‘reinforcement’ – is the most significant one associated with student success (martin, klein and sullivan, 2007). thus the feedback loop or reinforcement is key to ensuring that students receive immediate feedback and are able to learn from it. description of the case study and implementation for the purpose of this small-scale, exploratory study, kahoot! was introduced during the delivery of material for research methods tutorials to fifteen second-year hospitality management undergraduate students in term 2 for twelve weeks. the one-hour tutorial, which followed a one-hour lecture, took place at 2 p.m. on wednesday afternoons. the main rationale for using this particular type of srs was to test students’ understanding of the lecture material, increase the class engagement, create a better learning experience with this gamified activity, clarify any misunderstandings and bring some fun and excitement into the classroom environment. the author designed the quizzes to test students’ knowledge and understanding of what had been covered during the previous lectures and tutorials. short, ten-question kahoot! quizzes were carried out – in only some tutorials, so as to engender some spontaneity; the lecturer decided always to run the quizzes at the start of the tutorial, rather than during or after, as a method of finding out if students were ready to move on with the material. an example of questions and answers for a quiz on a qualitative research design can be found in table 1. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 1. example of questions and answers for a quiz on qualitative research design that the students in this study had not used this srs before the author introduced it to them was another reason for its implementation. clear instructions and assistance were provided to students on how to use their internetenabled devices to access the correct web address. on the first occasion, students practised completing a quiz, before taking the actual quiz with recorded scores. each time students answered questions incorrectly, the author would clarify this immediately and offer a clear explanation behind the correct answer. winners of the three top places were always asked to reveal their identity and the class would congratulate them on their high scores with a round of applause. this further boosted class morale and peer-to-peer engagement. the lecturer would offer some time for peer discussion after the quiz to answer questions or clarify incorrect answers. method of evaluation at the end of this twelve-week course, all fifteen hospitality management students were asked to complete an anonymous, six-question, microsoft forms online survey, containing both, closed and open-ended questions (table 2). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 2. survey questions 1. kahoot! quizzes made the tutorial more engaging. 2. kahoot! quizzes have improved my understanding of the research methods material. 3. after completing a kahoot! quiz i felt more confident about my knowledge of the subject. 4. i enjoyed kahoot! quizzes during research methods tutorials because.... 5. i did not enjoy kahoot! quizzes during research methods tutorials because.... 6. please leave any other comments or feedback here regarding the use of kahoot! quizzes during research methods tutorials. questions 1-3 (whose aim was to find out students’ attitudes towards kahoot!) were informed by the reviewed literature and, in particular, the research by nielsen et al. (op.cit.) and hedgcock and rouwenhorst (op.cit.). the remaining three questions were designed to gain a more in-depth understanding of students’ perceptions of the use of kahoot! during tutorials and, more specifically, the extent to which they enjoyed these quizzes. to the first three questions, students provided responses on a likert scale, choosing between five options from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. questions 4-6 were open-ended. students were informed about the purpose of this short survey and by completing it anonymously they consented to taking part in this exploratory research. the achieved response rate of 33% was relatively low, which could have been caused by the time of the survey’s distribution (during the busy term 1 of students’ final year). presentation and analysis of the data the following section presents and analyses the data gathered via an online survey. for the full set of responses to questions 1-6, please see appendix 1. the majority of students appeared very enthusiastic about taking part in kahoot! quizzes and particularly liked the leader board, which brought an element of competition as this comment indicates: “this method was one of the best ideas used during the research methods' tutorials, not just because it made us ‘compete’ by putting our knowledge, our understanding and learning skills into the actual class, but more important because it made us to be more engaged with this course” moreover, the overall classroom atmosphere improved and students felt confident to ask for further clarification on certain concepts after providing incorrect answers and receiving immediate feedback. in their responses, students stated that the quizzes made the tutorials more engaging, with the overall score of 4.8 out of 5 (question 1). the direct quotes below help to illustrate this finding. “it's funny, engaging and good exercise for our knowledge” “i was more engaged as it had some fun in it than the usual traditional teaching structure” case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 “it was a fun and engaging way to learn a subject which was difficult to get my head around in the early stages” when students feel more engaged with the learning situation, they are more likely to work hard to make sense of the course materials and therefore more likely to perform better on assessments measuring learning (mayer et al., 2009). moreover, this technique can also motivate students to participate in class and take more responsibility for their learning. students also agreed that the quizzes improved their understanding of research methods, with the overall score of 4.4 out 5 (question 2) as seen below in the following direct quotes: “it represents a fun and interactive method of learning and understanding the information that is provided” “it made me understand the subject better and made me more confident on my knowledge” this corresponds with a number of research findings which state that using such learning technologies helps students to get a better understanding of the material (hedgcock and rouwenhorst, op.cit.), including better conceptual understanding (crouch and mazur, 2001). according to viberg and grönlund (2017), such informal learning practices can also improve students’ confidence and competence. having completed kahoot! quizzes, students felt rather more confident about their knowledge of the subject, with the overall score of 3.8 out 5 (question 3). this suggests not only an increase in their confidence about the material studied, but also their self-confidence, as illustrated in the quote below: “i enjoyed the use of kahoot! because you get to realise that you’re not the only person amongst the class that does not understand a particular area therefore you’re not afraid to ask questions as other colleagues may have the same problem. it would be great to use kahoot! in class again” it is therefore critical for the teacher to react to incorrect responses, so as to clarify any possible misunderstandings and to demonstrate the point concerned and explain that students’ current knowledge is inadequate. at the same time, those students who provide correct answers should be praised for their high scores. limitations, conclusions and recommendations the aim of this case study was to demonstrate and share the author’s evaluation of using kahoot!, a type of ‘student response system’, during research methods tutorials delivered to fifteen second-year hospitality management students. as many young people have a significant amount of technology experience even before they enter university (lai and hong, op.cit.), digital technologies can be utilised in a classroom setting to support various learning practices (viberg and grönlund, op.cit.). thus, the motivation for using this learning technology was to reinforce the key concepts, often very abstract, consolidate students’ learning, provide them with real-life feedback and help them to grow in their knowledge of and confidence in engaging with the subject matter. this case study, based on a small-scale exploratory research sample, showcases the benefits of incorporating this srs in the research methods tutorials. these benefits, as student feedback suggests, include better case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 conceptual understanding and increased motivation, resulting in the transition from surface to deep learning furthermore, students enjoyed completing the kahoot! quizzes, which created a lively learning environment where they felt confident and safe enough to admit if they needed further clarifications. there are some limitations to this case study. to avoid a low response rate in an online survey, the teacher should consider collecting during sessions the informal feedback from students regarding their experiences of using such an srs as kahoot!, as well as dedicating a final session for collecting anonymous online feedback. to increase the sample size and make the findings generalisable, feedback should be collected from every participating cohort of students. this case study has focused mainly on the benefits of using this type of srs and paid less attention to possible challenges and to negative impacts on student learning. future research should consider this angle. to ensure spontaneity, such technology should not be so overused that students feel demotivated to attend tutorials. furthermore, practical issues need to be considered, such as cost, commitment to using srss and possible technological problems. it is also imperative for student learning that there is sufficient amount of time left after each quiz for questions and feedback. being mindful of short delivery time, it is recommended that each quiz is no more than ten questions long and that sufficient time is given to answer each question. the ideal time to answer each question can be determined during ‘the practice run’; this will leave enough time for making use of incorrect answers to aid discussion and continue with other tutorial material. teachers should feel fully prepared, confident and have a ‘plan b’ once they have identified clear goals and motivation for implementing any srs. according to nielsen et al. (op.cit.) a teacher’s commitment has been found as the most important factor for a successful implementation of srs. apart from deploying kahoot! for informal learning practices, the use of this type of srs is recommended as part of summative assessments and out-of-class exercises. although existing research suggests that students are very familiar with digital technologies and confident about using them, teachers should not assume that all students have the same learning capabilities. instructions and support should therefore be provided to all students before playing each kahoot! quiz, to ensure student needs are recognised and met. on the basis of the findings of this case study, the author also recommends that teachers in the he sector should consider introducing kahoot! to support their teaching on the assumption that classrooms are equipped with the av system and that students have access to internetenabled devices. in terms of student numbers, kahoot! quizzes can be played in a lecture setting where more than fifteen students are present. the software offers a team mode, as well as the individual player mode, which means that students could work in small groups to complete the quiz. this particular srs was used during the research methods tutorials, but there are opportunities for its implementation in other subject areas. if the teacher wants to test students’ knowledge, reinforce key concepts, increase students’ confidence in the subject, offer immediate feedback and clarification and introduce fun and excitement to the classroom, kahoot! quizzes are applicable to any discipline. however, further research is needed to determine the extent of that. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 reference list bandura, a. 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(2017) ‘attributes of digital natives as predictors of information literacy in higher education.’ british journal of educational technology, 48(3), 749-767. available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12451 (accessed: 5 june 2018). viberg, o. and grönlund, å. (2017) ‘understanding students’ learning practices: challenges for design and integration of mobile technology into distance education.’ learning, media and technology, 42(3), 357-377. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2016.1088869 (accessed: 20 may 2018). weegar, m.a. and pacis, d. (2012) ‘a comparison of two theories of learning-behaviorism and constructivism as applied to face-to-face and online learning.’ in: proceedings eleader conference, manila. available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2cb0/b3019f04cfbf790d0ed8fa39f603bcfa4f7e.pdf (accessed: 20 may 2018). https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12451 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2016.1088869 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 appendix 1. full set of responses to an online survey survey questions responses 1. kahoot quizzes made the tutorial more engaging. 4.8 out 5 average rating 2. kahoot quizzes have improved my understanding of the research methods material. 4.4 out 5 average rating 3. after completing a kahoot quiz i felt more confident about my knowledge of the subject. 3.8 out of 5 average rating 4. i enjoyed kahoot quizzes during research methods tutorials because.... “it's funny, engaging and good exercise for our knowledge.” “it represents a fun and interactive method of learning and understanding the information that is provided.” “i was more engaged as it had some fun in it than the usual traditional teaching structure.” “it was a fun and engaging way to learn a subject which was difficult to get my head around in the early stages.” “it made me understand the subject better and made me more confident on my knowledge.” 5. i did not enjoy kahoot quizzes during research methods tutorials because.... “i enjoyed them.” “nothing. this is not true. as i mentioned i did enjoy the kahoot quizzes. thank you!!” “n/a” “i remember correctly, it didn't give you a lot of time to answer the questions.” “not applicable. i did enjoy it.” 6. please leave any other comments or feedback here regarding the use of kahoot quizzes during research methods tutorials. “this method was one of the best ideas used during the research methods' tutorials, not just because it made us "compete" by putting our knowledge, our understanding and learning skills into the actual class, but more important because it made us to be more engaged with this course.” “i enjoyed the use of kahoot because you get to realise that you’re not the only person amongst the class that does not understand a particular area therefore you’re not afraid to ask questions as other colleagues may have the same problem. it would be great to use kahoot in class again.” compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 first published in december 2018 by: educational development unit university of greenwich old royal naval college park row london se10 9ls united kingdom editor danielle tran & simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich sub-editor jim bennett, gold leaf editorial assistant gillian keyms, educational development unit, university of greenwich editorial board ian mcnay, faculty of education & health, university of greenwich simon walker, educational development unit, university of greenwich james wisdom, higher education consultant and editor of the seda series paul dennison, educational development unit, university of greenwich edward phillips, school of law, university of greenwich gillian lazar, middlesex university london ed de quincey, keele university sarah crofts, independent critical friend clare rossato, university of greenwich reviewers timos almpanis, university of greenwich monica fernandes, brunel university, london harriet lowe, university of greenwich jane robb, university of greenwich catriona mcallister, university of reading helen hawthorne, middlesex university mark dawson, lancaster university yang yang, university of greenwich martin compton, university of greenwich dawn reilly, university of greenwich louise hewitt, university of greenwich articles the impact of changing learning environment on students’ learning in marketing education: a case-study applied in higher education in egypt samia adly hanna el sheikh, reda youssef assaad october university for modern sciences and arts (msa), egypt, new cairo higher institute of management sciences and computer, new cairo, egypt abstract: as per hall et al., (2002), well-planned sessions, interactive teaching methods and appropriate assessment could encourage a deep approach to learning. moreover, problem-based learning in the form of real-life case study exercises also promotes deep learning. the purpose of this study is to change the learning environment in an introductory course of principles of marketing (mkt 201), so as to foster a deep and productive approach to learning rather than mere surface learning. this change in environment is achieved through presenting two teaching/learning strategies: 1. pointing out learning outcomes (los) of each session to the students at the beginning of each lecture while making sure they understand them; 2. consistent use of in-class real-life exercises in the form of case studies to check that students have digested the main concepts and are able to apply them. this study measures the impact of this change in learning environment on students’ overall achievement (results). this study was conducted on a cohort of students in semester fall 2016 and the grades (results) of the students of this cohort are compared against the grades (results) of two previous cohorts in the same course (principles of marketing) at october university for modern sciences and arts (msa) egypt. keywords: learning environment deep approach to learning versus surface approach to learning outcome-based approach in teaching, learning and assessment problem-based learning (pbl) experiential learning (el) least significant differences (lsd)/multiple comparisons introduction marketing educators have always been encouraged to reflect on the methods that are employed to educate marketing students. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the understanding and application of the concepts of the marketing discipline are of vital importance to marketing graduates. yet, at the younger levels, when students are just being introduced to the main concepts in a principles of marketing module, the concepts are numerous and could be confusing if we don’t both alert them to what it is that we want them to learn and provide them with sufficient applications/activities for them to check their own learning and assure themselves that they have indeed digested the concepts. in other words, when students focus upon specific learning outcomes and when the activities and exercises are designed to fit those learning outcomes, students learn well. this study aims to present two simple teaching strategies employed in teaching an introductory principles of marketing module and to show the impact of using both these strategies on changing the learning environment – and thus on positively influencing the final overall grade of the students. this grade comprises students’ performance in a coursework application team project (requiring cognitive and application skills) and in mid-term and final exams (each including a variety of questions as mini cases that also require application skills); it therefore fully reflects how well each student has performed against the learning outcomes of the whole module. a logical assumption has been made here that students who achieved higher grades are the ones who took a deeper approach to learning – viz. characterised by interest in the subject and an intention to understand what is studied. such students seek to create meaning and thus interpret knowledge in the light of previous experiences; they therefore tend to achieve better retention and, consequently, such deeper skills as critical thinking. in contrast, a surface approach to learning derives from rote memorisation, poor understanding and low retention (marton and saljo, 1976; ramsden, 1992, biggs, 1999, and entwistle,1987, cited in atherton, 2003). according to atherton (op.cit.), a student may use both approaches but not with the same task. for example, students may learn by memorising, but in an organised way, with consequently productive effect. according to biggs (op.cit.), students do not adopt deep or surface learning because they have respectively deep or surface personalities, but because the learning environment triggers their approach to learning. deep learning is discussed in the work of marton and saljo (op.cit.), as cited in bacon and stewart (2006). marton and saljo regard deep learning as happening when students work hard to comprehend the concepts and are highly engaged in finding meaning; they relate meaning to previous experiences and go beyond the surface learning of rote memorisation; they are more likely to score better in assignments, tests and exams that measure comprehension by means of case studies and projects, not just questions that ask students to repeat what they have learned. moreover, ausubel (2000) adds that, if learners attach new concepts to previous relevant knowledge already possessed, this would make the concepts more meaningful and the level of retention higher, as emphasised by neisser (1984), who stated that concepts tied to previous experiences are more “resistant to forgetting”. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 bacon and stewart (op.cit.) also state that knowledge tested more than once during the course is at a deeper level of learning and thus more likely to be retained. this could, for example, be achieved through in-class formative assessments, to ensure that students distinguish one concept in marketing from similar concepts, so as to avoid confusion – “a stable trace” (ausubel, op.cit.). halpern and hakel (2003) similarly state that repeated exposure to concepts creates deeper understanding. hall et al., (2002) argue that well-designed sessions, interactive teaching methods and appropriate assessment could encourage a deep approach and suggest that problem-based learning, in the form of real-life exercises, promotes deep learning. the purpose of this study is to show the impact of the changing of learning environment so as to promote a deep and productive approach to learning, as compared to surface learning. this change in environment is achieved by presenting two teaching/learning techniques which are: 1. pointing out to students, at the beginning of each lecture, the session’s learning outcomes (los), while making sure they understand them; thus, learning outcomes are made immediately transparent to learners; 2. intensive use in class of real-life exercises, in the form of case-studies, to check that students have digested the main concepts and are able to apply them. this study subsequently measures the impact of this change in learning environment on students’ overall results. literature review a. outcomes-based approach: outcomes-based approaches to any form of lesson planning, course planning or curriculum development are promoted by quality-assurance bodies and higher-education providers: instructors, lecturers and programme leaders are expected to outline their sessions and their curriculum in this format. moon (2002) defined a lo as a statement of what a learner is expected to know, understand and be able to do at the end of a period of learning – which could be a session, a term, a course or a programme – and how that learning is to be demonstrated in the assessment. los help students to understand what is expected of them, to identify their own targets and to work systematically towards demonstrating them. los are now an essential element of curriculum documentation, to enable external examiners and other evaluators of new or existing courses or programmes to judge their quality (biggs and tang, 2011). not that lo approach to learning design is without criticism: in fact, many writers have the notion that the misuse of lo can lead to distortion and harm to education (hussey and smith, 2002; biggs and tang, 2011). compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the main theoretical underpinning of a lo approach is ‘constructive alignment’, which is about: making sure that both teaching and feedback to students work smoothly to help student learning in relation to los; so designing assessment that successful students can demonstrate their ability to meet the los. constructive alignment is based on constructivist theory, in which learners actively construct their knowledge and the lecturer creates and builds a learning environment where learning activities fit well with the lo; thus, students are motivated to take a deep learning approach and better achieve the learning outcomes, leading to better grades in both exams and application projects. when students are aware of the los of each session, they are focused upon what is expected of them. if, additionally, the in-class assessment exercises fit well with the teaching and los, the resulting environment will allow for deep learning and consequently ensure better results in marketing courses. b. hybrid problem-based learning: problem-based learning (pbl) is built on the premise that using realistic problems and real-life scenarios as exercises offers opportunities to widen students’ understanding and challenges them to solve these problems; they thus develop their problem-solving skills, as required of university graduates in general, but especially so of graduates of business schools. vernon and blake (1993) argue that pbl is better than traditional teaching at improving longterm retention of knowledge. major and palmer (2001), furthermore, emphasize that pbl increases both library use and class attendance and encourages a deeper approach to learning. pbl lies under the wider umbrella of the constructivist theory of learning. in his research, lebow (1993) ‘identified, amongst other positive features, collaboration, personal autonomy and reflective engagement of students in learning as key benefits of the constructivist approach. constructive learning theory has its roots in experiential approaches to learning, based mainly on the work of dewey. experiential learning (el), according to hmelo-silver (2004), is built mainly around investigation and the solving of problems; by such means, students become more active learners because they are placed in real-life situations where they construct knowledge and develop strategies for facing and solving problems. el is a growing trend in marketing education and it does help to engage students in the learning process. el could be considered as an effective pedagogy for teaching the broad body of marketing principles and concepts. the use of el in marketing courses has been discussed in such articles as those by schwartz and fontenot (2007) and linrud and hall (1999). furthermore, gremler et al. (2000) state that el exercises can be used in service marketing courses which tend to facilitate the integration of course concepts and build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, together with such other teamwork-enhancing skills as communication compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 and listening. in addition, el assignments further engage students in active learning, thereby encouraging them to take more responsible roles and to contribute more actively to their education. brennan (2014) also adds that el methods have become more and more attractive to marketing education instructors, who use them widely, being convinced of the logic of applying practical case studies and real-life experience to what is a very practical field. another reason for the growing trend of applying el to marketing education is that it enhances employability skills, graduate attributes now expected by most universities in egypt, and so responds to the requirements of their students (customers). however, according to brennan (2014), although applying el to marketing education is generally beneficial, its methodology should be used thoughtfully and not totally freely. thus, to encourage deep learning (and simultaneously engage students and expose them to real-life problems), marketing educators should create an appropriate learning environment – one that seeks to incorporate a wider range of classroom teaching strategies to stimulate deep learning, including face-to-face lecturing and activities / open-ended exercises using ‘real-life’ topics that require integration and manipulation of information and so build the required problem-solving skills. to create this required learning environment, the nearest pedagogical approach is to adopt the ‘hybrid pbl’ which is not a strict pbl but a more flexible approach, as outlined by besant et al, (2013).the hybrid pbl offers students a variety of teaching/learning techniques and a mixed range of in-class approaches: new information can be provided by lectures and seminars, but these have to be supported by, and regularly interspersed with, in-class activities and case studies derived from real marketing problems; they must certainly include a group-based assignment to encourage students to apply their constructed knowledge. methodology on completion of the post graduate certificate for higher education (pg cert) the lecturer who is also the researcher (the author) decided, before the start of the fall semester (semester 61) of the academic year 2016/2017, to re-prepare and re-engineer the module of principles of marketing , so as to change the learning environment and encourage a deep approach to learning by applying two strategies: 1. to point out clearly to the students the los of each session. 2. to build in-class activities with real-life case studies to suit each session’s los. the grades of 310 students of the fall semester (semester 61) of the academic year (2016/2017), in which the lecturer re-designed the learning environment of the students, were compared to the grades of the students of two previous cohorts (semester 58 and 59). the following frequency table reports the grades of marketing students in course mkt (201) in semesters 58, 59 and 61 and the relative frequency of each class of grades: compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 1: frequency table of the grades of the students in three semesters 58, 59 and 61(msa university). classes semester 58 semester 59 semester 61 frequency relative frequency frequency relative frequency frequency relative frequency less than 50 20 0.071 11 0.081 15 0.048 50upto53 11 0.039 7 0.052 10 0.032 53upto56 5 0.018 2 0.015 6 0.019 56upto60 22 0.078 11 0.081 10 0.033 60upto65 25 0.089 16 0.119 15 0.048 65upto70 36 0.128 7 0.052 17 0.055 70upto75 26 0.092 17 0.126 26 0.084 75upto80 41 0.145 17 0.126 37 0.119 80upto85 28 0.099 15 0.111 47 0.152 85upto90 27 0.096 13 0.096 39 0.126 90or more 41 0.145 19 0.141 88 0.284 total 282 1.00 135 1 310 1 (statistics of grades of students in course mkt 201 msa university in three semesters.) in this research, the researcher who is also the lecturer tested the following hypotheses: h0: there is no statistically significant difference among the mean values of the students’ grades in the three semesters (fall 2015 ‘58’, spring 2016 ‘59’ and fall 2016 ‘61’). in other words, there is no impact of changing the learning environment through the use of the new teaching strategies on the mean values of the students’ grades in the three semesters (fall 2015 ‘58’, spring 2016 ‘59’ and fall 2016 ‘61’). against: h1: there is an impact of changing the learning environment through the use of the new teaching strategies on the mean values of the students’ grades in the three semesters (fall 2015 ‘58’, spring 2016 ‘59’ and fall 2016 ‘61’). let µ58, µ59, µ61 represent the mean values of the students’ grades in the three semesters (fall 2015, spring 2016 and fall 2016). thus h0: µ58 = µ59 = µ61 against h1: the mean grades are not all equal. the researcher employed the analysis of variance technique (anova) to test the abovementioned hypotheses to indicate whether or not there is a statistically-significant impact of changing the learning environment of the students on the grades of the students. however, before applying the anova, the researcher applied the test of homogeneity. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the researcher firstly applied the test of homogeneity of variances on the students’ grades of three semesters, which is a condition that is required to apply anova and that the results are correct. results, analysis and discussion table 2: descriptive statistics of grades of marketing students in a course mkt (201) (msa university) n mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean minimum maximum lower bound upper bound semester (58) fall 2015 282 71.7642 17.90893 1.06646 69.6649 73.8635 25.00 95.00 semester (59) spring 2016 135 71.0000 18.68963 1.60855 67.8186 74.1814 25.00 95.00 semester (61) fall 2016 310 78.3371 17.31238 .98328 76.4023 80.2719 25.00 95.00 total 727 74.4250 18.10092 .67133 73.1071 75.7430 25.00 95.00 (results of the analysis using spss) 1. from the above table, it can be seen that the mean grade value (in the semester where the new approach was applied) is 78.3371, which is more than the two previous semesters – semesters 58 (fall 2015) 71.7642 and 59 (spring 2016) 71.0000. 2. the above table also shows the estimation of the true mean value in each semester by constructing a confidence interval (lower and upper limit) of the average of grades with probability of 95%. 3. using the anova to test significance in the differences among the three mean values of the three semesters 58, 59 and 61. h0: µ58 = µ59 = µ61 against h1: the mean grades are not all equal. where: h1 actually means that when the lecturer changed the learning environment (changing the strategy by clearly stating to the learners the los of each session and using engaging in-class activities that fitted with the los), this led to a deeper approach in learning, as reflected in student achievement and grades. ho actually means there is no impact of changing the learning environment on the achievements of the students. the anova will test this, and either accept h0 or h1 is accepted. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 homogeneity test: before applying the anova, the test of homogeneity of variances has to be conducted, which is an essential condition to ensure that the anova test gives correct results, and this has been done by using levene statistic (spss). in the homogeneity test, the variances have to be equal. h0: the variances are equal (i.e. there is no significance difference between variances) h1: the variances are not equal (i.e. there is at least one which is not equal) table 3: test of homogeneity of variances levene statistic df1 df2 sig. 0.810 2 724 0.445 (results of research analysis using spss) from the above table, p-value equals 0.445 > 0.05 therefore h0, is accepted, so it is accepted that there is homogeneity in variances of the grades in the three semesters and thus the anova can be safely used. table 4: the anova test sum of squares df mean square f sig. between groups 8324.573 2 4162.286 13.128 .000 within groups 229544.592 724 317.051 total 237869.164 726 (results of this research analysis using spss) from the anova table, the p-value of related f statistic = 0.00 which is less than 0.05. then h0 can be refused with 5% level of significance; this indicates that there is a significant difference between the grades of the students across the semesters. 4. a significant difference having been detected between the grades of the students across the semesters, the researcher compared the grades of each two semesters together, using a multiple comparison* table applying fisher’s least significant differences (lsd), as per williams and abdi (2010). compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 5 : multiple comparisons (i) factor (j) factor mean difference (i-j) std. error sig. 95% confidence interval lower bound upper bound semester (58) semester (59) 0.76418 1.86355 0.682 -2.8944 4.4228 semester (61) -6.57291* 1.46528 0.000 -9.4496 -3.6962 semester (59) semester (58) -.76418 1.86355 0.682 -4.4228 2.8944 semester (61) -7.33710* 1.83610 0.000 -10.9418 -3.7324 semester (61) semester (58) 6.57291* 1.46528 0.000 3.6962 9.4496 semester (59) 7.33710* 1.83610 0.000 3.7324 10.9418 *. the mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. (results of the research analysis using spss) by using lsd method: first, in a comparison of the grades of semesters 58 and 59, h0: µ58 = µ59 h1: µ58 ≠ µ59 from the above table, h0 is accepted and thus there is no significant difference between the grades of the two semesters 58 and 59 as p-value = 0.76418 > 0.05. second, in a comparison of the grades of semesters 61 and 58, h0: µ61 ≤ µ58 h1: µ61 > µ58 from the results in the table of multiple comparison. therefore h1 is accepted, where h1: µ61 > µ58 as the p value = 0.0 < 0.05. h0 (null hypothesis) is refused with level of significance 5% and it is accepted that µ61 > µ58. third, in a comparison of the grades of semesters 61 and 59, h0: µ61 ≤ µ59 h1: µ61 > µ59 from the table of multiple comparison. p – value = 0.00 < 0.05. thus, h0 is refused with 5% level of significance and it is accepted that µ61 > µ59. compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 to sum up: from the above, we can indicate that in semesters 58 and 59 there was no significant difference in grades, as within these two semesters we had not applied the new teaching strategies which would change the learning environment. yet the grades of students in semester 61 (in which we started to change the learning environment to encourage deep learning characterized by better understanding of concepts and higher retention of knowledge) are higher than those of the previous cohorts in both exams and projects. fourth, from table 1, it can be seen that the percentage of students who achieved distinction level in semester 58 represented 24.1% of the students, as compared to 23.7% of the students gaining distinctions in semester 59. however, in semester 61, the percentage of distinctions (above 85 out of 100) represented about 41%. thus, the new approach did improve the percentage of students who gained distinction. to be sure, this was tested by a z test (test of the differences between two sample proportions). the percentage of distinctions in semester 58 = 0.241 the percentage of distinctions in semester 59 = 0.237 the percentage of distinction in semester 61= 0. 41 a. (z test of the differences between π58 and π59) h0: π58 = π59 against, h1: π58 ≠ π59 h0 is accepted that is there is no significance difference between 𝜋58 and 𝜋59 because the computed z is within the acceptance region of h0 (± 1.96)*. *𝜋 = 282 𝑥 0.241+135 𝑥 0.237 282+135 = 0.24 *𝑍 = 0.241−0.237 √(0.24)(0.67)( 1 282 + 1 135 ) = 0.002 compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 b. (z test of the differences between π58 and π61) h0: π61 ≤ π58 against, h1: : π61 > π58 the null hypothesis is refused with 5%level of significance and thus it is accepted that π61 > π58 because the computed z is out of the acceptance region of h0 (> 1.645). (one tail.)** c. (z test of the difference between π59 and π61) h0: π61 ≤ π59 against, h1: π61 > π59 the null hypothesis is refused with 5% level of significance and thus it is accepted that 𝜋61 > 𝜋59 because the computed z is out of the acceptance region of h0 (> 1.645). (one tail.)*** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **𝜋 = 310 𝑥 0.41+282 𝑥 0.241 310+282 = 0.329 **𝑍 = 0.41−0.241 √(0.329)(0.67)( 1 310 + 1 282 ) = 2.7 ***𝜋 = 310 𝑥 0.41+135 𝑥 0.237 310+135 = 0.358 ***𝑍 = 0.41−0.237 √(0.358)(0.642)( 1 310 + 1 135 ) = 3.4 i.e. in semester 61 (in which the new approach was applied), the percentage of distinction grades is significantly higher than the previous two semesters. moreover, there is no significant difference between the percentages of distinction in semesters 58 and 59, which proves that the new approach did lead to this improvement in the percentage of students who achieved distinction; it also indicates that changing the learning environment led to a deeper approach to learning by the students, as indicated by better understanding and enhancement in problem-solving skills, the cognitive skills reflected by better grades. conclusion to conclude on a personal note, my experience of the above application suggests that marketing lecturers, through changing the learners’ environment by altering their teaching strategies, could bring about the desired deeper learning which leads to better results. it is of the utmost importance to note here that the strategies used in this study to help foster a deeper learning approach might not be particularly innovative in uk higher education institutions (heis) or even at postgraduate level in some egyptian heis, but these strategies have not been the focus of lecturers in the field of marketing in many egyptian undergraduate heis. this focus compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 came about as a result of the enrolment of higher education staff (instructors of my institution, msa) in the postgraduate certificate in higher education offered by the university of greenwich. this qualification is becoming a staff development requirement at msa university. being one of the first cohort of lecturers who successfully completed the higher education pgcert has encouraged me to take a more critical approach to personal teaching strategies and to take more time to reflect on lesson plans and review how teaching/learning strategies actually serve the learning outcomes of various marketing modules. moreover, it has offered me the chance to read deeply into various learning theories and relate them to my own field, as well as to pursue investigation into related pedagogical literature. finally, my experience has confirmed me in the belief that revising previously conventional teaching strategies to a hybrid pbl approach is more effective, encouraging a deeper approach to learning characterized by deeper understanding of concepts, better retention of knowledge and improved problem-solving skills. i’m convinced that these pbl activities also allow instructors to test concepts more than once, in different ways and with different scenarios, all resulting in higher retention, as required in introductory modules with basic concepts. furthermore, these in-class activities enhance student engagement, another feature of a deeper learning environment and fundamental to increased student acquisition of distinction-level grades. future development the building of a multivariate model to measure the impact on student achievement of each suggested independent variable is a logical next step from having confirmed the positive benefits of changing the learning environment to one which encourages deeper learning; it should help to maximize those benefits for the students. moreover, future research could study the significance of the model, using such an advanced statistical technique as structural equation modeling (path analysis) or another multivariate technique. this would also require building a measuring tool or administering a questionnaire to ask the students themselves about the various variables suggested to have an impact on creating an environment that encourages a deep approach to learning. reference list atherton, j.s. 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(2002) changing the learning environment to promote deep learning approaches in first year accounting students. available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0963928042000306837 (accessed 25, september 2016) halpern, d. and hakel, m. (2003) applying the science of learning of the university and beyond. change, 35(4), 36-41. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00091380309604109 (accessed 25, september 2016) hussey, t. and smith, p. (2002) ‘the trouble with learning outcomes. active learning in higher education, 3(3) 220-233. sage. available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1469787402003003003 (accessed 25, september 2016) lebow, d. 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(1992) learning to teach in higher education. london: routledge. available at: https://books.google.com.eg/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fq7eaaaaqbaj&oi=fnd&pg=pa187&dq=ra msden,+p.+(1992)+learning+to+teach+in+higher+education.+london:+routledge&ots=yqxy2 lepz&sig=lczpbjkmc_abiyjjkybl1hcayeg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ramsden%2c%20p. %20(1992)%20learning%20to%20teach%20in%20higher%20education.%20london%3a%20r outledge&f=false (accessed 20, september 2016). schwartz, j. and fontenot, r. (2007) recreating the principles of marketing group project: a case study in service learning. journal for advancement of marketing education – volume 11, winter 2007, 11-18.available at: http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/jame/jame-issues/jame2007-vol11-issue1/jame-2007-vol11-issue1-schwartz-fontenot-pp11-18.pdf (accessed 20, september 2016.) vernon, d. and blake, r. 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https://books.google.com.eg/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fq7eaaaaqbaj&oi=fnd&pg=pa187&dq=ramsden,+p.+(1992)+learning+to+teach+in+higher+education.+london:+routledge&ots=yqxy2lepz&sig=lczpbjkmc_abiyjjkybl1hcayeg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ramsden%2c%20p.%20(1992)%20learning%20to%20teach%20in%20higher%20education.%20london%3a%20routledge&f=false http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/jame/jame-issues/jame-2007-vol11-issue1/jame-2007-vol11-issue1-schwartz-fontenot-pp11-18.pdf http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/jame/jame-issues/jame-2007-vol11-issue1/jame-2007-vol11-issue1-schwartz-fontenot-pp11-18.pdf https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00001888-199307000-00015 http://www.utd.edu/~herve/abdi-lsd2010-pretty.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 a holistic framework for developing excellent academic practice ruth pickford leeds beckett university abstract this article outlines an original and practical framework that synoptically integrates the factors underpinning a strategic approach to developing excellent academic practice (deap) within an institution. it considers recent developments driving development of ‘excellence’ in academic practice and describes a practical model – based on the requirements of the sector, the needs of institutions and the perspectives and goals of staff – that can be used to meet the desires of the various stakeholders. the framework’s philosophy is that outcomes depend upon three factors: individual colleagues’ attributes at different stages of their career; the opportunities provided at each career stage to develop academic practice; and the agency of the colleague and the institution to engage with one another behaviourally, emotionally and/or cognitively to align these attributes and opportunities. the framework is likely to be of practical use to all staff engaged in developing their own or others’ academic practice, while at the same time offering a theoretical framework for scholarship. keywords: opportunities, engagement, academic practice, excellence. introduction good academic practice and the notion of excellence are currently at the heart of national and international higher education (he) policy discourse. in the uk, in response to expectation, he providers are increasingly seeking to demonstrate their commitment to excellence – in teaching and learning, in providing value for money for students, parents and taxpayers (office for students, 2018) and in offering an academic service to the wider community through research, enterprise and knowledge exchange. internationally, references to excellent academic practices are found in most nations’ policy documents, yet none has, to date, developed an accepted definition of excellent academic practice. nevertheless, national and international frameworks and league tables – that purport to measure and compare the quality of academic practices of different institutions – will inevitably become an ever more significant feature of the international he landscape. this, in turn, will have increasing impact upon institutional strategic plans and upon the specification of institutional key performance indicators, staff awards, staff recruitment and schemes for staff recognition and promotion. uk institutions are currently developing institutional approaches and frameworks to align their academic practices with the developing tef (pickford, 2018), the revised research excellence framework (ref), the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 emergent knowledge exchange framework (kef), the office for students’ (ofs) requirements for civic engagement and the various metrics that contribute to national and international league tables. it is timely to adopt a holistic perspective and consider what is necessary to develop excellent academic practice and what institutional action is required to achieve this. interventions targeted at improving individuals’ practices, enhancing organisational learning or achieving institutional outcomes developed in isolation often fail to bring about long-term, sustainable changes in organisational culture. there is a growing imperative for the sector and for institutions to think synoptically about the development of excellent academic practice to enable development of sustainable institutional strategies. the aligned approach proposed here will support consistency within, across and between institutions. while reference is made in the paper to the uk context, the proposal draws upon significant international scholarship and, as nations globally are adopting similar strategic approaches, it is argued that the blueprint has the potential for a global reach. the context of developing excellent academic practice how academic practice is perceived in a university depends on a combination of factors, including externally imposed metrics and criteria, the institution’s self-identified mission, each discipline’s approach to research and education, student perspectives and the perspectives and goals of those who teach and/or support learning. these different orientations determine – within each institution, department and course/programme – how excellent academic practice comes to be defined. in order to develop effective academic practice, universities must first identify and then manage these various orientations. the most successful higher education institutions (heis) will go further and exploit them to their advantage. the challenge for many institutions in seeking to develop ‘excellent’ academic practice is that there is currently no consensus in the sector about the differences between proficient, meritworthy and excellent academic practice, despite the use of ‘excellence’ in an assortment of emerging frameworks and awards. in the uk, the requirements of the ofs, relating to access, success and progress (office for students, 2018), the introduction of the teaching excellence framework (tef), the launch of the new research excellence framework (ref) and the growing array of high-profile awards for excellence have sought to provide qualitative and quantitative criteria for excellence. however, these external recognition systems use an uncalibrated variety of metrics and criteria. brew (2007, p.84) observed: “differing perspectives on excellence create a range of different and sometimes conflicting demands on higher education institutions”. at best, the many (and multiplying!) excellence criteria are unmanageable and difficult to integrate into internal strategies and, at worst, they leave institutions paralysed in an avalanche of variously-nuanced lists of quality indicators. furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, there is little attempt by the sector to argue that these criteria built on transferable educational principles, are developed from theoretical models or even supported by robust evidence of positive impact on outcomes. for example, gunn and fisk (2013, p. 47) observed: “what is demonstrated clearly by teaching excellence awards is that individual excellence has primarily been defined by initiatives and individuals which have come to be recognised as excellent, rather than as having been identified through theoretically robust, systematic or strategic models”. in order to develop excellent academic practice, it is necessary for institutional leaders to understand what constitutes proficiency, merit and excellence; then, to have a clear strategy articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 to move through proficiency to excellence; and, finally, to provide appropriate opportunities for staff to develop their own and others’ academic practice. a successful, sustainable, institutional strategy for developing excellent academic practice needs to be cognizant of four factors that i define as: 1. the diversity of staff roles, goals and orientations; 2. the current national and international imperatives relating to academic practice; 3. the need to provide supported opportunities for staff at different career stages to develop their own academic practice, to enhance practices and to achieve required outcomes; 4. the requirement for a successful strategy to develop excellent academic practice to align orientations, opportunities and imperatives underpinned by institutional infrastructure, policies and systems. the following sections address each of these factors in turn. differing academic practitioner roles, goals, orientations, and ways of engaging central to the framework presented in this paper is the thesis that engagement is an individually-owned and personal concept (kahn, 1990). engagement is a psychological state and is “a distinct and unique construct consisting of cognitive, emotional and behavioural components” (saks, 2006). it follows, therefore, that institutional strategies – and development and recognition policies that treat staff as a homogenous group – are likely to be less successful than those that acknowledge that a diverse staff body will engage differently and for different reasons. though universities cannot effectively build engagement at a group level, they must focus interventions at the individual level. moreover, burton, buchan and tarleton (2015) argue that individuals can be engaged with different things at different times, that some engagement may actually be detrimental to organisational interests (if it does not align with organisational intents) and that the seeds of engagement are sown at a deep level of consciousness. as individuals’ psychological states vary, so too will their approach to engagement in academic practice and their agency. the ways that a colleague will engage with her/his work will be determined, inter alia, by their context, role, discipline, perspective, orientation and goals and, according to gordon (2000), by the desire to minimise threat and maximise reward. expectations of the purpose of universities differ widely, accordingly to the stakeholder. related to these expectations are diverse orientations towards ‘academic practice’ (land, 2004) that colour how each group defines excellence. recognising that research and teaching and administration are equally important but discrete aspects of academic practice enables us to frame developing excellent academic practice through the interaction of staff with different strengths and assets. this challenges the uncomfortable tripartite research-teaching-administration divisions, acknowledging that all of what we do as researchers, teachers and professionals plays a role in developing academic practice and that, rather than exclusively focusing on individual excellence in any one area, it would be better were we to embrace this as collective expertise. furthermore, were we to appreciate a) that there is likely to be a spectrum of personal drivers – spanning articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement – in any one disciplinary academic tribe (becher, 1989) and b) that such varied stimuli, if harnessed, can make positive individual contributions to a rich community of academic practice, then we should have a firm conceptual base from which to develop organisational learning and, in consequence, achieve institutional excellence. current imperatives relating to excellent practice alongside the notion of agency, it is necessary to consider, in turn, the constituent elements of practices associated with a continuing focus on fostering excellent academic practice, enhancement and outcomes. practice: academic proficiency there is an ethical, financial, quality-assurance and reputational imperative on heis to ensure that staff are competent academic practitioners – capable of: contributing positively to courses; producing and using up-to-date research, methods, technologies and techniques; engaging with students; and providing students with the information, support and skills to be successful. enhancement: formal and informal academic leadership to sustain high-quality academic practice, any hei needs to develop the expertise required to enhance the personal impact of its academic practitioners. whilst central academic development departments are commonly tasked with providing this expertise, a strategy that augments this expertise – through engaging the wider university community in supporting and developing the academic practice of others – will sustainably increase organisational effectiveness. outcomes: organisational impact there is an increasing global focus on enhancing academic practice and students’ university experiences and, in particular, on excellent teaching. a series of proxy measures is being introduced and, in the increasingly competitive uk market, institutions are now routinely displaying on their websites and in prospectuses a plethora of badges, accreditations, awards and achievements to demonstrate that their academic practice is esteemed nationally, if not internationally. in the uk, these ‘badges of honour’ include: placement in national league tables, teaching excellence and student outcomes framework (tef) and ref awards, high-profile civic engagements, personal case studies, innovative institutionwide approaches and professional recognition at individual, team and institutional level – through, for example, national teaching fellowships (ntfs), and times higher awards (theas). institutional success in achieving these indicators of esteem is dependent upon the seriousness of an institution’s interest in doing so – largely determined by whether these affirmations are judged to strengthen the institutional ‘brand’ and the institution’s ability to develop ‘excellent’ academic practice – through engaging their staff in enhancing both their individual impact and their impact on the academic practice of others. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 providing opportunities for development of academic practice if we wish to leverage staff engagement in developing excellent academic practice, we need, as universities, to provide the engagement opportunities, conditions and systems of recognition and reward that align with both different career stages and with the array of individual orientations and goals of different academic communities. heis need to provide these appropriate and necessary conditions through a systematic, integrated framework that provides opportunities for staff to engage behaviourally, emotionally and cognitively. this must be manifested in opportunities for focused creation of knowledge and application of knowledge – by means of tailored development environments and of developmental activities. figure 1, which builds on earlier work on orientation of staff and student engagement with he, demonstrates these conditions in practice (pickford and brown, 2013; pickford, 2016; pickford, 2018). figure 1: integrated framework for development of academic practice aligned with staff orientations this model – focusing as it does on the creation and application of knowledge, on a rewarding and supportive development environment and on collaborative and creative developmental activities – can form (and indeed does at the author’s home institution) the basis of an institutional strategy to provide opportunities to meet the collective goals of a diverse body of colleagues. colleagues primarily motivated by professional enhancement – achieved through improving their performance against key performance indicators or by, for example, building their professional reputation – may especially value opportunities to engage in enhancement initiatives that evaluate and apply evidence or with cpd opportunities that are situated in a rewarding development environment. those motivated by a sense of academic citizenship to engage with others and support and guide colleagues may particularly value opportunities to collaborate as a member of an academic community in a supportive development environment. colleagues motivated by intellectual curiosity to research or to make an original contribution to academic practice may value opportunities to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 contribute to the creation of knowledge or to pilot innovations through creative developmental activity. in order to engage staff fully, it is necessary to consider aligning opportunities with the different career stages of academic practitioners and to link opportunities to their key motivators. all staff should be provided with opportunities to engage: in reflective practice, in professional development and in research-informed practice; with personalised support, with a vibrant academic community and with new and emerging approaches. beyond this, staff need to be offered opportunities to engage formally, socially and intellectually with other staff to drive development of academic practice. these opportunities could include working in teams to enhance courses, development of colleagues across the institution, peer support, formal collaborations, acting as institutional change agents and engaging in and sharing research. a framework aligning staff orientations with current imperatives relating to development of academic practice by aligning opportunities with organisational imperatives and with staff orientations, it is therefore possible to develop a holistic blueprint – which appeals to staff, whatever their orientation – for developing excellent academic practice which appeals to staff. figure 2: the developing excellent academic practice framework articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the proposed framework (figure 2) holistically aligns these elements of academic practice. using this model, it is possible to design, manage, monitor and evaluate a strategy to develop excellent academic practice. the proposed blueprint, presented as a well-received keynote at the 2017 seda conference (pickford, 2017), aligns six related elements of excellent academic practice: • educational enhancement • professional practice • support • community • innovation and enterprise • research these interdependent elements of academic practice identify the opportunities required at different career stages to progress from excellent individual practice to excellent organisational outcomes. the six streams align to colleagues’ specific orientations towards their academic practice and towards the ways individuals look to engage. aligned agency, opportunities and imperatives are considered in turn: educational enhancement (orange in model) enhancement of teaching excellence and student outcomes (tef) – at course/programme, subject and institutional levels – can be fostered through a strategy that a) provides optimum conditions for all academic practitioners to engage in reflective practice relating to their personal impact on courses and b) subsequently engages these reflective practitioners in planning evidence-informed enhancements to their own courses and to other courses in the institution. professional practice (red in model) increasing professional reputation through international and national recognition of individual, group and institutional excellence can be achieved by a) celebrating all practitioners who increase their reputation through formal professional development opportunities and b) rewarding those who subsequently use their learning to enhance the cpd of colleagues across the institution. support (lilac in model) supporting colleagues to become academic practitioners with personal impact can be fostered by a) providing accessible, personalised support for all and b) developing a supportive environment in which colleagues are encouraged to support and have positive impact on others. community (blue in model) providing a public service – through extensive and high-profile civic engagement, consultancy and events – can be achieved by developing such a culture that all staff have articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the opportunity to belong to a community of academic practice, to participate in it and collaborate as a member of it. innovation and enterprise (green in model) innovation can be fostered by introducing all colleagues to new and emerging approaches, encouraging them to experiment in a safe environment and subsequently empowering them to have, as change agents, creative impact across and beyond the institution. research (yellow in model) enhancement of research excellence (ref) can be fostered a) through a strategy that requires research-informed practice by all and b) by encouraging academic practitioners to engage in research that has positive impact upon understanding within, across and beyond the institution. discussion this paper proposes how current imperatives can successfully be aligned with staff agency and motivation to engage in development of academic practice through provision of tailored opportunities. the framework can demonstrably be used to achieve a positive impact through the implementation of pragmatic and measurable activities to develop and demonstrate excellent academic practice. adopting a holistic approach to developing and rewarding academic practice also offers the opportunity to recognise those activities that lie on the intersections between teaching, research, administration and academic citizenship and to resolve the tensions that are inherent in managing these different strands of academic activity. many valuable academic activities are unrecognised (blackmore and kandiko, 2011). for example, clegg and rowland (2010) argue that kindness and concern for lay normativity are commonplace, but that – because they cannot be regulated or prescribed – they go unremarked. likewise, brew (2011) observes that, in the context of the national research assessments that are commonplace in many countries, a misguided belief exists that present-day disciplinary research productivity is all that matters, resulting in academics’ being increasingly discouraged from researching the teaching of their discipline and instructed to concentrate on disciplinary research. she argues, however, that, in twenty-first century society, the capacity to adapt and change teaching and learning in continually-shifting circumstances is critical for the future of any discipline and that without it, the capacity of the discipline to reproduce itself will be undermined. a truly integrated approach to holistic development of academic practice that embraces these intersections and rejects the artificial separations between emotion, reason and ambition will, i argue, sustain these critical activities. the lack of a recognised definition of academic excellence that speaks to a whole university community will inevitably lead to a failure, to the detriment of the institution, to exploit individual expertise that of all staff – which would be of benefit to it. such a deficiency presents many heis with inherent problems in aligning strategies with reward and recognition schemes. for example, gunn and fisk (op.cit.), concluded from their literature review that a taxonomy of teaching excellence that allows for different orientations towards teaching – as expressed by different role profiles over the stages of an academic career – would be useful. a pragmatic response is for institutions to take ownership of the concept of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 excellent academic practice and to create a sustainable, research-informed and evidencebased blueprint for developing it. a shared, robust approach will empower institutions to respond, rather than react, to continuing changes in external requirements and metrics, while at the same time supporting individual academic practitioners to enhance their practice in meaningful ways. the framework outlined here builds upon staff motivation to underpin a professional development strategy that enables and empowers colleagues to achieve successful outcomes for themselves and for their universities. it can also enable consistent communication between different areas of a university and support internal and external collaboration. the framework has been developed specifically and pragmatically for personal, team and institutional enhancement of academic practice. had this approach been adopted merely to align with the series of proxy measures and criteria currently being used in the sector to measure ‘excellence’ it would have been ill-considered. in a volatile sector, the current criteria are liable to change and new measures will almost certainly be introduced rapidly. more importantly, however, an institution-wide holistic approach to the development of excellent academic practice, as described and practised here, requires visible high-level support from a university’s executive, deans and directors. an approach developed principally to achieve short-term success, without its roots in research and evidence-based practice, would be of little interest to academic practitioners and of limited value to a university executive focused on developing long-term, sustainable strategies that should sit above the constant stream of new government initiatives and sector requirements. however, starting from a consideration of the diverse orientations in any community of academic practice, and building upon the elements of research-informed and evidence-based approaches, developmental activities and development environments that align with these different orientations can provide a basis for a sustainable holistic approach that can underpin successful institutional outcomes. if we set out to improve performance against the plethora of external criteria currently being used in the sector to judge excellence, then we may reach the same point, but in a less coherent way. success in esteem measures can be achieved only if staff are engaged. it follows that a framework to maximise the chances of success against these external measures of prestige necessarily requires development of academic practice at personal and organisational levels, aligned with appropriate engagement opportunities (relating to educational enhancement, professional practice, support, community, innovation and enterprise, and research) that, in turn, align with the personal orientations and goals of staff. conclusion, recommendations and further work based upon the experiences of the author’s university, institutions could use this blueprint most effectively as a tool for planning, analysis, evaluation and recognition. university executives, pro-vice-chancellors (learning and teaching), academic development directorates, academic services, promotion panels and deans can use the framework systematically to design, plan, manage, monitor, evaluate and enhance academic practice. it can also be used developmentally to identify specific elements of academic practice that are meeting or failing to meet requirements. this framework can be applied across a range of contexts, but will likely see more immediate positive outcomes if it has: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 • senior level leadership and support; • a high institutional profile; • central, institutional-level coordination; • an aligned institutional development programme; • clear alignment with institutional initiatives, policies and strategies. it is recommended that further work could usefully explore: a. the potential for the framework to embrace an integrated approach to management, administration, teaching, research, enterprise and knowledge exchange, forming the basis for a higher education blueprint that could be used to support development of integrated holistic institutional strategic plans. specifically, there is potential to extend the framework to include research outputs and research impact as well as aligned opportunities to underpin organisational sustainability. b. how this framework could be aligned with institutional approaches to student access, success and progress and to student engagement (pickford, 2016) and with current metrics relating to teaching excellence and student outcomes to form the basis for a holistic blueprint to enhance the experiences of students and colleagues. since gunn and fisk (op.cit.) suggest that the overriding requirement is to develop a shared repertoire (a taxonomy) in relation to teaching and teacher excellence, this approach can be useful in building a systematic map of what activities, approaches and dispositions are required to achieve excellence. this is a view supported by little and locke (2011, p.19): “a teaching mission necessarily embraces both a concern for teaching and a concern for the end product of the teaching process that is: the student learning experience.” c. how this framework could be used – as the basis of institutional strategies and recognition and reward policies – to map synoptically the criteria of new frameworks, standards and awards as they emerge and to structure the work and evaluate the impact of academic development departments. within the author’s institution, the framework is being used in a number of ways: • the university’s centre for learning and teaching (clt) is structured around this framework, with team members’ job titles and responsibilities aligning with the six aspects of developing excellent academic practice; • an impact-evaluation framework, with eighteen quantitative and qualitative metrics based on the eighteen elements of the model, is used annually to evaluate the performance and impact of clt at an accountability meeting with the university’s executive team; • the framework is informing development of an integrated institutional academic promotions framework; • the framework is supporting an integrated approach to cpd, bringing together development opportunities supported by people and organisational development, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the graduate school and clt, to provide colleagues with informed choices relating to academic career development; • used in conjunction with the blueprint for teaching excellence (pickford, 2018), the framework underpins the institution’s education strategy and the development of a cross-institutional ‘learning pathway’. though this work continues, early evidence indicates increased colleague engagement and improved organisational outcomes across the six domains. reference list becher, t. (1989) academic tribes and territories: intellectual enquiry and the cultures of disciplines. buckingham: open university press/srhe. isbn. 978-0335206278. blackmore, p. and kandiko, c.b. (2011) ‘motivation in academic life: a prestige economy.’ research in post-compulsory education, 16(4), 399-411. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13596748.2011.626971 (accessed: 29 october 2018). brew, a. (2007) ‘integrating research and teaching: understanding excellence.’ in: skelton, a. (ed.) international perspectives on teaching excellence in higher education: improving knowledge and practice. abingdon, oxon: routledge. isbn. 978-1138973206. brew, a. (2011) ‘higher education research and the scholarship of teaching and learning: the pursuit of excellence.’ international journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning, 5(2), 3. available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol5/iss2/3/ (accessed: 29 october 2018). burton, c., buchan, l. and tarleton, r. (2015) engagement and wellbeing: an integrated model, designed4success. available at: https://engageforsuccess.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/12/engagement-and-wellbeing-dec-15.pdf (accessed: 29 october 2018). clegg, s. and rowland, s. (2010) ‘kindness in pedagogical practice and academic life.’ british journal of sociology of education, 31(6), 719-735. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2010.515102 (accessed: 29 october 2018). gordon, e. (2000) integrative neuroscience: bringing together biological, psychological and clinical models of the human brain. singapore: harwood academic publishers. isbn. 9789058230553. gunn, v. and fisk, a. (2013) considering teaching excellence in higher education: 20072013: a literature review since the cheri report 2007. project report. york: higher education academy. available at: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/87987/1/87987.pdf (accessed: 29 october 2018). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13596748.2011.626971 https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol5/iss2/3/ https://engageforsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/engagement-and-wellbeing-dec-15.pdf https://engageforsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/engagement-and-wellbeing-dec-15.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2010.515102 http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/87987/1/87987.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 kahn, w.a. (1990) ‘psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work.’ academy of management journal, 33(4), 692-724. available at: https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/256287 (accessed: 29 october 2018). land, r. (2004) educational development: discourse, identity and practice. maidenhead. society for research into higher education and open university press. isbn. 9780335213283. little, b. and locke, w. (2011) ‘conceptions of excellence in teaching and learning and implications for future policy and practice.’ in: rostan and vaira, m. (eds.) questioning excellence in higher education: policies, experiences and challenges in national and comparative perspective. rotterdam: sense publishers. isbn. 978-9460916403. office for students (2018) office for students strategy 2018 to 2021. ofs,18, 30th april 2018. available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/office-for-studentsstrategy-2018-to-2021/ (accessed: 29 october 2018). pickford, r. (2016) ‘student engagement: body, mind and heart – a proposal for an embedded multi-dimensional student engagement framework.’ journal of perspectives in applied academic practice. 4 (2). issn 2051-9788. doi: 10.14297/jpaap.v4i2.198. available at: https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/jpaap/article/view/198/pdf (accessed: 29 october 2018). pickford, r. (2017) reinventing the wheel: a blueprint for supporting course teams to develop teaching excellence. opening keynote address, 22nd annual seda conference, cardiff, 16th-17th november 2017. slides available at: https://www.slideshare.net/seda_uk_/ruth-pickford (accessed: 29 october 2018). pickford, r. (2018) ‘a blueprint for teaching excellence.’ journal of perspectives in applied academic practice, 6(1). available at: https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/jpaap/article/view/299/435 (accessed: 29 october 2018). pickford, r. and brown, s. (2013) ‘themes, orientations, synergies and a shared agenda: the first 20 years of the seda series of books.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 50(4). available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14703297.2013.839390 (accessed: 29 october 2018). saks, a.m. (2006) ‘antecedents and consequences of employee engagement.’ journal of managerial psychology, 21(7), 600-619. available at: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/02683940610690169 (accessed: 29 october 2018). https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/256287 https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/office-for-students-strategy-2018-to-2021/ https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/office-for-students-strategy-2018-to-2021/ http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/view/creators/pickford=3ar=3a=3a.html http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/2619/ http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/2619/ http://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v4i2.198 https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/jpaap/article/view/198/pdf https://www.slideshare.net/seda_uk_/ruth-pickford https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/jpaap/article/view/299/435 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14703297.2013.839390 https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/02683940610690169 opinion piece compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 why we shouldn’t shy away from discussions around decolonising curricula danielle tran university of greenwich within the last decade, there has been a steady growth of literature discussing the benefits of internationalising curricula, strategies for making curricula more international and the possible impact of such an approach on students’ experience during their time at university and in the world of work beyond. in an ‘internationalising the curriculum toolkit’ by liverpool john moores university (no date), “internationalisation of the curriculum [is seen] as one of the key steps in encouraging global perspectives, knowledge and understandings that enhances employability in a global economy, promotes inclusivity, equality and a diverse and enriched learning experience for all”. such a definition of internationalising the curriculum has clear connections to the argument for decolonising the curriculum – something which has been gaining momentum within the critical sphere. yet the definition for decolonisation of curricula continues to be debated. whilst both internationalising and decolonising of curricula call for a review of course content and delivery in light of the diverse body of students in our classrooms, there is a difference between an internationalisation and a decolonising of curricula – a difference that should not be overlooked. for some, the term ‘internationalisation’ may be more comfortable to use, as it emphasises the notion of inclusivity and globality. hesitancy about discussing a ‘decolonising of curricula’ may derive from a sense that this phrase is possibly loaded, engaging directly as it does with a history that cannot be adequately discussed without addressing how issues of race, power, and trauma have come to be at its core. in an opinion piece for the guardian, gopal (2017) notes, “a decolonised curriculum would bring questions of class, caste, race, gender, ability and sexuality into dialogue with each other, instead of pretending that there is some kind of generic identity we all share […] ultimately, to decolonise is to ask difficult questions of ourselves”. but these interconnected issues must not be ignored. students are making it clear that they want higher education institutions (heis) to address the matter – as illustrated by the campaigns for the decolonising of education led by students at the university of sussex (2016 and continuing) and university college london (2018). relevant conversations in heis, both nationally and internationally, are increasingly generating a more attentive response to questions about what is being taught, how it is being taught and who is delivering the teaching, with consequent healthy discussions – which may well spread beyond an institution – about class, gender and race. i took part in the ‘widening success in higher education’ 2017 project (funded by the british council and managed by cape peninsula university of technology and the university of east london), which explored strategies for increasing participation within higher education, ensuring student success and enhancing employability. my experience of this project was very positive, on account of the developmental conversations that can (and did!) occur when participants push past any discomfort they may feel about discussing decolonising curricula. opinion piece compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the workshops encouraged me to reflect more deeply upon my understanding and use of the terms ‘internationalising’ and ‘decolonising’ of curriculum; i gained a better understanding of the differences between these two terms and a better sense of the value to be derived from discussing the latter. these exchanges were at times sensitive, difficult and challenging; however, it became clear that it is important to transcend personal feelings in such discussion in order to develop understanding, acknowledge all views and achieve constructive reflection on whether or not these issues are being addressed and acknowledged in our classrooms: if they are, how? if they are not, why not? new opportunities for dialogue may open up if we are aware of a number of things: how we are seen in the classroom; how we see our students; who is in our classroom – not just who our students are now, but how their views and understanding of the world have been formed; how different views can be acknowledged in classroom spaces. having taken the first important psychological step (viz. not to shy away from the potentially difficult conversations that can be opened up from a discussion of decolonising curricula), we must be open and embrace hard discussions. to be professional and committed teachers, we must not evade conversation which is challenging, but recognise its vital importance, listen to students’ expression of their needs and concerns, acknowledge these and engage and respond thoughtfully. decolonising curricula should be viewed as a critical point of discussion which encourages reflection and allows for positive developments towards the creation of a more inclusive, diverse curriculum and learning experience. reference list gopal, p. (2017) ‘yes, we must decolonise: our teaching has to go beyond elite white men.’ the guardian (27 october 2017). available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/27/decolonise-elite-white-mendecolonising-cambridge-university-english-curriculum-literature (accessed: 31 october 2018). liverpool john moores university (no date) internationalising the curriculum: a toolkit. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/internationalisation_toolkit.pdf (accessed: 31 october 2018). university of sussex students’ union (2018) decolonise education. (student campaign) available at: https://www.sussexstudent.com/campaigns/decolonize-education/ (accesssed: 21 may 2018). students’ union ucl (2018) decolonise ucl. (student campaign) available at: http://studentsunionucl.org/make-change/what-were-working-on-0/decolonise-ucl (accessed: 21 may 2018). https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/27/decolonise-elite-white-men-decolonising-cambridge-university-english-curriculum-literature https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/27/decolonise-elite-white-men-decolonising-cambridge-university-english-curriculum-literature https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/internationalisation_toolkit.pdf https://www.sussexstudent.com/campaigns/decolonize-education/ http://studentsunionucl.org/make-change/what-were-working-on-0/decolonise-ucl case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 evolutions of carpe diem for learning design julie usher, sheila macneill, linda creanor the university of northampton, glasgow caledonian university abstract this paper presents a comparative case study from two uk universities that contextualises their use of the carpe diem learning design methodology. the aim of the case study is not to share an evaluation of the carpe diem process per se, as both institutions are confident in the validity of the design process it scaffolds. rather, it explores the different contexts, institutional drivers and evolutions of the original process in both institutions: supporting the development of online programmes at glasgow caledonian university and blended programmes through the caiero framework (creating aligned interactive educational resource opportunities) at the university of northampton. it then shares common challenges and opportunities; in particular the use of carpe diem to support open educational practice. the aim is to contribute to a continuing collaborative narrative about the processes involved in implementing and embedding a formal learning design process such as carpe diem. keywords: learning design, digital learning, open education practice introduction as higher education (he) evolves to take account of various internal and external drivers, the process of curriculum design is becoming increasingly important to learning and teaching practice (conole, 2013). many of these drivers, not least of which are student and employer expectations regarding digital capabilities, emphasise the need for the design of effective student-centred learning experiences, in or out of the classroom. by engaging academic staff teams in collaborative approaches to the design of these experiences, creativity and innovation – in learning, teaching and assessment – can be encouraged and the digital capabilities of both staff and students enhanced. ‘carpe diem’ (salmon, 2013) is one such model, which provides a two-day structured workshop framework for a team-based approach to curriculum design. since its inception over fifteen years ago, carpe diem has been adopted and adapted by a number of institutions in the uk and australia to support teaching staff in designing and redesigning courses (conole and wills, 2013; dempster et al., 2012; salmon and wright, 2014). to demonstrate the flexibility of this approach, this case study will look at two examples from uk institutions: glasgow caledonian university, one of the pilot institutions for the original carpe diem process in 2002, and the university of northampton, which joined the adder (assessment & disciplines: developing e-tivities research) project in 2008 (armellini and aiyegbayo, 2010). this case study will review how each institution has contextualised the process, to align with specific institutional priorities, and explore the lessons learned so far through their experience of supporting course design. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 context example 1 glasgow caledonian university (gcu) is a modern scottish university with over 16,000 students. gcu was one of the pilot institutions for the original carpe diem process in 2002, when professor gilly salmon, the originator of carpe diem, was appointed as visiting professor in the caledonian business school. at that time, the university was introducing a new vle (blackboard). this circumstance presented an ideal opportunity to engage colleagues in curriculum design to support the development of blended and online programmes. the outcomes were positive, building confidence among academics and encouraging creativity in learning design (salmon et al., 2008). for the next few years, carpe diem continued to be used, primarily in the business school, and also underpinned the re-design of assessment practices at gcu during the re-engineering assessment practices (reap) project, funded by the scottish funding council from 2005-7 as part of the e-learning transformation programme. example 2 the university of northampton (uon) is one of the youngest universities in the uk and has over 10,000 students. we adopted the carpe diem framework and began adapting it as ‘caiero’ (creating aligned interactive educational resource opportunities), in 2008. initially, the caiero workshop was adopted by subject teams involved in the pilot project, who developed pockets of good practice. it wasn’t until the creation of our institute of learning and teaching in 2012 that we began promoting it as our institutional approach to course design. uon is currently focused on an institutional curriculum change project, driven by our learning and teaching plan and the move to our new ‘waterside’1 campus in september 2018. the plan, which is informed both by research into effective pedagogy and by an increasing need to develop the digital literacies of students and staff, outlines our institutional commitment to ‘active blended learning’ (abl) as the norm across all our taught programmes. delivering on this means re-designing much of our learning and teaching as well as moving away from traditional lecture-based teaching to more small-group, interactive and student-centred approaches. caiero is a good fit for this strategy, because of the emphasis on “learner-centred, task-based learning design” and effective use of learning technologies it inherits from the carpe diem model (armellini and aiyegbayo, 2010). implementation example 1 at gcu in 2014, there was a renewed drive across the university to increase the number of fully online masters-level programmes. in response to this, the central blended learning team revisited the original carpe diem process and over the past three years has been developing it into a flexible learning design methodology supportively aligned to the strategic aims of the university. 1 http://hellowaterside.northampton.ac.uk/ http://hellowaterside.northampton.ac.uk/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 in 2015, the university formed a partnership with the african leadership college (alc)2 to deliver a range of (mainly online) undergraduate programmes to that institution’s new campus in mauritius. to support this new initiative, a range of curriculum support opportunities for staff was introduced, building on earlier revisions of the carpe diem process. a range of flexible support options, with face-to-face workshops followed by online support and guidance and a peer-review process, was initially made available to staff involved in the alc initiative and, subsequently, to all staff. example 2 at northampton, caiero is integrated into our wider staff development programme as an option for developing learning and teaching practice. the teaching staff at northampton come from diverse backgrounds and include those with many years of teaching experience as well as those fresh from graduate study or from industry. not all of these have had opportunities for formal development in designing taught courses or in active and blended learning approaches, so the requirements of the curriculum change project have had considerable implications for staff development. to support this, the university introduced dedicated resources: currently, four full-time members of staff employed as ‘learning designers’, with a major part of their role focused on facilitation of caiero workshops. caiero has also been embedded into our quality-assurance and enhancement processes. engagement with the process is mandatory for validation of new modules and programmes and it is recommended as one of a suite of available quality-enhancement options for periodic subject review. analysis and evolution of the carpe diem model example 1 over the past year, a new ‘academic quality and development’ department has been formed at gcu. as part of this restructuring, there has been a refocus of professional development opportunities, including a core focus on curriculum design. one of our initial actions was to implement a survey on the digital capabilities of academic staff, to establish a baseline for future cpd priorities. as part of this, we asked staff to rate their confidence levels in various aspects of designing and teaching online modules, including curriculum design. as shown in figure 1, overall confidence levels were relatively low, with only 42% of respondents identifying themselves as highly, or very, confident in designing the curriculum for online modules. in all other aspects, including the design of online learning activities and assessments, results showed that the majority of respondents felt only slightly, or not at all, confident. 2 https://www.gcu.ac.uk/theuniversity/international/alc/ https://www.gcu.ac.uk/theuniversity/international/alc/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 figure 1: staff confidence in designing and teaching online modules the survey results informed the development of a digital learning implementation plan which highlights curriculum design for blended and online programmes as a key priority for the university, providing justification for the further roll-out of the carpe diem curriculum design model. carpe diem has been incorporated into an overarching learning design workflow which ideally starts with a face-to-face carpe diem full-day workshop. owing to time pressure on staff, we have reduced the face-to-face session to two hours. such a reduction of the workshop has been possible because our development of existing modules has fixed many of their design elements, including learning outcomes. for example, in the case of the alc modules, the focus was on transposing existing campus-based content and activities to equivalent online ones. for most module teams, the main takeaway from the session has been a shared overarching module design in which key points of interaction include student activities, summative assessment and feedback opportunities. staff have been encouraged to use trello (an online collaborative task-management tool) to convert their initial paper and post-it note storyboards into a working, collaborative online document. the uptake of trello has surpassed initial expectations and has allowed staff not only to share new designs but also to provide a way to map other existing modules.3 trello boards provide a simple, shareable view of a module design. once a trello board is created and populated, prototyping of the course design begins. initially, we had encouraged use of coursesites, the open version of blackboard, but, in practice, most module teams have either used a community area within our vle or the 3 http://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/3170/ http://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/3170/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 actual module shell. it is at this point that, in general, staff start to work with the learning technologists in their schools to develop learning activities and course content. as part of the alc project, all modules are required to go through a light-touch qualityenhancement process. to support this process, a peer-review checklist, based on an agreed set of characteristics and standards, has been developed. this has enabled subject specialists and the academic development team to review modules in terms of both the appropriateness of overall learning design, and core content and activities. the checklist has proved popular with academic colleagues, a number of whom have started to use it with other non-alc modules. at gcu, evaluation and review is linked to the university’s existing module evaluation process. when required, we are able to adapt and extract relevant elements of the carpe diem process to focus on particular elements in a programme – for example, assessment and feedback, if that is what is required by a review process or highlighted as an area for development by a module team. over the academic year 2017/18, the academic development team is working with schools to offer a more structured approach to module/programme/curriculum design to support the university’s aspirations for digital learning. we shall be working with nominated module teams as they design new programmes or refresh existing ones in blended and online mode. working with the teams, we shall provide a range of flexible options, and shall have more opportunity to ensure that, from the outset, we are kept in the development loop. example 2 at northampton, we have for the past four years been monitoring uptake and feedback from caiero participants and over that time we have made a number of adaptations to the original carpe diem workshop format. these are partly in response to continuing evaluation and feedback and partly to align the process more closely with institutional drivers, including the curriculum change project and our commitment to supporting staff to achieve professional accreditation through the higher education academy (hea). at uon, we see caiero as having two outputs: a design for the module or programme and skills development for the teaching team. in response to the diverse levels of experience among our teaching staff, we have discarded the original carpe diem requirement that learning outcomes must be finalised in advance of the workshop (salmon and wright, 2014). some of our staff have little experience of writing effective learning outcomes, and getting these right is fundamental to the ensuing design, so we took the decision to address these, if necessary, within the workshop itself, before progressing to align the assessment and the learning and teaching activity. we also designed some independent learning activities directly into the caiero planner4, for staff who want to find out more in their own time about outcomes, assessment and the design of learning and teaching activities. staff and facilitator feedback revealed that different course teams had different needs and, as a result of this, we use the pre-caiero diagnostic5 to determine the agenda for the 4 http://bit.ly/caiero-planner 5 http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2014/12/24/de-mystifying-the-caiero-the-pre-caiero-meeting/ http://bit.ly/caiero-planner http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2014/12/24/de-mystifying-the-caiero-the-pre-caiero-meeting/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 workshop. rather than following all of the steps in every workshop, we consider them more as a toolkit: we work with the course team to identify which steps need to be covered in detail and customise the workshop plan accordingly. this increases ownership of the process and helps staff to feel it is a constructive use of time. of course, it also helps if the tailored agenda means that we don’t need to take up two full days, which can be difficult for teaching teams to set aside; however, if we do need two days (or sometimes more), the custom agenda makes it clear that it is needs-based. linked to this idea of tailoring, for some caieros we have moved away from the emphasis on e-tivities. our active blended learning agenda presents different challenges for different staff, depending on their experience and confidence with teaching and technology. where a member of staff is finding it more challenging to design active-learning activities for the classroom, we might leave aside the vle and help them plan out their face-to-face activity instead – and then, often, the right tools to support this, as well as the work that needs to happen before and after it, become obvious. feedback from participants has always emphasised the value of collaboration in caieros. so, in addition to the course team workshops, we also offer ‘caiero for individuals’ workshops, for staff who can’t get together with their team but still want to be able to work on their own modules. this approach has some disadvantages, in that the structure of the workshop can’t be customised and it doesn’t address alignment between modules on the same programme, but it also has advantages: the collaborative element is maintained by bringing individuals from different teams together and, through discussion, they often find parallels in teaching practice that are independent of discipline and context. further to support the staff development aspect of caiero, we have also included specific reflection points in the process. the planner provides prompts to reflect before the session on available student and external examiner feedback and there are now steps, in the workshop itself, where staff are encouraged to document both their learning and the rationale for any changes they have decided to make. this is intended to help staff recognise the development of transferable skills and also provides both notes towards personal development-planning and evidence for fellowship applications and quality processes. conclusions carpe diem is a proven, flexible and engaging method for developing both blended and fully-online courses at university level. as the two examples have illustrated, a level of customisation and contextualisation is necessary to ensure that the model accommodates individual institutional priorities. this naturally restricts the direct comparisons that can be drawn between the two approaches, as well as the possibilities for collaborative evaluation. however, in bringing these two examples together, we have also found some common benefits and challenges in implementing variations of carpe diem and we draw these out here, for the consideration of those planning to implement similar approaches. release of staff time to engage with the process has proved a challenge for both institutions. whilst the authors acknowledge that the rationale for the original two-day model is sound, they have found it challenging to replicate in their current contexts. having high-level case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 institutional support for the process and integrating it into wider review processes can be helpful, although these are by no means a cure-all, as the responsibility for meaningful participation will always lie with the individual staff member. our experiences have also shown that the majority of staff engage positively with the workshop element, but it can be challenging to maintain development momentum after the event. use of collaborative online tools such as trello can alleviate this somewhat, though schedules sometimes dictate that staff have to leave significant chunks of time between a workshop and actual activity development. these are issues that both institutions are looking to address in the future. carpe diem can also be a powerful way of introducing the concepts of open educational resources (oers) and open educational practice (oep) (armellini and nie, 2013). at gcu, by embedding the concept of open education within the carpe diem process, we encourage colleagues to consider oers and oeps as an integral part of their own teaching practice. at uon, we have integrated a number of additional design-related oers into the caiero toolkit. both institutions have continued the open ethos of the early carpe diem planner, which was originally released under a creative commons (cc) licence, by publishing our supporting resources, using cc licences both for gcu resources6 and for uon7, and by supporting other institutions in turn to adapt and implement their own versions of the carpe diem method. as an example, the elder learning design process at the university of edinburgh was adapted in turn from the caiero process at northampton (university of edinburgh, 2017) and it is in the spirit of this continuing conversation and collaborative iteration process that we offer these reflections on our experiences. reference list armellini, a. and aiyegbayo, o. (2010) ‘learning design and assessment with e-tivities.’ british journal of educational technology, 41(6), 922–935. armellini, a. and nie, m. (2013) ‘open educational practices for curriculum enhancement.’ open learning, 28(1), 7-20. conole, g., (2013) ‘designing for learning in an open world.’ in: spector, m. and lejoie, s.p. (eds.), explorations in the learning sciences, instructional systems and performance technologies. new york: springer. conole, g. and wills, s. (2013) ‘representing learning designs – making design explicit and shareable.’ educational media international, 50(1), 24-38. dempster, j.a., benfield, g. and francis, r. (2012) ‘an academic development model for fostering innovation and sharing in curriculum design.’ innovations in education and teaching international, 49(2), 135-147. 6 http://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/1284/ and http://bit.ly/2zkbnz3 7 http://bit.ly/caiero-planner http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01013.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.677595 http://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/1284/ http://bit.ly/2zkbnz3 http://bit.ly/caiero-planner case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 salmon, g. (2013) e-tivities: the key to active online learning. 2nd ed. new york: routledge. salmon, g., jones, s. and armellini, a. (2008) ‘building institutional capability in e-learning design.’ alt-j: research in learning technology, 16(2), 95-109. salmon, g. and wright, p. (2014) ‘transforming future teaching through carpe diem learning design.’ education sciences, 4(1), 52-63. the university of strathclyde (2007) re-engineering assessment practices in scottish higher education. available at: http://www.reap.ac.uk/reap/index.html (accessed: 30 october 2017). the university of edinburgh (2017) about elder. available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/supporting-learning-andteaching/learning-design/about (accessed: 27 october 2017). glasgow caledonian university (2014) gcu interim open educational resources policy. available at: http://www.gcu.ac.uk/media/gcalwebv2/library/content/pdffiles/gcu-interimopen-educational-resources-policy-approved.pdf (accessed: 27 october 2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/educsci4010052 http://www.reap.ac.uk/reap/index.html https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/supporting-learning-and-teaching/learning-design/about https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/supporting-learning-and-teaching/learning-design/about http://www.gcu.ac.uk/media/gcalwebv2/library/content/pdffiles/gcu-interim-open-educational-resources-policy-approved.pdf http://www.gcu.ac.uk/media/gcalwebv2/library/content/pdffiles/gcu-interim-open-educational-resources-policy-approved.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the governments new career strategy: an end to placements for english higher education performing arts students? david hockham university of greenwich this short article discusses the problems related to the scalability of placements in england for higher education (he) institutions in a sector with limited economic resources: the performing arts. placements are an established part of learning vocational practice within he (guile and lahiff, 2016, little and harvey 2006). the literature in this area notes that learning in educational settings is different from that of the workplace (resnick, 1987), as learners in education identify as students rather than employees and establish and work within communities of practice for education rather than for industry (lave and wenger, 1991). this could mean that, post graduation, the difficulty experienced by graduates in navigating the transition between the learning environment and the workplace could result in a ‘praxis shock’ (kvale, 1995, p.4). placements are potentially a way of aiding students to navigate between these two communities of practice. historically, there have always been placements in theatres in england, taken by he students to gain experience in the performing arts industry and supplement their in-course training. before the school leaving age in england was raised to eighteen (dfe department for education, 2008), young people used to work for free to gain experience and then seek employment in this industry. this created opportunity for those with privilege: 94% of those employed in the performing arts in 2008 were white (ccskills, 2008) and, whist the gender mix in the workforce was roughly equal, “women [were] likely to earn less money than their male counterparts” (ccskills, 2010, p.10). this unpaid labour raises ethical questions about workforce training delivery and the traditional workforce pipeline of university, unpaid internship and entry-level job. these considerations have led industry leaders to reject the practice of free labour. the london theatre consortium (ltc) notes: “if we continue to recruit and train in the ways we always have, the demographic … of our workforces will remain the same [having] a negative impact on our programming, our artistic and creative development, and mean that we fail to serve the communities in which we are based.” (ccskills, 2013, p.2) the ltc, a consortium of thirteen of london’s leading producing theatres, has had success in employing levels 2 and 3 apprentices who are paid the london living wage, now circa £19,000 (ccskills, ibid.). this is higher than the average wage of a worker in sheffield and has significant financial impact on what are often small organisations with tight budgetary considerations. in the wake of post-16 compulsory education, the unskilled workforce has shrunk, meaning that people arrive now ‘qualified,’ wanting to undertake a management role rather than that opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 of assistant (house of lords, 2017). the government has attempted to respond – by changing the levels 2-3 training space while also attempting to resolve the ‘skills gap’ identified by employers – and deployed a national career strategy, published in december 2017 (‘careers strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents’, 2017). the new ‘t levels’ at level 3 are part of this strategy (students are able to opt to study a technical subject area rather than the standard a level) and require students to do twenty to thirty hours of placement. alongside this, the april 2017 arrival of the ‘contemporary apprenticeship’ has enabled apprentices from levels 2-7 to learn on the job. however, such additional demand for work experience may well overload the placement system, to the detriment of students across the he sector there are, according to the office of national statistics, two million sixteento eighteenyear-olds in this country. if forty per cent of these students chose a vocational pathway and one per cent of these chose technical theatre, then 8,000 young people would need either thirty hours of placement or be on an apprenticeship every year. with only 1300 active theatres in the uk (theatrestrust, 2018) – many of which not suitable for placements, as the figure includes pop-up and temporary venues, as well as school and college theatres – it appears that the needs of the 8000 young people and the number of placement places are irreconcilable. to add, on top of this, places for apprentices beyond eighteen years old at levels 4-7 and the he institutional demand, is to confirm an apparently irresolvable problem. there is an opportunity for english universities to re-think the workforce pipeline and to consider critically the ethical considerations about having young people work for free, with the twin aims of ensuring a workforce that represents the community it serves and of supporting students to navigate between education and the work place. this article marks the beginning of this author’s journey to consider this. reference list ccskills (2008) performing arts: impact and footprint 2008/09. purfleet, uk: creative and cultural industries ltd. ccskills (2010) the performing arts blueprint. purfleet, uk: creative and cultural industries ltd. ccskills (2013) creative employment programme case study: london theatre consortium. purfleet, uk: creative and cultural industries ltd. department of education (2017) ‘careers strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents.’ (december) available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_da ta/file/664319/careers_strategy.pdf (accessed: 12 january 2018). dfe (2008) education and skills act 2008. london: department for education, p.144. guile, d. and lahiff, a. (2016) ‘apprenticeship for “ liquid life ”: learning in contingent work conditions for contingent employment.’ vocations and learning, 157-175. doi: opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 10.1007/s12186-016-9166-3. house of lords (2017) ‘select committee on communcations. corrected oral evidence: skills for the theatre industry. 28 march 4.30pm’ available at: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/commu nications-committee/skills-for-the-theatre-industry/oral/49659.pdf (accessed: 13 january 2018). kvale, s. (1995) ‘an education rehabilitation of apprenticeship learning.’ american eductaion research association. lave, j. and wenger, e. (1991) situate learning: legitimate peripheral participation. cambridge: cambridge university press. little, b. and harvey, l. (2006) learning through work placements and beyond a report for hecsu and the higher education academy’s work placements organisation forum. available at: http://hecsu.ac.uk/assets/assets/documents/learning_through_work_placements_and_beyo nd.pdf. (accessed: 18 oct 2018). resnick, l.b. (1987) ‘learning in school and out.’ educational researcher, 16(9), 13-20. doi: 10.3102/0013189x029002004. available at https://people.ucsc.edu/~gwells/files/courses_folder/ed%20261%20papers/resnick%20in %20%26%20out%20school.pdf (accessed 13 january 2018). theatrestrust (2018) how many theatres are there in the uk? available at: http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/discover-theatres/theatre-faqs/167-how-many-theatres-arethere-in-the-uk (accessed: 12 january 2018). compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 tribute to triplets: a model for successful group work noel-ann bradshaw school of computing & mathematical sciences mention group work to a class of students and an audible groan ripples around the room. nevertheless, according to johnson and johnson (1989) ‘learning to work together in a group will influence one’s employability, productivity and career success’; students learn the importance of communication, collaboration, cooperation, and compromise (katzenbach, 1997); and we prefer to mark twelve assignments rather than seventy. however, what of the downsides; the groups that fall apart, the students that complain bitterly about their peers, those who don’t participate? the list could go on and on, and i am sure the students could add far more to the negatives than to the positives. key factors influencing the failure or success of a group assignment are the group dynamics and the initial group allocation. as a student myself, i experienced various models but none of them appeared to work particularly well, at least not in terms of student satisfaction. sometimes students are encouraged to choose their own groups but that may leave a significant few without a group – maybe those who have had personal problems and most need support, or those who might be perceived as hard to work with. the result is that these individuals find themselves in the same group and, without strong leadership, this group achieves little. an alternative is for the lecturer to assign groups randomly (hernandez, 2002). this does not go down well with students, especially if they have a choice of topics to select from; ‘i can’t work with them. i want to do a statistics project but they want to do programming’. in all cases, students feel that group allocation advantages some and disadvantages others. what does the lecturer do in the face of this opposition, especially when research offers little by way of guidance as to a preferred method to adopt (chapman et al., 2006)? having experienced these models as a student, and having complained bitterly about them at the time, i was keen to do better when my own chance came to design a new course with a substantial group project element. i wanted my students’ experience to be positive and different and for them to work effectively as groups. above all, i wanted the group work to be fair to the students regardless of background, whilst providing them with a valuable lesson about working with others. employers want graduates that are good team players, have excellent communication skills and work well as a group (cbi, 2008). apparently, this is particularly the case for maths graduates who have a reputation for lacking these skills – although i can’t imagine why! my course assignment required groups to choose a mathematical area such as history of mathematics, quantum mechanics or financial mathematics, to research and then produce a written report and give a group presentation. we had a class of 80 first-year maths students from varied backgrounds. once the students realised group work was on the agenda, they pestered me frequently, asking who would be in their groups and saying things like; ‘i don’t want anyone in my group who won’t pull their weight’. the pressure was on. tribute to triplets: a model for successful group work 2 after the statutory sleepless nights, i came up with what i thought, and still think, was an excellent solution. i asked the students to form groups of three. each of these triplets was required to decide on an area of maths they wanted to study and send me an e-mail with their names and a choice of three topics. one problem was that, although i had explained this in some detail in class, on the university student intranet and by e-mail, some students did not seem to use any of these forms of communication. however, the majority of students successfully followed the instructions. to each threesome, i then added three more who were either themselves a threesome or who hadn’t responded. this was done with respect to ability, friendship groups and preferred topics. this method is similar to one proposed by mahenthiran and rouse (2000), who found that student satisfaction and grades improved when students were paired before being allocated to groups. i appointed one member of each group to act as the contact person with whom i communicated. i chose this person purely on the basis of whether they were reliable at answering e-mails and were generally good communicators, as i felt this was essential for group cohesion. i gave this person a list of their group with their university e-mail addresses. the idea was that now each group of six would come up with a working title for their group, assign the work to each group member and just get on with it. perfect! there were enough committed people in each group to make it work and so the members would only need to chase a couple of students. in the case where groups were unable to resolve differences, these would then be referred to me. so did it work? at the time of writing initial indications and feedback are very positive. those group presentations i have seen have been excellent and these were not only from the groups that i expected to do well. a major benefit has been that students who were less engaged in their studies have been placed in groups with motivated peers, who encourage them to perform. previously, these students might have ended up in a group on their own and achieved very little, but now they are being challenged and stretched. another benefit is that some students, who might have been intolerant of other students’ weaknesses, are now in a better position to understand that others have genuine difficulties and are legitimately not always able to attend class. did anything go wrong? i have to admit that one group came unstuck, but this was due to unforeseeable, personal problems affecting all but one of the core people in the group. however, on the positive side, several groups contained students who hadn’t spoken to each other before, and this has been very beneficial in helping the group dynamics of the cohort as a whole, without them feeling that the process was unfair. the inevitable problems that arose were overcome largely without the need for my intervention and will provide valuable experience for students to talk about at job interviews. students’ feedback has suggested that, unusually for group work, the allocation of members to groups was seen as fair to all in the class. most of these students will have to do a significant piece of group work in their final year. this, i hope, will have been a good preparation for them. references confederation of british industry (cbi) (2008) taking stock: cbi education and skills survey 2008. online. available at www.cbi.org.uk (accessed 26 april 2009). chapman, k. j. et al. (2006) ’can’t we pick our own groups? the influence of group selection method on group dynamics’. journal of management education, 30: 557–569. http://www.cbi.org.uk/ tribute to triplets: a model for successful group work 3 hernandez, s.a. (2002) ‘team learning in a marketing principles course: cooperative structures that facilitate active learning and higher level thinking’. journal of marketing education, 24(1): 73– 86. johnson, d. w. and johnson, r. t. (1989) ‘social skills for successful group work’. educational leadership, 47(4): 29–33. katzenbach, j. r. (1997) ‘the myth of top management teams’. harvard business review, 75(6): 82–92. mahenthiran, s. and rouse, p. (2000) ‘the impact of group selection on student performance and satisfaction’. international journal of educational management, 14(6): 255–65. management & methods: enhancing online interactivity & communication technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 bubbl.us – web 2.0 mind mapping nola stair faculty of business, university of greenwich introduction do your students have a hard time getting started and planning their essays? do they struggle with narrowing down appropriate dissertation topics? or maybe your students want you to approve their research questions without having thought through supporting academic resources? if so, consider incorporating the use of mind maps as one of your teaching strategies. mind maps, one type of visual organizer, can be very effective with helping students organize their thoughts while brainstorming (davies 2011). in addition, there are a variety of mind mapping software tools available, such as inspiration offered via the university of greenwich network. from my own personal exploration, some software based programs are often too complicated and/or too sophisticated for free flowing content development and need to be downloaded/installed. however, i have finally come across a useful online application that seamlessly enhances student-student and student-tutor engagement bubbl.us which is based upon web 2.0 technology and facilitates an interactive online sharing of mind maps among students and/or with their tutors. teaching in thematic independent studies (tis) offered by the systems management and strategy department in the business school, year 3 students are expected to write a literature review (4000 words) and critical analysis/argument about their literature review (5000 words). mind maps have been helpful in engaging students in research-related discussions about their potential topics. at first, mind map templates were simply added as an appendix to the course handbook and tutors were encouraged to use them during the course’s first tutorial. typically, as guided practice, the tutor would create a mind map with the entire class using the visualizer (or ms word on the overhead projector and a familiar business-related topic). once the “crowd sourced” mind map was created, this sparked additional ideas and students began suggesting their own topics – often in hopes of another “crowd-sourced” mind map for their own essay topic. previous research has already shown the effectiveness of mind maps to facilitate meaningful learning (reima, 2009). paper-based mind maps were working well; however, i continued to evaluate mind map software to support students’ digital literacy; and stumbled across bubbl.us a “free” tool for online brainstorming. at first, a link to bubbl.us was placed in the tis moodle course site, encouraging students to use it instead of the paper-based template. the basic features of bubbl.us can be used without creating a user id or password (i.e., create/print) however, if you choose to create a free account, this will enable the saving feature. as tis students are required to include their mind maps and research logs as part of their reflective technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 report at the end of the course, bubbl.us-generated mind maps started appearing in their coursework submissions. as the tis course leader, i began to encourage students to share their mind maps with me online, instead of bringing hard copies to tutorials or during individual appointments with nonattending or late registering students. in order to enable the bubbl.us sharing feature, i had to upgrade from the “free” account to the “annual” account for £25, which includes an educational discount. with bubbl.us, students were able to finalize their mind maps online and share them with me in several ways:  via a read-only link (embedded in emails)  via bubbl.us – which allowed me to easily add my own comments or suggestions. these insertions are instantly visible to students. also, if you teach in a room with a smart board, drawing a mind map is one of the easiest ways of becoming used to using a whiteboard. using bubbl.us on a smart board is very practical whiteboard application. learning as a result, students began creating multiple mind maps before and during tutorials (see figure 1). group discussions were able pinpoint similar areas of interest, allowing for smaller groups to form and discuss topics in more detail. students expressed the following thoughts in their reflective reports:  “i’ve created several mind maps…at first, i was thinking about writing about leadership, but i’ve now narrowed it down to managers vs leaders. i never realized the importance of brainstorming!”  “the mind map is something i have never done for coursework before, but it was very helpful to write down ideas and to find new ideas by linking them together. i will do mind maps for future work and projects not just for educational work but also for when it comes to my career and future projects.” figure 1: sample mind map created by year 3 direct entry chinese student technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 in addition, during their library session on “using academic journal databases”, students were reminded that they could use the same key words on their mind map as search terms in the online databases. this provided additional usability as another student reflected:  “i believe my preparation for my second essay was better than the first as i formulated my mind map on time and started getting my ideas together. this helped me to put together my sub themes fairly quickly, whereas for the first essay i was unsure how to go about it and confused about how to divide my essay into subthemes. my mind map for my second essay was more detailed and helped me to acquire my articles with ease as i knew exactly what to put in the search box. this helped me realise that mind maps are a very good method for jotting down all ideas and then selecting the most important points from these to formulate my essay.” after exploring how bubbl.us has increased active engagement between students and tutors and helped to promote deep vs surface learning, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the bubbl.us tool itself? some thoughts are summarized in table 1 below: table 1: swot analysis strengths  user friendly and easy to use  can develop/print mind maps without account creation  “drag-n-drop” features allow for easy editing, re-linking of concepts, and changing positions of sub-topics  collaborative development  no downloads necessary, browserbased weakness  flash-based (doesn’t work on ipads)  requires free account creation to save mind maps  requires premium account (by lecturer) to allow collaborative sharing of mind maps opportunities  educational discount available for premium accounts  team accounts for special projects threats  similar free web-based tools, such as mindmeister, xmind, freemind conclusion most often, when thinking about mapping knowledge, brainstorming through the use of mind maps comes to mind first. however, bubbl.us can also be used for developing argument and concept maps. according to davies (2011), mind maps are less formal and structured; while concept maps are structured more hierarchically using relational phrases and argument maps to explicate inferential structures. pen and paper mind maps won’t ever go away, but visit http://bubbl.us and see how easy it is to brainstorm your ideas! i’ve just seen a new feature recently added to bubbl.us, allowing your bubbles to link to websites. see you online! http://bubbl.us/ technology reviews compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 bibliography davies, m. (2011). ‘concept mapping, mind mapping, and argument mapping: what are the differences and do they matter?’, higher education, 62, pp. 279-301. reima, a. (2009). ‘enhancing freshman students’ writing skills with mind-mapping software.’ the 5 th international scientifics conference – elearning and software for education – bucharest. rich, m. (2011). ‘student research in a web 2 world: learning to use new technology to gather primary data.’ the electronic journal of business research methods volume 9 issue 1 2011 (78-86). available at http://www.ejbrm.com. (accessed may 18, 2013). torrance, m., thomas, g. v., & robinson, e. j. (2000). ‘individual differences in undergraduate essay-writing strategies: a longitudinal study.’ higher education, 39(2), 181-200. author biography nola stair is a principal lecturer in international collaborations and learning technology in the business school’s department of systems management and strategy. she has published in the areas of elearning/instructional design technology and has presented at various international conferences. http://www.ejbrm.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 applying steeple to course and curriculum design peter colin kelly the school of business and computer science, trinidad and tobago abstract when it comes to course design in higher education, everything from learning theory and learning design theory to needs analysis and potential markets should shape our thinking. a group-based course-design task on the post graduate certificate in higher education (pgcert. he) at the university of greenwich (uog) provided the context within which my colleagues and i were able to bring a key aspect of our professional experience and expertise to course development. our business background and an interest in strategic modelling in business led us to adopt the ‘steeple’ model – an extension of the ‘pest’ and ‘pestle’ models that preceded it – which is used in strategic decision-making in business worldwide. keywords: steeple; strategy; environment; course/curricula design. introduction i lecture business management courses to undergraduate students pursuing general and specific degrees in business management at a partner institution of the university of greenwich (uog) in trinidad and tobago; it is in this context that my colleagues and i found ourselves working towards the pgcert he and the course design task within it. putting aside the continuing debates about the merits and demerits of marketisation in higher education (he) and the fractious arguments related to whether business practices suit he provision, i believe that strategic modelling like this has a role to play in ensuring that courses, curricula and, indeed, entire programmes of study produce graduates who can take their rightful places in the world of work in the twenty-first century. this paper will demonstrate how the ‘steeple’ model can be applied to enhance he course and curriculum design. the steeple model is the latest version of a strategising tool that has evolved over the years, with adjustment whenever thinkers on the subject recognised and added a new aspect of the business environment to it. the acronym itself has accordingly evolved from ‘pest’, to ‘slept’, to ‘pestle’, to ‘steeple’, to reflect these gradual additions. it is unclear who devised this model, or when, but it gained popularity from around the middle of the twentieth century and has been a fixture in business strategic decision-making ever since. ‘steeple’ stands for socio-cultural, technological, economic, ecological, political, legal and ethical. these are the seven ‘environments’ within which any organisation (a university being no exception) must inevitably function. a thorough understanding of each of these environments is therefore critical to developing appropriate courses and curricula. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 applying steeple to he course and curriculum design all organisations, including higher education providers (heps), must continually engage in strategising if they are to survive in a competitive environment. steeple is one of many models that help decision-makers to develop and pursue their strategies systematically and heps have used it for years, though always from a marketing perspective – i.e. when seeing the institution as a business selling a range of products (their academic programmes) and competing with other such institutions for customers (students). i have not, in my research, come across any cases where it has been employed to assist in designing courses/modules and curricula. though neither a course nor a curriculum design model itself, steeple can be very useful in supporting those models which are – so as to achieve design of the most appropriate courses and curricula. according to shaw (2002) “continuous environmental scanning” and an “ability to anticipate changes in the future” are crucial for designing any curriculum. beetham (2012, p. 3) seems to mirror these sentiments when she says: “the ultimate goal has always been to enhance the curriculum offer, making it more responsive to new markets and needs, more sustainably delivered, more flexible, and more attuned to the capabilities required by graduates in the 21st century”. if curricula are indeed to be more responsive and flexible so that they can be more attuned to the ever-changing demands of society, then environmental scanning is indispensable – and the steeple model can help to do it. ‘environment’ in this context may be defined as all those factors and conditions that influence how people and organisations function. ‘to scan one’s environment’ would therefore constitute close critical examination of any factors which impact upon one’s operations. warren (2016) broadly classifies curriculum models as being either ‘product’ or ‘process’. knight (2001) and hussey and smith (2003) regard the former to be rigid and believe a curriculum model should be more flexible. so, since environments aren’t static but quite dynamic, and since courses and curricula need to be adjusted accordingly, steeple, as an analytical tool, may better suit a ‘process’ model. as tertiary-level educators, we have objectives for our students that go beyond just ensuring that they ‘land a good job’, yet graduate employability will always be of paramount concern to us; our courses and curricula must therefore be shaped with that in mind. lists of graduate attributes (those characteristics, skills and sets of knowledge that graduates are expected to possess upon completion of their respective programmes) now inform the student development policies and strategies of all heps. gratton (2011) outlined five forces shaping the future of work: 1. technological developments 2. globalisation 3. demographic changes 4. societal trends 5. low-carbon developments her list includes at least three of the seven environments contained in steeple: the sociocultural, the technological and the ecological. in the following section, i shall show how each of these environments can, and do, relate to case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the process of course and curriculum design and how my group scanned these environments as we worked on our project. it is vital both to acknowledge the overlaps between environments and to recognise how important those overlaps are. the seven environments socio-cultural the socio-cultural environment includes all factors relating to demographics, such as the size, structure and rate of growth of population and such things as traditions, cultural diversity and levels of education. beetham (2012, p. 8) sees the “growth in the numbers of part-time, work-based learners…along with a wider range of approaches to study (flexible, part-time, online, etc.)” as factors that cannot be ignored when designing courses and curricula. for instance, the quantum of flexibility that one would include in one’s curriculum would, to some extent, be influenced by such things as the ratio of work-based learners to full-time learners or the particular methods of study that are offered to, and preferred by, the students. we are also witnessing a greater movement of people across international boundaries for the purpose of employment or study, or both, than ever before in our history; a migration which has already created many cosmopolitan societies around the world. this, no doubt, would have been one of the things that gratton (2011) alluded to when she spoke of ‘globalisation’ as being one of the factors shaping the future of work. the fact that many heps now offer distant learning programmes, whereby students from any part of the world can pursue courses of study in other countries without actually leaving their own, adds to that globalisation phenomenon. the cultural diversity of one’s student intake must therefore also be considered. this my group certainly took into account in designing our course for the mock validation panel. the course was culinary-based and sought to draw on the ethnic and cultural diversity of trinidad and tobago and to cater to such diversity among our students. according to hockings (2010, p. 47), a student-focused approach to course design and delivery needs to be inclusive, so as to accommodate the cross-cultural nature of one’s student population. it must aim to “anticipate, recognise and provide for individuals’ specific physical, cultural, academic and pastoral needs.” this can be done effectively only after a thorough scanning of one’s socio-cultural environment. technological when scanning one’s technological environment, one would take into account the kinds and levels of technology available, their costs, their applicability to one’s own context, their rate of turnover and so on. for a tertiary-level education institution, the most relevant category would be information and communication technology (ict) and the two most common contexts to which it is applied are technology enhanced learning (tel) and virtual learning environments (vles). a distinction must be made here between technology infusion and technology integration, as the difference between the two has significant implications for tel. the higher education academy (hea) of the uk states that, among other interpretations, the term ‘tel’ “can also be used to refer to…learning with technology rather than just through technology.” the infusion of technology in schools refers to teachers’ and students’ simply using technology to present and transmit ideas and information, whilst the integration of technology is about engaging students with those ideas, the technology itself being an integral part of the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 experience. in other words, the technology must help to support and advance the pedagogy. in developing our course and its accompanying curriculum for our mock validation, therefore, my colleagues and i had to have a clear and concrete rationale for any technology that we proposed to use. according to hos-mcgrane (2012), until and unless schools have questioned and identified their reasons for using technology, they have not gone beyond simply infusing the technology. as the name implies, tel is meant to give students a higherquality learning experience. if technology is indeed meant to enhance learning and the overall student experience, then courses need to be conceptualised and designed, and curricula developed, so as to have a synergic relationship with the prevailing technology. beetham and sharpe (2013), from a purely cognitivist standpoint, believe that no technological development has actually changed the fundamental capacities of human beings to learn. what technological advances have done, however, is to change, profoundly, “how ideas and practices are communicated, and what it means to be a knowledgeable or capable person” (p. 4). they argue that, owing to the fact that these technologies have significant impact upon the nature of knowledge in today’s society, they also, by extension, have impact upon the nature of learning. from a marketing perspective, the effect of technological advances is that they shorten product life cycles as consumers become drawn to the next new thing. such a consideration is also applicable to course design, as course developers should take into account how relevant a particular curriculum will be in the next five to ten years, or even less, with respect to the technology being integrated into it. such consideration is even more acute when the particular technology is itself the curriculum – i.e., a technology that graduates need to master for their intended profession/career. economic the economic environment comprises all microand macro-economic variables, including interest rates, currency exchange rates, unemployment rates, inflation rates and gdp growth rates. each one of these, inter alia, is very significant to a course or curriculum designer. the level of interest rates may affect students’ ability to source loans to finance their education; foreign exchange rates may affect the intake of foreign students; inflation rates may affect how an institution prices its courses; and the general economic climate will certainly affect the demand for programmes offered. the structure of an economy and the direction in which it is headed will inform the kind of graduate attributes that employers will seek and the particular skills they will want graduates to possess. this brings us right back to the issue of graduate employability that i touched on earlier. faculties would need to design courses to complement and support the structure and growth of an economy. for instance, if an economy is essentially agrarian, then a number of agriculture-based courses, from the business of agriculture to the actual cultivation of crops, will need to be developed. likewise, if an economy is based on tourism, then courses will need to be developed to satisfy the human resources needs of that sector. and, as these sectors change in one way or another, adjustments to courses and curricula will need to be made accordingly, even to the point of discontinuing some courses and introducing new ones. given the ever-increasing importance of human capital to macro-economic growth and development, lees (2002) recognises the need for heps to place greater emphasis on the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 employability of graduates. it would be virtually impossible to attempt to embed some employability dimensions into any curriculum without first diligently scanning the economic environment. gedye and ivaldi (2016) outline seven steps to enhancing student employability. numbers two and three are, respectively, ‘enable professional work experience’ and ‘involve employers’, neither of which can be effectively achieved without an adequate examination of the economic environment. with respect to involving employers, heps would first – before they can compile their lists of graduate attributes – need to consult with various employers’ associations, chambers of commerce and government departments to determine exactly what employers are looking for in their employees. as far as enabling work experience is concerned, some programmes even demand a certain amount of practical learning and development in the workplace. for instance, students pursuing their degrees in pharmacology are usually encouraged by their faculty to seek vacation jobs in pharmacies and hospital dispensaries during their long summer break. nowadays, it is also being increasingly recommended across all faculties that more opportunities be made available for a greater number of full-time students to gain some sort of work experience before actually graduating. of course, the extent to which this is feasible would, in great measure, depend on the state of the economy at any given time. ecological the ecological environment is extremely broad and comprises all physical surroundings, inclusive of their flora and fauna. it can also be taken to include the non-physical, such as climatic conditions. generally, a faculty would not need to consider this environment when designing a course unless, and quite naturally, the course were directly related to some aspect of the ecology, such as environmental engineering or marine biology. nevertheless, there can be some connection with other environments, such as the legal (with respect to environment protection laws) and the technological (as it may relate to issues like energysaving technology). political the political environment includes, and is influenced by, such things as political stability, political ideology and philosophy, political awareness and freedom amongst the electorate (if there is an electorate!), government policies and diplomatic relations with other countries. some of these factors can also easily change with a change of government. one of the things that course and curriculum designers would certainly be looking at is the set of government policies with respect to he, especially those that deal with scholarships and other forms of funding for specific courses and programmes. some courses are approved for funding whilst others are not. a faculty would therefore need to consider the specific criteria that determine the category into which any given course may lie. this could be significant for a number of reasons, including influencing the number of students who may enrol for a particular course. state funding, or lack thereof, was certainly one of the things that my group considered when designing our course and here was a typical example of how one environment could have impact on another. owing to the economic downturn and decline in state revenues in our country, the government took the decision to reduce significantly its annual expenditure on tertiary academic programmes. we thus knew we had to come up with a course that would still attract the requisite number of students even though state funding was no longer available. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 some political developments can have very far-reaching effects on a society. as a case in point: brexit. it would not be unfair to say that brexit has caused a bit of a maelstrom on britain’s socio-political landscape. every facet of life in the uk has been and will be affected by it. uk heps are particularly concerned over its possible repercussions for them. richard black, writing in the telegraph (2017), says that what people are most worried about as far as brexit and he in the uk are concerned is the potential impact on funding, student numbers, exchange programmes and the quality of teaching and research collaboration. student numbers and teaching and research collaboration are perhaps the two areas of deepest concern. university world news (2017) reports that the number of eu students applying to british universities in this current academic year fell by 7%, the first decrease in a decade. eu workers make up 12% of all uk universities’ staff and 16% of their researchers are from the eu. depending on the final terms and conditions of brexit currently being negotiated between the uk and the eu, uk universities could lose out on some of this talent. as to how all of this will affect the actual designing and development of courses and curricula at uk universities and colleges remains to be seen. we can be sure, however, that these activities will also be affected and that there will be implications globally – and therefore for institutions such as my own in trinidad and tobago, which partners with the university of greenwich in the uk. legal when scanning the legal environment, a university will look at all the laws and regulations that directly (or even indirectly) affect it. immigration laws, especially those pertaining to foreign student visas, laws governing local student quotas and laws relating to minority student enrolment are just a few examples. course designers must also consider regulatory bodies and accreditation boards, to ensure that their courses satisfy all the necessary criteria for approval. there may yet be some changes to certain regulations as a result of brexit and heps in the uk will have to make the adjustments accordingly. who knows? ethical ‘ethics’ derives from the greek word ‘ethikos’, which means ‘custom’ or ‘character’. broadly speaking, therefore, ethics may refer to human character and conduct and one’s ethical environment would include all the beliefs, norms and values that help to shape that character and conduct. (note the overlap between the ethical and socio-cultural environments.) but just how does the ethical environment influence course and/or curriculum design and how should academics deal with it? where course and curriculum development are concerned, morgan and houghton (2011) recommend an approach that “places the student at the heart of the design process” (p. 11) and embeds such principles that render it “anticipatory, flexible, accountable, collaborative, transparent and equitable” (pp. 12-13; italics mine). the latter two speak directly to ethics. warren (2016) cites grundy (1987) and cornbleth (1990), who came up with a typology for curriculum that classifies it as ‘product’, ‘process’ and ‘praxis’. with the latter, there is an emphasis on “raising students’ awareness of dehumanising, inequitable and undemocratic social practices and institutions and developing more egalitarian visions of society” (p. 14). the challenge for course and curriculum designers is not how to proceed with their curricula in an ethical manner; that’s easy enough. the question is: how do we use our courses to case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 raise our students’ awareness of social injustices and develop in them more egalitarian visions of society? this might be easier and more natural for a course in philosophy perhaps, but how does one embed it in other disciplines? each professional body, whether of accountants, attorneys or architects, has a code of ethics for its members and, i guess, one simply has to look to these codes to know just what needs to be included (explicitly or implicitly) in any course. conclusion these seven different interpretations of environment really constitute the overall external environment of any university or even of any faculty. of course, in designing courses and curricula, one also needs to scan one’s internal environment, which includes a host of different things as well – from the physical infrastructure and the various facilities that go with it, to the human resources, ethos of the organisation and the systems and processes in place. steeple is one of many strategy models that a hep can employ. even so, it’s usually used in conjunction with other strategy models to increase the effectiveness of one’s decisionmaking. when used to support pedagogic theory and subject content considerations, it can provide an invaluable way of ensuring that key aspects are not ignored at the planning stage of any course or curriculum. reference list beetham, h. (2012) institutional approaches to curriculum design: final synthesis report, november 2012. available at: http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/61216296/jisc%20curriculum%20design% 20final%20synthesis%20i1.pdf (accessed: 10 june 2017). beetham, h. and sharpe, r. (2013) rethinking pedagogy for a digital age: designing for 21st century learning. abingdon: routledge. black, r. (2017) how will brexit affect british universities and will eu students still be able to study in the uk? available at: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/0/will-brexit-impact-britishuniversities/ (accessed: 10 july 2017). gedye, s. and ivaldi, f. (2016) 7 steps to: enhancing student employability, 7 steps series, teaching and learning support (tls). plymouth: university of plymouth. gratton, l. (2011) the future of work. london business school. available at: http://innovation.london.edu/resource/59/index.html. (accessed: 29 june 2017). hockings, c. (2010) inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resources/detail/evidencenet/inclusive_learni ng_and_teaching_in_higher_education (accessed: 02 july 2017). http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/61216296/jisc%20curriculum%20design%20final%20synthesis%20i1.pdf http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/61216296/jisc%20curriculum%20design%20final%20synthesis%20i1.pdf http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/0/will-brexit-impact-british-universities/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/0/will-brexit-impact-british-universities/ http://innovation.london.edu/resource/59/index.html https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resources/detail/evidencenet/inclusive_learning_and_teaching_in_higher_education https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resources/detail/evidencenet/inclusive_learning_and_teaching_in_higher_education case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 hos-mcgrane, m. (2012) tech transformation: using technology-v-integrating technology. available at: www.maggiehosmcgrane.com/2012/10/using-technology-v-integrating.html (accessed: 19 june 2017). hussey, t. and smith, p. (2003) ‘the trouble with learning outcomes.’ active learning in higher education, 3 (2). knight, p. (2002) being a teacher in higher education. buckingham: srhe/ou. lees, d. (2002) graduate employability: a literature review. available at: www.qualityresearchinternational.com/esecttools/esectpubs/leeslitreview.pdf (accessed: 16 june 2017). morgan, h. and houghton, a-m (2011) inclusive curriculum design in higher education: considerations for effective practice across and within subject areas. york: higher education academy. available at: www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/inclusion/disability/inclusive_curriculum_design_in_ higher_education (accessed: 10 june 2017). shaw, m. (2002) contexts for curriculum design: working with external pressures. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/studentsuccess/toolkits/tel (accessed: 10 june 2017). university world news (issue # 485, dec.2017) uk universities must face brexit drivers and outcomes. available at: www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20171202052301834 (accessed: 30 january 2018). warren, d. (2016) ‘course and learning design and evaluation.’ in: pokorny and warren (eds.) enhancing teaching practice in higher education. london: sage, 11-46. http://www.maggiehosmcgrane.com/2012/10/using-technology-v-integrating.html http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/esecttools/esectpubs/leeslitreview.pdf http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/inclusion/disability/inclusive_curriculum_design_in_higher_education http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/inclusion/disability/inclusive_curriculum_design_in_higher_education https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/student-success/toolkits/tel https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/student-success/toolkits/tel http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20171202052301834 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 ‘livin and learnin’, tellin’ stories, challengin’ narratives: critical reflections on engaging students, especially from bame and other marginalised groups, in academic research activities louise owusu-kwarteng university of greenwich introduction the following is a case study which focuses on staff-student research collaborations and on the benefits of this approach, particularly to students from black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) groups. more specifically, i reflect upon how this was undertaken as part of the work in our applied sociology research group (asrg). to begin with, i discuss literature advocating staff-student research collaborations and why these are important for enhancing the sense of ‘belonging’ of students at university, especially those from bame backgrounds. i describe our approach to involving students in the research and our methods for supporting them. i also consider challenges and benefits and make suggestions for future work. why staff-student collaborations are valuable – the case of the applied sociology research group as indicated, i belong to the asrg, which draws sociologists from a range of disciplines, including business, education and community studies. the group seeks to create opportunities for staff/student research collaborations in order to develop the university’s research environment, an integral part of the research excellence framework (ref). including students in research projects also improves research and enquiry skills (through the identification of research problems and strategies to address them), enables more active engagement in learning and enhances overall educational experiences, within and beyond the academic curriculum (walkington, 2016; allin, 2014; healey, 2005). the ‘students as researchers’ pedagogy is also now a key facet of students’ university educational experience, which entails understanding that: “…enquiry investigation and discovery are at the heart of the enterprise, whether this is through funded research project [as the applied sociology group is], or in undergraduate classrooms. it is also the pedagogy required for the 21st century...” (healey and flint, 2014, p.25) there is also direct correspondence to attributes that students are expected to gain from undertaking a degree at our institution, particularly those related to ‘scholarship and autonomy’, which include “an informed understanding of their discipline or professional practice, and the ability to question its principles, practices and boundaries; think[ing] independently, analytically and creatively, and engag[ing] imaginatively with new areas of investigation1” the ideas of paulo freire (1968), who was an advocate of students’ active graduateattributes https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/832044/graduateattributestatements.pdf https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/832044/graduateattributestatements.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 and critical engagement/participation in teaching and learning, are reflected in this approach. freire encouraged educators to welcome and incorporate students’ perspectives as part of the process and criticised narrative forms of education, wherein students are viewed simply as receptacles of knowledge, who receive and record information without fully understanding it or being able to apply it elsewhere. such an approach results in the ‘depositing’ of knowledge, not allowing for students’ creativity to be utilised. engaging students in research presents an excellent opportunity for the development of a range of useful, transferable skills which are beneficial in terms of employability and/or graduate studies. these include the ability to: formulate a research question; identify relevant literature; undertake interviews, sometimes in sensitive areas; code and analyse research data; work to an allotted deadline. they also reflect the following quality assurance agency (qaa) sociology benchmarks relating to subject-specific skills: • the ability to plan and conduct sociological research using quantitative and qualitative data sources whether using secondary analysis of previous research, naturally occurring data or gathering new data; • the ability to formulate and investigate sociologically informed questions; • competence in using major theoretical perspectives and concepts in sociology, and their application to social life; • the capacity to identify, assess and analyse sources of evidence in building a sociological argument. (qaa sociology, 2016) additionally, encouraging students to be researchers as part of their learning experiences allows them to make comparisons between what they learn and how they are evaluated/assessed by their lecturers (and also by peers). this then can empower them in the research process as they are knowledge generators, who draw on their own individual perspectives to develop it. overall, participating in these activities may also enhance their sense of self-worth and belonging at university, as well as their general wellbeing. the benefits of staff-student research collaborations for black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) students research highlights disparities between white students’ degree attainment and that of bame students. for instance, zwysen and longhi (2016, p.1), report that, nationally, bame students are twenty per cent less likely to obtain a 2:1 or first-class degree classification compared to their white counterparts “even if they come to university with similar, if not the same a-level grades”. not attaining these grades has ramifications for graduate prospects, since to have them is a minimum requirement for postgraduate degrees and/or graduate training schemes. bame students’ experiences within institutions – which often include racist marginalisation and poor relationships with white peers and staff – contribute significantly to these gaps. several case studies illustrate how bame students perceived that their lecturers had lower academic expectations of them – sometimes resulting in the internalisation of these beliefs and lack of interest in classes and contributing to poorer academic results than they would have liked (cotton et al., 2013; nus, 2011). taken together, these factors can result, for articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 bame students, in a limited sense of belonging at university (mountford-zindars et al 2015). by helping students to examine/focus upon their own experiences and to carry out research relating to this, we can then directly address some of these issues. our approach is described below. examples of involving research students in research through modules ‘applying sociology’ is a 15-credit (one-term) level 4 (first year) module, focusing specifically on the ways in which communities shape the individual/self. in analysing these issues, traditional sociological theories are drawn on, alongside contemporary case studies relating to issues affecting communities. examples include gang-related crime, neighbourhood nationalism and community cohesion. in their assessments, students undertake research on their neighbourhoods. they access office of national statistics data, and identify statistics to analyse (e.g. crime rates, educational qualifications and such baseline demographics as gender and ethnicity). students can then begin to ‘paint a picture’ of their local areas. then, drawing on personal experiences (and with reference to theories and case studies discussed on the course and current affairs relating to their areas), they write critical semiautobiographical reflections of their experiences of life in those neighbourhoods. some of the research produced by the students was developed into research papers for a symposium, ‘brexit and boundaries in the barrios (neighbourhoods)?…are we poles apart? which examined their experiences/observations of the impacts of brexit in their neighbourhoods. ‘self in society’, also a 15-credit, one-term module, explores experiences of individuals and their roles in making and re-making their social lives. again, with reference to sociological theories of the self and relevant case studies, students reflect on how they develop their personal identities through interactions with others, product consumption and perceptions of their ethnicity, class etc. this module also introduces them to autobiographical methods, an increasingly popular approach used within sociology to analyse the self in society (plummer, 2001). autobiography is a powerful tool, since students can express their experiences in a creative manner. this is particularly important for marginalised groups – including bame students – whose university experience can be difficult. a further issue faced by bame students is the exclusion of their experiences and perspectives from class discussions, curriculums and more generally within broader societal contexts. research (windscheffel, 2018) and campaigns such as ‘why is my curriculum white’ (2015) have highlighted this problem. although this is a longstanding, systemic issue, encouraging students to explore and share their experiences is important and drawing on students’ autobiographical narratives is one way to do this. zussman (2000, p.6) fully supports the shift towards using autobiography, or the ‘narrative turns in sociology’, since it means that the voices of marginalised groups such as bame students can be heard: “…autobiographical narratives have been taken as a way to create the selves for those – most importantly people of colour – to whom selfhood has been denied…” a useful example of this can be found in an autobiographical collection produced by sociology students at the university of greenwich, entitled ‘twenty years of schooling: student reflections on their educational journeys’ (ainley, ed., 2008). here, several bame students recollected various experiences of marginalisation throughout their educational trajectories and how they managed, in spite of all, to succeed. as part of my work within the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 asrg, i will work with my students to produce something similar, but incorporating broader social experiences beyond education. encouraging them to give the papers based on their experiences at student-led symposia may also allow them to disseminate those experiences. the case study: developing symposia two student-led symposia have been hosted. as indicated previously, our symposium entitled ‘brexit and boundaries in the barrios (neighbourhoods)?…are we poles apart? focused on students’ perspectives of impacts of brexit at a national, local (neighbourhood) and individual level. this took place in may 2017. the second, ‘livin’ and learnin’, critical reflections on staff and student educational experiences’ happened in may 2018. it explored the significance of education in people's lives with reference to their own or family members' biographies, locating them in local social, cultural and political contexts. it also considered ethnic/cultural, generational and gendered diversity of the place of education in students’ lives and drew on autobiographical research papers undertaken by staff and undergraduate students, based on their experience. i focus on this event here. organising and advertising the symposia i co-ordinated livin’ and learnin’ with another group member, a sociologist within the field of education and community studies. in preparation, we emulated the processes involved in organising a traditional conference by setting out the brief, which recognised: the diversity of students’ experience and how it is shaped by their social background, by previous experiences at home/school and by society more broadly; interactions with significant (or generalised) others and personal beliefs and attitudes towards education / the education system. with regard to the target audience, we made this an open event and invited the general public and staff from within the university. we were particularly keen to have senior management representation, because although such people are aware of issues faced by students (e.g. through the student union and nss statistics), hearing the students’ stories directly would further enhance their understanding. so as to advertise the event, a poster was designed and disseminated via internal mail, university portals and our respective departmental and personal social media pages. we encouraged our colleagues within and beyond the institution to do the same. we also set up ‘eventbrite’ and a guest list so that we could monitor numbers. working with and supporting the students through the process in terms of facilitating student participation once the brief was agreed, we issued a call for papers. this was specifically targeted at students in subjects corresponding with those falling under the asrg (e.g. sociology, education and community studies, psychology). the call was placed on subject moodle pages and advertised in classes and tutorials. initially, securing students to participate was challenging, partly because they wanted further clarity in terms of what it entailed, partly because of their fear of speaking in public in front of strangers and partly owing to concerns that they would have to produce papers by themselves, with little assistance from staff. after conversations about exactly what was involved and the benefits associated with participating (e.g. skills development, networking, articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 assurance that we would support them throughout the process), students felt more reassured. eventually, we received eight student proposals, which were assessed against the brief. whilst most proposals reflected what was required, some needed slight tweaks. we reviewed them further and accepted them. this was, admittedly, a time-consuming process, but the proposals were as a result much clearer. following this, we divided our students into groups based on subject areas. thus, those studying sociology formed one group, led by me, and those undertaking degrees in education were supervised by my colleague. within the groups, we worked to turn their reflections into conference papers. we also: worked on time management, specifically; discussed content in the allotted time for the papers (twenty minutes each); provided guidance on enhancing public-speaking skills. students also presented parts of their papers to each other and received peer feedback, which was also useful. given that we both have numerous responsibilities besides teaching, we were constrained, timewise. however, we set the students mini tasks related to the structuring of their papers and met them approximately every three or four weeks to review and develop these areas. most of the students engaged well and these meetings were effective. students gained more confidence in themselves, the content of the papers and their general presentation skills. working together like this facilitated the “creation of [a] more inclusive and supportive environment” and “supportive peer relations and meaningful interactions between students and staff”, issues which mountford-zindars et al. (2015, p.iv) had identified as important in improving belonging. as the event drew near, however, there were some unforeseen circumstances, such as students dropping out unexpectedly. we therefore re-organised the order of the day and amended publicity to include only those who were presenting. the symposium and reflections on the benefits of our approach approximately forty people attended the symposium, including academic and professional staff, senior management representatives (we achieved our objective in this respect), students from other universities and members of the public with an interest in areas being discussed. the symposium was received positively, with some really excellent feedback, both written and oral – the former captured on a brief evaluation form. students were praised for their wide-ranging, excellent papers, the work undertaken to produce them and their delivery of them. positive responses were received from the pro vice-chancellor, who attended, and from other staff, some of whom sought advice on how better to engage their students in similar events. areas suggested for improvement were that it should have been a full-day event, rather than a half day, with more students involved. we have taken these points into consideration for our next event in may 2019. there were other particularly positive outcomes. for instance, on introducing the symposium, i emphasised the importance of considering the diverse and complex range of students’ experience, instead of assuming that they are homogeneous. staff acknowledged these points and were keen to discuss how to make this happen. however, arguably there is still a long way to go. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 as noted, a considerable problem faced by some (especially bame) students is a limited sense of belonging underpinned by difficult staff-student relationships. that the students worked closely with us in preparation for the event helped them to bond with us and with each other. one bame student presenter spoke about how she had benefited from these things and that, as a result, she had developed confidence in her ability to write and present ideas more concisely, which would be of great use in her second year. a white working-class student, who struggled with self-confidence as a result of previous negative educational experiences, also reported that, as a result of this experience, she had surpassed her own expectations and now had the confidence to present in other arenas. what next? broader, deep-seated and entrenched social inequalities, such as discrimination on the grounds of race, class, gender, sexuality and disability will continue to be reflected in the education system, with consequent negative impact upon the experiences of some students. however, as morris (2015, p.6) notes, “practitioners of higher education nevertheless have a commitment to their students.” thus, steps must be taken to increase the sense of belonging, especially for students from marginalised groups. at an institutional level, the development of more staff-student research collaborations must be encouraged, as this means that they can work together more closely and, in so doing, develop a greater understanding of each other and reduce barriers. this can be done by mapping staff and student research interests and linking them together, so that staff can mentor students and work on building projects that are of mutual interest. morris (op.cit., p.7) also explains that, “our institution has great ambitions for the future”. we must therefore ensure that we carry our students with us, so that they benefit from the outcomes and develop skills that will enhance their self-confidence and also employment prospects. as shown, bame students in particular face disadvantage in terms of graduate employment and so engaging them in research projects facilitates their opportunities to enhance transferable skills. reference list ainley, p. (ed.) (2008) twenty years of schooling. student reflections on their educational journeys. london: society for research into higher education. isbn 9780946376148 allin, l. (2014) ‘collaboration between staff and students in the scholarship of teaching and learning: the potential and the problems.’ teaching and learning inquiry, 2(1), 95-10. available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1148696.pdf (accessed: 22nd august 2018). freire, p. (1968) pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: seabury press. isbn 9780826412768 healey, m., flint, a. and harrington, k. (2014) students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf (accessed:22nd august 2018) http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/15624/ http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/15624/ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1148696.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 morris, c. (2015) ‘teaching the sociology of employability: the opportunities and challenges.’ compass, 7(11), 1-5. available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/viewfile/216/278 (accessed:10 november 2018). mountford-zindars, a., sabri, d., moor, j., sanders, j., jones, s., higham, l. (2015) causes of differences in student outcomes. (hefce report). available at: https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/23653/1/hefce2015_diffout.pdf (accessed:16 november 2018). national union of students (2011) race for equality. (nus report). available at: https://www.nus.org.uk/pagefiles/12350/nus_race_for_equality_web.pdf (accessed: 28 august 2018). plummer, k. (2001) the documents of life. an invitation to critical humanism. london: sage press. isbn: 9780761961314 qaa (2016) subject benchmark statement. sociology. available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/sbs-sociology16.pdf?sfvrsn=e696f781_12 (accessed:16 november 2018). stevenson, j. (2012) black and minority ethnic student degree retention and attainment. (hea report). available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/bme_summit_final_report.pdf (accessed: 23rd august 2018). thomas, l. (2012) what works? building student belonging in higher education at a time of change. paul hamlyn foundation. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/what_works_final_report.pdf (accessed: 16th november 2018). university of greenwich (2018) the greenwich graduate – our vision for the institution and its students. available at: https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/832044/graduateattributestatements.pdf (accessed: 26th august 2018). university of greenwich (2016) applied sociology research group available at: https://nelson.gre.ac.uk/pls/prod/hwzklgsv.p_view_letter?p_term=201700&p_pidm=100113 7&p_seq=2 (accessed: 23rd august 2018) walkington, h. (2016) students as researchers. (hea resource). available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/walkington-students-asresearchers.pdf (accessed: 26th august 2018). windscheffel, r.c. (2018) ‘can we please keep talking…? the importance of sustaining inclusive dialogue about race and ethnicity in teaching and learning.' in: boncori, i. (ed.), race, ethnicity and inclusion: the university of essex reader. location: publisher. isbn: 9788893912730 https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/viewfile/216/278 https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/23653/1/hefce2015_diffout.pdf https://www.nus.org.uk/pagefiles/12350/nus_race_for_equality_web.pdf https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/sbs-sociology-16.pdf?sfvrsn=e696f781_12 https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/sbs-sociology-16.pdf?sfvrsn=e696f781_12 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/bme_summit_final_report.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/what_works_final_report.pdf https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/832044/graduateattributestatements.pdf https://nelson.gre.ac.uk/pls/prod/hwzklgsv.p_view_letter?p_term=201700&p_pidm=1001137&p_seq=2 https://nelson.gre.ac.uk/pls/prod/hwzklgsv.p_view_letter?p_term=201700&p_pidm=1001137&p_seq=2 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/walkington-students-as-researchers.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/walkington-students-as-researchers.pdf http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/19457/ http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/19457/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 zussman, r. (2000) ‘autobiographical occasions: introduction to the special issue.’ qualitative sociology, 1 (23), 1-4. available at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023%2fa%3a1005447331522.pdf (accessed: 26th august 2018). zwysen, w. and longhi, s. (2016) labour market disadvantage of ethnic minority british graduates: university choice, parental background or neighbourhood? university of essex. available at: https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working-papers/iser/201602.pdf (accessed: 16th november 2018). https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023%2fa%3a1005447331522.pdf https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working-papers/iser/2016-02.pdf https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working-papers/iser/2016-02.pdf conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 with the integration of learning apps, what are moodle’s prospects? emmanuel mogaji university of greenwich abstract the role of technology in enhancing teaching and learning cannot be over-emphasised. often, tutors use innovative tools from the virtual learning environment (vle) provided by the university. in this piece, i reflect on the prospects of vle, as tutors and students have begun to find other tools more engaging and interactive. as a university lecturer, i have always been interested in student engagement and the role of technology in enhancing teaching and learning. i attended the shift (2018) conference to present my work on student engagement using kahoot!, an online quiz system, projected in class, with which students can engage on their laptops, tablets or smartphones. i have used this online tool for more than two years and shift offered me the platform on which to share my experiences. at the conference, other lecturers offered their own experiences of using these online tools. there were presentations on mentimeter (‘mentimeter: a practical workshop’, by katherine leopold, martin compton and jamie harle), kahoots (in kahoots with guest lecturer by cathryn peppard and karen richardson and ‘re-engineering challenging and abstract topics using a student response system’, by dr maria gebbels), twitter (‘fake news: there is no place for twitter in education – a 21st-century case study’, by scott goudie, gemma boden and ashley stewart), pebblepad (‘pebblepad eportfolio – case studies of uses at the university of greenwich’, by lawal muhammad, dorothea fadipe and louise atkinsand) and slack (‘facilitating a community of learners with slack’, by david watson). people often question the need for using these tools instead of moodle. it sometimes appears that those using them are rebelling against the ‘almighty’ moodle provided by the university and that those not using them are either not creative enough to do so or just naive and do not want to step outside university provision. moodle is the virtual learning environment (vle) for the university of greenwich and lecturers and students are meant to use it as a one-stop hub for student engagement. lecturers often upload their lecture slides there, give information and expect students to engage on the platform, join the forums and contribute. in addition to turnitin assignment, which appears to be the most used application of this vle, there are also, on the platform, such other possibilities for embedding activities as chat, dialogue, feedback, forum, group choice, quiz, scheduler and survey. my main concern, however, is about how well and how often we use these resources, either as students or lecturers. furthermore, despite all these vle possibilities, i wonder why there is so much interest in stand-alone online applications, such as kahoot! for quizzes, mentimeter for surveys and conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 pools and even slack for chat, dialogue and forums. this can all be achieved in moodle, the prescribed vle, which offers a unique environment for student learning and engagement. following interaction and discussion, especially after raising my concerns at conferences, i have been reflecting on the comments of other lecturers. there are three key factors that i have been able to identify, albeit arising more from anecdotal data than being substantive findings from research. nevertheless, they offer an insight into the challenges faced by both lecturers and students while engaging with vle and into their implications both for an institution and for the developers of vles. firstly, the user interface appears too rigid, is not social and does not offer flexibility for lecturers or students. with advancements in design, we have seen the interface reconfigured to suit how users interact with websites, but it is apparent that the interface and design of moodle are not conducive to creativity and the exploration of various opportunities. secondly, accessibility seems to present some challenge to students. seeing them log into the vle through the website, i observe that they have to follow various links before they get to what they need. perhaps they are not aware that it is available as a mobile app. thirdly, moodle is widely considered by students as a platform for weekly access, rather than a site they visit daily, and they are more likely to log in on the day of their lectures – they generally see it as a resource location, holding the slides necessary for the week’s lectures. though most of the slides have been made available some time before the start of the session, students just log in during class to download the slides and therefore do not really engage with them. i often ask my students whether they have checked what we will be doing in class and, generally, most have not. so, with these limitations of the vle in mind, i again reflected on what makes the other apps in question more social and more encouraging for students to use in order to engage in their learning. from my observations, the designs and interfaces are more creative and beautiful. the colour and music in kahoot!, the simplicity of mentimeter and the multi-functional benefits of slack make these platforms more appealing and students can relate to them. in addition, students don’t always feel tracked and trapped by using these standalone apps and they see them as unique entities, which makes them more interesting. kahoot! and mentimeter can simply be projected on to the screen on any given day and students can engage with them. despite these positives, i feel it is important also to highlight some concerns, which may shed light on why other lecturers may not want to use these apps: there is the matter of privacy. particularly on social media sites – such as facebook and twitter – students may feel that tutors have access to their private information and they may feel monitored. questions like ‘are you monitoring me?’ arise when students do not want interaction and may not be willing to engage. likewise, staff may feel students have the opportunity to encroach into their private space. veletsianos and kimmons (2013), reporting on the lived experiences of faculty with social networking sites, suggest a conflict between private identities and social networks. manca and ranieri (2016) further highlight great concerns – about privacy – which may discourage tutors from adopting social media for their teaching. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 next, as students are wary of unwanted interaction, they may not want to create another account solely for the purpose of engaging with the institution, seeing moodle as the onestop hub. there are challenges in creating twitter and linkedin profiles for student engagement, as students appear not to be very familiar with these platforms. i have, however, seen the potential of snapchat for learning and engagement, as it is a platform the students like. ajjan and hartshorne (2008) do, nevertheless, report positive attitudes from teachers towards integrating social media into their teaching and suggest that pedagogical beliefs should be considered while adopting such media. students should be made to see reasons for exploring alternatives to vles. finally, in line with creating new accounts, there are challenges in relation to limited phone memory with which to instal additional applications, as confirmed by findings in mogaji (2018) regarding student engagement on linkedin. he states that students believe they can use their remaining phone memory for better purposes. even though moodle is available online and accessible on mobile, this may explain why some students do not download the mobile application: they prefer to instal apps they will use more often. i certainly wish to explore other technologies in order to enhance students’ experiences; i am sure, too, that other lecturers are considering this. i do remain very concerned about the steps moodle and other vles, such as blackboard, will have to take to retain, for the purposes of engagement on their platforms, both lecturers and students alike. perhaps it is the institution which keeps us all on this platform? i suggest that, if turnitin were to become a standalone application and students were able to engage with it outside the vle, this would cease to be the case. however, i like the idea that everything is in a centralised location, as you can monitor progress and see how everything is going, instead of having different platforms and monitoring points. given the contention over this matter, the provision of empirical insight – through research into how students really engage with vles compared to other standalone learning and teaching applications – is essential the shift 2018 conference has proved very thought-provoking. even though it was just for one day, its debates and discussions were very engaging and helped individuals to evaluate their teaching practices. in my own opinion, lecturers will still have to use such platforms as moodle for all learning activities. the students either engage, or they do not. i think it is vital that we have everything embedded into a single hub. however, web applications are here to stay and it is up to the institution to discourage the use of them. bearing in mind the way surveymonkey was stopped and office 365 preferred in my own institution, moodle and other vles need to improve their user experiences or face similar displacement. reference list ajjan, h. and hartshorne, r. (2008) ‘investigating faculty decisions to adopt web 2.0 technologies: theory and empirical tests.’ the internet and higher education, 11(2), 71-80. manca, s. and ranieri, m. (2016) ‘facebook and the others. potentials and obstacles of social media for teaching in higher education.’ computers & education, 95, 216-230. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 mogaji, e.o. (2018) are we really engaging with linkedin to enhance students' experience? stirling: academy of marketing. isbn 978-1-908063-43-4. veletsianos, g. and kimmons, r. (2013) ‘scholars and faculty members' lived experiences in online social networks.’ the internet and higher education, 16, 43-50. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 education is never for its own sake, it’s much more important than that patrick ainley, school of education, university of greenwich cambridge university lecturer stefan collini’s book last year asked what are universities for? its answer that ‘education is for its own sake’ struck a chord with many academics because it chimed with a widely held notion of academic freedom. this supposedly allows he teachers – unlike school and fe teachers – to set and examine their own courses linked to their personal research interests. very few academics actually exercise this degree of freedom and collini’s special pleading for them is unlikely to win widespread public support. more importantly, collini divides ‘higher’ from the rest of education by reinforcing the alleged superiority of research (knowledge production) over teaching (knowledge reproduction). this misconceives the nature of teaching by supposing that it merely reproduces what is already known. however, all teachers know that in representing an old subject – even without the scholarship necessary to keep up to date with it – they have to reinterpret what they know both for themselves in new circumstances and for new generations of students for whom that knowledge is necessarily new. knowledge and skills embedded in culture are thus not handed uncritically down the generations but are developed in teaching, scholarship and research. nor is research ‘for its own sake’, despite repeated government demands for its restriction to national economic ‘impact’ (in contrast to the ref, incidentally, which recognizes international excellence). as unesco’s 1997 resolution on higher education states: ‘higher education is directed to human development and to the progress of society’. this is a much wider purpose than ‘blue skies’/‘curiosity driven’, ‘research for its own sake’ which supposedly drives the scientific model of research. (for a corrective insight into how scientists actually work, see polanyi 1958.) both research and teaching supposedly for their own sakes ignore the role of education in critically learning from the past so that society can change its behaviour in the future. just because education as a whole is currently reneging on this responsibility does not invalidate the claim that it has this wider potential. ‘human development and the progress of society’ puts knowledge at the heart of the system, not students – as both collini and the coalition government’s white paper say they should be. anyway, in the fee-driven system that higher education is becoming, most ‘consumers’ (if not customers!) of learning are not paying for knowledge for its own sake, even if they are often advised to study a subject they are interested in (otherwise they won’t stick it out!). instead, students are willing to become heavily indebted for the chance of employment in the dwindling band of occupations that are not automated, downsized and contracted out but are reasonably secure and rewarding. this is what promises of ‘employability’ amount to as an alternative to ‘education for its own sake’. both responses are equally illusory and contribute to the simulacrum of learning that it is now the main danger that commodified education becomes. for we are in trouble if we convince ourselves and our students that what we are doing is education for its own sake, when they have more invested in promises of future employment that both we and they know are often illusory. at best a degree affords only a slight advantage in the jobs queue over those who do not have a degree and education becomes increasingly meaningless and alienating for both students and teachers. far from being ‘for its own sake’, it is then an exercise to be undertaken with as little effort by students and maximum direction by staff as possible. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 this is the case whether students are drilling for the tests of levels of literacy required for entry to he or cramming for regurgitation in academic graduation. these qualifications do not attest to any skilful knowledge but function mainly as proxies for more or less expensively acquired cultural capital. nor is ‘skill’ involved in completing competence-based assessments that reduce learning to what dierdre mcardle-clinton (2008) calls capsule education, broken down into bits to be easily digested. paradoxically, new information technology can worsen both these tendencies at either end of the widening academic hierarchy and the e-alternative of ‘on demand’ teaching and assessment only encourages students who don’t, won’t or can’t read. stefan collini’s assertion of ‘research and education for their own sakes’ against ‘research for national economic impact’ and ‘education for employability’ only reinforces the dominance of elite academic he. within that elite he further reinforces the dominance of a misconceived model of ‘scientific’ research over a narrow notion of teaching as transmission for consumption by uncritically fee-paying student-customers. references bis, (department of business, innovation and skills) (2011) higher education: students at the heart of the system, london: bis. collini, s. (2012) what are universities for? harmondsworth: penguin. mcardle-clinton, d. (2008) the consumer experience of higher education, the rise of capsule education, london: continuum. polanyi, m. (1958) personal knowledge, towards a post-critical philosophy, london: routledge. unesco (1997) resolution adopted on the report of commission ii at the 26th plenary meeting, paris: unesco. author biography patrick ainley is professor of training and education at the university of greenwich school of education and training (as was). his latest books are: lost generation? new strategies for youth and education, continuum: 2010 and a forthcoming e-book the great reversal, young people, learning and employment in a declining economy. patrick blogs at http://radicaled.wordpress.com/ http://radicaled.wordpress.com/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 lights, camera, action research! engaging filmmaking students in feedback david thompson manchester metropolitan university abstract this paper is a response to repeated national student survey evidence of dissatisfaction with ‘assessment and feedback’ in undergraduate film production courses, as well as an expression of genuine interest in how to address the characteristic indifference and laissezfaire attitude of students engaged in filmmaking. it explores how filmmaking students may be effectively engaged with feedback by undertaking it themselves before i issue it formally as their tutor. as opposed to a formative exercise, this activity was undertaken just minutes before their ‘live’ summative feedback. the intention was to create autonomous, independent and proactive learners from the start of their degrees. the research forming the basis of this case study, which i undertook in a previous role at a uk higher education institution, identifies that critiquing without knowing what action to take is a barrier to students’ engaging with their feedback and that being able to maintain a distance from and perspective of their work enables students to take responsibility for themselves. it finds that in order to move on from mistakes, feedback needs to be straight to the point and clear, in order to create an action plan to improve. “houston, we have a problem” (apollo 13, 1995) the study was prompted by my observation of a change in engagement with feedback given to students from tutors. there was a less positive engagement by students with my feedback; other lecturers in my department voiced similar concerns that students were making complaints about feedback. as a consequence, i determined to undertake research into my own practice, as simply and effectively as possible, so that the method could be applied by others in my department. instead of running a survey or asking the members of a staff/student committee for their opinions, i wanted to understand what lay at the root of the problem. “toto, i’ve a feeling we’re not in kansas anymore” (wizard of oz, 1939) literature review bloom’s ‘cognitive’ and ‘affective’ domain taxonomy volumes (1956 and 1964) detail clearly how to assist the student in progressing through higher levels of abstraction. the ‘affective’ domain includes as its final three stages: valuing, organisation and characterisation by value set. pratt’s ‘good teaching: one size fits all?’ (2002) also lays out a clear, sequential teaching theory which fits practically alongside biggs and tang’s ‘teaching according to how students learn’ (2002), with its focus on theories of teaching and the ‘cognitive level of learning activities’ chart, again a practical guide alongside bloom’s ‘cognitive taxonomy’. whilst these theories focused on the actual process of learning, they did not case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 include the ‘affective’ domain details of organisation and application – i felt that both of these aligned well with making the study part of the class; i wanted to ensure i was using, in pete boyd’s words, a “transformative approach to thinking about the purposes of assessment” (2007, p. 7). meer and chapman (2013) argue that students’ understanding of marking criteria make them active participants in the process, encouraging a community of practice. this is supported by rust et al. (2005), who suggest that tacit knowledge is gained by participation rather than instruction, and gordon (2010), who states that students are far more attentive when assessing their peers. walser (2009) concurs, as well as hattie and timperley, who also state categorically: “feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement” (2007). sadler (1989) even goes as far as to say students “must already possess some of the same evaluative skills as their teacher”. he argues that they are already generating their own feedback. in outlining the seven principles of good feedback, nicol and macfarlane-dick (2006) are also positive, describing feedback as inspiring independent students and therefore selfregulated learners concurring with bloom. they also allude to its deeper influence which “shows that feedback both regulates and is regulated by motivational beliefs” (op.cit., p.201). hattie and timperley (op.cit.) agree, proposing that increased effort and the taking on of more challenging tasks is inspired by correct use of feedback. if students also believe that they can achieve when the intended goal is clear, they are also more likely to increase their effort (kluger and denisi, 1996). hattie et al. also say that effective instruction is key to enhanced learning so that “teachers can create a learning environment in which students develop self-regulation and error detection skills” (hattie, biggs and purdie, 1996). hattie (2008) puts feedback at the top of his education table. this sense of role reversal is thought of positively by campbell (2015), who argues that tutors should not be scared of giving up their own role, inspiring greater student independence, engagement and interaction. although my research is stand-alone, it is part of a scaffold process of the type recommended by mcniff (2005). “now which way do we go?” (wizard of oz, 1939) methodology using a summative script assignment submitted three weeks earlier, the students were given specific instructions to write their own feedback online, by re-reading both the work they had submitted and the original assessment brief for the module. they then had a personal tutorial with me, to receive their actual summative feedback. the process was then completed by a digitally-recorded focus group. participants i used a group of five foundation-year students, studying ba film and television production, before they began their first year at undergraduate level. this age group was chosen (as opposed to level 6, for example) because, as meer and chapman (2014) note, students “would benefit more if this engagement with the marking criteria could happen earlier in their student journey”. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 setting the intervention and data collection took place in a versatile computer room, a location familiar to the students and often used for teaching and learning. change process my intervention involved students’ engaging in tutor activities by marking and giving their own work feedback just before they received their official feedback from me. the assignment they had completed was a five-page script, with appropriate industry formatting. instead of getting their grade and feedback straight away, as they usually did, i wanted them to engage in the process actively, to encourage deep learning and engage with the higher cognitive levels. i issued a number of specific, logical and progressive steps to go through for simple completion of the process: 1. read your scripts out loud in pairs. 2. read the brief on blackboard that you were originally set. 3. write a short summary of the aspects of the brief you think you have hit. 4. write a list of positive and negative bullet points. 5. write a summary paragraph, focusing on the positives of your work and what you think you need to work on, moving forward. data collection the students submitted their feedback reports and then participated in a digitally-recorded focus group to discuss their thoughts about the process. before the focus-group session began, they were asked to answer two written questions: • what worked about the process? • what didn’t work about the process? the focus-group discussion was then left deliberately open, to allow them to explore their own experience of, and reflections on, receiving feedback throughout the foundation year and to encourage whatever they wanted to speak about to come up. using thematic analysis, looking at the strengths and limitations of the study design, i then examined the data. the discussion is illustrated by a selection of quotations from anonymised student feedback. “you talking to me?” (raging bull, 1980) writing their own feedback though, at first, the change process seemed boring to them and there was a lack of enthusiasm, the structure worked once they started to engage themselves practically and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 write. my having laid out how i composed my feedback to them gave them a framework, the blanks of which they could fill in to build their own critique for themselves. a yet greater enthusiasm was apparent as they got to stand on their own two feet and take this in to the focus group: they all had something to bring through their experience. what also worked was the similarity between their feedback to my own. however, in many circumstances, they were far more critical than i was about their own work. this worked both ways, because then when it came to listing what did work (i had instructed them to do that at the end of their feedback), any self-praise derived from reasoned evidence, not from ego. they were able to analyse and delineate, not merely to praise and be positive for the sake of it. this produced some exciting action plans for moving forward, as illustrated by this comment from one participant: “on the positive side the storyline was strong and interesting and had potential to be good. however to make it more exciting the dialogue and descriptions could be more emotionally descriptive to make it more exciting and keep the audience interested.” (student b). this was above and beyond what i had expected and showed so many attributes for a level 3 student! first, she had stepped back and analysed; second, she had been accurate and articulate in her critique; third, she was able to get beyond simple praise and inspire and encourage herself to move forward from a place of confidence, certainty and deep learning. instead of directing, i had therefore become more a facilitator, a guide alongside her much more self-determined way ahead. focus group student themes independence the students liked being able to discover their own strengths and weaknesses for themselves. there was a sense of empowerment in their answers. none of them complained of feeling restrained, only of wanting more detail. they were able to begin to express what they did not want as well as what they did; clear and straight to the point was a common theme: “give me something i can work on” (student b). in contrast, there was a severe dislike of “critique for critique's sake”, without knowing the ‘how’ of how to change it (student c). though student g, confused, expressed a minority view – “what can i do about it now?” – his comment did reflect a more prevalent attitude: if i can’t do anything about it now, then what use is it? “well, nobody’s perfect” (some like it hot, 1959) student g felt that his feedback was neither detailed nor harsh enough; he then described how another tutor’s feedback was too harsh and unjustified. when i pointed out that these two views were contradictory, he fell silent and others began to talk. after some quiet reflection, however, he did seem to have an epiphany, saying that, from the other tutor, there was nothing he could work with, only criticism, with no plan of how to do better; he had wanted detailed feedback, but detailed feedback that was actionable and not simply negatively critical. he was able to analyse and articulate to me the practicalities of his emotions, instead of just getting angry – an ‘affective’ domain characteristic. he was case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 therefore able to communicate exactly what his tutor couldn’t. this was exciting! the process he went through in order to express what he felt was exactly what he needed his tutor to do about his work – not just to “slag it off”, as he put it, but to tell him practically what he needed to do to move forward. the message coming back from the students was therefore clear: feedback was only useful if there was something they could do about it. consequently, i found myself determining how best to incorporate constructive feedback into the next academic year’s sessions. as hattie and timperley (2011, p. 104) conclude, ‘it is the feedback information and interpretations from assessments, not the numbers or grades, that matter... feedback…one of the most powerful influences on learning, too rarely occurs”. empowerment as a result of the reflection, there was a progressive sense of empowerment, directness and honesty towards me. they began talking about my early lectures, saying that they had been unsure of me at first, before detailing how each session built on those preceding it, so they began to understand and have more confidence in my methods. that i taught them progressively and fairly made sense and worked. valuing their learning overall, there was a sense of enhanced understanding amongst the students: they displayed characteristic ‘affective’ domain qualities; they began valuing their feedback and their role in it. this was displayed in their critiquing another lecturer’s style. once they had been ‘on the other side’ (writing feedback on their own work) and then been given the space by me, they were able to analyse – a key concept of ‘cognitive’ domain activity. focus group – tacit observations in the focus group, there was an initial silence and nervousness. as a result, i had to emphasise how important it was to the effectiveness of my research and to my subsequent actions that they be absolutely candid. once the discussion was not centered on me – and clearly that was an issue from their body language and tentative answers – they were able to relax and analyse properly. even those who did not contribute were visibly nodding and taking part emotionally, if not vocally. the consensus was that the change had worked because they could distance themselves from their own work, take a step back and analyse. it was apparent that they felt listened to and knew more about themselves and what they needed, analysing and effectively engaging in a community of research amongst themselves. they were able to distinguish what feedback they needed and – crucially in student g’s case – the ‘why’. through the process, they developed experientially the knowledge and confidence to practice what it took to use feedback and move on. what i learnt was that separating them from their own work, and encouraging them to step back and be objective, defused negative criticism. one of the barriers to feedback in my experience can be students’ disagreement with or sensitivity to negative comments about their own work, especially if they are not expecting it and have spent a long time doing it. this change process enabled them to see for case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 themselves, before they simply ‘got their mark’. the tacit implication is that students with this degree of self-knowledge will be willing to engage in enquiry and analysis as a result. the research showed a positive change because, despite initial resistance from the students, they did grasp that it was a good idea; furthermore, they learned, experientially, from the inside, not simply by being told: learning from the inside out, instead of outside in; showing, not telling. another observation that arose from this research exercise was the considerable negative commentary and lack of positive commentary, about other lecturers who were not present. this is clearly a factor with significant implications for the information gathered: whereas the feedback about me individually was balanced and limited, the feedback about a lecturer who had taught them the previous semester was much more extensive and trenchant. i am led to conclude that analysis of my practice might have been more informative had the group discussion been handled by another tutor in my absence, thus opening up a freer space for them to scrutinize my methods. “now, where was i?” (memento, 2000) a key conclusion from this research is that being able to maintain a distance from and a more impartial perspective upon their work, enables students to take responsibility for themselves. students emphasised strongly that in order for them to move on from mistakes, the feedback needs to be clear, frank, pertinent and constructively evidenced so that they can plan and carry out strategies for improvement. this research shows that simply critiquing, without knowing what action to take, is a barrier to students’ engaging with feedback. being able to maintain a distance gives them perspective on the work they have done. it also shows that students engage in feedback and take ownership of the academic process for themselves when they get access to stepping into the shoes of the tutor and are thus empowered. ownership and independence can be created by issuing a student responsible tutor orientated task, stimulating enquiry and analysis as a result. as these are aspects of bloom’s ‘cognitive’ domain, such a task is immensely useful in progressing students’ learning, by engaging them with feedback. they can take a step back, in order take an effective leap forward. "where we go from there is a choice i leave to you." (the matrix, 1999) reference list anderson, lw., krathwohl, d.r. and bloom, b.s. (2001) ‘a taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives.’ theory into practice, 41 (4). apollo 13. (1995) directed by ron howard. los angeles, california: universal pictures. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 biggs. j. and tang, c. (2007) teaching for quality learning at university (3rd edition). maidenhead: oxford university press. bloom, b.s. (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals. handbook i: cognitive domain. new york: david mckay bloom, b.s. (1964) taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals. handbook ii: affective domain. new york: david mckay boyd, p. (2007) developing effective assessment in higher education: a practical guide. london: mcgraw-hill education. campbell, e. (2015) ‘students as facilitators: an evaluation of student-led group work.’ practitioner research in higher education, 9(1), 52-58. chapman, a., parmar, d. and trotter, e. (2007) ‘an evaluation of the first year experience from the mature students' perspective: a multi-institutional comparison.’ practitioner research in higher education, 1(1), 15-19. hattie, j. a. and timperley, h. (2007) ‘the power of feedback.’ review of educational research, 77(1), 81-112. hattie, j. a., biggs, j. and purdie, n. (1996) ‘effects of learning skills interventions on student learning: a meta-analysis.’ review of educational research, 66(2), 99-136. kluger, a. n. and denisi, a. (1996) ‘the effects of feedback interventions on performance: a historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory.’ psychological bulletin, 119(2), 254-284. the matrix (1999) directed by lana wachowski and lilly wachowski. los angeles, california: warner bros. meer n. and chapman, a. (2014) ‘assessment for confidence: exploring the impact that low-stakes assessment design has on student retention.’ the international journal of management education, 12(2), 186-192. meer n. and chapman, a. (2013) ‘can we do it like this?: students as partners in the assessment process.’ higher education academy conference, nottingham trent university, 22nd–24th april. memento (2000) directed by christopher nolan. los angeles, california: newmarket. mcniff, j. (2005) action research: principles and practices (2nd edition). london: routledge. nicol, d.j. and macfarlane-dick, d. (2006) ‘formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice.’ studies in higher education, 31(2), 199-218. pratt, d. (2002) 'good teaching: one size fits all?' new directions for adult and continuing education, 93, 5-11. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 raging bull (1980) directed by martin scorsese. los angeles, california: united artists. rust, (2005) ‘a social constructivist assessment process model: how the research literature shows us this could be best practice.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 30(3), 231-240. sadler, d.r. (1989) ‘formative assessment and the design of instructional systems.’ instructional science, 18, 119-144. some like it hot (1959) directed by billy wilder. los angeles, california: metro-goldwynmayer. wakeford, r. (1999) ‘principles of assessment.’ in: fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (eds.) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education. glasgow: bell and bain, 58-69. walser, t. (2009) ‘an action research study of student self-assessment in higher education.’ innovations in higher education 34, 299-306. the wizard of oz (1939) directed by victor fleming. los angeles, california: metrogoldwyn-mayer. yorke, m. (1999) leaving early: undergraduate non-completion in higher education. london: palmer press. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 from distant collaboration to collaborative presentation: the edd and one bedtime story more poppy gibson, suzie dick university of greenwich, north ayrshire council, university of glasgow abstract as part of their ever-evolving doctoral journey, the authors presented their recently-published article ‘the edd and one bedtime story more! an exploration of the third space inhabited by mothers working in educational leadership whilst studying for a professional doctorate’ (gibson, shanks and dick, 2017) at the greenwich shift teaching and learning conference, 2018. from distant collaboration to collaborative presentation, the conference brought together two of the three women who had written the article together via online communications between london to scotland in a virtual ‘third space’ (soja, 1999), having never previously met face to face. third spaces, such as online messenger platforms as used by the authors, can provide a place for individuals to collaborate, and identities to develop. the article focused on the “ever-present pressures, tensions and opportunities for women leaders in education” (gibson, shanks and dick, op.cit., p.172). this conference piece draws parallels between the pressures, tensions and opportunities that conferences can provide. the article offers an opportunity for further reflection on the experience of the conference as yet another part of doctoral study and makes links to the original article’s claim that study can be a ‘third space’ (soja, op.cit.). the conference revealed itself as the ideal third space for both professional and personal development. keywords: leadership, women, doctorate in education, capabilities, conference introduction the premise of our original research into doctoral study was to explore the “ever-present pressures, tensions and opportunities for women leaders in education” (gibson, shanks and dick, 2017, p.172) that women leaders in education have to undergo. in this conference reflection piece, these three elements are drawn upon as we consider the experience and how the subject matter of identity and study has been stimulated further through the experience of the greenwich shift teaching and learning conference, 2018. from distant collaboration to collaborative presentation, the conference offered us – authors who had written the article together via online communications between london and scotland and without any face-to-face contact – the opportunity, finally, to collaborate in the non-virtual world. third spaces (soja, 1999), such as online messenger platforms as used during our writing of the article, can provide a place for individuals to collaborate and identities to develop. we found that the constant availability and reliable presence of the internet meant we could fit conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 communications around our busy family and working lives and we often messaged late into the evening. this behaviour reflects the core message of the original article. the aim of our recently-published article ‘the edd and one bedtime story more! an exploration of the third space inhabited by mothers working in educational leadership whilst studying for a professional doctorate’ (gibson, shanks and dick, 2017) was to analyse links between identity, pursuit of excellence and the pursuit of a complete, worthwhile life through the narratives of three female doctoral students. pressures public speaking anxiety (psa) is the most commonly-experienced type of anxiety (kumar et al., 2017, p.287), yet conferences are often are often well-attended, with much competition for their presentation opportunities. indeed, despite our own multiple concurrent roles as mothers, we chose to submit an abstract for the shift conference. to our delight, our proposal was accepted and we were offered a slot at the january event. to try to overcome the pressures that are often associated with public speaking and some of the most common nervous habits that manifest themselves on such occasions – filled pauses, tongue clicks and inappropriate use of the word 'like’ (spieler and miltenberger, 2017, p.38) – we knew that we would need to prepare our talk with audience and purpose clearly in mind. additionally, as the title of this piece reflects, we had to consider the fact that though we had written a joint paper, we had never met each other in person; we therefore needed to meet and familiarise ourselves with each other’s habits, speech and presentation styles while simultaneously preparing to present. through social constructionism, we – as two of the three authors – supported and guided each other as we took this next step on our doctoral journey: the step from writers to speakers, each encouraging and giving advice to the other. prior to the conference, it was also important – considering the transposition of written journal article to verbal reflection – to review our material together and to consider the likely impact of our speech (slutsky and baum, 2017) on the audience. as public speaking is associated with fear of negative evaluation and anxiety, it has the potential to undermine self-confidence and self-image (mehta, 2018, p.81). to overcome the pressures of conference speaking, we found it helpful to focus on what we do well (rather than on weaknesses) as the means of boosting our self-confidence (mehta, op.cit.). tensions tensions that may be felt at a conference may link to imposter syndrome (is). interestingly, in the 1970s, is was first considered a trend among women who were advancing professionally (coombes and gibson, 2018). the literature shows that sufferers of is have a ‘secret fear’ inside them (qureshi et al., 2017, p.107) and this fear was certainly something tangible when presenting a conference at the institution where one of us worked. for one of the authors, this was her first experience of presenting at a university, with the additional concern of being the imposter within the writing partnership; each author was therefore keen to establish on this first meeting a sense of genuinely equal partnership, both in the writing and the forthcoming presentation. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 opportunities and conclusion post-session reflections about the actual presentation revealed that it was through confronting the ‘imposter’ feeling – and refusing to be overwhelmed or commanded by it – that self-esteem was in fact reinforced. the main opportunity presented by the shift conference was that of two of the authors finally meeting face to face. yet it was more than just that; by meeting and presenting together, the authors were taking a step forward in sharing an aspect of their identity and bringing out into the open the people they had previously been, in soja’s third space. presenting and surviving the experience showed us that we can take control of situations and that conferences are the ideal way to perform and present research in a safe context. the conference, upon reflection, provided yet another ‘third space’ for the authors, this one a non-virtual space as opposed to the previously-utilised virtual messaging platform. we reflect that women on doctoral programmes must not give in to the imposter feelings, but instead must live with them and battle through them by availing themselves of the opportunities that are presented by both conferences and publication. by accepting that tensions and pressures are but part of our personal and professional lives, these opportunities, in turn, can lead us further along the path towards a worthwhile life. biographical note poppy gibson is a lecturer in primary education in the teacher education department., coming into he after over a decade working in several london primary schools. poppy currently works on the university of greenwich's accelerated degree programme in primary education and is the modern foreign language coordinator, teaching mfl on the pgce and ba qts programmes. key research interests include identity, motivation and the integration of technology into our lives. suzie dick is a deputy head teacher on the isle of arran, scotland, having previously worked in a number of schools in the uk and abroad. suzie is currently undertaking her edd at the university of glasgow and set up and co-ordinates north ayrshire council’s educational research interest group. her key research interests include outdoor learning, teacher identity and practitioner enquiries. reference list coombes, s. and gibson, p. (2018) ‘feeling like a fraud: engaging students with imposter syndrome.’ higher education journal of teaching and learning. available at: http://hejlt.org/article/feeling-like-a-fraud-engaging-students-with-imposter-syndrome/ (accessed: 30 july 2018). gibson, p., shanks, r., and dick, s. (2017) the edd and one bedtime story more! an exploration of the third space inhabited by mothers working in educational leadership whilst studying for a professional doctorate. management in education, 32 (4). (accessed: 8 april 2018). conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 kumar, m., kalakbandi, v., prashar, s., neelu, x. and parashar, a. (2017) 'overcoming the effect of low self-esteem on public speaking anxiety with mindfulness-based interventions.' decision (0304-0941), 44(4), 287-296 (accessed: 30 april 2018). qureshi, m., taj, j., latif, m., rafique, s., ahmed, r. and chaudhry, m. (2017) 'imposter syndrome among pakistani medical students.' annals of king edward medical university, 23(2), 107-111. (accessed: 30 may 2018). shi, x., brinthaupt, t. and mccree, m. (2017) 'understanding the influence of self-critical, self-managing, and social-assessing self-talk on performance outcomes in a public speaking context.' imagination, cognition & personality, 36(4), 356-378 (accessed: 30 april 2018). slutsky, j. and baum, n. (2017) 'public speaking for the podiatric physician--part 1: the key to a successful execution is careful planning.' podiatry management, 36(8), 87-90 (accessed: 15 april 2018). spieler, c. and miltenberger, r. (2017) 'using awareness training to decrease nervous habits during public speaking.' journal of applied behaviour analysis, 50(1), 38-47. (accessed: 30 may 2018). opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 cross-boundary communities, an alternative vision for academic development chrissi nerantzi, peter gossman manchester metropolitan university, university of worcester abstract this opinion piece presents material derived from considered thoughts about the future of academic development and a phenomenographic study in which the collaborative open learning experience was explored within two cross-institutional academic development courses. the proposition for academic development shared in this article is based on some of the study’s findings (those relating to cross-boundary community). these findings are synthesised with conceptual ideas to present an alternative approach to academic development. this approach connects academic staff, students and the public, diversifies the available offer and recasts it as dynamic practitioner-driven collaboration. although it concerns academic development, the article is of interest to anyone involved in teaching and learning – and so, therefore, in exploring ways of engaging people with their development – and to academics thinking about constructing open courses. keywords: open education, academic development, phenomenography, open education community. academic development in the uk academic development in the uk is traditionally organised by a central academic development unit in a single institution for the staff of that institution, although there are many variations on this. the offer, for such units, commonly includes: cross-disciplinary, initial and in-service, formal and informal professional development related to learning and teaching for a range of staff who teach or support learning. it also covers: routes to professional recognition as well as postgraduate teaching qualification programmes (pgcerts); masters and doctoral programmes; curriculum enhancement; pedagogical research and review activities in faculties and disciplines (nerantzi, 2017a). over the last few years, some of the above provision has been made available to colleagues external to the institution, including institutional collaborative partners and others. overall, academic development has a central function within uk higher education institutions (heis) and academic development units (adus) play an increasingly strategic role in positively influencing teaching and learning across an institution (baume and baume, 2013; bostock and baume, 2016). these units offer teaching qualifications and professional recognition, which have been shown to shape teaching practices (parsons et al., 2012; botham, 2017). furthermore, adus often also offer workshops and tailor-made interventions and work closely with colleagues in the disciplines and professional areas on curriculum design and review. developers also promote and engage in scholarly activities to evaluate, enhance and transform learning and teaching and the student experience. knapper (2016, p.106) notes of pgcerts that “these courses have exposed new academics to a much wider range opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 of possible teaching and assessment approaches and promoted a more sophisticated understanding about how students learn and how best to teach”. however, despite its effectiveness and successes, academic development (and its often traditional character) has been criticised for being behind the times (donnelly, 2010; littlejohn, 2002; mainka, 2007). stefani (2017) calls for academic development to break free from conventions and become transformative, to drive innovation in learning and teaching. researchers in this area (crawford, 2009; european commission, 2013; king, 2004) have called for more open, decentralised and collaborative academic development provision that stretches across institutions to maximise the opportunities presented for professional development by digital technology. daniel, kanwar and west (2007, p.1), in their keynote to the international conference on open and online learning, suggest that open learning “…means access to learning without barriers, access that is not closed. open learning is an ideal, because there will always be some barriers to learning”. academic conferences that build cross-institutional community around them are examples of where this is achieved in short bursts. in some cases, the community may continue between annual conferences or be just an annual regrouping. historical examples of wider-reaching collaboration show that this is not a new idea in academic development. the 1989 collaborative pgcert in central scotland (ellington and baharuddin, 2000), with its focus on resources sharing, the london example in 1990-91 (bostock and baume, 2016) of a joint course – for academic staff in polytechnics and those in higher education (he) – on teaching in he, and gibbs’ (2012) vision for a national initiative in this field are all forward-thinking ideas and examples of cross-institutional collaboration, though they did not materialise or had a very short lifespan. bostock and baume (op.cit.) claim that perhaps the technology was not ready to help some of these ideas survive and spread. since then, open and social practices supported by open and social media have created new opportunities in this area. examples include ‘learning and teaching in higher education’ (#lthechat – https://lthechat.com/) and open professional development courses such as the ‘bring your own devices for learning’ (byod4 – https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/) and the ‘teaching and learning conversations’ webinars (tlc – https://tlcwebinars.wordpress.com/). a further example is the growth of open-access institutional research repositories (e.g. opendoar – http://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/opendoar/) and open-access journals. digital practices, as noted by beetham (2015), are often integrated into academic development provision and there are now diverse opportunities to set up community spaces using institutional, social and personal technologies. community, as highlighted by gunn (2011), can be created through collaborative approaches that are decentralised and not top-down mandates. the literature related to this area often focuses on the formal nature of cross-institutional collaboration among heis, omitting the valuable informal and open opportunities that collaborations can bring (british council, 2015; european commission, 2013 and 2015; hefce, 2011). inanimorato dos santos et al. (2016) advocate inter-institutional collaborations that are informal and practitioner-led, as they offer opportunities to share practice and resources, empower individuals in a dynamic way and act without the need for any institution to have a formalised partnership with another. a few such informal cross-institutional groupings of practitioners have started seizing opportunities and currently offer open and cross-institutional professional development initiatives – such as the creativity for learning in opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 higher education and the flexible, distance and online learning course (nerantzi, 2017a) – that are based on informal collaborations. exploring the collaborative open learning experience two specific open, cross-institutional academic development courses in 2014 and 2015 (nerantzi, 2017a) explored the collaborative open-learning experience of academics and non-academic professionals in he (who teach or support learning). a phenomenographic approach was used to study the authentic lived experience of participants and the related qualitatively different variations in it (marton, 1981). data from two courses were collected through twenty-two individual semi-structured interviews, by means of a collective casestudy approach (stake, 1995). the open courses in this study were the ‘flexible, distance and online’ (fdol – https://fdol.wordpress.com/) and ‘creativity for learning in higher education’ (#creativehe – community space at https://plus.google.com/communities/110898703741307769041).both were informal crossinstitutional collaborations and linked to at least one formal professional development programme – such as a pgcert or ma in learning and teaching in higher education – within an institution. they both had different collaborative learning features, were organised by facilitators situated in different institutions and were open to staff, students and the public (nerantzi, 2017a). eleven categories of description and their limited number of qualitatively-different variations (appendix 1) emerged through analysing the data that describe aspects of the learners’ experiences, including course features and boundary-crossing that influenced and shaped this, including collaborative open learning. the outcome space depicts the logical relationships among the categories of description (appendix 2). these findings were used to construct a cross-boundary, collaborative open-learning framework (appendix 3). it is proposed that the framework could be used and adapted by those considering the development and implementation of cross-institutional academic development – or, indeed, other provision. phenomenography, as a methodology, captures the voices and perspectives of experience as lived and described by all study participants collectively through categories of description and their qualitatively-different variations (marton, 1981). this means that the whole spectrum of responses is brought together and then synthesised through analysis. this article explores one specific category of description – ‘course as community’ (nerantzi, 2017a) – and discusses the opportunities this presents for an alternative community-based approach to academic development that could work in conjunction with other established approaches. the authors propose this to widen the current academic-development offer and attract, as this research showed, academics to whom such an approach could be attractive. course as community’ community featured in the findings at two levels, in relation to the individual learner and to a sense of belonging to a group. this generated community feelings seen as valuable for their learning onand offline. some study participants in ‘course as community’ expressed interest in a continuation of the community beyond the course. the eleven categories of description emerging from the study through a phenomenographic analysis provide insight into how collaborative open learning was experienced in two open, cross-institutional academic development courses (appendix 1). the category of description ‘cross-boundary https://fdol.wordpress.com/ https://plus.google.com/communities/110898703741307769041 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 learning through time, places and space’ (nerantzi, 2017b) suggests that the adopted socialmedia ‘patchwork strategy’ (wenger et al., 2009, p.127) was effective in fostering opportunities for cross-boundary collaborative open learning, online, offline and on the go for the course participants, and therefore contributed to the creation of the community. the offline dimension sparked local satellite communities with one participant taking the community concept back to her institution, where she was confident that her local support network would be sufficient for her needs without further online contact with anyone from the course. an illustration of the ripple effect that the open community created resulting in extended engagement beyond the boundaries of the open courses. the related findings also suggest that, whilst the two courses in the study had a predefined duration, some participants experienced collaborative open learning as a continuum – stretching beyond the course conclusion – because of the cross-boundary nature of community, as depicted in the outcome space within area a (appendix 2). participant c4 says: “the fact that some of that group i know will carry it on, is great. i found myself thinking this is no time at all, i've only just got into it and it's finishing. okay, now that's easy to see from this perspective, if at the beginning you said this course is going to be twenty weeks i would have gone, oh my god i can't manage that commitment. so somehow i think the magic word would be extension ability would be the thing that is important, if it looks too big from the outset then that gets in the way and my disappointment was just that it was ending, but i'm not really disappointed because i'm not letting it end because that little group will keep talking.” this perspective shows that participants not only experienced collaborative open learning as a community, but also saw the course itself as an opportunity offering access to a professional community stretching beyond the conclusion of the course. this suggests that the courses, for such participants, were valuable both for the continuing development of their teaching practice and for creating a sense of community and belonging. the work of parsons et al. (2012) illustrates that community can be built through long crossdisciplinary academic development programmes that operate for many years within institutions, such as pgcerts. the findings of this study indicate that fostering extended community beyond the boundaries of a specific programme can create continuous opportunities for professional development for staff. indeed, participants in the study expressed a desire to be part of a wider community, not only cross-disciplinary, but also cross-institutionally and cross-boundary. the cross-boundary nature of this community appears to have acted as a strong motivator for participant engagement. interaction with other course participants helped them to get to know – and develop professional relationships with – a diverse set of individuals from different institutions, cultures, countries and sectors; that they were able to do this appears to have also strengthened their commitment to the course. this study therefore extends crawford’s (2009) work related to the engagement, after their completion of an institutional pgcert, of academic staff with external disciplinary communities and networks; it also provides evidence of such activities in cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary and cross-boundary settings for the continuing development of teaching. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the two cross-institutional academic development courses designed by the course organisers had features in common with the community-building academic development model as defined by popovic and plank (2016). according to these authors, a ‘communitybuilding’ model enables academic staff to come together informally to share ideas and support each other beyond the disciplinary or hierarchical boundaries within an institution. they acknowledge that such communities can be extended beyond an institution. the model adopted in the two courses had a deliberately cross-institutional dimension; they brought formal and informal learning and development together; and they were open to all – academic staff, students and the public. the practices reflect the idea of cross-boundary communities, as articulated by perryman and coughlan (2013, 2014) from their research into informal communities that connect he and the public. their work illustrates the opportunities for and the value of cross-boundary communities – equally relevant to the bringing together of formal and informal learning in open cross-institutional settings. towards an alternative approach during this research, evidence was gathered in relation to the attractiveness of such practitioner-led collaborations in the area of open cross-institutional academic development (nerantzi, 2017a; nerantzi, 2017b). the two courses in this study brought together a diverse range of open learners including academic developers, learning technologists, academic staff and students from different cultures, and further individuals with different roles within and beyond he, thus creating diverse development opportunities. we propose that such collaborative and open approaches to academic development – involving cross-institutional collaborations – be used as a strategy to build extended communities for continuously engaging academic staff in professional development. such an approach may also help remove some of the negative perception that sometimes exists among academic staff towards academic development, especially when it is perceived as management-directed (crawford, 2009; gibbs, 2013; di napoli, 2014). research has shown that collaborative and partnership approaches to academic development are perceived by academic developers and academic staff as much more effective in terms of academic staff engagement (stefani, 2003; wareing, 2004). this alternative approach of academic development may contribute to developing trust and portray a more inclusive and collegial picture of academic development based on open collaboration and positioned within practice and the academic community instead of being an add-on; a place of belonging, instead of a destination. the findings of this phenomenographic study point in this direction. the extract below from a study participant illustrates this. “the course has been a crucial eye-opener for me […] it relates to the way in which, it's being run across multiple institutions. because, for me, there's a big risk with open learning, that if it comes badged by a single institution, that educational developers, academic developers are automatically inclined to be resistant to advocating that for colleagues in their own institution. for fear of it actually, either undermining or, worse still making them redundant. so, the differences with this course is that there's been an attempt to diffuse that problem, by having it facilitated by colleagues in more than one institution, and then when you look at the pbl facilitators furthermore, even more institutions again, so leaving it open for the opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 instruction of the course, the delivery of it to be facilitated by multiple institutions effectively. and i think that erodes that problem of feeling as though it belongs to another competitor. and that we would be offering it. so there's something really nice about that. but it's more than open learning, it's about open practice as well. it's about making sure that the model of the course can accommodate, and invites facilitation from others in other institutions.” this participant confirms that such organised cross-institutional collaborations – in the area of academic development co-facilitated by a group of distributed facilitators – provide a model for extending opportunities for academic development that is decentralised and distributed, based on open collaboration and, as the evidence suggests, perceived as more attractive to academic staff. facilitators in the two courses of the study were from different backgrounds and different institutions and organisations. they were learning alongside course participants, as co-learners. this model of learning, in which power-relationships were flattened/horizontal, enabled wider learning partnerships to emerge and develop – among students and academic staff also. the cross-boundary nature of the courses further amplified related opportunities, as likewise observed by engeström, engeström and kärkkäinen (1995). this provides evidence that the non-hierarchical characteristics of a community offer the space to enable such boundary-crossing partnerships. the findings illustrate that informal academic development community-building models (popovic and plank, 2016) can play a key role in proactively and continuously engaging academic staff. the study offers new evidence that, as crawford’s (2009) work showed, academic staff engage in external communities and networks to develop their teaching. the findings also suggest that open collaborative and cross-institutional approaches should be considered by academic developers (potentially all academics) and their institutions, as they are wider-reaching, enable academic staff (and students) to experience digital, collaborative and open learning and allow them to be part of vibrant and diverse professional development communities. such collaborative approaches to academic development can open new pathways – not exclusively for engagement in informal professional development, for they can be equally valuable for professional recognition and credentialing (and therefore linking to academic programmes and other existing provision within and beyond a specific institution). the proposed idea for an alternative academic development model is based on crossboundary communities. this way of conducting academic development presents an opportunity to develop a distributed and collaborative approach for adus that stretches beyond institutional boundaries and creates opportunities to work more closely and in partnership with other units and practitioners in other institutions and organisations: academic developers, learning technologists, academics, students and other professionals from he and other sectors. the foundation of such an approach consists of cross-boundary communities providing continuing opportunities to engage online, offline and across physical and digital boundaries (nerantzi, 2017a). through this community, further academic development activities can be offered by individuals and groups of practitioners, or crossinstitutionally. they can include focused conversations, courses, modules and programmes, as well as workshops and one-to-one support. it is not suggested that a community-based model will work for all academics. to the contrary, and as nerantzi (2017a) shows, there will opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 be academic staff who are selective in their approach to professional development for whom ‘community’ may play a lesser – or no – role as a motivator for engagement. however, considering the current development needs of academic staff and the increased emphasis and conflicting pressures on academic staff to keep up to date and continuously raise the quality of their teaching and concurrently produce research outputs, a crossboundary community-based academic development model could provide an alternative, the means of engaging academic staff proactively in formal and informal professional development. it can also enrich and diversify existing academic development provision, which often still has an internal institutional focus. evidence from nerantzi (2017a) shows that this way of developing – practice-based, interestand needs-driven – motivates and can empower academic staff. if academic development is going to thrive in the years to come, it needs to re-invent itself so that it is of recognisable and immediate value to the academic community it serves and to communities more widely; and so that it becomes transformative (stefani, 2017). weller (2014) noted that learning and teaching is becoming more open and collaborative and there is some evidence that this has started happening in the area of academic development (nerantzi, 2015). rennie and reynolds (2014) argued that decentralisation and collaboration could lead to open models and this study offers some evidence of this. however, traditional university cultures, as noted by bayne and ross (2014), may present challenges to such implementations. furthermore, the drive, in england at least, to achieve teaching excellence based on highly-competitive models (bis, 2016a; bis, 2016b; nerantzi, 2017b) also presents a barrier to wider collaboration among heis that may lead to reduced collaboration among institutions and hinder the opportunities for and benefits of implementation of community-based professional development models. it needs to be acknowledged that practitioner-driven collaborative, cross-institutional and cross-boundary community approaches to academic development, supported by technology and based on the values of open education, can empower academic staff to engage in academic development through community engagement – a safe space for social learning. the modelling of innovative and more novel practices in these settings is important, enabling academic staff first to experience and consider them before applying them to their own practice (beetham, 2015). possible wider implications in a thought piece in 2015, we suggested that the world might move to a place where academic development and he, as a function, were no longer required, as people are all “expert, emotionally intelligent, self-regulated learners” (nerantzi and gossman, 2015, p.22). a utopian future: a learning society of dynamic networks and communities, proactive engagement, horizontal structures; choice, co-operation and empowerment. what seems to be required, as suggested by this research, are prepared and motivated individuals who will engage with open courses, with their content and with the other participants. those who do – and perhaps this is a truism – find the experience challenging and rewarding in equal measure. arguably, courses that contain such individuals create their own community. in the context of learning solely online, nolan and kellar (2018) note that greater ‘community’ enhances the online education experience and, broadly, that student-toopinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 student task-related interactions foster such a collaborative group. for this to happen, however, students probably also need to work alongside facilitators who are ‘present, guiding, open, honest and human’ (outzs, 2006, p.292). what is suggested above accords with education 3.0, “where education is socially constructed and contextually reinvented”, as outlined by john moravec (2008), and is summarised by gerstein (n.d.) as “a connectivist, heutagogical approach to teaching and learning. the teachers, learners, networks, connections, media, resources, tools create a unique entity that has the potential to meet individual learners’, educators’, and even societal needs.” conclusion this research suggests that open, cross-institutional collaborative approaches, based on cross-boundary communities, should be considered by institutions and practitioners as alternative academic development. these approaches extend the reach of academic development, enable staff to experience digital and open learning and allow them to feel part of a vibrant and diverse professional development community that acts as a motivator for further extended engagement. such developments might bring informal, formal and open learning and development together and provide new pathways towards professional recognition and credentialing. the concluding fascinating fiction article in ‘zombies in the academy: living death in higher education’ (whelan et al., 2013) comments: “after the outbreak of viral-z, knowledge proved too precious a commodity to be located in any one institution” (p.331). considering the development of academic staff and the increased emphasis on, and need for, keeping up to date and enhancing teaching practice, a community-based model of open, cross-institutional courses can provide alternative ways to engage academic staff in professional development, as well as enable academic developers to learn from and with each other. it can turn academic development from an internally-focused to a cross-institutional and cross-boundary-focused provision that reaches academic staff and engages them proactively in academic development. acknowledgements we would like to thank margy macmillan for reading the first draft of this paper as well as the reviewers for their valuable suggestions. reference list bayne, s. and ross, j. 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(2014) ‘warning! modelling effective mobile learning is infectious, an example from higher education,’ ucisa best practice guide using mobile technologies for learning, teaching and assessment, available at: http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/~/media/files/publications/case_studies/asg_effective_use_mobile %20learning (accessed 23 february 2018). nolan, m. and kellar, b. (2018) online learning community: friend or faux? white paper. corvallis, or: oregon state university ecampus research unit. available at: http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/research/wp-content/uploads/nolan-kellar-final.pdf (accessed 23 february 2018). ouzts, k. (2016) ‘sense of community in online courses.’ the quarterly review of distance education, 7(3), 285-296. available at: https://www.learntechlib.org/p/106764/ (accessed 29 october 2018). perryman, l.-a. and coughlan, t. 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(eds.) advancing practice in academic development. oxon: routledge, 207-224. isbn 1138854719. rennie, f. and reynolds, p. (2014) ‘two models for sharing digital open educational resources.’ journal of perspectives in applied academic practice, 2(2), 17-23. available at: https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v2i2.108 (accessed 29 october 2018). stefani, l. (2017) ‘realizing the potential for creativity in teaching and learning.’ in: watts, l.s. and blessinger, p. (eds.) creative learning in higher education. international perspectives and approaches. oxon: routledge, 196-209. isbn 9781138962354. stefani, l. (2003) ‘what is staff and educational development?’ in: kahn, p. and baume, d. (eds.) a guide to staff & educational development. oxon: routledge, 9-23. isbn 0749438819. wareing, s. (2004) ‘it ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it: an analysis of the language of educational development.’ educational developments 5(2), 9-11. available at: https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/ce1d0f02-d09d-a48f-aa51-4f1251f19f57/7/ (accessed 29 october 2018). http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/~/media/files/publications/case_studies/asg_effective_use_mobile%20learning http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/~/media/files/publications/case_studies/asg_effective_use_mobile%20learning http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/research/wp-content/uploads/nolan-kellar-final.pdf http://oro.open.ac.uk/39100/ http://oro.open.ac.uk/41629/1/344-2731-1-pb.pdf http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/research/hea_impact_teaching_development_prog.pdf http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/research/hea_impact_teaching_development_prog.pdf http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/research/hea_impact_teaching_development_prog.pdf https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/ce1d0f02-d09d-a48f-aa51-4f1251f19f57/7/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 weller, m. (2014) the battle for open. how openness won and why it doesn’t feel like victory. london: ubiquity press. isbn 9781909188334. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 appendix 1: categories of description pool of meanings categories of description variations codes used in the outcome space pool 1 (course) open learning as course organisation causing initial disorientation aiding participation c1.1 open learning as an activity-based experience limiting engagement fostering engagement c1.2 open learning as a facilitated experience lacking direction and instruction directive and controlling facilitative and supportive c1.3 open learning as designed for collaboration constraining enabling empowering c1.4 pool 2 (boundary crossing) cross-boundary learning through modes of participation as a valued informal learning experience as a valued mixed-mode learning experience as a valued opportunity for recognition c2.1 cross-boundary learning through time, places and space as a disconnected experience as a continuum c2.2 cross-boundary learning through culture and language as a barrier as an enrichment c2.3 cross-boundary learning through diverse professional contexts as initial discomfort as a catalyst c2.4 pool 3 (collaboration) collaboration as engagement in learning selective immersive c3.1 collaboration as a means to shared product creation product-process tension fulfilling c3.2 collaboration as relationship building questioning the behaviour of others valuing the presence of others c3.3 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 appendix 2: the outcome space opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 appendix 3: the cross-boundary collaborative open learning framework untitled 1 case studies evaluation of web-based learning sets for a postgraduate community pharmacist programme shivaun gammie medway school of pharmacy, university of greenwich and university of kent a pharmacy white paper (department of health, 2008) identified the need for changes in education and training to ensure that pharmacists have the clinical competencies to deliver more patient-focused services. the postgraduate diploma in general pharmacy practice (community pharmacy) is a new, work-based postgraduate programme utilising self-directed learning defined as, “pharmacy practitioners are personally responsible for achieving the required competencies in the workplace to ensure fitness to practise, underpinned by a supporting infrastructure”, (jubraj, 2009). the programme builds on an established programme for hospital pharmacists and utilises the general level framework (glf), a validated competency framework (competency development and evaluation group, 2007), which has been shown to improve and sustain pharmacist performance in both hospital and community pharmacy (mills et al., 2005). the programme started in 2009–10 with eight (four male and four female) mature students with the equivalent of an mpharm degree, registered as pharmacists and with experience of working as a community pharmacist. students were a mixture of newly qualified and experienced pharmacists working in a range of community pharmacy settings. a significant challenge during programme development was how to provide an infrastructure to support workplace learning for community pharmacists who tend to be remote, often single-handed practitioners, working extended hours monday to sunday. the eight students were geographically spread across england (one manchester, one brighton, one kent and five within m25) working a variety of shift patterns. the postgraduate diploma in general pharmacy practice (community pharmacy) programme included: ● significant, structured work-place learning supported by a pharmacist, practice tutor leading to the development of a portfolio ● five face-to-face study days ● web-based, facilitated, interactive, learning sets held at convenient times for participants (each learning set was held twice; once on a tuesday evening and repeated the following sunday morning) ● written and online resources to support learning which included practitioner completed workbooks prior to each study day and web-based learning set. this case study describes the use of web-based learning sets within this programme. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 planning the introduction of web-based learning sets on the recommendation of a university technologist, dimdim® (dimdim inc, 2010) was chosen as the virtual classroom software as it allowed: ● audio-visuals through webcams and microphone ● whiteboard for both presenter and participants to write on ● file viewing e.g. powerpoint® slides, pdf files ● links to websites for participants to use ● participant viewing of presenter’s computer screen ● discussion thread to enable group and one-to-one communication during the session. please note: dimdim® (dimdim inc, 2010) is no longer available. however, this case study illustrates the use of virtual learning technology and its findings can be applied when considering the use of web-based learning sets. the technology was piloted within the postgraduate team and the following decisions were made: ● web-based learning sets would last for a maximum of two hours ● a workbook and lesson plan would support each learning set ● participant instructions for using the virtual classroom technology were written ● a classroom session and individual student technical checks to support student use of the technology would be used to ensure that the technology worked. introducing web-based learning sets the virtual classroom was introduced to the students during a face-to-face day held in one computer teaching room. all students were able to access dimdim® and a 30 minute teaching session was undertaken without the sound option (as this would not work in an open-classroom setting). student feedback (verbal and written evaluation form) was positive. no one felt that dimdim® was complicated to use or distracted them from learning and everyone was looking forward to the next session. ideas for lesson plans and teaching strategies within a virtual classroom setting were developed. each practitioner was booked for an individual 30 minute slot to test dimdim® and instructions provided. the technical tests were frustrating and stressful as problem after problem occurred. practitioners could frequently not hear the tutor or the tutor could not hear them and there were numerous connection losses. technical support was sought and the following changes made: ● the webcam function was removed as this might slow the system ● the participant instructions were substantially updated ● practitioners were supplied with information on the internet and computer requirements to use dimdim® as it was suspected that those with poor broadband speeds experienced more problems compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 ● dimdim® pro was used in an attempt to improve the service ● teleconferencing was arranged as a back-up the problems encountered during the technical checks continued into the learning sets; interactivity was limited (e.g. speaking rights had to be assigned) and the system was unreliable (difficulties logging in and frequent lost connections). a summary of the technical problems experienced is shown in table 1. as a result of these technical problems, teleconferencing, the planned back-up system, was ultimately used for three of the four learning sets. table 1 summary of the technical problems experienced with dimdim® ● unreliability of the system – despite technical checks only one of four web-based learning sets proceeded as a web-based learning set which resulted in a reliance on teleconferencing which was expensive (a bill for the first teleconference was in excess of £90) ● dimdim® made discussion difficult as echoes and time delays occurred when two people had a microphone at the same time. this necessitated the development of a system to assign microphones ● security concerns – unknown participants joined the web-based learning sets ● record option not used – this was a key requirement for the programme to allow access to participants who were unable to attend at the designated time ● isolation of the tutor/lack of infrastructure leading to an extremely stressful and frustrating teaching experience ● lack of access to technical support when problems arose. the programme was subsequently reviewed and alternatives to web-based learning sets using online discussion groups, supported by teleconferencing, were introduced to replace web-based learning sets. student and tutor feedback verbal and written feedback was obtained from tutors and students. students were asked to complete a written evaluation form after the classroom session (six completed forms were received, table 2) and remote learning sets (three completed forms were received, table 3). comments were received verbally during teaching sessions and in free text on the evaluation forms (table 4). tutors summarised their observations after the four learning sets that attempted to use the technology. table 2 participants attitudes following the classroom web-based learning set agree or strongly agree neither agree or disagree disagree or strongly disagree i like using new technologies 5 (83%) 1 (17%) i am looking forward to participating in web based learning sets 6 (100%) compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 agree or strongly agree neither agree or disagree disagree or strongly disagree dimdim® is complicated to use 6 (100%) using dimdim® distracted me from learning 6 (100%) i would prefer face-to-face learning sets 4 (67%) 2 (33%) web-based learning sets are useful because i would find it difficult to attend face to face learning sets 2 (33%) 2 (33%) 2 (33%) i am looking forward to the next web-based learning set 6 (100%) table 3 participants attitudes following remote web-based learning sets agree or strongly agree neither agree or disagree disagree or strongly disagree i like using new technologies 3 (100%) i enjoyed participating in the web based learning sets 3 (100% dimdim is complicated to use 2 (67%) 1 (33%) using dimdim distracted me from learning 3 (100%) i would prefer face-to-face learning sets 1 (33%) 1 (33%) 1 (33%) web-based learning sets are useful because i would find it difficult to attend face to face learning sets 1 (33%) 2 (67%) i am looking forward to the next web-based learning set 3 (100%) i did not like using a combination of dimdim® and telephone conferencing (sunday’s learning set only)* 1 (33%) 1 (33%) * one form was blank compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 5 table 4 example student comments ● “quite easy to use considering i have very limited it skills (after classroom session).” ● “i did not enjoy the full benefits of dimdim because we did not use it a lot in the learning set because of the problems some people encountered and we had to resort to telephone conferencing. i am looking forward to using it fully in the next learning set. (after remote learning set).” ● “it can be very frustrating when finding it difficult to use the microphone or hear one talking. (after remote learning set).” ● “when it works it is the best technology. anybody will enjoy using it. (after remote learning set).” table 5 tutors’ observations following the learning sets tutor 1 (responsible for face-to-face session, technical checks and present at all learning sets) ● chaotic and stressful ● disappointing that dimdim® couldn’t be used ● sound checks took a lot of time (probably because of problems) but had to make a quick decision to go to teleconferencing ● felt extremely vulnerable when my internet connection failed – would have been more difficult if had not had second tutor to inform participants to go to teleconferencing ● have to be careful that failure in technology does not impact on the reputation of this course ● do we pursue the use of web-based technology? ● teleconferencing is turning out to be very expensive (approx £100 per session) – add to this using two tutors per session it is becoming a very expensive option do we need to rethink? tutor 2 (not present at face-to-face days and first web-based learning set) ● disappointing that dimdim® didn’t work for either session ● the learning sets are designed to be interactive but dimdim® appears to be a more didactic medium ● the teleconferencing appeared more interactive but expensive ● difficult to identify who was talking from voices ● worked for four but would it work for eight (or ideally more) participants? despite the negative feedback, tutors identified the following benefits of web-based learning sets, if the technical problems could be resolved: ● widening access to postgraduate education to community pharmacists supporting them to provide increased clinical services ● providing flexible postgraduate education to fit community pharmacists’ working lives ● high student acceptability. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 6 evidence of student transformation and enhanced teaching as web-based learning sets had to be abandoned in this programme evidence of transformation resulting from the technology is not available. however, students believed that they had benefitted from the programme as a whole as evidenced by the following quotes: “it is programme every community pharmacist could pursue to improve the practice of pharmacy in the community. my money is well spent.” “this course has improved my knowledge and confidence so that i enjoy practising as community pharmacist now. i now see myself as a professional and now, speaking to and answering queries from gps, is no longer a problem but a part of my work. it has helped me to do my enhanced and advanced services better. i will therefore recommend any pharmacist who wants to develop as a pharmacy practitioner to undertake this course.” academic and practice tutors have observed the students’ professional and clinical development throughout the programme. teaching has been enhanced by the development of teaching resources and skills to support remote community pharmacy students, for example student workbooks, structured lesson plans, communication, strategies to involve all students in an unseen environment. reflection this project has indicated that web-based learning sets were well received by pharmacists and remote learning appeared acceptable and fitted into the busy schedules of community pharmacists. anderson (2008) indicated that synchronous virtual classrooms are familiar to students and provide increased access. two of the eight practitioners enrolled on this programme lived more than 50 miles from the campus. davis et al., (2008) highlighted the importance of understanding the needs of potential students with regard to prior learning and experiences with technology. this project did this through discussions with practitioners, baseline questionnaires, introduction to the technology in a classroom setting and technical tests. the feedback obtained suggests that if the technology could work it would be highly acceptable to the practitioners. however, the need to resort to teleconferencing caused problems. salmon (2000) produced a five step model for computer mediated communication: 1) access and motivation 2) online socialisation 3) information exchange 4) knowledge construction 5) development. unfortunately, the present study failed at the first step as technical issues prevented practitioners consistently accessing dimdim. however, when the technology did work there was evidence of practitioner motivation, online socialisation, information exchange and knowledge construction. therefore, it is suggested that if the technical issues could be resolved then web-based learning sets could provide a valuable learning experience. davis et al., (2008) suggest that, “the ideal online learning and teaching system is developed from scratch, with no restrictions on costs and staffing, and uninhibited by resistance to change from previous practices”, whilst recognising that the implementation of online learning involves trial and error. this project used a commercially available system that failed to meet the needs of the participants; namely technical reliability and promotion of interactive discourse. the trial of dimdim® has been valuable in identifying the requirements compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 7 of a system to support interactive web-based learning but suggests that alternatives to dimdim® should be investigated. lalos et al., (2009) undertook an evaluation of dimdim® and an alternative synchronous tool with 12 attendees and four presenters and concluded that dimdim® was simple to use. they did not report the level of technical problems experienced in this study but reported that audio performance was less than the comparator. schullo (2007) reported an approach to selecting a virtual classroom system which could be used to evaluate available systems. dimdim® was chosen in this project on the recommendation of a learning technologist as it was outside the expertise of the author to undertake technical reviews of systems. however, the experiences from this project could support a technical review of systems. this was a new form of teaching for the tutors involved. throughout the project the technical issues were considerable but educational challenges were identified and addressed through the development of more structured lesson plans and promoting interactivity in the absence of non-verbal communication. anderson (2008) sates that, “one does not have to be a technical expert to be an effective online teacher”, which is reassuring. he further identifies that during the development of online programmes the tutor needs to demonstrate, “resilience, innovativeness and perseverance”, which is consistent with the experiences in this project. a particular finding is the intrusion of web-based teaching into the tutor’s home life, e.g. the use of personal computers and telephones as well as the need to run teaching sessions during weekends and evenings. this should be addressed in any expansion of web-based learning sets. davis et al., (2008) suggests that a relationship between academic and administrative computer teams, which promotes a joint vision for the technological architecture to provide flexibility and sustainability, is required. the findings from this project indicate that there is a risk of tutors feeling isolated and vulnerable when delivering web-based learning. if web-based learning is to expand it is believed essential that a supporting infrastructure is developed. as a result of this case study recommendations were made for the future use of web-based learning sets (table 6). table 6 recommendations for the future use of web-based learning sets ● a review of available virtual classrooms is required to determine whether there is a cost-effective, reliable system for participants with standard, domestic broadband access which allows: two or more participants to speak at the same time documents, slides and websites to be shared discussion threads recordable version for those practitioners unable to join the event live ● an infrastructure should be established to support the use of web-based learning sets for post-graduate education recognising that learning events are likely to occur outside of normal working hours. this should include: reliable virtual classroom systems (as above) computers set up for web-based learning in areas of the campus used outside of normal working hours e.g. library with access to back-up systems e.g. telephone, teleconferencing technical expertise and support recognition of revised working patterns in staff contracts. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 8 references anderson, t. 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[online]. available at: http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no4/hilbelink.htm (accessed 13 january 2012). http://www.codeg.org/ http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm73/7341/7341.pdf http://www.dimdim.com/ http://journal.webscience.org/115/1/websci09_submission_13.pdf http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no4/hilbelink.htm technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 google classroom: an online learning environment to support blended learning kizzy beaumont keele university abstract google classroom is a free web service, providing a collaborative tool allowing users to create virtual classrooms, where by they can post assignments, organise folders, and view documents in real time. google classroom was initially adopted by the student learning department at keele university to create a blended approach to university-wide freestanding academic skills development workshops, providing an online community for students to share and open dialogue around topics discussed during workshops. the aim was to bring students from different faculties together and create a sense of community surrounding enhancement of academic practice. google classroom provides an intuitive and accessible interface for both staff and students. from both a student and staff perspective at keele, feedback was very positive. students engaged in discussions, answered and posed questions to encourage discussion, and gave feedback on resources. this article will demonstrate how the student learning department at keele university has used google classroom and shared user guidance for colleagues to explore in their own practice. keywords: google classroom, vle, virtual classroom, blended learning introduction to the technology since its launch in may of 2014, google classroom has been predominantly used by teachers and students situated within schools. however, a growing number of higher education institutions are taking to the platform. google classroom is part of the g suite (google apps for education) platform of cloud based computing apps, acting as a single dashboard to unify educator’s use of other google apps. google’s main aim for the virtual classroom app is “...to connect the class easily, track student progress and achieve more together” (google for education, 2018). the functionality of google classroom has developed since its launch in 2014 and google continues to update and review the platform to meet the requirements of its users. recent updates include: live annotation of pdfs, importing of google forms quiz grades, creation of individualised posts. this article aims to demonstrate, with the use of a case study, how google classroom can be used within higher education and review its functionality and ability to engage students with educational content and practice. application of the technology the student learning department at keele university runs a series of university-wide freestanding workshops focusing on developing students’ academic practice. in 2017/18, google classroom was used to create a blended approach, providing an online community technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 for students to share and open dialogue around topics discussed during workshops and view, use and review resources. the aim was to bring students from different faculties together and create a sense of community surrounding enhancement of academic practice. in the advent of the blended learning movement, educators are being encouraged to adapt their teaching to expand beyond the physical classroom. with regards to the concept of blended learning, there is no clear definition however simply put, it combines online digital media with traditional classroom methods (thomlinson & whittaker, 2013), and has been established to be more effective than individual aspects of teaching methodology (garrison & vaughan, 2008; means et al., 2009). in addition, blended learning has shown to increase student motivation & engagement with the subject matter (garrison & vaughan, 2008; gray & diloreto, 2016). not only do online classrooms support the blended-learning approach, but they can also be used to create a sense of community around learning and a positive relationship between a sense of community and an individual's ability to function within it has been documented (garrison & vaughan, 2008; glynn, 1981; harrison & west, 2014; rovai & jordan, 2004). to support this notion of blended learning and its benefits, a wide variety of online tools and platforms have become available to educators over the last decade. in previous iterations of the student learning workshops blackboard, virtual learning environment (vle), and emails were used to communicate and share resources with students outside the classroom. however, both methods encouraged very little student engagement and were merely used for tutors to share resources. the student learning department selected google classroom for its intuitive and accessible interface for both staff and students, and the possibility to create an online community through the chat functions. this allowed for a less formal space for staff and students to converse, bridging the gap between the formal, institutionally bound, vle space and the variety of informal social media platforms. in addition, the possibilities for collaborative work between students (and staff) offered by google apps which can be shared via google classroom, is a unique selling point and supports development of real-world digital skills. a review within google classroom, virtual classroom spaces can be created with ease, and anyone with a google account can both set up and join google classrooms. student enrolment is simple and can be done in one of two ways; through manual enrolment using email accounts or by self-enrolment using a code generated for the specific classroom. in relation to this case study, the self-enrolment option was preferred as students are able to choose whether they wish to engage further with the resources and discussion or just attend the face-to-face workshops. with regards to the new general data protection regulation (gdpr) policy reform, g suite, the dashboard through which educators access google classroom, is gdpr compliant and the department’s use of the platform is in accordance with university policy. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 figure 1: a) example of google classroom homepage b) example of creating/joining classroom interfaces. figure 2: example of a google classroom interface. from both a student and staff perspective, feedback on google classroom was very positive. students engaged in discussions and answered and posed questions to encourage discussion. the most effective aspect of student engagement with the platform was their ability to give feedback on resources. after weekly workshops, both resources used within technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the workshop and additional supportive material were placed on the google classroom. students were encouraged to comment on any resources they found particularly useful or even ones they did not. in the later instance, students were also encouraged to share other resources they found more useful hopefully giving them a sense of collaboration. figure 3: example of adding a ‘questions’ interface. from an educators perspective google classroom could not be any easier to use, especially if you are already a google applications user. google classrooms are easy to create and, more specifically, easy to enrol individuals or groups of students. one particular aspect which staff considered a true benefit is the scheduling of posts (see figure 2 above). posts (whether it be; questions, announcements, assessments etc.) can be scheduled so they can be created ahead of time and are released at dates and times set by the creator. this works particularly well when wanting to release resources during sessions and follow-up questions throughout the week. additional positives of the platform include: the ability to undertake collaborative work and the use of the assessment function. if you wish your students to undertake any form of collaborative work, the many google apps (docs, sheets, slides, sites, and calendar etc.) can be shared and worked on simultaneously via the classroom. when releasing resources through the assessment function, google classroom will create a copy of the resource for each student allowing them to download and edit. if you do just wish the space to be used as a repository for resources then the chat function can be disabled. google classroom does have its imperfections however, they do not affect dramatically on the usability of the platform and once you are aware of the limitations you can work around them with reasonable ease. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 1: summary of student learning staff review of google classroom functionality. positives negatives mobile friendly unable to format text easy to create & navigate unable to embed images, videos etc. free android and apple app automatic arrangement of posts integration with other google apps unable to hide or re-schedule posts once posted collaborative work opportunities on google documents/slides/sheets/calendar/sites difficult to access learner analytics allows for open q&a turn chat function on and off re-use posts across classrooms can schedule posts ahead of time conclusion google classroom is an effective platform for educators to use for a variety of educational purposes and can increase student engagement with ad hoc sessions using follow up q&a, tasks and discussion topics. google classroom is versatile (blended learning, flipped classroom and exclusively online classrooms), easy to use from both a staff and student perspective and allows for collaborative work to be undertaken with ease. if you are aware of google classrooms current limitations then you can work around them without causing too much impact on ease of use. the student learning department now use google classroom to support all areas of their practice including but not limited to: university-wide standalone workshops, support for in-house student conferences, faculty based sessions, distancelearning support and open communication forums. there is still much to do and learn in establishing whether google classroom can be used effectively in creating a sense of community through the shared want to improve academic practice however, it is clear that the platform can be effectively used, with limited effort, to support student learning. for more info on google classroom: https://edu.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/productivitytools/classroom https://edu.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/productivity-tools/classroom https://edu.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/productivity-tools/classroom technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 reference list boston, w. e.,& ice, p. (2011). assessing retention in online learning: an administrative perspective. online journal of distance learning administration. available at: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer142/boston_ice142.html (accessed: 24 april 2018). garrison, d. & vaughan, n. (2008). blended learning in higher education: framework, principles, and guidelines. san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons. isbn: 978-0-787-987701. glynn, t.j. (1981). psychological sense of community: measurement and application. human relations, 34(9), pp.789-818. available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/record/198204728-001 (accessed: 24 april 2018). google for education. (2018). google classroom. [online] available at: https://edu.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/productivity-tools/classroom/ (accessed: 24 april 2018). gray, j. a., & diloreto, m. (2016). the effects of student engagement, student satisfaction, and perceived learning in online learning environments. international journal of educational leadership preparation, 11(1). available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1103654 (accessed: 22 october 2018). harrison, j.b. & west, r.e. (2014). sense of community in a blended technology integration course: a design-based research study. the international review of research in open and distributed learning, 15(6). available at: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1907/3187 (accessed: 22 october 2018). means, b., toyama, y., murphy, r., bakia, m. & jones, k. (2009). evaluation of evidence based practices in online learning: a meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. available at: http://repository.alt.ac.uk/629/ (accessed 22 october 2018) rovai, a.p. & jordan, h. (2004). blended learning and sense of community: a comparative analysis with traditional and fully online graduate courses. the international review of research in open and distributed learning, 5(2). available at: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/192/274 (accessed: 22 october 2018) tomlinson, b. & whittaker, c. (2013). blended learning in english language teaching. london, uk: british council. isbn: 978-0-86355-706-4. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer142/boston_ice142.html http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1982-04728-001 http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1982-04728-001 https://edu.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/productivity-tools/classroom/ https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1103654 http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1907/3187 http://repository.alt.ac.uk/629/ http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/192/274 compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich vol 1 (2009) 1 student incentives: more than a free condom ben wraith students’ union university of greenwich the university of greenwich used to charge a £50 fine if a student failed to register before a certain deadline. would this £50 ‘fine’ for late registration be more effective if it was changed to a £50 ‘bonus’ for early registration? besides a possible increase in efficiency, could this small change bring about increased happiness both for staff, who become bonus-givers rather than fine-imposers, and students, who are confronted with pleasing bonuses rather than fines and harsh language? simply, by reframing the proposition, we may get a very different response, as argued by thaler and sunstein (2008). there are questions to be asked in other areas of the university too. could publishing all essays raise standards? if every student was aware that their peers could browse their work, would they put extra effort in? would this also raise standards each subsequent year, as each cohort studies the work of their predecessors and seeks to improve on it? we already seem to do this by releasing copies of previous good examples of essays and dissertations, in order to give an indication of what current students should be aiming for. in addition, perhaps it would also put an end to any accusations of favouritism aimed at lecturers. with social norms being proven to be stronger than market norms (ariely and heyman, 2004), the above idea becomes more attractive. we should also consider whether some otherwise sound ideas have unintentional negative outcomes. does the anonymous nature of electronic coursework submission hide a multitude of sins? many companies have found that by asking employees to put their name to their work, they can swiftly raise standards. however, short of reverting to students handing work in physically to their tutors, what can we do, when electronic submission brings about so many other advantages, including protecting anonymity for marking? to simulate the act of ‘signing off’ the work, could we present students with a page (one step prior to upload) featuring their photo and a statement along the lines, ‘i, ben w raith, am proud of this work, which is all my own, furthermore, i am delighted for this work to be circulated far and wide’? personalising a problem often helps people to empathise, a tactic used successfully in direct mail campaigns by many major charities. so, say there is an issue with students not returning library books promptly after a request by another student, would sending the borrower a photo (with permission of the requester) and a few words, a plea perhaps, boost the speed of return? a similarly creative approach could also have been applied to tuition fees. greenwich used to charge an amount lower than the maximum allowed. this offered possibilities; could we have rolled the cost of freshers’ week, a laptop, graduation and other things into a top-up pack? mobile phone companies have been offering ‘bolt-ons’ and ‘extras’ for many years. students could have added this top-up pack to their annual fee and, although they would have ended up paying the maximum fee, they would have cut down on their upfront costs whilst studying. rolling up the cost into the fee loan would have meant lower interest rates and repayments based on the ability to pay for most students. surely better than putting it all on a credit card? the university could have considered it a higher education version of a loss leader. by ensuring that many costs were rolled up early in the student incentives: more than a free condom 2 academic year, the effect could have been that fewer students experienced financial difficulties later in the year. by reducing this often negative impact on academic performance, the cost of setting up the scheme could have been attractive? i.e. fewer students dropping out and/or improved results. also of interest in the above scenario is how relativity (in a marketing sense) would impact on prospective students. the mere presence of a higher priced option (tuition fee plus top-up) could make the lower price option (tuition fee, no top-up or cheaper top-up) more attractive. in the same way, restaurants often use a higher price starter to encourage patrons to purchase the second highest priced dish – and often the dish with the highest profit margin (ariely, 2008). the important thing to recognise is that we can alter some of the more traditional methods of higher education to improve them. by borrowing the underlying principles of clever ideas from restaurants, smoothie makers, charities etc. we can improve on sector-based benchmarking, by comparing our problems and solutions to more than just fellow higher education institutions. some may find any moves to ape the commercial world worrying in a climate of commercialising education, but it is the techniques that we should borrow and not the underlying aim. if our purpose is to expand opportunities for students to access and gain a high-quality education, then we should have nothing to fear when borrowing the tools we need to achieve it. references ariely, d. (2008) predictably irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions. london: harper collins. ariely, d. and heyman, j. (2004) ‘effort for payment: a tale of two markets’. psychological science 15(11): 787–93. thaler, r. and sunstein, c. (2008) nudge. london: penguin books. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the steps course: support through tutoring, employability and professional skills miriam sorrentino university of greenwich abstract though personal tutoring is an essential part of higher education (he) and though the need for it increases year on year, the time available for it has decreased. (grant, 2006; nus, 2015; select committee on education and employment, 2001). many students need a varied range of support (hefce, 2003, 2007; ofs, 2018; thomas and hixenbaugh, 2006) and there is growing pressure to include 'soft skills' within he (ncihe, 1997; skillset, 2011). these requirements often fall to personal tutors. a small working group in the department of creative professions and digital arts at the university of greenwich developed a solution that could help our diverse student body find some of the support and skills it needs. this project became ‘steps’, ‘support through tutoring, employability and professional skills’, the combination of a) a series of events and activities and b) personal tutoring supported by means of – the most common method – action research (yale, 2017). staff and students codesigned steps, which included a consistent feedback loop through the unitu online student voice platform (here, students can raise, discuss and resolve important issues). though the core structure of steps could be implemented across any institution, its specific content would need adaptation if it were to provide the best fit for student cohorts elsewhere. keywords: personal tutor, academic tutors, student support, retention, social life. context students leave their university programmes for many reasons. the move to a skills-focused education tied to the economic well-being of the country (ncihe, 1997) has had widereaching effects. with eerie prescience, fromm (1978) foresaw our present time – a period during which the process of becoming someone with a range of knowledge is valued less than the acquisition of ‘skills’ for industry. the pressure to amass skills has placed considerably more stress on students and has led to a change in student expectations of what universities will provide (kreig, 2013). that many undergraduates are not prepared for university life (brinkworth et al., 2009) is a prime reason for their choosing to leave it (laing, chao and robison, 2005; ozga and sukhnandan, 1998). these students also significantly underestimate the amount of academic work – often self-study – that they need to do; they consequently become “concerned about the lack of availability of staff” (walsh, larsen and parry, 2009, p.407). key to retaining them – and therefore a vital element of the personal tutor’s role – is helping them to settle in, as well as changing their perception of higher education (he) (bryson and hand, 2007; thomas, 2006). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 personal tutors are able to help new undergraduates to transition, letting them know that anxiety and even fear are common, that they are supported and that they can ask for help (wilcox, winn and fyvie-gauld, 2005). often these undergraduates find for themselves various sources of support – from parents to fellow students (tao et al., 2000), but they should also be able to access whatever support a university has to offer (cooke et al.,2006). in their study, walsh, larsen and parry (2009) found sign-posting to other university support services to be one of the most important things a personal tutor can do. although there are great benefits for both the university and the student (fitzgerald, 2014), not all lecturers see personal tutoring or retention as their concern (johnston, 1997). in addition, asking students to come to things that will not be assessed presents its own difficulties. tinto’s interactional model (1993) describes student retention as the natural consequence of a student’s developing relationship with her/his university. this is not a unique finding, for perry’s (1999) research at harvard showed that the students felt supported and integrated through a sense of community. thomas (2002) argued that students feel that they are integrated members of their university when they develop a relationship through five different modes. the first two – economic and academic – may be obvious enough, but thomas found – perhaps surprisingly – that three others are also essential components of the process: social, pastoral and democratic. the benefits of the social dimension do, on reflection, seem clear: mackie (1998) avers that if undergraduates are not able to integrate socially, they will leave their degree early on. creative professions and digital arts (cpda) was a new department created by means of the bundling together of many of the creative programmes that had previously been homed in a variety of faculties. the new head of department (hod) set up a small working group to look at pastoral provision. each programme arrived with its own traditions and expectations of what a pastoral tutorial should be. as a new department, however, it was at liberty to develop new ideas. this small working group noted, as much of the literature discusses, that, because of increasing staff-student ratios, tutors had less time to do the variety of pastoral work falling under the tutor role (grant, 2006; hartwell and farbrother, 2006). however, we realised that not everything had to be delivered on an individual basis. through quantitative questionnaires and a series of one-to-one discussions with members of the department, we discovered workload and content inequalities between the programmes as they stood. for example, personal tutors on programmes with large student numbers tended to have far more (and certainly too many) tutees than others, while the amount of information shared at pastoral level was also inconsistent. in common with a number of other higher education institutions (heis) and their research findings, we discovered that it was often the case that students met with their personal tutor no more than once a year (sosabowski et al., 2003). it became apparent that the future extent of our engagement with the early experiences of our cohorts was up to us noting that these early student experiences would have a direct relationship with cohort engagement going forward (tinto, 2002). heis have various strategies addressing the perceived need for an increase in pastoral support and employability skills when available academic time is short (aynsley-smith and marr, 2006). some heis have opted for a centralised approach, but cpda colleagues overwhelmingly supported retention of delivery by our creative department with its specific focus on the needs of our particular cohorts, rather than acceptance of a more general and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 less targeted faculty or university-wide provision. in order to prevent any preconceptions about what this solution might be like, we chose not to adapt an existing model, but to develop something new: personal tutoring would be a departmental responsibility and it would not be delivered by programmes or modules. this transformed our thinking about what we might achieve. steps, in its first manifestation, was the result. case study steps consists of department-wide sessions for all cpda students in year groups as well as allocated personal tutors. • steps 1 is for first years, transitioning students to he and introducing them to all the support and procedures at greenwich. • steps 2 is for second years. it asks them to think about their final-year research projects in the context of their own interests and the arc of their own learning. • steps 3 readies our third-year students for the world outside, providing practical guidance focused on either the world of work or further research, in all its forms. steps follows an iterative action-research process. data and emergent themes are collected throughout the year by means of the unitu platform and student interviews. at the end of the year, the data are analysed and the results reported back to the department. a new working group is put together to select the following year’s focus (on the basis of emerging themes brought up in student feedback) and to identify any new issues. the next iteration of steps is based on this reflective practice. steps 2016-2017 implementation • induction week for year 1 with, in order to ensure consistency of the message across all programmes, a carefully-coordinated integration of hod welcome, university orientation, library inductions and programme explanation • ‘meet your tutor’ social event allowing students to meet their personal tutor in an informal setting with a dj and drinks to share contact details and tutor availability days’ • six-week intensive course on monday evenings for year 1 students, detailing additional learning support, access to moodle, extenuating circumstances etc. • afternoon conference for year 2 • cv writing workshop for year 2 • interview and recruitment workshop for year 2 • afternoon conference for year 3 • pre-christmas social hosted by the hod we spread the numbers of tutees across the department, randomly allocating students to lecturers in order to manage numbers. we developed a tutor checklist, containing up-to-date contacts for every support body at the university, and provided the whole department with a year planner with key dates identified. tutors had to contact tutees – to ask if they wanted a tutorial – during specified weeks (particularly, for year 1 students, teaching weeks four and six). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 we asked various lecturers from across all the programmes to deliver fifteen-minute presentations to first years on such specific topics as group work or available dyslexia provision. as integrating students within the institution is key (thomas, 2006), we placed particular emphasis on the steps year 1 induction week, which did run very smoothly. unitu allowed for instant feedback about it. “thanks to all the tutors and staff who made this [induction week] an easy and understandable week.” year 1 unitu student feedback, 23 september 2016 however, we found that attendance by year 1 students at the steps evening sessions started to drop off and that few students went to see their personal tutors. we responded to the lack of student attendance by organising forums with the hod and gathered feedback from the students on a number of issues. the afternoon conferences and workshops for years 2 and 3 had a good response; at these, a variety of presenters included specialists from industry, tax, and recruitment, alumni and our librarian. “i've been to both of the lectures/seminars for the steps programme and i just want to say how amazing and beneficial they have been. i have learnt so much in both sessions about how to improve my cv and how to handle myself in an interview.” year 2 unitu student feedback, 07 december 2016 we collected formal data from colleagues at the end of the year. only 63% of students attended up to 25% of the pastoral tutorial sessions, significantly down on previous years, when programme teams had tutored their own students. 90% of the staff supported the departmental presentations and conferences and 74% of them made use of the tutorial checklist. 79% expressed a wish for departmental delivery on dealing with stress, on mental health and on managing deadlines. whilst the quantitative data presented a fairly convincing argument that we should rethink aspects of steps, the qualitative feedback showed conflicting views on the best way forward. at this point, a larger working group was set up to co-design the course for the following year, so as to accommodate the conflicting opinions about how to address the issues found and to deliver a set of recommendations. this group – comprising twelve people from across our programmes, together with myself as chair – was as representative as possible: three male and three female staff – half of whom were fractional – and three male and three female students. the integration of the student voice into the design of the first iteration of steps sets it apart from many approaches (yale, 2017) by other heis. the findings of this larger working group were: students wanted more information; steps would clearly not be an effective use of time if delivered by individual tutors. “i realise it might sound silly, but maybe even have lectures on it? [issues with procrastination and workload].” year 2 student within working group taking into account not only the quantitative data from colleagues but also qualitative feedback from student interviews, we changed the tutee allocation back to programmes tutors for one-to-one support, aiming for a staff-student ratio of 1:30 pro rata, using lecturers teaching on the tutees programme. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 “i used to see all of my tutees when they were in one of my courses.” lecturer within working group steps 2017-2018 implementation • fuller steps induction week for year 1, including activities from the first round of steps together with the recommended small informative presentations by specialist staff. • meet your tutor social • steps afternoon for year 1 to explain to them all the great things they can access at the university • steps afternoon for year 1 discussing mental, physical and emotional health (we invited the student union to take a more involved role concerning loneliness and social clubs.) • afternoon immerse conference for year 2 • cv writing workshop for year 2 • interview and recruitment workshop for year 2 • afternoon launch conference for year 3 • pre-christmas social hosted by the hod to address the observed fall in student numbers in 2016-2017, we developed two afternoon sessions for year 1. however, some first-year students complained on unitu that the afternoon sessions seemed to them to be simply a repeat of induction week and, though they were not, this insight into the way they were perceived would inform our actions for steps 2018-2019. years 2 and 3 students who attended the conferences, like those in 2016-2017, took a lot from them. “i would just like to say thank you for the amazing steps immerse conference that happened on wednesday, it was incredibly informative and entertaining. it gave me a good idea of where to start my pursuit of internships and placements.” year 2 unitu student feedback, 23 november 2017 issues with the timetabling system meant that the steps activities were not allocated to individual student timetables. we noticed that, across all the years, if the events didn’t appear on timetables, student attendance numbers would be low, no matter how much the events were publicised. additionally, we were still not reaching our third years well enough in their particular areas of concern – anxiety and stress: “everyone’s really anxious and stressed in their final year and it is easier to just not come in, there are very few of us that haven’t considered quitting” interview with year 3 student at end of academic year 2017-2018 steps 2018-2019 implementation taking into account all the feedback from unitu and interviews with students, we have now developed and timetabled the steps course for, at the time of writing, this current year. we have put a lot more energy into resolving through timetabling the student numbers and case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 engagement issue, so that activities will show on individual student timetables and will be linked to specific modules. the new timetabled slots will be up for discussion with a new student working group. in common with the study by bennett et al. (2007), the students interviewed still did not seem to grasp the full purpose of personal tutors and how the departmental provision adds to that. acting on this, we have included a fuller preparatory session for steps in induction week. • in keeping with the feedback, there will be a much more intensive induction for year 1, including the 2017-2018 afternoon sessions • full-day induction for both years 2 and 3 • more student union involvement • fuller explanation of steps and personal tutoring • meet your tutor social • some drop-in sessions (other feedback indicated that more detailed moodle and creative cloud information would be appreciated.) • afternoon immerse conference for year 2 • cv writing workshop for year 2 • interview and recruitment workshop for year 2 • afternoon launch conference for year 3 • mindfulness and mental health session for year 3 • pre-christmas social hosted by the hod for 2018-2019, we planned more activities for years 2 and 3 during induction week (previously a ‘non-week’ for these cohorts), with the intention of helping them to transition into the year (by means of sessions on academic skills, managing stress and project planning) and of providing an opportunity for them to define their personal goals for the year to come, with the help of a year leader from each programme. conclusion whilst there has not been extensive research into personal tutoring (braine and parnell, 2011; watts, 2011) and what little research has mainly been conducted by the medical sciences and healthcare (ghenghesh, 2018), there is a clear need to research and develop better tools and systems to deal with the increasing expectations of both heis and students regarding the provision of personal tutoring. additionally, in the arts, there is a gap in knowledge about personal tutoring. the social aspect of student engagement and retention runs through all of our steps development. some events are more obviously social, such as ‘meet the tutor’ and the prechristmas social; others have an alumni social networking element, such as the third-year conference. we have found that we are starting to achieve a sense of community through central delivery – a possibility if such delivery includes lots of opportunities for social interaction. feedback about subjects as diverse as mental health, group-working and cv preparation is definitely more consistent now and tutors don’t have to deliver – alongside all the other demands of their job – a complicated and time-consuming curriculum. steps is far from perfect and 2018-2019 will be another year of action research, but, with this co-design approach and data analysis, we can develop a better system that could benefit us all. what is clear is that the content cannot simply be transposed from one school case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 or faculty to another, as students have very different interests and concerns. to them, it’s important that the personal aspect remains personal and that the transferable skills are also clearly targeted. whilst the specific content and speakers cannot be lifted wholesale and used elsewhere, the steps concept can be. from the outset, steps was never expected to be an immediately perfect and polished solution, but an evolving project, improving year on year – thanks to research (to enhance both delivery and content) and to co-design with students. it seems only fair to give them the last word: “we don't always admit it, but i believe every single student does have at least one thing that could be solved during them [steps events].” interview with year 3 student at end of academic year 2017-2018 reference list aynsley-smith, s. and marr, l. 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(2006) 'widening participation and the increased need for personal tutoring.' in: thomas, l. and hixenbaugh, p. (eds.) personal tutoring in higher education. stoke on trent: trentham books, 21-31. eds.) personal tutoring in higher education. stoke-on trent: trentham books, 73-82. isbn: 978-1-85856-385-5. thomas, l. and hixenbaugh, p. (2006) personal tutoring in higher education. stoke on trent: trentham books. eds.) personal tutoring in higher education. stoke-on trent: trentham books, 73-82. isbn: 978-1-85856-385-5. tinto, v. (2002) 'establishing conditions for student success.' paper presented at the 11th annual conference of the european access network prato, italy: monash university. available at: https://vtinto.expressions.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/europeanaccess-network-2002-keynote.pdf (accessed: 30th april 2018). tinto, v. (1993) leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of attrition (2nd edition). chicago: the university of chicago press. isbn: 0-226-80449-6. walsh, c., larsen, c. and parry, d. (2009) 'academic tutors at the frontline of student support in a cohort of students succeeding in higher education.' educational studies, 35, 405-424. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03055690902876438?scroll=top&needaccess= true (accessed: 25th april 2018). watts, t.e. (2011) 'supporting undergraduate nursing students through structured personal tutoring: some reflections.' nurse education today, 31(2), 214-218. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0260691710001140 (accessed: 10th august 2018). wilcox, p., winn, s. and fyvie‐gauld, m. (2005) ' "it was nothing to do with the university, it was just the people": the role of social support in the first‐year experience of higher education.' studies in higher education, 30, 707-722. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075070500340036?scroll=top&needaccess= true (accessed: 27th april 2018). yale, a.t. (2017) 'the personal tutor–student relationship: student expectations and experiences of personal tutoring in higher education.' journal of further and higher education, published online: 26 sep 2017. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0309877x.2017.1377164?scroll=top&needacc ess=true (accessed: 10th august 2018). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 students on board: designing a board game for 1000+ students sarah leach, geraldine foley, jose javier olivas osuna, aggie molnar london school of economics and political science keywords: game-based learning, higher education, board games, strategy, economics. introduction this case study provides a brief overview of our experience of designing a serious game for a large inter-disciplinary course at the london school of economics and political science (lse). the game was developed with the aim of enhancing student engagement on a course with a mixed-ability cohort. we present the pedagogical rationale and the challenges of designing games for educational purposes and provide both the details of the learning objectives we aimed to fulfil through the game and the findings from the evaluation process. context of the project the project, funded by an lse learning technology and innovation (lti) grant, was initiated and supported by an lse100 teacher, dr josé javier olivas osuna, in collaboration with sarah leach, geraldine foley and aggie molnar from the lse lti team. the grant was awarded in the summer of 2016. however, as the game was developed at the same time as the module, the specific learning objectives and course materials were being debated until september. considerable time was spent on game designs with varying learning objectives that would later be abandoned. this left only four months to design and play-test the final tile-laying game, as well as to produce the instruction material and game case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 components, ready to facilitate teacher training in january 2017. the game was played in 137 classes, over a period of three and a half days, in early march 2017. ‘lse100: the lse course’ is a compulsory first-year course for all lse undergraduates and comprises four modules. classes on lse100 require students to work outside their discipline with a limited amount of contact time. since this course does not count towards students’ degrees, there is some challenge in securing their engagement with course materials and their commitment to preparation for class. the game ‘capture the market’ was designed to reinforce some of the key concepts from the module in an enjoyable, engaging and accessible way, by encouraging critical thinking via the game’s interactions and requirements to make choices. (see appendix 1 for a detailed list of objectives.) pedagogical rationale experiential learning via games has been found to have a positive impact on conceptual understanding, skill development and student motivation (felicia, 2011). games can provide a risk-free environment to practise skills, apply knowledge and get feedback (kafai and burke, 2015). although it is important not to assume that games are intrinsically motivational (whitton, 2010) they can often "make learning fun" (kirriemuir and mcfarlane, 2004:4) and motivate disengaged learners (griffiths, 2002, and squire, 2008, cited in plass, homer, kinzer, 2015). the game was designed in accordance with a constructivist approach to teaching, which views learning as an active, contextualised process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it (vygotsky, 1987). it was created to be played at the end of a newly-developed module entitled: ‘should markets be constrained or unleashed?’ this module examines the economic principles of free markets and the case for government intervention and introduces the meta-framework of ‘agency, structure and ideas’ (figure 1). figure 1: meta-framework of ‘agency, structure and ideas’ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 the main learning objective was to develop an understanding of free market mechanisms and the features that enable or constrain the effective working of the market and our agency within it. the game provided opportunities to apply knowledge from the course lectures and readings and facilitate the abstractions needed for knowledge to be generalised to novel situations. in the post-game discussion, students were required to analyse the game mechanics and strategies to reinforce and improve their understanding of the ‘agency, structure and ideas’ framework. the game ‘capture the market’ is a competitive tile-laying game for four to twelve players, incorporating techniques and mechanisms from modern board-game design to illustrate the dynamics and limitations of markets and economic liberalisation. (see appendix 2 for the design features.) the look of the game was inspired by an open-source game called ‘datopolis’, created by the open data institute. teams build the ‘board’ by placing hexagonal tiles (figure 2), which represent the market. the game is played in rounds and in each round the teacher presents new ‘government interventions’. figure 2: ‘capture the market’ game players gain points according to such criteria as control of an industry and diversification of investments. additionally, each team is given a ‘secret objective’ card (figure 3) that provides another way of obtaining points during the game and helps to guide those who struggle to define their strategy in the game. for example, ‘your secret objective is to...promote protectionist laws’. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 figure 3: secret objective card twelve hexagonal tiles are distributed randomly to each team and the placing of the tiles entirely depends on the players’ ‘secret objective’ and the 'government interventions'. counters (in four different colours) represent each team’s ‘ownership’ of a tile and players/teams are allowed to invest only in counters adjacent to their other counters, unless otherwise specified by the ‘government interventions’. during the game, ‘government interventions’ allow players to flip tiles on the board. this represents a market changing from ‘regulated’ to ‘deregulated’ status or vice versa (figure 4). regulated deregulated figure 4: regulated and deregulated tiles each game was designed to be explained and played in thirty-five minutes, leaving fifteen minutes for a post-game debrief and discussion. design process and challenges in addition to the challenges involved in embedding the game into a new module, the most significant obstacles were: timing; finding a good balance between sophistication and accessibility; the large-scale nature of the course. timing was difficult because classes ran for just fifty minutes, meaning that the game, including time for instructions and point scoring, was limited to thirty-five minutes to allow for class discussion. the onus was very much on the teacher, not only to lead and draw out the learning objectives of the game, but to keep the game fast-paced. to support teachers, we created a video explaining the rules of the game and sent it to students ahead of classes, as case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 well as playing it at the start of every class. teachers were provided with detailed notes containing timings, instructions for the game and discussion guidance. the task of creating an engaging thirty-five-minute game – aiming for a state of ‘flow’ (csikszentmikalyi, 1990) or student’s zone of proximal development (vygotsky, 1978) – that was both easy to understand and play, yet complex enough to be enjoyable, was challenging. playtests allowed us to gain feedback and make adjustments, such as highlighting the effects of 'economies of scale' and 'diminishing returns' in the scoring system. the large cohort of lse100 students, approximately 1500, were taught in small class groups (maximum twelve students) by a team of thirty-two teachers. training the teachers, some of whom were sceptical about the benefits of game-based learning, proved to be a challenge. though optional game-playing sessions were also set up to help teachers familiarise themselves with the game, only a few teachers attended them. the minimal time allocated to the final, mandatory training sessions meant that not all teachers going into class felt confident about the game. teachers were also offered additional support to facilitate the game in class; a considerable number accepted. to ensure that teachers were able to manage the game effectively, only one game was played in each class and students were split into four teams of two to four players. this gave flexibility for varying class numbers and helped with the mixed ability of the cohort, allowing students to use peer discussion and feedback to discuss their tactics. evaluation several forms of evaluation were carried out: the design team observed thirty out of 137 classes, with twenty different teachers; questionnaires were completed by 112 students (less than 10% of those who played the game) and fifteen staff (47% of teachers who taught the game); four students attended a focus group session; teachers provided their own observations and feedback after classes on the course's vle discussion board. class observations we observed thirty of the 137 classes and saw a great variation in teaching delivery: different interpretations of the rules; teachers’ encouraging 'thinking' time between rounds whilst others kept the game fast-paced; time spent reflecting on readings/links to concepts during the game versus pure game play; variations in game timing, which affected the length and quality of the post-game discussion. an unexpected observation was the discovery that one teacher could not differentiate between two of the counter colours. fortuitously, we were supporting this session and were able to offer alternative colours before play began. we had tried to foresee this issue by choosing colours that were considered accessible. student survey the survey was distributed a week after the last game was played in march 2017. 112 students filled in the questionnaire, which comprised both closed and open-ended questions case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 (see appendix 3). since the number of responses received was small, it was not possible to derive conclusive data from them. however, the survey reveals some commonalities worth mentioning. the majority of the students (83% of the respondents) indicated that they enjoyed playing the game; they highly appreciated the element of 'fun' and the social aspect as well as the opportunity to interact and work in groups: “it is helpful to look at the topic of markets from a different perspective. and though we are not children anymore, learning through playing still works”. several positive comments referenced the “chance to strategise”, “visualization of concepts” and “playing against my peers”. moreover, most students felt that the game stimulated decision-making. more than half of the students agreed or somewhat agreed that the game connected with the module’s framework of 'structure, agency and ideas' (figure. 5), and that it helped them to think about the key concepts of the module (figure. 6). figure 5: student survey results (a) figure 6: student survey results (b) the free-text comments showed a less positive assessment of the game’s usefulness; they suggested that although the game helped students to think about the key concepts in the course, it did not necessarily help them understand those: “while the game did involve the key concepts from the module, it merely identifies them, rather than providing insight or explanations into how they might actually affect the entrepreneur or the market in the real world”. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 furthermore, although the majority of students agreed that the game was an appropriate activity in the context of the module, follow-up comments revealed that some students deemed it "appropriate but not necessary". other negative comments further questioned the usefulness of playing the game and its relevance to their studies. however, this could have also reflected students' dissatisfaction with the compulsory course in general: "[i] felt it was a waste of time when i could have been doing work/revising towards my actual degree". as for recommending the game to be played by next year’s cohort, almost 90% of the students responded positively. further improvements, such as making stronger connections between the game and the course material or using the game as an ice-breaker activity were also suggested. unfortunately, we experienced difficulties in getting students to attend focus groups to gain more qualitative data. the comments of the four students who did attend reflected the findings of the survey in that they enjoyed the game but did not necessarily think that it helped them gain a deeper understanding of the concepts from the module. they also reinforced our observations that students had very different experiences of playing the game according to their respective teacher's management of the class. a few of the participants questioned the appropriateness of using games for learning in their degree courses (rather than in an additional course); this might be an interesting topic to investigate further. teacher survey the teacher surveys were distributed at the same time as the student ones. out of the thirtytwo teachers delivering the game, fifteen responded. (see appendix 4 for staff survey questions). figure 7: teacher survey results (a) in accordance with the findings of the student survey, most teachers strongly agreed that the students appeared to be enjoying the game (figure 7). the following comment from a teacher conveys a description of the change in the students’ level of engagement throughout the game: 80% 20% q4 'students appeared to enjoy playing the game' strongly agree somewhat agree neigher agree nor disagree somewhat disagree strongly disagree case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 “i did see some skeptical faces and a few groans when students first entered the room and saw the game materials being set up; however, by the end of the classes, students seemed quite pleased with how the class had unfolded and often left the room chatting among themselves about their strategies and scores.” the teachers found that students were particularly engaged when the game was played in pairs or teams (as opposed to individual players). also, many reported that “students easily adopted a competitive dynamic” and that “they were excited, involved and chatty”. despite the successful engagement with the game and the lesson, some teachers had doubts as to whether the game had increased the students’ level of engagement with the module itself: the shortness of the learning experience and the limited depth of some discussions were mentioned as aspects which might have hindered students from linking the game to concepts. nevertheless, one teacher thought: “the game will provide an interesting and useful example/illustration/case for them to think about when considering the essay question and the module as a whole." figure 8: teacher survey results (b) managing the class involved explaining and running the game as well as facilitating the class discussion. the majority (80%) of the teachers reported that they had found managing the game easy and straightforward (figure 8) and said that having both the chance to play the game multiple times and the additional support offered by lti did help to reduce anxiety: “i wasn't sure if i would remember the nuances of the game, and knowing that we had to move fairly quickly, it helped that i had a facilitator”. only two teachers indicated that they had encountered difficulties: one referred to standing/walking whilst facilitating the game, whilst the other did not state a reason. as for managing the post-game discussion, the majority found it ‘easy’ and one third of the teachers responded: ‘neither easy nor difficult’ (figure 8). 2 10 1 2 0 1 8 5 1 0 extremely easy easy neither easy nor difficult difficult extremely difficult q1 class management q1b experience of managing the post game discussion in class q1a experience of managing the game in class case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 although most teachers did not find the game or the discussions difficult to run, several teachers noted that they had found it challenging to create a smooth transition between the game and discussion. “students weren’t able to quickly make the mental transition from ‘game play mode’ to ‘academic discussion mode’”. it was also pointed out that there were “lively conversations about strategies and experiences”, but “silence” regarding the readings. many teachers felt that they could not rely on students having done the readings before class or having attended previous lectures or classes and this sometimes made the discussion more difficult: “not everyone had done their readings but i was able to prompt the discussion referring to the lectures and overall this seemed to be the most engaging experience of the course for the students as well as for me”. most teachers (80%) said that they would be happy to teach ‘capture the market’ or other games in the following year. free-text comments ranged from the widely enthusiastic to the less convinced of the benefits of game-based learning: “i think the game was a brilliant success, and offered students the opportunity to do something different in the classroom environment while still considering key questions around the constraints imposed on the market by various forces. at the end of each class, i was feeling good about the result (despite wishing for an extra 10-15 minutes for discussion!) and students seemed happy, engaged, and motivated. for me, this is the mark of a highly successful class, and i would be thrilled to teach this game (or other equally well designed and considered games) next year!” “they enjoyed it, but i'm not sure if they learned more from it than they would have from the average class strategies.” the teachers' voluntary discussion forum posts were very positive, stating that it was a "highly successful class" and that the game was "a great teaching tool". one teacher noted that from a pedagogical perspective "i had 5 hours of classes today and think they were some of the most engaging hours i have spent with my students so far. (…) my students were remarkably adept at drawing out from the game to the real world and concepts from the module. admittedly engagement with the lectures and readings could have been greater from the majority of my students. (…) however my overall impression was that this was an immensely effective class." discussion the findings suggest that although the majority of the students enjoyed playing the game and felt engaged in the learning process, further improvements need to be made in order to emphasise the module’s concepts and help students to grasp a deeper understanding of them. a key challenge for using games effectively lies in providing close links between the game play and the learning objectives and outcomes (facer et al., 2004, egenfeldt-nielsen 2011). in the case of ‘capture the market’, creating clear links between the game and the learning objectives was challenging, owing to: the large-scale nature of the project; the high number of stakeholders; the creation of the game alongside the course content. although the aim was to have a strong connection between the game and the course readings, the readings were still being agreed very late into the module (and game) development process, which resulted in weaker links than originally planned. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 plass, homer, kinzer (2015:269) note: “if the learning and game mechanics are not tightly linked, students may be intrinsically motivated to play the game but not necessarily to learn". observations during the post-game discussions support this argument. a reason for this could be that teachers were often more concerned with getting the game played correctly and within the allocated time rather than focusing on drawing out the links between game play and the learning objectives. also, as sara de freitas (2006) notes, it is important to provide the learner with the opportunity to consider, before and after game sessions, what the learning objectives are, which facilitates opportunities for meta-cognition (reflection of the learner upon what s/he has learnt). this is confirmed by one teacher’s observation that those students who had more time were more likely to draw links between the game and the learning outcomes: "some students struggled to identify the module concepts related to the game, but in the groups which finished play earlier and had more thinking time, they were all able to do this." creating a more structured and playful post-game activity may help in the future to ensure a more consistent student experience, bridge the gap between the game and the learning objectives and help students to achieve a deeper understanding. conclusion and recommendations the goal of this project was to use an experiential learning activity (a game) to enhance student engagement on a large-scale inter-disciplinary course. the aim of designing ‘capture the market’ was to produce an enjoyable and well-developed game that connected to the key concepts from the module and enabled students to understand these concepts more fully through post-game discussions. we were pleased that, as the pilot project of a new game expected to be played simultaneously across multiple classes with a large cohort of students, ‘capture the market’ worked logistically and that a large number of students and staff found the game enjoyable, engaging and connected to the course's learning outcomes. when developing a game in a short time, it is important to ensure that all stakeholders are on board with the idea of game-based learning and that the learning outcomes are clear from the beginning. in our case, too much time spent on game design and play-testing meant that we had limited time to focus on teacher training and refining the design of the post-game discussion. we recommend expanding the training to allow time for teachers to practise running the game and managing the post-game activity, thereby creating a unified approach to delivery. this preparatory stage may help all stakeholders involved to understand better the benefits and limitations of game-based learning. this was our first venture into serious games and we shall build on the lessons learnt to improve and support future game-based learning projects. as berg marklund (2015: 670) notes: “games just as any other educational tool, require a great deal of investment and hand on guidance from teachers, who need to continuously anchor gameplay in an educational framework”. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 reference list berg marklund, b. (2015) ‘novices vs experts; game-based learning and the heterogeneous classroom activities.’ proceedings of the 9th european conference on games-based learning: nord-trondelag university college steinkjer norway / [ed] robin munkvold and line kolås. reading, uk: academic conferences and publishing international limited, 664-671. available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e26a/f7c10dc54f70a6c49f621af2d4640333e54d.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2017). csikszentmikalyi, m (1990) flow. the psychology of optimal experience. new york: harper perennial. de freitas, s. i. (2006) ‘using games and simulations for supporting learning.’ learning, media and technology 31(4), 343-358. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439880601021967 (accessed: 30 october 2017). de freitas, s.i. and levene, m. (2004) ‘an investigation of the use of simulations and video gaming for supporting exploratory learning and developing higher-order cognitive skills.’ paper presented at iadis international conference in cognition and exploratory learning in the digital age. december 15-17, lisbon. egenfeldt-nielsen, s. (2011) ‘what makes a good learning game? going beyond edutainment.’ elearn magazine, february 2011. article no. 2. available at: doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2004.00105.x (accessed: 30 october 2017). facer, k., joiner, r., stanton, d., reid, j., hull, r. and kirk, d. (2004), savannah: mobile gaming and learning?. journal of computer assisted learning, 20: 399–409. available at: doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2004.00105.x felicia, p. (2011) ‘digital games in schools: a handbook for teachers.european schoolnet’s games in schools project’ available at: http://games.eun.org/upload/gis_handbook_en.pdf. joyce, a., gerhard, p. and debry, m. (eds) (2009) ‘how are digital games used in schools? complete results of the study.’ european schoolnet. available at: http://games.eun.org/upload/gis-full_report_en.pdf (accessed: 30 october 2017). kafai, y.b., and burke, q. (2015) ‘constructionist gaming: understanding the benefits of making games for learning.’ educational psychologist 50(4), 313-334. available at: doi:10.1080/00461520.2015.1124022 (accessed 30 october 2017). kirriemuir, j. and mcfarlane, a. (2004) literature review in games and learning. a nesta futurelab research report report 8. available at: https://telearn.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal00190453/document (accessed 30 october 2017). https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e26a/f7c10dc54f70a6c49f621af2d4640333e54d.pdf http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjem20/current http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjem20/current http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjem20/31/4 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439880601021967 http://games.eun.org/upload/gis-full_report_en.pdf https://telearn.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00190453/document https://telearn.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00190453/document case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 kumar, r. and lightner, r. (2007) ‘games as an interactive classroom technique: perceptions of corporate trainers, college instructors and students.’ international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 19(1), 53-63. available at: http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/ijtlhe157.pdf (accessed 30 october 2017). plass, j. l., homer, b.d. and kinzer c.k. (2015) ‘foundations of game-based learning.’ educational psychologist, 50(4), 258-283. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2015.1122533 (accessed 30 october 2017). sardone, n. and devlin-scherer, r. (2016) ‘let the (board) games begin: creative ways to enhance teaching and learning.’ the clearing house: a journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 89(6), 215-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2016.1214473 (accessed 30 october 2017). vygotsky, l.s. (1978) mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. whitton, n. (2010) learning with digital games: a practical guide to engaging students in higher education. routledge. http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/ijtlhe157.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2016.1214473 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 appendix 1 aims of the project: 1. increasing students’ understanding of the mechanisms and incentives which operate in economic markets and the implications of liberalisation and regulation. students’ in-game choices are expected to be shaped by goals and incentives that are like those that drive capitalist market economies, such as profit maximisation, efficiency, reputation building and risk mitigation. 2. critical thinking: get students to question their own assumptions and pre-conceptions concerning market liberalisation and engage into the module with a more open mind. 3. make concepts and readings more meaningful to students. the games can directly support some of the learning objectives of the course. 4. contribute to students’ development of transferable skills. skills such as decisionmaking under time-pressure and evaluation of risk can be reinforced in this game. 5. strengthening students’ motivation and involvement with the course. learning through games can be fun. 6. create a game which presents a challenge for students, but which is not frustrating. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 appendix 2 design features of ‘capture the market’  semi-cooperative (teams); this also helps with timing as it reduces the number of players to take a turn each round;  randomness (government interventions);  hidden roles and agendas (secret objective);  imperfect information;  scoring multiple ways to win;  victory conditions – it is not clear who is winning until the end;  catch-up mechanism some of the later rounds can allow people to catch up with double basic actions;  ‘take that’ element – take-over manoeuvre. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 appendix 3 questions – student survey q1 rate the following statement: 'i enjoyed playing the capture the market game in class.' q1.1 please elaborate further. q2 how clear were the instructions on how to play the game? q2.1 please elaborate further. q3 rate the following statements about the game: (strongly agree, agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree)  the game is too easy;  the game is fun;  i would play the game again;  the game stimulates decision making under time pressure;  the game is too long;  this type of game is useful in the context of he;  the game provides visual metaphors of social realities;  the game makes you think about the concepts and ideas discussed in the course. q4 rate the following statement: the ‘capture the market’ game connected with the module's framework of structure, agency and ideas. (strongly agree, agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, disagree, strongly disagree) q5 rate the following statement: the ‘capture the market’ game helped me to engage in and think about some of the key concepts from the module. (strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree) q5.1 please elaborate further. q6 do you think that this game was an appropriate activity in the context of the module? (strongly agree, agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, disagree, strongly disagree) q6.1 please elaborate further. q7 would you recommend that this game be played by next year's cohort of lse100 students? (yes, maybe, no) q7.1 please elaborate further. q8 any other comments? case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 1, 2018 appendix 4 questions – teacher survey q1 how would you describe your experience of managing the game ‘capture the market’ and the post-game discussion in class? (extremely difficult, difficult, neither easy nor difficult, easy, extremely easy) experience of managing game in class; experience of managing the post-game discussion in class. q1.1 please elaborate further. q2 were there any recurring issues/questions regarding the game instructions, game rules or score-sheets? please give details. q3 what aspects of the post-game discussion did you find challenging? how could this be improved? q4 rate the following statement: 'the students appeared to enjoy playing the game.’ (strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree) q4.1 please elaborate further, including any direct references/quotes from students. q5 rate the following statement: 'the students engaged with their team and in the game.' q5.1 please elaborate further. q6 which post-game questions seemed to gain the biggest response? q7 do you think the game increased the students’ level of engagement with the module? (definitely yes, probably yes, might or might not, probably not, definitely not) q7.1 please elaborate further. q8 were you able to cover all of the discussion points after the game? (yes, no) q9 would you be happy to teach this game or other games next year? (yes, no, unsure) q9.1 please elaborate further. q10 were there any recurring patterns regarding game play and secret objectives? q11 what were your tactics to draw out discussion and ideas? q12 any other comments? including suggestions for improvements to the game and linking concepts to the game. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 using flipgrid to develop social learning john stoszkowski university of central lancashire abstract flipgrid is an online video discussion platform designed to empower learners and facilitate social interaction between students. this paper reviews the use of flipgrid to develop social learning with a cohort of undergraduate students at the university of central lancashire. strengths and weaknesses of the flipgrid platform are outlined, as well as potential barriers to its use, and future plans for incorporating it in teaching and learning. keywords: collaborative learning; online learning; education technology. introduction flipgrid (www.flipgrid.com), an online video discussion platform, is designed to empower learners and facilitate collaboration and social learning between students. microsoft acquired the platform in june 2018, making it freely available to educators worldwide as part of office 365 for education. the tutor creates a ‘grid’ and then invites students to upload short video responses to ‘topics’ (i.e. questions and prompts) via a custom link. to upload responses to a topic, as well as replies to each other’s responses, students use a simple video recorder in the flipgrid app (android and ios) or do so via any web browser. the user interface is intuitive and functions like many other video-based social media platforms (e.g. youtube, instagram and snapchat). students can pause while recording, with unlimited retakes possible until they are ready to upload their video. ‘grids’, which essentially become collections of topics, are managed through an easy-to-navigate ‘teacher dashboard’. when students ‘follow’ their grid, they receive an email notification whenever new content is uploaded. video length can be limited from thirty seconds to five minutes, which encourages more focused, less ambiguous responses, as students must carefully consider how they communicate their ideas. the ability to pause and re-record videos also helps students to practise communication of their ideas before posting. how flipgrid was used in practice thirty final-year undergraduate sports coaching students, who were undertaking a community-based coaching placement, used flipgrid during one semester to support monthly face-to-face workshops. each workshop focused on a contemporary coaching theme, with the intervening four weeks of flipgrid discussion based upon that theme. three groups (or ‘grids’) were set up, with ten students in each group. students took turns at posting video responses to the theme, with discussion emerging via replies to that initial response and each other’s replies. at periodic intervals, students were given individual formative feedback on the clarity and content of their videos via the inbuilt feedback mechanism that flipgrid offers. http://www.flipgrid.com/ technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 strengths of flipgrid access. students do not need to create an account or ‘sign-up’; they simply need the web link for their grid, which is free to access. this helps reduce any potential ‘overload’ of platforms in their existing digital ecosystem (stoszkowski, mccarthy and fonseca, 2017). convenience. as the discussion is asynchronous and not timeor place-dependent, it benefits ‘commuter students’ who live off-campus and are more likely to experience challenges in relation to their engagement beyond the classroom (thomas and jones, 2017). similarly, students who spend more time in paid employment – and who typically report lower gains in learning (neves and hillman, 2017) – appreciate the flexibility flipgrid offers. participation. discussion is evenly distributed across the cohort. those students who might sit back or ‘free-ride’ (hall and buzwell, 2013) in class-based discussions are more involved, whilst those who might otherwise dominate discussion are less likely to do so. appeal. students appear to prefer watching each other speak on video to reading written material, which they perceive to be time-consuming and ‘boring’. students with lessdeveloped writing and reading skills also appear to prefer video-based interaction. formative feedback. the ability to provide – easily – regular written and/or video-based tutor feedback on videos, with the option to create custom rubrics, is in keeping with an ethos of helping students take control of their own learning (nicol and macfarlane-dick, 2006). feedback is emailed directly to the students individually and only they can see it. tracking. the number of views on each video, as well as total engagement time across the group, is tracked automatically. this makes it easy to monitor individual and group participation levels. data can also be exported to excel, which is useful if participation is to be assessed or added to other grading systems. compatibility. custom integration means flipgrid can be embedded into a range of other platforms in the students’ learning ecosystem (e.g. blackboard, google classroom and microsoft teams). youtube/vimeo videos, as well as files and documents hosted on other platforms (e.g. dropbox, googledocs, onenote), can also be embedded in discussion starters. weaknesses and potential barriers to be overcome competitiveness. as is common on many social media platforms, videos can be ‘liked’ or ‘hearted’ to show agreement or approval. this can lead to competitiveness, with the confidence of some students potentially dented if a video receives fewer views or likes than others. (this feature can be deactivated if the tutor so desires.) equipment. to access and use the platform, students must have a suitable digital device (i.e. with camera and microphone) and a good internet connection. students who have older or ‘lower specification’ phones or tablets with a sound and picture quality inferior to that of recent high-spec. models may therefore experience problems. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 impression management. initially, many students were concerned about gaining peer approval and ‘saying the right thing’ as opposed to posting genuine views and opinions. some students prepared a script from which to read, which detracted from the authenticity of some videos and led to the appearance of some discussions as a little insincere. over time, the tendency to do this lessened, the sharing of ‘best practice’ examples being particularly helpful in countering it. confidence. a few students were uncomfortable about being ‘on screen’, with some voicing concerns that their appearance would be ‘judged’ by their peers. consideration should therefore be given to the suitability of the platform for introverts, although research has suggested that introverted students prefer communicating via social media to doing so in person (voorn and kommers, 2013). conclusion and plans for future use flipgrid is a very useful tool to facilitate social learning and help students develop video content creation skills for the digital era. it is simple and intuitive to use, and students appreciate its convenience and familiar user interface. for example, flipgrid is similar to recording a youtube reaction video in response to a particular subject or item of news, or to recording and sending a video note in snapchat. moving forward, it is intended that flipgrid will be used with a bigger cohort of students on a year-long level 6 module which requires them to evidence continuous self-reflection as they develop their coaching practice. flipgrid will complement the individual blogs the students currently maintain on the module by encouraging more direct peer interaction and collaborative discussion on the common issues they are facing. reference list hall, d. and buzwell, s. (2013) ‘the problem of free-riding in group projects: looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution.’ active learning in higher education, 14(1), 3749. available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469787412467123 (accessed: 31 january 2018). neves, j. and hillman, n. (2017) 2017 student academic experience survey. york: higher education academy. available at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017student-academic-experience-survey-final-report.pdf (accessed: 31 january 2018). nicol, d.j. and macfarlane-dick, d. (2007) ‘formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice.’ studies in higher education, 31(2), 199-218. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070600572090 (accessed: 31 january 2018). stoszkowski, j., mccarthy, l. and fonseca, j. (2017) ‘online peer mentoring and collaborative reflection: a cross-institutional project in sports coaching.’ journal of perspectives in applied academic practice, 5(3), 118-121. available at: https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/jpaap/article/view/289 (accessed: 31 january 2018). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469787412467123 https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-student-academic-experience-survey-final-report.pdf https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-student-academic-experience-survey-final-report.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070600572090 https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/jpaap/article/view/289 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 thomas, l. and jones, r. (2017) student engagement in the context of commuter students. london: the student engagement partnership. available at: www.tsep.org.uk/resources (accessed: 31 january 2018). voorn, r.j.j. and kommers, p.a.m. (2013) ‘social media and higher education: introversion and collaborative learning from the student’s perspective.’ international journal of social media and interactive learning environments, 1(1), 59-73. available at: https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/ijsmile.2013.051650 (accessed: 31 january 2018). http://www.tsep.org.uk/resources https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/ijsmile.2013.051650 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 learning and teaching partnership narratives relating to the open course ‘creativity for learning in higher education’ (#creativehe) chrissi nerantzi, norman jackson, nikos mouratoglou, debbie baff manchester metropolitan university, creative academic, aristotle university, swansea university abstract in this article, the authors share their experiences about partnership learning and teaching approaches they experienced within the open course ‘creativity for learning in higher education’ (#creativehe), linked to the postgraduate module offered by the centre for excellence in learning and teaching (celt) at manchester metropolitan university in collaboration with the creative academic, london metropolitan university and colleagues from other institutions in the uk and further afield, such as the university of macedonia in greece. through reflective narratives from student and staff learners on the course, a facilitator and an organiser, insights are gained about their experience. lessons learnt are shared, so as to inform future iterations of #creativehe, and may also be useful for others who consider opening up courses in higher education. introduction creativity is fundamental to being human; its use and continuing development is essential for humanity to flourish and therefore an important focus for learning and teaching in all phases of education. creativity brings something fresh and vital to our experience of living. it nurtures our sense of personal fulfilment, feeds our curiosity and passions and transforms our thinking and actions. it enables us to imagine new possibilities and motivates us to invent new realities. creativity involves imagination, the capacity to form mental images, connections and constructs of objects, situations and ideas, and the capability, will and qualities to turn ideas into meaningful artefacts and processes. creativity is a situated, contextual, ecological and emergent phenomenon, neatly captured by rogers’ (1961, p.350) synthesis description of the creative process: “the emergence in action of a novel relational product growing out of the uniqueness of the individual on the one hand, and the materials, events, or circumstances of their life”. higher education (he) is a greenhouse for the creation of new knowledge through research and scholarship and the dissemination of this for the wider good. creativity, along with criticality, is integral to knowledge development in many different disciplinary fields, while experimentation and improvisation facilitate the making of new and novel connections that lead to new understandings and new realities. through their research and scholarship, many he teachers are immersed in the development of knowledge, but they also have an important role to play in encouraging and enabling learners, the next generation of knowledge workers, to use and develop their creativity. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 overview of #creativehe the aim of #creativehe is to help he teachers build their capacity, capability and confidence for facilitating learners’ creativity, as well as use creative learning and teaching approaches in their practice. the course site has been developed at peer to peer university (p2pu) – see https://courses.p2pu.org/en/courses/2615/creativity-for-learning-in-higher-education/ – while the interaction takes place in a google+ community – see https://plus.google.com/communities/110898703741307769041 – and via twitter using the #creativehe hashtag. however, it must be noted that #creativehe also attracts students in he and further learners from outside the sector. it has been offered since 2015, with multiple iterations and cross-institutional collaboration, using a distributed facilitation model and a wide range of inquiry-based approaches that helped us, namely the organiser, a facilitator, a student learner and learner who was a practising educational developer, explore creativity in he from different angles. facilitated #creativehe discussions and other forms of social interaction formed around challenges, provocations and the sharing of perspectives and resources provide abundant opportunity for participants to share their perspectives, imaginations and creative artefacts to co-create new meaning (jackson et al., 2016). the particular iteration of #creativehe offered in 2015 over eight weeks (september to november) in collaboration with manchester metropolitan university, london metropolitan university, university of macedonia and creative academic was used as a case to collect data for a phenomenographic study in which the qualitatively different variations of collaborative open learning as experienced by learners was explored. this study revealed new insights linked to patterns in collaborative open learning (immersive and selective) and illuminated the importance of boundary crossing within this context. the findings of this study led to the development of a new framework for designing and evaluating cross-boundary collaborative open learning (nerantzi, 2017). the course was organised around a series of weekly topics and activities, supported by appropriate resources, that were intended to encourage participants to think about a particular concept and reflect on and share their own beliefs, practices and experiences. during the eight weeks, forty-three active participants made over 350 posts and over 1000 comments, and many of the posts contained links to personal blogs or e-portfolios – that's a lot of contributions and conversation! it constitutes a huge collective resource to stimulate thinking and – from a facilitator’s perspective – to acknowledge and value. but such statistics can never get to the heart of what is, after all, a process for sharing personal meanings and co-creating new meaning. the meaning is in the conversation and in the emotional responses that we make to the posts we read, the personal stories that are shared, the images we see and the videos we watch. the #creativehe google+ space contained two types of spaces. the first was ‘public’ and therefore open to every member of the community, whilst the second one was ‘private’ in the sense of sub-groups of specific interest within the course community. nevertheless, anyone could join these groups at any time, but there was an expectation that those who were admitted would participate in learning projects that were determined by the group. in this respect, these groups were intended to behave like 'collectives' in the manner described by thomas and seely brown (2011, p.52) who state: “a collective is very different from an ordinary community. where communities can be passive, collectives cannot. in communities https://courses.p2pu.org/en/courses/2615/creativity-for-learning-in-higher-education/ https://plus.google.com/communities/110898703741307769041 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 people learn in order to belong. in a collective, people belong in order to learn. communities derive their strength from creating a sense of belonging, while collectives derive theirs from participation”. willis and greenhalgh (2016) provide a perspective on our experience of being a collective. what follows are four personal perspectives of participants involved in this event: the organiser, a facilitator, a student learner and learner who was a practising educational developer. they share their perceptions of the event and their reflections, as well as the professional risks and opportunities this experience entailed. each narrative is written in the personal style of its contributor and captures the authentic voice of each individual. the narratives are followed by a synthesis of the voices and illuminate emerging partnership characteristics, which will be valuable to take into consideration, further to shape the course and the associated activities and discussions. the approach used in this article has characteristics of narrative inquiry, which aids the social construction to gain insights into experiences so as to inform pedagogical change (clandinin, 2006; clandinin and connelly, 2000). four partnership narratives a student learner’s narrative nikos mouratoglou, nikosmouratog@gmail.com my name is nikos and i am a phd student in the aristotle university of thessaloniki. during my recent postgraduate studies at the university of macedonia, i voluntarily participated in a course related to information communication technologies and lifelong learning. during this course our professor invited us to join the #creativehe open course, which was carried out in english (a foreign language for me) with academics from other universities, as an extra and optional learning opportunity. reflecting now on my experience, i can say that the initial feeling was that my participation in the course was risky, not only in terms of time-consuming and engagement, but also due to the interaction developed among students, staff and academics with whom i was not familiar. moreover, the fact that it was the first time that i participated in an online course, was also perceived for me as a risk. however, my interest was intrigued both by the topic of the course and the challenge of dealing with the above-mentioned risks. making the decision to get involved in the course was not easy∙ i felt ‘vulnerable’ as i was just a postgraduate student being encouraged to develop partnerships with academics from other institutions; also being greek with english as a second language and therefore anxious to communicate effectively. however, the approach of distributed facilitation, as well as the shared goals, and the notion of collectives formed a reciprocal framework in which all the participants demonstrated respect, trust, joint commitment and emotional connection. they were all willing to promote discussion and reflection on the topics addressed, encourage participation, reassure for potential anxieties and provide substantial feedback. in this way a collaborative learning culture was formed (mouratoglou, 2016a). for instance, the formation of groups in the google+ community, resulted in working closer with some of the participants, communicating more often through emails and google mailto:nikosmouratog@gmail.com case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 hangouts and therefore developing stronger relationships through our collaboration. the bonds of partnerships started emerging. by exchanging views, experiences, personal stories and artefacts during our conversations, the sense of membership and belonging was enhanced (mouratoglou, 2016b). i felt that i was not just an observer, but an active participant in an active social context. the support and guidance was a key factor for making me feel comfortable enough for starting sharing my own perspectives and experiences, a moment that i turned into a truly partner, both contributing and gaining. one of the results of this partnership was that i co-published seven publications in two magazines, co-edited an issue of the creative academic magazine and co-created and cofacilitated a facebook group related to creativity and learning, things that would not have happened if i had not participated in the course. even, now, while writing this part, i can surely state that this is the result of that first partnership, which once mitigated my personally perceived lurking risks and since then supports further partnerships far beyond the implementation of the #creativehe course. a partnership that co-creates other partnerships. a staff learner’s narrative debbie baff deborah.baff@swansea.ac.uk i’m debbie, i am a senior academic developer from swansea university, south wales, uk. i'm also a part time phd student in e-research and technology enhanced learning. i became involved with the #creativehe course as a participant in 2015. for me, the idea of using creativity in higher education was intriguing and i wanted to see what it was all about! i found that taking part was instrumental in my personal and professional development and in finding the confidence to re-embrace creativity. i have always loved being creative as a child, but if i am honest, i felt i had lost touch with my creativity as an adult. i felt a sense of constraint in my former role within the surveying profession, as there just did not seem to be the opportunity to be creative. changing direction after redundancy and moving into education opened the door to creativity but it was the open course #creativehe that kickstarted my interest to have a go and fired my inner creativity by working in partnership with others! i remember feeling apprehensive and out of my depth. i worried that i wouldn’t be as creative as other people. sometimes life gets in the way of best laid plans, and i felt frustrated at not making as much progress in the course as i would have liked and fell behind at the start. i talked about this in an article for the creative academic magazine (baff, 2016) instead of giving up, i persevered and shared my frustrations. to my great delight i found that people were very supportive across the #creativehe community. participants and facilitators commented that they also experienced problems in finding time to contribute and finding their way around the learning environment. knowing that others were also going through difficulties helped a lot. i found a sense of community, which meant that it became a very familiar place. i found that as the course went on, our shared sense of community developed across the wider #creativehe participants who seemed willing to take more risks through engaging with various tools and mediums that were new to them. people seemed able to 'put themselves mailto:deborah.baff@swansea.ac.uk case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 out there ' and this in turn encouraged others, including myself. sharing our thoughts through our creations helped us see others as ‘real’ people (gunawardena and zittle 1997). i felt a real sense of community and warmth in the collaborative nature of the course. one of the strengths was the partnership between participants and course facilitators. it felt like being on a level playing field within which we were all on a journey together. the willingness of participants and facilitators to contribute and comment gave participants the confidence to think outside of the box and have a go. we were encouraged by the facilitators to make use of different technologies through their own experimentation with new tools. i would like to mention a specific example in this respect in relation to using mobile apps for sketchnoting. although i had already started to experiment with sketchnoting, through using paper and pens, i felt encouraged to use my ipad and various mobile apps to visualise things. i felt confident to submit my creations in a supportive environment. later, this made me think about different ways that i could use creativity within my daily work both from a personal aspect and also within my professional life. i have found a love of sketchnoting using my ipad and now incorporate this into my studies and my own professional development such as sketchnoting at conferences. i also now use it in many situations in the workplace ranging from taking notes at meetings, brainstorming for course development, and as a communication tool. one of my sketchnotes is even now used to communicate our new continued professional development framework on our departmental website! https://salt.swan.ac.uk/cpd/ a facilitator’s narrative norman jackson lifewider@gmail.com the idea of creativity has interested me for as long as i can remember but the belief that higher education needs to encourage and enable learners to be creative has been a focus of my work for the last two decades. three years ago i co-founded creative academic (http://www.creativeacademic.uk/) with chrissi nerantzi to support a community of people interested in helping learners use their creativity. one of our goals is to facilitate professional learning relating to creativity in he so i was delighted when chrissi invited me to be one of the facilitators in the second iteration of the #creativehe creativity in higher education course. in fact, this was on-the-job learning for me as it was my first complete experience of participating in an open online course. i approached the task as i do with every other collaborative project i am involved in – i am a learner like everyone else. we are all in it together we all have something to offer and we can all learn from each other as was so clearly demonstrated below. over the eight weeks of the course i engaged in many productive conversations, met and formed good relationships with many people, learnt about and used new technological tools and enhanced my understandings of many things. my involvement took two different forms. as a facilitator in both the course community and one of the smaller groups, i was expected to encourage and engage other participants and value their contributions. as a participant i offered my own perspectives on the topics being discussed. like most participants i recorded some of my learning, thoughts and feelings in a blog (jackson 2015 october/november posts) which enables me to look back on my experience. https://salt.swan.ac.uk/cpd/ mailto:lifewider@gmail.com http://www.creativeacademic.uk/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 like many other participants i can see that my journey began with confusion and frustration with not understanding how the process and technologies worked. it felt that i was the only one experiencing these difficulties but of course most people are. as i got more familiar and comfortable with the technology and i shared my thoughts and experiences with other participants in my group my relationships with the environment for learning changed. i can see that a significant part of my journey was relational. gradually new understandings emerged together with enjoyment and feeling part of something that was a meaningful part of my everyday existence. in making this journey i was helped by other participants who joined me in a google hangout every sunday evening for a chat that focused on our experience of the course and how we felt about it (willis and greenhalgh 2016). there were eventually fifteen people in the group, including four student members, with eight participants regularly contributing to conversations. each week i invited participants in the group to a google+ hangout and the friendly chats usually involved at least five members of the group. while interactions in the main group focused on the topics that formed the structure of the course, in the smaller group we shared our experiences of the course, our personal interests and perspectives on questions we were interested in. this social and personal dimension made all the difference to our individual experiences and out of it grew new and significant relationships and a deeper commitment to each other: without this commitment new partnerships will not form. collaboration and partnership works best when there is commitment to a shared activity. this might have a focus on the learning process or a project as a recent phenomenographic study revealed two learning patterns, selective and immersive collaborative open learning, which indicates specific differences how collaborative learning is experienced (nerantzi, 2017). one of the case studies of this study was the #creativehe iteration used in this article. while the course was running we undertook a project to map our own involvement and emotional experience as the course was running. this was something that we determined for ourselves. as the course was finishing our small group shared the belief that although much had been learnt it would be lost as there was no way of organizing and curating the learning or artefacts that had been produced. the google+ platform does not provide the tools to organize content and it’s a significant deficiency of the platform in supporting online learning communities. the group decided to curate the learning from the course using creative academic magazine as a medium. through december and january we met at least fortnightly in the google+ hangout to plan, develop ideas and construct the magazine which was published online at the end of january with five members of the group, including two students as co-editors and co-writers of articles (jackson and others 2016). producing the magazine enabled us to look reflectively, analytically, critically and synthetically at the event as a whole each member of the editorial team contributing articles based on their own analysis. as a result we gained much deeper insights into the experience, the pedagogy and the outcomes. the combined course experience and post-course production of the magazine showed me that for an effective partnership involving students and educational practitioners you need an environment in which people can come together and forge relationships and commitment to each other. out of this set of relationships ideas can be shared and grown and eventually projects emerge and are acted upon to achieve something that is valued. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 an organiser’s narrative chrissi nerantzi c.nerantzi@mmu.ac.uk i am an academic developer within the centre for excellence in learning and teaching at manchester metropolitan university in the united kingdom. my interests lie within creative and open education and my approach is collaborative, open and evidence-based, and a willingness to experiment and try new things. as the originator of #creativehe i designed and developed the initial open course and the associated approved postgraduate module that is part of our masters in higher education within celt. designed-into the open course are pedagogical and collaborative features that extend and foster flexible and creative engagement that can be fully contextualised to learners’ needs, interests and aspirations as well as enable the exploration of a wide range of thematic areas, concepts, practices and research. freely available social media make engagement beyond the module and institutional boundaries possible, creating opportunities for cross-institutional collaboration and professional development not exclusively for academics but also for students and individuals from the wider public. the open course #creativehe is inquiry-based and dynamic. no two iterations are the same. however, the wider focus remains on creative learning and teaching. ideas grow when they are shared. sharing also means letting go of control. this can be risky. however, research shows that professional development in cross-boundary networks and communities as part of cross-institutional collaborations in the area of academic development has a positive impact on engagement (nerantzi, 2017). furthermore, shagrir’s (2017) study highlights that collaboration more generally within academic development promotes new learning and teaching ideas. this is definitely something that is at the heart of #creativehe as novel pedagogical ideas, concepts and approaches are introduced and modelled to create experiences for experimentation, risk taking and reflection. social leadership based on trust developed in social networks (stodd, 2016) characterises how i work with others. it is democratic and collaborative expressed through shared course responsibility through a small team of distributed facilitators. beyond co-facilitation it also includes course co-design and co-evaluation. i also shared the role of course organisation. i feel that this strategy empowers team members and creates a sense of co-ownership and partnership. it also has practical benefits such as sharing of workload and troubleshooting. for example, the facilitation team consists of a range of individuals, new and more experienced from different disciplines and professional areas and not only support learners in their development, but it also creates opportunities for professional learning and mentoring for the facilitators. my research (nerantzi, 2017) has shown that facilitators as co-learners is something that is valued by learners as it makes participation in an open course horizontal and enables learning with and from each other, not just among learners, but also among facilitators and learners. this collaborative partnership at course level between organiser and facilitators has led to varied and thought provoking learning and development activities which emerged through contributions and leadership from individuals in the facilitation team. i am pleased i took the risk, trust collaborating facilitators as this has led us to the development of the #creativehe community, online and offline. mailto:c.nerantzi@mmu.ac.uk case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 conclusion the reflective narratives shared in this article have enabled the analysis and synthesis of learning-partnership concepts linked to #creativehe from different perspectives. key observations are shared below: 1. how new partnerships have been sustained and grown the open course #creativehe, combined with facilitated open conversations on the #creativehe platform has, over three years, led to the development of the online #creativehe community, which at the time of writing this article has over 640 members. it must however be recognised that only a small proportion of the members actively contribute through posts and discussions: this is the nature of such fora. reflecting on the narratives in an inductive approach, it can be ascertained that there are some factors that contributed in the mitigation of risks in the #creativehe course. the first one was the development of significant interpersonal relationships among the participants, which formed a culture of acceptance. consequently, the participants were openly discussing their concerns/frustrations with the rest, pointing out commonalities, receiving support and guidance and therefore constraining the impact of their risks. moreover, the collaborative approach which was fundamental during the course, as well as the notion of social leadership, resulted in a horizontal approach for partnership. there was therefore a deeper, joint and authentic commitment in relation to a shared and genuine interest, which established the sense of a supportive context. another important element was the flexibility and openness of the course in terms of personalisation, either based on the content or the tools of engagement. in this way, the participants, were able to post their contributions with the content and tool of their choice, felt more comfortable, without having to comply with any predetermined practices. what began as an online platform for periodic developmental experiences relating to creativity in education has expanded into a platform for explorative discussions linked to specific creativity projects led by the creative academic. this partnership, that was initiated at the event that forms the basis of this article, has resulted in a range of scholarly explorations and dissemination activities through creative academic magazine. from september 2017, #creativehe also had a local dimension and the offer of monthly meetups hosted by different he institutions. by these means, partnerships developed through the online platform have extended to social face-to-face interactions in institutions. 2. how conditions are created for networks to include students and practitioners: the centrality of meaningful relationships in which people share their feelings as well as their intellectual knowledge respectful and collaborative staff/student partnerships facilitate a culture of active participation. status does not matter; what matters is that the culture which is established during the on-line conversation enables and facilitate interactions through which relationships can grow and people are able to develop a sense of commitment to each other. out of this, new things will flourish. to create these partnerships with learners at different case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 stages in their lives, we need to be proactive in recruiting a diverse group of participants it won’t happen by itself. the sharing of highly personal life circumstances and stories reveals a culture of trust and enables participants to engage emotionally not just intellectually. 3. how the #creativehe course might be designed to capitalise on what has been learnt about productive learning partnerships surprisingly, the #creativehe course has never repeated the use of small groups in any of the subsequent iterations because the duration of courses has been shortened – typically to five days. should a longer course be offered it would be possible to re-design #creativehe in such a way that collaboration and partnerships within small groups would be an explicit pedagogical goal. for example, it would be possible to structure a #creativehe ‘course’ or ‘exploration’ over eight weeks, beginning with large group interactions (e.g. the first two weeks) that encouraged people to share their interests; then, from these interactions, smaller groups could be grown for those who wished to learn in these, working together on one or more ‘themes or projects’ that they determined for themselves (four weeks). over this time, the groups could share what they were doing with the course community. then, in the final two weeks, the groups could share the results of their explorations and any artefacts that had been produced with the community. the project would be the vehicle for individual and collective creativity and any artefacts produced, with their meaning and formation, would be the substance of what was shared. given the limitations of the google+ platform as a vehicle for curating the learning from such, perhaps production of a magazine could be designed into the enterprise as a choice, with each group synthesising the results of its project and what it had learnt, for the benefit of the wider he community if they wished to do so. furthermore, a synchronous online event using webinar technologies or face-to-face where feasible could be organised to share learning and outputs. this format might represent an opportunity for collaborative learning to be experienced, both as process-based or project-based collaborative open learning and any production of artefacts determined by the group. reference list baff, d. (2016) ‘exploring creative ecologies deb’s ramblings.’ creative academic magazine (cam 5, p.32). available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/uploads/1/3/5/4/13542890/cam_5.pdf (accessed: 5 february 2018). clandinin, d.j. (2006) ‘narrative inquiry: a methodology for studying lived experience.’ research studies in music education, 27(1), 44-54. accessed from https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x060270010301 (accessed: 10 march 2018). clandinin, d.j. and connelly f.m. (2000) narrative inquiry: experience and story in qualitative research. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn 978-0-787-97276-9. http://www.creativeacademic.uk/uploads/1/3/5/4/13542890/cam_5.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x060270010301 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 gunawardena, c. and zittle, f. (1997) ‘social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer-mediated conferencing environment.’ american journal of distance education, 11(3), 8-26. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/08923649709526970 (accessed: 10 february 2018). jackson, n.j. (2015) my #creativehe blog – posts between september and november 2015 available at http://www.normanjackson.co.uk/creativehe/archives/11-2015 (accessed: 5 january 2018). jackson, n.j. (2016a) ‘stories and story telling in #creativehe.’ creative academic magazine (cam 3, pp.25-30) available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html (accessed: 10 february 2018). jackson, n.j. and rajagopal, k. (2016) ‘interpreting #creativehe from the perspective of a networking conversation.’ creative academic magazine (cam 3, pp.76-78) available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html (accessed: 20 december 2017). jackson, n.j., willis, j., tziouvara m.-r., mouratoglou, n. and greenhalgh r (eds.) (2016) exploring creativity through #creativehe. creative academic magazine (cam 3). available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html (accessed: 15 december 2017). mouratoglou, n. (2016a) ‘cross-cultural dimensions of the #creativehe online course.’ lifewide magazine, 17, pp.103-107. available at: http://www.lifewideeducation.uk/magazine.html (accessed: 18 january 2018). mouratoglou, n. (2016b) ‘sharing personally meaningful experiences: a value-based approach to social learning in #creativehe.’ creative academic magazine (cam 3, pp.73-75). available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html (accessed: 25 january 2018). nerantzi, c. (2017) towards a framework for cross-boundary collaborative open learning for cross-institutional academic development. phd thesis. edinburgh: edinburgh napier university. available at: https://www.napier.ac.uk/~/media/worktribe/output1025583/towards-a-framework-for-cross-boundary-collaborative-open-learning-for.pdf (accessed: 5 february 2018). rogers, c.r. (1960) on becoming a person. boston: houghton mifflin. isbn 978-1-84529057-3. shagrir, l. (2017) ‘collaborating with colleagues for the sake of academic and professional development in higher education.’ international journal for academic development, 22(4), pp.331-342. available at https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2017.1359180 (accessed: 23 march 2018). stodd, j. (2014) ‘scaffolded social learning.’ julian stodd’s learning blog. available at: https://julianstodd.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/an-introduction-to-scaffolded-social-learning/ (accessed: 10 february 2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/08923649709526970 http://www.normanjackson.co.uk/creativehe/archives/11-2015 http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html http://www.lifewideeducation.uk/magazine.html http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html https://www.napier.ac.uk/~/media/worktribe/output-1025583/towards-a-framework-for-cross-boundary-collaborative-open-learning-for.pdf https://www.napier.ac.uk/~/media/worktribe/output-1025583/towards-a-framework-for-cross-boundary-collaborative-open-learning-for.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2017.1359180 https://julianstodd.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/an-introduction-to-scaffolded-social-learning/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 stodd, j. (2016) the social leadership handbook (2nd edition). london: the printing house. isbn 0957319975. thomas, d. and seely brown, j. (2011) a new culture of learning: cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. online: createspace independent publishing platform. isbn 1456458884. willis, j. and greenhalgh, r. (2016) ‘the experience of being in a collective.’ creative academic magazine (cam 3, pp.40-47). available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html (accessed: 22 march 2018). http://www.creativeacademic.uk/magazine.html case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 workshops for subject-specific teachers’ training: a case study for teaching cancer biology lauren pecorino, richard grose, pinar uysal-onganer university of greenwich, queen mary university of london, university of westminster this work was supported by the biochemical society. abstract teachers’ training in higher education institutions widely serves general purposes. however, recent dialogues and research highlight the importance of teachers’ deep understanding of the material being taught and the ways students think about the content as critical components of great teaching. the authors explored the novelty of providing a one-day workshop entitled, ‘effective strategies for teaching cancer biology’. the biochemical society supported the event and marketed it throughout the uk – not with any targeted level of university teaching experience. and aattendees therefore ranged from those who had never taught to those at the level of senior fellow of the higher education academy. the day included various short talks, the sharing of good practice and the opportunity to experience a demonstration lesson as a student. twelve out of thirteen who provided feedback had not received previous subject-specific teacher-training. half of the attendees gave feedback with the highest score out of five, having found the event ‘very valuable’. this experience suggests that subject-specific training may be beneficial and applicable to other subject areas. keywords: cancer biology, university teaching, subject-specific teachers’ training, higher education academy. introduction most teachers’ training is presented for general purposes, including the importance of student engagement, types of feedback and variation in types of assessment. however, recent dialogues and research emphasise that all teaching skills are underpinned by knowledge of the material being taught. the sutton trust report (2014) highlights six components of great teaching suggested by research, stating that there is strong evidence that (pedagogical) content knowledge has positive impact on student outcomes. developing teachers’ knowledge of what they are teaching is central. one blogger comments: “ …it should not come as any great surprise that the greatest impact on student outcomes is likely to come from a teacher who knows their subject well and how to teach the nuances and challenges of it to different learners at different stages of their development. the heavy focus on developing ‘generic’ skills was wrong and imbalanced.” (stock, 2016). different subjects must be taught in different ways (rowland et al., 1998). michael fordham (2014) takes this concept further and quantitates this concept in his blog: ‘90% of teacher training should be subject-specific.’ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the authors organised and delivered a one-day, subject-specific teacher training workshop, the aim of which was to provide cancer biology-specific teachers’ training. the work was supported by a training grant from the biochemical society. one of the key aims in higher education (he) is to create an interactive environment. learning is a reflexive activity (kolb, 1984), grounded in interaction and dialogue, imbued with personal connection, with the aim of developing a partnership with students (flint, 2015). through discussion and demonstration, the workshop addressed various strategies for creating such a learning environment. using a textbook for final-year teaching is sometimes a point of contention. though some lecturers may be averse to the use of a textbook for final-year teaching, we chose to present a widely-used textbook for undergraduates (pecorino, 2016), to illustrate that there are advantages in the judicious application of a required text for a university course, especially for structuring specific strategies for learning. accreditation the higher education academy (hea) recognised that the workshop covered specific points of the higher education teaching framework. these included: a2 (teach and support learning), a3 (assess and give feedback to learners), k1 (knowledge of subject area), k2 (appropriate methods of teaching and learning in subject area and level) and v3 (use evidence-informed approaches). itinerary the introduction to the course presented course aims and learning outcomes. sharing best practice and identifying motivational forces for learning an open discussion explored the question ‘when does learning take place?’ the conversation led to conclusions similar to those reported in the literature: that is, learning takes place when the student is engaged in a task (fry, 2008), when the student is being tested (boud, 1986) and when the student is motivated to learn (biggs and tang, 2011). an examination of a recommended textbook and its useful features ensued. the author of the noted textbook had identified a motivational force for learning cancer biology: the learning of basic cancer biology can be applied to the development of novel therapeutics. she structured the book to link these two concepts in each chapter, a change from the more traditional way of teaching, in which treatments are covered separately and usually at the end of a course. students were compelled by this novel approach to learn basic biology in order to grasp how new drugs are being developed today. the textbook also contains features such as ‘how do we know that?’ so that experimental approaches and experimental data underlying the facts can be investigated. approaches for particular student audiences several subject-relevant talks followed, including how to teach statistics non-technically, given by dr shah-jalal (barts cancer institute), and how to teach cancer biology to medical students in a week presented by richard grose. since increases in life expectancy, coupled with improved detection and treatment of cancer, mean that there will be a growing demand case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 for oncologists (erikson et al., 2007), it is critical that medical students are engaged by cancer biology lectures. grose discussed how an intensive week of cancer teaching – using the classic ‘hallmarks of cancer’ (hanahan and weinberg, 2011) as a fundamental publication reinforced by lectures from experts in research and clinical aspects of cancer – could engage and enthuse students. in such an intensive week, fundamental principles, backed up by case studies detailing the practical delivery of cancer therapy ensures that students benefit from evidence-based teaching (gaffan et al., 2006), alongside a problemsolving learning approach that encourages students to explore clinical scenarios in a groupbased setting (neville, 2009). one such scenario uses braf mutant melanoma as an example – allowing students to understand the disease from the molecular level and link this to an appreciation of the efficacy and limitations of targeted therapies, using striking imagery of vemurafenib resistance (wagle et al., 2011). this foundation in cancer biology and treatment could then be built upon during student-selected components throughout the undergraduate course. these provide an excellent opportunity for students to guide their own learning, as recommended in the gmc guidelines – ‘promoting excellence: standards for medical education and learning’ (2016). experiential learning marcus gibson, director of gibson index and former financial times writer, broached the topic of apprenticeships and placements with his talk ‘companies involved in cancer research across the uk’. gibson index is a database of small and medium uk enterprises (smes) and has been used by several universities – and for several disciplines – to facilitate student apprenticeships and placements. advantages and challenges of various types of assessment and feedback workshop participants shared experiences of using such common assessment types as critical reviews, presentations and projects and viewed some distributed examples of student work. the ability to review a primary paper critically is a fundamental skill for cancer biologists, yet some challenges exist in designing assessments to test this skill. perhaps the biggest challenge is shifting students’ focus from a mere reading of the ‘results’ section to a careful evaluation of the data. instructions such as ‘critically review this paper’ do not provide sufficient direction. one solution is to ask students to read a paper critically and then to test them by means of specific test questions pertaining to the data: a) which figure demonstrates that? b) in figure x, what is the control? c) how much of an increase in protein levels is shown by the data in figure y? d) is the experiment shown in figure z direct or indirect evidence for x? presentations are a common method of assessment. student partnership is further developed in teaching by involving students to peer-mark group presentations. we have always appreciated the value of assigning group talks but felt that the attention of the student audience sometimes drifted. the solution came from race (2009, p.35): “if they [the students] are evaluating each presentation using an agreed set of criteria, they tend to engage themselves more fully...” creating wiki pages, another assessment type, encourages teamwork for building an online repository and portfolio. designing independent final-year projects can be problematic for large cohorts with limited resources. the workshop discussed one possible suggestion: the human genome project. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 here, each student, selects a gene of interest with a known mutation linked to cancer and uses polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and sequence analysis for their investigation. students use bioinformatics to locate their mutation of interest, design primers and test primers in silico. primer synthesis is outsourced. pcr is then used to amplify a fragment of dna from a commercial source of dna (e.g. human placental). hybridisation temperature optimisation is required. students carry out isolation and quantification of pcr product before sending their dna for off-campus sequencing. sequence data are analysed further by bioinformatics. a 10,000-word written report is required and must include an introduction to the gene supported by primary literature and evidence demonstrating that the specific mutation is linked to cancer. it is expected that students provide a critical discussion of their data within the context of the literature. teachers as students the attendees of the workshop took the places of students in a lecture demonstration given by lauren pecorino, the author of the noted textbook: ‘the molecular biology of cancer’. they then discussed some of the lecture’s teaching elements, such as pre-learning activities, student participation, entering student space to give one-to-one feedback on a given task, use of diagrams to understand complex concepts of growth-signalling pathways and the development of therapeutics against molecular targets. the success of these strategies is evidenced in student feedback. for example, students welcome being given, on a regular basis, the task of reading a textbook chapter or review paper before a lecture. there was further discussion of role play and post-learning activities. for instance, role play may be profitably deployed towards the end of the course, after students have learned about many strategies used for drug development: you now work for pfizer; design a drugdevelopment strategy to target one of the molecules involved in this newly-discovered signalling pathway. these exercises develop student self-efficacy – confidence in one’s own ability to achieve intended results (ritchie, 2015). e-learning and mobile applications, and other resources pinar uysal-onganer presented specific e-learning resources she had trialled. mobile learning has, since the 1990s, invaded the fields of he, especially in medicine and healthcare. the early applications of mobile learning involved the delivery of courses: uploading lectures and videos online. this approach mobilised learning outside the classroom. mobile learning originates from online learning and has been enabled by the intersection of technological advancement and learner-centred pedagogy (crompton 2013). currently, projects within the hea are investigating the importance and the limitations of mobile learning. laurillard (2002) summarised the framework of effective use of learning technologies and promoted mobile learning, as it provides an environment to enable conversation, gives an opportunity to learners to build models for problem-solving and allows accessibility to all students. a more holistic approach to mobile learning was proposed by koole (2009), who discussed three aspects: the learner, social interactions and new technological devices. according to this model, at least two different combinations of these aspects should be considered. the workshop reviewed all of them. mobile applications such as poll everywhere, nearpod, kahoot!, zeetings, and padlet were discussed. poll everywhere is a platform that encourages student interaction and enhances student engagement. it also allows teachers to get instant feedback and to modify teaching case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 strategies. attendees had the opportunity to try these applications on provided ipads. there were demonstrations of how all participants in a class can access and collaborate, using a single webpage – for the discussion of a specific cancer topic or for the analysis of a specific data set. for example, a designed group activity allowed for exploration and discussion of potential therapeutic targets of a specific cancer-signalling pathway. group results were then opened for whole-class discussion and compared to current clinical trials and approved therapies now in the clinic. with virtual learning platforms such as labster, the workshop demonstrated next-generation sequencing and there was discussion of applications to other commonly-used molecular biology techniques. a virtual pathology platform (www.virtualpathology.leeds.ac.uk/teaching/collections) was noted as being a helpful resource for cancer pathology courses. the use of a freely-available global cancer epidemiology website (http://globocan.iarc.fr) was demonstrated. it was noted that cross-cultural awareness and engagement could be highlighted by class activities using this resource. for example, individual students can be asked to present the top five cancers in a country of their choice. a discussion of geographical differences could underpin differences in cancer etiology. moreover, educational videos can be obtained from the national cancer institute science education tool (www.science.education.nih.gov). collaborative design of a lecture on a new topic in the field and recommendations for student engagement the attendees of the workshop were asked to design a lecture on the trending topic of cancer immunotherapies. different suggestions were collated on a whiteboard. the following is a summary of the discussion, which followed the completion of the attendees’ task in designing a lecture on cancer immunotherapies. the discussion was divided into content for pre-learning, course delivery and post-learning and included activities for student engagement. pre-learning: it was agreed that pre-assigned reading of a textbook chapter or review was necessary. to ensure students engaged in the material, they could be asked to design multiple-choice questions based on the reading. additional e-learning, such as a video, could be added. students could also be asked to bring in items in the news to class for discussion. lecture delivery: suggestions for the content during lecture delivery included a wide range of topics – from historical introductions, basics of immunology and comparisons of new immunotherapies with conventional chemotherapies, to the inclusion of a discussion of animal models (limited by the use of mice that were not immune-deficient), clinical aspects, methods of drug development and possibly the inclusion of ethics and costs. delivery could include short videos and other online resources. student engagement could include formative assessments that involve drawing cartoon diagrams summarising the molecular aspects of tumour-immune cell interaction. it was suggested that students should be encouraged to confer with classmates in their vicinity. peer learning has been highlighted in the literature. academic staff can enter student space at this time and visit individual students. feedback to the entire class can then be given. students can also be asked to http://www.virtualpathology.leeds.ac.uk/teaching/collections http://www.science.education.nih.gov/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 think about how they would use this information to develop a new immunotherapy. they should be encouraged to think about strategies that they have already learned about and to apply this knowledge to this new application. post-learning: students may be asked to draw concept maps / summary diagrams and answer critical questions. websites such as www.clinicaltrials.gov could be consulted to summarise and update information. specific ted talks around the subject area were suggested to be a useful additional resource. the workshop concluded with a summary and refreshments, the latter offering opportunity for further networking. attendees received a copy of the noted textbook by pecorino along with sample coursework questions and list of e-learning resources. feedback attendees were asked to provide online feedback for several days after the event. the feedback was administered by the biochemical society and included routine feedback questions, along with questions designed by the authors of this paper. twelve out of thirteen attendees who provided feedback had not had previous subjectspecific teacher-training. this provides strong evidence that there is an unmet need for opportunities to attend subject-specific teachers’ training. many of the attendees gave feedback with the highest score out of five, indicating that they found the event ‘very valuable’. educational implications our case study on providing subject-specific teachers’ training may be a valuable model, not only for cancer biology, but for many other subjects as well. this concept of subject-specific training is not only a current topic of discussion but also builds upon historical comments in the literature. for example, todd (2016) performed a swot analysis of the importance of subject-specific training for history. he was responding to a survey carried out by the historical association that concluded that very little history-specific training is provided in continuing professional development. todd concluded that this type of training rekindles passion and creativity in teachers. he references the carter review 2015 of itt, which highlights the importance of subject-specific training for subject-specific knowledge and pedagogy. he also supports his discussion with a quotation from jerome bruner (1960): “it takes no elaborate research to know that communicating knowledge depends in enormous measure upon one’s mastery of the knowledge to be communicated.” opportunities for sharing of best practice in one’s field always promise to support subjectspecific pedagogical skill development. discussions may also identify new motivational forces for learning. subject-specific networking provides many valuable opportunities for enriching crossinstitution education. we have evidence that the networking from this workshop resulted in fruitful collaborations. early-career educators were invited to other universities as visiting lecturers, and other members were invited to act as external examiners. possible research collaborations are being explored. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 we reflected on the view of rowland et al., (1998) that information technologies should be explored, but not simply as the addition of ‘teaching skills’ to the repertoire of the academic, as if such skills existed in a vacuum divorced from the subject matter which they are intended to communicate. thus, for our workshop, we produced a list of specific information technology resources and sample applications that may be useful for teaching cancer biology. as evidenced by feedback comments, this became a resource for immediate use. a similar it teaching resource could be produced for other subjects. reference list biggs, j. and tang, c. (2011) teaching for quality learning at university. 4th edition. maidenhead: srhe and open university press. bruner, j. (1960) the process of education. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. coe, r., aloisi, c., higgins, s. and major, l.e. (2014) ‘what makes great teaching? review of the underpinning research.’ the sutton trust report. available at: https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/what-makes-great-teachingreport.pdf (accessed: may 2016). crompton, h. (2013) handbook of mobile learning. new york: routledge, 41-52. erikson, c., salsberg, e., forte, g., bruinooge, s. and goldstein, m. (2007) ‘future supply and demand for oncologists: challenges to assuring access to oncology services.’ journal of oncology practice, 3(2), 79-86. available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859376https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859376 (accessed: october 2016). flint, a. (2015) ‘students and staff as partners in innovation and change.’ the journal of educational innovation, partnership and change, (1)1. available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/218 (accessed: 01 april 20178). fordham, m. (2014) ‘90% of teacher training should be subject-specific.’ clio et etcetera. available at: https://clioetcetera.com/2014/08/28/90-of-teacher-training-should-be-subjectspecific/ (accessed: june 2016). fry, h., ketteridge, s. and marshall, s. (2008) a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education. 3rd edition. new york: routledge. gaffan, j., dacre, j. and jones, a. (2006) ‘educating undergraduate medical students about oncology: a literature review.’ journal of clinical oncology, 24:12, 1932-1939. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16622269 (accessed 1 september 2016). general medical council (2016) available at: http://www.gmcuk.org/promoting_excellence_standards_for_medical_education_and_training_0715.pdf_61 939165.pdf (accessed: september 2017). https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/what-makes-great-teaching-report.pdf https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/what-makes-great-teaching-report.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859376https:/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859376 https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/218 https://clioetcetera.com/2014/08/28/90-of-teacher-training-should-be-subject-specific/ https://clioetcetera.com/2014/08/28/90-of-teacher-training-should-be-subject-specific/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16622269 http://www.gmc-uk.org/promoting_excellence_standards_for_medical_education_and_training_0715.pdf_61939165.pdf http://www.gmc-uk.org/promoting_excellence_standards_for_medical_education_and_training_0715.pdf_61939165.pdf http://www.gmc-uk.org/promoting_excellence_standards_for_medical_education_and_training_0715.pdf_61939165.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 hanahan, d. and weinberg, r.a. (2011) ‘hallmarks of cancer: the next generation.’ cell press, 144, 646-674. available at: https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/s0092-8674(11)00127-9.pdf (accessed: january 2012). kolb, d.a. (1984) experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. englewood cliffs: prentice hall. available at : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235701029_experiential_learning_experience_as _the_source_of_learning_and_development (accessed july 2017). kkoole, m. (2009) ‘a model for framing mobile learning.’ in: ally, m. (ed.), mobile learning: transforming the delivery of education and training. calgary: au press, chapter 2. laurillard, d. (2012) teaching as a design science. london: routledge. neville, a.j. (2009) ‘problem-based learning and medical education forty years on. a review of its effects on knowledge and clinical performance.’ medical principles and practice, 18(1), 1-9. race, p. (2009) designing assessment to improve physical sciences learning. york: higher education academy. pecorino, l. (2016) the molecular biology of cancer. 4th edition. oxford: oxford university press. ritchie, l. (2015) fostering self-efficacy in higher education students. basingstoke: palgrave teaching and learning. rowland, s., byron, c., furedi, f., padfield, n. and smyth, t. (1998) ‘turning academics into teachers?’ teaching in higher education, 3, 133-141. available at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1356215980030201 (accessed: september, 2016). stock, p. (2016) ‘what makes great training? 10 ideas for developing subject knowledge and pedagogy.’ available at: https://joeybagstock.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/what-makes-greattraining-10-ideas-for-developing-subject-knowledge-and-pedagogy/ (accessed: april 2017). todd, j.j. (2016) ‘the importance of subject specific training.’ teaching history, 162. wagle, n., emery, c., berger, m.f., davis, m.j., sawyer, a., pochanard, p., kehoe, s.m., johannessen, c.m., macconaill, l.e., hahn, w.c., meyerson, m. and garraway, l.a. (2011) ‘dissecting therapeutic resistance to raf inhibition in melanoma by tumor genomic profiling.’ journal of clinical oncology,. 29,3085-3096. available at : www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21383288 (accessed: may 2015). https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/s0092-8674(11)00127-9.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235701029_experiential_learning_experience_as_the_source_of_learning_and_development https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235701029_experiential_learning_experience_as_the_source_of_learning_and_development http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1356215980030201 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=sawyer%20a%5bauthor%5d&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=21383288 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21383288 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 peer-assisted learning to support attainment in pharmacy rebecca maccabe, ricarda micallef, mark carew kingston university london abstract academic mentoring (am) is embedded in two modules of the pharmacy course, using a peer-assisted learning (pal) design. training and payment are given to student mentors who work with academics and the am team to create student-centred active learning material. in 2017/18, student attendance at pal sessions was high, with 87% of the first and second-year pharmacy cohorts attending a session. thirteen mentors supported both modules for a semester each. the impact of pal in these sessions was measured by quantitative and qualitative analyses, using institutional data on retention, progression, attainment and self-report data. these data showed that students who engaged in pal were: from traditionally under-represented groups in higher education (he); specificallydisadvantaged students; from a black and minority ethnic background (bme). pal-engaging students had higher progression, retention and module pass rates. a survey of fifty mentees found unanimous agreement for the proposal that pal was valuable and it confirmed that mentors were regarded as enthusiastic, organised and prepared. the formalisation of the am and pal process, together with its co-production between mentors and mentees, has increased the professionalism of the scheme and should be supported in the future. introduction context kingston university is a post-1992 university in south west london, with a diverse student population of about 17,500 students, 56% of whom are from a black and minority ethnic (bme) background. the institution aims to ensure success for all students and has a strong reputation in the sector for its successful work on the bme attainment gap (mcduff et al., 2018). academic mentoring programme the purpose of academic mentoring (am) at kingston university is to improve the retention, progression, attainment and employability of all students (williams and reddy, 2016; carbone et al., 2015). at this institution, am is focused particularly on the attainment of bme students and those from a low socio-economic background, with funding for the project coming from the access and participation plan. am is embedded in twenty-four courses across four faculties and 150 mentors are recruited annually to facilitate the learning of over 1200 firstand second-year students. pharmacy is the only course where am operates in both the first and second year and it has the highest level of student engagement in the am portfolio. the am programme adopts, depending on the discipline, four structures: peerassisted learning (pal); mentors embedded into learning and teaching; a buddy scheme; ementoring. pal involves the facilitating, by experienced student mentors or peers, of study case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 sessions for students in the year(s) below. pal sessions in pharmacy modules are structured so that peer mentoring is closely aligned to learning, teaching and assessment (metzger et al., 2013). because mentors facilitate peer-learning environments, they must be confident in their subject knowledge, demonstrate leadership skills and be able to communicate effectively and work productively with a diverse student body. mentor recruitment is in two stages: the first is based on recommendations from academic staff to ensure that students have the relevant academic credentials; the second involves mentor participation at an assessment centre to evaluate the key competencies listed above. in september, mentors receive formal training, which includes topics such as mental health awareness, unconscious bias and workshops from teach first, a charity which recruits and develops trainee teachers to create educational equality in england and wales. research has shown that mentors also greatly benefit from the pal experience (williams and reddy, op.cit.; hill et al., 2010). pal in pharmacy pharmacy in the united kingdom (uk) is a four-year undergraduate course culminating in a master of pharmacy (mpharm) degree. upon completion of a twelve-month pre-registration placement and the final examination, the candidate may qualify as a pharmacist. the institution is one of thirty-one schools of pharmacy in the uk accredited by the general pharmaceutical council (gphc), the regulator of pharmacy in the uk, to deliver the mpharm degree programme. pal sessions are becoming more widespread in pharmacy teaching and are designed to support the student experience and attainment (aburahma and mohamed, 2017; metzger et al., 2013). pal at the institution has been used in the second-year pharmacy law, ethics and practice module (py5020) for six years. the pal sessions were originally introduced to support learning in this module, which has higher demands than other modules – notably a higher pass mark of 50%, compared to 40% in other second-year modules. in 2016, pal sessions were also introduced in the first-year cell biology and physiology module the human body (py4010). both this and py5020 are year-long, thirty-credit modules. prior to this time, the pal mentors who delivered the sessions were thirdand fourth-year volunteers. from 2016 onwards, the mentoring process became more formalised and module leaders worked collaboratively with the am team to recruit, train and support mentors. pal sessions in py5020 are student-led; mentors deliver the small group sessions without the presence of an academic. multiple scenarios are prepared by the mentors, with outside feedback and support from the module leader, and the mentors facilitate learning by moving around a cabaret-style classroom layout and interacting with the mentees. in py4010, pal sessions are delivered weekly, to supplement learning and teaching. these sessions are used, for example, to consolidate lecture material and the mentors also model effective ways of learning to aid knowledge retention. the sessions for both modules are student-centred and promote active learning. this approach helps to create a collaborative community of learners in pharmacy, with common activities that include the practice of observed structured clinical examination (osce) scenarios, formative quizzes, concept-mapping, wider reading around the discipline and revision strategies. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 pal and the inclusive curriculum the aim of the sessions is to support students who work in partnership with mentors to cocreate knowledge within an inclusive curriculum. although the pal sessions are in the academic timetable, attendance at pal sessions is voluntary. students may opt out of attendance if they wish; voluntary attendance is therefore seen by the students as a positive choice, rather than as compulsory participation in a remedial scheme. with the support of the module leader, students co-design and deliver pal sessions and, since the mentors help to shape learning and teaching practice on the basis of their own experiences, the learning is relevant, tailored and inclusive. am can play a valuable role in forming learning communities that bring students from different levels to learn together, an approach with particular relevance to the teaching excellence framework. the bme attainment gap is a long-standing concern across he, although there is still limited evidence of what creates this at an institutional level (richardson, 2015 and mcduff et al., op.cit.). the gap in pharmacy continues to exist even after graduation, where there is a significant difference in pass rates between bme and white students in the gphc preregistration exam (james, 2018). a gphc-commissioned report described feelings of isolation and exclusion as difficulties for bme students (opm, 2016). initiatives such as pal sessions can help to alleviate these problems through the formation of supportive peerlearning networks. analysis at local level shows that those students who do not achieve at the early stages of their degree are more likely to fail at first attempt of the registration assessment. support early on in a degree course, for example with pal sessions, may therefore support transition into the workplace. description of the sample table 1. py4010 2016/17 2017/18 mentors 14 (second year) 13 (9 third year, 4 final year) mentees 76 103 cohort size 124 118 py5020 2016/17 2017/18 mentors 13 (third year) as above mentees 98 116 cohort size 161 133 the number of pharmacy mentors has decreased from twenty-seven in 2016/17 to thirteen in 2017/18. over that time period, the number of students engaging with pal increased across both years, thus showing better use of finite resource. in order to support both modules, mentors were asked to support one module per semester, working in smaller teams. for py5020 pal sessions, the cohort was split into two groups, with the same content delivered twice. for the py4010 module, the whole cohort was timetabled to attend the same pal session. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 method of evaluation the overarching research questions for this study were: 1) do student participants in pharmacy pal have higher progression, retention and module pass rates than those students who do not engage in the programme? 2) is pal in pharmacy mutually beneficial for mentors and mentees? to measure the impact of pal in pharmacy, pal attendance data for py4010 and py5020 in 2016/7 and 2017/8 were recorded and analysed against institutional data on retention, progression and module pass rates. attendance data were reported for all students who attended pal sessions. data from the under-represented groups of interest in this study were then analysed. to measure the effectiveness of pal, an online survey – consisting of five closed questions for mentees on a likert scale and two open questions for mentors, listed below – was disseminated electronically. the likert scale ranged from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’; responses were subsequently grouped into positive (‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’) and negative (‘not sure’, ‘disagree’, ‘strongly disagree’) statements. in previous years, to measure the impact of pal, more generic questions were used, in terms of ‘student confidence’, ‘resilience’ and ‘sense of belonging’. since student feedback indicated that the questions were not relevant to the programme, the questions for this study were tailored to relate directly to student expectations of pal. table 2. survey questions for mentees survey questions for mentors pal has been valuable. in one sentence, summarise your experience as an academic mentor. i feel more confident and engaged in lecture material as a result of pal. in a short paragraph/sentence, reflect on the skills you have acquired through pal. owing to pal, i feel more confident in completing assignments. my mentors were enthusiastic. my mentors were mentors organised and prepared. the surveys were created on google forms and distributed in a pal session using ipads (and email thereafter). the response rate for mentees was 23% (n=50/219) and for mentors 46% (n=6/13). the survey questions for mentees focused on the quality and relevance of the sessions. the questions for mentors centred on the skills obtained from the role. presentation and analysis of the data overall, the data showed that those students who engaged in pal had higher progression, retention and module pass rates than those students who did not engage in the programme, with the most positive impact being on student progression rates for bme and ‘disadvantaged’ students. students who attended two or more mentoring sessions were defined as ‘engaged’, whilst those who did not attend or attended only one session were case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 defined as ‘not engaged’. engagement was calculated by the average session attendance in 2016/17 for py4010 and py5020 and this figure was also used for 2017/8 to ensure consistency across the academic years. table 3. progression at first attempt for bme students not engaged engaged progressed/ total % progressed progressed/total % progressed nnp (95% ci) py4010 2016/17 36/67 53.7% 27/35 77.1% 5 (2.419.7) 2017/18 12/21 57.1% 56/77 72.7% 7 (*) py5020 2016/17 51/84 60.7% 41/48 85.4% 5 (2.69.8) 2017/18 14/33 42.4% 65/79 82.3% 3 (1.74.8) bme student progression at first attempt on py4010 and py5020 for 2016/17 and 2017/18 by their engagement in pal. table 4. module pass rates for bme students not engaged engaged passed/total % passed passed/total % passed nnp (95% ci) py4010 2016/17 60/67 89.6% 35/35 100% 10 (5.6 – 32) 2017/18 16/21 76.2% 65/77 84.4% 8 (*) py5020 2016/17 78/84 92.9% 48/48 100% 14 (7.9 – 61.1) 2017/18 29/33 87.9% 77/79 97.5% 11 (*) bme student module pass rates on py4010 and py5020 for 2016/17 and 2017/18 by their engagement in pal. tables 3 and 4 show that there was an observable difference between the module pass rates and progression rates of bme students who engaged in pal, compared to those who were defined as ‘not engaged’. institutional data showed that pal positively improved progression and module pass rates for both white and bme students. however, because 90% of the pharmacy cohort were bme, and pal was funded through the access and participation plan, the focus for discussion is on the bme student data. the data were analysed further, with a calculation of number needed to progress (nnp). the nnp was a metric designed to be analogous to the nnt (number needed to treat) in medical research. a nnt of 5 means one person out of five receives the benefits of the treatment. in our case, a nnp of 5 would mean that one student out of five would receive the case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 benefit of pal and pass a module or progress the year. nnps were calculated using the nnt calculator at https://www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/nnt1.cfm. nnp values ranged from 3 to 14. in three cohorts (marked with an asterisk), the 95% confidence intervals (cis) were associated with a negative nnp and therefore difficult to interpret. nnp values ranged from 3-7 for progression at first attempt and 8-14 for module pass rates. pal may be more effective, therefore, in the overall progression of a student at first attempt. the data on module pass rate include the resit attempt, where effects of pal may diminish as more students pass. the py5020 module also had a high pass rate and so there was less room for the effect of an intervention. table 5. progression at first attempt not engaged engaged progressed/total % progressed progressed/total % progressed py4010 (male) 2016/17 14/29 48.3% 13/16 81.3% 2017/18 4/9 44.4% 18/25 72.0% py5020 (female) 2016/17 43/66 65.2% 30/32 93.8% 2017/18 8/20 40.0% 51/61 83.6% progression at first attempt on py4010 (male students) and py5020 (female students) for 2016/17 and 2017/18 by their engagement in pal. engaging in pal increased progression and module pass rates for both male and female students in pharmacy, with the biggest impact being on male progression in py4010 and female progression in py5020, as shown by table 5. disabled students (accounting for 715% of students across both modules) who were defined as ‘engaged’ had higher progression rates on the whole than their ‘disengaged’ counterparts. the data also revealed a noticeable difference between the progression rates of ‘disadvantaged’ students who engaged in pal compared to those who were defined as ‘not engaged’. table 6. progression at first attempt for disadvantaged students not engaged engaged progressed/ total % progressed progressed/total % progressed nnp (95% ci) py4010 2016/7 29/51 56.9% 20/25 80.0% 2 (1.33.1) 2017/8 8/18 44.4% 45/57 79.0% 3 (1.77.5) py5020 2016/7 33/63 52.4% 26/31 83.9% 14 (*) 2017/8 12/29 41.4% 42/50 84.0% 18 (*) disadvantaged student progression at first attempt on py4010 and py5020 for 2016/17 and 2017/18 by their engagement in pal. https://www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/nnt1.cfm case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 students were defined as being ‘disadvantaged’ if they met one or more of the multiple indicators of disadvantage (low participation neighbourhood, indices of multiple deprivation and socio-economic status). as shown by table 6, the nnp data was very positive for py4010, indicating that, in 2016/17, one student out of two received the benefit of pal in terms of higher progression rates and, in 2017/18, one student out of three received the benefit of pal. retention figures were calculated for full-time first degree student entrants taking the py4010 module in 2016/17 (n=64). students were defined as ‘retained’ if, in the following academic year, they were still studying at the institution or had received an award. of students engaging in pal 100% were retained (n=19). students who did not engage in pal had a retention rate of 88.9% (n=45). retention at the institution is calculated between level 4 and level 5; it therefore applies only to students taking py4010. since the implementation of pal in 2016/17 into py4010, the overall student progression at first attempt has increased. table 7. overall student progression at first attempt progressed/total % progressed py4010 2015/16 81/138 58.7% 2016/17 75/124 60.5% 2017/18 79/118 67% student progression at first attempt for py4010 pre and post pal intervention. table 7 shows that progression rates for students were lower in 2015/16 prior to pal intervention and, whilst it cannot be concluded that pal alone increased progression rates, it can be viewed as a factor contributing to improving this key metric. the survey findings echo the success of pal in pharmacy; of fifty mentee respondents, 100% agreed that pal had been valuable, that mentors were enthusiastic, organised and prepared. additionally, 96% of the respondents felt more confident about completing assignments as a result of pal, indicating its alignment to learning, teaching and assessment. qualitative data were collected from the mentors and three broad themes emerged through thematic analysis, with the mentors commenting on their increased confidence, communication and time-management skills as a result of the mentor role. one mentor revealed the impact on his own academic studies: “pal has also helped to consolidate my own knowledge and understanding through mentoring others.” when asked to summarise their pal experience in one sentence, the mentors offered: “amazingly unique”; “an exciting and rewarding experience”; “gained a lot of experience and confidence”; “helped to break down barriers, build friendships and improve confidence through enhanced learning.” the feedback shows that pal is mutually beneficial for mentors and mentees, echoing previous studies (williams and reddy, op.cit; hill et al., op.cit.). case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the success of pal in pharmacy has gained exposure in the sector. the am team and two pharmacy mentors were invited to present at a staff and educational development association (seda) conference on pal, discussing what works and what does not. the audience commended the pal model in pharmacy, because it is clearly embedded in the curriculum, it is actively championed by the academic department and it combines the resources of both mentors and the module leader. since presenting at seda, numerous institutions have modelled their schemes on the co-production example in pharmacy. limitations whilst the evidence suggests that those students who engage in pal have higher progression, retention and module pass rates than their ‘disengaged’ counterparts, some limitations need to be taken into account. the findings may be somewhat limited by the fact that the study considered pal in only one academic course at one institution – the low survey response rates may have created a non-response bias. furthermore, as pharmacy students are training to be professionals, they are also expected to abide by gphc standards, which may, in part, be the reason for their motivation and enthusiasm. despite these promising results in pharmacy, questions remain in terms of the effectiveness of pal in other disciplines. other institutions may wish to explore this in terms of further research. additionally, it could be argued that the positive results were down to other influences beyond peer support, as it is often the case that students who engage in pal engage in all aspects of university life and therefore are more inclined to achieve and progress. this is an important issue for future research. conclusion this study suggests that pal is a successful initiative for the pharmacy course and should be further supported in the future, so as to benefit both mentor and mentee. the am programme should be extended to other courses at the institution, following exemplary practice in pharmacy, and further research ought to be undertaken to investigate whether pal should be an institution-wide initiative. although pal is a fruitful area for further work, it must be noted that there would be significant financial costs associated with programme expansion as the mentors are paid at kingston university. reference list aburahma, m. and mohamed, h. (2017) ‘peer teaching as an educational tool in pharmacy schools; fruitful or futile’ currents in pharmacy teaching and learning 9, 1170-1179. available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2017.07.026 (accessed: 02 august 2018). carbone, a., ross, b., phelan, l., lindsay, k., drew, s., stoney, s. and cottman, c. (2015) ‘course evaluation matters: improving students’ learning experiences with a peer-assisted teaching programme.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education. 40(2),165-180. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602938.2014.895894 (accessed: 02 august 2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2017.07.026 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602938.2014.895894 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 hill, e., liuzzi, f. and giles, j. (2010) ‘peer-assisted learning from three perspectives: student, tutor and co-ordinator.’ the clinical teacher, 7, 244-246. available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1743-498x.2010.00399.x (accessed: 02 august 2018). mcduff, n., tatam, j., beacock, o. and ross, f. (2018) ‘closing the attainment gap for students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds through institutional change.’ widening participation and lifelong learning. 20(1), 79-101. available at: https://doi.org/10.5456/wpll.20.1.79 (accessed: 21 august 2018). metzger, a., stoner, s. and hanes, s. (2013) ‘essential elements for a pharmacy practice mentoring program.’ american journal of pharmaceutical education. 77(3), article 23. available at: https://www.ajpe.org/doi/full/10.5688/ajpe77223 (accessed: 02 august 2018). opm (2016) qualitative research into registration assessment performance among blackafrican candidates. london. available at: https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/qual-research-into-ra-performanceamong-black-african_candidates_final_0.pdf (accessed: 22 august 2018). richardson, j. (2015) ‘the under-attainment of ethnic minority studentsin uk higher education: what we know and what we don’t know.’ journal of further and higher education 39(2) 278-291. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0309877x.2013.858680 (accessed: 02 august 2018). williams, b. and reddy, p. (2016) ‘does peer-assisted learning improve academic performance? a scoping review.’ nurse education today, 4, 23-29 .available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.03.024 (accessed: 02 august 2018). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1743-498x.2010.00399.x https://doi.org/10.5456/wpll.20.1.79 https://www.ajpe.org/doi/full/10.5688/ajpe77223 https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/qual-research-into-ra-performance-among-black-african_candidates_final_0.pdf https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/qual-research-into-ra-performance-among-black-african_candidates_final_0.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0309877x.2013.858680 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.03.024 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 liminal space or in limbo? post graduate researchers and their personal pie charts of identity martin compton, danielle tran university of greenwich introduction it may seem self-evident that new phd “students” in the united kingdom conduct their research in a liminal space beyond taught undergraduate and postgraduate degrees but while they are not yet in the role of a full academic (whether or not that features as part of their career aspiration) the following questions can be raised: are they still students? are they researchers? are they university staff or ‘almost’ staff? do they teach? should they teach? for many, it’s an opaque boundary and one that we were interested in exploring from the perspectives of those negotiating it. green (2007, p.153) goes so far as to say that, “doctoral education is as much about identity formation as it is about knowledge production”. whilst the achievement of ‘doctor’ as the ‘identity prize’ clearly stimulates the phd students’ motivation, our experience of working closely with and talking to postgraduate researchers (pgrs) suggests that knowledge production remains, for most, the fundamental driver. nevertheless, ‘identity’ as a lens through which we can perceive pgrs and their progress, and as a reflective lens through which they see their own evolution in academia has a value that we may not fully appreciate. identity formation includes how pgrs formulate their own understandings of the ultimate ‘object’ of the phd (cotterall, 2015), what research actually means and entails (mccormack, 2004) and the positive and negative day to day experiences (emmioğlu et al., 2017). in the worst instances, competing expectations collide and exploitation can be a consequence. we are fortunate that we have encountered nothing at all like this example cited in the times higher (2017): it is well known that phd students are widely seen by academics as a cheap workforce. but to be treated with such little respect by the people who are supposed to foster your career and help you to succeed is just not right in any workplace (anonymous contributor, unnamed university). that such experiences can occur suggests that ongoing consideration of roles, expectations and perceptions of both pgrs and their supervisors is fundamental. it is likely that, by interacting with and supporting phd students, we may both positively influence and better understand their perceptions of themselves; in consequence, we may well be able to enhance the support we give them. internationally there appears to be a tendency towards phd students being seen (or even employed) as staff and there is a suggestion that some uk institutions are considering this model (else, 2017). in that context, it is prudent to consider our own institutional perspectives and where we locate the phd students. at this stage of our research, we are not seeking to distinguish experiences by discipline and we have focused on those at the earlier stages of their research. although aware of possible limitations to our study, we sought to capture and focus on the pgrs’ perceptions of themselves, as both the starting articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 point for deeper discussions and a continuation of an existing study on identity and belonging amongst pgrs. pgr roles and identity whether they have an academic career in mind as a long term goal or not, the pgr is often seen as embarking on a research apprenticeship where “the established ‘master’ inducts the new apprentice into the ‘mysteries’ of the craft” (yeatman, 1995, p. 9). whether they are focused on an academic career, determinedly eschew that aspiration or are ambivalent, we realise that there is often discord amongst pgrs in relation to what they perceive to be the goals of their phds and how they are meant to get there. our research seeks to examine how the phd candidates we work with see themselves in the context of their physical, social and emotional environments. we are particularly interested in how they perceive the liminal space they are entering that bridges taught study and research. as jazvac‐martek (2009) notes, ‘rarely considered are student intentions, motivations, or the variability of experiences and interactions that influence shifting identities’ (p. 254). there is a duality of identity or even a triality when it comes to pgrs, since they exist in a space that is simultaneously researcher, student, and often ‘teacher’ in the broad sense of supporting other students in their learning. in our own institution, informal discussions with key stakeholders suggest that there is a variance across departments and faculties that leads to significant differences in experience which in turn lead to often marked variance in self-concept, autonomy and comfort. the ramifications of this in terms of a pgr experience, how they perceive the university, their sense of belonging and how valued they feel are the primary goals of this ongoing research. a core component of one’s sense of belonging is identity in a work/ study environment. how that identity is shaped by factors such as selfconcept, significant others, policy context and the pervading institutional and social cultures is of particular interest in this article. this research has primarily focused on the first year of study where pgrs begin research, start working with undergraduates and follow a series of mandatory taught courses as the first stages in a longer research programme. we have been investigating how they see themselves (in the context of their roles, position and day to day working) in the university and in particular, we focus on where they work, who they work with, their expectations and how much they feel ‘part’ of the university. our focus whilst there is a considerable body of research relating to professional identity in academics and the importance of a sense of belonging amongst students at school or undergraduate level (hoffman et al., 2016), there is much less in respect of pgrs. there are of course some interesting studies pertaining to doctoral candidate role identity (see for examples jazvac-martek, 2009; colbeck, 2008). a uk sector discussion about and acknowledgement of the variance in nomenclature, roles, responsibilities and regard afforded mean that we hope our case (an urban post-1992 institution with a considerable international phd contingent) will present a useful contribution. this case study spotlights just one small element of the wider research and looks at an output designed originally to stimulate thinking rather than generate data. however, we found that although, as planned, our initial activity provided a clarification of terms and common framework for the focus group discussions, it also offered some fascinating insights articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 and acted as a source of data in its own right. whilst we acknowledge the depth and complexity of identity theory, which could no doubt add insight to our analysis, we have been keen to capture and consider the rawness of these impressions as a cornerstone to an ongoing study. our intent in examining their perceptions about identity and belonging and an associated rationalisation of these is to help with the ongoing strategies and mechanisms of support for pgrs. we hope this paper will provoke discussion about who we want pgrs to be and how the institution and supervisors interact with them. pgr teaching, learning and assessment course (tla) the participants involved were all registered pgr students on the postgraduate teaching, learning, and assessment (pgr tla) course at the university of greenwich. the aim of the six week course, which runs twice a year (once in the autumn term and once in the spring term and simultaneously in each case at two campuses: medway and greenwich maritime), is to introduce pgrs to a range of teaching and learning approaches and essential concepts and strategies when beginning teaching in higher education (he). a mixture of theory, preclass online activities, group discussions, practical assessments, and a written reflection combine to form a blended course for the pgrs. the course is compulsory and must be completed as part of the pgr development programme at greenwich. this means that all pgrs, unless formally exempted, must register on the course, attend all classes and engage with all assessments. until starting the course the pgrs are not supposed to do any demonstration, lab support or tutorial work. that it exists and is compulsory suggests the teaching function of pgrs is a valued and central component of the wider pgr programme. medway is a stem dominated campus and the research interests of the pgrs who were part of this cohort reflected this. there was a wider mix of research specialisms with the greenwich maritime cohort, ranging from architecture to music. however, for this particular case study, we are not distinguishing the disciplinary background of the pgrs and how or whether these have affected their pie chart responses. there is, of course, scope for future analysis based on this and other variables. there are varying types of training and professional development opportunities that are made available to pgrs (both mandatory and optional) across he institutions. these vary from one day introductions to more formal courses like our own. some are connected directly to the higher education academy (hea) associate fellowship level of the united kingdom professional standards framework (ukpsf). like many similar initiatives the pgr programme design is strongly connected to the national researcher development framework (vitae, 2017). within that, the pgr tla course encompasses the values that underpin the professional framework of vitae that is evident in their four domains (2010). the design of the tla programme also helps to support pgrs on the path to applying for associate fellowship of the hea. although it does not currently confer automatic recognition, the final session of the programme is focused on discussing the three dimensions of areas of activity, core knowledge, and professional values (hea, 2017). in the autumn term 2016-17, 16 pgrs were registered as part of the greenwich cohort, and 18 registered as part of the medway cohort. in the spring term 2016-17 there were 16 pgrs at greenwich and 17 at medway. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 methods and rationale for our wider and ongoing research we are using a multi strategy design utilising online questionnaires and focus groups. in the 2016-17 academic year we conducted four separate focus groups, one for each cohort. the first two were facilitated by one of the authors, the second two by a colleague as both the authors had taught sessions to those two cohorts. the focus groups were carried out at the end of the course, immediately after the final faceto-face session. for the focus groups, we devised an activity to engage the participants and orientate their thinking towards notions of identity and belonging. we called this activity the personal pie charts of identity. as stated, we wanted to use this as a prompt and as a ‘warmer’ activity but the ways in which the pgrs varied in their interpretation, the simplicity of the expression and the framing it afforded us suggested that we should look more closely at these pie charts. central to the design of this task was what guantlett and holzwarth (2006) describe as a ‘a happy side effect’ of visual methods they have used to explore identities: ‘primarily the creative activity is the starting point for developing thoughts about personal experience and identity, which are ultimately communicated to the researcher.’ (p.82). in fact, for us, the ‘happy side effect’ was how interesting the visual aspect was in itself. this report focusses primarily on what we have seen in those pie charts. the pie chart creation as a data source can be represented as a ‘participantgenerated visual methodology’ (guillemin and drew, 2010). much of the literature focusses on how this methodology enables the articulation of difficult to express feelings and ideas. whilst this is a less sensitive area to, say, mental illness or the consequences of chronic illness, we feel that the opportunity it afforded benefitted the participants, particularly those that are international pgrs and are still evolving confidence when it comes to expressing themselves in english. this is especially true of the science focused pgrs, many of whom hail from a range of non native english speaking backgrounds. we share the perspective offered by guillemin and drew (2010): by fostering participation, these methodologies can be empowering... we suggest that visual methodologies offer a different approach that takes seriously participants as knowers. in addition, visual methodologies provide participants with the opportunity to produce an image that allows them to portray what is often difficult to express in words (p. 178). sheets of paper with an empty circle and basic guidance were handed to each student. on them was the request that they think about how they see themselves and what proportion of the self-conception pie they would give to themselves as ‘student’ and what to ‘researcher’, ‘teacher’/ ‘lecturer’ or ‘staff member’. verbally, we suggested that they could use as many as they wished and use other terms if preferable. the terms we used are those most common in our own institutional documentation. we wanted to give each pgr the opportunity to reflect on their own roles in the university and decide for themselves how they see themselves within the institution but within a common frame of reference that could be used for comparative purposes and could also be layered upon and unpicked subsequently. we emphasised the impressionistic approach though a few from the science faculty were still clearly fazed by our unscrupulous disregard for precision: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 figure 1: sample pie chart with caveat (a12) they were given around five minutes to complete the task. it can be seen on some of the finished pie charts that some divisions were re-worked, pointing to the careful decision making which the students were undergoing as they completed the pie chart. what drew our attention to the potential richness of such an activity for the intended purposes but also as a data source was the time, consideration and care many of them put into it. it was clear that although the five minute time allocation pushed the pgrs to make a slightly instinctive and immediate judgement in terms of how they perceive themselves, they nevertheless wanted to ‘get it right’ and some pondered for some considerable time and at least two of the total who completed the activity (n=38) asked for a fresh sheet so they could make it clear. some wrote percentages in and others used lines from which we can only approximate percentages. the pie charts presented below have been selected as representative and are numbered with a letter prefix (a =autumn; s= spring) for convenience of cross referencing. findings and discussion overview 38 students took part in the pie chart activity. we found that the pie charts could be grouped into four categories: 1. the largest proportion placed a heavy emphasis on the researcher aspect of their identities (18 out of 38) 2. the next most frequent commonality were those that made an effort to split their pie chart into thirds (from the equal three way split to a range of varying proportions usually with research as the largest section) (11 out of 38) 3. a small but not insignificant minority of charts placed a heavy emphasis on perceiving themselves as being mainly a student (5 out of 38) 4. and a small number revealed an almost equal split between student and researcher (4 out of 38). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 unsurprisingly, none had more than 40% for ‘teaching’. this may be different of course in other institutions where the teaching role of phd students is more integral to the role. internationally the picture is different still, with phd students often tasked with relatively large teaching or support functions, often with concomitant ‘academic’ status (else, 2017). although pgrs at the university are able to take up teaching positions as soon as they are registered on the pgr tla, there may not be many opportunities available to them. moreover, pgrs may be less concerned with taking up such responsibilities as they wish to focus more on the development of their research. so what do these tendencies suggest? category 1 reveals that most of the pgrs who participated in the task view themselves predominantly as the institutional nomenclature defines them, perceiving themselves as being ‘more than a student’. ‘researcher’ connotes exploration, discovery, new thresholds of knowledge and as latter discussions revealed suggests heightened importance and value. in discussions with the pgrs many made clear they felt it sounded more prestigious than ‘student’. whilst we provided no fixed definition of research, subsequent discussion relating to such factors as relationship with supervisors, collaboration, autonomy and even loneliness suggest that, like mccormack’s (2004) longitudinal study of three pgrs, divergent expectations and experiences were prevalent. in some ways, category 2 is unsurprising in that if you offer people three components they may be tempted to represent each of them. few actually suggested categories other than those we suggested so a follow up exercise where these are participant defined would be interesting. on at least two occasions during the activity, pgrs commented that they would like to be doing more ‘regular’ student facing work. others commented that they could not of course be ‘teaching’ in any sense of the word because that had yet to complete the mandatory pgr tla which prompted a barrage of “ well, in fact, i have been…” type rejoinders. clarification of requirements for both supervisors and pgrs is therefore essential. since pgrs are not referred to as students in our university literature, even this figure in category 3 might be a surprise. they are commonly called pgr or phd students in everyday parlance amongst academics however. it may suggest that some of the pgrs do not view their role as a pgr as one that is any more active or innovative than the role they had at university a few years before (a case perhaps of more of the same at a higher level). by labelling themselves as being more of a ‘student’ than anything else, these pgrs may be feeling as though their research is very much being guided by their supervisors on the classic ‘master/ apprentice’ model and, despite efforts here and elsewhere to encourage autonomy and independence earlier, at levels 6 and 7 in particular (qaa, 2010), either see themselves as dependent or have a more generalised view of what it means to be a ‘students’.these students tend, of course, to still be in the very early stages of the phd research, and therefore will likely be more reliant on the help of their supervisors. the degree to which this relationship is supportive or directive is likely to have a significant impact on the ongoing sense of autonomy and agency in terms of their research. another possible reason behind such labelling is the way in which the pgrs approach their phd. if pgrs choose to complete a phd as an extension of a previous degree, their thesis may be viewed as a longer and more extensive dissertation, which is being supervised and guided by an expert academic. if such is the case, then the pgrs may approach their articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 research in much the same way they would have approached a dissertation in the past making core efforts to evaluate existing knowledge but relying on the guidance of their supervisor to steer them in the right direction. for the latter, the pgrs may view their supervisor in much higher esteem and thus perceive a hierarchy between themselves and their supervisor, leading to a self labelling of ‘student’. crossouard and pryor (2008) acknowledge the tendency in supervisors to adopt a hierarchical approach but propose that by ‘invoking different identity positions’ (pp.224-225) in themselves they can help support the evolution of the pgrs’ academic identity. category 4 revealed an almost equal split between student and researcher. colbeck (2008) suggests that ‘when two identities with contrasting meanings and expectations are activated at the same time, an individual is likely to experience stress’ (p.10) and, given the many systems, responsibilities and working protocols pgrs are faced with in the early stages of phd study, we may do well to acknowledge this tension as a loci of stress and take steps to alleviate it. the split may point to tensions surrounding the pgrs’ feelings towards their study, their supervisors, and their position as a pgr in the university. for jazvac-martek’s (2009) longitudinal study, ‘findings highlight doctoral students taking on a large variety of both doctoral student and academic role identities during their doctoral studies and oscillating between these roles frequently over time’ (p. 258). for pgrs who are in the early stages of their research and not taking on teaching duties, the role they have in terms of their study and place in the university may not feel much different to the ones they had when they were an undergraduate. for students experiencing the latter, they may associate themselves more with being a ‘student’ more in line with category three above. what we need to be alert to therefore is that these pie charts are a snapshot, a mere moment in time, and a significant experience could easily skew these self-concepts on a different day. an evaluation of selected pie charts in the section that follows, we have selected a sample of representative pie charts from each category for closer consideration. figure 2: a20 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 as noted before, those in the largest cluster place greatest significance on the researcher role. the exact emphasis on the researcher role, however, varies. a20 (fig. 2, above) allocates 50 per cent of their academic identity to being a researcher, 40 per cent to being a student, and 10 per cent to being a teacher/lecturer. it suggests that the pgr is alert to the competing identities and whilst feeling somewhat in control over the thesis and the direction of the work, s/he still recognises the significance and status of the supervisor role. throughout the pgr tla, participants were asked to comment on the assessment, feedback and teaching experiences they had as students. during these discussions, most of the pgrs would comment on their experiences on their degrees. the shift to being labelled a pgr was thus also a shift to being ‘something more than’ a student. the latter is common amongst pgrs as they walk the line between being viewed and treated as both students and colleagues alternately or even simultaneously, particularly if they are involved with teaching duties. since none of the respondents, even at such an early stage of their phds, identified solely as a student it suggests that the identity shift is occurring at varying rates and to varying extents. as stated, it is likely that the pgr label and the frequency of its use in marketing and programme materials will affect the percentage given to the role of ‘researcher’. if pgrs see the prestige of studying for a phd as a key driver and motivation behind their studies then they may allocate more emphasis to this role. the connection between status and prestige of the various identities forms part of the data accrued from the focus groups. in a pre-course survey, registered participants on the pgr tla course were asked about the main reason they had decided to pursue a phd with a few of them (9 out of 31) noting that it was the title that had encouraged them to engage with further study. when completers of the course were asked the same question, 6 out of 29 stated that they had been motivated by the esteem which they believed a doctorate would bring them. the desire to obtain the title of ‘doctor’ may explain why some of the pgrs favoured the label of ‘researcher’ over ‘student’ at their current stage of their degree, as ‘researcher’ is a label that is associated with being an academic. figure 3: a7 and s7 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 a7 and s7 (fig. 3, above) have the same breakdown of percentages with 30 per cent allocated to being the role of teacher/lecturer, 10 per cent on being a student, and 60 per cent to being a researcher. the relatively high ‘teacher/ lecturer’ proportion is interesting here. is it aspirational? many of the pgr respondents reported working directly with undergraduate students in a supportive or guiding capacity. we discovered that (particularly where lab work is a core feature in the research) direct contact and interaction with undergraduates from a ‘superior’ position was inevitable and sometimes preceded enrolment on the pgr tla course. as shown, the largest proportion of pie charts show a higher level of percentage allocated to the role of researcher. for example, s13 (fig. 4, below) allocates a very specific 79 per cent to that of researcher, 20.5 per cent to being a student, and 0.5 per cent to viewing themselves as a teacher, suggesting either whimsy, or more likely, an acknowledgement of what they anticipate will come when the mandatory element is complete. figure 4: s13 the highest percentage allocated to being a researcher can be seen in pie charts a12 (fig. 1, above) and s3 (fig. 5, below), which both allocate 90 per cent to the role of researcher and 10 per cent to being a student. figure 5: s3 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 do these pie charts reflect the level of control which these pgrs feel they have over their development and research? or is this categorisation of identity a reflection of how they approach their work in general as pgrs? in an ideal world, the baseline expectation would be that undergraduate students study by reviewing their notes and digesting information from lectures and readings, critically regurgitating relevant information in exams and coursework. the way in which pgrs are expected to study is dramatically different. their weeks are not taken up with timetabled classes and study is largely independent. the production of drafts for supervisors as regular check points throughout the years to track progress means the development of the thesis is crucial. the latter ultimately means different approaches to learning are employed in comparison to undergraduates. study is more research focused, thus reinforcing the institutional term and self-concept formation as ‘researchers’ rather than ‘students’. that there persists the connection to ‘student’ may not be an issue but it is noteworthy. useful in this context is the conclusion from baker and lattuca (2010): learning and identity development go hand in hand – it is through participation in the intellectual community in the field and the home institution that doctoral students build the knowledge and skills required for scholarship in their field of study, and make choices about the roles and values associated with a career in the academy. in this sense, students’ judgments of their knowledge and skills become self-assessments as a scholarly identity emerges during the phd experience (p. 809). whilst we have found tendencies and categories, the diversity in the pie charts is, in itself, reason to pause and reflect. again, we are not intimating that this is necessarily problematic but acknowledgement of this by those who work closely with pgrs may help how we interact with them. a3 and s14 (fig. 6, below) are selected by way of representing those pie charts which are categorised into three sections. figure 6: a3 and s14 11 pie charts were divided in this way, though the category of teacher/lecturer remained the smallest percentage – easily explained by the limited number of hours pgrs are allowed to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 be employed for teaching duties. it can be assumed that the pie charts which allocate a significant section to the role of the teacher/lecturer are drawn by pgrs who hold part time teaching support duties such as seminar leaders and/or lab demonstrators. however, there is another aspect regarding the context of courses which pgrs are expected to undertake as part of their degree which may help to explain the divisions in the pie charts. the pgr tla is strand 2 of 5 that pgrs need to complete as part of their development programme. these strands may be in addition to any department-specific courses which pgrs may also be required to complete. the number of compulsory courses which pgrs need to engage with may therefore be impacting upon how they are perceiving themselves. if pgrs are spending a significant proportion of their time in compulsory classes, this would understandably make them feel as though they are still positioned within a ‘student’ role. the wider issue of whether the mandatory nature and content of all these course is suitable and relevant to all needs further consideration, not only in the context of their potential to stifle autonomy and the development of researcher identity. in contrast to the pie charts and discussion points made above, a6 (fig. 7, below) allocates a higher percentage to the role of being a student, with 10 per cent assigned to the role of teacher and 10 per cent to the role of lecturer. this particular pie chart does not assign any percentage to the role of being a researcher. figure 7: a6 the pgr explains this however in a note below the drawing by stating that ‘i’ve just started my research and i’m learning my way around. however, in the future, i see myself very involved as staff (teaching). that is my goal’. what this pie chart mirrors is the argument made earlier that the perception of identity as being more of a student or researcher is dependent on the style of study being undertaken by the student. as this pgr has yet to begin fully researching her thesis area, she still feels as though she is a student, being led and directed by her supervisors. however, while she locates her current perception of identity in the pie chart by allocating 80 per cent to being a student, she also uses the pie articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 chart to express her future goals of being viewed as a teacher and, separately, as a lecturer though at this stage, the distinction is unclear. for this particular student, the task of sketching out the way in which she perceives her academic identity, therefore, can only be answered by encapsulating both where she is situated now as well as how she sees her identity being formed in the future; pointing to the notion that identity is indeed fluid, moulded by circumstance and in constant flux. a2 (fig. 8, below) reveals an equal 50/50 split between the roles of researcher and student. the pie charts which are divided in this way raise the question of what it is that the pgrs view as being the key differences between being a researcher and a student. it is in many ways the perfect representation of the liminal space. figure 8: a2 when placing the two side by side, those broad connotations of ‘researcher’ as a more active participant, in control of her/ his studies and the direction of her/ his work alongside ‘student’ as a more passive learner directed by an expert are more stark. of course the wider structure of the pgr programme may have an effect. all pgrs have five mandatory strands at the start of their phd related to research. in this context, it is likely that the sense of being a student will more likely form part of the pgr identity. nevertheless, it is a simple but quite profound representation of someone in a transitional space. it serves as a reminder that just because we, as an institution, call someone a researcher, does not entirely define how they see themselves. awareness of the multiple, changing and diverse ways of seeing and presenting themselves could and perhaps should do more to inform the ways in which we interact and work with them. conclusion whether referring to themselves as ‘students’, ‘researchers’ or ‘teachers/lecturers’, the way in which pgrs self-label may in itself influence how they behave and interact. the choice of label which pgrs choose from are understandably connected to the roles they play within the university, such as the limitations to how much and what type of teaching they can do. however, the terms themselves can also be interpreted to be revealing of the ways in which articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 they view their position in relation to their studies and their supervisors. furthermore, the labels which the pgrs assign themselves may point to how active or passive they feel in connection to their research degree as a whole. the intention of this case study is not to make any grand claims. rather, through an analysis of findings stemming from a very simple pie chart focused activity, we have tried to highlight the connections which can be made between pgr self-labelling and issues concerning identity and belonging. though an unsophisticated activity from such simplicity can, at times, come clarity. the variance in the pie charts may have implications for the pgr system within the university and definitely tallies with the ad hoc discussions we both have previously had with many of the pgrs on the tla course. these pie charts can be used to gain an insight into how pgrs view their identity within the university, and in this way point to the extent to which they feel connected with the institution. transitions by definition require movement from one place to another. how we see ourselves when negotiating the transition to and within phd research may determine whether we experience a more positive liminality or the uncertainty of limbo. there will always be diversity in self-concept but beginning to understand the shape of this diversity may help stimulate reflection on how we treat and interact with pgrs and in doing so inform changes in practice that may support a more positive experience. the activity and our consideration of these snapshots has certainly helped shape the direction of our ongoing research and has encouraged us to use more deliberate and sophisticated iterations in future. reference list baker, v. and lattuca, l. (2010). ‘developmental networks and learning: toward an interdisciplinary perspective on identity development during doctoral study’. studies in higher education, 35(7), 807-827. colbeck, c. l. (2008). ‘professional identity development theory and doctoral education’. new directions for teaching and learning, (113), 9-16. cotterall, s. (2015). ‘the rich get richer: international doctoral candidates and scholarly identity’. innovations in education and teaching international, 52(4), 360-370. crossouard, b. and pryor, j. (2008). ‘becoming researchers: a sociocultural perspective on assessment, learning and the construction of identity in a professional doctorate’. pedagogy, culture & society, 16(3), 221-237. else, h. (2017) 'phd students: time to make them university employees?’, times higher, 18 may 2017, available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/phd-students-time-tomake-them-university-employees [accessed: 26 may 2017]. emmioğlu, e., mcalpine, l., & amundsen, c. (2017). ‘doctoral students’ experıences of feelıng (or not) lıke an academıc’. international journal of doctoral studies, 12, 73-90. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/phd-students-time-to-make-them-university-employees https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/phd-students-time-to-make-them-university-employees articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 10, no 3, 2017 gauntlett, d., & holzwarth, p. (2006). ‘creative and visual methods for exploring identities’. visual studies, 21(01), 82-91. green, b. (2007). ‘unfinished business: subjectivity and supervision’. higher education research & development, 24(2), 151-163. guillemin, m., & drew, s. (2010). ‘questions of process in participant-generated visual methodologies’. visual studies, 25(2), 175-188. harris, s. (2005). ‘rethinking academic identities in neo-liberal times’. teaching in higher education, 10(4), 421-433. higher education academy (2011), the uk professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education. [online]. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/downloads/uk_professional_standards_framewor k.pdf [accessed: 26 may 2017]. hoffman, m., richmond, j., morrow, j. and salomone, k. (2016). ‘investigating “sense of belonging” in first-year college students’. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 4(3), 227-256. jazvac‐martek, m. (2009). ‘oscillating role identities: the academic experiences of education doctoral students’. innovations in education and teaching international, 46(3), 253-264. mcalpine, l. and akerlind, g. (2010). becoming an academic. hampshire: palgrave macmillan. mccormack, c. (2004). ‘tensions between student and institutional conceptions of postgraduate research’. studies in higher education, 29(3), 319-334. qaa (2010). masters degree characteristics. [online]. available at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/masters/mastersdegreecharacteris tics.pdf [accessed: 18 may 2017] times higher education (anonymous contributors) (2017) ‘of monsters and mentors: phd disasters, and how to avoid them’ times higher, 1 june, available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/monsters-and-mentors-phd-disasters-andhow-to-avoid-them [accessed: 3 june 2017] vitae (2010). researcher development framework. [online]. https://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers-professional-development/about-the-vitae-researcherdevelopment-framework/vitae-researcher-development-framework-rdf-domains-graphic2011.jpg [accessed: 26 may 2017]. vitae (2017). about us: realising the potential of researchers, globally. [online]. available: https://www.vitae.ac.uk/about-us [accessed: 3 june 2017]. yeatman, a. (1995). ‘making supervision relationships accountable: graduate student logs’. australian universities' review, 38(2), 9-11. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/downloads/uk_professional_standards_framework.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/downloads/uk_professional_standards_framework.pdf http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/masters/mastersdegreecharacteristics.pdf http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/masters/mastersdegreecharacteristics.pdf https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/monsters-and-mentors-phd-disasters-and-how-to-avoid-them https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/monsters-and-mentors-phd-disasters-and-how-to-avoid-them https://www.vitae.ac.uk/about-us microsoft word editors intro galley_16.docx editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 our eighteenth issue of compass: journal of learning and teaching contains twenty-four papers representing opinion pieces, case studies, articles, conference reflections and technology reviews, all illustrative of issues affecting higher education today. this bumper issue has a broad scope, with something of interest to everyone. here, the authors explore matters of teaching and learning from poetry to banking and from group work to field work as well as student engagement (through the lenses of classical storytelling and innovative technologies) and much more besides. two articles, written by colleagues working in an egyptian university, add an international flavour they examine sector-wide pedagogical concerns similar to those experienced in the uk and show how their authors' interest in researching pedagogy led to an improved understanding of the impact of studentcentred teaching on attainment and equity. this issue of compass is delightfully varied and reflects the serious feelings of staff passionate about their practice and about student learning; it also demonstrates how their quest for evidence underpins critical and active responses to changing practices. evident in these papers are such common patterns as increasing awareness of the importance of inclusivity, well-designed interventions and ways of supporting professional development and enhancing curriculum design; so too is a preoccupation with improving the student experience. peter jones kicks off the issue with his opinion piece about the curriculum offer of post-1992 universities based upon his personal experiences of teaching in the social sciences. he is clear that these institutions, with their sociallyand culturally-diverse intake from, for the most part, state-school and less-privileged backgrounds, should not be emulating their ‘elite’ counterparts and instead should, in his discipline at least, be focusing teaching, learning and assessment upon enhancing their students’ employment prospects and treating their very diversity as an asset. the curriculum, he says, should be geared to them and their concerns, enabling them to enrich their cultural capital in ways connected to their own lives and supporting their social mobility; it should also include more ‘issue-based’ learning – still rigorous, but more likely undertaken as work-related learning. an intriguing encounter with the future is provided by poppy gibson, who considers the possible transformation of education in a ‘posthuman’ world; she, a self-confessed transhumanist, says that, as technological developments have already shifted pedagogy from fact transmission to learner skills’ development, resilience and creativity, the future learning experience of ‘biotechnologically-enhanced’ students will involve both artificial intelligence systems and teachers who are responsive nurturers of academic and personal potential. if we believe that programming of hardware may one day allow interactivity between the human brain and computers, the role of academics will be very different. likewise, in a world where many current human roles have been taken by robots, educational curricula will need to be geared to the development of skills appropriate to intuitive, empathetic and ethical responsibilities beyond the reach of machines. the author concludes: “it is common sense that we should aim to develop ourselves into faster, smarter, better-connected beings”. institutions must adapt accordingly. in the context of a workshop on the teaching of cancer biology, lauren pecorino, richard grose and pinar uysal-ongane examine the value of subject-specific (rather than generic) teacher training where the teacher’s deep knowledge of topics is highly likely to enthuse learners as well as subtly to accommodate students’ varying levels of understanding and stages of development. editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 moreover, the workshop revealed advantages in networking amongst subject specialists, especially in the sharing of good practice and cross-institutional collaboration, as well as in disseminating how information technologies with direct relevance to content may be harnessed. the relevance to other disciplines of a research paper exploring innovative methods best suited to assessing entrepreneurship lies in the author’s emphasis upon the authenticity and formative nature of assessment. the findings confirm the inevitable challenge of aligning meaningful, deep-learning assessment strategies with regulations and acknowledge the time and effort needed to implement them. track dinning’s conclusions are particularly interesting, in that educators, students, external practitioners and, strikingly, assessment design itself all have responsibilities in making the entire process logical, coherent, constructive, developmental of appropriate skills and, importantly, understood and accepted for its value in readying learners for their place in the working world. an attempt to iron out perceived inequalities in the assessment of group work – in a money and banking module at an egyptian university – involved the tutor’s active intervention, first in subdividing topics with equal weight (for students to allocate as they wished) and second in requiring each student to upload her/his contribution to a personal turnitin account. despite the number of possible assessment techniques, fairness to individuals had previously been elusive. in her case study of this initiative, heba helmy pays scrupulous attention to practical detail, against the backdrop of a relevant range of literature, and conveys the method’s effectiveness in achieving assessment accuracy and eliminating students’ complaints of injustice. the paper clearly shows how previous assessment shortcomings were overcome. fostering deep and productive learning on an undergraduate marketing course in an egyptian university was the aim of the authors of a paper which describes the process and impact on results of changing the learning environment. samia el-sheikh’s personal experience of the postgraduate certificate in higher education at the university of greenwich prompted this focus and the meticulous review of the related literature, not to mention the thorough data comparison analysis of student performance before and after the intervention, are a tribute to sound scholarship. the approach involved the initial careful delineation of learning objectives, with checking for students’ understanding of them, followed by a series of explicitly-related activities, such as mini case studies, to reinforce concepts and ensure their successful application. the authors’ genuine critical self-scrutiny lends real credibility to this study. david hockham’s opinion piece in response to a particular conundrum for the performing arts sector – viz. the lack of economic resources and a very limited number of available theatre placements for students – considers a very knotty practical and ethical problem. industry rejection of the practice of free labour (the traditional performing arts career route – one that did not fairly serve the demographic of local communities) and the arrival of ‘t levels’ and ‘contemporary apprenticeships’ (both demanding work placements) represent an apparently irreconcilable difficulty for english universities to address if such students are to be supported in their transition into work and if the resulting workforce is truly to represent the community it serves. fascinating! editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 a refreshingly stimulating exploration of why significantly fewer students choose poetry modules or to write about poetry arises from one literature teacher’s personal experiences in a range of uk higher education institutions. in a case study attentive to the spectrum of teaching and learning experiences about poetry – from formal technical analysis to participative group reading of and engagement with specific poems – daniel weston investigates students’ own attitudes by means of focus groups and discovers what gut feeling has already deduced, namely that: reading poetry aloud enhances understanding; students recognise the importance of formal aspects in enabling their critical writing but don’t feel that such technical information is always effectively presented; students feel that their affective response to poetry is often overlooked in the classroom; more time engaging with particular poems rather than the rules of poetry is more likely to foster enthusiasm and consequent confidence. there’s plenty of food for thought here! for laurence pattacini, author of a case study of a (landscape architecture) field study trip abroad, his personal experience off developing and delivering this type of student-centred learning confirms that there are huge benefits: active student participation at all stages; opportunities for students to become co-producers of knowledge and to engage in co-assessment and reflection; the integration of theory and practice; practical experience; collaborative, team-building and decision-making activities; development of such key qualities as adaptability, flexibility and resilience; independent experiential learning. he draws on qualitative data to demonstrate that the trip participants find the field study very constructive in shaping them as future professionals in planning and design. addressing conference presentation pressures and tensions – as experienced by female doctoral students with multi-faceted lives – and reflecting upon the opportunities for personal and professional development and growth of self-esteem thus derived are central to a paper which describes a ‘third-space’ online writing collaboration. poppy gibson and suzie dick sensitively depict how their remote article-writing partnership led them from a virtual relationship to an eventual face-to-face meeting and a joint presentation of their article to the greenwich shift 2018 teaching and learning conference. the mutual respect and peer-to-peer encouragement and support so clearly outlined here will serve as a considerable confidence boost for others (women and men) who are willing to share challenges and rationally overcome them. another paper presented at the university of greenwich shift 2018 teaching and learning conference outlines the contribution of in-class storytelling as an affective learning strategy, with focus on its promotion of phatic communication. this paper is very helpful in its provision of a range of suggested story-telling activities that include: self-disclosure by both tutor and students (a means of bonding and building trust); student narratives about their experiences of, say, maths or history (a way of discovering attitudes and feelings); social media narratives (a way in to matters of self-presentation) and stories as a strategy for implicit communication of values and principles. the author, maria kamilaki, concludes: “storytelling… can elicit purposeful emotional involvement and bonding opportunities, transforming the university classroom into a participatory, interactional network of interdependent individuals.” editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 a group of staff and students in the department of creative professions and digital arts (the university of greenwich) co-designed steps (‘support through tutoring, employability and professional skills’) as a personal tutoring support solution to meeting the needs of a diverse student body faced with the challenges of a skills-focused curriculum. in her case study of steps, miriam sorrentino explains that it follows an iterative action-research process, taking one year’s ideas and themes from student feedback to inform and shape the next; it is tailored, as appropriate, to all undergraduate year groups. she carefully charts the implementation and the progress of the project over three academic years, up to and including the current 2018-19 year and underlines the significance of creating a social dimension to the successful integration and retention of students. a scholarly presentation of a holistic strategy framework – as implemented at leeds beckett university for driving excellence in academic practice – engages fully with current higher education ‘excellence’-related issues. acknowledging the various expectations and needs of staff, institutions and stakeholders, ruth pickford provides the strategy’s philosophy – that outcomes depend upon: 1) individuals’ attributes at different career stages; 2) academic practice development opportunities at each stage; 3) alignment of both 1 and 2 through the joint agency of institution and individual colleague “to engage with one another behaviourally, emotionally and/or cognitively”. the author recommends the framework of this strategy as being of transferable practical use; she emphasises that it provides a rewarding, supportive development environment with which individuals at any career point will wish to engage. the use of an open online space – to encourage participants on an initial teacher education course to contribute posts and comments in response to an assigned topic of relevant interest – lies at the heart of an investigation into the value of a shared community of practice for higher education professional development purposes. learners actively involved in this digital task, says francesca robinson (on the basis of qualitative research), found it worthwhile, as it engaged them with the literature and helped them to reflect on their own and others’ practice. the paper carefully describes the continuing refinement of the method over three years and considers the rationale for applying an open digital space, which can motivate learners and foster innovation and experimentation. how to drive innovation in learning and teaching? chrissi nerantzi and peter gossman regard conventional academic development unit approaches as constrictive and propose the transformative possibilities of collaborative open learning. reflecting upon their compelling phenomenographic study of two open, cross-institutional courses, the authors offer suggested solutions to the question. now that digital technologies have made open and social media readily available to all, unlimited opportunities for informal, decentralised and unconstrained communities exist, taking collaboration beyond any course and connecting academic staff, students and the public. the message in this opinion piece is clear: open cross-institutional collaborations are the means of generating genuinely continuous, practitioner-led academic development through extended communities that are inclusive, collegial and unthreatening and inspire trust and a sense of belonging. editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the language of a paper which conjures up the spirit of the open course ‘creativity for learning in higher education’ (#creativehe) says everything about the ethos and purpose of a creative community of learners: building capacity, capability and confidence; social interaction; cocreation; a collective; collaborative learning culture; active social context; partnership; trust; respect; significant relationships; cross-boundary networks; explorations. the reflective narratives offered by the four authors of this heart-warming celebration of creativity open a window on the possibilities of truly collaborative open learning. it is impossible not to be enthused. a thought-provoking article – from dominic pates – considers just what it takes to realise the transformational potential of mobile devices for learning and teaching in higher education; it addresses the practical, logistical and human challenges involved. appropriate technical infrastructure in learning spaces is, the author argues, fundamental to pedagogical change, but a complex range of preconditions must also be in place if truly immersive, highly-personalised learning is to flourish. the devices themselves afford tremendous opportunities, if all students have them and if staff collaborate to develop the skills to harness what they offer. genuine engagement with mobile social media within a community of practice may socialise mobile device usage and convince staff as well as institutions that a re-imagined pedagogy, with learners genuinely at its heart, can be sustainably achieved. the greenwich shift 2018 teaching and learning conference included presentations on a range of web applications that stimulate student engagement. one conference presenter, emmanuel mogaji, offers here a thoughtful appraisal of what is offered, respectively, by such apps as kahoot!, mentimeter and slack and by his institution’s virtual learning environment (vle) – moodle. he considers why, when the vle offers all the capabilities of the apps, the latter remain more popular amongst staff and students. recognising the obvious advantages of a central vle hub (all is in one place and staff and student privacy is assured), he is nevertheless sharply aware that moodle and other vle platforms really do need to improve their user experience if they are to counter the undeniably greater appeal of the much more userfriendly and accessible apps. a technology review by of ‘google classroom’, a free collaborative tool allowing users to create virtual classrooms, recounts its application at keele university “to create a blended approach to university-wide, freestanding, academic skills-development workshops”. like the staff and students at her institution, kizzy beaumont is largely positive about this tool: she regards it as accessible and intuitive; enrolment is easy; students engage comfortably in discussion and provide useful feedback; posts can be scheduled and released at chosen times; many google apps are available for collaborative work. this paper helpfully charts both positive and negative aspects of google classroom and summarises the keele student learning department’s application of it to support all areas of its practice. the freely-available video discussion platform ‘flipgrid’ has much to offer educators, as its deployment with a cohort of final-year undergraduate sports coaching students at the university of central lancashire seems to show. in his technology review of ‘flipgrid’, john stoszkowski carefully considers its potential for engaging groups of students in creating and discussing editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 themed video posts and for providing regular formative feedback to each student. participants like it and tutors can monitor their contribution levels; it is also simple and intuitive to use. it does require an appropriate personal digital device and a good internet connection and tutors need to be alert to possible competitiveness and individual confidence levels related to on-screen appearances. all in all, the author rates the platform very favourably. achieving the active engagement of students in their learning was also the objective of wendy garnham, and tab betts, who teach a foundation-year psychology cohort at the university of sussex. in this case, students in seminar groups were asked to use the multimedia padlet wall to respond to aspects of their reading of key papers. qualitative and quantitative data collected confirm that collaborating in weekly-changing small groups promoted social interaction and genuine involvement with the material and had, ultimately, significant positive impact on exam scores. this paper is of considerable interest to any seminar leader who wishes to create a learning context that truly engages all members of a group and shifts the emphasis from passive presence to active participation, with concomitant acquisition of deeper understanding and transferable skills. a very positive technology review of the student response system mentimeter, as deployed by a teacher education department, reinforces the views of others who have found it helpful in engaging students. kat vallely and poppy gibson demonstrate its capabilities through three strategies – gauging opinion, engaging discussion and voicing concerns – and list its advantages and disadvantages. perhaps the most striking aspect of what mentimeter variously offers is that it can be applied to good effect by both tutors – who can use participant feedback to shape their future teaching – and by education students on placement – as a teaching tool in the school classroom. furthermore, its capability for anonymous submission of questions enables unthreatening student/tutor dialogue to develop. another student response system, the free, game-based kahoot!, finds favour with maria gebbels in her case study of this tool’s use in tutorials on a research methods course. its multiple-choice format, she finds, reinforces often very abstract concepts, provides instant feedback and thus builds user confidence in relation to subject matter. against an exemplary theoretical background, the author uses a small-scale exploratory research sample to collect data on student reactions. students’ responses confirm their enjoyment, engagement and awareness of the tool’s positive impact upon their learning development. the paper’s conclusion indicates that kahoot! could be widely applied to higher education teaching if students have internet-enabled devices, but counsels against over-use! in their technology review of ‘quizlet’ – a mobile learning application with various quiz modes facilitating different approaches to learning – richie ryan, gina noonan and eddie mcelheron report finding this app easy to set up and flexible as an independent learning resource. they use it to increase student engagement in craft apprenticeship programmes and here outline a selection of the quiz modes, how students use them and how tutors embed them into classroom activities. as a part of a formative assessment process, the use of this app is of benefit in its provision of feedback on learning to both students and staff. as with other technological means editor’s introduction compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 of enthusing learners, ‘quizlet’, conclude the authors, should not be over-used, but form part of a wider assessment strategy. we hope that you find these articles interesting and provocative and that they stimulate reflections on aspects of our teaching, learning and professional development in a global context. with so many articles in one issue, the wide range of opinions and topics echoes conversations inside and outside institutions which continue to engage us and provoke critical debate. i hope you enjoy reading through the articles as much as we have enjoyed collaborating with hard-working authors and reviewers to put this issue together. introduction case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 increasing the interaction time in a lecture by integrating flipped classroom and just-in-time teaching concepts muhammad ali imran, department of electronic engineering, university of surrey and kamran arshad, school of engineering, university of greenwich abstract limited contact time in the traditional lecture structure poses a challenge for the lecturer to select the depth of material covered in the lecture while ensuring complete coverage of the syllabus. in the case of large groups, this also restricts the time that can be dedicated for enquiry based learning and active engagement with the students. this lack of enquiry based learning is cited as one of the main disadvantages of traditional lectures as a teaching strategy (cashin 1985). furthermore, due to the diverse learning abilities of the students some concepts are very basic for a subset of the class and they lose their focus if they feel that trivial points are being discussed in a session. technology provides a potential solution to this dilemma. one-way delivery of material can be provided in the form of a video or online presentation prior to actual contact session intended to cover a topic. the students can go through the material in advance and come prepared in the session to clarify their understanding using the enquiry-based-learning methods. an additional benefit is that the material remains available for the students for later reinforcement of their learning/understanding and also for the revision before a formative or summative assessment. this material can also be improved over time, based on student feedback and requests. in this article, we investigated how effective this mode of teaching/learning can be in traditional series of lectures by running experiments with postgraduate (pg) students at the university of surrey. introduction enquiry-based or problem-based learning is known to be an effective method for deep learning experience (healey & jenkins 2009). limited lecture time and large class size makes it impractical to engage with students for enquiry-based learning. online resources (podcasts etc.) can be used to augment the classroom time, freeing up some more time for stimulating enquiry based learning and more frequent one-to-one interactions with students. this will also provide an opportunity to augment the inquiry-based teaching with guided instruction, which is shown to be more effective in certain cases, (kirschner, sweller, & clark 2006). based on the practical constraints encountered, we incorporated online videos to augment lectures, commonly referred as flipped-classroom-based teaching. flipped classroom promotes the use of technology (e.g. video lectures) for active learning in a classroom as well as at home, so a lecturer is able to move basic contents of lecture outside the classroom via technology (bergmann, 2012). by using the flipped classroom, we spent more time interacting with students in class rather than traditional lecturing. the flipped classroom activities work on resolving well case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 known misconceptions by carefully designed tutorials that are guided by well-trained instructors and well-documented step-by-step instructions. we had to broaden the horizon of our investigations and generalised further. instead of just focusing on the use of flip classroom, we generalised it to a more interesting concept of “just-intime teaching” (novak et al. 1999; simkins & maier 2010) where, more generally, web resources are used to enhance the classroom teaching experience. just-in-time teaching (jitt) aims to enhance the active learning approach to teaching (sutherland & bonwell n.d.). it is a form of an interactive engagement approach to instruction as proposed by hake (1998). in this teaching method, the students take the driving and active role in their learning experience and they steer the strategy as well as the content of the lectures. many other recent initiatives in physics and engineering teaching employ the interactive-engagement approach at their core. some examples are tutorial-based instruction (mcdermott 1991), peer instruction (mazur 1996) and workshop physics (laws 1991). we integrated jiit with the concepts of flip classroom to enhance students’ learning experience and make the most of their time in the classroom. this article incorporates a flipped classroom approach with jitt method by providing tutorial videos prior to the actual lecture and then obtaining student feedback using a carefully designed assignment for the students. the lecture can be planned based on the weaknesses and gaps in the student answers. peer instruction uses some well-designed multiple choice questions to identify the trend of answers in a classroom and then sharing this trend with the group and allowing further deliberation in small peer groups when the answers to these questions are gathered again. this two-step process guides the lecturer about which concepts and areas need more time and effort to enable better learning of the group. this experiment used jitt to help enhance the quality of the peer instruction questions. based on the performance of the students in the pre-lecture assignment, the peer instruction questions were designed and electronic voting system was used to poll the student responses and then use the group responses to focus the lecture agenda. the main idea of our project is to put the students in charge of their own learning, guided by a human instructor who asks them probing questions and provides constructive feedback on their learning. this idea is shared by many other active-learning innovations, such as context-rich problem-based learning (heller & hollabaugh 1992), socrates dialogue method (hake 1998; hake 1987) and active learning problem sets (van heuvelen 1991). the main aim of all these schemes is shared by the framework adopted in this project – students are put in charge of their learning by providing them a chance to go through the material in advance and attempt to solve a problem or answer some questions. their responses provide a guideline to the instructor to arrange the lecture content accordingly. this also enables the lecturer to prepare well designed peer instruction or electronic voting questions to guide the student learning in an optimal manner. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 project background as part of the initial plan, videos were designed to augment the lectures. in order to ensure that the students participate and benefit from these videos it was necessary to ensure that they engage and use these videos before coming to lectures. to this end, pre-lecture assignments were designed to test their level of effort in understanding the content before the lecture. these assignments were based on the questions that require a descriptive answer so that the thought process of the students can be assessed rather than the correctness of the answer. these were uploaded every fortnight on the online portal of ulearn and the student attempts were collected there. in order to ensure that the students take this exercise seriously, these assignments were given a 10% weightage in the final assessment of the module. this is inline with the suggestion of hake (hake, 1998). to circumvent the problem of student perception that they were tested on topics that they were not actually taught, all these assignments were marked on the basis of effort and not on the basis of the correctness of the answers. to provide timely feedback to the lecturer as well as the students, an online learning system called ulearn was used to collect assignments, asses and return the feedback on the assignments. ulearn was the university of surrey’s web-based learning environment until 2012 that could be used for uploading material, student discussions, collecting online submission of assignments and providing student feedback. questions in the assignment were also used to gather some student suggestions and feedback on how to improve the delivery of the video content and the organization of jitt framework to actively tune the process for optimal outcome using reflection on the past. although assignments were marked based on the effort only, selected best answers were shared and commented in the classroom to provide incentives for accuracy and correctness. the main aim of the project was to access the feasibility and suitability of a system that can achieve following goals:  encourage the learners to better prepare for the classroom encounter  off-load less conceptual and more methodological material for offline access to save valuable class time for interaction  enable the catering of a group of learners with diverse abilities and backgrounds, by providing extra help/information on a demand basis.  help lecturers identify the difficulties faced by learners in order to introduce timely changes to overcome these difficulties  encourage students to develop a stronger urge to gain knowledge  transform the lecture classroom into a more interactive learning environment an additional aim was to identify the practical constraints and problems that may arise when implementing this system in the university of surrey environment and within the available resources. the final goal was to prepare a list of recommendations and action points to ensure that this technique is gradually tailored to suit the university of surrey environment and constraints and can be gradually improved over its future implementation using the tools of reflective practice. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 implementation plan the method was piloted at the university of surrey. an undergraduate module with 20 hours of contact time over two semesters (from september to april) was taught using this method. the class size was around 70 students. as a pilot experiment 10 sessions (out of total 20 sessions) were conducted based on the proposed model – online video material was uploaded a week in advance and the lecture session was used for enquiry-based learning or interactive q & a learning session. to ensure that the students go through these videos before coming to the lecture, short assignments based on questions that require a descriptive answer were uploaded every fortnight on the online portal of ulearn and the student attempts were collected there. these submissions were marked and feedback was provided on the same online system. several feedback mechanisms were used to collect data on effectiveness of this method, some are listed here:  ulearn reports to see what fraction of students actually went through the online material before the session.  ulearn-based student feedback for each online resource, collecting information on how useful the student found this for their learning and what they prefer to be changed/improved.  student feedback on effectiveness of enquiry-based face-to-face sessions was also collected. information was gathered on what was the participation ratio and did it change over multiple sessions.  information was gathered on how many students actually used these resources for their revision.  after the final summative assessment a comparison was made on student performance on areas that were taught under the proposed model and the areas that were taught in conventional manner. selection of different research and data gathering methods was broadly guided by cousin (2008). student questionnaires were utilised to justify the feasibility and effectiveness of the use of online resources as well as the jitt approach of lecturing. strategy and execution of the plan in order to ensure the student engagement and participation in this experiment, we had to introduce serious motivators for them. in this regard some summative assignments (counting 10% to the final grades) were designed to gauge the involvement of the students. this is in-line with the recommendations of hake (1998) for the success of interactive-engagement. hake recommends that a necessary condition for the success of this approach is to provide motivational factors in the form of grade incentives to encourage students to take the interactive activities more seriously. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5  use of online videos online videos (12 videos mainly focusing on explanation of key ideas and mathematical derivations) were designed to explain specific concepts. in total 12 videos were prepared with an average running time of 15 minutes. they were intentionally kept different from the actual lecture since they were not to act a substitute of the face-to-face lecture rather as an augmentation and preparation for the face to face session. online videos were also used to demonstrate mathematical derivations and working of electronic circuits. the focus of the video was the screen of the lecturer’s pc who was explaining the idea using “digital ink”. all screen activities were captured using screen capture software (camstudio: freeware) on a “tablet device” (lenovo x61). on average each of these videos takes approximately 45 minutes to prepare for every 15 minutes running time. however, these videos can be re-used every year so demanding time constraints can be justified for adopting this method.  delivery of online videos initially online videos were uploaded as files to the ulearn. the student feedback indicated that this method of delivery was not convenient since the students had to download the complete file before they could play the video. the file size was considerably large as well. in response to this problem, box of broadcast (an online portal for sharing the video content and controlling the access of each uploaded video) was identified as an alternative method of delivery. this enabled online streaming of the videos directly from a link on the module webpage on the ulearn system. a large number of students reported that this worked well for them.  peer groups and management random peer groups were made and the size was kept to a minimum: a pair of students in each group. the students expressed their inclination to be able to select their own group partner but this was discouraged to ensure a reasonable mix of abilities in each group. this random mix was also expected to provide them the valuable experience of working in a team with other team partners that are not selected by choice.  marking and feedback the extra workload due to the tight time line to mark the student responses and provide them feedback was the only drawback observed for this proposed teaching framework. in order to keep this workload manageable, assignments were designed to be given fortnightly rather than weekly. an attempt was made to provide constructive feedback with some suggestions how the response could be improved. for common misconceptions and mistakes, lecture sessions were used. model answers were provided to help the learners perform self evaluation.  gathering the access statistics since there were technical limitations on both online systems (ulearn and box of broadcast), the access statistics were not readily available. in order to ascertain how frequently different videos were viewed and at what times, we decided to obtain explicit data through a student questionnaire. the results and the corresponding insights are discussed below. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 6  managing the classroom in the proposed setup, the lecture started with the presentation of some selected excerpts from the student answers to highlight best practice as well as highlighting the potential pitfalls and misconceptions. based on the peer-review exercise, a suitably selected vocabulary is key to providing constructive feedback without causing a loss of motivation for the students who failed to provide a model answer but made a reasonable effort to understand the content and video prior to the lecture. this is followed by a pre-selected focused agenda to highlight the main concepts and key learning points. enough time is allocated for a carefully designed polling question to be answered by the students using an electronic voting system (a system where handheld devices and internet enabled phones/tablets can be used to participate in a live poll to answer a question with multiple choices for the answer. the class choices are displayed instantly once the poll is closed). this question acts as an immediate feedback to the lecturer if the main point has been successfully conveyed. the session is left open to questions from the students and the lecturer takes the opportunity to guide the students to pointers for further learning as well clarifying the misconceptions. results and discussion data were collected in two phases in order to assess what was working well and what could be improved. in the first phase eight questions were asked by all volunteering participants in the lectures to gather their qualitative assessment on what was working well for them. this first phase feedback was obtained towards the end of first semester (nearly the middle of the planned duration of the whole module). in total 50 responses were obtained and the data were analysed to reflect how things could be improved for the next half of the module. the results of these questions are presented below with the brief discussion on the insights gathered from this data. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 7 as depicted, it was verified through the student response that the idea of introducing the assignments to ensure student participation was valid since an overwhelming majority agreed that these assignments were a major motivation for participating in the self learning activities. it was also verified that self study enables the students to be better prepared for the lecture and this preparation pays well in terms of better understanding and learning in the class room session. the above mentioned fortnightly assignments play a double role here by not only motivating the students for this prepartion, but also closing the loop with the lecturer and providing him or her with useful insight on where to focus the lecture content. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 8 general student opinion was obtained on the feasibility and suitability of jitt approach adopted to our context. the surprising result was that inspite of extra work load and increased pressure on the learners an overwhelming majority “strongly agreed” or “agreed” to the statement that this method was more effective compared to conventional lecturing. direct input was also obtained on the suitability of the online video content in helping the students for preparing for the lecture before attendance. a reassuring majority expressed their confidence in the online video content as a helpful tool for the understanding of the basic concepts. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 9 further feedback was obtained on the suitabiltiy of an alternative method for the delivery of online content. as mentioned earlier, some students had faced problems in diretly accessing the videos from ulearn and, except for a small minority of 2%, the majority preferred the streaming option. however, both formats were kept available to the students until a more suitable alternative is found which is acceptable and suitable to the whole group. ulearn was confirmed to be a widely acceptable and convenient platform for e-learning and the submission of the assignments. some students had earlier reported inconvenience with the submission process but it was evident from the end-of-semester feedback that those initial problems were sorted and the whole group has adopted to this submission platform. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 10 some suggested modifications were also discussed with the students and their suggestion/feedback was sought. a suggestion was made to increase the group size in order to reduce the workload of the lecturer for constructive feedback and marking. a reasonable number (6%) strongly disagreed that group size needed to be changed and only a minority wanted to change the group size. based on this feedback, it was decided to keep the same group size (two students) for the next phase. to check that the students were not feeling overloaded with these assignments, an opinion was sought on the suggestion to decrease the number of assignments. the response was both surprising and reassuring since only a minority (18%) wanted to decrease the assignment. a good size of the group (42%) strongly disagreed with the idea of decreasing the number of assignments. based on this feedback the total number of assignments was kept the same for the second phase of the project. conclusions and outlook finally the effectiveness of the overall project framework was assessed using five selected conceptual areas and similar (but essentially not the same) questions were set from each area in the form of two sets – one administered before the teaching started on the module and the other just after the formal teaching concluded. the student performance in the two tests was compared and shown in figure 1, it was observed that the performance was significantly improved. hence, it can be concluded that this method was indeed successful in achieving good learning, however, it was not possible to compare this with conventional methods of teaching. general student feedback was very positive both for the use of the online videos to help prepare for the lesson and the use of the fortnightly assignments to motivate and inspire them to regularly come prepared for the sessions. we intend to continue this successful teaching approach over subsequent years. however, reflecting on the experience we intend to incorporate two main changes. the marking strategy shall be modified to mark at least a case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 11 fraction of assignments on the base of accuracy of the answers (not just the effort). furthermore, to reduce some of the marking/assessment load, marking of a randomly selected sample of students may be used. alternatively, we can also use the peer evaluation techniques to mark all assignments and a smaller subset can be used to guide the jitt response of the lectures. in summary the combination of jitt with online video content and fortnightly preparatory assignments was seen to be an effective tool for improving the student inspiration and participation. for the evaluated cohort over the period of two semesters, it was established that it significantly improved their ability to answer conceptual numerical questions in selected areas. based on the overall student feedback, it was concluded that the method was effective in motivating students to adopt enquiry based and active learning. it shall however be noted that these conclusions need to be strengthened based on observations of several cohorts over a longer period of time. over this period the reflective practice framework will guide us to improve the method as well as its implementation specific details relevant to university of surrey context (ulearn, module structures and facilities in lecture rooms and web-tools). figure 1: effectiveness of the framework in improving the student performance in answering conceptual numerical questions. references cousin, g. (2008). researching learning in higher education, new york: routledge. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 12 hake, r.r. (1998). 'interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses', american journal of physics, 66(1), 64-74. healey, m. and jenkins, a. (2009), developing undergraduate research and inquiry, york: higher education academy. kirschner, p.a.; sweller, j. and clark, r.e. (2006). 'why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: an analysis of the failure of constructivist,discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching', educational psychologist, 41(2), 75-86. laws, p. (1991). 'calculus-based physics withour lectures', physics today, 44(12), 24-31. mazur, e. (1996). peer instruction: a user's manual, upper saddle river, nj, usa: prentice hall. mcdermott, l. (1991) 'millikan lecture 1990: what we teach and what is learned closing the gap', american journal of physics, 59(4), 301-315. novak, g.m.; patterson, e.t.; garvin, a.d. and christian, w. (1999) just-in-time teaching, new jersey, usa: prentice hall. simkins, s. and maier, m.h. (eds.) (2010) just-in-time teaching across the discipline, across the academy, sterling va, usa: stylus publishing llc. sutherland, t.e. and bonwell, c.c. (eds.) (1996). using active learning in college classes: a range of options for faculty, san francisco, usa: jossey-bass. bergmann, j. and sams, a. (2012), flip your classroom: reach every student in every class every day, usa: iste and ascd. author biographies dr muhammad ali imran received his m.sc. (distinction) and ph.d. degrees from imperial college london, uk, in 2002 and 2007, respectively. he is currently a lecturer at the university of surrey, uk. he is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervision of research students. he is a fellow of higher education academy. dr kamran arshad is a senior lecturer in engineering at university of greenwich. dr arshad has more than 80 technical peer-reviewed publications in peer-reviewed journals/conferences and he won 3 best paper awards. he is author of a book titled radio wave propagation modelling using finite element method published by lambert academic publishing (germany) in 2010. http://www.amazon.com/jonathan-bergmann/e/b0074d2xaq/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_2?_encoding=utf8&field-author=aaron%20sams&ie=utf8&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank http://www.amazon.co.uk/propagation-modelling-finite-element-method/dp/384335801x/ref=sr_1_1?ie=utf8&qid=1289166153&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.co.uk/propagation-modelling-finite-element-method/dp/384335801x/ref=sr_1_1?ie=utf8&qid=1289166153&sr=8-1 case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 13 opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 pecha kucha or creatively crafting chit chat presentations with concision and precision karen smith, educational development unit, university of greenwich when the call for papers came out for the 2012 shift conference, i was drawn to a presentation format that i had not come across before. the call told me that a ‘pecha kucha’, is a format that: originated in tokyo in 2003. drawing its name from the japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it follows a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: each presenter has 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds on a timer. thus, each presenter has just 6 minutes and 40 seconds to explain their ideas before the next takes the stage (shift, 2012). it turns out that the pecha kucha is everywhere; it is trade-marked, there are pecha kucha nights, pecha kucha training, and almost 19,000 pecha kucha videos on youtube. i wanted to join this global phenomenon and submitted my abstract. i structured my pecha kucha around a piece of research that i had carried out into the experiences of higher education academics teaching overseas on transnational programmes. i divided my material into 20 slides, sought out relevant images and scripted my presentation so that each slide did not go over the 20 seconds. in contrast to my preparation for more traditional presentations, the pecha kucha forced me to explain key points with more precision. with only 20 seconds per slide, every word mattered and i chose my words with care and practised the presentation more times than i ordinarily would. the delivery of the pecha kucha was exhilarating: i was conscious of the ticking clock and the advancing slides. the resulting presentation was polished and pacy. the presentation received great reviews: ‘excellent, succinct, informative’; ‘excellent’; ‘great format, really well done’. in the ensuing discussion, we talked about the value of this form of presentation to teaching and learning. the presenters and the audience alike felt this would be a good format to use with students because of its strict timings, emphasis on key points, and, frankly, its novelty. there is a burgeoning research literature suggesting that pecha kuchas are both beneficial to and well-rated by students. klentzin et al (2010) studied the pecha kucha compared to a powerpoint in a lecture context and found it to be an effective instruction method. miller beyer (2011) compared student pecha kuchas presentations with those using powerpoint. she found that the quality of pecha kuchas was the same or better than powerpoints, and that pecha kuchas received higher student ratings. i began to think about the applicability to my own teaching on the postgraduate certificate in higher education. one of our sessions focuses on learning theories. this can be rather dry and i wanted to liven up the session. i felt student-produced pecha kuchas, overviewing learning theories and theorists, would do this and result in a useful resource base. the cohort was split into eight groups of four (four online groups and four face-to-face). while the opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 online group posted their pecha kuchas to moodle (either as youtube videos or narrated powerpoints), the face-to-face group presented live and their presentations were recorded. there was a buzz in the room as they prepared to present, last minute discussions about timing and content, and anticipation about the approach their peers would adopt. the presentations went well – the groups kept to time and gave structured overviews of their allocated theory. one group used an interesting discussion format, while others used wellchosen images to complement their words. in the post-presentation evaluation, the participants admitted that the presentations had been time-consuming to prepare, some felt restrained by the structure and the discipline, and others challenged by the delivery. overall, however, the feedback was positive. they described pecha kuchas as an ‘interesting approach to gain an overview of complex topics’ and a ‘good way of identifying the essentials’. pecha kuchas were also seen as a welcome alternative to powerpoint, which can: ‘no doubt be a little dull and this gives a bit of fizz to it’. they could also see the benefit for their own teaching, particularly to draw out the key points at the end of a lecture. are pecha kuchas the way forward? i think they make a useful addition to the suite of learning and teaching approaches. they are a powerful means of developing students’ synthesis skills and time-keeping, and for us to summarise, overview or simply spice up our presentations. but like chit chat, they have their time and place. references klentzin, j.c.; bounds paladino, e.; johnston, b.; devine, c. (2010) pecha kucha: using “lightning talk” in university instruction, reference services review, 38(1) 158 – 167. miller beyer, a. (2011) improving student presentations pecha kucha and just plain powerpoint, teaching of psychology, 38(2), 122-126. shift (2012) inspiring teachers: learning and leading in academic practice call for papers. available at: https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/edu/shift2012/schedconf/cfp (accessed 31 october 2012). author biography karen smith is a senior lecturer in educational development. she teaches on the postgraduate certificate in higher education and is critical friend to the school of humanities and social sciences. she is an active higher education research and has published in the areas of transnational higher education, higher education policy and practice, and innovation in learning and teaching. she is also compass’s managing editor. https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/edu/shift2012/schedconf/cfp articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 ‘we belong’: differential sense of belonging and its meaning for different ethnic groups in higher education debra cureton, phil gravestock university of wolverhampton abstract this paper covers this paper presents the results of two university of wolverhampton studies that explore student belonging in higher education and how a sense of belonging differs between ethnic groups. the research took a mixed-methodology approach, collecting both quantitative data via a survey and qualitative data via focus groups. study one explored the differential experiences of belonging via the belongingness survey (yorke, 2016), with a group of 941 students. this was followed by study two, which used focus groups to generate a greater understanding of what belonging meant to the students and how belonging developed, as well as to identify barriers to developing a sense of belonging. this work concluded that ethnicity-based differences in students’ sense of belonging are apparent and these mirror the differences witnessed at a sector level in degree outcomes. additionally, belongingness is found to have an unstable nature, in that it waxes and wanes and can be lost or developed at any part of the student lifecycle. some student-identified initiatives to support the development of belonging are presented. the findings are discussed in the light of the current literature on differential outcomes. keywords: belonging, belongingness, bame, differential outcomes. introduction this paper presents the results of two university of wolverhampton studies that explore student belonging in higher education (he) and how a sense of belonging differs between ethnic groups. the research took a mixed-methodology approach, collecting both quantitative data via a survey and qualitative data via focus groups. study one explored the differential experiences of belonging via the belongingness survey (yorke, 2016), with a group of 941 students. this was followed by study two, which used focus groups to generate a greater understanding of what belonging meant to the students and how belonging developed and to identify barriers to developing a sense of belonging. belongingness is key to both the retention and success of students in he (thomas, 2012; thomas et al., 2017). thomas et al. (op.cit.) suggest that belonging begins at induction and they present a logic chain in which induction activities encourage students to make friends, to have done which has consequent positive impact upon students’ engagement and sense of belonging; this, in turn, leads to the greater likelihood of the students’ staying in he and being successful. whilst the what works? phase 2 programme (thomas et al., op.cit.) focused on belonging, only two institutions considered the differential sense of belonging and outcomes of bame (black, asian and minority ethnic) students. one of these institutions articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 noted a distinct difference between the belongingness reported by bame students and that of their white counterparts. the research that explores ethnic-based differential experiences of belonging is limited. the significant literature in the area of the psychological impacts on bame student attainment is us-focused (singh, 2011). a review of the published and grey literature pertaining to differential degree outcomes highlights a number of authors who do discuss bame student belonging, though much of this discussion is arrived at via the conclusions of research rather than having bame belonging as its main focus (see mountford-zimdars et al., 2015). the preponderance of work into bame student belonging focuses on freshmen in the american education system. this literature proposes that bame students struggled to adapt to the he environment and found it difficult to balance belonging with retaining their cultural voice and identity (vázquez-montilla, wilder and triscari, 2012); however, there is no research that explores uk bame students’ definition of belonging in he. this paper aims to provide some insight into this area. literature review the term ‘belonging’ is a key characteristic of human behaviour that has a long history within the psychological literature and refers to an individual’s need for affiliation (mcclelland, 1987), relatedness (deci and ryan, 1991; ryan, 1993; vallerand, 1997), social connectivity (vallerand, op.cit.), positive regard (rogers, 1951) and affection (murray, 1938). given that belongingness is firmly rooted in relationships with others, it is not surprising that belonging has been explored in educational settings: first in school environments (goodenow, 1993) and later in he (foster et al., 2011; lefever, 2012; thomas, op.cit; yorke, 2016; thomas et al., op.cit.). in an education setting, belonging extends beyond personal relationships to include “the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment” (goodenow, 1993, p. 80). this suggests that belonging in education is found at multiple levels (foster et al., op.cit.; lefever, op.cit.) and includes (bronfenbrenner, 1979) relationships within the educational microsystem (with friends and peer group), mesosystem (educational relationships between the student, her/his peers and her/his teachers) and macrosystem (the student and the educational establishment). as a result of widening participation, uk higher education institutions (heis) now boast a diverse student body. not unexpectedly, there are tangible differences in how students experience and engage in he (trowler and trowler, 2010) and thus differences are to be expected in terms of their individual sense of belonging. under-represented and nontraditional student groups are more likely to engage differently within the he setting. consequently, mature students, international students, disabled students, part-time students, commuting students and those not based at a main campus, experience such barriers to inclusion as not feeling safe, other students’ behaviours, segregated spaces and lack of inclusivity in university opportunities (lefever, op.cit.). bearing in mind that belonging is linked to retention and success (cousin and cureton, 2012; thomas, op.cit; thomas et al., op.cit.), understanding how and why different student groups have varied experiences of he is important in reducing differential degree outcomes. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 one of the most worrying differentials in student retention and degree outcomes is that observed between bame students and their white counterparts. in 2015/16, there was an overall uk attainment gap of 15.6%. a breakdown by each ethnic group indicates that: • “72.2% of chinese students were awarded a top degree (a degree attainment gap of 6.6 percentage points) • 70.7% of indian students (a gap of 8.1 percentage points) • 61.8% of pakistani students (a gap of 17.0 percentage points) • 50.5% of black other students (a gap of 28.3 percentage points)” (ecu, 2017). moreover, there is a worrying non-continuation trend for black students, as it was reported that, for the 2015/16 academic year, the non-continuation rates were 1.5 times higher for black students than for white (offa, 2017). differential degree outcomes must be routed in the processes of he, given that all students have to demonstrate equitable entry qualifications when entering he and that differences in degree outcomes are not a statistically-significant factor of students’ demography – such as prior education, entry qualification type, gender, age or socio-economic background (broecke and nicholls, 2006; hefce, 2015). despite the fact that the quality of learning relationships and the psychosocial aspects of the learning environments can have impact on student success and are key areas responsible for ethnicity-based differences in degree outcomes (cousin and cureton, op.cit.), little is known about the role of belonging within this. as there are no previous studies in the uk that explore the educational belonging of bame students, this research provides some insights into the differential experiences of belonging. study one: the differential experience of belonging amongst diverse student groups methodology yorke’s (op.cit.) belongingness survey measures belongingness via three subscales: engagement; belonging to faculty or department; academic-related self-confidence. the areas of belongingness are measured via a five-point likert scale, where 1 is ‘strongly disagree’ and 5 is ‘strongly agree’ (i.e. a higher score equates to a higher sense of belonging). the paper-based belongingness survey was disseminated to students during a two-week period, either at the beginning of lectures by faculty graduate interns or by representatives of the students’ union during their visits to various campuses of the university. the survey was completed in the presence of the person who distributed it. the belongingness survey was completed by 941 students – approximately 5% of the student body – and included level 4 (43.5%), level 5 (27%) and level 6 (29.5%) students. the sample was representative of the university on a number of levels: students surveyed were from all university faculties (large fac1 = 40%; medium-sized fac2 = 20%; mediumsized fac3 = 20%; small fac4 = 14%; did not disclose = 6%) and campuses (main campus = 69%; small campus 2 = 28%; learning centres 3%). represented were all ethnic groups within the university (white = 48%; black = 12%; asian = 24% chinese =2%; other = 14%) and a broad age range (range = under 20 to 45-50, with 54% of surveyed students falling into the under-20 category). the sample was unrepresentative in two areas: the survey was completed by both full-time (94%) and part-time (6%) students, and males (30%) and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 females (70%). the university student body is made up of approximately 40% mature students and 55% females. analysis of the data as per the definition provided by boone and boone (2012), the belongingness survey (yorke, op.cit.) provides likert scale data. boone and boone (ibid.) therefore suggest that these data are analysed using descriptive statistics and, where appropriate, t-test and anova with post hoc analysis. the analysis deployed here is that of descriptive statistics and aims to identify significance to practice. the data analysis has identified mean scores for the questionnaire, each of the three subscales and the individual questions. the data were cut by a number of demographic variables; however, the data presented in this paper are those that have direct relevance to ethnicity. presentation and discussion of the data it is interesting to note that belongingness is affected by the level of study. a dip in students’ sense of belonging is observed at level 5, but returns at a higher point in level 6 (figure 1). this may be associated with the ‘second-year blues’, but it is particularly important to recognise this with reference to student mental health and suicide risk (see uuk, 2002; and uuk, 2015). differences in belonging as a result of ethnic categorisations were also apparent (figure 2). 3.75 3.80 3.72 3.713.72 3.74 3.7 3.67 3.86 3.91 3.84 3.83 scale engagement belonging self confidence figure 1: level of study by scale and subscales level 4 level 5 level 6 3.81 3.71 3.63 3.74 3.64 3.86 3.71 3.67 3.78 3.58 3.81 3.75 3.51 3.71 3.62 3.76 3.68 3.62 3.6 3.6 white black asian other not disclosed figure 2: ethnicity by scale and subscales scale engagement belonging self confidence articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 although this analysis shows no clear pattern of belongingness, it does highlight that students who are categorised as black have a lower sense of belonging than white students or those who define themselves as ‘other’. differences are evident between white students and asian students on the full scale, between white and asian students on the belonging subscale and between white students and students who did not disclose their ethnicity on the engagement scale. in addition, there is an interaction between gender and ethnicity, where black males, males who categorised themselves as ‘other’ and females who categorised themselves as ‘white other’, appear to have a lower sense of belonging than their counterparts (figure 3). a further interaction between ethnicity and age was observed, where older students (36 and above) from minority backgrounds have a lower sense of belonging than their white counterparts and younger counterparts from the same ethnic categorisation (figure 4). these belonging patterns are particularly interesting, especially as black males are the student group least likely to gain a first or upper-second class of degree (ecu, 2015). there is a distinct difference in student attainment as a factor of age and ethnicity, with the attainment gap being much wider between older bme students and their white counterparts than the gap observed between younger bme and white students (ecu, 2014). . 3.8 3.64 3.73 3.63 0 3.79 3.81 3.71 3.74 3.71 white black asian other not disclosed figure 3: ethnicity and gender by scale scores males females 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.6 white black asian other figure 4: ethnicity and age by full scale scores young older articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 this study has provided a quantitative account of student belonging in he: it provides a picture of differences in perception of belonging based on ethnic group and indicates that students from a bame background have a sense of belonging different from that of their white counterparts; however, this type of research is dependent on three propositions: first, in order to measure belonging, it has to be an independent psychological construct for it to be available for measurement (malone et al., 2012); second, the tools developed to measure belonging are psychometrically-robust (mahar et al., 2014; malone et al., op.cit.); third, that belonging has a commonly-agreed definition (mahar et al., op.cit.). in response to the first point, the plethora of literature pertaining to belonging indicates its existence and recognition as a construct (malone et al., op.cit.). when considering the second point, a review of yorke (op.cit.) indicates the development of a valid and reliable tool. the question of whether the above study provides a trustworthy picture of dynamics within belonging is therefore dependent on whether it is perceived in the same way by all groups. the next study considers how belonging is defined and thereby provides a more in-depth discussion of the numerical dynamics outlined above. study two: the meaning and maintenance of belonging for diverse student groups methodology in addition to completing the questionnaire, thirteen students were recruited to three focus groups to discuss the trends identified in the questionnaire and to provide a more in-depth understanding of belonging at the university. the focus groups were attended by 4 males and 9 females who included representatives from levels 4, 5 and 6. the participants also included students categorised as bame (n=5: 3 uk bame and 2 international) and white uk students (n=8) and were therefore representative of the university’s ethnic makeup. the students included two students’ union officers who reflected on their recent experience as students’ union officers as well as their undergraduate experiences. the sample also included students who self-identified as not feeling that they belonged at the university (n=2). the length of the focus groups ranged from 45 minutes to 70 minutes, during which time the students were asked three main questions: 1) when people talk about belongingness, what does that mean to you as a student at this university? 2) what or who impacts on your feelings of belonging or lack of belonging at the university? 3) what are the consequences of feeling a sense of belonging or not belonging at the university? a number of prompts were used by the female facilitator to encourage the students to explore their responses in more depth. the facilitator had not taught any of the students, which minimised the power difference between the students and researcher. the sessions were video-recorded with the permission of the participating students. analysis of the data a thematic inductive analysis from a realist perspective was performed on the collected data. data were analysed at the semantic level. the thematic analysis followed the five stages of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 analysis proposed by braun and clarke (2006): 1) familiarity with the data; 2) generating codes; 3) generating themes; 4) refining themes; 5) defining themes. presentation and discussion of the data the data provided some interesting insights into students’ beliefs about belonging and why it is important. in particular, they highlighted the unstable nature of belongingness and identified some of the barriers to belonging and facilitators associated with it. for those students who participated in the focus groups, their affective attachments at the university were one of the most important factors for a successful he experience. they described belonging as being or feeling ‘part of the family’, which had many benefits. these benefits were emotional or affective and practical in nature and, as a result, provided: “a feeling of being cared about; that you matter” (female, international student, level 5) the affective nature of belonging means that a sense of belonging can fluctuate. a dominant theme is how belongingness “waxes and wanes” (female student, level 6), which students directly attributed to how much they felt that they were cared about. this was measured by: “the amount of attention we [students] receive from lecturers or teachers on the course and the interest the university shows” (female student, level 5) this has implications for bame students on a number of levels. where bame students do not have a strong learning relationship with lecturers, there is a likelihood that belonging may be affected (cousin and cureton, op.cit; mountford-zimdars et al., op.cit.). moreover, the natural routines of he include enhanced attention during level 4, to support transitions into he, and, at level 6, to support transitions out of he – even more so now that the teaching excellence and student outcomes framework (tef) metrics draw heavily on retention and continuation rates, national student survey (nss) and destination of leavers from higher education (dlhe) results. bame students at level 5 are therefore at risk of feeling uncared for. this is also evident in study one, where asian students and those students who did not disclose their ethnicity reported a lower sense of belonging. in addition to waxing and waning, belongingness can be completely “lost and can also be found” (male, bame student, level 6) at any point of the university journey. central to losing and/or rediscovering belonging are themes that relate to responsibility for ensuring that students develop a sense of belonging and barriers that students encounter in relation to developing belongingness. it is important to note here that the discussions relating to barriers to the development of belonging were very emotive. when asked about this, all participants said that they were surprised by their reactions, but, on further reflection, made suggestions that related to making the unconscious more conscious. “hmm, this is making me think about things i sort of knew but hadn’t put a lot of thought into it” (female student, level 5) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 “i hadn’t really, umm, thought about it before, but now…. [trailed off]” (male bame student, level 6) in relation to the generation of belonging, extra effort from members of the university community helped students feel they were cared about, which triggered a sense of belonging. “[name] going beyond the call of duty made a big difference for me” (female students’ union officer reflecting on her recent undergraduate experience) the belongingness generated as a result of staff members’ going the extra mile during pastoral interactions was particularly important and a powerful basis for students’ decisionmaking when deciding whether to withdraw from study. when students questioned whether being at university was right for them or when they experienced periods of distress, it was found that positive pastoral interactions regenerated a sense of belonging, reignited a lost sense of belonging or ignited belongingness that was not there before. one student commented: “lecturers can generate belonging when it isn’t present by being open to students, by showing respect; it’s almost as if they are demonstrating that they see something worthwhile in you and that matters” (female, students’ union officer). this belief was further explored in relation to students who had lost their feeling of belonging or had never felt it in the first place. it is important to note here that this was more prevalent for the bame students within this research than their white counterparts. discussing his lack of sense of belonging throughout the majority of his degree, one student talked about how he was “enticed into being part of the group” by lecturers who “reached out [to him] and made an effort to understand [him].” the lecturer’s approach that invites interactions and attempts to see the student as an individual with potential was viewed as an example of the lecturer “going beyond the call of duty”, which in turn opened a door for developing trust and a facilitative learning relationship to develop or, as the student described it: “he kicked me out of the lecture at the end of last year for coming in late. he said wait outside i’m coming to talk to you and he followed me out. he asked why i never turned up on time and if i had a job or was something stopping me getting there. i said no, i just oversleep. he laughed and said i had to be on time or i’d miss important stuff. he made an effort and no-one did that before. he told me i had to go to lectures, they were important, i didn’t know, so i started going to lectures. ya’ know what, when i went to lecturers i started to feel i fitted in” (male bame student, level 5) although the above demonstrates that belonging can be encouraged at any point of the learning journey (even if the task becomes more difficult as time moves on), a sense of belonging can also be injured at any point in the journey. a negative critical incident can dissolve someone’s sense belonging if there are no other sources for students to anchor their belonging to. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 “lecturers can lose students by being rude, unapproachable, unavailable, destructive rather than constructive, acting like they can’t be bothered, like not answering questions and emails, or by giving generic feedback to students. and stereotyping us” (male, bame student, level 6) also, it takes students a while to regain trust in lecturers who have ‘broken’ a sense of belonging and this can sometimes be applied to other lecturers as well. worryingly, this can have impact upon the educational choices that students make. “you get nervous about going to see them again, especially if you’re not feeling that confident about things. if you’re okay, aren’t questioning whether you belong, it bounces off you and you think oh they’re just having a bad day” (female international student, level 5) “you’ll only go and see that one lecturer who you can trust. uh, i suppose that’s because of the belonging thing, they make you feel you’re one of the family, it’s alright to ask so you feel don’t feel like oh what am i doing at uni” (female bame student, level 4) “but sometimes you think whatever. you don’t go and see them again, you might not choose their modules next year unless you have to, but your friends and other lecturers make up for it. they’re the reason you feel that you wanna come back each day and keep going” (male student, level 5) a sense of belonging is linked to student success (thomas, op.cit.) and these findings are interesting, as they directly overlap with those of the disparities in student attainment programme (cousin and cureton, op.cit.). for these students, relationships with lecturers were an important part of their developing sense of belonging; however, bame students were more vocal about incidents and the ramifications of broken trust. moreover, students’ opportunities to be successful are enhanced by lecturers who invite interaction and demonstrate that they view students as individuals with potential; however, good learning relationships for bame students are more difficult, as psychosocial factors can have an impact, such as the pygmalion effect, stereotype threat (cousin and cureton, op.cit.), the low numbers of bame academics in he and the fear that white staff do not have the cultural competency to understand a bame student perspective. for bame students, therefore, the level of belongingness that is facilitated by their relationships with staff may be more difficult to achieve and more likely to be injured through perceived slights or brusqueness. in addition to a lecturers’ role in belonging, both bame and white students agreed that students also play a large part in this process. one of the most important sources of belonging is from friends and peers. “your friends might not be on your course; they could be friends from halls” (female student, level 6) “they could be mates from school” (male student, level 5) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 “people i have met along the way, some here, some on my course, some not” (female student, level 5) friends and peers provide the strongest and most durable affective ties that support students, normalise situations and provide comfort and understanding during the difficult patches. “i feel most at home here because of my friends” (male student, level 5) “it’s your friends you go to when things are difficult” (female international student, level 5) “it’s the connections with your friends, and what that brings, that sees you through” (female student, level 6) students can help each other feel a sense of belonging by “being open, friendly” (male student, level 6) and by “just talking to you, not just talking to their friends” (female student, level 4). again, invitating interaction with students or ‘reaching out’ was returned to within this theme. “i suppose being aware is important, being aware that others might be lonely and think they don’t fit it” (female student, level 5) “then you’ve got to be confident enough and reach out to include other people you don’t normally speak to. that’s hard some times” (female student, level 5) on the reverse side, a lack of awareness about the impact of behaviours – and how these are perceived by other students – has a negative effect upon belonging. “other students can alienate some students through being in cliques” (female student, level 4) “[or] through not sharing space” (male student, level 5) “not realising that high action and loud vocals when they’re having fun can be viewed as aggressive or confrontational situations by others” (female, students’ union officer) again, these ideas raise concerns about belonging for bame students, particularly on courses or in universities that are predominantly white. dhanda (2010) identified that students tended to gravitate towards peers who are like them and, consequently, integration between ethnicities inside and outside the classroom can be limited. if groups of students articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 are not welcoming, it is inevitable that some students will feel left out. this is encapsulated by one student when he said: “…to begin with i didn’t have belonging here, i felt i belonged at the uni my mates were at. i just came here and did the minimum to get by to get my degree” (male bame student, level 5) in all three focus groups, the students raised the point that they felt institutions could become more supportive environments for the development of inclusive belonging and small changes could be made to induction, the continuation of and maintenance of belonging during levels 4 and 5 and the development of cross-institutional activities to support the generation of belonging for bame and white students alike. induction activities are very important in building the foundations for belongingness to develop. “…activities that encourage people to mix, breakdown barriers between students [peers] and students and staff can help too” (female student, level 6) challenging students’ natural timidity and nervousness during induction and pushing them outside their comfort zones are both crucial to belonging. getting to know others is as much a part of induction as it is part of developing a sense of belonging (thomas et al., op.cit.). “students are important in this process; they have a responsibility to mix during induction so they get to know people” (male student, level 6) in considering the structure of induction, most faculty-based activities are academicallyfocused, whereas social activities are offered by the students’ union. these activities may, or may not, be inclusive. “the faculty offers the academic induction and the union the social side of things, but not everyone engages with the union. mature students have other responsibilities so won’t go to club nights, parties etc. also some bame students might not want these activities either. so not everyone does the social side of induction” (female, students’ union officer) this could be rectified by encouraging faculties to consider both academic induction and social induction as part of their processes. “induction could be made into two days’ social activities; you know where you get to know people at the university and three days’ academic induction” (female student, level 5) this would provide a more inclusive approach and offer the opportunity for all student groups to integrate socially; however, the activities need to be considered carefully. “it can’t be just sitting in the pub or something” (female student, level 4) articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 “yes, the activities should be suitable to everyone. not everyone likes noisy, busy environments and what about mature students with kids? they might not have the money to splash on drinks” (female international student, level 5) “the activities will have to be compulsory or people won’t do it” (male bame student, level 6) “things like team building; fun but with a purpose” (female students’ union officer) in addition to the importance of induction (thomas et al., op.cit.), both bame and white students agreed that a few interventions during induction are not enough to ensure that belongingness is developed and maintained. given that belongingness waxes and wanes and can be lost and found, opportunities to develop, reignite or renew belonging could be scattered throughout the student lifecycle. at level 4, developing belonging mainly resided at the inter-personal or micro level (bronfenbrenner, 1979). “peers are important, mixing with people from your course group” (male student’ level 5) pedagogic approaches that encourage this are important. “interactive classroom activities that make people mix and get to know each other are important throughout the year” (male student, level 5) at level 5 macro level (bronfenbrenner, op.cit.), such forces as the institution itself could play a part in maintaining belongingness. “[the university] communicating with us through the holidays, like a personalised congratulations letter on passing the first year and information on what happens next” (female student, level 6) “not only [including] information on what happens if you haven’t passed everything – although this is important – information on what is expected of level 5 students, how to do well at level 5 would be great” (male student, level 5) continued contact though the holidays could be achieved through “paid placement with the university projects etc.” (female international student, level 5), which would provide “another level of belonging” (female student, level 5). level 5 pedagogical approaches again focused on integration, but, this time, considered a mixture of academic, socially-oriented academic and social activities. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 “a continuation of interactive classroom activities should be maintained through level 5 to continue making students mix” (male student, level 5) “full class events, inside the classroom, like christmas parties, dragons’ den” (female student, level 6) both bame and white students proposed that cross-intuitional events are also important to the development of belongingness, as these are both social and educational ways for students to develop their networks and meet lecturers in social situations. these activities allow lecturers to mix with students on a different level, which could reduce students’ tensions around stereotype threat and not being seen as an individual (cousin and cureton, op.cit.). “events, university-wide events, like the international festival are important, you meet people and make friends; it helps you mix outside your class” (female international student, level 5) “things like balls, outside the classroom” (male student, level 6) conclusions this research suggests that both bame and white students have a similar conception of belonging in he settings; however, ethnic-based difference occurs in how belonging is experienced. in particular, differences in belongingness hinge on the quality of relationships that bame students are involved in with other students and with their lecturers. within this sample, bame students were more likely to indicate that there were points in their he experience where they did not feel that they belonged at the university. for this sample of students, belongingness not only has multiple levels (foster et al., op.cit; lefever, op.cit.), but also has multiple facets and is unstable in nature. the educational and affective aspects of belonging that influence academic and social engagement were discussed both by students who felt that they belonged and also by those who did not. belonging fluctuates over time and is associated with respect, perception of potential and evidence that students matter. significant overlaps are found between these findings and the areas that have impact on student success (cousin and cureton, op.cit.). not only does belonging play a major part in whether students engage within he, it also has an impact on whether students succeed. the research presented here provides additional information about how, for the group of students, belonging relates to student success and, in particular, that of bame students. belonging is linked to the quality and the type of learning relationships that students develop with their peers, their lecturers, the departments in which they study and the university; however, the barriers to bame students’ belonging doubly reinforces the barriers to success indicated in the research relating to ethnicity-based degree differentials. universities provide an arena where multiple-level learning relationships can be developed and multi-level emotional and academic support is on offer (cousin and cureton, op.cit; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 mountford-zimdars et al., op.cit.). akin to this, belonging, for this group of students, also has multi-levels that align to the micro, meso and micro levels of the educational setting (bronfenbrenner, op.cit.) that are discussed within the attainment gap literature (mountfordzimdars et al., op.cit.). the groups of students whose developing sense of belonging is most vulnerable should now include bame students; furthermore, bame students should be considered when developing activities to encourage student belonging. inclusive activities to encourage engagement are not exclusive to induction activities and are beneficial throughout the student lifecycle. particular attention needs be paid to the times when belonging may wane or be damaged and factored into interventions to encourage belonging. reference list boone, h. and boone, d. 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(2010) student engagement evidence summary. york: the higher education academy. available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/studentengagementevidencesummary_1.pdf (accessed: 31 august 2018). uuk (universities uk) (2002) reducing the risk of student suicide: issues and responses for higher education institutions. london: universities uk. isbn 1 84036 090 9. uuk (universities uk) (2015) student mental wellbeing in higher education: good practice guide. london: universities uk. isbn: 978-1-84036-331-9. vallerand, r. (1997) ‘toward a hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.’ advances in experimental social psychology, 29, 271-360. available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60019-2 (22 august 2018). vázquez-montilla, e., wilder, l., and triscari, r. (2012) ‘ethnically diverse faculty in higher ed: belonging, respect, and role as cultural broker.’ multicultural learning and teaching, 7(1), 1-15. available at: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/mlt (accessed: 22 august 2018). https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780094539907/30223752755&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-plp1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1340519 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1340519 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/bme_synthesis_final.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/hub/download/what_works_2_-_full_report.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/studentengagementevidencesummary_1.pdf http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/mlt articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 yorke, m. (2016) ‘the development and initial use of a survey of student belongingness, engagement and self-confidence in uk higher education.’ assessment and evaluation in higher education, 41(1), 154-166. available at https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2014.990415 (accessed: 22 august 2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2014.990415 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 assessment of entrepreneurship in higher education: an evaluation of current practices and proposals for increasing authenticity track dinning liverpool john moores university abstract focusing on the assessment of entrepreneurship, this paper adopts a qualitative research approach. using data collected from twelve face-to-face interviews with enterprise educators, the paper demonstrates how these educators attempt to shift from the use of traditional to more innovative methods of assessment. the paper argues that adopting more innovative and authentic methods is less easy to administer, is time-consuming and more difficult to align with university regulations. finally, the paper concludes with a set of proposals aligned to academics, students and external practitioners for making entrepreneurship assessment more authentic. keywords: higher education; assessment; entrepreneurship. introduction in response to government, education and industry (department of business, innovation and skills (bis), 2015; the quality assurance agency (qaa), 2018), there is a demand for uk universities to develop employable students who contribute to the ‘knowledge-led economy’ (smith and paton, 2011, p.104). consequently, entrepreneurship education is more frequently found within higher education (he) undergraduate degree programmes than it was some ten years ago (jones and penaluna, 2013), as it encourages students to practise, develop and demonstrate such skills as creativity, problem-solving and ‘making things happen’ that are much sought after by employers (bridgstock, 2009) in today’s current highly-competitive environment. not unlike the uk, other countries report the need for entrepreneurship education to be part of a graduate’s education. for example, won, ho and singh (2007) report on the need for singapore universities to move towards a knowledge-based approach for entrepreneurship, in order to commercialise home-grown ideas rather than import knowledge from advancing countries. in nigeria, entrepreneurship education has been made compulsory in universities to address the issue of a decline in graduate employment and a consequent increase in poverty (ogundele, akingbade and akinlabi, 2012). maritz (2017) suggests that entrepreneurship education is more productive if student-centred and that it should: include, together with the subject knowledge, the competencies needed for employability; foster innovation and the entrepreneurial mind-set (european commission, 2008). pittaway et al., (2009) argue that the focus has been more on pedagogical approaches, to the extent that research on assessment methods is not advancing at the same rate as the changing nature of its universities (uk higher education academy, hea, 2012). this includes not only the assessment design but also criteria – use of rubric that can limit staff when marking (bloxham et al., 2015). in the field of entrepreneurship, jones et al., (2014) advise articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 that there remains a lack of scholarship which demonstrates how assessment of student learning actually takes place. with competencies such as creativity and innovation having been associated with entrepreneurship education and graduate attributes (bacigalupo et al., 2016), pittaway and edwards (2012) recommend that this area of assessment be studied further, given that competencies required by employers are at present rarely assessed effectively (jones and penaluna, 2013). this issue is not peculiar to the uk: radloff et al., (2008), in an australian study, wrote that embedding graduate attributes ought to extend beyond teaching and into assessment. whilst ipperciel and el-atia (2014) report a criteriabased competency model for the assessment of graduate attributes in canada, it still remains untested. a multi-cultural study across northern ireland, israel and new zealand concludes that, even with different educational systems in place, the over-arching challenge for all three countries is to avoid the use of one summative-assessment point – for it increases the risk of failure – and instead explore more creative pedagogies for assessment and feedback to support student learning (gallagher, hipkins and zohar, 2012). though there is a plethora of publications on assessment that share good practice, knight and yorke (2003) argue that they tend to be mainly pragmatic and may lack extensive theoretical foundation. bloxham and boyd (2007) aim to rectify this through their work, which draws on current research and translates it into day-to-day practice. meanwhile, in the field of entrepreneurship, a study by pittaway et al., (2009) explored the national council for graduate entrepreneurship (ncge) database of research bibliographies, to find only three papers related to entrepreneurship assessment. it is therefore not surprising that, more recently, education has revived its attention to assessment in this area (vu and dall’alba, 2014), in an attempt to prepare students for a changing employment world. similarly, in the field of entrepreneurship, there have been recent studies: duval-couetil (2013) recommends that this is still an area deserving of study. it is in this context, therefore, that this study will explore assessment methodologies used by a group of enterprise educators working in uk universities. in particular, it will consider innovative practices used and challenges faced by educators in this area. assessment practice and challenges according to bloxham and boyd (2007), assessment needs to be challenging and demanding, so that the students exhibit a deeper level of learning; it also needs to have a focus on learning rather than just be a measure for learning (medland, 2014). equally, it is important both that teaching and assessment are integral and promote a package of learning to the students and that assessment is not just viewed as an afterthought in curriculum development, but is integral to learning (hea, 2012, medland, op.cit.). in most cases, students consider assessment to be the central focus of their activities over the actual course (james, mckinnis and devlin, 2002) leaving academics with the challenge of how to engage students in ‘assessment for learning’ beyond the subject content being assessed. brown (2015) would argue that curriculum designers must explore not only effective approaches to teaching and learning but also fit-for-purpose methods of assessment, so that learning is continuous between the classroom and assessment (vu and dall’alba, op.cit; boud and soler, 2015) and so that students can identify how assessment links to relevant activities (litchfield and dempsey, 2015). traditional assessment methods that rely on memorisation and reproduction (like formal, timeconstrained, unseen exams) are thought to promote the surface-learning approaches taken by articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 students rather than a deeper learning and understanding of course material (kearney, 2013; race, 2015). struyven, dochy and janessens (2005) suggest that such assessment methods assess the students’ memories, whilst more effective methods have the potential to measure qualities and skills that enable students to show what they have acquired from the course material and how they can apply it to live contexts. the challenge for academics is to make the assessment manageable, yet at the same time ensure it translates into the discipline of practice and extends the learning experience (brown, 2015) in the context of the discipline (boud and soler, op.cit.). one way of approaching this is through real-world tasks for the assessment that allow the students to continue their learning; such tasks are described by brown (op cit., 2015) as authentic. this type of assessment is widely regarded as being more valued than traditional assessment, as it encourages students to engage practically with the material in order to learn through application and develop their critical-thinking and problemsolving skills (research starters, 2014; litchfield and dempsey 2015). in addition, it has the potential to enhance students’ learning in preparation for the real world (vu and dall’alba, op.cit.). looking beyond entrepreneurship education in the uk, tan and ng (2006) report on problem-based learning in a singapore university being used as a strategy for entrepreneurship education, where the students are assessed on their critical thinking in the process of developing solutions, journal entries and the ability to work in a team. it is this non-traditional type of assessment that is becoming favoured in the field of entrepreneurship, as traditional forms of assessment ‘about’ entrepreneurship adopt more theoretically-based assessment methods associated with business models and start-ups rather the skills (rae, 2007). jones and penaluna (op. cit.) challenge the use of the traditional plan as a means of assessment: whilst they do not dismiss the use of the business plans for assessment, they suggest that being part of a coordinated mentorship programme would serve students better, since developing a stand-alone business from scratch can leave students disconnected with reality (falkang and albeti, 2000), especially if the plan remains untested at the point of marking. more recently, assessing ‘for’ entrepreneurship adopts more practical methods (pittaway and edwards, 2012). for example, tasks where students consider the planning of business ideas from concept to inception allow them to develop entrepreneurial skills and competencies in what is considered to be a valued and authentic assessment approach (honig, 2004); better still is assessing ‘through’ entrepreneurship, where students are able to run a real company in a safe environment, with the focus being on learning by doing (pittaway and cope, 2007). falkang and albeti (2000) further suggest that assessing through entrepreneurship must involve some in-course features to train students in the entrepreneurial skills that employers seek. pittaway and edwards (op.cit.) conclude that, whilst there appear to be some innovative methods in use, the assessment practice of most entrepreneurship educators still includes mainly traditional approaches. this study is set to challenge this notion through interviews with enterprise educators. methodology this study used a qualitative design with individual interviews as the method of data collection. full ethical approval was secured from the university prior to any approach to participants. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 research method and participants through a process of purposive sampling, participants were recruited from a population of ukbased enterprise educators attending an assessment workshop at an international enterprise educators conference. potential participants were contacted via email. this correspondence included full details of the research and a consent form for participants to complete and return, to indicate their willingness to take part. one criterion for inclusion of subjects in the research was their self-identification as enterprise educators. upon receiving the consent form, the researcher set up interviews with the twelve volunteering participants (n=12). interviews took place either in the researcher’s or participant’s office or on skype. using a semi-structured interview approach, all interviews lasted between thirty-eight and fifty-five minutes and were conducted by a single researcher to ensure research consistency (gratton and jones, 2010). the purpose of the interviews was to gather from the participants examples of the most interesting summative assessments that they had used in the field of enterprise/entrepreneurship. the following questions were posed to start the discussion: • what type of assessments do you use or have you used when assessing entrepreneurship? please could you give details of one summative assessment you have used that you deem to be the most innovative in your practice. • did the assessment assess the skills of entrepreneurship or the subject? most participants mentioned creativity in their responses, so a further question was asked about how they assessed the skill. • did the students seem to enjoy this type of assessment? • how manageable did you find the assessments and did you have any problems with them? • what are your views of the future of assessment in this field? all interviews were audio-recorded, allowing for files to be downloaded and then transcribed verbatim, using a professional transcription service. data analysis interviews were transcribed and key findings relating to the study’s objectives were amassed through an interpretive thematic analysis that followed the staged process advocated by braun and clarke (2006). following transcription, each account was read and re-read to familiarise the researcher with responses. the initial codes were systematically generated via the annotation of key words and associated phrases. themed data was then reviewed and refined to ensure that the collated extracts for each theme not only appeared to form a coherent pattern but also reflected the entire data set accurately. the use of the themes then guided the discussion, with any definitions being clearly outlined and final pertinent data selected and related back to the study objectives which had been originally derived from the investigatory literature discussed above. results and discussion the findings of this study show that assessment methods used in the field of entrepreneurship education tend to be a mix of traditional and non-traditional types of assessment. it would appear that enterprise educators like to explore non-traditional methodologies for assessment, but sometimes are confined to using more traditional methodologies, owing to time and classarticles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 size constraints. this discussion will first look at the skills competencies that participants listed within the interviews and then explore the specificity of assessments that participants considered to be their most innovative features. skills and competencies all twelve participants reported that the assessments described in the interviews were designed to foster students’ skills, personal competencies and attributes, and their development through the use of reflection, all in accordance with assessment through entrepreneurship (rae, 2007). five of the participants elaborated on the skills and attributes they sought and specifically mentioned such aspects as self-efficiency, resilience and ability to cope with changing environments that they aimed to develop within students and to reward with marks. educator 7 remarked: “i don’t get too worried about the skills side of things, it’s more the attitude. most of the skills we talk about are not complicated; i think it’s more about someone having the passion to do something” in addition, all participants reported that students’ being creative was a central part of their assessment in some way, although, when pressed to discuss how they actually assessed creativity, there was a mixed response. educator 10 suggested: “students may be able to come up with plenty of ideas but i would question if students were able to justify their choice of idea” (or, as educator 2 queried, “whether their idea will even work”). educator 6 said that he always got students “to reflect on their process of being creative, how they generated the ideas and how they chose one to use”. four of the participants said that they did not specifically aim to teach creativity or even use that term: instead they got students to ‘unlock’ the problems and come up with the solutions. “the assessment of creativity is a difficult one, so i simply don’t do it!” (educator 2). these findings are very much in line with those of jones and pennaluna (2013, op. cit.), who proposed that, within the business context, terminology such as ‘creativity’ and ‘innovations’ was very rarely used, never mind assessed. it is apparent that being creative and having the ability to develop solutions to subject-related problems is something that all enterprise educators are looking for in their students, but there are no shared or readily-describable ways to assess it. methods and approaches when presented with a list of different types of assessment prepared in advance by the researcher, all participants said they had used most at some point. the methods included using case studies, scenario-planning, portfolios, blogs, role play, youtube, business plans and games and presentations. educators 2 and 3 both suggested that they used essays to assess the theoretical side of the subject of entrepreneurship. this accords with rae (2007), who suggests that essays can be useful when wanting to assess students’ learning about entrepreneurship. exams, it was suggested, similarly have value. educator 3 added that their department used exams because of large class sizes. these two participants both acknowledged that such traditional formats can lend themselves to surface approaches and do not necessarily measure the qualities and skills that the course requires (dochy and janessens, 2005). they recognised that a move towards more appropriate methods would articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 allow for the students’ skills and competencies to be developed and, potentially, assessed. however, restrictions imposed by the university framework sometimes affected their choice of assessment. commonly-used methods: business plans the results also demonstrated that there is still considerable reliance on business plans as a method of assessment, which is suggested to be an assessment ‘for’ entrepreneurship method (pittaway and edwards 2012). educator 1 commented: “we use a business plan in the assessment due to the large numbers on the programmes as it’s easier to administer and work within the university framework.” five participants said they used a business plan as part of their module activity and assessment, although educator 8 indicated that the business plan itself was not the focus of the assessment; that was rather the defence of the plan in front of a panel of entrepreneurs, making it more authentic. furthermore, educators 2 and 3 both acknowledged that their decision to use the business plan in its traditional format was in response to the large numbers in the groups being taught. meanwhile, educators 11 and 12 stated that their reasons for the inclusion of assessed business plans were rather that areas such as marketing, finance and market reasons could, within them, be reported and demonstrated in a coherent and integrated manner. educators 1 and 10 both explained that in the past they had used business plans, but felt they were nowadays very much outdated, as students could pass the assignment without really learning anything from the assessment task; this accords with the work of penaluna and penaluna (2009). educator 1 said that she had started to utilise startup tools such as the ‘business model canvas’ (ries, 2011), which is a business template designed for supporting the development of new or existing businesses. she found this to be a more exciting method to use with students, adding: “i prefer to use evidence-based entrepreneurship, for example, techniques to look at customer discovery, so rather than [just] a business plan, you have a set of hypotheses that you test with customers, which is far more valuable that just looking at facts about the marketplace” educator 4 said that, though their department used a traditional business plan as part of the assessment, canvas models deployed within their teaching aided the students’ understanding of their business. furthermore, as jones and pennaluna (2013) suggest, the business plan approach would be better placed alongside a mentorship programme. educator 4 said that, as part of her module, she used external entrepreneurs (carey and matley, 2007) to mentor the students and, though this strategy did not form part of the assessment, the entrepreneurs brought a lot of value to the module and the students’ plans. so, whilst the use of a business plan might be deemed assessing ‘for’ entrepreneurship and still a more traditional method of assessment, it is evident that a change in the focus of the assessment can result in the adoption of a more authentic, ‘through’ method of entrepreneurship. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 presentations all participants reported using some form of presentation as part of their assessment – though the format of these varied between respondents – and, as with the business plans, attempts by academics to develop authentic assessment were more evident. variations on the presentation approach included the use of: a traditional ‘business pitch’ idea; creating a video pitch for a client; preparing an advertisement or tv show for their product/service; role play; pitching for crowd funding; pitching to entrepreneurs. these types of assessment are more closely linked to the real-world experience which meyers and nulty (2009) identify as one of the design points for authentic assessment. educator 6 reported on his attempts to introduce the use of ‘flash mobs’, but found it difficult to manage in line with university assessment regulations. there was also a general feeling that students enjoyed this type of assessment as it gave them opportunities to be creative in the production of the presentation and that this, by its nature, was a more authentic way to assess. educator 10 reported using an online crowdfunding site, where a traditional business pitch is applied, but where there is artificial money that the students allocate to the best pitches. the system is set up to represent a local economy, so not all groups will receive the required funding to launch their businesses; the final part of the assessment is a reflection on what happens next, given the result of the crowd-funding exercise. according to the educator, this assessment strives to develop students’ entrepreneurial decision-making and to measure the extent to which they think and learn within the assignment. a further example of variation on presentation was the use of ‘pitch deck’, which is a twelve-slide presentation giving an overview of your business. assessed reflection within this study it is clear that reflection also plays an important role in the assessment of entrepreneurship, with ten out of twelve educators using it at some point. for most, it was incorporated only as part of the module assessment alongside other approaches. educators indicated that, in their view, reflection should not merely be required at the end of the assessment, but take place throughout; it could also play a part in formative assessment. thus, students have opportunities to reflect, take action, learn and reflect again, cyclically within one assessment. educator 9 gave an example of an assignment where students reflect upon their choices of target markets and product as a result of speaking to potential customers. they decide whether to go with their product as it stands, make slight changes to it or develop a completely new product. five of the twelve participants were very clear that it is the journey and experience that needs credit through assessment, something possible, they argued, through reflection. “we need to assess how students reflect on their actions following their reflections” (educator 10) educators indicated that they considered that reflection needs to be incremental, iterative and formative, thus making the whole assessment a learning journey for the student and more authentic (brown, op. cit.), with students reflecting upon their learning rather than merely demonstrating it (duval-couetil, 2015). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 further innovative approaches in general, educators reported constraints of class size, resourcing and their university regulations when attempting to be more innovative in their assessment of entrepreneurship. educator 5 suggested that she was currently considering ways in which a student could come up with her own assessment, but one which would still allow her to fit to the university assessment regulations; such a strategy has been undertaken in the past, through a learning contract (knowles, 1986). this requirement for regulatory conformance, alongside timeconstraints and group size, seemed to be the main challenges to developing more innovative and authentic assessment in this area, although one participant argued that these should not be a barrier to innovation: “innovation will always be time consuming the first time you do it but if you get it right and plan ahead, it should not be a barrier” (educator 1) analysis of findings the following diagram (figure 1) is a conceptual mapping of the assessment approaches described by educators in this study; they are mapped against the ease to implement and level of authenticity. the analysis makes the assumption that the more authentic the assessment is, the less traditional the method, whilst the ease to administer and conform to university framework is inferred through these research findings. figure 1: conceptual map of assessment approaches against educators’ and authors’ perceived conformance to university framework this diagram is designed to help curriculum designers to make sensible choices about assessment-method selection, by exploring the trade-offs between ease of implementation and levels of authenticity. this evidence-informed analysis by the researcher proposes that articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 there is a potential ‘sweet spot’ where authenticity is high and where any challenges afforded by university regulatory constraints can be reasonably readily overcome. so, while multiplechoice questions can be regarded as low in terms of innovation, they are relatively easy to align with university systems and there is still some case value for their use in providing rapid feedback relatively easily. where aligning an innovative approach with university systems can seem highly challenging, there is value in dedicating time and effort to finding solutions to the quality-assurance hurdles. the challenge for educators is to find ways the better to integrate innovative assessment with university systems and to make more easily-integrated assessment more authentic; for example, by involving employers and other externals in assessments such as pitches (though such strategies themselves provide challenges in terms of inter-assessor reliability) or by using innovative formats within unseen exams, such as the in-tray exercises advocated by brown (2016), which present examinees with authentic dilemmas and tasks within conventional time-constrained settings and which require considerably more application of knowledge than straightforward recall. this study has challenged the notion that the assessment practice of most entrepreneurship educators is mainly traditional (pittaway and edwards 2012) and has provided clear evidence that some enterprise educators try to operate outside the boundaries of traditional approaches to assessment even though they are constrained by resources, class size and university assessment regulations. further research is required in this area – in particular the transferability of these assessment methods across different disciplines – as is further exploration of assessment design to create assessments that can be positioned in and around the ‘sweet spot’. conclusions enterprise educators in this study are clearly seeking to find ways to be more authentic in their assessments while managing regulatory requirements, with the suggestion that this area clearly needs extensive further study. assessment of entrepreneurship clearly needs to be part of a much wider dialogue on assessment, to ensure that assessment is a means of learning, not just a final summation of it. this research demonstrates that, notwithstanding constraints and challenges, innovation in the classroom and in assessment is, in many cases, at the heart of the enterprise educators’ practice and that dissemination and discussion of good practice is valuable to the academic community as a whole. the paper concludes with some recommendations for future practice in this area for academics, students and external practitioners, as well as in relation to the assessment design itself. it can be argued that academics need: • to explain fully to students the process and the authentic nature of the assessment; • to provide dialogic opportunities to discuss the purposes of assessment within a module (that is, is entrepreneurship demonstrated about or for or through the assessed practice?); • to develop the uses of technology to support effective assessment (for example, in giving fast and developmental feedback); • to ensure that assessment activities and tasks link back constructively to learning outcomes; • to consider the extent to which students can be involved through negotiation in designing the format and outcomes of assignments; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 • to achieve clarity for all stakeholders where academic content can be used to underpin practice; • to customise assignments, where possible, to fulfil the students’ individual needs. and that students need: • to adopt an active approach to their own learning and develop their assessment literacy, so that they understand the processes, practices and systems of assessment on their programmes; • to work in partnership with their assessors by seeking out, taking note of and using formative feedback to ensure enhancement of their practices and outcomes; • to recognise the value of diverse assessment approaches and methods, embracing sometimes unfamiliar or challenging tasks as a means of helping them to evidence their entrepreneurial capability; • to think beyond the mark given for an assignment by being reflective about their learning and self-development as experienced through assessment. and that external practitioners need: • to familiarise themselves with university systems and processes, so that the judgements they make align with requirements to maintain standards appropriate to the level of the ward; • to work closely in partnership with the academics teaching and assessing on the programme, to ensure shared understanding and to bring to assignments the authenticity that derives from live cases and real-world scenarios; • to engage with assessment criteria fully, so that their assessment decisions are based on evidence of achievement rather than ‘gut-reaction’; • to be unafraid to challenge their academic colleagues and the university when they feel that assessment tasks could be made more authentic. and that assessment design needs: • to make good use of external entrepreneurs and real customers at all stages of assessment, providing comments on task design, proposing ways of making assessment contexts more realistic, involving them in assessing and giving feedback to students and engaging with quality assurance and enhancement (for example, by reviewing and analysing student feedback on assessment); • to ensure integral assignment creditation of the learning journeys of students, allowing them to customise their assignments by bringing into their work relevant prior experiences; • to seek ways to ensure that feedback is informative, formative, and transformative, with the potential to change a student’s future behaviour and to build their entrepreneurial capabilities; • to offer reflective opportunities for all stakeholders, so that assignments are continuously refreshed and align with requirements of potential future workplaces. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 adopting and implementing these recommendations have the potential to transform substantially the assessment of entrepreneurship in global he. the benefits of doing so persistently and robustly are arguably so powerful that the inevitable hard work and resilience needed to bring them about is demonstrably justified. reference list bacigalupo, m., kampylis, p., punie, y. and van den brande, g. 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with a low proportion of bme staff and students such as the research site. it is anticipated that the findings of this research will add to the emerging body of national and international work in this area and assist in understanding the bme experience within the research institution and other uk higher education institutes (heis), and also universities and colleges in the wider european context. in particular, it will provide a firm evidential base for the development of institutional policy and strategy in this important area, with a particular focus on the learning experience and progression of bme students. in addition to various external calls for further research in this area, the necessity for institutional research into the bme student experience is reinforced by the basic statutory requirements in the uk imposed by the public sector equality duty and pursuant to the equality act 2010. background the research reported in this paper was internally funded with a principal aim of furthering current understandings of the experiences of black minority ethnic (‘bme’) students within higher education (he) and within the research institution. it was anticipated that the project would provide the opportunity to examine the particular nature of these experiences within the research institution with a view to using this information to develop university strategy in relation to key priority areas. implications for institutional policy and strategy and for the enhancement of the student experience and academic practice are a central concern of the research. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 2 there is a fundamental need for research into the bme student experience in he, particularly fine-grained institutional research. this is reinforced by the statutory requirements imposed by the public sector equality duty (pursuant to the equality act 2010). the new equality duty (which came into force on 5 april, 2011) replaces the three previous duties on race, disability and gender and extends coverage to age, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief and sexual orientation. under this duty, public bodies are required to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations in the course of developing policies and delivering services. the commission for racial equality (2002) (now merged into the equality and human rights commission) stated that higher and further education observance of the requirements of the race equality duty (now the equality duty) would, “create a positive atmosphere, where there is a shared commitment to value diversity and respect difference”. it is with reference to the equality duty in relation to race that the research reported here has sought to explore the experiences of bme students. in considering the implications of these statutory requirements, it is evident that there is a relatively small body of pedagogic research into the general bme student experience (see inter alia, jessop and williams, 2009; higher education academy and equality challenge unit, 2008; connor, tyers, modood and hillage, 2004; mai sims, 2007; ball, reay and david, 2002). whilst, there is a fairly solid body of work on bme access to he (see, inter alia, abbasi, 1998; modood and acland, 1998; modood and shiner, 1994; taylor, 1992), and an emerging body of work in relation to degree attainment of bme students (see inter alia, higher education academy and equality challenge unit, 2011; higher education academy and equality challenge unit, 2008) there is a less significant collection of work on the general bme student experience. the research reported here seeks to address some aspects of the paucity of qualitative study in this area. statistical evidence to date (such as the hefce report on student ethnicity, 2010) provides only a basic quantitative outline of the bme student situation. there is a need for qualitative research to ‘drill down’ into the potential issues to which existing quantitative studies point. the intention of the research project described in this paper has been to build upon the body of existing work on bme student experience. this includes osler’s (1999) work on the educational experiences of bme undergraduates in britain, the work of connor et al., (2004) on the influences on participation in he of minority ethnic students, that of givens, almeida, holden and taylor (1999), on the ethnic minority experience in initial teaching training, mai sims’s (2007) case study on student experience of diversity, jessop and williams’s (2009) work on the minority ethnic student experience in a small, mainly ‘white’, university and the more recent nus (2011) report on the experiences of black students in further and higher education. this need for research to address the experience of students whilst they are at university as well as in initial recruitment (read, archer and leathwood, 2003) is particularly compelling in relation to the experience of minority ethnic students on a campus with a low proportion of bme staff and students (givens et al., 1999; jessop and williams, 2009) such as the research site. there have been various calls for further research in this area particularly from government funded work. connor et al., (2004) call for further research and analysis into retention and degree performance of minority ethnic student groups. it is noteworthy that a project carried out jointly by the higher education academy and the equality challenge unit in 2008 recommends that specially commissioned qualitative research into the experiences of particular student groups could provide valuable intelligence to institutions. this present research, which commenced in september 2010, and which was commissioned and funded by the learning and teaching institute at the research site, addresses such calls. here, early findings are presented. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 3 research site, research objectives, and methodological considerations in spite of being a ‘new’ university, the research institution has a modest percentage of bme students and staff. this is probably a reflection of the university’s geographical location (jessop and williams, 2009). for 2009–10, the ethnicity of students known to be white stood at 93.1% of the current undergraduate student population. 4.8% of students declared themselves as black, asian or ethnic other which is significantly lower than the national benchmark of 17.8%. this figure of 4.8% is slightly higher than the ethnic minority representation within the local population. the 2001 census data for the area in which the research institution sits records an ethnic population of just 1.96% (ons, 2001). in spite of its proportionately low ethnic minority student population, the research institution has a christian foundation and has a commitment to diversity and equality issues including a well-regarded diversity festival which takes place on an annual basis. in addition, there are a number of student union societies which link in to minority issues, including an international society and an afro caribbean/multi-cultural society. the research was based on a multi-layered, qualitative exploration of the experiences of undergraduate bme students at the university between september 2010 and april 2011. it is important to note that this initial analysis of findings is to be considered against a dynamic and developing institutional context. in line with the project’s longer term dissemination strategy, it is intended that internal and external dissemination during 2011–12 will result in further consideration of the important thematic foundations in light of emerging pedagogic and policy-related research in this area. the findings presented here are based on an analysis of qualitative data gathered from seven undergraduate students across all of the campuses within the research institution who self-certified to be of bme status. it is recognised that this is a necessarily small sample and as such was never intended to achieve full generalisability. it is considered that the data collected has provided a vital addition to basic statistical data and as such has provided an important representation of the subjective experiences of the participating students rather than being determinative of a ‘single objective reality’ (osler, 1999). data was collected by means of two focus groups and six individual semi-structured interviews. two of the students (fg1a\ssi3 and fg1b\ssi6) participated in both the focus groups and the semi structured interviews. table 1 provides a brief overview of the individual students’ biographical details using individual codes. in line with current discussions in this area, it was considered important to allow students the freedom to determine personal ethnic identity and as such a particular category of ethnicity was not requested of the students nor was nationality questioned beyond british or international. in particular, following on from cousin’s (2002) work in relation to ethnic classification and the difficulties of alienating students through specific categorisation, it was felt prudent and important to provide participants with as much flexibility as possible in this regard. the researchers employed a reflexive approach to this research and as such considered their position as white british researchers. it is recognised that many such studies have sought to ensure that interviews should be carried out by an ethnic minority facilitator (givens et al., 1999). it has been suggested that research carried out by an individual with an ethnic minority background will encourage students to identify with that researcher and the result is a sharing of experiences (osler, 1999). however, in relation to this project, it was considered that the researchers’ attitudes, values, skills and approach were more important than ethnicity (givens and bennett, 2004). nevertheless, a bme research assistant was a fundamental part of the research team throughout the focus group and interview process. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 4 table 1 student codes and brief details code nationality gender/status participation fg1a/ssi3 british female/undergraduate focus group/semi-structured interview fg1b/ssi6 british female/undergraduate focus group/semistructured interview fg2a international male/undergraduate focus group fg2b international female/undergraduate focus group fg2c international female/undergraduate focus group ssi1 international male/undergraduate semi-structured interview ssi2 british male/undergraduate semi-structured interview ssi4 british female/undergraduate semi-structured interview ssi5 british female/undergraduate semi-structured interview initial findings the research findings are outlined and discussed in relation to eight key themes which have emerged from analysis of raw data: a. belonging/togetherness: the implications of institutional ethnic diversity in relation to student perceptions of belonging and togetherness. b. academic experience: the academic experience (including curriculum development and content) of bme students. c. student experience: the wider student experience (including extra-curricular activities, the development of friendships, the provision of university facilities and services and experience of the relevant locality) in the context of ethnicity. d. differential treatment: participant experiences of less favourable treatment linked to bme status (including racism). e. equal opportunities initiatives: the subjective and objective considerations of participants in relation to institutional equal opportunities initiatives. f. segregation: issues of segregation and differentiation arising from ethnicity targeted initiatives, societies and groups. g. early education: the distinction between early and university education in the perception and development of the bme student experience. h. employability: the perceptions of bme students in relation to future employability. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 5 belonging/togetherness it would appear that for those bme students participating, neither the diversity of the student body nor the staff demographic impacted on their decision to study at the university. this is not entirely in line with existing research in this area (nus, 2011; osler, 1999). however, it should be considered whether those already choosing to study at a predominantly ‘white’ university are those who would be concerned with a diverse demographic in any event. in this regard, it is suggested that further research as to those who decided not to study/or continue to study at the university would provide more representative data. whilst an analysis of the raw data found that the ethnic demographic was not a factor in choosing to study at the university, it was clear that most students felt that a diverse student/staff representation was important as a means of sharing experiences and gaining knowledge of other cultures as well as encouraging widening participation. the predominantly ‘white’ demographic within the university was something of which students became acutely aware on commencing study. in some cases this led to both transient, and in others long term feelings of isolation and lack of belonging: “when i first came here for the first month or first week i did find it a bit weird because i was the only one in our class i think there are only a couple more asians in our class...there wasn’t just one main group and i think that was one of the first shocks i got. i think i was a bit shocked when i first...i know it sounds a bit weird but i was...i was shocked when i first came in.” (ssi2) the impact of the ‘white’ demographic was particularly pronounced in relation to the experiences of international students. it was felt, however, that there was little the university could do to promote ‘belonging’ in this regard other than encouraging a wider bme visibility on campus. academic experience in relation to the bme academic experience (including curriculum development and content), most participants considered the university to demonstrate a commitment to the mainstreaming of ethnic diversity issues throughout the curriculum. some participants did express the view that bme issues were not naturally included in their course and that issues were not satisfactorily followed up. most of the students considered that it was objectively beneficial to include diversity issues in course content in order to promote the sharing of knowledge and experience. however, whilst some students clearly felt comfortable in discussing such issues in class as part of their course, others felt awkward and considered that class discussions regarding ethnicity had added to their feelings of isolation detracting from a sense of ‘belonging’: “you feel like you are being targeted [participant laughs]. it is the same with other groups because they say it is real uncomfortable for them as well to talk about it, because it is so negative to go on about those topics or about the feelings and we don’t want to be saying stuff that will offend you and stuff like that but...” (fg2b) other participants claimed that they did not feel a strong sense of their ethnic identity and were able to detach themselves from discussions regarding ethnicity within their course. compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 6 student experience when considering the wider student experience (including extra-curricular activities, developing friendships, the provision of university facilities and services and the experience of the locality), most of the participants felt their ethnicity had had little impact on their overall student experience. most participants felt that their bme status had had little influence on the development of their friendships. however, one student reported that she had a predominantly minority ethnic group of friends, but considered that this had occurred naturally rather than by design. the only issue which was raised in relation to the facilities provided by the university was the lack of halal food provided by institutional catering. differential treatment whilst the methodology used was necessarily underpinned by discussions of potential differential treatment, in line with existing work in this area participants were invited to explore experience of less favourable treatment due to bme status (including racism). encouragingly, none of the participants considered that they had suffered from any overt form of racism due to their ethnicity and most considered that they had not been treated in any way less favourably. however, in line with some existing studies in this area, some students felt that their peers and staff would sometimes modify their behaviour towards them for fear of appearing racist: “there is hardly any like ethnic minorities around, people are so scared of accidentally being racist or anything so if they say anything there is always like a glance at me to see if like people are going to... if i am going to react or whatever but i never do, obviously i never do because they like don’t mean it or they just trying to like i don’t know what the expression is but there are just tiptoeing around me constantly.... i think that is that they...i am not sure.. i think that they do not want to like appear racist even if they are not the chance that they might appear is like scary for them.” (ssi5) one student felt that she had actually been treated more favourably by tutors due to her ethnicity. in particular, she provided evidence that on occasion she perceived that she had been singled out for a welcome by her tutor whilst in a lecture hall due to her ethnicity. only one student provided evidence of a situation which she believed may have amounted to less favourable treatment by a peer due to her race. this international student related how she had approached another woman who she had recognised from a previous selection day on her first week at university. the woman had appeared awkward and reluctant to engage with her. however, this student was unclear whether she considered this to have amounted to racism or less favourable treatment. in such circumstances it is important for the researcher not to impose their perception of the situation on to that of the participant. the view was also expressed that equal opportunities initiatives aimed at promoting equality on the grounds of ethnicity could be counterproductive and result in segregation and the paradoxical promotion of differential treatment. we must be careful not to generalise in this regard. whilst it is encouraging that participants considered they had not suffered direct racism, this should be seen in the context of the recent nus (2011) study in which one in six of those students surveyed considered that they had experienced racism in their current educational institution and in light of institutional data relating to complaints of racism. equal opportunities initiatives when questioned about the equal opportunities initiatives in place within the university, most students were not aware of any specific initiatives aimed at bme students; although a couple of students referred to the existence of the institutional diversity festival. most students considered that such initiatives would objectively compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 7 be of benefit but none related this to their own personal experience or expressed any dissatisfaction with their perceived lack of such initiatives within the university. a recurrent view was that if there was no problem within an institution then there was no need to have equal opportunities initiatives in place. some students considered that having obvious initiatives in place would promote differentiation and segregation (a theme which is explored further below) segregation a theme which developed from a consideration of differential treatment and equal opportunities initiatives was the clear concern of bme participants that they did not wish to feel segregated by their ethnicity particularly in relation to targeted groups and societies. this has been an emerging theme in many of the more recent studies in this area and it is an issue which any hei must pay heed. most participants had a general awareness that institutions tended to have societies and groups geared towards bme students but were vague regarding the specific provision available within the university. none of the students appeared to participate in any such societies or groups. a variety of reasons were provided for this disinclination. in particular, participants appeared to be averse to defining themselves by their ethnicity and would much rather join societies and groups based on their individual interests: “personally i wouldn’t join that because i am not just a muslim and i am not just asian i am not just those things. i wouldn’t....i am a female and i wouldn’t join a group because i am a female... i would join a group because i would be interested in it...not because of what i am. it is because it is something i would enjoy doing.” (fg1a) some students were concerned that such groupings would lead to differentiation on the basis of ethnicity and therefore prove to be a tool of segregation: “at the same time you are segregating yourself from everybody else if you just sort of put yourself in to the hall with the same kind of people you are not experiencing somebody else’s culture and somebody else’s views you are just segregating away from that i think.” (ssi3) in spite of this, some participants felt that such societies could objectively (rather than personally) prove beneficial in order to promote a forum for the sharing of knowledge and experience. this was felt by some non-international students to be particularly important in relation to international students and those without a family network. all such observations were from a detached viewpoint. only one student expressed a personal desire to participate in such societies and groups and he expressed the concern that such provision should not become divisive. a related point to this theme regarding segregation is that students appeared reluctant to participate in this research. this may be due to the concerns expressed above regarding an unwillingness to be defined by ethnicity and a distrust of targeted discussion of bme issues across the university generally. early education many of the participants discussed their experience of the university in terms of contrast to their previous educational institutions. it became clear that those students who had attended schools and colleges in london had very different views to those who had been previously educated in the local vicinity to the university. ball et al., (2002) have previously expressed the view that in their london based research project, students viewed he from a ‘london perspective’. those students from the london area expressed the view compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 8 that their previous institutions had been noticeably more culturally, religiously and ethnically diverse than the university: “i went to a school in inner city london so there was so diverse and you know so many people from different backgrounds it didn’t really kind of...equal opportunities don’t really come in to effect because it was just everyone was a student. here it is different...it is a predominately white university.” (fg1b) another london originator felt that the contrast in ethnic diversity within the university to their previous experiences had impacted upon their sense of belonging and their early ability to make friends: “i think with school it was quicker for me to, i don’t know, make friends in the first few months, whereas in university i think i found it quite hard for the first few weeks or was it a few months, so yeh.” (ssi2) those students, who had attended schools in the north relatively close to the university, expressed very different views. both students who offered information on the locality of their schools felt the university to be far more ethnically diverse than their previous institutions. such students suggested that they felt that this higher profile diversity was of benefit as part of their student experience: “i think it is better in university than at school in the fact that i was…probably me and my brother were the only asian people in our school so it was highlighted that you are a minority whereas here it is...you blend in you don’t...it’s not that you feel like you are a minority or anybody points it out whereas when i was in school it was more like the asian girl over there but here it is not like that which you are really pleased about.” (fg1a) employability a theme which emerged from the initial student focus groups was that of ethnicity and future employability beyond university. it became clear during the primary focus group that, whilst students had a strong perception of equality within the institutional context, there was a corresponding sensitivity that this would not continue beyond university into future employment. this bore out the evidence from studies, such as osler (1999), in which students had addressed their mind to the possibility of discrimination in employment. however, in osler’s (1999) study it was only those who had early experience of discrimination who expected their ethnicity to have any direct impact on their employability. in this study, almost all of those interviewed (even though they expressed no experience of discrimination) perceived their ethnic status would have a bearing on their future careers: “personally i would say if i left university and i got a job i would feel that i had less of an opportunity of getting a job over a white person, over the majority because i am a minority i would feel like they probably would hire the majority over somebody like me, generally.... i just think it is a general factor that say in law which is the career that i wanted to be in, there is a lot less ethnic minorities than say the majority in law, in the real sector...” (fg1a) this theme was further explored in the semi structured interviews with participants. all participants except one felt that their ethnicity would have an impact upon their future employability. most perceived that their bme status would have a negative bearing on their future prospects: “the job market is quite hard to get in but i think that still if i wanted to go into a certain type of job then i might have to… i think my ethnicity probably would hinder me but hopefully when i do get on the job market it will be a lot more focussed on equality.” (ssi6) compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 5, 2012 9 implications for student engagement, enhancement of the student experience and academic practice early examination suggests that there are a number of important issues emerging which have implications for institutional policy and strategy in areas that have a bearing on student engagement and experience, and on academic practice. in particular, feelings of isolation and differentiation have important implications for the development of strategy and policy within the university, especially in relation to the promotion and development of specific initiatives aimed at bme students, including internationalisation and widening participation. this research has necessarily sought to provide some pointers to implications for student engagement in two areas of importance within the research institution; namely, academic practice in faculties and academic departments, and policy and practice in central service departments. these include: (i) curriculum development and learning and teaching practices; (ii) transition strategies and induction practices; (iii) student retention and achievement; (iv) staff development and awareness raising; (v) approaches to marketing; (vi) recruitment and promotional activities; (vii) provision of academic support services; and central and local strategies for widening participation and internationalisation. having identified several pointers towards further discussion and future action within the research institution, it is clear from the growing body of work in this area, that any steps taken in relation to the development of policy and practice aimed towards enhancing the bme student experience and academic practice must be carried out in a subtle and cautious manner. in particular, singh (2011) in his synthesis of research evidence enforces the fact that interventions based on such research must be carefully driven to avoid ‘reinforcing stigma, which may result in negative outcomes’. indeed, most researchers in this area advocate inclusive practice and policy development which is directed at all students and thus does not stigmatise bme students as being separate. this is particularly important when considering the project findings reported above in relation to feelings of isolation and segregation. as stated by singh (2011), such inclusive initiatives will hopefully provide a clear foundation for the development of pedagogic strategies which will range across a variety of social variations. institutional policy and subsequent action will need to take full account of this. in conclusion, this is a discourse which will necessarily grow and develop in the future. this project has sought to contribute to this emerging dialogue and should be considered in its particular institutional context. as is increasingly accepted in this area, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to the emerging issues. every institution faces its particular and unique challenges. in addition, one must be careful not to generalise in relation to the findings of any one particular study. equally, categorisation in itself is fundamentally flawed and bme undergraduate students cannot be considered to be a homogenous group. however, what is clear from this present research and the project upon which it draws is that there are numerous issues which have the potential for further exploration both from an institutional perspective and also in relation to future potential collaboration. the distinct experiences of international students, feelings of segregation and isolation, and bme student perceptions of employability, are amongst these. one could argue that in this particular context the journey is most definitely as important as the eventual destination. references 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(1992) ethnic group data and applications to higher education. higher education quarterly, 46, pp. 359–374. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 experiential learning: the field study trip, a student-centred curriculum laurence pattacini university of sheffield abstract drawing from student-centred learning theories, this paper identifies key issues related to active participation of students, collaboration and independent learning. it draws from the author’s experience of developing and delivering a student-centred curriculum delivered around a field study trip. it explores approaches to active and experiential learning in higher education through the various stages of the curriculum development and the identification of the pedagogical benefits. the student-centred curriculum is part of a professional, accredited course in landscape architecture. the field study trip is an opportunity to explore the topics of study actively and in real settings and to learn through hands-on experience – essential to form professionals challenged with making places through planning and design. more generally, the field study trip module is an opportunity to understand the practicalities of embedding experiential learning approaches within higher education. quotes gathered through an online inquiry provide insight into students’ perception and experience. keywords: experiential learning, active learning, student-centred, co-learning, field study trip. the field study trip: a catalyst for experiential and active learning this paper, drawing as it does from the author’s experience in developing and delivering a student-centred curriculum based on a field study trip module (part of a landscape architecture course), illustrates how to engage students in their learning; it provides a practical example of active learning, as promoted in higher education (he) since the publication of dewey’s seminal book (1938). the student-centred approach to learning and teaching is the subject of numerous research publications and a key principle in contemporary educational ideology (gibbs, 1981; brandes and ginnis, 1986; bonwell and eison, 1991; brown wright, 2011; barret, 2010; slavich and zimbardo, 2012). it is associated with ‘active learning’, which prince (2004, p.223) defines as “any instructional method that engages students in the learning process”. within this broad definition, educational research presents such varied learning approaches as peer-assisted, collaborative, cooperative, problem-based or inquiry-based projects (bishop and verleger, 2013). some researchers group these various learning and teaching principles under the framework of ‘transformational teaching’ aiming at enhancing the students’ knowledge and personal development (mezirow, 2000; slavich and zimbardo, op.cit.). active learning is inherent in the teaching of professional, accredited courses and, more specifically, designfocused courses. the education of design professionals is a complex business, as it combines learning and teaching theoretical principles and their application in practice. it also tries to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 encourage experimental thinking and personal development (brown et al., 1994). the curriculum is delivered through projects discussed and tested in the design studios, using tutorials and reviews (kuhn, 2001). such method implies the integration of multiple skills and knowledge areas; it also aims to encourage a professional attitude to learning by promoting independence, leadership, critical reflection and judgement (maudsley and strivens, 2000; rishbeth, 2007). reflecting on the field study trip module is an opportunity to explore a practical application of experiential and active learning principles and to provide an example of a studentcentred curriculum. experiential learning is championed as a successful and desirable alternative to more traditionally prescriptive and rigid ways of learning (kraft, 1990; kolb et al., 2000). it accords with contemporary discourses on empowering students and putting more emphasis on learning processes rather than passive delivery of knowledge (zuber-skerritt, 1992). though there are issues related to the universality and transferability of knowledge acquired through personal experience, there is common agreement that learning through experience has an important role to play in education (fenwick, 2003). publications related to geography (kent et al., 1997; healey and jenkins, 2000; hope, 2009) argue particularly well that field study trips are ideal for illustrating successful practices in experiential and active learning. field experience can contribute to more positive attitudes towards and feelings about a topic; it energises students and produces long-lasting learning benefits (falk and dierking, 1997; rishbeth, op.cit; nadelson and jordan, 2012; myers and jones, 2015). freire’s study (2012), related to teaching landscape architecture, suggests that field study trips should play a more important role in design courses and, more specifically, in those in landscape architecture. owen (2006), in his conceptual mapping of thinking context and processes, explains that design is concerned with understanding forms in relation to their effectiveness for functionality and utility as well as their appropriateness in relation to social and cultural factors. the field study trip offers a unique opportunity to experience forms and spaces; it enables students to explore and review the impact and qualities of existing landscape designs; it provides students with a formative experience for developing their design knowledge, understanding and skills. designers are makers: experiencing places enables them to feed the process of synthesising “what they know [with] new constructions, arrangement, patterns, compositions and concepts that bring tangible, fresh expressions of what can be” (owen, op.cit., p.17). visiting existing built environments and design projects is essential to developing an understanding of professional practice. however, in most instances, field study trips are noncredit-bearing components of modules or are often offered on an optional basis outside teaching hours and considered as ‘leisure time’ (freire, op.cit.). in the case study explored in this article, the field trip at the beginning of the third year is integral to the undergraduate programme. it is distinctive because the one-week field study trip abroad is the main component of the module and all the assessments revolve around the trip. it is a unique distinctive feature of our course, which appeals to students. “the field trip was, in fact, one of the reasons i chose to come and study here, at the university of sheffield, as it is a great opportunity to see yet another country and how landscape practice works. “ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the students’ voice evidence of the students’ perception and experience is provided through quotes selected from comments received through an online inquiry emailed to the third-year cohort in the academic year 2016-2017, once the module was completed. the standard post-semester student evaluation forms (mainly a tick-box exercise) do indicate that the module was well received and offer just a few quotes – students rarely add comments to reflect on their experience. the email, an open enquiry sent out after ethical approval, sought specific feedback and included the following prompts: • what was the most successful learning experience for you? • has the field trip changed your view of the course and the profession? • how did it change your understanding of the relationship between theory and practice? the resulting responses, representing the views of about a quarter of the student cohort that year, have allowed the students’ voice to be embedded in this study – an insight into their understanding and experience of the curriculum. student-centred curriculum the field study module draws on all the skills and knowledge acquired in the first and second years, but is mainly delivered through hands-on experience outside the university. the informal learning and teaching experience is one of the assets of field trips but the success of that experience depends on the engagement of the participants and encourages involvement through ownership. ensuring ‘a mutually-held purpose’ is essential (rishbeth, op.cit., p.68). for these reasons, the curriculum is designed primarily round self-directed tasks – linked to the field trip experience – rather than lectures, workshops or seminars and design tutorials, which are the dominant features of the landscape architecture course. support is provided for activities during the trip and for the assignments, but the curriculum is led by students. it is developed applying the principle that the teacher is no longer the instructor and sole agent to deliver knowledge, but, instead, a guide and facilitator. a student-centred curriculum fits well with the increasing drive towards empowering students and the promotion of more independent and self-directed learning (merriam, 2001). this approach is more engaging and can be more inspiring (healey and jenkins,op.cit.). the module coordinator offers support through resources and guidance. the brief, which provides the structural framework, is introduced and discussed in seminar-style sessions. the module coordinator supports students in their learning, encouraging critical thinking, but also ensuring the application of academic good practice and controlling quality of learning through assessment (kent et al., 1997). the structural framework is built around various assessed activities to capture the learning outcomes and share the findings. the activities are developed following inquiry-based approaches, providing choices, promoting independence and encouraging students to take responsibility for their learning, making them aware of themselves as learners (healey and jenkins, op.cit.; bressinger and carfora, 2014). this approach is articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 particularly relevant to our students, who are training to be designers and therefore aiming to develop a unique and original style for their work. the student-centred approaches chosen to deliver the field study trip module are also responding to he’s wider learning and teaching strategy of enhancing students’ experience. the more tailored approaches contribute to a more inclusive learning community and celebrate differences and individuality. this includes students’ participation in the decision-making process to enhance their experience of the trip and ensure their full engagement with the selfdirected activities. the students are also asked to contribute to the assessment, so as to increase their awareness of the learning and teaching processes, to empower them and to encourage reflection through peer assessment (falchikov, 2007). structure and content the main component of the module is a five-day field trip to europe, in which we explore and critique contemporary issues related to landscape architecture projects. the aims of the module are: • to develop students’ understanding of contemporary issues and key challenges in european landscape architecture and planning practice; • to develop a better understanding of how general trends and developments in landscape architecture have been used in specific cultural and spatial contexts; • to enable students to undertake independent research and exploration on specific projects in the city visited; • to introduce students to professional practice across europe. as a student-centred curriculum, the module promotes a collaborative learning environment that stimulates dialogue between students and the tutor. this includes discussions as well as regular, two-way, student and tutor feedback through presentations during the trip and reviews in the department. it is stressed at the outset that different perspectives must be respected and that individual, personal interpretations and approaches are welcome. each of the tasks set as assignments promotes experiential learning approaches and draws from learning methods described in literature (laurillard, 2012). this includes different ways of learning through acquisition using inquiry, independent research and activities, as well as reviewing, analysing and reflecting on experience. the module’s learning and teaching principles also draw from gibbs’ principle of “linking the doing and the thinking” (gibbs, 1988, p.9) and the three steps advocated by myers and jones in their (2015) paper providing guidance for “effective use of field trips in educational programming”. this is summarised in table 1. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 1: field study trip activities linked to experiential learning theoretical principles field study trip planning model of activities planning for experience increasing awareness reviewing and reflecting on experience pre trip during trip post trip • destination choice • preparation • research • documentation • physical experience • observation • reflection • exploration • record • analysis • discussion • critical thinking • reflection • illustrations • communication • presentation • review • assessment the assessment criteria are constructively aligned with the learning outcomes of the module, which are: • to develop skills to collect data, review literature and analyse informationthat bridge academic and professional practice outputs; • to analyse existing landscape projects and reflect on the challenges of ‘contemporary landscape architecture practice in europe; • to experiment with techniques for project research, analysis, synthesis and evaluation through a range of written and visual media to be handed in digitally; • to develop professional working practices through oral presentations and production of a digital portfolio consisting of original visual material. the tasks related to the assessment are varied and enable students to explore various skills and demonstrate a wide range of abilities. the assessment of the tasks set in the brief is a recognition and validation of the importance and impact of experiential learning in the delivery of our professional, accredited course. the assessment tools are chosen carefully to emulate the requirements of professional practice and include a digital portfolio – to be uploaded online – and a pecha kucha-style presentation, both common practices in design-related professions (forde et al., 2009). each assignment is assessed, on content and presentation, against the learning outcomes mentioned above and summarised in table 2, together with the relevant assessment criteria. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 table 1: field study trip assignments and assessment criteria field study trip assessment tasks and criteria assignment tasks assessment criteria 1. independent research document (two a4 single-sided, pdf format) research exercises: general issues related to the urban context e.g. historic development, social, planning. individual specific sites should include: • a brief description of the project (size, type, functions, clients, designers) • relevant drawings to understand the project (location plan, plan, section, sketches) • analytical drawings related to original conceptual ideas and design rationale • representative photographs • the quality of the research carried out on the general issues and specific sites related to the destination of the field trip; the information provided must be from reliable sources (please, no reference to wikipedia or travel guide) • the extent to which you are able to communicate the key aspects of the topic using visual material • the standard of graphic communication, including layout of the two a4 pages following the templates provided • appropriate referencing; source material that isn’t original, including images and all material obtained from the internet, must be properly referenced using the harvard referencing system 2. digital field trip portfolio including original visual materials produced in situ; this should not exceed eight pages • scan of your sketch book • annotated drawings (plans, sections, perspectives) • social analysis with observation drawings focusing on ‘people’ and the use of the places visited • analytical drawings related to scale, texture, light and shade, thresholds • evaluation, thoughts and personal reflections in sketch format or short text • the quality of the analysis and discussion of the sites visited during the field trip • the extent to which your sketches translate the specific character of the places visited including social aspects (life within these spaces) • the standard of graphic communication, including layout and originality (the submission for this second assignment should be available on the web, with link provided as part of the submission. it can be part of your portfolio or an independent digital document.) 3. powerpoint presentation to students in the department, pecha kucha style presentation: two minutes, four slides • the choice of the material presented to convey the character of the place(s) to the audience • the quality of the content and delivery of the oral presentation rethinking student roles: collaboration and engagement the field study trip curriculum outside the trip itself is delivered mainly through seminar sessions and self-directed assessed activities designed to empower the students in their learning. guidance and scaffolding measures are provided to encourage collaboration and facilitate the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 independent learning process, so encouraging the development of skills important to the creation of lifelong learners (hmelo-silver et al., 2007). the list of the various tasks included in the module is summarised in table 3, set against scaffolding measures put in place by the tutor and responding to key principles related to student-led curriculum development. table 2: field study trip activities linked to student-led curriculum principles stages activities and tasks scaffolding measures student-led curriculum principles pre-trip choosing destination • proposing destination • choosing the destination • fixed number of slides for the powerpoint presentation to propose destinations • list of required information: diversity of landscape architecture projects; costs within fixed budget • empowerment • active involvement • personal initiative • ownership trip preparation • independent research exercise on a topic or project related to the destination of the field trip • compilation of all the research submissions in one pdf document to take on the trip • list of information required • proforma provided for consistency of final pdf document • inquiry-based activities • self-directed learning • collaborative trip introduction to places visited • students share the information collected through their research exercise; • questions and discussions on site • time framework • supervision by staff • cooperative learning • dialogue • peer-assisted learning exploring – observing – surveying – mapping and drawing on site • guidance and tutorials provided by staff • discussion • possibilities to ask questions • independent learning • inquiry-based learning • collaborative learning post trip develop personal experience of the field trip in a digital portfolio • reflection • analysis • interpretation • documentation • representation • guidance and tutorials provided by module coordinator; • q and a sessions • group discussions on exemplars of previous submissions • peer assessment • active learning • peer-assisted learning • collaborative learning • independent learning • individual independent experience • peer review articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 pecha kucha presentation – sharing personal experience and interpretation with the department learning communities • limitation on number of slides and time • programme and organisation • peer assessment • peer learning and review • collaborative and sharing a student-centred learning and teaching approach implies greater involvement of students in the delivery of modules. they are given many opportunities to voice their opinions and share their experience. throughout the module, the students are adopting different roles, as described in the sections below. students as decision-makers: collaborating with the students is considered from the outset of the module. students are asked to make choices and participate to the decision-making process to promote meaningful student involvement. rather than imposing a destination for the field study trip, they are asked to do their own research and introduce potential destinations to the class through a short presentation, with illustrations of significant landscape architecture projects and a rough costing, including transport and accommodation, in relation to a fixed budget. the module co-ordinator contributes to the discussion and provides additional information whenever possible. the tutor retains the responsibility to veto some destinations, in relation to such non-negotiable issues as safety or cost, because the ultimate responsibility to deliver the trip lies with the department. following the presentations, the students vote and the destination with the highest number of votes is chosen. having a role in deciding the destination conveys a sense of ownership, which is valued by students: “firstly i think it was very valuable that we had the 'freedom' to choose our own destination and places we want to or should go as landscape architecture students.” students as co-producers of knowledge: going on a field study trip is a shared experience during which both students and tutors discover and learn new things. rishbeth (op.cit., p.69) refers to this experience as ‘co-learning’, which implies more engagement and collaboration in the curriculum delivery – hence the decision to engage the students, pre and post trip, in the production of course reference material. the first assignment consists of a research exercise on key topics related to the destination and key landscape architecture projects that will be part of the itinerary. the module co-ordinator draws up a list, from which the students choose the topics or places they want to research. guidance is given on the format to ensure consistency, as this forms the reference document related to the destination, providing knowledge for the participants in the field trip; it is also disseminated to other students in our department, who might wish to undertake an independent study trip to that destination. during the trip, students are asked to introduce the topics they have researched, such as the history of the city, social aspects, planning strategies or a specific landscape architecture project that is part of the programme. these presentations contribute to articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the delivery of the learning outcome, with the students providing the background knowledge and contextual information to complement the exploration in situ. through the research exercise, they acquire valuable information about the city and places visited; they become the experts. the students can access further information through the written reference document or by asking questions of the student(s) presenting. the knowledge acquired during the trip is shared more widely through the pecha kucha-style presentations during which the third-year students share their personal experience with the rest of the department during two lunchtime seminars. originally, the rationale for these very short illustrated presentations was to facilitate bottom-up events where designers could share their ideas and passions with others. it is therefore highly appropriate for a student-centred curriculum and has proven to be a “useful presentation style for students” (miller beyer, 2011). students as professional designers; digital portfolio as explained by mokhtaria (2015), the portfolio encourages active learning and self-reflection and increases the involvement of the learner – principles compatible with the experiential learning approach and, therefore, appropriate to use as the main assessment tool for the study trip module. the student develops her/his portfolio – structured around a topic – from individual experience of the trip, thus using personalised material to disseminate her/his experience, findings, interpretations and personal reflections. “i think it was also valuable that we could look at specific topics we were interested in, which motivate us to learn by ourselves, instead of learning unilaterally from lectures.” in the context of design professional practices, portfolios are used to demonstrate abilities and style. a portfolio reflects the creativity of its author and showcases her/his work (forde et al., op.cit.). the choice of a digital submission in the form of a web link is also related to professional requirements, as, in our digital age, publicising skills on line has become a necessity for professional success. the focus is on original illustrations based on drawings produced during the trip. the aim is to encourage students to initiate the process of developing material for their end-of-studies portfolio, which will help them secure their year-in-practice placements, a requirement of our professional, accredited course. this non-standardised assessment method is also a way of celebrating individual personality and personal skills. it promotes ‘personal growth’ and is particularly valuable for encouraging and stimulating students who are not top academic achievers (mokhtaria, op.cit.). the more open-ended and lessrestricted approach offers possibilities for using means of expression other than written text – of benefit to our international cohort of students. through the topic chosen, each student reveals her/his personal interest in and sensitivity to landscape. “creating my own brief enabled me to look at the landscape in my own way and this approach allowed me to explore my own topic hands-on through how i individually saw the landscape. this was really beneficial to my understanding especially when looking at how to develop my future projects.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 students as co-assessors engaging students in the assessment process encourages them to be more responsible and introduces them to the use of assessment criteria and judgement of quality and standard. involving the students in assessing the quality of the work produced encourages reflection and increases their sense of responsibility within the module (falchikov, op.cit.). in the field study trip module, the role of the students in the assessment process is directly linked to their personal experience and judgement through the process of voting and attribution of extra points to the mark allocated by the module coordinator. for the research document part of the preparation for the trip, the students are asked to vote for the most useful pages of the reference document and the most informative on-site oral presentation. the voting exercise for the pecha kucha presentation at the end of the module involves a larger group, since the lunch time events are advertised widely within the department through posters and email messages. the members of these seminar audiences vote for their favourite presentation, which is given extra points. in the context of a professional, accredited course, the skill of presenting projects efficiently – to client or community groups – is extremely important. audience perception and appreciation, as reflected in their assessment of an oral presentation, are therefore crucial to a student’s development. (a few students on our course informally raised issues of validity, feeling that there were not enough control measures. this particular concern was addressed by inviting the student-elected year representative to assist the module co-ordinator in the counting process. this ensured transparency and a certain degree of student community ownership of the final result.) the portfolio is a valuable assessment method, but it does raise issues of comparability (mokhtaria, op.cit.). a thorough process of moderation is required, to ensure validity and objectivity of the score allocated to this assessment. as part of the introductory seminar, previous-year works are used to facilitate discussions and exploration of this assignment to engage students in the assessment process, but this remains informal. introducing a more formal peer assessment – whereby students are paired and work together to critique and peerassess their submissions – might be explored. if the pairing were carefully engineered to bring together international and home students, further coherence and integration might well be achieved within the group. long-term learning: educational benefits of the field study trip curriculum active and collaborative field study trips break potential barriers and blur differences between the learner and the teacher (rishbeth, op.cit.). the neutral environment outside the classroom enables the participants to get to know each other better. this can help communication and dialogues, as well as provide an insight into the students’ views on the curriculum. it builds cohort cohesion, thus fostering retention and enjoyment throughout the studies. a field trip is a memorable experience, which lasts (freire, op.cit.). it is stimulating and enables the questioning of concepts and principles through the exploration of places. in the specific field of landscape architecture, it is a unique opportunity to confront the students with real projects and, on some articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 occasions, offers the possibility of meeting professionals who can explain their designs and answer questions. resilient and dynamic one of the main components of the field study trip is travelling to and exploring a european city. this in itself is a learning experience requiring organisation and preparation. it is an opportunity for students of all backgrounds to explore new environments, cultures and traditions. within the reassuring structure of the daily programme of visits, students are stimulated to engage with exploration, observation and reflection. this is a dynamic process and requires adaptability. the novelty of visiting new places and studying them is a great antidote to the risk of fossilisation of learning and teaching. it is also the best way of grasping the complexity and unpredictability of our changing physical environment. it is also an engaging way of sharing knowledge, as the place of learning is changeable and unpredictable, owing to weather conditions, events and experience. adaptability and flexibility are skills valued in our changing world. self-directed learning processes and opportunities for individual decision-making promote resilience, so that students are better equipped to adapt and thrive in practice. inclusive our cohort of students has become over 50% international and issues related to internationalisation are topical in learning and teaching debates. inclusive approaches are essential and the field study trip is an ideal medium for achieving them, for it provides the opportunity for a “meaningful and mutually supportive experience which is an essential part of the learning process” (de vita, 2000, p.175). it also fosters “student development of intercultural adaptability” (voley and ang, 1998, p.21) for our multicultural cohort, the field trip is a great leveller in a situation where all students are foreigners and do not speak the local language. it is a more egalitarian domain, where cultural differences do not stand out so much and the distinction between ‘home’ and ‘international’ becomes redundant. in some cases, international students demonstrate greater confidence as they are often more experienced travellers. furthermore, being abroad and on unfamiliar territory creates a sense of solidarity within the group and enables greater interaction, especially during free time. however, the student-centred approach to the field trip module offers challenges to some, as it departs from the more traditional tutor-led model, with which, in their own countries, they might be more familiar (de vita, op.cit.). there being able to approach the tutor to ask questions in a more informal way and sharing responsibility for information provision may serve to address this issue, by illustrating to less confident students the benefits of participation and contribution. in order to address reticence related to independent learning methods, each activity is carefullystructured and guidance is provided. there is also a contrast in the amount of freedom offered by the two main assignments: the independent research exercise has strict guidance and is structured around a proforma to ensure coherence, whilst the second – post-trip – assignment celebrates individualism by encouraging in each student personal interpretation and reflection, as well as independent style of representation. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 discussion the field study trip module is a good, effective medium for facilitating practical experience and reflective observation, both important to the divergent learning style associated with art-anddesign-related activities (kolb, 1984). it responds to the need – identified by research into landscape architecture education – for developing strategies for integrating theories and principles with practice (brown et al., op.cit.; freire, op.cit.). as demonstrated above, it can be an ideal tool for applying experiential and active learning principles through a student-centred curriculum. the students engage well with collaborative activities such as discussions and peer reviews and the trip itself is a great opportunity to facilitate collaboration. sharing the experience of a trip abroad is a great team-building activity and the shared memories are a great conduit for discussions and interaction. such a learning experience of the field study trip empowers students with knowledge that will feed into the rest of their studies and professional experience. “the field study trip also made me aware of how the theories of urban planning, sustainable housing and ecological design could be applied […]” some students found the student-centred and experiential approach challenging. those who might lack confidence and motivation do not necessarily welcome principles attached to student-led learning approaches, such as independence, collaboration, peer review and empowerment. for example, in our experience of the first assignment, some did not grasp the importance of their independent research exercise, which was intended as the means of producing a reference document essential to the group as a preparatory introduction to the places the students would visit. the lack of strict instructions for the portfolio also posed problems for some. however, based on the achievements of the students over the three years this module has run, independent learning activities do enable students to build their confidence. this is illustrated by the fact that they successfully complete the module with good marks and stand confidently in front of a wide audience to share their personal experience at the end of the module. it demonstrates that empowerment can build self-confidence and assertiveness, essential qualities for design-related professions. the module has in general been well received by the students, as reflected in their feedback comments: “i really enjoyed the process and i am happy with the outcome” (international student). a student-centred approach requires greater time investment and effort in preparation, for example to provide explanatory notes and presentations to create the right mindset for students fully to embrace this approach to learning and teaching. it also demands a greater diversity of formative and summative assessments, in order to ensure that all students will be given opportunity to engage successfully, throughout the module, with the process. it is also administratively heavy – for example, the outcome of the votes needs to be processed and the grades changed accordingly. yet, ultimately, the time investment is worthwhile if it facilitates a transformative, more active approach to learning. it is to be hoped that students will, by following the field study trip module, have gained independence and skills for long-term learning. for some in our department, it has enabled fuller engagement with landscape architecture issues. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 “through trips i look at and appreciate the landscape in my free time and i can really see how theory has been applied.” “thoroughly enjoyed the trip abroad great to have a student-led trip” the review of the specific experience of the field study trip module illustrates the possibility – and potential value – of embracing a more active style of learning and teaching and celebrates experience, exploration and direct involvement. this is particularly beneficial for courses aiming to train future design professionals. through experiential learning, they are encouraged to adopt a more professional attitude to their studies. the emphasis on shared experience and personal responsibilities is also very helpful in strengthening the identity of the student cohort. acknowledgements the author acknowledges the help provided by sally brown and clare rishbeth in preparation of this paper. the author also wishes to thank the two 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(2012) ‘transformational teaching: theoretical underpinnings, basic principles, and core methods.’ educational psychology review, 24(4), 569–608. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23162369 (accessed: 10 november 2018). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23162369 case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 developing a bme student advocate programme helen barefoot, cage boons university of hertfordshire abstract in 2017-18, the university of hertfordshire designed and implemented a bme student advocate programme to support an institutional objective to reduce the attainment gap. working in partnership with hertfordshire students’ union, ten advocates were appointed to work with each of the academic schools. depending on the needs of their academic school, the bme student advocates carried out different activities which included: holding focus groups with bme students; representing bme students at school meetings; challenging the assumptions of staff members; critiquing curricula and the promoting race equality. benefits for staff members included: having an advocate with whom to discuss inclusive practice ideas; receiving feedback about bme student experiences; being challenged on assumptions; forming student-staff partnerships. staff within the university valued highly the advocates’ work and, recognising its impact, the university has fully funded the programme for the next academic year. keywords: bme, advocates. introduction this case study provides an overview of our experience of developing a black and minority ethnic (bme) student advocate programme to support our institutional objective to reduce the attainment gap between white and bme students. with over 24,500 students, including more than 3,700 students from 134 different countries, the university of hertfordshire has a very diverse student body, of which students from bme backgrounds make up approximately forty-five per cent. for over twenty years, it has been known that the proportion of bme students achieving a ‘good degree’ (first or upper second class) is significantly lower than the proportion of white students (broecke and nicholls, 2007; berry and loke, 2011; equality challenge unit, 2017). through the work of the university’s ‘student performance and monitoring group’ (spmg) the university identified and investigated the performance gap between white and bme students. we have also taken part in national programmes to help us understand the challenges and the national context: • 2009 hea summit programme on bme attainment. • 2011 hea inclusive cultures project. • 2015 hea cross-institutional project with the university of wolverhampton and kingston university. • 2017-2019 hefce-funded collaborative project to use value added scores and inclusive curriculum discussions to drive change. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the early higher education academy (hea) projects (2009, 2011) helped us to develop our arguments and provide evidence to senior members of the university about the importance of taking an institutional approach to reducing the attainment gap. we made an institutional commitment to set an equality objective to reduce the bme attainment gap (“aim to reduce the attainment gap by ten percent”). since 2009, and following successful initiatives at institutional level, we have reduced the attainment differential by ten percentage points (attainment gap between home/eu white and bme students in 2009 = 27% and in 2017 = 17%). institutional activities have included: • university committee away days to raise awareness; • implementation of anonymous marking; • an annual learning and teaching conference with the theme of bme student success; • encouragement of staff to attend ‘unconscious bias’ training (over 700 staff members have attended); • development of an inclusive teaching strand of our curriculum design toolkit https://prezi.com/cibiptp5pa3d/curriculum-design-toolkit/ (barefoot, 2012; barefoot and russell, 2012). institutional activities tended to focus on staff development and it had been a challenge to achieve real student engagement in discussions about the attainment gap. the ‘student voice’ was recognised to be missing in much of our activities. to help address this, we formed the bme student success working group (bme sswg) in june 2016. this group had a very diverse membership and included staff and students from all ten academic schools, as well as staff from professional units within the university. the group, as part of its work, reviewed a number of data sets from within and beyond the university and found that, for almost all measures (e.g. degree attainment, employment as evidenced through destination of leavers of higher education (dlhe) data, academic confidence and academic misconduct), the outcomes for bme students – and black students in particular – are somewhat bleak. sharing this data with bme students on the working group was difficult, but it was important for all members of the group to understand fully the context and the issues. when considering data from their academic schools, student members of the group made particularly thoughtful contributions to the discussion. we certainly gained valuable insights from their voiced experiences, which challenged the thinking of staff members and helped them to appreciate student perspectives. in particular, a black student member of the group from the school of humanities was confident enough to share challenging experiences of racism and micro-aggressions and, rather than being angry or depressed about the data, he suggested that we employ bme students to lead change: “i wanted us to have a visible presence on the campus and to ensure we communicated about the attainment gap to allow more students to engage in the discourse”. this led to the co-development, by the chair of the working group and a student member of the group, of a bid for a learning and teaching innovation award (£7k) to fund a bme student advocate programme. https://prezi.com/cibiptp5pa3d/curriculum-design-toolkit/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 literature review why the title ‘bme student advocate’? hearing the ‘student voice’ is central to university activities, yet within our initial work to address the bme attainment gap, we focused on staff engagement and communication with our students’ union, rather than working directly with our students and listening to their experiences and opinions. within the uk higher education (he) sector, student-staff partnership work has developed as an evolution of ‘student voice’ work. our university is wholly committed to student-staff partnerships and we have produced resources for the sector to support student-staff partnership ventures (jarvis et al., 2016b, 2016c and 2016d); it was therefore sensible to develop the bme student advocate project as a student-staff partnership endeavour. as discussed by jarvis et al. (2016a.), “student-staff partnership is a concept that is defined in different ways and has a number of purposes and practices. it generally involves students and staff working together in a way that is different from the established teaching and learning relationship in the institution”. rather than focusing on students’ being coresearchers or co-creators of learning and teaching activities (healy et al., 2014; cooksather et al., 2014) our project considered the importance of student-staff partnership to hear the ‘student voice’, (czerniawski and kidd, 2011) (especially the voice of students from bme backgrounds) and acted to develop students as ‘change agents’ (dunne and zandstra, 2011), who, through discussion and input to meetings/committees/advisory groups, would stimulate actions to reduce the attainment gap. although we hoped that our bme student advocates would stimulate change, we did not feel that the term ‘change agent’ would be appropriate, as their role would also encompass a supportive remit – one of the objectives of the role being “to create safe spaces so that bme students in the schools are able to voice any concerns, seek guidance and support and share their experiences of studying at uh”. another objective was “to promote race equality and be role models for other bme students” and hence we could have considered our students’ acting as ‘allies’ – a role which is frequently adopted within social justice activity. allies, according to collier (2002), stand against injustice, give voice to the poor and actively respond to social oppression. the ally tends to have relative social power or privilege and stands against injustice directed at people who lack such privilege (deturk, 2001; adams et al., 1997). within he, examples of the use of the term ‘ally’ have been associated with heterosexual students working as advocates on lbgtq issues (broido, 2000; washington and evans, 1991) and white students addressing racism (bourassa, 1991). as ‘allies’ have tended to belong to different cultural groups from that which they support (and, within our project, we wanted to encourage students from bme backgrounds to apply for the role), we decided against the term ‘ally’ and instead, at the suggestion of the vice president, education, of our hertfordshire students’ union (hsu), chose the term ‘advocate’. we felt the title of ‘advocate’ to be appropriate, as we wanted our bme student advocates to represent bme students and to be able to raise issues associated with race equality with people in positions of power. both of these activities are included in the oxford english dictionary’s definition of an advocate: case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 “a person who pleads for or speaks on behalf of another; a person who supports, recommends, or speaks favourably of another” (oed, 2018). “a person who supports, recommends, or speaks in favour of something, esp. a proposal or doctrine” (oed, 2018). development of the role descriptor a key objective for the bme sswg was to understand further the experiences of students from different ethnic backgrounds; creating the bme student advocate project was seen as one of the ways to address this. learning from similar schemes at other universities and recognising the importance of our advocates’ being excellent role models for other students (nus, 2009), we worked with our hsu vice president, education, and the student member of the working group who initially suggested the idea to develop a role descriptor. it was very important to do this in collaboration with our students’ union, as we wanted the role to complement other student representation activities and not be seen as conflicting or competitive. drawing on elements of the university of birmingham’s ‘bme student ambassador scheme’ (university of birmingham, 2017) and kingston university’s ‘curriculum consultant’ project (kingston university, 2017), we identified the following objectives for the advocates: • to create safe spaces so that bme students in the schools are able to voice any concerns, seek guidance and support and share their experiences of studying at uh; • to support the careful dissemination to students of data associated with the bme attainment gap; • to facilitate dialogue with staff members, so that the issues which may be faced by bme students in the schools may be addressed; • to represent bme students and raise issues of concern or ideas for change at school meetings, workshops or other fora; • to promote race equality and be role models for other bme students; • to work with staff to improve the inclusivity of their curricula. implementation and methods of recruitment in october 2017, we employed ten bme student advocates, each working with one of our academic schools. they were interviewed by a panel made up of the chair of the bme sswg, our race equality project officer and our hsu vice president, education (again in recognition of the importance of working in partnership with our students’ union). the job advert did not preclude anyone from applying for the role and stated that applications from students from under-represented groups would be welcome. interestingly, no white students applied for the role and, of the ten students appointed, nine students were black and one student was asian. the group of advocates included seven undergraduate students as well as three postgraduates and five of the total were international students. there were five female and five male students. the diversity of the group was hugely beneficial in itself, as their experiences, which they shared with the working group, really influenced the thinking of staff members. the advocates were employed as ‘casual’ workers on hourly-paid contracts for up to four hours a week during term time. the advocates were managed by our race equality project case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 officer who collected and processed their weekly time sheets. this officer communicated very regularly with them all, arranged monthly meetings with them and was the first point of contact for any queries. we designed sweatshirts for the advocates so they would be visible within their schools and accessible to students who wanted to talk to them. they also had their own information and contact cards (figure 1). figure 1: copy of cage boons’ information and contact card. the advocates received three formal development sessions to develop specific skills (table 1). table 1: development sessions for the bme student advocates training aim of the skills training conductor of the training curriculum consulting to have confidence in reviewing teaching materials/module guides/assessment briefs etc., in relation to how inclusive the materials are, and then to guide staff members on how to enhance their materials to improve the inclusivity of their curricula. leader of the curriculum consultant project at kingston university plus one of the kingston student curriculum consultants ‘unconscious bias’ training to enable advocates to become aware of their own biases as well as of conscious and subconscious biases of others, which they may encounter when speaking with staff and students. (the training also provided guidance on how to talk about biases and to challenge biased language and behaviours.) university’s head of equality public speaking to enable advocates to develop their confidence as public speakers and to develop skills to lend authority to their voice and message, especially with people in positions of authority. a member of the university’s board of governors, who runs this type of training for individuals in the private sector. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 activities and impact of the bme student advocates the advocates identified their specific work activities according to the needs of their academic school and negotiated/agreed this with the staff member of the bme sswg representing the school. the advocates were also all members of the bme sswg and attended its monthly meetings. amongst their activities, the advocates held focus groups with bme students (to enable us to understand better the experiences of certain groups of students), represented bme students at school meetings, challenged the assumptions of staff members, critiqued curricula, gave presentations to staff and students and promoted race equality (figure 2). bme advocates have met with managers and subject group leaders to challenge them on the lack of inclusivity associated with race within curricula and have met with deans of schools to ask about actions their schools are taking to address attainment gaps with programmes. “the most significant impact i’ve had as an advocate was for the dean to accept my ideas and implement inclusive curricula actions across the school” some of the advocates also worked closely with our careers and employment service to consider how best to promote diversity schemes to bme students and to connect with successful bme alumni. figure 2: some of the activities carried out by our bme student advocates during the academic year 2017/18. feedback from staff about the activities of the bme student advocates has been very positive. advocates met with staff members in different roles within their schools and feedback from working group staff members indicates that the conversations the advocates facilitated have stimulated ideas and actions for members of the schools. “our advocate has opened up conversations about issues of race and ethnicity in a mature and constructive manner. he has not been afraid to raise difficult or sensitive issues on case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 behalf of the students” associate dean learning and teaching, school of health and social work. staff members of the bme sswg each produced a ‘school report’ which reviewed actions within the school as well as provided details about the interactions and engagement with their advocate. the reports all identified the approachable nature of the advocates and their willingness to meet with students and other staff members within the school. the reports identified the benefits of sharing ideas with their advocate as well as receiving informal feedback about the experiences of bme students within their schools (see table 2). the advocates also produced a report on their activities and identified benefits of the role (see table 2) as well as challenges they faced. table 2: benefits for staff and advocates benefits for staff benefits for the advocates having an advocate with whom to discuss inclusive practice ideas leadership skill development receiving feedback about bme student experiences gained understanding of a sector-wide agenda being challenged on assumptions and opinions empowerment in discussing race forming student-staff partnerships ability to process, synthesise and disseminate data the advocates’ self-evaluations recognised common challenges: of encouraging students to attend focus groups; of encountering logistical difficulties in arranging times to meet with staff members; of lacking wider awareness of the role. the pro vice-chancellor (education and student experience) recognised the benefits of the advocates when she invited one of them to present at a networking event for pro vicechancellors. she has also invited all the advocates to be members of her student advisory panel. the advocates have made such a positive impact that they were recognised within the recent hertfordshire students’ union awards as ‘change makers of the year’ (hsu 2018) and were also nominated as ‘team of the year’ within the university’s vice-chancellor awards (uh, 2018). it is evident that the role has been very beneficial in terms of personal development and employability for the advocates. “i’ve developed my communication skills as well as my ability to work independently as i had to use own initiative to set goals for myself and for my school”. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 limitations and conclusions although most bme student advocates carried out their role exceptionally well, three advocates were unable to fulfil their role as well as expected. there were various reasons for this: 1. despite persistence by the advocate, staff members in one school were reluctant to meet with the advocate. 2. the change in personal circumstances of one of the advocates meant he could no longer easily travel to the university. 3. one of the advocates stopped communicating with the project officer and the chair of the working group and hence did not fulfil her role. aside from these specific issues, which in future we will monitor more closely, a common issue that all the advocates faced was difficulty encouraging bme students to attend focus groups to discuss their experiences. in future, we shall work closely with staff members to identify key times and places where our advocates can speak with students and we shall promote the focus groups more effectively. other challenges that the advocates faced included staff members’ not acknowledging the attainment gap within their schools/programmes and staff members’ being reluctant to discuss race equality. closer collaboration with the staff member of the bme sswg and support from the staff member to challenge these attitudes will help the advocates to tackle such issues. the full impact of the work is difficult to measure, but our hopes that the project would increase conversations about race and enable a better understanding of bme students’ experiences have certainly come to fruition. we hope that the advocates will empower other bme students and that this may become evident in confidence in contributions within the classroom, increased numbers of bme students who choose to stand as programme representatives and perhaps more bme students elected as hsu officers. we shall work with hsu to measure programme representation and election submissions. in our initial funding bid, we suggested that, if the advocate project were to be successful within the first year of implementation, the bme sswg would look for further funding (internal or external) to ensure the sustainability and growth of the programme. we are very pleased to report that the university has recognised the value of our bme student advocates and has agreed to fund ten more posts for the academic year 2018/19 within our student success commitment. we have also received inquiries from a number of other uk universities requesting details on the programme and at least two of these are implementing a similar scheme from september 2018. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 reference list adams, m., bell, l.a. and griffin, p. 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(2016d) higher education academy university of hertfordshire strategic enhancement programme: engaged student learning. building student-staff partnership in educational practice. hatfield: university of hertfordshire. available at: http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/c1a04a759518716b80257fd30045e28b/$file/ hea%20-%20uh%20partnership%20case%20studies%20%20final%20v3%20june%202016.pdf (accessed: 3 august 2018). kingston university london (2017) new figures cement kingston university's role as sector champion in nationwide bid to close bme attainment gap. available at: https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/1971/15-nov-2017-new-figures-cement-kingstonuniversitys-role-as-sector-champion-in-nationwide-bid-to-close-bme/ (accessed: 3 august 2018). national union of students (2009) race for equality. available at: https://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/race-for-equality/ (accessed: 3 august 2018). http://escalate.ac.uk/8242 https://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/equality-in-higher-education-statistical-report-2017/ https://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/equality-in-higher-education-statistical-report-2017/ https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf https://www.herts.ac.uk/link/volume-2,-issue-2/student-staff-partnership-in-learning-and-teaching https://www.herts.ac.uk/link/volume-2,-issue-2/student-staff-partnership-in-learning-and-teaching http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/52c1be0031b2344980257fd30045f257/%24file/uh%20staff%20student%20partnership%20resource%20-%20final%20-%20march%202016.pdf http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/52c1be0031b2344980257fd30045f257/%24file/uh%20staff%20student%20partnership%20resource%20-%20final%20-%20march%202016.pdf http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/52c1be0031b2344980257fd30045f257/%24file/uh%20staff%20student%20partnership%20resource%20-%20final%20-%20march%202016.pdf https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/university_of_hertfordshire.pdf http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/c1a04a759518716b80257fd30045e28b/$file/hea%20-%20uh%20partnership%20case%20studies%20-%20final%20v3%20june%202016.pdf http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/c1a04a759518716b80257fd30045e28b/$file/hea%20-%20uh%20partnership%20case%20studies%20-%20final%20v3%20june%202016.pdf http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/0/c1a04a759518716b80257fd30045e28b/$file/hea%20-%20uh%20partnership%20case%20studies%20-%20final%20v3%20june%202016.pdf https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/1971/15-nov-2017-new-figures-cement-kingston-universitys-role-as-sector-champion-in-nationwide-bid-to-close-bme/ https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/1971/15-nov-2017-new-figures-cement-kingston-universitys-role-as-sector-champion-in-nationwide-bid-to-close-bme/ https://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/race-for-equality/ case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 oxford english dictionary (2011) definition of ‘advocate’ (noun). oxford: oxford university press. available at: http://www.oed.com/view/entry/3022?rskey=jr3yqm&result=1#eid (accessed: 3 august 2018). university of birmingham (2017) equality scheme 2016-2020 advancing equality, valuing diversity. available at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/university/12145-theequality-scheme-2016-2020-aw-web.pdf (accessed: 4 april 2017). university of hertfordshire (2016) student performance and monitoring group annual report. hatfield: university of hertfordshire. washington, j. and evans, n.j. (1991) ‘becoming an ally.’ in: evans, n.j. and wall, v.a. (eds.) beyond tolerance: gays, lesbians, and bisexuals on campus. washington, dc: american college personnel association, 195-204. isbn: 9781556200885 http://www.oed.com/view/entry/3022?rskey=jr3yqm&result=1#eid http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/university/12145-the-equality-scheme-2016-2020-aw-web.pdf http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/university/12145-the-equality-scheme-2016-2020-aw-web.pdf case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 improving the attainment gap of direct entry chinese students – lessons learnt and recommendations dawn reilly, wenxian sun, iwona vellam, liz warren university of greenwich abstract the expansion of chinese articulations – which offer chinese students the opportunity to study in the united kingdom (uk) by permitting direct entrance into the final year of an undergraduate study programme – has provided a financially-attractive market. however, it has also raised concerns that these students do not have the same student experience as their peers and so may find it more difficult to attain a good degree classification. the culture shock – in terms of the impact of day-to-day life contrasts between the uk and china and the different pedagogical approaches of these two nations – creates additional barriers unique to these students. this case study therefore outlines experiences from two departments within a post-1992 business school that has been recruiting students via articulations for thirteen years. the study highlights the journey towards adopting new approaches to teaching these students and thereby reducing the attainment gap. it thus offers an insight into which initiatives have proved successful and which ineffective and outlines plans to reduce the attainment gap further. the purpose of this study is to share our experience of creating conditions that support student success. introduction internationalisation of higher education (he) is a strategic initiative at many uk universities (soliman et al., 2018). the higher education statistics agency (hesa) (2018) reports that more students from china than from any other overseas nationality study in the uk; nearly a third of all non-european union (eu) students studying in the uk in 2016/171 were from china, with 102,772 chinese students studying predominantly at postgraduate (pg) level (56%2), but with a significant proportion at undergraduate (ug) level (38%3). the hesa (2018) report notes that the subject discipline which is most popular with the chinese students is business, recorded at 47%. the three top sub-subject areas of the 18,185 chinese students studying on ug business programmes are: business studies, with 29%; accounting, with 22%, and finance, also with 22%. this case study is set in the context of the accounting and finance (af) and systems management and strategy (sms) departments within the business school of a post-1992 university; however, we also outline some school-wide initiatives. both departments recruit some chinese students to ug years one and two, but more of them to ug year three, under articulation agreements with chinese institutions. in 2005, the business school recruited from china eight chinese direct entry students (cdes), but, by 1 the 2018 hesa report provides data for the academic year 2016/17. 2 this includes taught and research. 3 the remaining 6% were reported as on non-degree programmes. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 2017, this number had increased to over 400. here, we set out the extensive experience and insights we have, since 2005, gained from teaching cdes and evaluate current practice regarding support for them. literature review this case study highlights the attainment gap between chinese students coming to the uk after studying in chinese institutions and the student cohort in general. studies on the attainment gap are not new; for example, mcduff et al. (2018) document the gap between the attainment of students from black and minority ethnic (bme) backgrounds and that of their white peers, according to an initiative carried out by kingston university. within the bme student population, mcduff et al. (op.cit.) note that chinese students perform the best, albeit still less well than white students. however, they focused on uk-domiciled students, whose uk entry qualifications could be measured and for whom secondary education was comparable and language not an issue. the expanding number of students from china studying in uk universities has attracted researchers to explore the unique characteristics of this body of students relative to the overall cohort. unsurprisingly, willis and sedghi (2014) observe that chinese students do not comprise a homogenous group. nevertheless, they do face common challenges in the uk, such as the requirement to listen, read and write in english, their distance from family, culture shock, and ‘learning culture shock’. wilson (2009) emphasises how students are encouraged to embrace criticality and debate in the uk context, which differs dramatically form the rote-learning style to which they are accustomed. in a longitudinal study of accounting and finance ug students, crawford and wang (2015) observed that chinese students outperformed uk students in year one. however, this situation was reversed in years two and three. crawford and wang (op.cit., p.917) explain that “… subjects in the second and final years demand deep and strategic learning approaches which chinese students fail to develop”. this finding presents a serious challenge to any he institution recruiting chinese students directly to year three of a uk degree programme. tran (2013) suggests that the confucian tradition of passive learning, which prevails in china, can be overcome through exposure to a new and active approach, but this takes time and students require understanding and support during the transition. recruiting students directly into year three means the opportunity to prepare them is very limited. some examples of how we achieve this are set out in this paper. first, we explain how we have introduced measures to prepare cdes for their study at a uk university before they enter the programme. second, we set out our approach to teaching and assessment methods on year three direct entry programmes in an effort to reduce the chinese attainment gap. third, recognising the enriched learning environment which internationalisation affords to all students, we discuss how we have promoted positive and supportive interactions between chinese students and their peers. finally, we reflect on our current practice and set our plans for further improvement. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 background as previously mentioned, the business school has been, since 2005, recruiting students through articulation4 agreements with china and, in 2017/18, recruited 428 new cde students. the departments discussed in this case study face some common problems and some unique ones. the af department has been offering articulations for longer, but takes on a smaller group of students than the sms department. the accounting degree is highly technical and results in professional accreditation, so cdes joining the af department have to understand not only general business english but specific accounting language also. meanwhile, the sms department recruits the largest group of cdes in the university (343 students in 2017/2018). the experiences of these two departments therefore provide a valuable knowledge resource concerning teaching strategies appropriate to the facilitation of student success. in addition, this study is highly relevant, as both departments teach the most popular subject areas selected by chinese students: business studies, accounting and finance. within the two departments an attainment gap for cdes remains, but it has been significantly reduced over time, to the benefit of both the cdes and continuing students. in the af department, where we have a specialised programme, the attainment gap in relation to good honours was, for 2017/18, 16%5, whereas six years ago it was 24%6. if we consider the more general business sister programme in the sms department for those with an interest in accounting, there was an attainment gap of 1% in 2017/18 compared to 18% three years ago7 when recruitment started. an attainment gap in the specialist programme therefore remains – if significantly reduced – and the attainment gap in the non-specialist programme has almost disappeared. however, we need, over the next few years, to monitor the attainment gaps to ensure continuation of the diminishing trend. findings and discussion the case study reflects on six areas perceived as critical to reducing the attainment gap and improving the student experience for cdes: activities before the students join the programme; the induction process; programme content; programme delivery; language used; and support given. 1) activities before joining the university in most cases, as part of business school articulation agreements, we help to prepare cdes by sending uk university lecturers to teach in china. this provides students with an opportunity to practise their language skills with uk teaching staff. students also experience the pedagogical approach used in the uk, helping to move students’ expectations away from passive learning (tran, op.cit.). although this has proved a useful approach, it does not address issues such as culture shock, the weather and food, all of which create anxiety upon 4 “an articulation agreement involves a formal link between the university of greenwich and an external partner, providing a guarantee that one or more cohorts of students who achieve an agreed standard in a programme at the partner institution will be able to progress to a particular stage of an award-bearing programme at the university of greenwich, provided there is a close curriculum 'fit' for articulation purposes. students may gain an exit award from the partner at the point of transfer to the university, although this is not always the case.” (http://www.gre.ac.uk/collaborations/prospective/partnership-models) 5 it should be noted that the % good honours classifications for the cdes is still at an excellent level but is simply not as high as that for continuing students. 6 the earliest data set we could access. 7 three years were used here as a comparison, because one of the programmes is only four years old. http://www.gre.ac.uk/collaborations/prospective/partnership-models case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 arrival in the uk. in 2017/18, therefore, as part of a school-wide initiative, we operationalised the so-called ‘one term project’, with the aim of allowing chinese students to experience and reflect on the inter-cultural aspects of their learning alongside their subject-specific courses. for the project, we recruit students from china for a single semester, whilst they are still undertaking their studies in china, selecting those expected to return to the uk institution in the future to undertake a year three entry programme. they study english intensively for nine weeks and take year one academic courses relevant to their chinese major. in addition, they engage in weekly activities designed to introduce them to living in the uk. this initiative has proved popular, attracting 50 students in term one and 130 in term two of the academic year 2017/18. we shall not know whether the initiative successfully alleviates the issues mentioned above until the students return for year three. 2) induction both departments offer bespoke induction weeks to introduce cde students to university systems, such as the virtual learning environment (vle)8 we provide, and to meet each other and their lecturers socially. we have also embedded some subject content into our induction period. this is supported by university ambassadors, who were previously cdes themselves. induction weeks can be anxiety-provoking for cdes, many of whom have never left china or their families before, and so ambassadors provide vital help with translation and offer a peer-to-peer support system. in addition, with the assistance of ambassadors during induction, the af module leaders introduce their final-year modules. this ensures that the cdes understand the content and methods of assessment, allowing them to make an informed choice about which options suit their strengths and learning styles. for example, af highlights that the audit module requires a large amount of independent reading and that the taxation module is heavily calculationbased. to enable students to perform well, the af department also revises prior learning before the students begin their final-year modules. for example, revision of financial analysis is covered by an early term one assessment and this presented problems for the cde students. the induction team now, therefore, offers support in this area to enable cdes to understand and participate in the module from the outset, improving assessment outcomes. provision of access to a supportive student community, which integrates cdes into the existing cohort of students during induction, is vital. in the af department, there is a teambased pedagogical approach used to connect the cdes with the continuing students. however, in the sms department, the cdes receive support from the sms student community, who work very closely with the chinese students, offering mentoring services through various self-organised events (including ‘buddy talk’ and christmas and chinese new year celebrations). 3) programme content in both departments, programme content has been considered to ensure an inclusive approach. one example in the sms department was the requirement for module leaders to update case studies used in their teaching to incorporate country-and culture-specific examples. for instance, when talking about online shopping and the related logistics and supply chain management issues, the case study of 'black friday' was changed to 8 the dedicated training on vle during induction is essential to closing the attainment gap, because it enables the cde students to access information and material in the same way as continuing students. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 'double 11 day', the most popular online shopping day in china. the more familiar context meant cdes understood the topic more readily. in their original form, the af specialised programme and the non-specialist sms sister programme used an existing accounting module designed for professional body accreditation. the cdes in the sms9 department had experienced, prior to their studies, assessment and teaching styles that differed from those on the specialist af programme. a new module was therefore designed to include the required level of content whilst also ensuring that diverse learning styles and previous experiences were accommodated. 4) delivery of the programme an active approach to teaching can be challenging for chinese students, who might be described as “passive, shy and unwilling to ask questions or speak up in class” (tran, op.cit., p.58). in the af department, we have thus adapted how we teach cdes, depending on the nature of the subject and the timing of the assessment. one example is the strategic financial management module, which uses a team-based approach. students work in groups for the entire year on a case study and are then expected to give presentations to other students. to improve the engagement and performance of the cdes, the groups are constituted so that each comprises both chinese and continuing students. furthermore, the continuing students, following initial training, act as peer mentors to the chinese students, helping them to communicate readily, for example via ‘whatsapp’, and to understand expectations regarding the presentation. the continuing students also benefit, because many of the companies that we analyse have significant business interests in china and so they learn from the cdes’ knowledge of these companies. by contrast, in some circumstances, the best strategy is to separate the cdes and the continuing students. for example, for one technical module, which is examined by a threehour exam in january, the af department realised the cdes could not keep up sufficiently with the pace of teaching in the first term. in response to student feedback from both groups, therefore, the groups are now taught separately, in order not to disadvantage continuing students. the cdes are taught by an experienced lecturer with qualifications in teaching international students in english and with the requisite professional qualifications to teach technical accounting. the style of delivery is therefore adapted, but the required content is still covered. the use of the mentimeter online questioning system has also proved useful in enhancing the cdes’ confidence. during term one we realised that, in a lecture setting, only the continuing students asked questions. however, since our introduction of mentimeter, the cdes are now engaging. the use of an anonymous online questioning system removes the embarrassment of speaking out in front of other students. however, we find that, in term two, the students have more confidence and are happy to speak to the lecturer directly. 5) language although staff try not to talk too fast and provide written materials and multi-media to facilitate communication, there are significant challenges to the teaching of cdes in english, as they have spent a relatively short time in the uk. in the sms department we therefore 9 note that the programme being discussed here only recruits cdes. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 offer a language support group comprising students and chinese-speaking staff members10. this group was formed to translate important announcements into chinese and communicate with all cdes. 'wechat' is the number one chinese multi-purpose messaging app (one billion monthly users) and is widely used among the students to access information promptly. the af department also uses ‘wechat’ within personal tutoring groups. plans to reduce the attainment gap further include use of panopto11, which will allow students to replay lectures to enhance their language skills, thereby increasing their understanding of the content of the modules. 6) face-to-face support both departments appoint cde students as programme representatives across the different programmes, improving communication among students and between students and staff. however, the two departments employ different approaches to individual face-to-face support, owing to the difference in cde numbers. in the af department, we offer one-to-one appointments to all final-year students to discuss draft coursework in two of the core modules. tutors encourage students to bring a friend if they do not feel comfortable attending alone and allow them to record meetings so they can replay them to manage language concerns. this has helped us address expectations about what is required from assessment in the final year. initially, the meetings were voluntary, but they were more effective for chinese students once they were made compulsory on the advice of colleagues who had more knowledge of the educational system in china. the department has since learnt to select its descriptions of activities carefully. the af department model, however, is not scalable for the sms department because of the large number of cdes within it. the model of support adopted instead is very effective and it involves having a reception desk managed by a chinese-speaking staff member. whenever the cdes have problems or questions, they can access support and know what to expect. student feedback shows the reception desk method has raised cdes’ satisfaction by boosting their confidence about learning in a different environment. conclusion and limitations awareness of the significant culture shock and different pedagogical approaches experienced by cde students has informed how we move students from being passive learners to active learners (tran, op.cit.). tailoring teaching to account for the challenges this group faces has minimised the attainment gap and improved the student experience. however, although this case study has shared many approaches that could help to develop other programmes welcoming cdes, it is important to note that neither the cdes themselves, nor the programmes on which they study, are homogenous (willis and sedghi, op.cit.). both the af and sms departments have had to adjust their approaches according to subject content and the number of students they recruit. in order to meet the needs of such particular sets of students as cdes, we understand the continuing requirement to review course content, delivery and the student experience in today’s he environment. by doing so, 10 it is important to note that we have lecturers from many nationalities who can speak chinese. 11 panopto is a video management system that can be used to pre-record or live-capture teaching activities. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 we can ensure that they have a good experience and the opportunity to gain a good degree classification. although this case study has provided a useful insight into the initiatives undertaken to close the attainment gap in the study contexts, there are some limitations. first, there may be other factors not identified that have contributed to the improved performance of the cdes: for example, better awareness among lecturers of the needs of these students could have led to a re-orientation of teaching and the materials posted on the vle, both of which might have had a pronounced effect on the cdes. second, the study has not clarified whether the profile of the chinese students has changed over the three-year period considered: for example, we should expect more highly-qualified students to adapt more readily. finally, interventions by chinese institutions may have been implemented before the cdes come to the uk, as these institutions are becoming increasingly familiar with the expectations of the uk educational system. by adopting new approaches, introducing new initiatives and enabling staff acquisition of a deeper understanding of students’ needs, we have improved the experience for both cdes and continuing students. although the business school still has an attainment gap in some programmes with articulations, the gaps are closing. however, we also acknowledge that, for specialist programmes, it is unlikely that the gap can be eliminated completely, owing to the significant leap these students must take to adjust both academically and culturally to the uk. however, we shall continue to adapt our delivery to improve the student experience for all students, including cdes, so that our students can achieve the best possible outcomes. reference list crawford, i. and wang, z. (2015) ‘the impact of individual factors on the academic attainment of chinese and uk students in higher education.’ studies in higher education, 40(5), 902-920. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.851182 (accessed: 2 february 2019 month year). hesa (2018) higher education student statistics: uk, 2016/17 where students come from and go to study. available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-highereducation-student-statistics/location (accessed: 30 may 2018). mcduff, n., tatam, j., beacock, o. and ross, f. (2018) ‘closing the attainment gap for students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds through institutional change.’ widening participation and lifelong learning, 20(1), 79-101. available at: https://doi.org/10.5456/wpll.20.1.79 (accessed: 2 february 2019). soliman, s., anchor, j. and taylor, d. (2018) ‘the international strategies of universities: deliberate or emergent?’ studies in higher education,. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1445985 (accessed: 2 february 2019). tran, t.t. (2013) ‘is the learning approach of students from the confucian heritage culture problematic?’ educational research for policy and practice, 12, (1), 57-65. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10671-012-9131-3 (accessed: 2 february 2019). https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics/location https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics/location case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 willis, i. and sedghi, g. (2014) ‘perceptions and experiences of home students involved in welcoming and supporting direct entry 2nd year international students.’ practice and evidence of scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education, 9(1), 2-17. available at: http://community.dur.ac.uk/pestlhe.learning/ojs/index.php/pestlhe/article/view/96 (accessed: 2nd february 2019). wilson, j.a. (2009) ‘getting the best out of your students through cultural appreciation – multiculturalism in a british university business classroom setting.’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 1(1), 53-63. available at: http://web-devcsc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf64/doc... (accessed: 2nd february 2019). http://web-dev-csc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf64/docs/compass_journal_%20edition%20one.pdf http://web-dev-csc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf64/docs/compass_journal_%20edition%20one.pdf case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 book reviews for mathematics undergraduates: an assignment to enhance reading and writing skills essential for today’s workplace and to promote collaboration between library and academic staff’ noel-ann bradshaw, school of computing & mathematical sciences and karen richardson, information & library services abstract this case-study shows how successful collaboration between colleagues from the university of greenwich library and mathematical sciences department has resulted in increased library usage and an improvement in important employability skills for mathematics students. it is argued that similar collaborations in other stem disciplines within the university could have an equally beneficial effect. background ‘the importance of developing the communication skills of mathematics undergraduates has long been recognised by both universities and graduate employers’ (groves, 2012). in 2002 challis et al (2002) stated that employers of mathematicians ‘require good transferable skills, such as reading, writing, speaking and working with others, as well as subject-specific knowledge’. however there is evidence that mathematics and indeed other science graduates do not come by these skills easily. the roberts’ review commissioned by hm treasury in the same year (roberts, 2002), found that ‘there are mismatches between the skills of [set] graduates and postgraduates and the skills required by employers (for example, many are seen to lack strong transferable skills)’. since then, university mathematics and science departments have done much to try and rectify this deficiency and there have been a number of he stem projects commissioned with these aims in mind, many of which are discussed by rowlett (2012). as an institution we have seen the importance of encouraging these skills reflected in the greenwich graduate attributes such as enabling students to develop ‘the ability to be fluent and articulate in oral communication, in ways that are tailored to different audiences’ and also ‘sophisticated writing skills’. nowadays there are very few jobs where the mathematics or science graduate can hide behind the analytical knowledge they possess and avoid conversation with the outside world. knowledge of their discipline is not enough; they need to be able to communicate their findings clearly to management, clients and colleagues in a variety of formats. introduction in 2008 one of the authors was given the task of creating suitable personal development planning (pdp) material for first year maths students. it was well known in the department (and indeed the sector as a whole) that mathematics students in particular are not noted for their communication skills: ‘mathematics graduates tended to lack presentation and communication skills (including report writing and presentation to a non-technical audience)’ (challis, 2002). this is a serious problem when soon-to-be graduates start applying for graduate jobs and one that needed to be addressed. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 as well as delivering the usual study skills material, she was keen to encourage new students to use the library and to expose them to the multitude of popular mathematics books that now existed, such as letters to a young mathematician by ian stewart and simon sing’s the code book. books like these are not difficult to read and give students broader knowledge of their subject and of the practice of contemporary professional mathematicians. she felt that becoming more familiar with the library in the first year would lead to a greater use of it in second and final years, which would have an impact on research undertaken for final year projects. collaboration with the library staff was going to be at the heart of the success of this assignment. identification of “maths good reads” the idea of identifying a special set of books for the maths students to read was put to the second author, who is the librarian with special responsibility for the school of computing and mathematical sciences, with a request for assistance as to how these books could be made identifiable to students. after much consideration, it was decided to highlight certain books with a green sticker at the top of each spine to enable students to see them easily. somewhat harder to decide on were the words to go on these stickers, and with much playing around of words, it was decided that “maths good read” was short enough to fit on the stickers and also made clear the significance of the books. after the initial labelling by academics, the library staff took on the job of monitoring the stock to ensure any duplicate titles that were on loan at the time received a label when they came back, and to label new titles ordered after the initiation of the project. occasional visits during the summer vacation have been made by the academics, to check the stock and ensure that they are satisfied that all books are fit for purpose. changes have been made where appropriate. assignment having found a way to identify these books in the library, the task now was to create an assessment that encouraged first year maths students to read the books, make use of the library and practice their writing skills. we could tell them about the library, we could arrange a visit and enthuse about ‘maths good reads’, but would all the students engage? we already had assignments in place that addressed the skills of writing management reports and dissertations, and giving presentations to groups of non-specialists. however there was nothing that required students to read a text, summarise the contents and reflect on what they had read: all of which are valuable practical and academic skills. it was decided to ask first year students to choose one of these books and write a review of it. this would help their reading and writing skills, broaden their mathematical horizons and increase their use of the library. at least this was the intention. rather than introduce this at the start of term when the new students were overloaded with information, it was planned to introduce it in week five when they had found their feet and were beginning to be set coursework necessitating the use of the library’s resources. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 the students were given an introduction to the assignment as part of their pdp training which showed examples of suitable books. it was explained that the task was to write 550 words on why they would recommend their chosen book to one of their fellow students. they were asked to provide a brief synopsis of the book and comment on the following areas:  what you enjoyed about the book  who the book is aimed at  the style in which the book is written  any criticisms you may have after this the students were taken to the library for a tour and some training on electronic resources and their attention was drawn specifically to the ‘maths good reads’, in all parts of the library. reviews the first year this was implemented was rather nerve-wracking. how would maths students react to being required to read and write about a book albeit a book that would be of interest to them? interestingly the hea mathematics publication msor connections was also on the lookout for well-written student book reviews so this was mentioned when the assignment was issued, adding weight to our directions. in the event, reading the students’ reviews showed us why this had been a worthwhile assignment. a number of students had started their reviews with sentences such as, “to be honest, i wasn’t really excited to read a book, especially a maths book. i cannot remember the last time i read one.” but then concluded by saying, for example, “after reading this book, i know that maths is such a beautiful subject which is sadly hidden away in the classrooms but all is revealed in this book, well nearly everything. i eagerly advise each and every student who is studying maths or a maths based subject, to read this book as this book is aimed at that specific group. it will make you see maths in a different way.” another student said: “i'm shocked that i have never been so hooked on a book in all my life! in the twenty one years up until i started university i managed to avoid reading a book. when i was asked as part of my university course to review a book the idea was very daunting and a task which i knew i would not be confident about. thankfully it was one of the best things i have done whilst i have been there.” and another who was already an avid reader of fiction but not of non-fiction said of the assignment, “i would say it has changed my general reading patterns as i am now delving into more and more non-fiction material, something i would never have been thoroughly comfortable with prior to writing the book review.” case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 since this we have published excerpts of the reviews in our university mathsoc newsletter prime times which is distributed to all potential new maths students who visit our open days. on the back of this assignment we were also able to recommend one of our best reviewers to times higher education (the) who commissioned her to write a review (fawthrop, 2011). data analysis the loan histories of a small sample of students were examined. the data indicated that those who borrowed maths good reads, borrowed more books as a whole. not unexpectedly there is a moderate to high correlation between the number of ‘maths good read’ books that these students borrowed and the total number of books that they borrowed during their time at the university. this implies that encouraging the students to borrow these books in the first year has a positive effect on their use of library resources later on. qualitative research was simply based on the perceptions of library staff on the movement of maths stock as a whole and maths good read books in particular, especially the opinions of shelving staff. all staff questioned said there was a noticeable increase in the movement of stock including those with green stickers. we have also looked at evidence of the students’ acquisition of employability skills. in the national student survey 2010/11(the students that were in the first cohort to have taken this assignment) questions 19 and 20 relate to students’ confidence and communication skills respectively and both are attributes that we have been keen to see increase. in both of these we are well above the sector average being in the top 20% for question 19 and the top11% for question 20, an improvement on the scores for the previous year. we have also looked at the destination of leavers from higher education survey (dhle). this shows an increase of 13% of our maths graduates entering full-time employment from the cohort that first completed this assignment. however it must be said that there have been many other initiatives in place across the university as well as in school that could have contributed to this effect. this point notwithstanding, we would hope that this has contributed to the employability skills that employers are looking for and to students’ confidence. changes for the future it has been noticed by library staff that the students are not required to borrow these books for this assignment from the library so some are obtaining copies from other libraries or even buying them. whilst we do not want to do anything to discourage the students from reading books that they have obtained elsewhere it would be helpful if we could encourage them to use the designated books at greenwich. the coursework specification could be changed to emphasise this. we have a list of books with green stickers that we can pass on to interested staff and students alike. however for students it would be helpful to have a couple of lines of description about each book but this takes time to compile. conclusion in terms of meeting the learning objectives, this assignment has been a great success. students have been challenged to read more and they are undoubtedly doing this and are case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5 enjoying the books that they are reading. at both ends of the academic and social spectrum students have been reading a wider variety of books and have been exposed to different styles of writing. their choice of books has in many cases had a bearing on the final year projects that they have undertaken and students seem more confident and comfortable at undertaking research in the library. the evidence suggests that the introduction of this assignment in the first year and collaboration between mathematics academics and library staff has resulted in students who are making more use of these books in the library and of the library facilities in general. the relationship which has been established between academic and library staff has been a very valuable additional benefit from this project for the department, school and library. references challis, n., gretton, h., houston, k., and neill, n. (2002). ‘developing transferable skills: preparation for employment’. in kahn, p. and kyle, j. (eds) effective teaching and learning in mathematics & its applications. london: kogan page, 79-91. fawthrop, r. (2011). [student review] ‘1089 and all that: a journey into mathematics’. the times higher, 26 may 2011. available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=416322 (accessed 6 february 2013). groves, j.s. (2012). ‘enhancing the communication and speaking skills of mathematics undergraduates’. in rowlett, p.(ed), further work developing graduate skills in he mathematics programmes. birmingham: msor hestem, 19-22. rowlett, p. (2012). further work developing graduate skills in he mathematics programmes. birmingham: msor hestem. sing, s. (2002). the code book: the secret history of codes and code-breaking. london: fourth estate. stewart, i. (2006). letters to a young mathematician. new york: basic books. author biographies noel-ann is a university teaching fellow and principal lecturer of mathematics and operational research in the school of computing and mathematical sciences. she was responsible for looking after first year maths students for several years but has now taken on the role of school admission tutor. karen is the academic services librarian for the school of computing and mathematical sciences. karen likes to look at fun ways of engaging with the students, including playing logical board games with the maths student in the maths arcade and learning pi to 72 decimal places with the aid of the dewey decimal system. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=416322 case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 6 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 engaging students on their devices with mentimeter katharine vallely, poppy gibson university of greenwich abstract this technology review builds upon the work of little (2016), who introduced compass readers to the student response system (srs) mentimeter. within this original article, little compared mentimeter to similar srss and, with a swot analysis, explored its strengths and limitations. fast forward two years and, with its focus on student engagement, this review provides an interesting insight into snapshot cases of mentimeter’s incorporation into sessions with students from the teacher education department. the article presents the use of mentimeter in both lectures and seminars and provides three illustrative screenshots; it discusses, with reference to recent literature, the advantages and disadvantages of mentimeter as a form of student engagement; it shares three key multi-disciplinary strategies that can be supported by mentimeter to engage students: ‘gauging opinion’, ‘engaging discussion’ and ‘voicing concerns’. the authors offer their ideas for future plans for the tool, with the hope of inspiring other higher education colleagues to trial mentimeter or integrate it further – into lectures and seminars – in order to promote student engagement and enhance the teaching and learning experience for all. keywords: mentimeter, mobile devices, student response systems, voting tool introduction to the technology as outlined by little (2016), mentimeter is a type of student response system (srs) voting tool – similar to turningpoint or ‘clickers’ and the slightly more game-based kahoot! – which encourages students to engage with discussions and debates through their portable devices, such as mobiles, laptops or tablets. mentimeter, like poll everywhere and socrative, enables quick and anonymous feedback from both quantitative and qualitative questions posed during a teaching activity. using their devices, students access the mentimeter webpage and enter a unique six-digit code, so that they may submit their answers. the group’s responses are instantaneously and anonymously displayed on the teaching screen and stored in a bank of presentations that the tutor can access at a later date. possible application in the teacher education department, mentimeter has been used across a range of courses and degree programmes, including the three-year ba in primary education with qts, the two-year accelerated degree in primary education and the pgce programmes. the authors have found that the student-participation element of mentimeter lends itself to both lectures and seminars. this review presents and discusses three mentimeter opportunities for engaging students: ‘gauging opinion’, ‘engaging discussion’ and ‘voicing concerns’. by way of demonstration, the authors share snapshots of the application of mentimeter to each technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 of these three styles and make some explicit links to particular subject or course areas, in order to highlight to the reader the flexibility and adaptability of this tool. gauging opinion the introduction of mentimeter to the students on the three-year teaching training programme generated a rippling buzz of excitement. as previous studies have reported (burnett and collins, 2007; walker and pearce, 2014), students were intrigued by the new teaching tool and keen to use it. to many of the first-year students, who can find large lecture theatres rather daunting, this srs offered a voice with which they could express their opinions quickly and anonymously. its deployment during the previous academic year – in accordance with findings from wang (2016) and funnell (2017) – suggested that students are more engaged when they can use portable devices in seminars and lectures to gain realtime feedback. (see screenshot 1, from a session with first-year students on the three-year degree in primary education.) screenshot 1: gathering views of students to inform future planning from a teaching point of view, the tool has proved useful for asynchronously collecting student responses and using these to shape future teaching. for example, at the start of their english course, students in a second-year cohort were asked to submit a maximum of three words explaining how they felt children should be taught to read. although worrying at first glance, these responses gave tutors an insight into the gaps in student pedagogical knowledge and led them to adjust elements of the programme in order to address, appropriately and consistently, any such weaknesses; these reactions reflect research findings by burnett and collins (op.cit.), who concluded that using srss helped to tailor teaching to the needs of the students. engaging discussion mentimeter provides a beneficial soundboard at the start of a lecture or seminar: simply display a question on the board as students arrive and their answers give instant content for discussion and debate. (see screenshot 2, from a lecture.) technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 screenshot 2: stimulus at the start of a lecture as students arrive the authors found that application of this technique exploits well the otherwise wasted minutes at the start of a session when students are settling – it provides a written stimulus for immediate discussion. the useful participant total (bottom right in screenshots 1,2 and 3) also reveals how many students have contributed and offers the lecturer an instant insight into current discussion engagement levels. interestingly, teaching students who work on placement as part of their degree – i.e. those on the postgraduate certificate in education (pgce) – have shown that mentimeter can also be taken into the primary classroom to trigger meaningful discussion with pupils. although not all degrees have placement components, the authors mention this example to illustrate the innovatory potential of this technological tool. the authors have found that mentimeter can certainly contribute to the professional development of pgce students, who, with only one year to complete their programme, are keen to apply what has proved engaging to themselves to their own teaching in school classrooms during their three allocated teaching experiences. although there is an optional paid version (little, op.cit.), the freeware version of mentimeter has encouraged and enabled students to set up their own account and use this srs as a teaching tool in the primary classroom. students who have successfully used the tool have done so with older children, aged from eight to eleven. when asked about the benefits of using mentimeter in the primary classroom, the students reported findings similar to those acknowledged by burnett and collins (op.cit.) and funnell (op.cit.): the srs injected an increased level of fun into lessons and helped to provide variety within a session, thereby sustaining pupil concentration and interest. although no students reported using mentimeter with children below the age of eight, they felt the srs had the potential to be used with younger children. from an educational perspective, the authors feel that there is a need for future research into using mentimeter with younger primary school children. voicing concerns one way to help improve student satisfaction is through open dialogue and strong professional relationships, creating a safe learning environment where students feel they can voice concerns and ask questions. in the authors’ work with students on a two-year technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 accelerated degree, mentimeter has shown itself to be useful, particularly as it offers a forum for asking questions in an anonymous way. one example of this is through providing students with a platform on which they can ask questions related to an assignment. (see screenshot 3.) screenshot 3: students on the two-year accelerated degree ask questions anonymously voicing concerns in this way allows for ‘dialogic teaching’ and ‘dialogic talk’; dialogic talk refers to a developing dialogue between teacher and student, not just teacher-led presentation (alexander, 2008). the teacher can then deal openly and sensitively with these questions, allowing other students the chance to answer or expand upon their own related concerns and questions. like little (op.cit.), the authors found that students seemed more confident when asking questions using mentimeter than doing so verbally in front of peers, which shows that mentimeter could be particularly helpful when boosting confidence and comprehension regarding assessment tasks and when offering opportunities to voice concerns. key advantages and disadvantages advantages: • anonymous answers allow students to feel that they can contribute in a safe, nonjudgemental environment. • it is quick for lecturers and tutors to create the slides needed for the mentimeter presentation. • students say that they find the tool easy and quick to use. • an increase in real-time feedback has enabled tutors to develop and shape future teaching. • it can be used as a learning and assessment tool, pinpointing any misunderstandings that students may have and consequently enabling staff to alter the content of lectures and workshops or to publish additional online support. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 disadvantages: • because mentimeter responses are anonymous, it is not possible to identify which students have contributed. • students can contribute only if they have a wifi-connected device. • not all students will contribute: as use in seminars shows, participation varies, but it is usually between 50%-75% of the class on average. • once students have submitted their answers, they are unable to retrieve or edit their responses; this has left some students feeling frustrated and, occasionally, embarrassed over errors that have been made. • if the use of the tool is not well planned within a programme, staff may use it too often with the same group, risking srs oversaturation and consequent student disenchantment. conclusions and further plans with its quick and simple interface, there are several future plans for using mentimeter in the teacher education department. the authors propose training more students to use this technology in their group presentations; in fact, some of our teacher-training students have been inspired enough by mentimeter that they have gone on to use it in school whilst on placement. it is also recommended that future research be conducted into the impact that online sharing tools such as mentimeter can have both on students in higher education and on pupils in the primary classroom. possible areas for further exploration include mentimeter and its ability to enhance team work, collaboration, engagement and the promotion of peer learning. reference list alexander, r. (2008) towards dialogic teaching: rethinking classroom talk. (4th edition) cambridge: dialogos. burnett, s. and collins, s. (2007) ‘ask the audience! using a personal response system to enhance information literacy and induction sessions at kingston university.’ journal of information literacy, 1(2), 1-3. available at: https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/jil/article/view/afp-v1-i22007-1 (accessed: 12 september 2018). funnell, p. (2017) ‘using audience response systems to enhance student engagement and learning in information literacy teaching.’ journal of information literacy, 11(2), 28-50. available at: https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/jil/article/view/pra-v11-i2-2 (accessed: 30 september 2018). little, c. (2016) ‘technological review: mentimeter smartphone student response system.’ compass, journal of learning and teaching, 9(13), 64-66. available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/328 (accessed: 05 november 2018). https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/jil/article/view/afp-v1-i2-2007-1 https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/jil/article/view/afp-v1-i2-2007-1 https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/jil/article/view/pra-v11-i2-2 https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/328 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 walker, k.w. and pearce, m. (2014) ‘student engagement in one-shot library instruction.’ journal of academic librarianship, 40(3-4), 281-290. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/40/issue/3 (accessed: 25 august 2018). wong, a. (2016) ‘student perception on a student response system formed by combining mobile phone and a polling website.’ international journal of education and development using information and communication technology, 12(1), 144-153. available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1099594.pdf (accessed: 05 november 2018). https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/40/issue/3 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1099594.pdf case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 video use in reflective practice: experience from educating speech and language therapists jane stokes, school of health and social care, university of greenwich and keena cummins, independent speech and language therapist and visiting tutor, city university, london and university of greenwich abstract this case study shares the experiences of speech and language therapy lecturers in higher education using video with students and practitioners to support reflective practice. the authors believe that video forms a fundamental role in developing the core skills of health, social and education professionals. frequently teachers in higher education and students alike present with a reluctance to engage with the use of video. possible reasons for this are discussed. the importance of careful preparatory and debriefing sessions is emphasized, as is the need for an observation schedule. the key ingredients to ensuring that video is effective as a learning tool as well as the challenges are examined. the experience may well have resonance with others in higher education involved in the development of critical reflection associated with students’ communication and interaction. context within speech and language therapy clinical practice, the use of video recording is accepted as a part of the therapist’s range of resources. it is regularly used to document communication difficulties during therapy sessions, as an adjunct to therapy with families, and as a teaching tool. it is increasingly being used as a tool for supporting parents in selfreflection and in some departments is used in staff continuing professional development, peer supervision and service development. students studying to be speech and language therapists in the uk are regularly expected to make video recordings of their practice sessions (always with specific written consent from the clients) in order to reflect on their evolving interaction and therapeutic skills. students report that by looking back at the video they can see far more of their nonverbal as well as verbal communication and are able to see the developments both in their clients and themselves week on week. however, in our many years of clinical practice in managing and training speech and language therapists and education and health care professionals we have frequently been confronted by what initially appears to be a ‘deep reluctance’ amongst clinical tutors, practitioners and their managers/teachers to use video for selfreflection. this is in stark contrast to the widely espoused view that health and social care practitioners are expected to engage in regular reflective practice. much has been written about the importance of reflective practice e.g. reflective logs in educating health and social care professionals (jasper 2003; oelofsen 2012) with little written about the benefits of video. this is changing. the recent publication by kennedy et al (2011) shows the very diverse fields within social services and health in which video is now being used. we describe below a project for integrating video self-reflection into a pre-registration programme for speech and language therapists. this project aimed to tackle placement educators’ often expressed reluctance to opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 the use of video and to ensure that students gain the most benefit from the use of video in reflective practice. project in setting up a new postgraduate diploma programme for speech and language therapists in 2006, a collaborative venture between university of greenwich and canterbury christ church university, we prioritised facilities for supporting student self-reflection. a case was made for every student on the programme to have access to both video and audio recording devices for use both during campus based activities and on placement. a computing lab was set up to support students with access to a range of both commercially produced and custom-made video clips to aid their learning. in order to investigate optimum use of these facilities across courses we enquired into the use of video in nursing, midwifery, social work and occupational therapy programmes at the university and were surprised to learn that generally these other programmes did not include the use of self-video playback although they did use commercially and self-developed video clips to support lectures and to create self-directed learning. having developed an early years speech and language therapy service for parents, practitioners and therapists with video at its centre, we have extensive experience of the additional depth that self-analysis using video can provide. speech and language therapy student practitioners are encouraged, while on placement, to make videos of themselves working with clients. students are introduced to this process carefully through campus-based preparatory sessions. from our experience in facilitating video reflection with speech and language therapy students, clinicians and education practitioners, the process of video reflection needs to be established within a course of a minimum of four weeks. prior to the actual making of the video, sessions are provided to support individuals in redefining what we mean by video and ensuring that there is a process over time in which they are supported through risk, challenge and change. it is important to specify and agree who the video can be seen by (either just the placement educator and the student or the student and a small group), what it is going to be used for and whether and where it is going to be kept (deleted on completion of a course if requested). the students need to be introduced to the theory and evidence around practitioner management of their interaction/attunement techniques (kennedy et al 2011) and the value of watching themselves on video in relation to the second by second analysis of the body language between therapist and the client – the impact of the therapist’s behaviours on another. without the video it is impossible to reflect on these behaviours. in these sessions we establish how much control the student has and emphasise that the use of video actually empowers the student. the student can use the video to choose certain elements to show their placement educator and watch each moment with them. this replaces the traditional model on placement of being observed and then reflecting – in which the two individuals remember very different things and are unable to analyse them at a micro-level. we have found that the model of video works optimally when the student is able to return to the same scenario/client over a period of a minimum of four weeks. this allows the student to analyse their skills, experiment with the strategies that they have become mindful of, strip down their communication skills and gradually build them up in relation to client response. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 the student needs to be made familiar with the process of ‘videoing’. this is increasingly easy with cameras which can be balanced at the edge of a room, do not require a camera person, and can be switched on at any time almost as a ‘fly on the wall’. the student is also told what to film; 3-5 minutes of an interaction with a client (e.g. a play session with a child, or an interview with a parent). when the video has been completed it is brought back to the placement educator and the student takes on the responsibility of ‘showing’ the video. in this situation they are given control. they are provided with an evaluation form with interaction techniques specified and then watch the video which is played for approximately three minutes. the student is then invited to comment on what they notice about their skills using the categories listed on the evaluation sheet. it is likely that they will firstly verbalise the ‘surface details’ referred to earlier. this is a necessary part of the reflection and helps the student to de-sensitise ‘themselves’ and they will then start to comment on their behaviours. the educator is then able to highlight each individual strength and the immediate impact it had on the client, specifying the research that supports the strategy. seeing oneself perform successfully provides the ultimate in role models (bellini & akullian 2007) the student is then able to pick a particular strategy within their repertoire to utilise even more and then return to the client and experiment with the strategy looking at its impact. they return with a new video, reanalyse it, scaffold on another strategy and then work with the client again – reviewing their impact and the change in the client. the student and placement educator watch the process of change over time so that the video becomes a record of the student’s evolving skills and the client’s development. the student is involved in evaluation of their skills throughout, sees their emerging skills and can debate and discuss the expectations of the educator. the 'material' can be added to at regular intervals and the individual can witness their progress over weeks, months or even years. these videos complement the educator’s perspective of the student’s development. the videos can also be held by an individual and taken with them (with consent from both people involved) to show new supervisors the change in the student or indeed the client can hold the video to show their own progression. discussion the opportunity to reflect on one's own communication and interaction styles is fundamental to the development of the competency of any health and social care professional. emerging research would suggest that it is the interaction and attunement of the practitioner with the client that most influences the outcome of intervention and that the singular most successful way of developing interaction and communication skills is through video (kennedy et al 2011). the use of an observation schedule is vital; fukkink et al (2011, p. 57) support our belief that detailed analysis of an individual’s communication using video together with observation schedules is ‘more effective than other instructional components, such as explaining, modeling, and practicing the target skills’ and that it is ‘feedback that is probably the most crucial dimension in terms of changing the trainee’s behavior’. the ‘deep reluctance’ first perceived on meeting those unfamiliar with the benefits of video we believe to be related to anxiety and possible ‘aversion’ based on past personal experience of video. issues of assessment and surveillance get confused with the use of opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 video as a self-reflective tool. the ubiquitous nature of mobile technology, reality tv and youtube mean that there is potential for video to be used in a critical or undermining way. people are therefore reluctant to expose themselves for fear of being demeaned or denigrated. they are rightly fearful of how the video is going to be used, who it is going to be shown to and how it is going to be analysed and judged. they may well feel a lack of control. they are frequently unhappy with their physical appearance and are anxious at being confronted by an image of themselves in action (something we rarely see). video and seeing oneself in action can present as overwhelming. a very common response when watching oneself on video are comments such as ‘i hate seeing myself back... my voice sounds strange... i never realised i did that with my face when i talk’. the individual can become ‘mired in surface details such as their personal appearance or how they sound, without reaching deeper levels of analysis and understanding’ (pailliotet, 1995,p138). ‘when viewing a video of yourself, unsupported it is very easy to get stuck in a negative cycle. the fear of humiliation from seeing how bad you are/look/sound is very real... it is easy to get stuck in a negative cycle... which can prevent most exploratory learning... all this can be ameliorated by a skilled guider-facilitator’ (cave et al 2011 p186). in introducing video reflection in a speech and language therapy service (cummins & hulme 1997; cummins, pullen & hulme 2012,) we have found that the initial reluctance can be tackled by a philosophy of supported, systematic, stepped supervision, which is ongoing over time. in using video reflection in student education we have endeavoured to replicate this through the use of campus-based preparatory and debriefing sessions which create a framework to build on strengths as a ‘dialogue mediated by video’ (cave et al 2011 p181). the video provides a fulcrum for hypothesising about interaction, implementing and evaluating change over time. mccluskey (2005) suggests that people become defensive in their communication when they are anxious, under stress or frightened and that the individual needs ‘a response which puts them in touch with their competence to act: a response that reactivates their emotional, physical, intellectual capacity: a response which allows them to make use of the resources available to them’ (mccluskey 2005 p x1x) the video provides them with time to reflect, concrete skills to observe and clear examples of their own competencies on which to build. being specific about what is required on video, how long for and what is being observed supports the student in knowing exactly what is expected of them and supports them in feeling in control of their observations and feedback. there is ‘increased motivation to learn from building on strengths’ (brown & rutter 2006). as the educator and students observe together, so they are able to clarify shared meanings and vocabulary based on the behaviour of the student and the impact on the client. moment by moment impact can be identified through freeze frame. the video keeps them focused in the ‘here and now’. by engaging in dialogue, ‘grounding’ (brennan et al 2010) occurs. in looking at the image on the screen the educator and student are supported in the convergence and synchronisation of thought between them resulting in joint learning and extension of mutual ideas. throughout the course of the videoed sessions the student has access to experiential learning, provides evidence for their own hunches and opportunities to explore skills and competencies using the eyes of an observer rather than a performer. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5 evaluation the evaluation of this project is at an early stage but to date we have had some very positive feedback from students. they report: being able to watch yourself helps better planning of your next session... i’d happily watch back a video of my session, “forcing” myself to reflect more than i would without a video. i plan on keeping some of my videos to look back on them... it seems that it would be a lot easier, more enjoyable and objective to look back at a video than to read an old reflection but i wouldn’t want to use it to the exclusion of more traditional means of reflection. the benefits are that you can see what did not go well but also things that you actually did better than you thought. being able to revisit an experience through watching a video… gave me the opportunity to notice things that otherwise i would not have been aware of. students also commented that in a supportive setting, it was very useful to look at the videos in pairs or groups: others can help you change your mindset, and point out if you are being unjustifiably hard on yourself. it helped me see that sometimes what happens on the inside is not what transpires on the outside and that my performance was not as bad as it felt when i was immersed in it. through this project we have developed an understanding of the key ingredients to making video self-reflection effective as a learning tool. we have learned that it is essential to have preparatory sessions, conducted by experienced practitioners, sensitising the students to the process and function of using video. it is important to have evaluation forms to structure the reflection. it is also important to encourage a non-judgmental approach. we plan to continue evaluating this approach and feel that it has application across a wide range of education programmes for health, social care and education students. additionally, programmes that prepare students for the world of commerce, and public relations may well benefit from adopting the principles and processes outlined. limitations there are undoubtedly challenges to embedding this approach into student education. consent can be difficult to obtain, with the definition of informed consent particularly problematic in relation to people with communication difficulties. clear data protection protocols are essential to support the obtaining of consent by the students on practice. it can also be difficult to facilitate continuity of contact over time, with the opportunity for the opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 6 student to see the same client in order to develop skills. it is important that these issues are thought through in advance and that the placement educators are aware of the importance of overcoming these barriers in the interest of the student. concluding remarks it is our view that true reflective practice is incomplete without the regular use of video. if a person uses only writing to reflect on their communication, this usually only includes their perception and memory of how they saw things, not their impact moment by moment and the effect on the partner in the communication dyad. from the experience of this project, we believe that students preparing to work in any profession that values the importance of communication and interaction skills should be introduced to video from the outset. the use of video itself, however, needs to be used as part of a reflective practice approach, managed by skilled facilitators who are themselves confident in the use of video, familiar with interaction/attunement theory and mindful of the ‘challenge of work cultures and the preconceived ideas which are embedded in practice’(fook & askeland 2007 p 522). it is our experience that allowing students access to this powerful and proven tool for reflective practice greatly enhances their ability to develop their communication and interaction. references bellini, x. and akullian, y. (2007) ‘a meta-analysis of video modeling and video selfmodeling interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.’ exceptional children 73(3), 264-287. brennan, s. galati, a. and kuhlen, a. (2010) ‘two minds, one dialog: coordinating speaking and understanding in the psychology of learning and motivation’. in ross, b.h. (ed) the psychology of learning and motivation: advances in research and theory, vol. 53, burlington: academic press, 301-344. brown, k. and rutter, l. (2006) critical thinking: a guide in enhancing, learning and writing for post qualifying social work programmes. exeter: learning matters limited. cave, r. roger, a. and young, r. (2011) ‘enhancing teacher and student interactions in higher education through video enhanced reflective practice’ in kennedy, h.; landor, m. and todd, l. (eds) video interaction guidance: a relationship-based intervention to promote attunement, empathy and wellbeing london: jessica kingsley, chapter 11 pp181-197. landor, m. and todd, l. (2011) video interaction guidance: a relationship-based intervention to promote attunement, empathy and wellbeing. london: jessica kingsley. cummins, k. and hulme, s. (1997) ‘video: a reflective tool.’ speech and language therapy in practice, autumn, 4-7 cummins, k. pullen, k. and hulme, s. (2012) ‘managing pre-school children in community settings’ in kersner, m. and wright, j. (eds). speech and language therapy the decision making process when working with children. london: routledge chapter 4 pp 39-46. fook, j. and askeland, g. (2007) ‘challenges of critical reflection: “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”’social work education, 25(6), 520-533. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 7 fukkink, r. trienekens, n. and kramer, l. (2011) ‘video feedback in education and training: putting learning in the picture’. education psychology review, 23(1) 45-63. jasper, m. (2003) beginning reflective practice: foundations in nursing and healthcare. cheltenham: nelson thornes. kennedy, h. landor, m. and todd, l. (2011) video interaction guidance: a relationshipbased intervention to promote attunement, empathy and wellbeing. london:jessica kingsley. mccluskey, u. (2005) to be met as a person – the dynamics of attachment in professional encounters. london: karnac books. oelofsen, n. (2012) developing reflective practice: a guide for students and practitioners of health and social care. banbury: lantern. pailliotet, a. (1995) ‘i never saw that before: a deeper view of video analysis in teacher education’. teacher educator, 31(2), 138-156. author biographies jane stokes worked in the nhs as a speech and language therapist with children and families for over 25 years before taking up the post of senior lecturer with responsibility for establishing the pgdip in speech and language therapy run collaboratively by university of greenwich and canterbury christ church. keena cummins is a speech and language therapist who has worked in both the nhs and in the private and voluntary sector and has specialised for the last twenty years in the use of video to support parents, therapists, students and professionals in reflecting on their skills. title: “the digital university in the modern age: a proposed framework for strategic development” opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 the digital university in the modern age: a proposed framework for strategic development sheila macneill, jisc and bill johnston, university of strathclyde the digital university: what is it? how do we achieve it? the notion of a digital university seems to be gaining traction within institutions, however we have observed that it is being used in a very narrow context, mainly relating to digital technology and infrastructure e.g. repositories and/or vles. the exploration of the term digital university offers the potential to explore central issues for strategic development in a more holistic manner. digital literacy is also a term that, although increasingly being used in he, is still not commonplace; and again suffers from narrowly focussed discussions particularly relating to computer science related skills and not as a developing set of wider ranging competences. we believe that digital literacy is an extension of information literacy one cannot exist without the other. so, the "literacy" of the digital university is the literacy of information. this in turn raises wider social issues of digital inclusion and the role universities can play in the wider community. figure one identifies our key constructs and provides a model of their interrelationship. figure 1: key constructs and interrelations in the digital university the logic of our model starts with the macro concept of digital participation which provides the wider societal backdrop to university educational development. information literacy enables digital participation and in educational institutions is supported by learning environments which are themselves constantly evolving. these elements in turn have significant implications for curriculum and course design. we see strategic, institutionwide, educational development as the primary organizational channel to unite the elements of our conceptualisation. the matrix in figure two develops the four categories in our model to identify the key dimensions of our concept of the digital university. if applied to a university seeking to modernize itself, these four dimensions can channel key activities such as: synthesising the relevant pedagogical literature; analysing particular institutional settings; and identifying plausible lines of action for change. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 digital participation information literacy *widening access (to all ages/groups) *civic role and responsibilities *community engagement *networks (human and digital) *technological affordances *government policy *high level concepts and perceptions influencing practice *staff & student engagement and development *effective development and use of infrastructure curriculum & course design learning environment *constructive alignment *curriculum representations, course management, pedagogical innovation *recruitment and marketing *reporting, data, analytics *physical and digital *pedagogical and social *research and enquiry *staff and resources figure 2: conceptual matrix of the digital university (macneill & johnston 2012) we will not go on to highlight how a university, such as the university of greenwich, planning strategic change based on a central notion of being more digitally engaged, the use of this matrix could allow for the development of a more holistic strategic framework, with multiple points of direct engagement for staff and students. shaping the direction of greenwich in terms of greenwich’s current strategic activities, constructs in our matrix are mapped to the core elements of the overarching greenwich connect strategy as outlined in the draft vision for greenwich in a digital age paper (educational development unit 2012). digital participation digital participation greenwich connect *civic role and responsibilities how does access to digital resources underpin civic action? *community engagement -how can we facilitate more and better engagement between communities? *networks (human and digital) what networks do we need foster? *technological affordances what are the underlying infrastructures and connections underpinning access to all of the above? *engagement – social interaction, *personalisation – digital identity, individual learning journeys *connectivity – social, professional and community digital participation is a broad social construct with varied implications for educators. opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 it ties in with the key concepts of greenwich connect, which looks to create greater use of, and collaboration between networks of students and staff both internally within the institution and with the wider community and alumni. expanding the notion and infrastructure of the learning environment is central to fulfilling potential of these networks to create opportunities for greater digital inclusion for individuals (students and staff) and the institution as a whole. learning environment learning environment greenwich connect *physical and digital *pedagogical and social *research and enquiry *learning spaces (virtual and physical), *supporting collaboration and interaction *curriculum and research again we can see where greenwich is beginning to address the key components outlined in the matrix. there is recognition of the need for an underpinning infrastructure that is flexible enough to allow increased integration of: social media; increased use of multimedia content and which encourages greater collaboration and recognition of interactive content creation and sharing. this strategy anticipates pedagogical and social changes. these need to be enacted in powerful learning environments via student patterns of learning and staff approaches to teaching. vermunt et al (2007, 87) refer to this as ‘process-orientated teaching’ as it is targeted at the ‘processes of knowledge construction and utilization’. this style of teaching and learning requires an increasingly complex mix of lecturer skills including diagnostician, challenger, monitor, evaluator and educational developer. technology can provide a number of affordances to create the learning spaces to allow more self-regulation for students e.g. collaborative working spaces, and personal reflective spaces. however, there needs to be support from all levels of the institution to continually provide the wider environment which effectively develops the skills and knowledge to allow this type of student as self regulating researcher culture. we can begin to see how this shift could be facilitated in greenwich through the elements of personalization, engagement, professional practices and connectivity outlined in the greenwich connect model. curriculum curriculum & course design greenwich connect *constructive alignment *curriculum representations, course management, pedagogical innovation *recruitment and marketing *reporting, data, analytics *curriculum and research *professional practice *personalisation all of the diverse factors combine to define the full nature of curriculum in higher education argue for a holistic view of curriculum. such a holistic view fits well to the aspect of participation in our matrix, since it encompasses not only actual participants, but potential participants as befits modern notions of lifelong and life-wide learning, whilst also opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 acknowledging the powerful social and political forces that canalize the nature and experience of higher education. in the current economic climate with the introduction of increased tuition fees, the value and cost of a degree is being increasingly questioned both by potential students and employers. employers are increasingly looking for cross-disciplinary skills, and students need ways to illustrate their skills beyond traditional certification. employability, creativity and digital literacy are increasingly being recognised as key graduate attributes. the development and recognition of these competences requires not only enhanced understanding and provision of learning environments as outlined above, but also newer approaches to curriculum and course design. this form of institutional discourse, when deployed to support development of a digital university, takes form as an argument for change in the educational/ technological profile of the institution, which needs to be linked to effective organizational change strategies in order to succeed. in this respect it can be seen as a persuasive rhetoric aimed at bringing staff and students on board. overall, however, the discourse described represents a very powerful idea to give the university a strong market position in difficult times. using our matrix as an overarching framework, we propose that the following questions could be useful starting points for modernization projects, at greenwich or any other institution. questions 1. that strategic and operational management of learning environment must be a function of course design/re-design and not separate specialist functions within university organizations. (we suggest that vermunt’s (2007) account of the nature of learning environment can be a useful source to inform and stimulate discussion). to what extent can all stakeholders in the ongoing re-design of all courses work to an agreed plan of curriculum renovation? 2. that education for information literacy must be entailed in the learning experiences of all students (and staff) as part of the curriculum and must be grounded in modern views of the field. greenwich is already making significant contributions in this area through the digital literacies in transition project (part of the jisc developing digital literacies programme). how can this be built on and further developed? 3. that participation in all its variety and possibility is a much more significant matter than simple selection/recruitment of suitably qualified people to existing degree course offerings. the nature of a university’s social engagement is exposed by the extent to which the full range of possible engagements and forms of participation are taken into account. for example is a given university’s strategy for participation mainly driven by the human capital/economic growth rationale of higher education, or are there additional/ alternative values enacted? opinion pieces compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5 references digital literacies in transition project . available online at: http://dlinhe.ning.com/ (accessed 20 august 2012). educational development unit (bryant, p. and walker, s.). (2012). greenwich connect: a vision for the university of greenwich in the digital age, unpublished document: university of greenwich. macneill, s. and johnson, b. (2012). a conversation around what it means to be a digital university. available online at: http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/sheilamacneill/2012/01/26/a-converstaion-around-what-itmeans-to-be-a-digital-university/. (accessed: 10 august 2012). secker, j. and coonan, e. (2011) a new curriculum for information literacy: curriculum and supporting documents. available online at: http://ccfil.pbworks.com/f/ancil_final.pdf (accessed: 10 august 2012). vermunt, j. d. (2007) the power of teaching-learning environments to influence student learning. in entwistle, n. and tomlinson, p. (eds.). student learning and university teaching, leicester: bjep monograph series ii,4, 73-90 author biographies sheila macneill is an assistant director at jisc cetis, a jisc innovation support centre, based at the university of strathclyde. sheila’s work centres around technology developments in teaching and learning. bill johnston is an educational developer who is an honorary research fellow in strathclyde university’s centre for academic practice and learning enhancement. before retiring in 2010 he was a senior lecturer and assistant director of the centre. http://dlinhe.ning.com/ http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/sheilamacneill/2012/01/26/a-converstaion-around-what-it-means-to-be-a-digital-university/ http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/sheilamacneill/2012/01/26/a-converstaion-around-what-it-means-to-be-a-digital-university/ http://ccfil.pbworks.com/f/ancil_final.pdf conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 “what’s your story?”: storytelling as an affective learning strategy maria kamilaki new york college, athens abstract given the renewed importance of affective factors in teaching and learning, this paper aims at outlining the contribution of in-class storytelling as a phatic communication tool. keywords: storytelling, affective learning, phatic communication content delivery and prioritisation of cognitive goals have long prevailed as a foundation for curriculum development and evaluation in university education (krathwohl, 2002, p.212). however, there is a growing body of literature suggesting that students’ basic psychological needs and attitudes towards teaching and learning must be addressed with the same seriousness (lujan and dicarlo, 2017). such factors as belonging and relatedness within the academic community and rapport between student and teacher, founded no longer on authority and criticism but rather on support and common negotiation of meaning (lea et al., 2003), are central to current student-centered approaches to teaching and learning (o’neill and mcmahon, 2005). all these parameters are relevant to ‘affective learning’, i.e. how learners feel while they are learning and how their learning experiences become internalised and guide their attitudes, opinions and behaviour in the future (miller, 2005). the affective domain – identified by bloom (see krathwohl et al. 1964) in his extensively-researched taxonomy as one of the three learning levels (cognitive, affective and psycho-motor) – includes not only feelings, values, motivations and dispositions, but also low-level skills, such as the learner’s willingness to engage in voluntary activities (e.g. assisting team-mates in solving problems), or those of a higher level, like integrating a set of specific attitudes into one’s general set of values (e.g. acceptance of professional ethical standards). taking into consideration the importance of the affective dimension in promoting positive attitudes towards self-motivated, lifelong learning, in this paper (which i presented at the shift 2018 conference), i will outline the contribution of in-class storytelling as an affective learning strategy, focusing on how it can promote phatic communication, i.e. that aspect of communication that aims not at imparting information, but at conveying social/interpersonal meaning, by keeping the communication channel open (malinowski, 1923, pp.314-316). although the perspective adopted here is predominantly interpersonal and communicative, this approach can well enhance the pursuit of cognitive goals (steidl, 2011)1, given that there is a strong overlap between the cognitive and affective domains. why tell a story? 1 employing storytelling as an instructional strategy for delivering content in various modules presupposes a more specialised methodology. for details, see andrews et al., 2009. conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 storytelling is a uniquely human interpretative act of communication, having served for thousands of years as a sense-making apparatus for everyday events, life experiences, thoughts and feelings (bruner, 1991). in-class storytelling, more specifically, presents multiple advantages: it attracts students’ attention, creates motivation and fun, stimulates creativity and engagement and enhances communicative skills (mokhtar et al., 2011). furthermore, it can activate strong interpersonal bonds of intimacy and familiarity – raising empathy, helping students to understand others’ experiences and world view and also functioning as a powerful tool in conflict-resolution and crisis-management. overall, in-class stories contribute to constructing a collective identity of belonging, solidarity and interconnectedness (morais, 2015; olson, 2015). how can i employ stories in my class to enhance phatic communication? stories used for affective purposes may derive from a variety of sources, such as the universal inventory of famous narratives (parables, myths, fairytales etc.), real-life stories (breaking news, celebrities etc.) and personal anecdotes (students love to learn details about the tutor’s family and professional life experiences). i offer here some indicative outlines for experiential activities that may serve as an inspirational springboard for integrating phatic storytelling in the classroom; each example is generic and may – for phatic communication is, by its very nature, cross-curricular – be applied to subjects across the curriculum. 1) icebreaker activity: self-disclosure both on the part of the tutor and the students can serve a bonding function. instead of merely introducing ourselves on the first day of class, we may narrate a story which is important to us and illustrates who we are, asking students to do the same. alternatively, we encourage students to choose something significant to them – a particular word or phrase, say, or some lines of poetry, a song, a favourite book or a mass-culture hero – and then to explain to the group its private importance. the point is to lead them to open themselves up to the group by sharing something personal and thus to make a statement of identity. 2) ‘first impressions always matter’: in order to probe the spontaneous reactions of students towards the subject at hand, the tutor asks them to narrate a story that encapsulates their experience of, for example, mathematics, history or political science. if the majority of the narratives are loaded with fear, anxiety or indifference, then the tutor may be facing a serious case of subject-related anxiety, a finding which cannot be ignored in the long run. 3) ‘post your story’ – social media narratives: new media technologies make it much easier to bring stories to life and have become an increasingly-significant part of participatory, popular culture, especially among the young. in-class activities – like ‘narrate a story which you recently posted on facebook and explain the reasons for doing that.’ or ‘write a short intro for your linkedin profile in the form of personal narrative.’ – may narrow the distance between academic and real life and also provide a perfect opportunity for addressing issues of self-presentation and impression management on social media. 4) ‘let’s laugh!’: humorous narratives create a positive atmosphere; using jokes and funny stories makes learning more enjoyable and thus promotes in-group solidarity (mora et al., 2015). however, one should be very careful where appropriateness and conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 politeness considerations are concerned. it goes without saying that self-criticism and self-deprecation are the safest form of humorous discourse. 5) communicating values: stories, as metaphors for life, are useful in communicating values in an implicit – rather than annoyingly-didactic – manner. for example, if the tutor wanted to stress the value of the cooperative principle, the parable ‘heaven and hell’ (yalom and leszcz, 2005) would be a perfect example for sharing with the students. 6) ‘the crystal ball’: a teacher, as any leader, has to prepare learners for future action or change. a narrative like ‘on finishing my studies i can imagine myself... complete the story.’ can help students become acquainted with such various future alternatives as imagining the long-term consequences of their actions or picturing the contexts in which they will find themselves working. summing up my presentation at shift 2018 aimed at showing how storytelling, used as a phatic communication tool, can elicit purposeful emotional involvement and bonding opportunities, transforming the university classroom into a participatory, interactional network of interdependent individuals. reference list andrews, d.h., hull, t.d. and donahue, j.a. (2009) ‘storytelling as an instructional method: descriptions and research questions.’ interdisciplinary journal of problem-based learning, 3(2), 6-23. available at: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/afrl/storytelling_instructional.pdf (accessed: 07 november 2018). bruner, j. (1991) the narrative construction of reality. critical inquiry, 18, 1-21. available at: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/448619 (accessed: 31 october 2018). gronlund, n.e. and brookhart, s.m. (2009) writing instructional objectives (8th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: pearson education. isbn: 978-0131755932. krathwohl, d.r. (2002) ‘a revision of bloom's taxonomy: an overview.’theory into practice, 41(4), 212-218. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2 (accessed: 06 november 2018). krathwohl, d. r., bloom, b.s. and masia, b. b. (1964) taxonomy of educational objectives. the classification of educational goals-handbook 2: affective domain. new york: longman group limited. asin: b000jr46mc. lea, s.j., stephenson, d. and troy, j. (2003) ‘higher education students’ attitudes to student-centred learning: beyond educational bulimia.’ studies in higher education, 28(3), 321-334. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070309293 (accessed: 07 november 2018). http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/afrl/storytelling_instructional.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2 conference reflections compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 lujan, h l. and dicarlo, s.e. (2017) ‘a personal connection: promoting positive attitudes towards teaching and learning.’ anatomical sciences education, 10(5), 503-507. available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28431192 (accessed: 05 november 2018). malinowski, b. (1923) ‘the problem of meaning in primitive languages.’ in: ogden, c.k. and richards, i.a. (eds.) the meaning of meaning. london: kegan paul, 296-336. isbn: 9781614275268. miller, m. (2005) ‘teaching and learning in affective domain.’ in: orey, m. (ed.) emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. available at: https://textbookequity.org/textbooks/orey_emergin_perspectives_learning.pdf (accessed: 07 november 2017). mokhtar, n.h., halim, m.f.a. and kamarulzaman, s.z.s. (2011) ‘the effectiveness of storytelling in enhancing communicative skills.’ procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 18, 163-169. available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1877042811011372 (accessed: 05 november 2018). mora, r. a., weaver, s. and lindo, l. m. (2015) ‘editorial for special issue on education and humour: education and humour as tools for social awareness and critical consciousness in contemporary classrooms’. european journal of humour research 3(4), 1-8. available at: https://europeanjournalofhumour.org/index.php/ejhr/article/view/75/pdf (accessed: 07 november 2018). morais, c. (2015) ‘storytelling with chemistry and related hands-on activities: informal learning experiences to prevent chemophobia and promote young children’s scientific literacy.’ journal of chemical education, 92(1), 58-65. available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed5002416 (accessed: 05 november 2018). olson, r. (2015) houston, we have a narrative: why science needs story. chicago: the university of chicago press. isbn: 9780226270982. o’neill, g. and mcmahon, t. (2005) ‘student-centred learning: what does it mean for students and lecturers?’ in: o’neill, g., moore, s. and mcmullin, b. (eds.) emerging issues in the practice of university learning and teaching. dublin: aishe, 30-39. isbn: 9780955013409. steidl, s., razik, f. and anderson, a. (2011) ‘emotion enhanced retention of cognitive skill learning.’ emotion, 11(1), 12-19. available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2010-23143-001 (accessed: 06 november 2018). yalom, i.d. and leszcz, m. (2005) the theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.). new york: basic books. isbn: 978-0465084487. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28431192 https://textbookequity.org/textbooks/orey_emergin_perspectives_learning.pdf https://europeanjournalofhumour.org/index.php/ejhr/article/view/75/pdf https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed5002416 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 creating conditions for student success on a two-year accelerated degree poppy frances gibson, sharon perera, robert morgan, bonnie kerr university of greenwich abstract two-year degrees are intensive degree programmes that offer increased flexibility in higher education (he) and are becoming a more appealing option for many students seeking he study (baty, 2017; cabral and lambirth, 2017), but, with lower entry requirements, are students undertaking a degree when unequipped and unprepared for the challenges that accelerated study presents? this opinion piece focuses on the two-year ba in primary education and details a collaborative pilot project offered by the faculty of education and health and information and library services. the course uses an innovative framework that embeds academic skills in the taught programme to help students to manage better the challenges that the accelerated degree brings. academic and information literacy skills are integrated into the subject curriculum to support students with their studies and also to enhance their abilities and build lasting confidence through employability and citizenship skills. findings from studies into the wellbeing of first-year students (boni et al., 2018) show that, when students are academically and emotionally supported, we can see improved ‘performance, motivation, optimism, and empathy’ (boni et al., op.cit., p.85). it is essential that he institutions consider support strategies to engage students in active participation and successful completion of their degree programmes and this is of particular importance on a two-year accelerated programme, where levels of anxiety and stress may be higher, because of the necessary pace of progress. students, owing to self-doubt, may also suffer from ‘imposter syndrome’ (is) and educators must recognise that this feeling may be present if they are to help dissolve it. this paper will essentially outline four potential strategies to be considered for deployment on other cross-faculty accelerated programmes. two-year degrees are intensive degree programmes offering increased flexibility in higher education (he) and are becoming a more appealing option for many students seeking he study (baty, 2017). there is a saying that one cannot ‘fit a quart into a pint pot’ and yet a student registering for a two-year degree is being asked to fit 360 credits into twenty-four months, compared to thirty-six months for a traditional three-year undergraduate degree. the advantages seem obvious, in that a student can have a degree at two-thirds of the price (kitchener, 2017) but the disadvantages are not only, seemingly, related to time, but also to the academic demands made on the student within that time. in a report by huxley et al. (2017), there is recognition of the additional academic demands that accelerated study places on students, particularly those who come to he study from non-traditional academic routes and who are considered less prepared for academic study. to address this concern, many institutions identified in the report interviewed applicants before accepting them on opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 accelerated programmes, as is the practice with such professional programmes as teacher training. with significantly larger cohorts than those identified in the report, however, interviewing applicants is not practical. without this mechanism to identify student suitability at the university of greenwich, the question is raised as to how best to support those students who may struggle to cope with the demands of accelerated study. the authors of this paper, therefore, recognise that additional support is needed if students are to cope with the heavy workload and pace of delivery and thus to achieve the time needed for their research and for the development of their academic skills. the lurking ‘imposter syndrome’ (is) may also hamper students’ performances during their study for their degree. is is essentially the fear of being exposed as a fraud; students fear that they are not adequately able to perform a delegated role or that they lack the required skills and knowledge (coombes and gibson, 2018). is must therefore be considered as a factor behind reduced student achievement, owing to its links with anxiety and depression. findings from studies into the wellbeing of first-year students show that, when students are academically and emotionally supported, we can see improved “performance, motivation, optimism, and empathy” (boni et al., 2018, p.85). it is essential that he institutions consider support strategies to engage students in active participation and to help them to complete their degree programmes successfully; this is of particular importance to students on a twoyear accelerated programme, where levels of anxiety and stress may be higher, on account of the necessary pace of progress. an ambitious collaborative pilot project (offered by the faculty of education and health and information and library services, at the university of greenwich), to embed academic skills into the two-year ba in primary education taught programme, presents, for the faculty, a new way of collaborating with the university’s library services. it aims to help students to manage better the challenges of an accelerated degree. academic and information literacy skills are integrated into the subject curriculum to support students with their studies and also to enhance their abilities and build lasting confidence through employability and citizenship skills. the concept of embedding skills within the curriculum is not a new one – the phrase was first coined in 2004 to refer to situating a librarian physically within a group in order to experience and observe the daily life of that group (dewey, 2004). today, this concept has moved on and ‘embedding’, in its purest form, involves interweaving academic skills within the course curriculum (dewey, op.cit., cited in shulte, 2012). such an approach is quite unlike the old, librarian-taught, generic (or ‘bolt-on’) session – the “one-shot traditional model” (hoffman et al., 2017); the “quick fix” (mcwilliams and allan, 2014) – which smacked of remedial skills sessions. the collaboratively-delivered accelerated degree still relies on an embedded librarian, but now that role has been enhanced. a skills tutor is also in place, to provide a wider range of skills support, including academic writing skills. the pilot evolved from previous collaborations between the faculty and colleagues from the academic support team in library services. academic support staff ran workshops at key periods during the year to help students prepare for exams and assignments. the students participating in these interventions reported favourably that the sessions had helped them to increase their knowledge and confidence and to develop important academic skills. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 this year (2018-19), a more proactive approach, based on previous experiences, is being undertaken to shape the course so that it addresses any skills gaps that students may still have at the point of their learning the subject content. four strategies – expanded upon below – that the authors of this paper deem vital for student success are: accessibility to students of the information and library services team when they need help with accessing materials; dialogue and feedback on academic progression; timely delivery of academic skills support; and – perhaps the most important connection provided through this pilot – the collaboration between academics and support staff in planning and delivery. these four strategies are outlined below: • accessibility to students and accessing materials by providing, through timetabled sessions, more frequent access to the information and library services team, students can feel more able to contact the team for support during the academic year. also, for students in he, the information journey has significantly evolved over recent decades (gibson and smith, 2018). it is important for educators to ensure that students do not suffer from information overload when searching for materials. • dialogue and feedback on academic progression sessions that involve team-teaching between the academic and information and library services team allow for more detailed dialogue and feedback to students, via the medium of appropriate writing tasks and activities. such an approach may also be seen to counter imposter syndrome, because progress can be shared and students can recognise that they are developing their knowledge and skills (coombes and gibson, 2018). • timely delivery of academic skills support academic and information literacy skills should always be situated within a disciplinary context (biggs, 1996; wingate, 2006). students are better able to understand and develop academic skills when these are taught alongside their learning, rather than in generic skills workshops offered in the library. for example, students are better able to understand how to do keyword searches or be able to discriminate between being descriptive or analytical; when these concepts are taught at the time they are beginning to prepare to write their assignments, or when they have received their marked essays. • collaboration between academics and support staff: planning and delivery underlying all three strategies shared so far, the main innovation of the pilot involves several sessions to be co-taught between the academic lecturers and the academic support team in library services across the academic year. this ensures consistency between methods and strategies for searching and finding information. team-teaching also allows for the culmination of skills, knowledge and experience from different members of staff, in order to help to create conditions for student success. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 to conclude, it is through collaboration between staff and students that conditions for student success may be created, and that imposter syndrome may be combated. as this innovative pilot evolves over the coming academic year, student progression and attainment data will show if it has been successful. the authors hope to publish future research papers about, and evaluations of, the pilot in order to share, with other educators, best practice in creating conditions for student success. reference list baty, p. (2017) ‘two-year degrees: twitter responds to uk fast-track degree plans.’ times higher education. available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/two-yeardegrees-twitter-responds-uk-fast-track-degree-plans (accessed: 3 september 2018). biggs, j. (1996) ‘enhancing teaching through constructive alignment.’ higher education, 32(3), 347-364. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/bf00138871 (accessed: 8 september 2018). cabral, a. and lambirth, a. (2017) ‘accelerated degrees in education: a new profile, alternative access to teaching or part of a re-tooling process?’ journal of further and higher education, 42(6). available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0309877x.2017.1311995 (accessed: 3 september 2018). coombes, s. and gibson, p. (2018) ‘feeling like a fraud: engaging students with imposter syndrome.’ higher education journal of teaching and learning, 9(2). available at: http://hejlt.org/article/feeling-like-a-fraud-engaging-students-with-impostersyndrome/ (accessed: 3 september 2018). dewey, b.i. (2004) ‘the embedded librarian; strategic campus collaborations.’ resource sharing and information networks (the haworth information press), 17(1/2), 517. available at: http://www.haworthpress.com/web/rsin (accessed: 3 september 2018). gibson, p. and smith, s. (2018) ‘digital literacies: preparing pupils and students for their information journey.’ information and learning science, 119 (12). available at: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/ils-07-20180059?fullsc=1&journalcode=ils (accessed: 3 september 2018). hoffman, n., beatty, s., feng, p. and lee, j. (2017) ‘teaching research skills through embedded librarianship.’ reference services review, 45(2), 211-226. available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-07-2016-0045 (accessed: 3 september 2018). huxley, c., green, m., swift, s. and pollard, e. (2017) accelerated degrees in higher education: a case study report. available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment _data/file/595638/accelerated_degrees_case_study_report.pdf (accessed: 3 september 2018). https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/two-year-degrees-twitter-responds-uk-fast-track-degree-plans https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/two-year-degrees-twitter-responds-uk-fast-track-degree-plans https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/bf00138871 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0309877x.2017.1311995 http://hejlt.org/article/feeling-like-a-fraud-engaging-students-with-imposter-syndrome/ http://hejlt.org/article/feeling-like-a-fraud-engaging-students-with-imposter-syndrome/ http://www.haworthpress.com/web/rsin https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/ils-07-2018-0059?fullsc=1&journalcode=ils https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/ils-07-2018-0059?fullsc=1&journalcode=ils https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-07-2016-0045 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595638/accelerated_degrees_case_study_report.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595638/accelerated_degrees_case_study_report.pdf opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 mcwilliams, r. and allan, q. (2014) ‘embedding academic literacy skills: towards a best practice model.’ journal of university teaching and learning practice, 11(3), article 8. available at: http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol11/iss3/8 (accessed: 3 september 2018). kitchener, i. (2017) ‘are accelerated degrees the future for higher education?’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 10(3). available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/569 (accessed: 3 september 2018). schulte, s.j. (2012) ‘embedded academic librarianship: a review of the literature.’ evidence based library and information practice. available at: https://doi.org/10.18438/b8m60d (accessed: 3 september 2018). university of greenwich, library services (2018) ‘curious, informed, accomplished.’ available at: https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/academicskills/curious-informed-accomplished (accessed: 3 september 2018). wingate, u. (2006) ‘doing away with study skills’. teaching in higher education, 11(4), 457469. (accessed: 3 september 2018). http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol11/iss3/8 https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/569 https://doi.org/10.18438/b8m60d https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/academicskills/curious-informed-accomplished case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 1 a mobile device supported blended learning approach for postgraduate students where absenteeism from classes had previously been an issue iain carruthers-jones, human resources and organisational behaviour, business school abstract while the students on a postgraduate course were reportedly motivated by the course, which was accredited by a professional body, there was a high level of absenteeism in earlier courses years. a blended learning approach was introduced which allowed the students to attend lectures and tutorials but also to access course material, listen to lecture-based podcasts, participate in chat room tutorials and use other resources, such as the library resources, at any time. to ensure a common technology platform, each student was issued with an ipad2. the blended learning approach and the availability of mobile devices gave flexibility to assist and support learning. lessons learned included (1) that introducing the blended learning approach appeared to have a positive impact on academic results (2) traditional attendance measures became less relevant, (3) that students wanted to retain an amount of face to face time rather than go solely online and (4) that students vary in the enthusiasm with which they embrace the blended learning approach. introduction in october 2010, the author took over responsibility for the delivery of the course titled research methods (indu1008), which is part of the masters degree course in human resource management. this course is run in the university of greenwich business school (uogbs) through the department of human resources and organisational behaviour (hrob). it has cipd approval and has run for a number of years. it takes place in the autumn term of the academic year. the students have been required to attend lectures weekly on a monday evening (18.00-21.00). they attend a separate course on a wednesday evening; this second course is part of the masters programme, as well. on monday evenings, the 18.00-21.00 time period was split into two parts with a short break of 15 minutes in the middle. the first 75 minutes comprised a lecture on the course topic of the week and the period 19.30-21.00 comprised a tutorial during which group work considered some practical case work issues that were related to topics that had been covered in the lecture. the historical background during the 2010-2011 academic year, the author became concerned about poor attendance on monday evenings. poor attendance took two forms; lateness and non-attendance. the former was very common. while the lecture always started at 18.00 typically there would be only three or four of the cohort of 15 present. others would appear, usually out of breath, over the next hour. attendance by 19.00 was usually about 65%. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 2 attendance was more of a challenge for some than for others. while some of the cohort were merely consistently late, others were frequently absent altogether. some managed to attend only about 6 of the 11 sessions. one managed only 3 of the 11. the author’s concern led to discussions with the students about the reasons for the lateness and absenteeism. all expressed a wish to regularly attend. however, all mentioned as well that there was a significant challenge for each of them since they were all professional people with significant responsibility. this often involved travel and participation in board or senior management level meetings. several had family responsibilities as well. it was difficult to achieve a balance. while all passed the course requirements, which included two written assignments, the range of scores was wide. some achieved good scores and some clearly struggled. those that struggled reported feeling disadvantaged by their own poor rate of attendance. it seemed regrettable to the author that these time-poor students had such difficulties. the resources provided for them comprised lectures, which many had difficulty attending, lectures notes (from the times they managed to attend), a set of powerpoint slides from each lecture and a course handbook. the author’s reflection on ways to improve the situation for students was given urgency by his recognition that he himself faced a similar kind of challenge since he had a busy job, family responsibilities and he was attending a continuing professional development course, as well. this course provided, however, the key to solving the problem since it was a course to achieve a certificate in transformational learning with digital technologies (cert pd (tldt)). this course involved meeting, over a two year period ( the academic years 20102012), with course tutors and doing most of the study work using an online, project based approach with the requirement to submit assignments each term. this course offered the opportunity to develop both a theoretical and practical understanding of the advantages and challenges involved in developing and delivering learning resources using digital technology. literature review the author reviewed recently published work with a view to consider using a blended learning approach with the indu1008 course cohort for 2011-2012. it was anticipated that such an approach might provide a richer learning resource for the students as well as neutralise the attendance problem. to begin with it was important for the author to achieve an understanding of what is meant by the term “blended learning”. the variety of ways in which this term has been used is considerable. in order to move on from insisting on a position of theoretical purity, the position taken by the authors of the australian learning and teaching council (altc) was adopted. the authors of the altc good practice report (partridge et al., 2011) made it clear that in their opinion there is no single, collectively accepted definition of blended learning. in this case study report it has been used to describe teaching where there is an integration of face-to-face contact and online delivery. this approach marks a shift from passive to active learning for students; it is suggested that educators need to facilitate active learning. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 3 briefly, the challenges of using a blended learning approach relate to issues faced by both the students and the teaching staff.  it has been suggested that ‘blended courses require a degree of self-motivation and independent learning which can be unfamiliar to students who have only experienced traditional face-to-face formats’ (gerbic & stacey, 2009, 299).  from a faculty perspective, a major concern is the increased time commitment involved to develop appropriate materials, such as audio podcasts, for online delivery (welker & berardino, 2005).they suggested that ‘blended courses take longer to prepare and administer than their traditional counterparts.’ (34).  research indicates that ‘faculty support and resources for course redesign, along with the development of new teaching and technology skills are also important factors in delivering successful blended courses’ (gerbic & stacey, 2009, 302). reflecting upon previous research, it was felt that the maturity and enthusiasm of the students would be strong motivators in the first point above. with regard to the second and third points, the author felt that while additional time would certainly be needed to both learn how to create the online resources and then to deliver and support them, this was a worthwhile investment in creating improved learning resources. the positive implications for adopting the blended approach are suggested to be many including the point that ‘blended learning is, at least potentially, the most transformative and pervasive initiative an institution can undertake’ (niemiec & otte, 2010, 118). reviewing the duckling project, completed in october 2010, at the university of leicester which implemented curriculum design and delivery for two course teams, it appeared that of the methods of delivery tried, podcasting was considered to be effective (duckling project, 2011). the courses were all at master’s level and involved distance-learning work-based programmes. the key challenges were listed as achieving flexibility to accommodate mobility, increasing engagement, reducing learner isolation and increasing retention. in this project they chose to use e-book readers (sony prs-505s) as their mobile devices. the implementation of the study an important consideration was whether to base the newly designed course on an internal (to the university of greenwich) platform or to use an external platform. another institution has developed a model whereby their mba programme is hosted on an external platform (facebook) with access to the course material being free to all. fees are only incurred when taking exams. it was decided not to take the external platform approach for a number of reasons, including the potential difficulty in retaining sufficient control over access, potential difficulties in dealing with reliability problems and academic integrity and credibility issues. the internal platform route contained potential difficulties, too. the university of greenwich business school (uogbs) transferred from webct to moodle in september 2011. all staff were required to learn to use moodle and to provide all learning material through the new moodle platform. this transition needed to go live by the end of september 2011 when the case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 4 new academic year began. hence, there was a need to redesign the course and learn to use a completely new tool over the summer of 2011. these complications influenced the decision about what to include in the new course design. noting the tools used by several others, including the university of leicester duckling project, it appeared essential to use:  podcasts to either replace or to augment the lectures which were traditionally delivered on a monday evening from 18.00-19.15. it was intended to use software such as audacity open source software for the podcast recording.  a chat room (synchronous) and forum (asynchronous), to replace or to augment the tutorials which traditionally took place on a monday evening between 19.30 and 21.00. these would be designed to include the use of wikis for recording joint work.  a forum (asynchronous) for discussion about issues of importance to the students. this was situated on the home page of the course moodle platform; it could be accessed at any time by the students. it was monitored periodically by the author.  the elements listed above were accessible to the students at any time by using their uog student user id and password. the whole proposal was developed through reflection about what was needed and could be provided in a practical way for the students as well as keeping in mind the good practice suggestions gleaned from the literature review. thus it had been planned that podcasts could stand alone as well as augment the lectures. also it was intended that the chat room resource could be flexible enough to incorporate interaction between those who were present in class and those who were unable to attend physically but could join online. the self-training element was a key challenge in undertaking the project. joining the university staff as a visiting lecturer in autumn 2009 (and a fulltime member of staff in 2010) with no experience of working in the vle, the need to self-train was very clear. the resource management system at that time was webct based and it was relatively easy to ‘get by’, since tutorial work involved using paper handouts and the lectures needed only a powerpoint slide set. while these should have been deposited in the webct site for student access it was not compulsory. in early 2011 the introduction of moodle was announced. this required the author and his colleagues to learn to populate their respective moodle course shells with the resources needed to provide their students with 24/7 access to their course materials. while training was available, the challenge was considerable and many found the challenge rather daunting. for this author the challenge involved learning to use a moodle-based process to create a course web page. this was a challenge common to all faculty members with responsibilities for a course or programme. basically there was a need to create a course handbook and to upload pdf files of powerpoint slides for each topic on the programme. beyond this, the course and programme leaders could decide for themselves what additional resources would be included. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 5 for the author the additional challenge was learning how to  record podcasts for each topic of the course to replace/augment lectures  create chat rooms (synchronous) with wiki support  create forum facilities( asynchronous) that the students could use for discussion and the tutor could use for announcements from the author’s point of view, the challenge was considerable. while some technical support and training was available, the task was essentially a solitary one. there was much trial and error. a good example of this relates to the podcasting process where file size became a major issue and a compromise was needed. in trying to create podcasts using audacity software, the author was advised that when creating a “televised lecture including slides” the file size would probably be too large for moodle to accommodate. a compromise was to create a powerpoint file with voice over on each slide. in doing this a further complication arose because at that time a moodle requirement was that uploaded files should be pdf in format. however, pdf files would not support sound at that time and each file containing “powerpoint plus voice over” was eventually uploaded as a powerpoint file. this process was followed for each of the eleven subject topics. this work was carried out during july, august and september 2011. the course site was ready for use by the first week of october 2011 when the students started the term. it was proposed to the (acting) dean of uogbs in march 2011, that it would be helpful to ensure that the students had a common technical platform similar to that reported in the duckling project. since the duckling project students encountered limitations in their sony ereaders, it was proposed that a more flexible portable device was adopted and the ipad2 was proposed by the (acting) dean. this device, it was suggested, would ensure that the students could access the course material at their convenience. it was proposed that, through a wi-fi connection, the material could be downloaded at will. it would facilitate, as well, the uploading to the portal of the two assignments that the students are required to submit as part of their course requirements. this proposal was not approved and actioned until late september 2011. the ipad2’s were received on 1 st october and distributed on 3 rd october 2011 at the author’s first meeting with the student group. the ipads were distributed to the students free of charge. there was no obligation to return them and they were told that they could use the ipads for anything including recreational games. they were, however, asked to keep a record of the various uses and the apps that they loaded. they were asked, as well, to share with others the apps they used and found useful. the student group comprised nine women and one man. the age range was 30-40. all had jobs with some seniority; some in the public sector and some in the private sector. as in previous years, all reported being “time poor” having busy jobs with high demands but without fixed hours and a personal life including, in some cases, children. it is probable that case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 6 most would not have been doing the course if it were not the case that it is part of professional accreditation and continuing professional development. the goal of this project was, therefore, the redesign of a postgraduate masters degree course at the university of greenwich using a blended learning approach. a change was proposed from a simple traditional face to face style of teaching to a blended learning approach which would allow the students greater flexibility in their learning. the aim was to redesign the course so that as well as the traditional face to face approach remaining available to students, there would be a number of new online resources such as the course guide and handbook, course material including powerpoint slides, lecture-based podcasts, chat room tutorials and library resources. results and discussion the course structure was designed to combine the use of online tools (podcasts, course handbook and guide, etc) with face-to-face teaching and learning. the online element made available to the students a teaching programme which allowed 24/7 on-line access to the moodle course management system. in practice, this meant that the students could choose to attend the lectures or keep up/catch up by accessing the course material through the podcast for the relevant topic of the week. the entire group valued this flexibility and during the term several emailed the author to say that they would not be able to ‘come to class’ because of other demands but that they would be ‘attending’ the podcast later. the reasons given for non-attendance were mainly work-demand-related, but child care issues and personal and family health problems were also mentioned. one key question to explore was whether the 24/7 availability of course materials through the moodle web page was a welcome, learning-enhancing development which increased the students’ satisfaction with their course. there was a unanimous positive response in student logs. whether the students accessed the material as their primary source of information about a topic because they did not attend the lecture or as a backup and reminder to their attendance at the lectures, the continuing availability of the podcast teaching material was very highly valued, according to responses to the final questionnaire. another key area of interest was to gain an understanding of whether the creation of podcasts containing a voice-accompanied powerpoint slide presentation would lead to better use and absorption of learning material in comparison with the traditional ‘one lecture per topic’ approach. the questionnaire results suggest that the ‘better use and absorption’ contains two aspects. the first is the realisation that multi-modality learning, in this case reading and listening, is more effective than uni-modality learning. the second aspect is that a podcast can be paused or re-run if some reflection or further thought is needed. these aspects of the blended approach increased the students’ satisfaction with their course. with regard to use of the site by the students, there was a huge variability in the beginning. this could be attributed to having more or less digital literacy. the students had both a new approach to learning (through much more use of the course website) and a new piece of portable technology. only one student had used an ipad2 before. within two weeks, however, there was a lot of website ‘traffic’ and all reported that the portable device was a hit case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 7 (“much appreciated”) and that the website was easy to access and use. the podcasts were considered helpful as a support for the lectures. there were few comments on the podcasts as a substitute for the lectures, since there was high attendance at most classes. it was intended that the chat rooms would come into use in the third week of term. this did not happen since the group expressed a clear preference for attending lectures and tutorials. a later attempt to use this resource met with resistance and the expressed opinion that a tutorial was preferable because it allowed face-to-face contact both with the tutor and with each other. part way through the term a student’s off hand comment in the short break between the end of a lecture and the beginning of the tutorial led to the introduction of a new element. she was very daunted about the research dissertation that they were scheduled to start in the following term. not only was it the first time that she would undertake a research project but she had no practical idea of what she was going to research. the author’s urging to come up with a research question had only served to increase her anxiety. the other students echoed her “terror”. remembering john dewey’s principle of learning ‘based on discovery guided by mentoring rather than on the transmission of information’ which was referred to in the boyer report (1998) and the paper by streitwieser et al. (2010) the potential usefulness of adopting a community of practice (cop) approach was recognised at this point. in practical terms, a suggestion was put to the students that, if they wished, we would put aside the tutorial material (anyway available on-line) and discuss their project ideas instead. three students took twenty minutes each to put their ideas, however nebulous, to the group. the discussion served to provide emotional support, build confidence, cross-fertilise learning and crystallise ideas. the session was such a success that the three asked if they could bring their developed ideas back the following week for similarly constructive criticism. the author proposed to the group that for the two following weeks the planned lectures and tutorials would be set aside and every student would have the opportunity to present their ideas for discussion since they could catch up on the lecture material at another time. the proposal was accepted and very highly appreciated. their mobile devices were used during the discussions for the recording of notes and ideas. later they were used to exchange observations, suggestions and support. while a correlation cannot be proved, it is interesting to note that the two assignments they subsequently presented, one a literature review and the other a methodology for their proposed dissertation, were considered, anecdotally, by the moderator (also the programme leader) and the external examiner, to be the best pieces of work that they had seen in many years from students on this course. the group average score for the two assignments (70.1%) was more than 5% higher than in earlier years. expressed satisfaction level with the new course format was overwhelmingly positive, as measured by a (survey monkey) questionnaire completed at the end of the course. despite starting the course as novices in research, the vle and the use of mobile devices, the group was delighted with the easy availability of the course materials through the course moodle web page, the revised contents of the materials and their 24/7 availability. they described case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 8 this as a really useful augmentation to the face-to-face contact. additionally, they were delighted with the mobile device which supported the whole enterprise, feeling that this made the improved materials and resources even more accessible and helpful. overall, there were a number of considerations which would influence the use of ipads in future. word software is not readily available, secondly, there were problems in using flash player on an apple product and thirdly, there is a lack of a usb slot. these three issues are related to decisions made by apple regarding the configuration of the ipads. by early 2013 these problems had been overcome through the development of apps and peripheral equipment. however, in future the author would, nonetheless, seriously consider other mobile devices. since this study was initiated, a considerable number of mobile devices, including tablets, have become available and unit pricing has become a major consideration as the blended learning approach, supported by mobile devices, is made available to students on an increasingly widespread basis. finally, it was disappointing to discover that the indu1008 course was to be discontinued. the materials and course resources are mothballed and remain unused by colleagues. it may be that the materials, such as the podcasts, will be placed in a repository such as youtube or jorum. overall, there was clear evidence that the students responded to the blended approach in terms of enhanced learning, increased engagement and appreciation. references boyer. e.l. (1998). reinventing undergraduate education: a blueprint for america’s research universities. available at: http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf/. (accessed 19 april 2012). duckling project, (2011) university of leicester. available at: http://www.le.ac.uk/duckling accessed 1 april 2012). gerbic, p. and stacey, e. (2009). ‘conclusion’. in stacey, e. and gerbic, p. (eds.), effective blended learning practices: evidence-based perspectives in ict facilitated education. hershey, pa: information science reference, 298-311. niemiec, m., and otte, g. (2010). ‘an administrator’s guide to the whys and hows of blended learning’. journal of asynchronous learning networks, 14(1), 91 102. partridge, h.; ponting, d. and mccay, m. (2011). good practice report: blended learning. available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/47566/1/47566.pdf (accessed 17 april 2012). streitwieser, b.; light, g. and pazos, p. (2010). entering the community of practitioners: a science research workshop model. available at:http://www.northwestern.edu/searle/pdf/streitwieserlightpazos_working_paper.pdf (accessed 20 april 2012). welker, j. and berardino, l. (2005). blended learning: understanding the middle http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf/ http://eprints.qut.edu.au/47566/1/47566.pdf http://www.northwestern.edu/searle/pdf/streitwieserlightpazos_working_paper.pdf case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 7, 2013 9 ground between traditional classroom and fully online instruction. journal of educational technology systems, 34(1), 33-55. acknowledgements thanks to dr doreen nielson for her help on ipad administration. author biography iain carruthers-jones joined the university of greenwich business school’s department of human resources and organisational behaviour in 2009 and became a member of the centre for innovation, imagination and inspiration in 2011. he is interested in both the use of digital technologies in learning and in the challenges of leadership in sme’s. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 from local to institutional attainment change: scaling-up local initiatives phil gravestock and debra cureton university of wolverhampton abstract ethnicity-based gaps in degree outcomes are a pervasive sector issue. at the university of wolverhampton, substantial investments have been made a) to fund research into why the outcomes gap occurs, the better to understand it, and then b) to implement and evaluate initiatives to reduce it. however, upscaling smaller initiatives to university-wide actions can be fraught with issues. this case study will provide a synthesis of the research carried out at wolverhampton and the ways this was used as an evidence-base to inform institutional change. the study will also consider some of the lessons learnt from our attempts to embed the outcomes into institutional ‘business as usual’. context the university of wolverhampton has participated in several projects relating to inclusivity and the reduction in the attainment gap for degree outcomes between ‘white’ and ‘black, asian and minority ethnic’ (bame) students. two multi-institutional projects that researched the reasons for disparities in students’ academic results were: 1. the disparities in student attainment (disa) project, funded by the national teaching fellowship scheme (cousin and cureton, 2012) 2. the what works? programme, funded by the paul hamlyn foundation, higher education academy and action on access (thomas, 2012; cureton et al., 2017; thomas et al., 2017). the outcomes from these projects and the subsequent processes to embed the actions and recommendations into institutional practice form the basis of this case study. project outcomes the outcomes from both projects suggested a) that there is no single reason for the disparities seen in the marks and grades of assessment activities and b) that these disparities are the result of a complex intersection between several factors which can have a negative impact upon students’ lives and well-being. these factors – and the interplay between them – should be considered when discussing with members of staff and students the issue of attainment disparities. cousin and cureton (op.cit.) identified four interrelated categories to explain some of the intersecting factors (see also mountford-zimdars et al., 2015; cureton and gravestock, 2018): case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 1. relational factors – i.e. factors that have impact on students’ relationships with their peers, lecturers, academic departments and the university itself; 2. aspects of pedagogy – i.e. design of learning, teaching and assessment activities and the inclusivity of the learning environment; 3. psycho-social processes – i.e. the psychological contract that a student has with a university, including consideration of whether this contract is enhanced or violated by a student’s expectations of higher education (he); 4. social and cultural capital – i.e. the knowledge and understanding that students have when they enter the he environment and the opportunity for students to acquire new knowledge in order to make a successful transition into he. the outcomes from the two projects that are believed to reduce disparities in student attainment can be allocated to one or more of these four categories. for the purposes of this case study, three broad themes have been chosen for discussion. these themes have resulted in proposed recommendations and actions for university-wide dissemination and embedding. the three themes relate to the four categories above as follows: 1. belonging (relational factors); 2. assessment activities (aspects of pedagogy); 3. expectations (psycho-social processes; social and cultural capital). more detailed information about these themes is available in cousin and cureton (op.cit.), thomas (op.cit.), cureton et al. (op.cit.) and cureton and gravestock (op.cit.). belonging one of the key findings from the national what works? programme was the importance of students’ sense of ‘belonging’ within an institution. the concept of belonging was found to be multi-faceted and the primary outcome from the programme was that students were more successful if they felt that they were accepted, had strong learning relationships (e.g. with peers, lecturers) and felt valued as part of an institution (masika and jones, 2016; humphrey and lowe, 2017). a strong sense of belonging provided students with the resilience and confidence to support them during difficult periods in their studies. the notion of belonging also equated with ‘engagement’, in that students who had a strong sense of belonging were also the ones who were likely to engage fully in academic and social activities. the what works? programme found that black male students had a lower sense of belonging compared with other groups of students and that these students were less likely to achieve a ‘good’ degree classification at the end of their period of study. the what works? programme also identified that the number of students who considered leaving during their first year of study was far greater than the number who actually left (thomas, op.cit.). institutions participating in the programme found that between thirty-three and forty-two per cent of students had considered leaving in the first year of study, whereas around eight per cent had actually withdrawn. issues such as a feeling of isolation and not fitting in were suggested as explanations for why students had considered withdrawing from their studies. it was also demonstrated that many of the students who subsequently went on to withdraw from he had low overall levels of satisfaction. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the development of effective learning relationships between students and members of staff was found to be central to supporting and enhancing students’ confidence and their potential to achieve. feedback from students indicated that lecturers could enhance belonging by showing respect and demonstrating that they could see potential in the students; however, belonging could also be lost rapidly if lecturers were perceived to be rude or unapproachable. when students did not have effective learning relationships with members of staff, they would often rely on their peers for support. although this could sometimes be an effective form of learning relationship, one of the issues identified was that peers may unintentionally spread misconceptions about academic processes and procedures, particularly in relation to assessment activities. assessment activities effective assessment design can help students’ transition into he, as well as supporting students’ mental wellbeing. examples of effective practice can include: early formative assessment; reviewing deadlines for summative submission so that they are not bunched; effective group work activities to support peer interaction (krause, 2001; tinto, 2006; bloxham and boyd, 2007; crosling et al., 2009; houghton and anderson, 2017). as periods of assessment can be times when some students might question their preparedness for he, it is important that strong learning relationships with lecturers and peers have already been established. the reduction – or elimination – of any barriers relating to the successful completion of assessment tasks is therefore of prime consideration in supporting students to achieve and to continue in he. students can sometimes spend more time on worrying about an assessment activity and trying to understand the requirements of what they are being asked to do than on their production of the assessment task (oldham and dhillon, 2012; howell-richardson, 2012). a central outcome from the university’s what works? project was the production of clear and concise assignment briefs and enhancing students’ understanding of what was required of them. the university’s projects found a clear link between the availability and quality of assignment briefs and the number of students who subsequently submitted assignments and achieved good results (cousin and cureton, op.cit.; cureton et al., op.cit.). in order to support students’ assessment-literacy skills and understanding of an assessment task, the university developed student-centred ‘assessment unpacking’ activities. this process aligns with the proposal that assessment activities will be more effective at promoting and supporting learning if students have been involved in the process as active participants and partners (nicol, 2009; winstone et al., 2017). the assessment unpacking activities at the university were conducted as follows: • in small groups, students discussed their understanding of the assignment requirements and articulated this information to the lecturer and the class as a whole. • students were then given an opportunity to ask questions anonymously about what they did not understand – for example, by posing questions on post-it notes. • lecturers responded to the points raised during the student feedback and addressed any misconceptions in understanding. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 members of staff participating in the project were surprised by some of the misconceptions that students had regarding the assessment activities; however, staff also noted that there were fewer queries regarding the assessment activity outside class contact hours following the assessment unpacking process. the assessment unpacking activities were found to reduce student anxiety, increase student confidence and support the development of learning relationships between students and members of staff. students felt that they were empowered in a safe environment to articulate their own beliefs and understanding about the assessment tasks. the process also helped to reduce the impact of misconceptions that might have been spread by peers. expectations students from different institutions involved in the projects indicated that they had not been clear about the he environment before starting their studies. students understood that there would be differences between further education and he environments, but were unable to articulate what these differences might be. in many cases, this lack of understanding of he related to processes and procedures concerning assessment activities (e.g. understanding the degree classification scheme, institutional marking schemes and the importance of spelling and grammar in some assignments). students commented that they often felt as though they did not know the ‘rules of the game’. part of this confusion related to students’ understanding of he terminology. one specific example was the term ‘independent learning’, which was found to be poorly understood by many students. hockings et al. (2017) conducted a national crossinstitutional project to investigate the understanding of the term ‘independent learning’ and to determine the activities that students were undertaking as part of this process. it was found that students frequently equated the term ‘independent learning’ with the model of ‘homework’ that they were familiar with from their experiences at school or college. some students also perceived ‘independent learning’ as a way for them to take on the responsibility of bridging the gap between material delivered within the he classroom sessions and what was required for the curriculum as a whole. in order to address issues relating to students’ transition into he, some of the projects used an interlocutor to help to explain some of the characteristics of the he environment. the use of an interlocutor was also found to be useful for developing and managing students’ expectations, especially when the conversation focused on raising aspirations and discussing students’ potential. this was particularly important where students were the ‘first in family’ to enter he and where there was not the appropriate knowledge within the home environment to support the students’ studies. providing clear information to students and to their families about the he environment helped to develop understanding and an awareness of the issues that the students would be facing during their period of study. such information was essential to support an effective transition into he, in order to ensure that expectations could be developed and managed and to underpin the psychological contract that the students had with a university. case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 from local to institutional as has been shown above, the two projects resulted in the identification of a number of activities and recommendations that were shown to have a positive impact upon student satisfaction and attainment. although these activities relate to issues regarding attainment, the processes involved in the implementation of these outcomes within the institution will be common to many projects and institutions. following the completion of the projects, a number of the institutional activities and processes were adopted, with the intention of embedding the project outcomes within the normal day-to-day practice of the university. these activities included: • dissemination via faculty and institutional learning and teaching events; • use of the annual peer-review activities within the academic faculties; • alignment of the graduate teaching assistants’ work with the project outcomes; • integration of the project outcomes into the university’s postgraduate certificate in higher education and professional practice; • a series of students’ union ‘summits’, which encouraged members of staff to pledge to undertake work to reduce the gap in student outcomes. the university also established an ‘attainment champion’ within each of the four academic faculties. these champions met on a regular basis with members of staff who had been involved with the project and also with members of senior management. the champions were members of staff, from within the faculties, who had credibility in their subject areas and also knowledge of the issues relating to attainment. the use of champions, or ‘change agents’, can be a powerful way to enact change within an organisation through qualitymanagement processes (hutton, 1994); in this case, they helped to ensure that the implementation of the project outcomes was not simply viewed as a ‘top-down’ change and that the local context would be addressed through the involvement of the champions. lessons learnt it was found that many of the activities listed above were appropriate for raising awareness of the issues and the strategies identified in the projects, but they were not always sufficient to embed practice across the institution. discipline areas that had participated in the projects continued to implement the project outcomes; however, although these activities were adopted in other disciplines, the implementation was not pervasive or consistent. one of the potential issues that has been recognised when trying to apply project outcomes to an existing curriculum is that these activities can be viewed as ‘bolted-on’ and additional pieces of work. the impact of these activities is therefore susceptible to gradual change over time – a form of ‘academic creep’ – with a reversion to the former practice. for example, changes were made to the assignment briefs with the good intention of providing additional relevant material and information to students, but they lost in the process the key elements of clarity and brevity. also, once some members of staff had conducted the assessment unpacking activities a number of times, they felt that they understood the students’ misconceptions and addressed these through revised and clarified assignment briefs. in some instances, the assessment unpacking process then became lecturer-centred rather case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 than student-centred, in that a lecturer would explain in more detail what s/he thought the students needed to know on the basis of information provided in previous assessment unpacking activities. although this information might have been explicit, helpful and informative, changing the nature of the assessment unpacking activities also changed the learning relationship between the student and lecturer, which might have had the impact of reducing the confidence and empowerment that students felt in undertaking the studentcentred approach to assessment unpacking. alongside this, new members of staff joining the institution were being introduced within the academic faculties to the more lecturercentred, rather than student-centred, approaches that had been recommended by the outcomes of the projects. one of the generic problems associated with internallyor externally-funded projects is that it can be hard for the members of the team to continue the work of the project when the period of funding has finished, particularly when dedicating time to the embedding of project outcomes. in order to ensure that this work is continued, it needs to align – and be seen to align – with institutional priorities and activities. at the end of a project, some members of staff can sometimes have the perception ‘we’ve already done this, haven’t we?’, particularly with the introduction of new internal initiatives and external drivers with impact on staff workload. it is therefore important that relevant outcomes remain visible, are embedded within institutional priorities and form part of a strategic direction and approach. this will ensure that a consistent message is communicated to students and to members of staff about the work that is required. for this reason, having a single initiative can be an effective way of raising awareness of change; however, this initiative needs to be located in a suitable department within an institution and should be led by a member of staff with credibility and the ability to influence and support change. following the completion of the disa and what works? projects, the university underwent a period of restructuring, which meant that there was no longer a suitable central location for the initiative. also, the roles of members of staff who had been involved with the initial projects were revised and it was harder to influence institutional change from these new roles. this also made it harder to support and co-ordinate the work of the faculty attainment champions. although the role of champion or change agent can be a powerful method of enacting change, one of the risks observed was that it was possible for other members of staff to feel less responsibility for implementing change, owing to perception that this was the role and responsibility of the attainment champion. concluding comments: addressing the lessons the university has been revisiting the outcomes from the disa and what works? projects and is undertaking a number of specific inclusionand attainment-related activities to support the embedding of the projects’ recommendations. in order to address the lessons described above, the responsibility for the co-ordination of activities relating to the development of inclusive curricula – including addressing the attainment gap – has been brought into a central department that was established after the restructuring process and which has responsibility for supporting learning and teaching across the institution. this department has been able to draw upon the expertise and experience of members of staff from across the institution, many of whom were involved in the disa and what works? projects. the department has also established an institution-wide ‘include me’ community of practice, to case studies compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 raise the awareness of members of staff and students of inclusion-related issues and to support the work of the attainment champions by demonstrating that these issues are relevant to all members of the academic community. the department has also ensured that key outcomes from the projects are now established within the institution’s ‘learning & teaching strategy’. effective implementation of the learning & teaching strategy will be supported through the curriculum design of and development process for all new and revised courses. these processes will ensure that course-development teams are, as part of the planning and design process, involved in a discussion about the issues and that the implementation of these outcomes will be embedded as part of the newly-developed curricula and should not be viewed as additional ‘bolt-on’ activities. reference list bloxham, s. and boyd, p. 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(2006) ‘research and practice of student retention: what next?’ journal of college student retention, 8(1), 1-19. available at: https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/tinto_2006_what_next23657.pdf (accessed: 1 may 2019). winstone, n.e., nash, r.a., parker, m. and rowntree, j. (2017) ‘supporting learners’ agentic engagement with feedback: a systematic review and a taxonomy of recipience processes.’ educational psychologist, 52(1), 17-37. available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538 (accessed: 1 may 2019). https://www.phf.org.uk/publications/works-student-retention-success-full/ https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/tinto_2006_what_next23657.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 curriculum co-creation as a transformative strategy to address differential student outcomes: the example of kingston university’s student curriculum consultant programme annie livingstone hughes, christina michener, kamal mohamed, nona mcduff kingston university london abstract this paper examines the role that curriculum co-creation can play in creating a more inclusive higher education and, in so doing, addresses the complex challenge of differential student outcomes and attainment. it achieves this by exploring kingston university’s student curriculum consultant programme (sccp), which is an integral part of the institution’s inclusive curriculum framework (icf). students who work as curriculum consultants use their own diverse lived experiences and kingston university’s icf to collaborate with staff to create more accessible, meaningful and globally-relevant curricula at all levels of the institution. the consultants work with staff in a variety of ways to address potential barriers in the curriculum. this paper examines three instances of co-creation facilitated through the sccp. we argue that this programme acts as a mechanism through which the institution can not only legitimate, but also actively endorse and encourage co-creation in order to create more inclusive curricula. introduction differential outcomes between student groups based on ethnicity, socio-economic class and disability have been persistent in higher education (he) (hefce 2015; universities uk, 2016). the most recent data from the newly-formed uk office for students (ofs) evidences the continuing reality of these perennial patterns, highlighting significant differences between students who gain a first or upper second class degree, compared to those that do not, on the basis of socio-economic status, as measured by participation of local areasi. students from high participation neighbourhoods significantly outperform students who come from lower participation neighbourhoods. similarly, age is a key demographic delineator of attainment outcomes, with younger students outperforming mature students. the most recent data also supports the existence of the most pernicious unexplained ‘gap’ in attainment outcomes based on ethnicity, which has become known as the bme attainment gapii. this data shows a staggering twenty-two percentage point difference between the proportions of white graduates gaining a first or upper second class degree compared with black graduates and an eleven percentage point difference between white and asian graduates (ofs, 2018). the challenge of differential attainment based on demographic status is not only confined to the uk: other he institutions in the us and australia report similar challenges. identifying and addressing these disparate outcomes has become a key challenge for he (millward, 2018). to date, the dominant discourse of differential attainment is one based on a model of student deficit, where students from particular backgrounds are deemed to have articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 particular barriers preventing them from achieving in he. however recent research has challenged the student-deficit model and points to the fact that the causes of differential attainment are incredibly complex and multi-dimensional (mountford-zimdars, 2015). whilst acknowledging the challenges faced by some students, this thesis recognises that normative cultures of/in universities can act to ‘other’ students from ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds (crozier et al., 2008, reay et al., 2010, meuleman et al., 2014). there is a growing body of work which argues that ‘exclusive’ institutional cultures and academic curricula (which normalise the lived experiences of so-called ‘traditional’ students at the expense of the backgrounds, behaviours and values of our increasingly diverse student body) have a significant part to play in differential student outcomes (ross et al., 2018). the response to these arguments must be a reflective approach to identify the (often unwritten and unrecognised) normative assumptions that are embedded in the curricula and learning cultures of higher educational institutions (heis) which contribute to differential student outcomes (hughes, 2016). the contention that a significant proportion of curriculaiii in he is western-centric is well rehearsed (maila, 2010; tange and kastberg, 2013). clearly curricula centred on the knowledge and lived experiences of dominant social groups do not best serve the needs of a more diverse society (gundara and sharma, 2010, quoted in daddow, 2013). we argue that what is required of he is a robust and thorough reflection of the dimensions of our curricula and how they impact on the learning experience of diverse student groups. this will no doubt involve adopting curricula that better reflect, embrace and celebrate the backgrounds of all students in their classrooms. in the main body of this paper, we explore the potential of curriculum co-creation to create more inclusive curricula that echo and acknowledge the backgrounds of our students. first, however, we define co-creation, and subsequently consider its relationship with an inclusive curriculum, arguing that curricula which students are encouraged to craft will be inherently more inclusive than one created solely by academic teachers. co-creation and creating an inclusive curriculum whilst it is true to say that academics remain the principal gatekeepers of curricula in he, there is a growing recognition of the role that students can play in curricular co-creation’ and how, in turn, this contributes to teaching excellence (mcculloch, 2009; willis and gregory, 2016). there is, however, no single agreed definition of ‘co-creation’. terms such as ‘students as partners’ (healy et al., 2014; levy et al., 2010), ‘co-producers’ (mcculloch, 2009) and ‘co-constructors’ (fraser and bosanquet, 2006) are used inter-changeably. what is clear is that co-creation requires the active participation of students in their learning and is not simply about ‘the student voice’. co-creation requires a fundamental shift, from the traditional lecturer-student relationship – where one party, the teacher, is seen as the ‘producer of knowledge’ and the other, the student, as its ‘consumer’ to one in which teachers and students act together as joint constructors of knowledge (fraser and bosanquet, 2006). whilst this does not mean starting from a blank canvas (and can indeed draw on existing knowledge), it implies that students are equal partners in a co-operative process of finding new knowledge and perspectives (willis and gregory, 2016). in other words, co-creation, rejecting that producer/consumer relationship, demands a sustained epistemological reinterpretation that is neither ad hoc nor tokenistic’ (willis and gregory, 2016). whilst we acknowledge the critics of co-creation, who suggest that it has the potential articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 to diminish the rigour and stretch of a learning experience, we argue, on the contrary, that co-creation has the capacity to enrich the learning experience for all students. we argue that the philosophical approach of co-creation is fundamentally aligned with the epistemological underpinning of an inclusive curriculum. both of these challenge and reverse the student-deficit model, so that “staff take on the role of enablers of disempowered students” (healey et al., 2014, p.15, in willis and gregory, 2016, p. 5). an inclusive curriculum, encompassing diverse perspectives and strategies, is more rounded, relevant and meaningful (hockings, 2010). co-creation requires a profound change of practice by academic institutions and their teachers, as does robust engagement with the principles of an inclusive curriculum. both challenge the silencing of voices in the classroom, enabling both staff and students to contribute to the curriculum and ultimately see themselves, their backgrounds and their experiences reflected in it. an ‘inclusive’, ‘co-created’ curriculum is crucial to ensuring that all students are connected to their learning and therefore more likely to achieve successful outcomes. co-creation therefore has a fundamental role in addressing the retention, progression and attainment differentials of various student groups from a range of ‘protected characteristics’ (hefce, 2015) and should be considered a transformative strategy for achieving a more meaningful, student-centred learning experience for our contemporary diverse student body. in the remainder of this paper, we explore one example of how heis can engage with cocreation. it presents the ‘student curriculum consultants programme’ (sccp), a kingston university (london) initiative developed as part of this institution’s ‘inclusive curriculum framework’ (icf). before we present our case-studies, it is essential to contextualise them within the work on the icf at kingston. kingston university’s ‘inclusive curriculum framework’ (icf) kingston university is a post-1992 university in south west london with approximately 15,000 students, many of whom come from a range of ‘widening participation’ backgrounds. specifically, over fifty per cent of students at kingston are from black and minority ethnic (bme) backgrounds. over the past five years, one of kingston’s key priorities has been to reduce its bme attainment gap, by taking a strategic institutional approach to the changing of practice rather than by focusing on individual small-scale interventions (mcduff et al., 2018). since it began five years ago, the approach has been largely successful, with reductions in the attainment gap between bme and white students seen year on year from twenty-nine percentage points in 2011/12 to eleven percentage points in 2016/17 (mcduff, op.cit.). part of kingston’s institutional approach has been to develop and subsequently deliver training and support to staff to use the icf in their teaching and learning (mcduff and hughes, 2015). the framework identifies three key principles which together embody inclusivity. these are: i) to create an accessible curriculum; ii) to enable students to see themselves and their backgrounds reflected in the curriculum; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 iii) to equip students with the skills to contribute positively to, and work in, a diverse, global environment. the principle of an accessible curriculum extends beyond ensuring that the curriculum ‘accommodates’ students with (physical and mental) disabilities and learning differences by recognising that educational practice is culturally-specific (haigh, 2009). the challenge, therefore, is to ensure that curricula do not give competitive advantage to students with particular local knowledges. accessibility to institutional norms and cultures becomes paramount, recognising the responsibility of academic institutions to use accessible language to ensure that all students from whatever background can be fully active members of the uk academic knowledge community (mckay and devlin, 2014). the principle of enabling students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum operates in two domains: the first relates to the ways in which disciplines address the epistemological challenge to eurocentric narratives; the second challenges heis to ensure that students see – as role models, mentors and teachers – ‘people like them’ (umbach, 2006) in their everyday he experiences, as well as in curriculum content and case studies. the final principle of kingston’s icf is to equip students with the skills to contribute positively to and work in a diverse, global environment. the starting point here is that students who are exposed to multiple perspectives and life-worlds and learn to respect diversity and difference in the classroom will be better equipped to work collaboratively with others from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and positions in the workplace (svensson and wihlbord, 2010). engaging students in the classroom gives them a sense of legitimacy and belonging; further, it enables them to learn from each other. kingston’s philosophy is that, if academic teachers are mindful of these three principles in their curriculum design and student engagement strategies, they will be more able to facilitate students’ sense of belonging to, and connection with, their learning and thus more likely to motivate them to produce their best work. the sccp was developed as part of the icf and is introduced in the next section along with three case studies in which the ‘curriculum consultants’ contributed to the co-creation of the curriculum. co-creation is viewed as a central strategy to ensure that academic curricula are more inclusive or, in other words, more relevant, meaningful and accessible to our increasingly diverse student body (hockings, 1990). kingston university’s ‘student curriculum consultant programme’ (sccp) following the initial success of kingston’s icf, the idea for the sccp was developed to involve students in institutional change, creating a more inclusive learning experience for all students in order to reduce the bme attainment gap. the main goals of this programme are to allow students to use the icf to develop curricula, share their diverse voices and perspectives and gain valuable professional experience by working with academic staff on curriculum development. curriculum consultants are undergraduate and graduate students, trained and supported by academic and professional staff to share with academic course teams and professional services their diverse perspectives on curricula. they use the principles of the icf to review course materials and discuss how a particular course or module can work toward becoming more inclusive of and accessible to our diverse student body. participating in such a consultation encourages staff to see their curricula from a range of student perspectives and articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 provides an opportunity, through collaboration with students, to consolidate their understanding of the icf. the 2016-2017 pilot programme trained more than eighty student consultants. evaluation of this programme suggested that fewer, more robustly trained consultants would be more effective. n consequence, the subsequent year saw the appointment of eight undergraduate curriculum consultants and two senior consultants (level 7 masters students) as leaders. in accordance with a key programme principle, these were paid roles, so that students who might not, for time and money reasons, undertake them on a voluntary basis would be encouraged to participate and offer their perspectives. the appointees represented such institution-wide courses as visual arts, social sciences, business and maths; they fulfilled the key criteria of commitment to equality and the desire to contribute to making the university more inclusive. the two senior consultants took responsibility for mentoring the others as well as for speaking publicly and delivering workshops, in both of which opportunities they supported their team to share. a programme of training ensured that the students were fully conversant with all aspects of the icf, felt supported and had the confidence to share their own perspectives and speak about issues of (in)equality in he. the training involved a session on inequality in he and kingston’s approach, which firmly rejects the student-deficit model to differential attainment. the training also provided students with the opportunity to unpick and discuss issues such as privilege and inequality. the curriculum consultants’ main goal is to encourage academic staff across the university to create more inclusive teaching and learning experiences for students. they focus upon curricular matters through the lens of the icf. as part of their work in this programme, they consulted with academic staff on curriculum development, participated in staff development workshops which focused on inclusive teaching, met with course teams to give constructive feedback about the inclusivity of their programmes and delivered – to staff and students – workshops focused on such topics as the language that academics use, which can (unwittingly) create barriers for some student groups. in the remainder of this paper, we discuss three successful case studies which together reflect the initial outcomes of a programme, still in its infancy. the case studies highlight varying degrees of co-creation between student curriculum consultants and academic staff and their programmes. the final section of the paper considers how the programme has been evaluated and offers an insight, from the curriculum consultants’ own perspective, into the benefits of participating in the programme. co-creation: curriculum consultant case studies ensuring inclusivity in current programmes: the example of business management the curriculum consultants worked with the business management team at kingston university holistically, reviewing every module on the course. a large team of seven consultants worked closely with heads of the course and agreed to review in depth each module on the virtual learning environment (vle) – a total of twenty-three modules. this involved two preliminary steps. first, the project manager of the curriculum consultant programme met with the members of the business management team to understand their needs and explain the role the consultants could play this was an important part of ensuring articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 that the course leader supported and understood the programme and contributed to the process – in terms of providing an insight not only into her/her current concerns, but also into how the course could benefit from the feedback. second, the curriculum consultants met with the project manager to understand the task and prepare for a meeting with the course team. during this meeting, the group looked at one of the modules on the vle and used the icf as a tool to analyse and discuss it, thereby identifying what was, from the consultants’ varied perspectives, less accessible in terms of content and presentation. the project manager and the participating senior curriculum consultant facilitated the conversation. the goal of the meeting was for each of the seven consultants to have a chance to analyse the module and share their thoughts about it. at the end of the preparatory meeting, the consultants divided up the modules and each independently reviewed three or four modules over a period of two weeks. the senior consultant acted as a support, checking in with the others via a whatsapp group and encouraging discussion and questions throughout their individual work, part of which was the completion of a personal report to summarise their feedback and provide a means of focusing discussion with the course team. the report included what was done well, recommendations for improvement and questions for discussion. determining what was done well or what could be improved focused upon the criterion of inclusivity in teaching and learning, based on the principles of the icf and as perceived by the consultants as students from diverse backgrounds. following the independent work, the consultants came together with the project manager for a second preparatory meeting. at this meeting, they discussed their feedback about the various modules, focusing on similarities and differences in the modules, including pertinent features that could instructively inform module design. as a team, they prepared to meet with the business management course leaders. two course leaders met with the seven consultants to discuss the review of the modules and the course more holistically. these meetings could prove challenging for less confident or inexperienced curriculum consultants so the project manager attends as a support, though engages very little in the actual discussion. the senior curriculum consultant took a lead role in ensuring everyone was introduced and in setting a friendly and supportive tone. as a result of this meeting, the course leaders requested that the consultants should each meet individually with each module leader to go through her/his module in depth. support from the course leaders was instrumental in ensuring that the consultants could connect with and have in-depth discussions with every module leader. in the end, each of the consultants, having worked independently on their allocated module, met with the respective module leader for a rich personal discussion about the feedback and for relevant questions from both sides. the module leaders were thus able to explore and gain deeper understanding of diverse student experiences and perspectives of a vle and its content. there were some challenges to achieving co-creation in this instance. in particular, collaboration on this scale requires significant advance planning, very good communication and, certainly, buy-in from staff across the course. the initial timescale for the review was one month; however, expanding the work to include meetings with each module leader added three months to the timeline, making the work a full project from may to august. the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 time of year worked well for the module leaders, as they were in the process of redeveloping modules and could make time to engage fully with the process. the long timeline was necessary, as, though some module leaders were ready to meet consultants as early as june, others took over modules or returned from leave (for research or other reasons) as late as august. advance planning is ideal, but not always possible when responding to the needs of courses. ensuring that the project connected with mainstream institutional processes and programmes did help to achieve an appropriate level of student-staff collaboration. this also encouraged buy-in from the course leader and team and encouraged all staff to meet individually with the consultants. however, even with this alignment the success of the project also hinged upon the course team’s recognising the value of the process and making sure that it was tailored to meet the specific needs of the business management course, as well as upon supporting the academic team through the process – including creating space for regular meetings between the curriculum consultants and the business management team. it is too early to assess the impact of this initiative on differential attainment and outcomes. however, the case study provides a ‘formula’ as to how heis can support and facilitate a culture or expectation of co-creation. ensuring inclusivity in university documentation: the case study of the ‘guided independent learning’ template developing kingston’s guided independent learning template was a unique example of cocreation that gave one curriculum consultant the opportunity to work with the learning and teaching enhancement centre and the student union to influence practice at the institutional level. undergraduate courses at kingston typically outline a 300-hour time commitment per module, which is spent in classrooms and seminars and on field trips, placements and a variety of other activities, including guided independent study time. the guided independent study template was initially drafted at the institutional level by the directorate for student achievement, to provide staff with a student-facing template they could adapt to communicate clearly the meaning and expectations of guided independent study time. as a student-facing document that would be embedded in institutional qualityenhancement processes and that would become a requirement for validation, it was important that students co-created the document to ensure that it was meaningful and relevant to them. to facilitate this work, members of the student achievement directorate and the academic affairs officer of the union of kingston students met to discuss the nature of the document and how we could work with a student curriculum consultant to develop it so that it would ‘speak’ to students. with the union’s support, a consultant fed back on the initial draft and contributed to the continuing development of the document. the impact of this collaboration has been far-reaching, as the template has been rolled out across the institution. the collaboration between the university, the curriculum consultants and the student union to create a teaching and learning resource is being used as a successful case study showcasing co-creation; it paves the way for additional collaborations at kingston. the exercise worked because of positive relationships between the student union, the staff members involved in the initial development of the guided independent learning hours template and the student curriculum consultant team. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 ensuring inclusivity in new courses: the case study of the sports science scrutiny meeting the curriculum consultants worked closely with the sports science department on a number of exercises throughout the 2016-2017 and 2017-18 academic years. their first collaborative task was a review of course handbooks and materials for their existing courses which the course team reported as very helpful. this engagement between the sports science team and the curriculum consultants programme subsequently led to further collaboration. the sports science team asked the consultants to attend and participate in a scrutiny meeting with a panel consisting of academic registry quality assurance staff, sports science staff and staff external to the faculty. the purpose of the meeting was for a new sports science foundation course to receive feedback and scrutiny from fellow academics and curriculum consultants on their module descriptors and course structure. the consultants were asked to review the new course handbook and module descriptors, considering, in particular, the accessibility and inclusivity of the curriculum, using their own lived experience and kingston’s icf. this feedback would then directly influence the changes to and development of the new course. the exercise was unique in that the consultants participated in a quality assurance (qa) activity that is directly embedded in university processes. this was possible because of relationships developed over the academic year between the consultants and sports science course team, as well as relationships created between the curriculum consultant team and academic registry staff. one of the key limitations of the scrutiny meeting was time. with such a large panel all providing input, each academic and consultant was only able to provide a certain amount of input. in future, rather than having one large meeting, we have agreed with academic registry that the consultants will meet with new course teams prior to the formal scrutiny meeting to allow a) more time and in-depth discussion between students and academic teams and b) course teams more time to make initial changes prior to scrutiny by other academic staff. programme evaluation and student perspectives the programme evaluation has focused on the impact and reach on both the courses and course teams who have worked with the curriculum consultants, as well as on the student curriculum consultants themselves. a week after the course teams met the consultants, we provided the course teams with a feedback survey containing open-ended questions focused on how their understanding of inclusion had developed and what changes they had already made or planned to make as a result of connecting with the consultants. subsequently, we interviewed the course teams to assess the programme’s longer-term impact and logged curricula transformation resulting from the teams’ engagement with the consultants; at the same time, we identified any case studies of change that might be shared more widely across the university. finally, to gain an even deeper understanding of how the programme had operated – and thus to improve it for the future – we asked all participating staff to take part in a twenty-minute interview to glean their personal experiences of the programme. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the evaluation process has suggested that co-creation is taking place and the didactic relationship between teacher and student is being successfully challenged in order to change the curriculum for the better. for example, a curriculum consultant commented after the business management work piece: “the team were quite receptive to the feedback….they wanted to implement the changes…. the team themselves…offered alternative ideas too which was great and it was nice to be able to explain things a bit more thoroughly and answer their questions”. similarly, a staff member in sports science stated that their team’s meeting with the curriculum consultants “brought to light notable differences in student and staff perspectives of the documents which was most informative to us”. a sports science academic continued: “the feedback we received was most informative and appreciated and highlighted to us how students perceive a curriculum, a worthy exercise”. for the most part, both staff and students have embraced the principles of co-creation, recognising its value and, in particular, its capacity to enrich the learning experience for all students. the reduction in rigour in a co-created programme – an expressed concern – has therefore not materialised. the second part of the evaluation focused on how the programme affected the participating curriculum consultants. we invited them to complete a survey and take part, at the end of the academic year, in an interview which focused on skills development (including their understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion issues), as well as their experiences of the programme. in future, we also plan to analyse the progression and graduate outcomes of the consultants. one key theme which arose from this part of the evaluation was the importance that the consultants placed on gaining knowledge of the university and the transferable skills that they had gained. one consultant stated: “it's definitely allowed me to develop myself and critically engage with systems of change in the university on a more granular level. it has definitely prepared me for the next stage of my life.” another explained: “for students it’s a way to prepare for the real world by having a job where you have to conduct yourself in a professional manner.” indeed, one consultant was absolutely clear that “being a curriculum consultant was key to getting the job i have now”. one of the common challenges the consultants highlighted was managing the power dynamics of co-creating or consulting with academics. they recommended improvements to the operation of the programme, including more regular meetings, provision of additional opportunities for development and inclusion of further training about inclusive learning and teaching. as a whole, it was clear that the consultants felt that training and support from the staff organising the scheme was integral to their confidence and success. perhaps one of the most significant impacts that the programme has had is to engender the principles of inclusion in the consultants themselves: they will then enter employment “with the skills to positively contribute to and work in a global and diverse world” (icf). one of the consultants commented: “i learned to think about things from not just my own perspective”. similarly, another consultant said: “the job challenges you to think from various people's perspective”. conclusion in this paper, we have introduced the issue of the persistent and longstanding differential student outcomes evident in he, suggesting that identifying and addressing these disparate outcomes has become a key challenge for the sector. furthermore, we have suggested that articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 curriculum co-creation is an effective way of addressing differential student outcomes, by ensuring that curricula are more inclusive and reflect the backgrounds, perspectives and lifeworlds of an increasingly diverse student body. by doing so, we have highlighted the alignment between the epistemological underpinnings of co-creation and the development of an inclusive curriculum, arguing that both require academic teachers to rethink, fundamentally, their relationship to students. rather than passive recipients of knowledge, students should be viewed as ‘untapped resources’ in university classrooms, bringing with them diverse backgrounds and experiences which, when used effectively, can enrich the learning experience (steele and ryan, 2014). effectively engaging students and staff as co-creators of knowledge and learning experience is one of the most important challenges in he in the twenty-first century and, as willis and gregory (2016) argue, “the question leaders should start with is ‘why not co-creation?’ rather than ‘why?’” (willis and gregory, 2016, p.1). kingston university’s sccp offers one mechanism through which students can drive institutional change. however, importantly, the programme, by facilitating co-creation, puts diverse student voices and multiple perspectives at the centre of curriculum strategy and practice. it does this by using the institution’s icf as the lens which brings student engagement clearly into focus, ensuring that university curricula strengthen the learning journey for all students. as brink (2008, p.6) argues, “one way or another, we all have to learn, and keep on learning. and we will learn more from those people, those ideas, and those phenomena that we do not know, than from those we know only too well.” in this way, it moves the university beyond ‘student partnership’ initiatives which encourage students to either act as ‘ambassadors’ for the university or as the representatives of their student colleagues. rather, it problematises the narrative of the ‘student voice’, recognising that students’ experience he curricula in multiple, complex and often contradictory ways. reference list barnett, r. and coate, k. 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(2010) ‘internationalising the content of higher education: the need for a curriculum perspective.’ higher education, 60, 595-613. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40930313?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents (accessed: 20 february 2012). tange, h. and kastberg, p. (2013) ‘coming to terms with double knowing: an inclusive approach to international education.’ international journal of inclusive education, 17(1), 114. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13603116.2011.580460?src=recsys (accessed: 08 march 2015). umbach, p. (2006) ‘the contribution of faculty of color to undergraduate education.’ research in higher education, 47(3), 317-345. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-005-9391-3 (accessed: 13 april 2016). universities uk (2016) working in partnership: enabling social mobility in higher education, the final report of the social mobility advisory group. available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/documents/2016/working-inpartnership-final.pdf (accessed: 1 september 2017). willis, p. and gregory, a. (2016) ‘making the road while walking: co-creation, teaching excellence and university leadership, stimulus paper.’ leadership foundation for higher education. available at: https://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/research-hub/2016research/making-the-road-while-walking-cocreation-teaching-excellence-and-universityleadership.cfm (accessed: 23 march 2017). i polar classifications are a measure by the ofs of the likelihood that a young person will participate in higher education based on the area in which they live. areas are assigned to quintiles with 5 representing the highest rates of young people participating in higher education and 1 representing the lowest rates. further details can be found on the ofs website: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/polar-participation-of-local-are ii the so-called ‘bme (black and minority ethnic) attainment gap’ represents the difference in attainment between uk domiciled minority ethnic students and their white counterparts (richardson, 2015). iii we use the term ‘curricula’ to mean students’ engagement with their learning experience, and not simply the curriculum’s content (barnett and coate, 2005). https://www.srhe.ac.uk/conference2014/abstracts/0188.pdf formative assessment in apprenticeship technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 using mobile technology to facilitate formative assessment and support learning in apprenticeship programmes richie ryan, gina noonan, eddie mcelheron institute of technology carlow, ireland abstract regular formative assessments can encourage students to spread learning effort throughout entire programmes and afford more feedback opportunities to tutors (gibbs and simpson, 2004; nicol and macfarlane‐dick, 2006), while the proliferation of smart mobile phones has contributed to an increasing trend for ‘bring-your-own-device’ (byod) activities in higher education (johnson et al., 2015; merga, 2016; sundgren, 2017). as students take more responsibility for their own learning, technology has a greater role to play in facilitating and supporting solutions that can provide more flexible learning opportunities. quizlet one such technology, is a web-enabled mobile learning application that repurposes study-sets for use in any of its eight different quiz modes. for a relatively modest time-investment by the tutor, students are provided with a re-usable, interactive, mobile learning resource that can be personalised to suit specific learning needs. this technology review focuses on quizlet and our experience of using it to increase levels of student engagement and improve learning outcomes in craft apprenticeship programmes. keywords: formative assessment; technology enhanced learning; quizlet. introduction formative assessment is an important part of learning and can provide essential feedback to both students and teachers. the use of technology to enhance learning and facilitate formative assessment activities, both inside and outside the classroom, is becoming increasingly popular and the range of mobile applications to support such activities continues to grow. quizlet is a mobile learning application that provides a variety of quiz modes based on the creation of a single deck of flashcards. it automatically repurposes the content for use in any of five ‘study’ modes and three ‘play’ modes (figure 1). ‘study’ modes present the information in ways that offer choice in the level of difficulty while gradually shifting the focus from learning to more formal assessment, whereas ‘play’ modes introduce fun, engaging, competitive and collaborative elements to learning. figure 1: quizlet eight modes of learning from the web-based platform technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 the web-based version of quizlet provides access to all quiz modes, whilst android and ios applications are adapted to facilitate mobile and offline access to five of the eight modes. although the basic version of quizlet is free, upgrading to quizlet teacher* provides additional functionality, including the facility to analyse and track learner progress. apprenticeship programmes afford limited independent study time for students to reflect on learning outside class contact hours and quizlet was used to support and encourage more convenient and flexible approaches to self-directed study. quizlet ‘study-sets’† were introduced on a weekly basis during classroom activities and students used the application to engage with learning exercises outside the classroom in preparation for summative assessments. although there are similarities with other mobile applications such as kahoot!, socrative and quizizz, quizlet requires very little effort to set up and generates a resource for the student that encourages independent learning facilitated by a flexible approach to study. the platform employs cognitive strategies associated with spaced learning and retrieval practice, which have been proven to strengthen memory and reduce the likelihood of subsequent forgetting (roediger and karpicke, 2006). quizlet allows users to create, share and personalise content while providing a search function to over 200 million user-created studysets. each quiz mode is designed to facilitate different approaches to learning which can benefit and challenge students in a variety of ways. the cards below provide an overview of a selection of quiz modes and describe how these were used by students‡ and embedded into classroom learning activities by tutors. learn this mode initially presents terms in an easy-answer format, but gradually adapts the level of difficulty in accordance with student progression through each round of learning. in our case, this mode was used predominantly by students for self-directed learning outside class time. * quizlet teacher requires an annual subscription of €34.99. † ‘study-set’: the term used to describe a deck of flashcards in quizlet. ‡ quizlet analytics and learner feedback surveys provided data in relation to usage. learner application learn mode identifies strength/weakness, while customised study-sets help to focus learning. responses to questions are self-assessed at this stage, meaning that the exact spelling and terminology does not pose a barrier to progression. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 flashcards flashcards present a term (question) on one side of the card and the definition (answer) on the other. the activity can begin with the term or with the definition, if a ‘jeopardy!’§-style activity is desired. write write mode is a self-assessed activity in which students' responses are automatically graded for answers identical to that in the deck. § jeopardy! is a us television game show in which contestants are presented with an answer and must phrase their responses in the form of question. learner application an effective way to check levels of understanding in a self-assessed examination-style activity. progress meters indicate real-time success rates and incorrect responses are automatically retained for subsequent quiz rounds. tutor application i (beginning of class) older quiz-sets provide opportunities to review previously-covered material. new quiz sets focus learners’ attention on upcoming material and outline the goals for the session. tutor application ii (end of class) • quick-fire question-and-answer format provides a summary of the lesson. • learner responses are used as an exit pass. learner application in our case, learners tended to use this mode in preparation for other learning modes and as a quick-fire content reminder in advance of formal summative assessments. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 spell spell requires students to type what they hear in response to the question posed. although rarely used with apprenticeship students, it could have benefits for improving spelling and language development in other fields of education. test ‘test’ presents the study-set using a range of different question styles and automatically grades learners based on the accuracy of their responses. feedback, including a score and correct/incorrect responses, is provided at the end of the test. learner application students with dyslexia have indicated a learning benefit using this mode and – more specifically – with the optional audio narration associated with most quiz modes. tutor application quizlet teacher allows the tutor to record her/his own voice, adding more authenticity to this activity. tutor application results from test mode are recorded, providing rudimentary analytics on student performance and presenting an opportunity to identify learning shortfalls and at-risk students. customised tests can be easily printed for manual completion/correction and provide excellent opportunities for peer-assessment/review activities. learner application learners can customise the test and the level of difficulty by choosing which questions to include and deciding on which question-types to incorporate. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 match this timed game mode requires learners to match a selection of terms to their corresponding definitions. notifications are automatically issued to students when their score has been overtaken and performance is displayed on a class leader-board. live live is a collaborative classroom-based game mode which can be accessed on any web enabled device using a unique game code. team groups are automatically created and must work together to complete a communal multiple-choice quiz. penalties are incurred for incorrect responses to improve teamwork and discourage guesswork. learner application we found that students enjoyed the competitive nature of this quick-thinking game mode and many learners engaged with other study modes to improve their ‘match’ mode scores. tutor application used in our case as a fun weekend activity to engage learners outside the classroom; the automated email notifications ensured continued interactions right up to the following classroom session when the leader board was displayed. tutor application the most engaging classroom-based game mode on the platform. it relies on collaboration and communication to promote competitive classroom learning scenarios. scenario i: mid-lesson at this stage, previous learning is reinforced, and a roadmap provided for where the lesson is going prompting intense team discussions, particularly when teams are competing closer to the finish. c la s s ro o m : q u iz le t l iv e . m a rc h 2 0 1 7 technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 advantages quizlet offers a large degree of learner autonomy outside the classroom, encouraging students to take more responsibility for their learning and facilitating different rates of learner progression. although quizlet was primarily designed as an assessment tool for self-directed learning, the competitive and collaborative nature of play modes offers many opportunities to embed learning into assessment activities which extend beyond the confines of the classroom. creating, customising and sharing study-sets is quick and easy and the application provides immediate feedback to learners. the facility to track student progress can also provide important analytical data to tutors. disadvantages the structure of the learning platform – along with the limitations placed on the question format – is such that it may encourage a rote-style approach to learning that values memorisation over understanding. learner application students reported that this mode represents the most fun learning activity within quizlet. (this became apparent to us from the very animated reactions and celebrations we witnessed during live classroom quiz sessions.) c la s s ro o m : q u iz le t l iv e . m a rc h 2 0 1 7 scenario iii: silent mode although live mode generally requires learners to sit together, silent live mode requires that team members remain seated and unable to communicate. this introduces a whole new dynamic to the activity and limits the impact of dominant team members while also helping in situations where the classroom layout makes it difficult to move about. scenario ii: end-lesson an enjoyable way to end classroom sessions with lively group discussion in a fun and competitive environment. technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 we found that negative learner feedback tended to focus on limiting the mobile application to five of the eight modes of study and students expressed frustration at the requirement, in some quiz modes, for learner input to match exactly that of the assessor. with quizlet and byod, the main logistical disadvantage associated with the web-based content is a dependence on network coverage and the need for mobile device power sources. conclusions / further plans quizlet engages students through a medium that appeals to their mobile nature and utilises proven educational methodologies to engage learners in a variety of competitive, collaborative and self-directed learning activities. it puts students in control of their learning while offering interactive opportunities for tutors to embed enjoyable learning activities into a formative assessment strategy. although apprenticeship students found many aspects of quizlet to be very enjoyable, competitive and initially quite novel, we would caution against overuse and recommend it as part of a broader assessment strategy to engage learners. further studies relating to quizlet are planned, to investigate the relationship between student engagement and the learning gains associated with different quiz modes, while the potential learning involved with student-created quiz content will also be explored.** reference list gibbs, g. and simpson, c. (2004) ‘conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.’ learning and teaching in higher education, 1(1), 3-31. available at: https://goo.gl/wnsznf (accessed: 04 march 2017). johnson, l., adams becker, s., estrada, v. and freeman, a. (2015) nmc horizon report: 2015 higher education edition. austin, texas: the new media consortium. available at: http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-he-en.pdf (accessed: 15 april 2017). merga, m.k. (2016) ‘bring your own device: considering potential risks to student health.’ health education journal, 75(4), 464-473. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896915599563 (accessed: 28 march 2018). nicol, d.j. and macfarlane‐dick, d. (2006) ‘formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice.’ studies in higher education, 31(2), 199-218. available at: http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/rap/docs/nicol.dmd.pdf (accessed: 22 november 2017). roediger, h.l. and karpicke, j.d. (2006) ‘test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention.’ psychological science, 17(3), 249-255. available at: http://learninglab.psych.purdue.edu/downloads/2006_roediger_karpicke_psychsci.pdf (accessed: 24 febuary 2017). ** all quizlet images and logos have been reproduced with the expressed permission of quizlet.com https://goo.gl/wnsznf https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0017896915599563 http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/rap/docs/nicol.dmd.pdf http://learninglab.psych.purdue.edu/downloads/2006_roediger_karpicke_psychsci.pdf technology reviews compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 11, no 2, 2018 sundgren, m. (2017) ‘blurring time and place in higher education with bring your own device applications: a literature review.’ education and information technologies, 22(6), 3081-3119. available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-017-9576-3 (accessed: 02 feburary 2017). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-017-9576-3 case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 ‘flipping the classroom’: a theoretical and practical exploration dr lynne jump faculty of education and health, university of greenwich abstract this case study explores the use of the ‘flipped classroom’ in the context of an undergraduate academic preparation course. the initiative inverted delivery of the course, in that the students studied the formal content as homework and, small group discussion and individual support was provided during face-to-face classroom time. there is very little research evidence in support of the recommendations that by flipping the classroom overall student learning is improved. therefore this study explores the concepts that underpin the flipped classroom both theoretically and practically, and reports on student feedback of the initiative. as a group the students expressed low levels of satisfaction with the course delivery but individually students reported a strong sense of personal achievement. introduction current neoliberal policies bring higher education into a complex relationship with economics partly because of the introduction of tuition fees for which universities are able to compete. what is perhaps less clear however is a common understanding of what the university is and, what it is to become, as it adapts to a world of explicitness when all activities are subject to measurement, precise descriptions, rules and performance which can be determined objectively (barnett, 2011). such transitional processes have also resulted in an increasing awareness of a need to change what happens in the classroom along with a predictable need for a greater sense of convergence between technology and teaching, largely because of changing student expectations. academics search for new and imaginary ways to engage students, meet their individual needs and aspirations, and at the same time meet the key performance indicators of competing organisations. there is currently an increasing level of interest in and support for a system of teaching that makes an explicit dependency between technology and teaching called ‘flipping the classroom’. the term describes an approach to teaching that critiques the role of traditional methods of didactic pedagogy. rather than relying on the presence of the academic in the lecture hall and students who passively sit through the resulting lengthy lectures, the approach quite literally means that the formal content of the course becomes an online lesson which is studied by the student at home. this can take many forms, for example, video recorded lectures and interactive web-based materials including quizzes which are designed and organised with the intention of delivering via a virtual learning environment (bergmann, overmyer, & wilie, 2012). when in class the student engages in activities that would be associated with homework, for example, applying learning to different situations or problem solving in collaborative groups (bergmann & sams, 2012). the academic is then free to provide face to face support to individual students, to correct misinformation and to organise small group activities. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 the assumption underpinning such a ‘flipped’ approach is that it will result in more learning. whilst presently there is no empirical evidence for this, berrett (2012) explains why there is such an interest in ‘flipping’ in universities. he sets his explanation in the context of student expectations for smaller class sizes, a greater demand for personal attention from the academic and key performance indicators that demand more evidence of student achievement. the economic reality of course, is that class sizes cannot decrease or staff to student ratios increase and therefore the large group lecture is not likely to disappear (berrett, 2012). however the ubiquitous ownership of technological devices by students does offer different possibilities when seeking an alternative to the traditional lecture, and open educational resources (oer), which are widely available at low or no cost, offer an attractive alternative to powerpoint presentations (baron, willis, & lee, 2010). unavoidably the role of the academic changes in the ‘flipped classroom’ as content no longer drives pedagogy and there is a shift to more efficient use of time and facilities. innovative ideas that link teaching and technology are not new, the key objective for educationalists however is to explore the possibilities and effects of those ideas (callon, 2012). deterministic discourse presents technology use in teaching as a solution that aims to solve problems and meet student needs. the purpose of this article, however, is to explore the assumptions both theoretically and practically, that underpin ‘flipping the classroom’ not only in the context of technology, but social, cultural and epistemological issues also. theoretical exploration the factors that influence the success of technological innovations in educational contexts are well documented to be the conflict that arises between the organisational rules (or regulative discourse) that define and place control over the application of technology, and the students whose needs and desires are influenced by those who manage higher education organisations (callon, 2012) (jump, 2011) (bernstein, 2000). however, out of this conflict comes the research and evaluation that challenges the deterministic discourse that technology development in teaching is a linear process. in reality it is a multidirectional trajectory of successes and failures from the initial, innovative idea to full acceptance (kline & pinch, 1985). there are of course a considerable number of casualties along the way. in his famous essay ‘the death of the author’ roland barthes (1967) states that it is the death of the author that gives rise to the birth of the reader and this proposition offers a very useful analogy for exploring the ‘flipped classroom’. in his essay he argues that any writing should provide a space that encourages the reader to engage with the text in a critical way, asking questions such as ‘who is the writer?’ ‘is the author setting the writing in a personal ideology influenced by their own personal experiences?’ and ‘how is the world viewed by this author?’. without such opportunities for critique any writing becomes the invention of just one voice – the author (barthes, 1967). in universities the role of the narrator is blurred by what barnett (2011) describes as the ‘scientific university’ as a defining form that universities currently aspire towards. in the context of this dominant position of the hard sciences and a capitalist ideology, the prestige of the individual academic is of great importance to the university community. the resulting image of teaching in the university is accepted to be centred upon the academic who delivers a collection of teaching material that is situated, preferably, in their own research achievement. rather than the delivery of content being admired as a pedagogic performance it becomes the voice of the academic who is ultimately case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 deemed to deliver confidence to the student. perhaps, because of these cultural pressures academics, stereotypically, tend to work alone when constructing their teaching material, in some cases they may involve others, but mostly they decide upon a collection of resources and teaching activities. they may work with content that they know best, either because it is linked to their own personal experiences, or because they feel able to construct from their own knowledge and then go on to use the tools and technologies that they are most familiar with (lane and macandrew 2010). therefore the critique of the traditional university teaching methods i.e. the lecture, is that students are unable to engage with content with a sense of individual criticality. the argument therefore is that the voice of the author should be removed from formal course content as the true purpose of teaching is learning, and the person who needs to understand it completely is the student. ‘the unity of a text is not in its origin, but in its destination’ (barthes, 1967, p. 6). ‘flipping the classroom’ as a teaching approach for formal content relies upon material that is designed for online learning, which means that by definition there are students and learning materials but no obvious teacher (lane & mcandrew, 2010). the complete death of the author is not necessarily an assumption that underpins all ‘flipped classroom’ initiatives. there are a number of ways that the ‘flipped classroom’ can used as a model of instruction (hamdan, mcknight, mcknight, & arfstrom, 2013), all of which strive to move teaching into an individual learning space. the presence of the author may be necessary in order for learning to be achieved and in which case the individual academic may choose to remain central to the delivery of the course, both in the online component as well as the face-to face session. online teaching in this case may include live video recordings of the academic’s own lectures, personally narrated screencasts to record teaching and demonstrations and their own prepared slide presentations with annotations and podcasts (hamdan, mcknight, mcknight, & arfstrom, 2013). this model offers greater flexibility to students who can access the material at a time convenient to them, however the birth of the student remains necessary in order to formulate independent understanding and opinions, as they grasp the teaching materials. an alternative model, and the one chosen for this case study, is that the academic curates lessons from internet sites of readily available materials such as oer content or sites such as the khan academy etc. in an educational way. the role of the academic in this situation is to structure and support learning experiences for the students and to identify suitable content in order for the online environment to become an educative experience (lane & mcandrew, 2010). at a time of diminishing budgets the cost of providing the student with high quality, online, teaching materials such as video recorded and edited lectures is potentially too high, (baron, willis, & lee, 2010) therefore there is a strong argument, and a certain sense of inevitability, for the use of open education resources. equally the ‘flipped classroom’ provides a useful forum for the rising number of open educational resources currently available. open education resources mix the powerful communication and visualisation abilities of the internet and the web as a way of creating teaching materials. they can include text, images, audio, video, simulations and games and can be designed and created by anyone in any part of the world, for very little cost. the creative commons license allows the material to be case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 shared easily, and then remixed and constantly updated by a community of authors and editors (burns & baraniuk, 2008). consequently there is a proliferation of open educational resources such as those offered by mit, the open university, jorum and more recently coursera and the khan academy, collectively attracting millions of users per month. however they question and possibly threaten the current status quo of the academic because they substitute language itself for the academic as a person, i.e. language now speaks, not the individual academic who traditionally delivered content in the lecture hall. many universities like mit and the open university are looking for ways to enhance their reputation by using the internet to give away their teaching materials for free (wiley & gurrell, 2009), but often use their own distinguished academics as personas in the online material. the idea of removing the academic radically changes online teaching materials into a text that is created to be watched, listened to or read by the student, by default absenting the academic. the academic is integrated into teaching in such a way that they are no longer the subject of the teaching, which becomes a performance in itself detached from the person. as a result barthes (1967) would argue that the text is not a ‘line of words’ that is expected to release an explicit meaning, but should provide a space for many dimensions, different kinds of presentations, many citations and may be from different sources of culture. the power of the academic then changes, it is to combine the different kinds of information with the aim of providing to the student a readymade elaborate dictionary that allows them to translate the language of the teaching material into new ideas that can be discussed and debated in the classroom. the academic is no longer a human being with a passion but the source of the dictionary from which the lessons are derived (barthes, 1967). therefore, it is no longer the role of the academic to decipher the teaching material as to do so is to impose the author on the writing and to close further interpretation by the student. it is not coincidental that much of the current discussion about ‘flipping the classroom’ comes from science teachers (bergmann, overmyer, & wilie, 2012) because it offers a way of combining a scientific way of thinking about knowledge with a need to recognise the influence of context, environment and human behaviour (evans, 2011). for example students may learn that aids is caused by the hiv virus, but it is also necessary to learn that many factors including social, political and economic factors, affect whether a person goes on to die of aids. in other words it provides a possibility for students to learn about an external reality (in the formal online content) and then go on to learn that the world is complex and stratified into many layers of reality (in the face to face activities) (ayers , 2011). not only does this approach to pedagogy reject the view that all knowledge is given and independent of any socio-historic context but also moves away from the naïve postmodernist approaches of social constructivism that have become synonymous with technology use in teaching. social constructivism rejects any objective view of knowledge and promotes the absurd idea that meta-theory is redundant, giving rise to relativism and the notion that all knowledge should be socially relevant. in relativism knowledge and knowing become entangled which means that the place of epistemology is at best unclear or at worst absent (young, 2008). ‘flipping’ offers the potential for lecturers to discuss, debate and reflect upon the way that complex disciplinary language and everyday language can be combined. this is essential if case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 students are to apply the principles of critical and ethical thinking (letourneau & allen, 1999). if the academic is clearly integrated into the text and the personal history of that academic author is present, then the text is explained in that context and all criticism becomes that of the academic rather than developing the skills of the student. in this context online material should be clear, well-designed, and good writing used, as an indicator by which to judge them, not the way that they are explicitly deciphered. the material should provide the student with access to explanatory knowledge that has emergent potential to take knowledge beyond the interest of specific groups to theoretically grounded practice (ayers , 2011). practical exploration: implementation this case study is an analysis of an initiative that aimed to ‘flip the classroom’ as an approach to teaching a course delivered in the school of health and social care. the course in question was a level five, one term, undergraduate course called ‘academic preparation’ which aims to induct students who have entry qualifications, such as a foundation degree or a diploma in nursing and wish to complete the 120 credits required for an honours degree by studying at level six. a total of 33 students were registered to the course, all of whom were mature students, working in health and social care, as well as studying for the top-up degree in just one year. the academic preparation course is designed to be studied alongside the final project course and a research methods course, so that the students are supported as they discover and explore the resources available to them at the university, as well as being inducted into the language, skills and regulations that are required to be successful in the final year of an undergraduate programme. a key aim of the course is to bridge any educational gaps therefore increasing the ability of the student to actively participate in their academic programme of study, by providing a learning environment that explicitly recognises prior learning and experience. each student is supported in order to gain insight into their own learning needs and to reflect upon and improve learning and understanding. in order to do this they choose a topic of their own to research, in most cases this is linked to their final project course topic. the formal teaching content is presented online and takes each student, in a very active way, through the systematic process of finding information, recognising and making sense of research language, developing skills of analysing and critically appraising academic texts and then synthesising all of this into an assignment designed to meet the learning outcomes. the online teaching material, intended to be completed as homework, is made up of formal, directed tutorials, mainly oers that had been reviewed and quality assured by the open university and jisc. these are supplemented by online tasks, again to be completed as homework, designed specifically to provide support and feedback about learning from the lecturer, and to engage students in collaborative discussion. during the weekly face-to-face classroom sessions the academic is free to support individual students, discuss problems and misconceptions as well as chat informally about issues raised by the students in small groups. the course design was situated in a context of independent, student-led learning that provided a realisation of skills and knowledge for this course and the programme as a whole, meaning that the status of the student became more important than the status of the author case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 (barthes, 1967) in that successful learning is due to their own endeavour and insight rather than the intellect of the academic. barthes’ essay explains that there can be no sense of independent thinking by the students if they can only see their learning through the academic’s eyes, and they will gain little or no benefit from their learning on the course which will be automatically limited to the boundaries of that course alone. he goes on to argue that instead of making their own meaning to course content and how it links to their areas of interest and experience, students will become restricted to the academic’s thoughts and opinions rather than their own. it is also important, however, that the approach to delivery is set in a context that the students can recognise, in particular in anticipation that their expectations are that there is the continued presence of the academic in their learning. the process of ‘flipping the classroom’ was explained to the students at the first face-to-face meeting and the ensuing discussion gave a sense that aspects of this approach to teaching were seen positively. mainly, this included the flexibility for students to move through the course at their own pace, to get feedback online as well as during the face-to-face meetings, to have easy access to online resources that were relevant to their programme of study and to be able to discuss their individual needs during the face-to-face sessions. the students were asked to discuss their expectations of the course online and the themes to emerge from the resulting forum were a desire to be more confident, more independent and to become more competent in accessing and using the university resources, which also involved making productive use of their study time at home. the process of ‘flipping’ appeared to have been received positively by the students and perceived to be relevant for their academic and personal contexts. evaluation methodology the main reason for evaluating any course is to improve the quality of the student experience. as a process, however, evaluation has become increasingly formalised because of a need for pseudo-scientific data that can be linked to pre-determined key performance indicators and economic drivers (bamber, 2011). it can be argued that such evaluation processes simply weaken the boundaries between teaching practice and management activity, which in turn strengthens the boundaries between innovation and critical selfreflection by the individual academic (krause, 2011). this is largely because over-simplistic performance indicators encourage risk management of teaching and reluctance by individual academics to try new approaches to teaching. yet, in order to shape the student experience student feedback is necessary, that is feedback that will lead to a considered response as opposed to feedback that leads to a reaction and a possibility that positive initiatives will be abandoned as a result (krause, 2011). the aim of evaluation in the context of this initiative therefore, was to gather different kinds of data that provided an insight into the level to which ‘flipping the classroom’ as an approach to teaching affected the experience of those students studying the academic preparation course. each student was asked to complete the institutional course monitoring form which is designed to monitor how teaching is experienced by students. this form gathers data about the quality of delivery, student engagement and the quality and relevance of the resources used. the questions are customer focused and the student responds to levels of ‘happiness’ (saunders, 2011) by scoring each question using a five point likert scale. whilst the case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 questions are not related specifically to the learning outcomes of the course or to any change in student behaviour, the form is important as an immediate diagnostic tool. however as the initiative of ‘flipping’, in the context of this particular course, had specific learning outcomes, that is that the student would work independently by engaging with the online resources, then one of the key aims of the evaluation was to discover the quality of transfer of learning to other parts of the student academic programme and the extent to which the course produced changes in the attitudes and confidence of the students (saunders, 2011). therefore each student was also asked to write a 500 word reflective piece recording perceptions of their individual personal and academic development. results 1. institutional course monitoring form analysis the response to the institutional course monitoring form was disappointing. overall student satisfaction with the ‘flipped classroom’ approach to teaching was split equally between those who felt that it helped their learning and those who felt that it hindered their learning. the relevant highlights from the analysis of results are, 64% of students agreed that the broad purpose of the course was made clear to them and 82% of students agreed that the it facilities and media resources for the course were satisfactory which suggests that the online resources were perceived to help learning. however only 49% of students felt that the workload provided by the course was satisfactory, meaning that 51% of students felt that it was unsatisfactory. the face-to-face meetings were organised in such a way to encourage small group work and individual support from the academic, however 66% of students disagreed with the statement that there were sufficient opportunities for asking questions and small group activities. this suggests that the format of these sessions requires considerable management and preparation by the academic, so that students are empowered to engage in the activities and feel in control of their learning. the course was designed to sit alongside a research methods course and the final project course and therefore designed to promote explicit links to the skills and knowledge that students require for independent study at level 6. however only 50% of students agreed with the statement that the clear links between the courses were identified and 58% of students agreed that the course had been highly relevant in enabling them to do their job better. and despite prolific use of the online discussion forums by all students 66% of students disagreed with the statement that there were sufficient opportunities to share views and perspectives. there was a very clear split between those who felt satisfied by their experience of learning on the course and those who felt dissatisfied. berrett (2012) also reports similar responses by students in reaction to several flipped classroom initiatives. at harvard, for instance, it was reported that the average score of a student evaluation from flipped classroom initiatives is about half what the same academic gets when using a traditional lecture. he also found consistent reports of student resistance, in that some embrace the flipped classroom, whilst many never do. however alongside these disappointing student satisfaction scores, many found that when analysing the results of assessment tasks flipping students outperform those who learn in only traditional lectures. berrett proposes that it is case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 the cognitive strain that this approach to teaching imposes on students that seems to account for its success as well as student resistance. 2. analysis of the individual reflections students were also asked to reflect upon their own personal development as a result of engaging in the course and to submit their responses to a private online activity. after reading and re-reading the written reflections a number of clear themes emerged. one of the key findings of the analysis related to the feelings of confidence. in most cases students described how their confidence had grown as a result of studying the course, and they attributed this to the acquisition of new skills and knowledge: ‘having the skills and courage to read research made me feel quite powerful’ ‘i am not the same person that i was in the beginning’ in particular they all stated that they felt much more confident to critically appraise when reading and reflecting on how to apply research, both to their academic work and to their work in health and social care: ‘i have learned not to take anything at face value and to use tools to help me, such as casp’ (a critical appraisal tool) one student summed up the influence on her of learning in a ‘flipped classroom’, ‘i now own my achievement’ students also reported that the flexibility of the flipped classroom facilitated a more productive use their own study time: ‘i really benefitted from the online resources that i can access at home any time’ and as a result the majority of students described how they used their study time to extend their learning ‘i learned different things that i did not expect, like self-management, teamwork and how to spread study across my busy life’ ‘i gave more of my own time to reading books and articles’ all students identified the importance of being part of a learning community and most perceived the online activities as contributing to this: ‘i felt vulnerable at first when i added postings to the online discussion, but then i felt supported by other students and now i enjoy using it’ ‘being able to read peer responses helped my confidence and broadened my knowledge’ ‘online discussion was the most interesting part of the course’ however, some students expressed a sense of disappointment and surprise at the lack of traditional, face-to-face didactic teaching on the course: case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 ‘i expected a more traditional approach to teaching and at times felt frustrated and lonely’ ‘my expectations about learning at university had been totally different, it was a challenge – but exciting’ and all of the students defined the importance of the contribution from the course tutor and were very positive about the feedback and support provided as part of the online activities: ‘reading good feedback gave me a sense of achievement’ ‘the tutor helped us to look outside of the box, and encouraged us to see what we could not see’ i enjoyed completing the tasks and felt really proud, the feedback really helped me’ there was a strong sense from all students that learning from the course could be readily transferred not just to their academic programme but also to their work in health and social care: ‘i can apply all of my learning to other courses and now i feel more confident to critique the effectiveness of health care’ the student’ reflections documented a much more positive experience of learning than the group evaluation activity and suggested that they felt a strong sense of individual achievement by adopting an approach to learning promoted by the design of the ‘flipped classroom’. this resulted in more confidence through the acquisition of new skills and knowledge as they accessed teaching materials that could be readily integrated into other aspects of their lives. it would appear that they enjoyed the challenge of the cognitive strain imposed by the online materials and activities. participation, both online and face-to-face by the academic was perceived to be a key source of guidance and motivation. one of the key motivations for adopting a ‘flipped classroom’ approach is to promote a change in study behaviour in students and the overall perception during the process of teaching the course was that students did engage very actively in the student forums and the online tasks. there was plenty of evidence of discussion between groups of students as they supported each other’s learning as well as questions relating to misinformation and confusion. overall the qualitative statements suggested that most students did perceive a difference in the way that they approached their studies and felt that it had helped them to manage their time and extend the time given over to study, despite their family, work and social pressures. discussion of results as an approach flipping the classroom adopts a way of joining technology with teaching through the adoption of oers that are permitted to be delivered online with the aim of changing the learning process by students largely through the absence of the academic. it is a system of teaching that has captured a place amongst prestigious academic institutions around the globe. however there is a need to monitor the impact that flipping the classroom has on students in relation to expectations and to the quality of the student experience. the findings of this evaluation are both disappointing and encouraging at the same time. disappointingly, the students involved in the initiative expressed low levels of satisfaction case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 following engagement with a course that adopted flipping the classroom as an explicit approach to teaching, in that they felt that the quality of teaching in flipping is diminished in some way. for them, the physical presence of the teacher seemed to be essential for the notion of authentic teaching and learning which lies outside of the use of technology and is not reproducible in online environments. in other words the authentic experience of the classroom is the essence of teaching. open education resources used in the context of this course provided materials for teaching in a way that is independent of the original authentic lecture. teaching, in this context, reproduces the student experience in a way that is out of the control of the academic or the institution, but can be argued meets the student halfway. encouragingly individual student reflections on their academic and personal development in the flipped classroom, along with participation data, provides evidence that students did take responsibility for their progress and skills development and demonstrated a very positive awareness that teaching and learning has to be 50/50 student /teacher effort and not necessarily 100% teacher. in sharp contrast however, as a group they wanted to claim control of their experience and were highly critical of an approach to teaching that appeared to deny them a traditional cultural experience that is synonymous with their perceptions of university education. this does not necessarily bring barthes’s theory into question but suggests that maybe the students had insufficient experience, knowledge and confidence in order to construct their own views and opinions. this analysis also brings into question the usefulness of the institutional course monitoring form and suggests that evaluation as one idea of corporate practice, using one standard form becomes a very limited activity. it could be argued that it leads to reductionism and a perspective of practice that is related simply to student satisfaction, as the institutional form is not linked to specific course outcomes or changes to student behaviour. the study suggests that evaluation practice is best situated in the context of course delivery because, as suggested by saunders, bamber and trowler (2011), the learning and teaching environment is too messy to be controlled in a pseudo-objective manner. any comparison between this course and others becomes very restricted and the resulting data from the institutional form is not necessarily reflective of what really happens in the context of course delivery. however the reflective writing exercise, in this instance, gave a better view of how the individual student is able to make meaning of and shape their learning from the course materials. evaluative practice benefited in this case study from a bottom-up approach that led to a reflexive consideration of the student experience. this study supports the argument that higher education institutions require new evaluation tools, that lead to the development of courses and teaching practice, rather than for the provision of data for regulation, comparison and management (saunders, trowler, & bamber, 2011). in conclusion this small study suggests that the death of the author is not always necessary. students in this case study did want the presence of the author. the debate is not necessarily related to the death or life of the author, neither are necessarily correct and the answer lies somewhere in between. any analysis of teaching and learning in the digital age must recognise its relationship with the traditional, as universities are embedded in tradition and offer both sacred and profane forms of experience for students (bernstein, 2000). technology has the potential to liberate teaching from tradition, in that materials reproduced for online delivery can also be designed and tested for quality and, one resource can be used and read many times, therefore it could easily be argued that it makes little sense to case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 continue with the traditional lecture. clearly technology and the internet have changed the reaction of students to university education, but this small study suggests that there is a need for a mix of both academic and emotional enjoyment as equal components of the student experience. this mix appears to be key to the future of technology-use in teaching. flipping the classroom offers an approach that can bring technology into the traditional and make it part of it, however there is a need to acknowledge that for the students in this study the traditional classroom experience is desired uncritically, whilst the new approach to teaching is strongly criticised. the challenge therefore when considering whether to adopt the ‘flipped classroom’ approach is not to abandon the idea because of student expectations but to consider and debate how to bring these receptive and critical attitudes together. the findings of the study are to be set in the context of a course that introduces students to study at level six in a university. others have suggested that flipping the classroom may be received more positively by students who are more confident in their ability to study independently (hamdan, mcknight, mcknight, & arfstrom, 2013). therefore it is intended to extend the initiative and to formally evaluate case studies that include students at different stages of their learning, in particular students who have more experience of university study than those included in this study. references ayers , d. f. (2011) a critical realist orientation to learner needs. adult education quarterly, 341 357. bamber, v. (2011) institutional evaluative practice: quality enhancement and regulation. in m. saunders, p. trowler, & v. bamber, reconceptualising evaluation in higher education: the practice turn (pp. 127 132). maidenhead: open university press. barnett, r. (2011) being a university (foundations and futures of education). oxford: routledge. baron, j., willis, j., & lee, r.-a. (2010) creating higher education academic and information technology resources in an international context. computers in the schools, 288 308. barthes, r. (1977) 'the death of the author' in (heath,s.,ed and trans) image music text. london: fontana pp142-148. bergmann, j., & sams, a. (2012, may) flipping the classroom. www.techlearning.com, pp. 42-43. bergmann, j., overmyer, j., & wilie, j. (2012, april 14) the flipped classroom: myths vs reality. the daily riff: be smarter about education. bernstein, b. (2000) pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: theory reseach and critique. maryland: rowman and littlefield publishers, inc. berrett, d. (2012, february 24) how 'flipping' the classroom can improve the traditional lecture. the chronical of higher education, pp. 16-18. case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 burns, c., & baraniuk, r. g. (2008) global warming toward open educational resources. communications of the acm, 30-32. callon, m. (2012) society in the making:the study of technology as a tool for sociological analysis. in w. e. bijker, t. p. hughes, & t. pinch, the social construction of technological systems (pp. 77 98). cambridge massachusetts: mit press. evans, m. a. (2011) a critical-realist response to the postmodern agenda in instructional design and technology: a way forward. education tech research dev, 799815. hamdan, n., mcknight, p., mcknight, k., & arfstrom, k. m. (2013) a review of flipped learning. usa: flipped learning network: pearson: george mason university. jump, l. (2011) why university lecturers enhance their teaching through the use of technology: a systematic review. learning, media and technology, vol. 36, issue 1, pp. 5568. kline, r., & pinch, t. (1985) the social construction of technology. in d. mackenzie, & j. wajcman, the social shaping of technology (pp. 113 115). maidenhead: open university press. krause, k.-l. (2011) whole-of-university strategies for evaluating the student experience. in m. saunders, p. trowler, & v. bamber, reconceptualising evaluation in higher education: the practice turn (pp. 139 144). maidenhead: open university press. lane, p., & mcandrew, p. (2010) are open educational resources systematic or sytemic change agents for teaching practice? british journal of educational technology, vol. 41, no. 6, pp 952-962. letourneau, n., & allen, m. (1999) post-positivist critical multiplism: a beginning dialogue. journal of advanced nursing, vol. 30, no. 3, pp 623-630. saunders, m. (2011). insights into programmatic evaluative practice in he: a commentary. in m. saunders, p. trowler, & v. bamber, reconceptualising evaluation in higher education: the practice turn (pp. 113 124). maidenhead: open university press. saunders, m., trowler, p., & bamber, v. (2011) the practice turn: reconceptualising evaluation in higher education. in m. saunders, p. trowler, & v. bamber, reconceptualising evaluation in higher education: the practice turn (pp. 203 226). maidenhead: open university press.wiley, d., & gurrell, s. (2009) context and catalyst: a decade of development... open learning, 11-21. young, m. f. (2008) bringing knowledge back in: from social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. oxford: routledge. author biography dr lynne jump initially worked as a nurse in a variety of clinical settings including intensive care and hospice care before moving into education as the programme area leader for health and social care at lewisham college. she moved from teaching in the fe sector to take up the post of senior lecturer in open and distance education at the university of case studies compass: the journal of learning and teaching at the university of greenwich, issue 8, 2013 greenwich in 2000 and now is programme leader msc continued professional development and the ma professional practice in health and social care at university of greenwich. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 how did the work impact me? reflections of the researchers and facilitators of bme success projects helen catherine barefoot, nathan ghann, judy st john, amanda yip university of hertfordshire abstract programme leaders and members of programme teams attended inclusive teaching workshops focused on race equality. after the workshops, programme leaders were interviewed to discuss how they were going to implement inclusive practice enhancements. the core team who facilitated the workshops and conducted the interviews reflected on their experiences of leading change associated with reducing the bme attainment gap. considering a critical incident which they’d experienced during the workshop or during the interviews, they each wrote personal narratives to explore emotions which the incident had stimulated as well as consideration of how they’d responded at the time and what they could have done differently. the four narratives were considered to identify key themes. two common themes identified were the stimulation of negative emotions (e.g. anger) and the inability to challenge comments and stereotyping assumptions at the time of the incident. considering the results in light of literature associated with staff development, the use of personal narrative and leading diversity related change, in addition to autoethnographical thoughts associated with the authors’ own experiences of race, racism and privilege, five recommendations for colleagues involved in race-related staff development were identified. keywords: bme, narrative, critical incident 1.0 introduction the bme attainment gap (i.e. the difference in the percentage of white students achieving a first or upper second class degree (2i) compared to the percentage of black and minority ethnic (bme) students achieving a first or 2i degree) has been a long-standing concern within the uk higher education (he) sector (broecke and nicholls, 2007; berry and loke, 2011; equality challenge unit, 2017). the university of hertfordshire is a post-1992 university with over 24,500 students, approximately 45% of whom are from bme backgrounds. the university has been committed to reducing the attainment gap and several institutional activities have together resulted in reductions in the attainment differential by ten percentage points (gap between home/eu white and bme students in 2009 = 27% and in 2017 = 17%). in 2017, the university embarked on a hefce(now office for students) funded collaborative project with five other institutions (kingston university [project lead], university of wolverhampton, university of greenwich, university college london, de montfort university) to use a value added (va) metric to enable comparison of statistically-expected attainment and actual attainment for white and bme cohorts (taking into account entry qualifications and subject choice). learning from colleagues at kingston, the university of hertfordshire developed a tableau dashboard, showing va scores to enable visual articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 presentation of attainment data at the programme level, with the aim of enabling focused discussions with programme teams (barefoot et al., 2018). programme leaders were invited to attend an inclusive practice workshop and to bring with them up to three members of the teaching team/module leaders. the workshops involved consideration of the va data for their programme as well as the presentation of data analysed according to ethnicity, including national attainment data (ecu, 2017), institutional and academic school attainment data, and destination of leavers of higher education (dlhe) data. consideration of the data enabled open discussions of race and racism. the latter part of the workshop focused on inclusivity and enabled the sharing of disciplinaryspecific examples of race discussions within the curricula (prepared by the two workshop facilitators) to enable further contextualisation for the programme teams. discussions of compassionate pedagogies and the importance of staff-student relationship and personal tutoring were also included. prior to the workshop, delegates were asked to self-assess their current practice through the ‘inclusive teaching’ strand of the university of hertfordshire curriculum design toolkit (barefoot, 2012) and they were also introduced to kingston university’s ‘inclusive curriculum framework’ during the workshop. each workshop accommodated up to five programme teams and ran from april 6th to july 5th 2017. twelve workshops ran, with a total of 162 participants representing thirty-seven programme teams. as part of a leadership foundation for higher education (advance he)-funded project, programme leaders were interviewed at least one month after attendance at an inclusivity workshop, to identify enhancements that the programme leader intended to implement. the structured interviews explored the challenges associated with leading inclusive practice changes and with facilitating discussions of the sensitive topic of race; they also revealed good practice and identified intended actions for the academic year 2017-18 (barefoot et al. 2018). the inclusive practice workshops were facilitated by the chair of the university’s bme student success working group (bme sswg) and the student transformation lead in hertfordshire business school. the programme leader interviews were conducted by members of the bme sswg: the chair of the group, a learning and teaching specialist from the learning and teaching innovation centre and the programme leader of the university’s joint honours programme. these individuals therefore comprised the team which led the race-related staff development sessions and subsequent programme leader research. through reflective conversations about the workshops and through discussions about the interviews – as part of the data analysis process – it became apparent that difficult comments and incorrect assumptions associated with race, as made by workshop/interview participants, had stimulated complex feelings and emotions for the members of the team. the paper aims to explore the impact of facilitating race-related staff development sessions and conducting race-related research on the researchers’ feelings and emotions through critical reflection and consideration of their own race via autoethnography-like approaches. https://prezi.com/cibiptp5pa3d/curriculum-design-toolkit/ https://prezi.com/cibiptp5pa3d/curriculum-design-toolkit/ articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 2.0 literature review as the uk he sector struggles to respond to such race-related challenges as the degree attainment gap between white and bme students (ecu, 2017), it is likely that institutions will embark on programmes of staff development, including ‘unconscious bias’ training, presentation of equality data to stimulate change and inclusive curricula workshops. sara ahmed’s book ‘on being included’ (ahmed, 2012) argues that institutions do not take responsibility for implementing diversity and that this falls to diversity workers and requires them to take ownership of the task. however, little has been written about the experience of running staff development activities associated with race equality and no-one appears to have explored the emotional impact on facilitators who find themselves exposed to some very challenging opinions during race-focused discussions. given the limited evidence base, the literature review draws on sources associated with leading diversity-related change, staff development and the reflective accounts of researchers within race studies. 2.1 leading diversity-related change within he, a key reason for implementing diversity-related change is to create greater parity of experience and outcome for students from diverse backgrounds, yet leading diversity initiatives can be fraught with challenge. in her discussion on leadership strategies for addressing the politics of diversity, kezar (2008) identifies that “people do not operate in rational ways and will resist issues about which they have fears”, recognising that challenging conversations, inappropriate comments and uninformed opinions may surface. she argues that “existing groups defend the resources and power that they have…” which may result in individuals’ adopting entrenched positions despite contradictory evidence. kezar (2008) also identifies the importance of persistence, understanding that changing groups’ opinions and behaviours takes time and that advocating for change over a lengthy period does tend to get results (baldridge et al., 1977; cohen and march, 1974). kezar’s interviews with twenty-seven college presidents and their experiences of leading institutional diversity initiatives enabled her to identify six important strategies: 1. develop coalitions and advocates (e.g. gaining support from various interest groups including staff, students, administrators, alumni, community groups). 2. take the political pulse regularly (including understanding communication channels and identifying key individuals who can influence change). 3. anticipate resistance. 4. use data to neutralise politics and rationalise the process. 5. create public relations campaigns and showcase success (including helping people to understand different perspectives). 6. capitalise on controversy for learning and unearth interest groups (kezar, 2008). although not necessarily leading institutional change, some of the strategies discussed by college presidents are likely to be applied by staff developers and researchers during their race-related activities including; taking the political pulse; anticipating resistance; and using data to neutralise politics and rationalise the process. 2.2 staff development approaches in considering the role requirements of staff development leaders, blackmore et al. (2003) explore an equality and diversity scenario to consider skill requirements. the scenario articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 outlines the need to address the special educational needs and disability act, 2001. although this is outdated and has been superseded by the equality act (2010), the attributes for successful staff development that blackmore et al. identify could well be adapted and applied to race-equality staff-development activity: • capabilitiesgood understanding of the context and the attitudes of colleagues • skills – excellent presentation skills • knowledge – in-depth knowledge of legislation and data/evidence base • attitudes – positive views about supporting students from diverse backgrounds • values – a strong commitment to race equality (adapted from blackmore et al., op.cit.). when considering staff development associated with diversity training, it is important to consider not just the skills/attributes required by the facilitator, but also the range of approaches that may be used within staff-development sessions and the possible responses from delegates which they may elicit. classic approaches may include informative/enlightenment activities which raise awareness of biases against particular groups and promote the benefits of diversity within a student body. examples could draw on a financial argument as well as encourage participants to take the perspective of members of other groups (dovidio et al., 2004). pendry et al. (2007) identify some limitations of this focus, as it is not easy to persuade members of traditionallyadvanced groups to change biased behaviours. they also suggest that it would be naïve to expect prejudice – based on incorrect assumptions – to stop once evidence disputing the assumption has been presented, since prejudice is underpinned by strong affective components – i.e. positive or negative emotions – (dovidio et al., op.cit.; milton, 1972; pettigrew and tropp, 2000). dissonance approaches have also been applied within diversity training and include such examples as ‘walking through white privilege (wtwp) exercise’, developed by mcintosh (1988), and the ‘blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise’, designed by jane elliott over thirty years ago (2017), where one group is subjected to discriminatory behaviours and personal attacks by a facilitator and the other group members. both of these exercises aim to evoke emotional dissonance or guilt and hence stimulate individuals to take personal responsibility for inequity. the risk of such approaches is to reinforce already-established ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ groups, owing either to guilt or anger – e.g. white people being blamed for privileges extended to them through no ‘fault of their own’ (stewart et al., 2003). newer approaches include activities which create awareness of one’s own biases, such as the implicit associate test (iat) (project implicit, 2011), in which participants take an online test to measure their hidden or implicit bias against a specific group (e.g. race). the assumption is that the discomfort that arises from being aware of one’s unintentional bias will have a positive impact upon future behaviours (pendry et al., op.cit.; monteith et al., 2001). it could therefore be argued that, in addition to the attributes identified by blackmore et al. (op.cit.), facilitators of diversity-related staff development must have an in-depth understanding of the types of activities they incorporate and of the possible responses evoked in participants. it would also be pertinent for the facilitators to have considered their articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 own biases, which could be explicitly or implicitly affecting their design of the training, especially if they were asking participants to consider their own biases and privileges. 2.3 reflective narratives since, as mentioned previously, there is limited information associated with staff developers’ experiences of race equality training, the authors looked to the larger body of evidence produced by educators teaching about race and racial dynamics in the classroom, as well as to the reflections of researchers into race-related matters in education. the personal narratives of funmi amobi (2007), rita kohli (2008) and stephen brookfield (2016) all use reflective analysis to consider their practice in teaching future teachers about race. interestingly, all three draw on critical incidents, from their lives and careers, which influenced their current approaches, and all three explore their own racial identify in relation to their practice. amobi (2007) writes about initially being a messenger and moving from “safe dialogues” – with a conciliatory message aimed at changing individual students’ attitudes without “white students feeling persecuted” – to implementing “courageous conversations on race”. using an ‘external’ narrator, via a three-part video (closing the achievement gap, the video journal of education, 2002), to raise uncomfortable points for some white students, amobi was able to pose discussion questions associated with whiteness and white privilege, including “how do white teachers see ‘other’ students?” kohli’s research (2008) considers the impact of white cultural dominance in schools and reviews the personal narratives of nine women of colour enrolled in an undergraduate education programme. the results showed that all nine participants had experienced racism and had been taught to perceive the dominant white culture as better than their own. within the paper, kohli also reflects on her own educational upbringing as well as her initial work within education: “reflecting back on my own education, there have been numerous moments when teachers made comments or acted in ways that prioritized white cultural values over my own. whether in regard to my language, my religion, or my traditions, i have been taught in both subtle and blatant ways that the cultural knowledge of my family has less worth than that of the dominant white culture. what is even worse is that, as a teacher, i carried this learned perspective with me into the classroom and was instilling a hierarchy of white cultural superiority into the minds of my young students.” kohli argues that encouraging trainee teachers of colour to reflect upon and heal from the racism they have endured will help them to think about their own culturally-relevant, raciallyconscious teaching strategies and to inform teacher-education programmes that often lack strategies and curricula that speak to the needs of teachers of colour (kohli, op.cit.). within a chapter in his book, brookfield (2016) discusses the importance of white educators’ sharing personal narratives about their struggles of their own learned racism to help people understand and challenge the persistence of structural and systemic racism. arguing that racism is learned through everyday speech, media images, peer groups and friendships, education and family, resulting in the ideology of white-supremacy seeping into our consciousnesses, he shares his own narrative of a childhood within a context of white articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 supremacy (brookfield, op.cit.). through critiquing his own experiences and researching repressive tolerance (marcuse, 1964), brookfield advocates that educators should disclose how learned racism has framed their interactions. in his research into the experiences of black african service users of the uk national health service (nhs), isaac tuffour (2018) discusses the challenges he faced as an ‘insider’ researcher (narayan, 1993), sharing characteristics with his research participants (including being black, african and a first-generation immigrant). tuffour (op.cit) identifies the benefits this brought in establishing rapport with participants and inspiring trust and acceptance, as well as enabling unspoken understanding. however, he lists such disadvantages as participant narratives’ triggering “a tidal wave of sentiments” and the difficulty of suspending his own feelings (owing to his insider empathy), as well as his awareness of the existing power and politics of the research site (tuffour, op.cit). from the personal narrative articles, it is evident that reflecting on and being explicitly aware of one’s own racial identify and how that influences behaviours, interactions, activities and reactions to situations, are very important in race-related education and research. identifying one’s own position within the context of the discussion is perhaps lacking within the discussions of staff development and this paper attempts to do that through its personal written reflections on a critical incident experienced during the leadership of race-focused workshops and research. 3.0 methodology critical-incident analysis is frequently used within educational research. the analysis aims to identify the issues that have provoked strong feelings and, through structured reflection, individuals consider possibilities for future actions (society for education and training, 2016). data for this article were collected as part of a reflective process carried out by the two facilitators of inclusive-practice workshops and two researchers involved in the interviewing of programme leaders. considering race, ethnicity, gender and the experience of working within he, the participants were: 1. a black, british african-caribbean female, who has worked in he for over fifteen years 2. an asian, malaysian-chinese female, who has worked in he for over ten years 3. a black, british male, who has worked in he for over five years 4. a white, british female, who has worked in he for over fifteen years participants 1 and 2 conducted interviews with the programme leaders and participants 3 and 4 facilitated the inclusive teaching workshops together. in relation to this paper, the participants were also the ‘researchers’ and so collaborated to agree the reflective questions that each would be asked in order to develop their personal narratives. the research was conducted in accordance with the university of hertfordshire’s ethics protocol: “protocol for reflective practitioner work by academic staff” (version 09.0, appendix i, university policies and regulations re01). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the four participants were asked to provide written narratives of a critical incident that they’d experienced. the participants each wrote only one narrative and were asked to identify the incident that was most difficult for them. there were no explicit exclusion criteria in relation to the content of the narrative, but participants were asked to write their narratives independently and were asked to respond to the following: please think about a critical incident that you experienced when either interviewing a programme leader or running an inclusive practice workshop: 1. what was the critical incident? 2. how did it make you feel? 3. what did you do at the time and reflecting now, would you have done anything differently? 4. imagining you were an observer in the situation, what did you notice? by using a format for the reflection, the data collected were considered as four separate personal narratives and also coded to identify any recurring themes. written narratives – rather than interviews – were chosen, as the four participants all knew each other well and had already engaged in some informal conversations about particular incidents. applying a formal interview method would have created an artificial environment, as individuals would have adopted the roles of ‘participant’ and ‘interviewer’ for each other, which might have led to an unspoken understanding between participant and interviewer and a possible failure of the participant to reflect fully on the incident and the feelings/emotions evoked. within the results section, the participants are referred to as ‘narrators’, as the data were considered as personal narratives. the use of personal reflection enables the authors to consider their experiences yet also requires an autoethnographical perspective, as each individual’s analysis will have been considered through the lens of their own experience of race, racism and privilege. 4.0 results four narratives were written, ranging in length from 420 to 935 words. each narrative was reviewed by the authors and a summary of each incident outlined below, to provide context for the reader. the narratives were then considered together to identify key themes and common words, expressions and feelings. summary of critical incident number 1: during the interviewing of a programme leader, the programme leader established a pattern of responses which demonstrated a covert undermining of young black (mainly) african men. summary of critical incident number 2: the interview with a programme leader lasted for a very short period of time, as the programme leader was completely disengaged and uninterested. the programme leader also showed a lack of awareness of their student population and the bme attainment gap. summary of critical incident number 3: articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 following a workshop, a programme leader stayed behind to discuss the data and their students. the programme leader thought that their students weren’t good enough, implying that better students would be students who were not from ethnic minority backgrounds. summary of critical incident 4: during a workshop a programme leader discussed why they thought there was an attainment gap. the programme leader argued that they provided lots of support for their students but certain students had an attitude and didn’t show up for lectures or tutorials. the programme leader was referring to their black male students. three of the four narratives (1, 3, 4) described situations where programme leaders articulated deficit opinions about students of colour, making assumptions and demonstrating racial stereotyping. in two of the cases, this was directed towards black male students. despite programme leaders’ being presented with data and arguments which dispelled assumptions and stereotypes within the workshops, such explicit display of inherent biases affected the narrators. the other narrative (critical incident 2) described a situation where the programme leader was completely disengaged and lacked awareness of any of the issues. 4.1 emotions and feelings evoked by the incidents: when considering the question ‘how did it make you feel?’ all four accounts described how the incident had made the narrator feel “angry”. • “my initial reaction was anger, then uncomfortable, shocked, mystified and a little bemused” • “initially i felt quite angry as the programme leader clearly seemed to show no interest…” • “i was angry at first, appalled that a staff member could actively think of a group of people in simplistic terms …” • “i was angry with their racist attitude and frustrated that despite all the evidence we had presented and the discussion we’d had they still blamed our black students”. other emotions described within the narratives are displayed in table 1. table 1. emotions identified in the narratives in response to the prompt question ‘how did it make you feel?’ emotion identified frequency of mention angry 4 worried 3 uncomfortable 2 disappointed 2 frustrated 2 confused 2 shocked 1 upset 1 appalled 1 concerned 1 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 tired 1 guilty 1 embarrassed 1 mystified 1 bemused 1 from analysing the statements, it is evident that some of the feelings were associated with direct reaction to words spoken during the incidents – e.g. ‘anger’, ‘upset’, ‘shocked’, ‘appalled’, ‘uncomfortable’ – whilst other emotions reflected feelings of empathy – e.g. ‘concerned’ and ‘worried’. the word ‘worried’ was used in two of the narratives, but in different contexts: the first, in relation to worry for the students (narrative 3) and the second in relation to concern for the feelings of the co-facilitator and a postgraduate (pg) student who was a participant in the workshop (narrative 4): • “…but then i felt worried. worried that any students they would interact with would be exposed to their inherent biases…” • “…i was very concerned for the pg student and my co-facilitator, both of whom were black males i was very worried about how their comments had made them feel”. 4.2 responses at the time when reflecting on the incidents and responding to the prompt ‘what did you do at the time and reflecting now, would you have done anything differently?’, there were similar immediate responses to the situations where racial stereotypes were expressed. in the three cases, the narrators all identified that they did not directly challenge the comments. for example: • “at the time i said nothing. often when someone says something quite outrageous i am silent” through the narration, they all identified what they would have done differently. for example: • “on reflection i should have challenged these more directly and maybe given them the opportunity to explain what they meant by certain statements”. reflecting on critical incident number 2, the narrator thought about how she could have used additional data and specific programme information during the interview to engage the programme leader in discussion: • “reflecting now, what i would have done differently would be to meet this pl with some additional programme/module related data e.g. core module failure rates (split between white and bme), this may have allowed me to be a little bolder in getting the pl to actually think about changing their own teaching practice...” narrators also identified that they could have tried to discover more about the thoughts of the individuals and such words as ‘explore’, ‘probe’, ‘prompt’ were used within the narratives. 4.3 observing the situation the final reflective question asked the narrators to imagine that they had observed the situation and to identify what they might have noticed. responses included observations of articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 the interviewer’s/facilitator’s remaining calm, as well comments regarding the expression of body language: “there may also be instances where the interviewer may have sighed (either in anger or in disappointment) and struggled at many points to continue with the interview process”. the two narratives associated with the workshop-related incidents also included comments about the responses of others: • “i noticed my co-presenter observing in the distance but waiting when to chime in…” • “the moment the comments were spoken, the room went silent and delegates from other programme teams looked at the individual”. 4.4 summary of results although a small sample size, perhaps the two most common and arguably most important themes that were evident in the narratives were the: • stimulation of negative emotions (e.g. anger) • inability to challenge at the time of the incident 5.0 discussion it was perhaps unsurprising that a shared emotion experienced by all four narrators was that of anger and that other negative emotions (e.g. being shocked, upset, appalled) were described, since the narrators were all responding to incidents that either included racist, stereotyping comments or disengagement which dismissed and diminished the challenges faced by students of colour. trying not to express this anger or other negative emotions they’d experienced seemed to stem from a position of trying to maintain neutrality and remaining calm. race discussions have been described as ‘difficult dialogues’ (sue, 2013) and one of the aims of the inclusive workshops and subsequent interviews was to create environments to enable open and honest discussions about race and to overcome the ‘politeness protocol’ which leads to potentially offensive or uncomfortable topics’ being avoided, ignored or silenced (sue, op.cit). the downside of this open dialogue is the exposure of people’s inherent biases. the incidents described by the narrators were not necessarily surprising, as the individuals all had previous experience in facilitating discussions about race either with colleagues and/or students, but the fact that the incidents occurred during or after staff development workshops designed to raise awareness of race discrimination and white privilege could explain the feelings of disappointment, frustration and confusion articulated within the narratives. 5.1 the nature of the workshops within the workshops, a number of data sets served to argue that differentials in degree attainment and employability outcomes could not be explained away through discussions of entry qualification, socio-economic background or gender, but that a white normative culture and the prevalence of white privilege within he was inhibiting the outcomes for students of colour. the equality challenge unit (ecu, 2018) emphasises the importance of using data during staff development workshops and it was hoped that presenting robust data from a range of sources, including programme-level data (barefoot et al., op.cit.) would neutralise assumptions and uninformed opinion. as pendry et al. (op.cit) discussed, it may have been articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 naïve to think that this classical approach would have been sufficient to persuade some individuals to change established, biased opinions. however, the workshop also included a discussion of bias and encouraged workshop participants to complete implicit associate tests (iat) (project implicit, 2011) after the workshop to enable delegates to acknowledge their own biases. rather than asking individuals to do the tests after the workshop, it might have been appropriate to ask delegates to complete the tasks prior to attendance. this might then have removed, or limited, some of the assumptions that were evident to the narrators in the workshops and subsequent interviews. 5.2 autoethnographical considerations ellis and bochner (2000) define autoethnography as "...an autobiographical genre of writing that displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural". three of the emotive words (table 1) used in the reflections specifically relate to two of the individuals and connect them to their own racial identifies. narrator 3 reported feeling ‘tired’: “this brings me to the last feeling, i felt tired. tired of having to justify yet again that because a person is black or of an ethnic minority doesn’t mean they are inherently less capable. that any disadvantages they may have are often due to historically structural or institutional inequalities”. narrator 3 is black and his narrative identifies his own fatigue at having to have the same argument over and over again, something that most white people don’t have to do as they are unaware of their own race in a society of whiteness. this frustration is expressed in a similar way by reni eddo-lodge in her 2014 blog and subsequent (2017) best-selling book, ‘why i’m no longer talking to white people about race’. one’s own identity has to be considered when reflecting on the narrative statements. the experience discussed by narrator 3 is something that narrator 4 has not experienced, and will not experience, as a white person. narrator 1 also discussed awareness of her own blackness during the interview she held with a programme leader. she wrote that the comments from the programme leader were “raising my hackles”. as a white person, narrator 4 identified feeling the ‘self-conscious’ emotions (lewis, 2008) of guilt and embarrassment (table 1): • “i was very guilty that i did not immediately say something and that it was the pg student who challenged their opinions. he was extremely eloquent and spoke very well but i was the facilitator and i should have challenged their comments”. • “i was also embarrassed that a white colleague would say such things and i was acutely aware of my whiteness”. recognising one’s own racial identity and the impact this has had on one’s own experiences in relation to privilege and sense of being ‘outsider’ or ‘insider’ has to be addressed and considered when facilitating race discussions or conducting race-related research. as tuffour (op.cit) noted, the insider researcher can be both beneficial as well as problematic and brookfield (op.cit) explicitly discussed his own racism and micro-aggressions within his teaching. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 awareness of one’s own identity may also influence the way one acts in a critical incident. for example, within the narratives, none of the four authors challenged the comments made at the time. the sense of having to maintain neutrality and remain calm over-rode their anger and prevented them from challenging racist comments and assumptions. sue (op.cit) explores the challenges of facilitating racial dialogues in the classroom and recognises that race talk is often diluted and/or discussed in very superficial ways, for fear of offending others or creating potentially explosive situations. amobi (op.cit) reflects on her own experience of cutting short her six-week course on multicultural education, following the outburst of a white male student during the week 5 session. referring to the incident as ‘the storm’ she reflected on how she should have continued with her plans and on how, despite resistance to the ‘message’, she came to understand that it did not mean that the message should not have been told, but that there was an opportunity to retool the message for better telling. brookfield (op.cit) advocates the benefits of team teaching and recommends the use of such opportunities for colleagues to talk to students about how their own racial identifies framed the ways they negotiated decisions and employed different approaches. he also argues that a multi-racial teaching team is best placed to illustrate how the micro-dynamics of racism play themselves out. identifying micro-aggressions and challenging them in the moment enables others to understand what a micro-aggression is and to consider the impact of micro-aggressions on people of colour. narrators 3 and 4 co-facilitated the workshops and believed that the workshop delegates benefited from a multi-racial teaching team; however, as identified in critical incident 4, narrator 4 did not act during a workshop and, through her silence, failed to challenge the racist assumptions that were being made. brookfield (op.cit) suggests that, rather than trying to stifle a racist conversation, the inevitable pauses should be used to take plenty of time to think and then to respond. this approach would likely have benefited narrator 4 and also amobi (op.cit), when she was confronted with the outburst during her teaching. 5.3 leading race-related activities remaining calm and a maintaining a sense of neutrality were identified within the narratives, according with the responses of the college presidents, who identified the importance of not becoming defensive, but humbly questioning other people’s rationale (kezar, op.cit). this is articulated within the text of narrator 1: “on reflection i should have challenged these more directly and maybe given them the opportunity to explain what they meant by certain statements”. kezar (op.cit) also identifies the importance of anticipating resistance. although all authors did anticipate challenging conversations and resistance, it still did not reduce the impact of the incidents on their feelings. having now reflected and identified how negative emotions were stimulated, they are arguably better prepared for similar future situations, as well being aware that, although their emotions will be stimulated, they will be better equipped to handle the feelings. the authors all recognised the importance of resilience within their work. as identified by narrator 3 and eddo-lodge (op.cit), it can be exhausting to keep having to justify the rights of people of colour and the need for race conversations, so keeping focused on one’s goal (kezar, op.cit) is an aspect essential to the continuation of race-related staff development articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 activity. in the authors’ context, this is the removal of the attainment gap and the enabling of bme student success. the authors were all in agreement with the sentiments expressed in a quote from a college president: "it's the students. they are what help me survive. when i hear their stories, when i see the changes we have made, i know i can take on the next battle…” (kezar, op.cit). 6.0 recommendations for colleagues involved in race-related staff development having reflected on their own experiences, both individually and as a group, the authors recognised the potential benefit of providing guidance/suggestions to support other he staff involved with, or embarking on, race-equality staff development. five recommendations are identified below: 1. anticipate resistance and be prepared for negative emotions, such as anger and frustration, to be evoked during workshops – pause, take time to think and then respond rather than react. 2. ask delegates to complete implicit associate tests (iat), prior to attendance at the workshop, and, if biases are then explicitly displayed in a session, use questions to explore what participants mean by certain statements. 3. ensure you have the evidence needed to challenge assumptions, including quantitative information at the appropriate level of granularity (e.g. national, institutional and programme-level data), qualitative data and first-person narratives. 4. if possible, work in multi-racial teams so that facilitators can share how their own racial identifies inform their approaches and opinions. 5. plan time to de-brief after workshop sessions and also encourage individual formal reflection on critical incidents, for discussion within facilitator teams. 7.0 conclusion this paper highlights the impact of race-related critical incidents on the leaders of staff development activities and race-related research. the authors 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that “teachers cannot be adequately assessed by observing their teaching performance without reference to the content being taught”. such a sentence, simple as it may seem, essentially contains a loaded term, which is the inherent suggestion that teaching performance is something to be ‘assessed’. this paper argues against that on the basis of research carried out in the context of academic english teaching within a business school in a british university setting. historically, assessment and appraisal have been key drivers for teacher observation. recently, there has been an increasing emphasis on the teaching excellence and student outcomes framework (tef), coupled with a greater expectation of all practitioners to have higher educational fellowship status. though each of these is governed by a separate body, educators may feel as if they are under more professional scrutiny than ever before. for many professionals, this is new terrain. it can feel uncomfortable too, particularly as there is more to being an educator than classroom performance alone. furthermore, the speed of change has added to feelings of unease. compton (2016) points out that in some institutions there has been no real history of teacher observation, unlike in other educational sectors. peer observations have been introduced in some institutions, but a question remains as to how constructive or developmental these really are. observations, by their very nature, should be developmental (donaghue, 2003). pierson and borthwick (2010, p.130) argue that any successful evaluation of professional development involves “observing and documenting teacher behaviours ‘in the thick’ of classroom practice.” here, we can see the language of development rather than undertones of assessment and appraisal. additionally, there has been a drive in such studies as breen (2018) to recognise he practitioners as educators rather than teachers. within that study, a group of educators in a business school context had their lessons tracked over a period of time, with developments mapped against participation in a series of workshops related to technology in teaching. through shifting the focus to personal development rather than performance, these educators were more comfortable with the whole concept of observation. rather than worrying about being judged, they were comfortable with being given feedback for developmental reasons. the areas that were explored in the observations and subsequent feedback included usage of technological resources and the scaffolding of students in academic skills and discipline-specific knowledge. as a consequence of this process of observation and tailored feedback, educators became more skilled in using a range of resources in their classrooms. alongside this, they grew more comfortable with the discipline-specific aspect of teaching students in such areas as business, economics and human resource management. the process of observation proved successful because of a focus on development over time rather than a brief snapshot of a single performance in the classroom. this is why i believe that a greater sense of opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 2 educational development needs to be built into the process of capturing vignettes of what educators consistently do in normal, everyday practice. such an aspiration, however, may be difficult to attain in reality, unless a holistic approach is taken and the right environment created to facilitate developmental platforms. at the moment, it can feel as if instruments such as the tef are geared more towards measuring what people say they do than towards what they actually do in practice. that creates an environment where educators are afraid to let their guard down and so constantly portray their work in glowing terms because it can be professionally damaging not to do so. this has echoes of the way that many online learning projects were portrayed in the early days of technologies’ becoming a force within education. there was a fear of admitting any issues, weaknesses or need for improvement, as if to do so were to weaken the whole argument for using technologies in the classroom, especially when a lot of money had been invested. this created a situation where many online projects were, at the outset, portrayed in a singularly glowing light, almost as “trophies on the mantelpiece” (breen, 2007). teaching should not fall into the same trap, even in this age of the tef. when confronted with questioning about their practice, many he professionals might retreat into a defensive, default position. at its worst, this creates a work environment where everything is based upon surface impressions rather than a purposeful analysis of practice and how it can actually be improved. such an environment is one where espoused practice outweighs and even contradicts actual practice, as first discussed in argyris and schön (1974) within the context of organisational development. when educators feel that they must constantly espouse or portray their practice in the best possible light, a culture then develops of shielding that practice from public view. such a culture can be overcome by placing a greater emphasis upon the idea of lifelong development and of seeing teaching as part of a “developmental continuum” (richards, 1998, p.48). this can be further assisted by recognition of the fact that being an educator is not limited to classroom performance alone. in this case, that was done by looking at the same time at developments in other areas of practice. such areas included developments in usage and design of online learning materials. there are other ways, too, of giving educators a sense that their practice is something more than that of ‘lone ranger’ in the classroom (samaras and gismondi, 1998, p.716). there is a need to help teachers to investigate “their own practice” and develop “the reflective and analytic skills necessary to integrate this into a process of informed professional growth” (garton and richards, 2007, p.8). much of the literature on teacher development talks about the importance of having a personal philosophy or teaching epistemology and one of the most pertinent is that described by steve mann (2005, p.105), who states that teaching is best viewed as “a continuous process of becoming” that is part of a journey which “can never be finished”. taking such a philosophy – not just at a personal but also an institutional level – creates an environment where teachers do not feel a need to be the finished article in the classroom and thus afraid to be judged. however, if the creation of such an environment were straightforward, somebody would have taken the recipe, bottled and mass-produced it by now. across contexts and continents, this has been a battle for educational developers, teacher developers or whatever term we wish to use for those working in such units. yet there may already be practices within educational development that can lend themselves to creating a more opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 3 comfortable environment into which teacher observations can slot. within the educational development literature, there appears to be a growing emphasis upon the usage of teaching portfolios as a tool for personal development. perhaps it could even be called a platform for personal development. within a business school context, this is particularly useful because it involves practitioners’ enacting many of the values and ideas we are trying to instil in our students; e.g. “personal branding” (peters, 1997) or employability skills (paterson, 2018). teaching portfolios have been around for a long time, as described in mcdonald et al. (2016) and are closely allied to the idea of educational developers’ portfolios as conceptualised in wright and miller (2000). both of these two very similar types of portfolio owe their origins to the canadian-born idea of a teaching dossier or dossier d’enseignement (shore and caron, 1986). according to wright (2016), this can serve as “an internationally recognised means of recording one’s profile and narrative as a teacher in higher education” (mcdonald et al., 2016). a teaching portfolio, then, is not intended as a means of appraisal or assessment or even to enhance career prospects, but rather as a vehicle for self-analysis, reflection and the building up of a coherent and personalised narrative of our teaching journeys. presently, there appears to be a greater usage of this concept in the north american context and various examples of such portfolios can be found online here1 and here2. significantly, the emphasis here is as much on the personal as on the professional and there are a great many similarities with the way that portfolios and applications are compiled for admission to fellowship of the united kingdom’s higher education academy, now known as ‘advance he’. these portfolios include endorsements from students and colleagues, lists of courses taught and achievements, as well as instances or snapshots of practice which come together to give a sense of the educator and the person as a whole. going back to the idea of having a personal philosophy of practice, the professional and the person are inseparable. when we step into the classroom as educators, we do not leave the people we are at the classroom door. my own research into teacher development3 in the context of developing technological knowledge as a means of bolstering pedagogic knowledge – revealed that teachers become more confident and more expert in their practice when they draw on their own interests, background knowledge and personal philosophies to shape learning. emphasising personal aspects and developmental aspects can thus serve to help educators feel more comfortable about the whole process of observations. when the observation is part of a developmental portfolio, the act of being observed is much more of a partnership than the old-style idea of somebody coming in, sitting at the back of a classroom and ticking off twenty things wrong with the lesson. although peer observation is one alternative to such a stifling, criticism-inducing environment, there are limits to what these types of intervention can achieve. they may be suitable for initial teacher training courses, but not for the all-round development of educators in today’s he environment, particularly in the versatile and cutting-edge disciplines found within business schools. looking at this from a vygotskian perspective, development proceeds not in a straight line but in a spiral. in order for a spark of development to occur, sometimes it is necessary for educators to get guidance from those more expert in specific areas. thus, in the study of 1 https://oklportfolio.wordpress.com/ 2 https://mytechclassroom.com/teaching-portfolio-examples/ 3 https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/10.16997/book13/ https://oklportfolio.wordpress.com/ https://mytechclassroom.com/teaching-portfolio-examples/ https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/10.16997/book13/ opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 4 academic english educators, i was, at the outset, more expert in using technologies in teaching. i was able to offer educators a commentary on their practice and ideas for development when observing them as an inside researcher and manager in the language centre of a business school where they worked. by getting such advice purely for reasons of development rather than appraisal, they could then reflect on their practice and integrate new ideas if needed. the philosophy here was that new knowledge or new ideas should not be imparted to educators. rather, as in wilson and berne (1999, p.194), knowledge should be “activated’ by making everyone equal participants in the learning process. admittedly, equality – in the context of observations – can be a vague term. it can even suggest a lack of self-awareness about such issues as agency and power relations. this is why there are so many other aspects of observations that need to be improved in universities and teaching contexts in general before educators can feel confident about the idea of observations as a developmental tool. some may see the concept of portfolios as just another means of appraising people, of gathering evidence that then gets used for other purposes by some hidden hand, driven by marketisation. possibly such portfolios could just become another instance of espoused practices outweighing actual practice, another exercise in packing the cabinet with trophies. again, this is where the climate needs to change. development is not a competition and observations are not part of some internal league table or – in sporting terms – a one-off knockout competition where someone’s worth as a teacher is decided by their classroom performance on a single day. if development is seen as a team exercise, as a shared activity, then even teaching portfolios are not an individual product. they are the output of a lifetime’s shared journey, a journey of equals jointly trying to navigate the ever-changing he landscape. business schools are ideally placed to take the lead in encouraging this type of developmental climate within he. for a start, they have to champion the notion that practitioners should not be judged on teaching alone, regardless of language used in the tef. by recognising people as educators, we can give them a greater sense of value and, by creating a forum for the display of teaching portfolios, we give them a showcase for the full range of their educational achievements. presently, such portfolios are more commonly used in the north american context, but there is scope for greater usage of them in the united kingdom and elsewhere, too. doing this just requires a cultural shift that places value on all aspects of practice, rather than appraising classroom performance alone. by this means, the act of observing a classroom becomes less threatening. again, the choice of language is important here, because – going back to the work of argyris and schön (op.cit.) – the way we speak about our environment reveals a great deal about our values. for today’s educators, it is essential that their practice is valued by the institutions they work for and that best practice is shared and celebrated, not simply used for the purposes of tef ratings. the act of observing teachers and offering feedback on such observations should always be done primarily for the purpose of their educational development. opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 5 reference list argyris, c. and schön, d.a. (1974) theory in practice: increasing professional effectiveness. san francisco: jossey-bass. isbn-10: 9780875892306. breen, p. (2007) ‘lessons from an international e-learning project.’ the international review of research in open and distance learning, 8(3). available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26490574_research_notes_lessons_from_an_int ernational_e-learning_project (accessed 1st january 2020). breen, p. (2018) developing educators for the digital age – a framework for capturing teacher knowledge in action. london: westminster university press. isbn: 9781911534686. compton, m. (2016) ‘the role of teaching observations: developing or managing academic practice?’ compass: journal of learning and teaching, 8(12). available at: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/279 (accessed 1st january 2020). donaghue, h. 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(2018) perceptions of pedagogy for employability at a transnational university. research and pedagogy in the classroom. university of suffolk, uk: 09 jun 2018, british education research association poster presentation. available at: https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q59v9/perceptions-of-pedagogy-foremployability-at-a-transnational-university (accessed 1st january 2020). peters, t. (1997) ‘the brand called you.’ fast company, 10(10). available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you (accessed 1st january 2020). pierson, m. and borthwick, a. (2010) ‘framing the assessment of educational technology professional development in a culture of learning.’ journal of computing in teacher education, 26(4), 126-131. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10402454.2010.10784645 (accessed 1st january 2020). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26490574_research_notes_lessons_from_an_international_e-learning_project https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26490574_research_notes_lessons_from_an_international_e-learning_project https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/279 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1133207.pdf https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/1478/1/ttdearticlefinal.pdf https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/people/mann/mann_s/stateof.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/72793331.pdf https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q59v9/perceptions-of-pedagogy-for-employability-at-a-transnational-university https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q59v9/perceptions-of-pedagogy-for-employability-at-a-transnational-university https://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10402454.2010.10784645 opinion pieces compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 13, no 1, 2020 6 richards, j.c. (1998) beyond training: perspectives on language teacher education. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. isbn-10: 0521626803. samaras, a.p. and gismondi, s. (1998) ‘scaffolds in the field: vygotskian interpretation in a teacher education program.’ teaching and teacher education, 14(7), 715-733. available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257246081_scaffolds_in_the_field_vygotskian_int erpretation_in_a_teacher_education_program (accessed 1st january 2020). shore, b.m. and caron, l. (1986) the caut guide to the teaching dossier: its preparation and use. montreal: canadian association of university teachers. shulman, l.s. (1987) ‘knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform.’ harvard educational review, 57(1), 1-23. available at: https://hepgjournals.org/doi/10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411 (accessed 1st january 2020). wilson, s.m. and berne, j. (1999) ‘chapter 6: teacher learning and the acquisition of professional knowledge: an examination of research on contemporary professional development.’ review of research in education, 24(1), 173-209. available at: http://outlier.uchicago.edu/computerscience/os4cs/landscapestudy/resources/wison-andberne-1999.pdf (accessed 1st january 2020). wright, w.a. and miller, j.e. (2000) ‘the educational developer’s portfolio.’ international journal for academic development, 5(1), 20-29. available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/136014400410079 (accessed 1st january 2020). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257246081_scaffolds_in_the_field_vygotskian_interpretation_in_a_teacher_education_program https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257246081_scaffolds_in_the_field_vygotskian_interpretation_in_a_teacher_education_program https://hepgjournals.org/doi/10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411 http://outlier.uchicago.edu/computerscience/os4cs/landscapestudy/resources/wison-and-berne-1999.pdf http://outlier.uchicago.edu/computerscience/os4cs/landscapestudy/resources/wison-and-berne-1999.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/136014400410079 articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 freedom to achieve: addressing the attainment gap through student and staff co-creation lucy ansley, richard hall de montford university abstract understanding and enhancing the experience of individuals and communities who have experienced marginalising structures and cultures have become an important area of research across higher education. this work forms an attempt to address injustice through a critical focus on inclusion and ideas of diversity. however, it also enables a reappraisal of ideas of student-staff partnership and co-creation, and student-as-producer. building upon kingston university’s value-added metric and inclusive curriculum framework, de montfort university has developed its own approach to engaging with differential attainment gaps, in part by embedding co-creation at the heart of its ‘freedom to achieve’ project. co-creation enhances the university’s understanding of the experiences of black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) students and supports all students to become agents for change. between january and april 2018, as a pilot for later project-wide implementation, the freedom to achieve team facilitated a series of co-creation events at both institution and programme level. this paper presents an evaluation of the co-creation approach alongside initial findings from the events and explains how these will inform the continuing development of the freedom the achieve project. introduction the freedom to achieve (fta) project at de montfort university (dmu) is an institutional response to the difference in attainment between black, asian and minority ethnic (bame) students and their white counterparts. the latest national data from the sector show that the gap between white students and bame students obtaining first-class and 2:1 degrees is 15 percentage points (ecu 2017). dmu has a smaller, though still significant, difference of 10.7 percentage points. historically, a deficit perspective has been used across the sector to counter this reality, rooted in the “view that the problem lies with the students and that it is some attribute of the student that means they attain less well, rather than because of an institutional factor such as curriculum design/development” (miller, 2016). this perspective offers no help addressing the attainment gap, as it shifts the focus away from what the institution can do – or, more importantly, should do – and places the onus on the student to provide a solution to problems that are grounded in social structures (bhopal, 2018) or cultures of methodological whiteness (bhambra, 2017). analyses of structural racism inside the academy have also framed work to decolonise and dismantle the curriculum and its organising principles, alongside the governance and management of universities (ahmed, 2012; arday and mirza, 2018; tuhiwai smith et al., 2018). elsewhere, more quantitative research has also demonstrated the problematic nature of this deficit perspective, as, even when a range of factors (including prior attainment) are controlled for, an unexplained difference still occurs between bame and white students (broecke and nicholls, 2007; mcduff et al., 2018). articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 this suggests that further exploration is needed to understand the lived experience of the curriculum for bame students, who should increasingly shape the conversation if injustice is to be addressed. in this, there is potential for moving discussion of what ‘success’ means towards a broader understanding of the relationship the student has with themselves and the contexts in which they live and study, with their peers and with the institution. thus, a greater focus has also been given to the ‘softer’ measures of success for student experience, “those related to a student’s sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction with the educational experience … while such measures tend to be highly subjective, they can nonetheless be important to register for building up a holistic picture of success” (singh, 2011, p.3). as more bame students enter higher education (he) it is crucial that university life is representative of all students, not just those from a hegemonic, white background. greater cultural inclusivity in the curriculum is key to increasing students’ sense of validity in their own lives and of being able to address societal issues, including critiques of belonging, as well as improved retention and attainment (nus, 2011). a crucial, pedagogic strand in this process of discovering what influences student success is supported at dmu through the use of co-creation between students and staff. between january and april 2018, a series of pilot co-creation sessions brought together students and staff to discuss the attainment gap and how it might be positively addressed. the co-creation events were a valuable way not only to begin conversations with students, but also to review how the university communicates with its students and if current channels of communication are effectively reaching the groups with whom the project aims to work. this paper reflects on the approach taken to co-creation, the findings emerging from these initial discussions and the lessons learnt for future practice. the literature on co-creation identified as one of three pillars of dmu’s university learning, teaching and assessment strategy 2018-2023, co-creation is also a core tenet of the fta project (dmu 2018). through co-creation, student voices are acknowledged with the same credence given to those of academic and professional staff at the university, with their perspectives and experiences equally valued and respected. partnership between students and staff helps to bridge the gap between these two communities and thereby support staff in understanding the student experience of campus life. it is particularly important where students and staff have different cultural backgrounds, as it presents new viewpoints for consideration. the hope is that this enables dominant viewpoints and modes of privilege to be challenged. in relation to the wider context of the project, co-creation is a continuation of the critique of traditional education models with links to four key areas of pedagogic practice, namely: • friere’s (1993) focus on critical, political pedagogy-as-praxis, through which indigenous communities govern, define and own the knowledge and process for challenging their marginalisation and oppression; • dewey’s (1916) discussion of socially-democratic education, viewing the learner as the key contributor to epistemic development; • bell hooks’ (1994) critique of institutions which perpetuate existing hierarchies and thereby deny self-actualisation; articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 • giroux’s (1983) critique of curriculum spaces as a preparation for students to challenge hegemony and to create a new society with their knowledge. co-creation also has links to established work on research-led and research-engaged teaching, through which the focus is on developing a curriculum that is extended through research, so that students learn through the process of investigation, evaluation and research (burgum and stoakes, 2016; neary, 2010). in particular, this links the student experience with research that enables them to become engaged in the development of both their subject and their department / the university. certainly, staff encouragement of students (at all levels and across all disciplines) to be active partners in – and producers of – their learning (working with others and contributing to developments in their subjects) does challenge the idea that students are merely consumers or purchasers of educational services. such practices potentially destabilise the relationships between the student and themselves, the student and their peers and student and their institution, precisely because researchengaged teaching enables students to become active partners in the production of knowledge and meaning. if this is a re-imagining of the ways in which knowledge and practices are produced, then it challenges established positions and enables co-creation to challenge the methodological purity of institutions that reproduce attainment gaps between specific groups (neary, 2016; gabriel and tate, 2017). however, it remains crucial that intersectional injustices are brought to the forefront during this process, so that other forms of marginalisation can be given voice – for instance, those which are related to class, gender, sexuality and ability (joseph and hirshfield, 2011; steinþórsdóttir et al., 2017). this is a continuing process of dialogue rooted in a critique of pedagogic practice, which emerges through the process of co-creation. however, this focus on pedagogy-as-praxis has been challenged by more recent drivers behind co-creation in he, including the idea that the student is a consumer or purchaser of educational commodities. this idea of consumption tends to recalibrate pedagogic practice as an act of service, rather than one of partnership or cooperation in production (healey et al., 2014). as bovill (2013, p.100) argues, “there are differences between participating in university life, ensuring student voices are represented on university committees, and the idea of students becoming partners or co-creators of learning experiences”. there are clear tensions between institutional governance and the organising principles for the curriculum, revealed in how they address co-creation and realised in terms of who has a voice and who is silenced. the fta project recognises these tensions and sees co-creation as crucial, both as a starting point for engaging with them and as a means of uncovering new relationships inside the institution that might serve as heuristics for analysing the attainment gap. thus, three principles underpin co-creation as a process: respect; reciprocity and responsibility (cooksather et al. 2014). these are defined as follows. • respect – willingness to consider experiences that differ from our own; being open about the issue and open to the ideas of others. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 • reciprocity – value of mutual exchange; sharing experiences and opinions; acknowledging that not everyone will contribute in the same ways, but that they will have equal opportunity to contribute. • responsibility – viewing the curriculum and the environment that is created on campus as the joint responsibility of students and staff. what follows is an analysis of one institutional approach to the implementation of cocreation, in a way that recognises its own limitations in respect of the literature, but which also celebrates the possibilities of engaging in a developmental process at the level of the module, the programme and the institution. approach to co-creation events an emergent, pilot phase of co-creation has enabled a scheme of programme-level sessions to be planned for the 2018/19 academic year. in the pilot phase, a total of four co-creation events were held between january and april 2018. these consisted of two institution-wide events and two programme-level co-creation sessions, one in the technology faculty and one in health and life sciences; owing to the nature of the academic timetable in arts, design and humanities and to a change in the fta team within business and law, pilot events could not be held within these faculties. a total of sixty-five students participated in the events, accompanied by seventy members of staff, including ten members of the fta team. for the institution-wide events, emails were sent from a central university account to all staff and students and were backed up by central advertising and a project twitter campaign. programme leaders contacted students for the programme-level pilots. this approach was not successful in either case but provided the project team with a crucial learning moment which will be expanded upon later in this paper. a critical role in this process is the fair outcomes champion (foc), working to enact change with curriculum teams and professional services staff. six champions are currently in role at the university: four faculty-based champions, one library and learning services' champion and one corporate champion. the champion role is developmental and situates an understanding of the theoretical position against institutional data for attainment, mediated through an engagement with curriculum innovation. the focus is to help academics and professional services staff to understand and address the causes of inequitable outcomes for different groups of students. within the context of co-creation, the focs facilitate the collaboration between student and staff groups, helping to initiate discussion and ensure reciprocity in the interaction. moreover, the champions operate as a community of practice, meeting regularly to discuss limitations, barriers, challenges and successes in the development of empowering curriculum content, design, assessment and relationships. to guide student and staff discussions about the attainment gap at the specific co-creation events, the focs reviewed the literature and devised four themes upon which to focus: • curriculum • environment articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 • development • community and belonging given that the aim of the co-creation events was to initiate an institution-wide conversation about the attainment gap and how it might be addressed, the four themes focus on the wider student experience and have been influenced by the work of mountford-zimdars et al. (2015), which identified the following factors which may explain difference in attainment: • curricula and learning teaching and learning approaches, including assessment and feedback methods; • relationships between staff and students developing a sense of belonging on campus, including that between student groups; • social, cultural and economic capital – how students draw on external support and how various student groups may have contrasting overall experience of he; • psychosocial and identity factors – how supported and encouraged students feel. in order to evaluate the impact of these themes and factors on the experience of dmu students and staff, two forms of data were collected from attendees during the events: first, thoughts and suggestions on the attainment gap; second, feedback on the organisation and structure of the events themselves. in both cases, the data collected were qualitative. in both the institution-wide and programme-level events, stations were created for each theme, facilitated by a foc. at each station, students and staff were encouraged to engage in conversation relating to the theme and capture their discussions by means of post-it notes. at the institution-wide events, post-it notes were collated on large theme boards whilst, at the later programme-level sessions, themes were split across four tables. to support the focs in their role as facilitators, a list of prompts for each theme was devised. given that post-it notes were written anonymously, the extent to which project team members were able to draw conclusions based on the voices represented by each theme was restricted. however, it is possible to infer from attendee sign-up sheets that the majority of participants were of a bame background, which gives us a broad idea of the ethnic makeup of the voices represented. it is also important to consider that, without this anonymity, some participants might not have felt able to share their true thoughts, rooted in both structural and personal anxieties. the primary aim of these initial co-creation events was to initiate an institution-wide conversation; it was crucial then – and it continues to be essential – for us to do this in an open and honest way, in order to facilitate institutional change. moreover, since such events act as an indicator of the institution’s willingness to address injustice authentically, it was of fundamental importance to shape them as a safe space for dialogue. owing to time constraints, feedback for the institution-wide co-creation events was obtained from open comments left on postcards. the evaluation for the programme-level sessions, however, was more structured but retained open questions. in this case, the evaluation focused on: participants’ experience of co-creation; what worked well in the session; what other questions could be asked; what improvements could be made; whether participants would be interested in co-creating in the future; and how understandings of the attainment gap had changed. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 data analysis following each event, the post-it notes were transcribed and entered into computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (caqdas), organised by theme. a grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data, influenced by a critical race-theory lens. a critical race-grounded methodology allows for the exploration of data – without the influence of a hypothesis – to develop a theory with explanatory power rather than mere description. the guiding principle behind grounded theory is the notion that theory is emergent, rather than predefined, and through a critical race-theory lens, the approach helps to illuminate the experiences of those who are marginalised (cohen et al., 2011; malagon et al., 2009). the analysis technique was influenced by charmaz’s (2014) coding methods and alan bryman's (2012) four-stage approach. these systems were combined, in order to create a structured process of analysis which best fits a grounded theory approach and which incorporates all three types of grounded-theory coding; open, axial and selective (cohen et al., 2011). • get to know the data transcript is read and summarised, noting initial ideas. • initial coding text is broken up into units, compared and systematically coded, using an open-ended approach. as each new unit of data is coded, it is reviewed in comparison to the previous codes chosen to ensure that it is the most appropriate option. • focused coding codes and categories are reviewed in order to create links between them and to ensure best fit for the data. codes and categories may be condensed at this stage. • reviewing themes themes are checked back against the dataset and a core code is identified, constituting “the foundations for any theory or general conclusions to emerge from the research” (denscombe, 2014, p.288). this process adopts the method of constant comparison, whereby new data is compared with existing data and categories to ensure the best possible fit. given the range of data compared, this is often seen as consistent with the methodological notion of triangulation (cohen et al., 2011). cultural intuition can be utilised to support the research process, in line with a critical race-grounded methodology (delgado bernal, 1998; malagon et al., 2009). a person’s cultural intuition draws upon their personal experience, academic experience, professional experiences and the analysis process itself, acknowledging the role that the researcher plays in developing emerging theory from data – much like charmaz’s (2014) constructivist approach to grounded theory. emergent themes a number of themes emerged from the institutional co-creation events and these were reinforced by the later findings of the programme-level co-creation. it is important to highlight, however, the difference – in prevalence in the themes – between the institutional events and the programme-level events, as shown in table 1 below. it is likely that further variation will be found when the main phase of programme-level co-creation takes place from october 2018 and this may help to illuminate specific cultures associated with different disciplines. owing to the anonymous nature of the events, it is not possible to identify the articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 author of each statement made; however, the total number of references per topic is noted within the discussion below to give an indication of the prevalence of these subjects. table 1. theme distribution institution co-creation themes pilot programme co-creation themes themes references themes references relationships 83 community 44 teaching and learning 36 relationships 43 development 34 teaching and learning 37 community 24 development 30 exclusory feelings 7 employability 28 exclusory feelings 4 relationships the primary topics discussed within the theme of relationships were: role models (45), student integration (29), student-staff relationships (29), improved communication (17) and transparency of processes for dealing with issues of racism (6). there was a clear call for greater visibility of role models for bame students, with such experience in and knowledge of their discipline to ensure relevance to these students’ learning needs. this echoes wider national calls for greater diversity in academic staff, enabling students to see people like themselves within the institution and what their future could hold (mountford-zimdars et al., 2017). “bringing individuals from many different backgrounds who have completed their degree and are successful will encourage students in completing their degree and valuing their education.” it was highlighted that students tended to stick within their cultural groupings and that those students who lived at home and travelled in to study were most likely to feel isolated from their peers. greater interaction between societies, use of social spaces across campus and introducing more events that encourage cultural integration were seen as potential methods for bringing students together and fostering a greater understanding between student groups. “my idea is to not sit personal tutees/workshop groups based on surname as this restricts mixing with other ethnicities and backgrounds which hinders broadening horizons.” in support of this, improved communication about opportunities and events on campus was requested. it was noted that email was not always the most effective form of communication and that other approaches should be considered, but solutions were not specified. whilst communication with programme teams was felt to be effective, cultural events were not always well publicised across the university, with often long invitation emails that some international students found difficult to decipher. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 tutors’ knowing the names of their students was seen as a simple way to make students feel recognised. whilst students acknowledged that some staff made a clear effort to be available to their students through personal tutoring, it was also recommended that staff receive training to support them in understanding how they can support bame students more effectively. hefce’s (stevenson, 2012) student retention and success programme found that both a sense of belonging and acknowledgment was crucial to both retention of and success for students. this is also an important thread of the community theme within the data and will be discussed below. finally, it was felt that greater transparency in relation to the handling of race issues would improve bame students’ sense of security and would reassure them that, should an incident occur, it would be handled appropriately. in many ways, this is another facet of students’ sense of belonging, feeling protected and having confidence that their wellbeing is prioritised by their institution. teaching and learning student and staff discussions within this category focused primarily on: examples used in lectures (18), learning resources (9), student experience of learning (23) and lecturers’ delivery methods and assessment styles (22). of the highest priority to participants was the importance of bame-inclusive examples and resources. students requested more culturallydiverse, globalised curricula to increase the relevance to bame students of content and to enhance their sense of belonging. this included more representative learning resources, to include a variety of voices and perspectives. the need to portray bame individuals positively was also emphasised, with specific mention of the ways in which bame communities are often negatively portrayed across curricula. similar calls from the across the sector have highlighted the impact of perpetuating stereotypes through examples and case studies (nus, 2011). “i would like it if the curriculum included more inclusive, more positive stories/case studies/reinforcement for bame students.” learning materials were seen as easily accessible. however, delivery of the curriculum was identified as an area for improvement, with attendees requesting more engaging and inspiring delivery of curriculum content. there are connections here to a more relatable curriculum, as greater relevance will improve engagement for bame students. at the institution-wide events, suggestions were made for assessment methods that allowed students to reflect on their cultural background and experience. at programme-level, students noted that assessments allowed them to incorporate their own skills and backgrounds and that feedback was effective in helping them to improve. this disparity could be because of the high representation of business and law students at the institutionwide events, whilst the programme-level events took place in health and life sciences and technology. the subjects taught within business and law traditionally have much larger cohorts of students, making it more challenging for staff to know each of their students on a personal level. articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 community the notion of community included discussion of: co-creation (6), student societies (4), cultural inclusivity (12), campus development (9) and belonging (33). the concept of belonging was highlighted thirty-three times during the programme-level co-creation sessions, making it the most prominent individual code within those data. interestingly, it was not explicitly raised at the institution-wide events; however, it has also been illustrated above that this concept is woven throughout all four of the themes emerging from the data. within a critical race-grounded methodology, belonging is identified as the core code with the data. this will strongly influence the focus of continuing research upon digging deeper into the meaning of belonging with this institution. “personal experience is the environment is positive, welcoming and inclusive.” attendees noted that they felt comfortable and safe at dmu, included in their courses and socially at ease with their course mates. recent campus developments were also seen as a positive change, resulting in an increasingly welcoming environment. the many opportunities to engage with university life, such as volunteering and societies, had helped students to feel a part of the wider dmu community as well as within their courses. where these feelings were not reflected, culturally-inclusive events were suggested as a method of improving all bame students’ sense of belonging across campus. events that could bring students together to celebrate different cultural holidays and practices were seen as a positive way to increase student integration. requests were also made for students’ cultural practices to be considered in wider university planning – for example, contemplating the interaction between prayer times and lesson times. these simple actions could help to fulfil the university’s responsibility for supporting student integration (stevenson, 2012). it was felt that further co-creation work could aid the university in addressing the attainment gap. this could include collaboration on displays in the library, providing input on their course (such as suggested readings), designing academic trips and explicitly working with staff on inclusivity. the events that have taken place to date and those planned for 2018/19 are the beginning of a journey at dmu to embed co-creation into the heart of the university. student societies were viewed as a potentially valuable resource for engaging with bame students and it was felt during the co-creation pilot events that these were under-used. development discussions concerning development were focused on four key areas: access to support and development opportunities (20), development of academic skills (9), personal development (14) and support specifically for international students (6). greater study support for bame students was identified as needed, specifically with more one-to-one support for students regarding aspiration and wider personal development. research has found that bame students are less likely to come forward when in need of additional support and this is something which must be considered when advertising support opportunities (miller 2016). “we should try and create opportunities for ongoing professional development as a field in its own right as opposed to a tag on at the end of the degree.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 students found support sessions run through the library very helpful, though some expressed concerns about gaining access to workshops and one-to-one sessions. it was also felt that tutors could support students by being aware of what help was available and signposting students to this. this would, of course, be predicated upon an effective relationship between students and tutors, for staff to know how best to direct their students to academic advice and guidance. “dmu global has helped to reach my full potential, also being involved in volunteering macmillan, square mile boosted experience and employability.” alongside academic development, the value of extra-curricular experiences was also noted. dmu global, the university’s international experience programme, and dmu local, the university’s community engagement programme, were seen as valuable opportunities to broaden student horizons and encourage personal development. “offer cultural difference curriculum for international students.” it was felt that bame students would benefit from support in raising academic confidence and ambition. related to this was the specific request for increased support for international students. statements suggested that international students experienced a significant culture shock when arriving at the university, not only in terms of their interactions on campus but also in relation to the organisation of their study. employability students and staff highlighted three main topics under the theme of employability: practical experience (12), specialised careers advice (11) and placements (7). it is important to note that, as the majority of students participating in the programme-level sessions were in their final year of undergraduate study, this may have skewed the focus of discussions. however, during the institutional co-creation sessions, nearly half of all development statements – forty-seven per cent – referred directly to employability and placements, suggesting that this is an important area of work across campus. “placements and experience to help enhance our careers in the future.” it was explicitly noted that, whilst bame students were aware of employability support across the university, they did not feel that they were able to access it as easily as their white peers. reasons for this were not given. the value of placements was also recognised, though bame students also felt they had reduced access to these opportunities. there may be links here to the relationships category and issues concerning communication with students. particularly, it may be useful to consider how bame students interact most frequently with information at university, to ensure that those channels are effectively utilised. “being clear on where the degree can lead to, it isn't clear where i can fit in with this degree, the personal and academic development has been good but where to go after is still a blur.” articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 students identified a need for more opportunities to gain practical experience and develop the practical skills they would need to succeed in their careers. it was also highlighted that, though the programme had a very broad range of applicability, students were not clear about what they could do with their degree after graduation. this was in relation to both career choices and further study. students believed that greater involvement of alumni could help to alleviate this concern. by inviting past students back to the university to share their post-graduation journey, current students would be given a clearer idea of what they might do with their qualification. placements were also mentioned throughout the session and suggestions were made regarding the use of enhancements weeks to allow short-term work placement. exclusion “i feel most comfortable at home in my flat. i used to feel comfortable in my safe spaces like prayer rooms but due to higher surveillance i am prevented. and i know students don't feel comfortable talking about such issues.” whilst only three per cent of statements related to students’ feeling excluded at university, these experiences are crucial to highlight so that the reasons behind them can be explored. particularly in the light of the prevalence of belonging as a key concept within the data, understanding student experiences where the opposite outcome has occurred is vital. here, the project potentially reflects the literature on dismantling and decolonising race in the academy, where it enables the socio-cultural power of whiteness and established privilege to be further challenged (arday and mirza, 2018). attendees noted a feeling of not belonging at university, owing to the inherent white culture present in many uk he institutions. there was also a feeling that much of the representation of bame communities within their curricula was negative, as noted within the teaching and learning category, perpetuating this feeling that they do not belong. lessons for future practice to inform future co-creation sessions, feedback was gathered at both the institutional and programme-level events. feedback was predominantly positive and constructive, helping the fta team to consider how the sessions can continue to be improved. overall, participants were pleased and reassured to see that dmu is working openly on the attainment gap and that student voice is a valued aspect of this work. students felt that their opinions were heard and that dmu was attempting to affect real change through the fta project. working in small groups with their peers, in an environment where they were encouraged to speak openly, was seen as a strength of the co-creation approach. question prompts for each of the four themes were also seen as a helpful and stimulating resource. “everyone got to speak freely, led by people who want to listen and make a difference.” staff found the insights from students very interesting and considered the overall experience of working in this way with their students positive. they were grateful to see that students were honest and open about their experiences of studying on their programme and considered that a number of manageable changes that had been identified could improve student experience. they felt that the willingness of students to talk freely was a particular articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 strength of the session, but that staff positionality within that space could have been discussed further. staff also felt that greater representation of the diversity of their students would improve the session. staff were also keen to continue to engage with co-creation activities and felt that the experience had strengthened their desire to work towards making positives changes at dmu. students stated that they would be happy to engage with co-creation activities again in the future. they noted that the session had changed their understanding of dmu’s position on the attainment gap and were now more aware of the work that dmu is undertaking and the importance that the attainment gap has at dmu. this is an important marker, in terms of who has a voice in defining the curriculum and access to it. the events provided an opportunity to learn valuable lessons about the situations that encouraged participation. in particular, they highlighted issues concerning the effectiveness of the institution’s communication with students, as many had never heard of the project or associated events before. students felt that greater awareness of the events would have improved student attendance and therefore increased the representation of student voice at the events. as part of the wider fta project plan, a group of student curriculum advisers (scas) will be joining the team in the 2018/19 academic year. their primary role will be to engage with students across the project, and more widely across the university, to share their thoughts and insights into the needs of bame students and consider how these views can be relayed to lecturers and wider university staff to support changes in practice. in addition to this, the fta team will utilise the experiences and knowledge of the scas to consider a more effective communication strategy. based on the findings, feedback and reflections of the fta team on the sessions held, recommendations were generated for the main phase of programme-level co-creation events, in relation to their design, organisation and promotion. these recommendations focused upon four key tenets: 1. staff development – staff development around co-creation would be beneficial for staff to engage confidently and productively in the co-creation process. this links to wider work across the institution which aims to “facilitate the dynamic co-creation of learning opportunities and development of academic disciplines” (dmu, 2018). in this way, fta will model best practice for the wider institution. 2. project visibility – in order to promote the project and give students a better idea of what the sessions will involve, focs should be invited to attend the beginning of a lecture for each programme, to introduce in person the project and co-creation events. the appointment of student curriculum advisors will also create opportunities to work with students to devise more effective methods of communication with the student body. 3. project transparency the introductory segment of the co-creation events must be upfront, honest and transparent to encourage students and staff to share their experiences and ideas in a similarly open way. it should also outline how the data collected during the session will be used in support of fta to ensure that students and staff understand the value of their participation. 4. project flexibility – following the pilot events, the content of the co-creation schedule has been reviewed to focus on the key themes identified in the institutional and pilot articles compass: journal of learning and teaching, vol 12, no 1, 2019 sessions. it is important to consider, however, how specific themes used within each of the co-creation sessions may need to be locally negotiated with programme teams to ensure relevance and full potential benefit. crucially, these recommendations stitch into the underpinning 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