25-31 January 2010

As teaching begins for the new year, we consider imaginative ways in which we can invigorate teaching and learning.  Rebecca Foster was one of the participants in January's 'In at the Deep End: starting to teach at Leeds Met', the three-day induction for teaching staff new to Leeds Met.  She reflects below on new methods she tried out in her teaching, inspired by one of the lecturers on the course.  As Gordon Joughin commented in his reflection in 2008, the three-day course is "not just an introduction to learning, teaching, and assessment, but a true valuing of teaching and the beginnings of supportive networking across disciplines."

Jackie Rabie, a Graduate Trainee in our Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), the Institute for Enterprise, presents the students'-eye view, describing a session of creative learning-by-doing by students at Leeds Met working with visiting students from the US.

We have recently published a new and revised edition of the booklet designed to accompany the course, In at the Deep End by Phil Race, a resource available to all staff: email publications@leedsmet.ac.uk for a copy.  The booklet is also proving popular at other universities in the UK and overseas, who have customised it for their own use with local examples and case studies.

Reflections

Cath Sanderson presented an inspirational lecture on how to engage learners throughout teaching.  Keen to put practice into action, I considered the methods shared and how I could integrate the suggestions into my pedagogy.  My first opportunity arose when I added a three-minute 'discussion' after delivering a particularly factual session.  I wanted to allow the students time to reflect on my points to ensure that they had understood the concept.  Therefore I tasked them with consolidating what I had said, to agree with each other and decide if they required further clarity.  The exercise was successful: students were busied with self-expression and built upon my key points, and valuable feedback was shared.  I had not anticipated that this would happen.  The students were motivated, engaged and responded extremely well to this method.

The second strategy I used was to insert the word 'might' into my questions.  I decided to use this to create a non-threatening environment and to remember that this situation might not actually occur.  For example I asked: "What might happen if a school rejects the Sport Education model?", rather than "What will happen.?"  These methods have enhanced my appreciation of simple changes that can support my teaching.

Rebecca Foster
Teacher Fellow
Carnegie Faculty of Sport & Education

Problem-based learning, a strategy to develop critical thinking towards the satisfactory resolution of a problem, was facilitated by the Institute for Enterprise during a recent visit from students from Samford University, Alabama.  We had a simulated problem.  We "didn't know" why Leeds Met was an Enterprising University, and therefore students had to assume responsibility to find a solution to this problem.  The Samford students were grouped with current Leeds Met students and had to work collaboratively, with particular emphasis placed on immersing the Samford students in Leeds Met life.  Students had to demonstrate how their experiential learning related to the problem scenario and come up with a presentation, delivered on the final afternoon of their two-day visit.

It was evident from the final presentations, and the enthusiastic, friendly atmosphere, that both the Samford students and the Leeds Met students had gained a lot from working together using this innovative, active and self-directed approach.  Together the students came up with entertaining, imaginative ways to present their findings, including role-play situations, photographs and short films re-enacting the popular TV show The Office.  This method encouraged the use of initiative, creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking, all of which are enterprising values in themselves.

Jackie Rabie
Graduate Trainee
Institute for Enterprise

Update

Congratulations to David Moore, Cath Sanderson and Julia Tum, who have been selected as Leeds Met's 2010 nominees to the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme.  It is a considerable achievement to be nominated for this prestigious national award, which recognises staff in higher education for their excellence in teaching and the support of learning.  Our candidates, all Leeds Met Teacher Fellows, will now go forward to the national competition; the winners will be announced in June.

Leeds Met is proud of its track record in achieving National Teaching Fellowships (NTFs).  Our current National Teaching Fellows are Nick Beech, Sally Brown, Ruth Pickford, Phil Race, Bob Rotheram, Jill Taylor and Paul Elmer (who joined Leeds Met from the University of Central Lancashire, having been awarded his Fellowship there). 

NTFs are eligible to apply for substantial project funding, and Leeds Met is one of only a handful of higher education institutions who have successfully bid for two NTFS projects: Ruth Pickford's First Level Assessment and Feedback project and Sally Brown's Assimilate project on assessment at Master's level.  Our NTFS project bid this year has reached the second stage, demonstrating once again our outstanding record in supporting teaching and learning.  Leeds Met also hosted the 2009 symposium of the Association of National Teaching Fellows and published a special edition of our ALT Journal showcasing a range of national NTF projects.

If you missed the Employability Office's Learning Lunch on e-portfolios on 14 January, you can view a video of Ben Cotton's presentation about the potential of e-portfolios, both as an assessment method and as a method for recording achievement and increasing students' attractiveness to prospective employers, on his blog at http://socialwebthing.com/.

The Employability Office also took the opportunity to launch a new reusable learning object.  The learning object enables students to practise and reflect on an 'in tray exercise': a method of assessment often used in interviews. There are eight reusable learning objects hosted on the Employability website.  The exercises can be integrated into modules or used as stand-alone chunks of learning.

Sally Brown
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic)
S.Brown@leedsmet.ac.uk