Praxis Vol:1 No:2 2012

PraxisThe Journal of Practitioner

Based Research Vol 1 No 2

2012

Praxis

The Journal of Practitioner Based Research Vol 1 N

o 2

5

Praxis

The Journal of Practitioner Based Research Vol 1 No 2

Editor

Graeme BlenchAssistant Principal, (Higher Education) and Director of Teaching and Learning, Sunderland College

Editorial advisory board and reviewers

Dr. Andy ConverySenior lecturer, University of Sunderland

Dr. Massoud HajsadrLecturer, Sunderland College

Richard HodgsonHigher Education Quality and Enhancement Co-ordinator - Lecturer in Leadership and Management, Sunderland College

Stuart LaverickPrincipal, Worcester College of Technology

Tom OliphantLecturer, Sunderland College

Dr. Penny RumboldSenior Research Assistant, Northumbria University

Alistair ThompsonDean of Business School, Teesside University

Dr. Caroline Walker-GleavesSenior Lecturer, Durham University

Rob WhittonHigher Education Manager, Sunderland College

Praxis

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Praxis


Articles

Foreword for the journal ‘Praxis’ 6

Dr. Andy Convery

Information Skills for Foundation Degree Leadership and Management Entrants: an Impact Assessment Project for HE in FE 7

Scott Marsden / Richard Hodgson

An investigation into Safe Printmaking Methods, employing water-soluble and ‘safe-wash’ inks 25

Ian Holmes

Using Active Assessment in a Foundation Degree Programme 38

Graham Mytton / Graham Hill

Questioning the Answers – Reflections on a college led CPD activity 51

Nicola Scott

An investigation into how UK Undergraduate Students Access Information on Higher Education Institutions: the Customer Base for a New University Business School 67

Graeme Price

Praxis

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Foreword for the journal ‘Praxis’

Dr. Andy Convery, Senior Lecturer Faculty of Education & Society, University of Sunderland

I am very pleased to be introducing this second edition of ‘Praxis’. Researching one’s practice lies at the heart of professional development and enables us to advance our knowledge and understanding of current educational issues and ideas. Gaining practical wisdom from our practice, is the challenge for all practitioners. It is a constant process of using immediate, specific pieces of learning and teaching, and creating more meaningful practice through reflection and communicating with interested colleagues. This generating of knowledge and testing its usability by sharing it with our peers is central to the production of validated and usable teacher theory. This second edition of ‘Praxis’ is performing an invaluable task in enabling the research-active teaching community to offer all practitioners a credible, evidence-based approach to understanding the learner and the learning environment, and to help both readers and writers to reflect upon their continuously improving professional practice.

Dr. Andy Convery

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Information Skills for Foundation Degree Leadership and Management Entrants: an Impact Assessment Project for HE in FE

Scott Marsden, Learning Centre Co-ordinator, Sunderland College / Richard Hodgson, Higher Education Quality and Enhancement Co-ordinator - Lecturer in Leadership and Management, Sunderland College

A programme of information skills sessions was delivered to a group of first year Foundation degree Leadership and Management students by Business Lecturers and Learning Centre staff at the start of their first semester in 2011. Foundation degrees are two year taught HE programmes which were created in September 2001 and are offered in both universities and colleges (British Qualifications: a complete guide to professional, vocational & academic qualifications in the United Kingdom, 2006). They usually involve a period of work placement, have a vocational focus and contain some involvement from employers in their construction (Davies, 2007, p.205).

Students who study for Foundation degrees are proportionately more mature learners than those on traditional undergraduate programmes and are often new to Higher Education. Very few of this cohort have prior qualifications at degree level and they are more likely to be far less international in character (England. HEFCE, 2010, p.23-34).

This fits the profile of the Foundation degree student often as a professional, career-focused learner, juggling work and study and returning to HE for the first time after a break in their education. Although such learners are often highly motivated, they may have concerns about studying on a Higher Education course.

The aim of this project was to have an input in the area of information and research skills from both subject lecturers and information specialists into the Foundation degree process. This is important because, as Webb and Powis point out, ‘contextualising information and academic skills input’ and ensuring its relevance to the students’ main academic discipline is a way of making it meaningful to students (Webb and Powis, 2004, p.6). In addition to participating in the sessions, students gave feedback to help the designers of the programme delivery to assess its impact.


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Methods for Monitoring Effectiveness

A diagnostic questionnaire, designed to ascertain learners’ feelings concerning their confidence levels and capabilities, was given to students at the beginning of the programme. This initial survey was very brief, involving only five short questions. It was important that students were not disenchanted before the teaching programme had even begun as the result of an initial tangle of bureaucracy. As Denscombe has pointed out:

‘There is, perhaps, no more effective deterrent to answering a questionnaire than its sheer size.’

(Denscombe, 2007, p.161)

This baseline survey was re-visited at the end of the series of lessons to try to assess the impact of information skills training. Students were given back their initial questionnaire and a further copy was issued to them so that they could consider their development in terms of the major themes of the information skills programme. On this later occasion, a more specific survey was also administered to assess the impact of the learning – but again, this was not onerous in length.

After the information skills programme, a focus group was set up with the students to gather more feedback on how they felt about their academic competencies. It was videoed, ensuring a more complete record of the proceedings was made than would otherwise have been possible. Students were asked to comment upon how they had found the programme, and how and whether they perceived that their abilities and understanding in terms of information literacy had improved.

To ‘drill deeper’ into the effect of information skills delivery on students’ performance and go beyond learners’ perceptions, mark scores relating to two students’ assignments, one before and one after the programme, were considered. The assignments were assessed, subject to set criteria, by the same Business Studies Lecturer and the marks sheets were analysed to compare grades before and after the research training.

Indeed, there was a consistency of information skills delivery staff throughout most of the information skills programme. Except for the last session, on the plagiarism detection software, Turnitin, the classes were delivered by the same information skills specialist in the same room. Also, during the programme the main Business Studies Lecturer for the students’ course was present. Not only was this the lecturer who marked the students’ assignments – before and after the information skills programme, but this teacher was on hand to observe the information skills classes.


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As the aim of the study was to measure impact on students’ information literacy, this subject teacher, as an experienced lesson observer, could advise the information specialist from the standpoint of an expert in the students’ main subject area. This lecturer could also watch the reactions of the students to the programme. This aspect of observation gave another element of triangulation to our research subject. Moreover, as Blaxter, Hughes and Tight point out, observation can give an insight into a situation that cannot be revealed purely by asking questions (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 2006, p.178).

There were five criteria used by the Business Studies Lecturer when marking the assignments:

• Knowledge and understanding;

• Application of the concepts;

• Wider reading and sources;

• Harvard referencing, and finally,

• Presentation, spelling and grammar.

These helped the lecturer to allocate an overall mark to students.

It was felt, for this study, that evidence could be gathered to indicate the existence of an impact of the information skills programme on students’ overall marks. It was also felt that, because evidence for Harvard referencing was easily identifiable in both assignments – with bibliographies and in text citation which could be easily compared – and this subject was addressed directly in a specific workshop, the impact of the information skills programme on Harvard Referencing performance could be measured separately.

Conversely, however, because the other individual assessment criteria dealt with aspects of the assignment not directly related to the information skills sessions, it was felt that it would be unjustified to assume any impact on these criteria by the information skills programme.

Nevertheless, with a bigger study involving the mapping of information skills sessions to specific assessment criteria, it would be possible to ascertain the overall impact of the information skills programme more thoroughly.

Although researchers of information and library science have traditionally focused on understanding human interaction with information and social developments, Markless and Streatfield underline the increasing importance of the need to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of information services (2006, p.23).


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While they point out that there is a resistance from the information community to ‘addressing educational-outcomes impact issues (such as ‘before and after’ measurement of skills acquisition)’ in reaction to the advent of a ‘new managerialism’, they stress that in the fields of education and health and social care such research occurs and that it can be done (Markless and Streatfield, 2006, p23-24). This is exactly the sort of investigation which the current project attempts to undertake.

The other data collected, i.e. via the questionnaires and focus groups, related to finding out students’ reactions to all the sessions taught in the information skills programme. For the results of these investigations see the tables below.

Limitations of the Methods and Possible extensions to the Research ProjectFrom the outset, it is necessary to stress that this investigation was a small-scale undertaking. It is acknowledged that the cohort of Foundation degree entrants who passed through the information skills programme in this instance was a small sample – just 13 individuals overall. Moreover, this study would be enhanced and the data given greater validity through the setting up of control groups. What is immediately apparent is that, should this project be extended, the scores of the students who participated in this research should be compared with the marks of a different group of Foundation degree students at the same stage of their learning but who did not undergo the information skills programme. Any effects of the programme would, therefore, be able to be delineated in contrast to the results of those students for whom this additional training did not take place.

It is also worth indicating that with the use of a further control group, the variable of the information skills programme could be set in starker relief. The well documented concept of the Hawthorne Effect holds that data subjects who are fully aware of the research process are more likely to be very mindful of the intended effects of the phenomenon it is supposed to be measuring and may act differently under these circumstances (Kumar, 2005, p. 120). The very fact that the participants are being observed could change the behaviour of the data subjects (Koshy, 2010, p. 95) making the actual condition under investigation difficult to determine. Feeling that involvement in the experiment is likely to do them some good, it is even possible that participants who are aware of the project are likely to experience a placebo effect which would offset the real impact of the variable being tested.


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In our case, it is possible that the Foundation degree entrants, very aware that the information skills programme is being held up as something that will be of benefit to them, could gain in confidence as a result of actually being put forward as candidates for the research project. Kept well informed that the programme should do them some good, they may have a heightened sense of its effects and a keenness to improve in terms of their grasp of information and research skills which would be less uppermost in their consciousness should their participation in the research project have been less well publicised.

Hawthorne’s theory, applied to our circumstances, could even be that the students engaged in the study, by their very status as research participants, would become self-fulfilling prophesies. Being alert to the research methodology unfolding around them, it is suggested that the research process itself would act as a catalyst on their learning and augment the effects of the information skills programme it was intended to investigate.

To ameliorate this possible problem, it is suggested that, in addition to comparing the results of the Foundation degree students to those of students who did not undergo the information skills programme, the assessment scores of the original group should also be compared with another group. This third group would, again, be of an identical entry level but would stand in a different category in terms of its relation to the research project than the other groups. Like the initial data subjects, these students would receive the benefits of the information skills programme. However, unlike the students in this study they would not be fully engaged in the research process. They would not be participants in surveys or focus groups. Although their permission would be sought for their results to be compared to those of another group, their involvement in the full events management arrangements of the experiment would be absent. These students would not, therefore, be so aware that their engagement in the information skills programme was being examined in detail and would be far less likely to experience a ‘halo outcome’ in terms of their improvement in ability.

In a larger research project, all of the thoughts and feelings of the students in the initial study would be retained from their participation in focus groups and questionnaires. In addition, however, in a wider research project, through comparing the progress of the first group with these additional control groups, any enhancements purely as a result of the information skills programme, minus those of any Hawthorne Effect, could be identified.


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Support Materials

The information skills classes were supported by two guides - Harvard Referencing: Student Style Guide and Researching and Writing your Assignment: Student Scholarship Guide. Both written and published by the Sunderland College in 2010. The second guide (Directorate of Learning Resources, 2010b) underpinned much of the work of the information skills programme and was designed as a support resource to help students in their acquisition of study skills. It was envisaged as a sort of ‘guide at your side’, an essay writing coaching session in booklet format. Both of these materials were issued to students at the start of the programme and were highlighted as reference tools to be used to help students write their assignments for their Foundation degree.

It has already been pointed out that these Foundation degree entrants were mature learners. As Reece and Walker remind us, an important characteristic of adult learning is that the students already have a well of prior knowledge upon which to draw, gained from previous study and wider life experience (2007, p. 90 – 91). It, therefore, clearly cannot be assumed that these learning materials were the only sources of additional aid upon which they could draw and it is not safe to pin-point the exclusivity of their contribution. Nevertheless, the research project did aim to ascertain existing levels of confidence and an assessment of ability via the diagnostic baseline survey administered before the information skills training began.

The Programme

All of the sessions within the suite of information skills workshops involved practical in-class assessment activities. Not only can this kind of formative assessment provide feedback to those delivering the teaching programme, but Black et al. argue that it helps to adapt teaching to learners’ needs (2003, p.2) and the objective of our study was to have an impact on students’ learning. More recently, Walsh and Inala have stressed the importance of ‘active learning in library teaching’ to allow learners to have a go and try out tasks for themselves and they point out that this approach can more fully engage learners with a subject many may feel is of little relevance to their main programme of study (Walsh and Inala, 2010, p.10). Moreover, many thinkers would agree that learning by doing is considered to be more motivational for adults (Petty, 2009, p.57; Gravells and Simpson, 2008, p.65; Webb and Powis, 2004, p.21). Wilson would argue that Foundation degree students, as mainly adults, would have clear goals for their learning and would require less of a ‘chalk and talk style’ of delivery and increased facilitation to aid their more ‘autonomous learner-centred style’ (Wilson, 2009, p.421-422).


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The programme comprised of the following six information and research skills sessions:

A Harvard referencing practical workshop was based on learning materials published as the Harvard Referencing: Student Style Guide by Sunderland College (Directorate of Learning Resources, 2010a). The guide (Marsden and Butler, 2011, p.41) is considered to be a collection of ‘recipes’ with a single page dealing with each information source and containing what the learner requires to cite that source. The format of each recipe is the same and aims to be a prescriptive set of guidelines to steer the student towards a consistent approach.

The session explained how and when students should acknowledge evidence in their assignments. It was very prescriptive in nature but gave hands-on practice, as individuals were required to reference a number of different artefacts from the library stock in the Learning Centre while staff checked their attempts.

Plagiarism Awareness underlined the dangers of ‘cutting and pasting’ from the Internet in our electronic world. Billed with the subtitle ‘Good Academic Writing’ it aimed to grapple with the slippery issue of inappropriate paraphrasing and the taxing notion of a sufficient enough re-write of the work of another person. These concepts McMillan and Weyers highlight as the real pitfall of inadvertent plagiarism (2010, p.186) – which students often find so difficult to conceptualise.

The session began with a very interactive discussion in which the students could debate their own ideas and presuppositions on the subject as well as cross-examining an information specialist. It revolved around students experiencing some contact, first hand, with excerpts of plagiarised work as well as a back-stage view of how lecturers could spot plagiarism. The aim here was that if students were made aware of the ‘tricks of plagiarism’ they would know how to become better writers. In essence, the approach was to treat the students as responsible learners who could make their own decisions about their work after examining the evidence.

Electronic Database Searching involved a demonstration of the College’s main journals and e-book collections. It focussed on the private nature of the best quality of information on the Internet and the appropriateness of its different aspects in academic work. Electronic publishing was discussed as was the suitability of particular information sources, such as abstracts, in specific contexts.


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Synthesis involved the idea of planning and using paragraphs to form a definite structure as the basis for a clear argument. The group tried to organise information on a familiar topic in European culture, presented in a mind map form, into a suitable set of linear notes – an essay plan which would form the hypothetical basis of their writing on the subject. ‘Good journalism’ was used as a key term for writing for impact and the group discussed the importance of juxtapositions in forming discursive prose.

Approaching an Assignment sought to introduce students to the crucial idea of focussing in on the assignment brief to answer the question. It revolved around exercises to test students’ understanding of the significance of key words within the assignment question’s title in order to focus students’ attention on them - which is so important in producing a good answer to the question being asked (Smith, 2002, p.44). This session also helped to train the students in how to identify the ‘spin’ of an assignment paragraph – whether it be an example of ‘synthesis and contextualisation’, ‘argument and analysis’ or ‘evidence and evaluation’.

The final Turnitin session aimed to be a very practical insight into the workings of this text-matching anti-plagiarism software. The programme is excellent at identifying in colour exactly where information in an assignment may have originated in a previous work. Students were shown where aspects of their assignments were too close to the sources they had used to form their own writing. The focus was to help students where referencing was omitted, highlight the dangers of ‘cut and paste’ and provide a very visual backstage look at where paraphrasing may have fallen down.


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Students’ PerceptionsStudents certainly felt that the series of information skills sessions had helped them. Learners said that they had gained in confident when comparing the questionnaire results relating to how they rated their abilities before and after the programme. The levels of confidence are illustrated in the charts below.

Confidence in January 2011

Confidence

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Researching confidence Academic reading

confidence Academic writing confidence Plagiarism

confidence Harvard referencing confidence

Unsure

Okay

Confident

Expert

Confidence in May 2011

Confidence

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8




Unsure

Okay

Confident

Expert


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Students’ confidence rose greatly in terms of their consideration of Harvard referencing and awareness of plagiarism when comparing the results of the surveys before and after the information skills programme. In all of the categories above students generally felt much more sure of themselves. Only in two instances was a response of ‘unsure’ retained by a student in the survey.

To complement these results, learners perceived that their abilities in terms of researching, academic reading, academic writing, plagiarism awareness and Harvard referencing increased substantially.

Perceived Capability in January 2011

Capability

0 2 4 6 8

10 12




Beginner

Okay

Good

Expert


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Perceived Capability in May 2011

Capability

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8




Beginner

Okay

Good

Expert

Generally, students clearly felt that they were more proficient in these areas and better prepared to tackle academic work in terms of the elements stated. Only two instances of perceiving oneself as a beginner were retained in the survey when it was revisited at the end of the programme, even though this score was the major response for every category in the January questionnaire.

In the more detailed questionnaire, which asked if students were more or less confident in terms of specific elements of research skills and information literacy, of the 97 responses recorded 78 per cent indicated that the student was ‘more confident’ or ‘much more confident’. There was no response to any question which indicated that a student felt less confident about any of the questions in this survey after the programme. The full breakdown of the aspects covered are below.


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End of year summary 2011

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Knowing when touse Harvardreferencing

Knowing how toconstruct a Harvard

citation in yourbibliography

Knowing thedifference betweenyour own writing

and acknowledgeingthe writing of others

Being able toparaphrase the work

of others in anassignment

Knowing whichinformation sources

are moreauthoritative andreliable for use inacademic work

Knowing how to usee-books and e-

journals and whereto find them

Constructing anargument in a pieceof academic writing

Planning a piece ofwork before you

begin writing

Answering yourassignment question

Using the textchecking tool

Turnitin

Obtaining furtherhelp

Less confident Just the same More confident Much more confident

In terms of knowing when to acknowledge the work of others, understanding how to construct a Harvard reference and knowing which information sources are more authoritative and reliable to use in academic work, students all felt ‘more confident’ or ‘much more confident’ after the programme. Overwhelmingly, they felt more confident about constructing an argument, knowing how to use e-books and e-journals and how to access them. As a group, students also significantly felt that they had more knowledge of that tricky concept of paraphrasing the work of another author.

These perceptions were corroborated by the field observations of the Business Lecturer. It was noted that students looked uneasy and out of their comfort zones in the initial two sessions with the Harvard referencing format, a very new concept for them, causing some early concern. After the Plagiarism Awareness session, however, students appeared far more comfortable with the programme being delivered.

Assessment ScoresIt is one thing to feel more confident about a subject, however, it is quite another to actually be more proficient and skilled at putting it into practice. Assessment scores were collated for students’ performances in two assignments, when Assignment 1 proceeded the start of the information skills programme and Assignment 2 was set after the end of the last scheduled session. The results of grades for the overall assessment and for the Harvard referencing component are summarised in the table below:


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Results for Two Assignments for the Same Group of Students

Student

Assessment Component "Harvard Referencing" - Assignment 1

Assignment 1 overall mark

Assessment Component "Harvard Referencing" - Assignment 2

Assignment 2 overall mark

A 50% - 59% 55% 80% - 100% 64%

B 50% - 59% 63% 80% - 100% 70%

C 50% - 59% 68% 80% - 100% 74%

D 50% - 59% 62% 80% - 100% 68%

E 50% - 59% 65% 80% - 100% 68%

F 40% - 49% 53% 50% - 59% 63%

G 50% - 59% 64% 80% - 100% 68%

H 50% - 59% 58% 80% - 100% 67%

I 50% - 59% 55% 80% - 100% 65%

J 50% - 59% 62% 80% - 100% 68%

K 50% - 59% 63% 80% - 100% 68%

L 50% - 59% 65% 80% - 100% 72%

M 80% - 100% 70% 80% - 100% 76%

The above table shows the results of two assignments for the same group of students taking the same academic subject. Figures for the overall results and the Harvard referencing component of those overall scores for each assignment are presented. The first assignment was done before the Harvard referencing sessions were delivered to the group by Learning Centre staff. The second assignment was completed after these sessions were delivered. For the first assignment it can be seen that 11 students were in the 50% - 59% range, with one in the 40% - 49% and one in the 80% - 100% range. For the second assignment which took place after the completion of the information skills programme all students' overall marks improved, but, more significantly for our Harvard referencing investigation:

• all students improved in the Harvard referencing assessment criteria (except for the one where improvement was impossible).

• all but one students achieved the highest grade range for the Harvard referencing component.


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Case Studies

Looking in more detail at the data gathered for individual students and using data gained from all methods pertaining to individuals, case study profiles of students’ reactions to the programme can be generated. The information skills programme benefitted students to a notable degree. Student I (see table) said that they found the Harvard referencing session very rewarding. This is reflected in their assessment feedback which improved from a grade 2-2 (50% - 59%) to an outstanding score in the higher echelon of a first grade (80% - 100%). This student expressed some concern at the length of the teacher presentations during sessions and preferred the hands-on exercises. In the student’s experience the research sessions were too basic and not relevant, however, the grading of his assignments showed an improvement of 10 per cent from a 2-2 to a 2-1.

This same student said that they read the Researching and Writing your Assignment: Student Scholarship Guide in the first week but admitted to never returning to it again, unlike the Harvard guide, which Student I said they refer to frequently. Although Student I said that the earlier sessions were ‘brilliant’, they was less enthusiastic about the technical writing workshops later in the programme. Nevertheless, alongside the improvement in terms of Harvard referencing to their second assessment, the student’s other assessment grades also improved 10% from 55% to 65%.

Student A said that they enjoyed the Harvard referencing session. This student said that they felt that they had found the programme to be very beneficial. This certainly seems to have been borne out in their marks. For Harvard this student was assessed at a 2-2 grade, 50% - 59%, in the first assignment before the information skills programme. For Assignment 2 Student A’s grade rose to an outstanding 80% - 100% as their bibliographic citation dramatically improved. Student A made the point that they would have preferred a practical session on accessing e-books rather than a demonstration and hand-outs to take away and try. (Although the Harvard referencing session was, indeed, a very practical session, the Electronic Database Searching class should, in fact, have addressed more directly a ‘hands on’ activity based format.)

This student, however, made the point that they had returned to HE after a previous experience where they had been largely left to work independently on academic tasks.

During impact research we got the feeling that traditional teaching and learning methods and teacher presentations, where they occurred, were not as well received by these learners in general.


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Student A felt that, at this stage of their academic career in college, there was a great deal of help and support provided. This student was interested in focussing on the skills needed to tackle an assignment and, in one of the later surveys, commented that they would have been pleased if we had gone into more depth about ‘breaking down the assignment question’ and focussing in on considerations of what different assignment questions are actually seeking in terms of an answer. In contrast to what was said by Student I, the technical writing classes in the later programme had been clearly of benefit to them.

Between Assignments 1 and 2 this student showed clear progression across all assessment criteria. Student A’s overall mark rose from a 2-2 on the first assignment to a 2-1 grade for the second. This represented an overall improvement across all areas of assessment of 9 per cent. Student A, indeed, progressed from 55 per cent to 64 per cent and subsequently said that they felt more confident at research, academic writing and acknowledging evidence in an assignment.

Student M said that they had not looked at the Researching and Writing your Assignment: Student Scholarship Guide which was designed to be read carefully. They said that the quality of the Harvard referencing guide, Harvard Referencing: Student Style Guide – designed to be dipped into - was very good and they kept it on their computer desk while working. In one of the later surveys Student M described this later guide as an ‘invaluable resource to me’. This perhaps supports the notion of the profile of the Foundation degree student as a busy professional fitting study around a career. Nevertheless, this was still a strongly performing, academically able student from the outset.

Student F concurred with Student M that there was ‘a lot of information in the [Harvard] book which helped to guide me’. This student’s marks rose consistently 10 per cent across the criteria assessed.


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OverallThe programme of information skills sessions certainly seems to have benefitted this cohort of students. Although there may have been other contributory factors in addition to the information skills programme and the support materials provided, the overall marks for Assignment 2, completed after the information skills programme, were significantly higher for all students than for Assignment 1, marked before the start of the programme. This increase was often between 5 and 10 per cent. Students’ grades increased significantly when matched to Harvard referencing, the delivery of which was supported by the Harvard Referencing: Student Style Guide. Grades increased in every case – often as much as by 30 per cent for the referencing element. Students were observed to gain in confidence during the information skills programme and, across the board and particularly for Harvard referencing, felt more confident in terms of their information literacy after completing the series of sessions.

In many ways the programme was a good fit for students – although some would have liked an even more ‘hands on’, activity led set of information skills sessions. As we identified earlier, these were mature students returning to complete a Foundation degree mainly alongside their busy careers. Students liked being taught these technical skills and asked for more ‘active learning’ as part of the approach. The support, from both teaching staff and Learning Centre staff, was very welcome.

This study has proved to us that it is relatively easy to ‘drill down’ with a tailored programme of information and research skills workshops and measure some impact of teaching and learning for different elements of individual sessions. Comments about students’ feelings and progress can be readily obtained concerning particular aspects of the teaching as students have experienced their effect with uncomplicated feedback procedures and assessment frameworks in place. In addition, it does seem evident that the programme has had some beneficial results, although aspects of the delivery will need to be adapted for future learners. Formative assessment methods do seem to have been popularly received by this group of Foundation degree students. With learners’ interrogation of the assessment materials, the issues raised and the cross-examinations of teachers and their peers in discursive debate, the essential HE nature of the learning experience has been furthered.


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BibliographyBritish Qualifications: a complete guide to professional, vocational & academic qualifications in the United Kingdom. (2006) 36th edn. London: Kogan Page.

Black, P. et al. (2003) Assessment for learning: putting it all into practice. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2006) How to research. 3rd edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Davies, M., Cook, A. and Rushton, B. (2007) How to get your kids through university. Bedlinog: Accent Press.

Denscombe, M. (2007) The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. 3rd edn. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill.

Directorate of Learning Resources (2010a) Harvard referencing: student style guide. Sunderland: City of Sunderland College.

Directorate of Learning Resources (2010b) Researching and writing your assignment: student scholarship guide. Sunderland: City of Sunderland College.

England. HEFCE (2010) Foundation degrees: key statistics 2001-02 to 2009-10. April, 12 Issues paper [Online] Available at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2010/10_12/10_12.pdf (Accessed: 15 November 2011).

Gravells, A. and Simpson, S. (2008) Planning and enabling learning in the lifelong learning sector. Exeter: Learning Matters.

Kumar, R. (2005) Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners. 2nd edn London: Sage Publications.

Koshy, V. (2010) Action research for improving educational practice: a step-by-step guide. 2nd edn. London: Sage Publications.

McMillan, K. and Weyes, J. (2010) How to write dissertations and project reports. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Markless, S. and Streatfield, D. (2006) Evaluating the impact of your library. London: Facet Publishing.

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Petty, G. (2009) Teaching today: a practical guide. 4th edn. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.


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Reece, I. and Walker, S. (2007) Teaching, training and learning: a practical guide. 6th revised edn. Rainton Bridge Business Park: Business Education Publishers Limited.

Smith, P. (2002) How to write an assignment: proven techniques from a chief examiner that really get results. 5th edn. Oxford: How To Books.

Walsh, A. and Inala, P. (2010) Active learning techniques for librarians: practical examples. Oxford: Chandos Publishing.

Webb, J. and Powis, C. (2004) Teaching information skills: theory and practice. London: Facet Publishing.

Wilson, L. (2009) Practical teaching: a guide to PTLLS & DTLLS. Delmar: Cengage Learning.


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An investigation into Safe Printmaking Methods, employing water-soluble and ‘safe-wash’ inks

Ian Holmes, Fine Art Lecturer and Associate Programme Leader, Sunderland College

IntroductionThis paper attempts to document some personal ‘action research’ into the practical use of newly developed vegetable oil and water miscible printing inks for use in fine printmaking within Art & Design. This practical research aims to investigate their benefits and the specific qualities of these inks over the more commonly found water-based printing inks in the classroom and will explore their potential use in the print studio for students following a higher-level course in Fine Art or similar programmes within Higher Education.

Background Information

The author, Ian Holmes, studied Fine Art at Sheffield, specialising in Fine Printmaking in the early 1980’s. Major personal interests during this time concerned the qualities of printmaking available through various techniques, especially those made possible by controlling the viscosity of the ink, similar to the work of the master English printmaker, Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988). Hayter was born in England, but produced much of his work in New York, USA and later in Paris, where he was based in the famous ‘Atelier 17’ print studios (see www.atelier17.com for further information). This form of intaglio print, that is subsequently surface-rolled with a second (or third) colour, exploits the oily nature of the inks employed and is heavily dependent upon the intrinsic qualities of viscous oil-based inks.

Over the past decade or more there has been a distinct move towards higher standards of safe working practice within printmaking, especially within the education environment. Naturally it almost goes without saying that we must always endeavour to operate within existing Health and Safety guidelines and should always apply high standards of safe practice.


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These are clearly outlined in Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which states that “employers should conduct their undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their health and safety” (HSE, 1974)

This Health and Safety legislation, combined with the introduction of COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations in 1989, has resulted in a move away from traditional oil and spirit-based inks to safer water-based variants.

Conventional fine printing inks were manufactured using a petroleum-based binder to carry the raw pigment that would be thinned with mineral oils and cleaned with common solvents, such as turpentine substitute or white spirit. This resulted in the customary and renowned odour of the print room that many older students, like this researcher might be able to remember with a sense of nostalgia. The atmosphere within the print room could become laden with fumes throughout the course of the day, since much of the solvent would evaporate into the room itself and it was not uncommon to leave for home at the end of the day with a mild or dull headache.

Ventilation systems and extraction fans commonly installed in print rooms would attempt to combat the effects of the volatile organic compounds that these inks emitted as they dried, in an effort to improve air quality. A number of prominent writers have produced works warning of the dangers inherent in the print room from continued exposure to such fumes, notably Michael McCann (2001/2008); Spandorfer, Curtiss and Snyder (1995)

However, it was this very aspect of the inks’ drying properties that allowed the use of thin paper stock, since most of the pigment carrier would evaporate quickly from these rapid drying inks. The initial move to water-based inks certainly caused a dramatic improvement in air quality in the print room, but brought with it a new variety of challenges to the printmaker.

Ian Holmes

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A new solution – a new challenge

Manufacturers of art equipment supplies for use in schools, such as Berol (see http://www.berol.co.uk) produce a range of ‘safe-print’ inks that are ‘classroom friendly’. These are formulated in a similar fashion to domestic emulsion-based paints and can be cleaned with water, in much the same way that one can wash paint from household decorating brushes.

Since these water-based inks are largely vinyl-emulsion based they dried via absorption rather than evaporation and this caused the lighter paper stock to winkle or ‘cockle’ badly as the water soaked into the paper. The suggested solution from the manufacturers was often to choose a heavier paper or to even print on to thin card or board. The apparent financial savings made by switching to (slightly) cheaper water-based inks over the traditional oil-based variants would quickly disappear with the increased cost of the papers and card required to produce any acceptable results from these inks.

An additional factor that compounded this problem further was that, in this researcher’s experience at least, these water-based inks have less coverage than the traditional inks. To compensate for this it was often necessary to apply a much thicker layer of ink, especially in relief printing processes, to achieve a solid area of colour. Depositing a thicker layer of ink on the paper would obviously result in a greater quantity of liquid requiring absorption and consequently would aggravate the winkling of the eventual printed papers even more.

Moreover as students apply the thicker layer of ink, via a print roller they would often create problems with the finer details of a lino or woodcut filling in, so that fine detail could be lost or make it impossible to print effectively. Poorly printed outcomes could result in disappointment for the students concerned and a degree of disillusionment in the print process as a whole.

Two further problems can occur when using this kind of emulsion-based printing ink with students. Firstly, drying times from these inks were greatly extended and could result in print racks rapidly overflowing with student work, resulting in every available table surface and even the floor space becoming filled with wet prints. Secondly, although equipment and soiled hands, etc. can be easily washed whilst the ink is still wet, if it is left to dry (overnight, for instance) then it becomes water-proof, similar to vinyl emulsion paint that can be wiped down in the home. This can result in ruined rollers and other equipment that has been overlooked at the end of a day’s activity.


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Green printmaking

In an effort to bring traditional printmaking into the 21st century a number of so-called ‘green’ initiatives have taken place in contemporary print studios that still employ oil-based inks. The first of these is the use of vegetable oils and detergents to clean up with, instead of the traditional method of using solvents and turpentine substitute to remove ink from slabs and rollers at the end of a printing session. The vegetable oil extends the oily base of the printing ink to a point where it can be wiped away with rags or paper towels. Any greasy residue left from this method of cleaning can easily be removed with a rag and some diluted detergent.

It is this vegetable oil base that led ink producers and developers to come to a conclusion that they could replace petroleum-based oil binders with a less volatile and renewable vegetable product instead. Industrial printers in America led the way with soya bean oil in their ink formulation – brought about initially in response to the dramatic rise in the price of crude oil and the corresponding impact this had upon the cost of petroleum-based inks.

Within the UK, a small Welsh firm called Caligo has been producing a range of fine printmaking inks in recent years that are ‘Safe Wash’ oil-based products. These inks employ a natural flax seed oil that can be cleaned down with soap and water. Initially sceptical when first encountering their products, this researcher was soon delighted when he began to use them in the print studio.

Having an oil-base (albeit a vegetable one) they retain the consistency and natural quality of traditional oil-based ink. The finely ground pigments contained within this ink mean that it is possible to roll out a much thinner layer of ink than would be possible with the other conventional water-based inks explored, yet still retain the covering power of the chosen colour. It was also pleasing to note that these inks have a very good working time, which means that they won’t dry on the slab between prints and can be used throughout an extended session with students in the classroom.

In a series of trial prints it quickly became apparent that the Safe Wash relief printing ink could be rolled out evenly with ease and produced a thin but consistent layer of ink on the surface of a linocut that had been prepared for the trials. Just as with any inking process, this was best when the surface was ‘primed’, with the second and subsequent prints producing an even and dense print. The thin layer of ink did not clog the surface in the same way that the emulsion-based inks were prone to do and the resultant prints retained the fine detail of the cut in every aspect. It was clearly evident that these inks are far superior to their water-based emulsion counterparts. (See illustration 1).

Ian Holmes

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Their final test came as part of the cleaning up process and as promised by the manufacturer, they were easily removed from the rolling out slab and all equipment with a mild, diluted detergent solution and water. This seemed empirical proof of their value in the classroom or college printmaking environment and this researcher would encourage anyone interested in investigating this ink to do so, confident that they will not be disappointed with the results.

A further advantage of this product is its tendency not to ‘skin’ in the way that traditional oil-based relief printing ink tends to. Normally it is necessary at the commencement of a printing session to carefully scrape the hardened skin back from the ink to reach the usable oil-based ink beneath this surface. Many inexperienced students will plunge the palette knife through this solid crust and disperse flakes of hardened skin into the oil-based ink below. When this is rolled out it causes problems achieving an even, thin layer due to these minute flakes and creates imperfect prints as a consequence. The Safe Wash ink by contrast tends not to skin, since the natural flax-oils it contains do not evaporate in the same way as the petroleum-based oils found in traditional inks.

Not only are these inks superior for relief printing purposes, but they can also be extremely successful for mono-printing techniques. By experimenting with thin aluminium printing plates, a thin layer of the Safe Wash ink can be rolled out to form a base for the mono-print. This could be worked with an assortment of tools and ‘drawing’ equipment to manipulate the ink on the surface of the plate. The most effective being a simple ‘Q-Tip’, dipped into water to moisten the end in order to ‘dilute’ the ink and create a range of tonal values. Using this to rub back the surface ink reveals the plate underneath as part of the drawing process. (See illustration 2)

The completed mono-print plate was printed through an etching press, on to dampened cartridge paper. The ink was effectively lifted from the plate by the moist paper under pressure and produced a successful and satisfying result. (Illustration 3) The ink performed in many ways similar to its oil-based predecessor, yet can be cleaned up without the need to neither resort to the use of solvents, nor create the hazardous, fume-filled environment associated with traditional inks.

Digital scans of the prints produced as part of this experiment appear in the appendix. The original prints will be on display within the college, in the Art Department, if you would like to judge the quality of these inks for yourself.


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ConclusionsWithout doubt, in my opinion, these inks are a major step forward in safe practice in printmaking. They are significantly better quality than emulsion-based alternatives; yet retain the same safe-working practice of being able to be cleaned down at the end of a studio session with simple soap and water.

They do not create the old-fashioned print room ‘odour’ that was associated with traditional inks and solvents, but can achieve comparable results in terms of print quality. These results are relatively easy to achieve as the Safe Wash inks do not skin over and remain workable for a considerable amount of time.

These factors should make it much easier for students to achieve significantly better results from their own prints. As a consequence it would be hoped that they gain a greater sense of satisfaction and achievement, which in turn will endear them to the printmaking process, unlike the experience they frequently encounter with the other ‘safe’ alternative of emulsion-based inks.

Caligo have also recently developed an intaglio version of their Safe Wash inks that this researcher would also like to investigate, to see if it is comparable to other traditional etching inks. Judging by the quality of their relief printing ink, one can imagine that it will also be a successful substitute for traditional inks and will contribute further to the safe working environment of the educational print room within art departments across the country.

Thanks go to the staff at Sunderland University for their support during this project, especially Marcia Ley, Printmaking Lecturer, for her advice and encouragement.

Ian Holmes

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ReferencesHSE: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

McCann M., (2001) ‘Artists Beware’ 2nd Edition, Lyons Press

McCann M., (2008) ‘Health Hazards Manual for Artists’ Revised edition, Lyons Press

Spandorfer M., Curtiss D. and Snyder J., (1995) ‘Making Art Safely’ J Wiley & Sons

D’Arcy A., (2008) ‘Printmaking: Traditional and Contemporary Techniques’ Gardiners Books

Adam R. and Robertson C., (2008) ‘Intaglio: The Complete Safety-First System for Creative Printmaking’ Thames & Hudson

Coldwell P., (2010) ‘Printmaking: A Contemporary Perspective’ Black Dog Publishing

Online sources

Chaflin L., ‘The Green Print Studio’, http://www.nontoxicprint.com

Safe Wash Inks by Caligo, http://www.caligoinks.com


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Appendix: Illustrations

Illustration 1

‘The Life Room’ Linocut by Ian Holmes, 2011 (150 x 200mm) (Printed with Caligo black, Safe-Wash™ ink)

This print demonstrates the density of ink that can be achieved using Caligo relief printing inks, combined with their ability to maintain fine detail from a thin layer of surface rolled ink.

Ian Holmes

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Illustration 2

‘Life Room Drawing’ Mono-print by Ian Holmes, 2011 (245 x 310mm) (Print created using Caligo black, Safe-Wash™ ink)

This mono-print illustrates the range of tones possible from the Caligo inks when ‘wiped back’ with water to achieve subtle drawn effects.


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Illustration 3

‘Blue Life Room’ Mono-print by Ian Holmes, 2011 (252 x 292mm) (Print created using Caligo Ultramarine blue, Safe-Wash™ ink)

This second mono-print further illustrates the quality of the finely ground pigment utilised in these Caligo inks that permits a range of tonal qualities. These are achieved by ‘wiping back’ the surface with a rag or cotton bud moistened with water.

Ian Holmes

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Appendix 2: MSDS for Caligo Safe Wash Inks!

MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET According 91/155/EEC

Product Name : Caligo Safe Wash Oil

Revision Date : June 2008

!

"#$%!!!&'!"!!

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*#01$&!+2345 UK

!

00 44 (0)1633 861421

Caligo Safe Wash Oil

Modified Vegetable Oil


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!




!

"#$%!!!&'!"!!

Ian Holmes

39

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Using Active Assessment in a Foundation Degree Programme

Graham Mytton, Curriculum Leader in Sport, Sunderland College / Graham Hill, Visiting Lecturer, Sport, Sunderland College

AbstractActive learning methods have developed from Constructivist ideas placing the learner at the centre of their programme of learning. Active assessment allows learners to decide on their assessment topic allowing each individual to feel central to their learning. Six Foundation Degree students were interviewed following an active assessment based on the experiences of a placement module. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that learners felt an increase in the challenge, motivation and interest using this assessment method. Teaching staff should consider using active assessment methods when designing education programmes in higher education.

IntroductionConstructivism, which puts the learner at the centre of an active curriculum, can ensure learners are given an individual sense of purpose even when activities undertaken are similar for a whole class (Keogh et al. 2008) and at its most effective it can produce a reciprocity of learning between lecturers and learners (Boyer Commission 1998). Healey et al. (2010) have suggested that active learning, within the paradigm of constructivism, is the best way to engage learners and increase retention and achievement. Active learning can provide the link between “the thinking and the doing” (Gibbs 1998) and can focus on employer linked activities (Healey et al. 2006). Hand et al. (1996) have suggested that effective programme design with active learning and assessment elements can enhance motivation, deep learning, collaboration and use of current knowledge, particularly appropriate in a fast changing curriculum such as exercise and fitness.

All of the above attributes are particularly attractive to Foundation Degree students who have either entered the course with lower grades than a traditional undergraduate student (the course offer is 120 UCAS points) or who are mature students returning to education after a break. Active learning in this manner should improve learner engagement by providing them with a personal motivation to the activity and subsequent assessment.


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Scheyvens et al (2008) state that appropriate assessment activities are necessary for effective active learning so that the students take the experience seriously and so that the student-centred approach is maintained. It may be beneficial therefore to introduce active assessment, where individual learners are central to their own assessment, into a programme of learning with the aim of increasing engagement amongst the learners. Learners are known to view assessment as the major motivating factor of any learning programme (Bostock 1998) and therefore these should be designed to include elements of active assessment. By ensuring learner’s take an active role in the learning process, lecturers could expect positive outcomes such as self-directed learning and effective workplace functioning (Birenbaum and Amdur 2006). A placement based module where learners are already linking the “thinking and the doing” (Gibbs 1998) during their experience would provide a highly appropriate context for active learning. In addition active learning programme features such as self-reliance (Yorke 2003) and problem solving (Bostock 1998) would be ideal facets to a placement module.

Hounsell and Murray (1992) have shown how learners should move from consolidation of knowledge early in an undergraduate programme to self-initiated inquiry by the end of it with a “progressive intensifying of the demand made upon students”. It would therefore be appropriate to increase the demands on 2nd year Foundation Degree students by expecting them to become involved in the writing of their own assessments. The benefits could be increased motivation, deeper learning and increased collaboration (Hand et al. 1996).

The aim of this study was to investigate the experience of second year Foundation Degree learners undertaking an active assessment as part of their placement module. This would give them the underlying experiences needed to fully engage with an active learning programme (Hickcox 2002). It was hoped that this assessment design would bring the many benefits mentioned previously to these Foundation Degree students.


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Method

Participants

The study included six participants from an original class size of twelve. The participants were both male (3) and female (3) and aged 18 – 24 years old. At the time of the study, all participants were in their second year of a Foundation Degree in Exercise, Health & Fitness at Sunderland College. Five of the participants had aspirations to continue into their third year of studies at a partner university completing a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport and Exercise Development. Prior to the study each learner was invited to join on a voluntary basis, they were also assured that all personal information would be kept confidential. Each learner was also assured that if they decided not to volunteer, there would be no effects on future assessments or on the current assessment which had been submitted and graded prior to the data collection process.

Interview Process

Each participant arranged to be interviewed, in person or via telephone. Interviews were carried out by two researchers who followed an aide memoire (appendix A). During the interview questions were asked about the process of generating and answering an essay question. In particular, participants were asked how they felt about being put in control of the process and whether it affected how they went about completing the assignment. All interviews were recorded in full using a Dictaphone. Interviews were between 7 and 12 minutes in duration. The aide memoire (Appendix A) helped the interviewer to ensure that all topics to do with active assessment had been adequately covered and allowed the interviewer flexibility to respond to answers as well as ensuring some consistency between interviews. Once the protocol was explained, informed consent was acquired from each participant. Additionally, the participants were informed that they were being recorded and they had the option to withdraw from the study at any time.

Data Analysis

A thematic analysis of each transcript was conducted to draw out the major themes and key quotations from participants. Each interview was initially coded and eleven themes identified before the transcripts were re-coded with these themes. During the second coding the themes were narrowed down to eight and by the end of the process two of these were rejected due to a lack of evidence from more than one individual.


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ResultsThere were 6 core themes identified in the responses given: challenge; motivation; question writing approach; essay writing approach; preparation for future learning; collaboration and independence.

Theme: Challenge

Half of the learners found this approach to an assignment more challenging than standard lecturer issued titles:

“A bit scared [of writing a question] in case what I put forward was wrong.”

“I found it difficult to come up with a question of my own, you are not sure on what information will get good or bad grades.”

One learner found writing their own question simple but some thought that the generating the question was difficult but that the essay was easier to write once the question had been established:

“I found it was fairly easy to generate a question that could be academically written and related back to research.”

“If, it is something that you are comfortable with, you will find it easier.”

“Once I decided on the question it all became less difficult.”

Four out of six learners agreed that the assignment design mentally challenged them and that this made the assignment was more rewarding than standard assignments.

“You had to think a lot more”

“It was the same as a lecturer’s one [question] but I felt there was more pressure on it, which was good because it made me work harder and push myself more.”

“I actually read up on more things and I found out stuff I didn’t know. Even though you should do that anyway, it kind of made me push myself a bit more.”


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Two learners cautioned that this type of assignment might not suit everyone.

“I don’t think I would be able to do it in the first year... but I would definitely agree with it for the second years.”

“I would find it quite hard if there was no structure at all in case I go off [in the wrong direction].”

Theme: Motivation

Most learners (5 of 6) found that their interest and motivation in the assignment was increased as they were able to research and write about topics that had a personal resonance with their own learning whilst on their placement:

“My experiences lead me into the fitness testing side of assessment, one of my personal favourites within the foundation degree course.”

“I had the chance to look at the area I wanted and I loved the area I was doing, I was more enthusiastic to do it.”

One learner made the point that it was interesting simply because it was something new:

“I enjoyed the process and it was something different.”

This participant found the process of generating a question demotivating, although once this hurdle had been overcome they became more comfortable with their essay:

“I did feel a bit lacking in motivation. I don’t think I had the confidence to successfully come up with a question. But as soon as I had a little direction and specified what kind of things I should be talking about, it became a lot more comfortable in my mind.


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Theme: Approach to generating the question

There were some different approaches towards the generation of the essay question with some learners using their own experiences and some relying on lecturer support:

“I thought about the question and I knew where I could get the research from my experience on my placement.”

“My question covered a few areas so my research mirrored that. However, when I saw the lecturing staff, I was told to narrow it down and be more specific.”

“I looked at the different learning outcomes and thought back to my placement to what stood out. I wanted to make the question more academic... so it sounded more like it had been given by a lecturer.”

Theme: Approach to writing the essay

There was also a mixed approach to researching and writing the essay:

“I found myself looking into journals and things like that rather than textbooks, this time it was more journal based.”

“I used textbooks and the internet. I am not sure I used many journals.”

Two learners found the process of essay writing the same as previous essays they had completed:

“The same principle of being able to research a chosen topic and write it to an academic standard applied to this essay.”

“I found it was kind of like any other assignment. I used the same step by step process.”


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Theme: Preparation for future learning

There was complete agreement from all interviewees about the usefulness of this type of assignment in preparing learners for future assessments on the foundation degree course and on their top-up honour degree programme:

“I would defiantly encourage this style of assessment as it has given me a small glimpse into what is academically expected in the final year of university.”

“I think it helps 2nd years realise how hard the third year will be if you don’t go out and research.”

Theme: Collaborative and independent working

There was a large amount of evidence of peer support with students helping each other when trying to generate their essay question:

“I told them what I was going to do and I wanted to get their idea on that.”

“We just bounced ideas of each other. We ended up using each other thoughts and experiences to help create the question.”

In contrast, one learner was content to work alone:

“I generally keep my ideas to myself if they relate to essay questions.”

There was complete agreement amongst the learners that this type of assessment had made them think more independently when researching and writing their essays:

“You have to think of your own question and go out and find your own research. I think it was a really good idea to get us working as an individual instead of in the class.”

“I definitely think it was an appropriate way of teaching people to be more independent.”

“It was much better that we were allowed to create a question as we all had different experiences within our placement.”


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One individual still felt that they wanted the safety net of the lecturing staff for support:

“I am one of those people who like to follow something that is given to me rather than just think of something myself but the direction I received certainly helped me to complete the assignment.”

A very pleasing aspect was the application of personal knowledge and experiences into an academic piece of work:

“It was making me take all the skills and information that I had learned [on placement] and then applying them to my own question.”

One leaner suggested that this increased independence from lecturers could lead to original ideas:

“Having the choice to individually choose a topic leaves many doors open to pick an interesting assignment question, one that may not have being originally thought up by the lecturers.”

DiscussionThe major themes of the interviews were: challenge and approach, motivation, preparation for learning, collaboration and independence.

Challenge & Approach

The majority of learners found the generation of their question to be the biggest challenge. There was one learner who clearly stated that they would have preferred to be set the question by their lecturer. Bostock (1998) suggests that learners will be split between those who thrive under constructivist ideas and those that prefer objective instruction. In agreement to current study, Birenbaum and Amdur (1999) reported that during a similar process undertaken by education students, there was a small amount of resistance to active learning and assessment. Once the question was compiled however, learners then seemed to challenge themselves to perform better than in previous assessments and enjoyed this additional motivation. There is evidence that these learners found that active assessment can lead to enhanced feelings of reward, possibly because the students like the feeling of independence (Bostock 1998). Learners were asked to approach the assessment with their recent placement experience in the forefront of their minds.


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It was hoped this would counter Hickcox’s (2002) argument that 18-25 year-olds don’t always have the life and learning experiences required for experiential learning, the majority of our Foundation Degree students being 18-25 years old. In fact we argue that this is a positive way to introduce this type of learning in younger students. We found that those who were challenged the most still achieved results in line with other modules as long as they were given appropriate guidance when generating their question.

Motivation

Tuckman (1996) has suggested that all assessment acts as a motivational force encouraging learners to expend effort in order to achieve success. Brown (2005) suggests that teacher’s use all assessments as a motivational tool but our active assessment goes further by giving control of assessment to the students. We found that all but one learner had more motivation during this active assessment than in previous assessments. Hand et al. (1996) agree that the approach of putting the learner at the centre of programme and assessment design should improve motivation and that teacher-centred approaches can lead to alienation and de-motivation. It seems then that our approach did work to enhance motivation and even the one student who reported to find the experience de-motivating directed these comments at the generation of the question rather than the completion of the work. An interesting response from one individual was that this assessment added motivation simply due to its different approach showing that learner’s like a variety of assessment techniques.

Preparation for Learning

Learners’ were very appreciative of the preparation this assessment gave them for future learning. They had recognised the need for an increased independence in their studying patterns after the transition from foundation degree to undergraduate students. Hounsell and Murray (1992) support the development of learning programmes that move towards “self-initiated” enquiry and it would seem that the type and timing of this assessment (towards the end of their Foundation Degree programme) is highly appropriate. Anecdotal evidence from this study showed that few learners consulted the literature to find justification for their topic choice, a key facet of 3rd year undergraduate projects. It may be necessary to introduce learners’ to this method of working in this or other modules so that they are fully prepared for their final undergraduate year.


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Collaborative and Independent Working

Collaborative working should help learners with problem solving activities’, such as the generation of a novel assessment question, by discussing ideas with others (Hand et al 1996). Bostock (1998) suggests that this peer support can help learners identify ineffective solutions and encounter alternative points of view to add to their own experiences. We found that the learner’s took it upon themselves to provide peer support when generating the question. There was lots of evidence of this type of collaboration however this was not directed by the lecturer but simply evolved.

All learners felt that they worked more independently than in other assessments they had completed on the course. The participants approved of the process that allowed their individual placement experiences to be reflected in their academic work and they seemed to automatically recognise Gibbs’ (1998) link between thinking and doing by developing written arguments based on their experiences. One learner who struggled initially said that they would have preferred to have followed a set assessment and that they needed extra guidance to develop an appropriate question. This is in agreement with previous points made that not all students prefer the constructivist approach to assessment (Bostock 1998, Birenbaum and Amdur 1999). An interesting point was made by one learner who felt that they could develop questions and topics that lecturing staff may not have thought of showing high levels of autonomy. This type of assessment then is a key ingredient to battle against leaned dependence where learners rely on the lecturer to say what should be done and do not attempt to push their own boundaries (Yorke 2003).


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Limitations and Future Research

Our findings are methodologically limited to foundation degree exercise students in their 2nd year however there seems no reason why learners at this stage of their education in other disciplines would not benefit from the use of active assessment. There was no attempt to compare the outcome of the assessment (e.g. learner grades) with more traditional lecturer set essay questions; this could be an area for future research to develop. Finally, whilst learner’s were engaged in the setting of their research question, they did not have an input into the design or marking of their work. True constructivist methods would see the incorporation of learners’ opinions in the choice of assessment type (e.g. essay, report, logbook) and in the development of the marking criteria. It would be interesting to see how the additional challenge of these developments would be met by the student population. Further research could adopt this student centred approach in its entirety, a view supported by Brandes and Ginnis (1996) however this would have to be within the quality assurance framework of the current course which is overseen by a partner HE institution.

ConclusionActive assessment of the kind used in this study can add challenge, motivation and interest to learning programmes. Giving learner’s more control of their assessment gave them an increased sense of independence which they appreciated as good preparation for the next stage in their education. Some learners will need support systems in place to ensure that they can complete this type of assessment. Teaching staff should consider using active assessment methods when designing programmes and modules for higher education students.


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ReferencesBirenbaum,M. Amdur,L. (1999) Reflective active learning in a graduate course on assessment. Higher Education Research & Development, 18(2), PP 201-218.

Brandes,D. Ginnis,P. (1996) A Guide to Student-Centred learning, 2nd Edition. Nelson Thornes: Gloucestershire: UK.

Bostock,S. (1998) Constructivism in mass higher education: a case study. British Journal of Educational Technology, 29(3), pp225-240.

Boyer Comission (1998) Reinventing undergraduate education: a blueprint for America’s research universities. Available at: http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf. Accessed 18th April 2011.

Brown,S. (2005) Assessment for learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 2004-5(1), pp81-89.

Gibbs,G. (1998) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit: London. Available at: www2.glos.ac.uk/gdn/publ.htm#other. Accessed 15th April 2011.

Hand,L. Sanderson,P. O’Neil,M. (1996) Fostering deep and active learning through assessment. Accounting Education, 5(1), pp103-119.

Healey, M. Jenkins, M. Roberts, C.R (2006) Researching and Evaluating Active and Inquiry-based Learning in Geography in Higher Education - Paper presented at International Geographical Union Annual Meeting, University of Brisbane, Australia. Available at: http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/cealpresentations/0506.cfm. Accessed 18th April 2011.

Healey,M. Pawson,E. Solem,M. (2010) Active Learning and Student Engagement. Routledge: Oxon, UK.

Hickcox,L. (2002) Personalized teaching through experiential learning. College Teaching, 50(4), pp123-128.

Hounsell,D. Murray,R. (1992) Essay writing for active learning. Effective Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Module 9, part 1.

Keogh, B. Dabell,J. Naylor,S. (2008) Active Assessment in English. Routledge: Oxon, UK.

Scheyvens, R. Griffin,A. Jocoy,C. Liu,Y. Bradford,M. (2008) Experimenting with active learning in geography: dispelling the myths that perpetuate resistance. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30 (1).


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Tuckman,J. (1996) The relative effectiveness of motivation and prescribed learning strategy in improving college students’ course performance. Journal of Experimental Education, 64(3).

Yorke,M. (2003) Formative assessment in higher education: moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice. Higher Education, 45, pp477-501.

Appendix A: Aide MemoireNote – questions do not need to asked in this manner or order depending on the direction of the group discussion.

• How did you feel about writing your own assignment question?

• How did you go about generating your question?

• Was your motivation affected by being able to choose your question?

• Did you find this assessment more or less interesting than standard lecturer issued essay questions?

• Did you approach this essay differently to other essays you have written during the course?

• Did you feel that this was an appropriate assessment method?

• Did you enjoy researching your topic?

• Did you speak to your colleagues about their essay questions?

• Did you find writing your own essay question difficult?

• Do you think that writing your essay question can help to prepare you for your future?


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Questioning the Answers – Reflections on a college led CPD activity

Nicola Scott, Lecturer in Education, Sunderland College

AbstractThis paper is a review of a previous research study into using video coaching to improve my questioning technique in the classroom. The original paper was written at the beginning of my transition into teacher education in 2009 and recent incidents with trainee teachers on the (Professional Certificate/Graduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) programme have refocused my attention on questioning. Having revisited this paper from a more experienced teacher educator standpoint, I have reflected on the missed opportunities to fully discuss questioning as a teaching and learning tool and critically evaluate my preoccupation with asking higher order questions and its impact on learners’ learning.

In reviewing this paper, I have added some reflective comments that only became apparent to me after the research was completed and the original paper was written. Trainee teachers on the PCET course, their mentors and tutors regularly set targets for the trainee teachers to improve their questioning technique. I had hoped to review this paper and come up with some answers as to why this should be done and how this could be achieved but having reviewed the paper, I realise I have made assumptions and not challenged my own understandings of questioning. .Reviewing this paper has been my starting point for a further study into questioning and how I can improve trainee teachers’ questioning technique.

IntroductionI set out on this research project to compare and contrast the teaching and learning methods employed by myself as a Skills for Life practitioner in both a Skills for Life setting and a higher education setting; to see whether I would employ more strategies and exude more confidence within the lower level, Skills for Life classroom. I intended to capitalise on the use of video coaching as an observational, self reflective tool and employ it in this research project to analyse different teaching and learning sessions.


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Background

Research suggested that using video to collect data can reveal the ‘multimodal dynamism’ of classroom interaction (Flewitt 2006:29) as it produced naturally occurring data which is situated in everyday activities in their ordinary settings (Mondada 2008:1). Kanstrup (2002) identified that video offers us the opportunity to observe and re-observe complex interactions within a work environment.

Video coaching had recently been introduced at Sunderland College as part of the Teaching and Learning Strategy which aimed to improve the support available to teaching staff following graded observations. If a member of teaching staff is graded as ‘outstanding’, they are then invited to take part in video coaching session; the idea being that video coaching can help teachers pin point areas of their own practice that they would like to develop and improve. Following my graded observation I was fortunate enough to be graded ‘outstanding’ and I was invited to take part in this process; I was really enthused as to the impact it could make on my teaching practice.

The focus of this research project was the contrasting nature of my teaching commitments; both the delivery of Skills for Life to 16-19 vocational learners and the delivery of the Additional Diploma in Teaching English (Literacy) in the Lifelong Learning Sector. It had become apparent very early on in this study that the analysis of the two teaching interactions would need to be very focused due to the wealth of material presented in each interaction and after careful deliberation I decided that I would like to explore my use of questioning techniques within each interaction. This would allow my research project to have a clear focus and it would give me a basis on which to draw further observations and reflections relating to my own practice and hopefully, lead me ‘down a path towards a more profound understanding of students and learning’ (Cockley 2002).

Developing higher order thinking skills and developing higher order questioning are topics that had a high priority in my teaching and learning context; we were encouraged as practitioners to ensure that we are questioning our learners effectively and deepening their understandings and it was assumed that this could be achieved by verbally asking them meaningful and challenging questions. At the time, I followed the popular assumption that:

‘Questioning is of paramount importance. It would be impossible to develop genuine understanding, or other higher-order mental skills, without it. It teaches students to think for themselves, and produces high quality, transferable learning’.

(Petty 2004:192)

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My own move from being a Skills for Life practitioner into teaching higher education courses made me feel that this was an area of my own practice that I would need to develop in order to be more successful; I felt it is an area that I had not given enough consideration to and an area that I am not as confident as I would like to be. This small scale research project would provide me with an excellent opportunity to develop my understanding by working with a more experienced, critical friend.

I focused on the types of questions asked in both teaching interactions. These included: open, closed, directed, non-directed, named questions, questions followed by names, the pause time after each question and the level of challenge involved in each question. I aimed to make observations relating to who talked the most in class, the use of humour, discipline, summarising, who received the most attention, and how the learning space was utilised with movement.

Methodology

My research project was born out of my own reflections on my taught programmes. I was a Skills for Life practitioner and had worked with hard to reach vulnerable young people for previous years. Engaging, motivating and teaching young people had been widely acknowledged as my key strengths. However, in 2008-2009 I accepted a new challenge to teach the Additional Diploma in Teaching English (Literacy) to Teachers in the Lifelong Learning Sector, in conjunction with the University of Sunderland. I initially thought teaching this course would enable me to promote best practice and give new literacy practitioners the benefits of my experience; I was also looking forward to completing observations and developing practical approaches to teaching literacy for the staff enrolled on the programme.

My research dilemma came from teaching from Entry 1 – Level 5 and I soon realised that although I was a confident, highly successful Skills for Life practitioner, I felt I did not necessarily have the skills to be a teacher educator; in many respects I have felt out of my depth in a higher education setting due to the change in teaching and learning context, it was an unsettling transition. I wanted to capitalise on the college’s use of video coaching as a means of analysing my own practice. I wanted to look at the differences and similarities in both teaching interactions and see what I could learn about my teaching practice. The catalyst for this research project was the methodology; I wanted to use video coaching as a means of carrying out my research and Walker (1985) identifies that this is sometimes the case and that the methodology often pre-dates the research problem.


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‘...in practice, the choice of particular methods may predate the existence of the research problem. Selection of methods may be an act of faith rather than a rational response to a clearly formulated problem.’

(Walker 1985:47)

At the time, I was attracted by videoing classroom interaction and focusing on my teaching practice would give me the opportunity to look at what actually happens in the classroom. Qualitative observational methods would allow me to research my own practice; ‘the purpose of such observation is to probe deeply and to analyse intensively the multifarious phenomena that constitute the life cycle of... (my practice)... with a view to establishing generalizations about the wider population to which... (I)... belong’ (Cohen and Manion 1994:106). Drever (1995) notes that ‘at one time there was a fashion for classroom observation studies based on highly structured schedules’ but that ‘they were not very successful because they only told half the story’ and there was not scope for understanding the purpose and thought that lay behind the interaction (Drever 1995:8)

Looking back at my original dilemma and my write up of the videoed interactions I can see that I have fallen very easily into this trap. The videos provide a wealth of information about what happens in my classroom and perhaps focusing primarily on questioning became a limiting factor when thinking about how much I learnerd and developed as a practitioner from this research activity.

Having observed teaching staff as part of the Additional Diploma in Teaching English, I realised that as a teacher, you are not always aware of what you do in the classroom. By videoing my teaching practice I hoped to analyse what I do and do not do rather than what I think happens and I can detail the purpose and thought that lies behind interactions. Elliott (1991) notes that transcribing video recordings ‘concentrates the mind on what is happening to a greater degree than simply listening and watching’ (Elliot 1991:79). This was an interesting point to note, and it is something I aimed to do.

Quantitative methods often sit directly opposite qualitative methods of data collection. They come from two different schools of thought; phenomenological qualitative methodology (why something happens) versus the positivist quantitative model (what happens). However, using the two models to examine the same research problem is highly beneficial.

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‘Used separately, qualitative and quantitative studies provide different kinds of information. When focused on the same issue qualitative and quantitative studies can triangulate – this is use different methods to assess the robustness or stability of findings.’

(Firestone 1987: 20)

I did intend to use questionnaires to triangulate my data collection. I felt that using questionnaires would give more validity and reliability to my data collection from observations. However, as the focus of my research shifted towards examining a distinct aspect of my teaching and I opted to study my use of questioning, I immediately felt that questionnaires were not best placed for this kind of research study. Asking questions about the number of questions I asked in class seemed a little absurd; and I did not think I would get the response I required and so discounted the quantitative questionnaire model.

On reflection, I can see that I became almost too focused on what questions were going to be asked and what level they were and I failed to take into account the wider picture of what was happening in the classroom and crucially, how did the questioning impact on learners’ learning.

Video One

Additional Diploma in Teaching English (Literacy) in the Lifelong Learning Sector

As part of the Additional Diploma, teachers had to complete an Action Research assignment and it is from this angle that I approached the issue of ethics and consent. Participants in the video were explained the process and written consent was sought; the use of video coaching within the college had already set a precedent for this type of activity and the participants were keen to know more about the process and this helped secure their approval for videoing to go ahead. I informed all participants about the nature of the research, its purpose and who would see the video. I then asked participants to write a small piece, giving their consent. This demonstrated their clear understanding of the facts, implications and future consequences of their participation in the video.

‘In educational research, ‘informed consent’ has become associated with good ethical practice...’

(Flewitt 2006:31)


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The interaction was recorded from a tripod position at the back of the classroom behind the teachers; it proved difficult to get the full class in view but as the focus of the video was my questioning techniques, this did not seem too great a concern at this time. On reflection this was a limiting factor and one which I did not pick up on at the time; It is only after revisiting this research paper from a new viewpoint that I can see that not capturing the impact of my questioning on learners’ learning was a missed opportunity.

Video Two

Skills for Life - Entry Literacy

I approached the issue of consent in a similar way to the Additional Diploma group. I sat all the Skills for Life learners down and thoroughly explained what I was doing and why I was doing it. The learners had experienced being observed in my session previously so understood what this process was about. I questioned their understanding of the process and reaffirmed that the video would only be used for this purpose and it would only be watched by me and my coach. The learners were then asked to write what they understood to be happening and to say if they agreed to it.

‘I understand that we are getting recorded to help Nicola compare how she works with two groups and I agree to be filmed.’

(KM 2009)

To safeguard my research, I also asked learners to sign a consent form. It was interesting to note that the learners did not view the videoing of their session as problematic and in actual fact; they wanted to see the completed video recording in the following week’s session. If I had been able to do this it would have proved to be very useful in terms of triangulation; I would have been able to use learners’ insights into the interaction captured on the video to enrich by ethnographic data.

Having played back the interaction from the first video I had concerns about the positioning of the camera for the Skills for Life class. Due to the nature of the class and the continuous movement that I employ to manage behaviour and keep learners engaged, I recognised that filming was going to be an issue. I asked a colleague to film the taught session as I felt this was the only way to capture the classroom interaction. The colleague was known to all the learners and this helped maintain their relaxed attitude.

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Both classroom interactions were videoed for the first hour; they were then analysed separately for their use of questioning. As part of the video coaching model in use at Sunderland College, both the teacher and the coach watch the video in isolation and then compare their results. The added advantage of having an independent analyst enables an unbiased analysis and this can lead to certain traits being highlighted that might not have been necessarily noted by the teacher.

The videos were analysed for their use of questioning and were recorded on a record sheet. The video was used to count the number of open and closed questions; directed questions, non directed questions, name then question, question then name, pause time and level of challenge relating to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy refers to the level of challenge involved in a question or task; Bloom identified that education should not rely on the transfer of facts but should be concerned with the mastery of a subject and generate real thinking. Bloom’s Taxonomy in the cognitive domain relates to levels of thinking; knowledge, comprehension and application are at the lower end of the taxonomy, with analysis, synthesis and evaluation at the higher end of the taxonomy.


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FindingsAnalysing the video interaction in each classroom situation provided a core framework for analysis. I expected to find that I had underdeveloped questioning skills, having only recently begun teaching a higher education course, I thought this would be something that was not necessarily my strong point, but I did hope that I used a suitable range of higher order questions such as evaluation, synthesis and analysis; in accordance with Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Three key areas for further analysis have been identified; 1 – use of open/closed questions; 2 – pause time; 3 – level of questioning. All three areas will be examined and qualitative insight will hopefully be offered to explain each area.

Additional Diploma Findings

Type (a) Open questions = 9

Closed questions = 21

Type (b) Directed = 3

Non Directed = 16

Name – question = 1

Question – name = 3

Pause Time < 1 sec = 10

1-3 secs = 4

Level of Challenge

Evaluation = 0

Synthesis = 0

Analysis = 6

Application = 2

Comprehension = 5

Knowledge = 20

Summary Comments made by mentor/coach

Certain habitual questions – ‘Do you know what I mean?’ You habitually give instructions but do not follow up with a question to check understanding (especially note the transient/permanent task). The distribution of questions is equitable in the sense of ‘who answers’ as all are of the same readiness to reply. There is a distinct imbalance in the level of challenge, with the significant majority of questions being of a lower order (‘Know what I mean?’).

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The time between ask and response was surprisingly low, probably 1.5 – 2 seconds average. Where you ask directed questions you generally demonstrate good practice by naming the individual after the question.

Skills for Life Findings

Type (a) Open questions = 3

Closed questions = 10

Type (b) Directed = 2

Non Directed = 15

Name – question = 4

Question – name = 2

Pause Time < 1 sec = 4

1-3 secs = 3

Level of Challenge Evaluation = 0

Synthesis = 0

Analysis = 2

Application = 1

Comprehension = 5

Knowledge = 13

Summary Comments made by mentor/coach

The habitual question of ‘Know what I mean?’ was almost entirely absent – this suggests it is context specific response. Again the dominant structure was non directed closed type questions. Response time was low (1-2 seconds), exacerbated by the groups instance to answer for someone else. Level of challenge was predominately at the mastery level with few straying in to higher order area. Much was made of closed questions where a yes/no/single word response would suffice. AP was asked a sequence of name-question structures but never had the opportunity to answer; in each case in less than one second, others answered. Strikingly, there were very few questions originating from within the group.

The findings from the video evidence on the use of questioning take on a quantitative approach; in is easy to statistically view the distribution of questions asked but it is more difficult to draw out the qualitative analysis.


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‘...Consequently, the analysis of qualitative evaluation often tends to be done badly if done at all. Yet unless the data we use is trustworthy then it is often immoral as well as foolhardy to engage in development work on data that has been inadequately analysed.’

(Hopkins 1989:67)

Both classes had a similarly disproportionate number of closed, non directed knowledge based questions. It is important to use open questions which stimulate learners and encourage them to have thinking dialogue.

‘Open questions make students think, and tell the teacher much more about what the students have learned. By contrast, closed questions, such as ‘yes/no’ questions, usually require little thought. They are likely to be guessed with at least 50 per cent success, and so have low ‘diagnostic power’ – that is, the teacher cannot assume for certain that a correct answer means that successful learning has taken place.’

(Petty 2004:188)

On reflection, I had anticipated that this would be the case in the Skills for Life session as my priority is usually the engagement, motivation and behaviour management of the learners and often the learning comes after this; ‘...the concentration on engagement can be a distraction, taking attention away from the learning programme...’ but I was still very concerned that this was the case in the Additional Diploma class. Especially considering I advocate good questioning to the teachers as one of the most potent tools at their disposal! Changing from using mainly closed questions to open questions needs to be carefully considered at the planning stages of each session.

On face value, the limited use of pause time did not necessarily concern me and I believed that my coach’s comments about all learners demonstrating ‘the same readiness to reply’ was a positive comment and it was a reflection of their comfort and ease within the learning environment. However, in considering this notion again, the willingness to reply demonstrates clear evidence of the ‘ease’ of questions; if learners found the questions more challenging, they would be less willing to readily reply.

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The level of questioning is somewhat concerning; especially considering one of the classes was a higher education class and just because the other class was a Skills for Life class, does not mean they should not be as equally challenged;

‘beginner readers, are not beginner thinkers.’

(NRDC 2006)

Without the use of video analysis the above findings would not have been so readily acknowledgeable. At the end of an observed session when the observer asks ‘How do you think it went?’, it is not possible to go into the same level of detail as transcribing questions and analysing their type, level and distribution. Elliott’s (1991) point about transcribing interesting sections of video evidence certainly concentrated my mind on the nature of the questions asked. In black and white, questions which I first felt were open, higher order questions were actually closed, low order questions and on reflection, this was a worrying point for me; if I cannot effectively identify higher order questions, how then can I apply them?

The purpose of my research project was to compare and contrast the teaching and learning methods employed by myself as a Skills for Life practitioner in both a Skills for Life setting and a higher education setting; the premise being that I would employ more strategies and exude more confidence within the Skills for Life classroom. By exploring questioning techniques it is possible to say that both sessions use comparable strategies; closed, low order questioning. However, there was a marked difference between the two videos. In the Additional Diploma video I ‘habitually’ used the question ‘Do you know what I mean?’. It was used almost like a tick and demonstrated a distinct lack in confidence, and yet the tick was ‘almost entirely absent’ in the Skills for Life video. This was not something I was aware of but in analysing the interaction within the classroom the phraseology of this statement certainly draws attention to the lack of confidence I exuded; proving that my initial premise was correct, and that more confidence is exuded in the Skills for Life session.

Features of both video interactions supported this idea. In the Skills for Life video I was sat with the learners, integrating with them, supporting their development and checking on their progress. I led all discussions and talk. In the Additional Diploma video I was rooted to the front of the classroom and used a PowerPoint presentation to give structure to the taught session. I did sit with the teachers in this class but at times, this looked forced and it signposted the lack of confidence I felt in my ability to teach this class.


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It would have been interesting to find out if my own view was the same as the students’ view of my teaching. By teaching the Level 5 Additional Diploma I did not want to be the type of teacher who is ‘all knowing’ as I believe this brings a hierarchy to the classroom and involves power relations and this would not motivate students or make them feel comfortable in the classroom; especially considering we were all colleagues. I felt that the interactions in the classroom should be more of a community of practice which would help develop and improve the students’ teaching and learning practice as well as my own. Perhaps it was my own view of how I should be as a teacher that affected my level of confidence, but alternatively, this could have been something that the learners perhaps liked; I would like to hope that they felt like respected members of a community of practice. By not triangulating the data by seeking their thoughts and ideas, this research left me really questioning my practice and feeling quite low.

Reflective Commentary

As an experienced Skills for Life practitioner I have been observed many times: Ofsted inspections, management observations, internal inspections and peer observations and I often have new support assistants and new teachers coming into class to experience the learning environment. I am open to anyone coming into the classroom and watching me teach; it is with this attitude that I agreed to take part in the video coaching. I am all for improving my practice, moving outside of my comfort zone and taking on new experiences and challenges. When I first mentioned my research intentions, I was surprised by the reaction of my colleagues who thought that I was very ‘brave’. This notion of being ‘brave’ was also mentioned by my peers on my MA programme. I had never thought of myself as being brave as I felt I was only taking observational records to the next level and I fully believe it is important to keep learning and challenging yourself throughout your professional career in order to improve and develop your practice; I also felt it was good practice to be actively involved in researching my own practice as I was encouraging and developing my learners on the Additional Diploma to do the same. I had full trust in my coach as they had already observed me in the classroom and I was intrigued as to the impact video coaching could make on teaching practice.

On reflection, I had not fully conceived how vulnerable this experience would make me feel; I had volunteered to take an area of my teaching that I had already identified as an area where I am still developing i.e. questioning, and agreed to have in scrutinised; not only in the comfortable setting of a Skills for Life class but also in the Additional Diploma class where I have already stated that I felt out of my depth, being a new course and teaching it on my own.

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However, this vulnerability did not become apparent until the moment I sat down with my coach to look at the analysis of both classroom interactions; and I was immediately aware of the importance of feedback and the way it is presented. Being fortunate enough to get graded as outstanding was a great feeling, but after discussing my questioning skills I felt that I still had so much to learn. I was also very aware that I had made a video of my teaching practice which demonstrated a distinct lacking; and it is a permanent record of my own failings. This left me feeling uneasy; I had navigated the dangerous waters of consent with my learners but had never stopped to think about the implications for me and my professional career as Flewitt (2006) everyone’s ‘life circumstances and attitudes to consent may change over time’ (Flewitt 2006:32).

Questioning techniques are incredibly important aspects of teaching practice and prior to analysing the classroom interaction I felt that I asked a range of questions within sessions and that I allowed plenty of pause time for learners to think about the question and then answer. I was surprised to find this was not the case and that I asked a lot of closed, low order questions with very little pause time. It can often be difficult to accept criticism, however constructive, but the use of the video has enabled me to go back and look at specific instances of low order questions and think about how I can improve my questioning technique.

Using video as a reflective tool is incredibly powerful; I have learnt things about myself that I did not know I did. For example, in the Skills for Life classroom I demonstrated a range of facial expressions when talking to the learners. I knew that I did this to some degree; and on some levels it is a very deliberate action used to keep learners engaged through humour. However, the nervous ‘tick’ that I demonstrated in Additional Diploma class was something new; I did not know I did this and even in my analysis of the video I had not picked up on it. It was not until it was mentioned by my coach that I realised how much I did this and how characteristic it was of being nervous and unconfident in a situation. Being able to replay the video, as discussed in Kanstrup (2002), to look at specific instances of the habitual question was very illuminating.

Being new to teacher education, I found this incredibly helpful when thinking about giving teachers feedback on their taught sessions; I need to remember how vulnerable I felt when opening myself up to my coach and I need to ensure that the feedback I provide teachers is supportive and practical. An unexpected outcome of this piece of research has been the incorporation of video observations into the initial teacher training programmes for next academic year; and I also hope to be able to use video to record observations on the Additional Diploma programme. I think it is such as effective reflective tool and it enables the observed member of teaching staff to critique their own teaching practice – as with questioning, it is far more powerful if the knowledge and understanding are drawn from the learner.


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However, it is clear that although the use of video was new and exciting, selecting this methodology perhaps limited the scope and depth of my research (Walker 1985). I wanted to compare and contrast my teaching but I had selected a focused area to concentrate on to fulfil the criteria of the video coaching model at Sunderland College.

I would have liked to have taken more time to analyse the interactions within the Skills for Life class in relation to behaviour management. The learners in this class expressed a wish to watch the recorded session and I did do this informally with two of the learners. It was remarkable how interested they were in themselves and how much of the interaction they commented on and reflected upon; especially in relation to their own behaviour patterns and how this affects others in the classroom. It would be interesting to conduct more research around behaviour modification and the use of video.

Issues around consent have always been problematic when capturing data for research purposes; however with the use of video, it is ever more important to ensure that consent is properly obtained as research participants are easily identifiable. As a result of this research, I would have liked to use certain extracts from the videos in my teaching practice as there are some excellent examples of teaching practice in action. However, at the time of obtaining consent from my learners I assured them that the video would only be seen my mentor/coach and I, therefore I am prevented from using any extract without new consent from the learners involved being sought. Flewitt (2006) discusses issues with consent in her pre-school study involving video:

‘Rather than following a detailed, preconceived code of conduct imposed upon participants by the researcher, ‘provisional consent’ assumes an ethical stance that evolves out of researcher/participant relationships, where ethical dilemmas are resolved as they emerge in the field, in their local and specific contexts, on a minute-by minute basis. Not adopting a coherent set of values does not imply neglecting ethical considerations, but responding variously and reflexively to complex situations, which Simons and Usher (2000) refer to as ‘situated ethics’’.

(Flewitt 2006:31)

This notion of ‘situated ethics’ is important in this instance. At the beginning of this research project I did not want to analyse the learners’ involvement in the taught learning sessions, however it became very clear that there was a wealth of evidence that could be used in this way.

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I sought consent based on the idea that I was using the video to research my own practice, but if the focus of the research project had shifted towards analysing interactions between learners, themselves and the teacher, this too would have had to be renegotiated with the learners.

At the beginning of this research project I had hoped to form a clearly defined question which I could pose and answer:

‘I want to compare my teaching practice in the classroom with SfL learners and my practice with teachers. The idea is that I advocate a range of teaching methods for teaching SfL (literacy) so do I demonstrate them in my own sessions, if so what are they etc. and do I then carry them forward and use the same methods in my teacher training sessions...

Is it easier to get a good inspection grade in a SfL entry class than in an HE class?’

(Posted Discussion 2009)

The range of variables involved in considering this question were too diverse and difficult to answer for me at this stage and when I also began to think about it, the nature of the learners are very different and so the teaching methods employed would have to be different.

As a practitioner researcher, I feel that I have not been able to adequately utilise the wealth of data in the video interactions, comparing and contrasting the two interactions based on questioning. Although insightful and worthwhile, it has not been as qualitative as I would have liked. On reflection, counting the incidents and noting the type of questions did not go far enough into satisfying my research question.

This research project has certainly made me think about and consider my questioning technique in the classroom; but where do I go from here? My examination of my questioning technique has shown that I ask closed, lower order questions but how do I move away from this to open, higher order questions? And why did I ask those types of questions? Was it to manage behaviour or stimulate discussion or test learning?

These are all crucial questions that on reflection, I can see that I should have been asking myself at the time. It is also worth noting that in focusing on critiquing my questioning technique I never thought to consider the impact of my questioning technique on my learners and their learning experience in each session – is there anything in each video analysis that states the learners did or did not learn?


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BibliographyDrever, E. (1995) ‘Using Semi-Structured Interviews in Small-Scale Research’, The Scottish Council for Research in Education: Edinburgh

Elliott, J (1991) ‘Action Research for Educational Change’, Open University Press: Milton Keynes

Fewitt, R (2006) ‘Using video to investigate preschool interaction: education research assumptions and methodological practices’, Visual Communications Vol 5 (1) :Sage Publications

Firestone, W.A. (1987) ‘Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research’, Educational Researcher: 16 (7)

Flick, U., von Kardorff, E. and Steinke, I. (2004) ‘A Companion to Qualitative Research’, Sage Publications: London

Hopkins, D (1989) ‘Evaluation for School Development’, Open University Press: Milton Keynes

Kanstrup, A.M. (2002) ‘Picture the Practice – Using photography to Explore Use of Technology Within Teachers’ Work Practices’, Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research Vol 3 (2) 17

Mondada, L (2008) ‘Using Video for a Sequential and Multimodal Analysis of Social Interaction: Videotaping Institutional Telephone Calls’, Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research Vol 9 (3) 39

McNeil, B (2008) ‘Working with young adults; Developing Adult Teaching and Learning: Practitioner Guides’, NRDC: Leicester

Petty, G (2004) ‘Teaching Today’, Nelson Thomas: Cheltenham

Wandsworth, Y (1997) ‘Do it yourself social research’, Allen and Unwin: Australia

Walker, R (1985) ‘Doing Research’, Methuen: London

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An investigation into how UK Undergraduate Students Access Information on Higher Education Institutions: the Customer Base for a New University Business School

Graeme Price, Curriculum Leader for Leadership and Management Studies, Sunderland College

IntroductionThe issue of how undergraduate students choose their university has long been discussed and researched in academic circles (Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka (2006), Briggs & Wilson (2007), Adcroft et al (2010)). This paper will look to build on this research and look to identify and examine the types of information accessed by prospective undergraduate students to help decide their Higher Education Institution (HEI) of choice.

The current higher education market

Perhaps now, more so than ever before, the higher education marketplace is in a state of flux, institutions are facing tough decisions that will have a substantial impact on their long-term future.

“Universities are being pushed further into participation in markets, or quasi markets, where they compete with one another as well as new providers, for students and research money.”

Coaldrake (2001)


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The Browne Report (2010) is likely to increase universities concern with income and the impending student tuition fee increases; as a result HEI’s need to review their strategy to ensure they can compete with similar institutions in the marketplace to attract students. The report identified three key areas for the higher education system:

• Participation: higher education expands sustainably to meet qualified demand, with access for anyone who has the talent to succeed.

• Quality: Institutions actively compete for well informed, discerning students, on the basis of price and teaching quality, improving provision across the whole sector, within a framework that guarantees minimum standards.

• Sustainability: Increased private contributions and more targeted public investment to support high quality provision and allow the sector to grow to meet qualified demand.

The purpose of the Browne report is to ensure a more competitive higher education marketplace and allow HEI’s to determine the fees they charge for their programmes.

“I hope everyone can come together and say, ‘Look, we want the same thing here – good universities, widening access, participation from people in low-income homes and a system that can take on the world and that is affordable in our own country.’ That is the prize and I think there will be people across the political spectrum who actually can get together and support that.”

Prime Minister David Cameron, October 2010

Many critics of the Browne Report claim that the suggestions made will have a detrimental effect on the higher education market from 2012 and may force students to decide against studying a higher education programme or consider employment as an alternative, thus impacting upon universities application figures.

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Based on recent statistics ‘The Telegraph’ suggests that there has been a rise in 2011 applications in order to ‘beat the rush’ for the 2012 fee increase.

“Applications received before Christmas rose 2.5% compared with the same period the year before – with a total of 335,795 candidates now chasing places for 2011 entry.

The picture emerging from the latest figures shows that candidates are racing to submit their applications at the last opportunity before the tripling of university tuition fees from autumn 2012.”

Taken from www.telegraph.co.uk, January 2011

Indeed David Willetts, the Universities Minister, states

”students should consider alternatives to traditional degree courses such as apprenticeships. Going to university has always been a competitive process and not all who apply are accepted.”

Taken from www.guardian.co.uk, January 2011

Popular opinion suggests the consequence of this being that there is likely to be a shift in power from the provider to the student. Undergraduates will not only be able to compare programmes of study available to them but may also consider cost as a critical factor.

This additional financial consideration, combined with programme content and other information, such as the National Student Survey (NSS) results, has ensured that students have a range of data sources available to them to which they can consult when deciding upon the institution and programme they wish to enrol on to.

This raises the question of how do students find out about HEI’s? Traditionally the process has been through university marketing discourse, recruitment events such as Open Days and working closely with FE Colleges, many institutions rely heavily on promotional literature, such as prospectuses and programme fact sheets.

Critics of these methods include Hesketh and Knight (1999) who state:

“...documents provided for prospective students frequently fail to give sufficient information about academic and practical aspects of the programme.”


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Clearly this could make a prospective student have a certain perception and expectation of an institution from its marketing discourse. This could then differ from the actual experience they gain (positive or negative) upon enrolment onto a programme within the institution. Potentially this could lead to issues with retention and success rates. The idea of a gap in student perception and knowledge is an interesting area and one which HEI’s not only need to be aware of but also closely manage.

“The better the quality of the information available, the better chance a student has of making a confident and realistic assessment of ‘best fit’. The relationship to both choice and retention thereafter has a business value that HEIs, with high attrition rates in the first year especially, cannot ignore if they are to survive.”

(Briggs & Wilson, 2007).

The changing face of higher education.

The rapid growth of the internet over the past decade and the use of communication methods available through this medium have allowed for user experiences to be shared instantly throughout the word. It would therefore be fair to believe that this will have had an impact upon the promotion of HEI’s. Research shows that internet usage in the UK has risen dramatically over the last ten years with user numbers rising from 15,400,000 in 2000 to 51,442, 100 in 2010 (www.internetworldstats.com). Furthermore the greatest numbers of users are those in the age group of prospective higher education students (18-24 year olds).

“The largest proportion of UK internet users was in the 16 to 24 age group, at 98.7%. This represented 7.17 million people.”

www.newmediatrendwatch.com, August 2011

Add to this the huge growth of the usage of social network sites such as Facebook, Bebo and Twitter to communicate with friends, customers and the general public and it is clear that the landscape of accessing higher education information has changed significantly. Again social networking is immensely popular with HEI’s ‘target audience’ and emphasises the changes in communication with these prospective students.

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“Social networking was also a popular Internet activity in 2010, with 43 per cent of Internet users posting messages to social networking sites or chat sites, blogs etc. Social networking activities proved to be most popular among 16 to 24-year-olds with 75 per cent posting messages, while 50 per cent of this age group uploaded self created content.”

www.statistics.gov.uk, August 2011

Indeed this is underpinned by the research of Gillin (2007) who states that HEI’s need to consider other methods of communicating with their potential students. He states that the ‘new influencers” such as podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs are increasingly important in communicating with consumers (students).

This information may act as a supplement to more traditional higher education literature such as the prospectus when students look to choose an institution and define their expectations. In such a climate it is essential that HEI’s try to ‘manage’ these student influences on their institutions; however this is clearly not an easy task!

Dehne, (1997) states:

“Today’s applicants consider factors differently from previous generations and actively seek increased information in order to reach more informed decision-making.”

The added difficulty with this form of communication is that institutions can lose control over what is what is posted on social network sites. This therefore allows current or graduate students to post their experiences of the institution, positive or negative!

The use of social networking by providers to engage with students is becoming a necessity rather than an additional service.

As Solis (2008) states:

“Participation is no longer an option as Social Media isn’t a spectator sport.”


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Indeed some theorists have suggested that HEI’s open themselves up to judgement from students by allowing themselves to feature on student review sites. These sites rate an institutions performance based on student reviews much like sites from other markets i.e. Trip Advisor allows guests to rate their stay at a particular hotel; potential new customers then use this as a basis for deciding if they wish to stay at the hotel. Positive reviews could enable the institution to increase enrolments onto a programme; but poor reviews could hinder the institution and thus sway them away from this idea.

However, Reuben (2008) states:

“Administrators will worry about the classes that receive poor reviews – but whether you enable such a feature or not, these conversations are happening elsewhere, likely on sites you have no control over”.

The question therefore is “does this research translate to how undergraduate students actually access information on a university?” And secondly; how influential is this communication in determining the expectations and choice of a chosen institution?

Findings

This Study has been undertaken to establish the types of marketing discourse prospective HEI students use to decide upon an institution and also to establish where they access this information. The research took place at the University of Sunderland Business School and was distributed to over 200 first year undergraduate students.

The questionnaire asked students to indicate which sources of information they used to gain information on the institution prior to opting to study at Sunderland and identify the main source of information that influenced their reason for choosing the university.

The options given were; prospectus, institution website, other website, friends, family, teachers/tutors, TV adverts, visit to the institution, admissions staff, other students and other reason.

The most commonly used information sources were institution website (24%), prospectus (15%), friends (14%) and teachers/tutors (14%) other responses included visit to the institution (12%), other students (7%), family (6%), other websites (included UCAS, Guardian and times) (5%), TV advert (2%) and admissions staff (1%). Figure 1 shows this represented in graphical form.

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Prospectus

Website

Other website

Friends

Family

Teachers/tutors

TV Advert

Visit to Uni

Admissions staff

Other students

15%

24%

5%14%6%

14%

2%

12%

1%

7%

Fig 1. Sources used to gain information on the University of Sunderland prior to application.

Perhaps not surprisingly the university website was the most used source of gaining information. This highlights the importance of ensuring the information available from these sites are accurate and up to date. As mentioned earlier in this report 18-24 year olds are the most frequent users of website and therefore it is imperative that HEI’s have effective monitoring of their website. The prospectus also plays a key role in the influence on student choice but was closely followed by influence is that of friends.

Where more than one influence was identified, respondents ranked their response by importance. The three main influences were: institution website, visit to the institution and prospectus. The least influential were other websites, TV adverts and admissions staff. Although the website is still listed as the most useful source of information, it is interesting to see that a visit to the university was ranked of greater significance. This is represented in figure 2.


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0

20

40

60

80

100

120

3

2

1

Prosp

ectus

Web

iste

Othe

r web

site

Frien

ds

Family

Teac

hers/

tutor

s

TV A

dvert

Visit t

o Uni

Admiss

ions s

taff

Othe

r stud

ents

Fig 2. Most influential sources of information when deciding upon the University of Sunderland.

The questionnaire then asked students to consider several factors that they consider as most important when deciding upon a HEI. The rating used was 1 being most important, 10 least important. Figure 3 shows the factors listed by order of importance.

Factor Mode Mean

Programme of study 1 3.2

Location 1 3.7

Entry Requirements 2 3.9

Facilities 5 4.8

Academic Reputation 3 4.8

Cost 7 6.0

Information supplied by institution

7 6.6

University staff 9 7.1

Social activities 8 7.5

Accommodation 10 7.5

Fig 3. Factors affecting student choice of University of Sunderland by importance.

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The results show that programme of study is the most important factor for Business School students deciding upon a HEI with location second, both had a mode rating of 1. This is underpinned further when the mean ratings are taken into account and demonstrating that although other factors can be a consideration for prospective student the actual course they chose to study still rates of key importance in their decision making process.

The issue of location is an interesting consideration for HEI’s, some establishments rely heavily on ‘local’ students whilst others are able to attract students from a wider spectrum. Interestingly cost was ranked as the 6th most influential factor, this is at a time when the debate over the increase in tuition fees rage. Students at present do not consider it a significant motivator when choosing their institution.

Both fees and location are areas that may need to be monitored over the coming academic year and it will be fascinating to see if these prove more crucial factors to the intake of students for academic year 2012/13 and indeed the strategies of HEI’s.

Montgomery (2002) states:

“choice between graduate business schools, finds significant effects of cost, location, and school quality in the expected direction.”

It is also worthwhile noting that for those who decided to study at the University of Sunderland reputation, facilities and employability prospects do not get a mention. When fees increase in 2012 many argue that students become a ‘customer’ of the institution and such factors will play an ever more prominent role in the choice of institution.

Soutar & Turner (2002) state “...‘quality’ factors such as Academic reputation and Quality of faculty are consistently identified as fundamentally important...” to a undergraduates choice of institution.

Finally the questionnaire asked the participants about their social network usage, a staggering 94% used some form of social networking site with 68% using Facebook, 27% Twitter, 3% MySpace and 2% Bebo. Clearly this is representative of the age group of students and their preference for interacting through social network sites and again highlights the needs for HEI’s to maintain an ‘online’ presence for their potential students. Figure 4 illustrates this below.


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Facebook

Twitter

MySpace

Bebo

2%

68%

27%

3%

Fig 4. Social Networking Sites used by University of Sunderland year 1 Undergraduate Students

“There is a growing body of evidence that students have developed a different set of attitudes and aptitudes as a result of growing up in an IT and media-rich environment. While this may provide great advantages in areas such as their ability to use information technology and to work collaboratively, it may create a disconnect between their expectations and the learning environment they find in colleges and universities.”

Oblinger (2004)

When asked if this use of social networking extends to searching for prospective HEI’s there was a notable difference with only 26% using the sites to gain information on their prospective HEI. This lower level of use is an area that HEI could look to capitalise upon, and indeed develop as a marketing tool for attracting students.

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Respondents who did use social network sites to gain information on HEI’s found them to be useful with 59% stating that it had an influence on their choice of institution. Comments included:

“Looked at student reviews.”

“I used the sites to gain information and knowledge about the university, people and accommodation.”

“To gather comments from current students to gain a real life perspective.”

“I looked at university groups on facebook to see what the uni was like.”

These comments indicate that the ‘voice’ of current and former students can have an influence on prospective students decision making. Much like other trades where ‘word of mouth’ can entice new custom HEI’s may find that the student voice becomes an ever increasing factor when choosing an institution.

Respondents also acknowledged the role sites can play in choosing the correct programme for them;

“Used as research to help me decide my choice of course.”

“Information on courses.”

“Looked at the courses and picked the best one.”


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Conclusion and points for further consideration

Therefore in summary this research as shown that the information sources used by prospective HEI applicants is generally through convention methods of website, prospectus and advice from friends and family. Cost and location are both factors that have influence on why a student will choose an institution but this is subjective in nature and can change depending upon the applicants personal preferences.

The emergence of social networking sites is a trend that HEI’s not only need to be aware of but proactively embrace and use as a further mechanism for ‘promoting’ their institution. Although not widely used for information finding at present it is a trend that will only increase over the coming years.

The author would suggest the following points for future consideration:

A survey into the impact of the increased tuition fees in 2012, will it be rated as a higher influence than this report’s findings?

Further research into how HEI’s can improve prospective students’ interaction through social network sites. Undertaking a focus group to look into social networking preferences and patterns of media use.

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BibliographyAdcroft, A., Teckman, J & Willis, R. (2010) “Is higher education in the UK becoming more competitive?”, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 23 No. 6

Briggs, S. & Wilson, A. (2007) “Which university? A study of the influence of cost and information factors on Scottish undergraduate choice”, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Vol. 29, No. 1

Coaldrake, P. (2001). “Responding to Changing Student Expectations”, Higher Education Management, Vol. 13, No. 2

Dehne, G. C., et al. (1997). The new student: Are we ready? Do we care? http://www.dehne.com/news_research/research_new_student.html. (Accessed: 10th August 2011)

Gillin, P. (2007). The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media. Fresno: Linden Publishing.

Great Britain. Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance. (2010) Browne Report: Securing a sustainable future for Higher Education. London

Hemsley-Brown, J.V. & Oplatka, I. (2006). “Universities in a competitive global marketplace: a systematic review of the literature on higher education marketing”, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 19, No. 4

Oblinger, D. (2004). “The Next Generation of Educational Engagement”, Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2004 Vol. 8.

Reuben, R. (2008). ‘The use of social media in higher education for marketing and communications: a guide for professionals in higher education’ [online] Available at: http://rachelreuben.com/2008/08/social-media-uses-higher-education-marketing-communication (Accessed: 5th October 2011)

Sanders, G. (2002). ‘The Psychological Contract as an Explanatory Framework for the Student Experience at Sunderland Business School. Unpublished PhD

Solis, B. (2008). “Customer Service: The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media”

Soutar, G. N. & Turner, J. P. (2002). “Students’ preferences for university: A conjoint analysis.” International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 16, No 1


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Websites

http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/18-uk/148-usage-patterns-and-demographics

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8

http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/uk.htm

http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/lord-browne-report-on-higher-education/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8293126/Ucas-university-applications-reach-record-high.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/04/english-universities-rush-of-early-applications-ucas

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Praxis


Aims and Scope

Praxis; the Journal of Practitioner-based Research seeks to support research and scholarly activity within Sunderland College. Submitted papers may cover any topic within the post-compulsory sector, but papers relating to teaching and learning, examples of research-informed good practice (and its impact upon the student learning experience) are particularly welcomed. The remit of Praxis is broad, therefore contributions may be derived from many different fields including, (but not limited to) an action research base, the addressing of fundamental philosophical issues, reports of outcomes of classroom practice or be informed by empirical studies.

Submitted papers will be judged on methodological thoroughness and relevance to the post-compulsory sector.

Praxis aims for a high academic standard with relevance to the field of educational practices.

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Praxis

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0 2ISSN 2047-1858

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Praxis

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Praxis Vol:1 No:2 2012

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