Learning, Teaching and Assessing in Higher Education: Developing Reflective Practice (Teaching in Higher Education)

168 Pages·2007·1.04 MB·English

by  Anne Campbell

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Learning, Teaching and Assessing in
Higher Education:
Developing Reflective Practice
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Learning, Teaching
and Assessing in
Higher Education:
Developing Reflective Practice
Edited by
Anne Campbell
Lin Norton
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First published in 2007 by Learning Matters Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Learning Matters.
© 2007 Chris Beaumont, Christine Bold, Anne Campbell, Anthony Edwards, Wendy Hall, Deirdre
Hewitt, Pat Hughes, Pat Hutton, Anne Marie Jones, Colleen Loomis, Stephen McKinnell, Moira
McLoughlin, Lin Norton, Tessa Owens, John Patterson, Deborah Smith, Moira Sykes and David
Walters
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN–13: 978 1 84445 116 6
The right of Chris Beaumont, Christine Bold, Anne Campbell, Anthony Edwards, Wendy Hall, Deirdre
Hewitt, Pat Hughes, Pat Hutton, Anne Marie Jones, Colleen Loomis, Stephen McKinnell, Moira
McLoughlin, Lin Norton, Tessa Owens, John Patterson, Deborah Smith, Moira Sykes and David
Walters.to be identified as the Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Cover design by Topics – The Creative Creative Partnership
Project management by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock
Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Learning Matters Ltd
33 Southernhay East
Exeter EX1 1NX
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]
www.learningmatters.co.uk
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Contents
Contributors vii
Preface xi
Sally Brown
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Anne Campbell and Lin Norton
Chapter 2 Learning about learning or learning to learn (L2L) 9
Pat Hughes
Chapter 3 Supporting students’ critical reflection-on-practice 21
Christine Bold and Pat Hutton
Chapter 4 Problem-based learning in higher education 31
Tessa Owens
Chapter 5 Action learning and research and inquiry methods 44
on postgraduate courses for professional practitioners
Anne Campbell and Moira Sykes
Chapter 6 Who do they think they are? Students’ perceptions 56
of themselves as learners
David Walters
Chapter 7 Moving from dependence to independence: the 68
application of e-learning in higher education
Anthony Edwards and Stephen McKinnell
Chapter 8 Beyond e-learning: can intelligent agents really 80
support learners?
Chris Beaumont
Chapter 9 Using assessment to promote quality learning in 92
higher education
Lin Norton
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Contents
Chapter 10 Formative assessment of the practice-based element 102
of degree work
Deirdre Hewitt and Deborah Smith
Chapter 11 Building on vocational competence: achieving a 111
better workforce by degrees
Moira McLoughlin and Ann Marie Jones
Chapter 12 Combining service learning and social enterprise in 120
higher education to achieve academic learning, business skills
development, citizenship education and volunteerism
John A. Patterson and Colleen Loomis
Chapter 13 Supporting students with disabilities in higher 130
education
Wendy Hall
Chapter 14 The development of reflective practice in higher 140
education: a theoretical perspective
Lin Norton and Anne Campbell
Index 149
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Contributors
Chris Beaumontis deputy director of the Write Now Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
and Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing at Liverpool Hope University. After graduating as a
Senior Scholar in Computer Science from Trinity College Cambridge, he worked in industry with GEC
and DEC before returning to higher education. He was awarded a Learning and Teaching award from
Liverpool Hope in 2005 and nominated for a National Teaching Fellowship in 2006. He has been
practising and researching problem-based learning (PBL) since 1997 and is currently researching how
pedagogical agents can promote learning in PBL teams.
Christine Boldis a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader at Liverpool Hope University. For the past 14
years, she has worked in higher education on a range of undergraduate programmes in education. She
focuses on improving the learning environment for students through action research projects. Her current
research focuses on the use of e-forums in developing students’ critical reflection about their practice.
Anne Campbell is newly appointed to a personal chair at Leeds Metropolitan University and was
previously Professor of Education at Liverpool Hope University. Anne also holds a Fellowship at the Moray
House School of Education, Edinburgh University. She has a long history of both researching and
supporting others in practitioner inquiry and research. She is the co-author of a major text in this area,
Practitioner Research for Professional Development in Education(Sage 2004), which is used widely in the UK by
practitioner researchers. As well as a long-term interest in learning and teaching in school and higher
education sectors, she researches narrative approaches and the use of practitioners’ stories of professional
practice. She is co-editor of An Ethical Approach to Practitioner Research: Dealing with Issues and Dilemmas in
Action Research (Routledge 2007). Anne is currently a member of the Executive Council of the British
Educational Research Association where she supports the advancement of practitioner research. She is a
member of the editorial boards of the journals Teacher Development and Educational Action Research.
Anthony Edwardsis currently Head of ICT in the Education Deanery at Liverpool Hope University.
He has taught extensively in the secondary sector in the UK and abroad. He has also worked as an
education consultant for BP and been a Fellow of the University of Surrey. He has written a technology
series for schools and presented papers in India and Croatia on e-learning. His current research interest
is the application of new technology to the creative process.
Wendy Hallis an experienced teacher of primary, secondary and adult students. She holds a Masters
qualification in assessment and management of special needs as well as post-graduate qualifications in
the assessment and teaching of dyslexic students. She has tutored, internationally, teachers studying to
qualify as assessors of dyslexic pupils and has written teaching material on the subject of teaching adults
who are dyslexic. She has substantial experience of a variety of disabilities and special needs and has
been the Deanery Disability Advisor for the Education Deanery at Hope. She has provided input to the
TDA on recruiting and retaining students with disabilities.
Deirdre Hewittis a Senior Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University, lecturing on both the Bachelor of
Arts with Qualified Teaching Status (BAQTS) as well as the new Childhood and Youth Studies (BAC)
degree pathway. She has 20 years’ primary school teaching experience. She is interested in supporting
students to develop their reflective learning skills in order to improve their practice. Deirdre is a firm
believer in teaching alongside students, trying to demonstrate on a practical, as well as theoretical level,
how and why assessment is so vital in teaching and learning. She is currently involved in researching
aspects of the teaching of phonics within primary classrooms, as she specialises in primary English.
Pat Hughesis a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at Liverpool Hope University. After a degree at
Durham University, she worked as a social worker, pre-school playgroup supervisor, cleaner, laboratory
assistant and FE lecturer before training to be a primary school teacher. She has been a registered
Ofsted inspector, a non-executive director of Knowsley PCT (NHS) and an external assessor for
performance management. Pat has published many books, articles and training packs with a number of
publishers including Heinemann, Hodder, Wayland, Oxford University Press, Nelson Thornes, David
Fulton and Scholastic. She has contributed chapters to a variety of books published by Routledge, Paul
Chapman, Multilingual Matters and Learning Matters.
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Contributors
Pat Hutton is a lecturer at Liverpool Hope University and is currently involved in the Foundation
Degree in Supporting Learning and Teaching, Educational Studies and Inclusive Education degrees. She
particularly enjoys developing on-line learning and teaching programmes and has contributed to small-
scale research projects at the university. Her experience is varied and in addition to higher education, has
included teaching in mainstream and special sectors, most recently as headteacher in a primary school.
Ann Marie Jones trained as a nurse and then as a health visitor, and has worked in London, Latin
America and Liverpool. She taught child development and health studies for 12 years in further
education. A growing interest in disability studies led to research towards a Masters degree in this area
and is still a central aspect of her current post in Liverpool Hope University, where she was
instrumental in devising the Disability Studies/Special Needs degree programmes and now leads the
Foundation degree. Personal experience of studying part-time whilst working has fuelled her interest in
how best to support non-traditional students through their degree.
Colleen Loomisis Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University and Associate Director
of the Laurier Centre for Community Service-Learning, in charge of research. She received her PhD in
Community-Social Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (2001), was a
Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University Medical Centers (2001–2003), and began working at Laurier
in 2003. Financial support for preparation of this manuscript came, in part, from the McConnell
Foundation and Laurier’s Vice President of Academic Funds for teaching release. The views expressed
herein are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the view of the McConnell Foundation.
Stephen McKinnellis currently Director of the Learning Technology and Web Communications Unit
in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liverpool. During the mid to late 1990s he developed a
growing interest in the use of technology to support his teaching activities at Liverpool Hope and then
in 1999 he was seconded to Hope’s REACHOut programme, a European funded initiative to broaden
access to HE among previously marginalised sections of the community, as its ICT Coordinator. This
was followed by a move to Hope’s Learning and Teaching Development Centre in 2000 where he took
on various roles including supporting the use of Hope’s own in-house developed VLE and the
implementation of a commercially available VLE as its replacement. In 2004 he was appointed as
Hope’s first e-Learning Manager. During this time he maintained a hands on approach to supporting
colleagues as they developed their use of the VLE at Hope. Always keen for the VLE to be more than
just a repository of electronic paper, he worked closely with colleagues from a wide range of subject
areas to develop the blended use of the VLE with traditional face-to-face teaching methods. Stephen
joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liverpool in September 2006 where he continues
to develop the use of a VLE to support learning and teaching activities.
Moira McLoughlinhas taught 7–80+ year olds in a range of settings which include primary schools,
further education, a secure psychiatric hospital, a secure unit for adolescent offenders, and was
headteacher of a residential special school for children with social, emotional and behavioural
difficulties. She has been a Senior Lecturer in Special Educational Needs, Special Needs and now
Disability Studies for nearly six years, initially at Edge Hill University and now at Liverpool Hope
University, having taught at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. She has also been involved in
the training and assessment of learning mentors, higher level teaching assistants and teaching students
on school experience and has a particular interest in the work of para-professionals in schools. Moira
is a lay representative for the North Western Deanery for Postgraduate Medicine and Dentistry.
Lin Norton is Professor of Pedagogical Research and Dean of Learning and Teaching at Liverpool
Hope University, where she has worked for the last 20 years. In her present role, she leads the Centre
for Learning and Teaching (www.hope.ac.uk/learningandteaching/), whose aim is to encourage
continuing professional development through reflective practice and through choice. A chartered
psychologist and psychology lecturer for many years, her research interests include pedagogical action
research, student assessment, meta-learning and lecturers’ beliefs and behaviours. She has published
extensively in journals and books. She currently holds the position of research director in the
collaborative Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning on writing for assessment
(www.writenow.ac.uk) and is Editor of Psychology Teaching Review.
Tessa Owensbegan her career in the Financial Services sector working in Banking and Insurance. She
held a variety of posts from Branch Official, to Systems Analyst in Organisation and Methods,
Administration Management and Management Development. She began teaching Business and
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Contributors
Management Studies in 1992 and joined Liverpool Hope University in September 1999, as a senior
lecturer to co-develop the university’s first uundergraduate pathway in Business Studies.
Tessa has now moved into the Centre for Learning and Teaching where she has a university-wide staff
development remit particularly to promote good pedagogical design when using new technologies.
John A. Patterson is head of Primary Physical Education for Initial Teacher Training at Liverpool
Hope University, teaching on qualified teacher training pathways and the new Inclusive Education
degree. John received his BEd (Hons) from Liverpool Hope (1989) having retrained after some years
as an engineer. John’s teaching career took him across his native Liverpool, ending up as deputy
headteacher and curriculum co-ordinator in a challenging inner-city school. John was employed to pilot
his ideas to raise standards across developing learning networks by a Liverpool City Council Objective
One programme, leaving to develop the SIGNAL process with the Dark Horse Venture charity.
Employed by Liverpool Hope since 2002, John has developed this project, securing an MSc in
Education (2006) focusing on citizenship education and community partnerships in social enterprise.
Deborah Smithis a Senior Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University, lecturing on both the Bachelor of
Arts with Qualified Teaching Status (BAQTS) degree as well as the Early Childhood Studies (BAC)
degree pathway. She has 17 years of primary teaching experience, working across Key Stage 1 and the
Foundation Stage. Her passion is Early Years education. She is currently involved as an assessor for the
Early Years Professional Status following Liverpool Hope University’s successful bid to be one of the
first training providers. Her recently achieved Masters degree focused on the ‘fitness for purpose’ of
assessments within the BAQTS degree.
Moira Sykes worked as a history teacher in secondary schools for 20 years. During this time she
worked closely with higher education in teacher training including the implementation of the National
Curriculum for ICT for teacher training. She is currently the Director of Partnerships for the Education
Deanery in Liverpool Hope. Her research interests are in mentoring and teachers’ professional learning
and development. She teaches on the masters courses and is developing an interest in teacher research
in schools.
David Walters studied music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and at the Royal Northern
College of Music. An experienced piano accompanist, he has spent much time teaching musical
performance skills and coaching students preparing for performance assessments, concerts and recitals.
He has been a member of the Music Department of Liverpool Hope University for many years and has
worked variously as piano tutor, lecturer, Head of Performance and Music Course Leader – frequently,
all at the same time. In addition to these roles, he spent a number of years working across a variety of
subject areas as a Learning and Teaching Fellow.
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