Sambell, Kay

English

Northumbria Research Link

CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGThe impact of Enquiry-BasedLearning on the first year experienceof studentship :student perspectives.Prof. Kay Sambell,Northumbria UniversityNORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH INFORMED TEACHINGINITIATIVECENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGCase study research• First-year students’ experiences of Enquiry-BasedLearning (EBL) on a year-long introductory theorymodule.• Issues• Students mistakenly view learning as passive receipt ofinformation delivered by lecturers.• Increasingly diverse students• Large classes• Pedagogic issues raised by ‘boundaried, interdisciplinarysubject areas. WTP (Meyer & Land, 2005) useful model toexplore tacit assumptions about ways in which researchers(module tutors) approach research- demystify/make explicitresearch process, which often exists ‘behind the scenes’. .CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGWhy Enquiry-Based Learning?• EBL as means of introducing research-basedteaching (Griffiths, 2004) into first year experience• Inspires students to learn for themselves– Brings a genuinely research-like approach to learning the subject(Hutchings & O’Rourke, 2002)– Means of encouraging students to view selves as developingresearchers– The learning processes inherent in interactive, dialogic models oflearning similar to processes of participation in research (Brew,2006)» Mirrors working lives of academics: Academic communities ofpractice, peer interaction, collaboration, trying out ideas, seeingand debating different perspectivesCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGEBL and ‘Ways of Thinking andPractising’ (Meyer & Land, 2005)• Baxter-Magolda (2001) sees involving students inresearch-like activities as supporting them indeveloping sophisticated ‘ways of knowing’,increasing confidence and capability forindependent thinking• Complex assumptions of knowledge stem from participationin mentored research experience, in which teachers teachthe process of knowledge construction in their disciplines,and give stdents opportunities to practiceCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGFraming introductory activity:Rationale introduced and explained tostudents• Introduced students to module tutors’ ownresearch lives and communities• Children’s Literature;• Learning & Teaching (MEDAL) http://medal.unn.ac.uk/• Alumni visit (from Discovery Museum)CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGProject: Staged approach to enquiry Signs Childhood◦ Students’ involved in data collection- findings were‘published’ informally in a Researchers’ Forum set upon BlackBoard (Picasa/wiki) Field site visits◦ Support materials developed Student Conference◦ Work-in-progress facilitated by students from NationalStudent Network◦ Keynote speaker, booking forms, registrationCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGSigns of childhood (Knights, 2005)Students gathered dataCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGResearchers’ Forum established on e-learning portalCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING‘Signs of Childhood’ student researchconferenceCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGA model of the Student Researchprocess(Hughes, 2006)Collection SelectionReflectionProjectionSummative assignmentCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGNew views of studentship:active learning• We’d expect the lecturer to tell us exactly what todo, expect loads of direction• And our work went up on Blackboard, instead ofjust the lecturers’. It’s our thoughts and our ideasso it makes it more personal. So you are moreinclined to read it and remember what it meant,because you were more involved in making it.CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGLow-stakes (Knight & Yorke, 2003)learning environments• It’s the way their module is set up so you get feedbackafter every session. So you know at the end, “Right, I’vedone the best I can do. I’ve taken on board what [thetutors] have said.” And so hopefully that should improveyour mark.• It's actually starting to formulate it in a way that makessense and in a fun way and in a small group way that youfeel comfortable with and then you'll find that differentpeople will take it in different directions.CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGThe importance of peer conversation• The discussions...it’s amazing! Hearing all of thedifferent viewpoints...seeing how things develop• Hearing everybody’s answers you could see howdifferently people saw them. It was reallyinteresting, and we don’t do that in any otherlecture.• It helped a lot seeing how other people viewed itCENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGDeveloping self-evaluation skills• ‘The first semester the same insecurities are runningthrough every single student: ‘my work is not goodenough’. Until you see somebody else’s, that you're onthe same track and you are all learning the same thing,that can really give you a big confidence boost and canmake you think ‘I’m right on the right track’. But also ifyour work is not really that good, if you read somebodyelse’s it pushes you a bit more because you want yours tobe just as good as theirs.’CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGStudent perspectives of research• “I thought research was a big thing to do, itrequired lots of people and money. I thought itwas scientists and stuff. I know it’s not now. Iknow I can do it. It’s about being critical, lookingat what other people have done, then finding amethodology and asking questions.”CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNINGASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGA sense of belonging?• “If I had come to an open day and was told that Iwould have to do a research project, …..I would beout the door! But I do enjoy [this] because I enjoythe way… they don’t sit there and just talk at youfor two hours. You get feedback on the workyou’re doing. For me it has boosted my confidenceand knowing… I mean, I wouldn’t profess to be,you know, I’m not the best student in the class, butit has helped a lot.”

The impact of Enquiry-Based Learning on the first-year experience of studentship: student perspectives

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