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Iredale, Alison

Connecting inclusive learner participation within culturally responsive teaching in Higher Education

Original Citation

Iredale, Alison (2008) Connecting inclusive learner participation within culturally responsive teaching in Higher Education. In: The teaching research interface: Implications for practice in HE and FE. ESCalate, Bristol, pp. 3644.

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Selection of conference papers presented on29th - 30th April 2008 at the University of Stirling

Edited by Dr Muir Houston, University of Stirling

The Teaching-Research Interface: Implications forPractice in HE and FE

Edited by Dr Muir Houston,University of Stirling

Selection of conference paperspresented on 29th - 30th April 2008at the University of Stirling

The Teaching-ResearchInterface: Implications forPractice in HE and FE

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The Teaching-Research Interface: Implications for Practice in HE and FE

Introduction 3Muir Houston, University of Stirling

1. Are Virtual Learning Environments used to facilitate collaborative 5student learning activity? Findings of an institutional evaluation.Chris Turnock and Pat Gannon-Leary, Northumbria University.

2. Using Video-conferencing to Teach in HE 12Simon Clarke, UHI Millennium Institute.

3. The experience of simulating student work experience 18through the Virtual Work Placement tool John Curry, City of Bath College.

4. New pedagogies for postgraduate research teaching: 22integrating on-line research narratives. Gordon Joyes, University of Nottingham & Sheena Banks, University of Sheffield.

5. Didactic transformation in mathematics teaching 30Alexandre Borovik, University of Manchester.

6. Connecting inclusive learner participation within culturally 36responsive teaching in Higher Education. Alison Iredale, University of Huddersfield

7. Widening participation through workplace learning 45Morag Harvey, The Open University.

8. Maintaining Motivation: implications for widening student participation 51Effie Maclellan, University of Strathclyde.

9. Hop, skip and a jump: a three step approach to supporting 57independent learnersCarina Buckley, Sarah Fielding and Judith Martin, University of Portsmouth.

10. Anyone can do it? Supporting educational research in other disciplines 64Fran Beaton and Janice Malcolm, University of Kent.

11. Excellence In Teacher Training: Impact on Teaching and Learning 70Wendy H. Jones, Bournemouth and Poole College.

12. What are Foundation degrees? 78Urmi Joshi, Hackney Community College.

13. Research? When I don’t know who I am or what I am! 85A question of Identity for HE in FE tutorsJenny Eland, Birmingham City University.

14. The Link Between Research and Education: An FE Example 91John Curry, City of Bath College.

There has been a growing interest in recent years in what has been termed the nexus betweenteaching and research and its impact on student learning. As noted by Jenkins, Healey andZetter (2007 p.33) there can be important disciplinary differences in the relationship based inpart on: the nature of knowledge within the discipline; different forms of pedagogy and variationsin delivery and assessment; and, the nature and organisation of research within the discipline.Moreover, the relationship, as the papers in this collection, based on presentations delivered atthe ESCalate Conference - The Teaching-Research Interface: Implications for Practice in HE andFE illustrate, can take many forms.

The first four papers report on research which examines the role of technology in the form ofVirtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and video-conferencing in supporting student learning.Turnock and Gannon-Leary report research which examines the role of VLEs in facilitatingcollaborative learning among students, while the paper by Clarke, examines the role that video-conferencing can play in delivering lecture material to a number of dispersed sites in a largelyrural setting. The third paper by Curry, examines research into the role that a Virtual WorkPlacement tool can play in simulating placement experiences and the impact of this technologyon student learning. This is followed by Joyes and Banks, who report on another use of virtualresources this time in the research training of postgraduate students. Using a dedicated on-linetraining resource, they explore the development of the on-line training suite and its impact onstudent learning.

The focus of the paper by Borovik is research which examines the way important concepts inmathematics are taught to undergraduate students. According to Borovik, students need a clearunderstanding of these concepts in order to successfully progress to more detailed and refinedmathematical problem solving.

The next four papers all to some extent engage with issues of widening participation and socialinclusion. Iredale reports research carried out on an innovative project which seeks toencourage social inclusion, widening participation and urban and social regeneration. Using astudent lifecycle model, Iredale outlines the development of the project and provides someevidence of its wider benefits. The paper by Harvey, takes a slightly different approach towidening participation. Reporting on research into work-based learning, Harvey suggests thatwidening participation by enabling students to use their work-based learning can be bothmotivating and rewarding. Moving back to more conventional delivery settings, MacLennanexamines research on student motivation within the context of the learning cycle and offerssome suggestions as to how teaching staff may attempt to motivate students throughcurriculum design as well as indicating some implications for widening participation. Finally inrelation to widening participation, Buckley, Fielding and Martin report on research into learningpreparation for mature widening participation entrants.

The paper by Beaton and Malcolm, reports on research which examines the effect of disciplinarycultures and its impact on pedagogical research. They report on how an academic developmentunit supports colleagues in subject departments in developing educational research and inquirywith a view to dissemination through publication as a way of raising both institutional andpersonal profiles.

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Introduction

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The final four papers report on developments in the FE sector. Teacher training in FE is the focusof the paper by Jones, who utilises an ethnographic approach to examine the impact of recentreforms in qualifications for teaching in FE. She traces the historical development of these newqualifications and outlines a research programme which seeks to understand how thesechanges have impacted on current trainees. The paper by Joshi examines the development ofFoundation Degrees and reviews the literature on work-based learning. Findings are presentedon the perceptions of both students and employers in relation to the benefits of work-basedlearning and suggestions on how to improve communication between the college andemployers are made. The role of tutors delivering HE level course in an FE environment areexamined by Eland. Issues of identity and tutors perceptions of the language of research andscholarship, commonly used in HE, are examined. Finally, Curry reports on capacity building inrelation to research in FE colleges. Curry suggests that developing a staff research culture canaid recruitment, retention and student motivation.

Muir Houston, University of [email protected]

References:Jenkins, A., Healey, M. and Zetter, R., 2007. Linking teaching and research in departments anddisciplines. York: The Higher Education Academy.

IntroductionMany authors have identified how additionalVLE functionality offers potential use of non-transmissive approaches to education inwhich there is a belief that deep studentlearning will occur, e.g. constructivist andcollaborative learning methodologies. Whilstthe authors were aware of some internal useof non-transmissive approaches to VLE use,there was little evidence to support anyanecdotally based conclusions about theextent to which such activity occurred.Therefore, the purpose of this study was toobtain information from students about theiruse of the university’s VLE, enabling theauthors to evaluate the extent to which theVLE was used as both a transmissive andnon-transmissive tool.

The study’s aims were:• To find out what students used on the VLE• To determine what students used the VLE

for• To investigate student perceptions of the

VLE

• To find out what additional informationand features students would like on theVLE

• To identify factors influencing studentusage of the VLE

MethodologyThe methodology employed in this studyfollowed principles for examining students’experiences of technology recommended forthe JISC e-learning programme and whichhave formed the basis of a number of recentmajor studies of students’ views on the useof technology in Higher Education, such asthe JISC LEX (Mayes, 2006) and LXP (Conole& de Laat, 2006) projects. The study used anaturalistic approach, recruiting studentvolunteers to use various tools that wouldprovide a triangulated, essentially open-ended approach to obtaining students’perspectives on how they used the VLE. Toobtain both breadth and depth in datacollected about students’ use of the VLE,three methods of data collection were used:questionnaire, diary and focus group.

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Are Virtual Learning Environments used to facilitate collaborativestudent learning activity? Findings of an institutional evaluation

1. Are Virtual Learning Environments used to facilitatecollaborative student learning activity? Findings of aninstitutional evaluation.

Chris Turnock and Pat Gannon-Leary, Northumbria [email protected] [email protected]

Summary Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are used extensively within higher education, primarily asan educational tool, but can also have additional functionality. There has been considerabledebate, both internal to the university and in the external academic community, about the valueof a VLE, e.g. MacLaren (2004), Sharp et al. (2005) and Conole and de Laat (2006). The focus ofthis debate is whether or not a VLE is primarily used as a transmissive tool, in which the teacherdetermines VLE content and communication and which tends to be teacher initiated while thestudent adopts a passive role (Jonassen & Land, 2000). Whilst a transmissive approach may bean important element in students’ learning experiences, there is little evidence to suggest suchusage facilitates deep learning.

KeywordsVirtual learning environments / collaborative learning / transmissive learning / student evaluation.

The questionnaire was selected to provide abroad student perspective on their VLEactivity and was completed on-line via theStudent Union web site. Design of thequestionnaire structure enabled the authorsto collect information about how studentsused the VLE from both a transmissive andnon-transmissive perspective, ease of use,support provided in VLE use, personalfeelings about using the VLE, evaluatingimpact of VLE use on their learning anddemographic data.*

The second data collection tool to be usedwas a diary that was used after thequestionnaire completion period hadexpired. The diary provided an opportunity,through adoption of an open endedstructure, for students’ accounts of their VLEuse, for example how they used the VLE andthe relationship between VLE use and theiroverall learning, to obtain detailed insightsinto student activity. The students completedthe diary for one VLE session each week overan eight week period.*

The focus group was the final data collectiontool used to enable the authors to acquireclarification about student diary data as wellas explore further the themes emerging fromdiary and questionnaire data. Discussionwithin the two focus groups covered aspectsof inconsistencies in the VLE, relationshipbetween the VLE functionality and theirlearning style as well as the actual andpotential of the VLE for studentcommunication and collaboration.*

407 students (1.67% of the university’sstudent body) responded to university widepublicity and volunteered to complete theon-line questionnaire. A purposive sample of14 students was selected to complete thediary with the same 14 students participatingin one of two focus groups. These 14students were chosen so that all nine of theuniversity school’s were represented andthat a cross-section of undergraduate andpostgraduate programme years were

included as well as international students. Quantitative data resulting from thecompleted questionnaires and diaries weresubjected to descriptive statistical analysis(Patton 2002). Qualitative data obtained fromall three data collection methods wereanalysed following the principles of thematiccoding (Boyatzis 1998). One member of theresearch team read through the transcribedinterview transcripts and generated somecategories descriptive of the interviewcontents. After discussion with colleagues inthe team, the categories derived weregrouped and refined into a thematic codingscheme. Inevitably, in this process, datareduction occurs as the research team tookdecisions about concepts and, insummarising, coding, eliciting themes andclustering responses. Such a datareduction/transforming process is referred toby Strauss (1987) as the conceptualisation ofdata. By collaborating as a team, theresearchers hoped to reduce theintrusiveness of the researchers by workingtowards a mutual interpretation of the data.Interview transcripts were revisited by theteam members and passages allocatedparticular codes across the transcripts wereextracted, matched and commented upon byeach team member. The results sectionrepresents the outcome of this process.

ResultsThe study found that a majority of students(66%) logged into the VLE on a daily basis.The predominant ways in which the VLE wasused concerned students either downloadingand then annotating learning materials, orusing the VLE for assignment preparation.

Table 1 indicates the time in minutes spent inthe VLE by students on one day in each ofthe eight week period of diary completion.

The data provided insight into the students’views of the contribution that the VLE madeto their learning, both in a positive andoccasionally, a negative way. This paperutilises participants’ comments to illustrate

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* Copies of all instruments are available from the authors on request.

the authors’ interpretation of the data, whichidentified the different ways that the VLEenhanced student learning as well asconsidering factors impeding their learningand how the VLE might be more effectivelyused.

The data provided an overview of studentactivity within the VLE. Table 2 illustrateswhat students did in terms of downloading,note taking, printing and reading notes viathe VLE:

Student activity data suggests that the VLE isprimarily used as a content repository, withlittle indication of non-transmissiveapproaches to learning being used. Themesgenerated from the qualitative data were asfollows:

Extension of subject knowledgeSome students discussed how extension oftheir subject knowledge was made possibleby the provision of supplementaryinformation on the VLE:

The VLE gives you the opportunity toexplore subjects in more detail… The VLE…has helped on essay writing and allother aspects of university project life…itcontains useful information on subjectswhich help you learn but also on subjectswhich you would be interested in, allowingyou to extend your knowledge. (2nd yearfemale UK student)

Modernity and motivation.Students welcomed the modernity of the VLEand found it motivated them in their learning:

The information was clear and conciseand helped me understand the workwhich I was trying to do. Therefore I feltmore motivated to complete it to a higherlevel…, it was a very contemporary way toreceive information…(1st year femaleinternational student)

Other students liked the flexibility of the VLE,the “any time, any place” aspect of usageand the ability to communicate with theirlecturers via the VLE:

The VLE is an interesting addition toteaching because it means that you haveaccess to everything you need to know forthe module and course at any time day ornight. (3rd year female UK student)

The VLE as a source of support& interactivityAlmost half of the survey respondents (42%)agreed that the VLE fostered interaction withstaff. When their lecturers were unavailableor time was short, students recognised thatthey could get support from the VLE:

The VLE is a good way to learn…especially at times when I may findsomething difficult on my course and donot have the time to speak to a lecturer, Ican log on to VLE and get information.(2nd year female UK student)

Support could be forthcoming not only fromlecturers but from other students in moduleswhere interactivity was encouraged:

I could not successfully complete amodule without the VLE site. I use VLE toallow me to interact with other studentsand lecturers via the discussion boardsand it often helps when I am strugglingwith work, especially when I know othersare also finding it difficult.(2nd year female UK student)

The interactivity and communications aspectof the VLE were described as beingbeneficial to shy students and tointernational students who might be inhibitedabout speaking up in class but felt moreconfident engaging in on-line discussion.This could help increase such students’confidence.

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Independent study and personalisation.The VLE afforded students the opportunity topace themselves and engage in independentstudy:

The VLE …allows the individual to bemore in control of their own learning andgo at their own pace… (2nd year femaleUK student)

Students were aware of how the VLE couldcater for different learning styles:

Students each learn differently so byhaving a mixture of learning options it willallow all students to be able to use theVLE to help themselves. (1st year femaleUK student)

The reflective studentFurthermore, students described how theyused the VLE to reflect on sessions,particularly by downloading and annotatingon-line learning materials provided by thelecturer, e.g. lecture notes and furtherreading links. However, some studentsbelieved the VLE was not being used formaximum benefit and as such limitedopportunities for students to adopt astudent-centred approach to learning:

I have not greatly benefited from the VLEin a sense regarding teaching; it is morean information point for me. It mainlysaves me time if I can print off lecturesrather than taking a lot of notes…The VLEis not as yet an aid to learning nor a way oflearning. There has been nothing morethan lectures put on the VLE. (2nd yearfemale UK student)

Certainly students were aware of how theeffectiveness of the VLE was dependent onusage by staff and students:

The VLE is certainly an effective additionto teaching in terms of the facility to postlearning information and material.

Sometimes it is an interesting addition toteaching. It depends on the lecturer andhow they use it. (postgraduate female UKstudent)

On the other hand there were instanceswhen lecturers used the VLE but thestudents on the module did not availthemselves of the options made available tothem:

It also depends on the student cohort.For example, one of my lecturers started adiscussion board this semester which Ithought was a really good idea and a goodway to stimulate interest but no onebothered to post anything there!(postgraduate female UK student)

This is a common experience with face-to-face courses since students may feel there isno real need to use virtual discussion whenthey have direct access to their peers. Use oftechniques to encourage participation,particularly through staff developmentactivity, might increase discussion boardactivity:

Students use the VLE just because theirtutors ask them to do it. They do not use iton their own initiative. That may be one ofthe reasons why on-line discussion is notused widely…The function of interactivityis available on VLE, but students are notinterested in it. I think one of the mainreasons is that the “authors” of VLE arenot responsible… too busy to make theirmodule information attractive.(postgraduate female internationalstudent)

However, it would be inappropriate to blamestudents for failing to use the VLE if staff lackthe time, experience and training to makeon-line material more attractive. Lecturersmay not be afforded the time to developexpertise or attend training sessions toenable this.

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Students appeared to adopt a student-centred approach to their learning whenusing a teacher-controlled facility since theywere able to identify ways they met theirindividual learning needs, as in the followingexample:

I normally do a lot of research to understandthe problem very clear before solving it. Ineed a clear structure or strategy to learn andestablishing them take me a lot of time. Ithink VLE is suitable for me because theamount of material and how it is organisedhelp me to reduce my time searching formaterials and focussing more on the actualproblem. (postgraduate male internationalstudent)

Impediments to student engagementwith the VLEStudents identified a number of impedimentsto their use of the VLE, including nature ofcontent; lack of effective induction;consistency in navigation functionality; and,access problems.

Text-based contentSome e-Learning systems containpredominantly text-based content whichmay make users less engaged during on-linelearning. Users dislike reading large volumesof text on screen (Carswell, 1998). AsCarswell points out, students are used to the‘web culture’s colourful punchy documentswhich display their information quickly andeasily’ (Carswell, 1998: 47). The VLE wascriticised by a number of students for itslimited functionality and over-reliance ontext, which may partially explain low take-upin some modules:

As I study Law I often have to read longpassages of text which can be quiteboring but if there were images andinteractive questions and answers to testyourself on what you have just read, itwould make it more interesting. (1st yearfemale UK student)

InductionOnly 13% of the questionnaire respondentsfelt that they needed more guidance in usingthe VLE and, overall, 85% agreed that theywere confident using the VLE. However, anumber of student focus group participantsidentified problems in their preparation:

I didn’t receive much support at thebeginning of my course on how to use theVLE so found that I have taught myself.(1st year female UK student)

It would appear that some students wouldhave preferred greater information about theVLE plus more preparation for using the VLE:

I wish I had understood the significance ofit……I really wish that we had theopportunity to use VLE and navigate ourway around the site as if we weredownloading lecture notes before alecture etc as that would have made itstick in my mind so much more. Also ifsomeone had actually said the words“This is the most significant thing you willdo today and it will have great significanceto the way you will study all year” I wouldhave paid more attention. (postgraduatefemale UK student)

This comment would seem to indicate aneed for a more effective inductionprogramme, including emphasising theimportance of the VLE.

Access and navigationIn the case of these two impediments, Britainand Liber (1999) discuss the ‘micro-world’ ofthe VLE and the potential impact of how thecourse structure is set up with linkage oftools to course homepages etc. While 78.5%of questionnaire respondents felt the VLEwas easy to navigate, an issue ofinconsistent appearance emerged in thestudy:

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Different layouts for different modules cancause confusion…should be a standardlayout for each module. Although ‘modulecontent’, ‘learning material’ and ‘learningresources’ might all be the same thing, itcan cause confusion…(2nd year male UKstudent)

These comments provide guidance to staffabout the need to consistently design VLEsites, assess ease of navigation through aVLE site and prepare students for using theVLE.

Concluding remarksMost student activity in the VLE appears tobe associated with a transmissive approachto learning. Whilst there is some evidence ofnon-transmissive approaches being used,particularly student collaboration andconstructivist learning activity, it seems to belimited usage. Student data provides littleindication that academic facilitation ofcollaborative and/or constructivist learningoccurs, predominant academic use of theVLE being as a repository of teacherproduced learning materials.

The VLE offers pedagogic benefits to staffand students. For example it has thepotential to help students explore subjectsfurther and in more depth, it can motivatestudents, it affords students the opportunityto pace themselves and engage inindependent study; and it can aid reflectivethought.

Students identified other aspects of their VLEuse that have implications for developmentand use of the VLE by staff. Some studentsbelieved they needed more preparation inusing the VLE. Inconsistencies in sitestructures hindered students’ ability tonavigate module sites. A number of studentsbelieved that the VLE’s communication toolshad, if used effectively, the potential toenhance student learning.

The study highlights several areas in whichstaff may want to consider developing initialstudent preparation for using the VLE,ensuring students are not only able to usethe VLE, but understand its importance intheir learning. Furthermore, staff shouldconsider how to best make use of the VLE’spotential to support collaborative and/orconstructivist learning activity to facilitatedeep learning.

Many of these recommendations haveimplications for staff. However, the authorsacknowledge that the study did not obtainstaff perspectives on how a VLE canenhance student learning. Another group notincluded in the study was students onprogrammes making no use of the VLE.Whilst the authors attempted to obtain theviews of such students, none volunteered tocomplete the online questionnairespecifically designed for them. Both staffVLE users and non VLE student users wouldform groups worthy of study, though theresources available to the authors meant thatthe study focussed upon student users.

References Boyatzis, R., 1998. Transforming qualitativeinformation: Thematic analysis and codedevelopment. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Britain, S. & Liber, O., 1999. Framework forPedagogical Evaluation of Virtual LearningEnvironments. JISC Technology ApplicationsReport 4, [Online] Available at:http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001237.htm [Accessed 17 January 2008].

Carswell, L., 1998. The ‘Virtual University’:toward an Internet paradigm. ACM SIGCSEBulletin, 30(3), p.46-50.

Conole, G. & de Laat, M., 2006. Learnerexperiences of e-learning, [Online] Availableat: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning_pedagogy/elp_learnerxp.aspx[Accessed17th January 2008].

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Jonassen, D. & Land, S., 2000. Theoreticalfoundations of learning environments.Mahwah NJ: Erlbaum.

MacLaren, I., 2004. New trends in web-based learning: objects, repositories andlearner engagement. European Journal ofEngineering Education, 29 (1), p.65-71.

Mayes, T., 2006. LEX: Learner experiences of e-learning. Methodologyreport, [Online] Available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/lex_method_final.doc [Accessed17th January 2008].

Patton, M., 2002. Qualitative research &evaluation methods. (3rd edition), ThousandOaks: Sage.

Sharpe, R., Benfield, G., Lessner, E. &DeCicco, E. (2005) Scoping Study for thePedagogy Strand of the JISC e-LearningProgramme. [Online] Available at:http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning_pedagogy/elp_learneroutcomes.aspx [AccessedJanuary 2007].

Strauss, A.L., 1987. Qualitative analysis.New York: Cambridge Press.

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Table 1: Minutes spent by diarists on VLE

Table 2: Downloading, note taking, printing and reading and the VLE

Action Number usingDownloads 23Note-taking from screen 4Printing 24On-line reading 20

Teaching Activity WeekNumber Date Mean Mode Median

Semester one teaching 1 Nov 13 67 120 352 Nov 20 78 120 603 Nov 27 54 60 604 Dec 4 78 60 60

Semester 1 5 Dec 11 62.5 60 60exam period 6 Jan 8 72 60 60Independent study week 7 Jan 15 52 180 5

Semester 2 teaching 8 Jan 22 53 120 20

IntroductionBefore considering how VC is used in detailit is necessary to outline the reasons forusing the technology. UHI is not aconventional educational institution intowhich students can travel to receive acentralised service. Rather it is a partnershipof scattered campuses, colleges andresearch centres spread across theHighlands and Islands of Scotland. UHI wasset up with the aim of eventually becoming auniversity in and for the Highlands andIslands. The intention was that the region’speople would not be obliged to leave theircommunities in order to study at degree levelor pursue a career in academia. It was alsohoped that locally managed courses wouldbetter reflect the economic needs andcultural aspirations of the indigenous people(UHI 2003, p.3). The reason this has neverhappened before is that the region has arelatively modest population (about half amillion), scattered over a huge area. It hastherefore lacked the necessary critical massfor a conventional HEI (Hills and Lingard2003, figs. 2, 3 and 4). In the late twentiethcentury two things changed. Firstly a muchhigher proportion of the population wasgiven the opportunity to go to university andsecondly technology started to offer theprospect of bringing services togethervirtually, through use of the internet andvideo-conferencing (Hills & Lingard 2003,

p.32). The UHI project has tried to build onexisting educational provision in the form of15 independent educational and researchinstitutions. As well as the main campusesmany of the further education institutionshave small outreach/learning centres, whichmeans that most of the Highlands andIslands population is within reach of thenetwork.

The difficulties of offering HE in theHighlands and Islands environment isdemonstrated by the example of ShetlandFurther Education College, centring on themain town Lerwick, Shetland. Shetland isphysically isolated from the rest of Scotland,a hour’s flight or twelve hours on the ferryfrom Aberdeen. Communication is also achallenge internally. Shetland’s populationof just under 22,000 people are scatteredover an archipelago of 15 inhabited islands,stretching north south for over 120 km, evenwithout counting Fair Isle, which is half wayto Orkney (SIC 2006, p.4).

The institution currently supportsapproximately 75 full time and 120 part timelocally based HE students, on programmesranging from HNC to PhD level (ShetlandCollege 2008), but only one member of staffis wholly engaged in HE. (Most HE studentsare supported by lecturers whose mainbusiness is FE teaching).

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2. Using Video-conferencing to Teach in HE

Simon Clarke, UHI Millennium Institute. [email protected]

Summary This paper will examine the use of video-conferencing (VC) as part of a blended learningapproach within the UHI Millennium Institutes's networked taught degree programmes.Discussion will focus on the author’s generally positive experiences of using the technology tosupport students, but will also highlight potential weaknesses which can lead to less satisfactorylearner outcomes, and have limited the uptake of the technology amongst UHI’s lecturers.

Keywords video-conferencing / networked teaching / UHI Millennium Institute / blended learning

Networked Learning Using VC and VLETechnologyClearly such a small college acting inisolation could not support the diversity ofspecialisms that are required in a degreeprogramme. The solution has been to drawon the resources of other colleges by meansof video-conferenced classes supported bythe use of a Virtual Learning Environment(VLE). For example on the BA Culture Studiesprogramme politics, sociology and someliterature modules are taught to Shetlandstudents from Inverness College. Thearrangement is a reciprocal one, with theauthor offering archaeology and heritagemanagement modules to students across thenetwork. In semester one of 2007-8 forexample the module “History of MaterialCulture” (a core module for both BScEnvironment and Heritage and BA CultureStudies and an option for BA ScottishHistory) was taught to 44 students based in16 different campuses and learning centres.

The role of the lecturer in remote colleges istherefore twofold; Firstly lecturers act asacademic specialists, providing a servicethroughout the UHI partnership. Secondly,and equally importantly, they offer non-specialist support to students locally, initiallyinducting them in the use of VC and VLE andthen providing encouragement and generalacademic support. As has been foundelsewhere this second role is vital to studentretention and achievement on e-programmes(Goldstein 2002, p.14-15; Boys 2008, p.11).

Both the institution and individual academicsbenefit from this arrangement. Small collegesare able to offer a greatly expanded range ofcourses. Because cohorts can be assembledfrom across the region the lecturer is able tobe a specialist, which means they can teachto a higher standard, and keep their workload to reasonable proportions, allowing timefor engagement with research. In fact withoutthis arrangement the author’s post inShetland College would not be educationallyor economically viable.

The Learning ExperienceStudents also benefit from the use of VCtechnology, getting weekly interactivesessions with their tutors in a way that couldnot be achieved by a VLE alone. The typicalVC set-up has either two screens, or a splitscreen, with one incoming image and oneoutgoing. The incoming signal is voiceactivated to show whoever in the remoteaudience is currently speaking. Often this willbe the lecturer, but if another site asks aquestion or wants to make a point the imagein all the participating suites switches to thatstudent. Indeed as all the sites haveessentially the same equipment thetechnology can have a profoundly levellingeffect. There is no front of the class, nopodium from which the lecturer holds court.Everyone can, with encouragement,contribute on an equal basis. Used correctlythis can be a powerful aid to student-centredlearning in which the class are encouraged toplay an active, contributory role.

The outgoing signal is typically a camerafocused on the local participants, but mostUHI VC suites also have alternative inputdevices. The first is the “document camera”or “object camera” which allows the operatorto show slides and documents, even smallobjects to the remote group. Input is alsopossible from a PC or laptop so thatPowerPoint presentations or video-clips canbe shown. This means that teachingsessions have the potential to be as visuallyrich as in a conventional classroom.

Differences to a Conventional Classroom While a VC learner experience is in manyways comparable in quality to a face-to-faceencounter, the VC delivery is different fromconventional classroom teaching in anumber of important respects. These need tobe bourn in mind if learning is not to be badlydegraded. The most striking difference is theabsence of instant feedback from VC classes(contra Smyth 2005, who over estimates thecapabilities of the technology). During VCsessions sites without an immediate

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Using Video-conferencing to Teach in HE

contribution to make are encouraged to mutetheir microphones to improve the audioquality (cut out background noise and audiofeedback) and to avoid the image changingevery time papers rustle or a participantcoughs. Noise in the classroom can be atrial, but it is also a vital clue as to the moodof the class; are they bored,uncomprehending etc. Similarly unless theVC has been set to show multiple sites, like“Celebrity Squares” panellists each in a tinysplit screen box, the lecturer’s incomingscreen will normally show only the last site tohave spoken. The majority of theparticipating sites are therefore not givingany visual cues from body language; has theclass slumped at their desks or even left theroom! The solution is for the lecturer toconstantly be soliciting the variousparticipants for their opinion. At the very leastthe class should be given the chance to askquestions, and confirm that they haveunderstood the points made so far. Ideallyhowever remote students should be requiredto actively participate – offer their ownopinion on issues raised or provideadditional local examples.

It is technically perfectly possible to deliver aformal lecture by VC. However from apedagogical perspective it is not normallydesirable to do so. It is very difficult to holdthe attention of a class that you are gettingno visual or audio cues from. To be effective,short burst of presentation by VC should beinterspersed with question and answersessions and opportunities for the wholeclass to contribute. Interaction after all neednot just be between the student and lecturer.

There will of course be considerablyquantities of “content”, significant facts thatany course needs to impart to the class.However if the lecturer is in “broadcast only”mode there are cheaper and more reliablemechanisms than VC available. In the pastthis might have been done with handouts ora course workbook In the era of the internetthese are conveniently replaced by materials

held on a VLE, for UHI currently Blackboard.This allows most of the necessary knowledgeto be delivered asynchronously, and thusavailable to the student at a time of theirconvenience. A good learning and teachingpattern is to expect students to have readmaterials ahead of the timetabled VCsession. This liberates the class fromknowledge transfer allowing it to concentrateon student participation.

Student Satisfaction and Staff UptakeModule evaluation from ‘History of MaterialCulture’ suggests most students are happy orvery happy with their experience. In particularthey value the detailed on-line notes anddirections for further reading (much of itidentified on-line). Although VLE interaction ispossible and positively encouraged throughthe discussion board, most students muchprefer the live VC discussion which occursinterspersed with short bursts of slidepresentations by the lecturer. Used properlyVC can give a classroom experiencecomparable to conventional face to faceteaching. Student satisfaction is by no meansconfined to “generation-y” born to the age ofe-communication. UHI’s networked coursesrecruit very high proportions of maturestudents, including pensioners. If supportedadequately the UHI experience is that moststudents quickly get used to the technology,even if they have had little previousexperience.

Sadly the blended learning experiencerepresented by the “History of MaterialCulture” module might be regarded asexceptional. A recent survey of UHI’s VCteaching found only one other UHI modulewas taught to as many learning centres. Asignificant proportion of UHI VC teaching is toonly one or two other centres, and studentcohorts are usually modest (VC StakeholdersGroup 2007). Such VC use is certainlyextending the range of subjects availableacross the different partners and probably thespecialist qualifications of those leadingclasses. These are worthwhile achievements,

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but it is not clear that UHI’s use of thetechnology is generally being managed tomake delivery more efficient or financiallysustainable. Furthermore blended delivery isnot the dominant mode within UHI, becausethe majority of courses continue to bedelivered conventionally face to face to smalllocal cohorts in parallel rather than bynetworked provision, even where the samequalification is available in more than onecentre.

One reason for this is certainly the perceptionamongst staff and students that VC deliveryrepresents a second rate experiencecompared to conventional classroomcontact. Recent focus groups in InvernessCollege for example have been highly criticalof VC provision, citing poorly preparedsupport materials, poor VC room set up and alack of interaction in VC classes (VCStakeholders Group 2008).

Good and Bad VC PracticeThere is no detail in the focus group reportsto suggest which modules or even whichcourses students are being critical of.However considerable anecdotal evidenceexists of less than ideal practice. One of themost common problems has been staff failingto modify their conventional classroomderived technique. Often little or no allowanceis made for the strengths and weaknesses ofthe technology so that materials areunavailable or illegible and activities poorlyconsidered or non-existent for remotestudents.

In some cases students are based locally inthe centre from which a lecturer is delivering.It is not impossible for combined local andremote classes, but often the lecturer endsup addressing the local group to theexclusion of the remote learners. Unless thelecturer make a conscious effort to addressthe camera, creating the illusion of eyecontact, the students watching by VC willquickly feel excluded. In the most extremecases due to the way rooms have been set up

teaching staff have turned their backs on theVC camera in order to faced those presentlocally. Nothing could be more calculated togenerate a sense of alienation in the remotestudents, who naturally feel that they arepassive onlookers intruding on someoneelse’s learning experience. Comments andquestions from the local group are evenharder to handle well, easily degenerating intolocal round table discussions to the exclusionof the wider group. Care needs to be taken toensure that microphones can pick upstudents’ contributions and ideally that theytoo can address the VC camera.

Everyone participating in the VC, not just thelecturer, needs to make an effort to ensurethey get the most out of the technicalcapabilities of the equipment. The wholepoint of VC is to be seen and heard, and thatmeans appropriate room layout, direction ofthe camera and lighting. Sitting off camera orin the dark are simply not acceptable.If you cannot see the participants’ facesthey may just as well have joined by phone!Lecturers obviously need to set a goodexample themselves, but they also need toactively correct students in their use, asthey would challenge disruptive behaviourin a conventional classroom or poorgrammar in written work. Quite apart fromthe impact on the VC session itself these areimportant transferable skills in the knowledgeeconomy.

Institutional SupportThe infrastructure required to connectstudents and lecturers to their classes isformidable. UHI has invested heavily in largenumbers of VC suites (five in ShetlandCollege alone), network bandwidth and the“bridging facilities”. It also employs a full timeteam of VC technicians to oversee thefacilities and manage the booking andconnection process. Classes are pre-bookedwith all the details of which suites are to beconnected at what time and for how longrecorded on an automated system. The VCbridge team is based in Shetland College, but

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could have been based anywhere; monitoringthe process and fixing problems remotely.The majority of classes start smoothly withonly a minimum of technical input from thelecturer who is free to concentrate onteaching. If a VC suite is wrongly connectedor fails to due to technical problems help isonly a phone call away.

The efficiency of this process is an importantprerequisite for success. UHI’s considerabletechnical competence however is not enoughin itself. As Dearing noted “all HE institutionsshould develop managers who combine adeep understanding of communications andinformation technology with seniormanagement experience” (Dearing 1997;paragraph 42). Development of widelynetworked courses have been materiallyobstructed by the fractured nature of UHI’sadministration – what it refers to as its“federal collegiate model of governance” (UHI2006). The most graphic illustration of this ispartner institutions’ extremely reluctant torelinquish control of time tables and roombooking systems, to the extent that while VCconnections can be booked centrally, therooms that the equipment sit in need to bebooked separately with each of the collegesand leaning centres. Similarly the detail ofsemester timetables has never been centrallyagreed (Hills and Lingard 2003, p.190). Whilethe UHI’s start and finish dates are generallyadhered to, colleges set their own holidaysand differences, especially at the Easter andOctober breaks, are particularly problematicto networked courses. Some students missout on a significant amount of supportbecause they are not able to attend VCs. Thisraises the issue of equivalence of the learningexperience at different centres, andundermines students’ confidence in theadministrative competence of UHI. Similarly acommon system of VC teaching slots basedon standard 90 minute sessions has beenestablished across the main networked UHIcourses for several years, but is widelyflouted. A recent survey found that almosthalf of bookings for teaching by VC did notconform (VC Stakeholders Group 2007). Thismeans that the VC equipment cannot be

used efficiently and potentially that studentsare denied access to particular modules dueto the availability of the VC suites.

Many staff are reluctant to leave the comfortzone of traditional teaching and some fearthey would be innovating themselves out of ajob. JISC’s statement that e-learning hasenabled some courses to enrol additionalstudents without increasing the staff base(JISC 2008, p.31), will be regarded with deepsuspicion by many academics. Blendedteaching using VC and VLE requiressubstantial investment ahead of delivery, forexample in the development of on-linematerials (Inglis et al 2002, pp.56-7, pp.75-6).This requires initiative and drive on the part oflecturers, but also institutional support fornew ways of working. This has not alwaysbeen forthcoming in UHI where somecolleges’ thinking continues to be dominatedby narrow definitions of “contact time” –hours spent in front of classes, with little or noacknowledgement of time supportingstudents on-line or creating and maintainingmaterials for asynchronous delivery.

Within UHI it is notable that areas of pre-existing teaching strength, such ascomputing and business administration,present in almost every partner college, havegenerally continued with parallel localteaching rather than collaborating to teachacross the network. In contrast ambitiousnetworked programmes such as CultureStudies have often been created fromscratch, staffed substantially by newappointments, with no existing local coursesto build out from. With these institutional impediments toprogress it is perhaps not surprising that takeup has not been wider.

ConclusionTo conclude, looking firstly at the positive, VCteaching has significantly extended what it ispossible for staff to teach and students studyin remote UHI campuses. On a personal levelit was the only way my appointment to teacharchaeology in Shetland could have beenviable.

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Personally I have found the combination ofVC with VLE rewarding, giving me the senseof connection with students, and thefeedback to improve my teaching that wouldprobably have been absent from VLE alone.From the perspective of Shetland Collegestudents the approach has met withconsiderable success. In 2007 four studentsgraduated in Shetland from the CultureStudies honours programme; two with firsts,two with upper second class degrees. Threeof the four were students that would not havebeen able to attend a conventional course, sothe provision can be said to have significantlybroadened access to HE in Shetland.

There is however a down side which partiallyexplains the failure of VC delivery to havebeen taken up more widely. Firstly VCdelivery requires individual staff to completelyrevise their teaching practice, and many arestruggling in the absence of effectivedirection and encouragement. At theinstitutional level a massive outlay inhardware in the form of VC equipment is onlypart of what is required. Courses networkedacross the UHI partnership also represent aformidable organisational challenge for whichUHI lacks a cross institutional line-management system or the political will toenforce the kind of standardisation ofoperation necessary for efficient and effectiveintegrated student support across thepartnership.

ReferencesBoys, J., 2008. Introduction. in Boys, J. &Ford, P. (eds) The e-Revolution and PostCompulsory Education: Using e-BusinessModels to Deliver Quality Education. London:JISC/Routledge. p.1-23.

Dearing, R., 1997. The Dearing Report onHigher Education in the Learning Society.National Committee of enquiry into HigherEducation.

Goldstein, M. 2002. The Economics ofe-Learning. In Teaching as e-Business?Research and Policy Agendas; SelectedConference Proceedings, Centre for Studiesin HE (CSHE) University of California,Berkeley. pp.13-16http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=cshe[accessed 9 June 2008].

Hills, G. & Lingard, R., 2003. UHI: The Makingof a University. Edinburgh: Dunedin AcademicPress.

Inglis, A., Ling, P. & Joosten, V., 2002.Delivering Digitally: Managing the Tradition tothe Knowledge Media Second Edition, Openand Distance Learning Series, London:Korgan Page.

JISC, 2008. Exploring Tangible Benefits ofe-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest?Northumbria University.

SIC, 2006. Shetland In Statistics 2006Economic Development Unit, Lerwick:Shetland Islands Council.

Shetland College, 2008. Operational Plan2007-8, (unpublished internal document).

Smyth, R., 2005. Broadband Video-conferencing as a tool for learner centreddistance learning in HE. British Journal ofEducational Technology 36(5), p.805 – 820.

UHI, 2003. Strategic Plan 2003-7, Inverness:UHI Millennium Institute.

UHI, 2006. Our Visionhttp://www.uhi.ac.uk/uhi/our-vision[Accessed 9 June 2008].

VC Stakeholders Group, 2007. Minute of V-CStakeholders Group Held on 2 November,Internal UHI document.

VC Stakeholders Group, 2008. Minute of V-CStakeholders GroupHeld on 18 January 2008, Internal UHIdocument.

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IntroductionSome jobs are largely procedure based, andcrudely, consist of following establishedprocedures when requested by a customer orline manager. A good example of this is thefast food industry, where staff are trained torapidly produce packaged food to a setstandard. The success of this training in thisindustry is perhaps demonstrated by theability of some firms to move staff trained inone outlet and use them in another outlet,even in another country, with only a minimalinduction at the new site.

However, many professional jobs rely on staffusing high order thinking and problem solvingskills. Training staff to follow procedures,such as described above may have onlylimited relevance. For example, a goal is setby the line manager with minimal guidanceabout how to achieve it. The employee isexpected to use their initiative to solve theproblem. There is often no standard, ‘off theshelf’ solution that exactly matches theparticular problem they have been given. Tosolve the problem may involve: clarifying theproblem or even spending time identifyingwhat the issues actually are; research of therelevant facts; supplementing this fact findingby asking appropriate questions; and finally,choosing between conflicting options beforeapplying a solution.

Although the work placement has clearbenefits in training students in such highorder thinking, there are significant issues inidentifying suitable work placements forincreasing numbers of students. Obtainingand maintaining work placements requires asubstantial investment of staff time. Theremay not be sufficient suitable employers ableto offer valid work experience within thegeographical and financial constraints of thestudents. Institutional concerns include risinginsurance costs for students on workplacement and fear of litigation. From thelearner’s perspective, the variation indelegated work based tasks is outside thecontrol of the student’s own institution andvariations subsequently lead to significantdifferences between individual studentlearning experiences.

The Aim of the ResearchThe aim of this research was to develop ageneral-purpose web based tool to simulatesome aspects of a project based workplacement by virtual means. In manysubjects, students were issued with anassignment brief that consisted of thousandsof words describing the case study withclearly stated aims and objectives. The taskswould be included, as would instructions onhow to format the report, the sections toinclude and the assessment criteria. While

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3. The experience of simulating student work experience throughthe Virtual Work Placement tool

John Curry, City of Bath College. [email protected]

Summary Educational theory indicates that the work placement has a clear role in professional typecourses and in preparing older students for work. Research by the National Centre for WorkExperience (2007) demonstrated that work placements were valued by students and potentialemployers as linking academic skills with the work place. Work experience can be a ‘maturingexperience’ with the students growing in confidence and generating increased application totheir studies.

Keywords Virtual work placement / VWP / work experience, assessment

this level of support and guidance, explicit inthe assessment material, assists thestudents, it bears little resemblance to thereal world of work. It reduces the scope forthem to develop and practise the high orderskills as posited by Bloom’s Taxonomy(Bloom, 1956).

The tool was designed to facilitate thepresentation of the real world case studymaterial in a more realistic way in order forthe student to complete an assessmenttask within the specified time constraints.In addition, the tool was designed tominimise the administrative burden on theacademic staff acting as ‘work placement’supervisors.

The solution was found to be a web-basedtool using ‘content-management software’designed by CSIM(www.tickboxmarketing.co.uk), a Somersetbased IT company with clients in commercialtraining and education. The result wassoftware that utilised a straightforwardinterface so that the academic could rapidlydevelop and customise all aspects of thecase study in the virtual work placement.

Virtual Work PlacementStudents were given a web address of the‘business’ that required their services and astrict deadline for the project to becompleted by. In addition, the students weregiven the administrative rules of the scenariothey were going to experience.

The company website for the organisationthat required their services containedbackground material such as the servicesoffered by the company and the staff.

In order to find out more about the project,the students had to log-on to a contractorsarea within the website. When they loggedin, they found an introduction consisting ofa phone call (accessible via the software)inviting them as consultants to submit atender for producing an IT system.

As the virtual ‘work placement’ progressed,subsequent multi-media material wasreleased to the students day-by-daythrough the contractor’s area. Thisincluded video interviews, notes, memos,diagrams, documents and photographs.Experience shows that the wider the rangeof material, the more the student’s interestincreased. The recent improvements invideo technology made it possible toproduce realistic interviews of less than 5minutes duration at a reasonable level ofvideo quality and suitably compressed to bedownloaded quickly.

In a real business environment, it might beexpected that meetings could takeconsiderable time, but when presented witha video of an interview it was found that 3-4minutes was the maximum length that avideo could keep the students attention.

The case study contained deliberateomissions and prompts such as memos toencourage the students to develop theirinvestigation by submitting furtherquestions by email. The tool allows somestaff working in the virtual firm to becontactable by email. The virtual workplacement tool forwarded the studentemails to the work placement supervisorwho then replied in the appropriate role.

Of course, the students were also requiredto role-play in their emails. If the studentsubmitted questions in an unprofessionalmanner, such as being rude, the responsewas a terse email stating that questionsmust be asked in an appropriate manner.Real business staff would not be expectedto tolerate rude contractors.

If the students asked for data that a real firmwould not have collected, e.g. how manyappointments last for 15 minutes inproportion to those lasting 30 minutes, thenthey were told that such information wasnot available within the time frame forsubmitting the solution.

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The experience of simulating student work experience throughthe Virtual Work Placement tool

In order to reduce the workload ofresponding to emails, an FAQ (FrequentlyAsked Questions) list was developed duringthe case study to allow the supervisor to ‘cutand paste’ the answer into an ‘in character’response. As questions were asked, theresponses were simply saved with anappropriate heading, so the same responsecould be used when the same question wasasked again.

Assessing the Virtual Work PlacementIn order to assist the students to focus on thevirtual work placement, the course teamagreed to make the project set by the virtualfirm as a formal assessment. Inevitably,some students raised concerns about this onthe grounds that the aim of the project wasnot spelt out when the assessment was set.

Some of the more academically ablestudents found that not having all the casestudy material laid out in a standard 5,000word case study forced them to adapt theirlearning strategy. They reported thisexperience as uncomfortable as they wereforced to ask questions in order to clarify thesituation. Conversely, breaking down thecase study information into multiple smallerchunks made it easier for some students tounderstand the problem.

One of the most frequent questions tosupervising staff was from students seekingguidance on which ‘characters’ in the casestudy they should believe. Some of the‘characters’ involved in the virtual firm hadapparently different views on what the finalsystem should include. Supervising staffalways suggested students should attemptto test the information they had been givenby asking questions, looking at staff job rolesor simply applying ‘common sense’. Anexample was an IT contractor who used towork for the virtual firm, giving obviouslymisleading information as they resentedbeing replaced by a new contractor.

An essential part of the case study were thehidden aspects of it. These required studentsto ask, by email, the correct person withinthe organisation. For example, studentswould have to ask for a copy of reportsmentioned in an interview; they would not begiven them automatically. There wereobvious omissions in the project brief, suchas the potential budget, but there weresubtler gaps to give opportunities forstudents who understood the case study todemonstrate this.

Internal verification is an essential part of anFECs quality control processes. The virtualwork placement presented unique problemsto the verification process. The case studieswere broken down, perhaps into 15 smallparts, often using multi-media and weresupplemented by answers that studentswould not receive if they did not ask the rightquestions. It was stated that the assessmentwas considered a simulated work placementand since it was a vocational course, arealistic case study could not be consideredunreasonable.

Issues with Virtual Work PlacementStaff identified that younger studentsrequired a ‘trial run’ case study, withguidance on how to tackle a less structuredcase study than they would normally haveencountered in their academic careers.

Not all students were comfortable withasking questions by email. Some studentsexperience of work was apparently of havinga job within a tight geographical area whereother staff were available and willing to takeverbal questions as they occur.

The ‘e’ nature of the work placement allowedstudents to tackle the problems in non-traditional office hours, however somestudents had unrealistic expectations of theresponse time of the ‘virtual staff’ and wereperplexed that questions emailed in themiddle of the night had not been respondedto by 9.15 am the following morning.

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Some of the students demonstrated littleinsight into what was reasonable to ask the‘virtual staff’ for and what was not. Inextreme cases, students were requestingsubstantial information at very short notice.

Student FeedbackStudent evaluation of their learningexperience within the virtual work placementwas very positive, however a minority ofstudents rated the experience as useful, butthey did not like it as it was uncomfortable,for example some mature studentscomplained the virtual work placement was‘too realistic’

Student quotesIn doing this assignment I have learnt thatsystems analysis is difficult.

You will often be given little information,and it will be hard to obtain anyinformation that you require.

People may not necessarily be very helpfulin giving you information, so you need toask the right people the right questions,and be very clear what you require; getstraight to the point.

I found this more interesting than a paperbased case study.

The virtual work placement was very goodand I could see this type of assignmentused more and more.

It was more realistic and different than myother assignments, and this made it moreinteresting to me.

The Impact of Using VirtualWork PlacementsThe timely completion of the assessment setusing the virtual work placement for fourcohorts of students significantly increased,but other factors could account for thedifferent performance. Overall, studentevaluation rated the virtual work placementassessment as more valuable than the otherassessments they had taken on the course,as it required application of their learning inwhat they perceived to be a near workenvironment. They also noted it hadsignificantly developed their confidence for areal work placement.

ReferencesBloom, B.S., (ed.) 1956. Taxonomy ofEducational Objectives, the classification ofeducational goals – Handbook I: CognitiveDomain, New York: McKay.

National Council for Work Experiencewww.work-experience.org

Virtual Work Placement toolwww.virtualworkplacement.co.uk

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The experience of simulating student work experience throughthe Virtual Work Placement tool

IntroductionIn the last 15 years there has been a rapidgrowth in the number of graduate studentsas well as international growth in theprovision of doctoral studies - HESA datashows that the total postgraduate populationhas grown by over 50% in the 10 years to2006/7. Over 120 UK universities offerdoctoral programmes (Powell & Green 2007)accounting for almost 25% of total studentnumbers in 2004 (Woodward & Denicolo2004) - this is still increasing.

Doctoral students do not form a‘homogeneous population’ (Humphrey &McCarthy 1999). Recent trends with theemergence of professional doctorates in anincreasing range of professional fieldsinvolving those new to research have led to aconcern that current provision does notacknowledge and respond to the diversity ofstudents now undertaking doctoral study.Wellington & Sikes (2006, p725) commentthat ‘doctorates are now more accuratelycharacterised by diversity than dichotomy’and that doctoral students have a ‘wide

range of academic, personal andprofessional needs’. It is also acknowledgedthat current provision does not recognise thediversity in the new modes of production ofresearch knowledge being developedthrough these programmes and this has ledto critical questioning of the purpose ofdoctoral programmes and how researchknowledge and practice in these challengingcontexts can be nurtured. For full-timestudents, this complexity is being addressedincreasingly through the provision of a taughtelement in doctoral programmes. This isbecoming the norm, the provision for part-time students (HESA data indicates thatthese students represent over 56% of thetotal) has been to some extent left behinddue to the complexity involved in providingprogrammes that match this diverse set oflearners’ needs. It is recognised that‘research into doctoral pedagogy isbecoming a priority’. (Scott et al 2004) andwe would argue that research into the use oftechnology-enhanced learning to supportnew pedagogies for these relatively ‘ignored’part-time students is an overlooked priority.

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4. New pedagogies for postgraduate research teaching:integrating on-line research narratives.

Gordon Joyes, University of Nottingham & Sheena Banks, University of [email protected] [email protected]

Summary This paper argues that within the context of growing numbers of doctoral students enrolled oncourses in the UK and the increasing diversity of doctorates there is a need to explore webbased pedagogic approaches that can connect research students with their research andresearcher communities. This approach underpins the work arising from an ESCalate fundedproject (http://escalate.ac.uk/1051) and continued within the HEFCE funded FDTL5 projectVirtual Resources for Online Research Training (www.v-resort.ac.uk). It presents an on-linepedagogic approach that builds a bridge between the contexts and understandings of theresearch students and the theory laden and ‘reified’ body of knowledge that is represented inthe literature. This free and highly navigable resource is explored and the design principles arediscussed. Research into the impact of the project and the lecturer and student experience isalso presented.

Keywords Capacity building / postgraduate training / virtual resources / methods

The need for technology-enhancedlearning and current use within researchtrainingThe literature identifies the potential fortechnology to bring more flexibility into thelearning and teaching of research methods(for example Birbili 2002. Deem & Lucas2006, Joyes & Banks 2008.) Currently,however, there is not much evidence thatthis is happening. A recent survey of thoseinvolved in research-training in November2006 within the UKGRAD Yorkshire andNorth East Hub provided evidence that e-learning was viewed as a way of reaching theincreasing numbers of part-time anddistance postgraduate researchers.However, use was found to be limited tosmall scale responses to specific problemsand was very much in the hands of a fewindividual staff with the relevant expertise,resulting in patchy provision and issues oflong-term sustainability.

Park (2007), speaking at a recent UKCGE(UK Council for Graduate Education)conference on digital futures, sees the role oftechnology in doctorate programmes assimply one of providing access to digitalresources, for example electronic archivesand digital libraries, rather than impacting onlearning and teaching. While electronicresources, such as repositories of electronicdissertations, are important, we argue thatlearning technology has the potential tochange the pedagogic practice withindoctorates, not only through flexible learningin relation to time, place, topics and use ofresources; but, also for the development ofhigher order knowledge and metacognition,where we can involve students in richinteractions with peers and moreexperienced researchers and engagementwith authentic examples and insights aboutpractice.

The V-ResORT project set out to exploreways of designing a resource that would beable to be reusable in a wide range ofcontexts that incorporated what we believe

are five key principles of designing forreusable learning (Joyes 2008). These are:

1. The choice of a generic area that has thepotential for wide applicability, i.e. notbounded within one subject discipline;

2. Adopting a suitable pedagogic approachthat allows for personalisation;

3. Adopting an ‘invented everywhere’approach that allows for an element oflocalisation;

4. Adopting an action research approach tothe design that involves potential users inan ongoing design process; and,

5. Ongoing research into the process andprinciples behind designing for reusablelearning to inform subsequent design.

The outcome, the V-ResORT website athttp://www.v-resort.ac.uk is described in thefollowing section.

The Virtual Resources for OnlineResearch Training (V-ResORT) websiteThe V-ResORT project has developed afreely available on-line resource to supportthe training of educational studies researchstudents at Masters and Doctoral level. Theproject involved four UK partner universities,the Universities of Sheffield, Bath andCanterbury Christ Church and was led by theUniversity of Nottingham, with a widernumber of institutions contributing resourcesas a result of the action researchdevelopment process. Central to the designis the recognition that video narratives: canpresent authentic multiple representations of‘real’ researchers projecting their knowledgeand experience of the research process; canshow complexity and the contested nature ofeducational research; and, can help to buildon-line learning communities. The projecthas developed a conceptual and apedagogic framework to support thematerials. It uses Internet-basedtechnologies that support video streamingand captures a wide range of researcherexperiences, case studies and expert viewsorganized into flexible e-learning materials to

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New pedagogies for postgraduate research teaching:integrating on-line research narratives

give an authentic context for theory andpractice. These are supported by skillstraining and links to resources. Thisrepresents a radical departure fromconventional text based and theory ledapproaches to introducing research methodsin education and responses from academicsindicate that they may be suitable for useacross a much wider range of subjectcontexts than education studies.

Figure 1 provides a view of the mainnavigation page, showing six key questionsthe researchers answered in describing theirresearch journey. Learners can select aquestion, a researcher and then one of theshort video clips shown. The selection of oneresearcher and their responses will reveal acomplete research journey. The selection ofa question and then the selection of allresearchers in turn enables comparisonsbetween all of the research to be made. Themain navigation page representing theresearch journey and the profile of one of theresearchers featured in the narratives isshown in Figure 1 while Figure 2 illustratesone of the video narrative clips for thisresearcher.

A key feature of the V-ResORT website is theway the materials are integrated into ameaningful learning resource. The completeresearch narratives are linked to reports,articles, data, thesis chapters and otheruseful on-line and text based resources.Skills training is provided that relates directlyto skills referred to within the narratives, i.e.the use of interviews, focus groups and dataanalysis software. Figure 3 shows a skillsbased training video clip coveringapproaches to writing at research degreelevel which is also used for analysis of theconduct of focus groups.

Discussant narratives are alsoincluded that explore generalmethodological issues that arisedirectly from the researchnarratives. This internal referencingwas a deliberate pedagogic choice,

the researcher narrative providingcontext and meaning for the learner- something research methodologytexts often fail to do.

Figure 1 represents one approach tonavigation around the video narratives. Asecond approach uses a keyword searchfacility as shown in Figure 4. If a lecturer or astudent enters a keyword such as ‘ethics’ allthe video narrative clips that engage with thisissues are presented. This was thought to beof particular use in research training withintaught components of research courses.

As a result of the action research processthat the project used to engage withpotential users, resources were suggestedthat would broaden the re-use of thewebsite. One of these suggestions resultedin the inclusion of video narratives to supportthe development of Master’s dissertations.As can be seen from Figure 5, three Master’sstudents can be viewed presenting theirperspectives at different stages ofdeveloping their dissertations.

The following section explores the impact ofthe resource from institutional through tolecturer and student use. This evaluationdata was gathered in a range of ways duringthe project. E-mail contact was made withregistered users who were requested tocomplete a survey. Follow up telephoneinterviews were conducted with volunteerrespondents who identified that they wereusing the website in interesting ways.

Impact: Institutional impactThe interest we have had from our owninstitutions and from others has often beenfrom senior academics with institutionalresponsibilities for graduate education,graduate schools and research methodsprogrammes. We believe that we have hadan impact in demonstrating how technologycan be used in these programmes thateffectively supports the diversity of learnersnow undertaking masters and doctoral

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degrees. This in turn is leading to strategicchange, for example, in understanding howcollaboration and re-use of resources canfacilitate development. It has also raisedawareness of the value of on-line visuallearning, in particular video and this isimportant given the predominance of text-based on-line learning materials within thisarea.

Departmental impactLocal mentors were identified as keycontacts within the institutions the projectengaged with. These mentors were critical incross-fertilising good practice from theproject into existing practice. The materialswere designed for educational researchmethods students and so the impact hasbeen strongest at departmental, teacher andstudent level. The materials were designed tobe able to be used flexibly and the evaluationhas revealed some examples where thematerials have been fully integrated intoresearch training courses with specificactivities being integrated within on-linematerials. In one institution students engagein on-line discussion through fora and/orblogs to develop understanding of theresearch process using the V-ResORTwebsite as the key stimulus. However inmost institutions the V-ResORT website isprovided as a useful link for students oncourses - we cannot be sure how manydepartments provide this link on theirresearch training websites for their researchstudents, but we do know of five who do this.

Lecturer impactThere has been impact on the local mentorsand on other lecturers. We know this fromthe requests that we have had to help withthe localisation of materials. In additiontwelve lecturers outside of the four partnerinstitutions who use the resourcesresponded to the project evaluation. Therewas evidence of lecturers incorporating thewebsite into face-to-face taught sessions. Itwas also common to recommend thewebsite for self-study of video narratives andalso for resources.

‘I have used extracts in teaching someresearch methods sessions. Theyprovided illustrations of some of theprocesses I am expecting of my studentsand an opportunity for them to hear, fromsomeone other than myself, the languageof research in use. I found the sectionsoutlining the identification of researchtopics helpful’. Senior Lecturer pre-1992University

‘I used this in the taught session first as ademonstration and advised students tolook at them independently, we did somefocused discussion on motives forcarrying out research and then they usedthese as self study resources’. Seniorlecturer pre-1992 University

The following comment is interesting as itreveals why these resources may beappealing to some lecturers. They seem toreflect the ways they were wanting to teachbut were limited by the lack of resources. Itseems for some V-ResORT has met a realneed.

‘To me as a tutor they were valuable - thekind of thing I would have liked to domyself but could not because of time andresourcing - using them as self access( tolook at particular aspects) is a good thingand makes it seem as we have researchedthe provision of resources rather thansimply relying on last year’s handout’Senior lecturer pre-1992 University UK

There were several unexpected outcomes. Itwas common for lecturers to be using theresources to explore some of the researchreported on the site.

‘I looked through the materials (I think itwas the first three) which stimulatedthinking on research design. I liked thevideos and the link to a paper written bythe person whose research I was mostinterested in.’ Senior Lecturer at a post-1992 university

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There was also evidence that lecturers whohad been introduced to the materials as partof their research training were alsorecommending the materials for theirstudents who were also undergoing researchtraining. We have also had feedback thatlecturers find the video narratives useful as amodel of how to design and use videonarratives/visual learning in their ownpractice. We have also had requests fromlecturers to select individual video narrativesto incorporate into on-line postgraduateteaching within a Virtual LearningEnvironment. This is a difficult issuebecause removing a video narrative from thelearning context that supports it underminesthe contextual integrity of the resource,though we can also see that it is anotherapproach to re-usability that needs to beconsidered.

Student learningThe evaluation survey data providesevidence of student learning. There is alsoevidence from within a Masters in ResearchMethods course, in which we had access tothe discussion forum and blog activities, thatthe students were actively using the V-ResORT materials:

‘I met this resource as part of my masterscourse in research methods and found thevideo narratives compulsive viewing. Iparticularly liked the Patya video as Irelated to the ways she seemed to bestill exploring the methodologicalissues. I watched this from start to finishone evening at home, it was so useful indeveloping an understanding of the realresearch process. The course readers areof course helpful but the video brought theresearch process alive for me.’ Mastersstudent at a pre-1992 UK university

There was evidence that the resources wereuseful at all stages of the research processnot just in initial research training. Thisstudent was using the resource at the end ofher doctorate and gives a sense of ways theresource can help a student overcome the

sense of isolation that can be felt at thisstage.

‘At my stage (final months of PhD write-up)the resources are valuable for those of us(probably most of us) working at a distancefrom our institutions ... it is nice to feel partof a wider network of people going throughthe same agony!’ Professional Doctoralstudent at a pre-1992 UK university

Developing a sense of communityThe words highlighted in the quotes aboveprovide evidence of the ways the resourceprovides opportunities for students toidentify themselves as part of a network ofresearch students, a network of researchersand a network of distance learners. This is aparticular strength of the video narrativeapproach, but it is also strengthened by theunderlying conceptual framework that wasdeveloped at the start of the project. Thisconsists of six main questions, representedin figure 1 as the research journey, that couldbe asked of any researcher or about anyresearch. This framework has been found tobe highly successful in revealing authenticresearch ‘stories’ that research students canfind connections with.

These questions are:• Where did the ideas for the research

come from? • What is the aim/purpose of the research?• Why were the theoretical and

methodological approaches chosen?• How was your research project designed

and conducted? - How? When? Whowith? Where?

• How was the research reported andcommunicated to a range of audiences?

• What happened to the research after itwas completed?

Wenger’s notion that the ‘reification’(stratification and codification) of knowledgeprovides a barrier to those new to adiscipline gives an insight into the reasonswhy beginning research can often be

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problematic, not only for research studentsbut for new lecturers in education. ‘There is apedagogical cost to reifying that requiresadditional work - even possibly, a newpractice - to make sense of the reification’(Wenger 1998, p. 264). The reified account ofthe research process provides a rather tidyseparation of choice of methodology,methods, field work, analysis, writing. Ourresearch within the project found thatresearchers talked quite openly of themessiness of the whole process adhering toa complexity model rather than a moresimplistic one. The conceptual frameworkallows for the description of this complexprocess. For example, question 4 allows forliterature review, fieldwork, analysis, furtherfieldwork, refining of research questions, etc.to be reported in the ways the processhappened. This tends not to be the wayresearch is reported in the literature and wewould argue is a confusingmisrepresentation for those new to the areaand an approach students cannot easilyidentify with and represents a barrier to theiridentity as members of a researchercommunity.

Concluding remarksV-ResORT is widely used in the sector andthere is evidence that it has impacted onpedagogic approaches within researchtraining, but there are issues about thevisibility of the website. We found thatstudents would be introduced to the websiteby lecturers/supervisors and/or otherstudents but would often not bookmark thesite and then ‘forget’ of its existence. Thereis an issue about where this and other usefulresources are located within institutions, i.e.departmental and graduate research schoolweb pages are seen as more helpful thanwithin a course in a VLE which is oftenpassword protected.

The resource will continue to behosted by the educational developmentinnovation technologies lab (ed:it)at the University of Nottingham

(http://editlab.nottingham.ac.uk/index.php/)ed:it is currently developing Web2.0 tools forsharing and discussing media (audio andvideo). One of these, the Virtual InteractivePlayer (ViP), allows for upload and tagging ofvideo, the creation of video quotations, andprivate or open group discussion around thevideos. The strength of the V-ResORTapproach is the high quality of the videosand the strong navigation features, theweakness is that it is very resource intensiveto create a video narrative and this can onlybe done by a technician. The strength of theViP approach is that anyone can upload thevideo, however quality cannot be assuredand navigation will be user dependent. Inreality there is a place for both the V-ResORTand the ViP approaches; they can be usedalongside each other as powerful ways ofestablishing researcher communities.

ReferencesBirbili, M., 2002. Teaching educationalresearch methods. [Online],Available at: http://escalate.ac.uk[Accessed 10 March 2007]

Deem, R. & Lucas, L., 2006. Learning aboutresearch: exploring the learning andteaching/research relationship amongsteducational practitioners studying in highereducation, Teaching in Higher Education,11(1), pp. 1-18.

Joyes, G., 2008. Key principles for qualityweb based resource development for globalcontexts. International Journal of Excellencein e-learning, 1(1), pp. 19-30. Available at:http://www.etqm.ae/journals/online_ver/elearning/issue1/imgs/article2.pdf[Accessed 14 June 2008]

Joyes, G. & Banks, S., 2008. (forthcoming).‘Using technology in research methodsteaching’, in R Donnelly & F Sweeney (eds.)Applied eLearning and eTeaching in HigherEducation. New York: Idea GroupPublishing.

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Park, C., 2007. The future of the PhD in thedigital age, Keynote presentation at the UKCouncil for Graduate Education (UKCGE)Summer conference, Leicester 2007.

Powell, S. & Green, H., (eds.) 2007. TheDoctorate Worldwide, Maidenhead: OxfordUniversity Press, Society for Research intoHigher Education.

Scott, D., Brown, A., Lunt, I. & Thorne, L.,(2004). Professional doctorates: integratingprofessional and academic knowledge.

Maidenhead: Oxford University Press.Wellington, J. & Sikes, P., 2006. A doctoratein a tight compartment: why do studentschoose a professional doctorate and whatimpact does it have on their personal andprofessional lives? Studies in HigherEducation, 31(1), pp. 723-734.

Woodward, D. & Denicolo, P., 2004. Reviewof Graduate Schools in the UK. Lichfield:Council for Graduate Education.

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