This is an interesting issue and seems inextricably connected with the
predominant perception of what it is that we do. The terms 'study skills'
and 'learning support' have considerably currency but come with a great deal
of baggage to do with deficit and remediation which is usually unhelpful.
At Queen Mary, these activities are run by the Language and Learning Unit
(L&LU) which is a 'central service' and organisationally is part of
Corporate Affairs, a huge department responsible for marketing, innovation
and enterprise, residences, catering, disability and dyslexia support,
widening participation and much else! The L&LU's remit is English language
courses, academic communication courses for specific departments (e.g. Law
and Business), foundation courses (both undergraduate and pre-masters),
'study skills / learning support', a writing-in-the-disciplines initiative
('Thinking Writing') and foreign language courses. Although we have been in
existence for a good many years, our organisational structure and our
location has changed recently and we are aware that our visibility across
the institution is variable: we are well known for certain activities in
certain departments and not for others. Our new location is an improvement
on where we were: we used to be in poor-quality, scattered offices, many of
which were in a basement; now we are all together in newly-refurbished
offices on the first floor of a building where much of the College's
teaching takes place.
There is, however, an ambitious plan to extend the Library and rebrand it as
a 'Learning Centre'. The idea would be that many activities which come under
the rubric of 'learning support' would be relocated there - and this could
mean some, or all, of our activities. It's a long-term project not due for
completion before 2010, but I am being consulted at this stage about which
of our activities might be included in the 'envelope'. I am trying to get
senior management to engage with the assumptions which underlie terms such
as 'support' and 'service', so that there is a more unpacked
conceptualisation of what a 'Learning Centre' might be. It is unlikely that
I will be consulted throughout the process, but I am encouraged that I have
been asked to contribute now!
Alan Evison
Head of Language and Learning
Queen Mary, University of London
London, E1 4NS
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7882 2825
www.languageandlearning.qmul.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: learning development in higher education network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Vicky Schofield-Vollans
Sent: 19 February 2007 15:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Location of study skills / learning support
For the last 10 years Learner Development has been part of the central Staff
and Student Development Dept. Soon the Learner Development Unit will become
part of Library and Learning Resources, obviously still central!!
Vicky Schofield-Vollans
Head of Learner Development Unit
Staff & Student Development Dept
UCE Birmingham
-----Original Message-----
From: learning development in higher education network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dr Tracy Johnson
Sent: 19 February 2007 10:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Location of study skills / learning support
Hello,
Here at the University of Bristol we have no centralised study skills
support system at all. As a Skills Development Officer (with a specific
remit for developing academic skills in students and teaching skills with
staff) I am located in our Teaching Support Unit and have to work very
broadly across the institution. I offer the following 'services' and try to
publicise them through emails to all our departmental Learning & Teaching
Advisers, at our annual Learning & Teaching Exhibition and through various
academic committees and fora:
- workshops on essay and report writing skills, critical analysis, reading
and note making skills, and PDP and reflective learning delivered within
academic departments which are developed (and occasionally delivered) with a
member of academic staff. This more collaborative approach tries to ensure
that my materials are tailored to specific student cohorts.
- workshops on the same topics as above delivered by me at the Student
Development Unit at the Students' Union. These are particularly popular with
international and mature students, as well as students who want to discuss
study skills issues outside of their departments. These are free of charge
and open to any student on any course. We usually get between
10-20 students per session, and they are best attended in the autumn term.
- occasional referrals from academic departments for one-to-one
consultations with students who are really struggling. These amount to less
than ten a year. I don't have a private room in which to do this, so I
usually have to ask the member of staff doing the referring to book me a
room in their department, or sometimes they let me use their own office for
an hour.
I would say that apart from the individual referrals, the response from
academic staff suggests that they see what's on offer as enhancement and
not as remedial assistance. I also have an academic background myself as a
lecturer in English; academic staff have cited this as a real plus point
because I have assessed and examined student work in the past. We also have
an Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students based in the Students'
Union, which supports students who fall within their remit.
With best wishes,
Tracy Johnson
--On 19 February 2007 10:30 +0000 Ben Yudkin <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> While physical location within the campus is undoubtedly very
important
> in creating an impression of what we do, I see this as being a
> marketing/branding question too. Does anyone out there have experience
of
> ways of getting academics and students to see LDers as enhancing
learning
> rather than plugging deficiencies, other than just by being located in
> the right place?
>
> Oxford is at the stage where the entire service doesn't really exist
yet
> and, because there's only one of me, the actual provision of support
will
> have to be undertaken by tutors and students within existing modes of
> teaching/learning. So for me the aim is to let people know that advice
is
> available on applying the same scholarly and reflective standards to
> their teaching and learning as they do to the subject content of
their
> academic work.
>
> It doesn't come naturally to me to talk in the language of
advertising,
> marketing and branding; nevertheless, this is in effect what I want to
do.
>
> Ben Yudkin
----------------------
Dr Tracy Johnson
Teaching Support Unit
University of Bristol
[log in to unmask]
0117 331 7168 (x17168)
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