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Dear John and All, This discussion traverses that tricky hinterland of managerialist drivers and our own emancipatory hopes for our students. When working with the Education Studies Team to help re-write and re-validate new year long versions of their mdoules we were invited to populate and then run the de facto 'skills' module that already had the Aims and Learning Outcomes sketched in, viz: This module aims to: - Introduce students to a range of study skills, including conducting a literature search and the skills and conventions of academic writing, reading and oral communication - Introduce students to educational research - Encourage students to use academic discourse with confidence and develop as independent learners - Provide strategies for student engagement with critical reading. Not earth shattering perhaps - but not so awful that you could not live with - and definitely one that we developed into a creative and emancipatory praxis. However - first we would have to transcend the learning outcomes that had already been written, viz: On successful completion of this module students will be able to: - Use library and on-line services to conduct a review of literature - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of academic writing and reading - Recognise plagiarism and understand why it is an offence; employ a systematic mode of referencing and show competence in referring to the work of previous writers in precise and appropriate ways - Show awareness of a range of research methods and be able to critical reflect on experiences of conducting a small scale research activity. I would never flag up Plagiarism in this way in LOs that I generated myself - though these are exactly the LOs that SMT want to see (hence all the re-newed emphasis on Academic Integrity)... I would stress the importance of successful academic practices - including keeping of good notes and references - but hey - it is what it is... The assessments for me offer some ways to measure the learning - and there are: 1. Three reflections on specific learning incidents; 2. An over-arching reflective essay on their academic development over their first year of study as an undergraduate student; 3. The design proposal for their research project; 4. A summative research report. **** Where the research project focus in upon student study practices **** We love the way we have shaped the research project such that students are investigating study practices. This year one of our students has discovered that our University students enjoy group work where they can become really engaged in a project - where they can become lost in the flow of the task - brilliant!! Others have been using Image Mediated Dialogue and collages to investigate student feelings about particular academic tasks... All interesting stuff... BUT - because we managed to transcend the Aims and LOs - not BECAUSE of them? All the best, Sandra On 22 May 2014 12:03, John Hilsdon <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Ed (and all) > > That's a very good suggestion. At Plymouth we don't currently have such a > system but are in the middle stages of developing one - we will have a > 'customer relationship management' (CRM) system that will operate > throughout the student lifecycle and it will include the kind of > functionality you describe as Learning Analytics. > > I think what you say makes good sense re raising the profile of LD work - > but the question of 'measurability' of impact remains .... err ...cloudy to > say the least ... for me. > > Thanks to folks who replied to my original post so far. I agree with Paul > (Chin) that, despite the challenges, "if we don't set up our LOs > (objectives) in the first place, how can we hope to claim that we've > actually achieved (our outcomes) if we can't measure what we set out to do?" > > I'm still keen to hear if anyone has recommendations of literature / > reports (or to hear your thoughts) about establishing intended learning > outcomes and measuring impact for LD activities., and would be grateful for > any leads ... > > John > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Foster, Ed [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: 22 May 2014 08:40 > To: John Hilsdon > Cc: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: LD 'Learning outcomes' and impact > > If you are looking at impact can I suggest that LDers make sure that they > are involved in discussions with whoever is developing Learning Analytics > at your institution. For our student dashboard we are developing a free > text screen for personal tutors, other course leaders, academic librarians > and (through an administrator) student mentors to enter notes. > > These are intended to be used in discussion between personal tutors and > students (they will be visible on the student view). > > 1) this promotes the work of ld to academics > 2) potentially it's searchable and we can look at impact on engagement > immediately after the 1-1 > > Happy to discuss further if none of this makes sense > > Ed > > Ps someone really smells coconutty on this bus. It's nice > > Sent from my phone > > On 21 May 2014, at 18:20, "John Hilsdon" <[log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: > > Dear all > > I thought I would try to capitalise on the momentum developing around the > current discussion on feedback and evaluation, and put a question to you > all about 'learning outcomes' in Learning Development work, and the > problematic issue of their measurement. I know we've talked about the > impact of LD on this list before but I think a re-visit may be timely ... > > My Dean is very keen that all initiatives undertaken by staff in her > domain should be 'measured' for their 'transformational' impact! We are > being encouraged both to identify intended learning outcomes, and to > develop ways of measuring impact. There is, of course, a range of > theoretical and practical questions about the value and possibility of > doing this. A major concern about attempts to measure impact/outcome of any > initiative is the effect that the measurement has on the activity itself. > At the simplest level, the time taken to 'measure' by whatever means, may > be time taken away from interaction and productive learning. Hussey and > Smith (2002) in 'The trouble with learning outcomes' (Active Learning in > Higher Education Vol 3(3): 220-233) usefully critiqued the approach - they > argue that "their alleged explicit clarity, precision and objectivity are > largely spurious" and " ... their effects may be undesirable in educational > terms". They are not totally dismissive - "There is some obvious use in > specifying what aspects of the content of a subject students will be > expected to learn and what general kinds of skills and capacities they will > be expected to display ..." They conclude that: "...the proper > interpretation of these outcomes must emerge from the context and > prevailing activities and experiences of the students: they cannot be, in > themselves, either clear or precise and do not specify objectively > measurable entities" - and " ...do not lend themselves to strict auditing, > but they may open the way to a better understanding of the process of > education" Could / do LDers adapt such a flexible interpretation of LOs (or > ILOs) and their measurement to the work we do with students in individual > or group sessions? How would that be possible? If we sought constantly to > test students to check their achievement, how on earth could we do it - and > what reaction would we get? If we asked students to self-report their > 'progress' at every turn how annoying would that be?! How useful? how > meaningful? And yet, how do we indicate impact meaningfully to satisfy > Deans and others? > > I am not saying we cannot or should not be concerned with ILOs and impact > - I am very open to the idea that there are useful, significant, > student-generated and moderated ways to do it ... but as yet I have not > seen or heard about a method to do this in the systematic and comprehensive > way my Dean seems to imply we should be doing that would be both practical > and would not detract from the learning experience ... any ideas, folks? > And is/are there any more recent literature, reports or journal articles > you can recommend on the subject? > > John > > John Hilsdon > Head of Learning Support and Wellbeing > Room 104, 4 Portland Mews > Plymouth University > Drake Circus > Plymouth > PL4 8AA > +44 (0)1752 587750 > > [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> > http://bit.ly/12nSOBK > > <image001.png> > > > ________________________________ > [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/images/email_footer.gif]< > http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/worldclass> > > This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for > the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. If you are not the > intended recipient then copying, distribution or other use of the > information contained is strictly prohibited and you should not rely on it. > If you have received this email in error please let the sender know > immediately and delete it from your system(s). Internet emails are not > necessarily secure. While we take every care, Plymouth University accepts > no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan emails > and their attachments. Plymouth University does not accept responsibility > for any changes made after it was sent. Nothing in this email or its > attachments constitutes an order for goods or services unless accompanied > by an official order form. > DISCLAIMER: This email is intended solely for the addressee. It may > contain private and confidential information. If you are not the intended > addressee, please take no action based on it nor show a copy to anyone. In > this case, please reply to this email to highlight the error. Opinions and > information in this email that do not relate to the official business of > Nottingham Trent University shall be understood as neither given nor > endorsed by the University. Nottingham Trent University has taken steps to > ensure that this email and any attachments are virus-free, but we do advise > that the recipient should check that the email and its attachments are > actually virus free. This is in keeping with good computing practice. > ________________________________ > [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/images/email_footer.gif]< > http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/worldclass> > > This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for > the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. If you are not the > intended recipient then copying, distribution or other use of the > information contained is strictly prohibited and you should not rely on it. > If you have received this email in error please let the sender know > immediately and delete it from your system(s). Internet emails are not > necessarily secure. While we take every care, Plymouth University accepts > no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan emails > and their attachments. Plymouth University does not accept responsibility > for any changes made after it was sent. Nothing in this email or its > attachments constitutes an order for goods or services unless accompanied > by an official order form. > -- Sandra Sinfield University Teaching Fellow ________________________________________________________ CELT Learning & Writing Development (www.londonmet.ac.uk/celt) LC-213 London Metropolitan University, 236-250 Holloway Road, N7 6PP. (020) 7 133 4045 Association of Learning Development in HE (www.aldinhe.ac.uk) Essential Study Skills: the complete guide to success at university (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/burnsandsinfield3e/main.htm) http://lastrefugelmu.blogspot.co.uk/ Find me on Twitter - or use #studychat & #loveld Companies Act 2006 : http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/companyinfo