I think that Maggie has highlighted one of the most important points (if
not the most important) about 'new' HE learners and it is one we are
wrestling with. Given that we now have a healthy smattering of NTFS in
our constitutency, could this be the focus for an NTFS bid in 2009,
looking at different strategies for developing and encouraging
self-management with the emphasis on how learning development could
support course teams. Bradford would be up for it.
Peter
Maggie Boyle wrote:
> Sandra says 'as a learning developer I am rarely asked to speak to
> students about making notes - but often asked to give sessions on
> referencing'.
>
> Are we being asked to 'give out fish rather than teach people how to
> fish'?
> Are such requests more likely to foster surface learning rather than
> deep learning?
> Are we being pushed into training rather than education?
>
> We have been developing online learning resources as part of our work
> with LearnHigher and our commitment under the TQEF money that has been
> used to fund us here in Leeds. I have been very aware that it is easier
> to create interactive material that drills rather than fosters
> understanding and a change in the practices and approaches students use.
> It would be interesting to research which sort of learning development
> support is more likely to 'develop' students. I'm going to attempt to
> use our evaluation to look at how to answer this question.
>
> Have a look at our new website and the resources we have collected and
> created: http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk
> I'd be interested in your comments and especially any thoughts you may
> have about whether the resources are more likely to encourage student
> development or surface learning.
>
> I wonder whether any of you have read R. Kegan, In over our heads:
> Mental demands of Modern Life?
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Over-Our-Heads-Mental-Demands/dp/0674445880/ref=
> sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222328991&sr=1-1
> He is a psychologist and has a lot to say in the book about designing
> curricula for HE students. One of his points (as I understand it) is
> that students, because of their developmental stage at the age of 18-21,
> are more likely to turn up to a class on speed reading rather than one
> on managing your reading approach as they are not yet ready to be
> self-managing. We have to learn how to encourage them to develop
> themselves rather than teach them how to read faster but we might in the
> first instance have to attract them by telling them we are helping them
> to read faster. This is quite a complex idea; one I don't find easy to
> get across to academic staff who I am still encouraging not to arrange
> sessions on study skills in the first week of term.
>
> Maggie Boyle
> Head of Skills@Library
> University of Leeds
> LS2 9JT
> T: 0113 343 5306
> http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: learning development in higher education network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sandra Sinfield
> Sent: 22 September 2008 16:34
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Writing style guide
>
> This is SO true! I am also part of the LearnHigher CETL - and my
> research areas are reading and notemaking. I try to explore these as
> emancipatory practice - emphasising that reading and notemaking when
> engaged in actively and interactively enable students to negotiate the
> academic terrain for themselves. I stress that collecting referencing
> data is necessary for capturing your footprints through the
> knowledge-claims that already exist... Hopefully this way I place the
> emphasis the right way round.
>
> However, as a learning developer I am rarely asked to speak to students
> about making notes - but often asked to give sessions on referencing!
> Best,
> Sandra
>
> Helen Bowstead wrote:
>
>
>> I too spend most of my time trying to unpick the mysteries of the
>> 'Harvard' system and it's various interpretations. Oh, the irony of a
>> 'standardised' referencing system. However, what always strikes me is
>> the obsession both tutors and students (and Learning Support staff)
>>
> have
>
>> with the form referencing 'conventions' take, and how little time and
>> energy is spent on exploring the /function/ of referencing. In my
>> experience, although they know they have to reference, the majority of
>>
>
>
>> students haven't got a clue about the central role referencing
>>
> occupies
>
>> in academic culture. This fundamental gap means that for most,
>>
> whichever
>
>> referencing system they employ is regarded as a technical headache
>> rather than the means by which they can evidence their developing
>> knowledge base and allow others access to it. Who cares if a students
>> uses p., pp. pg. or (as we do here at UCP Marjon) :, in their
>>
> citations
>
>> as long as a) there is some consistency and b) they understand how and
>>
>
>
>> why system works. Referencing lies at the heart of academic writing;
>>
> it
>
>> is not the icing on the cake, it is the cake itself.
>>
>> Helen
>>
>> Helen Bowstead
>> Study Skills Coordinator
>> University College Plymouth St. Mark and St. John
>> Plymouth PL6 8BH
>> Tel. 01752 636700 Ext. 8218
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* learning development in higher education network
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Laurie Lumsden
>> *Sent:* 18 September 2008 16:45
>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>> *Subject:* Re: Writing style guide
>>
>>
>>
>> I could not have put it better myself Peter. Thank you. Laurie
>>
> Lumsden
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> *From:* learning development in higher education network
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Peter M Wilson
>> *Sent:* 17 September 2008 15:29
>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>> *Subject:* Re: Writing style guide
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear All
>>
>> To remount two old hobby horses, one rather newer than the other:
>>
>> 1) Is it worth repeating that Harvard University itself does not use
>> the term "Harvard system"? - the Librarian at the Widener Library
>>
> there
>
>> (Joe Bourneuf) has issued a handout which he gives out in response to
>> this FAQ, in which he says it is a "misnomer". It appears to be a word
>>
>
>
>> used more in the UK ands some countries of the British Commonwealth
>>
> than
>
>> it is in North America. For this reason I have always thought (and
>> taught) that 'author-date' is a much better name for it - with the
>> advantage that the name begins ro show the student how to use it. (I
>> also feel that the inaccurate 'Harvard system' simply reflects yet
>>
> more
>
>> fossilised British snobbery, and should be rejected on that ground
>>
> alone
>
>> .... it should perhaps be recorded that one of my oldest friends said
>>
>
>
>> to me at a Reunion last year "Oh Peter, you always WERE an idealist"
>> with fine sneer in his voice.)
>>
>> 2) David says "We are all pretty hot at getting Harvard Referencing
>> off to a 't'"; but WHICH 'Harvard sytem'? There are many variants
>>
> even
>
>> in this one University, all called 'Harvard', and differing in petty
>> details - with which their originating departments insist on rigourous
>>
>
>
>> conformity. Some, e.g., like the author's surname to be capitalised
>>
> in
>
>> the List of Refs, though most don't; advice on where to put
>>
> information
>
>> about the edition number is almost random, as is the precise way to
>> phrase references from the web (let alone what information is
>> 'essential'); some insist that there should be a Bibliography, while
>> others say that a List of References is essential, and a
>>
> 'Bibliography'
>
>> (by which they mean something different from the former group) is only
>>
>
>
>> needed rarely, in postgraduate work; and practice in the text tags
>>
> (e.g.
>
>> of marking page numbers - : p p. pg pg.) is variable.
>>
>> I rant about this often. The only way to stop me, I fear, is to make
>> the world a more rational place! This will not happen. David's main
>> point is a good one - but not practicable. The Teaching and Learning
>> Commitee (high level) at Hull did once agree that the University
>>
> should
>
>> standardise on one system. It was the supplementary question that
>> floored them: "Which?" (The answer, apparently, was unanimous:
>>
> "Mine".)
>
>> The central cause seems to me in the end a good, if irritating, one:
>> that the different professions into which most of our students will go
>>
>
>
>> have their own traditional practices (Law a notable example), and we
>> have to prepare them for that professional life. Within the academy,
>> even, there are sound (if irrational) traditions which indicate
>>
> similar
>
>> choices: that the medical areas use an 'author-number' ('Vancouver')
>> system which seems to be fairly standard through the English-speaking
>> world, History tends to like footnotes, some Social Sciences use the
>>
> APA
>
>> system and others 'Harvard' [see above...], and so on.
>>
>> See also
>>
>>
> http://slb-ltsu.hull.ac.uk/awe/index.php?title=Harvard_system_of_referen
> cing
>
>> and the links therefrom.
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> Peter Wilson
>> Academic Writing and Study Skills adviser
>> Study Advice Service
>> University of Hull
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: learning development in higher education network on behalf of
>> David Bowers
>> Sent: Tue 16/09/2008 16:21
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Writing style guide
>>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> Do any of you work in institutions that have an agreed "style guide"
>>
> or
>
>> similar for students' written work (essays, dissertations)?
>>
>> We are all pretty hot at getting Harvard Referencing off to a "t", but
>> what about the rest? My Learning Development colleagues are often
>>
> asked
>
>> by eager students about things such as acceptability of American
>> spelling variants, using the first person, and so on, but also about
>> formatting issues such as double or 1.5 line spacing, paragraph
>> indenting, styles of subheadings, etc.
>>
>> Our response is, of course, that internal consistency is of the most
>> importance. However, we would be interested to know of any experiences
>> of imposing a "house style".
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> David
>> David Bowers,
>> Head of Learning Development,
>> University Campus Suffolk,
>> Rope Walk,
>> Ipswich,
>> IP4 1LT,
>> United Kingdom.
>>
>> Tel: 01473 296339
>> Fax: 01473 343696
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> University Campus Suffolk (UCS) is the trading name of University
>>
> Campus
>
>> Suffolk Ltd, a company registered in England & Wales, registered
>>
> number
>
>> 5078498, registered office: St Edmund House, Rope Walk, Ipswich, IP4
>>
> 1LZ
>
>> University Campus Suffolk is the UK's newest higher education
>> institution which officially opened on 1 August 2007. The main campus
>>
> is
>
>> located in Ipswich with university centres in Bury St Edmunds, Great
>> Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Otley. The new waterfront campus in Ipswich
>> opens in summer 2008. Visit www.ucs.ac.uk for further details.
>>
>>
>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> University College Plymouth St Mark & St John Derriford Road Plymouth
>> PL6 8BH
>>
>> Phone 01752 636700 Web marjon.ac.uk
>> Principal: Professor David Baker / A Church of England College Founded
>>
>
>
>> in 1840 /
>>
>> /University College Plymouth St Mark & St John is a registered charity
>>
>
>
>> the trustee of which is a company limited by guarantee registered in
>> England No. 986239 /
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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