Context: In this post, I reflect on a recent OpenCourse I have been completing. It centres on digital capacity and one I am so glad I engaged with. No matter what level you feel you are at with digital capacity, this is a very worthwhile course. Specifically, I wanted to use this blog post to reflect and detail what I decided to focus on (programme focused feedback opportunities), and show the 'story' of the process I followed. Very worthwhile overall, and a wonderfully supportive experience.
The National Forum OpenCourse
The work itself, and my platform for it, fits well with several of the areas of the DigCompEdu framework. Mapping our experience to this framework was one of the first activities, and one I would recommend people consider. It can really help to further justify the work you are doing, highlight areas you need to develop more with and in the vast majority of cases, realise how well you are already doing in this space.
My Feedback 'addiction' & rationale for this work
Essentially, you will see the reflection linked above brought me to the benefits of collating feedback in an actionable way being needed, supporting self-reflection and engagement with actioning of the feedback. I mentioned the University of Surrey's FEATS programme, and you can read more about it in the blog post's reflection section linked. FEATS has always captured my attention.
Hence, I wanted to explore the 'MyFeedback' plugin on Moodle to see how it functions, but to all investigate it from the student point of view. Taking steps towards a more holistic approach to digital feedback provision, collation and action are all on my radar. Could this plugin support the collation of Moodle feedback across programmes? Could students be empowered to extract the key points from feedback received, and extract them across modules so they can see the 'big picture'? Well that was my goal! To work towards achieving this goal, I felt it was firstly important to test, troubleshoot and use the platform initially, before planning pilots upon the return to the classroom. Obtaining student feedback at that point, as well as from the programme team, will also be important in order to both build awareness and identify any issues to further enhance its implementation. We are fortunate to have supportive teams in both our CELT and IT department, meaning we can have open discussions there and feed back any issues identified too. Considering Programme Focused Feedback OpportunitiesWhat I did here...
Once all the feedback had been provided, I was able to then swap back to the student role, examine how the feedback appears and to also investigate how it connects in to 'MyFeedback'.
The 'student' view
Can 'MyFeedback' actually help learners?...
Overall, it's a great plug in and one we should encourage staff/students to engage with across their programme/modules. It has the capacity for learners to be empowered to extract key points from feedback across all their Moodle assignments, helping them see the bigger picture on their strengths and areas for improvement that may be common across various modules/lecturer feedback.
There is potential here for students to have everything in one place, an aspect that came through in a recent national survey. A good example of this is when I reflected on previous audio feedback sent as an audio file by e mail to my students. One later said that on their bus commute a few weeks later, while listening to their library on shuffle, my feedback file started playing in their earphones! I'd prefer not to be 'landing' in their playlists, and having it all in the myFeedback lets them collate it, reflect on it etc. when they wish, and in the one place. Any major considerations/things to note?
From my use of the plug in on Moodle, I did come across some areas I feel are worth being aware of....not being negative here, but just building awareness of some points to note if you are getting started with it like me....
Integrating for the longer term?
When I began to consider the longer term, programme wide integration of MyFeedback, some points came to mind....
Overall, would I recommend a National Forum supported OpenCourse?
What's not to love? You get to be part of a wider group across the HE sector, with numerous opportunities to network and share. You are incredibly supported by the group of course facilitators. Complementing this, you are a member of a peer triad group, which truly is a real cornerstone for learning and motivation. I have been so inspired by my fellow triad members on this OpenCourse, with support, understanding, positivity and encouragement filling our meetings. Listening to different projects, viewpoints, experience, expertise is invaluable and the positive comments and suggestions you get from the triad team can make such a difference in your motivation and work too. Your colleagues can see things that maybe you didn't notice or consider, or perhaps they have tried and tested something similar before. All in all, it's been a wonderful journey to have made such strong connections with colleagues and leaders from other institutions.
The concept of continuous learning and improvement has consistently been something I’ve been passionate about. We always have the opportunity to learn something new, and this has so many benefits. While I love learning, my role in education centres on this from the ‘other side’ - as I facilitate learning and understanding of complex scientific topics. On a personal level, I love learning new things, approaches, skills - developing new ways to look at the same thing with a fresh lens, new abilities to implement in different settings, new ways to communicate or connect, manage situations etc.
However, while we can always independently learn something new, we can also truly learn from each other’s experiences. Hence the concept of discussions with students, colleagues, mentors, management and other stakeholders can provide opportunities for learning. The pandemic experience often referred to missing the ‘watercooler’ conversations, while the National Forum’s professional development (PD) framework even includes these informal, collaborative activities as potential modes of PD - unstructured, non-accredited, informal.
Conferences, and focused professional development courses can provide excellent avenues for interactions with like-minded individuals, people interested in some of the same things as you, which of course carries enormous benefit. However, recently I attended a ‘Practice Sharing Event’ in DkIT which centred on feedback in teaching and learning (as part of the ongoing National Forum SATLE supported 'Focus on Feedback' project in the institution). Now while the format involved a keynote talk, and two sessions of short presentations, split by a coffee break and ending before lunch, which many may feel replicates the standard conference format, the subtle emphasis on practice sharing was very impactful on the tone of the event.
This was further supported by the opening keynote talk by the amazing Prof. Phillip Dawson from CRADLE/Deakin University in Melbourne (here’s a prompt to check out Phillips’s bio, and to seriously consider either attending one of his talks or inviting him to present at an upcoming meeting). His keynote was all you could ask for on the day - informative, engaging, interactive, thought provoking, and inspiring (and he was joining us from his home in Australia while we were based in Dundalk). The subsequent coffee break was a hive of activity, with everyone primarily reflecting on how amazing his keynote was. For example, people commented on his overall delivery and approach, the way he openly interacted with the audience and how he left paused after each question – leaving time for people to meaningfully engage. His deliberation of, and responses to, the comments from the group, complemented by his vast awareness of the literature and bringing in points by other leaders in the space too, all made led to it to be positively reflected on. For me, the true benefit of his keynote was in fact the tone he set at the beginning for the rest of the session - and I really think the way he set up the session ensured all attendees continued an approach of meaningful openness and sharing throughout the morning. When you combine this with the concept of the ‘practice sharing' mindset, everyone was in the same ‘zone’ and very open about their experiences.
I was fortunate to be involved in two presentations at the event (one co-delivered with former DkIT student Olya Antropova; see titles in image below), and from the stage I could see amongst the audience that - unlike at some conferences - people were not on their phones etc. and appeared so engaged. I actually noticed this for every talk during the morning. Perhaps it was the interest and familiarity of the feedback topic to the group of academics, perhaps it was the tone set from the beginning by the organisers around practice sharing, and the keynote speaker - but most likely it is due to the synergistic combination of all three.
Leaving the session, I felt invigorated, motivated and inspired to continue my work with students on employing effective feedback. Like many, I’ve put a great deal of time in to innovating my practice around this, in particular engaging with students and using digital tools to support the process, but I know I need to continue listening, learning, innovating, and improving my feedback practice. Huge, HUGE, thanks to the organisers of the practice sharing event (Gerry Gallagher, Aidan Garvey, Breda Brennan and Moira Maguire at DkIT and to my fellow colleagues who presented on the day....and finally to the speaker of one of the best keynotes I’ve attended, Prof. Phillip Dawson).
A box full of small, scrunched up pieces of paper was being shared around the room. Each student was asked to pick one. ‘What d’ya get?’ echoed around the room.
I looked down, and slowly unfolded my piece of paper. There was one word typed on it. ‘Bodoni’
The above event took place during a graphic design course at the Dublin Institute of Design. This assignment was to learn about a particular font or typeface, and to design a poster to showcase and promote the unique characteristics of that typeface. When I reflect on the work I undertook, I can see it really did follow a design process which in the end yielded an output I was proud of. Since the course, I have used this process across various initiatives, even outside of graphic design. Filled with reflection, creativity, feedback, action and experimentation, below you can see the flow of events in this particular example, as well as some images from the various stages to see the development (just click to enlarge any of the images).
Before I outline my process and examples from each stage, I wanted you to firstly realise you have already encountered the Bodoni font! Think of how ‘Nirvana’ appears on their albums, how ‘Vogue’ appears on the top of a magazine cover, or the ‘cK’ of Calvin Klein. Bodoni is a font used quite broadly, and familiar to many already.
Step 3 - Mindmap Generation
Step 4 - Initial Sketches
Step 5 - Exemplars
It’s good to be aware of the typeface ‘in action’, in society. Looking through examples and indeed the various typeface letters/alphabet in a bit more detail at this stage can assist when you are looking back over what came from your early creations.
Step 6 - Revisit Sketches, Concepts & Shortlist
Step 7 - Bring a Selection of Sketches to be Mocked Up Using Software
Step 8 - Get it Down to Final Designs - and Experiment
Step 9 - Feedback & Action
Step 10 - Final Version - Presentation & Reflection
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1: Learning communities (LCs), an important term to describe an opportunity for people to come together, for people who have something to learn and/or something to share. A creative, safe space that provides a platform for people to be innovative. MTU have had a plan to support the development of LCs, with a target of 15 by the end of 2021. They currently have 36 established, surpassing that goal! From the teaching learning unit, they have developed a culture of supporting staff in recent years through various approaches, and here they are helping to support and sustain organically developed LCs. Extremely positive feedback was presented from LC members. As one person said, their focus remained student centred, but this was a way to help and support each other too.
2: LCs can go beyond a department. Realising and identifying thematic based LCs developing across disciplines is a great way to 'join the dots' and further develop collaborations within and across those disciplines. Seed funding can help get the community off the ground too. Terms such as 'growth', 'shared vision', 'maintain' were all incredible to hear, all geared at supporting and sustaining this culture and community of learning.
3: LCs can involve all key players across institutions. To see and learn more about their library's LC's assignment toolkit was wonderful. I had previously noticed tweets/images of the impressive launch event, but to hear more about how the concept, development and partnership connected several stakeholders was very impressive. They engaged with student partners, and developed their outputs as open educational resources (OERs), something that allows their excellent work to reach more people and places across the sector.
4: Set a short term objective. Go for it. Even if this is a small target, it is a target....and by working together to meet this, it will soon spawn, and evolve into, further long term objectives being set. Take that step.
5: Wind in their sails. I do enjoying seeing how certain technologies can support team work. For example, jamboard, miro etc. Seeing 'Miro' in action here, and learning about MTU's 'Lightning Decision Jam' captured my attention as well as the impressive framework development by PhD student Michelle O'Keefe. Through the activities outlined, you could see how the groups - via these activities - are working to keep the wind in their sails, while identifying and overcoming elements which may slow them down. Quite an impressive overview.
Overall, to see 36 learning communities established across an institution was impressive, but to learn about the supports in place and the motivation of the community membership was something to truly be motivated by.
Professional development can take so many forms...and on many occasions, these forms can energise and inspire. Attending this event was was one of those times. Should you wish you learn more, keep an eye out for the event's recording which the organisers mentioned will be shared soon. Also, you can view further upcoming events and various resources from VIT&L week, at the dedicated National Forum VIT&L webpage.
In my case, I was the facilitator for working group 5 of cohort 1, which was comprised of five Universities spread around Europe, each coming to the project with a different context yet similar priority areas and challenges, eager to share, collaborate and learn. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have worked on the EUA's LOTUS project, and to have met so may amazing leaders in the space of leading teaching and learning enhancement and change. During the process, I learned a great deal on several levels with one being around facilitating group meetings. Hence, I wanted to reflect and identify ten learnings around this that may be of help to others. You can find these outlined below! 1. The mood of the group is important. Establish, promote and sustain a collaborative, collegial and fun tone. Depending on the level of their role, people can spend their day jumping from meeting to meeting. Hence, when they come to your meeting, it's vitally important to realise you can set the tone and a mood based on the way you engage the group members. So throughout your meetings, consider how you can make this one count, make it stand out from normal meetings and to engage and connect your group members. Remember, in your role as facilitator, you can create and impact the tone of the meeting, and the mood in the camp. I prepared for my initial meeting with my international University colleagues by learning how to pronounce my 'hello and welcome' message in each of their languages. Lots of smiles all round that morning! Another aspect is humour - keep a fun tone, make your meeting one that is remembered (just to clarify I mean small moments of light humour, not a stand up routine!). 2. Ensure balance across all members Working groups are often made up of various members, many of whom won't know each other and may each have a wide variation of roles and experience. You can also add in all the various personalities to the mix. As a facilitator, it's good to be aware of this, as it's vital to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to engage and contribute. If you allow one voice to dominate, it may cause others to disengage, even sub-consciously. In the case of my group, I was fortunate as we consistently maintained a very equal contribution throughout, but it's something I was tuned in to from the onset. 3. Use technology to support brainstorming that in turn can fuel discussions; e.g. engage with menti, jamboard, miro, google docs etc. When facilitating a virtual meeting, there is an onus to mix up the content, engage group members and perhaps create ways to capture thoughts and reflections from the group, on top of open conversation. With advances in technology, there are many tools to support engagement, and if used in the right away, it can give everyone a voice, fuel subsequent discussions, capture points that may otherwise may not be mentioned, include all 'voices', and provide time for deep reflection and more. There are so many potential advantages. In my meetings, I regularly used shared google docs, google slides and menti and in each case I feel they added something extra to the meeting, and supported the acquisition of thoughts, opinions and reflections. The outputs provided a valuable platform to dissect and discuss amongst the group. Important not to over-do the technology also, ensure you use it where it truly supports the group and discussion, but not for the sake of having technology present. 4. Have a structure to meetings - especially if online ; consistently keep to time I was once told by my father that there are two key things to a meeting - the time it starts, and the time it finishes! Wise words! As a facilitator, you will be designing and finalising agendas and during the meeting, it's essential the meeting runs to time, for every meeting, all the time. If you are concerned about a busy agenda running over, pare it back and build in some Q&A or a short break. Should there be several speakers, ensure they know how much time they have, and that they (as well as you!) are using a timer of some sort. Bonus points for you if you identify a way to announce their time is up in a fun way (noise, toy, sounds, musical instrument etc. - again this can make them smile!). Ultimately, ensure each meeting is structured and kept to time throughout. 5. Share practice and approaches with other facilitators Communities of practice are keys to success, and while this may be your goal amongst your group members, don't ignore the community of practice amongst other facilitators. The EUA convened all the facilitators from the 5 working groups on several occasions to share experiences and further learn from each other. This can be both reassuring, inspiring and motivating. A professional development resource in itself! I was fortunate in that a National Forum colleague (Alison Farrell, a champion facilitator) was also a facilitator with another working group throughout the project, and sharing practices and ideas ahead of meetings was such a helpful approach to engage with. 6. Circulate meeting summaries regularly and punctually; agendas are needed well in advance Preparation and planning goes along way for group members; what did Roy Keane once say..."fail to prepare, prepare to fail"! Time has to be in your schedule to engage with other facilitators to compare plans and ideas, to design an inclusive agenda, and one that ensures the meeting has a way to achieve its goal. In industry terms, a high FTE goes in to these meetings. I circulated all my agendas one week in advance (we had pre-determined the best meeting date/time etc. via a doodle poll), and on this I included summary info. about the group as well as some pre-meeting work, with the latter being very light touch, present more to engage and frame the upcoming meeting. Following meetings, I converted my notes in to mindmaps, documents or powerpoint summaries and posted these to our group's 'shared space' online. I also highlighted key points, questions etc. in the summaries so group members could identify/relate back. I appreciate some meetings can be recorded to facilitate note-taking, but I wanted to ensure an open, trusted space was present in our meetings, hence I used the old fashioned hand written notes, capturing as much as I could while actively listening. Ensure to generate your summaries punctually after the meeting, so to maintain connection for group members - but also as this is when you are most familiar with the discussions, your shorthand notes taken and the key points which were made at the time. Hence a lot of your time facilitating a meeting goes in to the before & after the meeting work! Roy certainly does have a point with his advice :-) 7. Actively listen and synthesise, clarify as you go; build connections & reframe As meetings progress, and in the role of a facilitator, it can be helpful for everyone if you are consistently prepared to synthesise across the discussions, or to identify similarities and connections that arise across group members from points being made. You can identify the right person to bring in to the conversation at the right time, and this can really ensure everyone can have an opportunity to speak. Building in pauses, or reflection points, to summarise and reframe the discussion can also be of value. You can also use these to move things back to the main topic, in case people have ventured slightly off course via ongoing discussions. In addition, always allow some time in the agenda to 'close' the meeting, to bring the key topics discussed to the fore, determine any required actions, request any final thoughts or reflections from group members. It's vital not to be abruptly ending, you can lose a lot taking that approach. Consider employing a 'hold and share' approach at the end perhaps (if virtual; each person types their key take away point from the meeting in to their chat, but 'holds' off pressing 'send' until instructed). This allows thoughts to be captured without seeing others' opinions, which can sometimes away a conversation. Implementing this can provide a great discussion point to kick off your next meeting too! 8. Consider further opportunities for members to engage (e.g. breakout rooms) Like anyone who regularly attends online meetings, large groups can sometimes stifle engagement and openness. Therefore, considering what I outlined earlier about engaging with utilising technology, this can be further complemented by breakout rooms. Here, there is scope to allow members to meet in smaller numbers, to more openly discuss and share their viewpoints, before reporting back to the main group at a later stage. However, these sessions also require preparation. Questions must be clear to participants, and as facilitator, you must know how to notify the breakout room with the question/discussion point at hand and/or reminders informing how long left are also regularly required. Consider how you want them to document their discussion, via an elected rapporteur? perhaps via a shared google doc, with each group having a specific section?, or via a share google slide deck with each group work on a specific slide? The benefit of the latter, is at the end of the session, there is one complete slide deck with contributions from all breakout rooms. The rapporteur approach is useful if the meetings are tending to focus or rely more on a discussion/chat based approach back in the main room. 9. Remaining neutral So you are facilitating a working group, with several institutions being represented and you hear a specific point being made on topic that you have a wealth of experience on from your institution. What do you do? Firstly, it's important to realise that what works in one institution may not work in another. Also, each institution may be at a different stage on their path to T&L enhancement or may be limited by national policies or requirements - which you as facilitator may not be aware of. Hence, of course you may ask more questions to learn more, or mention a specific aspect of your expertise to support the group, but really you need to be mindful that you are not necessarily representing your institution when acting as a facilitator, so you need to allow time for each institution's context to come through, as opposed to believing you are doing something the one and only, best way (this could come across as boasting to some!). 10. Realising it can take time for groups to 'gel' and to see impact Sometimes over the course of a few meetings, you can begin to notice the group members begin to 'gel', connecting their points, challenges or priority areas more with those from other institutions as they speak. It occurs over time, and after a few meetings, I began to notice this more and more. For sure, we had reached this phase almost as the project was drawing to a close. Hence, embrace and appreciate once this phase is reached. When you consider that impact is often felt after the event/programme/project itself, you can see this connectivity between members as the platform for future impact. We created a shared contact sheet, with group members' details and areas of interest for future collaboration. Helpful relationships have been created, in a shared and open space, and I feel several future connections, partnerships and successes will further emanate from this group yet. Yes, we've seen some initial impact already, but there is a lot more to come yet as they return to their institutions following their involvement in the LOTUS project.
Background
CMALT accreditation lasts three years, and following this timeframe, you are asked to renew it via an updated ePortfolio. I had become aware that ALT had since developed a Senior CMALT accreditation stream (SCMALT), and remembering one of my previous assessors recommending I go for Senior, I decided to give that a go. While the update to attempt to renew your CMALT requires a certain amount of effort and time, there are extra sections required for SCMALT consideration (you can find the various requirements on ALT's application guidelines - I read this document several times!). Reflecting on my experience of both submissions, probably the most difficult thing about working towards something like this, was actually just getting started. I found that once I had identified my areas of focus for each section and designed a way to describe/evidence/reflect them in the ePortfolio, things became much easier. How I updated my previous CMALT ePortfolio for the SCMALT application
Finally, I also revised my Future Priorities section, one that provides some light on the path ahead. It's a section worthy of inclusion as you get to consider future directions and areas you want to focus on. Of course, paths can change along the way but I know the three areas I listed in my 2018 submission were always close to my ongoing work in recent years.
Some Key Learnings
I'm realising more and more the fun associated with learning new things. I've actually always known this, but in recent months, it's resonating more and more. Taking part in the National Forum's opencourse 'PD PACT', with a focus on commitment to professional development certainly supported this mindset. I'm not sure where I noticed it first, most likely on Linkedin or Twitter, but there was a free online course coming up about the future of higher education, "Higher Education 4.0 - Certifying your future", created by Dublin City University, focusing on new pedagogies and a phrase we are starting to hear more and more about of late: microcredentials. I signed up to take part, on the 'FutureLearn' platform. It was a 3-week, fully online course and you could work around your availability. I'm glad I joined, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, learning so much from the ongoing conversations which complemented the course content and activities. Here, I want to reflect on my experience of the Futurelearn platform (I hadn't engaged with it before). I will write a reflection on the course specifics another time - I'm still processing and reflecting on all I learned!
Room to improve?
So yes, Futurelearn have developed a really great platform, one I have learned a great deal from in a short space of time, getting a true taster for certain areas. As I mentioned at the beginning, it's nice to learn new things again! I do feel the community aspect could be improved slightly, but there are already a lot to enjoy and appreciate already. Remember there are courses there for free, so why not try and one and see what you think! I really enjoyed the one I mentioned above - linked again here. Have fun and enjoy your future learning!" As my PD PACT course was coming to an end, we were asked to reflect and consider recommendations for others intending on taking the course. I built mine in to a short animation to try and capture my experiences. In a nutshell, if you are considering signing up, go for it! The National Forum's 'Opencourses' are free and extremely helpful on both a personal and professional level. In recent days, I attended a session on ePortfolios (at ALT’s online winter conference), obviously a topic I feel close to at the moment considering my PD PACT experience. Having created three separate T&L ePortfolios now, each for different purposes, I was interested in hearing some other viewpoints. Shane Sutherland (Founder and CEO at PebblePad) mentioned a certain term around ePortfolios that I hadn't heard before: ‘DAPPER’. This term actually outlines their framework of six portfolio-like dimensions for people to consider the degree to which their ePortfolio demonstrates them:
I since found an excellent post by the presenter online that goes in to a bit more detail around each one of these posts, as well as in a Linkedin post he authored. Highly recommend reviewing the six dimensions and reflecting on your approach to your ePortfolio. I found the points might be worth considering when both starting an ePortfolio adventure, or even as you begin to reflect on your current one. Some other points mentioned were the concept that ePortfolios may be designed with different foci – I guess this depends on the role and goal of the ePortfolio, for example based around the person (Shane refers to these as Me-Portfolios), or about an activity or experience (Task-portfolios). Stay DAPPER! As illustrated in the figure above (from the PD framework), four types of learning are associated with PD learning activities.
Reflecting, I feel the PACT PD course activities that I have engaged with are helping me develop across a combination of the Framework’s ‘types of learning’. For example, I am learning from everyone each week, but particularly from the ‘mentoring’ and support from facilitators and my fellow triad members. Course participants have such a diverse skillset, primary discipline and range of expertise, yet the course feels more and more like a team taking a shared approach to learning, with everyone encouraging and supporting each other in a constructive way. The forum debates, and break-out rooms, have provided me with some ‘new learning’ while our triad activities and discussions have brought up new ways of approaching things, which has been a benefit for me to learn from. I feel many of the activities have allowed me to engage with ‘consolidated learning’ too; working through the domain self-assessment exercise and sitting to compose a reflection post on a trial blog reengaged the ‘reflective practice’ concept. Also, generating the ePortfolio, and discussions around this, has brought a range of previous learnings back to the fore. To conclude, I think the final ‘leading’ aspect is evident in all of us, in our PACT commitment. I feel each of us are learning by ‘leading’ too, with everyone developing innovative ways to reflect and capture our unique PD journeys, experimenting with various platforms and sharing experiences, all while doing plenty soul-searching reflections along the way!
PD can take place in so many diverse forms, with contribution from an array of sources - including within! Many reported previously that capturing the elements of their PD was difficult. In recent years, the broadening of ePortfolio possibilities has provided numerous avenues to assist, to collate and display evidence and reflections.
Going back to the framework, consideration has been given to all forms of PD activities and how they can be 'classified' or categorised. Engaging with Table 1 of the framework document allows you to consider activities that are non-accredited (including collaborative, unstructured and structured) and those that are accredited, such as a masters etc. Very helpful to get you started with how you could categorise your PD in recent times - as well as realise the extent of PD we are often engaged with. Identify a professional event that had an immediate significant effect on you. Select one that either encouraged or forced you to react immediately and/or to subsequently reflect on your practice. A few years ago, I attended a visiting speaker present in DkIT around assessment, a leader in the field who was in Ireland at the time (Prof. Chris Rust). He gave a lunchtime seminar to staff associated with the MA in Teaching and Learning. I have been to many seminars, events etc. over the years, but this one inspired me to reflect....and most importantly....act on my reflection. Describe how you felt when this event occurred. What immediate thoughts occurred to you? Immediately, I drew on the inspiration and motivation one can draw from attending a visiting speaker seminar. When I was working in science research, at NUIG, we had visiting national and international speakers almost on a weekly basis. This allowed networking, sharing of ideas and most importantly collaborations to form. It was almost part of the weekly schedule. So I did think back to that a bit, and perhaps how I missed this element (although now, with the way things are, and events such as the NF seminar series, we do have opportunities to virtually attend 'guest speaker' sessions). Referring to the event outlined in Q1, the value of self-assessment, and including this approach in assessment strategies, was discussed. My immediate thoughts were around the potential benefit for my students (of this approach being integrated), and how I could work on including an element of this in my assessment of practicals (a project I was working on at the time, introducing more formative approaches etc.). What action, if any, did you take when this event occurred? I designed a self-assessment sheet, and included it in the laboratory practical manual. Here, students had to self assess against a rubric and then identify certain features they were happy/not happy with regarding their submission. This form would be submitted with their lab reports. Examining this further, students fed back that it made them reflect and think about their work more - with some saying it made them feel guilty as they knew they could do better. Hearing these aspects, and knowing that students were reflecting and considering their work, and its quality, before submitting was great to hear. After the event was over, how did you reflect on the event and any actions you took? Would you do things differently now? What would you do? Overall, this event led to a benefit for my students, so that was the main aspect, i.e. that it had a positive impact. They were considering their own work before submitting, even identifying areas they would work to improve on. I still reflect on this event a lot, and consider it a trigger point for me with this element of assessment. With the introduction of the self-assessment forms, and other assessment aspects, I surveyed the class group and engaged with focus group discussions for feedback on it. This led to further iterations, but it is an element still used in the manual currently. I was proud I took an active approach to something from the seminar I attended, and am grateful to Prof. Rust for how he broke it down in to a simple approach to consider, with the self-assessment aspect really resonating with me. If I was starting again with this process from scratch, i would include a student partner group in developing the rubric and forms...this is something I am considering doing in the near future with the next iteration. Professional development has become a key element for one's career, and personal progress. In recent years, PD has been named as one of the National Forum's strategic priority areas. Like many, I have encountered PD quite often, albeit in many environments. I learn quite a lot from my colleagues in informal discussions, yet that is often not 'captured', while if I complete a formal accredited course, that is more visual. I was delighted to see the NF PD framework begin to provide a platform to document and capture all forms of PD ranging across the four typologies, and five domains. I enrolled for this course for several reasons. PD is a constant goal (it's almost personal as well as professional development!). This course provides a unique opportunity for me to build my network, meet new colleagues and explore new ways of thinking - and of course be part of a peer triad group. It will also allow me to be a participant in a fully online course, while providing me with an impetus to consolidate my PD work, and develop a structure to move forward with. Very excited to get going! |
Ronan BreeEducation Developer,Science Lecturer, Archives
March 2023
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Any opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.
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