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Delivery and assessment of the curriculum Digital technologies to enhance learning and teaching and assessment. Enabling student development and achievement Online learning qualitative quantitative Student engagement in learning Student experience Technology and digital literacies

Distance Learners’ Use of Handheld Technologies

Blog Authors: Walter Patterson; Lynn Brown; Jan Robertson; Joe Wilson; Tracey Howe

Image: Matthew Hurst from New York, NY, USA / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

One only has to walk through College or on any street or social place to notice that the majority of people are engrossed in some activity on the screen of their handheld technology. How can we utilise this technology for best effect for learners at our College. We explored the findings of a recently published paper Distance Learners’ Use of Handheld Technologies: Mobile Learning Activity, Changing Study Habits, and the ‘Place’ of Anywhere Learning.

Here’s what they did

Undergraduate students enrolled at the UK’s largest distance learning university were surveyed. This included questions about: (a) ownership of technologies; (b) frequency of use of handheld devices (tablet, e-readers, and smartphones) for specified leisure activities and for specified learning activities; (c) locations at which each device is used for study purposes; (d) perceived change in study habits; (e) statements about impact of use on learning; (f) reason for purchase; (g) length of time used; (h) benefits and challenges; and (i) preferences for future use of each technology for learning. Open comment questions were added to probe the types of learning used in distance learning contexts, reasons for use or non-use, and the locations of use. Students were asked separately about their use of tablets, smartphones, and e-readers so potential differences in use could be analysed.

There were 446 responses from 3000 students giving a response rate of 14.9%. All age groups, study levels, and disciplines were represented. A wide range of analytical methods were used to analyse the data.

Here’s what they found

Five key findings are:

  1. most students now use handheld devices for study-related learning;
  2. the distribution of study-related learning tasks was similar in all seven study places;
  3. there is a strong, statistically-significant correlation between the number of study places in which handheld devices are used and the number of study task types performed;
  4. two fifths of students using a handheld device for learning have noticed a change in study habit and benefit to learning;
  5. and multiple regression analysis shows three variables (number of study places, number of study tasks, and change in study habits) are predictors of finding it easier to access learning materials and improved quality of learners’ work.

The author/s concluded

The study concludes by proposing two new concepts: the flow of places and place of space. These should help direct the framing of future studies into the places, spaces, and mobility of formal and informal seamless learning.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work? Walter and Joe declared an interest as in the past they had both worked with Prof Sharples (author of over 300 papers and founder of the Association for Mobile Learning).

What do we know about the journal? The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL) is a refereed, open access e-journal that disseminates original research, theory, and best practice in open and distributed learning worldwide. Club members judged it to be very reputable, with all articles subjected to double-blind peer review by a minimum of 2 subject experts. According to Google scholar in 2019 the journal has a ranking of third among educational technology journals and a rank of fifth of all education journals.

What about the methodology used? The abstract was viewed by some to be concise and accurate, but others thought that it presented an overcomplicated approach to some straightforward research questions. The abstract also lacked an explanation of some important concepts in the paper (e.g. flow of places).

Some felt that the readability of the paper was impacted by its layout on the page with the text looking dense. It was also noted that there appeared to be a predisposition to adopting a particular framework and that this may have influenced the approach taken and the analysis.

The introduction is rather lengthy and would be improved by more explicit subheads in the text. It also introduces complex ideas some of which are not fully addressed in this paper. Also it was unusual for research questions to appear in the middle of an introduction rather than at the end.

It was also noted that the population for the study is very niche since it is the specific domain of distance learners, who are highly likely to also be mobile learners. This would not mirror well to the type of students who attend COGC.

The careful definition of what a handheld device is was appreciated and and the context and background of the study was well explained.

There was an extended discussion of the response rate (14.9%). There was a danger to the study that these respondents were self-selecting to have a definite view one way or the other on the topic of mobile learning. There was concern that we knew nothing about the 85% who did not respond (eg traits, attributes).

The over-representation of older students was noted, even although the initial sample was stratified according to key factors (good). The survey design itself well developed and demonstrated best practice. The choice of categories for place seemed reasonable but had only been piloted with 6 people. The inclusion of PCs and laptops was welcomed as it offered a good comparison between truly mobile devices and others, as was the recognition in the survey design that mobiles could be used for other (distracting) activities as well as study-related.

No qualitative results were presented, which was somewhat disappointing (to be published separately). The presentation of the results could have been more informative by inclusion of actual sample numbers rather than just percentages. The tables and charts allowed a clear understanding of the study outcomes. The statistical evidence was well presented.

There are strong connections between the number of different study places where mobile devices are used and the number of different tasks for which they are used. The distribution of study-related tasks was fairly even across all the different study places. Some (40%) of respondents noted a change in study habits and improvement to learning through the use of mobile devices.

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a low risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

A study of learning designs across the college revealed a predominance of content delivery. There was scope to implement better quality learning designs that drew on varied tasks, many of which could be supported by mobile learning (ABC of Learning Design). The college could move in this direction so that students were encouraged more to participate in mobile learning.

It was commented that changing the tone of voice in some module content (eg personalised voice) had proved to better engage learners – so this could also be incorporated.

Next steps

It was intimated that one response to COVID-19 could be to move more learning to mobile and that staff would be given help to do this in the coming weeks.

View from

What do you think?

References

Cross, S., Sharples, M., Healing, G., & Ellis, J. (2019). Distance Learners’ Use of Handheld Technologies: Mobile Learning Activity, Changing Study Habits, and the ‘Place’ of Anywhere Learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning20(2). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v20i2.4040

Keywords: mobile learning, seamless learning, study space, handheld learning technologies, anywhere learning, distance education.

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

Categories
Assessment and feedback Delivery and assessment of the curriculum Design, development and approval of programmes Digital technologies to enhance learning and teaching and assessment. Enabling student development and achievement qualitative Student engagement in learning Student experience Technology and digital literacies

Experiences of reflection and digital storytelling

Blog Authors: David Cullen, Walter Patterson, John McVeigh, Lynn Brown, Tracey Howe, Lisa Shields

Image: Dave Morris from Oxford, UK / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

City of Glasgow College has many interests including: ESOL teacher development, reflective practice in educators and the use of technology in assessment evidence. This week’s paper ESOL pre-service teachers’ experiences and learning in completing a reflection paper and digital storytelling was chosen for review as it ostensibly covers a number of these topics.

Here’s what they did

The subjects of the qualitative study were 20 students on a post-graduate level Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) course. In a module on Language and Culture, the students had to complete two assessment tasks: a written assignment and a digital storytelling artefact. The researcher then had the students carry out two further tasks for the purposes of the study: writing a reflection paper and delivering a reflective presentation. The researcher analysed all four sources of data and sought to examine the subjects’ performative approaches to the tasks, and their reactions to the tasks. The researcher also considered the gender and nationality of the subjects in relation to their performance and response.

Here’s what they found

  • that there were general commonalities in the subject’s performance of and reaction to the two sets of tasks (assessment and reflection).
  • there was a significant difference in subjects’ responses between the familiar written report and the unfamiliar digital storytelling task.

The author/s concluded

The inclusion of a dual reflective task was of benefit to pre-service TESOL candidates as it enhanced their reflective literacy and their understanding of the course content on Language and Culture. TESOL training courses should consider using this approach.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work? This study was undertaken by an individual researcher, an Associate Professor of English (TESOL) at Murray State University in the United States. Regarding the individual author, it was not possible to find a list of publications or citations. We also noted that only one other individual contributed to the research activities.

What do we know about the journal? The Australasian Journal of Educational Technology is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in educational technology, instructional design, online and e-learning, educational design, multimedia, computer assisted learning, and related areas. It was rated in 2015 as having an Impact factor of 1.171. It is published by the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Our view is that this is a trustworthy publication.

What about the methodology used? We felt that the literature review was almost completely descriptive, serving only to provide definitions of terminology, and failed to critically evaluate the sources.

Secondly, the researchers failed to identify and declare any potential bias and limitations of their activity. Thirdly, we felt that the writing of the article, while being thorough and detailed in parts, lacked clarity, and was consequently difficult to decode and interpret.

Finally, there was significant and undeclared potential for bias: the researcher was also the course tutor; the students as subjects were potentially eager to teacher-please in their responses; only one other individual was involved in supporting the researcher and that person was also a direct colleague.

Given the high probability of bias and the other concerns outlined above, we have limited confidence in this article and we feel that the exploratory project would have been better served had it been presented as a less formal case study account.

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a high risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

How can CoGC staff develop “reflection” in our working practice and professional development ?

Is this concept included in Staff Integration activities?

Is digital storytelling something we can use in staff development and/or student work? The topic of reflective practice should be considered for inclusion in the OneCity event in June and the Education Symposium after summer.

We have recently had a tussle with a local university over the accreditation of a vocational award. The university insisted that reflection should be assessed via an essay. After several rounds of negotiation, the university has accepted that there are equally valid representations of reflective practice – such as digital storytelling (videos, blogs, e-portfolios). We have been assured on many occassions by Scottish Qualifications Agency (SQA) that it has moved away from specifying the form in which evidence can be presented – if only all External Validators were of the same mind!

Next steps

The topic of reflective practice should be considered for inclusion in the OneCity event in June and the Education Symposium after summer.

View from

What do you think?

References

Ho-Ryong Park. ESOL pre-service teachers’ experiences and learning in completing a reflection paper and digital storytelling. Journal of Education Technology, 2019, 35(4)

SQA 2017 Digital Evidence for Internally Assessed HN and VQ Units: Principles and Guidance

Keywords:

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

Categories
Delivery and assessment of the curriculum Digital technologies to enhance learning and teaching and assessment. Enabling student development and achievement Online learning qualitative quantitative Student engagement in learning Student experience Technology and digital literacies

Students’ insights on the use of video lectures in online classes

Blog Authors: Walter Patterson, John McVeigh, Jan Robertson, Joe Wilson, Tony Adams, Tracey Howe

Image: Iase.bodh / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

This week our College closed in response to Covid-19 epidemic sweeping across the UK. We selected this weeks paper Students’ insights on the use of video lectures (VL) in online classes to help us explore options for remote learning for our students. The overarching question motivating this research focused on students’ perception of their own learning in courses using VL.

Here’s what they did

This was mixed method study using surveys and focus group as a source of data collection combined with a review of previous research on the topic. Selection criteria for participants included: (1) graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in online courses for Business and Education majors in the 2014–15 academic year; (2) online courses that include VL of any type; and (3) instructors’ approval to explore the design of the online courses. 96 out of 493 (424 undergraduate students and 69 graduate students) were recruited – 10 graduate and 86 undergraduate.

The online survey consisted of 18 questions that focused on 5 main categories: overall experience as online students, interaction with VL, perceived learning impact and integration of VL with other course activities. The focus group was administered via a web conferencing system.

Data from the focus group was analyzed qualitatively only. Basic descriptive statistics and graphical analysis were performed with quantitative data 

Here’s what they found

Three factors predict students’ satisfaction rate and their perception of relevance of VL in their own learning.

  • familiarity with the media,
  • the extension of experience using video in learning, and
  • educational level or academic status.

The author/s concluded

This study suggests that courses in higher education should consider the inclusion of VL in their course materials because the use of video meets different learners’ preferences, increases students’ engagement with content, enhances students’ perception of better learning experiences through content interaction, and reinforces teaching presence in online courses.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work? Dr Norma I. Scagnoli is the senior director of eLearning in the College of Business and holds a position of Research Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois. The other authors are also based there.

What do we know about the journal? BJET has just published its 50th Anniversary edition. The Journal is published by Wiley on behalf of The British Educational Research Association (BERA). Impact factor:2.588 (2018). ISI Journal Citation Reports © Ranking: 2018:31/243 (Education & Educational Research).

BJET is a long standing journal but it is held to be academic in it focus and its treatment of EdTech is quite different from current ALT Publications which tend to focus on ‘real world’ matters. BJET articles were characterised as being abstract, nuanced, distanced from real world practice.

What about the methodology used?

The abstract did not offer much of an explanation of the journal article – it was more of a teaser to read further. At first sight the ‘practitioner notes’ (included in a box) appeared to give a clear explanation of the context, methods and outcomes of the study but this was re-visited later.

The research questions were easy to find and the methodology was deemed to be appropriate (mixed methods using surveys, focus groups). The inclusion of the survey questions and the focus group questions in the appendix was appreciated.

However a significant weakness in this paper is that it provides no indication of the context of the undergraduate or postgraduate students who participated. Participants were clearly self-selecting from the purposeful sample with a high risk of bias to the qualitative data. The fact that only 10 graduate students participated made some of the conclusions and analysis suspect. Also, the inclusion of graduate students made the analysis and results more complex than was required for this study

It would have been good to have some demographics of the participants in terms of: age, experience, and access to technology – so that some comparisons could be with the student cohort at our College.

Nor was it possible to make sense of the data in the light of the particular population sampled. It was agreed that it would be unsafe to make these conclusions generalisable. It was also noted that the use of a particular online tool (Zoom) for the focus group could have excluded some from participating.

The statistical analysis was over complicated and a number of different tests had been carried out on the data to uncover where some statistical significance might arise – rather than proposing a hypothesis and using the data to confirm or reject that hypothesis (which is how statistical analysis should be performed).

In the discussion of the results it was noted that the percentage figures could be quite misleading and the absolute numbers should have been included. Also the choice of dark columns for the very small graduate sample meant that the reader’s eye was drawn to these figures rather than those of the much larger sample of undergraduate students. A question was also raised about the meaning of the term “Effect on learning” in the analysis.

It was concluded that any statements made about differences between graduate and undergraduate experiences and satisfaction were untenable because of the small sample size for the former.

Returning to the practitioner notes it was then realised that some of the statements made in the Notes were NOT established evidentially in this paper (even though they were seen to be reasonably correct.

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a high risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

The paper gives no hint of the practical difficulties of recording and broadcasting video lessons where artefacts that can be freely used as copyright ‘fair dealing’ in the classroom became a breach of copyright when recorded to open broadcast. There are issues to do with staff intellectual property rights of video material ,and this has been the subject of much negotiation and discussion between institutions and staff unions. The paper offers no way of no advice on picking a way through such issues.

It was noted that the current Covid-19 crisis was driving delivery to online and that this had the potential to change the face of further education for the future.

Next steps

View from

What do you think?

References

Scagnoli, N.I., Choo, J. and Tian, J. (2019), Students’ insights on the use of video lectures in online classes. Br J Educ Technol, 50: 399-414. doi:10.1111/bjet.12572

Keywords:

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

Categories
Enabling student development and achievement Lecturers competencies qualitative Quality assurance quantitative

Lecturers Competence in Teaching and Learning

Blog Authors: David Cullen, Jan Robertson, John McVeigh, Tracey Howe

Image: Freepik (https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik) / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

The UK quality Code for Higher Education states that ‘staff have an appropriate level of competence for teaching and supporting learning.’ College Faculty of Nautical and STEM provides a full range of marine operations courses from mandatory training for Merchant Navy Officers to a range of short courses. Therefore we were interested in this recent paper The Analysis of Lecturers Competence in Teaching and Learning Process of Cadets At Makassar Marine Polytechnic.

Here’s what they did

The study aimed to determine the competence of lecturers in the learning process of cadets at Makassar Marine Polytechnic (PIP Makassar). The research method used was a survey method to describe the existing conditions using a questionnaire of nautical, technical and management cadets. The 4 competency aspects studied were:

  • Pedagogic, such as the right methods and media used to create a good learning environment whilst providing guidance and motivation to cadets.
  • Lecturer personality, in providing a good example, duty and authority in front of cadets and still be polite when speaking as well as neatness of dress.
  • Professionalism, in managing the class and delivering training.
  • Social, in communicating and interacting with parents/ guardians of cadets as well as establishing a rapport with peers.

To study identified the main problem of the study to be the competence of lecturers in the teaching and learning process of cadets at PIP Makassar. The research method used was a survey method to describe the existing conditions using a questionnaire as a data collection instrument. The focus of research on a sample totalling 96 consisting of nautical, technical and management cadets.

The population of the study was made up of 135 Cadets of which 65 were majoring in nautical, 55 technical and 15 in management. The number of samples with an error rate of 5% from each population gave 96 cadets. The author collected data via questionnaire, interview and a document review. This data was analysed using a quantitative descriptive analysis in the Frequency Distribution Formula:

P = f/n x 100 Where P = Procedure, f = frequency of respondent’s answers, n = number of respondents

A scale was then used to measure the competence of lecturers.

Here’s what they found

  • Through the analysis of the responses, the author reported that the four aspects of competencies of lecturers measured were good or very good.
  • Through interviewing 3 cadets, one from each of the majors identified, lecturers were able to understand students as individuals.
  • Lecturers were also deemed to have paid special attention to the biological, intellectual and psychological differences of their students in order to better understand them.

The author/s concluded

That the lecturers of PIP Makassar had met the required national education competency standards.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work?

At the time of publication Endang Lestari worked in the Nautical Department of Politeknik Ilmu Pelayaran Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. As the author was a lecturer in the department, the objectivity and independence were challenged, and a potential conflict of interest was raised regarding the anonymity of the questionnaires where the cadets are the respondents to a lecturer.

What do we know about the journal?

The journal of Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 75. 1st International Conference on Materials Engineering and Management – Management Section (ICMEMm 2018). This paper was a conference paper submission and it is unclear whether it had been peer reviewed.

The literature review section was not linked to the aim of the study and had no critical evaluation of the literature that contributed to the paper.

What about the methodology used?

The paper was more of a practitioner article rather than an academic study – “this is what we did and this is we found”, with no further discourse made. We thought that the rationale for the study was not clearly stated.

The absence of the content of the questionnaire allowed us to speculate on the number of questions asked, the weighting, the number of responses and the format of the questions, whether simplistically framed in order to give the conclusion wanted rather than discovered.

There was no breakdown of the respondents’ data available such as gender, age, questions answered or subject majoring in.

This evidence was very limited with no general recommendations for further study. There were no ethical considerations reported of the sample population or of the interviewees (cadets and staff in the institute) and this introduced a high risk of bias. The body of this paper was poorly presented, with poor syntax, poor reporting and of a poor structure and style that is sandwiched between the abstract and the conclusion.

No strengths, weaknesses, self-critique or recommendations were forthcoming in the subsequent analysis for the responses.

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a high risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

A topical piece that unfortunately promised more than it delivered. It highlighted the importance of social rapport with students as a competence and led discussion to the process of recruiting lecturers. Student rapport is not guaranteed with a candidate that has the required academic and industry experience. In fact, how lecturers’ interpersonal skills contribute to the team could be more of a measure of social competence.

Next steps

There is the potential for the College to conduct a similar study, learning from the inadequacies of this study and then conduct a compare and contrast critical evaluation. The focus of future study could investigate the academic and vocational competencies required in delivering vocational courses with the demands of GTCS registration and the Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges.

View from

Joe to get a relevant external commentator

What do you think?

References

Keywords: competencies, professionalism, lecturer, cadets, learning process, questionnaire

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

Categories
Enabling student development and achievement qualitative Student engagement in learning Student experience Student support

A place for mature students in Further Education?

Blog Authors: Jan Robertson, Joe Wilson, Lynn Brown, Maggie Darroch, John McVeigh, Tracey Howe, Paulo Monachello.

Image: COD Newsroom / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

An increasing proportion of the United Kingdom’s (UK) full-time undergraduate student population is mature. Student retention in higher education has been defined ‘as the process of helping students meet their needs so that they will persist in their education’ (Bolam 2003). renewed focus within Scottish FE to re-engage with the missing numbers of mature students as a whole, and for City of Glasgow College to attract and retain students through the offer of the best student experience the findings of Paula Dunne in “Here’s my story: Mature students narratives of Further Education” potentially offer us some insights into the particular experiences and challenges of this group, in order to be able to respond with appropriate support and adjustments to encourage mature adult learners and retain and develop this valuable resource.

Here’s what they did: The author delivered a small scale narrative enquiry into the lived experience of 5 returning students to Further Education in Ireland with the hope to capture their experiences through listening to their stories. Semi-structured individual interviews lasting 40 mins were then carried out towards the end of the academic year. The Interview transcripts were used to identify key themes using McAdam’s life story method protocol.

The key themes identified were:

  • Personal motivations for returning to education
  • Challenges faced & support needed to overcome
  • The influence of past life educational experiences
  • The impact on identity

Here’s what they found

FE could provide a worthwhile experience for these mature student returners. Students could gain qualifications; upskill and reskill. Students could potentially progress onto Higher Education

Further benefits for mature returning students included increased confidence, self-esteem, re-writing earlier educational experiences and building their sense of identity.

Returning to Further Education for mature students presented special challenges such as juggling family commitments, costs & availability of childcare, difficulty in securing part-time employment to fit around study demands & College attendance, feeling initially socially isolated & lacking confidence, (perception that everything is geared up to a “young” world), a fear of failure, lack of ability in IT, and overcoming earlier poor educational experiences

Support from family, peers and supportive teaching staff presented a way to overcome these challenges

The author/s concluded

Embracing education as a mature student for most could be a transformational and positive experience with the correct supports in place.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work? This paper is single-authored by Paula Dunne from Dundalk Institute of Technology. Our view is that there may have been some gains in having a collaborative approach.

What do we know about the journal? The All Ireland Journal of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education (AISHE-J) is an open-access, peer-reviewed, journal of scholarly research into Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. AISHE-J was first published in 2009 with Sylvia Huntley-Moore as inaugural Editor and welcomes the submission of manuscripts presenting original scholarly work or commentary in any aspect of teaching and learning in higher education.

What about the methodology used? The method is clearly stated as narrative enquiry – a form of qualitative research. Interviews were digitally recorded and later transcribed verbatim were used to identify common themes and strands.

We agreed that an ethical approach had been used in that the participants had voluntarily responded to an email to take part were advised that they could withdraw from the process at any stage. We are told also that password protections were in place and anonymization of participants.

Nevertheless, there were quite a few noted limitations of the study. It was felt that the aim was not explicitly stated in light of the named methodological approach taken. You had to really delve into the “Discussion” section to find this.

A lack of framework for the questions and explanation of the scoring methodology and further detail of the analysis were possibly missing. Perhaps the transcripts could even have been supplied to enrich the article – as the sampling was quite small (although it is stated that it is a pilot.)

McAdam’s life story method protocol (McAdams 1993) was noted as a seminal piece of work. However, it was felt that there were a lack of recent references.

There was no data given in the results section. It was felt that there was a lack of information on the technique to identify the sample. The sample itself is very small, five volunteers; four female and one male. It is limited in time and space. It was felt amongst that there may have been value in a longitudinal approach to examine the experiences of the mature FE students across the academic year rather than only at the end of the year.

Whilst there were reference to two other studies undertaken in Ireland the many studies that the author mentions undertaken within an HE setting are not referred to at any time to offer contrast or add to our knowledge of shared experiences of mature students. It may have been interesting to look at age as a determining factor in experience of the students given that in FE mature students are considered to be those 21years+ and in HE mature students are considered to be those 23years +. The study does only consider the situation in Ireland.

Note this article was published in a Teaching Journal which has a strong focus on the implementation of national teaching policies such as DES, 2008 and DETE, 2002 as referred to in the article.

Overall we thought there was a lack of focus. It was suggested that there may have been greater value in examining the experience of mature students who leave Further Education to find out their experiences this may give a richer picture. In addition it was considered that may be of value to look at the stories of those who were refused a place. Although it was noted it may be difficult to get access to that information

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a high risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

The article refers to articulation routes into Higher Education. There is space for these pathways to be really clear for mature students to access. Other questions we could consider in relation to our own practice at City of Glasgow College could be bespoke IT learning spaces for returning mature students, future childcare provision and identifying those life events when students consider returning to offer up our learning in a context that compliments that life stage

As an organisation we need to be more mindful of the needs of mature students and from a Worldkills point of view there will be a new focus beyond the 16-24 year olds. For mature learners there is greater need for negotiating things like deadlines for this who are balancing other life events. A place for mutual respect, we need to place relationship at the centre of learning. Things are changing and we need to keep a pace.

Next steps

  1. As an Organisation we ned to reconsider the place of “student confidence levels” and “prior life experiences” in the way that we approach future learning.
  2. Consider tailored support groups for mature students
  3. Consider ways to make the learning experience of mature students authentic and inclusive
  4. Support Mature Students Association development

View from

As a mature student at COGC, who has changed careers and is at least a decade older than most of the class I have enjoyed a mostly positive experience. As a mature student you are very focussed on your goals and serious about success. Through the support of the STEM Girls Group I have found support and encouragement and a Group I can be part of with mixed ages and backgrounds. This has helped.

Ketle Santos, Maritime Operations Level 5, City of Glasgow College

What do you think?

References

Keywords: mature students, FE, HE,

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

Categories
Assessment and feedback Delivery and assessment of the curriculum Digital technologies to enhance learning and teaching and assessment. qualitative quantitative Technology and digital literacies

Rubrics in Vocational Education

Blog Authors: Tracey Howe, John McVeigh, David Cullen, Walter Patterson, Ian Hamilton

Image by Cleonard1973 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Our College delivers vocational training that frequently uses observation-based assessment. However we realise that for this to be reliable, fair, and practicable it also needs to demonstrate consistency across assessors (quality assurance), and involve decisions about the range and number of observations of performance that are required to make a reliable judgement about competence. The notion of using rubrics is being explored and we looked at this paper ‘Electronic Rubrics Design to Assess Student Competence in Vocational Education‘.

Here’s what they did. Using Design Based Research they aimed to develop an instrument that contained a rubric on food and beverage service practice in vocational education that is valid, practical, and effective. The three stages included: 1) identification and analysis of problems, 2) development of prototype program, 3) test and prototype implementation of the program.

They explored the needs of 4 lecturers from food and beverage service of different universities and 30 students of culinary education Indonesian Education University. This defined the concept of evaluation tools that were made and validity was explored using the view of 2 specialist subject matter experts and 1 assessment expert.

Data collection involved interviews and questionnaires and descriptive statistics.

Here’s what they found.

  • food and beverage service lecturers have never created nor applied an assessment rubric.
  • students on food and beverage service programme do not know the assessment tools used by lecturers
  • researchers designed a task performance guide that can be used by students in the practical implementation.
  • the performance criteria for the task and performance assessment (rubric) showed a good degree of validation

The author/s concluded

The results of the study consisted of instruments used in food and beverage service performance task of student assignments as a guide for students in carrying out lab work and performance assessment consisting of electronics rubric as practical competency guidelines. The results of the development were validated, based on expert discussions conducted using the Aiken index coefficient.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work? All authors work at UNIVERSITAS PENDIDIKAN INDONESIA,UPI The Education University.

What do we know about the journal? This paper was published as part of proceedings from the 1st Vocational Education International Conference (VEIC 2019).

What about the methodology used? The main problem with the paper was that clearly English was not the authors’ first language. This resulted in lack of clarity and understanding throughout. The methodology was unclear and all subsequent analysis, results and conclusions were difficult to interpret.

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a high risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

There are a number of individuals and programme teams across our College developing and using electronic rubrics. These include Beauty and Culinary Arts and are used on ‘Moodle’ our VLE platform. It was felt that rubrics give a more standardised feedback to student that allows their understanding of their performance.

A key area where we could look at this is that of ‘meta skills’ as these are cross disciplinary in nature and could provide core methodology and consistency of approach.

Next steps

  • College staff currently developing or using rubrics could showcase their work at forthcoming internal events and conferences.
  • We could propose a work package on rubrics as part of the current institutional review of assessment and feedback
  • Create a working group of interested individuals
  • Ask OD and COPTE for staff development in this area
  • Look at the Skills Development Scotland meta skills

View from

What do you think?

References

  • Muktiarni, M. et al. (2019) ‘Electronic Rubrics Design to Assess Student Competence in Vocational Education’, in 1st Vocational Education International Conference (VEIC 2019). Atlantis Press, pp. 257–261. doi: 10.2991/assehr.k.191217.042.

Keywords: rubrics, assessment, competence, vocational, college

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

Categories
Ageing Dementia qualitative Research methodology

Dementia cafés, the way forward?

Blog Authors: John McVeigh, Fiona Balloch, David Cullen, Jan Robertson, Lisa Shields, Joe Wilson, Paolo Monachello, Tracey Howe

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

With the steep increase in numbers of people living with Dementia – 93,000 in Scotland (Scottish Government 2016), the need for not only more support but stronger support networks for individuals and their carers needs to grow alongside this. City of Glasgow College is exploring the notion of creating a dementia café. To give some insight into this we looked at A qualitative study of carers’ experiences of dementia cafés: a place to feel supported and be yourself published in BMC Geriatrics in 2017.

Here’s what they did. This is a qualitative study of carers’ experiences of Dementia Cafés using semi-structured interviews of 11 carers from 5 dementia cafés in and around London. Interviews lasted an average of 42 minutes and all but one interview was carried out in their home. The interviews were digitally recorded, then transcribed and anonymised before being coded. From these, four themes emerged and were evidenced and supported by direct quotes from the participants.

Here’s what they found

Four Themes

  • Cafés provide a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere where carers feel supported and accepted.
  • Café attendance often brought a sense of normality to these carers’ lives.
  • Carers and those they care for look forward to going and often enjoy both the activities provided and socialising with others.
  • Other benefits included peer support from other carers, information provision and support from the volunteer café coordinators. 

The author/s concluded

  • Dementia cafés appear to be a valuable, perhaps unique form of support for carers giving them brief respite from their caring role.
  • Future research incorporating mixed methods is needed to understand the perspectives of those living with dementia.

Our Journal Club’s views

Who are the authors of the paper and where do they work? At the time of publication, the main author Nan Greenwood worked at Kingston University and St George’s London as the associate professor within the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education. Having worked in this field for over 20 years and having many papers published in this time, our view is that this author has validity. 

What do we know about the journal? The journal BMC Geriatrics is an Open Access Journal which publishes original peer reviewed research articles and has an Impact Factor of 2.818 this is then gives us our view it is a reputable journal.

What about the methodology used? As the purpose of this study was an in-depth exploration of carers experiences qualitative methodology is appropriate. Potential dementia cafes were identified by a combination of internet searches and ‘snowballing’. Convenience sampling was used and no incentives were given. Data was collected and analysed by three experienced researchers which gives more rigour to the study. Interviews took place in familiar settings, mainly own home. The use of the table to show the demographic was felt to be a good addition to the paper as this highlighted some limitations with the sample e.g. ethnic background mainly white, family members. Other limitations included sample size of cafes, only 5, no interviews with people who no longer attended.

Our conclusions are – that this evidence has a low risk of bias.

Implications for our practice

As a local College as well as being the biggest building in the street could (and should?) be a part of the local community. Having a Dementia café within the College would not only bolster the relationship with the local community but also give many learning opportunities to both our students and staff within the College. How can we move this forward to make the college Dementia friendly and a by-product of this make the College age and people friendly?  

For us a College to look at projects that can bring us into the local community and help support individuals living with dementia while making the College an accessible place with trained staff that people want to come along to and enjoy being here.

Open table discussion around the library provision within the College and the access to books, journals and research papers. The College is looking to expand its library content as well as making it more accessible for everyone. This is a project between the library and the IT Department to look at the Library guide and its expansion and accessibility.

Next steps

We agreed to

  • Organise Dementia Friends training available to all staff.
  • Determine where dementia as a topic is present in our current educational profile.

View from

It is wonderful to see the development of Dementia Friends across the staff and students in the College, I suspect that few students future careers will not in some way have the ability to help influence and shape the world that people with dementia live in. From directly supporting people, to designing our communities, developing policy and shaping our society, students hold the future in their hands and as educators you are helping build this. Learning now how we all can play a part in the lives of people with dementia and their families by taking part in Dementia Friends sessions I hope will light a spark of future ongoing commitment, innovation and contribution. Well done.

Henry Simmons, Chief Executive, Alzheimer Scotland

What do you think?

We would love to hear your views on any of these comments.

I think it is good that the college wants to be part of the community but the comment that the building is the largest in the area would give me concern about its use as a Dementia Café as perhaps the sheer size would be overwhelming if a carer attended with the person they assist. Also, a lot of young students buzzing around may not make it the most relaxing environment. Having said that, this comes from a person with no medical / technical knowledge of dementia

References

Keywords: Dementia, dementia café, qualitative, interviews, carers, experience

Our Blog Posts are written by staff at City of Glasgow College to inform and inspire our practice. We meet together at the Journal Club to consider the latest evidence to provide insights on hot topics related to learning and teaching, quality assurance and subject needs. It forms part of our activity for General Teaching Council Scotland registration and Professional Standards for lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges demonstrating that we are a self-critical staff community.

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