11.1: Global citizenship as a Threshold Concept: Addressing Troublesome Knowledge in the Telecollaborative Exchange MexCo
English
Marina Orsini-Jones and Elwyn Lloyd, Coventry University
This paper reports on MexCo (Mexico-Coventry) an ongoing Online Intercultural Learning (OIL) project underpinned by action research in its fifth implementation cycle at the time of writing (December 2015). Its aim is to embed internationalisation into the English and Languages curriculum. According to Diamond et al (2014) a ‘global graduate’ should demonstrate the ability to:
- work collaboratively;
- communicate effectively;
- demonstrate drive and resilience;
- embrace multiple perspectives.
The internationalisation of the curriculum offers opportunities to develop such skills sets but can be encountered by strong resistance from undergraduate students who often fail to see the point of engaging with ‘others’.
The integration of OIL into the curriculum has therefore highlighted problematic aspects of the development of global citizenship skills. The papers will address the challenges encountered and discuss how undergraduate at Coventry University were supported in their intercultural exchange with peers from the Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico.
11.2: Can visual documentation support the emerging dancer to self-reflect? Embedding graduate employability
Dance
Helen Newall & Karen Jaundrill-Scott, Edge Hill University
12° North Graduate Dance Company is an innovative Arts Council England funded project hosted at Edge Hill University which exists to strengthen dance provision in the North West. It is supported by a culture of collaborative working alongside regional partners to maximise existing and emerging graduate opportunities. This 20 minute paper is a dual presentation and details a documentation project undertaken by Newall and Jaundrill-Scott to capture via photography and film the exterior acquisition of skill and the interior acquisition of self-belief. This 20 minute paper addresses two things: firstly; how photographic imagery can be used to address the teaching of self-reflexive recognition artistry and employability using it as feedback to enhance the graduate dancer’s self-reflexive evaluation of achievement. Secondly; how our own experiences during this process enhance the development of our own practice in documentary photography undergraduate teaching and film making.12° North Graduate Dance Company is an innovative Arts Council England funded project hosted at Edge Hill University which exists to strengthen dance provision in the North West. It is supported by a culture of collaborative working alongside regional partners to maximise existing and emerging graduate opportunities.
11.3: Ways of assessing teaching practice
Languages
Claudia Saraceni, Kristina Narvet & Imelda Sari, University of Bedfordshire
Observed and assessed teaching practice (TP) is an integral part of many ELT/TEFL/TESOL courses at postgraduate and undergraduate level. TP in fact can be used to enable trainees to gain a valuable classroom-based teaching experience which is also considered by many the most useful element of ELT provision. In many ways teaching skills cannot be simply learnt through a studial knowledge-driven approach but need to be experienced in their practical application in the language classroom.
However due to its open-ended nature teaching practice and its assessment criteria can be perceived as somewhat general and vague as they don’t always seem to follow a consistent and reliable assessment framework. Also TP assessment tends to emphasise performance and often seems to neglect to focus on its formative purposes and aims.
Our research project aims primarily at addressing the above-mentioned issues through an investigation of the approaches and techniques used in TP assessment. This is carried out with the aim of describing reviewing and critically informing feedback procedures and criteria.
This session will therefore present analyse and evaluate our research project and its main findings also with the purpose of discussing its possible applications to different more localised contexts. This presentation also offers an opportunity to consider the interface between teacher training and teacher development.
11.4: Developing a college-based academic writing Centre
Languages
Nicola Taylor, University of Birmingham
Much has been written about the growing need for academic writing support for ‘home’ students not only with a widening participation in HE of students from non-traditional backgrounds but also following the more recent increases in tuition fees and associated changes in student expectations (as revealed in responses to polls such as the National Student Survey). However there is debate surrounding who should deliver this support (see for example Tuck 2015; Wingate 2006; 2011) as some academics may with some justification believe that they are best placed to deliver advice on academic writing within their discipline to their own students. However there are levels of expertise in the field of Writing in the Disciplines (WiD) which are not within the portfolio of an academic in many subject areas even within the Arts and Humanities. I will argue that a College-based Writing Centre can provide valuable teaching/learning support for academics and professional development opportunities for postgraduate students as well as support in academic writing development for the College student body all of which can contribute to student retention and attainment.
Tuck J. (2015) ‘”That ain’t going to get you a professorship”: discourses of writing and the positioning of academics’ work with student writers in UK higher education’. Studies in Higher Education. [Available online] http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.999320
Wingate U. (2006) Doing away with ‘study skills’. Teaching in Higher Education. 11(6): 457- 469
Wingate U. (2011) A comparison of ‘additional’ and ‘embedded’ approaches to teaching writing in the disciplines in M. Deane & P. O’Neill (eds.) Writing in the Disciplines (pp. 65-87). London: Palgrave MacMillan
11.7: Selling employability to time-poor academics: Embedding employability to create engaged learners
Interdisciplinary
Dawn Bennett, Curtin University Australia
There are growing social and economic demands for graduates who can navigate the uncertainty and complexity of rapidly transforming employment contexts. This presentation begins with an overview of research on employability and the changing nature of work and employment. This is followed with a discussion of employability and career development within higher education including the functional and cognitive aspects of employability. The challenge for higher education institutions is how to embed the development of employability within every program. This presentation shares expert tools and strategies that engage learners fit within existing curricula and create opportunities for scholarly research. By bringing research and scholarship into the teaching space employability is positioned as a valuable and respected component of teaching and learning.
11.8: Cultural awareness and learning communities: Embedding equality and diversity training into new student induction activities
Dance Drama & Music
Kasia Lech & Kath Abiker, Canterbury Christ Church University
The paper seeks to contribute to the discussion around practices in the area of equality and diversity in the university context by contributing strategies to embed equality and diversity and subsequent graduate attributes into students’ learning community. The case study is an 2015 induction equality and diversity student development intervention delivered by a group of final year students and graduates from Drama and Performing Arts programmes to L4 and foundation year students as a CCCU Partners in learning project.
Identified as a need by the lecturer the sessions were commissioned and planned with the support of the Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching. The induction has enhanced students’ capacity on entry to level 4 to facilitate the development of graduate attributes connected to equality and diversity and helped the students to consider the advantages of working together for improved capacity to interact and strengthen their learning community. The induction had also a direct links with enhanced employability associated with Performing Arts graduates.
