Month: January 2020

Pedagogies of Engagement

I’m finding this experience of ‘blogging’ quite interesting. Documenting my thoughts, feelings, ideas and opinions is very new to me and the fact that is it open for others to read brings me an unreasonable level of anxiety. But I do realise that that’s all part of the process, particularly as one of my personal development goals for 2020 is to push myself outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself. So onwards we continue with blog life…

Unfortunately, I missed my first Teaching & Learning tutor group session on the 20th January due to unforeseen circumstances. This meant that I was unable to present the presentation I had prepared about pedagogy to my peers. I did, however learn some valuable lessons on some pedagogic practices designed to enhance engagement, which I will outline below.

As an undergrad student (6+ years ago), I always struggled with staying focussed and engaged with delivered teaching content during class. I often found myself daydreaming, scrolling on my phone and sometimes (regrettably in hindsight) even putting my head down on the desk for a mid-lesson nap. This led to poor-time management and disorganisation as I would usually end up spending additional hours at home trying to catch up on what I had missed in class due to my dwindling attention span.

So when I came across the journal paper entitled ‘Exploring student definitions of engagement: A reflexive approach to designing learning activities’ (Huggard, 2010), I was immediately drawn in to read more. The article explores the definitions of student ‘engagement’ from the perspective of the students themselves and seeks to identify various teaching methods to improve student learner engagement which align with students expectations.

This is in contrast to the institutionalised and behavioural-based definitions of engagement that have formed as a result of the rise in universal format of higher education. Mcfarlane (2015) identifies this as students ‘demonstrating more visibly that they are learning through participation in class’ and ‘sharing their ideas in public discussions’

To challenge this, the report goes on to identify two pedagogies of engagement (which were designed based on student definitions of engagement) which were of most interest to me as a teaching practitioner:

1. Problem Based Learning – learning that results from the process of working towards understanding or resolution of a problem (Smith et al., 2005)

2. Experiential Based Learning – learning encouraged through experience (Benecke and Bezuidenhout, 2011)

Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a student-led learning method through which students apply taught knowledge to real brand issues and build competencies for their creative industries. Case studies are considered to be an effective method of PBL which is effective in achieving greater engagement with unit learning outcomes, retention of material and cooperative interaction (Baturay and Bay, 2010) and (Meyers and Jones, 1993).

Traditional vs. Problem Based Learning outlined (Image: Springer Link)

In contrast, Experiential Based Learning (EBL), utilises active student participation to encourage learning through experience via practical, hands-on projects. This could include community involvement projects for example (Benecke and Bezuidenhout, 2011). Kolb (1984) identifies conflict, differences, and disagreement as key notions to drive the learning process in EBL practice.

Experiential Learning cycle outlined (Image: Grade Hub)

Given that both teaching methods have been developed reflexively in response to the student-definitions of engagement, one may assume that an increase in engagement could be measured in teaching sessions if PBL and EBL pedagogies are applied. Although the report did not assess this, I would be keen to apply particularly PBL tasks such as case-studies in my own teaching practice to very teaching content and enhance student engagement.

Furthermore, the report raised some questions for me:

  1. What variable factors can be identified that increase engagement?
    • The report did not approach student engagement from a holistic perspective, so I would be keen to understand what sociological, behavioural and/or psychological factors can be of influence
  2. How can we integrate technology and specifically the use of mobile phones in to lesson plans to improve engagement?
    • As technology has now become an instrumental tool for both teachers and learners, how can this be incorporated effectively to enhance rather than hinder engagement? This is of particular interest to me due to my mobile device, as mentioned earlier, being a hindrance to my learning as a distraction as an undergrad student.
  • Benecke, R.D. and Bezuidenhout, R.M. (2011) ‘Experiential learning in public relations education in South Africa’, Journal of Communication Management, 15(1), pp. 55–69.
  • Gibbs, G. (2014) ‘Student engagement, the latest buzzword’, Times Higher Education, 1 May. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/student-engagement-the-latest-buzzword/2012947.article (Accessed: 2 April 2015)
  • Huggard, E. (2016) ‘Exploring student definitions of engagement: A reflexive approach to designing learning activities’, Sparks Journal, 1 (1), pp. 5 – 18
  • Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • Macfarlane, B. (2015) Student performativity in higher education: converting learning as a private space into a public performance, Higher Education Research & Development, 32 (2), pp. 338–350.
  • Meyers, C. and Jones, T.B. (1993) Promoting active learning: strategies for the college classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Smith, K.A., Sheppard, S.D., Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. (2005) ‘Pedagogies of engagement: classroom-based practices’, Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), pp. 87–101.

T&L Introductory Lecture: A post-lecture summary of thoughts.

It’s been a fair while (almost 6 years) since I completed my undergrad studies at UAL. As a now late twenty-something year old with a business and a child (certainly two of the most time consuming things to ever exist), I never imagined that I would become a student again. The level of stress and anxiety that presented itself in the weeks before a deadline date was a certain deterrent for me to ever think about continuing studies beyond undergrad level – yet here we are. Its 2020 and I’m a post-grad student. Here is a summary of my current thoughts about being a student again:

A summary of feels as a post-grad student.

I have a lot of conflicting feelings presenting themselves already and it’s only week 2. I think this stems from my innate desire to excel at any task I assume vs. the idea of trying to juggle student/teacher life with my already time restricted lifestyle; the former requires more time and commitment than I potentially have to give but I am determined to make it work!

I was the first person in my family to ever graduate from University. This was an obviously incredible milestone to reach in my life, but had I been just one year younger in age, I potentially may have never even enrolled. There’s a wealth of reasons why, but I would say that the increase in student fees in 2012 as a result of the Browne Review (2010) was a pivotal factor in my decision; I began my BSc undergrad study in 2011 when fees were around £3.2k, thus narrowly missing the tripled cost of studying at university that would have most definitely bound me into a lifetime of colossal student debt repayments.

We discussed these changes to student fees in in this week’s lecture, in the broader context of the Higher Education (HE) timeline of events and influences in the UK since the 1950’s (see image 2). This particular event (fee increases) had a profound effect on my entire decision to attend university. Coming from a working class background, we were money-poor however I was always conscious about saving money while simultaneously getting the best value. My thoughts were – do I go now and save money while getting my degree or do I go later on in life (post 2012) and pay triple? The answer was obvious and I enrolled with pride in 2011.

Image 2: A timeline of events that have influenced the Higher Education landscape since the 1950’s

As an undergrad, I was also exposed to the emergence of new advances impacting the field of HE, the main one being the introduction of new teaching/learning platforms such as Moodle. I was resistant at first, but quickly got used to it (without choice). Fast forward to 2020, it has become clear very quickly that Moodle is a digital learning hub that is fundamental to navigating all PG Cert course units, briefs and assignments. This is also true for other platforms such as MyBlogs and Workflow and it is interesting for me to see the shift in using these as fundamental tools in teaching methods vs. the way they were used less dependently during my first stint in HE.

After this week’s lecture, I have a better understanding of how these digital platforms and tools can be integrated effectively into teaching methods. For example, the session plan created by Lindsay encouraged active participation by using GoogleDocs and Padlet during group discussions and brainstorming. This creates a learning space that facilitates the sharing of information and ideas that is instantly accessible even outside of the class session. It excites me that these platforms not only allow learning content to be developed and shared but it also enhances students’ learning experience bringing a mutual benefit to both student and teacher; I plan to develop and refine my own teaching practice to utilise some of these virtual learning tools alongside range of teaching methods to keep my lessons varied and create an engaging learning environment.

References:

Browne Review (2010), ‘Securing A Sustainable Future for Higher Education: An Independent Review of Higher Education, Funding & Student Finance’, Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/422565/bis-10-1208-securing-sustainable-higher-education-browne-report.pdf (Accessed: 19 Jan. 2020)

And so it begins!

Hi, my name is Stephanie Martindale and I am currently studying for my PGCert in Academic Practice in Art, Design and Communication at UAL.

My field of discipline is business management, marketing and communication, primarily within the beauty and cosmetics industry.

I have worked in product marketing for around 4 years, specialising in research, innovation and product development working on concept ideation and task management through to the operational execution at European level. More recently, following a period of maternity leave, I have taken a step away from marketing to pursue lifelong personal dreams to own my own successful beauty salon; I am now a self-employed part time beauty practitioner and business owner, student and mother of 1. 

I am undertaking the PGCert course to develop my skills as a teacher in HE and apply enriching teaching content in practice. I’m also keen to observe myself as a learner but also reapply my academic and writing skills in a HE setting. I am beyond excited to push my own boundaries and stray far outside of my comfort zone to excel in my postgraduate studies.