I have listed some of the resources used during the 2 days below at the end of this post.
From my perspective, I thought my sessions went well. The two sessions I ran where Maths Support at UCS, and the closing activity using a poster activity. The Maths Support is always a tricky one given the breadth of maths they will do during the year, and their previous experiences. Therefore, the aims were to re-assure and build confidence using typical maths questions they'll encounter and talking through the support routes. The pitch was to re-assure, not shock and awe !!
The confidence building activities are always fun. It involves getting them into groups of three or four, and working through some past paper questions. After which they have to write an exam question based on those we've seen, and these need to be answered by the other groups. One group proposed the following:
Peter is prescribed amoxycillia 250mg, 3 times a day, for 7 days. How many grams will he need in a week? a) 0.525g, b) 5.25g, c) 52.5g, d) 525g
Mark Illman (with help from Jo Calver as an observer/participant) has reflected on his session. The session started with a discussion of the different types of learning activities that were likely to take place in HE and how these activities represented certain styles of learning. This was followed by an introduction to Honey and Mumford’s concept of learning styles, and moving on from this all participants were given a questionnaire designed by Honey and Mumford to find out about their own learning preferences, with statements about learning that participants were asked to either agree or disagree with. The questionnaire was designed to identify preferences for four learning styles: activist, reflector, theorist, and pragmatist.
After the results were interpreted, each student discovered that they had a profile which was quite individual and unique, but which could develop and change over time. This was graphically demonstrated by students drawing their own colour profile on the whiteboard as a diagram for the whole class to see and compare with others. The class then moved on to discuss how learners could choose and adapt learning activities to suit their own learning preferences. For example, people preferring a more active style of learning might benefit from creating mindmaps incorporating colours and diagrams to record lectures or enjoy forming peer discussion groups (chat and coffee?) to reflect on materials presented in lectures. In this way, practical methods of adapting learning activities to suit learning preferences were introduced as a way for people to overcome any frustration or difficulties when faced with a potentially unfavourable learning environment.
It was generally felt that all participants enjoyed the session and came away having learnt something interesting and helpful about themselves, which they were encouraged to discuss with others. Several people commented that the knowledge gained from the session would serve them well throughout their studies at UCS.
Workshop Evaluation Posters (in groups of 4 or 5 people)
- What three things have you taken from the course?
- Which two things will you take forward into your learning?
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| Poster from student group: This is what they took away (networking, referencing, orientation) and will take forward (planning and goal setting) |
Selection of session resources
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