Bera Booklet 2005 - Teaching and Learning Research Programme

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Thursday15th September4.30 – 6.00pmVirtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in Initial Teacher Education – no morevalue than a quill pen?Presenter: Linda Clarke, School of Education, University of UlsterAbstract: ‘Whilst ICT can make a massive addition to teaching and learning … ICT itself is ofno more value than a quill pen… the value lies in the way the equipment is used.’Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for Education and Skills at BETT 2003VLEs will soon be as commonplace as quill pens once were. In January 2004, 58% of allproviders of approved Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in England submitted bids for developinge-learning communities in ITT. Almost all Faculties of Education which submitted bids arealready involved in e-learning developments. The Times Educational Supplement’s virtualStaff Room has over 68,000 registered users, who have posted 2,675 messages in the past24 hours. From late 2005 the Learning NI VLE will be available to some 300,000 membersof Northern Ireland’s educational community. The purpose of the paper is to examinewhether and how VLEs can be used effectively to support learning in initial teachereducation.Tutors on the University of Ulster (UU) Postgraduate Certificate in Education, (PGCE, a oneyearITT course) have been piloting the use of a variety of VLEs for over five years. Thesehave been used to serve purposes which are both pragmatic and pedagogical. Pragmaticpurposes include the 24/7 worldwide accessibility of a variety of searchable digitalresources, implying less photocopying and paper use, and reducing the sense of isolationoften felt by students when they are on teaching practice for 24 of the 36 weeks of thecourse. Pedagogical purposes include fostering ICT skills, providing a venue for reflectivewriting and building a library of good practice. There is also room for informal, emergentforms of learning.Students on one UU course, PGCE Geography, are the focus of this case study. Data havebeen collected using electronic questionnaires, and two end-of-course focus groups(consisting of high and low level users) will soon shed further light on students’ experiencesof the virtual elements of the course.Online courses are perhaps more ‘real’ than those that are face-to-face – a feature supportsresearch in three key ways: the researcher-tutor can draw evidence from the online postingsand from the course tracking system and, at the end of the year, students can review theironline contributions and engage in meta-reflection to produce personal e-learning profiles.Preliminary analysis of online content and questionnaires highlights the value of the verypopular (non-compulsory) online coffee bar, where there is ample evidence of informal, sociallearning. Students see the VLE as helping to build an online community of practice with linksstretching across space and time. The compulsory reflective discussions provide a venue forboth schadenfreude and mutual consolation, whilst the emerging library of good practicehelps to meet the perennial demand for pedagogical inspiration. Some students find theonline tasks time-consuming, others do not like the public nature of the discussion forums,and, if they prefer paper copies, students must do their own printing – with or withoutrecourse to the quill.Friday16th September9.00 – 10.30amUsing research to enhance professionalism in further educationPresenter: Mark Goodrham, Calderdale CollegeAbstract: This presentation will draw on the Using Research to Enhance Professionalism inFurther Education project. One of the major aims of this research is to investigate theimpact of research upon the changing nature of professional practice and identity in FurtherEducation (FE). The research is undertaken in response to continuing and radical changesapparent within the FE sector. The study will investigate the impact of research intransforming professional practice. A prime focus will be the impact of the Teaching andLearning Research Programme (TLRP) 'TLC' project (Transforming Learning Cultures in FE).The research will focus on part-time and full-time staff, in a variety of FE settings. Case study8
groups of FE professionals, some of whom have shown an interest in the TLC research, willcomprise the sample. A combination of questionnaires and interviews will be used toinvestigate staff perceptions of their changing jobs, of the TLC research, and of the linksbetween the two. Data will be collected twice, with an 18-month gap, to help deepenunderstanding, and assess changes in perceptions of professionalism and of the TLC, overtime. The research aims to produce guidelines for the more effective utilisation of research,to aid the further improvement of professional practice in FE.Friday16th September9.00 – 10.30amSYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONEarly career learning in the professional workplace: theories, methods andinsights from longitudinal, cross-professional, comparative studyChair: Michael Eraut, University of SussexDiscussant: Carolyn Miller, University of BrightonAbstract: This presentation will draw on the Early Career Learning at Work: LINEA projectdirected by Professor Michael Eraut, University of Sussex; Professor Frederick Maillardet,University of Brighton; Professor Carolyn Miller, University of Brighton; Stephen Steadman,University of Sussex.There has hitherto been little direct evidence of what is learned in the early years aftergraduation, the best way to facilitate this learning, or how university knowledge is adapted topractical situations. This project will investigate three groups of graduates (accountants,engineers and nurses) through their first three years of full-time employment, examining thefactors affecting their learning and approaches to improving the management and support oflearners.The accountants will be developing job competence and working for professionalqualifications, the engineers will be working towards Chartered Engineer status and thenurses will be engaged mainly in post-qualification learning to develop their expertise.Research partners include the Institute of Electrical Engineers, the Institute of CharteredAccountants in England and Wales, City University (Barts) and a number of employers ofaccountants, engineers and nurses.The outcome for user groups such as employers, professional bodies and government, willbe evidence-based recommendations for the management and support of these learnergroups, and advice for staff who carry that responsibility. For teachers ofprofessional/vocational education, the outcome will be much better evidence on thetransition from higher education to work, how and what HE acquired knowledge is used,and what is learned in the workplace; and a discussion of its implications for the relevant HEprogrammes. For researchers in teaching and learning, fuller and more theorised accountsof the research will be communicated, together with implications for employers, highereducation and other sectors of education.Paper 1Methodological challenges in studying workplace learning: strengths andlimitations of the adopted approachPresenter: Stephen Steadman, University of SussexPaper 2Typologies for investigating and reporting what is learned and howPresenters: Michael Eraut and Stephen Steadman, University of Sussex9
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