---

Eight courses for educators

• Setting more effective (fairer?) essay questions - Half day
• Helping students to write better essays - One day
• Effective lecturing - Half day
• Effective tutorials - Half day
• Writing for newspapers and magazines - Half day
• More benefit from attending conferences - Half day
• Effective postgraduate supervision - Half day
• Creating a quality-oriented department - Two days

SETTING BETTER ESSAY QUESTIONS

Most students in tertiary education are still examined using the essay. Their future success may depend on passing essay examinations. Most of us know that the main comment by examiners on failed student essays is "You did not answer the question". Recent research has uncovered some revealing insights into how students misinterpret essay questions and shows how easy it is for examiners to unwittingly mislead students. It could be that in many cases we are examining not the students' knowledge but their ability to understand what we want from them in the essay examination.

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• analyse any question to find out exactly what it requires a student to do
• estimate the level of difficulty of many instruction words
• understand the importance of many instruction words
• re-write some questions in a way that makes them easier to understand

EFFECTIVE LECTURING

Most new lecturing staff are being given guidance on how to lecture effectively. But what about us older "hacks" who were hired for our research skills

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• structure a lecture so that students will find it easy to follow and know what to learn, and how to learn
• prepare handouts to support the lecture
• deliver a lecture that will maintain student interest
• stimulate questions and use exercises in a lecture
• use technological aids advantageously
• use your voice and person more effectively in presenting the lecture
• find out how helpful students found the lecture

EFFECTIVE TUTORIALS

Well managed, the tutorial is one of the most effective ways to develop students' thinking and communication skills. However, very few staff (and particularly part-time tutors) are given adequate guidance on how conduct tutorials. There is a range of techniques which tutors can apply to make the tutorials a successful and enjoyable learning event for students. In addition, thorough preparation by the tutor can result in less tension during the tutorial itself.

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• prepare materials and questions for use in the tutorial
• "warm-up" the group and encourage discussion
• deal with the over-talkative student
• enable all students to feel they have taken part
• recognise the value of a summary at the end of a tutorial
• find out how effective your facilitation of the tutorial was.

WRITING FOR PUBLICATION IN NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINES

Why this course?

Increasingly, academic staff are being required to contribute to showing the public that the work of their institutions contributes to general well-being. It is also well known that an article in the press or relevant popular magazine is powerful publicity for research centres, and departments and that this publicity can result in enhanced status, and funding. Newspapers and magazines are always searching for newsworthy stories but much of the copy they receive is unusable.

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• identify what aspects of your work are likely to be of interest to editors and the public
• find the "interest-hook" in your work
• write a press release which tells the editor you know what s/he requires and makes it easy for the editor to use it
• take steps to increase the chance of the article being published

MORE BENEFIT FROM ATTENDING CONFERENCES

For obvious reasons, almost all of us enjoy attending conferences. However, they are, in general, expensive and we frequently do not gain as much benefit from them as we could. In addition, many people do not realise the potential for academic and career advancement conferences hold.

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• take some of the pain out of preparing a conference paper
• practice ways of making a less arduous and more interesting presentation
• reflect on ways to make better use of time than merely attending each conference session
• more effectively build networks
• gain additional information for our departments.

EFFECTIVE POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION

Why this course?

It is well known that there is concern about the quality of postgraduate supervision in many institutions - particularly for PhDs. It is also well known that funding will become increasingly closely related to results, that is, the number of students completing. There are several common sense approaches to supervision that could help both supervisors help their students.

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• reflect on just what the role of the supervisor is
• reflect on what effective supervision should entail
• negotiate a supervision schedule
• provide constructive criticism on initial drafts
• decide on additional supportive action when candidates are struggling.

CREATING A QUALITY-ORIENTED DEPARTMENT

Why this course?

The relatively new arrangements for funding are requiring departments to pay more and more attention to quality. But what is quality? Are we not giving the best quality possible to our students already? It is understandable that what appears to be vague and unrealistic talk of "quality" leads to some staff feeling anxious and frustrated. This is a relatively new "management/ commercial" orientation which some staff may not agree with and which may seem unnecessary. However, the "nettle has to be grasped".

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• reflect on the relationship between "quality" and better teaching and research
• consider what quality means with regard to, for example
  • long term aims of the department
  • first contact with students
  • general appearance of the department
  • attitude of staff: academic and secretarial
  • Departmental literature
  • staff teaching ability
  • administration staff ability
  • policy with regard to revealing information to students
  • support for failing students
  • quality of handouts/ course structure and notes
  • the approach to assessment
  • level of student participation in decisions on course structure and assessment

 

• take some preliminary steps towards gaining the support of staff for enhancing quality
• monitor progress towards a quality orientation.

HELPING STUDENTS TO WRITE BETTER ESSAYS

Why this course?

There is considerable evidence that most students struggle with essay writing and that the quality of college and university level essays is way below that expected by staff. It is now recognised by many institutions that helping students to write better essays can be a major step in enhancing the effectiveness of their learning. It is also now well recognised that the principles of effective essay writing are useful in most kinds of written communication. Consequently, effective essay writing is a way of preparing students for written communication in future employment.

The benefits?

After this course you will be able to:

• show students how to adequately interpret essay questions so that they understand exactly what the questioner requires
• explain to students how a detailed plan can improve the logic of an essay
• conduct short exercises with students to assist them improve their expression without detailed lessons on grammar
• show students how to use introductions and conclusions in essays to reinforce in the questioner's mind, that the question will be, and has been, adequately answered.