This case study outlines the way in which a tutor has used PebblePad and the SHU Study Skills Toolkit to support students in developing their academic study skills. Level 4 Criminology students are required to submit a reflective assignment during their second semester; however, the students often have little experience with reflection and so fail…
Simulation refers to the imitation of real-world activities and processes in a safe environment. Simulations aim to provide an experience as close to the ‘real thing’ as possible; however, a simulated activity has the advantage of allowing learners to ‘reset’ the scenario and try alternative strategies and approaches. This allows learners to develop experience of specific situations by applying their wider learning…
Critiquing is an approach that encourages students to consider their own work by drawing comparisons with the work of their peers. Traditionally, students will submit their work to be critiqued by fellow students and perform their own critique on the work of one or more peers. Through this process the students get feedback on their work from their fellow students and,…
Role-play is a technique that allows students to explore realistic situations by interacting with other people in a managed way in order to develop experience and trial different strategies in a supported environment. Depending on the intention of the activity, participants might be playing a role similar to their own (or their likely one in the…
On the week of 14 – 18 July, SHU is running this open online blended course about using smart phones and tablet PCs to enhance and transform teaching and learning. The course is running concurrently at other universities over the 5 day period and uses social media, video scenarios, and face-to-face peer-enhanced activities . BYOD4L focuses on: Connecting Communicating Curating Collaborating…
Lynda.com, recently made available to all staff and students at SHU, is a site containing high-quality video training on common and specialist software packages. There are videos on a wide range of software, from general tools, such as Microsoft Word and Google Drive, to specialist tools, such as Final Cut Pro and SPSS. In addition…
This case study outlines a way in which two tutors have challenged students to develop as autonomous learners by researching and presenting posters at a public exhibition. A first-year, second semester module in D&S concerns the ways in which the public interacts with history and highlights the similarities and differences between producing work for a public…
At its simplest, Micro-research (also known as Inquiry-based Learning) involves getting students to undertake a relatively small research project and report back to their peers. The purpose of the approach is to encourage students to develop a deeper understanding of the material they have been researching while also developing skills that will be useful for other parts of…
This is part of a regular series of articles exploring some of the terms used in e-learning (view other articles in the series). We’ll do our best to break down the jargon and explain what things are from a basic perspective. A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an online space that is used to support learning…
This is part of a regular series of articles exploring some of the terms used in e-learning (view other articles in the series). We’ll do our best to break down the jargon and explain what things are from a basic perspective. As Pi Month [3.14] comes to a close it seems an appropriate time to write…