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ASD/School of IT collaboration
Learning Advisers, student mentors and the School of Information Technology recently combined their resources to help over 65 second-year IT students prepare for their first semester examinations. This student-driven program later expanded to involve Learning Advisers in Townsville and Cairns working directly with lecturers and tutors to improve the quality of course delivery. Early in the year, several IT students approached Learning Adviser, Peter Hanley, seeking assistance with one of their second-year subjects. They were put in touch with student mentor Murray Griffin who is himself a second-year student, and in the same class as the two students seeking help. Murray checked around and found that quite a few other students were struggling with the same subjects, and so the idea of catch-up workshops in the lecture recess was born. Over 40 students attended the two one-day workshops in the recess, and participants agreed that the workshops were invaluable in helping them to understand the work. Plans were made for two three-day workshops in the week before the end of semester exams, and support was sought from the School of IT. The school provided a room for the tutorials and $100 worth of sweets as motivators for the workshops. Attendance at these workshops ranged from 32 to 48 over the six days. The process followed was simple - students discussed topics until all in the group felt they understood the material being discussed. Several students who had a good knowledge of the subject material explained it to the others. One of these informal tutors remarked that ' ..helping the other students cemented it in my mind, and also I was corrected on some information I thought was right'. A/Prof Greg Allen sat in on a number of the workshops as a monitor and spoke enthusiastically of their effectiveness. 'The concept of student-motivated self help and learning appears in this case to be a powerful group learning tool and should not be overlooked in our learning practice'. Student feedback from the workshops is a powerful testament to the power of interactive learning. When asked the benefits of the workshops one student reported, 'I tend to get intimidated by tutors, so I don't like to ask questions, whereas in the workgroup, you feel like everyone has the same problem, and it's OK is to say I don't know.' Another commented that he really got interested in one of his subjects. 'I didn't even like the subject before, but that was just out of plain ignorance. I learnt a lot about the subject material as it was discussed in a straightforward manner.' Several students reported that the success of the workshops had prompted them to organise similar study groups in other subjects. This semester, staff in the School of IT have implemented a new teaching program, developed at a staff retreat led by Head of School, Bill Lavery. Student lead revision workshops prior to the exams have been incorporated into the program. Drawing on feedback from the student workshops, interactive tutorials have been introduced into all subjects. The tutorials are held once a week and involve lecturers and tutors working interactively with students who are set problem-solving activities at the beginning of each session. The tutorials have a number of objectives including :
The Learning Advisers were invited to meet on several occasions with teaching staff in the school to help them prepare for the tutorials. Sessions with staff took place on both campuses and lecturers and tutors participated enthusiastically. The sessions modeled the approach we believe is important to initiate interactive tutorials. Each session began with an ice-breaker that has the dual function of relaxing the participants and introducing names. In our own group work with students we have become convinced of the importance of learning student names and adopting a personalised approach to learning support with early opportunities for students to participate in a non-threatening environment. In our work with teaching staff a major objective was to get staff working and planning together - thus modeling the behaviour they would like to encourage in their students. In small groups we discussed possible teaching strategies and also brainstormed responses to any obstacles foreseen by the staff. Seemingly minor items like room layout become very important when the goal is to encourage interaction in tutorials. It is hard to foster interaction in a room where seating is fixed in rows. Staff were also introduced to the website of the Asia Pacific first-year project which has an extensive collection of resources for small group teaching, assessment guides and lecturing tips for teachers of undergraduate students. This collaborative exercise involving students, academic staff and Learning Advisers, clearly highlights that improvements in the quality of teaching can be achieved when students' views are listened to, and a proactive approach is taken by both academic and support staff. The successes reported here also reinforce the role of Academic Support Division staff in facilitating advances in teaching practices. Peter Hanley and Alan Calder
For additional information contact:
Updated 21 October 2002 by imamt@jcu.edu.au .
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