23 July 2002
One lecture and one seminar a week. Seminars tutor-led to provide discussion of material presented in lectures.
Each lecture supported by web pages (see below) which doubled as visual aids during the lecture; net discussion site mounted for revision.
For further articulation of teaching strategy see module handbook.
Presentations from me seasoned by prompted discussion and reflection.
Visual aids provided by web site, made available through projector (and, conveniently,
net connection also provided in the lecture theatre).
I reprise the one or more of the main issue(s) presented in the lecture (3 sentences only) and participants take it in turn to say what they want to say (we go round the room). It is a rule that anyone is welcome to 'pass'. (I think this method is called 'rounds'.) Participants are down to have done a set piece of reading, and that to some extent feeds into the discussion.
Questionnaire
Informal discussion
Lectures fine
Seminars fine
Webpages fine / really helpful (this from a small number)
Some texts difficult (Kant)
Rounds in seminars perceived by one person as threatening.
Not available at the present time.
I've spent a lot of time and enthusiasm this year on turning my lecture texts into webpages.
The webpages are designed to
· make lecture presentations fully available for consultation after the lecture.
· offer supplementary material to the enthusiastic student who seeks further depth or coverage through material of mine
· encourage students (by incorporating a manageable number of well-chosen links) to make use of the great wealth of other people's material now available across the net.
· encourage people to develop their encounter with primary texts by giving links at the end of quotations to their specific occurrence in full e-texts. Eg http://www.vernon.uklinux.net/L11%20Berkeley1.htm#general
· to offer prompts for thought, linking directly to the module discussion site, and sometimes linked to the response to the prompt offered by me. Eg http://www.vernon.uklinux.net/L20Kant4.htm
· to offer juvenile quizzes to help consolidation. Eg http://www.vernon.uklinux.net/L12%20Berkeley2x.htm#spirits
· To offer visual aids to comprehension. Eg http://www.vernon.uklinux.net/L19Kant3.htm#causality
· to offer eye candy to make life sweeter. Eg http://www.vernon.uklinux.net/L11%20Berkeley1.htm
· to be used as a visual aid instead of 'Powerpoint' (which on the whole I hate as all glitter and closed technologically) or the more flexible overhead transparency. I am confused as to the outcome of my experimenting. I suppose my thought is that the potential is there for an efficient and effective way of enhancing the lecture experience, particularly by bringing all sort of media into the lecture room, but I don't feel I have got there yet. One down point is that when you are experimenting it can make you very stiff and inflexible (as well as, I hope) hyped up.
The full pages were made available to students on request on a free CD ROM.
I also mounted a special website for me to field for everyone's benefit revision questions. Eg http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/PHIL211/
I don't think the fruits have been used very much by students looking them up in their own time, but (of course, I suppose) I haven't had any adverse comments, and some warm appreciation.
Kant is perceived as difficult, but he is, and so was Leibniz, and I don't think we should meddle for a bit.
I'm sensitive to my enthusiastic use of 'rounds' in the seminars being felt (by one person) to be threatening, but I continue to find it extremely congenial. I must do more to insist that individuals are free to 'pass', and to handle things so that this is what people actually feel. Perhaps it would also help to frame prompts so that only someone who had neither attended the lecture nor done the week's reading would feel bereft of a thought to contribute. I get positive enough feedback from the great majority of participants to continue to think it does very well.
The results suggest again to me that there should be a broader band of excellent work. Must find ways of addressing this. I am better at reassuring than at demanding.
| ACTION POINT | WHAT HAPPENED |
| Implement University's new regulations on the late submission of coursework, and consider whether this has reduced the number of extensions requested. | Analysis at programme level |
| Develop statistics to enable identification of variations in standard applied by different markers | Ditto |
| Move away from course readers towards using published readers or textbooks where possible | Systematic use of classic texts on the net; module website developing into a textbook-equivalent. |
· Develop webpages in the same direction as this year, especially enhancing
interaction techniques to help learning.
· Explore potential of anonymous polling technology.
· Make more use of multimedia resources now readily available via the lecture room facilities, including the net connection.
· Work on developing use of net discussion.
· Find ways of pushing able people harder without weakening support for those who find it difficult.
Signed
VFJ Pratt
23 July 2002
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