ROBERT AND SUSAN * AND THE QUEST FOR LEARNING AUTONOMY

1. ROBERT AND SUSAN* AND THE QUEST FOR LEARNING AUTONOMY *With thanks (and apologies) to John Biggs, “Teaching for Quality Learning at University”.

2. Robert and Susan Academically committed, motivated, clear career plans, has sound, relevant background knowledge, reflects on learning. Less motivated, less committed, possibly not as academically bright, less developed background of relevant knowledge. Responds to more active teaching methods, becomes more engaged, fulfils potential “Good teaching is getting most students to use the higher cognitive level processes that the more academic students use spontaneously”* *Biggs again!

3. What we did in the first year • First year skills module (20 credits) • Cumbersome paper-based portfolios • Content/subject led • Same first year skills module • ePortfolio tool • PDP led but content/subject contextualised

4. The Scaffolding along the road to learning autonomy – first year Improved knowledge Personalised ePortfolio PDP skills Module success Opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Blogs and Wikis Peer support Communication Defines commitment Planned schedule of activities Success Seminars and Workshops Starting point Gives structure Transferable skills Personalisation Motivating Detailed Teaching and Learning Schedule Template Documents BLACKBOARD

5. What we did in the second year • Removed the scaffolding • Existing ePortfolio in place • Employer needs driven • Work/employer related knowledge • Job skills • Improved ePortfolio • Interview and interviewing experience • Reflective commentaries

6. SOME THOUGHTS – first and second years! We did this at school Couldn’t get it to work I already have an ePortfolio therefore I am an autonomous learner Boring – doesn’t count anyway I already know how to do this Do you know what they want us to write? This isn’t proper university work Waste of time I’ll do this later on when I’m looking for a job It doesn’t take long At least we don’t have to turn up every week Do we get a mark for this? Do you know what we are supposed to do? My BLOG won’t work properly I’m too busy to mess about with this I didn’t think it would be like this

7. I think this module is the one I enjoyed the most … foundation degree, because it is a breath of fresh air when compared to … And then some more … .. this module aims to develop essential but often overlooked skils We did this at school .. this module has definitely widened my opinion about my own skills and how to improve them Couldn’t get it to work I already have an ePortfolio therefore I am an autonomous learner Boring – doesn’t count anyway I already know how to do this The ePortfolio tool is a much more effective method of submitting work Do you know what they want us to write? The ePortfolio is a dynamic and interesting way of students being assessed This isn’t proper university work Waste of time I’ll do this later on when I’m looking for a job I found using the ELLI profile that I am less ‘resilient’ than anything else. This means that I find it hard to recover from disturbance, shock or insult, but this can be used in different fields. It doesn’t take long At least we don’t have to turn up every week I have only recently learnt how important it is to evaluate. Doing this enables me to set myself new goals and improve my skills Do we get a mark for this? Do you know what we are supposed to do? My BLOG won’t work properly I’m too busy to mess about with this I believe [ePortfolio] is a very innovative idea that should have been introduced a long time ago. I didn’t think it would be like this

8. Some statistics