Over the past two summers while I have been thinking about having a break, two Vacation Teaching Development Assistantship (VTDA) students planned their summers around enhancing the student experience. More specifically, they were involved in designing 12 weeks of flipped learning activities for different modules as part of the Foundation Degree (FD) programmes in Health and Social Care. One of the aims of the project was to encourage the development of higher-level skills, such as critical thinking, through the use of technology. This is increasingly seen as an essential feature of FD courses, where the focus is on supporting student transition into higher education. E-learning can provide flexible access to student centred learning materials. It is also essential that that is compliments the more traditional didactic content, which remains an important part of the course. ‘Flipped learning’ can support a move from teaching to student centred learning. In this way the flipped classroom (FCM) can work alongside an inclusive teaching and learning strategy and inclusive assessment. Research indicates that FCM encourages flexible creativity, as a core component of higher learning.
The students and I created a number of different folders on Blackboard, including a short video summary of the session e.g. take-home messages; pre-lecture preparation task e.g. read a selected journal; independent learning exercises e.g. set a problem to solve; and self-assessment quiz.
An evaluation of this approach using qualitative and quantitative data demonstrated that flipped learning can enhance student learning, including engagement and satisfaction. As part of my recent postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning, I evaluated blended approaches to supporting students to access higher learning. For students studying for the Foundation Degree in Mental Health, this showed there was a 19.6% increase in students passing at first attempt and a reduction in attrition. Student satisfaction remained the same between 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. Flipped learning using a range of Blackboard resources certainly presents an opportunity to add value through working with students as academic partners.
What the students said (Dan & Danielle):
Both VTDA students indicated that they had gained confidence in their ability to extract key learning from general material and gain a greater understanding of the link between teaching and learning. They also learnt to use new software and work with academic colleagues from a new perspective (& that we aren’t as scary as they thought!). Dan highlighted that he focused on developing the student learning journey from both a learner and lecturer perspective. Dan is now an established hourly paid lecturer, whilst Danielle is completing her top-up degree and I hope will consider developing into a lecturing role in the near future.
What the Academic Group Lead said (Lisa Mauro-Bracken):
The VDTA work completed by Dan and Danielle over the past two summers will enable the Foundation Degree team to further enhance their technology enhanced learning (TEL) activities on Blackboard. The need for the courses to incorporate blended learning continues to increase, particularly as the size of cohorts per course has nearly doubled since 2015. As project supervisor Jo has demonstrated the positive impact the increased TEL has had on student engagement and achievement. Part of the enhancement plans for the Unit is to improve student experiences across all the FD courses. The VDTA has assisted in starting the process of replicating and adapting how the FD team use technology effectively and the learning from these projects will continue to inform the work we do.
What the next from the project supervisor (Jo Augustus)?
As part of the course annual evaluation process I will continue to monitor the key student outcome metrics, including the number of assignments passed at first attempt and attrition rates year on year. I really enjoyed working with both students and colleagues, and hope to apply for the VTDA project next year with a different focus for 2018.
Jo Augustus, Senior Lecturer / Course Leader in Adult Mental Health