Studying for your Education Degree (Critical Study Skills) - Softcover

Pryjmachuk, Steven; Waugh, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 191209682X ISBN 13: 9781912096824

Publisher: Routledge, 2018

Synopsis

Studying for your Education Degree is PERFECT for anyone wanting to train to become a primary or secondary teacher or undertake an education studies course. After reading this fully comprehensive guide you will understand:

• the structure and culture of HE, and how education/teaching fits into it
• what to expect, and what will be expected of you, as a university student
• teaching and assessment methods within education, so that you can perform to the best of your ability in an academic environment
• how to manage your teaching/education studies in an effective way and make the most of the resources available to you.
  

The books in our Critical Study Skills series will help you gain the knowledge, skills and strategies you need to achieve your goals. They provide support in all areas important for university study, including institutional and disciplinary policy and practice, self-management, and research and communication. Packed with tasks and activities to help you improve your learning, including learner autonomy and critical thinking, and to guide you towards reflective practice in your study and work life. Uniquely, this book is written by an experienced education lecturer and an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) lecturer.

About this title

About the Author

David Waugh is a former deputy headteacher who has worked in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) from 1990 at the University of Hull, where he led the PGCE course and became Head of Department. In 2008 he was appointed as a National Strategies Regional Adviser for ITT. He is currently Director of the Primary PGCE at Durham University, where he is also subject leader for English. He has published extensively in primary English, as well as developing e-learning resources for National Strategies for English, mathematics and mentoring and coaching.

Jane Bottomley is a Senior Language Tutor at the University of Manchester and a Senior Fellow of the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP).She has been involved in the development of a number of content-based academic study skills courses at the University of Manchester and has published widely in this field.

Steven Pryjmachuk is Professor of Mental Health Nursing Education in the School of Health Science's Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at the University of Manchester and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His teaching, clinical and research work has centred largely on supporting and facilitating individuals – be they students, patients or colleagues – to develop, learn or care independently. In December 2014, Steven was elected as vice Chair (2015-16) and Chair (2017-18) of Mental Health Nurse Academics UK, an organisation representing 65 Higher Education Institutions providing education and research on mental health nursing.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Studying for your Education Degree

Critical Study Skills

By Jane Bottomley, Steven Pryjmachuk, David Waugh

Critical Publishing Ltd

Copyright © 2018 Jane Bottomley, Steven Pryjmachuk and David Waugh
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-912096-82-4

Contents

Acknowledgements, vi, 
Meet the series editor and authors, vii, 
Introduction, viii, 
Chapter 1 Studying education in higher education, 1, 
Chapter 2 Strategies for effective learning, 14, 
Chapter 3 Becoming a member of your academic and professional community, 31, 
Chapter 4 Critical thinking, 45, 
Chapter 5 Academic resources: technology and the library, 65, 
Chapter 6 Assessment, 82, 
Appendix: The language of higher education, 94, 
Answer key, 97, 
Index, 103, 

CHAPTER 1

Studying education in higher education

Learning outcomes

After reading this chapter you will:

• have gained knowledge of higher education and its place in the UK education system;

• understand some of the terminology and 'jargon' used in higher education;

• have gained knowledge of institutions which set standards for education training;

• have gained knowledge of levels and qualifications in education;

• understand the relevance and importance of lifelong learning and continuing professional development;

• understand the importance of student autonomy and independent learning in universities;

• have gained knowledge of how courses are structured and delivered.

This chapter will develop your knowledge and understanding of the study of education in UK universities. It will outline the 'qualification frameworks' that are relevant to becoming, and developing as, an educator, and discuss the role of important educational and professional bodies. In addition, you will be introduced to the types of teaching and learning that you will encounter as a student teacher.

Before you read the chapter, test your knowledge with the Quick quiz below. You can revisit the quiz as you read, or come back to it after reading the whole chapter to see if your answers have changed. Key words in this chapter are highlighted in bold and can be found in the Appendix.

Quick quiz

1) What does HE stand for?

2) How is HE different from FE?

3) What are the main qualifications offered by universities?

4) Which is the higher level qualification, a degree or a diploma?

5) What is the minimum academic qualification you need to become a qualified teacher?

6) What mark (percentage) do you usually need to obtain a first-class degree?

7) What are 'credits' and how can you get them?

8) What is 'lifelong learning'?

9) What are the most common types of assessment in universities?

What is HE?

HE stands for 'higher education', one of two options in UK tertiary education, ie education available to people of 16 years or above.

HE is mainly provided by universities, and principally awards degrees and diplomas. In contrast, further education (FE) is provided by colleges, which deliver courses and award qualifications which are vocational in nature (NVQs; City & Guilds; BTEC), preparing people directly for the workplace. However, in recent years, there has been a blurring of the line between the two types of institution, with many FE colleges, sometimes in association with partner universities, also offering degrees. This is one way of making degrees accessible to a wider range of people, some of whom may find it convenient to attend classes in a local FE college or to study in the evenings. Recently introduced 'degree apprenticeships', which offer the potential to obtain a degree while learning on the job, also blur the boundaries between vocational and academic learning.

Your education degree

Teacher training, which forms part of most education degrees in the UK, is today fully integrated into the HE sector. There are some routes into teaching in which the universities' involvement is more limited, but these tend to be at postgraduate level and require trainees to possess a degree qualification. Although there is a large vocational component to teaching, based on practical teaching skills, teaching also requires highly developed intellectual skills, and universities are considered to be the best place for undergraduate students to acquire and develop these. Education is thus an academic subject, equivalent to any other, such as medicine, engineering or English literature, and therefore measured against the same standards.

Qualification frameworks

HE qualifications, sometimes called 'academic awards', are regulated across the UK via two frameworks: the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (QAA, 2008), and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in Scotland (QAA, 2014). These frameworks help institutions and employers judge the value of an individual's education and help ensure equity between academic subjects. Table 1.1 shows the academic levels assigned by the QAA to each stage of HE, and provides information on how they relate to a study pathway in education.

An undergraduate degree has four classifications. These are shown in Table 1.2, along with the marks usually required at each level.

Courses and credits

You can see from Table 1.1 that, in order to enter the teaching profession, you must obtain a degree from an HE institution, usually a university. If you study full time, it will take three years to obtain an honours degree (or four years in Scotland). However, universities recognise that timescale is not possible or ideal for many people, so they have flexible learning systems which allow students to fit study into their lives in a practical way. This can involve:

• distance learning, where the student mainly studies from home via correspondence, using web-based resources – perhaps occasionally attending university workshops etc;

• blended learning, which combines traditional classroom study and web-based learning;

• part-time study (including the new degree apprenticeships mentioned earlier).

Flexible learning is facilitated by the credit points system which underpins HE education. Each course module that you study has a number of credit points attached to it. Each credit is equal to 10 hours of study, either in class, or through self-study (QAA, 2008, 2014). These credit points build up to eventually form your degree, whether over three years' full-time study, or over a longer period if you study part time. Table 1.3 shows that a student has to earn 360 credit points in order to be awarded an honours degree.

Look at the QAA frameworks (2008, 2014) online to see descriptors detailing exactly what is expected of a student at each level. Note that not all universities offer the CertHE. Some universities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may offer an ordinary degree without honours to students who have obtained a certain number of credits at Level 6. A four-year Scottish Honours Degree requires an additional 120 credits at Level 9/10.

Universities provide students with information on each module with regard to its academic level and the number of credit points it carries. Many modules, often called 'core modules', will be obligatory; some modules will be optional. All modules are organised around the following:

• a set of learning outcomes which identify what you will be able to do or understand by the end of the course;

• a process of teaching and learning which will help you achieve the learning outcomes;

• assessment which will measure your achievement and provide evidence of it.

Top tips

Thinking about 'the big picture'

Learning outcomes, teaching and learning, and assessment will be aligned, so you should think about 'the big picture' and consider them together. When preparing for assessments, for example, look again at the learning outcomes to check what you will be expected to demonstrate. In class, think about how the classroom activities are partly preparing you for assessment, and ask if you are not sure.

Lifelong learning and continuous professional development

The flexible approach to study outlined above is underpinned by the much-valued educational principle of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning, by definition, extends beyond your degree, and may involve postgraduate study or continuing professional development (CPD). CPD in teaching can be provided by a range of organisations, including local education authorities, private consultancies, multi-academy trusts and higher education institutions. It is important to discuss your CPD needs with your line manager or mentor once you have begun teaching.

Case study

How is CPD demonstrated in the personal account below?

I have been teaching for five years in two primary schools, having moved after my third year to take up a post as literacy co-ordinator. During this time, I have attended a range of courses in order to address aspects of my practice where I felt I could develop my skills and knowledge. After attending a series of twilight workshops at my local university's school of education, I joined the United Kingdom Literacy Association and went to a conference with two colleagues. This stimulated two of us to enrol at the university to take a master's degree and to focus, for our dissertations, on aspects of literacy. My studies have enabled me to look at the way in which spelling is currently taught in schools and to consider strategies for developing spelling in my own school. This was a key focus following the school's last Ofsted inspection, and the school is subsidising my tuition fees as it considers that my research will benefit teaching and learning.

Reflection

What do you think your CPD priorities might be when you are a qualified teacher?

Being a university student

Reflection

What is your previous experience of study? Which of the following have you experienced? Was your experience positive or negative? Why was this?

1) Big classes where the teacher talks a lot and the class mostly listens

2) Large lectures with hundreds of students

3) Small seminar groups where people discuss topics or articles

4) One-to-one tutorials with a teacher

University culture and practices may not always reflect your past educational experiences. Some students may find it difficult to work things out at first.

Case studies

Do you think these students have a good understanding of what is expected of them at university level? What advice would you give them?

1) "My course looks quite easy – there aren't many lectures and I don't have to hand in any essays until the end of the semester. So it looks like I'll have a lot of free time!"

2) "The lecturer puts some things on Blackboard after the lecture, but I'm not very confident with technical stuff so I haven't seen it."

3) "It doesn't matter if I miss lectures – I can get all the information I need from reading textbooks."

4) "I'm very nervous about speaking in front of people so I tend to keep my head down in seminars and just get through them without drawing attention to myself."

5) "I'm disappointed in my essay mark and don't understand what I did wrong – I worked really hard on it! But there's nothing I can do about it now. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this."

The students quoted above have some common misunderstandings about university life. These areas of confusion are dealt with in the following sections, to demonstrate, among other things, how study is not just about the time you spend in the classroom, why it is important to go to lectures, when and how you should seek support from academic staff, and why, sometimes, you might just need to push yourself beyond your comfort zone in order to achieve your full potential!

Study time

At university, you will encounter a range of teaching and learning methods, including those which involve face-to-face contact with academic staff, ie lectures, seminars and tutorials. However, you may find that there seems to be a lot of 'free' time on your timetable. Hence, it is important to understand that the time you spend with your lecturers is only a small part of your study. A 10-credit module is seen to represent approximately 100 hours of actual work (QAA, 2008, 2014). So if you attend, say, 30 hours of lectures on a particular 10-credit module, this still leaves 70 hours of study to complete outside the classroom. This may involve searching the library, reading, planning and writing essays, improving your computer skills, or collaborating with other students on a group project.

Top tips

Getting the most from your study time

Try thinking of your full-time studies as a typical 'working week' of about 35–40 hours a week, 7–8 hours a day, and plan your time accordingly. (Adapt this if you are studying part time.) Take sensible breaks throughout the day, just as you would if you were working – maybe cook a nice healthy lunch to give you energy, or take the dog for a walk to give your brain some much-needed downtime!

Virtual Learning Environments

Study outside the classroom is often facilitated by Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard or Moodle. VLEs contain vital information on the course and links to useful resources. They also host a number of useful tools. For example, VLE discussion boards can enable interaction with your peers and with the lecturers. VLEs are also important in terms of assessment: you may be required to complete some assessment tasks online, and you will probably be required to upload written assignments onto your VLE using plagiarism-detection software such as Turnitin, which compares your writing with published sources and other submitted essays to ensure it is all your own work. You may also receive assessment feedback online through tools such as Feedback Studio.

Top tips

Getting the most from your VLE

1) Check your VLE frequently as there may be new announcements or documents. Staff will just assume that you will look at these; they will not chase you up to make sure you've accessed them. It is your responsibility to be on top of things.

2) Spend some time learning how to navigate the site so that you can access things quickly when you need them. The more you use the site, the easier this will get.

3) Read your discussion board contributions carefully before clicking 'send'. Make sure that the style is appropriately polite and that there is no ambiguity – especially if it could cause offence. Also check your grammar and punctuation – poor writing can detract from the seriousness of your message.

4) Check if it's possible to download slides before lectures – this could help you to be more prepared for lectures, and facilitate the note-taking process.

Lectures

Lectures at university are designed to provide an overview of a topic. As such, they are a very useful starting point. They are also a springboard for further reading, thinking, discussion and writing. The aim of lectures is not just to reproduce what is in the books: the lecturer can guide you towards the most important aspects of a topic, or provide you with a theoretical framework on which to 'hang' the ideas you accumulate from your reading. They may direct you towards particular chapters in textbooks or indicate how different journal articles relate to the topic, as well as each other. Lectures can also be enjoyable! A lecturer may present you with interesting examples, or offer up lively anecdotes which can bring a subject to life. Some lecturers may include interactive activities, for example, getting you to use mobile phone apps or 'clickers' (a device used to provide on-the-spot analysis of students' responses during a lecture), or they may encourage comments and questions.

Top tips Getting the most from lectures

1) Experiment with different note-taking strategies: linear notes, mind maps, diagrams etc.

2) Use headings and sub-headings to organise your notes, or use colour to highlight thematic patterns.

3) Experiment with taking hand-written notes and using your laptop or tablet to see which suits you best.

4) Put together a list of useful abbreviations and get into the habit of using them. Some common ones are listed below. Match them to the full term (as with the example that has been given) to check your understanding:

eg that is to say

NB compare and contrast

cf for example

ie note

5) If you find it difficult to keep up in lectures, ask if the lecturer is willing to upload the lecture slides onto the VLE beforehand, so that you can do some preparation and maybe check out some difficult terminology beforehand. If the slides are available, you could upload them onto your laptop or tablet and annotate them as you follow the lecture.

6) Go over your notes as soon as possible after the lecture, when it is fresh in your mind. Improve the organisation if you can, adding or refining headings, sub-headings and cross references – this is easier of course with wordprocessed notes.

7) Find a lecture 'buddy' who you can discuss the lecture with afterwards. You could check if you agree on what the main points are, or try to clarify anything you were confused about. 8) Look back at previous lecture notes before attending the next one.

Seminars

On some courses, small seminar groups will provide an opportunity for you to follow up on the lecture, to clarify points and expand your understanding. You may be asked to read an article beforehand, and one or two students may be asked to lead the seminar by presenting their summary and opinion of the article, before a general group discussion.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Studying for your Education Degree by Jane Bottomley, Steven Pryjmachuk, David Waugh. Copyright © 2018 Jane Bottomley, Steven Pryjmachuk and David Waugh. Excerpted by permission of Critical Publishing Ltd.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 191209682X
• ISBN 13: 9781912096824
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 116