SOLSTICE Conference 2015
The workplace as an extension of the classroom:
using technology enhanced pedagogy to develop
student employability
Stacey Tilling - Coventry University
4th & 5th June 2015
This presentation examines the
conceptualisation of a developmental
programme to be hosted on Coventry
University’s Moodle2 VLE and supported
by a flipped classroom style delivery of
learning resources.
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What is CUReS?
Students as employees and learners
What is employability?
Pedagogies, technology and employability
The flipped classroom
Extending the classroom into the workplace
In the HE environment, the student experience
goes far beyond the lecture hall or seminar
room - it branches beyond, into the multifarious
elements of student life and the Higher
Education community.
Who are CUReS?
• Coventry University Research Solutions originated
as a means of centralising research based projects
within the university campus
• CUReS is a small team of researchers with a range
of expertise from a variety of backgrounds and
disciplines
CUReS recognises and aims to address the skills gap in
the contemporary workforce
There are two main ways that CUReS has engaged
students:
• The Research Support Staff role
• Student Internship: Students as Researchers Placement Module
Research Support Staff
• Role created in 2013
• RSS are current students (any level)
• Employed on an as-and-when contract- flexible
working
• Developmental with training and access to L&D
Staff scheme
• Experience at CUReS – Role aimed at those with
an interest in research
Research Internship: Students as Researchers.
• 2nd Year students undertake ten week ‘internship’
• Placed in a different academic discipline
• Self-directed
• Support from CUReS (and online resources)
• Contribution to real, ‘live’ projects
• Assessment is a research diary and poster
presentation
• Combining these roles and linking work and learning
• Ongoing programme providing employability
opportunities and graduate attributes training
• The development of this process will align
pedagogies and teaching innovations with training
and development tools
What is Employability?
• What are its components?
• What role does it play in contemporary
universities?
• How do we align it with teaching practice?
Employability is…..
’a set of achievements – skills, understandings and
personal attributes – that make graduates more
likely to gain employment and be successful in their
chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the
workforce, the community and the economy’
Professor Mantz Yorke (2004) - Employability in Higher Education: what it is - what it is not',
Higher Education Academy/ESECT
• HEIs provide students with skills and attributes
needed post graduation
• Research shows the need to embed graduate
attribute training within teaching, learning and
assessment
• One of the challenges is academics are already
faced with fitting vast amounts of content into a
near saturated curriculum
The programme is concerned with the ways in
which employability and engagement with
graduate skills training impact:
• The student experience
• Positive destinations after graduation
• Skills and knowledge acquisition during studies
that lead to ongoing employability and
continual learning and development
Knight and York (2006) developed the USEM model
which outlines employability as four broad and interrelated components, they are as follows:
• Understanding
• Skillful practices (including deployment of skills)
• Efficacy beliefs (including students views of
themselves)
• Meta-cognition (including self-awareness and a
capacity to reflect on learning)
The USEM model of Yorke and Knight (2006).
The placement module and the RSS role have a
strong employability focus and actively
encourage students to get involved with a live
piece of applied research in a formal workplace
setting. This helps students recognise the value
of practical research experience and how
research can be a transferrable skill.
Employer engagement with learners is defined as a
range of activities, initiatives and approaches which
are best conceptualised as a continuum. It includes:
• Responsive teaching and learning
• Developments for upskilling and developing
people already in work
• Fostering capability and attributes to enhance the
employability of students in higher education
Taking this approach we are combining the
ongoing training of student employees (RSS) at
CUReS and the teaching and learning aspects of
the Research Internship module.
Delivery combines a flipped classroom
pedagogical model with work-based learning
and training
Both the Research Internship and the RSS role
are designed to complement the students’
normal academic programme of study and aim
to enhance their ability to secure work after
their study.
‘work experience is repeatedly related to higher
graduate employment rates and possibly to
higher subsequent incomes’ (Blackwell et al,
2001:284).
• Using the experience and expertise of the staff at
CUReS, we are able to guide students to strategically
tailor their learning to maximise the long-term benefits
• Carnell dubs this approach as ‘meta learning’
• Ramsden states that ‘the emotional aspect of the
teacher-student relationship is much more important
than the traditional advice on methods and techniques
of lecturing would suggest’ (2003:74)
The programme seeks to engage students as
active partners in the research.
Through practical application and use of
innovative online resources, the students will
learn and apply research methods in practice.
Using the flipped Classroom
• This is not a new concept
• The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model
which reverses the traditional format of
lectures and private study
Students:
The Lecturer/Instructor:
• Prepare by engaging with
video, podcasts, articles or
questions
• Reflect upon the content
• Debate and question the
content through a VLE
(Moodle2 at CU)
• Develops class material and
scenarios that address the
various areas of questioning
• Uses a Socratic method of
teaching in class, where
questions and problems are
posed and worked through
together
• The role of the instructor is to
listen to conversations and
engage with individuals and
groups as needed.
The Flipped classroom draws on concepts such as:
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Active learning
Student engagement
Hybrid course design
Course podcasting
The value of a flipped class is in the repurposing of class time
into a workshop where students can enquire about lecture
content, test their skills in applying knowledge, and interact
with one another in hands-on activities.
How would this work with the ‘employability programme’
at CUReS?
• Access to a wealth of online resources
• Opportunities to apply the learning in a real world
scenario through placements or employment as RSS
• Internship students have formalised classes to attend
• RSS would have F2F training sessions
• Content to develop to the needs of both groups
• RSS and Interns would also contribute to the content
The online content includes (but is not limited to):
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Research methodology
How to work with a research supervisor
Ethics
Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods, working in
research
Writing a literature review
Running focus groups
How to create a survey
Student Survey processes
http://www.edtechtips.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Flipped-Classroom-table.jpg
Criticism of the flipped classroom
Educational Activist Alfie Kohn suggests that:
‘the flipped classroom doesn’t come close to preparing
students for the challenges of today’s world and
workforce…great teaching isn’t just about content but
motivation and empowerment. Real learning gives you
the mental habits, practice, and confidence to know that,
in a crisis, you can count on yourself to learn something
new’
In response to this, CUReS has paired the
pedagogical model of the flipped classroom with
real world praxis supported by more traditional
employability skills
Timelines
• Development in conjunction with DMLL ,
Learning technologist and L&D Team
• Key resources available for testing with
September cohort of RSS and Research Internship
students
• Evaluation and feedback to develop for the spring
semester
• Full write up and reporting summer 2016
The flipped classroom isn’t likely to change the
world. Energized, connected, engaged, global,
informed, dedicated, active learning just might
Cathy N. Davidson
Any thoughts/feedback?
• Similar projects?
• How do we emphasise the employability
element to the students?
• Technology - Value added or novelty?
Stacey Tilling
Research Assistant
Coventry University Research Solutions
AB114 Alan Berry Building,
Coventry University,
Coventry.
CV1 5FB
T: 024 7765 2140
Stacey.Tilling@coventry.ac.uk