Who dares wins

Focus Pocus

Today was the day my first year Marketing Research students got to run their focus groups. It was strange because I had them doing their sessions simultaneously in two rooms. At 9am the groups were a bit lopsided - so 2 big groups and 2 with only 3 participants each, but I spent some time coaching the moderator on reflection - that things going not quite right represent excellent learning materials. There was a real mixture - some excellent work ones, some that were more challenging - but that gives us loads to talk about next week in the debrief. Looking forward to getting the video footage back, and I also took photos.

Gratterpalm Video Conferencing

Another first; I set up an opportunity for students to 'meet' some employees from Ad Agency Gratterpalm - we did this over Skype. Four groups of students went in and interviewed Junior Designers and Account Execs. They also got to talk about their visual cvs. I didn't sit in the interviews - reasoning that it might make them more nervous. It was brilliant seeing them afterwards though they were so buzzing. I also got a really nice thank you email from one of them.

At the last minute I got a couple of my Ents Students (also on the course) to do voxpops interview with the students before and after they went in - we got some great footage. I intend to edit this and use it to reinforce the value of the exercise to the rest of the class, to send back to Gratts as a thank you, also maybe my PGCTHE and beyond...

Anticipation

So the week ended well - good natured sessions with MKT3017 - debriefing the mystery shopping and then looking at the data. I also got good feedback forms. I doubled up the seminar session so was through teaching by 11 - and had the whole day to prepare other stuff.

Managed to finish the prep for the MKT2003 multi choice test and send it off to the printer.

Monday - High risk strategy...

So on Monday I have my first years running their focus groups - simultaneously in two rooms..and doing it twice. Not sure if it will work....

Then straight afterwards I am running the first informational interviews between our students and Gratterpalm via Skype/video call. Not sure if this will work either.....

I'm also hoping to get photos and video footage from both events.

This could be the day the wheels come off.

Bells & whistles

Feedback Forms

First formal student feedback survey today - MKT2003. Had about half of the class there so about 30 responses. I gave out the survey at the start of the lecture. I had a flip through the responses and they were positive.

A few low marks on the subject being 'interesting' .... but hey, I'm working with Marketing Research - it's practically maths! Lots of comments about enthusiasm which was good, and one person had written that it was the best organised module she was studying this year which I was really proud of.

MKT3017 tomorrow - let's see what my international students think...

Revision Quiz

I took my MKT2003 seminar session for revision today as they have their second MCT next week. I did the revision as a quiz with 2 teams. Sweeties as prizes and reception bells to ding when their team wanted to answer. It was fun and we got through the revision easily. I am convinced games are the way to go when we are revisiting work that's already been taught.

Water works

Today we had a seminar about bottled water for MKT1001. The first run-through was dire. Used the running order on Grant's email - started with the history of the market, moving forwards to the Mahalo video finishing with One Water video. I did ALL the talking. This group is often uncommunicative but this session seemed punctuated by long periods where everyone just stared at their shoes. Only a couple of people actually volunteered information. Very tedious.

I have to repeat the session with my 5pm group (always there grudgingly as they hate the slot). I was initially dreading doing the topic with them, but when I arrived I was delighted to see a larger than usual crowd.

On the spur of the moment I decided to run the Mahalo video first to introduce the topic. I followed it up with a discussion about their own current purchasing behaviour and then brought the history in. They were very communicative and it went fine. Still fairly quick - we were done in 40 minutes, but it felt OK, like we had covered some good ground. Also they were happy since on this dark snowy night they were done a little early. I was happy too!

Why so different? There are definitely some more lively personalities in the second group.

Feedback

Got some nice feedback from the students who were representing the student voice at the PGCTHE. I asked some of them how it went and they told me that they'd said some nice stuff about how I change the seminars to suit their mood/energy, and that I was really good with the technology. It meant a lot.

Don't know who they said it to - it certainly didn't seem to come out in the PGCTHE except that generally the passion and enthusiasm of the team was commended, so I can only hope that I contributed to that.

Hope that kind of makes up for the howler that I let get through; namely my MKT3017 reading list only had 1 book on it. What an idiot.

Sixth Form & Milking the Mystery

BE in Business

Today I had two talks to deliver to groups of Sixth form students on the subject of marketing - as a career choice and University subject. I ditched the previous deck I had used - because it was unbearably dull.

Instead I went with a prezi - reaction was good and I enjoyed it. Need to get a new clicker though - I've lost mine.

Making the Most of the Mystery Shop

Looking over my lesson plan I realised I had intended to make the mystery shop last 2 weeks - one week of planning and one week of execution. Swapped it over to free up a lecture slot for the PSR rehearsal... which left me with an empty week.

Ultimately it might work out for the best - I have decided to do a 2-stage debrief on the activity; I'm going to have a go at doing a breakout activity in the big lecture - not sure how it will work but I'm going to deconstruct the mystery shopper experience in that session. Then in the seminar sessions we're going to look at the output from a researcher point of view. This will be the first time they've had a chance to look at some real data and start to turn it into meaning. Took me over an hour to get the data sheets printed out on A3 for the seminar. It's a real nuisance that the printer has gone. Quite excited to be attempting something different. Need to give some thought to whether breakout groups in the lecture theatre need to be orchestrated any differently.

Secret Squirrel

In preparation for next week's focus groups I went out with my camera this morning...

Asked permission in the Co-op ... some jobsworth said it needed to be agreed at head office :?

So I went to Asda and just sneaked around photographing the aisles. Have never seen so many shop floor staff in my entire life - thousands of them.

Anyway got the shots I needed, put them into portrait A3 powerpoint presentations, saved as pdfs and got them printed out in colour. I spray mounted them onto 4 foam boards - double sided to use as stimulus material. So the teams will have a choice of doing beer/cider, squash/fruit juice, condiments/cook in sauce, flour/household cleaner. The boards look fab - very pleased.

Focus Group / Internationals

Focus Group Plan

Got my mojo back - finally cracked the logistics of my focus group exercise for MKT1023.

Each student will be assigned to a group/topic for planning purposes. I'm going to photograph a category in the supermarket and blow it up on foamboard - that way they will start with similar materials and I don't have to buy a load of stuff out of my own pocket. If they decide to buy stuff as stimuli that's up to them.

I'll ask each group to investigate the biggest brand personalities in the category I've given them.

Each group has about 40 man hours to figure out their methodology, recording equipment etc. Think I will give them a checklist though.

Assignment Support

Spent much of Friday giving individual assignment support sessions to the international students on MKT3017. The French students were pretty good - although the standard of English was mixed. A couple of the Chinese students were far more upsetting really. Long had not started, and though rather uncommunicative, slowly revealed that he was in a state of despair, very nearly in tears at the daunting prospect of having to write an assignment. Another Chinese girl came to see me and her English was so non existent that I don't actually think she understood anything I said. I asked her about 5 times 'is this your only assignment/do you have any other assignments?' I put the question every way I could think of - she simply didn't understand at all. I felt so sorry for her.

Strange day

Today we had the PSR dress rehearsal. After the briefing yesterday I was feeling fine about it but when it started, the questions were actually really intimidating and a lot of them I would not have been at all confident answering. I had nothing to say.

So I finally answered a question about how research was influencing practice - and talked about work we were doing with industry and bringing back into the classroom. There was kind of stony silence and then it became apparent that they had been wanting an example of academic research so I felt a bit of an idiot. Added to this, Deborah had a follow up question about the validity/usefulness of doing something like that. Sally answered it thankfully but it wrecked my confidence a bit. I didn't say anything else after that.

Also in the PSR dress rehearsal D brought up a perceived issue (he claimed it was bound to come up at the PSR as it had been raised by a student rep) complaining that all the Nile sites looked different and were used for different things. P was dismissive but I read it as an attack on the work I have been doing on Nile. D is well known for throwing grenades at this type of occasion but I was surprised that my project was the target.

I was set an objective in my PDR of encouraging a differentiation policy on the Nile sites. I know that I have been successful in doing this. Practically the only member of staff who has shown no interest in adopting any of the changes was D. I think he probably has his nose out of joint as this may have previously been his perceived area of expertise.

I must consider how to proceed. Having thought about it, my current inclination is to be direct and ask his views and try to find out what he has heard. His ego may be restored if I am suitably deferential. I have no interest in battling with him. I actually think he's really good.

Anyway net net, the PSR dress rehearsal was crap for me for those two reasons and now I'm dreading the real thing.

Peer Observations

So finally found a fairly good form on line for Peer Observation - adapted it somewhat and sent versions off to Gil and Sally for them to fill in for my lectures on Friday and Monday respectively.

So now I wait. Am fairly apprehensive. The section headings on the form alone made me feel pretty inadequate. Think I am a bit a of a good news junkie and wondering how good I am at taking criticism. Rubbish probably. Think I just want to hear that I am an educational genius straight out of the box, which is plainly unrealistic!

Handshake

Enjoyed MKT2020 lecture today about informational interviewing - did another prezi - really simple one this time. I also used just a couple of video clips - the one I really like is this one:

Decided to show this instead of the 'grown up' alternatives - if this little boy can do it... so can they.

Scrapheap Challenge

Today I did the Scrapheap Challenge activity with Gil's third year CRM students. I was surprised to discover most of my MKT3017 students in the group - so lots of familiar faces.

We moved all of the chairs to the sides, divided the room into four quadrants with tape, shared out the people and dumped a huge pile of toys at the end of the room. I explained the concept of scrapheap challenge - they were to use the toys as metaphors for the elements of a loyalty programme. I also told them that this was an activity I had done with employees of a loyalty marketing agency.

In relays they had to run back and forth to scavenge from the heap. They then had 20 minutes to build their machine.

Gil had been really up for this activity but revealed she was a bit apprehensive as we started - concerned that the students would not take part or seem to think the activity was too far outside their comfort zone. As they started coming into the room they were quieter than usual - stunned by the scene that awaited them!

As soon as they had received their brief, a good proportion of the students leaped into action - keen to grab the best items from the scrapheap. So much mayhem broke out that we had to stop them and start again with new rules. This broke the ice - by now there was a real buzz in the room.

Once they had grabbed what they wanted, they got down to business and started discussing their machines. There were some fascinating dynamics in the room. There was one group consisting almost entirely of international students - we were initially concerned but actually they sat in a tidy circle and applied themselves brilliantly to the task - led by the French students.

They had no problem with was using the items as metaphors - there were some inspired interpretations - snakes and rats as the competition, and a one legged fairy as a customer services rep. We also got some great understanding - data security, promotions, rewards, customer retention, value chain, viruses, communication strategy, data segmentation.

I was so pleased with how it went. Perhaps most pleased watching them down on the floor on their hand and knees debating the components. There were a couple of students that didn't engage or seemed uncomfortable but the majority went for it.

Everyone did a one minute show & tell at the end and we took team photos which I'll post on Nile.Gil was pleased and relieved. She said the experience had given her insight into how far outside the box she could take the students.

Peer Cheer

Mystery Shopping

I've created a 'field study' activity for next week; 4 mystery shopping assignments that the students have to go out and do, in pubs, coffee shops, clothes shops and supermarkets. I also put together a quick Googlesite with four pages of on-line data capture forms. I embedded this into the Nile site for the module. This way I'll be able to see who has completed the activity and also build up a database to play with.

Gil takes 2 of my seminars on the MKT2003. I showed her the on-line bit and the briefs - as she has to go through it in seminar - I was really blown away by her reaction. She wanted to use it for her services module, said I should use it in my PGCTHE, said I should bring it up in my PDP with Mark and that she would too... said we should be adopting it for the distance learning module. It seemed to really hit a nerve with her. Probably the first bit of my inventing that was properly 'serious'.

No teaching hooray!

For the first time in a million years I had no teaching today. For once I have all of this week's lecture content written.

Scrapheap Challenge

I managed to scavenge a bin bag full of the kids toys to act as metaphors for database, rewards, recruitment, retention etc. - the component parts of a loyalty programme. Looking forward to going into Gil's CRM lecture on Friday to run a Scrapheap Challenge. I managed to find a great powerpoint digital countdown clock to put up on screen while they do it too - another idea from Doreen's powerpoint training session.

I know Gil is looking forward to this session but keeps joking that she hopes Peter doesn't see all the boxes of toys. I'm not sure how seriously to take it... from what I know of Peter, I think he'd love it...

Peer Observations

Gil and Sally have agreed to do peer observations for my PGCTHE.

Pulling teeth

Today I had to teach the Harley Davidson case study 4 times for MKT1002. The first two times were pretty good.

The third time, one of the students asked to leave with 10 mins to go - to go to an MCT - which it turned out most of them had to go to... I'd finished most of the material but it was OK.

The final session was painful. I started by asking how they did with their last week's self directed study. Seemed most hadn't done it. They were whiney - I later went through the brief and there was nothing difficult about it at all. They were uncommunicative, vacant - only about 6 contributing well.

Near the end, I twigged: they had just had a multiple choice test for MKT1001. It had finished them off. Wonder if I could have done anything differently. I think probably not.

Mother of Invention

Yet again, necessity forces me to venture into new territory.

My MKT2003 lecture clashes with all 3 preparatory briefings ahead of the very important Periodic Subject Review. I was concerned that as a newbie, missing all of the dress rehearsals was a bad idea. Peter agreed and instructed me to find a plan to get out of the lecture next week.

I had already planned to have these students (finally) do some practical activity. The feedback from last week illustrated that they are tiring of theory - and I don't blame them. I pulled this forward a week and also managed to get hold of the Marketing Director of Retail Eyes again - we spoke briefly in the summer.

Since I hadn't heard from him, I thought he wasn't interested, and was hoping to just get copies of some research assignments for my students to have a go with. I was delighted when he offered to come and do a talk as well.

So now, not only do I have a field activity for the students to do on the week I need to be at the PSR event, but also have a guest speaker to boot. A result!

Mile wide, inch thick

Just a reflection that the observation made by Di at the last PGCTHE session that you can teach material a mile wide and only an inch thick, or cover less ground in more depth has stayed with me. I must have the confidence to cover less, but be more thorough.

Feeling the love for MKT3017

The Lecture

So I have spent most of the last week planning strategies for dealing with the whisperers in my multinational MKT3017 and generally feeling a bit crap about the job I've been doing on that module.

I had my plan - printed out the mugshots and greeted a few of the 'talkers' by name on the way in. I had run out of time a bit prepping the lecture and didn't put as much interaction in as I hoped, but I did find a couple of short video clips, and also did the thing where I asked them to show their lecture notes to their neighbour (challenging how much they were writing down).

Last week a student asked me something about the GE Model for Business Strategy - I didn't know the answer. This week I had checked it out and I went through that first. I think they were surprised.

It was really different this week. I don't know whether my delivery was better or they were still mindful of the bollocking I gave them last week

but they were with me the whole time and actually it went very well. The four French friends did start up talking at one point but I pounced on them, asked them if there was a problem, and they said not, and shut up. James and Eugene sat up on the back row and I expected them to mess about but they didn't.

Feedback

So all this week I've been getting the students to give anonymous feedback on post-it notes. Before the Friday lecture I almost didn't do it with

them - am SOOO glad I did. I couldn't believe the feedback they gave me, particularly in view of how I was feeling about the module.

The feedback reinforced the issue we'd had the previous week with talkers... but otherwise, just way better than I expected, even from the international students.

Yay!

I noted that several of the students said how much they liked participating in the virtual seminar... which reminded me to check the discussion boards....

Virtual Seminar

I set up the virtual discussion boards in Nile last week. When I checked them on Tuesday there was hardly any activity and what was there was a bit crap. I was disappointed, but sent out a note telling them that if they didn't have a go we wouldn't be doing it again. I kind of forgot about it.

After the feedback I went and had a look - and actually there was loads of new activity - from international students as well. Not many people appeared to have read the book but there was certainly some intelligent debate and analysis. I was so pleased! I went through and made positive comments on a lot of the posts this afternoon. I'll feed back on it in lecture next week. This group has gone from my zeros to my heroes in one day!

Post-it notes of joy

I collected feedback from a couple more seminar groups today and my big 2nd year lecture. It was a bit scary but very very helpful.

I got some great feedback feedback - specifically about the slide designs, pace, clarity and the entertaining nature of the activities. Games and videos in particular were big hits. Areas for improvement included dealing with people talking in class with more authority, speaking louder, and giving more thinking time.

Feedback & PGCTHE 2

Seminar Feedback

I ran a seminar for Tomorrow's Consumer today - I had adapted spooky bingo to be a revision game, which worked really well - although it didn't really last long enough.

At the end of the session I asked for some informal feedback - said that since I wouldn't be seeing them again until next term I wanted them to tell me what to start doing, stop doing etc.

Some helpful feedback here - some nice positive comments, but also a couple I can use to improve - speaking louder in the lecture theatre and dealing with people talking... something I'm reviewing as a critical incident at the moment.

Think I will repeat this in the other seminars & lectures this week. It's a bit scary though.

A student also came up to me at the end and asked why I no longer took his Thursday afternoon MKT1001 seminar. He said he didn't want to be mean, but the new lecturer didn't seem to have a handle on it. I explained how I'd been allocated different hours now, and that he should give her a chance as she was new. I was secretly flattered though.

PGCTHE 2

Had an enjoyable second PGCTHE session. We sat in the same groups as last time so I feel like I'm starting to get to know the others a bit. We covered assessment, levels of learning and understanding.

We then reviewed the critical incidents we had prepared. I worked in a group with Francis and Mike and a psychology lecturer whose name I didn't know. I shared the French Whispering situation (since it is unresolved) I really got a lot out of it - Francis was particularly insightful, and I think everyone agreed that I needed to speak to them and try and understand why the were talking - high likelihood that language may be at the heart of it. I now feel more confident in my strategy for Friday.

We also had a look at a couple of portfolios. I didn't think they were presented in a way that was particularly easy to understand. Di clarified some important points about the relationship between the literature and the incidents. Mike also mentioned that he's also doing an e-portfolio, and is using the learning outcomes to direct the content of his critical incidents. This seemed like something worth considering - as a checklist if not as content headings. Christine and Damien were interested in getting some help with E-Portfolios - I have set up a session to show them Googlesite.

Narrow Escape

Nearly had a nightmare scenario today teaching the 5-6pm seminar on MKT1001

This seminar is timetabled for Room 204 in the Senate building - which has only recently been turned into a classroom. For the first few weeks the activity was a game, discussion or case study and instead of using the classroom, we used the comfortable seating area outside - a relaxed yet private space for discussion.

For the last 3 weeks though, I needed to use the PC/Projector. The first week there was a mobile projector and laptop, projecting onto a damaged whiteboard, and the projector had lost it's red pin so showed everything with a green hue. The second week, someone had also written on the whiteboard and not cleaned it (there was no eraser, I had to go and get toilet paper to try and clean it up) the projector still shone green, I rang IT support beforehand... they couldn't fix the colour problem.

This week I was due to run a mock test ahead of this group's Multi Choice Test next week. I had a powerpoint presentation with just the answers on, and also a folder with the register, and the question paper.

I arrived 15 minutes early. When I walked in I saw that the laptop was unplugged and there was a spaghetti of cables on the table, also the projector and OHP were jumbled up at the front - looked like a dumping ground. I also noted that an IAW had been installed. As it was nearly 5pm and IT finishes at 5, I called the helpdesk, concerned that it was not connected. The Tech arrived and we established that the new lectern had not been networked in, so I could not get at the test (on the central directory). At this point I also noticed that I had picked up the wrong file and did not have the register or the test with me!

This was a really bad situation. The students were all waiting. If they didn't get their mock test they might be disadvantaged in their MCT. If I went back to Cottesbrooke I would have wasted another 20 minutes.. I called Gil and Grant to try and get them to email the test to my iPhone, hoping I could read the questions off it.

Luckily the Tech managed wire up the lectern, I managed to log on, and figured out I could hack my Uni mail account via the internet. I managed to open the document and quickly save a version without the answers showing and used this with the students.

They never knew how close they were to a screw up and the session went well.

Lessons learned: - when traipsing over to Senate or the Mobiles be ABSOLUTELY SURE that I have the right materials with me, also hard copies and any vital files on memory stick.

Upside: so relieved I was able to think straight enough to log on to the email over internet.

Storytelling & bad manners

I reviewed my lecture slides ahead of MKT1013 Tomorrow's Consumer - my second big guest lecture on this module. This week's topic: Marketing and Morality.

I remembered that last week, my slides had run out and I'd had to spin it out a bit. I also noted from reading Phil Race last week that I shouldn't rely on stand & deliver just because it was a lecture. I spent 40 minutes YouTubing and googling for something to show or a 'moral maze' type activity. Nothing sprang out.

In the end I decided to go with an anecdote from working at Carlson - the story about how the Carlson family forbade trade with firms trading alcohol, cigarettes or gambling... and how we knowingly traded with Diageo and Party Poker and changed the names on the accounts.

I asked them to vote on a) the family's right to set rules about ethics b) the MD's decision to do trade with Diageo c) the account handlers agreement to work on the account d) whether they would have rung the ethics hotline and blown the whistle.

The whole audience was really engaged during this section, really good participation and attention. I felt very relaxed telling the story - knew it inside out and was able to go quite slowly as they hung on my words. Reminded me of the power of a story well told. No slides for that bit!

I finished after 45 minutes but the session felt really well balanced.

This week I had cleared the back row that caused me problems - actually the ones that had been so disruptive last week sat on the second last row this week and were talking again for some of the lecture. I stared them out a couple of times. If I was taking this class again I would speak to them individually - it's infuriating that you can have 150 people listening intently to what you are saying and 4 people talking among themselves. This indicates to me that it CAN'T be my content or my delivery, otherwise I'd have more of an issue. Just so rude...

Slides & Imagery

Today I've been working on my portfolio evidence and writing up the subject of my Powerpoint slides. I have reflected on my preference and rationale for using images in my slides, and also now understand how important the conversion process is to my own understanding of the lecture material.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Peter's remarks as he chanced upon my slides - 'how distracting'. A glib remark which I have since agonised about.

I had a chat with Sally about it - she seems to be knowledgeable about all things 'learning'. She told me about learning styles, and how my presentation style would suit some people and not others, and I needed to be aware.

I also talked to Gary about this and his view was the closest to mine that I have yet encountered - he showed me his slides and they were thought provoking and certainly not just reams of bullets. Whew.

I'm sure that's true. So this leaves me thinking:

• What are the learning styles, and what content should I be including.
• Do I have to suit all learning types in my class - is that even possible?
• Students take lots of modules. If visually retarded (OK, harsh!) slides are the norm, is there room for me to carry on doing my own thing?

I need to do some reading around this I think. Not quite sure where to start. Will check out the 2 Phil Race books I have as a starter.

Whispering French

My 9am lecture today was in HLT2 for the first time. This is my 3rd year group - high proportion of international students, in particular a large group of French. They are mainly top up students so have just started at University in the UK in spite of being 3rd years.

In previous lectures and seminars, a group of them had consistently whispered throughout. Talking to Gil about it, she said this was common practice for French students, and felt it was a cultural difference.

Today, in the lecture I noticed the whispering was much worse than usual. There was a hard core of 4 in the middle of the auditorium, two at the front, and another 3 on the right. The overall effect was an almost constant low level murmuring.

When I felt the level had become unacceptable I tried stopping talking and staring pointedly at the people talking. I did this twice but they seemed oblivious. I recalled something Grant had been saying earlier in the week, about feedback from his students when he had failed to control others talking. I realised that I owed it to the other students to try and stop it.

I was a bit annoyed by now. I raised my voice and said that all I could hear was people whispering, and that not only was it distracting for me, but also for the other students, and that I wanted it to stop, and that it was unacceptable. The two girls in front even carried on talking while I was telling them off. I went and stood in front of them and said 'Hello, were you listening? I'd like you to be quiet please.' They both apologised. The talking did stop, but at one point a couple of the group of four appeared to be giggling, and one had his jumper up to his face - looked like he might be talking behind it.

I spoke to David about it - he said he'd never had that problem but Dave had - when they'd talked about it David had suggested that they might be trying to translate what was being said. I thought this an extremely generous (and incorrect) assessment.

Discussing it with Simon, he told me about a time his students had failed to show and failed to do their prep and he had thrown his papers in the air and walked out, after giving some home truths about the amount of money they were wasting for themselves and their families if they couldn't be bothered to do the work. Not sure it's quite that bad! Very dramatic though.

I reflected some more on what happened today, and feel I need to have a strategy ready for next week. First of all, I think the acoustics in the banked auditorium in HLT2 may mean that the whispering sounds much louder than normal, and the behaviour is more obvious to see. Notwithstanding that, it still needs to stop.

I think I have identified the ringleaders. For next week's lesson I will know their names, and use them - so they will know that I know who they are. I am considering trying to have a conversation with the French. Maybe they are indeed unaware of the expected behaviour in the classroom in the UK. I might even apologise for telling them off, and say I now realise that they may be unaware of the difference in classroom environment from what they are used to and it will take a bit of adjustment. I could also ask what they are talking about - is there a reason they feel they need to talk? Do they understand? Am I going too fast? This may be a less adversarial approach. If I have that conversation with them I will have given them every benefit of the doubt.

I might also try and find out whether it is indeed different in University in French - might start by Googling it, and then try and talk to the French tutors in the business school - see if there is a cultural thing.

If all of that doesn't work, I'll start taking it personally!

Maybe I should use this as my critical teaching incident for PGCTHE and see what the others think.

Update: Have spent some time researching this on the internet and came across some good pointers on a bulletin from the Stanford Centre of Teaching & Learning... reproducing Phil Race. Why didn't I think of the books!!! Duh.

Thrills & Spills

Tomorrow's Consumer - first seminar

Today I took my first seminar group of Tomorrow's consumer students. We watched 10 social marketing ads and then I had them categorise the ads in terms of a matrix I'd shown them in the lecture. I also had them vote on how they had responded to the advertisements.

The last ad I hadn't been able to play at my PC but it worked in the lecture - and was really shocking - made me respond as much as the students. Quite emotional really.

Loads of really good debate - all groups seemed to find the content very easy to talk about. They struggled a bit with the matrix - glad they had to do the exercise since they hadn't fully grasped it from the lecture alone. Makes me realise the level of understanding may sometimes be pretty low - had to explain the difference between Tangible and Intangible... bit of a worry.

Adaptation of Multichoice for Accessibility

Today I made the arrangements for a disabled student for the first time. I called the Access Team and found out what he was entitled to in terms of extra time, and breaks. Gil told me he also needs the questions up on Powerpoint as he can't easily read from a paper, so spent some time prepping that. Seems pretty straightforward. Bit alarmed that the statement of his entitlement hasn't made it's way from the course leader to me. How many other students have disabilities that I am not aware of? Apparently it is sufficient for me to ask them to identify themselves... doesn't really seem adequate to me.

Tests, condoms, chattering & goosebumps

Multichoice test

Devised my first multichoice test today - well let's say adapted. I was pleased to say that out of 40 questions I only had to change 4 - one badly composed, three referring to seminar activity that I had changed. So please to see that I've actually covered the same content that Mark would have gone through.

IAW seminar

I've been using the IAWs in seminar more and more lately - and growing in confidence now. Moving stuff around, grabbing screenshots. I can hear the students remarking upon it and know that they are getting a different experience which is good.

Tomorrow's consumer - big lecture theatre

Biggest lecture to date - was quite excited ahead of this one. Big group, interesting topic. David popped in to my office to warn me about the rowdy back row in room 126. Actually for a big group in the 5-6 slot they were very attentive. There were lots of familiar faces, lots of note taking.

The seat belt video worked well but I think it started too fast - didn't realise the volume was down so low until we were a few seconds in, lost a bit of impact. I have got goosebumps every single time I've watched it - must be 10+ times now. Hope that happened to a few of the students too. Also found great Polish Amnesty International and French safe sex ads. Got through the content a bit too fast, realised in time and slowed it down. Finished in 45 mins but I think everyone was happy with that, it being so late.

Near the end there was a bit of talking on the back row. I stopped, and the other students turned to look at the disturbance, and it stopped. At the end I went up to the back and told the students on the back row that I wanted them to sit at the front next time as they had disturbed my class. They looked sheepish. Not sure if I was too confrontational or not. Probably wouldn't even have made an issue of it if David hadn't drawn my attention to it. See if they turn up next week. Will definitely stop people sitting on the back row in there - David was absolutely right. Should have listened.

Music to my ears

We have Sticky Content!

"I was telling someone about this" - the video I showed them last week & embedded in the Nile site. "There's the one I was looking at - it's good" - the Nile site content.

At last, a tiny hint that my tricky 3rd year top ups are actively engaging with the content.

Virtual Seminar

Mostly out of necessity - everyone keeps telling me it's not a requirement to 'stand and deliver' every hour on the timetable - I have set up a virtual seminar. Over the next 2 weeks I will be delivering an extra 6 hours a week...taking me to 22, so I need to buy some hours.

So I have had a go at setting up groups on Nile, giving each a discussion board. I have started 4 threads on each discussion board. I embedded a tv ad in the first post of each thread, and have asked them to discuss the advert in the context of this week's reading of Jobber. I have also scanned the Jobber chapter and put it on line. This group have been rubbish at reading so far so I really hope this will help them to engage. They have 5 days to blog and if I don't see a post from each of them I'll mark them as absent from the seminar.

I really hope this works - could be fun & a regular. I told the 4.00 class that the more they engage in the activity, the more likely I am to repeat it. They hate staying to 4pm so that's a real incentive!

Bills Eggs

I thought it might be a non-event - but actually, the introduction of a box of eggs really had an impact in the room. First, they were intrigued when I put the box of eggs at the table at the front.... I left them there until 3/4 of the way through. I think keying the code into the website live introduced a little risk that it might not work, and we got into a debate about the value of being able to see Bill's farm. I referred to the box of eggs for the remainder - the impact of the website on my relationship with 'the egg'. Happy with how that went - will use with the first years next week I think.

Disability, Cheese & tree surgery

Planning the multi-choice test next week, Gil pointed out I'll have to make special provision for Stephen who has a disability. Was surprised that I hadn't had any notification about Stephen's special needs - or any others likely to be in this 70+ class. Not sure where this info is meant to come from.

Talking to Gary the other day he told me about his sister (a lecturer) who used the technique of calling out names from the register and asking people for their opinion. I tried it in a MKT1002 seminar group - the first girl wouldn't admit who she was - I didn't push it, called out a different name instead - this time he answered - and it was fine - plus helped me to know who it was. Might try it again - not sure if too confrontational.

Had a good MKT2003 late session - one of my favourite groups. It was a case study, but I used the white board more CSI Miami this time - pulling in a definition of the Hawthorne Effect from the net, pictures of cheese and tree surgeons. 6 students are defecting from the Friday group into this session - all a good crowd.

Have picked up some eggs to demonstrate the hen tracking thing M&S do for my sustainability lecture. I can't decide whether the impact is worth the effort of taking eggs to work!

Jacky sent me a cool video about the necessity of being 'remarkable'.

Seminars seminars seminars

Well... case study practice I wanted, case study practice I got!

Tuesdays I do MKT1001 and MKT1002 over and over ... and this week we had the a Mintel smoothie sector report for Comms, and Specsavers for Foundations....

...and they both went well. Why?

MKT1002 Smoothie Sector

I started by spelling out how they should be engaging with the seminar material to go into their assignment portfolio. Di was right - mention assessment and they get right to work! Discussions went well, familiarity with material all fine.

MKT1001 Specsavers

Started with a few ads to get everyone having an opinion - helps that they are funny. Icebreaker. Maybe that's what I need each time? Then we did PESTLE... have done quite a lot of this before. For once the material also looked OK. This makes a difference for me. Must remember that if I get something tatty again.

Talked to Sally about my slides. She talked about learning dimensions... realise my style won't suit everyone in class. Do they get enough didactic stuff or should I be done a mix?

Then I spoke to Gary - was delighted to hear that he shared my views on

a) slide design - visual aid not the whole story

b) posting slides before lectures - blows the reveal

This was a relief. No saying he's right though.

Prezi & video with MKT2020

Today I took a lecture and two seminars for MKT2020. I was talking to them about the use of multi media, and took as my theme 'digital native'. On this occasion I decided to use a Prezi instead of powerpoint - as it helped to illustrate the topics I was talking about. One of the students asked for more details about Prezi and noted the information down - a good sign!

I also put together a quick Google site to illustrate the concept of the e-portfolio, including embedded prezis, visual cv, videos etc. I also set up a new Google site during the lecture and showed them how to edit the html to embed content - don't think they could believe how easy it was! Really hope they go for it now.

https://sites.google.com/site/kardicus/

In the seminar I gave a tutorial on pieces to camera - including lighting, sound, interviewing, background, editing. It was fun. They are apprehensive I think but really hope they engage and turn out something very worthwhile.

The lecture... does it have to be all 'TELL'?

A thought arising from spending the day with Jacky (Superteech and all round inspiration)...

Does a lecture have to be didactic just because it's big? Jacky christened it the 'Jerry Springer' treatment. Could I go out into the 'audience?'. Could students be 'plants'. Could I tape something to the underside of some of the chairs? I should find a way to use the voting buttons.

What a great idea. Needs development. Game show / chat show model for ideas?

Hi Jacks if you're reading x

Sustainability case study & the Nepalese

Sustainability Case Study

MKT3017 were supposed to have read the chapter on sustainability. I had planned to get them to mindmap what they knew about the subject of sustainability on flipchart paper then talk them through.

Hardly anyone had read the chapter. Some that had, were working with an old edition and in fact had read the wrong topic (the order had changed between versions). Lesson 1 - don't rely on pre work for a seminar topic.

I had to quickly throw something together so explained what sustainability was, then found 3 videos on Dove (thank God for YouTube) - got them started on the topic of body image. Good debate in the end. Then we talked about food, MacDonalds sponsoring the Olympics etc.

Think I can use these three again. The French contingent made a really interesting contribution in the seminar - their views on body image, the size zero debate, and Happy Meals were very...well...French!

Nepalese Students

Thanks to the arrival of three charming Nepalese students this week, we also found out that they also have Happy Meals in Nepal, but the parents are very strict with children there and would not let them have a toy unless they earned it.

Satsumas of doom

Satsumas of Doom

Did the definition grid/satsumas of doom game with MKT2003 today - went very well - fun, engaging, and reasonable amount of content/definitions covered.

Seminar City

Also MKT1001 seminar - 3rd attempt at the Kirby cleaners case study - completely different to the last two that had been so flat. Went really well - loads of discussion, even on Kirby. Leaving me to think was it me, was it them. What was different.... time of day (better) room layout (better) my familiarity with the case (better) group dynamic (better).

Distressing Dissertation Grading

Also marked my first dissertation yesterday - followed the marking scheme, didn't think it was very good - a main premise was badly flawed... Anyway contemplated D+ then finally gave it a D - conscious that Mark was second marking (notoriously hard marker). To my horror Mark had blind marked it a C+!!! After discussion he moderated it down to a C-. I think we agreed that my expectations were too high, and that he had been focusing on process where I had been focusing on content. All the same... mortified that I have dragged the girl's grade down so much!

Tomorrow's Consumer

Today I also wrote the first of two lectures for Tomorrow's Consumer - Marketing and Society. I was converting Barry's slides, but mine look great, really pleased with them - such an interesting topic. Found a fantastic seatbelt ad to play (US), also great Polish and French Social Marketing print ads. Wonder what David will make of them, or even if he'll look. Bet he will. He seems picky... am expecting criticism.

KTP..

Am becoming increasingly worried about the first meeting with the prospective client on the KTP next week. Barri has already revealed that Gil (who they really liked) is pregnant. They have fired Heinz off the project and now funding for SKTPs has been withdrawn so at the same meeting as my 'interview' (that's how it feels) Barri will be telling them it's going to cost more. Worried that the deal is going to blow, and I may be the scapegoat.

Today: Prepping spooky bingo & some lecture slides

Spooky Bingo

Spent most of this morning putting together an activity for the MKT2003. I'm really pleased with my spooky bingo. It's a grid with 16 squares - each containing a term connected to Marketing Research or commissioning. Each square is a hyperlink to a definition and a sound effect, which I've done with a Halloween theme.

Tried it out a few times - the whiteboard intermittently failed to recognise the home button... hope it doesn't do that for real. I took Gil through it (she delivers the 2 of these seminars for me) and I think she's really looking forward to doing it - she was trying to figure out how she could adapt it for another of her groups.

Slide design reflection...

Peter came in the room while I was prepping some slides - my usual 'house style' - bullet points but with large thought provoking or supporting visual (my interpretation). He saw my screen and said 'God, how distracting!'.... Got me thinking about these slides. Is it gimmick? Do my images distract from the message? I hope not. Need to think about how to find out. I know my slides look beautiful ... does it detract from the message though?

Unsatisfactory Case Studies

For the second time in a week I've had seminars that have not gone particularly well... both case study based.

Last week I used one of Mark's case studes in MKT2003 - the students found it tedious, and so did I really - although they engaged fairly well.

Today, I did a case study seminar twice for MKT1001. Scruffy photocopied content, two case studies. The first session I spent too long on the first case study - Kirby cleaners - I just couldn't get anyone to give an opinion. The room is arranged in a horseshoe shape and they all just sat there avoiding my eye. Many of them also took an eternity to actually read it. The second case study was Tesco - it had a bit more to it, and they had to discuss in groups... even then, about half of them sat in silence not discussing. Really hard work. The afternoon session went better - a more lively group in spite of the graveyard slot. Conversation went better, more dialogue - less of it ME! Still felt I did relatively too much of the talking. Especially on Kirby - that one was dull and OLD.

Need to think about how I can improve on my technique with case studies as I'm going to get a lot of these. Also I can't feel happy about working with tatty handouts. They are hard to read and look unprofessional..... but how to handle this? Should I shut up & put up?

Industry influences

A couple of industry contact points came to fruition today:

OJ Guest Lecture - feedback seminar

Last week I brought Owen in to meet MKT1023. He did an hour-long presentation and then I broke the group into 4 teams - I wanted them to interview him in teams. I wanted to get them to speak to him and reasoned that they might be more comfortable doing this in small groups. I gave each a topic with a couple of questions by way of an icebreaker.

The students were attentive and I heard them asking good questions. I had hoped that they would feed back the same session but we ran out of time to do it justice, so I had them present back this week instead.

I was a bit worried that they might not have made notes or that the time elapsed would make it less useful. In fact they did a pretty good job of feeding back the information - which I captured on the IAW. Some really good points had been established - and in fact it fit well with this week's lecture topic of 'appointing an agency' - lots of crossover with what OJ had said of his own career experience. I wonder if the lag of a week had in fact helped them to digest the information they had gained through the experience. Pleased with this.

Gratterpalm Visual CVs

In the summer I visited Leeds Advertising Agency Gratterpalm. While in Reception I noticed they had a file with 'visual cvs' of all of their staff. With their permission I photographed about a dozen of these. In MKT2020 seminar I showed the students these visual cvs - we talked about them - and it brought up loads of topics - the audience, different types of role and how the people chose to articulate themselves in images, how to start conversation topics.

This all culminated in them taking the task of creating their own visual cv to include in their e-portfolio. They were really enthusiastic about it and excited to have a go. One said 'this is the sort of thing I'd like to do more of' another said what a welcome change it would make to express themselves in images rather than words. I was most pleased by the response of one student who I haven't seen speak in class before. He confessed he is quite shy, and he was quite excited at the prospect of having a visual talking point - maybe he would feel more in control. Result. I just need to make sure that what they produce in the end is considered - not an easy option - this can be achieved through the electronic feedback.

The rowdy international topups

Had the MKT3017 group today for lecture and seminars. Last week Gil did the lecture for me as I had lost my voice. I then did the 'what's in the box' seminar for them.

The first seminar group had been too large - so I had to split up the activity in a way I wasn't happy with. The second group had a group of 4 boys in it who had been rowdy and had not applied themselves very well to the task - they participated but didn't have the level of discussion I was looking for. While it had not been unsuccessful, it had not gone as well as with the seminar groups on MKT2023.

In the week I was approached by one of the students, Hidir from Turkey, worried about the assignment and the course - it had taken him 8 hours to read the chapter of reading I had set the group. Talking to him gave me a greater appreciation of the challenges of the international students on this module - of which there are many.

I did a formal lecture - and it had a lot of content - I had worried it was maybe too much - but they were very attentive. I took extra effort to explain the vocabulary and I think it paid off.

In the seminars I went through the assignment brief. I felt like I had better authority than last week, again a good level of attention, lots of note taking and good questions. I had been wondering whether learning through the activities/games might be too - not sure what's the word - stimulating. Now I've thought about it, and from reading the leaflet from the EFL office, I think they may be unaccustomed to academic discussion. Whether international or new to this level of study, I might need to support their discussion skills. Action: see whether CfAP have a leaflet on this & incorporate into next week's seminar.

With my international head on I created an ad for the EFL sessions and posted it on Nile, and shared it through Sticky Stuff.

On another note - I plan to develop a game on whiteboard like minesweeper for the 2nd year seminar.

Big lecture theatre

First MKT2003 lecture today. Went well I thought - timings about right, seemed to hold everyone's attention. Talking a bit too fast maybe. A student asked to have slides posted beforehand so she could make notes.

The seminar followed - used a case study. It wasn't a great case study - hard to read and understand but I think we got a useful conversation about challenging the source out of it. The 5pm session need high energy content. It was too boring. I do think I had a good dialogue with this group though.

First PGCTHE workshop today

Need to get a grip on what is 'reflective practice' - I have heard it several times from colleagues, and some of the students seem to know how to 'do it'. Think I understand now... although it's going to take some time to get used to talking to myself.

Worried I can't maintain a journal, so have decided to combine it with something I enjoy (a tip from Good Housekeeping in the doctors waiting room this morning!). Hence blog.

So today - we talked a lot about Bloom's Taxonomy. Gil had stuffed a fat printout of it under my nose a few weeks ago when I was trying to write learning outcomes - and I sort of got it.... in the first year we expect them to describe, by the second year they should be able to compare and critically evaluate, by the third year they are allowed to have an opinion... We had a much simpler explanation today and now it seems more like the path to enlightenment. Was a bit disquieted by School of Ed people in the room who had familiarity with another concept - some sort of spiral. Wondering if their education background will give them a massive advantage and they will be able to do everything really well on this course.... feeling competitive? Surprising.

Try to critically reflect... they already have some knowledge - of course they do, probably loads. Expect nothing less. Think I am not alone in feeling out of my depth, so not too worried. Does not mean am thick. Have own skills up my sleeve. Sounding a bit Bridget Jones now.

Enjoyed talking about Ians Story. Particularly about individuals (teachers) who can make a difference to student's beliefs about what is possible. I had noticed this week how positively students respond to praise in the classroom. Also know I've made a difference to two students through personal tutoring this week - Lauren who has decided to continue with her studies through her pregnancy after our conversation, and Ben who seems to be integrating back in after his year suspension despite a shaky start. These positive reinforcements have helped in the face of the 'old hands' who seem to take pride in keeping their distance. I may be regarded as naive but at the moment I still think I'm right. Time consuming though.

Current PGTHE student came in - heartfelt advice to get organised early, start collecting evidence, read the handbook, keep a journal (well here we are). I don't know what evidence looks like though. Want to start collecting some though - I'm sure to make some howling mistakes over the coming few months.

Think I might try to write up - or is that 'reflect on' the seminar overcrowding incident in MKT3017 last Friday and the sticky 'could you go over that definition again' situation from the MKT1002 seminar. Could also look at Grant's boy/girl strategy from the MKT1001 seminar and how that worked... and maybe my 'what's in the box' exercise because I thought that worked. Too much material!!

A note about the others in the group - pleased to see people I met before that I like - Helen, Francis, Damien, Christine and Gillian - midwives, and Janet from the Library. A few of us decided we'd like to communicate in between our sessions so I set up a blog. Trialling it with 4 of us then if it's OK will invite all the others. It will be great if they engage with it.

Really hope the learning can translate to practice. Can't believe I am already NEARLY at the point of doing my homework on the bus i.e. writing lectures just 2 days before I need to deliver them. I'm sure it will get worse than this.

What a ramble. So much for finding it hard to talk to myself.

But is it reflection?