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?