- Journal of Pedagogic Development
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- Instructions to authors
- Volume 8 Issue 3 November 2018
- Volume 8 Issue 2 July 2018
- Volume 8, Issue 1 March 2018
- Volume 7, Issue 3 November 2017
- Volume 7, Issue 2 July 2017
- Volume 7, Issue 1 March 2017
- Volume 6, Issue 3 November 2016
- Volume 6, Issue 2 July 2016
- Volume 5 Issue 3 November 2015
- Volume 5 Issue 2 July 2015
- Volume 5 Issue 1 March 2015
- Volume 4 Issue 3
- Volume 4 Issue 2 July 2014
- Volume 4 Issue 1 March 2014
- Volume 3 Issue 3 November 2013
- Volume 3 Issue 2 July 2013
- Volume 3 Issue 1 March 2013
- Volume 2 Issue 3 November 2012
- Volume 2 Issue 2 July 2012
- Volume 2 Issue 1 March 2012
- Volume 1 Issue 2 November 2011
- Volume 1 Issue 1 July 2011
- Instructions to authors
- Volume 8 Issue 3 November 2018
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- The Idea of a Teacher: Paradigms of Change
- Zen and the Art of Classroom Identity Formation
- Book review: The Librarians’ Book on Teaching through Games and Play
- Moving from Learning Developers to Learning Development Practitioners
- Book review: The Mini Book of Teaching Tips for Librarians, 2nd Edition
- Academics’ International Teaching Journeys: Personal Narratives of Transition in Higher Education
- The Impact of Employability on Technology Acceptance in Students: Findings from Coventry University London
- Book review: Academics’ International Teaching Journeys: Personal Narratives of Transition in Higher Education
- Holistic Midwifery Education for Holistic Midwives: Reflecting on Personal Educational Philosophy and Pedagogy
- ‘In the Real World….’ Listening to ‘Practitioner Lecturer’ Perspectives of the Relevance in the Business School Curriculum
- “We don’t need to write to learn computer sciences”: Writing Instruction and the Question of First year, Later or Not at all
- Puppets and Pedagogy in Foreign Language Education: The Use of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to Model Hispanic Puppet Theatre as an Integrated Learning Platform
- Volume 8 Issue 2 July 2018
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- Book Reviews
- Why Do People Become Academics?
- Teaching Online (Book excerpt from a work in progress)
- Does a ‘Flipped Classroom’ Approach Add Learning Value?
- Lecture Capture: Reflections on Pedagogy vs. Perception
- Peer Review Activity and a Search Engine based Corpus System
- A Truly ‘Transformative’ MBA: Executive Education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
- Developing Live Projects as Part of an Assessment Regime Within a Dispersed Campus Model
- The Nurse Associate Trainee Deserves a HOTSHOT Education: A Reflective Signature Pedagogical Approach
- Lessons etc
- Article 2
- Contents
- Volume 8, Issue 1 March 2018
- Volume 7, Issue 3 November 2017
- Volume 7, Issue 2 July 2017
- Volume 7, Issue 1 March 2017
- Volume 6, Issue 3 November 2016
- Volume 6, Issue 2 July 2016
- Volume 5 Issue 3 November 2015
- Volume 5 Issue 2 July 2015
- Volume 5 Issue 1 March 2015
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- A Dictionary of Research Concepts and Issues
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Arlie Russell Hochschild
- The Architecture of Productive Learning Networks
- Teaching Programming with Computational and Informational Thinking
- Writing in Social Spaces: A social processes approach to academic writing
- ‘So, you want us to do the marking?!’ – peer review and feedback to promote assessment as learning
- Telling timber tales in Higher Education: A reflection on my journey with digital storytelling
- The learning approaches of A Level History and Geography students analysed: a Report from a Sixth Form College
- I am not a superhero but I do have secret weapons! Using technology in Higher Education teaching to redress the power balance
- Open Futures: An enquiry and skills based educational programme developed for primary education and its use in tertiary education
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Jean Baudrillard
- Lo‐tech Tools as Episteme: Rethinking Student Engagement in the Writing Process and Beyond1
- Raising Awareness of Diversity and Social (In)justice Issues in Undergraduate Research Writing: Understanding Students and their Lives via Connecting Teaching and Research
- Volume 4 Issue 3
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- Book reviews
- The Imperial University
- Success in Academic Writing
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers Dave Cormier
- Language Centre Online (and beyond)
- No Nonsense Guide to Training in Libraries
- English and Reflective Writing Skills in Medicine
- Philology: The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities
- Internationalisation and curriculum development: why and how?
- Harkness Learning: Principles of a Radical American Pedagogy
- Growing Environmental Education and Sustainability Within Universities
- Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age (3rd Edition)
- Preventing Too Little Too Late: A Novel Process of Continuous Curriculum Evaluation
- Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: International Perspectives
- Helping Students Connect: Architecting Learning Spaces for Experiential and Transactional Reflection
- A methodology for enhancing student writing in the discipline through complementary and collaborative working between central and school based writing development provision
- Volume 4 Issue 2 July 2014
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- A Pedagogic Trinity – Exploring the Art, Craft and Science of Teaching
- In Conversation with… Zoë Readhead, Principal of Summerhill School, Leiston, Suffolk
- Teaching with Infographics: Practicing New Digital Competencies and Visual Literacies
- WAC in FYW: Building Bridges and Teachers as Architects
- A personal journey of discoveries through a DIY open course development for professional development of teachers in Higher Education
- Materialities, Textures and Pedagogies
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers Anton Makarenko
- The Complexities of Teaching 'Inclusion' in Higher Education
- Research Methods in Information (2nd edition)
- Chasing Literacy: Reading and Writing in an Age of Acceleration
- Threshold Concepts: From Personal Practice to Communities of Practice
- Book reviews
- Volume 4 Issue 1 March 2014
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- Peer Tutoring
- Education and Immigration
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Sigmund Freud
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Vivien Hodgson
- Developing Employability for Business
- Assessment for Learning in Higher Education
- International Students Negotiating Higher Education
- A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education
- University Teaching in Focus: A Learning Centred Approach
- Augmented didactics in Kindergarten12: An Italian Case History
- What constitutes 'peer support' within peer supported development?
- The Good Paper – A Handbook for Writing Papers in Higher Education
- Effective feedback: An indispensable tool for improvement in quality of medical education
- Writing in the Disciplines: Building Supportive Cultures for Student Writing in UK Higher Education
- A consideration of peer support and peer mentoring within the Professional Teaching Scheme (PTS) at the University of Bedfordshire
- Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Social Technologies: Facebook, E portfolios and Other Social Networking Services
- Developing a Strategy based Instruction Approach to Teaching and Learning Modern Languages to train ab initio Primary PGCE Trainees
- Book Reviews
- The complexities and challenges of introducing electronic Ongoing Achievement Records in the pre registration nursing course using PebblePad and hand held tablets
- Volume 3 Issue 3 November 2013
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- Book reviews
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: R.J. Harris
- Transforming lives and 'the measure of their states'
- An Investigation into Students' Perceptions of Group Assignments
- Peer Support for Technology Enhanced Learning: developing a community of learners
- Developing Digital Literacy in Construction Management Education: A Design Thinking Led Approach
- Self Directed Learning in Osteopathic Education: identifying and enhancing independent student learning
- Challenges of developing pedagogy through diversity and equity within the new Early Years Foundation (EYFS) curriculum
- Classroom Based Action Research: Revisiting the Process as Customizable and Meaningful Professional Development for Educators
- Fly on the Wall: Can students' learning be enhanced by allowing them to witness their own summative assessment and feedback event?
- Information and Communication Technologies as means for self improvement at remote universities: the example of Urgench State University, Uzbekistan
- Volume 3 Issue 2 July 2013
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- PAL at UoB!
- Book reviews
- PAL Experience
- Guest Editorial
- Celebrate Citation: Flipping the Pedagogy of Plagiarism in Qatar
- PAL Leader Training at Bournemouth University: 12 years on and still evolving
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Paul Natorp
- Electracy: The Internet as Fifth Estate
- Facilitators and Barriers to the Development of PASS at the University of Brighton
- Pedagogical Inspiration through Martial Arts Instruction
- In response to ‘Celebrate Citation: Flipping the Pedagogy of Plagiarism in Qatar’
- Stress levels and their risk/protective factors among MSc Public Health students
- Citation Matters: Two Essays on the Student Journey of Citation and How Google Scholar and the Principle of Least Effort Can Affect Academic Writing
- Volume 3 Issue 1 March 2013
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- Book reviews
- Guest Editorial
- A multi dimensional approach to principalship
- Cross cultural collaboration with China
- Teachers and Research: What they value and what they do
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas
- Resilience in Adult Learners: some pedagogical implications
- Volunteer tourism and architecture students: What motivates and can best prepare them?
- Enhancing learner knowledge and the application of that knowledge via computer based assessment
- The Impact of an In service Professional Development Course on Writing Teacher Attitudes and Pedagogy
- Reflecting on Professional Practice: The Importance of Motivating Adolescent Girls in Physical Education
- Teachers' views on the introduction and implementation of literacy tasks in the Year 7 Science scheme of learning
- Reflecting on Professional Practice: The Importance of Motivating Adolescent Girls in Physical Education
- Volume 2 Issue 3 November 2012
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- Editorial
- Book reviews
- Transition Trauma
- Improving Course Related Information of Computing Degree Courses for Enhancing Learner Development
- Different Ways of Knowing
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Paulo Friere
- Ethical Issues in Pedagogical Research
- The Future For Primary Physical Education
- A Year on the Frontline Despatches from New FE Teachers
- Nurturing the independent thinking practitioner: using threshold concepts to transform undergraduate learning
- Volume 2 Issue 2 July 2012
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- Book Review
- Editorial The First Year
- HE in FE past, present and future
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Michael Wesch
- Crossing the boundaries of film and architectural pedagogy
- The CLE Writing Retreat 2012: 'Lifting the Mask of the Imposter'
- Simulation in Clinical Education: A Reflective and Critical Account
- Guest Editorial A Harmonics of Teaching and Learning: An Editorial in Three Voices
- VLE segregation or integration? How should distance learning and taught modes be treated?
- Reflecting on the Transition from Practice to Education The Journey to Becoming an Effective Teacher in Higher Education
- Volume 2 Issue 1 March 2012
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- Editorial
- Book Reviews
- Key Pedagogic Thinkers: Jaques Lacan
- Evaluation of a Global MBA programme
- Peer Assisted Learning: Project Update
- Student engagement and the role of feedback in learning
- Will health students engage with a health information blog
- Learning and Teaching in Business Through Rich and Varied Information Sources
- Thriving as an International Student: Personal responses and the trajectories they create
- Embedding a curriculum based information literacy programme at the University of Bedfordshire
- Learning Beyond Compliance: A comparative analysis of two cohorts undertaking a first year social work module
- Volume 1 Issue 2 November 2011
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- Editorial
- Book reviews
- Moving Online
- The Gift of Dyslexia
- Open Educational Resources: Shared Solutions for Higher Education
- Information literacy and Web 2.0: developing a modern media curriculum using social bookmarking and social networking tools
- Reading Students' Expectations: a talking point
- Standing Up For Teaching: The 'Crime' of Striving for Excellence
- Can 'Quality Marking' be used to provide effective feedback within Higher Education?
- Scenario Based Evaluation of an Ethical Framework for the Use of Digital Media in Learning and Teaching
- Volume 1 Issue 1 July 2011
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- Editorial
- Book reviews
- I get by with a little help from my friends Peer Assisted Learning
- Research project: Effective academic posters and poster exhibitions
- Brands and movie making: Using storyboards to develop spatial design students' understanding of narrative
- Learning to chat: Developing a pedagogical framework for facilitating online synchronous tutorial discussion
- The role of perception in divergent approaches to teaching and learning through the transition from foundation to bachelor degree: a preliminary exploration
I get by with a little help from my friends - Peer Assisted Learning
By Eve Rapley
We have all had issues and problems in our lives which have been successfully resolved by talking to a friend or a colleague. What makes them able to help is empathy: the ability to recognise and, to some extent, share feelings.
This doctrine has been adopted by the academic world with the use of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL). Based on the Supplemental Instruction (S.I) model developed by the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1973 (Arendale 2000), PAL is a scheme that fosters cross-year support between students on the same course. It encourages students to support each other and learn co-operatively under the guidance of students who have 'been there, done that and got the t-shirt'.
PAL emerged in the UK in 2001, after Bournemouth University obtained funding for three years under the Fund for Development of Teaching and Learning Phase 3 (FDTL3), from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to promote awareness, enhance understanding, and encourage the effective implementation of Peer Assisted Learning (Capstick et al. 2003). Since then, PAL has become an integral underpinning of undergraduate learning and support at a host of HEIs within the UK, including UWE, UCL, Bucks New University, Middlesex University, Oxford Brookes University, Manchester University and Glasgow University. Under the banner of PAL or PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions), the concept of students helping students has increasingly gained credence and academic respectability. A wealth of research points to PAL as the provider of a strategic benefit in terms of enhanced attainment and retention, as well as to students personally. At London Guildhall University it was 'found that students who attended a peer support session obtained average grades that were higher than for those who did not' (NAO 2002). At the University of Western Sydney mentors noted gains in 'leadership, improved communication skills [and] improved job interview skills' (Carmichael 2003). A U.S. study found 'improvements in the aspirations of economically disadvantaged students as a result of mentoring' (Lee & Crammond, 1999).
Apart from potential benefits in terms of retention and grade improvement (Fostier et al. 2007), there are 'intangible benefits, such as an increased cohesion of the student group, reassurance about study concerns and increased confidence. PAL can lead to faster mainstreaming of students from differing ethnic backgrounds and minority groups, as well as international students. PAL can also improve National Student Survey responses (Bettin and Malliris 2007). With the advent of the 2012 fee changes and the greater urgency upon institutions to provide added value to students, the use of PAL looks set to continue.
PAL has five main aims and is intended to help students:
- adjust quickly to university life;
- acquire a clear view of course direction and expectations;
- improve their study skills and adjust their study habits to meet the requirements of higher education;
- enhance their understanding of the subject matter of their course through collaborative group discussion; and
- prepare better for assessed work and examinations.
PAL sessions are intended to be informal and friendly, with an emphasis on everyone in the group working co-operatively to develop their understanding. PAL is about exploratory discussion led by the PAL Leaders. Content for PAL sessions is based on existing course materials – handouts, notes, textbooks and set reading. Its focus is student led and student centred with an emphasis on enhancement for all students.
1st year students enjoy and benefit from the small group work and collaborative discussions that take place during PAL. The PAL environment is one where it is okay to admit to not understanding something, and to make mistakes. Students also welcome the opportunity to meet regularly with a student who has been through the first year and survived it.
Academics should see a reduction in the number of 'minor' requests from students (they are dealt with by Leaders). PAL helps students to become better prepared for their classes, manage their workload, and keep up with course work. Academics benefit from getting regular feedback on how course content is being received by first year students.
The Centre for Learning Excellence is currently finalising plans in advance of launching a Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) pilot scheme for September. The pilot will run in computing, sports coaching, education, English and drama, with 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students facilitating weekly PAL sessions. Sessions will typically support the transition and orientation of new students into life at the university as well as de-mystifying the language of academic discourse, helping them get to grips with study skills, and tackling specific unit content. In addition to the comprehensive training which CLE will deliver and the CV-boosting benefits, the PAL Leaders will receive a certificate and a small honorarium in recognition of their contributions.
The initial pilot phase will run from September 2011 to May 2012 and will be monitored and fully evaluated by all key stakeholders. Recruiting and interviewing PAL Leaders is happening now but there is the potential for more undergraduate subject areas to be involved.
Contact Eve Rapley (Centre for Learning Excellence, eve.rapley@beds.ac.uk ext. 3188) for more information.
References
- Arendale, D.R. (2000) History of Supplemental Instruction (SI): Mainstreaming of Developmental Education. University of Missouri-Kansas City.
- Bettin, F. and Malliris, M (2007) Evaluating PAL schemes for stability and sustainability: How effective is your PAL programme? UWE, Bristol.
- Capstick, S., Fleming, H., and Hurne, J. (2004)Implementing Peer Assisted Learning in Higher Education: The experience of a new university and a model for the achievement of a mainstream programme [PDF].
- Carmichael, E. (2003) Evaluating evaluations: A case study in peer mentoring; Refereed Proceedings of the 2003 Biannual Language and Academic Skills in Higher Education Conference, 24-25 November 2003. Language and Academic Skills in Higher Education, Vol 6 (Relates to University of Western Sydney).
- Fostier, M. et al. (2007) HEA Centre for Bioscience – Science Learning & Teaching Conference 2007. www.sltc.heacademy.ac.uk.
- Lee, J. and Cramond, B. (1999) The Positive Effects of Mentoring Economically Disadvantaged Students. Professional School Counselling 2, 3: 172-178.
- NAO (National Audit Office) (2007). Staying the course: the retention of students in higher education. Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General. London: The Stationery Office.
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