The Student Guidance And Support Policy

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Feedback/Feed forward

I found the capacity to reflect difficult in the word count limit with still having to include a minimum of 10 references to literature and policy even though it was a credit top up assignment and only having to complete 2 out of the 5 formative assignments. I feel that if this was reduced in proportion I would have had more opportunity to reflect and evaluate my experiences further. In my assignment for Module 2 I will use the ‘Reflecting on Experience Tool’ as described by Mackensie (no date) to help me reflect on and evaluate my practices in more depth.

Case Study Group

There are 18 learners studying HND Administration and Information Technology, 2 of which are studying on a part-time basis while the remainder are studying full-time. The group consists of 17 females and 1 male ranging from 18 to 46 years of age. All the learners have progressed from studying the HNC Administration and Information Technology course the previous year, although 1 learner took a year out to have a child. 16 of the learners are British and 2 are Polish. There are 2 learners in the group that require additional support. Student A is dyslexic and is supported by a member of the Learner Support team outside of normal class time. Materials have been adapted and audio versions of large case studies are provided; this is available to all learners as they may also find it beneficial. Student B has mobility difficulties and requires a chair with additional back support; this is provided for use in all classrooms they are in.

At the start of the academic year I asked my learners to complete the VARK questionnaire as well as gather various pieces of information about everyone in the class ranging from age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, etc. to demonstrate human diversity. We then linked this to the Equality Act 2010 and discussed how we as individuals should all be treated the same no matter what these differences are. This allowed the class to devise their own "class rules" that everyone should adhere to while in college. I only guided the learners in these discussions as I wanted them to take responsibility for their own behaviour and attitudes towards others as well as their learning.

In the Time Series Analysis section, covered in the Advanced Spreadsheet unit, I include examples of different events locally and globally that can have an impact on the decisions made within a business. We, as a class, specifically look at what can cause variations in sales information for a company covering scenarios like the banking crisis, leaving the European Union and Scotland becoming Independent, as well as other suggestions from the learners. I have found that using current events in my teaching engages the learners more as they can see how what is happening in the external environment now can affect the businesses around them and ultimately themselves.

Inclusive Learning Strategies

The Strategic Plan 2010-13 (Angus College, 2010) states that all learners will have access to the services they require whilst studying at the college. This is one of the many policies as a staff member I have to follow. The College defines its equality and diversity of operation as ‘a fully inclusive approach, whereby each individual is treated solely on their individual merits, and the differences between individuals are recognised and positively encouraged.’ (Angus College (2006:3)). With this in mind all learners have access to material online in the required format and technology within the classroom environment. Lifelong learning is a big part of the college agenda as we want to develop the learners with skills they can take with them into the work place as well as their everyday life. I help the learners to develop their IT and soft skills through my lessons by using everyday examples they may encounter at work or home.

The VARK questionnaire created by Fleming (2001) helps indicate the learning preferences of the learners. The results for my learner group show that 53% of the class are multimodal learners, 20% are kinesthetic learners, 20% are read-write learners and 7% are visual learners. When planning the lesson on the use of pivot tables in Microsoft Excel I provide the learners access to the written instructions as well as demonstrating in class how to create and modify pivot tables. The learners then practice these techniques by carrying a variety of tasks to ensure they are confident in creating and modifying pivot tables. Learners are then split into groups to look at more complex data and ask them as a group to come up with pivot tables to meet the information needs of management enquiries. This allows them to draw on the experiences of others and their understanding and learning from their peers to complete the tasks.

After reading Coffield et al (2004) report on whether or not we should be using learning styles, I feel that even though there are preferred ways for someone to learn they should still develop the skills to learn through other methods. This would benefit those who are continuing on in their education as well as those going into employment. You are not always given the opportunity to learn a new skill in your preferred style at University or during employment. As Student A prefers to learn through audio I provide materials in this format but I also encourage her to use the written material as well as the interactive puzzles to help her learn in different ways so that she is more comfortable with the different methods that may be used through training at her work or in further education. Since the beginning of the year Student A has been using more of the written material than the audio, but checks her reading and understanding is correct by listening to the audio and watching the video tutorials.

I feel that the experiential learning cycle developed by Kolb and Fry (1975, in Smith, 2001) is the ideal way to learn IT. The model has four elements which are best suited for learning practical subjects: experience the skills, observe and reflect on what skills you have used, form theories based on what these skills can achieve and testing these theories in new situations. Learners carry out tasks with guidance from myself and observe the effects to a given situation. The learners practice using the skills/techniques in different situations to allow them to build up experience on which skills they may need in the future. This allows them to use their new IT skills to complete tasks for different subjects e.g. when completing the Graded Unit Project they can use the various Word Processing skills they have gained to create attractive and consistently formatted reports to a professional standard.

Modes of Learning

Throughout all my lessons I try to use a variety of learning modes to help develop the learners understanding. All learning materials are uploaded onto our Online Learning platform, Dokeos. This allows the learners to access all materials during class, at home, wherever they have internet access. The online materials are designed with a distance learning learner in mind. This means if a full time learner were to miss a class they can access the appropriate materials and can work through them and catch up with what was covered in class.

As IT is a very practical subject the learners are learning through experience by completing a variety of practical tasks. Kolb (1984, in Chapman, 2013) believes that you need to experience things to learn and build your knowledge and I believe that is true for teaching practical subjects. When learning how to design and create databases you can read about the general principles but you need to experience the process and create your own database to fully understand how to design and create a database. I recently changed how I taught the design principles of creating a database to incorporate more peer and group learning. After teaching the subject the "normal" way I still found the learners did not fully understand the topic after asking them to create a database for a DVD rental business. After the session involving group and peer learning I found the learners understood the design principles better and were able to tackle the same problem again without finding it too difficult. The groups developed a flow chart from them to work through to help them tackle similar tasks where they need to design and create a database.

The Learning Environment

The classroom that is normally used for the IT classes is ideally set up for an IT based class where the learners are working independently on their tasks. The desks are arranged so that everyone is facing to the front of the class and they have enough space for their handouts any other material they may need. Below is a diagram of the classroom layout.

Classroom

Race (2005:117) discusses the impact of environmental conditions on the teaching of groups while admitting ‘More often than not, we simply have to make the most of what we’ve got when it comes to…teaching spaces’. This is generally what we as tutors do as the IT classrooms may not be set out as we want them. This layout is not ideal for tasks where you want a group of 5 or 6 learners completing a task whereas a general purpose classroom with moveable furniture is more flexible.

Maslow (1987) presented a hierarchy of factors that could influence how motivated a learner is to learn. As this is a room regularly used by the learners, they know when it is colder and warmer and how the windows work. They know how the printers work and what to do when they malfunction.

For one particular lesson I wanted to take the learners out of this room and allow them to work better in groups. As I planned the lesson where computers were not necessary I decided to move the group into a general purpose classroom which would give me the flexibility to change the layout to suit the tasks. This lesson was to build on a previous lesson about Database Design Principles. The group had already been taught this topic, so this was more a revision lesson consolidating the previous lessons.

I set up the classroom so that each group had their own table with the resources they required and the space for me to move around and interact with them. I wanted to use some new resources and a different approach to tackling this particular topic. This is normally approached independently by the learner to prepare them for the assessment. I wanted the learners to work together and share ideas as well as skills and knowledge so that they have a better understanding of the principals involved in database design. This will not only help them with the assessment but also help them prepare for the Graded Unit exam where they will have to answer theory based questions under closed book conditions.

The classroom is a large room with desks that can be moved into any layout. This is a room normally used for teaching theory subjects where no computers are needed, although laptops can be used if necessary. This is an ideal room for the learners to work together without being restricted by a set layout used in the IT classrooms. This room has large windows on one wall allowing plenty of natural light into the room making it comfortable for the learners to work in. Although this is not the group’s normal classroom I felt they would be comfortable in here with no distractions.

This lesson enabled the learners to go through all stages of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle as shown on Learning-Theories.com (2013) as a group and develop a flow chart to work through when they need to complete similar tasks. The feedback from the learners on the change of venue and approach was very positive and wanted to use the new resources again. The learners enjoy using different resources and in this instance it was Show-Me boards. They said it made the lesson more fun and they did not feel like they were learning. The learners have since applied this process to other subjects enabling them to learn from each other as well as the material and tutors.

The learners also enjoyed the fact they were out of their normal classroom with room to work in groups more effectively. The group is quite a vocal and social group but they were interacting more in the classroom and not just on the tasks but also complimenting each other’s ideas and skills, this led to increased confidence levels in the group as a whole. When we normally carryout group tasks I feel they are always in a hurry to complete the tasks so they can get back to their computer where they did not have this as an option in this room and it felt like they took the time and focussed on the tasks more and enjoyed the process they were going through.

Guidance and Support

Angus College (2007) defines guidance as ‘the process of enabling learners to assess their potential and identify opportunities appropriate to their abilities and needs to make well-informed choices and maximise their aspirations.’

There are four stages of guidance within the college:

Pre-Entry Guidance

Guidance given at the interview stage to ensure the learner has chosen the right course. I am not normally involved with interviewing learners.

Induction to College / Course

I am involved in welcoming the students to the college and informing them about the variety of opportunities and services available at the college throughout their studies.

Progression Guidance

As Course Tutor I am responsible for helping learners track their progress and discuss their options after they have completed their current course.

On-Going Guidance

Depending on the circumstances and their needs we can offer access to advice, support and personal counselling services.

To ensure the learner has a positive learning experience the Quality Framework for Scottish FE Colleges (HMIE, 2004) has set guidelines for these stages of support. An excellent guidance and support system is important for a college as you need to listen to the learner and support and understand their needs to enable them to progress, this is supported by Rogers (1959, in McLeod, 2007).

As part of my role as the Course Tutor for the HND group it is my responsibility to guide and support the learners during their studies. I listen to the learners and their concerns and I do my best to advise them on what to do. I am limited on how much I can do on a personal level as I am not a trained councillor but I can help the learner get the support they do need. Angus College (2012) Student Guidance and Support procedure is there to ensure support and guidance is consistent and it also gives the tutor clear guidelines on what support they should provide and when this should be referred to the experts.

Recently I had to refer back to this procedure as I was worried about one of my learners. Student B was retreating into herself and was not interacting with her peers as much as she was at the beginning. I wanted to meet with her to find out if there was something wrong and if I could help. I also asked the Course Leader for advice as she was teaching this learner as well. I was already aware that Student B was receiving support from one of our support workers but they were on holiday for a month.

I phoned the learner and asked her to come in and meet me on a day the rest of the learners were not in so I could speak to her as I was concerned about her. She agreed and we met. Student B shared some very personal details about what was happening at home and also voiced concerns over not being able to speak to her support worker. I offered to help her with the Student Support team so she could speak to someone else but she was not comfortable speaking to anyone else. I sat and listened while she spoke about everything she was going through. I told Student B that I could not offer any advice but was grateful to her for sharing this with me and making me aware of what she was dealing with at home. Student B was very appreciative of me giving up my time to listen to her and that I was concerned and noticed a change in her behaviour.

The Student Guidance and Support policy (Angus College, 2007) is a set of guidelines for me to follow and outlines my responsibilities in regards to external support for learners. The student services team is responsible for organising additional support; this is where I would go if I had a leaner that required external support i.e. involving social work. The college’s Equality and Diversity policy (Angus College, 2006) is in place to ensure the support needs of all learners and staff are met and to ensure we meet any legal requirements e.g. The Equality Act 2010. All learners in my lessons are treated equally and given support where they need it. Student A is dyslexic and requires extra time during exams and requires the large case studies in audio format so I have recorded the case studies and given her the audio versions as well as the written version. I have also applied to SQA for extra time for her to complete the Graded Unit Exam. Student B has mobility problems and has been provided with a chair to give her additional back support so she is more comfortable in class. This is all provided through the help of the student services team who provide equipment and furniture as well as collating all the additional support required for exams and sent to SQA.

Assessment for Learning

Diagnostic Assessment

I use formative activities as form of diagnostic assessment with my case study group. As they are HND level learners the Core Skills Diagnostic test that is carried out in the college as set out by the Essential Skills Policy (Angus College, 2009) is not used as they have already achieved the requirements in their HNC year. One particular subject I used formative activities to diagnose the skills of the learners is for Presentation Skills. As a group I sat with the class and discussed the requirements of the unit. The learners felt they covered everything in their HNC for using PowerPoint 2007 but felt they still did not feel as if they could present information in front of a crowd. I agreed with the learners that we would adapt the scheme of work to spend more time on presentation delivery and the different methods they could use if they completed a few tasks for me where I was happy with what they produced. I asked the learners to produce 3 different presentations for different groups with set requirements on the various features they had to use.

The learners produced excellent work and this allowed me to skip the majority of the lessons teaching them to use different features of PowerPoint. I was able to spend more time helping them deal with their nerves when standing in front of a group of people to deliver a presentation and build their confidence so that when they get these nerves they can control them. This is the first time I have done this with a group of learners and it has been a success so far. I will build this into my introduction to each of the units and get the learners involved in planning the scheme of work for the unit.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessments are used in every single class I teach. These tasks are used to allow the learners to practice the skills they have been shown. As the learner progresses they are given less detail in the tasks and are forced to draw on their previous experiences to complete them. As the learner progresses through the formative assessments their confidence grows in their skills and knowledge, this allows me to also see if they are ready for the summative assessment. I believe using formative assessment to support the learning process is important as the learner feels like they are achieving something at the end of the tasks. Stiggins (2007, in Dodge, no date) supports this idea as he recommends that we focus more on assessment for learning. This all comes back to experiential learning when it comes to learning IT subjects, and the activities I give the learners are giving them the experience they require to pass their assessments and use the acquired skills to complete other tasks in college. The skills the learners learn are also transferable to other areas of the learner’s lives and they will hopefully adapt them to suit the situation they are in.

Whenever I create tasks for the learners to complete I ensure they are contextualised to the area in which they are studying. The tasks are all based around an administrative role within a variety of businesses, e.g. learners have scenarios where they are working for a tour company analysing their tour bookings or for a souvenir company analysing their sales information. This shows them that the same administrative tasks can be completed for different situations and your results will differ due to the nature of the business but the process is the same.

Feedback

A weakness in previous observed lessons is the feedback I give to the learners working on tasks in class. Although I do give feedback I do not give enough positive feedback on well completed tasks. Brookhart (2008) advises on how often and when to give feedback to learners. I try not to purely give feedback to those who need to "fix" something but try to point out at least 2 things they have completed to a high standard. I aim to have an equal amount of positive and critical feedback to help motivate the learners where they have areas to correct but emphasise they have still done well. Through reflection of my own practices I have found myself guilty of not giving learners enough feedback from assessments that they pass first time. Black and William (1998) state that formative assessments are used to identify the learners’ understanding, progress, and the development of technical skills. Even though learners know they have met the required criteria to pass the assessment they should know they have submitted an excellent piece of work that surpasses the unit requirements, so I should tell them. This is something I do to show learners I value the time they have taken to complete the assessment and that I have spent the time to evaluate their work in full, instead of just looking for the requirements needed to pass.

Since studying on the TQFE I have found feed forward useful when tackling this assignment. This is not something I currently use with my learners but am planning on using it on the remaining assessments they have to complete for this academic year. I think the learners will also find this useful when completing their assessments as it will serve as a reminder for them. I will be introducing this with the Advanced Database unit and once the learners have completed the unit I will ask them for specific feedback from them on the process of feedback and feed forward. If successful I will implement this for all assessments the following year and make any amendments to the process if anything arises from the learner feedback.

Quality Assurance and Learner Success

Individual and Team Roles in the Quality Assurance Framework

The Quality Management System in place at Angus College is designed to ensure we review, improve and monitor our performance. The College Policies, Systems and Procedures are the framework for us as educators to follow. This ensures we understand how important quality assurance is and that continually improving and enhancing quality will help us to succeed in the Education industry. This is designed in accordance to the requirements of ISO 9001:2008.

Figure : Business and Social Science Team Structure

I am responsible for delivering units within the HNC/D Administration and IT courses, leisure classes and bespoke commercial IT training. My quality assurance responsibilities include confidence that the standards are met and upheld within the units I deliver. I ensure that teaching material is up to date and meet guidelines as documented by the various awarding bodies. I ensure that all assessments used are viable and meet requirements of the awarding bodies.

To ensure continual improvement in quality, evaluations are issued to all learners and the feedback gained allows me to identify the weaknesses and strengths with myself, the course content and delivery. This allows strengths to be built upon and weaknesses to be investigated and addressed.

Annual Staff Development Reviews are carried out by the Curriculum Manager to reflect on the work and activities carried out over the past year. This gives me the opportunity to set goals and objectives to work towards over the coming year.

How the Quality Assurance System Promotes Successful Learning

McBride and Schostak (no date) look at various types of evaluation. I was trying to see if the process the college goes through fits into one type but I feel we use various methods that branch over many different types of evaluation that allow us to put context to the statistics we are required to report on. We take deliberate steps to enable continual improvement in the effectiveness of the learners learning experience through self-evaluation and reflective practice.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) requires reports on an annual basis showing how well each course has performed. To do this we evaluate Performance Indicators (PIs) within our Annual Course Reports (ACRs) to action for the following:

Learner retention

The Early Learner Retention Ratio for the case study group is 100% for this academic year. This shows that the recruitment and induction process was successful with all learners still attending after a set date in the academic year.

Learner outcomes

Positive learner outcomes allow us to track those learner who have move towards something positive even if they have not successfully completed the course, e.g. finding employment. We have had 1 learner find full time employment while at college but they have decided to continue studying the course and have arrangements in place with their employer.

Learner achievement by unit/assessment credit

This is calculated to see how many of the enrolled learners who have completed the course and have achieved the required credits. I do not think all of the case study group will achieve all of the units they require but I believe that this will still be a high percentage as there are only 2 learners causing us concern for completion but have support plans in place to help them achieve as much as they can.

Learner post-course destination

This looks at where learners have moved on to after their college course, e.g. employment, university, etc.

The ACR is compiled by Course Leaders throughout the academic year with input from all team members. I help the Course Leader with the HND ACR as we are the only two tutors involved with the group. All ACRs are collated and summarised by the Director of Learning and Teaching and sent to the SFC. The ACR is also used to evaluate how each course is performing using a traffic light system.

Green – Courses performing at or above the expected standards

Amber – Courses requiring enhancement to reach the expected standards

Red – Courses under review for performance below acceptable standards

College PIs are used by SFC to compile national PI statistics. These are returned and used to benchmark each course against national averages and also highlight problem areas that need prompt rectification. I think this case study group will rise above the national average as they are a very good and committed group of learners.

The process of internal and external verification ensures that courses, materials and assessments comply with standards documented by various awarding bodies. Internal verification is carried out by College staff and external verification is carried out by awarding body representatives. I am the internal verifier for one of the subjects taught by a colleague, ICT in Business. I confirm the materials and assessments are fit for purpose as well as ensuring the marking of assessments are consistent and follow the set guidelines.

Quality Assurance Contribution

I attend all course team meetings where I give and receive feedback on developments being made which are used within the Annual Course Reports. Any action points I am responsible for are formally reported on or closed off once complete. I am involved in development of online material for Distance Learning learners, who are now on a more structured programme, as well as development of Advanced IT units in the new HND Administration and IT framework.

Best practice is shared formally through regular team meetings and informally when asking for advice from workroom colleagues. I constantly listen to fellow colleagues sharing experiences in the classroom, what does and doesn’t work. I consider myself the least experienced team member in the classroom as others have many more years’ experience.

I share my experiences regarding technology and how I use it in the classroom to aid learner engagement. My IT skills and knowledge has helped me experiment with new things in the classroom and feedback to the team on success of activities as well as those activities that did not work for my group but may be suitable for other subjects.

For example when I had finished my lesson with the case study group and the Show-Me boards I shared my experience with those that teach the database unit in the HNC. I gave them a copy of the quiz I used with the Show-Me boards and the feedback I received from the learners. This is something they were going to try with their groups when revising for the Graded Unit exam.

Sustainable Development

The course materials that are used for the Advanced IT units are easily adapted to include additional tasks as are most of the units for the HNC and HND. All material is kept on Dokeos and amended and added to easily. The theory units are sustainable as most of the material is valid even when the unit specifications change, they only need slight amendments. The IT units can also be adapted but when software is updated in the college then the material takes longer to update as they are based on the software version used. I do keep the older versions on Dokeos as this has come in useful when a Distance Learning learner has an older version of the required software.

Conclusion

This report demonstrates how I contribute to the positive learning experience of my case study group (as well as other learners). Through analysing my practices I am fully aware of my responsibilities as an educator to provide a safe and positive emotional and physical learning environment for my learners as well as the guidelines and procedures I must follow to ensure my teaching and support is at the required standards as set out by the college and the Scottish Government.