Alan Booth

Case Study 6

A skills development course in history, using resource-based learning

Learning History, University of Nottingham
Originator: Alan Booth
Reproduced with permission from Course Design for Resource Based Learning - Humanities (1994), James Wisdom and Graham Gibbs (Eds)

RBL can encompass skills development as well as content

Background

The difficulty of adjusting from A-level to independent learning

The prime reasons for the introduction of a skills development course were to prepare students to do well over the three years of their history studies and to improve the effectiveness of their learning. This new course tries to tackle learning skills through a critical engagement with the nature of the subject. It also helps students who, in spite of gaining very high A-level grades - as many recruits to the department do - experience difficulties in their first year. In the past, essay-writing requirements sometimes seemed alien to new students (their A-level experience having been different) and few were used to working effectively in groups or giving oral presentations. The course was not what they expected and there appeared to be a mismatch between their work at school and the requirements they faced at university. In particular, they found difficulty in adjusting to more independent learning. The transition from school to higher education is a difficult one in many respects and the course was designed to assist with this, as well as preparing students to do excellent work in their second and final years.

Each year the new students complete a questionnaire on their attitudes towards history and on their experiences in learning the subject. This survey includes the Entwistle 'Approaches to Studying' questionnaire, concerned with deep and surface approaches to study. The need for a course such as Learning History was supported by the evidence gathered in this research.

Context

Between 80 and 100 first-year students join history courses at the University of Nottingham. The year is divided into two semesters and students take six modules in each, of which four must be from the history department. Learning History is a compulsory course which runs through both first-year semesters.

Aims

The use of a Tutors' Guide to support the course team in delivering a course to a large number of students

The aim of the course is to focus directly on students' learning skills, and it has been designed to be more effective than a generic study skills course relying on a standard textbook Its purpose is to confront students with the notions of truth and evidence in history and to challenge some of the preconceptions which they may have developed in their A-level studies. Another important objective was to devise a course which could be delivered by any of the tutors in the department, using the tutors' guide. Three or four tutors are normally involved in delivering this module, and the tutors' guide ensures that they all follow the same main programme of study. It is therefore possible to use different tutors each year and be confident that students are getting the necessary preparation.

Implementation

Managing the process of development and introduction between the course team

The source material for the course was the literature on promoting effective and deeper learning, which had a major influence. Study skills guides were also consulted, but they were found to be less applicable. The first drafts of both the students' and tutors guides were written by one member of staff, discussed by the other tutors and developed into a final form. A staff seminar was used to launch the guides for the staff team, and regular monitoring meetings were held during the first year of running the course. From this experience and from the end-of-year evaluations the guides were slightly modified before reprinting for their second year.

Student induction

To challenge and overturn preconceptions, within a strong framework

Many students take to this work without the need for induction, but there is one difficulty which some students present. They argue that they have come to the university to study history and that in some way the work on this module is not 'proper', or is too easy, or is about skills and not the knowledge that they came to acquire. These students in particular and are challenged to think through their own conceptions about the different approaches to supportive history, especially in the post-modern world which has fractured certainties.

Frequently students are used to 'spoon-feeding'. They tend to be passive rather than active learners, and their potential sometimes needs liberating. This factor can reinforce resistance to student-centred approaches, but the passive learners are also enthusiastic, and can be won over through the choice of interesting topics and a variety of teaching techniques.

Resources

Very thorough preparation and close planning constructs a course which makes the best use of resources

The student guide is an 11-page document, giving information about the aims and objectives of the course, the teaching and learning methods, the syllabus, the assessment and the reading required. The final section is a detailed account of the course structure, divided into the 12 seminars which are the core of the course. Each seminar is described in terms of its aims and the activity on which it centres (a debate, a presentation, a tutor-led discussion, etc.); details are given of the preparation which the student should do, and follow-up exercises are provided (these are often assessed work and therefore come with detailed instructions). There are also about 20 handouts to accompany the course, ranging from 'spoof' essays for assessment practice, through tips on writing essays and leading seminars, to self-assessment forms for group work and for the module as a whole. The guide and the handouts together contain most of the material the students will require to study the course.

The tutor guide is a 13-page document giving the aims and objectives of the course, the learning and teaching methods and detailed notes and suggestions on how each seminar should be conducted, together with guidance on what needs to be done as follow-up work.

Operation

A mixture of skills exercises, individually and in groups, which interlock with a precise assessment plan

In the first semester, students are presented with a number of texts which they are encouraged to approach in a variety of ways. They are asked to write essays, to engage in seminar discussion, to mount a debate in teams and write a report on the outcomes, to complete a questionnaire, to give an oral presentation on the meaning of history to them (which is also the subject of a written report) and to evaluate their work In this way they are prepared for the learning and research skills which they will need to be able to deploy all through their studies.

In the second semester the students form into two groups of six (within each seminar group) and complete a group project. This can be a survey, requiring interviewing and the gathering of data, an analysis of part of the heritage industry (such as the Robin Hood Experience in Nottingham), or anything related to the practice of history. The work results in a project report and a presentation to the other half of the seminar group. At the end of each semester the students have a feedback interview with their tutor.

Assessment

These units are assessed solely by coursework, and the assessment counts towards the students' first-year mark (which is used to determine progression and is not carried forward to their final degree). As the course is not examined, the students have to pass the coursework first time - there are no traditional examination resits!

In the first semester the students are assessed on an essay (40%), on their contribution to a debate (with a report) (25%), on an oral presentation (with a report) (25%) and by themselves on their contribution to the whole programme (10%).

In the second semester the students are assessed on their bibliography and project plan (10%), on their project report (50%), on the group presentation (30%) and by self-assessment (10%).

Costs

There was an initial cost in staff time for writing the guides and preparing the other tutors. This cost was integrated into the normal work of the department without extra funding. Costs of production and updating are borne on the departmental budget as with other modules.

Evaluation

A process that strengthens students' confidence

The feedback from the staff who have taught on this module (for two years) is very positive and the tutors report that the students appear to be learning more actively, more independently and more effectively. As the cohorts pass through into the second and final years this improved approach to learning should show up in the quality of their work.

The outcome of the students' evaluation questionnaires is overwhelmingly positive: they record the development of their skills and their understanding of history, sometimes to their surprise, as the course deals with issues they had not previously considered. They also frequently record a growth in their confidence. The initial difficulties that some students express do not in practice last long, though it is important to preserve the optimum balance between studying the subject and developing the skills.

Developments

The benefits from this type of development accrue when it is allowed to settle down and run normally, and that is the intention of the department. The existence of the course is affecting other first-year modules, which are now developing in the same direction and incorporating the same methods.

Conclusion

Many features of good practice are displayed in this case study. Perhaps one of the most important is its successful resolution of an often-posed conflict between the development of skills and the need to 'cover' the curriculum. Another feature of great significance is the rejection of generic study skills development in favour of course design to improve students' learning and understanding. The course was introduced into the department through a combination of individual initiative with successful management of the development of the course team, within a framework of evaluation. The resource base for this style of course design is a carefully constructed sequence of student activity, simply described through a guide and handouts, and the deployment of tutors' expertise in a coordinated and focused way. Finally - and perhaps most importantly - this course is fun. Through enjoyment and challenge, the course addresses one of the key features of early student experience, and shows that apprehension and fears can be converted into confidence and personal growth.