Learner skills
Projects that investigate the new skills learners and employers are looking for.
New educational methods, tools and technologies place new demands on learners (and teachers) in terms of skills required to navigate and exploit resources in appropriate and effective ways.
The recent publication of AI tools such as Chat GPT is a case in point. Being able to formulate and refine effective prompts and evaluate results are new vital research and learning skills.
The projects in this section investigate the new skills learners and employers are looking for.
The kinds of questions they address are:
- What kinds of literacies are required by 21st century learners and how can they best be developed?
- What are the implications of hybrid mixed mode courses for learners?
- How appropriate is PhD level study?
Learner skills projects
About the project
The aim of this small project (five days in total) was to identify any common features across various literacies in higher education, and to see what scope there may be for learning from and with each other in support for the definition and implementation of literacies. Participants provided input on information literacy, research literacy, and careers literacy.
Funding
This project is funded through a grant from the 嗨碰视频 Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).
Project team
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Dr Julie Voce (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matt Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Liz Wilkinson
Dr Sandra Tury
Time frame
October 2019 - September 2020
Outputs and resources
A was made to the CDE event, Supporting Student Success, in October 2019. Participants met to share and develop ideas in December 2019.
Baume, D., 2022. Literacies, fluencies and academic practices. Educational Developments.23.3:24-28, September 2022 ISSN 1469 - 3267
Project sponsors
- Professor Mary Stiasny, PVC (International), 嗨碰视频
- Dr Sandra Tury, Associate Director-Online Library Services, 嗨碰视频.
Project goals
Successfully integrate information literacy (IL) skills into a wide range of University programmes.
In a little more detail, the project aims to provide programme teams with support on IL that is practical, evidence- and practice-based and scholarship-informed. This support should lead to enhancements in students鈥 critical and informed use of a range of appropriate information sources.
Issues to explore include:
- accounts of IL
- responsibility for IL in course design, teaching, and library and information services
- IL demands on students and support for student IL development
- teaching institutions and IL
- student approaches to IL
- professional requirements for IL
- relations with Digital Literacy; critical IL.
Working definition of information Literacy (IL)
鈥淜nowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner鈥 ( From CILIP, 2004).
Project objectives
- To identify current policy and good practice in the development of information literacy across the curriculum in 嗨碰视频 Programmes.
- To support the integration of IL skills into curricula at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels, through working with Programme Teams and delivering writing workshop(s) for Programme Teams to facilitate the integration of IL skills.
- To establish evaluation processes and measures of the effectiveness / impact of IL skills instruction in 嗨碰视频 Programmes.
Project team
- Benedetta Cappellini - Programme Leader, RHUL and former CODE Fellow
- David Baume - CODE Fellow
Time frame
March 2018 鈥 January 2019.
This project is now completed.
Outputs and resources
- Notes towards possible policy and strategy on Information Literacy 鈥 D2 [PDF]
- Implementing and integrating Information Literacy in UoLW programmes - D3 [PDF]
- Information Literacy and beyond: some issues in policy and practice [PDF]
- Preparing 嗨碰视频 students for living and working in the world: The development of Information Literacy / Critical Information Fluency. Final Report [PDF]
About the project
We are looking at the ways in which we can enhance the delivery of key information skills in our programmes. These skills help to ensure students understand how to accessing, process and evaluate information. If you Google and find an article saying the World is flat do you have to believe it? This builds on the 2018-19 Integrating Information Literacy project. That project concluded, among things, that high levels of critical information skills are increasingly necessary for work and further study; that current courses do not always develop these information capabilities; that there is a tension between providing students with the information they need for their current studies and developing their high-level information capabilities; and that there is a need to develop policy and good practice guidelines.
Funding
This project is funded through a grant from the 嗨碰视频 Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).
Time frame
Autumn 2019 - September 2020
Project team
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Dr Sandra Tury
Outputs and resources
None yet
About the project
The Bloomsbury Learning Exchange (BLE) is developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the FutureLearn platform. Aimed primarily at under-represented groups, the course will seek to guide potential applicants and dispel misconceptions they may have about doctoral study. The resource is co-authored by a small team of doctoral students, who draw upon their own experiences and that of their peers. For this project, CODE Fellows have been recruited to offer the perspective of experienced doctoral supervisors and admin staff.
Funding
The CODE project is funded through a grant from the 嗨碰视频 Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).
Project team
Sarah Sherman鈥(Project Director, CODE Fellow)
Nancy Weitz (Project Lead)
Ashley Cox (CODE Fellow)
Oscar Mwaanga (CODE Fellow)
Nichola Gretton (CODE Fellow)
Time frame
August 2022 鈥 August 2023 for the course development, but the CODE Fellows will work mostly between September 2022 and January 2023.
Outputs and resources
Two of the CODE Fellows will review and enhance the text produced by the Authors with contributions from the perspective of doctoral supervisors. The third Fellow will help guide the Authors into the next phase of development 鈥 creating the learning design.
Ultimately the course will stand as the finished resource, having included contributions from all three CODE Fellows, the course Authors and other course development teams.
About the project
At Queen Mary 嗨碰视频, a highly ambitious project in mixed-mode education (MME) (hybrid) delivery was rolled out across the entire institution from Summer 2021. A university-wide survey conducted in 2021/2 showed that students felt MME was inclusive, flexible and prepared them for the world of work. Educator feedback however presented concerns that students do not always know how to make most effective use of MME and specifically that online students can be less engaged in learning than their in-class peers during MME sessions.
The aim of this project is to review a set of student-facing resources developed by Queen Mary on the use of MME in order to make improvements to the resource for Summer 2023.
Funding
This project is funded through a grant of 拢2000 from the 嗨碰视频 Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) for Fellows time.
Project team
Shoshi Ish-Horowicz (CODE Fellow, Project Lead)
Danielle Thibodeau (Queen Mary 嗨碰视频, Project Lead)
Leo Havemann (CODE Fellow, UCL)
Leonard Houx (CODE Fellow, Cambridge Education Group)
Dr Jonathan San Diego (CODE Fellow, King鈥檚 College 嗨碰视频)
Dr Julie Voce (CODE Fellow, City, 嗨碰视频)
Time frame
CODE involvement - November 2022 - February 2023
Outputs and resources
The project will produce a feedback report for Queen Mary with recommendations for improving the student-facing resources.
Get in touch to learn more
If you want to learn more about our projects or how CODE can support you, drop us a line.