A second post on 'Playing at being an assessor'
Further to Pritesh's post on "Playing at being an assessor" Cara, too, has made a similar and very full ccount of her thoughts on that hands-on episode. (My thoughts follow the Second line of "equals" signs, i.e. after the post)
Cara's account is an accurate description of what took place, coupled with some insightful observations:
=======================================================
Here is what Cara had to say:-
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Wednesday meeting
Todays meeting was extremely useful and took place in 2 locations! The first I will cover the usual sit-down room meeting which takes place every Wednesday.
Two documents were handed to a very small group of us
1) Dr Morris' carefully selected notes on writing our Report
2) A guide by John Aanonson on writing dissertations and Theses
Let us focus on the first document.
It now seems inevitable to follow (as it is now referred to) the 'Leon approach' in writing our reports. In fact we should even refer directly to this approach in our report.
There are originally 7 steps to this approach and Dr Morris has added an introduction at the front and a conclusion at the end.
We listened while Dr Morris took us through the steps and I learnt exactly what to put into the conclusion part of the report.
The conclusion is subtle and should focus on the whole learning process.
For instance we may write about how we came up with the ideas for our project and the MARSING process that took place before the project even started.
References popped up - it was made clear that it is vitally important that you refer to any references you have in your report. It gives your work validity.
I think that Dr Morris' suggestion that you write a bit everyday on your report was useful - Personally I think that would work very well for me - it is different than the blog of course, but just focusing your mind everyday will help to chip away at the task rather than leaving it to the end. The fibre of the document will be more 'real' if you are tackling things on a day to day basis.
I'm waffling a bit now so I shall move swiftly on to the second part of today's meeting.
We were able to look at 4 separate Final Year Project (FYPs) from last years group.
Seeing first hand how other people tackled firstly their overall presentation of their work, from an assessors point of view.
We took it in turns to 'present' our findings and thoughts on each project as if we were assessors (the learning dialogue).
We particularly looked at how each student had presented their aims and objectives and if the research question had been addressed.
We saw examples of how some excellent work had been let down by being hidden or buried within an interface; on how annoying it is for anyone assessing your work when work is not easily accessible.
I took on board a lot of things from today's meeting, this is important stuff- sorry for the others who missed out.
posted by Cara at 17:17 | 1 comments
============================================
Four points here are:
(a) involvement and having to do something and the inconvenience of getting to some work,
(b) purpose, objectives and research questions (c)excellent work buried deep down within an interface,
(c) how others may feel about your work and
(d) a sense of appreciation and deep value - the student took a lot from the experience.
Taking these four in turn:
(a)Involvement and having to do something; and the inconvenience of getting to some work
It is such a simple question "What was your project about?" The students simply turn to the computer, put the CD in the drive and click, thereby expecting all to be revealed. Some are confronted with an array of files, maybe fifty, and they have to sort things out. They are doing work, just when they did not expect to!
(b) purpose, objectives and research questions.
I asked students to say what the project was about and what it was focussing on.
They start looking for a pithy statement somewhere near the beginning of the report. Eventually their summary is couched in slightly sarcastic tones. "Well, I think it is about Myths and Boats. There was some text - actually, I think it was about a monster called Cyclops? and some stuff on nimation I could not get to work. It was not very clear. I suppose it might just pass.
They are frustrated by all the mini-technological barriers. They are in a position to realise that a piece of written communication needs to be concise in the beginning in order tosituate the reader in a meaningful context.
(c) how others may feel about your work.
Students found it very easy to reflect on someone else's work. Yet I have noticed they do not find it so easy to reflect on their own work. A defensive routine sets in almost immediately. Students seem rooted in their viewpoint as creator or maker of their own work. But they do find it much easier to criticise the work of others. An interesting point, which may explain lot.
(d) a sense of appreciation and deep value - the student took a lot from the experience.
I wonder why? Perhaps it was relevant.
Was it the timeliness of the exercise? At just under two months before the hand-in date for their own work, students would be engaged in precisely this writing process.
Why the feeling of sorrow for the others? Perhaps there is a residue of care in most of us, of not wanting friends and coleagues to miss out.
What did the student mean by "this is important stuff"? I think through this process she came to see the high importance of the "Referents Dialogue" and putting yourself in your assessor's shoes. The importance of having someone else you respect, and is a peer, partner and criticise your work via the blog. In fact Cara went on to make that point "You should require students to have at least one partner from the group. They will give each other feedback and take some of the work off your shoulders."
Subsequent follow-up conversation
1.
Link with Laxmi, another Project student.
This was to collaborate on the Organic development of a study strand common to both projects. "We should write our blogs in pairs, to both create and critique"
2.
Student has perceived a change in her writing style.
At first I would charge in and say "Hiya Blog, I washed my hair today!" or somesuch. But now I write carefully, realising I might be able to use this writing somewhere in my dissertation "as is" without doing lots of rewriting.
Cara's account is an accurate description of what took place, coupled with some insightful observations:
=======================================================
Here is what Cara had to say:-
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Wednesday meeting
Todays meeting was extremely useful and took place in 2 locations! The first I will cover the usual sit-down room meeting which takes place every Wednesday.
Two documents were handed to a very small group of us
1) Dr Morris' carefully selected notes on writing our Report
2) A guide by John Aanonson on writing dissertations and Theses
Let us focus on the first document.
It now seems inevitable to follow (as it is now referred to) the 'Leon approach' in writing our reports. In fact we should even refer directly to this approach in our report.
There are originally 7 steps to this approach and Dr Morris has added an introduction at the front and a conclusion at the end.
We listened while Dr Morris took us through the steps and I learnt exactly what to put into the conclusion part of the report.
The conclusion is subtle and should focus on the whole learning process.
For instance we may write about how we came up with the ideas for our project and the MARSING process that took place before the project even started.
References popped up - it was made clear that it is vitally important that you refer to any references you have in your report. It gives your work validity.
I think that Dr Morris' suggestion that you write a bit everyday on your report was useful - Personally I think that would work very well for me - it is different than the blog of course, but just focusing your mind everyday will help to chip away at the task rather than leaving it to the end. The fibre of the document will be more 'real' if you are tackling things on a day to day basis.
I'm waffling a bit now so I shall move swiftly on to the second part of today's meeting.
We were able to look at 4 separate Final Year Project (FYPs) from last years group.
Seeing first hand how other people tackled firstly their overall presentation of their work, from an assessors point of view.
We took it in turns to 'present' our findings and thoughts on each project as if we were assessors (the learning dialogue).
We particularly looked at how each student had presented their aims and objectives and if the research question had been addressed.
We saw examples of how some excellent work had been let down by being hidden or buried within an interface; on how annoying it is for anyone assessing your work when work is not easily accessible.
I took on board a lot of things from today's meeting, this is important stuff- sorry for the others who missed out.
posted by Cara at 17:17 | 1 comments
============================================
Four points here are:
(a) involvement and having to do something and the inconvenience of getting to some work,
(b) purpose, objectives and research questions (c)excellent work buried deep down within an interface,
(c) how others may feel about your work and
(d) a sense of appreciation and deep value - the student took a lot from the experience.
Taking these four in turn:
(a)Involvement and having to do something; and the inconvenience of getting to some work
It is such a simple question "What was your project about?" The students simply turn to the computer, put the CD in the drive and click, thereby expecting all to be revealed. Some are confronted with an array of files, maybe fifty, and they have to sort things out. They are doing work, just when they did not expect to!
(b) purpose, objectives and research questions.
I asked students to say what the project was about and what it was focussing on.
They start looking for a pithy statement somewhere near the beginning of the report. Eventually their summary is couched in slightly sarcastic tones. "Well, I think it is about Myths and Boats. There was some text - actually, I think it was about a monster called Cyclops? and some stuff on nimation I could not get to work. It was not very clear. I suppose it might just pass.
They are frustrated by all the mini-technological barriers. They are in a position to realise that a piece of written communication needs to be concise in the beginning in order tosituate the reader in a meaningful context.
(c) how others may feel about your work.
Students found it very easy to reflect on someone else's work. Yet I have noticed they do not find it so easy to reflect on their own work. A defensive routine sets in almost immediately. Students seem rooted in their viewpoint as creator or maker of their own work. But they do find it much easier to criticise the work of others. An interesting point, which may explain lot.
(d) a sense of appreciation and deep value - the student took a lot from the experience.
I wonder why? Perhaps it was relevant.
Was it the timeliness of the exercise? At just under two months before the hand-in date for their own work, students would be engaged in precisely this writing process.
Why the feeling of sorrow for the others? Perhaps there is a residue of care in most of us, of not wanting friends and coleagues to miss out.
What did the student mean by "this is important stuff"? I think through this process she came to see the high importance of the "Referents Dialogue" and putting yourself in your assessor's shoes. The importance of having someone else you respect, and is a peer, partner and criticise your work via the blog. In fact Cara went on to make that point "You should require students to have at least one partner from the group. They will give each other feedback and take some of the work off your shoulders."
Subsequent follow-up conversation
1.
Link with Laxmi, another Project student.
This was to collaborate on the Organic development of a study strand common to both projects. "We should write our blogs in pairs, to both create and critique"
2.
Student has perceived a change in her writing style.
At first I would charge in and say "Hiya Blog, I washed my hair today!" or somesuch. But now I write carefully, realising I might be able to use this writing somewhere in my dissertation "as is" without doing lots of rewriting.
posted by Dr Brian Morris at 8:19 am
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