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Academic literacies in Education

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Education
Social Sciences
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"[The insessional programme] really enriches my knowledge and ... teachers can always take consideration of our real needs in different learning stages. For example, when we begin to deal with our first 5934 module assignment, they help us to identify the assessment criteria and provide some models from previous students... So it is really great."
Anonymous student feedback, MA TESOL Studies 2020

Context

The insessional work in the school of Education has expanded since 2019. Three insessional tutors now work with students studying on the following MA programmes: TESOL Studies, TESOL, Childhood Studies, Education and SEN.  We also work  in collaboration with learning advisors to support all level 1 undergraduate students. Students and tutor referrals might also be made for students either resubmitting assignments or working on academic integrity matters.

Activity

Much of the insessional teaching is tailored to assignments in core modules,as well as work on  MA dissertation writing. As many of the postgraduate students are often aspiring teachers studying (language) teaching and/ or leadership, there are many opportunities for meta-discussions and analysis of how the insessional team design and facilitate the learning. Many of the students have a fuller appreciation of the ways in which theory and empirical studies inform what we do in insessional classes.

Relationships

Insessional tutors meet with module and programme leads, and the Director of Student Education, to discuss teaching priorities and plans based on an ongoing needs analysis. The needs analysis relies on gathering information about student performance and challenges, as well as other tutor insights and feedback from students. The insessional curriculum and pedagogies are revised and refined in response to a host of variables each year.

What seems to work

Timetabling, curriculum planning, timely engagement and student workload.

The weekly sessions are timetabled and are directly relevant to credit-bearing assessments however there is still an issue of how best to time curriculum content in line with overlapping core MA modules of different lengths i.e. long and thin 30 credit modules and short, intense 15 credit modules. It is tricky to avoid front-loading and gauging student priorities that may or may not align with what the School intends students to be working on at any time.

Feedback from students and colleagues 

Feedback from students and colleagues is gathered each year. Over the past four years, insights have come from student reps, online student surveys, student focus groups and listening rooms, as well as discussions and interviews with colleagues in the school.

Student feedback has been used to make changes to the insessional curriculum that has resulted in reduced student workload. Student feedback has also led to some revisions in assessment guidance in core modules.

Colleagues in the school have stated that academic writing standards in core assignments have generally improved and students appear to be more confident about assignment expectations.

Students have stated that they can see how the course is relevant to their MA studies, although the timing of some sessions is difficult, as noted earlier. Students tend to highlight the benefit of facilitated analysis of academic writing and student examples.