One of the most valuable environments for introducing and developing key skills is the tutorial. The tutor has regular contact with the student for a least one year and can monitor subject-specific and key skills development.
There are a number of key skills we can help students develop by way of conducting tutorial-type short exercises, dominantly less than an hour in length, which have a Geosciences theme. We have already seen examples of this type of exercise in Section One when we looked at 'The Pyramid Model', 'Time Management' and 'Note-taking Skills'.
This section extends the ideas, concentrating on the development of key skills under three main headings:
These exercises are suitable for use in tutorials or as class exercises within modules covering the relevant material. Again, we stress the importance of familiarising students with the processes involved in developing these skills.
Some features are:
To develop a good relationship between tutor and tutees it is important for both to know a little about each other. Students expressing their hopes and concerns about the course and their short and long term objectives not only helps the tutor to get to know each student but may also clarify things in the student's own mind.
This section assumes that the tutor and tutees and familiar with each other. If this is not the case, we recommend that, before tackling this section, tutors have a general and informal ice-breaker with the students designed to allow the group to get to know each other.
This section is not meant to be complex coverage of key skills, merely a selection of
simple exercises that aim to:
|
(Source: Chalybeate Teamworking Course)
Learning Outcomes: An advantage of using tutorials for integrating key skills is that they often have a very positive effect on student learning. The tasks ofter reiterate knowledge developed in course work and promote understanding, hence enabling deeper learning. Additionally, the variety of tasks maintains the students' interest and provides more incentive for participation.
Assessment. Many of these exercises are also ideal assessment tools (e.g. writing reports, using structured problem solving techniques). However, it is extremely important that the assessment objectives and criteria are clearly stated at the beginning of the exercise. For example, if the students are asked to write a report in the style of a New Scientist article, how important is it that they create the appropriate style and how will be marks be weighted compared to, say, scientific accuracy? Marking schemes are often used and it may be beneficial or, in fact, only fair to show the students the schemes and to state assessment criteria.
Feedback: Many people are familiar with 'Kolb's Learning Cycle' which was devised on the belief that learning is essentially a four stage process:
The exercises given here are the experience and, in order for individuals to learn from them and apply their understanding, the students need to be guided through the stages of processing and generalising.
It is important, therefore, that at the end of each exercise some time should be set aside for feedback and reflection. Some guidelines have been given in the debriefing section but, in general, the tutor should be encouraging students to discuss:
| Students: | First year, though useful for any experience level. |
| Length of Exercise: | 30 minutes, can be adjusted to fit available time |
| Key Skills: | Teamwork, lateral thinking, innovation, geological awareness |
| Exercise Summary | Groups of students (and/or individuals) devise and answer geological puzzles of a variety of styles. |
Tutor's Notes:
Aims:
Methodology
Debrief
Chapter Two | Portfolio | Key Skills | Good Practice Keywords | Authors | Titles | Institutions | Home