Joanna Teague School of Education and Blended Learning Unit CETL, Learning & Teaching Institute

1. STRIDE (ALT-C Poster 31)Student’s and Tutor’s Reflections and Insights into the Dissertation Experience Joanna Teague School of Education and Blended Learning Unit CETL, Learning & Teaching Institute University of Hertfordshire, UK J.Teague@herts.ac.uk

2. Context? Feelings?

3. 2007-08 LTDF / BLU-Sky funded project Aims: • Create recorded interviews with supervisors and work-based P-T students sharing their reflections & insights on the dissertation experience. • Incorporate extracts of these recordings in pilot flexible learning activities for blended learning in a variety of ways across UH.

4. Collab designed interview questions • Highs and lows of doing a dissertation • Advice for someone about to start their dissertation • Tips regarding: • Time management • Defining the research question • Reviewing the literature • Using methods to generate data • Analysing data • Writing the dissertation • Getting the most out of one’s supervisor • Highs and lows of being a supervisor • Focus of the first supervision meeting • Common problems experienced by students • More successful dissertation students do... • Advice for a new supervisor Structured Q Student input into Q 1 & 2 page format Emailed in advance Uniform Q order for edit

5. Enhanced accessibility - flexibility vs quality re filmingskills, training, confidence- project blog, time to reflect, target readers, find solutions, comments

6. Student feedback on 1st STRIDE video clip Flexible access & motivation (N=21) Nov 07 Streaming Video DVD YouTube • ‘... I would appreciate having it online to access when I’m feeling at a low ebb! It will remind me what is important as I go through the process.’ • ‘Gaining the perspective of someone who has obviously been through the process themselves and has supported students on their journey towards effective dissertation writing is very useful... would be handy to have this on [MLE] to refer back to at different points through the process.’ • ‘... would be an advantage to be able to obtain it on [MLE] or DVD for use at own leisure’.

7. Student feedback cont. Reassuring & active learning • ‘I have not yet met my supervisor. It has given me a focus for how to approach the first meeting and what I need to do beforehand. It is reassuring to realise everyone is in the same boat!’ • ‘...it showed what I am doing well at the moment and what else I need to do to get the most out of my supervisor’ • ‘...it gives me direction as well as encourage me to do things earlier not to wait.

8. Reflections and insights on dissertation writing 4 min 30 sec Supervisors discuss writing Mary recorded in an empty office by JT Roger recorded in TV studio by UH TV Staff Edited by UH TV Studio staff 4 min Past Student discusses the lows of doing a dissertation Recorded in the LRC by UH TV staff Edited by JT with WMM

9. STRIDE questions • Your questions • How might you use ideas, approaches, resources from STRIDE in your own context? • Would you like to become involved with STRIDE? • Do you know of similar research, projects or links? Joanna Teague J.Teague@herts.ac.uk