Inspecting your own practice

The central thread in this issue of Teaching News concerns teachers inspecting their own practice.

Most of us who teach muse about how well it is going now and then. Some of us talk about it with colleagues. The results might extend to a few scribbled notes for next year when we tackle the same topic or run the same seminar. This informal, occasional approach will probably always be the main way in which teachers inspect their practice (aided, of course, in some cases by the contributions from well-designed peer observation schemes). It has its uses.

This issue showcases instances where teachers took a more structured approach to questions about teaching practice, under common themes: What might I change? Where should we put our energy in the future? What evidence is there that the way I see the issue is in fact, a reflection of reality?

Each article, however, arises from a very particular issue that the teacher deemed worthy of attention (though it is fair to acknowledge that the prompt towards inspection was not always voluntary, as some of the authors were enrolled on the Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education).

Two authors explore ways to use visual material to enhance students’ learning. In history lectures, Andrew Spicer found that seeing a picture changed how students made sense of and remembered concepts. Sarah Allen investigated her students’ preferences for receiving information, and describes using drawings to help some organise and understand complex legal ideas.

Two articles describe how Media Workshop is identifying where best to allocate energy in future to best help e-learning initiatives. They asked widely for others’ views and found somewhat surprising results. Richard Francis explains how his recent award of a National Teaching Fellowship will shape and change what he plans to do in the future.

Simon Underdown describes how he identified and dealt with changes in his students’ ideas about and experience of the theory of evolution. Esra Kurul has tried several ways to encourage her Construction Management students to become more reflective, with varying success.

We have a spotlight on the experience of one student, Beverley Tarquini, of attending the Associate Teachers course. Our teaching tip is an account of how to use computer-based assessment to reduce marking, ensure students cannot copy, and discourage guessing. Sharon Curtis teaches in computing but offers a model that would transfer to many other settings.

As ever, we also offer news and alert you to upcoming events.

We want Teaching News to truly reflect news, views and concerns of the schools, so we need contributions from you. We're especially interested in receiving handy hints and tips on learning and teaching, and web links that you have found useful, as well as short articles. If you have anything to contribute to the next issue, please contact us, and if you are not sure about an idea and want to discuss it first you can always contact Jude Carroll (tel: 5827), or Greg Benfield (tel: 5774).

A printable PDF version of this issue is available for download (161KB).