Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 1 BROWN BAG SEMINAR: RETHINKING THE ORDINARY MA CLASS SEMINAR Post.doc Julie Hassing Nielsen Department of Political Science

Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 2 Institut for Statskundskab Content of talk What did I do, and why? How did I do it? Did it work? List to get started: Dos and Don’ts when making an intensive course

Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 3 Intensive learning: What did I do and why? My experiences with “meeting-once-a-week” seminars: Student learning: less frequent interaction => less deep learning Student learning: lack of constructive alignment approach (Biggs & Tang, 2011) Research-teaching balance: hard to obtain when teaching and research is always intertwined My suggested changes: “double-up” seminars (i.e. meeting twice a week) Intensive 1,5 months course and several practical workshops on exam paper Constructive alignment approach: start with the intended learning outcomes, and align teaching and assessment to those outcomes (Biggs and Tang, 2011) Practical application of experimental methods on a political psychology problems – exam a paper Assign reflections about reading during the period to maintain student learning and practice Institut for Statskundskab

Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 4 Intensive learning: How did I do it? Content of course: Political Psychology and Experimental methods: Divided into a combination between methods and theoretical substance (new planning for intensive course!) Structure: Define learning outcome clearly (early), and practical teaching aligned with exam (learn-by-doing) Several feedback sessions (from student peers) on exam paper outline Practical matters: Assessment: maintained “old” structure (i.e. written paper at the end of the semester) Early presentation of paper synopsis in class with peer discussants (because the students were “alone” without teaching for the last 1,5 months of the semester) Intensive course – you have to be accessible the full semester (suspend research in the 1,5 month teaching period) Institut for Statskundskab

Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 5 Intensive learning: Did it work? Evaluation: Better student learning? Quantitative assessment Drop outs: less drop outs – more successful exam papers (vis-à-vis the old regular class) Yes, some students did drop out due to practical problems related to intensive learning Student feedback survey: positive w. frequent interaction “Discouraged s of confusion prior exam”: less so than during regular courses Evaluation: Better student-student and student-teacher interaction? Student/student: Very pleased with peer feedback (better student-student relationship) Student/researcher: Intensive interaction = better student-teacher interaction (small class) Constructive alignment approach? Student feedback: generally positive – liked the practical character and early exam focus Particularly pleased with workshops and peer-feedback (with teacher present) Better research-teaching balance? Feedback from researcher: Definitely! Institut for Statskundskab

Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 6 Dos and Don’ts: making an intensive course Be very explicit about the course being an intensive course (student do not always pay attention to seminar descriptions) Consider: what other courses do students have that semester – do they collide, and can that be prevented? Separate the classes - particularly if meeting more than twice during the week (e.g. Monday and Thursday seminars) – students need time to prepare Use online learning tool (e.g. Absalon) to upload assignments, papers and reflections for fast and efficient distribution Be prepared to answer student questions between the termination of seminars and the exam– they need to know you are there Assignments have to follow course progression. Many small assignments are well-suited for intensive seminars Shortage of rooms might challenge administration planning Institut for Statskundskab

Sted og dato (Indsæt --> Diasnummer) Dias 7 THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION – GOOD LUCK! Institut for Statskundskab