Staff Development Centre

Handouts that work! A research based approach to developing teaching handouts Staff Development Centre

Content The questions about handouts that we hope to address in this session include… What roles do handouts play in learning and teaching? What are the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to handout production and use? Can familiar technological tools enhance the impact of the handouts we produce? What ‘transparent’ tools can we use to aid this process?

Introduction The handout is written into the warp and weft of academic life Not only do students want – even expect – a handout to accompany teaching sessions… …but we want one too How many of us would leave sessions like this feeling a bit cheated or negligent if we didn’t take away a set of handouts?

How our practice had developed We had defaulted to using PowerPoint handouts; occasionally 6 to a page, usually 3 to a page Very convenient, because once prepared your teaching slides –are ready to photocopy and hand out –to put on the Web or a VLE

but… we had reservations 1. Inflexibility of layout –…linked to visual patterning of notes –Imagine being a student getting 4 or 6 of these a week! 2. Problems for note taking and supplementing content of the handouts. 3. Problems for those with a range of disability and learning problems. 4. Key pedagogical issue was producing handouts that would help participants learn as much as possible

What are the functions of notetaking, and how do lecture notes assist? There are two generally recognised functions of notes (DiVesta and Gray [1972]) i) encoding – where students record and make sense of teacher given material ii) external storage – which covers not only the keeping of material, but also reviewing it.

This gives us three conditions, a) encoding only - taking notes but not reviewing them b) storage only – reviewing material taken by or provided by someone else c) encoding and storage – taking and reviewing notes Research shows that the encoding and storage condition is most consistent with better student learning and recall

Importance of Encoding Students learn best when –they learn actively –they engage cognitively with material –handout should encourage – and allow for – student engagement N.B. Good reason not to bow to student requests for ‘complete texts’ Problem is that students not all very good at recording key material left to own devices students typically record only per cent of important lecture ideas Kiewra (2002) Processing is so complex not all students will manage well. In encoding teachers bear responsibility not just to present material but to cue it in such a way so that key points can be recognised

Importance of External Storage Taking notes is not enough In order to learn and recall information, access to and reviewing also important This means filling in and thinking about material during and after the session, and not merely using it for revision.

Which forms of handout help do this? Many studies have looked at whether students compiling their own notes, using outline material or using complete material produce the best outcomes –e.g. Russell et al (1983) reported by Dehn (2003) and Kiewra and colleagues (2002) the idea of the outline form emerges well… …especially if accompanied by review and extension

What types of handout do you use?

HOW? With style(s) The Advantages of Using Styles… –Well structured & accessible Support the learning process –Easily amended –More easily converted to web pages

HOW? Creating a presentation Start with a WORD document Use the styles hierarchy FILE > SEND TO > POWERPOINT Tidy up the resultant PowerPoint slides Create any diagrams in PowerPoint

HOW? Styles hierarchy HEADING 1 – creates a new slide HEADING 2 – creates an item in a bullet-point list HEADING 3 etc – creates a further indented item in a bullet pointed list NORMAL – explanatory text that will appear in the handout but not in the presentation Use VIEW > OUTLINE

A new blend TECHNOLOGY / Pedagogy PEDAGOGY / Technology Handouts initiative

WHY? Advantages over starting with PowerPoint Well structured & accessible Support the learning process Easily amended More easily converted to web pages – and to multimedia resources

WHY? The virtual lecture Module: Optical Fibre Communication (EG3024), Engineering Tutor: Professor John Fothergill, University of Leicester Online lectures - 15 minute learning objects on key topics; PowerPoint presentations converted using Impatica ( Online supporting materials – existing course materials; publishers materials (eg OU book and video); formative assessments Online discussion boards – ‘no ’ rule (except for personal matters); tutor support for discussion threads

The Results Professor John Fothergill (2005)

Examples of e-Staff Development Recent work of the Staff Development Centre at Leicester include… Principal Investigators Project Leadership Selection / Staff Induction & Development (SID) Diversity Workstation audit =courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_4112_1

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this handout format?

Feedback Weaknesses Less engaging/drier Still two documents? Linear nature of PowerPoint? Strengths Adaptable for students with specific learning needs Reinforcement in 2 different formats Ability to include notes and exercises Paper saving?

Strengths of our handout template Note sets take on distinctive and individual shapes Easily configurable by students according to individual needs Allow exercises, discussions etc to be included Forced us to think about appropriate level of detail to put in… and what to leave out

Weaknesses of our handout template If developing/improving a session, both PowerPoint and Word versions need to be updated

Caveats and Next Steps Handout notes are not a panacea to solve teaching problems –only if allied to good structuring –cue giving –blending of delivery and engaging activity Our approach is but one way of using the research evidence to develop handouts as learning resources If you develop other models, please keep it touch – even to discuss work in progress

Further developments A new process Capacity Flexible delivery

A New Process Storyboard (and Handout) Presentations Multimedia resource

What transparent e-learning tools do you have access to?

Capacity Reducing the technical barriers to content creation Enables practitioners to participate in the creation and redrafting Easy reversioning The key development has been:- Pedagogy and design are now the key criteria in appointments (not technology)

Flexible Delivery Preparation Integration Innovation

Examples of e-Staff Development Recent work of the Staff Development Centre at Leicester include… Principal Investigators Project Leadership Selection / Staff Induction & Development (SID) Diversity Workstation audit =courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_4112_1

The development of learning e- E-learning 1.0 Lectures Seminars Workshops Library Web search Discussions Learning diary Portfolio Observations Formal learning Informal learning Summative assessment E-learning 2.0

The development of learning Repository Blended course Communities of practice Content Communication Little or no communication Within a course or programme Knowledge building or reflection Source of information Pre-structured course Co-structured course (after Collis & Moonen and Salmon, 2002) 2. Socialisation 1.Access & motivation 3.Knowledge exchange 5.Development 4.Knowledge exchange

How would you use such capacity? What have you done to include e-learning in your courses? What advantages (and disadvantages) does such an approach have? What e-learning would you like to include in your courses?

E-Learning: Resource Development & Student Support Course Objective: To enable participants to develop online learning materials and become better online Tutors (option of 15 ‘M’ Level credits) Tutor: Tony Churchill, University of Leicester Content: Over ten weeks participants access:- –Discussion groups - a wide range of activities taking 15 minutes per day (on average) –Tasks focus on planning, designing and creating a learning resource –Pilot & critique resources created by other participants …and create their own e-tivities!

Caveats and Next Steps Handout notes are not a panacea to solve teaching problems –only if allied to good structuring –cue giving –blending of delivery and activities to engage students actively Our approach is but one way of using the research evidence to develop handouts as learning resources If you develop other models, please keep it touch – even to discuss work in progress &

Staff Development Centre