The prior learning experience of students in the UK Carys Fuller Teacher of Sociology Barton Peveril College

The prior learning experience of students in the UK 1.Teaching and learning styles. 2.Student expectations of feedback on academic learning. 3.Student engagement with research skills. 4.Student preparedness for HE.

1. What teaching techniques are being used in the classroom? Starter activities and plenaries. Group work, active learning. Short practical tasks such as note taking, annotation, mindmaps, selecting key quotations. Quizzes or short tests. Directed reading. Much more student led than teacher led. Recent move to encourage the use of eLearning.

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2. What kind of feedback are students given on assignments? Prior to the task students may be given an essay plan. Either one to one or as a class the teacher will go over the mark scheme and what has been ‘missed’. It is likely that this will focus on content rather than structure as this is where the marks are focussed in the exam. Teachers may use exemplar grade A papers and encourage peer marking using the mark scheme.

3. Student engagement with research skills A-Levels are highly structured & very content heavy. Little scope for covering the big picture. Use of MS - more and more specific. This creates less imagination because there is only one ‘right response’. No reward for breadth. The key text for each course is written by examiners and accredited by the exam boards. Limited range of sources to research from. Unlikely to learn referencing or understand academic sources unless they do the EPQ.

The Extended Project

4. Student preparedness for HE - Pastoral Students have two class tutorial sessions per week and a one to one tutorial at least once a month. Clear absence procedures including warning letters and texts home. Two parents evenings. Two progress review days. Option to resit exams.

Student preparedness for HE - Academic Essay writing. Critical Thinking. Referencing. Independent learning / research. E-Learning. Group work. Lectures and seminars. Presentations. Extended Project

Student preparedness for HE