The Skills Edge Dr Steve Briggs Dr Maria Kukhareva Kat Koulle

Session Overview 1.Consider what is meant by the term ‘advanced academic skills’ 2.Feedback from focus groups 3.Overview of learning materials that were developed 4.Discuss feedback from pilot session attendees 5.Discussion and questions 2 The Skills Edge

What are advanced academic skills? 3 The Skills Edge

Project Overview 4 The Skills Edge Create a bank of learning materials that can be used by academics to develop advanced academic skills sessions Work with students as co-creators Resource legacy for academics to use

Challenges 1.Advanced academic skills means different things to different people 2.Scalability (generic vs. subject specific) 3.Cross stage delivery 4.Identification of students (self-select vs. directed) 5.Access to examples that are relevant 6.Involve students as creators 5 The Skills Edge

Opportunities for Student Co-Creation 6 The Skills Edge Student interns Focus groups Pilot sessions

What was highlighted in focus groups? 7 The Skills Edge Advanced information literacy Planning larger & more complex work Developing a writing style and finding own voice Information capture and synthesis

Information Literacy 8 The Skills Edge Selecting “best” literature Using sources that attract ‘high marks’ Working more effectively and efficiently Narrowing / broadening searches Mind mapping / similar

Information Capture and Synthesis 9 The Skills Edge Capturing complexity in writing Through note taking Constructing own argument Generating evidence – when to use theory / policy / etc

Planning larger and more complex work 10 The Skills Edge Weighting and structure Reading to improve own writing Linking text / sections / parts Analysis Connecting theory / practice / policy / research Writing larger assignments / sections

Writing style and finding own voice 11 The Skills Edge Expanding academic vocabulary within discipline Critical analysis / analytical / reflective writing Making meaningful cohesive connections Developing own scholarly voice Text deconstruction Speaking through literature

Resource Development 12 The Skills Edge Based on focus group feedback we attempted to develop a series of template sessions A major challenge was how to make content relevant to students studying different subjects (e.g. selecting exemplar texts) We arranged a second wave of focus groups to get student feedback

2 nd Focus Group Feedback 13 The Skills Edge Not relevant to my subject area! Can’t see personal relevance! Some of this is too easy so not interested! Rethink!

Resource Development (rethink) 14 The Skills Edge Focus on using L7 or L6 student assignments as exemplars Focus on elements that can be pick and mixed to create sessions rather than complete sessions Brought in student interns to help co-author

‘Elements’ approach - examples 15 The Skills Edge Breadth of knowledge Depth of knowledge Critical / analytical writing Reflective writing Creative writing Scientific writing Developing scholarly ‘voice’ Discipline-specific terminology Synthesis Discipline-specific connections between theory, policy and practice 1.Discussion 2.Example of work 3.Identify other examples 4.Personal application

Example of work: How does the author link theory, policy and practice in this report? Is Garland’s (2001) “culture of control” theory evident in current policy in dealing with young people who offend / at risk of offending with regard to Anti-Social behaviour (ASB) in Luton? If evident how does this impact on implementation and type of offending behaviours? Garland’s theory of “culture of control” is evident in the current policy and legislation regarding ASB. Garland states that control and surveillance to monitor communities, spaces and people is used in a way that prevents opportunities for offending. These changes in legislation and policies affect the way the CJS deals with offenders. Since 1998 young people can be arrested for disorderly behaviour and be subject of a civil order and in some cases have a custodial sentence if breached. This blurs the line between criminal and ASB and could be arguably criminalising “youthful behaviour” (Haywood 2002). What is perceived as ASB could vary as subjective and DO’s could encourage the displacement of ASB to other areas. Solutions state that a reduction of 2% in anti- social behaviour is successful; however there is little evidence to measure the effectiveness of impact on anti-social behaviour initiatives (YJB 2006, The Children’s Society 2011). 16

Pilot sessions 17 The Skills Edge Applied Social Studies Education Business Co-delivered with Academic Liaison Librarians. Invites sent to students via academics in three target areas. In total, 20 students participated in pilot sessions 21 3

Feedback from Pilots 18 The Skills Edge

Feedback from Pilots 19 The Skills Edge What three things did you learn?

Feedback from Pilots 20 The Skills Edge Was one thing particularly useful? Other topics to include?

Feedback from Pilots 21 The Skills Edge “Thank you very much for delivering the Higher Level Skills seminars to our level 5 and 6 students last week. Students were highly engaged with the materials and the level of discussion engendered was indicative of the resources and your lead. The Level 5 students really did not appear to want the session to end and stayed behind for quite some time talking through their ideas for their next assessment in light of your input”. Senior Lecturer - Education Studies

Student Intern Feedback 22 The Skills Edge Working with the PAD team on the Skills Edge Project is a great experience. Working as an intern allows me to observe how the Skills Edge Project develops and how it is being run by the Team. More than that, I contribute to the Project by providing the Team with academic writing examples taken from my own assignments which were given an A grade. Going through my own work once more, however with a different approach, allowed me to see my own strengths and weaknesses in academic writing which I was not aware of before. And I think this is exactly the way students can benefit from the Program. Having a real example in order to analyze it and apply the principals in the future assignments seems to be an effective approach to enhance academic writing.

Next Steps 23 The Skills Edge Continue to develop elements Further pilots with other courses Prepare materials for academics explaining how to tailor resources for use with students Add resources to our Academic Skills Teaching Toolkit Provide training for academics Extend engagement through future course enhancement projects Follow up evaluation

Do you provide advanced academic skills training in your institution? If so, how? 24 The Skills Edge

Questions 25 The Skills Edge