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Announcements

In this issue:

Activity Idea 1: Citing References Pages 3-5

Activity Idea 2: Preparing for an Assingment Pages 6-7

Top up Training Page 8

Facebook - Get involved! Page 9

MyBU and PAL Page 10 PAL Observations Page 11

Contact Us Page 12

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Activity idea 1:Citing Referneces

We suggest that you plan to cover issues relating to referencing around the time when students are working on their first assignment.

“How do I reference my work correctly?”

Citing references is an area where many students may lose marks. This is avoidable if stu-dents follow the established guidlines, referencing is usually straigh forward.

Citing References GuideThis guide should answer all referencing questions. Guides for both the Harvard Referencing format and the OSCOLA Law format are available from the Library tab on myBU. There is also a link to the APA style referencing guide for Psychology.

BU Library quick guides Quick guides give examples of how to put together, stage by stage, the different parts of a reference in BY Harvard format or OSCOLA law format. Available from the Library tab on myBU.

Library Subject TeamIf students have specific questions on references they are finding problematic, and some can be very difficult, redirect them to a relevant member of the Library Subject Team.

Academic Skills Tab Includes activities and information about referencing and plagiarism

PAL Central Plagiarism guidelines and activities in ‘Session Ideas’ folder.

Referencing:• Enables those marking/reading students’ work to find the sources they have used • Prevents students being accused of plagiarism. • Demonstrates evidence of research.

Why do we reference?

Need help with referencing?

Activity 1:Materials required

• PAL Referencing Exercise pack. [Available from PAL Central]• Print outs of examples and Answer Sheet with correct answers [from online Exercise pack].• A “Citing References Guide” for each student. [Available online from Library tab on myBU]• Set of whiteboard pens.• Flip chart paper and Flip Chart [optional]

Do make sure you know how to correctly reference the items you select!! Write them out yourself first – it is good practice. If in doubt, check with a member of your Library Sub-ject Team who will be able to guide you.

AimsTo provide an opportunity for your students to practise identifying and referencing different types of published materials.

Procedure

1. Ask the students to work in pairs. 2. Give each pair photocopies of at least 2 different types of publication Examples of each publication type have been included in the PAL Referencing Exercise Pack in PAL Central for you to print out/ photocopy.

3. Ask each pair to produce a reference for each of the resources they have been given, on A-4 paper. [or on flip chart paper if you prefer] Remind them that they must use the appropriate format as explained in the “Citing References Guide”.

4. When they’ve finished, ask them to pass their photocopies on to another pair, so that by the end of the activity everyone has had a go at referencing each of the different types of publication.

5. Monitor each pair’s progress, but try not to intervene by answering all their questions. They will learn more if they have to puzzle things out for themselves.

6. Ask a representative from each pair to write their answer up on the whiteboard. Choose a different group for each reference. [You could get your representatives to write on a powerpoint slide on screen or use flip chart if you prefer]

7. Encourage your group to identify any errors and suggest corrections, referring to your Answer Sheet if necessary.

8. Once all the answers have been displayed on the whiteboard, ask if anyone has any further questions.

9. Distribute the Answer sheet.

10. If there are questions you can’t answer on the spot, ask for a couple of volunteers to check with the relevant Library Subject Team – and ask them to tell the group the answer in the next PAL session.

Time Required: Don’t be tempted to rush this activity. Use the whole of an hour long PAL session.

Activity 2:

Purpose: To help students become aware of why citing references is important, where support resourc-es are available from, and to gain understanding of how to follow the guides.

Time Needed: Approx. 45 – 50 mins

Preparation Required:

• Gather references (about one page worth, including end of paper references and in-text references) from old assignments and edit them so that each reference has 1-4 mistakes. • Save a copy of this document that has each mistake highlighted in yellow. • Print out copies of the page of incorrect references that you created (the non-highlight ed version), the BU Harvard Referencing Guide, and some Quick Guides (so that you have enough handouts for each pair/group).

Firstly, follow steps 1-4 of activity 1 above in order to introduce the importance of and re-sources on references. Secondly:

• Hand out a copy of the page of incorrect references that you created to each pair/group. • Ask students to identify all mistakes and correct all mistakes. Then have the pairs/ groups swap papers so that no pair/group has their own paper (10-15 mins).• Go around the room and ask the pairs/groups to identify which mistakes were made and the correction for each reference before showing them all the mistakes highlighted on the board – this way you can check their understanding and it gives students a chance to speak to the whole group (10 mins).

Each pair/group should correct another pair/group’s paper and then give a score; you could

even give a prize to the winner!

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Activity idea 2:Preparing for an assignment

Understanding assignment criteria

• Introduce students to the generic Level C marking criteria at BU – available via myBU from PAL Cen-tral>Session Ideas>Preparing for assignments

• Understanding of the assignment criteria can help students understand how they achieve their grades.

• You can also introduce the specific assignment marking criteria if the lecturer has made it available on myBU (often found under unit/assessment)

Analysing the assignment task(s)

• Write the assignment title on the whiteboard and put the assignment brief on the projector screen. Ask students if there are any terms in the assignment title they are struggling to understand and define them.

• Get students to rewrite the assignment brief in their own words

• Raise students awareness of key procedure words (e.g. analyse, comment on, discuss, justify, etc.) A table that defines these words is available via PAL Central>Session Ideas>Preparing for assignments.

• For more info, direct students to the Academic Skills tab.

Assignment content

• Split the class into groups and ask each group to brainstorm and list topics they think should be included in this assignment

• Write the title of the assignment on the board and draw a circle around it

• Bring the groups back together and ask each group to share their ideas as you create a mind map on the whiteboard Continues on the next page

Assignment structure

• Split the class into group and ask each group to create a rough outline of the assignment (including introduction, the order in which topics may be discussed, and conclusion)

• Bring the groups back together and going around the room, ask each group to share part of their rough outline

• After you have created the flow chart, ask if anyone else has anything to add, or if any topics have been left out, and about how many words should be spent on each section

• Discuss any specific layout requirements (e.g. font, spacing, word count), if an assignment/course-work cover sheet is required (and demonstrate how to obtain this), and where assignments are submitted (or if they must be submitted electronically e.g. Turn-It-In)

Assignment research

• Ask students to identify content-related key words that will indicate topics or issues to write about

• Brainstorm what they already know about these topics

• Identify what they still need to find out (e.g. what research they need to undertake)

• Make a list of phrases that may be useful to put into a research database such as my search (library tab/myBU)

• Direct students to useful research resources (databases/journals/books). Ask students about the deadline of their assignment and develop an outline time plan for researching and writing the assignment indicating when, where and how each stage will be undertaken, allowing sufficient time for amending initial drafts.

For more info, direct students to the Library tab on myBU and/or the librarian for their school.

You can also demonstrate where their assignment calendar is (in their school’s tab on myBU), which lists the deadlines of all assignments & the percentage of the unit each assignment is worth.

Preparing for an assingment cont.

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PAL Leader Top up

Training

Sign Up Now!MyBU> PAL Central> PAL Essentials>

PAL Top up Training 2012-2013

Please have a look at the additional training sessions that are being offered. All

training sessions will be held on wednesday afternoons at

the talbot campus.

The sessions are designed to support your PAL work and

help you to develop transfer-able skills to enhance your

CV!

Come along and develop more

skills!

http://www.facebook.com/BournemouthUniversityPAL

http://www.facebook.com/groups/PAL.BU/

We have launched a facebook page called ‘Bournemouth University Peer Assisted Learning,’ which is open to everyone, including incoming freshers who may be searching facebook soon for Bournemouth University related pages. If you haven’t already done so, please check out this page!

We have also set up a closed group only for PAL Leaders. It’s called BU PAL Leaders 2012-2013. Please add yourself to this group and we will accept you. We are hoping that this will be a convenient way to keep PAL Leaders in touch so that you can all share your ideas! Please feel free to post any questions, advice, and experiences on here – the more ideas we can all share the better! Please note that although this is for all leaders, if you are in the Media school, things are done slightly differently so not all messages will be relevant to you. Links to the PAL Facebook Page and PAL Leader Facebook Group are available in PAL Central. If you can’t find either of these, or if you have any questions, please let us know. If you don’t use facebook, don’t worry – info, resources, and support will continue to be emailed out and posted on PAL Central via myBU.

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PAL on Facebook

PAL Leaders 2012-2013 Facebook GroupJoin!

PAL Central

your PAL Course/programme CommunIty

CommunIcatIon & Resources AvaIlable vIa

Your programme PAL Community is accessible by all first year students and PAL Leaders on your course/programme - programme staff cannot access it. This is your community to manage and edit. Ensure you have completed your PAL Leader Profile with a photo, and make the most of your community by:

• Posting announcements for your PAL Group• Emailing members of your PAL Group, all first

years on your course/prgramme, and/or other PAL Leaders on your course/programme

• Posting resources and links for your PAL Group• Posting questions on the Disscussion Board

If you have any questions about how to manage your community, please see the ‘Using myBU’ section in PAL Central via myBU.

This community is aimed at PAL Leaders and Course Contacts and includes various resources for PAL Leaders. There are lots of session ideas and other relevant resources available on here for you to use - please make the most of them!

PAL EssentIals• Your job description

and all employment documents

• Your Pay Claim form

• PAL register • PAL Session Plan

and Review Sheets• Follow Up Training:

Sign up for these sessions to help you develop your skills as a PAL Leader, and/or as a student yourself

Contacts• List of Course

Contacts, Schools’ Admin, and contact details

• Your contact details• SUBU, ALS, &

Cultural Awareness• Careers &

Placements• Questions about

PAL

UsIng myBU• How to manage

and edit your PAL Course/Programme Community

• myBU tips

• How to use a projector

SessIon Ideas• Icebreakers• Preparing for

Assignments• Presentation

Practice• Referencing

Activities• Preparing for exams

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Share your ideas!

Observations

Please let us know when your

sessions are so we can arrange

observations!

pal@bournemouth.ac.uk

In order to see how you’re getting on as leaders, the PAL team would like to arrange observations. This entails one member of the team, either Paddy, Steve or Michael, coming along to one of your sessions.

After the sessions they will then provide feedback. It’s also a good opportunity for you to let us know how your finding being a PAL leader.

Nothing to be afraid of!... We’re here to help and provide feed-

back to aid your experience as a PAL leader :)

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Created By: Paddy O’FlynnEdited By: Steve Parton