James Lamb and Alice Smith Lothians Equal Access Programme for Schools

www.leapsonline.org leaps@ed.ac.uk

What next? Using electronic voting systems to promote access to higher education

•  LEAPS works with 59 schools in SE Scotland, partnership of HEI, councils and others.

•  School and campus-based events, particularly for schools with below par HE progression.

•  Most events involve the input of current HE students as positive role models.

•  In 2010 funding secured from SFC to offer additional support at S3-level to raise awareness of routes into HE.

Delivered by LEAPS staff

Targeted based upon ability

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•  Use of technology to achieve ‘high impact’ in absence of student volunteers.

•  Opted for films of ‘student journeys’ interspersed with clicker exercises.

•  Prepared scripts and questions aligned to important key messages (e.g. subject choice).

•  Drama students from QMU recorded audio, films then created in-house.

•  The initial ‘glow’ of the clickers quickly faded. •  Pupils focused on ‘voting quickest’ and

‘guessing the right answer’ rather than reflecting on the question.

•  Session lacked variety therefore we ‘lost’ the attention of some pupils.

•  Interaction between staff and individual pupils was limited – them and us.

We reconsidered event from a constructivist (Piaget) and a peer learning (Mazur) perspective: 1.  Pupils construct a path for the student, rather

than focusing on simple ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. 2.  Individual pupils take a position then try to

persuade fellow group members. 3.  Staff as facilitators rather than teachers 4.  After voting (but before answer revealed)

students offer rationale for their responses. 5.  Pupils choose their own path at end of exercise

•  Pupils have developed thoughtful responses to the questions (even when they didn’t get the ‘right’ answer).

•  More playful than before – upbeat and on task •  By sharing ideas, pupils have been exposed to

a broader range of ideas. •  The focus of the activity has shifted from the

clickers to discussion and peer interaction. •  Much improved tutor-pupil rapport, rather than a

feeling of ‘them and us’

Although still in its infancy, by reflecting on the two stages of development we feel that: •  The original concept was a good one, however

we didn’t initially use the tools to craft an activity that exploited the potential of the idea.

•  The technology is only as good as the underpinning pedagogy (Draper)

•  The use of the technology needs to be aligned to other elements of the exercise (Biggs) and the environment itself, not viewed in isolation.