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Academic skills support at Loughborough University. Stephanie McKeating, Academic Services Manager.
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Skills to succeed?Academic skills support at Loughborough University
Stephanie McKeating
Academic Services Manager
How the Library came to be teaching academic skills
What we offer Challenges Future plans
Outline of the session
Historically study skills support offered by Learning & Teaching Centre Change of focus to supporting academic staff
Library took on study skills in 2005 Advice sheets 1-hour workshops
Roberts funding for FT academic librarian Increased generic support Offered embedded support Online tutorial development
Academic skills and the Library
Originally two separate generic streams Lunchtime in the Library – traditional information skills Study Skills – new skills courses (14 in first year)
Initially all sessions 50 mins held over lunchtime Booking via Careers booking system Target audience - undergraduates
Generic workshops 2005/6 – 2007/8
Time management Reading & note-
taking Oral presentations Essay writing Report writing
Study skills topics Revision & exam skills PDP (introduced in
2007/8) Working in groups
(dropped due to lack of demand)
2008/9 - two streams merged and branded as Get the Know-How: skills to succeed
Complete revision of courses Names e.g. Oral presentations became Speaking
your mind Some courses split into two e.g. reading & note-taking Focus on increasing interactivity
2009/10 & 2010/11 no booking, drop in sessions
Get the Know-How: Skills to succeed
Reintroduced booking via VLE (Moodle)
Trialled new times and venues Nearly 40% courses outside lunchtime period 3 early evening sessions (6 pm) One third courses outside Library
Offered tailored sessions e.g. Presentation skills for Science & Engineering
Get the Know-How 2011/12
E
E
E
E = Evening session
Attendance trends
Sessions Attendance Average2009/10 40 516 12.92010/11 44 566 12.862011/12 36 549 15.25
Average attendance risen 2011/12
Problems with “no-shows” Evening sessions popular
Departmental skills sessions
TopicSessions 2009/10
Sessions 2010/11
Sessions 2011/12
Intro to study skills/ learning 6 5 4Group work 3 4 3Note-taking 0 0 1PDP 1 0 1Poster design 1 1 2Presentation skills 0 2 3Reading 0 0 1Revision & exam skills 1 0 0Time management 2 1 2Writing skills 3 4 6Total 17 17 23
Sessions Attendance2009/10 16 4382010/11 15 5372011/12 20 825
Fewer sessions but bigger reach Many embedded in curriculum Some additional topics
Web pages Topics Advice sheets Planning sheets
VLE Get the Know-How
module Online tutorials
Skills resources
Advice sheets
Written by other services
New titles
Available in print and as PDFs
Considering adding additional citation styles
Planning sheets To support time management sessions Generic planners
Daily Weekly Task sheets
Tailored Module Semester
InfoTrail & StudyTrail
Available on VLE Merged and
redeveloped as Academic Practice
Ten units on academic skills
Online tutorials
Up-skilling the teachers
Proliferation of skills support providers
Lack of student awareness
Academic buy-in
Skills support issues
Academic Librarians no previous experience of teaching study skills
Lack of confidence No suitable external courses Strategies:
Observation and team teaching “Teaching a topic from scratch” session HEA pathway Group brainstorming course content
Up-skilling the teachers
“There are many people who provide support to students, from central student services, academics and library staff to students themselves Institutions should give these people time and resources to develop their skills as a mentor, and should give them the space to discuss the challenges they face….”
NUS Charter on Academic Support (Jan 2012)
http://tinyurl.com/7gmkmzb
10. Support, and recognition, should be available for those who provide support to students
Skills Forum Student Hub
Employability Award Workshop attendance Academic Practice tutorial
English Language Support Service Courses on coherent writing, grammar & punctuation
Collaboration
Not aware of the generic workshops
Confusion about the difference between Get the Know-How and Academic Practice modules on VLE
Don’t perceive skills support as something they need
Difficulty in branding study skills
Lack of student awareness
Perceptions Students already have academic skills Library not seen as the natural providers of academic
skills support No time in existing module programmes for
embedding academic skills sessions
Strategies “Transferable skills in the curriculum” course Liaison and marketing
Academic buy-in
Review of relationship between workshop VLE presence, online tutorial and web pages
Additional generic workshop on systematic review
Review of workshop programme based on feedback
Marketing Information Science students’ presentations What’s in a name?
Future plans
Survey of students who booked on workshops
150 responses - 70% had attended
43% preferred early evening
Survey feedback
“really helpful, you would pay a fortune for them if they were not run through the university”
