A number of discussion sessions were held on Friday 8th September as part of the RSECon23 satellite event focusing on Training (event agenda).
Summarised in this post are the key points from the Delivery Styles and Techniques discussion and a call to action for the coming academic year (view in session notes).
The first, and probably most important point was that delivery is key, regardless of content.
The environment, both physical and psychological was also identified as extremely important.
This was followed by some discussion of notable learning experiences, maybe not for the right reasons.
This was followed by a discussion of some potential issues and things to think about.
Potential issues fell broadly into these categories:
- Lack of or inadequate training for instructors
- Misunderstanding of room requirements
- Mode of sessions: restrictions imposed due to mode and adequate resourcing
- Instructions or course descriptions not being read
- Some tools can be anti EDIA in their use
Things to think about primarily focused on the learning environment and how we elicit feedback:
- Intentional hospitality: creating safe spaces for people to ask questions and allow them to be themselves.
- Hybrid/online: Use of breakout rooms to enhance engagement. Consider adjusting format to enable group input, then sub-group (breakout room) focus on exercises
- Positive relationship between instructors including non-verbal communication
- Formative assessment / feedback: use of post-its or mood octopus, anonymous ways of answering or asking questions
- Socratic questioning
- Automated code marking? How do you not lose people who struggle? Can be anon or public. Can be very tricky to maintain – can have significant overhead.
We then deep dived into how we would know if a session was working, or not. This incuded discussions about exit passes and minute cards. Opportunities for regular and frequent feedback, including tracking mood of participants and peer learning.
The call to action
Developing as an instructor / educator takes time. You will always be learning.
How will we enable a positive learning environment for all?
- Mentors: positive role models for developing educators to learn from and with
- Micro-CPD: short sessions on classroom tools and techniques such as socratic questioning, Mentimeter etc
- Facilitate knowledge exchange between research compute professionals and researchers
- Professional recognition for education / training activity: Advance HE Fellowships or CMALT accreditation