120 colleagues from across the university attended this year’s Learning and Teaching conference on a chilly –but fortunately not snowy -day in January. The workshops covered a wide range of topics this year. Of the 24 presentations on offer 8 were based on the theme of supporting postgraduate students while others looked at the experience of international students, students on the compact scheme, employability, diversity  interesting developments in the use of technology  and the final year experience.

The conference was opened by Deputy Vice Chancellor Dr David Mackintosh who introduced Professor Bruce Macfarlane from the University of Portsmouth whose keynote address called for greater recognition of what he termed “academic service”, including mentoring, committee work and pastoral care. The other keynote speaker was Dr Anna Magyar from the University of East Anglia who discussed the importance of supporting international students in their understanding of academic conventions.

A new initiative this year was the “World Café” which gave delegates the opportunity to discuss issues from the workshops. The tablecloths are being typed up!

Thank you to all colleagues who gave up their time to attend the day and special thanks to all presenters.

Marion Webb

My research focus is to explore international postgraduate students’ understandings of plagiarism across the disciplines to develop a cultural and context sensitive insight into attribution practices. With increasingly diverse student cohorts, the academy’s diverse and implicit expectations and assumptions regarding academic writing need to be understood and articulated:  the ‘institutional practices of mystery’ of higher education (Lillis 2001).  In many courses the ability to write extended academic prose is central to assessment and therefore to student success. One aspect of academic writing which students struggle with is incorporating the work and ideas of others by using appropriate attribution (Chanock 2008) and many writing developers argue that induction into these practices is currently being undermined by an over emphasis on plagiarism detection (Pecorari 2008). Furthermore, concerns have been raised about equity due to the disproportionate number of international students ‘caught’ by current approaches to tackling plagiarism (Hayes and Introna 2005).

Advice on avoiding plagiarism can often consist mainly in reminding them to reference. Yet research shows that attention to the technicalities of referencing does not help in working out when and what to reference (Chanock 2008; Magyar 2009; McGowan 2006). Plagiarism activities which focus on good and bad examples of paraphrasing go some way towards unpacking the complexities of our attribution practices. However, I argue that to help international students avoid plagiarising, the cultural, linguistic and epistemological dimensions of attribution – along with identity and authorship in academic writing – need to be addressed.

Activities can be developed to help students avoid unintentional plagiarism. For example using discipline specific texts and creating opportunities for dialogue around the assumptions underpinning our plagiarism rules. This method can help to build student confidence to participate in disciplinary conversations and raise their awareness of academic discourse as argument and differing perspectives which provides structured practice to integrate the work of others in their assignments. This then, supports the success and progression of all students, particularly international and widening participation students who may be less familiar with (UK) academic attribution conventions. It also supports the efforts of lecturers to give meaningful feedback to students regarding attribution and referencing.

Dr Anna Magyar

University of East Anglia

References

Chanock, K (2008) When students reference plagiarised material – what can we learn (and what can we do) about their understanding of attribution? International Journal for Educational Integrity Vol. 4 No. 1 pp.3-16

Hayes,J N and Introna (2005), L Systems for the Production of Plagiarists? The Implications Arising from the Use of Plagiarism Detection Systems in UK Universities for Asian Learners; Journal of Academic Ethics, Vol.3, No.1 (March)

Lillis (2001). Student writing: Access, regulation, desire. London: Routledge.

McGowan (2006) Does educational integrity mean teaching students NOT to ‘use their own words’? International Journal for Educational Integrity. Vol 2 No 2 pp. 29-42

Magyar (2009) Plagiarism prevention: the dangers of separating management from pedagogy; keynote given at the Institutional Policies and Procedures for Managing Student Plagiarism Conference; Oxford Brookes; Oxford 

Pecorari, D (2008) Academic Writing and Plagiarism. A Linguistic Analysis. Continuum: London

PAL activity continues to thrive across the university.  Over 80 students have attended some very lively training sessions here at Millennium House since September.  Our PAL schemes vary enormously in order to meet the different disciplinary needs of students here at Kingston.   Models currently include:

• • Online : e-mentoring
  • Time bound – 1 semester / 4 sessions
  • Surgery style drop in
  • Seminar supported PAL, lecturer-led
  • Tutorless PAL (same year)
  • Workshop supported PAL- 1:1

Last year five new schemes were launched: Computing Lab Support in Business, PAL supported PDP progress in Law.  In HSCS paramedics offered Online PAL and in Radiography PAL was instrumental in skills development utilising VERT (Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training) technology. In Science PAL leaders and ASC advisors (Academic Skills Centre) collaborated to provide exam preparation sessions for first year students.  No doubt other schemes emerged to that I don’t know about.

If you think PAL could support one of your courses/programmes/modules – get in touch.

Jane Gay

In 2008/9 we offered research students training to support potential classroom practice.  The students found the sessions stimulating, motivating and enjoyable.  As a result, we have adapted a module of the PGCLTHE (Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in HE) and in November 2009, another cohort spent three, very packed, days together exploring learning theory and teaching techniques which culminated in some nervous, but effective micro-teaching practice.   Research students who teach can now consider gaining credit for this module if they choose to submit work for assessment.  If you wish to know more about this initiative, please contact Jane Gay.

It’s been a busy three months since I joined the ADC team in September.  Alongside my appointment, Fleur McCrone has begun working for ADC as Education Partnership Manager.  Fleur is covering for Andrea Harris who is on maternity leave.  Jayne Clanfield (Education Liaison Manager) and her able team have been involved with a new Associate Scheme.  Jayne has also been busy at conferences and in a SPA publication promoting the good work Kingston is doing to encourage and support care leavers to embark on higher education courses.

We have a number of new widening participation projects and activities in development, including a review of the Compact Scheme which has developed from 69 learners in 2006 to over 500 in 2009, and our second successful Admissions Conference and partnership developments with the Royal Borough of Kingston.

We continue to support and collaborate with both South London Lifelong Learning and South London Aimhigher activities

The compact scheme has been developed to encourage the progression of students to Kingston University from groups traditionally under-represented in higher education. A review is now in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme. Primarily the review aims to gather information of the admissions and on course experience of compact students, and a range of qualitative and quantitative data covering the experience of KU students has been collected. This work aims to uncover the impact of the Compact Scheme and the extent and ways in which the Compact Scheme has prepared and supported students

Jenni Woods

Following on from the success of last year’s admissions conference the ADC has once again worked in collaboration with applicant services to organise not one, but two half day sessions aimed at a broad mix of people working within, or linked to admissions at the university.  The first conference on the 3^rd Nov was held at Penrhyn Road and attended by approximately 60 people.  Colleagues listened to a range of presentations which included Kath Dentith, Head of Access for the QAA informing delegates of the recent changes to access courses, and Mandy Hobart, Director of the South London Life Long Learning Network updating colleagues on the 14-19 diploma development.

The second conference attended by 50 people was held at Kingston Hill and presentations included Clive Lissaman from Skillset and Ross Renton from University of Hertfordshire talk about their experience of diploma involvement.  Delegates also heard Mike Pollard and Kate Nossiter from UK Marketing talk about the interesting work that they are currently doing.  At the end of each conference a short video was played of Kingston University Student Ambassadors talking about their admissions experience which aimed to give the audience the student’s perspective.   Evaluations from both days identified that most people found the sessions useful and relevant.  Education Partnerships will be looking to organise a few more specialist workshops in 2010.

Fleur McCrone

Recent collaboration with RBK and Education Partnerships has resulted in the opportunity to pilot e-mentoring within Kingston University.   The project will be using Kingston University Student Ambassadors as the mentors and they will have mentees who are either in care or have mild learning difficulties such as dyslexia.  The pilot will be using an e-mentoring platform called Bright Links (www.bright-links.org).  This is provided by the Brightside Trust, (www.thebrightsidetrust.org) an educational charity specialising in e-mentoring.  The pilot will start in Jan 2010 and end in March 2010, with the hope of further funding to extend the project if it is successful.

Over 7,000 people of school age have been inspired and encouraged to consider university when they are older through the support of the Government’s successful Aimhigher Associates mentoring scheme.  Aimhigher Associates was introduced to 17 areas of England last year, and is now to be rolled out to South London and 41 other areas across the country. It is anticipated that the scheme will benefit 244 people in the local area.

The scheme involves linking young people of school age with university students from a similar background, who can give them the benefit of their experience as the young people make decisions about their future education and careers.  Undergraduates are recruited to become Associates, and use their personal experience to encourage and support pupils as young as 14 to make the most of their talents. It is planned that these interactions will develop over time, typically involving 15-20 sessions per Associate per year.

David Lammy, Minister of State for Higher Education, said:

“University is a life-changing experience for many people, and it remains the case that a degree can add over £100,000 to a person’s lifetime earnings.

It’s no surprise then that over half of young people from all social groups aspire to go into higher education, and we are committed to making this a reality for those with the talent to succeed. University should be open to all, regardless of background, and we must make sure people know from a young age how they can prepare and apply for a place.

“This is where Aimhigher Associates is invaluable. Dedicated mentors working together with local schools, colleges and universities can offer an unprecedented level of support. We have already seen the scheme’s success in 17 pathfinder projects launched last year, and I look forward to seeing this grow following with the national roll-out.”  The £21 million scheme is part of the wider Aimhigher programme, which is aimed at students from less well-represented groups and involves tutoring, university visits and summer schools.  Aimhigher London South in partnership with Kingston University has recruited 49 undergraduates for its own Associates programme. These undergraduates will provide advice and guidance to a total of 244 school and college pupils in the area.

Kevin Maskell Director of Aimhigher London South, added: “The pilot phase of Aimhigher Associates demonstrated how successful sustained relationships between undergraduates and school and college pupils can be, especially when these individuals are from similar backgrounds.

“We are looking forward to training our Associates so that they can begin meeting with their young people and help them to meet their higher education potential.”

For more information please contact Kevin Maskell (07966171398 or k.maskell@kingston.ac.uk)

The 4^th of November saw Kingston University host a post-16 media workshop for students from Carshalton Boys Sports College and Southborough High School. The event was jointly organised by staff in the School of Humanities and the ADC’s Education Liaison Team. External speaker Charlie Dark led the proceedings and used his extensive personal experience in the media industry to both inform and inspire the students. They worked on a ‘live’ brief given to Charlie from the Tate Britain allowing them an opportunity to experience how the industry really works and gaining an insight into ideas surrounding budgets, target audiences and advertising.  The afternoon session moved into event planning, giving the students an opportunity to plan a promotional event for something Charlie had worked on in the past. The students came up with fantastic ideas and were fascinated to find out what Charlie had actually done for the event and how he had done it. The day was a resounding success with one student commenting that the workshop gave him a “really good insight into how the media works in the real world” and another considering it a “life changing experience”. One of the teachers attending the event commented that it was an “excellent day, which was really relevant and useful for our students with an inspirational presentation by Charlie Dark”.