9. c) Developing Skills to Aid the transition out of HE by creating freely accessible teaching materials. (Inox Conference Suite 1)

Developing Skills to Aid the Transition out of HE by Creating Freely Accessible Teaching Materials

Dr Graham McElearney (Corporate Affairs/CiCS), Gary Wood (University of Sheffield Enterprise)

What is this about?

This session presents a module recently offered in the School of English. Students prepared audio-visual learning materials to teach fundamental concepts in Linguistics to A-Level students, whilst exploring advanced applications and extensions of those concepts. The digital materials will be made freely available via the University’s digital presence – YouTube, Sheffield on iTunes U etc.

This project-based module provides a transition for students out of HE, by enabling them to engage in independent learning and skills development, which is also mediated through collaborative production of materials, both within and between small groups. By becoming active producers of content that can be used by school-based learners, our students engaged in an authentic, real-world task, and through the process of distilling, producing and articulating knowledge, they have also attained the highest orders of learning. This session will outline the module, how it was conducted, and provide an opportunity to hear from students involved.

How will colleagues benefit?

Colleagues who attend will benefit from opportunities to:
- explore ways to develop creative ideas in their own disciplines
- develop ideas to help setting tasks for Achieve More
- explore alternative ways and methods of assessing students, and how to mark non-traditional formats
- understand more about what support is available to develop similar projects
- appreciate how student work can feed into the broader strategic aim of providing digital materials for the wider public
- see that embedding transferrable enterprise and employability skills enhances academic learning and knowledge within a module, rather than detracting from or replacing it.

Developing Skills to Aid the Transition out of HE by Creating Freely Accessible Learning Materials from Gary Wood