Caroline Bamford CPE Co-ordinator, Office of Lifelong Learning, University of Edinburgh

1. Preparing students for undergraduate study in humanities and social science subjects: a case study from the Office of Lifelong Learning at the University of Edinburgh Caroline Bamford CPE Co-ordinator, Office of Lifelong Learning, University of Edinburgh www.ed.ac.uk/openstudies; c.bamford@ed.ac.uk

2. What are the skills that students need to cope with undergraduate study in humanities and social science subjects? What kinds of skills-based provision will be both popular and effective?

3. Enhancing Learning and Teaching in History ‘Our work in the ELT project therefore can be seen to point up the importance of course design and teaching the interconnected goals of • clearly communicating to students central ways of thinking and practising in history • creating environments where participation in these practices is fostered’.

4. Graham Gibbs: ‘The only component of ‘study habit inventories’ that has been shown consistently to relate to student performance is that concerned with being organised. Organised students do better. They allocate time to productive study activities, waste less time, use time strategically between different subjects, meet deadlines, use short and long time slots effectively for different purposes, know what needs doing next, keep up to date, plan their revision ahead of time, tackle exam papers in time-efficient and strategic ways, and so on’.

5. Carol Dweck: More vulnerable students see intelligence as an entity that can’t change – and this can lead to difficulties when faced with setbacks such as disappointing assessment marks. Success boosts self-esteem – but failures undermine it. More resilient students see intelligence as malleable; as something that grows through effort. Failures can be challenges – ‘I’m not clever enough yet’. Success is a reward for effort and persistence.

6. Credit Plus courses – ‘with study and essay writing skills built in’. Available this year in literature, history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, social science They all have in common an extra hour for skills-based work, and formative assessment. Reviewed in 2006 and 2008 – with Gibbs and the ELT project in mind.

7. Introducing Modern European History: skills sessions for the extra hour. Tutor: Dr Sharon Adams Weeks one to four: Essay writing Discussion the practice essay topic, with students thinking about how they would approach the question. Possible plans are discussed, with plans produced for past essays to inform this. Students produce an outline plan, and then write their essay for feedback. Weeks five and six: Tutorial practice Tutorial on Thirty Years War; discussion of the documents. Preparation: Consider the questions using your knowledge of the topic from last week’s session and any reading you have done. Read the documents and consider the questions you have been asked. Tutorial on the theory of a ‘General Crisis’. Preparation: Consider the topic using your knowledge of the topic from last week’s session and any reading you have done. Come to your own position on the issues of a ‘general crisis’.

8. Introducing Modern European History: skills sessions continued Week 8: Analysis of visual images; using visual images as evidence. Preparation: Revisit your notes and reading from weeks 5-7. Week 9: Discussion of Unseen Assessment and sample question. Preparation: Read the sample question and think about how you would tackle it in an unseen assessment situation. Week 10: Tutorial topic: ‘After the unification of Italy and Germany the political map of Europe was simpler than at any previous time in history’. Discuss. Preparation: Think about this question and how you would respond to it. What material drawn from different parts of the course would you use to address it?

9. The Moving On course for new undergraduates A four-day course in the week before Freshers’ Week What do first years need to know how to do when they start? Find way around Know what to do in Freshers’ Week Understand how they will be taught Take notes in a lecture Speak in a tutorial Find books etc in the library Check MyEd etc and know how to print And they need to have other people to talk to who are taking similar courses

10. Student guidance: supporting students to choose the best course for them New Horizons Access Credit for Entry Open Studies – ‘for interest or for credit’

11. What is popular and effective? Provision that enables students to learn about the subject demands of the courses they are taking; where students can discuss HOW they are learning as well as WHAT they are learning, but in contexts that are close to the subjects studied; where there is formative assessment if time; where there is the opportunity to settle worries by introducing the unfamiliar – e.g. taking notes from a lecture; speaking up in a tutorial; where there are people to talk to who are separate from those involved in teaching and assessing; where there is guidance to help students to choose the best route, and the possibility of fresh starts – and that is what lifelong learning is all about.

12. Anderson, C. and K. Day 2006. Enhancing Learning and Teaching in History: A Digest of Research Findings and their Implications, available at www.ed.ac.uk/etl/publications.html, accessed 20.4.2010 Dweck, C. 2000. Self-theories. Their role in Motivation, Personality and Development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press. Entwhistle, N. 2005. Ways of thinking and ways of teaching across contrasting subject areas. Paper to bepresented at the ISL2005 conference on ‘Improving Student Learning by Assessment’ available at http://www.etl.tla.ed.ac.uk//docs/etlISL2005.pdf , accessed 20.4.2010 Gibbs, Graham (no date) How Students Develop as Learners. Institute for the Advancement of University Learning. University of Oxford, available at www.learning.ox.ac.uk/files/studyskills.pdf, accessed 20.4.2010 Simpson, O. 2006. ‘Motivating learners in open and distance learning; do we need a new theory of learner support?’in Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, volume 23, Issue 3 November 2008, pp 159-170, available at http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a904263008&fulltext=713240928