Authentic learning through Legal Document Pack Exercises (LDPE)

Posted on by Laura Clarke
Dr Jo Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law

In this case study, Dr Jo Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, talks about how she introduced ‘Legal Document Pack Exercises’ (LDPE) as a form of authentic learning and assessment on a core law module. 

What I did 

Students in my Contract Law 1 module take on the role of a Trainee Solicitor and they are given a bundle of documents from a client which range from email and text message exchanges, invoices, newspaper articles, adverts, contractual provisions etc. They must read though the documents, draw out the legal issues, and prepare a written answer, advising the client. Below is an example of instructions students receive and a visual of the sort of documents they analyse. 

Authentic learning opportunities are embedded throughout the module, so that students can develop their skills relating to reading documents, drawing out the relevant legal issues, and producing a written answer, in preparation for the assessment. These learning opportunities, which are also interweaved with skills-based sessions, take place as follows:  

Week 1: Seminar: How to read a case 

Week 2: Workshop: How to answer a PQ/LDPE in Contract Law and Beyond 

Week 3: Seminar Offer & Acceptance LDPE 

Week 5: Exemplar for LDPE in Week 3 released 

Week 5: Seminar: Consideration LDPE 

Week 7: Seminar: Economic Duress LDPE 

Week 9: Misrepresentation LDPE 

Why I did it  

There were three key driving factors that prompted me to take this approach; first, I wanted to create a more interesting and engaging learning opportunity for students (Burns, 2015), second, I wanted to give students the opportunity to develop their employability skills, and in doing so help to bridge the ‘skills gap’ between education and practice (Sotiriadou et al, 2020); and finally, linked to inclusivity and widening participation, I wanted to ensure that all students, including those who are unable to take advantage of our co-curricular skills programme (because of work or care commitments, for example), have the opportunity to develop their transferable skills. 

This was a novel approach in the Law School, where assessment modes are dominated by traditional essays and problem questions.  

Challenges  

One challenge was that I had to upskill in creative software, and another was that creating the documents took an incredible amount of time, both in terms of initial set up, and then ongoing time costs.  

First, in terms of software, if you want to produce documents that are authentic, you will need to develop your creative skills! When I initially introduced LDPEs, I used Microsoft Word to produce the documents, and they were not particularly realistic. To overcome this, I taught myself how to use Canva, a brilliant online graphic design tool, and I was able to produce some fantastic, authentic looking material.  

Second, in terms of time, this learning exercise and assessment mode requires a huge commitment in terms of timing. Preparing the seminar material is a large undertaking, but that material can then be used year after year (with updates, as necessary). Beyond that initial exertion, you will need to dedicate much more time when it comes to prepping your assessments. Unlike an essay title, which can be quick to write, producing a LDPE is very time consuming. Not only do you have to develop and write the scenario, as you would with a traditional problem question, but you also must create the documents to tell that story.  

Impact and student feedback 

The response to the introduction of LDPEs as a learning activity has been overwhelmingly positive. In December 2021, 129 students completed a survey on curriculum changes in Contract Law 1. 

  • 93% agreed, or strongly agreed that the legal document pack seminar activities were interesting and engaging 
  • 94% agreed, or strongly agreed that the seminar activities created an authentic learning experience 
  • 94% agreed, or strongly agreed that overall, the use of legal document packs in seminars enhanced their student learning experience 

Students were asked: ‘What was your experience of the legal document pack seminar activities? Is there anything you would change?’ and some of the responses were as follows: 

  • “These were the highlights of my semester workwise. These document packs felt like practical, real word simulations that allowed me to play the proper role of lawyer-in-training, while also getting strong practice experience in structuring a problem question properly. I really hope to see more of these before I’m done at Sussex!”   
  • “The experience was fantastic and practical. Having the ability to work with our clients in assessing their issues and providing potential solutions was greatly appreciated. The additional subtle details made the preparation work enjoyable with rewarding application opportunities. Absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much :)” 
  • “The legal document packs were an excellent way to engage students in the learning process.” 
  • “I loved the document packs, it provided a more interactive and enjoyable way of applying what we had learnt in the lectures. I also loved figuring out the law through the texts and emails. 10/10!” 

Future plans 

We are now in the third year of using the LDPE’s and they continue to work incredibly well, so there is no plan to make any changes. What I am doing, however, is continuing to disseminate the importance and benefits of authentic learning. In December 2023, I am co-hosting with colleagues from other institutions an online symposium, ‘Authentic Assessment in Law: Critical and Practical Reflections,’ and I am currently writing a book, alongside Dr Verona Ni Drisceoil, on ‘How to Design and Embed Authentic Assessment in Law’ (2025, Edward Elgar). 

Top 3 tips 

  1. Use existing assessment scenarios that you have and ‘convert’ them into LDPEs by producing documents that tell the same story.  
  1. Ensure that you embed opportunities throughout the module for students to practice LDPEs. 
  1. Utilise software such as Canva to produce authentic documents.  
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Posted in Case Studies

Raising awareness of symbolic violence

Posted on by Laura Clarke
Dr Kevin Masters, Lecturer in Strategy and Marketing, University of Sussex Business School

Biography

Kevin Masters is a Lecturer in Strategy and Marketing at the University of Sussex Business School, where he convenes and teaches a range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and online modules.

Kevin studied at the CIPFA Education and Training Centre in London to obtain an Advanced Diploma in Business and Financial Management, before obtaining an MBA (with distinction) from the University of Hull. He completed a Doctorate in Science and Technology Policy Studies from SPRU (University of Sussex) in 2009 and concluded a PGCertHE leading to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2018. More recently, he submitted a dissertation for a Masters in Education at the University of Sussex School of Education and Social Work and awaits the result.

Prior to teaching, Kevin had a long career in UK local government, culminating in his appointment as the Executive Head of Customer Services for two local councils (Adur and Worthing) working in partnership.

Introduction

Bourdieu and Passeron (1977) argue that various types of cultural bias (such as class, colour, ethnicity, disability, and gender) cause a form of non-physical violence known as ‘symbolic violence’. They assert that this is particularly evident in education and can have the effect of limiting the life chances, experiences, aspirations, and expectations of its victims. Subsequent commentators are particularly critical of business schools for their role in the neoliberal reform of UK higher education which they maintain has exposed universities to market forces, converted them into quasi-business institutions and perpetuated the privileges of the capitalist ruling classes (Brown 2018, Alajoutsijarvi, Alon and Pinheiro 2021, Danvers 2021). Gordon and Zainuddin (2020:707) go further, describing business schools as “the epitome of market-mediated, performative and managerialist ideologies”.

The Study

As a Lecturer in the Business School, I was interested in exploring instructors’ perceptions of Bourdieusian ‘symbolic violence’ and its implications for teaching and learning in UK higher education. A positivist research design seemed unlikely to provide the required enlightenment. A review of literature revealed that situated knowledge and personal value judgements can be accommodated within social research and even partisan research can be good, rigorous, and motivated by a commitment to bring about social and political change; however, the underlying positionality of the researcher must be made transparent (Gewirtz and Cribb 2006). In my study, I opted for qualitative interviews using the Zoom audio-visual conferencing platform. I interviewed ten instructors from the Business School: four interviewed as a group and six interviewed individually.

The study sought to answer four research questions:

  • What is the experience and impact of ‘symbolic violence’ within the neoliberal context of a UK business school?
  • How, if at all, do teachers in UK business Schools understand the emergence and impact of ‘symbolic violence’ within their classrooms and curricula?
  • What do teachers in UK business schools do, or think they could do, to mitigate against the risks associated with ‘symbolic violence’?
  • How helpful do teachers in UK business schools think it is to conceptualise neoliberal reform in UK higher education as a type of cultural bias that is perpetuating ‘symbolic violence’?

Results

The results suggest that teachers in UK business schools are broadly familiar with cultural bias and have some experience of it, both as educators and sometimes as former international students, but are mostly unaware of ‘symbolic violence’ and wish to know more about it. The most common example of cultural bias that the participants could identify concerned instructors’ unreasonably high expectations about the use of English language in the classroom and academic writing in summative assessments. This suggests that other equally pernicious effects of cultural bias might be less well understood, with implications for the debates around decolonialisation, gender and neoliberal reform.

In this study, some of the participants criticised the neoliberal reform of UK higher education, protesting that “it’s all about making money” while others highlighted its benefits and resisted negative criticisms. Some of the participants expressed concern about acting against cultural bias independently for fear of possible recriminations and lack of support from university leadership but others felt unrestricted in their teaching practice. These findings may be consistent with Bourdieu’s assertion that efforts to change education systems from within are doomed to failure because pedagogic action is inseparable from pedagogic authority.

Finally, this small case study in a UK business school suggests that instructors are mostly aware of critical literacy and critical pedagogy. These involve challenging taken-for-granted views and identifying, demystifying, and resisting dominant ideologies and hidden discourses. While the participants in this study did not engage directly with Bourdieusian ideas, they did engage in critical reflection about UK higher education and using this language in the study allowed them to think objectively about their teaching practice.

The research suggests that the nature and consequences of ‘symbolic violence’ in UK higher education are not well understood but that there is substantial scope for pedagogic action and further enquiry. Consequently, I have constructed a Personal Scholarship Plan for 2023/24 that focuses on the dissemination of the findings from the research. The quest will begin with a presentation to the School of Education and Social Work’s Researching Educational Practice Conference in November. Meanwhile, colleagues from the Student Experience team are helping me to identify opportunities for the promotion of critical literacy in the classroom.

References

Alajoutsijarvi, K., Alon, I., and Pinheiro, R. (2021). The Marketisation of Higher Education: Antecedents, Processes and Outcomes in Branch, J. D. and Christiansen (eds) The Marketisation of Education: Marketing and Communication in Higher Education. London, Springer.

Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J-C. (1977) Reproduction in Society, Education and Culture. London, Sage.

Brown, R. (2018) Higher Education and Inequality. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education 22(2): 37-43.

Danvers, E. (2021) Individualised and instrumentalised? Critical thinking, students and the optics of possibility within neoliberal higher education. Critical Studies in Education 62(5): 641-656.

Gewirtz, S. and Cribb, A. (2006) What to do about values in social research: the case for ethical reflexivity in the sociology of education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(02): 141-155.

Gordon, R. and Zainuddin, N. (2020) Symbolic violence and marketing ECRs in the neoliberal university. Journal of Marketing Management 36(7-8): 705-726.

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Posted in Blog

Using Buddycheck for peer evaluation

Posted on by Laura Clarke

In this case study, Dr Alison Bailey, Senior Lecturer in Management, shares her experience of using Buddycheck for peer evaluation. 

What I did 

I am the module convenor for the Introduction to Business and Management module which runs in Year 1, Semester 1. Because the module is core to most undergraduate degrees in the Business School, and is also a popular elective, we typically have more than 850 students on the module. Since the module design is closely aligned to Team Based Learning principles, it is assessed by 100% coursework, of which 60% is derived from a group presentation, 5% of which is an individual engagement mark derived from peer evaluation scores. This is why I jumped at the chance to take part in the trial of Buddycheck, a peer evaluation tool which integrates into Canvas. As part of this trial, I incorporated Buddycheck into my long-established approach to peer evaluation in the module. I first asked students to submit a formative evaluation in week 7, to ensure they were familiar with the process. Students then completed a summative evaluation in week 10/11, depending upon which week students presented their business plan, to evaluate their peers’ contributions to the group project.  

Why I did it 

Before using Buddycheck, students emailed their peer evaluation to tutors. As you can imagine, collating and applying formative and summative peer evaluation scores was an enormous task for the module team. Buddycheck, by contrast, was easy to use and integrated well into Canvas. For example, if group memberships changed, I was easily able to re-sync the groups in Buddycheck with the Group sets in Canvas. The tool also enabled me to send automated emails to students with the evaluation link and send reminders to those yet to complete.  

Impact and student feedback  

The tool enabled class tutors to determine the evaluation grade awarded to students easily. Bearing the numbers involved, this is an important issue. The tool also gave feedback to students and, by using predesigned questions, negative or hurtful comments were avoided 

Future plans 

I plan to use Buddycheck again this semester for the same cohort AND for a second year Leadership module. The second-year students used Buddycheck last year, so they will be familiar with it.  

Top tips 

  1. Use pre-designed questions if they fit, but don’t be afraid to alter if you need to. 
  1. Explain Buddycheck fully to students so they see the benefit. Consider linking it to employability since we all experience appraisals in the workplace. 
  1. Spend time with your teaching team explaining the tool and make sure to provide supportive training. 
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Posted in Case Studies

We welcome your contribution!

Posted on by Laura Clarke

Writers interested in contributing longer pieces to Learning Matters can opt to submit an article. For a list of suggested genres, see our Article scope and style guidance.  Please note that these genres are not prescriptive: you are welcome to approach your article creatively in ways that meet your scholarship goals. We welcome your contribution!

Posted in Uncategorised

Decolonising the curriculum through co-created learning communities

Posted on by Laura Clarke
The statue at the centre of the controversy: a statue of Cecil Rhodes

In this case study, John Masterson, Senior Lecturer in World Literatures, talks about co-created learning communities and his module ‘Decolonising the Curriculum: Literature and Theory of the Global South’ (Q3309). 

What I did 

I was keen to offer Sussex students the opportunity to engage with their compatriots in the ‘global South’ to discuss how and why decolonising agendas might play out differently in different, contextually specific locations. Having worked at Wits University in Johannesburg prior to joining Sussex, I have important connections in South Africa, and given that the Rhodes Must Fall campaign initiated by students at UCT was the catalyst for broader Fees Must Fall campaigns in the country, I created a module that enabled Sussex students to talk to their contemporaries in Johannesburg. These conversations helped us to consider how and why literature and more critical interventions from the ‘Global South’ interrogate some of the founding tenets of contemporary theory. 

Why I did it 

The module was conceived at a time when the School of English, more broadly, embarked on a wide-ranging curriculum review. Given my teaching and research interests in postcolonial and/or transnational and/or global literary studies, I was keen to expand our offerings in these areas. This module embodies the commitment of the School of Media, Arts and Humanities to embedding the values of equality, diversity and inclusion in the curriculum as part of socially informed conversations with its diverse student community. 

Impact and student feedback  

At the heart of this module is thinking about how and why the debates we’re engaging in, in a predominantly academic setting, are both shaped by and have the potential to inform the world beyond the university. Students were able to see this by talking to their contemporaries in South Africa about how they put their lives on the line by participating in these protests on their respective campuses. By establishing these properly collaborative discussions, students began the work of unpacking/deconstructing the sense that knowledge production is the sovereign possession of those in the ‘Global North. 

Challenges 

The key challenges have been mainly logistical.  The aim to involve students in curricular co-creation is laudable but, having run the module for three years now, there are planning implications.  As it stands, the module runs in the final term of the final year of undergraduate study.  The vast majority of students are, rightly, preoccupied with their final dissertation.  As I don’t get to work with them until the Spring term, and reading lists need to be in well in advance, it is a challenge to square this circle.  Another key issue, in terms of working with South African students as colleagues, is time, resources and synchronisation.  Trying to find times that suit both Wits and Sussex students has been tricky, as has technological provision/reliability.  South Africa was particularly impacted by the COVID pandemic and, having spoken to colleagues there, the HE ripple effects are still being felt in a number of ways.  That said, I don’t want to give up on this collaborative aim.  Given that the module is designed to introduce students to other, under-represented voices and alternative practices, the fact that I lead on it, given my own institutional and other positionality, is a rather intractable problem.  It would be great to have other bodies and voices involved in the pedagogical arena itself.  As colleagues and students are so stretched in terms of time and resources/remuneration, I can’t in good faith ask someone to do something for nothing.  A final issue raised by students over the course of the module is the notion that it can’t live up to its name.  Many have made the entirely valid point that, just because you have ‘Decolonising the Curriculum’ on your books, it is still bound by the various structures and strictures of the neoliberal institution.  To what extent is ‘Decolonising’ just a token gesture?  A forthcoming iteration of the module will be called, rather more generically, ‘Decolonisation and Literature.’   

Future plans 

I am on research leave in January, so the module won’t run in 23/24.  This is perhaps no bad thing.  In light of some of the challenges set out above, I want to explore the possibility of making more connections between the privileged spaces of our lecture and seminar rooms and the world beyond, both locally and internationally.  I do believe the South African connection can be made to work, but I also want to consult students on how we might take some of the more theoretical questions swirling around ‘decolonisation’ into cultural and political spaces in Brighton.  If there were to be more resources to hire colleagues with expertise in non-European and non-American literatures, not to mention languages, that would also allow for a more collaborative pedagogical and practical approach.   

Top 3 tips 

  1. Involve students from the outset. Listen to what they’re asking for and how they’re approaching this. Be prepared to engage them in any honest conversation about what is/has been offered in the past and why. 
  1. Be willing to break out of your own academic silo. Consider models of ‘best/better practice’ in other institutions, both nationally and internationally 
  1. Leave one or two ‘blank’ weeks, in which students determine the content/focus of the teaching for those sessions. This helps to further centre the student voice. 
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Posted in Case Studies

Scaffolding summative assessments

Posted on by Laura Clarke

Dr Lorraine Smith

In this case study, Dr Lorraine Smith, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, discusses how she scaffolds summative assessments for Foundation level students.   

What I did 

I implemented both an essay plan and draft formative assessment so that students had the opportunity to receive valuable feedback/forward to aid them in the preparation of their summative essay assessment. To do this, I utilised Grademark in Turnitin, as it seemed to be the simplest and most straightforward way for students to upload, and review their feedback as well as for the markers to work through the scripts to give constructive comments on the main areas of assessment criteria. 

Why I did it 

I decided to scaffold the summative assessment because I found that students were particularly anxious about writing academic essays for the first time. I wanted to provide students with lots of feedforward for their final assessed work. 

Challenges 

Setting this up in Canvas is simple and does not need a lot of preparation (just new assignments with dates and some instruction text) but depending on the cohort size, marking these extra pieces of work must be factored into the logistics of achieving the desired outcome. I usually use one tutor to help with marking due to the tight marking turnaround. Another challenge is ensuring that students who want to take advantage of feedforward opportunities are appropriately prepared and submit the work by the deadlines since they feed into the next part of the work and into the final summative deadline.  

Impact and student feedback 

Students have hugely valued the extra support at the beginning of the course, and it has also improved the quality of students’ essays and understanding of crucial aspects of academic work including paraphrasing, argument development and Harvard referencing. 

Future plans 

Based on its success, I plan on continuing to use this method of formative work with feedforward. 

Top 3 tips 

  1. Make sure students have realistic expectations of what will be given in the feedforward (ie not grades in this case) 
  1. Make instructions very clear to students along with deadlines 
  1. Ensure you have adequate markers in place who appreciate the tight marking turnaround 
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Posted in Case Studies

Building rapport with students

Posted on by Laura Clarke

Dr Gillian Sandstrom

Gillian Sandstrom, Senior Lecturer in the Psychology of Kindness, explains the benefits for student belonging of greeting your students when they arrive in class, even if you don’t know their names. 

What I did 

Recent research in social psychology has found that even minimal social interaction (e.g., chatting with the barista at the coffee shop) can help people feel more connected. I was interested in whether this would be the case in my own classes, so I conducted a study on my students’ sense of belonging. Students were recruited from my second-year undergraduate statistics lab classes in two separate academic years and from a colleague’s first-year undergraduate statistics lab class. All students in each sample attended the same lecture each week but were split by the university’s timetabling system into smaller groups for lab classes. This gave me the opportunity to compare interventions. In one lab students were greeted at the door (i.e., the minimal social interaction condition), in another they were given name cards to put on their desks and in the control lab, students did not use name cards and were not greeted at the door. This was not a reduced contact condition but one that reflects the usual situation at the university. 

Why I did it 

Many studies have shown that when students perceive a positive relationship with their instructor, it can lead to greater persistence, satisfaction, and even better grades. We often talk about the positive impact that learning students’ names can have on building rapport, but many instructors find it difficult to learn student names, and this is even harder with very large cohorts, in which students, unsurprisingly, report fewer feelings of belonging. Thus, I wanted to find out how greeting students as they arrive in class stacks up compared to the best practice of learning names. 

 
Impact and student feedback 
 

I found that students who were assigned to a greeting condition reported a stronger relationship with the instructor and that this greater relationship strength predicted greater interest/enjoyment, relatedness and belonging. This intervention produced similar results to a more traditional name card condition, which is used to help instructors to learn students’ names. These findings show that even when instructors struggle to learn students’ names, they can still build rapport by greeting students as they enter class. This is a simple intervention that instructors can make in their classroom that could have a meaningful impact on the student experience. 
 

Challenges 

More research is needed to establish the generalizability of the findings. The current 
study examined data gathered in only two classes at one university.  
 

Future plans 

Ideally, we would study the effects of greeting students in many classes, with many instructors, who are all blind to the hypothesis. 

 
Top 3 Tips 

What advice would you give another member of staff/department who wanted to emulate what you have done? Please give your top 3 tips for someone wanting to do something similar 

  1.  Don’t underestimate how much of a difference you can make to students through minimal social interaction (and you’re likely to feel good too!)  
  1. Remember that even small interactions with students can be meaningful – a chat is great, but a smile, or even simply making eye contact can create a feeling of connection 
  1. Try to learn a few students’ names. In my experience, even if you don’t know all of their names, students appreciate that you’ve tried to learn any. 

You can access Dr Sandstrom’s full article here.

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Posted in Case Studies

Teaching Mathematics through high-interest problems

Posted on by Laura Clarke

Nicos Georgiou, Reader in Mathematics in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and winner of a University of Sussex Education Award 2023, shares his approach to teaching tough mathematics to nervous students.  

What I did 

I use current and everyday problems and in-class group work to engage students on my year 2 core module, ‘Introduction to Probability’. I make my content engaging by applying rigorous mathematics to practical problems such as understanding why one should never gamble, comprehending how likely it is that an election is fraudulent, checking the production of a factory, and even producing magic tricks for parties.  

I create space within teaching sessions to work through problems in groups by asking my students to do a lot of independent work. To support this, I’ve created a booklet for the module with chapters mapped to the lecture topics. The booklet includes clearly signposted questions for students to work on, from basic to the more challenging and interesting ‘cool problems’ (example recreated below), some of which we explore in class.  Topics range from probability problems rooted in movie plots or TikTok trends, anime films (e.g. Kakegurui based on a manga series about gamblers and how to beat those who cheat), serious cases of statistical misinterpretation, probability modelling linked to global challenges such as climate change, and questions used in job interviews by popular graduate employers.  

If it’s important students know a solution, I’ll provide it in class but, especially if a version appears in their ‘homework’, I’ll leave them to figure it out and tell them to come to me if they get stuck. The homework sheets also contain questions from basic (the material they need to understand to pass) to the more interesting, which encourages students to stretch themselves.  

Cool problem 3. The frog riddle that broke YouTube 
 Frogs in a lake are equally likely to be male or female and you cannot visually tell the difference. What is the probability that there is a female in the pair if: The pair contains a male frog You heard a frog croaking and it had the distinctive sound of a male. Assume that frogs croak with equal probability independent of their gender.   Consider visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go3xtDdsNQM for a resolution. We will solve this faster and rigorously after we establish some facts on conditional probability.  

Why I did it 

Probability is an intimidating topic, even for mathematics students.  It demands my students grapple with randomness which, for pattern-seeking humans, is counterintuitive. Using real-world problems makes the topic more engaging by asking students to contextualise and humanise maths.  

Also, my classes are typically 2 hours long, often timetabled towards the end of a seven-hour day of mathematics lectures. Getting students to problem-solve in groups, maybe a few times each session, keeps them active and engaged. Working in groups also makes it easier for students to check their understanding with peers and provides valuable experience of group work and collaborative problem-solving.  I also make sure I wander around the room while they work, which helps maintain focus and makes it easier for individuals or groups to ask me questions.  

Challenges 

Creating the booklet to go along with the module took a lot of time but, arguably, it also demonstrates to my students that I am committed to their success. Also, I expect my students to undertake a lot of independent study. Therefore, I set expectations early and also make clear what they should expect of me. This includes how to address me in an email (I won’t answer emails which don’t address me by name) and how to follow up with me if I don’t reply within one working day (i.e., come to my office hour).  

In the classroom, it’s sometimes necessary to provide guidance on how to work collaboratively. Also, we do sometimes get stuck on a question so don’t get through all the content. Students know that they can still work through it independently and approach me for support.  

Impact and student feedback 

Colleagues have consulted me on my approach and applied it in their own teaching. One colleague reported that, in their module evaluations, what students liked the most was exactly what I had suggested.  

That said, my approach might need tweaking to suit people’s own personality and style of teaching. I consider teaching as a performance and, although my expectations around their engagement and application remain very high, I am quite informal with my students and am happy to be interrupted. This doesn’t work for everyone so, for others, it might mean planning in more space for students to ask questions. Also, my approach isn’t necessarily preferred by all students. After all, not even Dumbledore* had universal approval. 

Top tips   

  1. Understand why you are excited about teaching the material – if you aren’t excited then maybe the material shouldn’t be taught in the classroom. 
  1. Always be alert to what the students see in their everyday lives – motivate them by bringing it into the classroom. 
  1. Don’t worry if something doesn’t go right the first (or second or third) time around – it happens to the best of us. Be honest about it with yourself and your students – an email to ask them what they think went wrong will help you prepare or design differently for next time (and is much better for everyone than your students just grumbling to one another via social media).  

*Fictional. Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Famous alumni: Harry Potter.  

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Posted in Case Studies

Engaging students through podcasting

Posted on by Laura Clarke

Dr C. Rashaad Shabab

In this case study, Senior Lecturer and award-winning teacher of Economics, Dr C. Rashaad Shabab, talks about how he is using podcasts as an innovative new assessment mode at Sussex. 

What I did 

I offered podcasts as an innovative new assessment mode for my module Topics in Growth and Inequality, which is a completely new module that I developed last year for the Economics Department. The assignment was to present a 3-minute micro podcast on something that related to inequality in the real world that used models, insights or empirical studies covered in class. Students had access to the Audacity software package, and I posted a link to a good YouTube tutorial on using Audacity on Canvas. 

Why I did it  

This assessment mode came out of a discussion with Professor Barry Reilly about formulating innovative assessments that could easily be highlighted by students to potential employers. First, we wanted students to go to the labour market with an asset that they could showcase to employers on LinkedIn to set their applications apart. Second, most assessments are tiring and anxiety-inducing for students. We wanted to make an assessment that was fun and engaging. Third, during the pandemic, there was a structural shift in content consumption that is here to stay – podcasts and streaming are the new tools for professional and academic engagement and infotainment. We were not teaching these skills to our students. We wanted to fill this gap between skills and labour market demands and the skills that our students were graduating with.  

Impact and student feedback 

Students loved it! I could tell they were having fun while doing their podcasts. It got a wider group of students to excel than would have done using traditional assessment modes. Also, this assignment ensured that students with reasonable adjustments were not being assessed in inferior ways to their classmates. We wanted to craft an assessment that maintained its integrity for a wider cross-section of students to make sure that diverse students could engage with equally enriching assessments as their peers. 

Challenges 

The assessment was individual so there was some time involved in marking and providing feedback on it. However, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the podcasts as well, whereas typical assessment marking can be a bit tedious! It also meant less work in terms of designing reasonable adjustments 

Future plans 

I plan to keep this assessment mode for the future. The only change I have made is that I have changed the formal type of assessment from ‘presentation’ to ‘media’. This enables a 7-day late period, which I think is appropriate for this type of assessment. 

Top tips 

What advice would you give another member of staff/department who wanted to 

emulate what you have done? Please give your top 3 tips for someone wanting to do something similar 

1. Keep it compact so that students are forced to think about what is important. 

2. Publish the question well in advance and give students feedback on the first draft weeks before the final deadline. 

3. Encourage students to share their podcasts on LinkedIn using your module code and name as a hashtag. 

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Posted in Case Studies

Embedding narratives in lectures

Posted on by Laura Clarke

Dr Andy Field, who is a Professor of Quantitative Methods and the recipient of numerous teaching awards at Sussex, talks in this case study about how he uses narratives to make his lectures engaging.

Dr. Andy Field in fancy dress

What I did 

I am the Methods lead within the School of Psychology and part of that role is overseeing all of the teaching related to Psychological Methods and Statistics. Statistics within the context of Psychology can be a dry subject, so in my lectures, I often use narratives in which I feature as character who uses data and statistics to solve a problem. For example, there is an alien invasion and we explore research scenarios around testing whether sniffer dogs are able to differentiate humans from shapeshifting aliens and help us to save the planet from imminent attack. Within these narratives, I lean into the silliness by coming in fancy dress. In the aforementioned lecture, I dress as an astronaut, I have also been a wizard helping a dragon to thwart a knight trying to kill dragons based on some dubious data he’s seen, I’ve been an undead statistician ending a feud between zombies and werewolves, and I’ve helped Santa with Christmas deliveries  

Why I did it 

I believe that lectures are a terrible format for learning, especially considering that the average attention span is around 7 minutes. Even with advances in technology, lectures are largely passive experiences. The idea that you can teach in large groups over a long period of time is a fairly wild idea. I always strive, therefore, to convey a sense of enthusiasm to show students that what they are leaning is doable, manageable and interesting.    

Challenges 

The main challenge is that creating these stories and characters is a colossal amount of work, which is why I do not do it for every lecture. Another thing to consider is that fantasy situations are fun, but at some point, students have to start dealing with real world. So, although students recreate the analyses in the lecture for themselves in their smaller practical classes, there will be a transfer task where they will get their hands dirty with real-world data. 

Student impact 

I think that if students come out of a one-hour lecture thinking that it was not boring, feeling empowered to tackle the topic in their practical class, and feel invested in learning, then I have done my job. I see myself as an enthusiastic and kind guide who inspires students and shows them that what they are studying is achievable and worth doing. 

Top Tips: 

  1. You do not need to create fantasy narratives like I do. Any scenario that poses a problem, and that shows students how to use statistics (or whatever you are teaching) to solve the problem, would work. You can bring narratives to life without necessarily having to dress up like an alien.  
  1. Interaction should not get in the way of the narrative thread of the lecture. If using interactive technology such as polling, think about whether it will enhance or disrupt the narrative. Interactive technology needs to add something useful rather than be a contrivance.  
  1. Creating narratives is very time consuming, so think about whether that time investment is worth the payoff for your teaching. 
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