'Learner Autonomy through the production of a public history

resource'Emma Robertson

Background and rationale

• New lecturer keen to incorporate digital media into history teaching

• Through media resources, wanted to encourage an autonomous learning approach while increasing students self-esteem and employability

• Use of Inspirational Learning methodology

Description

• Second semester, 12 weeks

• 29 students, all final year, split into two seminar groups

• Content of course split between academic lectures and workshop based sessions

• Students assessed via essay after lecture program before producing their public history resource

The Public History Resource

• Resource could be a video, booklet, wiki or other suitable medium

• Groups formed in week one

• Projects finalised in week six

• Both academic and technical support available to students while producing their resource

Week 13 - Submission of project and reflection

Description

Weeks 8 to 12 - Project development and support - planning, filming, technical advice

and editingWeekly workshops to support the process

Week 7 - Museum visit to National Coal Mining Museum

Weeks 1 to 6 - Standard lecture and

seminar programGroups formed week 1

Essay in week 5

Workshops Weeks 8 to 12

• Varied workshop program with structured tasks

• Week 8 - Brainstorming and storyboarding

• Week 9 - Local Studies Library visit

• Week 10 - Discussion of regeneration and public history

• Week 11 - Project work in library

• Week 12 - Drop in session

Evaluation

• Two evaluation points with students– mid module and at the end of the module

• 'By their third year, they had already amassed considerable experience in writing essays, yet they realised that this skill would perhaps not be the most desirable one for the prospective employers'

Evaluation

• Evaluation from the second part of the module while producing public history resource– Film, wiki, booklet– 1 = strongly agree– 2 = agree– 3 = neither agree or disagree– 4 = disagree– 5 = strongly disagree

Statement 1 2 3 4 5

1. During the activity, I was given opportunities to pursue my own research interests

2. The lecturer focused more on encouraging me to find information than on giving me the facts

3. The activity was more about analysing and evaluating information than it was about memorising it

4. I now feel I am better able to find information from different sources

5. I am more confident in my ability to evaluate the information I have found

6. I needed a lot of support from staff in this activity

7. I found my fellow team members to be helpful in my learning

8. I didn’t need to apply anything I learned in the first part of the module

9. I feel I am better able to work in a team as a result of this activity

10. I felt confident in communicating with external organisations/members of the public

Statement 1 2 3 4 5

11. I felt I was able to take more responsibility for my own learning

12. I enjoyed the opportunity to be creative in the project work

13. The group worked well to overcome any difficulties or problems we encountered

14. I found the activity challenging

15. I learnt more from creating this resource than from writing an essay

16. I feel more confident in my ability to solve problems

17. I felt a sense of control over the development of the project

18. I developed my skills in using digital media

19. The staff gave me the technical support I needed to produce a public history resource

20. I am now more confident in using information technology

Evaluation and Conclusion

• The public history project had a definite impact (evidenced by student evaluations and grades awarded) on the student learning experience in terms of:– allowing students creative control over a project and

ownership of the final product– enhancing digital fluency – developing self-confidence (particularly in meeting new

challenges, learning new skills and, for some, working with people outside the university)

– encouraging genuine peer collaboration (particularly for the film projects, which were difficult to divide into discrete tasks)

– limiting the reliance on the main tutor and encouraging independence (as the tutor was neither an expert on their chosen topics nor on the technology being used)

Conclusion

• The majority of students put in a great deal of hard work into their projects, with impressive results. It was rewarding to see those who are less successful in ‘traditional’ essays, being able to demonstrate different skills