Issue 7september 2012

Created By: Vicki NoadEdited By: Steve Parton & Tamsyn Smith

Pal@bournemouth.ac.uk

The PAL OpportunIty

Welcome back to Bournemouth!

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a n n o u n c e m e n t sWelcome back PAL Leaders!

We hope you have enjoyed your summer holiday and are excited to return to BU! There have been a few changes to Bournemouth University that you may have noticed, such as the refurbishments to both the Talbot and Lansdowne campuses, and myBU has been upgraded to BlackBoard version 9.1. Although we understand you are busy moving back to Bournemouth, catching up with coursemates, and preparing for the next academic year, don’t forget that you must have all of your employment paperwork completed and submitted to the admin office of your school by 5th October. If you have lost any of your paperwork, please go onto PAL Central via myBU - all of the documents are available under the section ‘PAL Essentials.’ Your pay claim form is also available in ‘PAL Essentials.’ You must submit this monthly along with your signed registers to the admin office of your school in order to get paid.

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PAL Leader Top-Up TraInIng

o c t o b e r : wednesdays, 2pm - 3pm In tag2210th 17th

24th 31st

n o v e m b e r : wednesdays, 2pm - 3pm In PG30a

All of these workshops will take place in PG30a (unless otherwise stated) on Wednesday afternoons from 2-3pm. PG30a is located down the hall across from reception in Poole House, on your first right. Please go to PAL Essentials in PAL Central on myBU to sign up for sessions you would like to attend. We understand that not everyone can attend these sessions at the time given, however this is the time that is most convenient for most staff, students, and room booking. Please email pal@bournemouth.ac.uk if you are interested in a particular session but cannot make it at the time given.

S t u d e n t D e v e l o p m e n t A w a r d

In this session you will learn:- what the SDA Award is- what activities are eligible- how to apply

m o r e p r d u c t I v e g r o u p

In this session we will discuss strategies you can use to improve group work within your PAL group, effective group management, and about being assertive. This session will be especially helpful to attend if you

feel there are divides within your group, or if you have disruptive students.

I m p r o v I n g p r e s e n t a t I o n s s t u d y h a b I t s & t I m e m a n a g e m e n t

In this session we will discuss strategies you can use to help students develop their presentation techniques.

This session will give you an overview of what plagiarism and referencing are and give you a chance to try out different activities that you could use with your PAL group.

In this session we will discuss strategies you can use when talking about study habits and time management with your PAL group.

7thp l a g a I r I s m a n d r e f e r e n c I n g l e a r n I n g d i f f e r e n c e s / s t y l e s

14thThis session will be run by Felicity Rees of ALS (Additional Learning Support). This session will cover how we learn and will explore how understanding of our personal preferences and learning styles can lead to strategies for effective study.

I m p r o v I n g e s s a y s

21stIn this session we will discuss strategies you can use when supporting your PAL group with writing essays.

r e v I s I o n t e c h n I q u e s

28thIn this session we will discuss strategies that you can use to promote revision with your PAL group and activities that you can use during PAL to help them revise!

P A L a n d y o u r C V 28th from 3pm - 4pm In pg30aAndy Smith from the Placements and Careers Team will run a workshop that will help you consider the skills you have developed as a PAL Leader and how to refer to these on your CV, in interviews and in application letters. This workshop will also give you general advice and tips for your CV, applications, and cover letters.

o c t o b e r : wednesdays, 2pm - 3pm In pg30a

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My placement abroad

2011-2012 PAL Leader Caitriona ShannonBSc (Hons) Ecology and Wildlife Conservation

South Africa and Mozambique

I have recently returned from South Africa, where I was studying abroad for my 2nd year placement as part of my BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation course at Bournemouth University. I spent 2 weeks working with a student conservation organisation in Kruger National Park looking at elephant destruction to the vegetation, and then spent another 2 weeks in Mozambique earning my dive qualification while studying the corals in the surrounding area. The two weeks I spent in

Kruger National Park were hard work, and by no means a holiday! We were up at the crack of dawn conducting surveys of the surrounding area; the data collected would be used and compared to previous years. I learned many identification skills, including how to identify species by their markings such as tracks, and even faeces (not as easy as you think!). During lectures out in the reserve, we were taught animal calls and sounds, which became very useful when we broke down on a night drive in the middle of a

dried out river bed . . . it was dark and I could hear leopard calls nearby! It was one of the scariest moments of my life! On our last day in Kruger National Park, we came across a herd of elephants. They were looking around at the pitfall traps that we had set up to examine beetles (which aids in monitoring the local habitat). After about 10 minutes, the elephants decided they did not like our pitfall traps, and with one swift move they ripped them up and moved on! All of our hard work was destroyed, but it was worth watching!

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Learning to dive in the most beautiful country in the world was incredible. It was brilliant to learn all of the the Latin names and to study the behaviours of the fish and corals. I hope to continue this in my final year at University with the diving club at BU.

Bournemouth University encourages students to go abroad and study, as they provide a number of grants we can apply for to help pay for the expenses. The first grant I applied for was the International Travel Grant. I had to provide information about where I was going and what I would be doing. I had to be persuasive yet informative in my application. Being a PAL Leader for a year enabled

me to develop my communication skills both in person and in writing. When I was leading a group of first years, it was important to be clear and concise with my answers. I was able to apply these skills that I developed during PAL when filling in my application, and I successfully managed to receive a £400 grant. After receiving the International Travel Grant, I decided to apply for another one, called the Foundation Placement Award, but this time I also had to deliver a presentation as part of my application. The PAL Leader training provided and the experience of leading my sessions taught me how to create a successful presentation when confronting my PAL group. I was then able to transfer these skills and use them when I delivered a PowerPoint presentation for the award and was given £1,000 towards my

placement abroad. Without the skills taught by the PAL Team and the opportunity of being a PAL Leader, I would not have had the enthusiasm and determination to apply for the grants needed for my placement. My placement was a once in a lifetime experience. It allowed me to earn a qualification which I can now add to my CV, supports me with my course at University,

and will help me with future employment. The skills and the people who supported my grant applications were incredibly helpful and encouraging, and PAL has given me the ability to communicate confidently in all my applications. I would encourage all students and PAL Leaders to get out there and make the most of what Bournemouth University has to offer.

C O N T I N U E D : M y p l a c e m e n t a b r o a d

“My placement was a once

experience.”

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But how do you stand out from the crowd?

How do you equip yourself with the kind of skills employers find impossible to

resist?

The Student Development Award aims to make you stand out from the crowd by demonstrating how you have improved your employability skills through extra-curricular activities while at uni. It also gives you the opportunity to gain a University award which you can show to

potential employers. You will work with a coach who will guide you through the award, and attend workshops to develop your skills. The deadline for applications is quickly approaching – you must apply in November to be eligible! You have to gain 100 points from extra-curricular activities to be able to earn the award as well as complete an e-portfolio (which in itself is a great accomplishment going forward as this can also be shown to future employers or used to help you create/update your CV). Through your role as a PAL Leader, you will have already earned 50 points (half of what is required to earn the award)! You can take up to two academic years to complete the award and you can backdate points from the last academic year if you were a BU student.

The figures speak for themselves too...• 95% of those that completed believe that the

award helped them in compiling their CVs or job application forms.

• 90% reported that participating in the award made them feel more a part of the BU community.

• 80% said that the award has positively affected the way they felt about their skills/graduate attributes.

For additional info, application, and to check out how many points can be earned for various activities, please go to www.bournemouth.ac.uk/student/award.

Welcome to the BU Student Development

Award

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Starting your PAL Sessions: News RoundWhy is it important for you and your PAL Group to be up to date with news related to your course? There are many reasons, including:• Being able to link what you are learning to real life events• Awareness of the impact current events make upon your course

and future career• Insight into potential career fields• Awareness of examples to support answers for exams/course work/placement interviews

It is important to make your PAL Group aware of these advantages and find effective ways to include current events in your PAL Sessions. There are 3 examples below that you can use to incorporate current news into your PAL Sessions:1. Bring in a relevant article* (handouts) and also put the article up on the screen. Give the students enough time

to read the article and then facilitate a discussion based on its impact on your course/impact on society.2. Ask your PAL Group to bring in relevant news articles and give a brief summary to the whole group.

Ensure that different students bring in an article each session. This way, each student gets a chance to work on their presentation skills in an informal environment and build their confidence in speaking to the whole group. If this fails and students forget to bring in an article, give 5-10 minutes for everyone to find an article using their smart phone/laptop and ask for a brief summary of each group’s news article.

3. Develop a short quiz (5-10 questions) on current events and ask your students to answer in pairs or in small groups.

Many previous PAL Leaders have found by devoting the first 10 minutes of every PAL Session to a news activity, they were able to get everyone engaged in a fun way. It also set a familiar structure for their sessions that students looked forward to!

*Ask your course contact to recommend the most appropriate sources for your course!

According to the 2011/2012 Evaluation of PAL, one of the most appealing aspects to freshers was that PAL is led by students from the year above. Freshers also commented about how they enjoyed the relaxed environment and that Leaders covered topics freshers wanted to discuss. However, a few negative comments were made by freshers regarding the organisation and structure of some PAL sessions.

As a PAL Leader, it is important to find the right balance between providing enough structure to keep the session on track and productive while allowing the students to express their ideas and cover what they are interested in. Planning your sessions beforehand based on feedback from the students (either requests during your previous session/email/facebook) and using info gained when meeting with your PAL Course Contact

or other Leaders can help you achieve this. It may be helpful to send an email/post a message on your facebook group asking the students to confirm that they still want to cover ‘x’ as requested last session, and ask if there is anything else they would like to go over 2 days before your next session. After you have received feedback from the group, planning your session using the ‘Session Plan’ is recommended (available in PAL Essentials via PAL Central – available in .pdf and MS word format if you prefer to type up your session plans).

However, in the beginning of autumn term, it may be difficult for students to suggest topics,

Therefore, if no topics are requested, then you should suggest topics you think would be useful to go over in that session and agree on topics to be covered (always have a back-up plan). Following a basic outline and ensuring you always have pair/group work activities planned will help you keep on track and find a good balance of socialising and productivity, e.g.:

• Welcome students to the session• Allow the group to settle• Join in with any general

conversation

• Set the schedule for the session – bring up all topics

requested (or suggest relevant topics if they didn’t) and agree on what order you will cover them in

• Write the schedule on the board and leave it up there for the whole session. This will help you keep on track and you may come back to this schedule at the end of the PAL Session to summarise and remind students what was covered.

(opening activity, group discussions, group activities)• Stick to schedule. If you are

spending too much time on one topic, ask the group if they would like to continue this topic now, or move onto the next topic and finish discussing the 1st topic in the next PAL session

• Ask open ended questions to begin discussion and summarise the main ideas that emerge before moving onto next topic (or preferably encourage students to provide the summary rather than you)

• Referring to the schedule,

summarise the main outcomes of the session with the students’ help

• Ask students for feedback as to whether they found the session useful

• Ask for requests for next week• Remind students to look

out for your email/facebook post 2 days before the next session so they can request what they want to cover

• Thank students

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got structure?

Seems disorganised, whilst the PAL Leaders are really nice and try to be helpful, they don’t really seem to know what’s going on and they seem to make it up as they go along.’’’

Not organised very well, PAL Leaders need an agenda for their group sessions.

Sometimes the sessions aren’t very well organised and going can be a bit of a waste of time.

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10-45 mins

5-10 mins

45-50 mins

50-60 mins0-5 mins

PALs didn’t have anything planned, we would just turn up and they would ask what we wanted to do and we didn’t know what to ask for.

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Don’t have a watch? Not sure if there is a clock in the room? Help yourself and your PAL group keep to time by putting up a clock on the projector during activities. For easy access to a clock, log in to myBU and go into PAL Central and select ‘Clock’ at the bottom of the turquoise panel on the left.

Stic k to you r sc hedu l e !

The clock will open up in a new window. You can change its settings and/or add a digital clock (as shown). This way, when you give a specific amount of time for an activity, students are aware of how much time they have to brainstorm for example.

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Many students have felt that PAL has helped them get to know other members of their group and settle into university. Many PAL Leaders have felt that encouraging their group to organise socials has helped speed up settling into university. Socials also allow students to get to know Bournemouth. But remember this doesn’t have to be a clubbing night out or involve alcohol, especially if any members of the group don’t drink alcohol. Don’t be afraid to join in yourself as well! It may also be fun to have a joint social with another PAL Leader and PAL Group from your programme.

bowling!

mini golf!

hit the beach!

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My PAL Experienceby 2011-2012 PAL Leader Ian Stuchfield

Accounting and Finance PAL Leader 11-12I was a PAL Leader paired with Cara McFarlane for first year Accounting and Finance Framework students. We were responsible for leading 2 seminar groups from the course with around 20 students in each group. We held 1 hour sessions once per week for each group separately.

My PAL LeadersDuring my 1st year at university my PAL sessions were useful but very boring. My PAL Leaders were very knowledgeable and helped me get a better understanding of the course. However they did not make much effort to have general conversation with us. Therefore PAL sessions were uncomfortable and not engaging.

My PAL Leader TrainingThe training is useful for a few reasons other than a free lunch! The 3 main reason are:1. Helps you meet other PAL Leaders2. Good time to practise talking to a large group of

people 3. Helps you organise your first few PAL sessions –

which is crucial!

Our 1st SessionThe first few PAL sessions are the most important (no pressure). It is natural to feel nervous, anxious and shy, but it is important that you go into the 1st session confident and approachable. Cara and I had a set plan of points we would go through for our first session as we did with all our PAL sessions, so that we never ran out of things to do!

Example of 1st PAL Session Plan1. Introduce yourselves and what PAL is2. Play Name Game to learn everyone’s names and make

them say one thing about their fresher’s experience3. Mix them up and get talking to each other for 5 mins4. Explain what modules will be like and who the

lecturers are5. Offer Tips about Bournemouth life ( Buses,

lectures vs. seminars, library, best clubs on which nights, money/budgets etc.)

6. Discuss your 1st year experience including social and academic life

7. Mention socials for the year but would not advise in first week or 2 as not everyone is comfortable yet

8. Explain where the next session is and when!

AttendanceIt is crucial to keep attendance high during sessions throughout the year or the sessions become ineffective for them and you. The formula to doing this is keeping each hour useful and informative, but also fun and engaging which will make them want to keep coming back. One method which I found useful was to offer a reason for them to come back next week (e.g. next week we are going to go through this homework that you agreed would be helpful).Basically just offer an incentive!

Session IdeasRealistically the first month or 2 of PAL is where it is easiest as everything is new and exciting to both them and you. When it gets to your 10th PAL session with

them though they will know their agenda and way around so what do you now discuss. . . ? • Always ask what they want to cover to ensure you

are focusing on what they want to do• Discuss upcoming events you know about • Upcoming socials (themes?)• Ask them about each module and how it is going• Offer tips and guidance with coursework in

sessions but don’t do it for them!• Talk about what you are doing in Year 2 so they get

an idea of what is to come• ALWAYS PLAN IDEAS BEFORE YOU DO A

SESSION !!!

Group Activities

During your training day, you will be pushed to use group activities in your sessions which is a great idea as. . .• It makes students communicate with each other

and make friends• Helps shy students feel more comfortable

communicating in a smaller group of peopleThis is an area that we should have probably done more of in our PAL sessions as we struggled to think of what we could pair them up for.

Benefits of Co-PAL Leader• Support – Each of you can come up with ideas

allowing more ideas and also can be there for each other

• Strengths – It is natural that the two of you will excel in different areas. The thing that was so great about my partnership was that Cara was so intelligent and could almost always answer a students question about the course. I would handle the social side more and keep the banter going to make it the perfect PAL environment

• Experience – The two of you can share different views and thoughts to students providing different aspects for them to relate to and learn from

• Friend – You will make a new best friend as you two will have to work together and cooperate

SocialsAs you will all know from last year, socials are probably the best thing about PAL to many freshers

In my opinion they are vital to how your PAL session will function as they can lead to:• Students feeling comfortable around each other

and you as they will realise you are just like them• Will show a fun side to you if they do not see that

in PAL sessions (they should!)• Offer good banter and chat for the coming sessions

Just remember that you are not fully responsible for them but they will be relatively new to the night life and amount of alcoholic drink (TRUST ME). Make a Facebook group for socials so you can discuss these out of sessions too!

General TipsMy tips to being a good PAL Leader are to be:• Organised • Approachable• Relaxed• Informative• An inspiration • Don’t worry - you are not expected to know

everything about the course• Try not to get with PAL group

What I have gainedMy 2nd year of university was the best year of my life and PAL contributed to that. If you do have a good relationship with your students you will have a blast like I did. I went into PAL honestly cause I wanted money but I came out of it with so much more:• New friends• Confidence in myself• Presentation skills• Social skills• MONEY• A better CV• Improved understanding of my course• Learned to be adaptable

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CONTINUED: My PAL Experience

PAL is only as good as you make it !! So make it good !!

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!

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Hoodies should be available for collection in October!

PAL and myBU versIon 9.1

You must get your PAL group to sign in on a paper register during every PAL session and you will need to submit your registers every month for payment. Registers are available under ‘PAL Essentials’ in PAL Central.

You also need to take online registers via myBU in your PAL programme community so that the PAL Team have a record of attendance. Online registers are available in the GradeCentre, which is accessible under from the ‘Community Management’ Panel. If you have set up your PAL group in myBU, then you can access a ‘Smart View’ in myBU that just shows your PAL group, rather than all Level C students on your programme.

You will need to set up a group in your programme PAL Community, for various reasons, including:• being able to email your PAL group• being able to take an online register easily

However you cannot set up your group in myBU until the Level C students are registered in October. A guide to help you in setting up groups, sending email, and taking the online register can be found in the ‘Using myBU’ section in PAL Central.

The ‘Using myBU’ section also contains guides about how to create your contact details, posting an announcement, and using a data projector.