The National Student Survey (NSS)  and the Brighton Student Survey (BSS) launched on 5th February.

There are staff briefing notes available for the NSS  and for the BSS The NSS runs until the 30th April and  BSS runs until 5th March.

We know from experience that if staff are informed and can then introduce the survey, it is more likely that students will complete it and complete with the appropriate consideration. The key messages are that students should consider the whole of their university experience and to remember the positive as well as any points for improvement.

Students will receive a thank you for completing the surveys-  a £5.00 food voucher for the NSS and a Kit-Kat for the BSS. These are available from room 149 for students to collect or can be collected by staff to distribute.

For the NSS there are 13 final year students who are supporting the Business School- they have organised a Big Night In on Thurs 8th Feb 5pm-8pm in Mithras House Canteen  to encourage students to share their views and also showcase  positive developments  at BBS.

There are some PowerPoint slides to support the surveys NSS  and the BSS

Thank you

What are the changes?

The recording process is the same but the location of your processed videos has changed to our
media streaming service.
https://mediastream.brighton.ac.uk
The changes affect how you share your videos with your students because when the videos are
sent to mediastream they are private to just you so you can no longer just share the URL in the email
sent.

Details of how you now share your videos is avaiable here: PDF Guide

Colleagues

A reminder to let your students know when you are available during the week, many staff have added a notice on their office door or have included it on their module areas on studentcentral.

Assessment and feedback guidance

Feedback Guidelines

• Based on criteria – that have been made available (marking grid or rubric) using % weightings (this is a requirement)
• Non-judgemental language –  avoiding using words such as ‘fails’, ‘lacks’, etc – the mark gives the judgement
• Developmental – tell the student how to develop, including appropriate resources

Last year Pete McCullen prepared some excellent guidance for writing exams. These notes, contain some really useful advice so I am taking the opportunity to distribute them earlier this academic year.

Please also remember if you have changed the exam format of your module (so that the examination this year does not match the format of the exam last year) or it is a new module then you must post a draft examination paper on your module page on studentcentral.

Thank you for all the hard work of the module teams that already have marked and returned work to students – for level four modules if some students have failed they may be able to take advantage of  In Year Module Retrieval    please click on the link for further information.

As you know  coursework marks and feedback must be made available to students via Studentcentral within FOUR WEEKS (20 working days) of the submission date.

University Policy

There is also University Policy Blended Learning which gives information on e-submissions and feedback

The school is working towards improving students’ perception of the feedback they receive from assessed work and to standardise the grading schemes applied.

Feedback Process (see page 18 of  GEAR )

• Based on criteria – that have been made available, including % weightings (this is a requirement)  BBS rubrics
• Non-judgmental language –  avoiding using words such as ‘fails’, ‘lacks’, etc – the mark gives the judgement
• Developmental – how to develop, including appropriate resources

Consider using the feed forward from designed by Sarah Cork

BBS Best Practice 

BBS Examples of Feedback

Undergraduate Grading Descriptors

Post Graduate Grading Descriptors

You can use the search function on the home page of the blog to search of other information – please let Julie Fowlie know if there is something you would like to have included.

After a successful launch last year, the University of Brighton’s elearning team is excited to bring back ‘Burning of the Apps’ for, we hope, an even bigger event on Wednesday 20 December 2017.

The format will stay the same, but we hope this year to extend beyond just Falmer and include other campuses. For those who missed last year’s event, the focus is on best practice examples where technology is being used to support learning and teaching. This could include mobile apps, web applications, programming, devices, multimedia etc. We are looking for staff who would like to talk through their example or project in the form of a Q&A conducted by a member of the elearning team, discussing ways the technology has been utilised in teaching to enhance learning at the university.

The interviews will take place in front of a live studio audience and will again be live-streamed for a wider, online audience. Some of the topics covered last year include: using Nearpod in lectures for large cohorts; iPads for recording presentations; an adaptation of the ‘Oregon Trail’ video game for research design and features of the Lynda.com app. There are videos available of last year’s event on the event blog:

http://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/burningapps/2016-event/

If you are interested in taking part and would like to pitch a topic for discussion, please indicate your availability on the following Doodle poll:

https://doodle.com/poll/xftpkcwcm37dqfns

For those wishing to participate as an audience member, there will be plenty of activities and refreshments throughout the day at the Explore Studio in Checkland Building. Please come along and have a go at using some of the latest technologies available for use in HE and join us with a mince pie or two!

Research tells us that students who perform well in their first assessment are successful throughout their studies.

Findings from a yearlong learning analytics study with students in Brighton Business school supports this statement so the eLearning team want to help schools ensure that first assessments for our level 4 students are a success and that the technology doesn’t form a barrier to our students. We will be running a number of events to help ensure that your modules are ready to go and that you have the correct resources available to support your students.

Drop in sessions will be offered giving you an opportunity to check your modules are “assessment-ready” and the right support is in place for your students.

MOULSECOOMB Dates

Tuesday 31st October 10:30 – 11:30 6th Floor Cockcroft near the Kitchen

Tuesday 31st October 12:00 – 13:00 1st Floor Mithras computer/social zone

Wed 1st November 10:30 – 11:30 3rd Floor Cockcroft near the kitchen

For more information about the research please visit the elearning team blog: http://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/elearningteam/2017/10/12/supporting-you-with-your-students-first-assessment/

Do not forget  we also have a BBS Development Example Module on studentcentral and you can use the search function on the BBS Quality Learning & Teaching Blog

Colleagues particularly Course Leaders and first year (level 4) Tutors across all programmes.

We are extending the successful pilot  to all level four students in the academic year 17/18.

The first part of the project requires ALL FIRST YEAR  Level 4 SUBJECT SEMINAR TUTORS to take an electronic register using the picture registers on studentcentral.  These should be available next week and you will find them on the Dashboard of your module. Just click on the photo of the students to register their attendance.

As part of the project the students will see a How are you today widget? on their studentcentral homepage

Marion Curdy  has created some slides for personal tutors to use with their students to explain how the widget works How are you today & Learning Analytics in BBS  Please share this information ASAP with your first year tutor groups

• How are you today? enables students to keep a record of how they are feeling and to request support if needed. How it is used is up to the student.
• When a student clicks on an emoji they will be given the opportunity to give some optional comments. The student can decide if they would like to be contacted about their update.
• Later in the year this will appear as part of the student’s Learning Analytics Dashboard.
• If the student  selects “Please contact me” then Stuart Bullen our Student and Support Guidence Tutor (SSGT)  will be sent an email with the information the student provided and he will get in touch with the student
• The Elearning team will also look at the overall data supplied to see if we can find patterns of emojis during the year. We’re hoping we can use this information to reduce the overall stress and any anxiety of students

These two important elements will help BBS support our new level 4 students!

Since November 2017 the students and personal tutors are able to access a student dashboard – details of how to do this can be found here  https://folio.brighton.ac.uk/group/learning-analytics/my-engagement-dashboard

Also the photo registers have been extended across the whole of the Business School!