Abstract :
With increasing student numbers and a diverse student body, it is crucial to
consider a range of methods to engage students in learning and teaching
activities. This project was used to encourage 1st-year undergraduate students
to engage in out of class activities between taught sessions. The project used a
virtual learning environment (VLE) known as Wolverhampton Online Learning
Framework (WOLF) to encourage collaborative working within learning
sets. The central aim was to investigate the potential to improve communication
and mutual support between students and also to encourage students to
make links between taught sessions. They were given weekly tasks that needed
to be completed within their learning sets and they then posted the work in
folders within WOLF by a set time. This allowed for timely feedback from the
tutor and it facilitated sharing of resources across the sets. The final element
involved students using their new knowledge to peer-teach the whole group in
short presentations at the beginning of the next taught session. Feedback was
collected in three ways, including focus groups, module feedback forms and a
short questionnaire about the use of the VLE. Overall, the students’ feedback
was positive and they commented on gaining a number of skills including,
using technology, group working and presentations. In addition to this, the
overall pass rate for the module was higher and the average student grade had
also increased.
