Pinning Down Participation

Abstract

Student participation is a key element of the Problem-Based Learning pedagogy that forms the base of Liberal Arts’ approach to seminar design. Usually, this isn’t a problem in seminars. Issues come up, though, when trying to encourage students to engage with the pre- and post-seminar work and especially the assigned readings. In this presentation, I want to discuss an interactive intervention that I trialled in a module last year. Linked to a summative assessment, I asked students on the module to put ‘pins’ on a Padlet-based map that related to the assigned reading each week as seen through their perspectives and world views. These pins were visible to me and everyone else within the group but were not discussed actively. In this presentation, I want to introduce what I did and start a conversation about ways this particular intervention could improve participation and encourage thinking of similar approaches across all our teaching in the School.

There are no audience requirements. I’d be interested to hear from both colleagues and students.

This will be a fairly traditional presentation with time for discussion at the end.

No pre-session preparation will be required.

Outcomes will be linked to what people want to contribute in the discussion. I hope to get feedback on my approach so as to make it even more effective in future. I’d also like colleagues to share any similar approaches to student participation they’ve used (and, indeed, hear from any students about how they feel this helps or hinders their engagement with modules).