On the 15th of each month, we are inviting those working in the field of learning development to share their day. Write up what you have done on the 15th of the month (or your nearest working day to this date) (plus reflections) and share it with us via this short submission form. The entries will be shared here on the ALDinHE blog.
In 2010-11 and 2014-15, the ALDinHE website was previously used for a collective online journal by members of the LD community. The collective journal re-launched on the 15 May 2023. You can read the journal entries for each month. The shared experiences and ideas have helped shape CPD resources developed for new and experienced staff, and to identify other areas for future work.
A reminder will go out on the LDHEN list on the 15th of each month. Share your day by completing the short submission form for it to be added to the ALDinHE blog.
Raghda Zahran – Newcastle University
Fridays are often quiet days, dedicated to administrative tasks, research, and organising my diary. I take this time to review my documentation and plans, while also catching up on learning, especially since I missed a session on the Ethics of AI in Education. I began by watching the recording and exploring the links shared by the facilitator. Although I missed the opportunity to engage with other participants, I can still gain valuable insights from the content and share them with colleagues who may be interested. Balancing my busy schedule with my curiosity for new learning can be challenging, but I find that a flexible approach is essential. After this catch-up, I’ll review my plans for the day, which include a drop-in session organised by Jisc for the community of universities using learning analytics. These sessions are incredibly beneficial, providing an opportunity to hear about the experiences and challenges faced by others. Additionally, I’ve set aside the afternoon to continue working on a paper regarding research conducted with postgraduate students on the use of analytics.
Martin McMorrow – ICALLD
Here in Fremantle / Walyalup, Western Australia, we’re in the fiery season of Birak, in which reptilian learning advisors like myself shed our skins in readiness for the new academic year. I started off my day with an online French class with my NZ-based professeuse, the saintly Emilie. Today we talked about names. Did you know, the most popular boy’s name in France this year was Raphael? What happened to Jean and Pierre? Doing my best to put this troubling thought out of my mind, I cycled off to work alongside the Swan River, distracting myself by shouting “Welcome to Singapore” to confused cruise ship passengers as they waddled unsteadily down the gangplank. Or did I only think that? Let’s say it was just an idle thought. On arrival at our refurbished warehouse building (home to Student Success, the library and student services, and, oddly, a redundant custard powder-making machine) I spent a pleasant hour or so going through emails and such, steadily sipping on an obligatory flat white. Our other main campus is over in Sydney – currently three hours ahead of us – so we have to get the communications in before lunchtime. After that, I made up some English language exercises for Nursing students, using a programme called H5P. Our place, The University of Notre Dame Australia, has only recently had significant numbers of international students, so we’re catching up a bit with our resources. I have to say, I’m loving it. Lunch was some home-made soup and toast – we have a little kitchen here – and then we had a meeting with some charming lecturers who want to put in some more supports for their international students in 2025. It was good to be in the room with colleagues from the international office, student services, and the library. I do recall a momentary silence at one point – I must have made a joke. Note to self: Don’t. Back to my desk and I was delighted to find an email from an international student I’d been helping with his health practitioner course. The last time I spoke to him, I was roleplaying (at his request) as a woman with a urinary tract infection. Isn’t that what we all do? Anyway, he was happy to say that he’d passed the course and the year (despite my acting skills). What else? Oh yes, I collated and sent off an ethics application for a little research project we’ve got on the go for next year. Fingers crossed. There’s a bit more admin to finish off before I head back home. Or shall I stay for “Carols on the Beach?” Perhaps I’ll run into those same befuddled cruise ship passengers, in which case I’ll be sure to try out my French. That will really blow their minds.
Robert Ping-Nan Chang – University of the Arts London
As I started my annual leave from today, I am capturing what I did yesterday. I went to an Academic Support Forum at another college of my university. The forum was open to staff beyond Academic Support, and became a great opportunity to network with people from other departments. I thus was able to have conversations with colleagues from the library services, doctoral school and language centre in this half-day event. Ketso, a game developed by Manchester University, was utilised in the forum to facilitate sharing, reflection and discussion around Academic Support at UAL, which consists of college-based teams and a central team. The forum also featured two presentation. The presentation about working with students on academic publishing is really inspiring, as well as forward-thinking. Probably due to my background in English for Academic Purposes, I tend to think about academic publishing in terms of the skill of writing. However, as Bhatia (2004) aptly puts, a written discourse or genre can be situated in different spaces, including social, professional, socio-cognitive, tactical and textual space. The presentation given by my colleague directed my attention to academic writing from language or writing itself to the professional and social domains. He has covered the culture of academic publishing, the diverse genres in the publishing world (maybe like the concept of ‘genre colony’ as John Swales talked about decades ago), the publication procedure and resilience/wellbeing in the process of getting something published. I had lots of food for thought from his talk. Yesterday I also contributed to the forum by doing the other presentation of sharing my experience of taking students off-site visiting several cultural and architectural sites in London. I picked up some constructive feedback, which I would hope to try out next year.
Ruth Phillips – Manchester Metropolitan University
The day began at breakneck pace: a series of one-to-one appointments with students. There is the usual slight trepidation about who is going to walk through the door or ring in next, what will they need support with and will I be able to help them? Then the adrenaline kicks in and I welcome the first student in; he wants to talk through a plan for a literature review and I realise pretty quickly that he knows what he’s doing, it’s just reassurance he needs and pushing a little further for criticality. He leaves calm, eager to start redrafting and appreciative after our learning conversation. The next is a far more difficult scenario: a phone call from a distraught part-time mature student whose dissertation is due in today but is only partially completed. I listen to her describe the home situation she is in that is preventing her from studying, but how desperate she is to succeed. I know she needs to contact a range of different services and to speak to her tutor as a matter of urgency, so provide all the contact details she needs. We then discuss time management and how to break down and prioritise tasks so that she can begin to climb what she sees as a mountain. My other appointments are typical of what we might encounter: students wanting to respond to feedback on their academic writing style or their criticality, but when my “shift” finishes I am still on a high from the pace and emotional engagement I have sustained, and feel a sense of satisfaction that I have possible moved a number of people that one step closer to a successful academic outcome.
The rest of my day was calmer and more reflective. I worked with an academic to design a series of bespoke support sessions in the form of lectures and workshops for a new foundation course being offered this year, bouncing ideas between us and reviewing the needs of the cohort based on formative assessments. The next assignment is a reflective presentation so we will target speaking with confidence, structure and how to use a reflective model effectively. The day ended with a meeting with my learner developer colleagues, reflecting on our year, the successes and challenges in order to feedback to our wider team at the end of the semester. We felt confident that we have forged strong relationships with those we support and show flexibility and creativity in our contributions, based on the foundation of our expertise and experience. The challenges we face are numerous but exciting. Technologies are evolving, academic assessment is evolving and students’ needs are changing. When I take my next one-to-one appointments in January 25 will students still have the same needs and how will I respond to the inevitable differences?