Developing Online Resources to Support How Students Approach Assignment Questions: Enhancing Reflection and Practice for Staff and Students

Abstract

This small-scale project involved a team of staff from the Centre for Labour Market Studies. An action research approach was used to develop new learning resources to support students' understanding of how to approach an assignment question. The objective of this project was to have a set of online resources that can take students through the steps of critically analysing an assignment question, understanding what it is asking them to do, then proceeding on to creating an effective assignment plan they can submit to tutors for formative feedback. Prior to this project being undertaken, all study skills and course materials at CLMS were provided in a primarily paper-based format. Some CLMS students also attend face-to-face workshops at twice-yearly optional teaching days, in a limited range of locations worldwide, or sought advice on a one-to-one basis. This project aims to create additional, supplementary resources that make use of new technologies to provide an alternative, interactive learning tool. The online assignment tutorial takes students through a number of steps in order to build a firm basis for critical understanding and action. It should be noted that the tutorial is accessible to all distance learners across the CLMS courses (Undergraduate, MSc, DSocSci) and is designed in a format that supports a wide range of learning styles.