Introduction – Teaching basic sciences in a clinical environment

[ShunaMarr]

Hi there fellow Scots person.     I am not in the sciences but, in every other respect, what you are looking for from this course is what I am looking for too, so I hope you don’t mind me posting my initial introduction post alongside yours?

My big question for the course is – how can I use the ideas I see on here to improve my teaching practice and make my lectures and tutorials more interesting?

I’m currently a lecturer in Tourism and Airline Management at Edinburgh Napier.  After working out in the ‘real word’ (lol!) for many years, earning my daily crust in a variety of sectors, I then worked in FE for several years in Travel and Tourism, before taking the plunge and doing my PhD at Stirling, which I completed 5 years ago. That was my ticket into HE and I’ve been there 5 years now. I have a PG Diploma teaching qualification and I’m going to be starting my BOE (Blended and Online Education) PG Cert this Autumn.

As a kind of preparation for this, I thought this course would be the right way to expand my knowledge of this area and hopefully give me some good teaching ideas for next trimester, as I’m about to overhaul some modules that need a revamp.

I’ve always been pretty innovative and have tried all sorts of different technologies in the past (e.g. Turningpoint clickers, audio feedback, online games, Moodle quizzes etc) to jazz up what I do – I routinely use videos and infographics to illustrate points.

However, I’d be really interested to see how other people use technology to make their teaching more interactive and student led. I feel that too much of my approach has been from the perspective of students being viewed as ’empty vessels’ that need filling with info, when I really long to be the ‘guide on the side’ aiding them to finding out stuff for themselves, as I believe that they will understand it better and retain it longer. So basically, I am looking for ideas on how to empower my students to become better learners and make their learning experiences more interactive and enjoyable. Lets see how this pans out eh?

Shuna

 

 

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