Using Artificial Intelligence to summerise emails: A use case for Open AI’s text-davinci-003

Lee Fallin 1 Comment

There have been some interesting discussions around the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and the fear of how it will impact assessment in HE. I will reflect on this myself in time, but for now, I want to muse on a possible use case. I’ve been following an email thread on AI in higher education via a publically accessible JiscMail. One participant had acknowledged how sprawling the debate had become – and asked if ChatGPT could lend a hand. I decided to give this a go using OpenAI‘s text-davinci-003 model (and it should be noted that this post’s feature image was drawn by OpenAI’s DALL·E 2)!

First, I downloaded the content text from 30 publically accessible emails on this topic of ChatGPT. Secondly, I removed all personally identifiable information (i.e. names, emails, links, institutions) from the text. This was an ethical issue as while the email text is in the public domain via jiscmail.ac.uk, the tool I used is allowed to retain text to train the algorithm further. Thirdly, I split the text into two separate queries to fit within the 4,000 token limit on text-davinci-003 model. Finally, I took the two text-davinci-003 outputs and asked text-davinci-003 to summarise the discussion from each text sample and re-write it for a knowledgeable audience.

Artificial Intelligence summary of the discussion:

This email thread is discussing a variety of topics related to ChatGPT, a new technology, in higher education assessment. Ideas have been suggested to mitigate any short-term disruption to assessment this semester, such as informing teachers of the technology, revising current assessment regulations, teaching students about academic misconduct, incorporating the model into assessment design, encouraging the greater use of oral-based assessment, group project work, and classroom-based assessment, using browser lockdown capabilities, testing the model against a variety of tasks, and promoting assessment (re)design that requires the creation of multi-media artefacts. There has also been discussion about curating resources on the topic, as well as different types of assessment that could be used, such as handwritten assignments and orals, and the ethics of the technology, with suggestions to use Turnitin to cross-reference essay submissions and to teach students to question the production and consumption of their cultural landscape. Additionally, it has been suggested to have an event which focuses on the implications of GPT for educational development and developers, as well as a SIG on AI and Academic Development. It was also noted that OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) is likely to become an organisation within the Microsoft ‘empire’, and that there is software that can detect ChatGPT-generated text.

text-davinci-003 summary of academic development discussion

Evaluating text-davinci-003’s output

… and do you know what. It isn’t a bad summary. It has missed some of the nuance and detail – and obviously the weight of some arguments over others. Some of the more powerful arguments (that were buried in the thread) were lost. For me, the summary was much poorer for excluding some of the deeper ethical concerns, for example, OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour .

Yet, for someone who is ‘time-poor’, such a summary presents an exciting way to engage with significant chunks of information in little time. This summary took about five minutes – including both my time editing the text and that of text-davinci-003. This cost around 20 USD cents ($0.20). The original text was computed to take 18 minutes to read – the refined output was 60 seconds. Paying 20 cents to save 17 minutes of reading… not a bad cost for some.

Caution is, however, needed. When I asked text-davinci-003 to summarise the above for a 3rd grader – it was quite off the mark!

ChatGPT is a new technology that can help teachers assess students. It can help teachers check if students are cheating and can help them create different types of assessments. It can also help teachers create projects and activities that involve creating multi-media artefacts. There are also some ethical considerations to think about when using this technology.

text-davinci-003 3rd grader summary of academic development discussion

At this point, it has over-simplified the discussion to the point it is incorrect. At no point was ChatGPT pitched as something to help assess students or help create multi-media artefacts.

It was quite right on the ethical mark, though. I took great care to only use public-domain information with no personal information in this experiment. But even then – I imagine some people would feel uncomfortable about this.

Artificial Intelligence summaries as an automated proccess

This was a manual process – but I wonder how far off an automated future could be. From anyone using Microsoft 365/Outlook for emails, you may have received Microsoft Viva briefings. Microsoft Viva emails to bring together data from across your Microsoft 365 account (including your email) to bring connection and insights. This all uses a form of Artificial Intelligence to provide things like helpful reminders on outstanding actions, advice on how to manage your time in the context of your diary and information it feels might be helpful. Given Microsoft are rumoured to want OpenAI’s technology further integrated into Windows and Microsoft 365 – perhaps email summaries (on this scale) would be a natural extension of Microsoft Viva.

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments:

Journey into being a journal editor

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Last year I had the great pleasure of joining the Editorial Board of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (JLDHE). This started as a guest editor for the Special Edition, ALDinHE Conference Proceedings and Reflections. For this special issue I, alongside a team of other guest editors, had the opportunity to weave together the peer-reviewed conference abstract with community and author reflections. Based on my experience as a guest, I was excited to apply and interview for a permanent editor role. As you can safely guess from the title of this post – I was successful 😁.

Become an editor

I’ve been an editor for a handful of months. I’m still early on in my journey, but have already found it very rewarding. It’s a fantastic opportunity to support and mentor new authors, alongside helping more established writers get their work into press. The biggest surprise, for me, has to be the dedication and generosity of our peer reviewers. I am often overwhelmed with the interest in review, and often find it challenging to choose who to allocate.

It was stupid of me to be surprised. After all, over the last couple of years, it had become clear to me that peer review was a form of community building. This particularly resonated for the Compendium of Innovative Practice where, as a reviewer, I had myself really felt part of something. This is something that I feel is very special about JLDHE. It is a community – an argument well established in Alicja’s contribution to the conference proceedings.

Teamwork = dream work

Perhaps the single most rewarding part of being on the Editorial Board is the opportunity to work with an amazing set of colleagues. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from them all, and getting to know them more through our work. I have to give Gita Sedghi, who has been my mentor a HUGE shout out. Gita has been the one who has answered my 200-300 questions about the journal, editing and our journal system. (Thanks Gita!).

Our Editorial Board is a great team (yes – I’m biased). We meet monthly to ensure everything is on track for upcoming issues, and there is a lot of work to keep on top of between these meetings. I’ve found the pace and challenge really refreshing. As you can see above – it’s also a rewarding role 😁.

The year ahead

Today drew to a close our Editorial Board Winter Residential – and so I write this post sat on a train back to Hull after what has been an intense couple of days working on journal strategy and plans. It’s got me really excited for the year ahead! I also got a chance to use the LEGO I had sat in my suitcase (a staple for any work trip away!).

  • LEGO for Communication
  • The ivory tower of academia
  • The campfire of inclusion

I’m really looking forward to developing in my role further. I’m also happy for the opportunity to take on more responsibility, and start to focus on different aspects of the journal’s work. Stay tuned! I really look forward to share more about this journey over the coming year.

Get involved!

I hope this post is encouraging for anyone who is thinking about getting more involved in journals – especially JLDHE. I recommend peer-review as a great place to start getting involved (it’s where I started!). It helps you contribute to a journal – and get a feel as to what is within it’s scope. JLDHE is always looking for more reviewers, so watch the LDHEN and SEDA JiscMail networks for future calls to review!

Five extremely diverse LEGO (toy) MiniFigures are standing in front of a white house with red framed windows.

Whose job is widening participation anyway?

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Widening Participation is an important topic, and something cemented into Higher Education Policy through Access and Participation Agreements. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of attending the University of Hull’s inaugural Widening Participation conference. The main theme and question of the conference asked: ‘whose job is Widening Participation anyway?’.

Widening Participation is something I am passionate about. It is about ensuring someone’s circumstances do not impact their ability to enrol at a University and be successful. The end result should see more students enrolling from under-represented groups. This includes, for example, care leavers, low participation postcodes, disabled students, mature students, and some ethnicities. For social justice – it is an absolute no-brainer. While the crisis around student fees and the option for Universities to raise them from £6k to £9k has been disastrous for some, one good consequence was the requirement for institutions charging over the basic fee (£6k) to have an Access and Participation Plan.

All providers that are required to have an Access and Participation Plan need to ensure their plan addresses several key points. The plan needs to show how a Higher Education provider will raise participation from under-represented groups. The plan had to include their ambition for change, the plans for that change and what targets have been set. It also needs to be clear how that plan will be delivered and what investment it will take. While £9k fees will off-put some prospective students (even though the repayments are more affordable than the old scheme). One good outcome, however, was the absolute requirement to address access for any provided charging a higher rate.

Widening Participation: My journey to university

It is fair to say that Widening Participation is something that is personal to me. Technically, my own background would have been widening participation. While the postcode I lived in had high rates of participation, no one else in my family had ever gone to University – no one could ‘sell it to me’ or tell me what it is like. My mum was also severely disabled and out of work. While my dad did work as a manager, he had worked his way through the ranks to get there – though at this point he no longer lived in the family home. I was fortunate that my school raised those university aspirations, and my teachers helped me understand the importance of a degree and the experience of studying for it.

It’s also fair to say I’ve gone beyond that base expectation. My postgraduate certificates, my job in higher education and my doctorate — they are all things that people from my background did not do (certainly at the time I started out).

To return to the question – whose widening participation is it? For me, in my experience, it was MY widening participation. Obviously, the question is broader than personal experience – but I wanted to reflect on this for one reason. If I had anything less than an absolute commitment to widening participation, I would be pulling the drawbridge up to prevent people like me from having the same success. Here is where the situation can be insidious. Imagine if I were from a privileged background and did not fight to widen participation in Higher Education. Well… I’d be working to pull that drawbridge up to stop people not like me from being successful. On that reflection – it is appropriate to fully answer the question:

Whose Widening Participation is it?

Everyones.

That is because access and participation is fundamentally an issue of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Social justice requires progress in this area. The right to Higher Education should not be based on where someone is born, or what needs they have. It should be based on ensuring everyone can reach their potential. As such – everyone working in Higher Education has a duty to Widening Participation, no matter what their own background is.

And if we fail? Well. Not only are we not widening participation, but we are not being equal, inclusive and supportive of diversity.

Serious games for learning, collaboration and knowledge exchange

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

This somehow failed to publish in May – but better late than never eh?

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of attending a Flood Resilience Workshop designed to help inform best practices in flood recovery. One of the distinctive parts of this session was that the substantive part of it was based around a board game. The Flood Recovery Game was built to facilitate dialogue with flood recovery stakeholders. With representatives from the Environment Agency, major insurers, Fire and Rescue, academics and more — it definitely delivered.

The Flood Recovery Game is a ‘serious game’ – serious as it is a learning and debate tool. There were several modes of play, all getting players to consider different scenarios and how they would deploy scarce resources. Money, emergency services, volunteers, council workers and recovery workers could be deployed to address the scenario. As the game developed, those resources became more scarce — and were deployed in different forms.

The games begin!

For the entire morning, we worked through The Flood Recovery Game in groups. The game started off with in quite an idealistic response. Resources were fairly unlimited — and you could deploy what you wanted. It reminded me a bit of those card games where all players pitch a response to a given scenario. The winner is chosen by the rest of the table, voting on their preferred response. The game starts to ramp up difficulty where resources become ‘spent’ and you start to earn random resources back. At this point it’s important to collaborate, especially when you have an uneven hand. At one point, I had lots of money and workers – but no council workers or emergency services, I just had to support the plans of others – but to their success!

I think my favourite modes of play came later in the game. At that stage, resources become finite and you don’t get them back (even at random)! At these end stages of the game, you get to role play one of the key stakeholders – the council, business, insurers, flood groups, NGOs, emergency workers and others. This is played on the second side of the board (see below) and gave much more opportunity for bartering resources.

The Flood Recovery Board Game. The game is based on cards that are played in response to flood scenarios.
The Flood Recovery Game

Reflecting on the game

I really enjoyed working with the others on my table. I was along to bring an ‘educational perspective’ – I’m still not 100% sure what that meant — but my geographical background and experience with local political really helped me get stuck in. I even won the first part of the game (😉). Collaborating with a student, an academic, a representative from Fire and Rescue and an insurer made for really interesting dialogue. Some of the participants noted that it was an excellent conversation starter and wanted to try it outside the Humberside region (we’re not bad for flood awareness apparently!).

One of the more useful aspects of this game was the opportunity to identify gaps – and perhaps, opportunities (see below). For example, our group identified a potential to leverage Fire and Rescue data to help Insurance Companies priorities their response to vulnerable customers. With some legal consideration or consent – that data could make all the difference in a disaster. There is even potential for that idea to leave the session — and there is an example of how the session also worked as a form of knowledge exchange. It allowed academic knowledge to breach the walls of the university to a place it could impact people, business and government.

Flip chart paper pads to identify gaps in flood response
GAP! Identifying gaps

Games in my practice

Developing games like this take a lot of time – and money too! Fancy printed boxes, boards and game cards don’t come cheap. For this reason, I’ve never had the inclination to develop something like these, even though I’ve always believed them to be pedagogically effective (considering teaching at this point). The quality of the discussion from playing the Flood Recovery Game, however, has made me consider their potential for teaching critical thinking. I’ve seen many structured approaches for debate, teamwork and so in from a business context — there is clearly educational potential too. I’d certainly like to see a criticality game – may provide an alternative approach to just another workshop.

Children's hands - togetherness and friendship

World Children’s Day: What my little one’s think

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Today is World Children’s Day – designed to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide to focus on improving children’s welfare.

The theme for this year is inclusion for every child, calling on children to stand up for a more inclusive world. As a father of three adoptive children, my little ones that have experienced some of the hurt and harm that World Children’s Day hopes to highlight and stop. I’ve asked them for their thoughts.

The three-year-old

Boring

Three-year-old

To be fair, this one isn’t very well and didn’t want to engage. That’s okay – because the issue is about empowering children to have a voice. On this occasion – they’re saying no, and we can respect that.

The five-year-old

I don’t really know about this. But I think we’ve learned about this. It was before the weekend.

Listening is respect. If we say something, grown ups should always listen. But if daddy says something, we should do that straight away.

For children’s health. If children don’t eat, they won’t grow.

Five-year-old

It’s good to see this topic has been engaged with before. It was very cute for them to pick up on listening and respect.

It’s funny they mentioned listening to us as daddies, as that doesn’t work in practice. Suffice it to say – they certainly feel like they can represent their voice when asked to do something. It is interesting to reflect on that, though isn’t it – the impression that a grown-up is listened to without question, but maybe not the child. Obviously – they often need to listen without question for their safety – but sometimes their voice is essential. It’s a hard balance, and I can only hope I empower them to have that voice safely.

Totally not surprised to see health represented via food – it’s their obsession.

The six-year-old

Well. I think it is a really special day as – it might be about – like – how people believe in children.

Children can – Well. Grown-ups protect children. Need to make sure they have food, and are warm, and are safe, and make sure we brush our teeth, and have shoes on outside, and make sure we don’t have nits.

Mental health is also about children. Like when a child is talking, and someone else wants to talk, they need to wait until they stop talking.

Also. Like if I was a teenager, but you said don’t go too far – then I did and got lost. Someone could take me. If people did that they would be in trouble with the police.

Six-year-old

Children’s safety was forefront here – which perhaps represents how we’ve had to introduce some ideas of parental roles (in contrast to their previous life experience).

It was funny to see that represented in teenage reflections too. We’re a long way off that age – but it’s important to also reflect on maintaining that respect and care for older children too.

International Men's Day display from the University of Hull Library

International Men’s Day

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

I was asked by the University’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Team to write something for International Men’s Day. I’d like to share this here too:

If you had spoken to me about the importance of International Men’s Day a few years ago, I would have probably scowled or rolled my eyes. For years I had never felt the need for a dedicated day to raise the profile of men’s issues. As a man, I had never felt underrepresented, and I never felt society set up barriers for me. Even as a gay man, I’ve experienced little discrimination – though I accept that it is far from the norm. With the power of hindsight, I readily admit my disdain for International Men’s Day was based on both ignorance and my privileged and unproblematic upbringing. Here I reflect on its importance.

I had a strong role model in my own father, someone who not only portrayed the strength people associate with men, but an openness and willingness to talk about anything. We discussed how we felt; I was encouraged to do what made me happy (masculine or not), and it was okay to show weakness. I was never shouted at as a child and never experienced any violence. When, as an adult, I introduced my father to my boyfriend, my father showed me nothing but love and acceptance.

This is not the case for everyone.

I have volunteered in local politics and knocked on doors all over the city. I have volunteered as a governor at five schools and am now Chair of governors at two of them. I am a trustee of a local charity that provides grants to local organisations. I am also a Lecturer in Education, supporting the next generation of practitioners to support children, young people and families. All these experiences have affirmed the need for an International Men’s Day.

Too many children and teenagers have missing or toxic men in their lives. This is not a problem as long as male role models can be provided elsewhere. Celebrities and sports personalities only go so far. For me, the real problem is that nurseries, primary schools, care providers and other similar professions struggle to recruit men. This makes it challenging to provide young boys and men with positive and consistent male role models where they do not exist at home.

Role models

I know the importance of role models all too well, though my problem is somewhat reversed as my daughter has two dads and no mother. My husband and I have found the other women in her life are crucial to help her understand and shape her gender identity. We are fortunate to have a fantastic support network, and I can see why they say it takes a village to raise children. While my daughter is fortunate to be surrounded by so many people who love her, I worry for all the boys that don’t have similar networks of support men to help them.

I am also concerned about the toxic views of masculinity that prevent men from talking about their health and wellbeing. From self-harm and suicide to missed cancer diagnoses from not seeking help – there are severe issues with men’s health and wellbeing. As a school governor, I feel like we’re on the brink of a tsunami, with more and more young boys struggling with their wellbeing and mental health. A crisis is coming if change does not happen soon.

For me, International Men’s Day is about facing these challenges and working towards creating a better world for everyone. As a father, a lecturer, a trustee, a school governor and a citizen, I feel it is essential to embody and promote the values of International Men’s Day. It’s important to be an ally. It’s important to challenge discrimination wherever we see it. And it’s essential to weed out and challenge toxic masculinity wherever it may lie.

Official video: Helping Men and Boys

The start of my academic career – one month in!

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

It’s now over a month since I left my ‘thirdspace‘ role working as a Learning Developer for the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull to start my academic career. Being a Learning Developer, however, was a job I loved in a profession I adored. I had amazing colleagues, and we were so close we were like a family. I am happy to admit it was hard to walk away from all of that, but now that I am a month in, I am convinced it has been a great move.

The lead-in to my academic career in education

There was a time I would have thought I’d end up in a geography department. Yet – I’ve come to realise the School of Education has fit like a glove. I’ve done a Doctorate in Education; worked as a Learning Developer; worked as an Education, Research and Policy Co-ordinator; volunteered as a school governor, am currently the chair of governors at two schools; adopted three children with my husband, and am a trustee of a local community charity. How could I not see education as where I was meant to be?

More than anything, I am so thankful for working on a recent visit day with a local college. Speaking to those prospective students affirmed to me that I was in the right place and had the right experience to share. Everything I have worked towards led me down this career trajectory. Funnily enough, it was one of my new colleagues made this connection for me. I am, indeed, in the right place!

Teaching as an academic

The teaching has been everything I could have hoped. The master’s content is mostly pre-defined, and we’re delivering set content. This is great, as it ensures students get consistent provision, but our workshops provide enough flexibility to ensure we leave a mark and adapt to our students’ needs. The dissertation module has also been restructured, and it has given me some opportunities to get involved. I’ve covered some lectures for a colleague and have helped to develop the sessions around literature reviews. Alongside the level 7 content, I’ve been fortunate to be part of one of the new level 6 modules. As it is new, nothing is written – and it gives real freedom to write and teach content in the direction we like.

I’m yet to miss the materials I’ve previously delivered for the Skills Team – but given the modules I’m focused on, it’s been very similar content to what I’ve done before. I’ve also been able to retain support for the Postgraduate Training Scheme (PGTS), and I am still teaching on Modern Researcher 2. It’s been nice to keep something a little familiar and be able to continue this small piece.

One of the prime differences to this context of teaching from the Skills Team is that I am part of the team setting/marking the assessment. As such, when I give students assessment advice, I can do so in confidence – knowing it will link to the expectations of the course team.

I’m still awaiting my module allocations for trimester 2, and I look forward to seeing what that will bring. All in good time…

Students

Although students are at the heart of everything we do and permeate academic practice, it feels wrong not to draw specific attention to this. I’m really beginning to get to know some of the students, what motivates them and what their research interests are. As I’ve mentioned, we have a very international cohort, which has provided me with excellent opportunities to learn more about different educational systems. I’m so impressed with the passion and drive these students have, and I can’t wait to see what they do.

There is also some level of nerves. What will those mid-module reviews reveal? How will the summative module evaluation questionnaires reveal? At assessment – how will the students do? There are only some small nerves here, but I think this is important. It helps me keep student interest at the forefront of my mind.

Scholarly practice

Ironically, even though I have ‘left’ Learning Development, I’ve had more time for Learning Development scholarship this last few weeks than I have done in years. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve not got time to burn, but I have some scholarship time in my workload. That’s never happened explicitly before. I’ve been able to get a funding bid in with some colleagues, write a short journal article (brief communication) and serve as a guest editor of JLDHE, taking four articles through to completion. There is much more on the cards, and I have a book chapter to write for January, which I am looking forward to! Right now, however, my focus has to be the PCAP – and finishing my research project which focuses on analysing the Compendium of Innovative Practice: Learning Development in a Time of Disruption. More on that another time 😁

All this scholarship fits in so well with my new role – and I look forward to seeing how it can impact student learning in my modules and programmes. I’ve also joined JLDHE as a permanent editor, and as I teach on the level 6 and level 7 research and dissertation modules, it’s a great fit with my teaching practice too. I’m learning a lot more about research and peer review as every week goes by – and great learning to pass on to my students.

Key reflections on my academic journey so far

The Wilberforce Building - the home of two academic departments including the School of Education -- and my office!
The Wilberforce Building – My new on-campus home!

As I have reflected upon over several of my previous blogs, this role is giving me the thing I wanted more than anything – the ability to scaffold learning and develop meaningful relationships with students. I’m now in my seventh week of teaching, which means I’ve seen some of my students for over 14 hours of contact time. We’ve got to know each other, connect and work on contemporary educational debates. I can’t wait to see what they focus on in their assessments. Marking and feedback will also be something I enjoy – yet another part of the academic cycle I’ve long been excluded from in my previous role.

Dr Lee Fallin holding a spider plant.
New plant for the office!

So far, I’ve blogged about:

  • One of my early reflections focused on teaching my first workshops. I focused on those initial connections with students, and the joy of my allocated modules.
  • Next up, I was able to think about some of the contractual changes and broader opportunities/responsibilities associated with my first (official) week as a lecturer.
  • For week 2, I focused on re-engaging with assessment & feedback. I was intentional in calling this ‘re-engagement’ as I have done assessment and feedback before – it has just been some time!
  • Finally, my last post drew attention to Personal Supervision and to what extent it was new or not.

As you can tell from the introduction, this was a huge move for me. Leaving a workplace and career after ten years was a risk, but it is something that is paying off very well.

Building blocks

The journey into Personal Supervision (week 3)

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Personal supervision is inherently… personal. This makes it hard to reflect on, but I do want to use his week’s blog as an opportunity to think about it in the context of leaving the thirdspace. At first, personal supervision felt like something inherently distinct to academic roles – but the more I’ve reflected upon it, I don’t think it is.

In the context of my previous Learning Development role, there was no personal supervision of students – or similar responsibility. But that is not the case for other thirdspace professionals. I’ve even seen some non-academic (thirdspace) roles dedicated to supervision, although this may not be typical. Student Success roles often fall into this space. Another such example was even Learning Development-based, centred on a single discipline where the Learning Developer supported academic skills development and supervision for all first years. The more I think about it, there may be more exceptions to the rule – especially for some institutions that have wholesale moved supervision away from academic workload and towards professional services.

Diverse approaches to personal supervision

It is also important to acknowledge that the specific duties of personal supervisors might be split in different ways across different institutions. This can change in time too – and Hull even trialled an academic-focused approach to supervision before moving back to a more holistic personal supervision model. Looking at any given responsibility for personal supervisors, there is almost always overlap with the thirdspace. Often, most pastoral issues are usually better supported in the thirdspace. This can even apply to academic-related issues where Learning Developers, Librarians and other professionals may be best placed to support. Yet – while supervision-related duties may fall into the thirdspace at times, I do think there may be something different about that academic-based personal supervision.

I’ve reflected on the last few weeks, and I think there is something special about the academic-based approach to personal supervision. Academics might not be best placed to know everything about the support services available to students, but they are very in tune with the requirements of the course. They should have a feeling for the rigours of the course, based not just on personal experience, but on reflective practice from former course runs. There is also that shared passion for the discipline (hopefully) and an awareness of career options.

Learning Development and personal supervision

Personal supervision stands out as a very different duty from my work in the thirdspace as a Learning Developer. In my old role, I would support different students, disciplines and levels of study. As with my lectures and workshops, as a personal supervisor, I see the same students regularly. This is a sharp contrast to the whole university support focus of my previous role. Don’t get me wrong – I loved that variety at the time. But after a decade of that, I wanted more. I needed a change.

Supervision is a good metaphor for that change for me. That is because, above all, good supervision should be based on connection. Personal supervision works best when supervisors and supervisees know and trust one another. Supervisees need to feel confident they can discuss issues with their supervisor. For this reason, it helps to build that rapport from early on. You just don’t get the chance to engage like that as a Learning Developer, where you are dropping in when needed – then leaving.

My first few weeks as a supervisor

I’ve really enjoyed meeting my students both individually and as a group. It has been great to get to know their motivations and learn more about them. Given the diversity of my supervisees, there is a fair chance I’ll be the one learning from them! One thing that is very similar to being a Learning Developer is the no-shows – but I also recognise life happens, and those circumstances will happen. We will try to re-arrange, I am sure. I had my first group sessions with my supervisees last week, and I hope to meet all of them individually (that want to) in the coming weeks.

It’s been nice to build those connections – and offer some initial support. It’s very much what I expected it to be – which is great. For me, I always think back to the excellent supervision I received as a Geography undergraduate. I just hope I can live up to that example as I move forwards into this role myself.

Earlier this month I reflected on leaving the thirdspace. This post continues my reflections on the transition to my new job!

Love books - a heard in pages

Re-engaging with assessment and feedback – week 2 reflections

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

One of the defining characteristics of my time as a Learning Developer was that I did not get involved in assessment marking and feedback. There were a handful of exceptions, including some early work for the Business School and our contribution to the Postgraduate Training Scheme. Both of these opportunities were phased out early on in my career, and as such, I’ve not done marking in some time. I know many people who dislike marking – but it was always something I kind of missed. Marking assessments is an essential part of the academic cycle, and the provision of summative feedback helps students to develop moving forwards. I always missed not being part of that. It feels like one of the significant differences between many thirdspace professionals and academics.

While I didn’t do regular assessment marking and feedback, I was certainly up-to-date with the literature and theory in many places. Part of my role as a Learning Developer was helping students to understand their assessments – even if I didn’t set them. I think the vast majority of my appointments were with students focusing on an assessment. It was also a growing area for workshops, with many academics inviting us to run in-curricula sessions on specific assessments. These requests often focused on assessments that step away from essays and reports. I’ve run many sessions on posters, presentations, public communications and more. Yet… I didn’t actually mark the work or provide that summative feedback. That always made me feel like a fraud every time LTHE chat turned to assessment.

Re-engaging with assessment

That brings me back to my reflections on my new job as I finish my second official week as an academic. Assessment and feedback are very much within my remit now. In fact, we’ve just finished the first and second marking for all the postgraduate dissertations from the last year. Given my start date, I only had second marking to do – but it was so nice to get back into assessment. It’s made for quite an inspiring start to the academic year for me, reading about all the fantastic things our outgoing students did in their research over the last year. This has also energised me for the year ahead and the research supervision I will be doing in my own role.

Using assessment and feedback to reflect forwards

I should also note that assessment is exciting from a programme design perspective. The work that students produce gives us opportunities to reflect on how we can continue to improve assessment moving forwards. This could involve different support, new guidance, better clarification or fundamental change to assessment. As one academic year ends, another begins. With postgraduate courses, there is little gap in-between, but we must find the time to reflect on practice. I had the luxury of not being involved in the previous academic year, coming in fresh for 2022-23. Next year I will need to pay close attention to this transition and make sure I pen in time to reflect between the years.

I don’t feel like I can say much more on assessment at this point other than acknowledge that contrast to my previous role. Assessment and feedback are rarely in the remit of thirdspace professionals, and that is something worth unpicking in my reflections over the course of the year.

Reflecting beyond assessment

Before closing, I just wanted to note that other things beyond assessment happened this week as well. I got to deliver my first lecture for the MA programme, covering a lecturer who was away. I also got to see my supervisees for the first time and develop my understanding of personal supervision. Finally, all my weekly workshops took place, and I had the opportunity to get to know my students and their research interests further. More to unpack in a future blog.

Earlier this month I reflected on leaving the thirdspace. This post continues my reflections on the transition to my new job!

My first (official) week as a lecturer

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, I reflected on delivering my first workshops in my new role as a lecturer. This was, however, technically before my new contract started. Today I can now reflect on my first official week in post as a lecturer.

My first day was technically the 1st of October (the date stated on the contract). While it wasn’t a working day, I actually logged in on the 1st of the month to check my role had switched from ‘Academic and Library Specialist‘ to ‘Lecturer in Education Studies‘. It had. Phew! 😮‍💨 My main reason for doing this was so I could renew my library books which were currently on recall due to the contract change. It was also reassuring to know I’d still get paid at some point too. 😅

The system changes were more important than just Library access – they also gave me a route into the systems I’d need as an academic. I could finally see who my personal supervisees were – and access the data I needed to support them. Of course – this is all a strange aspect of my internal move and does not have so much to do with the roles themselves. It also represented the loss of access to the Library’s internal systems. In particular, I will very much miss using LibGuides and LibCal – part of the LibApps suite. These were excellent tools, although not something I will need day-to-day anymore. I’ve also lost access to (and responsibility for) the Library’s social media. Suffice it to say – my Twitter notifications have gone down significantly!

New role, new contact

This contract change to lecturer also represented my final step out of the thirdspace as I am now officially in an academic post. Having worked in the thirdspace for a decade, I know this is a significant change. In an academic role, I now have new opportunities for career development and progression. There are also clearer policies governing things like intellectual property and consultancy, which were always challenging in the thirdspace as there was an assumption no one in professional services would produce content in this scope. A lot of this doesn’t really matter right here and now, but it represents future opportunities. There is also much more freedom and control in the day-to-day work, more reflective of the duties than anything else.

My teaching workload is focused on educational research, and I couldn’t be happier. I am part of the teams working on the level 7 dissertation (60 credits) and research design and implementation (30 credits) modules. I am also supporting the level 6 extended research project module (60 credits). This essentially gives me the dissertation and research methods support at both levels 6 and 7, bringing foucs to my new role. These modules really fit in with my areas of expertise and I can’t wait to see that the students do with their research opportunity.

For me, the level 6 work is exciting as it is a brand new module, so we all have the opportunity to put our mark on it and shape the content. For the level 7 modules, the content is mostly developed so we can focus on delivery instead. This gives me time to prepare more thoroughly, and as we have a diverse and international cohort, I look forward to learning about educational concepts and theories beyond the UK.

In focus: My first week

Focusing on my first week in more detail, it was brilliant to deliver my second workshop for two of the modules I am part of. It was particularly nice to see the same group of students for a second week, something that is a novelty compared to my old role. As a Learning Developer, I would see a revolving door of students from every discipline and level of study. As a lecturer, I am supporting three modules and a number of personal supervisees. I will see the same students over and over again. We can learn names, get to know each other and build a relationship. This will allow us to build connections and trust, enabling higher levels of discussion and debate in workshops. I also hope it will allow honesty and candidness, which are enablers for topics like positionally and ethics. This will develop in time, but we were really able to hit the ground running this week after the groundwork set in the first session. I’ve already spoken with so many passionate students this last week; the whole experience has been totally energising.

With this role, there is also a lot of responsibility. Lecturers play a significant role in the student experience and are often the primary contact students have with the university. Given my module allocation, it is essential to acknowledge that supporting students with their dissertations is a significant undertaking as these assessments tend to have a high weighting. At level 6, the module is worth half of their final year. For level 7 students, the dissertation is the equivalent of one-third of their grade. These modules are essential for student success, and I will be doing everything in my power to make them a fantastic experience for my students.

Another area of responsibility is also personal supervision. As a personal supervisor, I will act as that first port of call for students in need. I have much to learn in this area, but there is also excellent support from the Faculty, so I feel very comfortable in this undertaking. I also have the benefit of my previous years working in the same institution, so I am very familiar with the services available. I’m looking forward to developing my role as a personal supervisor, and it will be great to get to know these students more in weeks to come.

Earlier this month I reflected on leaving the thirdspace. This post continues my reflections on the transition to my new job!