Emma & Tom Talk Teaching

We're back with another edition of PGCE Research Bites, and this week we've got Cameron Corsi, who's a student on our PGCE Secondary PE programme. Cameron was, like many of our other students this year, given the topic of blended learning to research for his Lead Partnership School. There are some specific considerations for practical subject domains like PE, and Cameron was careful to ensure these were drawn out as part of his research. Cameron has kindly given permission for us to share his visual summary, which you can see by clicking here. Cameron's six main literature sources for this piece of research were:   Rossett, A., & Frazee, R. (2006). Blended learning opportunities. New York, NY. American Management Association. Garrison, D., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 7(2), 95–105. Vernadakis, N., Giannousi, M., Sitskari, E., Antoniou, P., & Kioumourtzoglou, E. (2012). A comparison of student satisfaction between traditional and blended technology course offerings in physical education. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 1, 137–147. Vernadakis, N., Giannousi, M., Derri, V., Michalopoulos, M., & Kioumourtzoglou, E. (2012). The impact of blended and traditional instruction in students’ performance. Procedia Technology, 1, 439–443. Singh, H. (2003). Building effective blended learning programs. Educational Technology-Saddle Brook Then Englewood Cliffs, 43(6), 51–54. Tayebinik, M., & Puteh, M. (2013). Blended Learning or E- learning?. In Tayebinik, M., & Puteh, M. (2012) Blended Learning or E-Learning, pp. 103-110.  

Welcome to our 2021 Easter light episode! Last Easter, Tom was recording furtively in his car in the dark, so things have improved a little - he's back in the office. And Emma remains at home, so it's another remote recording in which we bring a selection of random goodies for your enjoyment. Actually, enjoyment might be a bit optimistic, as both of our presenters seem to have arrived with some slightly heavier material than usual. Stick with us, though, as we ruminate over freedom of speech, inclusion, decolonisation and impostor syndrome. Eventually we'll arrive at the sunlit uplands of our comedy twitter offerings, with some ruthless university management parodies and something unmentionable involving Weetabix. Have a wonderful Easter break, and we'll be back with normal service next time!     ---------- Recorded remotely on 8th March 2021

Welcome to another edition of PGCE Research Bites! Once again, we've given a PGCE student 30 minutes to tell us about some research that's benefited his own practice and informed the work of his placement school. This week, Matthew Green from PGCE music talks about feedback in music. Always a knotty subject, he's looking specifically at how this can be done in a blended learning environment. Matthew discusses six academic sources in detail and explains how they informed his conclusions and recommendations. Matthew has very kindly made his infographic available if you'd like to view it - just click here! Matthew's six pieces of academic literature are: Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007) 'The Power of Feedback', Review of Educational Research, 77(1), pp. 81-112. Wiliam, D. (2016) 'The secret of effective feedback', Educational Leadership, 73(7), pp. 10-17. Christodoulou, D. (2020) Teachers vs Tech? The case for an ed tech revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Clark, R., Mayer, R. (2016) 'Does Practice Make Perfect?', in E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning, Fourth edition, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 284-310. Philpott, C., Evans, K. (2016) 'Assessment in music education', in Cooke, C., Evans, K., Philpott, C., Spruce, G. (ed.) Learning to Teach Music in the Secondary School, Third Edition, Abingdon: Oxon: Routledge, pp. 194-209. Hatch, E. (2020) 'Going Beyond “It Sounds Good”: Developing Student Capacity to Give Meaningful Feedback', General Music Today, 33(3), pp. 29-35. doi:10.1177/1048371319892241 (Accessed: 16 November 2020).

We're starting to hear more and more about cognitive science when discussing research-informed approaches to teaching. It can seem an intimidating field, and can also come across as quite 'black and white' - especially when co-opted as an argument-winner in some of the less friendly contributions to edu-Twitter! So we thought it was high time to sit down for a discussion with someone who can throw some light on cognitive neuroscience - and just a few doors down the corridor we have Dr Louise Allen-Walker, Programme Director for the MSc Psychology in Education programme! Of course, we haven't seen Louise in person for quite some time, so we posted her some kit to allow us to hook up remotely, and got down to a deep discussion. Along the way, we define cognitive neuroscience, get some honest answers about what it can and can't tell us, as well as showing which of the current big themes of teaching and learning have their roots in Louise's field of specialism. There are plenty of useful, practical strategies for us to follow as teachers based around growth mindset and how and what to praise. Of course, we couldn't talk about cognitive neuroscience without inviting Louise to bust a few persistent neuromyths, and hopefully we can play a small part in putting some of these highly resilient, and occasionally quite damaging, tall tales to bed once and for all. And towards the end we even get a cameo appearance from Lousie's local Neuromyth Van, which apparently drives the streets around her house inviting residents to dispose of any old neuromyths so they can be crushed into cubes and buried deep below ground. If you're interested in studying on any of the programmes Louise runs, do drop her an email: LAllen-Walker@cardiffmet.ac.uk   --------------- Recorded remotely on 27th January 2021  

Welcome to the first in a new podcast venture! From the team behind Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we present PGCE Research Bites! Every year our PGCE students produce high-quality research work that informs their own philosophy and practice, and benefits the schools they work with. We've decided to make use of the 'in between' Fridays to share some of the very best of that work with you. We've got one PGCE student each time, who has 30 minutes to talk through their work and what they found. You'll hear details about the academic literature they discovered, the conclusions they drew from it, and the recommendations they came up with for their own practice and their placement school. This week, Ellis Seddon from PGCE Secondary Religious Education talks about the work she did to better understand how to support pupils with ADHD while working in a blended learning environment. With Ellis's kind permission, you can click here to take a look at the visual summary of her research! Ellis's six pieces of academic literature that she discussed in detail are below. We'll be back with a regular podcast episode next week, and PGCE Research Bites will be back in a fortnight! Halverson, L.R. and Graham, C.R., (2019). Learner Engagement in Blended Learning Environment: A Conceptual Framework. Online Learning [online] 23(2). Available from: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1218398.pdf> [accessed 22nd December 2020], pp.145-178. Morsink, S., Sonuga-Barke, E., Mies, G., Glorie, N., Lemiere, J., Van der Oord, S and Danckaerts, M., (2017). What motivates individuals with ADHD? A qualitative analysis from the adolescent’s point of view. European Child & Adolescent Pyschiatry¸[online] 26(8). Available from: <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28233072/> [accessed 22nd December 2020], pp.923-932. Guderjahn, L., Gold, A., Stadler, G. and Gawrilow, C., (2013). Self-regulation strategies support children with ADHD to overcome symptom-related behaviour in the classroom. ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders [online] 5(4). Available from: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256985255> pp.397-407. Martin, A.J., (2013). Improving the Achievement, Motivation, and Engagement of Students with ADHD: The Role of Personal Best Goals and Other Growth-Based Approaches. Australian Journey of Guidance and Counselling [online] 23(1). Available from: <https://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/school-psychology-services/professional-development/2016/resources/adhd_article.pdf> [accessed 22nd December 2020], pp. 143-155. Driggs, C. and Brillante, J., (2020). Culture of Attention and Engagement. In: Lemov, D. ed. Teaching in the Online Classroom: Surviving and Thriving in the New Normal. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass, pp. 57-80. Cross, S., (2019). Using VLEs to Offer Higher Education Students Choice and Differentiation in Learning Activities: Micro-Pathway Learning Design Implementation and Opportunities. In: Orngreen, R., Buhl, M., Meyer, B. 18th European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL 2019). Copenhagen, 7-8 November. Sonning Common: Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited, pp. 137-144.  

Our guest today is Cameron Stewart, who runs the PGCE secondary mathematics programme here at Cardiff Met. He's come to talk to us about research he's carried out into strategies for closing the gender gap in mathematics. Maths is a subject that can sometimes feel like it needs an image makeover - why, we ask Cameron, is it so socially acceptable to say you're bad at it?! And how do we try and dispel the genuine fear that very intelligent people often experience when faced with maths? Cameron's got a number of practical strategies for us, and outlines his thoughts about the subject more widely. For anyone who wants more maths content, there's a big shoutout to the Mr Barton Maths podcast and his other online resources. We hope you enjoy the discussion, and even if you're not a maths specialist, there's plenty here to get you thinking about gender differences and how to create the right ethos in your classroom. And if you want to experience Cameron's musical side, you can find his band, Session, at www.sessionuk.com, on Twitter @sessionuk and on Instagram @Session.UK!     ----------------------- Recorded remotely on 11th January 2021

For this episode we welcome three special guests to our podcast! Dr Fiona Chambers is the head of the School of Education at University College Cork, and she has co-authored a book with our very own Dr Anna Bryant and Dr David Aldous. The book, entitled Threshold Concepts in Physical Education covers an enormous amount of fascinating ground, and isn't just for PE specialists. With curriculum design a hot topic, and many of us revisiting some of our most fundamental assumptions about our subject disciplines, this book is a timely addition to anyone's reading list. In the course of our discussion, Fiona, Anna and David explain what threshold concepts are, and what we mean by a design thinking approach. The book itself outlines a collaboration between the three authors and a number of school practitioners. Finally, with three guests, we've got a bumper crop of wellbeing tips, interesting things and ideas to try! The book is Chambers, F. C, Aldous, D. & Bryant, A. (2020) Threshold Concepts in Physical Education: A Design Thinking Approach. London: Routledge.   ----------------------- Recorded remotely on 18th January 2021

It's always good when a previous podcast guest comes back for more, so we're delighted to welcome Fiona Heath-Diffey back to our studio! Fiona is the programme leader for PGCE Secondary PE here at Cardiff Met, and you may remember her from our interesting discussion about physical literacy way back in season 1. Fiona's back to talk about the new Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and Experience in the new curriculum for Wales, and where the subject domain of PE fits in that much bigger and more complex picture. Whether you're listening from Wales or not, there's loads to take away from this discussion about the interface between physical education and wellbeing more generally, and how schools can join the dots to give our pupils the best chance of being healthy, confident individuals with a positive relationship with their physical and mental selves. The document Emma mentions (The Journey to 2022) is here: https://hwb.gov.wales/api/storage/cbe5e2c9-16cf-4eb7-87a1-c1a64fc598d8/the-journey-to-2022.pdf ...and you can find the Health and Wellbeing curriculum documents from the new curriculum for Wales here: https://hwb.gov.wales/curriculum-for-wales/health-and-well-being/     ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus, and remotely, on 7th December 2020    

This week we've cast our net outside the world of schools to speak to two peer mentors from the homelessness charity, Shelter. Thanks to loyal friend of the podcast Becky Brynolf, we've got an interview with Colette Carter and Lee Demetriou, who are peer mentors with lived experience of homelessness and multiple complex needs. We wanted to speak to Colette and Lee about their experiences of education, and their thoughts about how teachers can approach pupils who experience homelessness and other complex needs. What follows is a powerful discussion, and you may find some of the content upsetting. Lee and Colette were keen to emphasise that they were happy for us to use all the content, and we hope it illustrates the need to approach our pupils as humans first and foremost. If you'd like to hear more from Colette and Lee, the Shelter podcast Challenging is available on all good podcast platforms. If you'd like to find out more about the work of Shelter, you can visit their website. And if you're concerned about a pupil, remember that you have colleagues who can support you - and if you're a student teacher that includes your university staff. We'll be back in two weeks!       ------------ Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus and remotely on 16th September 2020  

So here we are, the newly regenerated version of the PGCE Podcast! We're now known as Emma and Tom Talk Teaching, and hope this will encourage more serving teachers to listen to us and realise that we're here for educators of all types! Hope you enjoy the snazzy new artwork and remixed podcast theme music too. For this first episode of 2021, we're talking to two colleagues from Cardiff Met who specialise in supporting quiet, shy and anxious children in the classroom. Dr Susan Davis and Dr Rhiannon Packer tell us about a gloriously simple intervention that pays dividends with these children, and gives us an insight into how we can help them feel comfortable and safe in the learning environment. The book reviews this episode are: Criado-Perez, C (2020) Invisible Women. London: Vintage Van Ness, J (2020) Over the Top. London: Simon and Schuster   Also, Rhiannon has a book out around about now! It's All Change! Best Practice for Educational Transitions, and it's published by Critical Publishing. Congratulations, Rhiannon!   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus and remotely on 10th November 2020