Teaching research methods and the dilemmas of structuring student research papers
By Tullio Viola When I started my supervision activity at FASoS a couple of years ago, I noticed something I wasn’t anticipating. In comparison to other institutions where I had previously worked, students were paying much more attention to making…
How to make peer feedback a constructive group effort
By Yf Reykers Peer feedback is often included in courses as a tool for collaborative learning. Yet, is it always so collaborative and constructive? In theory, providing comments on another student’s assignment and engaging with the comments from peers is…
On thesis supervision meetings
By Karin Bijsterveld A few years ago, I changed my way of organising individual thesis supervision meetings with BA and MA students. I know I am not the only one—I heard other teachers talking about similar ‘systems,’ but newcomers might…
How to make the best of online individual feedback through Skype
By John Harbord The coronavirus has forced us all, without much preparation, to switch to online teaching. But what about online individual feedback? Synchronous conversation is often more effective than asynchronous written feedback, so maybe you want to talk to…
The Case for Log Books: An Assignment Designed to Promote Student Reflection on Academic Writing
By Elizabeth Olsson For the last two years, I have worked as a writing coach in one of the largest introductory courses offered by the School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The course is Introduction to…
Using word association to assess learning in the BA ES
By Paul Stephenson My experience of teaching Area Studies in the BA European Studies is that, once you move beyond the initial tour de table that maps what we know based on basic assumptions and personal experiences, the group has little idea…
Four underestimated ways to become a better academic writer
By Patrick Bijsmans “Learning how to do research is one of the most important tasks at the university. It is also one of the most challenging.” (Murtonen & Lehtinen, ‘Learning to be a researcher’, in Academic research and researchers) Academic…
Using writing in PBL: Less talking – more ideas
By John Harbord The typical PBL session: some students talk, some are silent – are the silent ones not contributing because they didn’t do the reading, because they are shy, or why? It’s often hard to tell. Some show off…
