This video illustrates how to interface teaching, SRS, and the VLE to engage in a two-way dialogue with the students. We highlight how to complement blended-learning and blended-surveying. https://sites.google.com/site/fabioarico

1. 1
When Student Confidence Clicks
Academic Self-Efficacy
and Learning in HE
Fabio R. Aricò
Chris Thomson
Engaging in an open
dialogue with the students

2. OUTLINE
PART 1 When Student Confidence Clicks
Qualitative data analysis
Results from focus group interviews
Chris Thomson (and Kathleen Lane)
PART 2 From Blended Learning to Blended Surveying
a by-product of the When Student Confidence Clicks Project
methods to engage in a continuous dialogue with students
Fabio R. Aricò
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3. 1. When Student Confidence Clicks
Qualitative data analysis
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4. 4
FOCUS GROUPS: set-up
2 focus group sessions
Nov 2013 Role of SRS in learning
Confidence and self-efficacy
10 participants
5 home students
5 overseas students
Mar 2014 Experience with the module
Opinions on learning environment
2 separate groups (on same day)
6 high-performing students
4 low-performing students

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FOCUS GROUPS: recruitment protocol
• Invitation email sent to all students (first-come-first-served)
different email sent to high/low performing students
2 different time-slots without revealing criteria.
• Students invited to collect a ticket from School’s General Office
1st focus group: disclose domicile status
2nd focus group: disclose time-slot on invitation email.
• Tickets collected at focus group session for participation.
• Facilitators not involved in “Introductory Economics” teaching.
 Preserve anonymity and disclose as little information as possible.
 Control for number of participants (as many as tickets available).
 Allow for balanced representation within a diverse student population.

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FOCUS GROUPS: general considerations
Interview schedules at a glance
• Assessing the impact of use of technology in the module
• Reflecting on different teaching innovations within the module
• Reflecting on student confidence (self-assessment, pressure, comparison)
Findings: preamble
• Students displayed different learning styles and diverse preferences.
 Diversity detected in student attitudes towards clickers.
• Attention often diverted to whole teaching styles, teaching resources,
approachability of teaching team.

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FOCUS GROUPS: 1st Session (Nov 2013)
Interview schedule
• investigate the role of clickers and learning technology
Findings
• Initially: not much endorsement of clickers
pace ‘too fast/too slow’ – ‘just one more thing to do’
• Deeper probing: recognised role of clickers on learning and motivation
‘really useful’ – ‘can tell the truth’ – ‘interactive’ – ‘know where you are’
• Students appreciate anonymity and feel more confident at
answering question and participating to the class.

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FOCUS GROUPS: 1st Session (Nov 2013)
I found it’s really useful
because we don’t have
anything in my country …
…the computer asks you if
you are confident or not,
and you can say [‘yes’], if
‘no’ you can tell the truth.
you are confident to
answer the question even
if you are not confident
about the answer
I think it actually motivates me
to focus on what I’ve actually
missed, like go to the lecturer or
study more
I know that I’m very weak
in this area and I need to
work on it more
There is not always time
to finish all the questions
that you’ve prepared …
and those are the
questions we’re going to
get in the exams

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FOCUS GROUPS: 2nd Session (Mar 2014)
Interview schedule
• explore student confidence, study habits, motivation factors
Findings
• Students acknowledge that the material had become ‘harder’.
• A difference emerged: high-performing students developed a learning style
and a learning strategy – higher awareness and control over learning.
Low-performance students less worried as First Year ‘doesn’t matter’.
• Some low-performing students recognised the role of clickers in highlighting
difficulties and motivating them to seek for help. Stronger change in study
habits, like ‘working harder’ or ‘not missing lectures’.

10. Work out what works best
for you quite quickly –
whether making notes or
going through the slides
when you go home is best
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FOCUS GROUPS: 2nd Session (Mar 2014)
The adversity of not doing
well on clicker questions:
It stressed me out… I worked
harder! It gave me the
motivation to look over it
[the material] because I
wanted to correct it.
It sort of engages you a lot more
in lectures… and especially in the
workshops because you go
through loads of different
questions and sort of click away
and that way you can know
where you are
when I read the hand-outs
myself…after the lecture, I
understand so much more
than when I’m actually in
the classroom.
[I] avoided it [the
Library] but it had
become her second
home
I know that I need to go in
and speak to someone or
go to a support session
can know where you are.
… [W]hen I wasn’t doing
so well, I felt a little bit
low but then I realised
that the clickers are a way
of letting me know that,
so I can go and improve
I am confident
if I stick to my
revision schedule
only needing 40%
to pass
doesn’t actually
matter

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FOCUS GROUPS: closing remarks
• The diversity in the opinions gathered within the focus group session are
underpinned by diverse background, reactions to the university environment
and by diverse learning styles.
• Evidence from the qualitative data supports the claim that clickers contribute
both directly and indirectly to student confidence about their learning as well
as their level of engagement with the module;
directly  when students recognise the role of clickers as
a powerful self-assessment device;
indirectly  when students feel, however, empowered to take
more active participation in their learning.

12. 2. From Blended Learning
to Blended Surveying
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BLENDED SURVEYING: a Project’s by-product
I found myself interacting with the students more and more:
 I found out what students like and dislike with much finer detail
 I had chance to respond to their opinions in real time
 Sometimes it is just enough to explain why things cannot be done.
I found out that an ‘end of module’ questionnaire is not enough
 Are we asking the right questions? At the right time? In the right way?
Students recognised this:
“Best thing: the support provided by all the lecturers, teachers and the
amount of feedback that is asked for shows that the staff care a lot for our
learning experience”

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BLENDED SURVERYING: the idea
In a highly structured and diversified Blended Learning environment
we need an equally sophisticated Blended Surveying approach.
Contact hours:
lectures, small group seminars, large group workshops,
office hours, and support meetings.
Modes of delivery:
frontal teaching, seminar discussion, peer-instructed workshop
practice, video-assisted individual study, VLE delivered material.
How can we assess the effectiveness of all this?

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BLENDED SURVEYING: principles
1) SIMULTANEITY  Evaluate the process of learning as it occurs.
Students do not need to recall events: they
just share their feelings in real time.
2) CONSISTENCY  Assess teaching using the same devices
according to which teaching is delivered.
This enables simultaneity, and seamlessly blends
teaching, learning, and evaluation processes.
3) CONTINUITY  Use the process along the whole teaching period.
Make adjustments. Detect change in opinions.
4) CIRCULARITY  Close the feedback loop. Talk to the students.
Acknowledge changes. Explain why cannot change.

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BLENDED SURVEYING: examples and practice
Lectures Response to clicking sessions
Democracy polls: what to do next?
Seminars Open-text box at the end of seminar quizzes.
Transformed from a specific clarification tool
into a forum for discussion with the students.
(Individual responses posted on Blackboard).
Interim surveys deployed via Google Forms
Asking questions and responding with a feedback
document posted on Blackboard.

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FINAL REMARKS
We cannot put in place any action to enhance Academic Self-Efficacy
if we do not commit to engage in a continuous dialogue with the student body.
This does not necessarily mean spoon-feeding students and solving
all their problems, but showing that we are ready to listen to them and
address their concerns, even if just to say: ‘no, this cannot be done’.
Best open-text comment ever received from a student to a multiple
choice question in a seminar quiz:
But this depends if we consider the Keynesian or the Monetarist
approach. If we consider Keynes, demand side is more important…
 Mission accomplished: First Year students acknowledging pluralistic views!

18. Tweet from a student:
Time to play who wants to be a
millionaire in my economics lecture
#FunLearning.
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