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LLS share innovative pedagogies: reflections on “Creative approaches to teaching and learning”, DMU Learning and Teaching Conference 12/9/18

LLS share innovative pedagogies: reflections on “Creative approaches to teaching and learning”, DMU Learning and Teaching Conference 12/9/18

kbt

 

At the DMU Teaching and Learning Conference, 12/09/18 Librarians from Academic Liaison (Anna Richards, Kaye Towlson, Carol Keddie, Adele Creak) and Julia Reeve (CELT, Library) demonstrated an array of creative pedagogies currently utilised in Library teaching and the wider curriculum. Techniques included the card game “Sources” (Walsh 2013) which enables students to explore different formats and uses of information. The use of Lego as a visual metaphor to illustrate and aid understanding of the need to reference (know where your building blocks come from). These techniques are rooted within information and digital literacy teaching. The visual and tactile methods developed in our Writing PAD Centre at DMU (http://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/ ): image –enriched mind maps, the dress up doll of themes and key terms, swollage (swot analysis by collage), reframing research, serious Lego play and visual mapping are utilised in assignment/dissertation research and planning workshops. The use and benefits of mind mapping software was also demonstrated.

Feedback from this session declared those attending to be “inspired” and “revved up for teaching”. They found the session to be “motivational” and noted intentions to “embed in my teaching”. People took away new, innovative and inclusive pedagogic techniques to enhance student learning and experience here at DMU.

Delivered in a speed dating format, this was a very popular but oversubscribed session leading to a crowded classroom. Thinking on our feet, an adjacent classroom was used to showcase half of the technique talks, slightly impeding the smooth flow of speed dating traffic. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with some mention of the teaching environment.

Our takeaways from this session are the popularity of and enthusiasm with which pedagogic innovation and creativity is received by DMU academics. The importance of hands on experience; this is the usual mode of delivery for Writing PAD techniques but not always possible for some sessions. Despite practical, unanticipated classroom issues on the day this session was well received and raised the profile of Library and Learning Services as a centre for innovative learning.

 

 

SWOT analysis collage
dress up doll of themes and keywords

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WALSH, Andrew (2013) Sources [Online]. Available from http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/16230/ [Accessed 23/10/18]

Free boost! Secure device charging lockers in Kimberlin Library

Free boost! Secure device charging lockers in Kimberlin Library

Richard Partridge

*New service alert klaxon*

Need somewhere to charge your phone, tablet or laptop securely? With Kimberlin Library’s new ‘Battery Bank’ lockers we’ve got just the place to get you topped up.

Each locker contains a standard 13 amp socket and a double USB outlet, both with RCD circuit protection.

Lockers are numbered and require a £1 coin to release which is refunded when the key is returned and the locker is opened. Plug in your device using your own USB cable or charger, pop in a £1 coin, lock and you’re away.

Please keep your key safe! For security reasons a lost key may mean a delay in you retrieving your device and a lock replacement fee of £20. Please see terms and conditions posted.

 

We’d love to hear what you think of the new charging lockers, please drop us a line via our Feedback box or online

 

Folklore Thursday 18/01/2018

Dr Natalie Hayton

What an amazing theme for #FolkloreThursday this week! Requests for #clothing lore makes for the perfect opportunity to highlight this wonderful poster set produced by the International Wool Secretariat in 1954, titled ‘Costumes of Europe in Wool’.

Each beautifully illustrated poster, while offering somewhat stereotypical representations of European nationalities, is accompanied by explanatory text on the types of wool used (of course) and the costumes, shedding some light on the meanings and traditions behind the garments.

For Norway, we are told that the mountainous regions between villages meant that inhabitants of the  valleys rarely saw each other. This led to communities developing their own distinct traditions and costumes making for a bit of decorative rivalry.

In Austria, we discover that the origin of the phrase ‘a feather in his cap’ is associated with the Tyrol-style hat. Wrestlers in the region would fight wearing their hats and attempt to pin their opponent while plucking the feather from their hat. The acquired feather would then become a symbol of the victorious combat.

In Portugal, a fisherman’s hat is of the utmost importance as his woollen “pyjama-like” garments have no pockets. Prudently, small personal items “such as matches and tobacco” are stored safely in his thick woollen cap away from the water.

Handed down through generations of Flemish families, a mother teaches her daughter the tradition of lace-making in the poster for Belgium.

The collection was used as a fashion and textiles teaching resource and were held in the DMU library before being transferred to the archive.

Let’s get knitting!

Natalie

New Collections

Katharine Short

Just before Christmas we were excited to take in three new collections. We are processing them and will put catalogues for each one on the Archives Hub in due course. Meanwhile if you are interested in viewing the papers please contact us to make arrangements for a visit.

Leicester Riders Basketball Club

The Leicester Riders are the oldest operating basketball team in the country, founded in April 1967. Their collection includes material from the 1970s to 2015 such as match programmes, press cuttings, administration and finance, papers relating to projects with schools including Hoops for Health and Sports Unlimited, papers relating to marketing and merchandising, match night recon, statistics, match photographs, magazines, guides and handbooks, rules and regulations, directories and coaching manuals. There are also some objects including vests, t-shirts and a signed basketball.

Leicester Area National Union of Mineworkers

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was a trade union for coal miners, formed in 1944 from the earlier Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). The Union represented its members on a variety of issues including wages, holidays, pensions, fuel allowances, social welfare benefits and the recognition of industrial diseases. The Leicester Area branch was based on Bakewell Street, Coalville, and was active at a number of coalmines including Desford, Snibston, Whitwick, Ellistown and Belvoir Prospect.

The collection includes committee minutes, correspondence, reports, plans, machinery schemes, maps and charts. It spans the 1930s to the 1980s.

Papers of David Batchelor, Community and Youth Work lecturer

David Batchelor undertook a degree in Sociology before becoming a teacher. He became a lecturer in Community and Youth Work at the City of Leicester Training College for Teachers, later known as the City of Leicester College of Education, which merged with Leicester Polytechnic in 1976.

The papers span the 1950s to 1990s and illuminate community, youth and social work teaching in this period. They include course papers such as timetables, modules and handbooks; brochures and promotional material; papers relating to students such as photographs, demographics and enrolment; papers relating to staff including photographs, appointments and regulations; and sets of photographs of the Scraptoft Campus (including a visit by Princess Margaret), events, and student activities. Some of the material relates to the National College for Training Youth Leaders, founded in 1960, which merged with the Training College for Teachers in 1969.

 

Katharine