Peter Williams

Employment/ Place of Work:

University College Scarborough

Country of Residence:

England

How I fit the course work into my life

As a lecturer in the British 'new university' sector, and in a small institution, I have a high teaching load, far too many hats to wear and little time to be a reflective practitioner. My participation in the course consisted of sporadic bursts of activity at times driven by TMA deadlines! I found it almost impossible to do any more than work on the TMAs (which I did find very valuable), but I feel I lost out by not being able to participate in conference activities.

My most cherished interaction on the programme:

I really valued the support of Tony Kaye, who I was lucky to have as tutor for 801, 802 and 804. He talked me out of withdrawing from the programme when I was feeling particularly pressured. Although we've never met f2f, he's been a friend and a respected mentor.

Which of the different course models suited me best?

I found H804 fitted best with my sporadic work pattern. I wasn't very good at H802 as, with a very demanding job, I was left with little time in which to be 'constructivist'. It was useful to have experienced the H801 paradigm, but I found the assessment load (AND an examination!!!) excessive, and I thought it ironic that although the course preached deep learning, the sheer volume of material I was expected to get through encouraged surface learning. Hmm!



Answers to the Vice Chancellor's questions:

In what ways am I putting into practice the ideas and understandings I developed on the programme:

As I was doing H802 & H804 I was involved in creating and developing a web-based course in business management for small companies. I found this an excellent way to relate theory and practice. The most significant thing I learned from H804 was the need for an effective infrastructure for student support. I'm now involved with a university business school in developing three new programmes for part-time degrees and a preparatory course for MBA students. All of these will have important open and distance learning components.