Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
Change, Continuity and Opportunity
Author: David Mossley
Journal Title: Discourse
ISSN:
ISSN-L:
Volume: 3
Number: 2
Start page: 4
End page: 4
Return to vol. 3 no. 2 index page
This is the sixth issue of the journal from the Philosophical and Religious Studies Subject Centre. It is also the last from this subject centre as part of the LTSN. On 30th April the LTSN—along with the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE), the National Co-ordination Team (NCT) and the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme—will become part of the new Higher Education Academy. Within the Academy the role of the subject centres will continue unchanged for the foreseeable future and we shall continue to develop and respond to the discipline communities’ needs in terms of learning and teaching support. And it is with pleasure that once again we can present new pedagogical development in Discourse as we shall continue to do. The first issue of volume four of Discourse will be published in the Autumn.
MacDonald Ross presents a comprehensive account of the nature, causes and possible solutions for plagiarism in philosophy, focusing on the development of students’ grasp of philosophical literacy and their own writing style, surely a key skill for all undergraduates to acquire. He also provides an overview of currently available detection services. This report should stand as benchmark starting point for contemporary discussions of plagiarism.
Fearn and Francis, and Petrovich offer quantitative and qualitative studies of students’ experiences in moving from A-levels to higher-education and the impact of studying psychology in theology and religious studies respectively. Not only are these exceptionally useful studies, but they demonstrate part of the diversity of approach open to lecturers and developers of educational research in the humanities.
Crome and Garfield, in an independent study, provide an excellent and full discussion of how texts should be used in philosophy teaching. They argue for a comprehensive appreciation of the centrality of texts as texts in how students grow in their understanding of philosophy as a means of reflecting on their world. As they state ‘text-based teaching and learning has received scant attention as a form of pedagogical practice within philosophy provision’—their research and reflection on this issue is therefore of great importance in launching a dialogue and future developments to support diverse teaching strategies in this area.
Sleigh discusses the uses of role play in teaching the history of science based on her own experiences and research into different pedagogical techniques. It illustrates exciting possibilities for teaching in this area.
Stuart and Brown describe the use of an electronic voting system for logic teaching that allows student participation in large scale group teaching. Most interestingly they discovered the system reveals there is a gap between what lecturers and students regard as the most challenging aspects of logic learning and teaching. In enhancing the students’ experience of education acquisition of this kind of knowledge is vital. Webster provides a discussion of the kind of skills a good supervisor might pass on to their doctoral students. Her reflection on her experiences are insightful.
Finally, we have a report on a recent conference supported by the Subject Centre, ‘Religious Studies – What’s the Point?’ We hope the presentation of abstracts and some of the discussion points will prompt further reflection.
In the near future we shall be announcing funding opportunities from the Subject Centre, especially for more min-projects. Look out for details in the monthly ebulletin and on the website.
Return to vol. 3 no. 2 index page
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
