Contextual background (50 words)
As a technician I do not formally assess students work as part of their course – in fact very often we are left in the dark about their briefs and the LOs they have been set. This means that most feedback we give mostly revolves around praise for the work they have done, judged on them picking up a new skill or producing something we can see they have worked hard on. (71 words)
Evaluation (100 words)
I think the separation between technical and academic does make it quite hard for us to assess and provide feedback for students on their work – they may ask what we think but since we are unaware of what they are being assessed on our feedback may not be tying in with the Learning Objectives set by their tutor, and with the feedback they will get from their tutor. This could create confusion for the students as they struggle to understand which feedback to go off. (85 words)
Moving forwards (350 words)
It’s no easy feat, especially in the context of a workshop like mine which is open access to all courses, to be able to get the ideal amount of collaboration from all academics across all units with all technicians form all workshops. I do think however, that students would benefit if technicians had a greater understanding of their course requirements, and if academics could better understand the type of support and learning that technicians are able to provide.
For example, if a particular brief was marking students on the application of a skill, eg packaging design, we would be able to signpost students to different ways of going about the project and provide contextual information about the process that they can document for research. Instead, we may just meet a student who says they need an acrylic box, and without knowing the context we help them make that then send them on their way. Additionally, if academics were able to visit technical spaces to look at the facilities they may be able to write certain areas into their briefs – for instance if they were to see the speed at which students can make a prototype model on the Form 4 printers, they could set their students the objective of producing a physically printed component to encourage students to come down into the workshop.
This relates a lot to Brookes (2008) who pointed out the shift in attitude towards study, where students feel like they need to be spoonfed more by their tutors. Very often the opinion of the tutor is held in high regard and without the push from the academic side the student will not think outside the box and visit us of their own initiative.
It would greatly benefit all areas if technicians had a more thorough understand of what students are being marked on for their briefs, and if academics understood how the practically taught technical skills could benefit the students in meeting their assessment criteria. (329 words)
References:
Brooks, K. (2008) Students Critique of Feedback in AD. Bristol: University of the West of England.