Trailblazer sets a new timetable
AN EDGE Hill University lecturer, who abolished traditional lectures and seminars and encouraged students to work on mobile phones, has been nominated for a prestigious award.
Charles Knight reconceptualised the notion of the traditional lecture, complementing student learning with live video streaming and practical sessions.
His classroom features signs proclaiming: “Yes we are on our mobile phones. This project management class is set in the here and now where people use devices for authentic, real work. It is amazing.”
His unique and inspiring approach has been recognised by Times Higher Education and has landed him on the shortlist for this year’s Most Innovative Teacher of the Year award.
For his project management module, he abandoned the traditional one-hour lecture and seminar format.
Instead, he pre-recorded or streamed “lecture” sessions from his kitchen and other locations directly to his students watching at home, at the university or elsewhere.
He responded to online questions and, acknowledging that students tend to work on mobile phones and tablets, asked students to collaborate in real time through Google docs.
Seminar sessions were replaced with 200 hours of practical project work, with students using real project management software to monitor projects and record project hours.
His second year students were given complete control of their projects (an enterprise app and updating an online text book) and had to deal with problems as they arose.
Charles’s approach threw up a few unexpected issues, such as the need to buy a multi-charging station because student’s devices kept running flat.
The success of this method of teaching has led to a 5% increase in student assessment grades and there are plans to encourage more lecturers to adopt Charles’s model.
Charles will find out if he’s won the coveted award at the London awards ceremony on Thursday, November 24.
Prof Andy Smith and colleague Jonathan Jones, from Edge Hill’s department of sport and physical activity, have also been shortlisted in the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community category for their work with “Tackling the Blues”, a mental health project run with Everton Football Club.