Importance of Theme “Improving students’confidence”
Through “improving students’ confidence” students are more engaged, more willing to contribute in class discussions and more willing to discuss any problems or concerns with a module. The theme also has an impact on students’ involvement and participation in extra-curriculum activities such as joining a society or becoming a Student Representative. As a result of increased levels of confidence students are also more employable and are also able to make the most of their time at university.
Dr Phil Race, Addressing Student Satisfaction – adopted from material published in Making Teaching Work by Phil Race and Ruth Pickford, London: Sage, 2007).
How to improve students confidence ?
- Include solo or group presentations as part of the overall assessment of the course.
- Build in informal rehearsals for presentations, before students undertake assessed ones. These can be as short as five minutes, but can still cause students to move forward on their communication skills development.
- Make small-group teaching really participative for students, so that sessions are dominated by their own contributions, in contexts where they don’t feel threatened or embarrassed.
- Give students feedback not just on their mastery of the subject, but on the levels of oral and written communication skills which they use in the various contexts where they demonstrate their subject knowledge.
The theme is also significant in relation to the National Student Survey and the Higher Education Academy Fellowship.
National Student Survey
The theme has been taken from the National Student Survey question “the course has helped me to present myself with confidence” under the category Personal Development.
In the recent 2014 NSS results 81% of students at Swansea University agreed that “the course has helped me to present myself with confidence”.
Higher Education Academy
The theme is also important in regards to the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) as “improving students confidence” contributes to Core Knowledge K3 how students learn, both generally and within their subject/disciplinary area, Professional Values V1 respect individual learners and diverse learning and communities and Areas of Activity A2 Teach and/or support learning and A4 develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance.
For more information on the UKPSF follow the link https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/professional-recognition/uk-professional-standards-framework-ukpsf
