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Stepping up to Honours
It's a different way of learning within the first two years compared to the next two
. . . there was such a big jump from second year to third year. (McCune & Hounsell
(2005) p. 283
Abby Shovlin
Academic Transitions Adviser
Institute for Academic Development
Introduction
Today’s session: we will look at your transition into
Honours holistically in these four key areas:
 Knowing - What do I already know about
Honours? What might I need to find out?
 Learning - I’ve passed my 2nd year exams so I
know everything there is to know about learning,
right?
 Reflecting - what is it and how might it benefit me
during my Honours years?
 Developing - how do I develop as an Honours
student?
Knowing about Honours:
Activity
What do you already know about Honours
and what do you want to know?
Turn to your neighbour and ask share your
knowledge and questions about moving
into Honours.
Knowing about Honours
Students typically ask:
• What kind of step up is Honours and how can
I prepare for it?
• How can I get the best possible marks at
Honours?
• How will I cope with the workload and get
everything done?
• What does a good essay/assignment look
like at Honours?
• How can I make my work more critical?
Knowing about Honours:
where do I get the answers from?
Knowledge/finding out
empowerment
• Course Handbooks
• Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework
• Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study
• Peers (informally), Peer Support- PALS
(formally)
• Institute for Academic Development
• My feedback
• Me: myself (reflecting and developing)
Knowing about Honours:
What does the research tell us?
Honours study is analogous to an ‘in-between space’, a
transition between the coursework orientation of undergraduate
study and the traditional research focus of postgraduate study.
Schweinsberg and McManus (2005) p. 52
Honours is not considered to be a short-term process. The aim is
for students to perceive Honours as a long-term commitment.
Schweinsberg and McManus (2005) p. 52 (referring to Ancient History Department, University of Sydney)
Success at Honours study requires ‘high quality learning’.
 High quality learning includes: systematic, well-organised,
self-regulated studying.
McCune and Hounsell (2005) p. 257
Learning
I’ve passed my second year exams, so I
know all there is to know about learning,
right?
Not quite!
Learning is all about my Honours course
content, right?
Not necessarily
Learning: Activity
Myth or truth?
• The longer you study the better your
results
• Learning is all about remembering facts
• Some people are just not good at
something e.g. statistics, no matter how
hard they try
• Knowledge is fixed and certain
Discuss with your neighbour: 5 minutes
Learning:
what the research tells us
The longer you study the better your results:
Not necessarily
Effective learning depends on how you study
not how long you study for
You do need to put more time into your
Honours studies, and new Honours students
often underestimate the time needed for
assignments, but length of time alone does not
guarantee results
Chew, S. L. (2010)
Learning: what the research tells us
Learning and studying is all about remembering
facts/information?
Whilst ‘fact’ learning
may form an important
first step in some
subjects, it does not
guarantee the level of
learning and higher
processing that you
need to demonstrate
as an Honours student
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Bloom B, S. (ed.) (1956)
Learning: Bloom in action
Laura: researcher into neurodegenerative diseases
http://ki.se/en/neuro/startpage
Research question:
Some motor neurons (control voluntary muscles)
degenerate others do not. Why?
“Identification of mechanisms of differential motor neuron
vulnerability may lead to therapies preventing the progressive
loss of motor neurons. The main objective of our research is to
identify intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that render motor
neurons either resistant or vulnerable to degeneration”
Learning: Bloom in action, Laura
Some motor neurons
(control voluntary
muscles) degenerate
others do not. Why?
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Learning: Bloom in action,
Laura
6. Creation: why do some motor neurons
degenerate and others not?
5.
4.
3.
2.
1. Remembering parts of the brain from her
lectures
Learning: Bloom in action,
Laura
6. Creation: why do some motor neurons degenerate and
others not?
5. Evaluating current research into Parkinson’s disease
4. Analysing investigating deeper into one particular type of
motor neuron and comparing it to other motor neurons
3. Applying her knowledge in lectures to answer essay
questions on what we know about Parkinson’s disease so far
2. Understanding what each part of the brain does
1. Remembering parts of the brain from her lectures
Learning:
what the research tells us
Some people are just not good at something e.g. maths, no matter
how hard they try?
Carol Dweck’s (2006) Mindset How you can fulfil your potential:
A fixed mindset of ‘I’m not good at this because I find it difficult’ limits
your potential for success
A growth mindset, welcomes problems and difficulties as ways of
really learning something and therefore increases your potential for
success
Dweck, C.S. (2006)
Learning: what the research tells us
“When students think about
why something is wrong, new
synaptic connections are
sparked that cause the brain to
grow. . . [this] suggests that
[we] should value mistakes
and move from viewing them
as learning failures”
Mistakes have the potential to
be turned into learning
achievements
Boaler, J. (2013)
Photo courtesy of Mike Seyfang
(Flickr Creative Commons)
Learning:
what the research tells us
Knowledge is fixed and certain?
Knowledge is dynamic i.e. changing
“Naïve epistemology (believing that
knowledge is absolutely certain), may be
associated with a tendency to draw farreaching conclusions from insufficient
information”
Kardash & Scholes, 1996 in Niemen, J., Lindblom-Yanne, S., Lonka, K. (2004)
p. 388
Honours Learning:
what the research tells us
“Several studies have shown a deep approach to
relate to a high quality of learning outcomes
and a surface approach to qualitatively inferior
results”
Niemen, J., Lindblom-Yanne, S., Lonka, K. (2004) p. 392
Reflection: Activity
Pause
Turn to your neighbour and share what you
have learned so far:
• In this workshop
Reflection: Activity
By yourself:
How would I evaluate my performance and
experience in first and second year?
Niemen, J., Lindblom-Yanne, S., Lonka, K. (2004)
Developing:
Honours is a journey
SCQF characteristics
Level 8: 1st & 2nd year
Honours
1. Knowledge and understanding
Level 10:
2. Practice: applied knowledge and understanding
3. Generic Cognitive Skills
4. Communication, ICT and numeracy skills
5. Autonomy, accountability and working with
others
Developing: Activity.
Describe the shift up
Level 8
3.Undertake critical analysis and evaluation
within the common understandings in your
subject
Level 10
3. Critically identify, define, conceptualise and
analyse complex/problems and issues and
offer professional insights, interpretations
and solutions
4. Use and evaluate numerical and graphical 4. Interpret, use and evaluate a wide range of
data to measure progress and achieve targets numerical and graphical data to set and
achieve goals/targets
5. Work with others to bring about
5. Work under guidance with others to
acquire an understanding of current practice change/development/ new ways of thinking
in your area
Developing: Activity.
Describe the shift up
Level 8
Level 10
3.Undertake critical analysis and evaluation
within the common understandings in your
subject
3. Critically identify, define, conceptualise
and analyse complex/problems and issues
and offer professional insights,
interpretations and solutions
4. Use and evaluate numerical and graphical
data to measure progress and achieve
targets
4. Interpret, use and evaluate a wide range of
numerical and graphical data to set and
achieve goals/targets
5. Work with others to bring about
5. Work under guidance with others to
acquire an understanding of current practice change/development/ new ways of thinking
in your area
Developing: cycle of developing as a
student
KNOWING
Do I have realistic
expectations? Do I know what
is expected of me
DEVELOPING (2)
What key changes do I want to
make? How can I make plans
to achieve this change?
DEVELOPING (1)
What are my strengths? Which
other strengths would I like to
develop?
LEARNING
Do I know about how I learn
things? Do I need to change
how I learn?
REFLECTING
What can I learn by looking
back at my experiences and
evaluating them?
Developing: Activity
My personal development plan
• Go back to your reflection on study orientations
• Taking into account all that you have learned
about Honours, and perhaps yourself, today how
would you like to develop in your Honours
years?
• Select three development points and plan how
you are going to develop these areas e.g. ‘time
management- attend Time Management
Workshop’.
How will you put your plans into action?
References (1)
Boaler, J. (2013) ‘Ability and Mathematics: the mindset revolution that is reshaping
education’, Forum, 55 (1). Available at: http://www.youcubed.org/wpcontent/uploads/14_Boaler_FORUM_55_1_web.pdf (Accessed 18th August 2015)
Bloom, B.S. (ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the classification of
educational goals – Handbook I: Cognitive Domain New York: McKay
Chew, S. L. (2010). ‘Improving classroom performance by challenging student
misconceptions about learning’. APS Observer, 23(4), 51-54. Available at:
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/april10/improving-classroom-performance-by-challenging-student-misconceptions-aboutlearning.html (Accessed 18th August 2015)
Dweck, C.S.’ Is Math a Gift? Beliefs That Put Females at Risk’ in Ceci, Stephen J. (Ed);
Williams, Wendy M. (Ed), (2007). Why aren't more women in science?: Top researchers
debate the evidence. , (pp. 47-55). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological
Association.
References (2)
McCune, V. and Hounsell, D. (2005) ‘The Development of Students' Ways of Thinking
and Practising in Three Final-Year Biology Courses’ Higher Education, 49 (3) pp. 255289
Nieminen, J., Linblom-Yanne, S., Lonka, K. (2004) ‘The development of study
orientations and study success in students of pharmacy’. Instructional Science (32) pp.
387- 417
Schweinsberg, S. and McManus, P. (2005) ‘Exploring the Transition Coursework to
Research-Based Study in the Geography Honours Year’ Geographical Research March
2006 44(1):52–62