An Investigation into the Role of Emotional Literacy in Online Language Learning

Posted on by Philip Brown

by Philip Brown

In 2022, I conducted a small-scale exploratory case study at the Centre for Academic Language and Development (CALD) as part of an MA Dissertation into the role of emotional literacy in online language learning. Dissertations are fairly long reads; therefore, the purpose of this blog is to describe the study and its outcomes in a more condensed form and a less formal style which should provide a more accessible and engaging read. I hope to find others with similar interests with whom to interact and collaborate on future studies.

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The Way of the Lesson: An Interview on Collaborative Lesson Planning

Posted on by Stuart Marshall and James MacPherson

with Stuart Marshall and James MacPherson

Before each class, Stuart and James meet for about 30 minutes to discuss and refine their lesson plans. This collaborative process allows them to decide on an optimal approach, and which activities are engaging or ineffective. The goal is to strip lessons to their core—removing unnecessary elements and focusing on what matters to the students they know so well. Their informal, conversational (and brutally candid) approach blends practical planning with humour (and banter), making the process both efficient and enjoyable. (more…)

Trialling Live Marking in the Foundations of Statistics unit

Posted on by Ksenia Shalonova and Tim Fewster

We as a team – Martin Wright, Tim Fewster and Ksenia Shalonova – did live marking for the Foundations of Statistics data analysis reports (1,000-1,500 words). We present two blog articles: the first gives a brief description of the background information and summarises both the advantages and disadvantages of using live marking, whereas in the second, Tim Fewster shares his personal experience about using live marking for the first time. We hope that Tim’s blog article will inspire you to use live marking … in particular, will inspire those of you who are reluctant to use it in your sessions and for your subjects – as we as a team (the three of us) enjoyed the whole process.

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Should you give societies a chance?

Posted on by Camila Bena

by IFP student Camila Bena Mejia

For many of us, Bristol was totally unknown before moving here. I didn’t know anything about British culture apart from the famous ‘bland’ food and great music like the Beatles. I was on the other side of the world away from my home, and my ‘to do’ list included learning how to cook, making friends, and going to class. To learn how to cook I bought a cookbook – an easy solution; to go to class I simply learned to wake up on time (I still struggle with it some days). But to make friends there isn’t a guide. (more…)

Freedom in the Classroom

Posted on by Nick Boden

by Nick Boden

A comic strip showing Mafalda, a six-year-old girl, talking to an even smaller child. 5 panels with text in Spanish.
Mafalda sees an even smaller child and goes over to speak to them. Mafalda: Hello! You’re really small!  What’s your name?

FREEDOM

… the child replies.

 Mafalda doesn’t reply. After a beat, the child says …

Reached a conclusion yet stupid? The whole world reaches their own stupid conclusion when they meet me.
Mafalda ‘Freedom On the Beach’ Mafalda Digital, Quino (1970). Available at: https://x.com/MafaldaDigital/status/1769836759280468016?mx=2 [Accessed 24 Feb. 2025].

The Bristol Curriculum Framework (2025) highlights the importance of creating an intellectually stimulating environment that is multidisciplinary, creates a sense of belonging, contributes to personal development and inculcates a sense of global and civic engagement. These are ambitious goals for practitioners in a world saturated with information. Given this context, it is essential to consider how students engage with content as this can be beneficial to meet these challenges. (more…)

Respecting and Responding to the International Student Experience (RISE)

Posted on by kevin.haines

by Kevin Haines

One of the ways in which CALD makes itself visible across the institution is by sharing its expertise on Teaching international students. For several years we have done this by delivering workshops on Learning and Teaching in the International Classroom for BILT as part of the CREATE scheme. During the past academic year, we have also worked with colleagues across the university to develop guidance for academics on their teaching of groups consisting of both international and home students. The findings of the RISE project have been written up as a Guide and represented as a Poster. My blog post for BILT brings together these components and describes how I have been able to incorporate the RISE material into the workshop. Click here to read on.  (more…)

Embarking on a PhD: how I got here

Posted on by Jagon Chichon

by Jagon Chichon

A PhD is obviously a huge commitment, so an understandable level of consideration ought to go into a decision like that. Typically on hearing that yours truly is doing one, I’m inevitably asked: what I’m doing; why I decided the PhD was right for me; and how I got to this point. This blog is an attempt to answer those questions and hopefully provide some insights for those considering doctoral study. (more…)

Depth of Understanding

Posted on by Julia Schwarz

by Julia Schwarz

I had a bit of an epiphany earlier this year when I was observing some of the subject tutors on our International Foundation Programme. I was trying to conduct some research into engagement, scaffolding and Bloom’s Taxonomy when I realised that I was asking the wrong questions. While I was looking at how subject tutors used scaffolding in line with Bloom’s Taxonomy, the tutors scaffolded for depth and complexity of understanding.

It is a subtle difference, perhaps best explained by Daisy Christodoulou (2024), a former secondary school teacher who has written widely about education and whose critique of the progression statement (what we’d call Intended Learning Outcome) discusses how being able to “infer characters’ emotions from explicit details in the text” is a different skill when the text under consideration is Winnie the Pooh rather than Pride and Prejudice. Both tasks might sit on the same level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, but one is considerably more complex than the other. (more…)