This project examined the relationships between students' approaches to study, conceptions of learning and judgements about the value of networked technologies. For the project 144 first-year students completed the 52-item Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST), and a series of focus group interviews was used to assess attitudes towards the use of networked technologies within a blended curriculum. Significant positive associations were found between both deep and strategic approaches to study and students' perceptions of networked learning, and negative associations with a surface approach. Students were positive about the incorporation of technology but had some concerns about the time needed to become sufficiently competent. They demonstrated a reflective approach and exhibited a broad view of the ways in which knowledge might be interpreted. The online forum was viewed as a site where they could benefit from sharing of personal experiences. Recommendations are offered for designing a blended curriculum. Keywordsapproaches to study, blended learning, networked technologies, undergraduate students Approaches to learning and the perceived value of information communication technologyStudents approach their studies in a number of ways and have varying perceptions about the value of how information communication technology (ICT) is used to support the curriculum. Despite recognition of the importance of understanding approaches to study and the rapidly increasing use of ICT to support learning and teaching, there has been a dearth of studies that investigate the ways in which these two factors interrelate. To achieve high-quality learning outcomes, educators need to understand student learning, in particular how students set about their learning tasks, their intentions

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The paper reports on an intervention to help psychology students write better essays by using an Essay Feedback Checklist (EFC). A sample of first year and third year psychology students were asked to rate their own essays in terms of how confident they felt they had been in meeting the departmental assessment criteria. Tutors used the same rating scale when marking the essays and used any mismatches between their rating and that of the student to target their feedback. The aims of the study were to look at the effects of using the EFC in i) writing an essay and ii) clarifying written tutor feedback. Findings showed some mismatches between students and their tutors particularly in the third year. Students were mainly positive about the EFC, although some comments indicated that more help was needed. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of an action research framework and student self-assessment.

This paper discusses some issues involved in a model of delivery adopted for widening participation at outreach centres for Liverpool Hope University and explores the rationale for using blended Problem-based learning (PBL) as a means of addressing the issues and improving learning.A number of principles are proposed for the effective use of blended PBL and the paper analyses a case study, explaining the design and organisation of the module, together with the research methodology adopted. It provides some initial guidelines for other practitioners who wish to pursue similar activities. Institutional ContextPart of the Widening Participation strategy of Liverpool Hope University is the Network of Hope (NOH). This is a partnership between Liverpool HopeUniversity (LHU) and a number of sixth-form colleges across the North West of England. This partnership offers evening undergraduate programmes of study in locations where there is limited Higher Education provision and has been successfully delivering programmes for a number of years. The programmes are a subset of the full-time courses available at the Liverpool Hope Park campus and students may swap between the two modes of delivery.However, there are a number of issues relating to the teaching of students in this way: Tuition is confined to evening sessions and consequently the short class contact time available (3 hours) often makes the sessions intense and ITALICS The aim of this project was to evaluate interventions designed to address these issues. Problem-based Learning has been incorporated into severalComputing and Business modules at the Hope Park campus for a number of years, and it has been found to be particularly beneficial for promoting selfdirected learning. Being team-based it also provides a built-in support network for students. Thus, it appeared to offer a possible means of improving learning and support in the NoH by providing a more student-centred model.Furthermore, the growth in the availability of e-learning technologies, such as a VLE and the availability of videoconferencing facilities at all campuses suggested that a blended model of PBL may enable us to provide a mix of face-to face and electronic contact that was both efficient and provided appropriate levels of support for students.This paper outlines the characteristics and claims for PBL and then discusses the principles adopted for the design of the blended model and explains how these were applied to redesign the module. The next section describes the research design and methodology, after which we present the results and discuss the implications of the innovation. , 1997). PBL provides a forum in which students can practice with 'real life' scenarios, similar to a traditional apprentice in learning a craft before being allowed to act alone. Problem-based LearningRamsden (2004) advocates a theory of teaching in universities which makes learning possible. He encourages a move towards student-centred approaches to learning to enable students to prepare for a complex and e...