IDI Workday and Excited workshops

IDI Work-day and Excited workshops

Starting your university studies isn’t necessarily a walk in the park. For most it’s a whole new way of managing your life and a whole new way of learning. You are suddenly responsible for showing up to lectures, studying on your own and completing assignments. “At the same time many are trying to figure out what IT studies actually are and who they are going to be as IT professionals”, says project leader Hallvard Trætteberg. As a response to this, IDI Study-day (IDI arbeidsdag in Norwegian) was started at NTNU back in 2017, co-founded by Excited PhD Madeleine Lorås. When the initial pilot was made a permanent department offer, we interviewed the student and learning assistants. 

 

The goal is to help first year students get into the routine of working consistently, using campus and working together. “One whole day each week we invite all first-year students at IDI to join a study-day. Here, our Learning Assistants help them with their studies and assignments. IDI students have a lot of mandatory assignments”, Trætteberg explains.

 

Throughout the study-day, Learning Assistants are available to the students. Bendik Deraas is one of them. He has been with the IDI Study-days from the very beginning. “I feel the study-days have worked out really well!”, Bendik points out when asked for his personal assessment of the study-days. “They have become part of the campus-identity for many students, which I think is just essential for students to have. I have no doubt the study-days have elevated our learning environment.

 

Lorås is continuously evaluating the study-days. Her research confirms Bendik’s statement; 73% of students attending the study-days claim they work more efficiently and are more motivated to work on their studies.

 

IDI Study-days professionalized in 2019

"2019 has really been the year where the IDI study-days have been cemented as an integral part of IDI study programs" Lorås says. Whereas the study-days used to be loosely organized by Lorås and Excited Learning assistants, things are now professionalized to the point where Lorås can take a back-seat role. "The day-to-day operation of the study-days runs independently of me now" she says.

 

The IDI study-days were initiated to encourage more students to use the campus. The numbers show the students who show up for the study-days benefit from them. "Still, many students don't use campus enough" Lorås explains. Getting a hold of the students who aren't on campus has been a huge challenge for universities in general for years. Getting a hold of these students will get increased attention by IDI Study-days in 2020.

 

High quality learning facilitated by high quality Learning assistants

The Learning Assistants in the study-days are trained in pedagogy. “Good training for all the learning assistants in our department is important, and something Excited is very much focused on”, Trætteberg explains. Ensuring the Assistants know how to encourage learning is essential for the study-days to elevate the students learning. “We don’t want them to tell the students the answer, but help them figure it out themselves”, Trætteberg continues.

 

Karen Dahl Aarhus is one of the regulars at IDI Study-days. “We have very good access to Learning Assistants here. That’s why I dedicate these days to the assignments I struggle the most with. It’s a very effective form of studying. I don’t think I would have managed all the assignments without this day”. “I think the study-days are really good” Lars Strømholm, another regular at the study-days explain. “If nothing else, this is a reason for me to get out of my apartment and come here to work”.

Excited about Excited workshops

After the success of IDI Study day, we have tried out the idea on our Gjøvik campus and are looking into how to incorporate it in Ålesund. At Nord University the concept is altered to fit the needs locally and is called Excited workshops. “Our workshops are in the afternoon opening with a mini-lecture of 10 minutes, in contrast to the IDI workshops which are held during the day” Line Kolås says. She is an associate professor at Nord University and leader of Excited sub-project Learning through Construction.

“We are using the mini lectures to give students input we see they want and need, but that does not fit in to the regular study plan. The Excited workshops are very popular, and has a high attendance”, Kolås continues.

“I am able to get help easily and it gives me more motivation to work late” a Nord University student said when asked about the Excited Workshops.

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