Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor)
Andrew has worked in adult education in tertiary and community settings for more than 20 years. He is now completing his doctorate in interprofessional collaborative practice.
Location Auckland, New Zealand
Activity
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Thanks Kenneth!
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) made a comment
A final post from me.
This has been a particularly wonderful MOOC experience for me, with so many people sharing their thoughts and ideas actively throughout.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you for participating - whether you were one of the quiet and reflective people in the background who was reading posts, or whether you were one of the many...
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to ugonna Achebe
I am so pleased that this was your first on-line course and that you have found the experience valuable. Keep on learning and growing! Best wishes for your future study.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Kevin Wilson
On behalf of our team, you are most welcome. It has been fantastic having another librarian on this course - your participation is always valuable!
I've just glanced at your profile page and see you have made 93 posts on this MOOC over the past four weeks. I have really appreciated the time you've taken to make these posts and to share with us your...
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Lestari Simon
You are most welcome Lestari. Thank you for your posts and questions along the way. Best wishes with your master degree study.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Kelly Negrin
Warm greetings to you Kelly. It was great having you and your students participate in this MOOC again. I've really valued your major contribution to this on-line community of learning. The MOOC is better, for having people like you in it. Best wishes with your future teaching and learning. Your respectful wisdom is much appreciated.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Susan Eady
Thanks for your comments Susan. It is always great having librarians on board in this MOOC. Your reflections have been really useful along the way. Best wishes with your future.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Diana Fronaeus
You are most welcome, Diana. I've really valued your comments in this MOOC - particularly because of your willingness to question taken-for-granted assumptions, and to encourage and support diversity in learning.
Best wishes for your ongoing study.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Adrian Jenkins
Thanks so much for your comments here Adrian.
It has been really useful having people like you (who are currently working in tertiary environments and constantly engaging with these topics) participating so actively in the MOOC. I've really valued your reflections on our questions and material, and your responses to others, drawing on your...
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Donald Vincent
Thanks Donald!
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Danielle Gilbert
You are most welcome Danielle. It is most inspiring for all of us learners and teachers to know that there are people like you who are putting in this time and energy in preparing for tertiary study. All the best with your future studies.
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Pleased to see that Anuradha. The MOOC was the more valuable because of people like you who were prepared to share your thoughts so often with us. Best wishes for your future
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Jessie Egam
Was great having you Canadian nurses onboard! So pleased to see that you saw the course contributing to both your academic studies and your future professional roles. Best wishes!
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to nicole laface
It was great having you on board Nicole. Really valued your posts. Best wishes with your nursing studies.
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It was great having you and your fellow nursing students from Canada on the course. Thanks so much for your active reflections and participation. Your posts have been really stimulating in their genuine encounters with these ideas. Best wishes for your future study.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Merit Hondelink
You are most welcome. And thank you for being such a positive and active participant. Your posts have really contributed to this learning environment
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Really pleased to hear that Melvyn. Thanks for your thoughtful posts.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Zari Nawaz
That's just what we hope for, so we're very pleased to see your comment. Best wishes with your future study.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Jane marson
Absolutely! Thanks for your active participation, Jane.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Sharon Andersen
Cheers, Sharon. It's been great having you on board. Your practice wisdom and examples along the way have been really useful.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Shraddha Naik
So pleased to hear the course has been valuable and it is great to know that this knowledge is being passed on to another group of students - best wishes in your important role of shaping the minds of our future generation!
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Sharon Dutton
It was great having another person from the UK participating. Really glad that you've learned things along the way, as your posts have been really useful for others too.
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Very nice 'anchoring' points when you're in the exam and being overwhelmed - cheers, Adrian.
With regard to breakfast - someone said to me once, that it is really important you eat the same breakfast that you normally do, so your digestive system doesn't have something different to deal with in the midst of everything else happening on exam days.
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I've really appreciated your insightful reflections throughout this course Nicole. Here you provide some other really useful key points drawing on your own experiences of life, family, study and learning. Nicely put!
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Once you're in the exam - yes, these are brilliant tips, Merit.
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A very succinct summary of essential points. Thanks Melvyn!
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An excellent approach - start preparing for the exam once the semester begins!
Nicely put, Stephen!
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That's a great article, Kevin - thanks for sharing.
"I wish I had been the kind of person who..." - ah, yes, but now we've got all these people who have done this MOOC and participating in developing their academic integrity in other ways......
All those people will indeed be thinking about their exams sooner......I hope!
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) made a comment
What a great collection of tips you've provided on these pages. Some of these are points we summarise further on the next page of the MOOC, but you've definitely shared some other valuable learning from your practice wisdom.
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Take care with strategies like this too close to the exam though. There is some good research showing that small amounts of caffeine have a positive impact in the short term but larger amounts across the long-term can start to impact negatively on cognitive functioning. You might feel hyped, but your cognitive functioning can decline; also related to sleep...
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A great overview of key points, Adrian.
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ah, yes, so so important to arrive early so as to avoid anxiety before the exam starts - well noted, Sofia.
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That is an excellent tip, Kathleen!
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Nice!
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Nicely said, Joanna. I agree with Joyce about the great value in finding out details of how the exam is structured. My personal experience of doing this is that it can have a profound effect on my confidence once I am in the exam room, and I open the exam paper, and then, I see the familiar structure and expectations; and I've already mapped out how much time...
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a great system!
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Cheers, Adrian. I absolutely agree that it is really important to consider explanations of the key instruction words in assignments. When I reflect back on my historic time working as a learning advisor this provided an important step in our working with students. This particular list from UNSW is a great one - a comprehensive list of instruction words, and...
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Agree!
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absolutely agree! (about the recognition of individual learning styles that is)
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Thanks for the post Kathleen. I've found it really interesting reading about your experiences of how the Open University engages with you the students, and your learning. They have developed some really useful pedagogical strategies over the years.
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You are right to remind us, Diana, that there are specific, local, cultural contexts to every example that we use in these international learning forums; it is good for us to consider their potential influence on learning examples we present.
One key piece of learning from this MOOC that I hope comes clearly through for everyone though, is that learning...
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You've provided a very comprehensive detailed analysis here, Jack; Nice critical reflections for those who are still looking for details of how to improve their own writing. Very helpful!
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You've identified some of the really important features that are problems with this work, Stephen. Nicely said.
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Yes, there are definitely advantages to studying on-line by distance, and pleased to hear this works for you Sharon. For others who might be reading this post, I put a link here to commonly voiced advantages and disadvantages of studying on-line. Do these points make sense to you Sharon...
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Good on you Kelly! Also, I agree with Joyce's encouragements
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I've literally just finished marking the individual personal reflection component of another assignment that was produced in groups. Your two points relating to encouragement and disagreement, Adrian, came through as really important in these personal reflections.
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A comment connecting your two posts from my world:
I was one of those people in class who just had to ask questions all the time - partly this was one of my techniques to stay focused and engaged, and partly because I really wanted to understand the material and am innately curious.
ten years after i graduated i bumped into one of my old class mates who...
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Oh dear! highlighting in books that weren't yours.... very very uncool.
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Great tips Adrian: I particularly support the importance of critically reviewing material before immersing yourself in it.
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yes, fair enough Melvyn. It's just that there are commonalities between cues given in lectures and in text (as detailed in the resource behind the 'verbal cues' hyperlink). Didn't mean to distract or confuse.
I like your other points!
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Thanks Jayne! Yes, finding a way to stay engaged is really crucial. I am easily distracted and one way I've found that works for me is to keep looking at the lecturer and pretend that they are only talking to me, and that my non-verbal minimal encouragers are essential to keep them talking.
It works for me, but it also works for lecturers who will often...
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Ah, the pause! Definitely an undersold, underemphasised part of critical reading.
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great article! Really enjoyed reading this and will be reflecting on this more as I prepare for teaching next year.
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Adrian, glad to see there's still new learning for you, every now and again in these pages! (importance of verbal cues for note taking). Your comment about studying in the early 1990s prompts another reflection from me about how things have changed: in my bachelor degree in the late 1980s, all my assignments were hand-written, until the final large project in...
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That's a great story Ghita. I wonder whether part of this shift in younger students is they have just got used to going on-line to re-find information. Certainly I remember as a child having to negotiate with my mother to take me into town (we lived in the country) to spend half a day at the library looking up resource books and writing down information as...
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) made a comment
What rich and supportive ideas you've all shared here. I know that some of these ideas form the basis of some of our pages in this MOOC; but also there are a range of things that you've especially emphasised which are a little more int he background of some of our pages, so I'm very grateful for you all taking the time to write these down for others to see....
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Thanks Adrian and Kevin, for detailing these nuggets from your practice wisdom. Such useful tips for those who want to increase their learning potential.
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Such a useful reflection, Michael, on the different types of behaviours that we can encounter when we enter tertiary study. Great suggestions on how to deal with the harried, time-pressured lecturers who can come across as rude (and I know sometimes just are rude and can behave horribly).
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) made a comment
There are some fantastic, creative, and practical suggestions you've posted on this page. I hope that you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have. But particularly, I'm hoping that some of you who weren't sure how you would manage such a situation have found some tips and ideas which you will be able to use in your future.
A couple of themes that I...
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Best wishes for the rest of your Canadian study experience!
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Such useful tips, Donna. Thanks for sharing these. I think the point you've made which resonates the most strongly for me, is finding the tools that work for you. There are so many different ways to tame time to work for us, and you are so right to put this advice in here. Just because a particular technique works for your mother, your best friend, or your...
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I think there's something really useful about 'chunking' realistic time for tasks.
Your post reminds me that I haven't shared with people in this MOOC (i don't think so?) that some of my doctoral colleagues and I have been really successfully using the Pomodoro technique to focus our thesis writing. In essence it means we chunk our writing time into short,...
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I absolutely love my app Evernote. I've tried a few different ones over recent years, but there's something about this one that really works for me. I know different systems and visual appearances work for different people, but here are the reasons it works for me:
- saves and synchs automatically: it's just like magic and all the notes i"ve made are... -
totally support the importance of the buffer time! Cheers Summer.
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Thank you so much for your detailed reflections. It is so valuable having people like you share their processes for other people in the MOOC to see.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) made a comment
Ive loved reading all these tips on time management from you all. It’s really interesting for me to see that so many people (like me!) still use something physical and visual that they pin on a wall or notice board. One great example I liked the sound of was Jack Vaughn's post - thanks for sharing that with us, Jack. For me, I think its the tangible nature of...
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Two replies: 1. that is so lovely to have had a dear creature with you for so long that they have aged. 2. I smile as i imagine you getting extra exercise carrying a weight (the dog).
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Great to see that these tips resonate with your practical experiences too, Adrian.
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Yes, start now! Did you see the inspiring post from hasina momtaz below? How wonderful to have done a five-year plan, and then five-years later, to look back on the plan and see what you have accomplished! You can do this too, Lestari!
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That is such a great idea Jane. Also, I really support the suggestion from Merit to be able to leave your assignment for a few days and return to it to re-read and tweak it prior to handing it in. Whenever students do this, they always come back and tell me how valuable it was in finding a number of ways to improve the quality and accuracy of their...
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to nicole laface
Sounds like you are managing to get some balance into your busy life, Nicole. Good on you! I agree that sometimes we need to let go of older ideas we had about minimum housework/yardwork when we're studying; we need to set a new 'minimum standard' to decrease this stress factor in the mix. Very healthy!
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....see below post... for me, walking the dog
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For me, I am really grateful that I have a dog. Even when I arrive home and feel tired and just want to sprawl out on the couch... I don't because i"ve still got the dog to walk. Then half way into my walk, I suddenly realise I'm waking up and alert and not not tired anymore. It's like magic.
I have become a great believer in the benefit of exercise and...
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Guada Mozo
Glad to see you were drawn to those words! Sounds like you've already decided to 'take it seriously' !
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Angela Brown
I agree, you've included some great ideas in your post Angela.
Some people suggest not doing any study on the day of the exam. What do you think about that idea, Angela?
The thinking behind this idea is that you've already done all the learning you can/need, and it is good to relax your brain, decrease your anxiety, and go into the exam fresh.
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Thanks for posting the link Adrian. Yep, this is a good calculator.
For those of you who haven't seen one of these calculators, the timelines and tasks just magically appear once you put in the date and press 'Calculate Schedule'
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I agree that time management is a skill we all need. I can see some strong similarities with the ideas on this link, and some ideas we have on this MOOC over the next couple of pages.
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Andrew Lynch (Lead Mentor) replied to Guada Mozo
Thanks for your reflections Guada. I agree that a calm mind is much more likely to be able to make sense out of assessment expectations.
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I love the sense of taking responsibility that comes through from this quote, thanks for sharing Sofia. A reminder again about the foundational values!
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I agree that priority lists are a really useful tool. Have you come across Eisenhower's time management system using the ideas of urgent and important?
Here is a link if you're interested.
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htmIs this similar or different to how you prioritise?
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Good to hear that you are starting to get procrastination under control. Let us know how you go over the next few days with some of the ideas here that might assist.
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Definitely worthwhile figuring out what is needed/required before going down a long study path, that might end up being unhelpful. Thanks for reminding us of this, Madison.
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A short, but interesting reflection. I wonder if the time lost in recovering from the exhaustion is worth that pressure-cooker motivation? I have found as i progress higher in tertiary education (from 1st year to 2nd....; from under-graduate to post-graduate...etc) that this argument seems to hold less and less validity, the greater the expectations of your...
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I'm hoping that some of this week's ideas will support you to develop your 'battle plan'. When things are going smoothly it sometimes seems like we don't need to put all the effort into planning; but in the life of a student there are a lot of things that suddenly shift things into the realm of "aaarrrrrgggghhhh!".
Let us know if there are ideas over the...
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Indeed!
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Thanks everyone for sharing your favourite study skills on this page. There's been some great examples! Some of these are ares we develop a little further on the final few pages of our MOOC (but not all! so thanks for putting these ideas out there).
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appreciate your reflective comments, Jack. I look forward to seeing your reflections on our final week in the course over the next few days.
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well put, James. We tend to use paraphrasing when we are presenting an argument and referring to something someone else has said that relates to our argument (supports it; contradicts it etc).
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I agree, Dale, it is matters of degree. I would tend to put the sentence the other way around and say, there's likely some paraphrasing every time you summarise.
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yes, they are similar, but you are right to note they are not quite the same - a review does indeed have an evaluative component that is not expected in a summary.
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I do appreciate the frankness in your posts, Diana.
As a doctoral student myself, I often find when reading so many of the wonderful posts in this MOOC that there is practice wisdom which is familiar (and that I am certain I have learned in the past)... yet, it is not necessarily wisdom that I am applying in my present activity.
I am reminded: keep...
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Hi Bessy. You might want to have a look at the link i posted just below in response to Tammy's post.
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Hi Tammy. To add a little more to Kelly's comments, you might want to have a look at this resource from UNSW - the University of New South Wales (one of my favourites).
They essentially present a commonly held view that summarising tends to be used to overview longer sections of texts (or entire texts). Also, the purposes of paraphrasing and summarising...
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She is a gem!
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you've provided some really nice reflections on summarising, Louie. However, as Kellly notes, in most situations when you are summarising, you would not be expected to include personal opinion. Of course, it is hard to make generalisations like this, as sometimes lecturers create assignments that ask for summaries AND a personal opinion. But I agree with Kelly...
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I've made a comment below in response to a post from Hazrat, about prescribed lengths of summaries. In brief, summaries do not generally need to be a specific fraction of the original. I know that it is common when teaching students summarising, to suggest particular lengths (e.g. 1/4 or 1/3), but do not get too caught up in the preciseness of this advice....
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Appreciate the comment, Kelly (and the ditto, Janice!).
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I agree with Anuradha Piyadasa that there is no correct size of a summary. The size and detail of the summary will depend entirely on the purpose for which you are constructing the summary.
I can imagine a situation where a particular teacher, in a particular context, is teaching people how to summarise, and in their exercises, they instruct the students...
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I agree that the process is straightforward, but that there are still some sophisticated skills involved in implementation.
I encourage you to keep seeking opportunities for learning within your own learning institutions (for those of you who have academic learning centres).
For others, you might find these resources useful (NB: some of these are...
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Another example here of the great power of the MOOC, and this community of learning. The community has spoken wisely; hopefully, through dialogue like this, we will gradually un-do the impacts of the flawed advice from Hazrat's senior, and his ilk.
