How to Get Loads of Marks: Recent Episodes
Chris Jones
I was lucky enough to get to know Thibau ‘T’ Grumett as a student. He caught my attention because he was trying to build a cryptocurrency index fund before the rest of the world knew what a bitcoin was. Since then he has been very busy writing a book. "The Money Bible" is a handbook for your financial life and it's the sort of book I wish I had when I was younger, but I'm glad I have now.
In this episode of the podcast we talk about some of the topics the book covers. From taxes to risk assessment, from multi-million pound bonds to getting a better deal on a second hand car. It's a very interesting chat!
You can find out everything you need to know about "The Money Bible" at https://moneybible.co.uk/ and buy lots of copies because every penny goes towards providing free financial education in the UK!
In this episode Chris is joined by Philip Allin. Co-founder and CEO of Overtone. Overtone is a company that is training computers to evaluate the quality of online content. This means he is perfectly placed to talk about the most recent shift in "content creation", generative AI.
Chris and Philip talk about various AI concepts, including the "information density" of content, the strengths and weaknesses of new AI tools like ChatGPT, a deep dive into how technologies like Overtone evaluate written content and finally how you can use AI in your work. While this was recorded a few months ago it holds up well despite new developments in the field. Mostly because the core ideas behind this are more wide ranging than any particular tool.
You can find out more information about Overtone here https://overtone.ai/
If you want more information on information density there is a very entertaining podcast here https://timharford.com/2021/05/cautionary-tales-fritterin-away-genius/ which covers all sorts of stories about Claude Shannon.
In this episode Mike Gulvin visits from Pearson College's Business Ethics course. We look at the extra steps needed to take an argument from descriptive to philosophical. Whether it be automotive design or organ harvesting, Chris and Mike discuss the ways in which you can explain not just that something is wrong, but perhaps WHY it's wrong. There is a reference to the Chevy Corvair at some point, you can hear more about that on this excellent episode of "The Car Show". https://podtail.com/en/podcast/car-show-with-eddie-alterman/the-chevrolet-corvair-how-safety-failed-us/
Mike Gulvin lists himself as a bit of an all-rounder. Mike has three post-graduate qualifications, one in Marketing and Communications (Masters), Educational Leadership and Management (PCert Dis.) and an MA in Contemporary Popular Knowledges – or ‘gossip’ as Mike likes to say! Mike has lived abroad in Asia for much of his adult life returning to the UK in 2019 to do a brief spell at Nottingham University before moving onto Pearson. Mike spent 12 years in Japan before spending another 13 in Vietnam and has a deep understanding of national and cultural underpinnings related to Marketing, Ethics and Management having lived and worked for extended periods in these host nations as well as a very brief spell in Thailand. Mike’s areas of interest lie in marketing and the deconstruction of promotional communications especially. However, his main area of research is the internationalisation, globalisation and marketing of education. Mike is also a keen reader of philosophy bringing this knowledge to the area of business ethics.
Cajiten teaches a long list of topics at Pearson College, all focused around two main topics of economics and sustainability. Our conversation covers everything from fixing world energy markets, to saving money on lasagne at the local Waitrose, to disposing of nuclear waste.
While we do touch on a few technical issues the general points we cover are more "ways of thinking" which can be applied across the board.
Blayne is Head of Talent Development at Pearson College London. Leading our Workfit Programme, Guaranteed Internship Scheme and MBM Executive Coaching Programme. Alongside his leadership role Blayne teaches People Management and Leadership to Undergraduate Students at the college.
In this podcast we discuss the best way to find and benefit from internships. The growing role of Linked in and the awkward questions about money when it comes to internships.
Back by popular demand, Piers Veness returns to the virtual studio bring with him Richard Allen. Piers and Richard are both part of the study skills team at Pearson College.
In this episode we talk a lot about the reasons WHY academic writing sounds the way it does. Since understanding the reasons behind the rules can help us know when to bend them.
Dave Farley is co-author of the Jolt-award wining book - "Continuous Delivery", and more recently "Modern Software Engineering". He is the host of the Continuous Delivery YouTube channel and an all round clever bloke.
In this episode Dave talks about how some of the ideas he has promoted in software engineering can be applied more generally in any projects that are dealing with complexity at scale. Covering topics like electric cars, Napoleonic warfare and balancing broom handles.
You can find more from Dave on his YouTube Channel and on his website.
Dr Roxanne Stockwell is the Principal of Pearson College London (PCL), and responsible for its strategic direction and academic leadership. Originally a graduate of the University of Sydney, she has worked as a corporate lawyer, in theatre management, and for the past 20 years in Higher Education. She was previously a director at BPP, with responsibility for its teaching, learning and innovation before taking up the role at Pearson.
Roxanne (known at PCL as "Dr Rox") has recently completed an award-winning doctorate at the University of Bath on the lived experience of university-to-work transition, with implications for work integrated learning. In this episode she talks about her research and findings. As well as giving general advice about how to get your head around large complex research topics.
We cover everything from whether you should lie in interviews, to working out niches in academic research, to naked cycling. It's an interesting one.
Chris Wares is the librarian at Pearson College. In this conversation we cover what to read, how to find things to read, and how to get the most from your reading.
Professor Newton is the Director of Learning and Teaching for the Swansea University Medical School.
Phil teaches Neuroscience across a variety of programmes. But he also teaches on evidence-based education as part of an online MSc in Medical Education. This gives him a unique perspective on learning from the inside out.
In this episode we talk about how you can take the latest findings about evidence based learning and use them to help improve your own study techniques. It turns out there is a lot more you can do than just re-read your notes!
Iro Konstantinou heads up research at Pearson College, as well as being heavily involved in research herself. Personally she is also one of the people who helped me when I made the shift from business to teaching. She is a master of research methods.
Since a lot of students will be taking on big projects this term, we talk about how best to start, how to pick a topic and how to get loads of marks in projects where you choose the subject matter yourself.
Links
At the start you hear me ask for feedback on the podcast so far. Please give feedback here: http://pearsoncollegecode.com/htglom
If you want to see the sort of work Iro is doing (along with previous podcast guest Elizabeth Miller). You can do so here: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/reflection-will-help-students-navigate-a-post-covid-future/ and here : https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2020-0112/full/html
I also mention a previous episode where some ex-students talk about their final project. You can find that here: https://anchor.fm/chris-jones92/episodes/Ep-05-Barney-Wallis-and-Oliver-Latta-ekgt1c/a-a3e20l5
If you want to watch the video about the trolly problem where they have to evaluate people before doing experiments. You can watch that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch/1sl5KJ69qiA
Carl Clare is a full time Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Leeds Beckett University. However he marks papers at Pearson College and is ALSO an external examiner for Ulster, Liverpool Hope, Salford and Manchester Met.
So if anyone knows about marking papers...it's Carl Clare.
We chat about the things that we look for when marking, and crucially the rational behind our thinking on these matters. Since learning the rules is never as good as understanding the reasons why the rules exist.
Links
We mention a Harmoni standing desk at one point. While we are not sponsored by Harmoni and have no official links with them, you can find out more details here https://harmoni.design/products/harmoni-stand
I also quote Einstein at one point. It turned out I was wrong, but the matter is quite complicated. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/05/22/solve/
Since we are halfway though a term in a very "interesting" year, we probably could all do with some tips for dealing with being anxious or overwhelmed. Chavi does not disappoint, In this episode we discuss some of the reasons that you don't have to worry about baking sourdough bread, excellent practical tips for coping with anxiety and some road safety tips for when you want to perform an awesome power slide.
Chavi Sufrin is a Student Counsellor, and offers free, confidential support to students at Pearson College London.
If you are a Pearson student you can book a chat with Chavi though the 121 booking system (the one you use for tutor meetings) or you can access the counselling services via the MyPCL section of the university portal.
During the conversation we mention these mindfulness apps:
Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/
Waking Up - https://wakingup.com/
Resources for looking after your mental health during the current pandemic can be found here:
https://www.studentminds.org.uk/coronavirus.html
https://www.psychologytools.com/assets/covid-19/guide_to_living_with_worry_and_anxiety_amidst_global_uncertainty_en-gb.pdf
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips/
Back by popular demand, Piers Veness returns to the virtual studio to share some tips. In this episode we try to stay fairly focused on techniques for starting assessments. However we also cover some points around learning from feedback and not getting paralysed by self inflicted pressure.
Piers is the study skills tutor at Pearson College London. He also teaches on the self managed learning courses and is involved in marking essays. Oh, and he's a successful artist to boot!
Something a little different this week. Two of my ex-students come into the studio to discuss the things that they learnt during their time at uni. We cover everything from hacking Linked In to oil shocks to the protective power of Lycra. It's a good one!
Barney and Oliver were both full time students, however if you are an apprentice you may find the podcast "Apprentice Talks" a useful addition to the points made here. https://anchor.fm/apprentice-talks It's hosted by some of the degree apprentices we currently have at Pearson College London.
Deputy Dean Elizabeth Miller joins us for a chat about research and references. What is a good source? How should you find/use sources? And what does Rihanna have to do with the Australian climate?
Kate is a marketing tutor at Pearson College and is mad about brands, branding and the way people interact with brands. As such she is an expert in getting a message across to someone. Who better then to talk about how to get loads of marks for the writing and structure of your work.
Will Holt is the dean of Pearson Business School. He marks more than his fair share of presentations and videos so he shares some tips of the sort of things you should do and should not do if you want to..... get loads of marks.
Piers is the study skills tutor at Pearson College London. He also teaches on the self managed learning courses and is involved in marking essays.
He was kind enough to join me for a quick chat about the sort of things that he sees as common mistakes in essay writing.
Piers mentions his study skills site during this podcast, you can find it here... https://lib-guides.pearsoncollegelondon.ac.uk/library/studyskills