Remembering Memory

Hilary McDermot, a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Loughborough, gave the AS Level Psychology students a talk on memory and eye witness testimony.  This is the topic that the students have been covering this half term.  The lecture was very interactive and Hilary got the students to contribute what they already knew about memory, which was useful revision.  It's great to remember things about memory, but not so good to forget things about amnesia.

 

There were also some memory experiments during the talk, and an activity on eye witness testimony where students watched a video of a shop being robbed and then had to pair up with someone to do an activity relating to this.  One person was the police officer and the other a witness.  The purpose was to look at the effect of leading questions (and also to see how observant people are!!) The results were fascinating, and shed light on how flimsy eye-witness testimony can actually be sometimes.

Students who attended said that the lecture was very useful and enjoyable.  They also appreciated the opportunity to have a look around the university grounds and sit in a university lecture theatre.  It was great to see lots of students volunteering contributions and answering Hilary’s questions.  We gave a really positive impression of the Sixth Form at Loughborough College.  Overall, a positive experience for everyone!

Black History month

On Thursday 26th September, a group of History and Sociology students went on a trip to the University of Leicester, to hear a speaker on the topic of Immigration and Colonialism. The lecturer was a Human Geography professor, who encouraged students to 'reset the mindset' - ie, rethink about why black people and some other groups are absent from the official history of the UK.

The lecture was an interesting alternative to college lessons, although it was felt by students that college lessons are better than the university lecture was! The lecture was certainly a zany approach to an interesting subject, although there wasn't really enough opportunity to mix with students from other colleges. Still it's good to go on trips to somehwere new, and students enjoyed a little taster of the university experience.

Raspberry Pi Club

Loucoll Raspberry Pi Club

Last Thursday, 3rd October 2013 saw the launch of the Loucoll Raspberry Pi Club.  We took our first bite of the Pi...exploring its components and discussing what we could do with it. We were fortunate enough to have in attendance Sean Sturley, a computing lecturer and owner of three Raspberry Pi. Sean showed us some very interesting websites of Raspberry Pi projects including one where someone is using his Raspberry Pi to control a robot boat that will pilot itself across the Atlantic Ocean! You can read more about this from a BBC News article. Sean has promised to bring in his three Raspberry Pi to our next club meeting.

We are also lucky to have two techies from the IT team, telling us all about their love of Ubuntu and Linux etc. I'm sure their input to the club will be most useful as we embark on projects!

We've set up a website which we hope to have ready soon to keep you posted with our activities. Till then looking forward to having a bigger bite of the Pi this week!

Blog Renaissance

There haven't been many posts on the blog over the past year - oops! - but fear not for the blog is re-emerging like a Phoenix from the ashes, and our avid followers can soon expect regular updates on all things related to Loughborough College Sixth Form.

High numbers of AS students have been recruited this year, meaning that some classes have had to be re-organised so that we can accommodate all those who want to do their A-Levels with us. It’s great being popular!

A-Level History and A-Level Film Studies are being offered for the first time this year, and are being taught by Louise Robinson and Monica Wroblewski respectively. Both courses are proving popular, and these subjects will be really useful additions to the A-Level programme. Next year, it’s likely that Textiles will be offered too – we’re expanding!

Upcoming excitement this term (which will be blogged about in due course) includes:

·         A police officer visiting to speak to the Law students

·         A History trip to a lecture on Immigration and Colonialism

·         A Psychology trip to Loughborough University to learn about eye-witness testimony

·         Parents information evening

Watch this space for updates on these and other events in the Sixth Form!

Rewarding Effort and Achievement

In May 2012 we held an event to celebrate the effort and hard work of our A level students - we gave certificates and prizes to students who had 100% attendance; to those whom tutors felt had shown consistent effort throughout the year; for our students who contribute to college life , by getting involved in Open Days and other events outside of their lessons; and finally we gave an award to our "Student of the Year" - someone we felt had shown excellent focus, continued effort and had really demonstrated a true desire to make the very best of their opportunities while studying with us.

A Level Results Day

Well, today's the day all the students (and teachers!) have been waiting for: Results day. The day for A2 students to find out whether all that hard work has paid off, and whether they have got into the university they wanted to, or for the AS students, to see if they have got the grades that will send them straight to the top of the A2 class.

Our overall A Level pass rate this year is the same as last year: 95%, and the overall AS pass rate has increased to 87%. These are extremely good results and our retention and success rates were both higher  this year too (this means that more people than ever have continued their studies with us for the full year). All in all, many students have achieved excellent results, so we would like to say a big thank you and congratulations to all our students for their hard work and commitment, and to our teachers who have guided them in their studies.

Our photographer and videographer was there to record the buzz and the happy moments, so here's a little taste of the feeling of the day:

Crime Scene Taster Day

On 22 June, students hoping to study A-Levels with us in September 2011 were invited in to do a taster day with a difference.

During an introductory talk by Janet Ruffoni, two criminals wearing hooded tops and wielding dangerous-looking water pistols burst in, and proceeded to rob several members of staff of their mobile phones, and when Applied Business Studies teacher Kate Huggon refused to hand over her mobile, she was shot several times by one of the violent assassins, and she slumped to the ground. It was a deplorable raid which left several students in shock… until Janet explained that it wasn’t real (if the water pistols hadn’t already given it away!)
.

Watch the robbery!

And so the CSI Loughborough day began. Students had previously indicated whether they were more interested in the Science & Maths activities on offer, or the Humanities activities, and thus students were split into two groups.

The Maths & Science students examined various fibres under a microscope, to try to discern which ones matched those found from the crime scene; some people were therefore ruled out as suspects. Footprints had also been found near the body, and so plaster casts of footprints were taken and compared, to see if the list of suspects could be narrowed down at all. And then there were the blood splatter patterns, which, with a bit of number crunching, enabled students to work out the height of the attacker. It then became quite clear that Suspect 1 was in fact the killer!

Meanwhile, the Humanities group were invited to discover what crimes had in fact been committed, and how robbery and murder are defined by law; it was concluded that a robbery had indeed taken place, and the unlawful death of Kate constituted a murder, as she was shot several times at point blank range. The next activity was for students to consider why some groups of people (e.g. young black males) appear more frequently in crime statistics, and the sociological reasons for these trends; reasons such as poor socialisation, peer pressure, police racism, and stereotyping by the media were settled upon. Next came a rather more difficult activity: students were asked to recall the details of the crime they’d witnessed an hour before, such as the colour of the killer’s baseball cap, and how many handbags had been stolen. Psychological reasons for poor memory of traumatic events were examined, such as leading questions and weapon focus, and only one student had realised that the killer was in fact the Sociology teacher, Karen Lancaster! The final activity for the Humanities group was a Media / English task: for them to write a news report and film it; partly in ‘the studio’ and to have a reporter at the scene, along with a couple of vox pops. These videos were done to a good standard, and you can watch some of them here.

Overall, it was a really successful event, with students having fun, meeting their teachers, and meeting some potential fellow classmates ready for September.

News videos: