When you’re distracted or bothered by something, get rid of it.

If you can’t do that, work out how to move past the distraction or deal with it differently instead.

It’s time…for a different…TUB-Thump.

Don’t worry, it’s only for Episode 036…The intro and ending will be back next time. Promise!

And so will the more detailed show notes. For now, it’s all about making a point:

Keep taking action. Even when it’s basic.

And, of course, keep being awesome.

When a friend of a friend is the right person to speak with, what’s the best way to get an introduction to them?

Ben Casnocha refers to a great way to ask for something, while putting no pressure on the person you’re asking.

It’s a good technique. But not everyone will feel comfortable saying that they have no expectations from the request.

Episode 34 of TUB-Thump takes a look at another way of asking for something. And it’s a potential win-win. Because there aren’t that many times when acknowledging your lack of control can be in your favour.

Here are the show notes for the 5-min episode:

• 00:30 – Low-pressure Introductions (Ben Casnocha)
• 01:10 – Hesitation and zero expectations. When no expectations don’t sound quite right.
• 02:00 – Give people the choice when you ask for something. Even though you have some sort of expectation, you know that the choice belongs very much the other person. As a bonus, highlighting that person’s control could help you to get the outcome you’d like. Two thumbs fresh!

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!

Do I demonstrate a point? Or do I merely claim it?

Sometimes you want to refer to a text in a positive light, while other times you want to pull back a bit on the emotion.

That’s where your choice of verbs comes in. The words you use in your coursework matter.

The super-useful pocket guide, Writing For University, by Jeanne Godfrey, describes the power of using different verbs to show “your evaluation of what the author does”.

Episode 034 of TUB-Thump checks out the different words you can use, depending on the message you want to convey. You need never again confuse someone illustrating and establishing something with someone claiming or assuming!

I believe you’ll find this useful. But, hey, I’ll now let you be the judge of that!

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Wait, don’t answer that. No matter how well you have your future planned, things never turn out quite that way.

For some, the outcome is mostly as expected. But you’re still been dealt a few surprises along the way.

For others, the outcome isn’t even close to what you imagined it to be.

And don’t forget those who don’t have a clue what their future holds. The mystery all but guarantees a surprising ride.

Even a steady path can see a sudden change in direction.

Take Brooke Storer-Church, for example. A decade into a restaurant career wasn’t enough to stop her trading it all in and moving back towards higher education.

Take technological advances, for another example. Who knows how you’ll live your life and what type of jobs will be needed a decade down the line?

When you do look back in five years, in a decade, or when you retire, you’ll have a story to tell. That story will be a bit more certain and easy to tell than the reality as you were living that story.

That’s why I wanted to take a few words from Brooke Storer-Church as inspiration for Episode 033 of TUB-Thump.

Wherever you see yourself in the future, get ready for an exciting ride of worthwhile twists and turns.

Here are the show notes for the 5-min episode:

• 00:45 – Brooke Storer-Church on how varied work experience improves graduate prospects.
• 01:00 – You look back in time and create a story that looks like you had a clear, linear path to now. That’s fine in hindsight, but the reality is a bit different.
• 01:50 – Immense value in those bends…
• 02:30 – No matter how much you like what you’re doing now, that could change. It could take a year, 5 years, 10 years…And if it does change, that doesn’t mean you need to worry about it. It could even be a blessing.
• 03:50 – It’s interesting to see how people change as they develop. The process can be slow and disjointed, but can also be necessary.
• 04:30 – We don’t know what’s around the corner in the general context of the world, so how would we know how our own life will shape up until we’ve actually lived it?
• 05:00 – Whether you feel like everything is sussed out, or you haven’t got a clue what your next moves are, seek out the value in all the twists and turns you encounter.

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!

I’ve seen both joy and grief at news that the government are set to announce fast-track degrees that cost the same as traditional three-year courses.

I’ve also seen the many cries that this isn’t the first time two-year plans have been considered.

No matter how you feel about condensed courses, the first place to start is with questions.

Well, it’s how I like to start, anyway. So here are a few initial questions that come to the top of my mind:

Can all degrees translate into two years?

Can all degrees translate into two years? How will the quality of teaching, and the content on offer to students, be assessed? This is especially important for the first couple of student intakes.

How will the course structure work for students?

Will there be holiday time for students at all? Will there be time for extra-curricular activities? Will there be time/ability/flexibility for part-time work?

How will the course structure work for academics?

Will there be time for research? Will this situation result in two-year degrees in teaching-based universities far more than research-intensive institutions? Will this exacerbate a tiered system?

Speaking of tiered systems, could two-year degrees attract those from disadvantaged backgrounds, for the wrong reasons?

There are already signs that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to focus on the academic work, at the detriment of extracurricular activities and other pursuits.

Will emphasis on fast-tracking degree lead to even greater assumption that the degree is the main need for moving into the workplace? Will students from disadvantaged backgrounds be more likely to take on these courses, while further restricting them by focusing too much on the academic and not enough on other activities outside the degree?

What will universities do to show they are spending the same on the fast-track course?

The Guardian states:

“…universities would have to prove they were investing the same resources in the fast-track students as in those studying for a conventional degree.”

Do universities currently highlight how they invest their resources in each course? What processes (and what safeguards) will be put into place to examine university spending from a three-year offering compared to a two-year offering? And what if an institution decided to offer a course on a two-year track only? Work with historical spending data (that may not even exist)? Work on the basis that this is the first year of offering the course and exempt the institution from proving spending levels?

Will “First year doesn’t count” be replaced by an equally problematic situation?

That problem of the mistaken “First year doesn’t count” may well go, but the new problem could be that students will be expected to put in quality work from the outset. This may not be realistic, as academic methods of working require some getting used to at the start.

Will some people jump at the chance of getting the best of both worlds?

Could this flexibility of offering a fast-track degree help those people who are more inclined to jump into the world of work, yet who also want a higher level of education for the benefits it can bring ongoing?

What about universities getting the best of both worlds?

Some degrees cost more than others. By charging a similar fee level as three-year degrees, might universities see the possibility to make more money by offering fast-track on the courses that cost less anyway? More opportunity to boost incoming to support more costly degrees, research, etc. Positives and negatives to this for all and should be considered carefully before hastily implementing.

Can conversations be driven in a way that avoids hasty opinions?

Top-level statements of two-year degrees helping students, universities and the economy are not enough. The devil, as always, is in the detail. Yet these big statements aren’t meant for policy wonks and those delivering the teaching. The overall message sounds good to the public and can drive opinion. Therefore, as well as driving continued conversation and analysis in-house and with government, it’s important to find ways to bring that conversation through to the wider public so that they understand the potential impact (good and bad) of moves to fast-track degrees.

Where will applicant support come from and how will it be ensured as reasonable?

By providing this solution as well as more traditional three-year paths (and work-placement options, etc.), outreach work and applicant advice will need to be clear in explaining the pros and cons for each path. This should not be driven by marketing departments and vested interests. OFFA, et al, will need to have practical guidelines in place; preferably enforceable to some extent. I don’t know how this would look at this stage, but it would certainly need addressing.

If tuition fees remain the same, what about the psychological view of debt?

When students (and their families) weigh up whether to go to university, the issue of debt cannot be avoided. Applications to university may not have suffered a great deal, but there is greater resentment over the cost of attending.

Yes, a two-year course would remove a year of living costs. But the psychological view of debt doesn’t change. Tuition fees would stay roughly the same. If tuition debt is set to run at the same level, applicants (and, once again, their families) may continue to feel unhappy. It doesn’t matter how the payments work out in reality, the idea of debt can be enough to switch some people off from engaging beyond that.

–

These are just a few quick questions that need to be examined more closely when considering how fast-track degrees may work.

What questions would you add to the list?

Why are you going to that lecture? Why are you taking those notes? Why have you got things on your mind?

Everything you’re doing right now has some sort of end goal attached to it. Do you know what your end goals are?

Episode 032 of TUB-Thump takes a look at the importance of combining future context with the present moment. Focus on the end goals in order to achieve your best in your current tasks.

Here are the show notes for the 4-min episode:

• 00:40 – Keep the end goal in mind to better understand the best way to tackle your current task.
• 01:00 – This works with everything you do. Find the future context in the present moment.
• 02:00 – What do you need in order to excel and reach the end goal?
• 03:30 – Things get easier with an end goal in mind.

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!

I had stuff going on in the house. I was looking after the baby. I wanted a cup of tea.

“The kitchen has a lot of echo,” I thought. “What a perfect time to record an episode of TUB-Thump.”

The idea was to hit record on the device in my pocket and start talking about how easily we can do whatever we want.

It doesn’t always feel easy.

Sending a photo or video to a mate on Snapchat seems easier than publishing a video to the whole world. Having a conversation about your interests is okay in private, but it’s another thing to broadcast it globally.

Or is it?

Episode 31 of TUB-Thump is simply a nudge in the right direction for you to start your quest for awesomeness today.

Don’t let a lack of professional resources and equipment stop you.

Reid Hoffman, who founded LinkedIn, said:

“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

Let the embarrassment in, otherwise you may not let anything out.

And the world needs you. We need you, darn it! Even if you’re busy being responsible for a little human being and you’re standing in a kitchen with an echo.

Here are the show notes for the 4-min episode:

• 00:50 – Reaching out, publishing content, creating a portfolio…It’s all possible today. The entry requirements are very little.
• 01:30 – If I can record in a kitchen with an echo, on a phone or entertainment device, when holding a baby, what production value issues are stopping you?
• 02:00 – Production values don’t matter at first. The better they are, that’s great. But the bigger deal is creating value and being present.
• 02:30 – What can you do today? Perhaps you’ve been putting it off or you think you need a better setup before you start. Bottom line…You can probably do it now.

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!

Are you ready to fight with feedback?

Do you shudder at the thought of reading what your tutor has said about your essay? Or do you read the advice and think, “Challenge accepted”?

Episode 030 of TUB-Thump urges you to choose the latter. Get back in the ring and defeat the beast of feedback.

Using Colin Neville’s book, How To Improve Your Assignment Results, I take at look at what it means when you act (or not) in Flight, Fright and Fight modes.

The upshot is not to put your head in the sand. You may shrug off a bad result and hope to do better next time. But your grades will thank you if you take a stand and tackle the beast.

Ding ding! The next round starts now.

Here are the show notes for the 8-min episode:

• 00:30 – What’s your first reaction when you get a piece of coursework back? Do you engage with the feedback, or do you want to get away from it?
• 01:20 – How to improve your assignment results (Open Up Study Skills) – Colin Neville
• 01:35 – Flight, Fright, or Fight?
• 02:20 – The main options are Fright or Fight. Fright is doing nothing. Fight is taking action.
• 03:10 – Not tackling the issues = Less chance of the grade you deserve in the next piece of work. And the next. And so on.
• 04:00 – Working with the feedback could allow you to work a bit easier in your subsequent assignments. A bit of attention now may go a long way.
• 04:15 – “A poor coursework result is not a damning verdict on you as a human being. It’s a transient comment on your past work.”
• 05:10 – A finished essay isn’t entirely finished with. Use it to improve in your next piece of work.
• 06:35 – Do this even when you get a great result. Emulate the effective methods and examples too.

Also, here’s a PDF guide by Colin Neville with more information: Your Assignment Results and How To Improve Them

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!

I thought I’d drop 10 examples your way in this post. Just because. Maybe something will inspire or interest you further.

You never know when a comment here and an example there can come in handy. I also collect random stories that are of no use at the moment, but are quirky. When the right time comes along, I use the stories to inject some fun into a piece of writing.

Always be on the lookout for inspiration. You may find nothing of interest in the examples below. But when you see anything that makes you stop and think, it’s worth making a note of it. The more you can collect, the more you have at your disposal later on.

Note it down. Save it for later.

Collecting little thoughts is one way you can start to make good use out of what you consume.

—

10 Thoughts, Quoted

1.

“You will find the future wherever people are having the most fun.”

From the Introduction to Wonderland by Steven Johnson

In other words, get playful!

—

2.

“Ultimately innovation is local. You have a problem to fix, a group who want to solve it, and you come together in a common space to work it out.”

http://blog.hefce.ac.uk/2016/12/19/how-higher-education-can-make-the-industrial-strategy-a-success/

I like how the ‘local’ doesn’t always have to be in terms of physical placement.

—

3.

“…holding on to the idea that willpower is a limited resource can actually be bad for you, making you more likely to lose control and act against your better judgment.”

https://medium.com/the-mission/the-way-youve-been-thinking-about-willpower-is-hurting-you-8621b1e2b30f#.x9wtrfkte

Willpower is limited if you think it is. I will you to keep going!

—

4.

“If takers are selfish and failed givers are selfless, successful givers are otherish: they care about benefiting others, but they also have ambitious goals for advancing their own interests.” – p.182

From Give and Take by Adam Grant

Giving is wonderful, so long as you remember to give to yourself at the same time.

—

5.

“A sociologist at the University of Chicago surveyed the references cited in a database of 34 million scientific articles. He analyzed the citations with respect to whether the articles cited were available online. The more journals became digitally available, the more recent the references became, and the narrower their scope.” – p.61

From Words Onscreen by Naomi S. Baron

The book was published in 2016. That feels like ages ago…

—

6.

“Student loan policy wonks have always assumed that if you provide guarantees and limit liability/risk on student loans, then students will be ok with debt.  But if the facts of the policy don’t change people’s attitudes about risk, then the policies will fail, no matter how well they deal with the actual problems at hand.”

http://higheredstrategy.com/does-student-debt-matter-if-youre-not-going-to-pay-it-back/

This is just as relevant for parents too. The idea of debt, no matter how it’s presented, is too much for some. Especially when there have been past problems with more traditional debts, or they have spent their life avoiding debt. What do you think those parents will say to their children who want to go to university?

—

7.

“Podcasting is sometimes dismissed as nothing more than radio in your ears, on your own schedule, but I beg to differ. It’s far more intimate than traditional radio. And news organizations that realize the power of this intimacy will likely have an advantage in the long run.”

http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/the-year-of-the-newsy-podcast/

On-demand audio for the win.

—

8.

“Humans live peacefully with contradictions precisely because of their capacity to compartmentalise. And when contradictory statements, actions or emotions jump out of their contextual box, we are very good, perhaps too good, at finding justifications to soothe cognitive dissonance.”

https://aeon.co/ideas/how-our-contradictions-make-us-human-and-inspire-creativity

But when you recognise this, you can use the abundance of contradiction in wonderful ways too. Embrace the push and pull.

—

9.

“Crucially, our ‘social orientation’ appears to spill over into more fundamental aspects of reasoning. People in more collectivist societies tend to be more ‘holistic’ in the way they think about problems, focusing more on the relationships and the context of the situation at hand, while people in individualistic societies tend to focus on separate elements, and to consider situations as fixed and unchanging.”

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170118-how-east-and-west-think-in-profoundly-different-ways

Specific generalisations. The article has some thought-provoking stuff.

—

10.

A reason why conservatives tend to use nouns more than liberals is because nouns outline greater stability. Describing someone using nouns “implies more certainty and permanence about their state of being”.

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/01/12/why-conservatives-like-to-use-nouns-more-than-liberals-do/

Pay attention to how people describe things. Do they “feel positive”, or are they “a positive person”? You may get a better insight when you listen to how the sentences are constructed as well as what’s being said.

—

Think of the little thoughts and stories you collect as stepping stones. Each step can take you closer to new ideas.

Over to you. It’s time to create out of what you curate.

High tuition fees mean that a lot of people want to make the most of their time at university.

For some, that means knuckling down and focusing solely on the academic work.

Episode 029 of TUB-Thump has a different suggestion.

Your academic work is just one strand of your learning and development. You can get a totally different set of qualities and skills from the activities and experiences outside of class.

To broaden your horizons to the fullest extent, it’s time to face more than one learning path. When it’s time to plot your next destination in life, more than one path will give you a bigger choice toward the quickest route to success.

No need to feel guilty about spending some time away from the books. It’s expected of you.

Here are the show notes for the 7-min episode:

• 01:05 – You have two approaches to your learning at university. One is academic. The other is what you do outside of your degree work.
• 02:30 – The focus on broadening your horizons beyond your academic work is just as important for developing yourself, both for now and the future.
• 04:00 Many students still don’t realise how important the non-academic experiences are in shaping the story of you.
• 05:10 – If you’re focusing mostly on the academic, you could be missing out on social activities, as well as improving your future career chances.
• 06:10 – Don’t feel guilty about spending time away from the lectures and coursework for some of your time.

Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.

TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.

Keep being awesome!